4.13.2 de-bugging

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by SaQSoN

The size of the M-17, or BMW-VI engine is very similar to the size of the DB-6XX family, or Merlin family. And definitely much larger, then a truck engine. Their strength isn't much different either. Not a bug.

Ignoring things like power output, compression ratio, and power-to-mass ratios for a moment, let's look at dry mass and length for the M-17 vs. the DB-605 and Merlin:

540-553 kg, 1,810mm Mikulin M-17

756 kg, 2,158 mm Daimler-Benz DB 605

744 kg, 2250 mm Rolls-Royce Merlin

It's indisputable that the M-17 is 25-30% lighter and 20-25% shorter than the other engines I referenced. That means that any given bullet is going to do relatively more damage to the smaller, lighter engine.

Unless you have better data than I do, which indicates that the M-17 was inherently 20-25% tougher than the larger engines, I'd suggest that the M-17 engines in the game are a bit tougher than they should be.

As to wing struts and landing gear struts not being modeled, that might not be a "bug" but it is bad damage modeling.

If you can blow the fixed landing gear off a Stuka or A6M "Val" then you should be able to do the same thing for the R-5 family or any other plane with a fixed gear.

Likewise, wing struts aren't just there for show, they're critical to preventing the wings of a biplane from coming off. Break a wing strut and the inherent structural stability of all wings on that side of the plane is compromised. They represent just as vital a target as the main spar in a monoplane's wing.

Modeling control surfaces being blown off if they're hit at the hinge is good damage modeling, but having smaller control surfaces like elevators be harder to damage than a relatively large control surface like a rudder doesn't make sense.

Additionally, one .50 caliber bullet is all that's needed to trigger damage textures in the rudder. Realistically, that bullet is going to blow a fist-sized hole in the control surface at best. For a fabric-covered surface, it might just blow through leaving a hole the size of a man's thumb. It's going to take a lot of holes - or a lot of structural damage to the rudder frame - before you lose enough rudder surface that you start to lose significant amounts of rudder authority.

This isn't a problem with the R-5 family, though, it's a problem with many planes in the game. Control surfaces are often far too vulnerable, particularly huge control surfaces which are made entirely of metal, such as those on large bombers.