Bis: age-old tank glitches everyone hates

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

Hey Ether Dragon were you a tanker yourself?My dad was a tanker back in the 80's.He served in the M1A1, out in Texas at Fort Hood (if i remeber right) in the 1st CAV (cant remeber to).I really dont know bout tanks my self, i just ask my dad bout all this stuff and some times he cant answer my questions, cause it is either Top secret or he forgot.

About the ammo, my dad said that there were 4 diffrent rounds they had in the tank, Sabot,HEAT,HEAP and AP.I cant remeber how many of each they carried.

About armour, my dad told me a story that when out in training, his friend accedently drove a M1A1 into a huge rock (cant remeber if it was front or back) and the armour just broke open.Since the armour was top secret, they had to duct tape the hole shut, till they got it repaired.Tuff huh?All though it is designed to with stand anti tank rounds, other things can destroy the armor like boulders or huge rocks.So maybe why not just shoot rocks at the tank?Not a bad idea

[Wreck-It 0]

The tanks work well for me. I always gun, and have an AI driving. I usually make them move by giving them a point on the map to go to. Whatever the radio messaging happening, even without my orders beeing herd or written in the sub-titlles, My AI alway gets moving instataneously. Thrue some AI really don't behave well, but my theory is that if skill is set to low for a unit when the mission was edited, that particular unit just can't figure out what the hell or how to go about doing what you are asking him to do.

OFP is a splendid game for that detail; like in thrue life even the army has idiots to contend with...

[Puddle 0]

hey while this subject was to solve REAL bugs, I got some more suggestions to solve these Old Age bugs .

1- When a depleted type of ammo (TOW, heat or sabot) we should be able to rearm it as well. Curently now, if u used all ur sabot or heat you cant rearm it. Same thing for TOWs on M2a2, we cant rearm the 2 stacks of it, we just can reload only 2 TOW.

2- T80 cannon should be stronger than the M1a1 as it supposed to be. Read here:

http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin....t=10229

[Wreck-It 0]

But dude, You CAN rearm, you just need the ammo put on the map by the mission's editor. I have a couple of untested ammo names on my website's PBO editing page. So far i've managed to re-arm Apaches and shilkas

[Puddle 0]

thats not what I mean bud, I know we can rearm. I mean when u got a type of ammo depleted u cant rearm it.

I give you 2 exemples. Your in a T80 or M1a1. You have used all your Sabots (0 left) ammo and you're automaticly switch to HEAT. But when you go to the ammo truck, you can reload HEAT only!

When You begin with an M2a2, u have 2 TOWs ready and you have 2 clips of TOWs. But if you used all your TOWs (0 left) you can only reload 2 TOWs, you cant reload TOWs clips.

[Gourka 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (WKK Gimbal @ April 19 2002,01:22)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">There's a couple of glitches which has been around since V.1.0

Lot's of people have mentioned them and some have even given up on tanks completely. In other words, these simple glitches really compromise the tank experience...

If they're not fixed for OFP, could they please be for Resistance? Pretty please? Down-on-my-knees please?

Here they are:

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Numero 1

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Target calling blocks the vehicle radio, so the commander can't issue targets or command fire (or moves).

Pure AI controlled tanks are not limited by this - they usually always gets the first shot in close quarters, because you can't issue any orders. There's even about 2 secs of silence after the target call before you can order anything!

Modern tanks have targeting computers. Couldn't we just say that the computers called out the targets (silently) so you could get on with the game and not die?<span id='postcolor'>

When I explain this problem 5 months ago Tank commander the only 1 answer are: check for "input delay". So I am happy to see it's not my PC config but maybe a real bug/problem.  

[Ether Dragon 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (SKULLS_Viper @ April 24 2002,16:57)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hey Ether Dragon were you a tanker yourself?My dad was a tanker back in the 80's.He served in the M1A1, out in Texas at Fort Hood (if i remeber right) in the 1st CAV (cant remeber to).I really dont know bout tanks my self, i just ask my dad bout all this stuff and some times he cant answer my questions, cause it is either Top secret or he forgot.

