Building tanks, the basics you need to know V2 [ACF] [WIP]

This guide explain how the ACF guns / ammo behave and how to make a great tank design that will work!
*Contents:
It has some explainations on ACF Guns, Armour and Ammo types and explains each tank role along with some tips.
It doesn't cover anything related to ACF Engines / Transmissions yet (due to many reasons) and Wiremod (due to complexity)

Introduction and Mandatory / Recommended Tools

By all means this guide do not explain how to use the Wiremod / ACF Transmissions (Yet) and engines(yet).

This guide will explain some of the things that the ACF has for you to use, Guns / Ammo / Armour and some tips for your tanky needs.
Before starting to build a tank using the ACF engines and stuff... you'll need Weight Stool and Wiremod, otherwise they'll not work =P

Basic Tank with Thrusters:

Complete Tank With ACF and stuff

My newest De_Ruyter prototype tank with scratches from a 120mm gun


It's very important that you know how to use the wiremod basics, otherwise some ACF things will be hard to use =P
Knowing how your tank will behave before building is another important step (like a small tank or a big one), Building the biggest tank with the biggest engine will NOT work well!

Mandatory Tools below;

*ACF mod: https://github.com/nrlulz/ACF
ACF is Advanced Combat Framework, it simply adds everything you need for building a working tank, it contains cannons, tons of ammo types like ArmourPiercing or HighExplosive and engines/transmissions for your needs.

*Weight Stool:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=104480013&searchtext=Weight
Usefull for administrating the tank weight cause ACF engines and Cannons are heavy and you'll need to adjust the props weight

*ACF Weight Tool:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=108941774&searchtext=weight+tool
Usefull for administrating the Armour tickness and Ductility of the tank pieces, better armour tickness resist AP while a Ductile armour survive HE better. (I'll explain furthen on this guide)

*Wiremod:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=160250458
or
https://github.com/wiremod
You NEED this mod to make ACF things to work!
For a good guide on using wiremod with ACF
Watch the Gmodism channel on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/gmodism

Mostly of the mods here https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=805937005

Highly Recommended mods below;
*AdvDuplicator 2:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=163806212&searchtext=advanced+
Very usefull for saving your tanks.

*Multi-Parent:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=111929524&searchtext=Weight
Good for making the tank body to lag less on the servers

*Tank Track Tool
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=737640184
If you want your wheels to look like a tank track this mod is for you!

*No-Collide Multi
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=106320101
Super usefull tool that makes no-colliding props faster than doing one by one

*Axis and Ballsocket centre
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=457466766
Allows props to be set with axis to the very center of them, making the best of the axis tool

*Make Spherical
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=136318146
This one is very usefull when your wheels are glitching inside the ground due to the ACF engines, actualy, it's a very handy tool for making every prop a potential wheel

*ACF Unnoficial Extras
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=356521204&searchtext=acf
For those who thinks that the ACF does't have all the engines you want

*SProps
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=173482196&searchtext=
This i Trully recommend, it adds a huge ammount of plates for building tanks and almost everything you want, it's more flexible to build tank with those

Step 1; Thinking before building

*Making a drawning of the tank;
It's very hard to make a tank who is not based on any other already existed, it's easier to start looking for references before moving on with your idea, picking up a mix between some tanks is very cool and adding your own idea is a nice way to formulate your desired vehicle;
Example;
Picking a Panzer II and adding sloped armour and a better gun;

It's nice to know how your tank will be before actually trying to build it ;)

Step 2: Tweaking the idea

Imagine a Box tank like this one (AKA the Tiger tank):

Now take a look at the T-34:

"If both have the same armour", It's easier to penetrate the first one than the last one.
WHY
Because tanks with a triangular shapes are more effective on increasing their armour by physics rather than by tickness.
Think a muscular man lifting a car and another guy using a crane for the same purpose, both are doing the same thing, but one is using an easier (and "less muscular") way of doing the same thing.

If your tank idea is to build a box-type tank it's a little easier than building one with angular armour, it's just a tip if you're building a tank for pvp ;)


The bullets of ACF works with 2 variables;
Ammo type and Penetration Value, the most important one is the penetration value, wich defines how many milimiter of steel it can go throught. (Described better at Step 6: Ammo Types)
It's your choice if the armour of your tank will be a tick one or not, that all depends on the role of your tank.
An important tip is to make a tank for a specific need, like making a heavy armoured tank or making a light tank, the roles of the tanks are very flexible and sometimes a tank can be placed on two roles. (See Step 3: Tank Roles)

Step 3: Tank Roles

Remember when i told you about making a good armour scheme?
After you finnally have your idea made, you only need to think about what role your tank will be;

All of them have Pros (+) and ♥♥♥♥ (-)

Those were the Main Roles based on the WW2;

