Pk and Ph numbers

[Scully]

When you're adding a new vehicle to the database, how do you determine Pk and Ph numbers? I know the original ATF Database was based on MILES II and SAWE numbers, but where do you get new weapon system numbers from? The same place or some other way?

Thanks,
Brian

[CPangracs]

Well, Scully,...I have been creating quite a few original vehicles lately, and I use similar types for base numbers, and then alter them up or down as I see fit. That's about the only way you are going to get something balanced and fairly representative of a new vehicle type.

[Pat Proctor]

This is exactly what we do! For instance, if I was going to add the T-54, I would start by copying the T-72 pK's to this vehicle and then lower all of the numbers for the new vehicle type. This yields a "balanced" vehicle which is in line with the other vehicles in the database.

[Scully]

Makes sense. Do you guys use more of a feel for balance based on your experience or is there some sort of formula you use?

Sorry for the very basic question, but I appreciate your responses.

Brian

[CPangracs]

Not sure what Pat used to create the originals, but common sense would dictate the 100 is impenetrable for armor, and penetrates anything for hits. Taking that common sense further, if you have a vehicle that is impenetrable to most weapons, it would have 100's. But, we all know that there is no such thing, right?

You can also do in-depth research into each kind of weapon and how much armor it can normally penetrate, give that a 1-100 value, and adjust from there.

[John Osborne]

Pk and Ph numbers?

Where is a list of the Pk and Ph numbers located at? Is there a spreedsheet that has these information?

[KG_Norad]

I am not aware that any such list exists yet. Unfortunately I think one is limited to looling at weapons and vehicles one by one in the editor.

Michael

[Pat Proctor]

There are a couple questions here. I will try to hit them all.

First, a pK of zero means that the vehicle is invulnerable to all weapons. A pK of 100 means that the vehicle is automatically destroyed if hit by that weapon type.

Second, our original source for pK's was NTC MILES SAWE II pK's. This is the "laser tag" system used at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin. We used this data for the vehicles that we did have, and then used the "extrapolation" method I describe above for those vehicles we did not have data on.

Finally, you can make your own list of pK's. In ATF Power Toolkit, load the ATF database (database1). Select "Export" from the "pK List" sub-menu of the "Vehicle" menu.

six lists (front, back, left, right, top, and indirect fire) will be saved in your save game directory. These are comma-separated-variable lists which can be loaded and formated in excel and saved as excel spread sheets. They have the pK's for all of the weapon systems in the game.

[kbluck]

To further clarify something that none of the replies seem to have hit upon:

There is no way at present to directly manipulate the pH in the database, except for the 'ADA' attribute which is very limited in its application.

There are some ways to modify it indirectly; fiddling with the effective range is the most obvious, and I suspect the height/width/length numbers have some bearing as well. Sight magnification also affects accuracy. These are very blunt tools, however, and fooling with them may very well have undesirable side effects. Carefully playtest any modifications you make.

I have also written a fair amount regarding my opinions on the subject of pK. Here are a few of the more prolific threads related to pK if you are interested.

http://www.warfarehq.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3541
http://www.warfarehq.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3806
http://www.warfarehq.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3428

--- Kevin