Developers posts on forum

ARGO: Nice stories, I hope theres more. I chased a Leo all over the damn map once only to run into a dead tank in a bush and I popped...That sucked.

ARGO: I know Wargames most likely has propriatary development secrets that they cannot reveal, But I am very interested in how the things in WoT work. Is it at all possible to have maybe a weekly video documentary showing different aspecs of WoT.
For example:
How did it come to be from idea to reality?
Game engines and how they work? Why some things just can't be done.
How sounds are put into the game?
How Devs tackle bugs and what causes them?
How the finished product is mass produced?
How marketing a video game works?
Meet the creators of WoT.
I am sure seeing all the interest in the game that a lot of players would love to see something like this or maybe they too have in depth questions that this could answer. Maybe some of them will be inspired to also join the game making community.
Thanks
Argo66

ARGO: Rule #12: Make sure your arty is fully prepared and acknowleges you BEFORE you begin your run. Nothing worse than a meaningless death.

merig00: Special Beta Testers are people who were testing Russian Beta before the EU Beta started.

MrVic: Ayup Malo has it covered. This is a none issue.

merig00: Pointless topic. Devs are well aware of the ping issues for our european friends, and EU server will be back as planned.
Closed.

merig00: Uhm it's been in game even before the beginning of the EU Closed Beta, where have you been? Camping at Malinovka?

merig00: Uhm it's been in game even before the beginning of the EU Closed Beta, where have you been? Camping at Malinovka?

merig00: Try downloading it from torrent. Change your download manager.

merig00: Launcher disappears - try starting the game straight from the game folder with WoT.exe
Explorer freezes on installation launch - disable antivirus, UAC and other Windows protections or do it through the Safe Mode
It's a closed beta, there is no official guaranteed 24/7 support.

merig00: Well I was talking more about APs... but I've had HE rounds from T-43 85mm bounce off Ferdinand and IS-7 several times. It's a very rare thing... usually if you don't penetrate they just explode with 0 damage.

merig00: You are free to post them here. I don't really care since the post is more about the map and where it came from.

merig00: You are free to post them here. I don't really care since the post is more about the map and where it came from.

merig00: Good solid review.
So quick feedback:
1. Interface - will be improved, there are more important issues to fix right now in beta
2. Spotting - yes it's buggy. Still being worked at, should get much better once we get large maps. Right now maps are under 2kmx2km, most are around 1kmx1km so most tanks would see across half of the map without moving from spawn. So again, will be fixed
3. Camo, neon signs, radio - this is arcade so it's here to stay. Plus current radio system when you relay everyone around you I think is the only way for scouts. Can you imaging driving at 70km/h, shooting people and pressing "radio in" button at the same time?
4. Fires happen, makes the game more interesting in my opinion.
5. Camping. Well here we have a draw - noone wins.
6. Matchmaking - still being adjusted. I believe it works best for 10k+ players. Pay attention how many players are in the game, once the number goes over 6k the matchmaking becomes much better.
7. SPG - not touching it
8. Grind. After going through Russian Closed Beta, wipe, wipe, Russian Open Beta, wipe, Russian "Release", European Closed Beta, wipe, American Closed Beta I learned just to enjoy my current tanks (plural) and get nice surprises when I have enough experience to upgrade. This is definitely not one of those "must have the top tier or die" games. Each tank is unique and takes some time to get adjusted to. That's what for I love this game. But that's my personal opinion.
9. Tech tree. It is what it is right now because it follows the original designs. Germans used the same bodies for different tanks more frequently than soviets hence all the intersections on the tree. But I really like your idea!
10. Sound and Visual. Visual - devs want to keep specs requirements to a minimum. The textures got much better since 0.3.3, trust me. So if devs manage to optimize the game engine, I'm sure they'll improve the graphics where they can. Sounds - I guess you are right, it's good enough for me but I've seen posts stating the same thing as you did. Some trivia - the sound of ricochet is actually a kitchen knife grinding against a beer can
And again, thank you for a good breakdown!
P.S.
0. There is difference between terrain. The most obvious place to test it is the swamp in the middle of Karelia. Though I agree, with you the difference often is too small.
0.0 AFAIK there are plans to redo crew voices. Maybe you've noticed but they've expanded vocabulary with the last patch. Crews suppose to get voices of different countries. Though I'm not sure if each nation will speak in its own language or just for localizations.