Light Tank: It's main role is to spot and shoot the infantry and to be the main support of heavier tanks like the artillery, sometimes can engage on tank / tank fight but it' NOT recomended
+ Fast Speed and low size make this tank hard to spot and to shoot at
+ Fast firing guns can make some people to panic when meeting it
- It's the easiest target to kill, since it's armour is light
- Since gmod doesn't handle hi speeds well... sometimes the tanks is very prone to problems











Medium Tank: It's the middle term of the tank world, it has armour and have a good fast firing gun, it can act as a Light sometimes and can engage on tank fights rather normally, could be deadly to a Heavy tank.
+ Does not have a slow speed neither low armour, it combines both of them on a middle term
+ Very flexible role, can either attack or defend with ease
- It's armour is not it's main defence caracteristic
- Does not excel at any role due to being a multi-role tank











Heavy Tank: It is the lead tank of a platoon, rather killing other tanks as well as leading a battle, due to it's good defence characteristics, it can be a pain in the ass to kill
+ Great all around armour makes this tank very versatile agaist any threat, unless it's an airplane
+ Strong guns can destroy almost every vehicle on few shots
* Normally has a low ammo count depending on the gun size
- Heavy because of the weight of the armour, this can make this tank go at slower speeds
- Can be targeted by artillery more frequently than the normal ones










Tank Destroyer: Basically it's a tank with tank combat on mind, it's play more the sniper role than the brawler one, it can either have a good armour with a fixed turret, or a moving turret with a weaker armour.
+ Designed to kill other tanks, it carries a good gun for tank combat
+ Frontal armour is the main protection of the majority of the TD's
* Depending on the weight, it can be as fast as a medium tank or even more.
- Weak side and rear armour can leave this tank unprotected if someone flanks it
- Since it's designed to hunt tanks, it's defense agaist infantry is rather low.











Artillery: The tank that fires from far, suporting the advancing tanks on the battlefield, armed with a big gun with low speed bullets, it can be deadly to anyone.
+ Huge gun (normally howitzers with 100+mm), fires from a arc and deals lots of explosive damage
+ Have a low profile for a tank with a big gun, normally don't have any kind of turret
+ Easy to make since it's not focused on driving / surviving shots
- Papper armour that is very inneficient agaist other tanks, only agaist some machine guns
- Not designed to engage on tank fights, has normally a open "turret"











Superheavy Tank: The big brother of the heavy tank, it has more armour than the heavy tank and a very powerfull gun, the main noticeable feature is that this tank can have two or more guns mounted on the same turret like the Maus tank (image below)
+ Almost invulnerable to other tanks and combined with a good gun it can wreck havoc on everyone if left ignored
+ Big fear factor, people tend to stay on cover or run away when facing this tank
- Big profile and the tendency to be shot on sight first
- Huge weight can lead to mobility and transmission problems.












Super Heavy Tank Destoyer: It's a different approach of the Tank Destroyer, most of them uses Heavy tanks chassis as base and has unbelivable firepower combined with a excellent frontal armour.
+ Capable of dealing with any type of tank that exist on this list
+ Insane frontal armour is enought to stand more shots than the normal TD
- Slower than the normal TD
- Most of the time it does not use a turret










Armoured Artillery: A special type or arty, normally build on top of medium/heavy tanks chassis, have better armour protection than the normal arty and can be very problematic to kill on lighter tanks
+ Better armour scheme than the normal arty
+ Better survivability agaist lighter tanks
- Transverse speed decreased because of the weight can make this tank to take more time to aim to a target
- Almost the same firepower of a normal arty












Multi Turret Tank: It's a tank with multiple cannons on different turrets, multiple gunners need manage all of them and normally it's rare to see.
+ Multiple turrets can aim at different targets at the same time
+ Best defensive role there is
+ Rare seem vehicle, hard to disable the multi turrets
- Needs lots of space for the ammo types to be stored, it means it's easier to blow the tank with one shot
- Possibly bigger than the heavy tank, but with a weaker armour and a taller profile.










Anti-Air Tank It's built based on a chassis from any type of tank, their main role is shoot down aircraft incoming towards his team, they're not designed to fight other vehicles, but can stand well agaist infantry.
+ Very usefull when aircrafts are a major threat
+ Can survive some shots if well armoured
* Can penetrate some tanks
- Weakest vehicles on a tank on tank fight, prone to serious damage
- Low usefullness if no aircrafts are around

Step 4: Tank Armour parts and Pro Tips

A tank is made from several separate parts, but since we're covering the basics here and not mechanic stuff... i'll explain the most important parts that you need to know, and some tips to make your tank a little better =D

Armour

The concept of armour thickness is a simple one; the thicker your armour the harder it is for a projectile to penetrate. Be warned that a thick armour is heavy, really heavy and you'll compromise mobility to resilience as you increase your thickness. This compromise means armour thickness is not the be-all and end-all of protecting yourself.

