Why is this called the 8C damage system?
Because it simplifies all the weapons down to 8 classes. Every weapon can fit into one of these classes, and only the splash damage and damage number need to be adjusted.
Why is a new damage system needed?
The current weapon classes in Desert Combat (version 0.39) are complicated and unbalanced. Light weapons can do damage to heavy vehicles, while heavy weapons end up doing minimal damage.
Is this just to improve realism?
No, although improving realism is a large part of it. It is detrimental to the game when some weapons are unrealistically powerful or weak.
If you improve realism, don't you make the gameplay worse?
No. Gameplay and realism are not related in any way. It just happens to be that some of the changes which improve gameplay also make realism better. An improvement to realism will not be added if in any way it makes the gameplay worse.
According to your ideas, almost all weapons are weak against tank armour! Why is Heavy armour so good?
Heavy armour is the armour on the front of tanks. That is the only place Heavy Armour is used in the game. The sides and top of tanks have Medium armour, and the backs have Light armour, so it is possible to kill tanks with the weaker weapons.
Why is the Hind's machinegun weaker than the Apache's?
Although the Hind's gun is a class below the Apache's, it has a much greater rate of fire. (In real life it shoots 7 times faster.) The Apache's gun may be better for taking out heavier armoured targets, but the Hind can take down lightly armoured targets very fast.
Why is the SMAW more powerful than the Scud?
It isn't more powerful. However the SMAW has a higher weapon class because it is an anti-armour weapon. The Scud has a much greater damage number and far greater splash area, and will cause a lot more damage despite being in a lower weapon class.
Why is the Stinger in the Flack class?
The Stinger has always been coded using the Flack damage type in the game. This is so it has a proximity detonation ability. This can not be changed, and ends up being balanced anyway.
Why do boats only have light armour?
Boats only have light armour, but they have a massive amount of Health which lets them take a lot of damage. Carriers also have "deck" armour which is an armour class built into BF and is not mentioned here, but is assumed to be used on carriers.
The PKM can still damage the Assault helicopters in this system!
For balance purposes, the SAW/PKM can still damage the Attack helicopters. However, the damage they do is very minimal, and is only useful to finish off an already damaged Assault chopper.
Wont this make the Attack choppers too powerful, if the SAW/PKM can't kill them like they used to?
No. In this system, Stingers do 70% damage to an attack chopper with a direct hit. Two close but not direct hits will still down an Attack chopper due to the proximity splash damage. In addition, .50 cal and above weapons are now more effective against the Attack choppers, and the Attack chopper weapons are not overpowered anymore.
It is important to realise that the damage a weapon does is determined by three factors.
Weapons can be Effective, Moderate, Weak, or Ineffective against armour classes. When Ineffective, no damage is done at all.
Small Calibre all small calibre weapons. Effective against Infantry. Weak against Soft Skinned. Ineffective against all else.
All Pistols. Shotguns. MP5. AKS-74U (fires 5.54mm). Skorpion.
Machine Gun 5.56mm to 7.62mm weapons. Effective against Infantry. Moderate against Soft Skinned. Weak against Light armour. Ineffective against all else.
M16. AK47. Saw. PKM. BMP coaxial. Abrams coaxial. T72 coaxial. Sniper rifle.
Light Anti Vehicle 12.7mm (0.50 cal) to 20mm weapons. Effective against Infantry and Soft Skinned. Moderate against Light armour. Weak against Medium armour. Ineffective against Heavy armour.
HMMWV gun. All top mounted auxiliary machineguns (.50 cal). BlackHawk gun. BRDM gun. Hind gun. F-16, Mig-29 and Vulcan AA cannon fire 20mm rounds.
Heavy Anti Vehicle 25mm to 30mm weapons. Effective against Infantry, Soft Skinned, Light Armour. Moderate against medium armour. Weak against Heavy armour.
BMP2 cannon. Bradley cannon. Apache cannon. Su 25 cannon. A 10 cannon. Harrier cannon.
Anti Infantry Effective against infantry. Weak against Soft Skinned. Ineffective against all else.
Grenades, Grenade Launchers
High Explosive Effective against Infantry, Soft Skin & Light armour. Moderate against Medium armour. Weak against Heavy armour.
All artillery weapons including Scud. AC 130 howitzer. FFAR's (Hydra missiles). F-16 and Mig-29 missiles. Mortar.
Anti Armour Effective against Infantry, Soft Skinned, Light Armour, Medium Armour. Moderate against Heavy armour.
SMAW/RPG Abrams & T72 cannon. Hellfire and AT6 missiles. C4. Mines. Spandrel. TOW.
Flack special damage type
Stinger. Shilka. Stationary AA.
The "life" of a unit in the game depends on two things...
Infantry Only Infantry units have this class of armour.
Soft Skin Light vehicles, such as the HMMWV, DPV, Scud, and BM21 Missile Truck, and Ural. F-16, Mig-29, BlackHawk and Harrier. Light boats.
Light Armour The BRDM (both types) and most artillery has this class of armour. AC-130, Apache, Hind, A-10 and Su-25. All large boats have this armour class. MBT has this at rear only. Bradley and BMP-2 have this at rear only.
Medium Armour The M-1974 and M- 109 have this at front only. Bradley and BMP-2 has this except at rear. MBT has this on top and sides.
Heavy Armour MBT's (Abrams and T-72) have this at the front. No other unit has this class of armour.
This is just a short list of suggestion to simplify weapon damages.
1.) The TOW, Hellfire and AT-6 missiles all should do the same damage. (What the TOW currently does in 0.39) Same weapon class (anti-armour), same splash damage, same damage number. This amount of damage is perfect for taking out armoured units, without being overpowered. This would also make things a lot simpler.
2.) Weapons that are the same type, but on different vehicles should still be the same. The spandrel fired by the BDRM Spandrel should be exactly the same as the one fired by the BMP-2. This helps simplify things and make them realistic. Guns that fire the same ammo class should also do the same damage per bullet.