Damage Model Bug Stomping

[Pursuivant]

This is a continuation of the FW-190 Durability topic, and the work I did prior to the 4.13 release.

Using RPS69's test mission as a base, I've been working my way through the single-engined propeller fighters, testing their vulnerability to engine fire and wing breakage when fired upon at point-blank range by .50 caliber MG fire.

Each "mission" consists of setting up a B-25J on the runway, with the target plane immediately behind it at a distance of approximately 20 m, then blazing away using the twin .50 caliber guns in the tail to pour concentrated fire onto the engine and wings.

I use unlimited ammo to give myself sufficient firepower and arcade mode to judge exactly where my shots hit. At such short ranges, there's almost no chance of missing or hitting anything other than the intended parts of the target.

Tests consist of waiting until the target plane starts it engine and runs it up to operating temperature, then firing on the engine to see if a fire occurs. Once the fire starts, I start walking bullets along one wing until the wing breaks.

When shooting at the wing, I always try to aim at the leading edge so that the bullets would penetrate the main wing spar in real life. Realistically, the intense concentration of .50 caliber fire through the spar should cause a wing collapse, even when the plane is parked on the ground. (Mind you, this should be a difficult thing to achieve in aerial combat, I'm only testing whether a particular plane has parts which can be broken using .50 caliber fire.)

Typically, only 5-10 seconds of fire is necessary to trigger the desired result. When an anomalous result occurs, the target plane will take enough damage to make it "vanish" (that is, lethal damage and despawn when the plane touches the ground) after about 15-30 seconds.

Here are my results so far:


Buffalo Series (B-239, F2A, Buffalo Mk I) - Engine fires: yes. Wing breakage: No, regardless of where the bullets hit.

CW-21 - Engine fires: yes. Wing breakage: Yes, wing breaks at midpoint, but will not break at the wing root.

Fokker D-XXI series (Danish & Dutch): Engine fires: yes. Wing breakage: Yes, wing breaks at midpoint, but will not break at the wing root.

F4F series (F4F-3, F4F-4, FM-2) - Engine fires: yes. Wing breakage: Yes, but only for hits to the outer wing. Aiming anyplace else on the wing will not break it, either at midpoint or at the wing root.

The fatal damage texture/breaking parts for outer wing damage represents damage that the F4F was provably able to survive!

F4U series (F4U-1A, F4U-1C, F4U-1D, Corsair I, Corsair IV) - Engine fires: yes, but only after 8-9 seconds of concentrated and continuous point blank fire. The fire might represent a fuel tank fire rather than an engine fire. Wing breakage: Yes, but only for hits to the extreme outer wing. Aiming anyplace else on the wing will not break it. Aiming anyplace else on the wing will not break it, either at midpoint or at the wing root.

The fatal damage texture/breaking parts for outer wing damage represents damage that the Corsair was provably able to survive!

F6F series (F6F-3 late, F6F-5) - Engine fires: Yes. Wing breakage: Yes, but only for hits to the outer wing about 3 yards/meters in from the wingtip. Aiming anyplace else on the wing will not break it, either at midpoint or at the wing root.

FW-190A series (FW-190A-4 to A-9, including mistel & ATA) - Engine fires: no. Wing breakage: Yes. Wing will break at both midpoint and wing root.

Fulmar - Engine fires: Yes. Just a few bullets will start a full-blown fire, so perhaps the engine catches fire a bit too easily. Wing breakage: Yes, but hits to extreme outboard wingtip cause the wing to break off just outside the landing gear. Hits to the inboard wing can't make the wing break off at the wing root.

Hurricane Series (Mk I, Mk IIb, Mk IIc, Field Mod) - Engine fires: Yes. Just a few bullets will start a full-blown fire, so perhaps the engine catches fire a bit too easily. Wing breakage: Yes. Wings break at both midpoint and at wing root. Good DM!

I-15bis series (I-15bis, I-15bis w/ skis): Engine fires: Yes. Just a few bullets will start a full-blown fire, so perhaps the engine catches fire a bit too easily. Wing breakage: Yes. Top wings break at both midpoint and at wing root. Bottom wing just breaks at wing root.