Tankify!

Documentation

Physics simulations with tanks you can drive in real time like a game.

Fully customizable tracks powered by geometry nodes.

Turn any tank model into a playable physics-based vehicle.

IMPORT → ASSIGN → PLAY!

In just a few minutes, you are ready to drive.

Fully assisted customizations.

What kind of model do I need?

The ONLY THING you have to care about is :

Use real-life scale.

Check the model dimensions in Blender: the values in meters should roughly match the real vehicle ( a vehicle of 50 meters will not work).

Before starting: Tankify will tell you to delete the original tracks.
Tankify creates its own procedural tracks powered by geometry nodes, fully customizable and adaptable in realtime.

The complete workflow

The complete workflow for making a scene should be respected as follows:

1. Import the tank

2. Assign parts

3. Play with it

4. Customize settings

5. Bake physics

6. Bake tracks

7. Lock the addon before render (press the lock button in the addon)

8. Render

Import Tank: the 5-step setup

The addon will guide you through 5 very simple steps. Just follow the instructions provided at each stage.

1) Start New Tank

Delete the original tracks, select all tank parts, then press Done.

Why? Tankify isolates the tank so the next steps only affect this model.

2) Prepare Tank

This performs all the operations needed to prepare your tank model.

You do not have to worry about the technical preparation.

3) Orientation

Rotate the tank until its front points toward the big red FRONT arrow, then press Done.

4) Assign Parts

Tell Tankify what each piece of the model should do.

Select parts in the viewport and add them to the correct group: body, wheels and optional dynamic turret.

When every required part is assigned, Tankify shows All parts assigned.

5) Tankify!

Builds the complete physics vehicle: body physics, wheel physics, suspension, motors and procedural tracks.

For Dynamic cannon setups, it also creates the physical turret rotation system.

Tankify unlocks each step only after the previous one is completed.

MORE INFOR ABOUT ASSIGNING PARTS:

Cannon Type

Note: Use Blender's Box Select tool to select multiple parts at once, then assign them to the correct group in Tankify. Enabling transparency is highly recommended here, so you do not miss parts hidden behind other geometry.

TANK BODY

Assign the main body parts here. Tankify joins the assigned body pieces automatically.

TURRET WITH CANNON

This option is available only if you choose Dynamic cannon.

Assign the parts that should be the turret with cannon.

This way, during the drive you can rotate the cannon by scrolling the mouswheel.

WHEELS

Each wheel field represents one physical wheel position.

A wheel can contain more than one mesh part (for example: if a wheel has many bolts, additional parts,etc... just select all of its parts and assign them to 1 wheel slot in the addon).
1 slot for each wheel.

Your tank has many wheels? Press Add More Wheels.

The panel starts with 12 and can expand as needed.

Tankify keeps the final button locked until all the parts of the 3d model are assigned.

After Tankify!, move the generated move box to reposition the whole vehicle.

Start driving

Press START DRIVING.

Here is the fun part, just start playing with the tank in realtime using keyboard and mouse.

Controls

WASD

Drive the tank

SPACE

Brake

Stop the tank.

SHIFT

Slow Motion

Hold Shift for activating the slow motion during the drive.

R

Restart

Restart.

MOUSE WHEEL

Turret rotation

ESC

Exit

Before driving

If the button "start driving" is greyed out, the addon will prompt you to click on "update physics" first.
This is necessary for avoiding conflicts with other addons.

Make the tank feel right

Most tanks work well with the defaults.

Change a setting only when you need a different behavior.

Motors Settings

Max Speed

Maximum driving speed.

Too slow or too fast? Change this.

Acceleration

How strongly the motors push.

Increase if the tank feels weak. Decrease if starts feel violent.

Steering Power

How strongly A/D turns the tank.

Increase for stronger turning. Decrease if it spins too aggressively.

Wheels Settings

Wheels Friction

Wheel grip.

Increase if the tank slides too much.

Collision Margin

Small collision padding around the wheels.

This margin gives the track enough space between the wheels and the floor.

Usually leave it at the default.

Suspensions Settings

Stiffness

How hard the suspension spring is.

Increase if the tank sinks too much. Decrease if suspension barely moves.
Make it look satisfying while moving.

Damping

How quickly bouncing stops.

Increase if it keeps bouncing. Decrease if it feels too dead.

X Lower / Upper

Limits how far the wheels can travel through the suspension.

Normally leave these alone unless you need more or less travel.

