WoT Newsletter Volume #22

Quote MrVic: Changing of the Guard! A time has come for the changing of the guard! This will be my last week running the Newsletter. (Hold the cheers for the end please! hehe) Mainly due to my work load in my job combined with other obligations, I sadly will no longer be running the Newsletter I choose to step back and let others take over and give a go. I would love to continue but with the lack of time the quality of the Newsletter would drop, and that goes against what I think we players want and personally is not how I like to do things I plan to help where I can with segments from now on when able, and maybe more once my time frees up again. I'll still be around so, as per usual if you need help I will try my best to get things sorted out.
To all the readers: Thanks a ton for the comments and support, its made all of this a lot of fun and a honor to have you all read my insane dribble each week!
To all the Newsletter Staff/Contributers: Thanks for all the help and content provided, it made a good thing even better. (This counts for all the good posts, tank skins and comics members have created also, I loved looking through all the cool posts people wrote up!)
Hope to see everyone in game! (Preferably shooting the guy next to me and not me!)
Anyone looking to help or work on the Newsletters please contact Mediahead, and he'll get ya squared away! Help wanted: Writers, Editor, Reporters
Thanks again, MrVic


Pictures of the Week said: Note: Many of these images are from projects in progress. They should be considered Alpha images and not final
French Armor Preview!
This week we get to see who can figure which is which
Tank #1




Tank #2






Fake Tip of the Week said: Fake Tip of the Week:The more replies with "banana" in the will increase the odds of the Fake Tip of the Week never dying! Bonus Fake Tip: Killing MrVic in battle grants 10 free gold! Yes only 10g I asked for more per kill and was informed my crappy driving skills would ruin the economy! hehe (man I might regret this one lmao)