About the ammo, my dad said that there were 4 diffrent rounds they had in the tank, Sabot,HEAT,HEAP and AP.I cant remeber how many of each they carried.

About armour, my dad told me a story that when out in training, his friend accedently drove a M1A1 into a huge rock (cant remeber if it was front or back) and the armour just broke open.Since the armour was top secret, they had to duct tape the hole shut, till they got it repaired.Tuff huh?All though it is designed to with stand anti tank rounds, other things can destroy the armor like boulders or huge rocks.So maybe why not just shoot rocks at the tank?Not a bad idea <span id='postcolor'>

Yep.  I was a tanker in the 1st Cav out of Ft. Hood myself, from '88 to '91.  My guess is that your dad served on the M1, not the M1A1.  1st Cav. didn't switch to the newer M1A1 until 1990 when we arrived in Saudi Arabia.  It's possible that some units in the division rolled over before that, but I never heard of any.  We all trained on M1A1's prior to that roll over, however, and were versed in the differences in mechanics and function.

I performed in every station of the tank, though my loader days could probably be counted on one hand.  I'd say most of my time was spent in the driver position, which I loved.  As the driver, I was responsible for most of the maintenance on my tank, and I have to say I knew it's workings pretty darn well.

About the armor, I won't tell you anything your dad can't.  I will tell you that the armor he speaks of is the exception, not the rule.  It's only one small part of the tank's armor make-up, and there is plenty of conventional armor in the mix as well.

SABOT (armor piercing,) HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank (light armor,)) HEP (High Explosive Plastic (bunkers, buildings, etc.,)) and Bee-hive (anti-personell) rounds all existed for the tank.  By the time I served, all but SABOT and HEAT were being phased out of use.  In fact, those two were the only ones that we ever carried.  HEAT could do the job of HEP, and the tank sported three independant MG's, which filled the anti-personell role arguably better than a slow firing shotgun blast from the main gun could.

EDIT: BTW, if you want to get a chuckle out of your dad, let him read my signature. That should bring back some memories.

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

Wow you were in the 1st CAV to!?Oh i asked my dad about if he drove the M1 or the M1A1 and he said the M1A1.It had a 105mm gun on it, not a 120mm.My dad was in from '79 to '82 or '83.I remeber my dad telling me that he went to Saudi to drop off some M1A1's and he M2A2's for the Saudis to test .He also told me about the close to death experiance he had when out there.Some Saudi freeks armed with AK's threatend to kill them, if they didnt leave.They thought they were Isrealis.But they had to show them proof that the were not Isrealis.

My dad also told me that it is illeigal to drink Pepsi in Saudi, dont know why though.

I dont think you probley meet my dad, but i could ask.His name is Carl Shunk, i'll see if i could get more info.

Later

 

[advocatexxx 0]

If your dad says the M1A1 had a 105mm gun then he is mistaken. No M1A1s were ever fielded with a 105mm gun. Only the original M1s had it. It was part of the improvement package the M1A1 received. It uses the smoothbore Rheinmettal 120mm gun manufactured in Germany, the same type used on Leopard 2 series.

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

I have to say my dad drove the M1 not the M1A1.Its been realy long time.About 14 years ago, so my dad probley forgot.But he said his tank had a 105mm, so it probley is the original M1.Later

[Redline 0]

I'm looking to join or start an OFP Tank & Armored Cavalry unit.

If interested please contact me.

Redline

ICQ 3108253

richdiaz99@yahoo.com

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

Ok i called my dad up and asked which tank he drove and he said the M1 not the M1A1, my mistake. Like i said, i absoulutly know nothing bout M1's.So you guys are correct.Later

[advocatexxx 0]

Speaking of tanks, after a couple of hours in Photoshop and 3D software I managed to come up with this heavily manipulated screenshot.  It's a KE DU arrow caught in the air.  If you look hard enough you can see the burning sabot halves disintegrating in the rear (look at their shadow).