merig00: premium ammo doesn't get any preferential treatment beyond it's pen/damage stats. or at least so say the devs. personally it feels that gold ammo bounces more often than regular one, on the other hand maybe it's just psychological effect since you pay attention more to your gold shots since they are more expensive.

merig00: Cause you are not selling the modules when you are upgrading. When you are selling tank with crews and/or modules you get the same warning window reminding you that you still have crew/modules on the tank.

merig00: On July 12th, 1943 under the village Prokhorovka took place one of the largest battles with use of armored forces in the human history. Soviet sources indicate that there about 1500 tanks participated in the battle: about 800 units from soviet side and 700 - from german. Other sources give us a little bit smaller number - 1200 vehicles. It was here where "Hummels", "PZ III", "SUs", and "34" crossed paths in battle...

Neither side achieved the the initial goals. However both sides suffered major losses. Sources indicate different number of lost units: from 300 to 700 from each side. "It was hell!" - recalls Untersturmfiihrer Gurs. "Tankers were jumping from the burning tanks and rolled on the ground, trying to knock down the flames" - remembers parts of the battle the Hero of the Soviet Union Yevgeny Shkurdalov.

High Resolution
Today, in memory of one of the biggest battles of the Great Patriotic War [merig00: that's the name of part of World War II fought by USSR] - Battle of Prokhorovka, a museum-preserve "Prokhorovka's field" was created. And for the 50th anniversary of the Victory the "Victory Monument" was built. It consists of belfry and the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, who are considered symbols of the third battle field in Russia. The museum of the Battle of Prokhorovka history has permanent exhibition on the history of the Battle of Kursk and the battles under Prokhorovka.

The fighting of 1943 died down, and on the "third battle field of Russia" peaceful sky reigns again. Developers of the "World of tanks" could not miss the opportunity to let players experience the drama of this great battles of WWII, recreating the theater of fighting on the virtual Prokhorovka field. Players of the World of Tanks now know firsthand about the massive battles of Prokhorovka ...

High Resolution
We asked Natalia Bezrukova, map artist, and Henry Kravtsov, a leading game designer, to tell us about the process of creating "Prokhorovka". And to tell us about the difficulties and nuances that were encountered during the work on the map.
Henry Kravtsov: The battle for Prokhorovka - the legendary battle of the Second World War, so we wanted to make the map as realistic as possible. We had to carefully study the historical facts, repeatedly view various photos of the area. But the major problem, perhaps, was that the real countryside rather stingy for vivid landscapes.
Natalia Bezrukova: Initially our task was to draw a game map using the plan provided by the game designers. It was in essence only a sketch of the necessary objects on the map. Therefore, all local beauty, which players can observe on the "Prokhorovka" - is a work of map artists.
Prokhorovka" is one of the first maps of the World of Tanks, but after a variety of experiments on the "Karelia" artists have had a clear idea of the difficulties they will have to face.
Natalia Bezrukova: During the creation of "Prokhorovka" we had mostly problems of a technical nature. Game map by itself is a grid, divided into squares, over which, in turn artist "stretches" textures. It was hard to make smooth transitions from one area to another: after all, "Prokhorovka" was the first time we had to do this. Here the lifeless sands are replaced by dense vegetation.

High Resolution
Henry Kravtsov: The railroad, in many ways creates the balance on the map. The railroad is repeatedly mentioned in various sources (there were difficulties with the transporting troops across the railroad). Attacking through the central part of the map is a very risky venture, so players tend to employ flanking attacks.
Natalia Bezrukova: When creating the map, we naturally worked hand in hand with game design. It was necessary to take note of all the comments. So, we had to remove some barriers in the form of stones and destroyable objects. And especially our colleagues from the game design would get "nervous" when they would stumbled upon rocks inside the bushes (smiles).
In general, the location of objects on the "Prokhorovka" were repeatedly changed, some elements were added, just to be removed later.
Natalia Bezrukova: We were constantly rearranging the houses on the map: added new ones, removed others. Added more details: we wanted to create a map that really is very similar to the real-world Prokhorovka.
Henry Kravtsov: "Prokhorovka" is not our first map, so work on it did not dragged on. We managed to create a pretty close to the reality map in a relatively short period of time.

