Penetratio system

Penetration System Overview

The S.A.T. Penetration System is a lightweight, easy-to-extend mechanic for ballistic projectiles that uses Physical Materials to define how well surfaces resist penetration. It works out-of-the-box with no need to manually tag surface types in Project Settings.

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💡 How It Works (In Short)

• Ballistic projectiles carry a Penetration integer.

• On every hit, the projectile checks the Physical Material of the surface.

• It reads the Penetration Index from a data table (DT_MaterialsIndex).

• The index value is subtracted from the projectile’s current penetration.

• If penetration ≥ material index → projectile continues

• If penetration < material index → projectile stops and resets to pool

• Damage is reduced after each penetration by the Penetration Ratio Variable.

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🔁 Pooling Compatibility

• When the projectile is stopped by a material it can’t penetrate, it:

  • Triggers impact logic

  • Resets penetration value and damage to original

  • Returns to pool (if pooling is enabled)

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🧪 Example Setup

Physical Material	Name	Penetration Index
PM_Flesh	Enemy flesh	1
PM_Concrete	Wall surface	3

This means a projectile with penetration value 3:

• ✅ Can pierce 3 enemies with PM_Flesh

• ❌ Will stop on the first PM_Concrete surface

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📁 Data Table: DT_MaterialsIndex

You can add your own materials by:

1. Creating a new Physical Material in your project.

2. Assigning that material to a row in the DT_MaterialsIndex, giving it a penetration index.

3. Applying the physical material to a mesh's material slot under "Phys Material".

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🛠️ Customization Tips

• Want armor to block more? Just give it a high index (e.g., 5–10).

• Want paper-thin surfaces? Set index to 0.

• Want to simulate light cover? Use fractional damage reduction via the Penetration Ratio.

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💥 Damage Scaling (Penetration Ratio)

After each penetration, projectile damage is scaled down using a predefined ratio (set on the projectile). For example:

• Penetration Ratio = 0.75

• Initial damage = 100

• After 1st hit = 75

• After 2nd hit = 56.25

• And so on...

This prevents infinite multi-kills with a single bullet and creates diminishing returns on deep penetrations.

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🎯 Integration Steps Recap

1. ✅ Create new Physical Materials for the surfaces you want.

2. ✅ Add each to DT_MaterialsIndex with desired index.

3. ✅ Assign Physical Materials to your meshes (Static or Skeletal).

4. ✅ Ensure projectiles hitting those meshes are Ballistic and have Penetration > 0.

5. ✅ Tweak penetration value and penetration ratio per projectile.

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✅ Best Practices

• Use pooling only for ballistic projectiles, not explosive.

• Use clear Physical Material naming (like PM_Wood, PM_Armor, PM_Glass) for organization.

• Keep indexes intuitive: lower = easier to pass, higher = stronger resistance.

• Always test with debug lines or prints to confirm material is correctly detected!