Tank Fire
Posted: 2007-07-29 10:06
First off this mod is brilliant, hats off to all you guys involved, great work.
The one thing that i think has lacked in every military sim that has ever been made is the awesome power that is experienced when a main battle tank fires a shell. At the moment in BF2 and in PR when a tank is fired you get the usual "computer game" puff of smoke from the barrel and a little fire effect explosion on impact and generally has very little effect on the battlefield. And the whole experience feels more like pulling a party popper than launching a
130mm tank round.
I have been lucky enough to experience a tank round live fire in person and it takes your breath away. It feels like someone smacks you in the chest with a hammer, and thats just the shock wave from 50yards! First off, you get an instant large bright fire ball which starts off at the end of the barrel rapidly increasing in size as it rolls in on itself and travells forward. The fireball is gone within about half a second and replaced by a large amount of smoke which drifts around the area for a while afterwards. The whole tank then rocks back on its tracks suspension from the recoil, and the shock wave radiates out from the tank lifting dust and debris into the air from the ground all around.
Then the impact comes, and far from what happens in the films and in every game i have played, a tank shell generally does not make a fireball. Instead, it throws up a huge amount of dirt, smoke, dust and debris into the air, the concussion effect creates a shockwave which creates havok to any structure or vehicle nearby, and the impact site is shrouded in drifting smoke and dust for a long time after detonation. As well as having falling debris littering the area, there is also a fair amount of visible damage to the site.
I know that every detail of this cant be replicated or we would all need rack servers to render the effects, but it must be possible to make a tanks presence on the battle field more forboding by creating a more realistic firing and impact sequence.
If any other PR member has any thoughts on this i would like to hear!
Cheers,
Russ.
The one thing that i think has lacked in every military sim that has ever been made is the awesome power that is experienced when a main battle tank fires a shell. At the moment in BF2 and in PR when a tank is fired you get the usual "computer game" puff of smoke from the barrel and a little fire effect explosion on impact and generally has very little effect on the battlefield. And the whole experience feels more like pulling a party popper than launching a
130mm tank round.
I have been lucky enough to experience a tank round live fire in person and it takes your breath away. It feels like someone smacks you in the chest with a hammer, and thats just the shock wave from 50yards! First off, you get an instant large bright fire ball which starts off at the end of the barrel rapidly increasing in size as it rolls in on itself and travells forward. The fireball is gone within about half a second and replaced by a large amount of smoke which drifts around the area for a while afterwards. The whole tank then rocks back on its tracks suspension from the recoil, and the shock wave radiates out from the tank lifting dust and debris into the air from the ground all around.
Then the impact comes, and far from what happens in the films and in every game i have played, a tank shell generally does not make a fireball. Instead, it throws up a huge amount of dirt, smoke, dust and debris into the air, the concussion effect creates a shockwave which creates havok to any structure or vehicle nearby, and the impact site is shrouded in drifting smoke and dust for a long time after detonation. As well as having falling debris littering the area, there is also a fair amount of visible damage to the site.
I know that every detail of this cant be replicated or we would all need rack servers to render the effects, but it must be possible to make a tanks presence on the battle field more forboding by creating a more realistic firing and impact sequence.
If any other PR member has any thoughts on this i would like to hear!
Cheers,
Russ.