Supertest: Inca Path Map

Apparently, based on the feedback, this map was scrapped. It will not appear in random battles. Instead, it will stay on supertest to be used for testing of vehicles.

In Development
- apparently, it’s possible to get a teamdamage/teamkill punishment from the race mode (or rather to damage your allies at all). According to developers, this (the ability to teamdamage) is not intended, it’s possible this will be removed
- some mods interfere with the new racing mod. Specifically, older versions of Gnomefather’s sounds cause the game to crash
- locked equipment on your Chaffee Sport tank will be (when the Chaffee Sport is removed) automatically and for free (no gold will be charged) removed and put to your depot at the end of the event
- the 50k XP reward is not a “free XP” reward, it will be transferred to the T1
- the Chaffee race mode is checked for bots strictly (on RU server at least), inactive players and bots will be banned
- the fact that exploding barrels do not deal damage in the Chaffee race is intentional – developers tested it, it wasn’t good with damage
- the fact the crew gets moved to the barracks does NOT mean you will get extra free barracks slots, if your barracks are full, the crew will simply stay as “extra” and as soon as a space frees itself by moving the barracks crew to a tank for example, the crew will occupy it

And a couple of interesting points from today’s leak about skill MM (for those who did not read it):

- on RU server, only 7 percent of players has below 47 percent winrate, 77 percent of players has winrate between 48 and 52 percent
- the “do you want skill MM” poll was sent to 200k players in total, results will apparently be known in November
- Hidden Village is scheduled for a rework (SS: told you so)
- map Stalingrad is planned
- the Bigworld engine is in apparently for an overhaul (SS: they call it “engine upgrade”, it’s possible that the developers here refer to Havok or new motion physics, but maybe other graphic features as well)

- apparently, something called “Black Forest” is planned (likely a new map, sounds interesting)
- it’s not planned to split the gun caliber and the shell actual caliber (for subcaliber shells, for the purposes of overmatch for example) because such a mechanism would be incomprehensible to players
- there will not be any “anti-medals” for bad behavior in game in order not to provoke idiots, who would collect them on purpose
- oddly enough, Storm and Yuri Pasholok are publically arguing (wut?) about sending/not sending some small things about the vehicle HD models (postwar lights on ISU-152 if I see correctly), apparently there is not a very good chain of communication between the HD modellers and historians (SS: as in, modellers ignoring feedback – I wonder if this is connected to the fact that “there might be no HD models in 9.4″)

- Veider on general LT class buff: “We didn’t scrap that. We will change the view ranges. We simply have to have a look at (new) LT’s on main servers. How did they fit in the game, if we need to fix anything and so on. Everything according to plan.”

Fixing the Panzer 35t Tank in HD
Hello everyone,

to my eternal shame, despite being a Czech vehicle fan, as you well know, I don’t play Panzer 38t or 35t much. I don’t generally sealclub, that’s one reason, but the truth is, I am really not that much into Czech tanks, that have German crews (waiting for the Czech branch). But yesterday, I decided to give 38t a shot after a year or so.


Imagine my surprise and “joy”, when I found out that historically, both 35t and 38t are completely FUCKED up. Well… let’s have a look at them.

As you probably know, Panzer 35t is the Czechoslovak LT Vz.35, used by the Wehrmacht forces. To that end, it was somewhat modified. What is wrong with it historically:

- the 20mm guns are completely unhistorical, they are there for the balance purposes I assume

- the top turret is fake (unhistorical), there was never such a thing as “Verstärkterturm” on Panzer 35t

- the top gun is partially fake, it wasn’t present until the advanced prototypes during the war

- stock engine has somewhat wrong designation

- elite engine is fake

- tracks could use different designation

- radios are problematic but noone really cares about those anyway

Considering that this vehicle is scheduled for rework when it gets remodelled to HD, here’s what could be done with it to keep at least some historicity. Basically, there are three variants, all of them revolve on turrets, one is somewhat unhistorical and I think it’s unnecessery.

- for starters, I’d drop the 20mm’s. They don’t belong to this tank anyway, leaving us with the 37mm’s only (the XP price would have to be compensated somewhere but whatever). Next, the engine.

- the T-15 engine is completely unhistorical, the stock engine should better be designated as T-11/0 with 120 horsepower (T-11 series had several stages, this is the one used by the original LT Vz.35). Now, we run into a bit of a problem. The stock engine has (historically correct) 120 horsepower, the top engine the vehicle series ever used was the Škoda T-11/2 135 horsepower engine (this engine appeared during the war on T-12 and T-13M prototypes). I suggest removing the top engine and replacing it with a 135hp T-11/2, compensating the mobility decrease by increased traverse rate and decreased terrain resistance to effectively leave the level of mobility the same

And now, the grand finale, the turret. Here, we have basically three options.

