Physics, Bombs, and Sandbox Gameplay

[Sarge6754 0]

One of the most fun aspects of OFP was the easy to use mission editor. A lot of the time I used it to place hundreds of satchel charges in one spot and watch the mayhem.

One thing I wish we could have had in OFP was the ability to combine munitions to create a very powerful blast without having to actually make a .pbo style addon with scripting.

So, I'm wondering whether Arma will have the ability in the mission editor to specify the explosive yield of objects with a sliding scale... It would be cool to place a wooden box in the mission editor and then give it a radio detonator and an explosive power on the sliding scale equivalent to a nuke... This way, mission makers can simulate a whole bunch of different kinds of explosives, not being limited to just satchel charges.

My second question is this...Everyone knows that in real life if you had a crapload of ammo boxes stacked on top of eachother in a barn with a bunch of satchel charges on them, that the barn would essentially become a huge singular explosion with the approximate explosive power of all those ammo crates' munitions combined... (EOD teams prove this)... In standard OFP, this scenario would be less than impressive, the big barn bomb wouldn't exist, the explosion would only have the power of the individual satchels you put into the barn... So will explosions in Arma accumulate power from what they detonate near?

If you put a pile of 500lb aircraft bombs in the back of a truck and then blew them up with a brick of C4, would it knock out windows of homes in an entire valley like real life?

*EDIT*: Basically, if you place a bunch of satchels together and detonate them all at once, it should have more explosive power and a larger blast radius than just one satchel charge (i.e. what currently happens in OFP)

[crashdome 1]

I don't think you could do this and call it realistic. for example, if you satcheled a nuke with your physics the nuke would obliterate everything as it was designed.. however, IRL we know that it produces far different effects. Not everything is accumulatory. (did I say that right?) In fact, it takes experts to properly detonate unexploded dangerous bombs because an improperly placed explosion wouldn't fully detonate them.

Not everything goes boom just because something else exploded near it.

You can simulate different explosive yields by scripting in a replacement explosives when needed. You cannot just pick any value and go, but it should provide a decent range if you know how explosives work and can script well enough.

P.S. You frighten me!

[Sarge6754 0]

I didn't explain this with any form of technical precision. I was just wondering if Arma was going to include a more robust explosives implementation in the editor. Basically, more stuff besides satchel charges, and the ability to make bigger explosions that still get simulated in the physics engine.

[max power 21]

*cumulative.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Ah, in OFP I used to fly 100 resistance Cessnas over 100 Shilkas, and try to make it out alive! Was the best mucking around I'd ever done.

[rundll.exe 12]

OFP already have some dynamic exploson power. A truck with low fuel will harldy explode. But when the tank is full you can blow up nearby things with it. The same applies for ammo boxes.

Oh, and try blowing a refuel truck

[Placebo 28]

Ah, in OFP I used to fly 100 resistance Cessnas over 100 Shilkas, and try to make it out alive! Was the best mucking around I'd ever done.

Good luck with that if you have a Soundblaster Live soundcard

[brataccas 0]

Ah, in OFP I used to fly 100 resistance Cessnas over 100 Shilkas, and try to make it out alive! Was the best mucking around I'd ever done.

I think ill try that...

[-kelet0r 0]

there are no limits

[crashdome 1]

*cumulative.  

Thanks! I've got to stop using my *special* dictionary....

[Dynamax 0]

I don't think you could do this and call it realistic. for example, if you satcheled a nuke with your physics the nuke would obliterate everything as it was designed.. however, IRL we know that it produces far different effects. Not everything is accumulatory. (did I say that right?) In fact, it takes experts to properly detonate unexploded dangerous bombs because an improperly placed explosion wouldn't fully detonate them.

Not everything goes boom just because something else exploded near it.

You can simulate different explosive yields by scripting in a replacement explosives when needed. You cannot just pick any value and go, but it should provide a decent range if you know how explosives work and can script well enough.

