Storm Q&A

There were talks that one of new city maps is going to be ‘Minsk’. Where is this map?

The Minsk map was removed from our plans.

The most important question, what is going to happen with arty?

We do not plan a nerf. What we are planning is a full rebalancing of this vehicle class. We want to carefully implement and test each point of the plan. We are also not excluding the possibility to limit the number of artys to 2-3 (with new achievements) or keep it the way it is.

What is going to happen with old Personal missions after new season release? Do you plan a new season?

We are indeed planning a new season of Personal missions (The old one is going to stay available, so you will be able to finish the current missions)

Any news about Japanese and Chinese TDs?

Asian TDs and SPGs will need some more time. They are not in our plans for 2016; we are still gathering information about these vehicles, but there is no special interest or special priority on them.

What is going to happen with European branch?

A common European branch won’t be implemented, there is an issue with crews for European vehicles. We are considering implementing branches with specific European nations like Sweden and Italy. Vehicles of other nations can be added as premium vehicles to existing trees or they can be added as incomplete branches with premium or action vehicles (like it was the case with the CN branch when we introduced the Type 59) without standard tanks.

Some bushes in the game are as big as Maus or Japanese tanks, what’s up with that?

Maus-sized bushes are a game play feature which is important in terms of game balance. The idea was proposed by one of our old contributors (so old that he is not working on our project anymore) in the early development phases. There should be bushes that can cover every vehicle in the game. 

What is going to happen with perks?
We plan a complete reworking of perks, that is possibly going to be similar to what we see in WoWS; We will probably add skills that affect several crew members.

When is circular view range going to be implemented?

Circular view range is already going to be implemented in 0.10.0 (former 0.9.11).

When are you going to release new physics?

We have to finish several small improvements for the new physics (3.0) – They are going to be release in one of the next versions, as soon they have been brought up to an appropriate quality level.

Regarding the new engine, what are its features?

There is going to be multi core support in the reworked engine (it is not a BigWorld engine anymore, but almost completely our own solution). It also allows support of Direct X 11 and 12, as well as a big number of modern graphics technologies.

There is a cool feature on physics test – shooting while rocking the tank (by using a temporary change to the gun depression upon sudden braking)

We are going to reduce or turn off this effect, our core audience might dislike this feature. Experienced players also complained about it a lot because they had issues with aiming.

Any news about the replacement of the British top HT?

The Super Conqueror was approved by historical consultants, now we are considering what to do. Basically, the SC is the same as FB215b with a turret in the middle of the hull. Unfortunately we won’t be able to keep the FB215b in the game.
We also plan to add: A Chieftain with a Т95 turret and a Т95 with the turret from a Chieftain.

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What about Tier 11-12 vehicles?

We do not exclude the possibility that vehicles with of higher tiers will be introduced into the game.

Why do you use BigWorld?

We held internal tests of different engines that showed insufficient results on weak PCs. This is why we are reworking BigWorld (gradual adding of multi core support and DX11/12 support starting from 0.10 and in further versions) in order to create a fully functional HD-client.

There is a lot of talk about HD maps but we are not seeing these maps in the game yet. Why?

We are going to add maps in new quality starting from next year. First of all we have to be all set up in terms of technologies, settings and with the launch of our “conveyor” that reworks vehicles into HD.
Flora in the client (some elements are 4-5 years old) will be replaced by a new one – latest version of SpeedTree (the old one will be completely replaced).

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How about bots?

We keep fighting with them and have new effective methods for this;

How do you plan to counteract forbidden client modifications?

The best way to deal with them is to create a situation where their usage doesn’t make sense. For example in case of the «Tundra» mod there is an idea to display only those parts of a vehicle’s outline which is not covered by a terrain element etc.

Any plans regarding Historical battles and Confrontation?

We are still planning both, but our priorities are currently focused on other tasks.

What are the plans regarding 3-caliber rule?

For some elements of HT armor this rule is going to be removed (for example, for side skirt with reversed gradient and for some thin roofs).

Partial damage when hitting turrets?

