[WoTB] Post Closed Beta QA for WoT Blitz

Some frequently asked questions:

Q: So, the CBT is finished. Will the game go live this month? Or will there be a second phase of closed beta?
A: The game won't be released this month. We need at least a few iterations to polish it. There might be a iOS test of some sort but not in closed beta format. Follow the news for more information.

Q: When will platoons be added to the game? There were no platoons in closed beta.
A: Both platoons and new sounds (hangar sounds, music, and new battle sounds) have already been implemented. We are testing them internally now. Both features will be added into the upcoming version.

Q: Will you be able to ping minimap? That would work for larger screens.
A: We are planning to rework minimap in one of the future updates. It will be scalable in battle with the possibility to ping particular sectors, give orders, and even draw movement trajectories.

Q: What will hi-end graphics for Blitz look like? HD tank models or smth different?
A: There are plans to substantially improve visuals for top mobile devices (like iPad Air). Features that are almost finished: high-quality 3d grass, water shader, lighting for maps and tanks, weather effects, normal maps for tanks. And some more things for distant future.

Q: What kind of social integration will be in the game?
It will be possible to share battle results, purchased tanks, and invite your Facebook friends.

Q: Will there be any improvements for iPad and iPad 2 in terms of performance and graphics?
A: First gen iPad is currently not supported. We are working on performance improvements. It's unlikely that there will be a substantial boost, however, we can get a few extra FPS. Visual improvements will be available for hi-end devices (see above).

Q: Can you tell us more how testing worked out? What changes will be made? 
A: The list of changes hasn't been finalized yet, closed beta feedbacks will be added in the upcoming two updates. Among the main things:

• platoons for two
• Facebook sharing for battle results and purchased tanks
• auto-aim improvements, plus it will be possible to disable auto-aim only in sniper mode
• Backwards movement Y axis inversion (not in the next update)
• No cruise-control
• Results for finished battles will be displayed in hangar via pop-up messages at the top for the screen (not in the next update)
• Old medals and achievements removed, descriptions fixed, full info on medals and achievements in post-battle screen
• hangar sounds, music, new battle sounds and voiceover
• restyled garage interface
• improved interface for iPhone, including texts and battle interface
• lots of client options (not in the next update)
• lots of bug fixes

Q: Will there be a reporting system?
A: Planning to use server-side message censoring as on PC. Reports are likely to be added later.

Q: Will you add cruise-control/automated movement?
A: Not going to added in the upcoming updates. It doesn't work well with vehicle micro-managment, when you need to pull up all of a sudden or peekaboo. And don't want to add two more buttons on the screen.

Q: Consumables and equipment are getting more and more expensive with each tier. Is it for balancing reasons? Why can't I dismount stuff?
A: Yup, this was done for the sake of balancing and simplification. Plus there is no depot in the game, so everything - shells, consumables, equipment is linked to its tank. Consumables and shells are sold with no penalty, for equipment - there is 50% selling penalty.

Q: Do HE shells work in the same way as on PC?
A: Yup, the same server-side mechanics.

Q: Will we see larger maps like in PC version?
A: There won't be any larger maps in the near future due to performance reasons, 500x500 is our cap for now. There are plans to try 5vs5 battles at least for low tiers.

Q: Will server selection (RU, EU, NA) depend on region settings for my tablet/phone?
A: The region is determined based on IP meaning that selected region/language doesn't matter. However in-game language will depend on device language, meaning you can for example play on EU server using RU localization if you want to. Later on we are planning to add language selection to game options. 

[WoTB] Any Questions?

As you might have seen WoT news has started its new season. In the first episode it mentioned WoT Blitz, WoWS, and GPG / Chris Taylor.

If you have got any specific Qs on mobile tanks (I saw there were some on the forums), I will be here to provide replies. Fire!

[WoTB] First WoT Blitz QA (Glafi.com)

What minimum Android version that will be supported by World of Tanks Blitz?

Minimum system requirements for both iOS and Android haven't been finalized yet. Android 4.0+ and iOS 5.0+ will definitely be enough. However it's more about the device than OS itself. 

What minimum display size supported by World of Tanks Blitz?

From a personal standpoint 7'' devices provide the best user experience for World of Tanks Blitz due to the weight and size. Generally speaking, screen size is a secondary parameter, first of all, the device should be able to run the game itself. We are developing all the screens and UI elements for both smartphones and tablets to ensure comfortable play on any supported device regardless of screen size.

What will minimum device specs (memory, CPU) be?

At this stage it'd be easier to talk about supported devices. On Apple side we support iPad 2 and newer (3, 4, mini), and iPhone 4 and newer (4S, 5). As for Android, it's tricky because of fragmentation, Tegra-3-like devices will definitely be supported. 

What's the expected client size (Mb, Gb)?

The main content of the game are naturally tank 3D models and maps that require quite a lot of space, so the client size can easily go up to 1GB and even more. So as to allow players to jump into the game more quickly, we are planning to have a "light" client with the basic client package, while other required resources will be downloaded separately.

Will mobile and PC versions share same account or the current players will have to re-register?

Our current World of Tanks players on PC (and World of Warplanes testers) won't have to register once again so as to start playing World of Tanks Blitz on mobile thanks to Wargaming.net ID service. 

What distribution model will World of Tanks Blitz use?

Here at Wargaming we adhere to free-to-play. :) It worked out well for PC game, it works well for mobile these days. So everyone will be able to download the game for free and start playing. 

