Greetings! The end of the year is coming and development of Gates of Hell is proceeding fruitfully.

The last months were very productive as heavy rework with the skilled Gem2 programming crew at Bestway took us many steps closer to a realistic revamp of the game. This will continue in the future to make our game unique in our direction.

Since the summer of 2016 we have been working on many aspects, trying to get the extra mile done and make the subtle changes to the game that make us that bit more special. From big changes like remaking aviation damage to complex vehicle mechanics, including single, double, triple suspension systems, internal storages and organic vehicle animations; to the small changes that almost fly unnoticed, like making fire sounds match the length of the physical flame durations. And finally changes that no one really notices at first, like optimising the shared effect texture sizes by over 50%, but that has a significant effect on the gameplay.

We are aware that you are anxiously waiting for our release date. This was changed to ‘to be decided’ in the lights of our extended roadmap. The team have all been involved in projects in the past and we want to ensure that when we get to the release stage we do not make past mistakes or alternatively release too early. We are not a multinational corporation, or for that matter we are not full-time game developers either, and as such we want to ensure that the game does not become dead through time by providing enough material right from the onset. All of us come back from work and plunge ourselves into our monitors with the motivation of one thousand souls. We want to make our players feel that urge too!

We are also now proceeding to publish another video trailer that i’m sure you have been waiting for. You can check it in the store page in the coming weeks.

Last but not least. Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Holidays? I mean family trips and GoH full-time working season. Cheers!

We already have a new year’s resolution. You can guess what it is ;)


HD link

Greetings! The end of the year is coming and development of Gates of Hell is proceeding fruitfully.

The last months were very productive as heavy rework with the skilled Gem2 programming crew at Bestway took us many steps closer to a realistic revamp of the game. This will continue in the future to make our game unique in our direction.

Since the summer of 2016 we have been working on many aspects, trying to get the extra mile done and make the subtle changes to the game that make us that bit more special. From big changes like remaking aviation damage to complex vehicle mechanics, including single, double, triple suspension systems, internal storages and organic vehicle animations; to the small changes that almost fly unnoticed, like making fire sounds match the length of the physical flame durations. And finally changes that no one really notices at first, like optimising the shared effect texture sizes by over 50%, but that has a significant effect on the gameplay.

We are aware that you are anxiously waiting for our release date. This was changed to ‘to be decided’ in the lights of our extended roadmap. The team have all been involved in projects in the past and we want to ensure that when we get to the release stage we do not make past mistakes or alternatively release too early. We are not a multinational corporation, or for that matter we are not full-time game developers either, and as such we want to ensure that the game does not become dead through time by providing enough material right from the onset. All of us come back from work and plunge ourselves into our monitors with the motivation of one thousand souls. We want to make our players feel that urge too!

We are also now proceeding to publish another video trailer that i’m sure you have been waiting for. You can check it in the store page in the coming weeks.

Last but not least. Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Holidays? I mean family trips and GoH full-time working season. Cheers!

We already have a new year’s resolution. You can guess what it is ;)


HD link

Greetings! This week we will continue discussing the subject you voted for the most: Ballistic and Ammunition system overhaul. In the last developer blog (#46) we explained the various shells that cannons and tank guns will use. Today we will discuss armour types and their ability to resist penetration.




It is important to note that the same ballistics calculations are used for both small arms and large projectiles. This includes information such as: Shell Type, Caliber, Speed, Trajectory, Penetration, and Damage. Likewise, the armour calculations include Armour Slope (or angle) and Thickness. In the future, Armour Type (RHA, FHA, Cast, High Hardness) and Armour Quality (flaws) may be included as well. (Depending on the results of internal testing.)

Now, the game may use the familiar UI colors to indicate if a shell will successfully penetrate armour (Green = Yes, Yellow = Maybe and Red = No), but we have implemented major changes to the calculations and formulas happening behind the scenes. To help demonstrate results of these changes, our game mechanic engineer has created a web based armour resistance calculator specifically for GoH. We will cover this in more detail at the end of this dev blog.


All armour plates have a specific amount of physical thickness, often measured in millimeters. For example, the front plate of a Soviet T-34 medium tank is 45mm thick. The armour plate is also sloped at angle of 60° from the vertical. Because of the tilted armor, the relative thickness increases and projectiles must go through more steel to penetrate. In the case of the T-34, relative thickness is 90mm. 45mm / Cosine (60°) = 90mm.

While the equation is mathematically correct, it does not account for the effect that sloped armour has on various shell types. This effect often increases resistance above the relative armour thickness.

