Greetings!
We hope you enjoyed the last devblog where we talked about the new tank handling and the mechanics surrounding it. If you missed it you can find it here:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/736220/announcements/detail/3037095871635357739
This devblog is probably the one we have been the most excited about since the changes are very extensive and involved.
We have a lot of stuff to cover, so let’s get started.
NEW PENETRATION SYSTEM
Let’s kick this off with the work that has gone into the penetration system, this is a place where we wanted to focus a lot of our work.
The first order of business was defining the gameplay logic of this new penetration system. We looked at the flaws of our current systems and came up with a pretty good idea of how we wanted the base logic to function.
This part is a bit technical, so please bear with us.
PENETRATION SYSTEM
https://medal.tv/clips/60621401/d1337IxYRUlW
Shell Penetration Demo (Fullscreen version)
In the new system, we went back to the drawing board and redefined how we calculate armour penetration. In addition to the Line of Sight (LOS) penetration, we now also consider the angle at which you hit a plate.
What this means is that even if your shell is able to penetrate an angled plate, if the angle is too high your shell can bounce off the armour. This makes considering the angle of your opponent's tank more important.
Certain shells will also cause spalling when they penetrate an armour plate, this means that a single shot can damage and hurt multiple components and the shell can even continue through the tank and out the other side.
Another change is that shells no longer stop existing when they hit an object instead, the shell can bounce off surfaces, change direction or even shatter based on what objects you hit in the world. The shell will only stop existing in the world if the shell shatters, if it has lost all its velocity or if it travels for an unreasonable amount of time, like if you shot straight up or out of the level.
We have also created several new sub-classes of shells, each being designed according to their real-life operation, we will quickly list the different types of shells and how they differ from each other. These are simply the damage types and it does not reflect the difference between each shell type such as APCR, APCBC and so on.
- AP - This is any shell that does not have any explosive filler, but instead a solid shell, this type of shell is commonly used by the commonwealth forces.
- APHE - This type of shell has an explosive filler within the shell which is triggered by hitting objects or armour at a certain thickness, once triggered it will explode after a short period, which means that upon penetration it will explode doing a massive amount of damage to crew and internal components.
- HE - This type of shell will explode on impact and is used against external components, infantry, light vehicles or fortifications.
- HEAT - This type of shell is typically used by infantry Anti-Tank rockets, it is capable of high penetration, but is easily countered by spaced or add-on armour.
- Shaped Charge - This isn’t really a shell but it is functionally identical to HEAT, except it’s usually found in magnetic mines.
And again please keep in mind that these are basic damage types and we are able to create realistic shells for each tank with a functional difference between each shell using the above system, this means that shells like APCR is still an AP type shell, it's great for penetrating flat armour but not very good against anything that is sloped.
We were also able to make functional add-on armour to tanks, stuff such as side skirts, track links and other objects attached to a tank can provide slight additional protection and is even capable of being blown off the tank.
This will prove to be particularly useful for dealing with infantry anti-tank weapons such as a bazooka or a panzerschreck.
NEW COMPONENT DAMAGE SYSTEM
https://medal.tv/clips/60623068/d1337aFkzQye
Component Damage Demo (Fullscreen version)
The component system that Post Scriptum uses is by no means a bad system, but with the additions made to the penetration system as well as the tank driving mechanics we discussed in the last devblog, we have not only reworked many of the mechanics behind the component system but also made a couple of new additions to the system that will be important to gameplay.
To start off, we have gone through and split our components into external and internal components and each of these components can be considered a vital or non-vital component.
The internal and external classification allows us to designate how and when a component can be damaged, certain components like tracks, side-skirts or objects on the tank can be damaged without needing to penetrate the armour of the tank. Internal components will require a shell penetration before they will start taking damage.
What the vital and non-vital classification means is that we can determine the value of one component over another, obviously, a periscope doesn’t have the same value to the crew as the engine or main gun and as such we can tell the system which systems are or aren’t critical for vehicle functionality.
The damage system was also overhauled in such a way that when a certain amount of components are destroyed the tank will be considered knocked out and this means the tank can no longer be repaired, forcing the crew to abandon their tank.
When a component is damaged it will have an effect on the performance of the tank itself. If the transmission is damaged you will not be able to use all your gears and as such your top speed suffers a transmission destroyed will cause the vehicle to be immobilized.
