[Mass testing] Changes in the mechanics of projectile damage.

Hello, survivors! Like we promised earlier, it’s time for the next phase of testing the updated mechanics of projectile damage. Today we are ready to present to you a variant in which we have made the majority of the necessary changes in the parameters of parts.

We remind you that all the new features described in this news are not final and may be changed before they are introduced into the game or may not make it into the game at all.
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[h2]Important information[/h2]
Please note that the test server may contain various flaws, old or technical descriptions of parts and in-game bugs. This is due to the fact that work on the updated mechanics is not finished and will be continued later on. The changes are not planned to be added to the game servers in the next update, because all of the above will need to be corrected or finalized when the mechanics themselves will be final.

Contrary to popular belief, we’d like to specifically note that the purpose of the changes is not to get rid of the “screen armour”. Our main task is to ensure that this way of building the car is not an ultimate solution, caused by the technical features of the game.

The fact that the “screens” can move the point of explosion away or, thanks to the voids, let the projectile through is normal. Their effectiveness will depend on the weapon of the enemy, the assembled vehicle and the skills of the players. It won’t work the same way in different situations (as it’s happening now due to the strict 2-meter limitation).

Like last time, on the test server we ask you to participate in PvP battles (missions) more often so that we can gather the most detailed statistics.
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[h2]What has changed since the previous testing?[/h2]
[h3]Piercing coefficient[/h3]
During the first testing, projectiles would disappear/explode after they had used up all firearm damage. The explosion of the projectile meant that it dealt 100% of its firearm damage to parts.

This time we have added new mechanics that allow you to adjust this value. Let’s call it the “piercing coefficient”. First, we will explain how the mechanics work, and then the reasons for its appearance in the game.


In the characteristics of the weapon (in the “features” section), a parameter has appeared that shows the value of the penetration coefficient. By the presence of this parameter you can understand if the global changes in projectile damage mechanics (removal of the 2-meter limitation) apply to your weapon as well. If you don’t see this parameter, then your weapon was not affected.

A parameter value of 80% means that the projectile will disappear/explode after it hits more than 80% of firearm damage. The checking of how much damage the projectile has dealt is done after the damage has been dealt.

For example: the projectile has 100 pts. of firearm damage and a piercing coefficient of 80%. Let’s consider 2 situations:

1. The projectile hits a part with 90 pts. of durability, the projectile will spend 90% of its damage, and then it will disappear or explode, because this value is greater than 80%.
   
2. The projectile hits a part that has 40 pts. of durability. It destroys it and goes further, because it inflicted only 40% of firearm damage. The next part on its way has 100 pts. of durability. The projectile will deal 60 damage to it and disappear or explode, because in total it dealt 100% of damage, which is more than 80%.
   

This way, before disappearing or exploding, the projectile will deal a total from 80% (piercing coefficient value) to 100% of its firearm damage.

Such mechanics are required for greater flexibility in weapon configuration. It allows you to further adjust the minimum amount of damage that a projectile can inflict on parts on its way, without affecting the maximum damage to one part.

[h3]Structural parts[/h3]
The changes concern only structural parts that increase the durability of the vehicle.

The parts of each faction have their own durability to mass ratio. We have improved this ratio by increasing durability. The “lighter” the faction, the greater the bonus (in %) it has received.

Also, we have added resistance to different types of damage (firearm, explosive, thermal, energy) to the parts that increase the durability of the vehicle (if they do not have other features, such as “Lets damage through”). The set of resistances depends on the faction.

Resistances should be a bonus rather than a fundamental parameter for selecting a part, and should add some uniqueness to each faction and add variety to the process of assembling the vehicle.



[h3]Frames[/h3]

• The durability of all frames has been increased by 2.5 times. On the contrary, the “lets damage through” and “resistance to melee damage” stats were reduced to 75% and 25%, respectively. The idea is that the frame will pass less damage to the parts behind it, but its survivability will remain the same.
  

[h3]Changes in weapon parameters[/h3]

• Durability of many weapons has been increased;
  
• Cannons and turret cannons: blast damage reduced by 10%. This value has been transferred to projectile firearm damage to save the damage to a single part;
  
• Firearm damage for all rocket launchers has been removed (including Yokai);
  
• Median: damage reduced by 11%;
  
• Kaiju: burst length reduced from 14 to 12 projectiles. With the new mechanics, the recently increased burst length proved to be redundant;
  
• Astraeus: projectile speed reduced by 20%;
  
• Prosecutor and Executioner: explosion radius reduced by 33%. With the new mechanics, the recently increased radius turned out to be redundant (perk description will not be updated during this testing);
  

The mechanics of the “Prosecutor” and “Executioner” perks work in such a way that the first 2 “pins” of the part are pierced by the projectile without taking into account the durability of the pierced parts (and therefore without loss of damage). Then the calculation of the durability of the destroyed parts begins (according to the general principle, like with all standard projectiles).

• Scorpion: increased value by which damage multiplier drops after a part is pierced (perk description will not be updated during this testing);
  

Now after a part is pierced, the damage multiplier is not static as before, but constantly decreases with each pierced part. The size of the multiplier depends on how much damage the “Scorpion” projectile didn’t deal to the previous part. This way, “Scorpion” will be able to deal more consistent, but at the same time, limited damage.

• The impulse of crossbows is applied at the first contact with the part, not with the last;
  
• “Skinner”, as well as mines of “Kapkan” and “Jubokko”, no longer shoot through parts that pass damage and can cling to them.
  

[h3]Changes to weapons with “hitscan” mechanics (machine guns, shotguns, etc.)[/h3]

• As we noted earlier, we cannot remove the “2-meter limitation” from such weapons without significant performance losses. In order to reduce the effectiveness of parts that pass damage relative to such weapons, the limitation has been increased up to three meters. During mass testing, we will evaluate the changes in performance and load on the server. If the changes in performance turn out to be acceptable, the increased restriction will be added into the game along with the new mechanics.
  

[h3]Hovers[/h3]

• Now hovers don’t receive additional damage when a projectile hits their side projection;
  
• Icarus VII:
  
  • Tonnage increased to 900 kg;
    
  • Speed reduced to 90 km/h;
    
  • Reduced flight altitude.
    

[h3]Explosive modules[/h3]

• Damage from the explosion of such modules reduced by 20%;
  
• Decreased explosion impulse.