SiMPLE | Forum

anal_probe

Player

Reputation: +6

Registered: 2024-05-17

Posts: 7

Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

Hello everyone,

Some of you have probably seen me playing in the server recently, or maybe not

A short introduction about me: I played BF1942 back in 2003 as a kid offline, did not touch it after that for 17 years, found out about Team Simple's installer and nice online community after the GameSpy shutdown, ended up playing BF1942 on and off since then (i used the alias 'Adolf_Titler' before around 2021)

There were 3 things that always bothered me when playing BF1942, those things were:

- Bad hit registration
- Mouse acceleration during infantry movement
- Tiger tank wobbly physics (most noticeably when braking at high speed)

Thanks to the amazing efforts of Soldierr and uuuz, the first 2 issues have finally been resolved, however the Tiger physics still bother me.
I know many of you have played this game for 20+ years, and have probably grown used to it over time.

However i would like to have your input on a small, subtle change i made to the Tiger tank's physics, which should reduce the wobbling effect when accelerating and braking. It now feels more like a heavy Tiger tank instead of a inflatable rubber duck

First, to compare, just open up a singleplayer game of Market Garden, grab the Tiger tank and drive full speed, then brake, see how the wobbly physics momentum goes on for a long time, which makes it harder to aim as well, and it's not how a massive heavy Tiger should behave.

Then, please try this altered Objects.rfa file, place it inside your mods\bf1942\Archives folder (make sure to back up your original Objects.rfa file) and try doing the same thing again, and you will probably notice a difference.

Please let me know if you think this subtle change is a welcome one, or not, and if not, please state why
It should make it a little bit easier to aim now, because the view is more stable.

* Do note that this will only work in Singleplayer, no use to try it in Multiplayer, the server still uses the default settings even if you have a changed Objects.rfa file

* What was exactly changed? ObjectTemplate.setDamping 3.5 was changed to ObjectTemplate.setDamping 10, a small simple change in the Tiger's physics.con file

File link: https://mega.nz/file/H0lnkJRI#zt8I06aBR … wv8oMJRUA4

greetings, anal_probe

Blindschuetz

°Blind°°°Fahrer

Reputation: +382

Location: Bavaria

Registered: 2022-10-20

Posts: 285

Re: Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

Hi there.

It seems that the developers back then wanted to add some disadvantages to the Tiger.
Only well trained tankers should make good use of it.
Armor and gun are superior to all allied tanks.
Battlefield 1942 was intended to be balanced, so the mighty Tiger tank got two features which make him weaker:

1. The wobble bobble thing.
A main battle tank with 58 tons won't behave like that, yeah, silly decision with ridiculous effect.
By the way, in World War 2 the Germans had their tankers make a Schießhalt (stop for shoot).
Well, i take it for a Sherman it was recommended also.
Good armor piercing hits right out of the movement were mere luck in reality, i suppose.

2. The other nonsense they did to the Tiger is how to aim with it.
Compared to the PzIV it's exactly the other way around, here:

Last edited by Blindschuetz (2024-05-18 17:34:20)

Paul Baumer

SiMPLE | Guardian Angel

Reputation: +2650

Registered: 2016-06-19

Posts: 1,724

Re: Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

If you want to know my opinion - don't touch your Objects.rfa file and any game files that may or may not change your multiplayer experience - unless you are ready to be fully responsible for it and have enough game knowledge to know what is allowed and what is not.
Whoever has modding knowledge has to use it responsibly.

anal_probe

Player

Reputation: +6

Registered: 2024-05-17

Posts: 7

Re: Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

A main battle tank with 58 tons won't behave like that, yeah, silly decision with ridiculous effect.

Indeed, i compared my changes with the default behavior of the US M10 tank destroyer. With these changes, the Tiger Tank now feels very similar to the M10 but slightly stiffer/heavier/less wobbly in the suspension, which is exactly how it should be if you look at their weights: the M10 weighed 30 tons, the Tiger I weighed 54 to 57 tons (depending on which Ausfuhrung), if you look at footage of a real Tiger I tank driving (see youtube, Tiger #131 of Bovington Museum) you will see that BF's physics simply don't do it justice at all.