The "slope effect" is defined as: the multiplier that converts an angled impact penetration to an equivalent resistance at 0°. To paraphrase, the slope effect is a number (usually greater than 1) that is multiplied by the physical thickness, to give the real penetration resistance as if the armour plate had no slope. Thickness x Slope Effect = Armour Resistance @ 0°. Since all of the penetration data we use for guns is at 0°, we also want armour effectiveness data at 0°. This may be difficult to understand so we will use the T-34 example again.

Lets use an example of the T-34 front plate versus a German 75mm APCBC shell. After running slope effect formula we get a value of 2.7. If we multiply this by the armour plate thickness we get a equivalent resistance of ~122mm at 0°. 45mm x 2.7 = ~122mm. Meaning, the T-34 front plate that is 45mm thick and with a 60° slope resists penetration from the 75mm APCBC shell like a 122mm thick armour plate would with a 0° slope.


This is assuming that the T-34 plate is rolled homogeneous armour (RHA), is perfect quality (no flaws) and has the Brinell Hardness Number (BHN) of 240. We will discuss these armour types and factors next.

*BHN 240 is the hardness of the U.S. Test plate used in ballistic testing in the 1940's. Penetration data has also been converted to how it would perform against standard (RHA) US Test plate, allowing direct comparisons between nations. (Each nation had its own methods for calculating penetration data and it is important that they be converted to a common standard.)



There were several types of armour that World War II Vehicles could be made from. Each nation had its own methods of manufacturing that affected how well the armour resisted penetration.



(RHA) is cast steel that is hot rolled to a desired thickness. The rolling creates structural changes that help disperse stress loads throughout the plate. It was produced by all nations and is the most common armour type. In game, this is the default armour type and all penetration equations are set with RHA in mind.



Cast Armour is the most basic form of steel armour. Firing test results from several nations indicate that cast armour is less resistant than rolled armor due to beneficial structural changes that take place when armour is rolled.



FHA has a thin outer layer of 450-650 BHN hardness on top of a standard rolled plate. FHA will be the most difficult to implement in game since there is no equation to easily account for its effects against various shell types. (It seems to vary greatly from each shell size and type.) For this reason it is not included in the armour calculator.



It is best to consider High Hardness armour as a "Type" of armour for our purposes. Armour with a hardness below 375 BHN is expected to have reasonable impact resistance, allowing it to withstand multiple hits without cracking or spalling. As hardness increases above 375 BHN, it becomes brittle and loses penetration resistance when the diameter of projectile (caliber) is equal or greater than the physical thickness of the armour plate. High Hardness is a common feature for Soviet vehicles except for the KV-1 and KV-2.

If we apply the High Hardness multiplier to the previous T-34 example, it would reduces the armour effectives from ~122mm to ~94mm against the German 75mm APCBC shell. (Assuming a BHN value of 450.) This matches German field reports describing the ranges at which T-34s could be defeated by 75mm guns.



As the war progressed, important materials for armour production were rationed which would affect armour quality and penetration resistance. Also unskilled labor and poor quality control contributed to armour quality in certain situations. An example would be, American quality control permitted flawed armor in many tanks prior to October 1943, including Sherman front plates. It is possible the British underwent major quality control improvements around the same time. Many German Panther and Tiger II tanks suffered from medium to large flaws in their armour (especially Panther Glacis) which contributed to lower than expected penetration resistance.

Again, testing still needs to be done to determine which or if any of the armor types and factors will be in the finished game.



As mentioned before, our game mechanic engineer has created a web based calculator with all the formulas for these armour mechanics built in. You will notice that the default values are from the T-34 example. Feel free to change the various inputs to see the armour resistance change against the various shell types.




While there are many sources available on the topic, none are quite as comprehensive as "World War II Ballistics: Armor and Gunnery" by Lorring Rexford Bird and Robert D. Livingston. The full equations for slope, armour and flaw multipliers can be found here, and the converted penetration data. Any formation that cannot be found in the WWII Ballistics book, have been collected from various websites including but not limited to: panzerworld.com , battlefield.ru , wwiivehicles.com , gva.freeweb.hu ... etc.



We believe that the redesign of ballistics and armour will make our game unique in the RTS market. We also aim to make the whole system second nature for our players. While we pursue historic authenticity, we do not want it to sacrifice fun and competitive gameplay. No one shall be left behind!

Greetings! This week we will continue discussing the subject you voted for the most: Ballistic and Ammunition system overhaul. In the last developer blog (#46) we explained the various shells that cannons and tank guns will use. Today we will discuss armour types and their ability to resist penetration.




