Trees vs Tanks

[MADe]

I believe tree objects are blocks not branches. It would be quite tuff to model tree objects collision boxes the same as aircraft or GV's.

The primary game objects break apart in a specific designed way, for effect. To set up an arena with trees that have collision boxe charateristics like primary objects would create a lot of computing stress. Something has to give.

The trees are purchased items from speedtree, speedtree manufactures terrain objects for gaming purposes.

laymans pov

 

[Shuffler]

I suppose the problem is that aircraft should get destroyed by the trees and tanks should destroy the trees in real life but in the game we don't leave marks that would stay for years. In a campaign based tank game that would be no issue, the woods would be reset after each session. However, AH is a 24/7 game where you can start fresh independently. No need to see Nitro's tracks from yesterday, or Mongoose's plane wreck from last week...

The solution would be to set trees drive-through just as the smaller growth but would that be possible to affect tanks only, I don't know. Surface fighting with planes would get too gamey if the trees would not harm the aircraft.

hehehe I want to see tank tracks in the dirt so I know where that little bugger went.

[hitech]

Granted, I'm new around here, but this is pretty ridiculous!
Jeepers, even my old "Panzer Front" game for PS2 does a far better
job with the trees.

And if PS2 can do it, it doesn't require a whole lot of computing capacity.

How big is Their world?

HiTech

[Chris79]

Have terrains akin to the Russian steppe or the American high plains where there are few trees. "Death solves all problems, no tree no problem".

[redcatcherb412]

My oldie 1941 Ford Ferguson 9N tractor when i'm blading does get stopped by about 4inch low horizontal branches of the juniper trees in my area, but 1-3 inch side hangers typically snap clean off. It does seem tanks get stuck in the 1-2 inch branches of the evergreen type trees quite often.  The new apricot/lemon groves in some maps make great hiding places, but can snag you easily.  But, getting hung by a grabber waiting for it to release you under fire is no fun.  The program does surprising well with some really large trunk but clear at the bottom tree groves and let you slide a tank under really large horizontal branches even with the M4 rocket rack on.

[The Fugitive]

Its a limitation in the game due to technology.

Learn which trees you CAN cozy up to and which you cant!

Its just like the collision model in the planes. Learn not to collide and you wont get a collision. Pretty simple.

[Rondar]

Its a limitation in the game due to technology.

Learn which trees you CAN cozy up to and which you cant!

Its just like the collision model in the planes. Learn not to collide and you wont get a collision. Pretty simple.

If you collide with a plane, you don't stay tangled up for 5 minutes until the other plane kicks you out.  So to be fair. if two planes collide, they should both be stuck together until 5 minutes are up or they both hit the ground.

[The Fugitive]

If you collide with a plane, you don't stay tangled up for 5 minutes until the other plane kicks you out.  So to be fair. if two planes collide, they should both be stuck together until 5 minutes are up or they both hit the ground.

I have only got stuck twice, both times I was free in under a minute. Since then I haven't gotten stuck at all. Works pretty good as a learning tool.   

[Rondar]

Well, same here.  But I feel a person should be able to put tank in reverse and just back out and not be tangled up in the first place.

[bustr]

I thought Hitech changed this so your tank has to be something like 2\3 of the branch length in from the branch tip to stop your tank. Still the film looks like that rule doesn't apply at the elevation of your rocket pack.

[OldNitro]

How big is Their world?

That's true enuf. In the Panzer Front game, the battle area is limited to the historical scenario. If you drive off the mapboard, everything goes blank, like floating in limbo. There isn't a whole world to populate with trees and such. But still, things have come a long way since PS2, like a new Corvette, vs a 57 Chevy.

I didn't realize that the Trees, and I assume other mundane objects, are actually generic from a third party, speedtree. Interesting! So I gather, that the trees are actually a stack of digital boxes, with boundaries that we cannot actually see in the game. Some boxes you can pass thru, and others you cannot. Ah OK! I like learning new stuff!

And I'm guessing that the digital boundaries on some of the tree boxes must be rather loose, occupying more digital space than it actually appears to our eye. So the trees are interacting with you as you pass, even when it looks like they shouldn't. That makes sense!

I'm wondering.
Is there is an available image of what the tree boxes actually look like, digitally? Are those digital boxes a fixed size? How many tree types are used in the game? Which are the nastiest tank grabbers? How hard would it be to replace the worst offenders? Impossible, or a wait for AH4 kinda thing, lol?   

[save]

Some tank sim's handle this by making dense woods impassible for tanks, brush is run-through.

Single big trees are handled as a singular obstacle for a tank for both shooting / driving though.

I like when the dense wood is impassible terrain, because it decrease  boundaries a tank can pass and not.

it also is a good setup for ambushes when you are driving on the small dirt roads in dense woods, or with impassible terrain around it.


The problem IRL - if you knock a big tree it normally it falls in the direction you are traveling - you don't want to pass over a meter-thick tree bole, you can be hanging there on-top of it, or it can get stuck in the tracks.

[puller]

I think tigers get stuck worse than any other tank...I had a tiger stuck for 10 min the other day only to get killed right after I got loose...

[hitech]

That's true enuf. In the Panzer Front game, the battle area is limited to the historical scenario. If you drive off the mapboard, everything goes blank, like floating in limbo. There isn't a whole world to populate with trees and such. But still, things have come a long way since PS2, like a new Corvette, vs a 57 Chevy.

I love the but still:) I'll assum the area is less the 10 x 10 miles. So 100 sqare miles. Assuming about about 2000 trees per square mile it would have 200,000 trees max. (My real guees would be about 2 x 2 miles i.e. 8000 trees)

Now consider AH. 512 X 512 miles  i.e. 252,144 are miles i.e. 524,288,000  trees max. The issue is  keeping track of dead trees and the timers need to resurect them. Now if you wish to have them bent or moved so every one sees the same, the amount of data becomes huge.

I didn't realize that the Trees, and I assume other mundane objects, are actually generic from a third party, speedtree. Interesting! So I gather, that the trees are actually a stack of digital boxes, with boundaries that we cannot actually see in the game. Some boxes you can pass thru, and others you cannot. Ah OK! I like learning new stuff!

And I'm guessing that the digital boundaries on some of the tree boxes must be rather loose, occupying more digital space than it actually appears to our eye. So the trees are interacting with you as you pass, even when it looks like they shouldn't. That makes sense!

I'm wondering.
Is there is an available image of what the tree boxes actually look like, digitally? Are those digital boxes a fixed size? How many tree types are used in the game? Which are the nastiest tank grabbers? How hard would it be to replace the worst offenders? Impossible, or a wait for AH4 kinda thing, lol?   

This is nothing like it works.

How it basically works

Trees have 2 poly meshes both originating from a purchased mesh , then we modified it for our use, 1 you see (drawn with speed tree and in speed trees format) and 1 with less polies that you don't see in AH format that process collisions. We can simply tag any poly to collide or not to collide in different circumstances.  I.E. Some may be branches, some tagged as leaves, some as bushes some as trunks.

HiTech

[OldNitro]

Thanks Hitech.
For taking the time to type out a more detailed explanation of how the system works.
Now I have a much clearer picture. So when enough polies collide you stop, OK.
I do like to learn new stuff

 I agree that recording actual damage to each tree on that scale would be completely "unreasonable", to say the least, lol. Didn't really mean it to go that extent. The trees can stay up, lol. My only concern is how they interact with the environment/vehicle, like being able to swish thru the branches without hitting the trunk.

It is most irritating having my 43ton Panther being hung up on a twig!
I will adapt tho