We all know BF is not realistic by any means, it's arcadey and fun, but the Tiger should atleast feel heavier and more stable in its maneuverability than for example the lighter M10, this setting enables that. I doubt it has a deep impact on gameplay/balance, it's too subtle for that. I don't think it will make you alot better, but it sure feels less annoying to wait until the bouncing has come to a complete halt.

I wonder if it was really a way to nerf the Tiger, they could have done it in other ways for balancing purposes, for example by allowing more enemy tanks (ratio). It is actually historically correct that a Tiger would be outnumbered and take on many enemy tanks at the same time.

Perhaps you are right though, but maybe they succeeded *too much* in nerfing it, right now i often see experienced players skip a Tiger tank and hop in a nearby Panzer IV, because as you mentioned, the Tiger also has a ridiculous projectile trajectory/bullet drop going on (in reality the Tiger could shoot very far, effectively at 2km), the Panzer IV doesn't have that. So, besides armor, the Panzer IV is actually the better tank to use in many scenarios, especially from far away in maps such as Aberdeen... i doubt that is what the devs intended to accomplish here.

I guess it would be cool if the SiMPLE server would experiment a bit with this subtle change, that's why i made this post, to gauge if there is any interest to change it. Maybe players are also just too familiar with the default Tiger behavior that they will not be positive about any changes.

@Paul, no worries, this doesn't work in multiplayer, i checked it (only works client-side) and therefor it cannot give any advantage, it would only work if the server implements it (serverside).

simon

est'own'ya

Reputation: +553

Registered: 2014-08-13

Posts: 987

Re: Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

That's a lot of words for saying "I suck at using the tiger"

tuia

BFSoldier

Reputation: +1152

Location: Lisbon

Registered: 2012-02-20

Posts: 6,412

Website

Re: Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

All proposals are welcome, but this change, i fear, is not subtle at all. Most players are used to the Tiger strangely bouncing up and down and i can imagine the reactions it would cause such a change. But, it would be, of course, more realistic and a good overall addition.

anal_probe

Player

Reputation: +6

Registered: 2024-05-17

Posts: 7

Re: Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

That's a lot of words for saying "I suck at using the tiger"

You are right, perhaps i need to boot from MBR and it will turn me into a tanker pro!

All proposals are welcome, but this change, i fear, is not subtle at all. Most players are used to the Tiger strangely bouncing up and down and i can imagine the reactions it would cause such a change. But, it would be, of course, more realistic and a good overall addition.

Actually, different values are possible. We tried it yesterday on uuuz's server, anything between 3.5 and 10 is playable and does not cause any glitching. 10 is the last setting before it starts to behave erratic, when driving the tank up a very steep hill. Perhaps 8 would be a good middle-ground, but i understand that players are stuck in their 20 year old muscle-memory, and won't like to lose their long experience advantage.

But even at 10, the tank still bounces forth and back when you accelerate, brake and fire, but instead of bouncing 3-4 more times, it bounces once and slowly returns back to center.

Zatoichi

Player

Reputation: -35

Registered: 2012-05-29

Posts: 1,844

Re: Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

The m10 and T-34/ 85 are the optimal tank killing shell power, speed, even than the tiger, the tigers shell is weaker ballistic arc but its a bigger payload of splash damage, even if say hit for hit shells are different, m10 and T34 hit on a moving target is worse if not at least equal.

Russian MadMax

Mad cuz bad

Reputation: +94

Registered: 2022-03-09

Posts: 730

Re: Tiger Tank movement fix, feedback desired

Perfect 1 shot at tiger , wyth a wobble, this wobbling is not inconvenient at all but even helpful when u want shot to enemies who at the top of the hill right in front of you or conversely
down in the pit
https://youtu.be/LGjWUZGf1hk?si=3QASziKDToKPJP-F

Last edited by Russian MadMax (2024-05-24 16:29:44)