It is important to note that the same ballistics calculations are used for both small arms and large projectiles. This includes information such as: Shell Type, Caliber, Speed, Trajectory, Penetration, and Damage. Likewise, the armour calculations include Armour Slope (or angle) and Thickness. In the future, Armour Type (RHA, FHA, Cast, High Hardness) and Armour Quality (flaws) may be included as well. (Depending on the results of internal testing.)

Now, the game may use the familiar UI colors to indicate if a shell will successfully penetrate armour (Green = Yes, Yellow = Maybe and Red = No), but we have implemented major changes to the calculations and formulas happening behind the scenes. To help demonstrate results of these changes, our game mechanic engineer has created a web based armour resistance calculator specifically for GoH. We will cover this in more detail at the end of this dev blog.


All armour plates have a specific amount of physical thickness, often measured in millimeters. For example, the front plate of a Soviet T-34 medium tank is 45mm thick. The armour plate is also sloped at angle of 60° from the vertical. Because of the tilted armor, the relative thickness increases and projectiles must go through more steel to penetrate. In the case of the T-34, relative thickness is 90mm. 45mm / Cosine (60°) = 90mm.

While the equation is mathematically correct, it does not account for the effect that sloped armour has on various shell types. This effect often increases resistance above the relative armour thickness.

The "slope effect" is defined as: the multiplier that converts an angled impact penetration to an equivalent resistance at 0°. To paraphrase, the slope effect is a number (usually greater than 1) that is multiplied by the physical thickness, to give the real penetration resistance as if the armour plate had no slope. Thickness x Slope Effect = Armour Resistance @ 0°. Since all of the penetration data we use for guns is at 0°, we also want armour effectiveness data at 0°. This may be difficult to understand so we will use the T-34 example again.

Lets use an example of the T-34 front plate versus a German 75mm APCBC shell. After running slope effect formula we get a value of 2.7. If we multiply this by the armour plate thickness we get a equivalent resistance of ~122mm at 0°. 45mm x 2.7 = ~122mm. Meaning, the T-34 front plate that is 45mm thick and with a 60° slope resists penetration from the 75mm APCBC shell like a 122mm thick armour plate would with a 0° slope.


This is assuming that the T-34 plate is rolled homogeneous armour (RHA), is perfect quality (no flaws) and has the Brinell Hardness Number (BHN) of 240. We will discuss these armour types and factors next.

*BHN 240 is the hardness of the U.S. Test plate used in ballistic testing in the 1940's. Penetration data has also been converted to how it would perform against standard (RHA) US Test plate, allowing direct comparisons between nations. (Each nation had its own methods for calculating penetration data and it is important that they be converted to a common standard.)



There were several types of armour that World War II Vehicles could be made from. Each nation had its own methods of manufacturing that affected how well the armour resisted penetration.



(RHA) is cast steel that is hot rolled to a desired thickness. The rolling creates structural changes that help disperse stress loads throughout the plate. It was produced by all nations and is the most common armour type. In game, this is the default armour type and all penetration equations are set with RHA in mind.



Cast Armour is the most basic form of steel armour. Firing test results from several nations indicate that cast armour is less resistant than rolled armor due to beneficial structural changes that take place when armour is rolled.



FHA has a thin outer layer of 450-650 BHN hardness on top of a standard rolled plate. FHA will be the most difficult to implement in game since there is no equation to easily account for its effects against various shell types. (It seems to vary greatly from each shell size and type.) For this reason it is not included in the armour calculator.



It is best to consider High Hardness armour as a "Type" of armour for our purposes. Armour with a hardness below 375 BHN is expected to have reasonable impact resistance, allowing it to withstand multiple hits without cracking or spalling. As hardness increases above 375 BHN, it becomes brittle and loses penetration resistance when the diameter of projectile (caliber) is equal or greater than the physical thickness of the armour plate. High Hardness is a common feature for Soviet vehicles except for the KV-1 and KV-2.

If we apply the High Hardness multiplier to the previous T-34 example, it would reduces the armour effectives from ~122mm to ~94mm against the German 75mm APCBC shell. (Assuming a BHN value of 450.) This matches German field reports describing the ranges at which T-34s could be defeated by 75mm guns.



As the war progressed, important materials for armour production were rationed which would affect armour quality and penetration resistance. Also unskilled labor and poor quality control contributed to armour quality in certain situations. An example would be, American quality control permitted flawed armor in many tanks prior to October 1943, including Sherman front plates. It is possible the British underwent major quality control improvements around the same time. Many German Panther and Tiger II tanks suffered from medium to large flaws in their armour (especially Panther Glacis) which contributed to lower than expected penetration resistance.