We considered it, but there is no final decision yet. If we decide to implement this, we have to rework all models and create new inner hit-boxes. There might be also some dissatisfaction among players. Imagine you shoot a vehicle from 500m distance and achieve reduced damage (since the enemy vehicle is almost not visible).

Further plans regarding game balance?

Our plan regarding balance is to introduce new physics, solve issues on current maps and then to deal with the rest, because basic things like physics and maps heavily affect game play.

There is a difference in penetration values for 75mmL56 in Blitz and PC?

The difference is 132mm for 7,5cm L56 in WoT and 145mm in Blitz. Storm is ok with the difference and doesn’t understand the reason for complaints. He passed through Jagdpanzer IV without any issues but hasn't tried VK DB. If we buff the penetration of this gun we have to test a lot of vehicles because there is a large number of them that uses this gun.

Japanese heavies, how are they performing?

Japanese heavies are really popular compared to other Asian tanks.

We’ve seen lots of new premium tanks, but they have not been released, what will happen with them? 

The future of new premium tanks (Pz. III K, Sherman Improved and others) is not fully decided yet, they’ve been made for future specials, personal missions, etc. In 2016 less of them will be made. 

Will it be possible to paint German tanks in DunkelGelb? 

The yellow color (DunkelGelb) for German vehicles is quite possible in the future as a separate element of customization, as well as other basic colors for other nations.

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Why was the FCM PaK withdrawn?

FCM 36 PaK40 – has been withdrawn as it is over-powered.

What about Tier 10 TD's?

Foch 155 and Ob.268 remain unchanged, for Foch there are several options (e.g. to give Foch 120 mm with auto-load and 155 mm without), it will be discussed, the vehicle is overnerfed. 

What about the IS-6?

Storm is not enthusiastic about changing the shells of the IS-6 and giving it full tier battles. Reasons – game play and mass character.

What about further customization?

Customization elements are planned, ASAP;

When will the Czech tree be released?

The Czech tree will be released before the New Year.

What about female voices?

We are planning to introduce female voices ASAP.

Can we expect the FV 101 and other British LT's in 2016? And other additions to old nations? In particular France (the second HT tree)?

For the next year the FV101 Scorpion is not planned. New trees in old nations neither (except possibly the French HT tree). There are not many vehicles planned for the next 5 years (real vision of current situation), that’s why they will appear seldom.

Will the Hungarian tanks only be premium tanks, or a mini-tree in the German tech tree?

The Hungarians (and the Swiss, for example the new Panzer 58) will be premium tanks in the German tree.

Regarding the replacement of the T18 and etc. Whats the plan and what will happen with the Priest and the Sexton?

Replacements are in version 10.0.
Quote from the patchnote:

• Rebalanced the T82 Tier III tank destroyer. Now this vehicle is a Tier IV SPG. 
• Replaced the T82 Tier III tank destroyer with the T56 GMC Tier III tank destroyer.
• Rebalanced the T18 Tier II tank destroyer. Now this vehicle is a Tier III SPG. 
• Replaced the T18 Tier II tank destroyer with the T3 HMC Tier II tank destroyer.
• Replaced the T57 Tier II SPG with the new T1 HMC.

What is the plan regarding the VK 45.02B?

The changes have been temporarily been postponed, as well as the options of replacement – Mäuschen and co.

Why are maps in Armored Warfare larger?

The size of maps in WoT and AW above all else is determined by the vehicles' speed (30(40) – 100 km/h in AW – 12 – 50(60) km/h in WoT);

Why wasn't Havok implemented?

Havok has been tested on Stalingrad (if it would work there, would work everywhere). The result – critical loads for RAM and processor were found. Buildings were reduced to 3-4 pieces in order to make the load less. It didn’t work, more pieces are needed.

And some additional snippets:

Physics will first be added for some small things (customization elements, destruction of small objects);
An Israeli tank tree is possible in theory (similar to China with lots of clones), top – Merkava 1 or its prototype.
A bonus for tanking is in development, the priority – medium;Tanking damage is considered to be the damage that reached the armor and didn’t penetrate it, shooting the suspension parallel to the hull and HESH are not considered;
Equipment is planned to be remade as well as crew skills; 
Multi guns and multi turrets won’t be soon;