Developers Corner  said: World of Tanks v.0.6.4 preliminary patch notes:(A look to things to come!)
• Added new vehicles: premium heavy Lowe and KV-5, intermediate KV-13 and Pz38NA, tier 8 SPGs: Object 261, GW-E serie, T-92.
• Full redesign of Maus collision model using “skirt” type of armor.
• Fixed hit boxes for IS-7, JagdPanther.
• Added new maps – Mountain Pass and Prairies.
• Visual redesign of Pagorki map.
• Gameplay redesign of Komarin map: reduced number of bushes near the bridges, added extra buildings on the central island for cover.
• Added extra checkpoints on tank models for more accurate visibility checks.
• Changed effect for credit and gold first aid kits, repair kits and fire extinguishers:
Credit repair kit will fix 1 chosen damaged module until the end of battle. Gold will repair all currently damaged modules until the end of battle.
You can put both repair kits on the same tank together.
First aid kits work similar to repair kits.
Credit fire extinguisher will extinguish fire immediately after you manually activate it – by pressing its button ingame.
Gold fire extinguisher will automatically extinguish fire 0.5 seconds after tank catches fire and will reduce chance of catching fire by 10%.
• Changed damage mechanics for tracks. You can damage tracks if you hit the leading or the rearmost wheel of the tank. It will be much more difficult to detrack it by hitting middle part of the tank.
• Reworked vehicle movement system – stucking at vertical surfaces and map borders is nearly completely eliminated. Reduced chance of stucking in terrain objects.
• Added first version of moving wrecks of destroyed vehicles.
• Fixed bug with SPG Object 212 gun mantlet that was able to absorb shells without losing durability.
• Fixed damage mechanics of certain open-topped SPGs during light collisions with other vehicles.
• Added an option to demount non-demountable equipment (like Rammer or Coated Optics) for 10 Gold.
• Added an option to transfer in-game gold to another player. For additional control of transfer special billing password is being used.
• Added an option to block voice messages from the player in battle and in hangar.
• Added an option to turn-off tank shaking during shooting/moving/stopping/being hit in sniper mode. Default setting is shaking on.
• Added an option to remove tracks prints.
• Added an option to turn off smoke and dust off the tank tracks.
• Added detailed options for voice chat: selection of audio device, voice test and other options.
• Fixed bug with client freeze when joining company/platoon in case of voice ports being blocked.
• Added new tab Clan for Contacts window, including the list of clan members.
• Added visual diplay of “speaking players” in Training Room, Platoon and Company, Map Loading screen.
• Added additional star icon on the tank that did not gain double experience for the current day.
• Minimap remade into flash like the other interface . Added icons for different tank types. Added colored icons of different colours for tanks in player’s platoon.
• Added additional markers above tanks in player’s platoon.
• Added additional statistics window displayed when player’s tank is destroyed.
• Fixed great amount of rendering bugs, improved efficiency of high-quality dynamic shadows.
• Added protection from client-side change of color, brightness and display time for tracer effects.
Planned for v.0.6.4, but currenty in development:
• Reworking visibility/camouflage of all vehicles and guns.
• Lowered memory usage. Fixing Red Textures bug on PC with big amount of RAM (> 2 GB).
• Specific balance weight for 9th tier Medium tanks.
• Fixing discrepancy between sniper and arcade crosshairs in case vehicle is positioned on a slope.
• New post-battle statistics.
World of Tanks v.0.6.3.10. - v.0.6.4 expanded patch notes:
Vehicles/balance:
- Added new vehicles: premium heavy Lowe and KV-5, intermediate KV-13 and Pz38NA, tier 8 SPGs: Object 261, GW-E serie, T-92.
- Redesign hit-box for Maus on the basis of new "skirt" type of armor.
- Fixed hit boxes for IS-7, JagdPanther, Tiger, VK4502, Ferdinand, JagdTiger, M41.
- Fixed minor inaccuracies in hit boxes for several tanks.
- Fixed inaccuracies in visual models and textures for the majority of vehicles.
- Add new visual gun models for VK4502, Ferdinand, Tiger II.
- Rebalanced specifications for all SPGs.
- Readjusted camouflage values while movement and at rest.
- Readjusted camouflage values while firing for all guns.
- Readjusted shell velocity for all guns.
- Readjusted maximum firing range for the majority of guns.
- T-54: top engine substituted for 700 hp V-14, weight for top turret increased by 500kg.
- Fixed bug with the gun mantlet armor for Object 212
- Multiple balance adjustments for the majority of vehicles.
Battle mechanics:
- Added extra checkpoints on tank models for more accurate visibility checks.
- Readjusted visibility calculation for multiple bushes if they are within 15m range away from the vehicle.
- Engine now catches fire, if is has received certain fixed amount of damage, which is the same for all vehicles. The purpose is to reduce the ability of low-tier automatic guns to cause engine fire.
- Changed fuel tanks fire mechanics. It catches fire when it is destroyed now.
- Changed mechanics of "Fill tanks with CO2" equipment, now it increases durability of fuel tank.
- Changed firefighting mechanic: fire strength decreases with each second. The exact value differs from vehicle to vehicle and is multiplied by average crew firefighting skill. As soon as fire strength reaches zero (and the vehicle is not destroyed), the fire is put out.
- Changed effect for credits and gold first aid kits, repair kits and fire extinguishers:
Credits repair kit fixes 1 chosen damaged module until the end of battle. Gold repair kit - all currently damaged modules until the end of battle.
You can put both repair kits on the same tank together.
First aid kit works the same way.
Credits fire extinguisher extinguishes fire immediately after you manually activate it – by pressing its button in-game.
Gold fire extinguisher automatically extinguishes fire 0.5 seconds after tank catches fire and will reduce chance of catching fire by 10%.
- "Extra combat rations", "Case of cola", "Chocolate" consumables are now automatically activated at the beginning of the battle.
- "Removed speed governor" equipment now damages the engine 50% faster.
- Changed damage mechanics for tracks. You can damage tracks if you hit the leading or the rearmost wheel of the tank. It will be much more difficult to detrack it by hitting middle part of the tank.
- Reworked vehicle movement system – stucking at vertical surfaces and map borders is nearly completely eliminated. Reduced chance of getting stuck in terrain objects.
- Added first version of moving wrecks of destroyed vehicles.
- Fixed miscrashing of hit-box objects that stick out from the rear hull (rear hull of Gw-Tiger, etc).
- Fixed crash models for server open top SPGs being damaged by other tanks when contacted slightly.
- Fixed the condition of getting “Defender” medal. Now it meets the description requirements.