Again, testing still needs to be done to determine which or if any of the armor types and factors will be in the finished game.



As mentioned before, our game mechanic engineer has created a web based calculator with all the formulas for these armour mechanics built in. You will notice that the default values are from the T-34 example. Feel free to change the various inputs to see the armour resistance change against the various shell types.




While there are many sources available on the topic, none are quite as comprehensive as "World War II Ballistics: Armor and Gunnery" by Lorring Rexford Bird and Robert D. Livingston. The full equations for slope, armour and flaw multipliers can be found here, and the converted penetration data. Any formation that cannot be found in the WWII Ballistics book, have been collected from various websites including but not limited to: panzerworld.com , battlefield.ru , wwiivehicles.com , gva.freeweb.hu ... etc.



We believe that the redesign of ballistics and armour will make our game unique in the RTS market. We also aim to make the whole system second nature for our players. While we pursue historic authenticity, we do not want it to sacrifice fun and competitive gameplay. No one shall be left behind!

Hello friends and players! Welcome back. Today we have some juicy news. The polling results are in, and you voted to learn more about the ballistics and ammunitions system overhaul, as well as our realistic armour penetration redesign. There is too much information in each one of these topics to cover them all in just one developer blog so we will begin Part 1 by discussing gun ammunition.




To understand better how we plan to move forward, it is important to recognize where we are coming from. In previous gem2 games, gun ammunition was largely limited to 2 or 3 shell types: Armor Piercing, High Explosive, and some included higher penetration shells (APCR).

Our goal has been to redesign this system to portray most historically accurate representation of gun ammunition that has ever been in Gem2. This will be achieved through but not limited to the following features.

- Vehicles will come with realistic loadouts for their time period, both in composition and overall quantity.
- Each shell type will have its own muzzle velocity and other properties, meaning that a gun has a different behaviour for each shell type depending on historical data.
- Newly added slope effects, Thickness / Diameter Ratios, and Normalization functions for EACH shell type and caliber size. (This will be explained later in further detail)



Vehicles will rarely have more than 3-4 types of shells in their inventory, so they will all be useful and have their role. Although there are many types of ammunition that were designed throughout WW2, in GoH we have a structure of different classes that is colour-coded for ease of use, even to someone who has never heard of a tank shell before. Each one is different and they are all labelled to ensure you will not have problems in recognising and using the projectiles in game. Here are all the classes of shells!





Standard armor piercing rounds without ballistic or armor piercing caps. AP shells are the most primitive way of making a projectile penetrate a hard surface. A chunk of metal is thrown at the armour to make a hole! The faster it goes, the more energy it strikes with, the more it penetrates - so it loses effectiveness over distance. At the beginning of WW2 most nations used an AP shell but as armor technology progressed, newer more advanced shell types were developed and issued.





Standard armor piercing round with an armor piercing cap (AP + APC, abbreviated APC instead of APAPC). Armor piercing shells had a tendency to shatter when impacting armor that is thicker than the diameter of the shell. The addition of a cap (a soft material on the tip of the shell) helps reduce the shattering effect and allows the projectile to overcome armor in situations it would otherwise shatter and fail to penetrate.

The soft cap also helps to increase shells effectiveness against sloped armor. When a capped shells hit a armor plate at an angle, the cap deforms in the collision, allowing the projectile's center of mass to rotate into the armor's surface. This reduces the angle of attack and improves penetration.

Lastly, APC shells have increased penetration effectiveness against Face Hardened Armor (FHA) but reduced effectiveness against Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA). Homogeneous armor has the same thickness throughout, while face-hardened has a thin extremely hard layer. It's not a guarantee that different armor types (RHA & FHA) will be modeled in game, but it is something we may look into adding in the future.





These shells have all the same benefits and drawbacks of the standard APC shell with one exception, the addition of a ballistic cap. The ballistic cap (also known as a windscreen or windshield) helped reduce air resistance on the projectile. This helped increase the velocity and penetration of the shell at medium and long ranges.





The APBC shell is an untraditional flat nosed armor piercing projectile that is primarily used by the Soviets and was patterned after naval ammunition. What makes this type unique is the flat nose of the core which gives it better penetration against sloped armor than any other AP shell. The flat nose inside it helps dig into angled armor allowing the center of mass to rotate into the armor plate (just like the APC shell but with even better performance). Over time, the ballistic cap was added to counter poor aerodynamics of the flat nose, giving the shell better penetration at longer ranges.







