I've read the wiki and run my own spreadsheets. Some of it makes sense like projectile energy. But it seems that the thickness of an item only becomes a factor once the overall health pool (armor value) has been depleted. Whereas in real life, there is no such thing as a "health pool" and thickness matters at the moment of impact. For instance. A 1m x 1m steel plate that is only 1 mm thick has a volume of 1,000,000 mm3. But if shot perpendicular to the 1mm face, it won't stop anything. But a 25mm thick plate that is 100mm x 200mm (half the volume at 500,000mm3) shot perpendicular to the 25mm plate will stop a lot. The thickness and density matter from the moment of impact. I would like to see the armor value mechanic scrapped completely in favor of an armor mechanic based on the thickness and armor of the material it is made of. This would allow much more variety of armor on ships instead of favoring big bulky plates that are often large squares. If you don't want box ships, don't make large squares the only armor that is good. In summary, take this suggestion into consideration, but more importantly, even if you don't implement it in this manner, please rework armor mechanics.
Armor value mechanic sucks
- Thread starter Naija
- Start date
- Tags armor ship combat ship design
I completely respect the decision to prioritize performance over better armor simulation. And there are other things in the game that deserver more attention at the moment. But there are a variety of calculations being run behind the scenes during a projectile impact. The health pool concept that preserves performance until the plate is compromised can be kept, but should just include thickness as well.
