The second time my aircraft ammunition rework topic was not approved.
To be fair I wasn’t really happy with it and wanted to close it anyway.
It takes like a whole day or two to write about everything in detail, so instead of wasting more time I decided to first write a thread on the forums and fill in the pieces one by one.
I’ll start with an overview and over the course of the next days, weeks or months, finish the it.
Let’s start with one of the many reasons why a rework is necenssay:
Inconsistencies (War Thunders bread and butter) and straight up non sense performance:
One example of inconsistencies is how shells deal different damage for no apparant reason:
Another is how different the result can be from the same round:
Next we move to non-sense performance of shells. From 20mm rounds failing to take out a pilot, with direct hits, deal any damage at all or realShatters absurd structural damage:
I hope this paints a picture of why a re-work of aircraft ammunition is long overdue.
- Shells performance vary wildly due to performance being hardcoded
- Shells overperform or are straight up useless
- Some mechanics are oversimplified and not realistic
So the first step in an ammunition re-work is going to be a Universal System, very similiar to the how the penetration calculator unified the performances based on the shell stats.
For that we just need the relevant data of the shells:
- Weight
- Velocity
- Aerodyanamic properties
- Shell Type
- Explosive filler
- Incendiary filler
- Tracer filler
- Tracer burn time
- Self-destruct time
- Fuze Type
- Fuzing Properties
Most of that data is already implemented in the game but because a lot of the performance is hard-coded, a 12.7mm API with 1g of incendiary filler has the same or higher chance to cause fires as 20mm API or Incendiary rounds with 2-8g of incendiary filler.
Ammunition types and performance:
Ball ammunition (LMGs, HMGs):
MG Ball ammunition is the most common form of ammunition for MGs. It’s typically a jacketed hard-lead core, which gives the bullet weight, reducing speed loss, giving the round more range, particular for use on the ground.
For HMGs, Ball ammunition is often similiar to AP ammunition, but uses an unhardened steel core, reducing production cost.
Thus Ball has in general reduced armor penetration performance, but due to bullet tumbling after impact, which greatly reduces armor piercing performance of AP bullets, the difference might be a lot smaller than expected during air combat.
The engine is really the only component which could potentially receive more damage from AP ammunition than Ball.
7.92mm Ball bullet (12.8g compared to AP with 11.55g)
Practice shells (Cannon)
Practice rounds generally resemble explosive cannon shells, but are drilled out and hollow, to match their ballistic performance.
While, as the name implies, the rounds are used for practice purposes, like adjusting cannons and testing propeller synchronisation, they were also sometimes used in combat, generally as armor piercing substitute. Most armor found on aircraft can be penetrated by 20mm practice ammunition, simply by overmatching it, with flat noses aiding in the process. Thus the engine again becomes the only part of the aircraft which might receive more damage from AP rounds in comparison.
20mm Hispano Practice ammunition, for example, will outperform less powerfull cannons AP rounds when it comes to defeating 7-12mm armor plates found on planes, making the round quite viable for air combat, only losing in effectivens when targeting thicker armor on ground vehicles.
20mm Hispano Practice shell
In the future I’ll talk in detail about the following:
- Ammunition Types, their performance and implementation
– Aerodynamics
– Kinetic Rounds
– Fragmentation damage
– Blast damage
– Incendiary performance - Damage to modules