- option one is to rename the elite tracks to T-11 and replace the fake turret with a “T-11″ turret. T-11 was basically an upgraded version of the LT Vz.35, intended for export. The major user of this vehicle turned out to be Bulgaria (as “lek tank Škoda”) 

This is how it would look:

The advantage is, the turret wouldn’t have to be remodelled. The T-11 turret is from the outside practically identical to the LT Vz.35 – however, the problem is, it has the very same armor layout as the stock turret. It had improved ergonomics due to the presence of the new more advanced gun and so, unlocking this turret wouldn’t result in an improved armor, but rather in improved rate of fire. Here, the problem is the gun. Historically, the visual model would be kept, but the gun would have to be renamed from the KwK 38(t) to Škoda A8 (or ÚV Vz.39) and its performance would have to be nerfed to the stock gun level (while increasing its ROF significantly and perhaps tweaking soft stats like accuracy, although that is not entirely historical). This setup (with stock engine) would then be completely historical, as used by Bulgaria in WW2. On the downside, the turret wouldn’t have improved armor anymore and the 20mm’s would be gone.

- option two is to close both eyes and introduce the T-13M turret. The problem is, if you do that, then you have an unhistorical hull (T-13M hull was modified and looked differently, it also had more armor than the “stock” LT Vz.35).

The advantage of this setup would be the fact that the top engine would be historical (T-11/2 that is) as this vehicle used it. The turret also had improved armor – increased from 25/16/16 to 30/25/25. It also carried the gun that is already in the game (Škoda A7 aka KwK 38 (t)). The elite tracks would then have to be renamed to something as well, T-13M possibly (to make sure the players know the suspension and turret belonged together). The major disadvantage here is that the new turret would have to be remodelled visually, as it looked different.

- option three is to go all out to add the T-12 turret instead, turning the elite vehicle into a pseudo-T-12. T-12 was another LT Vz.35 based prototype, but it had one very distinctive feature: it carried a 47mm gun A9 (and as you can imagine, this is a serious upgrade). It’s the same gun as the current elite gun for Panzer 38t by the way. The performance of the gun was as such:

Penetration (at 30 degrees):

52mm at 100m

48mm at 500m

41mm at 1000m

35mm at 1500m

That means the ingame performance is roughly historical. As you can see, this would be a MAJOR buff. The engine for this variant (T-11/2 135hp) is historical as well. The turret would have to be larger however and it would also have to be remodelled. Naturally, such firepower on tier 2 would have to come at mobility cost (historically, the T-12 was also heavier – original LT Vz.35 weight was 10,5 tons, T-12 had 10,95 tons), which could be nerfed even further by introducing a third engine (Škoda Diesel, 120hp, failed due to low reliability) of the T-12D project.

Personally, I’d prefer the first “T-11″ variant, because it was actually fighting. At first glance, it’s a nerf, but everything could be tweaked by soft stats to keep the level the same. The T-13M variant makes probably most sense due to module continuity. The T-12 variant is a “let’s go wild” option. In any case however, Panzer 35t needs some serious overhaul. Next time, we’ll have a look at the Panzer 38t, which is even worse.

                Storm Gathers 9.3 Feedback

Hello everyone,

while we are waiting for the 9.3 patch (not today), Russians already have it (be grateful, that also means the worst bugs that sometimes appear get to be fixed before the patch comes out). From the discussion:

- some mods again stopped working with 9.3, but other players reports their mods to be working
- the shots sound more muted when in sniper mode, Storm states this is intentional: “The price of realism” (later, he adds “try hitting a tank with a hammer with someone inside – he will barely hear it”, although he adds that he forgot the physics he learned, so there is no need to bash him on that if it’s not true)
- XP for “tanking” will definitely not come via a micropatch, Storm states that currently, they will fix the formula, then they will upload it to the server, they will collect statistics and only after that it will be applied – “when it’s done it’s done”
- Storm on new easy-to-obtain medals: “And I, as a noob, really like them”
- one of the T-54 turrets has its weight incorrectly displayed, this will be checked
- Storm states that there were various optimizations and fixes when it comes to graphics in 9.3, for some players, FPS grew


