Show Penetration Info / Messages about damage

[INFInitesadness]

In my opinion, one of the biggest barriers to entry for new players understanding how to fight tanks, at least in vMoW is having to know roughly how much armor enemy tanks have, and how much penetration they will *Actually* need to penetrate the armor. Experienced players have an idea of how much frontal / side armor say a Tiger has, a new player however doesn't know that information. I have a couple friends who didn't understand how this worked, and it immediately turned them off from the game. It's not fun to have to memorize armor and penetration data to have a fighting chance.

As such, either with show penetration data, or a new option I'd like to see the penetration cursor changed to a 3 part system

How much Penetration your gun has /Penetration Required (How much Armor @ Relative Slope) - Range

So it would look like this: 115 / 105 (100 @ 10) - 125m

While the color system does this to a degree, it's also not entirely reliable.

Also, the "Tips" you get before the game, at least one of them should explain how slope effects penetration, including artificial slope created by angling a tank.

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There should also be a 3rd option for show messages about damage, where it shows them for friendly vehicles, but not for enemy vehicles.

I personally hate the enemy knowing when my crew is confused, or immediately knowing when they've damaged a critical component, especially with artillery; but it's also frustrating for some people to have to look at their own vehicles to see whats wrong with them an in between solution would be ideal.

[ComradeMirror]

I have to agree with Infi, he makes good points and this would be very helpful to new players and make the overall experience less frustrating.

[GoLambo]

I DO memorize penetration data and I agree with this. It's one of the biggest barriers to entry for most of my friends because it becomes a needle threading deathmatch where the player who best knows how to exploit perfect angles and exact ranges just dominates. I understand competitive advantage, I use it all the time, but up front there needs to be more information to help new players accumulate to the game. A system like infi explained is probably the simplest and most effective way to help everyone with penetration.

And his second point is spot on and something I've always wished for, I think this was the default setting in Combat Mission ages ago? I want to know what happens to my tanks right away, but I don't want the advantages you get with knowing the status of another players vehicle.

[PlusPatton]

Yea, agreed. Newer players need a better way to learn about armor penetration.

[Hartmann]

I don't think the colour system is really unreliable. The thing with the colour indicator and your system is that it only shows the penetration chance for the exact place you're aiming at. The chance that the shell actually hits the spot you're aiming for is pretty small. It probably end up in a spot with slightly more/less slope, or with thicker/thinner armour, or on a part of the tank you weren't even aiming for. So it might seem unreliable while it is actually giving correct estimates.

I think a better plan would be to provide more detailed vehicle documentation in the game. Having a unit viewer or something. So you don't have to start a game in order to look at all the information sheets, or test fire at tanks to see how strong their armour is.

Only showing damage messages for your own vehicles seems like it should be the default option. Hopefully this is something that can be changed.

[INFInitesadness]

More information isn't going to help the first game someone plays; and with this system it will be easier for new people to find the weak spots on tanks, since no matter what range you're at it will tell you the armor thickness of what you're aiming at.

Having a unit viewer or whatever would be nice, but it will only help people who want to go out of their way find out more about things. More documentation would be nice, but I think it would be better to have a system where pertinent information is available in game, when you need it.