Physics Structure & Dynamic Cannon

Physics Structure

Mass Multiplier

Makes the whole vehicle physically heavier or lighter.

Use it to tune the overall weight response.

Center of Gravity

Moves where the body weight is concentrated.

Use it if the tank tends to fall backwards or forward too easily. Moving it lower usually increases balance.

Vehicle Height

Useful when you notice the wheels intersecting the tank body.
Press the green or red arrow for moving the tank body higher or lower.
Then press enter to confirm, or esc to abort.

Dynamic Cannon Settings

Visible only on tanks created with a Dynamic cannon.

Cannon Mass

Turret/cannon mass as a percentage of body mass.

Decrease if the turret feels too heavy or destabilizes the tank.

Max Rotation Speed

How fast the turret can rotate.

Rotation Power

How strongly the turret motor accelerates and brakes.

Increase if a heavy turret struggles to rotate or stop.

Center of Rotation

Moves the turret pivot.

Use it if the turret rotates around the wrong point.

Shape the procedural tracks

Tankify will generate automaticly some special tracks for your vehicle.
Powered by geometry nodes, that will follow the shape of the wheels in realtime.

You can choose from the multiple provided presets, or just use a custom object.

Track Shape

Live Update

Turn it on for a real-time preview of the tracks.

NOTE: After baking the tracks, turn it off. The tracks will still look correct, but viewport response will be much faster.

Curve Resolution

Smoothness around the wheels.

Increase only if the curve looks faceted.

Offset Distance

Gap between tracks and wheels.

Increase if tracks intersect wheels. Decrease if they float too far away.

Radius Scale

Changes the wheel radius used to build the track path.

Try Offset Distance first.

Bottom Support

Controls the lower track between the wheels.

Increase this if the tracks clip under the floor.

Bottom Clearance

Raises the lower track.

Increase if links go into the ground.

Top Bounce

Upper-track slack and bounce.

Higher = looser and bouncier.

Track Links

Track Link Object

Preset A / B use built-in links.

Custom uses your own mesh.

New tanks start with Preset B.

Custom Object

Your own link mesh.

Point it in the same forward direction as the tank.

Its scene position does not matter.

Link Spacing

Distance between links.

Increase if they overlap. Decrease if gaps are too large.

Same Width as Wheels

Automatically matches track width to the wheels.

Turn it off to customize the width manually.

Default Link Width

Manual width, used only when automatic width is off.

Link Height / Length

Thickness and length of each track link.

Reset icon: the circular arrow restores the Tankify default.

Bake in the correct order

For final rendering, always bake the physics first and the tracks second.
Don't worry, no need to remember these steps anyway.

Because the addon will help you to follow all the steps correctly everytime.

1. Bake physics

Bake Blender's Rigid Body World.

2. Bake Tracks

Bake every Tankify tank.

Tankify will not let you bake the tracks before Blender's rigid-body physics are baked.

With multiple tanks, bake the tracks for each one.

3. Lock addon

When the tracks are baked:

Press LOCK ADDON FOR RENDER.

Lock Addon for Render suspends Tankify's unnecessary live systems and helps prevent crashes during renders.

4. Render

Render normally in Blender.

5. Resume

When finished, press RESUME TANKIFY.

Need to edit after baking?

Press Clear Tracks Bake, then clear the physics bake.

Make your changes, then bake everything again.

Extras

Useful controls for refreshing tracks and fine-tuning Blender's physics world.

Force Refresh Tracks

Rebuilds the procedural tracks now.

Use it if the tracks look out of date after a change.

World Speed

Base speed of Blender's rigid-body world.

Do not use this to make the tank drive faster. Use Max Speed.

Slow Motion

Speed used while holding Shift.

Substeps

More physics calculations inside each frame.

Increase if fast contacts are unstable.

Higher values cost more calculation.

Solver Iterations

How hard Blender works on contacts and constraints.

Increase if constraints feel unstable.

Update Physics Settings

If this button is red, Blender's current physics settings do not match what Tankify expects.

Just click it when it's red.

It will update Blender's physics settings and unlock the driving button.

Multiple Tanks & Delete Setup

Use the Tanks list to choose the vehicle you are editing or driving.

Use the trash icon to remove its Tankify setup.

When you delete a setup, the addon will remove all the stuff generated by the addon for that tank, except the original 3d model.

If something does not look right

Have any question?

Text us on Superhive for assistance!