The Driver in "No Tanks Land" is a Drunken Moron

[Z3r0_]

How hard is it to get that IDIOT to make the tank go where it's supposed to instead of swerving all over the place? If I were his commander, I'd have him shot.

[shawa]

You're driving in mud. Have you tried wider tracks?

[Z3r0_]

Originally posted by shawa:

You're driving in mud. Have you tried wider tracks?

Yes I have, the idiot still can't drive straight if his life depended on it (and it does). Naturally, this leads to getting bogged down driving in ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ circles while artillery picks the tank apart or the idiot deciding that mid-trench crossing is the perfect time to make a 90 degree turn to the left.

[le_dede]

are you using the 2nd suspension? If so, try another, it's bugged.

[Fihrst]

It used to be a problem but after last fix it works so much better.

[Z3r0_]

Originally posted by le_dede:

are you using the 2nd suspension? If so, try another, it's bugged.

Nope, tried that once and it was even worse.

[le_dede]

Your suspension setting may be too low and your chassis rubs the ground.

[SNJ]

Yes suspension is key, if your wheels are not on the ground then they can't provide traction. The track actually does nothing if I understand correctly, it's the wheels. So mess with the suspension so you see the wheels actually going up and down independently and smoothly follow the terrain. Also try using interleaved roadwheels so you can fit more wheels in the same space, seems to give more contact points with the ground.

[benjaminasandwich2]

I also found this problem, I think it is due to your higher gears having less traction than your lower ones in very soft ground. My experience was with a very powerful engine and reducing power, smaller gears and wider tracks tamed it for me.

[Pezz]

Protip for No Tank's Land: Torque is not your friend. For the engine and torque, use a smaller, lighter and higher-revving powerplant and adjust your gearing. You want 1st to be the "It'll climb that" gear, 2nd is your bread and butter, 3rd is GoFast(ish)™.

Play with the target minimum and maximum revs in the engine panel, these determine when your driver needs to change gear. My suggestion would be to set Target Max to your engine's max RPM value and the minimum to about 25% below that, to start, and fine tune as you go.

Wider tracks will also make little difference (as of now), keep em relatively thin to save weight and similarly, look into the default fuel tank size and reduce carried fuel as necessary. The latter saves A TON of internal space. If you can get your mass <10t you'll be laughing.

SNJ's on the money with suspension, interleaved wheels make things a lot smoother. Make your torsion bars as soft as possible without your tank losing too much clearance, it'll help distribute your grip better and last but not least! Use aforementioned torsion bars, not the volute suspension (the 2nd type). The latter is great for VERY fast tanks, but its ability to cross trenches is near nonexistent. Hope this helps, been on this mission a long time myself ;>

[le_dede]

thank you for these details Pezzhippo, i learned some things 👍

[Battle Beaver]

Originally posted by Pezzhippo:

Protip for No Tank's Land: Torque is not your friend. For the engine and torque, use a smaller, lighter and higher-revving powerplant and adjust your gearing. You want 1st to be the "It'll climb that" gear, 2nd is your bread and butter, 3rd is GoFast(ish)™.

Play with the target minimum and maximum revs in the engine panel, these determine when your driver needs to change gear. My suggestion would be to set Target Max to your engine's max RPM value and the minimum to about 25% below that, to start, and fine tune as you go.

Wider tracks will also make little difference (as of now), keep em relatively thin to save weight and similarly, look into the default fuel tank size and reduce carried fuel as necessary. The latter saves A TON of internal space. If you can get your mass <10t you'll be laughing.

SNJ's on the money with suspension, interleaved wheels make things a lot smoother. Make your torsion bars as soft as possible without your tank losing too much clearance, it'll help distribute your grip better and last but not least! Use aforementioned torsion bars, not the volute suspension (the 2nd type). The latter is great for VERY fast tanks, but its ability to cross trenches is near nonexistent. Hope this helps, been on this mission a long time myself ;>

Which suspension do you use chief?

[Pezz]

The small torsion bars, with thin, interleaved road wheels on 0.3m tracks. You'll wanna increase their length while decreasing the diameter of the bar until you hit peak grip without being a wobbly, floaty monstrosity :> Also, after further testing, having a big old honking rear sprocket seems to be the way to go to in pursuit of high top speed.

[Z3r0_]

Well thanks for the contradictory advice, smartasses. How about they instead make it so that the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ driver goes where you tell him to?

[Pezz]

I certainly understand your frustrations, the simulation is an imperfect, evolving thing. I can assure you though, through having completed No Tank's Land several times at this point, it is 100% possible to make a controllable, relatively speedy (for the era), effective vehicle that doesn't wheelspin (trackspin?) constantly and skate about in the mud ;V

[Battle Beaver]

I am almost 100% convinced the craters and indents on the map have some form of magnet effect on tanks. You can be driving on perfectly flat mud, or even mud that angles in the opposite direction but if within a meter or two of a crater edge you will get pulled in.