merig00: On July 12th, 1943 under the village Prokhorovka took place one of the largest battles with use of armored forces in the human history. Soviet sources indicate that there about 1500 tanks participated in the battle: about 800 units from soviet side and 700 - from german. Other sources give us a little bit smaller number - 1200 vehicles.  It was here where "Hummels", "PZ III", "SUs", and "34" crossed paths in battle...

http://game.worldoft...ka/memorial.jpg

Neither side achieved the the initial goals. However both sides suffered major losses. Sources indicate different number of lost units: from 300 to 700 from each side. "It was hell!" -  recalls Untersturmfiihrer Gurs. "Tankers were jumping from the burning tanks and rolled on the ground, trying to knock down the flames" - remembers parts of the battle the Hero of the Soviet Union Yevgeny Shkurdalov.

http://game.worldoft...a/terrain_1.jpg

High Resolution

Today, in memory of one of the biggest battles of the Great Patriotic War [merig00: that's the name of part of World War II fought by USSR] - Battle of Prokhorovka, a museum-preserve "Prokhorovka's field" was created. And for the 50th anniversary of the Victory the "Victory Monument" was built. It consists of belfry and the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, who are considered symbols of the third battle field in Russia. The museum of the Battle of Prokhorovka history has permanent exhibition on the history of the Battle of Kursk and the battles under Prokhorovka.

http://game.worldoft.../memorial_2.jpg

The fighting of 1943 died down, and on the "third battle field of Russia" peaceful sky reigns again. Developers of the "World of tanks" could not miss the opportunity to let players experience the drama of this great battles of WWII, recreating the theater of fighting on the virtual Prokhorovka field. Players of the World of Tanks now know firsthand about the massive battles of Prokhorovka ...

http://game.worldoft...a/terrain_2.jpg

High Resolution

We asked Natalia Bezrukova, map artist, and Henry Kravtsov, a leading game designer, to tell us about the process of creating "Prokhorovka". And to tell us about the difficulties and nuances that were encountered during the work on the map.

Henry Kravtsov: The battle for Prokhorovka - the legendary battle of the Second World War, so we wanted to make the map as realistic as possible. We had to carefully study the historical facts, repeatedly view various photos of the area. But the major problem, perhaps, was that the real countryside rather stingy for vivid landscapes.

Natalia Bezrukova: Initially our task was to draw a game map using the plan provided by the game designers. It was in essence only a sketch of the necessary objects on the map. Therefore, all local beauty, which players can observe on the "Prokhorovka" - is a work of map artists.

Prokhorovka" is one of the first maps of the World of Tanks, but after a variety of experiments on the "Karelia" artists have had a clear idea of the difficulties they will have to face.

Natalia Bezrukova: During the creation of "Prokhorovka" we had mostly problems of a technical nature. Game map by itself is a grid, divided into squares,  over which, in turn artist "stretches" textures. It was hard to make smooth transitions from one area to another: after all, "Prokhorovka" was the first time we had to do this. Here the lifeless sands are replaced by dense vegetation.

http://game.worldoft...a/terrain_3.jpg

High Resolution

Henry Kravtsov: The railroad, in many ways creates the balance on the map. The railroad is repeatedly mentioned in various sources (there were difficulties with the transporting troops across the railroad). Attacking through the central part of the map is a very risky venture, so players tend to employ flanking attacks.

Natalia Bezrukova: When creating the map, we naturally worked hand in hand with game design. It was necessary to take note of all the comments. So, we had to remove some barriers in the form of stones and destroyable objects. And especially our colleagues from the game design would get "nervous" when they would stumbled upon rocks inside the bushes (smiles).

In general, the location of objects on the "Prokhorovka" were repeatedly changed, some elements were added, just to be removed later.

Natalia Bezrukova: We were constantly rearranging the houses on the map: added new ones, removed others. Added more details: we wanted to create a map that really is very similar to the real-world Prokhorovka.

