To all those people wanting “Realistic Physics” this is why it can’t happen. Also im not a dev but I do understand how code works. So this may be true or it may not even be close to how it works.
Lets start with part warping and bending. It just cannot happen. Each part in a vehicle is linked not through welding* parts together but by having them each individually assigned a fixed location. Because of this fixed location, you can’t really have parts move from its fixed location to a new one. It too much to code in. Each part has its own collision (More in the next part) and rotation. When you crash, parts are rotated towards the opposite direction of the impact. Each parts physics can not be applied to other parts as they are blacklisted** from touching each other. This means body crumpling, impact ridges, body warping, and cars being split in half.
As for derby physics, every part has a general hitbox. Its usually a basic shape such as a cube or triangle to limit how much is code has to be run server wise as well as making crushers work properly. The basic hitbox is made so that you don’t glitch out into the map when using crushers that require contact to the part. The many surfaces of some parts make them glitch out more than you’d expect.
Now those who own a tank know that the turret can fall off when shooting the base of it. In recent updates I believe they have collision now, but these are rendered as separate from the tank. if this Was applied for every single vehicle in game, it would cause server storage to get full almost instantly.
This is all done so that way you can enjoy the many vehicles the game has, while still being able to crush your car.
Anyways I spent like 20 minutes writing this and didn’t bother to reread it, and also if you didn’t read all of it idrc cause I mean its not that big of a deal.