For 1600x1200 version click here  (541KB)

Hopefully they'll post them on Flashpoing CZ soon (if they like it).

Just for the record, this is a real photo of a sabot falling off the arrow

Of course mine doesn't look anywhere as good as that, for if it did I'd probably be working for ILM.

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

Wow nice picture!

[nyles 11]

Some more things related to tanks:

-Moving down trees: I kinda like to be able to crush any huge tree in my way, but I would love to see some small resistance from the trees. Basically they should slow you down a bit, depending on your own speed. At full speed it should be a tad easier to crush multiple trees before comming to a halt than when slowly bumping a tree. Currently you only have to gently touch a tree/sign/power line for it to collapse. There should be some more resistance which should also consider the size and type of whatever fauna you want to overrun. A hedge would simply be mowed down while a huge tree could in fact stop you if you are slow enough. Might be too much work for the cause, though, but still an idea.

-Friendly fire: the last days if have seen a huge amount of friendly fire from the AI. I always thought FF had been taken care of due to that fireline check before engaging. Doesn't happen that often but still way too often for my taste.

-Update on that improvement suggestions for radio usage:

When I recently played that single mission Heavy Metal again, I noticed that the AI interferes on each others radio commands. For example a tank commander orders fire missions to its gunner while in the same time the platoon commander issues new cooridnates to move to.

If this vary same thing would be allowed to human players the radio system might already be improved by ten times compared to the current handling. Just remove that delay for humans which restricts to interfere with already given radio commands by other players or AI.

I have to say that while playing this mission as driver with the rest being AI, it was kinda hectical from time to time as there were tons of overlapping radio orders, but the whole atmosphere was more exiting because of that very chaos.

[Guest]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Nyles @ April 27 2002,17:32)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">-Friendly fire: the last days if have seen a huge amount of friendly fire from the AI. I always thought FF had been taken care of due to that fireline check before engaging. Doesn't happen that often but still way too often for my taste.<span id='postcolor'>

You probably have the US version of OFP

[nyles 11]

no, i don't.

Another thing about targeting:

It happens quiet often, when you engage enemy forces and some of your team ignore them.

This includes badly crippled but still intact tanks. They simply refuse to fire on such targets. Normally I don't have a problem with this, as both the target and my units ignore each other so no-one fights, but in case of this specific targerts destruction being a mission objective this can be really annoying. Sometimes they fire on the target on a later time  but mostly this won't happen before another 10-20 minutes have pasted. If you are stuck in a non-combat postion like the driver in Heavy Metal you have no chance to kill this unit apart from maybe get out and pick some missile launcher from a dead soldier. One time a damaged t72 followed us from the middle of the map until we arrived at the last town. Neither my ai teammates nor the ai t72 fired, even though they often targeted each other. My suspicion is that this might be related to that fleeing feature, where hurt units flee the battle. When they rally sometime later and come back, they are not beind considered targets. Not sure if this is the reason, but it might be interesting to look this up in the code.

Anyways, I would like to see some improvement in the subject of targeting and target handling.

Movement: When you are moving around in column formation (which once again refers to the Heavy Metal single mission) and pass from one waypoint to another, your units mostly stop when reaching a new waypoint and randomly turn around a bit. In case of the lead tank turning even by a small degree only, the whole formation is nullified as the following tanks try to maintain formation and move accordingly so the end up behind the lead tank. When the unit moved along a road and the next waypoint being on that same road again, they still don't stay in formation along that road but loose formation ignoring the road.

For me, this doen's really look very good even though its only a minor thing. Looking into pathfinding again, could really bring up some nice tweaks in this sector. One quick fix could be to simply disallow tanks to turn on the spot after they reached a waypoint as long as they don't want to face enemy units. This would also improve mission where players want to simulate a front line with some units pointing at a specific direction. In standard missions without the use of scripting, this is made impossible as most units turn on the spot randomly when idling around.

Again not very important points, but still I want to post them as they might be easy to adjust and come along in an upcomming patch as well.