[Development] New repair and damage mechanics in Ground Vehicle Realistic Battles

[BVV_d 385]

We would like to add a small explanation and emphasize, once again that the purpose of the changes is to make the game in vehicles with unresearched modifications more enjoyable.

 

We do not plan to change the basics of the gameplay in RB with these changes nor how any damage caused affects the game situation. Now, if you have caused functional damage to an enemy, you have some time to destroy him fully but if you did not succeed in doing this the enemy will be able to repair after some time and become dangerous to you again. You still cannot count on the absence of the modification "parts" from the enemy when you fight them. This will remain in the new mechanics, only that those who have not researched the modification will have an improved chance, for example, to get to a capture point and fix it there or approach an ally who can help with the repair and sometimes cover you in a hopeless situation.

 

We are ready to consider various options for these mechanics based on the results of discussions, for example, to do something with damaged gun barrels for a period of time (comparable to the repair kit/parts) in complete disabling of firing, or not to change the mechanics of damaged weapons at all and return only mobility. In our experience the designated critical damage to a gun is serious enough so we decided that it was possible to implement it for RB in this way. But a significant amount of criticism in the mechanics associated with weapons makes us think about other options. Therefore, we expect practical constructive proposals and dialogue from you.

[Ouiche 10,072]

Today, we want discuss possible changes to the damage and unit restoration mechanics in Ground Vehicle Realistic Battles. As you know, currently, repairs of several units and aggregates without the parts modification can be done just by being located at a point you control. If a damaged tank does not get help from friends, it will remain immobile or weaponless until the end of the battle. However, a tank with the researched parts modification can repair damage in 10-30 seconds (depending on the severity of the damage, any crew losses and crew skill level). This is a game feature.

 

After recent discussions regarding modifications and all the changes made in relation to them, we decided to rework this feature in order to take the following considerations into account:

 

• Reduce differences in capabilities for restoring combat readiness between upgraded and non-upgraded vehicles.
• Preserve the current gameplay in Ground Realistic Battles in terms of the importance of damage dealt.
• Make the game more interesting for non-upgraded vehicles.

 

Accordingly, we plan to change the critical damage mechanics by adding quick field repair, available at all times for all vehicles.

It will work in the following way:

 

1. A disabled engine entirely blocks a vehicle’s movement for 20 seconds, after which 40% of its original function is restored.
2. A disabled transmission entirely blocks the vehicle’s movement for 20 seconds, after which the gear shift range is reduced by half.
3. A disabled traverse gear blocks turrets or guns from rotating(traversing) for 15 seconds, after which their rotation speed is limited to 3 degrees/sec.
4. A disabled elevation gear limits the gun elevation range to ±1.5 degrees from the position the gun was in when it was damaged.
5. A destroyed barrel inflicts significant penalties when fired: a 20-fold increase in shot dispersion and shells have 2 times less armour piercing and muzzle velocity.

 

If a ground vehicle is equipped with the parts modification, a player can use it to begin repairs at any time and restore a unit to full combat readiness. But without this modification, it will have to reach a secured point and perform a full repair there. Meanwhile, the option of getting repair assistance from party members or allies for light equipment has been entirely preserved. The processes of automatic partial unit recovery and manually activated repairs occur in parallel and do not influence each other in any way.

 

We think these changes will produce a positive effect on gameplay for stock ground vehicles and will simplify their function without changing the general mechanics of fighting in Realistic Battles. We invite all players to take part in a constructive dialogue about this and look forward to your discussion comments.

 

We would like to add a small explanation and emphasize, once again that the purpose of the changes is to make the game in vehicles with unresearched modifications more enjoyable.

 

We do not plan to change the basics of the gameplay in RB with these changes nor how any damage caused affects the game situation. Now, if you have caused functional damage to an enemy, you have some time to destroy him fully but if you did not succeed in doing this the enemy will be able to repair after some time and become dangerous to you again. You still cannot count on the absence of the modification "parts" from the enemy when you fight them. This will remain in the new mechanics, only that those who have not researched the modification will have an improved chance, for example, to get to a capture point and fix it there or approach an ally who can help with the repair and sometimes cover you in a hopeless situation.

 

We are ready to consider various options for these mechanics based on the results of discussions, for example, to do something with damaged gun barrels for a period of time (comparable to the repair kit/parts) in complete disabling of firing, or not to change the mechanics of damaged weapons at all and return only mobility. In our experience the designated critical damage to a gun is serious enough so we decided that it was possible to implement it for RB in this way. But a significant amount of criticism in the mechanics associated with weapons makes us think about other options. Therefore, we expect practical constructive proposals and dialogue from you.

 

---

The War Thunder Team

 

[ANTIMATTER 48]

Seems like as per usual AB is being completely ignored? 

Edited November 13, 2018 by Stona
offtopic removed

[Stona 52,101]

Just now, ANTIMATTER said:

Seems like as per usual AB is being completely ignored? 

 

Try to re-read the article. Topic described in it is not related to AB mixed battles.

[Firnen_ 6,919]

1 minute ago, ANTIMATTER said:

Seems like as per usual AB is being completely ignored? 

 

AB already had the features described in this post for a long time. If anything, RB had been ignored until now.

[Hardmoor 1,751]

2 minutes ago, ANTIMATTER said:

Seems like as per usual AB is being completely ignored? 

doesn't AB allow you to use your tank even with destroyed modules, move with destroyed engine/transmission, shoot with destroyed barrel/breech?

 

 

[SoloWing_Makarov 20]

3 minutes ago, ANTIMATTER said:

Seems like as per usual AB is being completely ignored? 

