Tank collisionmesh updateFor the next version of FH2, we have gone back and changed the collisionmesh of every tank in the mod. As you can imagine, with almost
one hundred tanks and tank destroyers, not including multiple variants or other vehicles, it was quite some work to rework this system. However, we really wanted to do this in order to get the best tank experience possible on the Battlefield 2 engine.
What was the problem in 2.45?Many shots bounced off, usually from large distances, but also Panzerfausts bounced off of the rearside of Shermans in close quarters. That is not OK. That is why we went in and fixed the collisionmeshes of all tanks in FH2.
Now, you may ask yourself: what is a collisionmesh?
I will try to explain: A tank is built up from a bunch of different '3d models' or in BF2, 'meshes'.
1. You have the visible mesh. Which is the textured one that you see in the game. You also have LOD's, or level of details models, which basically are lower res models which you see on range. Of course you also have the wreck mesh that shows when a tank has been killed. But this article will focus mainly on col0. Anyways, here follows some examples:
Picture of the visible mesh of a Panzer IV Ausf. D:
2. You then have 3 collisionmeshes. These are the meshes which actually interact with the game world; be it with terrain, soldiers or projectiles. They are split up into the following models (in reversed order to fit the article better):
Collisionmesh2 or 'col2', in Battlefield 2 called the 'soldier mesh'. This is a simple mesh of the basic shape of the vehicle, and it affects the way soldiers interact with the tank.
Picture of the col2:
Collisionmesh1 or 'col1', in Battlefield 2 called the 'physical mesh'. This is a very simple mesh around the shape of the vehicle, and it affects the way other vehicles interact with the tank.
Picture of the col1:
Collisionmesh0 or 'col0', in Battlefield 2 called the 'decal mesh'. This mesh interacts with
2 things in the game world.
First it is the mesh on which different 'decals' are drawn. Decals are small images which reflect for example different projectiles hitting the vehicle.
Example picture of decal painted on the decalmesh 'col0':
Secondly, and more importantly, it is the mesh which handles how all projectiles will interact with the vehicle. This is the mesh we use to decide which parts of the tank have which armour thickness etc.
This col0 mesh is the one we have changed for all tanks for the next FH2 version. Previously, before we figured out how to work with the now included anglemod system (which has been explained elsewhere, but basically works in the way that if you hit a surface at a high enough angle, it will deflect and do reduced damage. This allows for more realistic tank battles. In the days before anglemod, you could for example kill the panther easily with even a low caliber gun if even only a small part of the panther side or top armour where exposed.)
Quick picture explaining the anglemod:
The problem was that all our 'col0' were not optimized for anglemod. Rather they were optimized to draw the decals on the right place. The meshes where full of tools, wheels, headlights etc. that would cause a lot of weird deflections from all kinds of angles. Also, since the vehicles of FH2 have been exported by a handful of different people, we also had small differences in how these meshes were made, which even further added to the inconsistency of the tanking system.
Now with the new, simplified and improved collisionmeshes, (almost) all of these weird angles and extras have been removed. Everything is now more consistent. And it also happens to be a lot more similar to how World Of Tanks does it.
Picture of col0 before and after changes:
So, is tankcombat fixed now?YES!! The col0 as described above is now correctly made for all tanks ingame, so the amount of weird shots will diminish in the next version of FH2. Sure, from time to time you will see a shot go wildly in a direction you didn't expect, but it will be a lot less common as in 2.45, and keep in mind that in reality these weird shots existed too.
We are confident that this, together with other adjustments we have made since Fh2 2.45, will improve the tanking experience even further.
- Stubbfan