Angle of Incidence and Projectile Deflection
The angle of incidence is the angle between a projectile's direction and the surface of your armour. The more acute you can make this angle the more chance you have of deflecting a projectile. If you can effectively deflect projectiles rather than absorb their impact your required armour thickness will be lower and your overall weight less.
For more protection agaist Armour Piercing Shells, make the armour tickness bigger, agaist Hight Explosive rounds it's better to use a more Ductile armour, wich will absorb the impact and the explosion.
Make sure you never go to the extremes values (-99 or +99) because it will make your armour behave strange.

Hull: The main body of the tank. It houses the crew, engine, fuel and ammunition and serves as a support for the turret and tracks, it needs to be heavier than the turret base and all the parts attached to it combined
Glacis Plates: The front section of the hull.These are typically the most obvious target in a head-on engagement. They are therefore some of the thickest pieces of armour on a tank, and are separated into the upper and lower sections, the upper section normally is stronger than the lower by obvious reasons.
Gun: It shoots a projectile what else it can do =P
Turret: A housing for the tank's gun on the top of the tank, normally it can house some of the ammo (it can be fixed or can turn, depends on tank), some tanks have the gun on the chassis rather than on a turret, the turret base need to be heavier than the gun and all the pieces attached to itMantlet: The armour plate or shield attached to the gun protecting the opening through which the gun's barrel projects from the hull or turret armour, it's the tickest part of some tanks too, protecting the frontal area of the turret
Tracks: These are the method by which a tank moves and are typically represented in Garry's Mod by a series of wheels on each side
Skirts: Protective shrouds placed around the tracks to prevent loss of mobility during combat (some tanks doesn't actually need them)
Engine Deck: The large flat section of armour on the top-side of the tank where the engine is situated, making it a probably a weak point.

PRO TIPS
Be extra carefull when making a turret, some designs can lead to problems
There is two ways to countermeasure this; Either making a turret with a flat face (wich is very stupid but anyways) or with a rounded turret, wich is hard, but can be very resistant to any damage due to the awesome angles

There is some tweaks you can do inside your tank that can helps you to prevent internal damage
*A rear transmission with a rear/middle engine can prevent your mobility to be wrecked if someone shoot your front tracks.
*Also Keep in mind that your ammo can explode if someone shoots it, so making a armour scheme inside is as important as making the outside armour.
*If you're using E2, place the chip on the most protected position on the tank, if someone or something explodes, you'll lose the control over your tank and maybe it'll be a game-over to you
Remember to angle everything you can when you can!

*Spaced Armour is very usefull when you're out of options for upgrading your armour. Spaced armour helps absorbs some of the projectile penetration and damage before it reaches the body of your tank

#Credits to blaknite for his awesome guide that inspired me =D

Step 5: The Guns

All the guns on ACF have unique features on them, but most of them are similar, with little diferences on the names and on the behaviour

Howitzers: Designed to destroy bunkers, it fires rather slow comparing to the normal gun, it is best used with HE ammo because of the bigger round diameter that makes a better explosion, since it lacks armour penetration it's best suited to be used on a field artillery or on a artillery tanks, in some cases, howitzers can be placed on Heavy tanks / Tank destroyers too



Normal Cannons: The mostly used in any tank, it fires quickly or slowly depending on your caliber, the smaller the cannon the faster it will shoot, small cannons are common in fast light tanks, the 75mm is the middle term and the last big guns like the 140mm are the most powerfull ones around avalible


Short Cannons: Compact version of the normal cannons, those guns are better when a long cannon can't fit inside your turret, but they fire the projectiles at a slower speeds wich means they'll drop more at distances and will have less penetration values


Mortars: Can either be used as a ground mortar wich fires upward to hit enemies behind cover, or as a tank gun, like the petard mortar on the churchill, they have more explosive capacity than the howitzers under 80mm, but they suffer from hard drop and range, they do not penetrate either, so firing this on tanks do rather nothing unless it's a very weak tank


Machine Guns and Heavy Machine Guns: They're both the same with only two diferences, the MG's have faster fire rate and lower caliber while the HMG's have slower fire rates with stronger damage, both are used either as coaxial guns on tanks or as AA emplacements



Rotary Cannons: They're the bigger brother of the Machine guns and Auto cannons, while having a insane fire rate, they have a rather big damage potential with both 20 and 30mm of ammo, their drawback is the spin up time, ammo consumption and the recoil wich can be very problematic on lighter vehicles


Auto Loading Canons: It's the same as having a cannon, excepts that it have a magazine (which are around 4-6 rounds), it fires a deadly fast firing burst capable of dealing a insane amount of damage in a short time, but when the magazine is empy you'll need a plenty time to reload, the best way of using this gun is in a tank wich can kill others fast or ones that can run for cover when needed.


