Greetings!
Many of you know that in our damage model's current state the calculation of the damage dealt can be quite unpredictable at times. Therefore, we're really happy to announce the new component system, which will significantly reduce this problem and increase the transparency of the damage dealt. Calculating a round's penetration will be much more precise. Furthermore, there are several smaller features to improve Arma 3's quality-of-life for our dear community creators. The intention is to make their job of implementing the damage model easier. We do this by decreasing the amount of variables they had to take into consideration thus far and which often fell under the category of 'black magic'. However, the number one game-changer when it comes to this feature is the simulation of armor types. This involves the ability to create multiple types of protection, which can even react differently to different ammunition types. This opens the door to many new gameplay possibilities, and gives the player the option to select more efficient ammunition against a certain type of armor. And while we ourselves will be using this in a relatively modest way that is still understandable for the majority of players, the possibilities for the community creators are virtually endless.
That being said, I'd like to encourage you to give feedback. The numbers are still a prototype and need to be tweaked - after all, thanks to the component system it will work a bit differently.
Things I'd like to bring to your attention are:
The component system - simulation of AP rounds should be much more accurate, while the spheres are still there for the explosive damage. Passthrough should also work more deterministic than before
The armor simulations - the vehicles have been given passing protection in form of SLAT and ERA armor, while there are currently three types (SLAT, Light ERA and Heavy ERA), which should have some differences between ammunition (we also have 4 types of ammunition - AP, HE, HEAT and Tandem Heat). We're aware that current configuration is not yet ideal, but we'd appreciate your help in pointing out the issues.
The damage visuals - compared to previous two it's a minor thing and not a game changer, but I believe that things like destroyed ERA or semi-damaged SLAT would make your Arma immersion a lot better. This should already work correctly in all cases, therefore if you find something which doesn't, let us know!