- Fixed the condition of getting “Reaper” achievement, which wasn’t granted when the tank was destroyed by splash wave or fire.
- Fixed the condition of getting Fadin's Medal which wasn’t granted when the tank was destroyed by splash wave or fire.
- Fixed the discrepancy between arcade and sniper reticle, when the tank is positioned on a slope.
Non-combat mechanics:
- Added the possibility of dismounting nondemountable equipment ("Rammer", "Coated Optics" and other) for 10 gold. To dismount it, click the module and choose “dismount equipment” option at the end of the dropdown list.
- Added the possibility to transfer in-game gold to another player. A special financial password is used for additional transaction control.
- Now when leveling the crew (on an elite tank with marked “Rapid crew training”) – bonus experience received for the crew is given to the least experienced crew member. The estimation is based on the general experience (not on the basis of skills percentage); if several crew members have equal values, the first one is chosen.
- Added the automated ban system for teamkillers.
Content:
- Added new maps: “Mountain Pass” and “Prairies”.
- Visually redesigned “Hills” map.
- “Komarin” map redesigned from the point of view of gameplay: the amount of bushes is reduced, buildings for cover added to the central island.
- Corrected a lot of mistakes connected with objects’ disposition, passing ability, getting stuck on most of the maps.
- Corrected borders and skyboxes’ junctions on some maps.
- For most of the maps the red line marking the edges of the map removed from those places where vehicle is unable to go through (mountains, cliffs, water etc.)
- Reworked base capture circles. Now they reflect the capture radius precisely.
- Fixed/redesigned hit boxes for a large number of small objects.
- Optimized texture sizes for some objects and buildings.
- Added some new pieces to the current track list.
- Fixed some sounds effects for objects.
- Fixed some sounds effects for shots and explosions.
Garage Interface:
- Added the information about the player’s clan to player’s information window.
- Added the possibility to block voice messages from a player both while a battle and in garage.
- Added a filter for vehicle scrolling to reflect the tanks marked as primary.
- Added an option to disable vehicle shaking when shooting/starting/stopping/being hit in a sniper mode. The shaking is enabled on default.
- Added an option to switch off the display track prints.
- Added an option to switch off smoke and mud effects.
- Added advanced voice chat settings: the choice of audio device, connection test and other.
- Fixed the bug with client’s hangup when joining platoon or tank company when voice chat ports are blocked.
- Added the adjustable volume suppression of primary sound effects when using voice chat.
- Added “Clan” section with its members to the “Contacts” window.
- Corrected and updated tips displayed when map is loading.
- Corrected the message when changing the engine with installed consumable of a different type (e.g. diesel engine and “105 octane gasoline” consumable).
- Added visual display for “talking” players: training room, platoon and tank company windows, map loading screen.
- Corrected skybox rendering in garage when it takes long to download.
- Added possibility to close consequently opened interface windows by pressing "Esc" button.
- Added “asterix” mark for icons of those vehicles which haven’t received double experience for a day.
- Reworked old and added new por-up tips for interface elements in garage.
- Fixed vehicle overlapping by the elements of a premium hangar (balcony, ladder).
- Fixed bug with credits counter updating when vehicle comes after the battle.
- Adjusted the change of equipment weight after it has been mounted on a tank in some cases.
- Fixed the display of pre-battle waiting queue if the player has reclogged in.
- Fixed the discrepancy in crew family names in additional information window.
- Fixed the “compression” of crew personal data window in some cases.
- Added the display of researched modules for unresearched vehicle.
- Added the display of the additional statistics for “Mouse Trap” achievement.
- Fixed the display of counter for “Sharpshooter” achievement.
- Fixed the display of counter for “Invincible” achievement in the general statistics.
- Changed default display for tank company and platoon channels of the chat.
- Added new sound effects for some interface elements.
- Fixed a lot of minor interface errors.
- Removed duplicated family names from the respective list.
- Added pop-up hint for nondemountable modules.
Combat interface:
- Minimap reworked in flash, as well as the rest of the interface. Added the displau of platooned players by a different colour.
- The icon of the player’s tank who has killed several allies is coloured in blue.
- Added in-battle ignore feature. Press Ctrl and RMB click on the player’s nickname to add him to ignore list.
- Added the display of additional markings above the platooned tanks.
- Added option to change markings above the tanks: “show the tank’s icon”, “show the tank’s tier”.
- Added pop-up hint with possible actions when player’s vehicle is destroyed.
- Improved the battle statistics interface (press "Tab" button in battle).
- Improved the in-game help window. (press “F1” button in battle).
- Fixed bug with random appearance of "Panzerwaffe JagdPanther 26%" line in reticle.
- Improved full-screen stretching for battle chat when typing a lot of spaces in it.
- Adjusted sticking of the voice chat button during battle with simultaneously opening the chat window.
System/graphics:
- Fixed the use of graphics settings presets for some old graphic cards.
- Improved auto-detect feature for graphics settings.
- Fixed a lot of rendering errors, increased the efficiency of advanced dynamic shadows.
- Changed memory allocation for 64-bit operation systems, which should solve the problem of memory leak.
- Added the limitation for maximum texture quality for 32-bit configurations with 2GB or less of the address space available.
- Reworked post-effect displayed when player’s vehicle is destroyed.
- Adjusted the display of server reticle in SPG-mode, in some cases its size was displayed incorrectly.
- Adjusted the display of track wheels rotation for large distances and low graphic settings.
- Improved the dsiplay of the track prints for different types of terain the prints are different.
- Added the protection against client-side changing the colour, brightness and the time of tracer effects.
- Fixed missing engine and tracks sound effects.
- Adjusted microfreezes and FPS drops while rendering track prints.
- Fixed some cases with vehicle’s “weird” behavior (vehicle doesn’t move or moves with delays) when the ping is normal and there are no package losses.
- Saving screenshots is performed by means of a different application stream. It will fix hangups when taking screenshots.
- Fixed the display of the player’s vehicle when switching from arcade to sniper mode.
- Adjusted the effect of space “compression” when post-processing is switched on and the camera is rotating sharply.
- Changed the settings of objects’ rendering check-up.
ETA - to be announced.
More to be added.