Tank Destruction (and some vehicles as well)

[SShadowFox]

So, I don't know what happens once a tank is "destroyed", but as I'm sure that a tank armor isn't composed of a percussion-activated explosive, it won't just explode after being hit by a solid shell.

Here is the suggestion:

After the tank is "destroyed", it won't just explode, it'll be disabled and start catching fire, the crew will be forced to leave the tank in order to survive (they won't be eject nor killed once the tank starts burning), maybe the crew can have some sort of fire extinguisher to be used if they managed to knock-out the enemy tank(s) before being forced to leave, this can be used to make the tank operational again, however, it'll be damaged (turret and engine not working as intended, could cause some misfires), they would have to bring it back to base, or somewhere else, in order to give it repairs so it can be fully operational again.

Here is what a burning tank should look like, including also some heavy smoke going up in the air:

If the crew can't get take the fire out, the fire will start spreading to the turret, and at that point, nothing can be done anymore:

Then, after maybe some minutes, it'll finally explode, as the fire reaches the ammo compartment.

Of course it can be different, for example if a tank manage to hit the ammo or fuel compartment at first, maybe it could explode right away, if it is realistic.

That's all folks, any feedback about this suggestion will be appreciated.

 

[VonMudra]

Realism issue is simply that tank crews didn't stay in their tanks when they were hit. A penetrating hit meant that not only was there imminent danger of the tank catching fire and the ammo going off, but that an enemy tank had you in its sights and was preparing a follow up shot to ensure destruction. If you were lucky enough to survive long enough to process this in your head (many weren't), then the only thing going through your mind was to escape and run very very fast. Only way to really show this ingame would be to make a penetrating shot disable the entire tank and only leave a few seconds for the player to leave the tank.

Crews did sometimes have fire extinguishers, but this was for small electrical fires. It could never put out a raging engine fire, much less ammunition. Indeed, if an engine caught fire like in that screenshot, the entire crew would be dead or horribly burned as they made their escape, as the flames would be sucked into the intakes and fill the entire crew compartment long before they reached that height. Fear of death by fire was rather incredible, there was one case where a Sherman tank actually knocked out two German tanks by firing smoke rounds at them. The intakes sucked in the smoke, filling the fighting compartments, and the german crews abandoned their tanks immediately, believing the tanks were on fire.

Being a tanker sucked hard.

I will also offer this as an example of what a tank brewing up can actually look like:

 

[_Franky_]

Geez Louise, that tank blowing up was a scary sight @VonMudra. But thanks for the feedback @SShadowFox. You did indeed raise some interesting points to consider. Any such functionality in relation to tanks will of course require some custom code, which is always where things get tricky. But I'm sure we can find a good way to realistically implement such scenarios eventually

 

[Roughbeak]

Wow, I agree with Franky, that was a doozy.

Adding some screen shake would be nice too, like that video showed.

 

[LuckyOne]

All I can say, shaky screen, bluriness, ringing in the ears, smoke slowly filling up the HUD... Make me feel like I'm in a steel coffin when in a penetrated tank, not the usual representation in the games where you hear a loud "ping", and see your healthbar go down, and think, "alright, that shot came from the left, now I just need to move my mouse a bit left...*BANG*... There, all done." Make me panic and bail out, and if I decide to stay to my death, make it so that in the event I manage to kill the attacker it is something heroic and extraordinary, and needs to be done fast before I burn to death!

Also, I know we probably won't get multi-crew tanks (at least not obligatory or AI controlled) but some nice voice acting could go a long way...

The modular damage in terms of track damage, turret jamming, dead engine, broken periscopes would also be a nice touch in making tank game-play more immersive. I can live without it, but it would be nice for a modern game to have it...

Oh, and if we get multiple slots on the tanks (for hull gunner, "commander") details like sticking your head out of the hatch to take a look through the binocs would be cool. And enough slots for tank riders (don't know what's the limit with Cry3 here), so you can help out with transporting troops.

 

[VonMudra]

As far as I know, modular damage is a big maybe in the engine. However I am def going to work on getting a suppression ingame for tankers, so that even non-penetrating shots jar the player, and penetrating shots basically make it impossible to do much of anything but bail out.

 

[General Naga]

Modular systems are very possible. Some source rewriting may be required to refine the shell penetration aspects but overall there is an awful lot of potential for tanks - it's really very exciting for those of us who like them

 

[Kevino]

not sure how the hud/mini map will be shown, but was thinking if you had a 2cd player in your tank while you are driving the hud/mini map would show more details/terain etc...

 

[LuckyOne]

not sure how the hud/mini map will be shown, but was thinking if you had a 2cd player in your tank while you are driving the hud/mini map would show more details/terain etc...

Oh yeah, that would be cool! Expanded minimap, better line of sight, ability to spot targets? (when having a "commander") or maybe the radio would enable you to communicate with the other tanks directly (when having a hull gunner) or some simillar "buffs" for multiple players... That way you get even more incentive for helping out your tankers!

 

[VonMudra]

Well, in theory, even without a 2nd crewman, the crewmen are all technically "there" otherwise the tank wouldn't be working so well

Also wouldn't that already be handled by the 2nd crewman having his own line of sight?

Good to hear from people who know better (this is why I'm not a coder) that we can indeed do some modular system damage. Huzzah! :3

 

[Fliper]

War Thunder - Next-Gen MMO Combat Game for PC, Mac and Playstation4 | Play for free now! - Developers' Diaries: Ground Forces Damage Model [Part 1]

Developers' Diaries: Ground Forces Damage Model [Part 2] - News discussion - War Thunder - Official Forum

 

[Feldmeijer]

*sigh*
I'm quite sure that they are already working on this.

In fact, if you look it up in the media section, you can actually see some very early tank combat.