Most of the previously mentioned shell types could come in two different forms: Solid shot or HE (High explosive filler). Solid shot is a just as it sounds, a standard projectile that is solid throughout. HE Filler adds increased damage to internal tank components after penetration. Shells with HE filler have slightly reduced penetration compared to their solid shot counterpart, but if they penetrate, they will cause more damage!






Depending on the country of origin, they vary slightly in name and method of operation. These shells were designed to increase penetration potential through extreme velocity and hardness. All three shell types achieve increased penetration, but their weaknesses are poor performance against angled armor and they lose effectiveness dramatically over distance because they are light and rely on maximum kinetic energy for penetration.

Armor Piercing Composite Rigid shells (APCR) had a Tungsten core and was used by both the Germans and Soviets. Tungsten is a hard, high density material that is brittle but it is able to hit armor at high velocity and avoid shatter failure. High Velocity Armor Piercing shells (HVAP) is used by the Americans and is similar to APCR.

The British used Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot shells (APDS). It too had a hard core and when fired, the projectile sides fell off as the round as it exited the gun barrel releasing the sabot. APDS maintains its velocity and penetration much longer than other Tungsten rounds due to its smaller in-flight diameter and reduced wind resistance, but it is the least accurate of the three.





“High Explosive Anti Tank” rounds are designed for guns that cannot shoot projectiles very fast, like short barreled cannons, artillery, and bazookas/rockets. A solution needed to be found to bypass the poor muzzle velocity. There is a shaped charge inside these rounds that concentrates the blast in a very small zone upon impact, launching towards the inside of the armoured target an explosion that generates a beam of molten metal or plasma. These shells are very deadly and do not lose penetration over distance, because the explosive is equally effective at any impact speed.

Side skirts and additional armour plates on tanks are a useful measure to stop these rounds, because the outer metal detonates the shell and the plasma beam does not reach the main armour protection. These shells are rare, so better to use them in the finest hour.





HE rounds explode on impact and are great against soft targets like infantry and thin armour. They are also useful to destroy concrete and brick walls. Very big HE rounds are also capable of shredding tanks from the powerful blastwave.


A tank will usually have a basic AP (with fillers or caps or a combination of everything :3 ) round, an “improved round” depending on the cannon type (HEAT for low velocity guns or ‘high velocity’ shells for high muzzle velocity guns), and finally a HE shell.

So if you’re shooting at infantry, emplacements, buildings or weak vehicles, always use HE. No brainer.

If you have a tank that you can beat, use your standard AP rounds. If your AP shell is capped (it will be correctly labelled) it will be great to use against sloped armour.

If you want to destroy a tank at long range or simply you do not have enough penetration because your gun is not made to shoot speedy projectiles, you can use HEAT. If you have APCR or other high velocity shells, these are great for penetrating armour that is too thick for your normal AP. These high velocity shells are also very comfortable to use because they are so fast you will not even have to apply lead to your target, but remember that all the ‘improved rounds’ are pathetic when it comes to sloped armour :P

See you next week with armour redesign!

Hello friends and players! Welcome back. Today we have some juicy news. The polling results are in, and you voted to learn more about the ballistics and ammunitions system overhaul, as well as our realistic armour penetration redesign. There is too much information in each one of these topics to cover them all in just one developer blog so we will begin Part 1 by discussing gun ammunition.




To understand better how we plan to move forward, it is important to recognize where we are coming from. In previous gem2 games, gun ammunition was largely limited to 2 or 3 shell types: Armor Piercing, High Explosive, and some included higher penetration shells (APCR).

Our goal has been to redesign this system to portray most historically accurate representation of gun ammunition that has ever been in Gem2. This will be achieved through but not limited to the following features.

- Vehicles will come with realistic loadouts for their time period, both in composition and overall quantity.
- Each shell type will have its own muzzle velocity and other properties, meaning that a gun has a different behaviour for each shell type depending on historical data.
- Newly added slope effects, Thickness / Diameter Ratios, and Normalization functions for EACH shell type and caliber size. (This will be explained later in further detail)



Vehicles will rarely have more than 3-4 types of shells in their inventory, so they will all be useful and have their role. Although there are many types of ammunition that were designed throughout WW2, in GoH we have a structure of different classes that is colour-coded for ease of use, even to someone who has never heard of a tank shell before. Each one is different and they are all labelled to ensure you will not have problems in recognising and using the projectiles in game. Here are all the classes of shells!