- developers implemented (unknown where) the difference between rolled and cast armor (SS: both armors have different properties when hit by shell, it’s actually quite complex), but decided not to implement it, as it would be incomprehensible for players.
- the separate HD texture pack was made because “it was easier to make”, it’s possible in the future it will be changed to be automatic via launcher (SS: oddly enough, WoWp has it via launcher I think), it was made “so it would be downloaded only by those, who need it”)
- apparently, there is a nasty replay bug in 9.3 where if you try to quit the replay prematurely, you will be punished for early leaving the battle (not sure whether “it counts”, but the window with a threat appears).
- no plans to implement skill MM in random battles
- some player reported the game crashing when quitting combat, Storm replied it’s probably a buggy mod fault
- the “players online” on server is available when pressing Escape
- Storm does not watch My Little Pony
- camouflage mechanism will be reworked (so tanks don’t disappear in the middle of a field anymore just so)
- Storm will talk to the sound makers, whether there will be more pronounced sound of “tank insides” when in sniper mode (loading, engine etc.)
- old LT8′s (AMX-13/90 and the Chinese one) will not be rebalanced in any special way in near future, more like “as usual”, based on their statistics.
- Storm does personally not like playing IS-8 apparently, there was a really nice conversation in the thread about how Veider sits next to him and always hears “bail out” from Storm’s speakers.
- Storm on HD textures: “Only enthusiasts need them. And they’ll get it.”
- apparently, some players in 9.3 had freezes during the beginning of the battle. This was fixed in 0.9.3
- two more patches will come until the end of the year. 9.4 it will definitely not contain Havok. Storm admits he’s not sure whether WG will succeed in releasing both, as the schedule is really tight
- Storm check and the “normal” 9.3 patch does NOT contain HD textures, they need to be downloaded separately
- Storm confirms some HE explosion effects were reworked when hitting the ground, allegedly the armor hits look better as well, but he is not sure
- there is a bug in 9.3 where the kill rings (marks) display on the tank even when the option is disabled. Storm states that fixing this has low priority.
- Storm really likes the new Murovanka
- Veider, when asked why the KV-85 122mm alpha was not nerfed: “Many vehicles have this gun. Should we nerf it for all?”
- in 9.3 ricochet system, you will not be punished for having your shell ricochet and damaging an ally
- ricocheting your shell into an enemy tank will count as your damage
- shells will not ricochet from house walls
(followed by explaining the ricochet mechanics, can be found here)
- new LT8 models have each over 40 thousand polygons
- water does not provide camouflage bonus
- shooting a tank that is under water does not make the shell lose penetration
- there are plans to rebalance LT’s further, the Chaffee rebalance and introducing new LT8′s are the first steps

Patch 9.3 – Separate HD Textures
Attention! This is important, please read.
Hello everyone,

this is something that was not announced before, oddly enough. According to RU portal, from 9.3 onwards the HD textures for tanks will be downloaded as a separate ZIP file (for 9.3, the size of HD textures is 980 megabytes).

According to the same article, this was done to save traffic and computer space. It has to be done manually (at least the Russians had to) by downloading and installing separate texture pack – why it wasn’t done automatically via the launcher? Hell if I know.

Either way, please note that if your PC is strong enough to run full resolution HD textures (maximal texture quality), you have to manually install the HD textures separately! I am posting this here to make sure everyone remembers that, so you avoid the “WTF, tanks look lowres like shit on my new rig” questions on forums.

To install HD textures:

- you download them in a ZIP file (once it is available for EU/US client)
- you unpack them to WoT folder
- you have to run the client and set the texture quality to maximum


Wow. Manual texture installation, that is some stronk programink – that’s mod/cracked game stuff, not the besterest F2P game level.

                         9.3 Overview Video

Hello everyone,

here’s the usual Wargaming patch introduction video. For now, unfortunately, only in Russian. What you can do is turn automatic subtitles on and then have them translated to English. Not too good, but at least it will give you an overview of what they mention. As far as I can tell, there is nothing really surprising in the video.

Inside:

- new light tanks, reworked Murovanka, vehicle rebalance, new Stronghold functions

- LTTB: “much like the legendary T-50-2, same high speed and maneuverability”, but with added firepower, “the gameplay feeling is practically the same as the earlier T-50-2″

- T-54 Light: well-armored and armed light tank, can withstand hits from tanks of its tier

- US light tanks: good mobility and viewrange, guns are fast aiming and firing fast

- M41 has an autoloader for 10 shells, it can destroy in 20 seconds most of tier 7′s and many 8′s, but it is light, low hitpoints, has to be careful in picking targets

- T49 can mount a 152mm gun – base shell is HE, it makes a lot of damage but playing with it is complicated due to low ROF, long aimtime and low accuracy, 90mm gun is for players who like the fire support role

- RU251 is one of the fastest tanks in the game with a good gun, it’s possible to play it as a mobile sniper

- KV-1S split (KV-85 on tier 6), KV-85 gets to keep the favourite 122mm gun

- new HD models

- rework of Murovanka

- new Stronghold functions (“Chancellery”, mercenaries)

- certain map objects now explode (fuel tanks, cars)

- explosion effect was reworked

- new punishments for leavers and AFKers

- new ricochet system

- transmission/engine split

- if a tank drowns while being detracked (forced drowning), it will count as a kill for the person that caused the detrack