Certain components like ammo, fuel tanks & engines can start a fire if penetrated, this fire will need to be put out by the crew using a fire extinguisher from their inventory, failure to extinguish the fire will result in the fire spreading, damaging nearby components and eventually causing the tank to burn down.
VITAL COMPONENTS
- Engine - The engine component is one of the two components primarily required to drive the tank, the engine when damaged will lower the amount of throttle available, thus limiting the power output of your tank until repaired, if destroyed the tank can no longer move. This component has a small chance of starting a fire when damaged by a shell. Keep in mind that engines have a high armour value and shooting the engine may not penetrate into the fighting compartment of an enemy vehicle.
- Fuel Tanks - This component will be the primary source of any tank fire, penetration of the fuel tanks will bear with it high risks of fires starting, a fire in the fuel tank, if not put out, will very quickly spread to other parts of the tank and damage the tank, eventually leading to the tank burning down. But fuel quantity is not simulated and tanks will not run out of fuel with damaged fuel tanks.
- Transmission - The transmission component like the Engine component is the other component primarily required to drive the tank, when this component is damaged it will limit the gears available to the drive and eventually the tank becomes immobilized, like the engine this component has a high armour value and thus shooting the transmission may not result in penetration into the fighting compartment.
- Ammo Stowage - This component represents the ammo stored inside the tank, when this component is hit there is a high chance of either a fire or instant explosion causing the tank to be destroyed, however unlike other components this component can be emptied, as the crew fire shells the ammo stowage is progressively emptied which lowers the chance of an explosion or fire.
- Turret Ring - The turret ring component when damaged will turn slower, when fully destroyed it will no longer turn the turret.
- Cannon barrel/breech - This component represents the cannon and breech inside the tank, this component can be destroyed by shooting the barrel or breech inside the turret, damaging the cannon will slow the elevation speed and a fully destroyed cannon will no longer elevate or fire.
NON VITAL COMPONENTS
- Periscopes - The periscopes can all be damaged and will become cracked when damaged, however, they will not count towards any vital component knockout.
- Tracks - The track component is special, unlike the other vital components, it is both a vital and non-vital component depending on some conditions. If the tracks on one side of the tank is destroyed, this component is only considered a non-vital component, but if both tracks are taken out it will be considered a vital component knockout.
https://medal.tv/clips/60697870/d1337ZPszeHJ
Component Repair Demo (Fullscreen version)
The crew are also considered as components and internal crew can be hurt and wounded by a penetrating hit, fire or spalling as a result of penetration.
This new component system means that we are able to simulate tank combat much more in-depth and offer more nuance to combat in tanks.
ROADMAP UPDATED
Lastly, we wanted to dedicate this section to the new wreck system, but given it has not yet been completed we will instead use this time to talk briefly about the roadmap and what lies ahead of us after the Overhaul.
One of our biggest concerns after the Armour Overhaul is going to be general game improvements, including a second large QoL update, this one we hope to include a lot of community feedback as well as address gameplay concerns from our players.
We also hope to be able to deliver new and improved RCON Tools for our server hosters, so that they can better administrate and moderate their servers.
Chapter 4 is still a little bit out, but it won't be long until dev blogs start dropping and we can start talking about the plans for Chapter 4 which is set during December 1944 - February 1945 in the Battle of the Bulge.
We will obviously not leave you without at least showing you parts of the wreck system before we leave.
https://medal.tv/clips/60695085/d1337eRF45Mu
Roman candle wreck demo (Fullscreen version)
Tea Time with the Devs
Thursday, August 12th @ 11:30 PM CEST | 2:30 PM US Pacific | 5:30 PM US Eastern
This devblog marks the completion of all major modules for the Armour Overhaul and from here on its primary focus is on bug fixing, balancing and tweaking tanks to get them just right.
But we will also be live next week showing off the new Armour Overhaul on our Team Time with the Devs live stream! We would love to have you come join us as we show off the work we've been doing for the past several months as well as answering questions from the community!
This is all happening over on our twitch https://www.twitch.tv/postscriptumofficial
Summary
All these changes will mean that there is a much greater emphasis on the performance of tank crews to succeed in a tank engagement and it means that similar to real-life the tank that fires first stands the greatest chance of winning an engagement.
We are also extremely excited to see you all on our live stream later next week where you can come and see the system with your own eyes as well as ask any questions you may have.
Until then we highly recommend joining our Discord server where developers chat actively with the community as well as sharing small inside information from development. It's a community definitely worth being a part of!
Sincerely,
Periscope Games
JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON DISCORD