Standard armor piercing rounds without ballistic or armor piercing caps. AP shells are the most primitive way of making a projectile penetrate a hard surface. A chunk of metal is thrown at the armour to make a hole! The faster it goes, the more energy it strikes with, the more it penetrates - so it loses effectiveness over distance. At the beginning of WW2 most nations used an AP shell but as armor technology progressed, newer more advanced shell types were developed and issued.





Standard armor piercing round with an armor piercing cap (AP + APC, abbreviated APC instead of APAPC). Armor piercing shells had a tendency to shatter when impacting armor that is thicker than the diameter of the shell. The addition of a cap (a soft material on the tip of the shell) helps reduce the shattering effect and allows the projectile to overcome armor in situations it would otherwise shatter and fail to penetrate.

The soft cap also helps to increase shells effectiveness against sloped armor. When a capped shells hit a armor plate at an angle, the cap deforms in the collision, allowing the projectile's center of mass to rotate into the armor's surface. This reduces the angle of attack and improves penetration.

Lastly, APC shells have increased penetration effectiveness against Face Hardened Armor (FHA) but reduced effectiveness against Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA). Homogeneous armor has the same thickness throughout, while face-hardened has a thin extremely hard layer. It's not a guarantee that different armor types (RHA & FHA) will be modeled in game, but it is something we may look into adding in the future.





These shells have all the same benefits and drawbacks of the standard APC shell with one exception, the addition of a ballistic cap. The ballistic cap (also known as a windscreen or windshield) helped reduce air resistance on the projectile. This helped increase the velocity and penetration of the shell at medium and long ranges.





The APBC shell is an untraditional flat nosed armor piercing projectile that is primarily used by the Soviets and was patterned after naval ammunition. What makes this type unique is the flat nose of the core which gives it better penetration against sloped armor than any other AP shell. The flat nose inside it helps dig into angled armor allowing the center of mass to rotate into the armor plate (just like the APC shell but with even better performance). Over time, the ballistic cap was added to counter poor aerodynamics of the flat nose, giving the shell better penetration at longer ranges.







Most of the previously mentioned shell types could come in two different forms: Solid shot or HE (High explosive filler). Solid shot is a just as it sounds, a standard projectile that is solid throughout. HE Filler adds increased damage to internal tank components after penetration. Shells with HE filler have slightly reduced penetration compared to their solid shot counterpart, but if they penetrate, they will cause more damage!






Depending on the country of origin, they vary slightly in name and method of operation. These shells were designed to increase penetration potential through extreme velocity and hardness. All three shell types achieve increased penetration, but their weaknesses are poor performance against angled armor and they lose effectiveness dramatically over distance because they are light and rely on maximum kinetic energy for penetration.

Armor Piercing Composite Rigid shells (APCR) had a Tungsten core and was used by both the Germans and Soviets. Tungsten is a hard, high density material that is brittle but it is able to hit armor at high velocity and avoid shatter failure. High Velocity Armor Piercing shells (HVAP) is used by the Americans and is similar to APCR.

The British used Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot shells (APDS). It too had a hard core and when fired, the projectile sides fell off as the round as it exited the gun barrel releasing the sabot. APDS maintains its velocity and penetration much longer than other Tungsten rounds due to its smaller in-flight diameter and reduced wind resistance, but it is the least accurate of the three.





“High Explosive Anti Tank” rounds are designed for guns that cannot shoot projectiles very fast, like short barreled cannons, artillery, and bazookas/rockets. A solution needed to be found to bypass the poor muzzle velocity. There is a shaped charge inside these rounds that concentrates the blast in a very small zone upon impact, launching towards the inside of the armoured target an explosion that generates a beam of molten metal or plasma. These shells are very deadly and do not lose penetration over distance, because the explosive is equally effective at any impact speed.

Side skirts and additional armour plates on tanks are a useful measure to stop these rounds, because the outer metal detonates the shell and the plasma beam does not reach the main armour protection. These shells are rare, so better to use them in the finest hour.





HE rounds explode on impact and are great against soft targets like infantry and thin armour. They are also useful to destroy concrete and brick walls. Very big HE rounds are also capable of shredding tanks from the powerful blastwave.


A tank will usually have a basic AP (with fillers or caps or a combination of everything :3 ) round, an “improved round” depending on the cannon type (HEAT for low velocity guns or ‘high velocity’ shells for high muzzle velocity guns), and finally a HE shell.

So if you’re shooting at infantry, emplacements, buildings or weak vehicles, always use HE. No brainer.

