Let's talk about tanks

[x3kj 1247]

My biggest problem with tanks is the driving behaviour of physx. It makes looking at it and controlling it infuriating.

If you drive a tight corner you might notice heavy sound glitching and "lags". In truth, they are not lags but the gearbox not finding the right gear (out of the ~15 gears implemented atm) and cauzing the spazzing.

Then there is the problem with them not driving straight.

Add to that, that the job of the driver is the most simple and boring in gameplay.

They only have to implement keys for manual switching because the features are already there but nope...

Add optional manual gearchanges and maybe even a manual clutch, increase the FOV for the driver and provide some basic dials: speed, rpm, gear and compass maybe, all in the corners of what is blocked by the viewport overlay. And suddenly beeing driver will be alot more fun, because its more challenging, as you can do something other then just pressing WASD (or analoge equivalent).

Complete modelled tank interior for each tank isnt necessary. But at least make one basic "cabin" for each position that really needs it and use it on all vehicles - mostly the driver needs those multiple mirrors. Having your view glued to the front is unusable and not fun at all for the driver that has to stay in that mode for plenty of time during the battle.

About damage:

biggest gripe for me is lack of support for shape charged projectiles actually penetrating instead of just doing hit damage like HE rounds. Why have they not thought about it?

Second is the lack of deadly crew damage based on the entry point of a penetrating hit. You only kill by a direct penetrating hit atm... Its unrealistic and makes disabling tanks from close range harder because the crew will always jump in your face ready to fire. Third is the 100% explosion just because hitpoint limit is reached. This is what produces the boring Hollywood flair in Vehicle combat.

Weakpoints (e.g. ammo storage and fuel) isnt modelled on tanks which should be added. But only after the 100% explosion rate is fixed.

They really should do a tank dlc where they focus on making armored vehicles fun again. Atm they are not fun to use, they feel shallow and only implemented halfhearted and on a rush. A3 has much more potential in this regard, its a shame to waste it.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Fennek

[mr_centipede 31]

Funny thing is that works, more or less, accurately in the game Iron Front based in the A2 engine; even in the adaption mod for Arma 3.

So if you can get that kind or damage / penetration simulation in A3 with a "mod", why not implement it in the vanilla game?

From what I understand, Iron Front uses a scripted solution, which ARMA3 tries to shy away from... They wanted to do in engine level

[maturin 12]

At the end of the day, though, crew damage is impossible to model properly without some sort of script or detailed calculations. It's all probability.

[pulstar 55]

Yesterday I was playing a bit of SABOW. The gunner got killed inside the turret and the camera switched to show POV slumping against the side. Even the hit effects inside the tank are miles above anything Arma has to offer. Granted, it's a dedicated armour sim but BI can do much better.. There isn't even any conventional loader-gunner-commander chatter, no internal clutter noises etc.

[LukinFanBoy 0]

Yesterday I was playing a bit of SABOW. The gunner got killed inside the turret and the camera switched to show POV slumping against the side. Even the hit effects inside the tank are miles above anything Arma has to offer. Granted, it's a dedicated armour sim but BI can do much better.. There isn't even any conventional loader-gunner-commander chatter, no internal clutter noises etc.

It's as if they don't want actually put in more work to make the game more immersive. That and the vehicle physics in both airborne and AFVs have left me to uninstall after 100 hours. Glad I didn't buy it for full price.