The Issue

Have you ever shot a slug from the cannon part at an ai MBT and watch it explode into a large fireball? This MBT’s armor is supposed to be able to stop tank rounds like the ones in real life, so why doesn’t it work in SP?

Well, it’s complicated.

Gun vs Cannon

There are two types of projectile weapons in SP, the guns and cannon. For a gun, damage is done quite simply. Each projectile does a set amount of damage and subtracts that from the heath of whatever it hits. For a cannon however, there are two types of damage:

-explosionScalar
-impactDamageScalar
-Caliber

ExplosionScalar means how big the area of effect is for the round once it explodes. Caliber controls how much damage that explosion does. ImpactDamageScalar controls how much damage the projectile does when hitting the target. This is what makes it difficult to replicate tank armor and rounds in sp.

First stages of testing

In my first rounds of testing with the cannon, I quickly discovered something. Because explosives destroys parts no matter their health, we must rely on impact damage, which means using basic slugs. Luckily, this also makes it easier for us as we are now just dealing with impact damage.

To not have it immediately destroy a part, the impactDamageScale must be below .7-.6. By doing so, you damage the part and the round will actually bounce off the target (I kept it at .5). This also beans you can bounce shells into the sky with slates armor. While it was a step in the right direction, it still had a few limitations:

-Takes 1-40 shots to destroy a part, not constant

-Does not allow for different types of rounds

-Part health has to be extremely low so it doesn’t take 100 shots to destroy

-AI were affected differently than your own build

After a few more days of testing, I made no real breakthroughs and put the project down.

Theory

After observing a my plane clipping the wing of a ai plane, I noticed it destroyed the wing but not mine. So, I began to think.

-In theory, by using parts instead of cannon projectiles, and depending on the velocity and part health, it can either destroy or damage the armor.

So, armed with a theory and new resolve, I built the new test range.

Second round of testing

To put it in short, it seems to work.

Due to its low velocity, the part round was unable to penetrate the test armor ahead of it. By increasing the velocity, it was.

So, what does this mean? Well, I haven’t been able to play with it much yet, but from what I have seen, I can make a few guesses:

-Armor thickness can be replicated through part health
-Rounds will do the same about of damage
-Parts will lose velocity and penetration value over time as drag takes effect
-Spaced armor is now viable as we can prevent parts from exploding once they run out of health
-Different types of rounds can be made

The End

So is replicating tank armor In sp possible? Well, by the looks of the latest test, yes! Thank you for your time today. I’ll be back later with complete results as I test this out. Till then, keep building and have a great day or night.