If you have a tank that you can beat, use your standard AP rounds. If your AP shell is capped (it will be correctly labelled) it will be great to use against sloped armour.

If you want to destroy a tank at long range or simply you do not have enough penetration because your gun is not made to shoot speedy projectiles, you can use HEAT. If you have APCR or other high velocity shells, these are great for penetrating armour that is too thick for your normal AP. These high velocity shells are also very comfortable to use because they are so fast you will not even have to apply lead to your target, but remember that all the ‘improved rounds’ are pathetic when it comes to sloped armour :P

See you next week with armour redesign!

Hello, welcome back to this week's Devblog entry. We continue with some new guns' presentation:




The first series of the classic SVT series was born in 1938 and was an innovative rifle that marked the beginning of semi automatic USSR mass produced rifles. The 10-round magazine could hold twice as much rounds as the regular bolt action rifle and proved effective, but it would take some time until it was finally adopted as a standard infantry type of weapon.







This legendary rifle became one of the most iconic killing tools that the USSR had at their disposal. The ability to reliably engage at medium and long range whilst maintaining a suppressive rate of fire, plus efficient mass production to allow this rifle to be spread amongst the troops (unlike SVT 38), made this weapon a choice for many that could get their hands on it. In addition, a shorter barreled version, the SVT 40 Carbine, was developed for increased mobility for those light and swift infantry units that required it. This carbine was not accepted into mass production though, so it is a useful rarity.







Someone had the bright idea of modifying the internal mechanism of the SVT 40 to craft an automatic weapon out of the deadly rifle. The result was controversial. Excellent performance in close range preserving plus the long range capabilities. On the other hand, automatic fire increased the material fatigue so they had a short lifespan, and the recoil buildup after shooting successive rounds was too great to sustain any accurate bursts after the second or third shell. The magazine was too small as well. It is, at the end of the day, a useful weapon to quickly harass enemy infantry provided that you shoot short bursts to conserve the pinpoint accuracy, and it is a great asset to the USSR elites.







The Germans liked what they saw in the Eastern Front when it came to automatic USSR rifles. They embarked in an adventure of their own to craft something similar for the Wehrmacht. The Gewehr (rifle) 41 rushed into production and arrived to the hands of the troops in late 1941. The design was similar to the SVT40 and housed 15 rounds, 5 more than the Soviet, but had a crucial disadvantage with respect to it's rival: the gas system and overall mechanical functioning was quite fragile and unreliable, needless to say , terribly inadequate for muddy and dirty environments.







The G43 fixed many of the G41's issues and became a very effective automatic rifle for the late war. The precision of this rifle was so that it was a favourite for marksmen and medium range snipers. In Gates of Hell variants of the G43 with scope and cloth are available for scouts and high tier infantry classes on the late war such as elite SS grenadiers.







We will make a small pause from rendering weapons. Its your turn to vote in the comments below, what you want to see from the following pending topics in the upcoming devblogs:


(A) A location story (like we did with Brest and Red October Factory earlier this year).


(B) Devblogs about our Ballistics and ammunitions system overhaul, as well as our realistic armour penetration redesign.


(C) Another Historical Feature entry about the tank of your choice.

Hello, welcome back to this week's Devblog entry. We continue with some new guns' presentation:




The first series of the classic SVT series was born in 1938 and was an innovative rifle that marked the beginning of semi automatic USSR mass produced rifles. The 10-round magazine could hold twice as much rounds as the regular bolt action rifle and proved effective, but it would take some time until it was finally adopted as a standard infantry type of weapon.







This legendary rifle became one of the most iconic killing tools that the USSR had at their disposal. The ability to reliably engage at medium and long range whilst maintaining a suppressive rate of fire, plus efficient mass production to allow this rifle to be spread amongst the troops (unlike SVT 38), made this weapon a choice for many that could get their hands on it. In addition, a shorter barreled version, the SVT 40 Carbine, was developed for increased mobility for those light and swift infantry units that required it. This carbine was not accepted into mass production though, so it is a useful rarity.







Someone had the bright idea of modifying the internal mechanism of the SVT 40 to craft an automatic weapon out of the deadly rifle. The result was controversial. Excellent performance in close range preserving plus the long range capabilities. On the other hand, automatic fire increased the material fatigue so they had a short lifespan, and the recoil buildup after shooting successive rounds was too great to sustain any accurate bursts after the second or third shell. The magazine was too small as well. It is, at the end of the day, a useful weapon to quickly harass enemy infantry provided that you shoot short bursts to conserve the pinpoint accuracy, and it is a great asset to the USSR elites.