It's actually how it works in arcade.

[Mattia_7 247]

i dont like this idea

[kololz 453]

Sounds like that RB is going to the direction of AB+ with these changes. Doesn't mean that I hate it, its actually decent for stock vehicles! +1 from me

(Slightly offtopic and gonna be hated by yall) Also, if applicable, it'd be good to remove Parts and the ability to repair combat damage for SB if we're testing new things out ,lul.

[TealMillan 4,122]

As a player, I for one really like these changes. They don't really seem to take away much in terms of realism when your baseline is a vehicle with a repair kit that could fix most of these things "entirely", yet they'll help gameplay of not yet upgraded vehicles to feel a lot less futile at unfortunate times. It'll also allow a little bit more of a second chance to vehicles that're critically damaged and simultaneously on fire, which'd entirely prevent them from fighting back, otherwise.

[Oldschool22 33]

This is a very good change for realistic, now about that FPE...

[DrNukinstein 18]

I have to say, I didn't think you'd do it after the RP reduction for Parts/FPE, but thank you Gaijin, this honestly means alot, now even the most stock vehicles will be able to be played without quite so much rage

[Wallia_Marseille 405]

So we can expect this change in 1.85?

[Zahltag 13]

31 minutes ago, Ouiche said:

 

...

 

Many people will probably criticize this in a bad way, but after thinking about this for a bit I came to the conclusion that this is the best possible solution for the stock problem! Realistic or not, this will definitely make tank rb way less frustrating, which I am glad about! Thank you for listening to the community!

[tangerine_flugel 120]

I would personally prefer it if you had to first repair the item then you get to use them again but with the penalty if you have no repair kit installed until you reach a cap to fully repair at, maybe even with a penalty to repair time. At the moment these changes feel too arcadey for my likings, but as they stand they are better than the current system.

[Zahltag 13]

Many people will probably criticize this in a bad way, but after thinking about this for a bit I came to the conclusion that this is the best possible solution for the stock problem! Realistic or not, this will definitely make tank rb way less frustrating, which I am glad about! Thank you for listening to the community!

 

[PPAce 836]

I think this sounds like a great idea. It can be incredibly frustrating when your tank is damaged, especially immobilized, and you're stuck for ages in one spot because you don't have parts, with your only option being to become a bunker and hope an enemy blunders into you. I think with this feature, there's a good middle ground - when you are hit and take damage, it had a big immediate impact on your ability to fight, and your enemy can take advantage of your problems, but if you survive the engagement you aren't stuck just sitting there/bailing out. This should really make the early grind to get parts a lot more bearable, and I think it sounds like a great idea.

 

Now, the one question I have: What if you get set on fire? Sure, fpe doesn't have to be stock. It can be a grind. But how about you add fpe to the list of things light/support vehicles can do? So if you are set on fire, and a light/support tank pulls up next to you, they can put the fire out, and maybe get a small rp & sl reward for doing so? I think this would further help to reduce the tedium of grinding parts&fpe, as well as encourage teamwork, and add another level of gameplay to light tanks.

[Guest gshq88]

This Mechanic is extremely welcomed, but I do feel that 20 seconds for the "minor" repair works is a bit too long and could potentially still allow the enemies to take a shot at you. Maybe standardise everything and keep it down to 15 seconds for everything all together, just a thought for consideration.

[Jupiter_Kompot 389]

Tanks that can shoot with destroyed gun barrels, can start moving their gun again with destroyed traverse without even having to stop to repair and other such things belong in Arcade. Stop trying to turn RB into AB. Mixed battles and arcade maps in RB are already bad enough as is.

Restoration of modules must require the vehicle to be immobile and repair times must be increased.

[igeticsu 3,295]

I feel like the penalty for the gunbarrel might be a bit too harsh, but overall these are some fantastic changes! a good big step in the right direction

[_desertfox_ 2]

I think these changes are very nice and will certainly help to ease the stock grind on vehicles, I have one question, with these new changes, if the gun breech is severely damaged or destroyed, will you have to go to a captured point to repair or can the breech be slightly repaired such that the firing time is doubled (or something like that). I understand this was not touched upon in the article and I assume you would still have to repair at a captured point, but is this feature implemented with these changes or will it be implemented ever?   

 

 

[Kaizy 2,283]

This is exactly what have I suggested during the FPE/Parts discussion. The grind of these upgrades is not the problem. The fact that a tank without them can not do anything for the rest of the battle with certain damage is. I suggested having all damaged parts that can not be repaired work 100% worse until repaired, this is similar and I really like this approach.

[March_or_Die 143]

Looks great to me, how about adding a repair station at the start points of a battle, so like a real battle you can retire to the start point get fully repaired as it was for real warfare in WWII?

[ANYangeloVV 475]

Please No Gainjn!
this would transform RB in AB part 2! i want to be SAFE and rewarded by my skill destroying a tank barrel or breech, or immobilizing a foe hitting the engine!
just no... please no! The "help request" for stock players is enough to enjoy stok vehicles to me

[RAM_AIR_IV 18]

Will these changes also be in sim battles?

[Iron_physik 2,560]

I love this change!!!

 

This is what I had in mind with my original thread that kinda started it all on the forums.

 

It is a good change and I'm happy that the devteam goes this way.

 

 

 

HOWEVER!

I'm still not 100% satisfied.

A change in the fire prevention mechanics to feature at least 1 charge of the extinguisher [Tanks] or a basic extinguishing time [Navy] would be good.

 

P.S.

Will the repair mechanic change be also be implemented to naval forces?