P.S. You frighten me!

just so everyone is clear on this.. you can blow apart a nuke, shoot it kick it, hell even beat it with a big stick..

it is a fact that a nuke will not explode unless it is done through it's own fuse and charge.

this is because the functional design of a nuke also acts as one of many safeties.

sticking some C4 to a nuke wont do much other then blow the nuke into bits and scatter it around.

for a nuke to detonate, the explosive sphear around the center mass needs to explode at the exact time in order to compress and activate the cascade effect.

so um yea, enough ranting... so blowing up a nuke will not cause a nuclear explosion.

[Sarge6754 0]

Yes, yes, we know that, but that was not the purpose of the original post. I was just trying to ask if Arma will have more realistic explosion physics... Btw, I've owned OFP since 2001 and I have literally thousands of editor scenarios and full blown missions, long live OFP!

[Kode 0]

Well the more explosives you put, the bigger the explosion... the more satchels you put, the bigger the explosions get, no?

[Journeyman 0]

I'm sure that ArmA will have more realistic explosions. Will they be cumulative? I hope so, but the limit would be governed presumably by PC limitations. I'd rather have smaller explosions than dramatic lag!  

[NeMeSiS 11]

Well the more explosives you put, the bigger the explosion... the more satchels you put, the bigger the explosions get, no?

IIRC a jeep flew higher if you used more satchels, not sure tough, havent played around with them for a while...

[.COMmunist 0]

I wonder if they would make possile to set up your own car bombs by the side of the road. It has been a favorite weapon of you know who ... That would be cool if AA can implement a satchel charge on wheels. Also, the fact that cars and APCs and tanks would literally fly from satchel explosions bothered me from the first day of playing this game. It's just looks so computer gamish. Much better would be to see parts of the car fly everywhere! But tanks should just have pieces of steel fly off, but not move (even when they get hit by AT weapons from the plane). Hand grenades should explode like a bunch of MG bullets flying all directions. This way humans and cars get damage, but APC's and tanks just scratches.

[Kode 0]

It is possible to attach a satchel charge to vehicles in the current OFP. Something that isn't used much, but it is used from time to time. Yes the tanks fly from time to time, but sometimes it was funny   , or dead people flying 20 m higher then the ground.

A game never can be perfect. And well, Arma was always going to be an updated version of OFP, not a brand new thing.  It still has some old signs.

Recently I found something quite interesting:http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20011219/spanel_pfv.htm

Number of Full-Time Developers: 10

Number of Contractors: 3

Estimated Budget: $600,000

Length of Development: Over 4 years

Release Date: June 22 (worldwide except North America), August 29 (North America), 2001

Development Hardware (Average): Various PC systems from 266MHz Pentium IIs to 1GHz Pentium 4s and 1.2GHz Athlons with 20GB hard drives and Voodoo 2 or GeForce 2 graphics cards

Development Software: Windows 98/2000, Linux servers, Visual C++ 6, SourceSafe, Adobe Photoshop 5.0, 3DS Max, Microsoft Office, TextAloud (for voice prototyping)

Proprietary Software: Oxygen (3D low-polygon modeling and texturing tool), Visitor (landscape editor), and some other proprietary data conversion and packing tools

Notable Technologies: DirectX, Vorbis Ogg, Vicon 8 motion capture system

Project Size: 10,000+ files, 250,000 lines of C++ (some assembly), 5,000 textures, 800 3D models, 100,000 words (localized into six other languages), more than 60 single-player and multiplayer missions

I really wonder what it is now.

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

I think it sounds like a great idea.

One of the major things I missed in OFP, was the ability to put a satchel to a jeep for exploting purposes. That way you could make one of your soldiers drive into enemy camps and detonate the thing.

Or maybe drive eject just before a hill, and make the jeep go all the way down empty and then detonate.

[Metal Heart 0]

Satchels do accumulate in power, but not in range I think. So, explosion from 10 satchels doesn't have 10x radius, only 10x force.

satch.avi (1 tank with 1 satchel, other with 10. xvid)