Auto Canons: It's a smaller type of cannon that is designed to be used as an AA or a anti-infantry gun. It has a magazine wich has the ability to do a good damage potential beyound the machine guns, it can be mounted in any tank as secondary or primary gun. it can have a very decent fire rate and reload time, but the armour penetration is not good for shooting the other tanks

Step 6: Ammo Types

Every gun are designed to use multiple types of ammo, the main ammunition used today is a APFSDS ammo that ACF didn't have, but it acts like a super version of the normal AP witch much more penetration than the normal shell.

Before moving on i'll explain how ACF projectiles works;

The basic ACF ammo types comes witch two sliders linked to each other;
One is for Propellant Length
Other is for the Projectile Length

The Propellant Length is how much powder is inside the casing of the bullet, when it's high, the bullet will fly very fast with a very straight trajectory.
The Projectile(Bullet) Length is how long the bullet will be, a longer bullet will have a better penetration than a shorter one.
When both are balanced, you'll have the best penetration the bullet has to offer, but the problem is that you ammo storage will have lower amounts of projectiles for you, so make yourself a decent balance of (rounds / penetration) otherwise you'll end up withou ammo in the middle of the fight
Every ammo with a -T on it means it has a tracer that will have white colour by default, if you paint the ammo inside you'll change the default colour to one you'll like.


AP- Stands for Armour Piercing, it's the most used ammo type agaist armoured tanks, the projectile explode like a shotgun when it enter the armour of the enemy tank dealing lots of damage when penetrating, but no explosive damage, it can be ricocheted off with the Armour Tickness of a tank, wich can be edited using the ACF Armour tool.

APHE- Armoour Piercing High Explosive,acts like a normal AP with a explosive charge added, it has lower penetration values than the normal AP, but it deals explosive damage as soon it hits something, mixing both HE and AP into a unique round.

Flechette- Shotgun / Birdshot round that spread into a area, best used agaist infantry where armour penetration are not needed and HE shells are too much.

HE- High Explosives, the penetration of the bullet is not great comparing to AP, but it has more space to fill with explosives than the APHE, it deals damage by area and by "Prop HP" wich can be nullfied by increasing a prop Ductility with the ACF Armour tool, (know that a very placed shot with HE can blow off parts of the enemy tanks) .

HEAT- Better penetrating potential thean HE (it's like a tank version of the RPG-7 bazooka), Shaped charge explosive sending a stream of molten metal to penetrate armor, still explodes as standart HE dealing sharpnel damage. You can change the angle of crush cone to balance damage/penetration. Does not lose penetration with range, but trades muzzle velocity for penetration.

HollowPoint- It's a projectile not designed for armour piercing, it has a huge knockback when hitting something and it's a projectile whick can throw away some props if strong enough.

Smoke- Pretty much easy to know, it deploys smoke where the shell lands, usefull for blinding your enemy or covering an area.

Basic Tatics diagram you should be aware of

[pepitos]

Your problem is that you need to install a prop protection mod (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=159298542 for instance). Yeah i know, but acf/ace is weird.
Even with the mod on it doesn't damage npc tho

[[SKW]Trevisol4]

@Blood Bucket
AP rounds are not designed to "explode" props, it deals damage when hitting a ACF component or wiremod chips.

Try it out with HEAT and APHE for NPC damage stuff, and if you wanna find out if the ACF is working as intended, try it out with Hollow Point or HP or HESH (if they added it) to see if the plates are going to be blown away.

[Blood Bucket]

i set the armor to 5 on metal props and the type to cast, the rounds usually have 150mm pen

[Blood Bucket]

I deleted all of my addons except for wire mod, it still isn't working i'm using AP/APBC/APDS/APCBC

[[SKW]Trevisol4]

@Blood Bucket

What ammo tipe are you using? Depeding on what ammo type you have on, it could influence the damage type.
Also, if you have any admin mod or a generic mod that changes the game damage mechanics, it could influence how the damage occurs as well.

I've tested a clean gmod with only those mods enabled and it worked fine

[[SKW]Trevisol4]

@Daz
To assign ammo to a gun, you must right click the gun and right click the ammo crate, but it must match the weapon caliber to work, you can't use 88mm sheels in a 75mm gun and so on.

To fire the weapon, you must have Wiremod installed, and assign the weapon 'Fire' into something, a pod controller, a key binding...

[Blood Bucket]

Hey my guns shoot but don't deal any damage to npcs or props, i gave myself damage permission and set the armor on props to very low amounts yet they don't penetrate or deal any damage. i got all of the mods that you mentioned. please help

[Daz]

how do i put ammo into then fire a weapon?

[[SKW]Trevisol4]

@Red Uschanka
I found this pretty usefull even for me =D

[Red Uschanka]

a lot of love went into the guide