The Germans liked what they saw in the Eastern Front when it came to automatic USSR rifles. They embarked in an adventure of their own to craft something similar for the Wehrmacht. The Gewehr (rifle) 41 rushed into production and arrived to the hands of the troops in late 1941. The design was similar to the SVT40 and housed 15 rounds, 5 more than the Soviet, but had a crucial disadvantage with respect to it's rival: the gas system and overall mechanical functioning was quite fragile and unreliable, needless to say , terribly inadequate for muddy and dirty environments.







The G43 fixed many of the G41's issues and became a very effective automatic rifle for the late war. The precision of this rifle was so that it was a favourite for marksmen and medium range snipers. In Gates of Hell variants of the G43 with scope and cloth are available for scouts and high tier infantry classes on the late war such as elite SS grenadiers.







We will make a small pause from rendering weapons. Its your turn to vote in the comments below, what you want to see from the following pending topics in the upcoming devblogs:


(A) A location story (like we did with Brest and Red October Factory earlier this year).


(B) Devblogs about our Ballistics and ammunitions system overhaul, as well as our realistic armour penetration redesign.


(C) Another Historical Feature entry about the tank of your choice.

Hello friends and players! For some time we will embark in a series of blog entries about small arms. We can use this opportunity to make nice renders as well =)


Our weapons in GoH have up to 4 LOD instances. This means that when you zoom outwards in the game, the mesh changes to seamlessly non-appeciatable versions which have a lot fewer polygons. This means that even though they are detailed in close quarters they do contribute to the optimisation we strive to achieve in the game.
And now, here are some handy killing tools:


The predecessor to the mighty PPsH-41, this weapon was widespread to NCOs and other notable infantry units for the first year of the Great Patriotic War. It comes with 71-round drum magazine and a great rate of fire, capable of suppressing the enemy with ease.




The standard sub-machinegun of the USSR after 1941 utilises the great rate of fire of the PPD and more effective production. PPSHs come in both drum and stick magazines, carrying 71 and 35 rounds respectively.




The standard MG of the USSR came into production in ... The 47 rounds come in disk magazines. The MG is accurate and does not suffer as much recoil as German MGs, so it can fire long bursts without getting too much bullet dispersion.




The tank standard MG, which was a modification from the DP, was an easy to manufacture weapon that utilised larger drum magazines of 63 rounds. In many respects it is otherwise comparable to the DP. The DT comes in extended and retracted bipod variants.




You thought we were gonna talk about the Mosin-Nagant rifle... Not today, we will leave rifles for next week. The Nagant revolver was used by staff and a silenced version is available to special forces.




In Gates of Hell we use real ammunition magazines for the firearms. However, some weapons can use more than one type of magazine. But by no means can you load different calibers of ammo or just different type of bullets than the guns were made to shoot.

Hello friends and players! For some time we will embark in a series of blog entries about small arms. We can use this opportunity to make nice renders as well =)


Our weapons in GoH have up to 4 LOD instances. This means that when you zoom outwards in the game, the mesh changes to seamlessly non-appeciatable versions which have a lot fewer polygons. This means that even though they are detailed in close quarters they do contribute to the optimisation we strive to achieve in the game.
And now, here are some handy killing tools:


The predecessor to the mighty PPsH-41, this weapon was widespread to NCOs and other notable infantry units for the first year of the Great Patriotic War. It comes with 71-round drum magazine and a great rate of fire, capable of suppressing the enemy with ease.




The standard sub-machinegun of the USSR after 1941 utilises the great rate of fire of the PPD and more effective production. PPSHs come in both drum and stick magazines, carrying 71 and 35 rounds respectively.




The standard MG of the USSR came into production in ... The 47 rounds come in disk magazines. The MG is accurate and does not suffer as much recoil as German MGs, so it can fire long bursts without getting too much bullet dispersion.




The tank standard MG, which was a modification from the DP, was an easy to manufacture weapon that utilised larger drum magazines of 63 rounds. In many respects it is otherwise comparable to the DP. The DT comes in extended and retracted bipod variants.




You thought we were gonna talk about the Mosin-Nagant rifle... Not today, we will leave rifles for next week. The Nagant revolver was used by staff and a silenced version is available to special forces.




In Gates of Hell we use real ammunition magazines for the firearms. However, some weapons can use more than one type of magazine. But by no means can you load different calibers of ammo or just different type of bullets than the guns were made to shoot.