Henry Kravtsov: "Prokhorovka" is not our first map, so work on it did not dragged on. We managed to create a pretty close to the reality map in a relatively short period of time.

merig00: You'll see it soon yourself

merig00: Well you should really read the confirmation window when you are selling your tanks

ARGO: How about no wiping period....NONE....I would be excrutiatingly happy to keep all I have earned and build on it rather than starting over. Just thinking about any form of wipe just depresses me.

merig00: Yeap... should be fun!

ARGO: 1. Remove the lock on feature on friendly tanks "when your aiming the target will not onlyu grab an enemy tank but also a friendly or even a dead tank" This needs to go.
2. If your going to fire on a friendly one of the crew says "Are you sure you wanna shoot an allie?" and stops you so you have to press the fire button twice to override the crew warning.
I think not only will this stop an accidental TK but will also insure if you do get TKed than the person DID do it on purpose.

ARGO: As the title says, How do you do it?

ARGO: I have one medium and one heavy, I change tanks to suit mood I am in. I use the heavy for fun and the medium to feed the heavies repair bill. Try that and you can't go wrong..

merig00: I have some problems merging them, we'll see if it work.
In meanwhile I've added more images. Sorry old friends whom I had to delete to make some room for new posts

ARGO: Let's say at the end of the beta test Wargames gives you a gift tank for helping "Maybe that KV220 I keep hearing about" and you then deciede you still want to go out and buy that nice boxed set because you want the gift tank "Stuart tank" in that or the tee shirt, mug, whatever. When you go and load it up in your pc will you loose the Gift tank that was originaly given to you "KV220" along with whatever acheivements you have?

Overlord: Important UPDATE  
1) Warsaw, 11 October 2010, 18:00, Żwirki i Wigury 32, Jeff's bar
Map here
2) Paris, 14 October 2010, 19:00, 10 RUE DES CAPUCINES, KITTY O'SHEA'S
Map here
Those who are determined to come, pls confirm this.

ARGO: I like the award system but have a question. Is it possible when players reach a certain amount of awards and status that thier tanks get some kind of "Master Tank Killer" insignia put on their tanks they own to show that they are not your average player? Kind of like they did in the war to put fear into the enemies....Or maybe this insignia can be purchased for gold after the player reaches certain requirments. It would give newer players something to awe at and shoot for.
Just a thought.

Overlord: Important UPDATE  

1) Warsaw, 11 October 2010, 18:00, Żwirki i Wigury 32, Jeff's bar

Map here

2) Paris, 14 October 2010, 19:00, 10 RUE DES CAPUCINES, KITTY O'SHEA'S

Map here

Those who are determined to come, pls confirm this.

merig00: Platoon is currently limited to 3 people because of the total pool of players in the closed beta. Having larger platoon right now will create imbalance in the match making system.
I agree with all of your suggestions, and I think all the usability questions will be addressed later since it's not crucial to game-play and doesn't need to be tested. However this is not a suggestions topic. I'd recommend creating a new one in the appropriate sub-forum.

merig00: Platoon is currently limited to 3 people because of the total pool of players in the closed beta. Having larger platoon right now will create imbalance in the match making system.

I agree with all of your suggestions, and I think all the usability questions will be addressed later since it's not crucial to game-play and doesn't need to be tested. However this is not a suggestions topic. I'd recommend creating a new one in the appropriate sub-forum.

merig00: It's a form of compensation for a simplified model All we have is a penn of a projectile at a given distance hitting an armor plate at a given angle, so to compensate for a faulty shell or a crack in tank armor. And of course for balance reasons to simply give a chance for a lower tier to penetrate higher tier or to survive a hit we have a normal distribution of penetration and damage.
Mrtheox has several great posts in this topic on it... just go through all the pages and read his comments

merig00: normal distribution != random

merig00: Read Only 3 days

merig00:

merig00: Because you weren't behaving. If you want to discuss which tanks are better find an appropriate topic for that.

merig00: Yeah know bug, as mentioned happens usually when you alt-tab before or during the game. Try to alt-tab again if you get it.

merig00: Neither is an exploit.

merig00: Behave!

merig00: known problem