Are you going to use premium account system? What will it be like? 

Yes, we are planning to use premium account system in World of Tanks Blitz as well. Sure thing, premium account will speed up the progression. At this stage the exact mechanics is not finalized and it may differ from PC side. 

Is World of Tanks Blitz more of an independent game or a port from PC platform? 

We regard World of Tanks Blitz not as a downscaled version of "big brother", but as an independent project which is different from PC version in a lot of ways, e.g. content-wise. Of course, the mobile version will get its own unique features.  

Will we see companies in release version? 

For World of Tanks Blitz we are planning to implement a company mode similar to PC version. Can't give more details on it at this time - a lot can be changed subsequently. 

What tank classes will be in game? PC version has LTs, MTs, HTs, TDs, SPGs.. What will we get on mobile? 

For initial release version we are planning to add medium tanks, heavy tanks, and tank destroyers. I'm a big fan of SPGs and most likely the list won't be limited to the mentioned classes.

How many tanks will each branch have? 

For the launch we are going to have 3 factions - USA, Germany, and USSR. Each nation will get 3 tier 10 branches, 1 per tank class. All in all about 90 tanks. 

Anything about physics and damage model? 

We have managed to make our BigWorld technology work for mobile. This means that we will ensure the safety and security of all transactions as we do on PC. For players, it means that World of Tanks Blitz will take full advantage of tank movement physics (implemented in PC version in 0.8.0 update), accurate penetration and damage models that proved their worth on PC.  It doesn't mean there will be no changes, mobile gameplay is somewhat different and some changes may follow.

How many maps will release version get? 

Can't give the exact number yet, enough to ensure to diversity of gameplay. :) We are building maps for World of Tanks Blitz from scratch, this means that location-wise it will be a new experience for current WoT players.

What type of maps will we see in-game comparing to PC (city, open, mixed)? 

We are not focused on one single map type, on the contrary we are striving for diversity as much as it is possible. Artisits and designers are experimenting with settings, terrains and heights. Right now we have got a desert map, a city map, and a map based on legendary Karelia from WoT PC, and a couple of others in production. Each location will get its own unique terrain elements providing broad tactical options for players. 

What will be the controls?

Controls will use full capabilities of touchscreen devices. That's our main goal to make controls easy and comfortable, right now we are experimenting with different schemes, and doing focus test to shortlist the best option that we are going to show to players. We aslo consider supporting new physical game controllers (bluetooth joysticks) and  other devices that have potential.

What's the release time frame?

It will be released when we get the release quality and are satisfied with the result. Right now we are at pre-alpha stage - not ready to show the game to public yet. The development goes as scheduled and we are making good progress. 

Interview for glafi.com (translated from RU). Link to the original.

[WoT] Feel the Soviet Power: Q&A with Yuri Pasholok. Part 1

So you had a chance to ask your questions to World of Tanks warfare expert Yuriy Pasholok who has got outstanding knowledge of tanks in general with his primary specialization being Soviet tanks. He is also the co-author of recently published Maus book.

      Here is the first batch of his replies. Pasholok's replies are bolded (just in case).

1. Much has been made of how advanced and technologically superior German armor was to everyone else of the time, especially against Russian armor. I loved reading the comparative armor reports on www.battlefield.ru, but are you able to give us anything more definitive about how armor quality changed over the years of the Great War? Especially of Russian armor, of course ;)

The Military Scientific Research Institute in Leningrad, also known as the  Research Institute-48 (Open Joint Stock Company “Koplin Scientific Research and Project Designing Academy of Metallurgical  Machine Building” today), handled the armor sphere in the USSR  before and during the war. Besides the armor composition improvement worked on the armor protection: for example, the IS-6 hull, the IS-3 ‘pike nose’, the  IS-7 tank, and several other renowned machines number were designed there. Armor and its quality will be discussed in detail in future blog entries and my articles.

The armor quality didn't depend greatly on the situation at the front, and differed from factory to factory. In spring 1944, for instance, the Red Army faced the issue of inferior in quality cast armor, cracks in turrets, and welds of inferior quality. The problem was related to a number of tank production facilities, but not all of them.  There was a case, for example, when the IS-3 frontal plate broke in two pieces, while a similar hull, produced at a different production facility,  did pass the test.

2. The typical western thinking is that Russia used so much HE shells because their AP shell technology was inferior to the task. What is your insight on this, and as to how effective HE actually was against German tanks, especially in relation to the above question, as armor changed?

By the summer of 1941, the Soviet Army faced an acute shortage of armor piercing rounds for calibers of 76+ mm. Things were changing fast in June, 1941 and several Soviet Army tank units ended up with absolutely no armor piercing shells, and they often fought with nothing, but high explosive rounds. The 85mm anti-aircraft guns often fired high-explosives shells for the very same reason.

3. Mr. Walter Christie appears to have had a great influence on Russian tank design beginning in the inter-war period, though not so much in his own country. How is he perceived from your perspective?

I’m positive that John Walter Christie deserves to have a monument erected in his honor. He designed the first vehicle for maneuverable combat that combined high mobility and descent for its time firepower. Christie’s tank concept gave the ground base for the German PzKpfw III, while Soviet and British vehicles built from it became most mass produced machines of World War II.  Even nowadays, the main battle tank used in one particular country, the Merkava tank comes with the suspension, similar to the Christie model.

Christie is an example that genuinely talented people can often be unlucky. His research suffered from the military budget  cuts after World War I, the Great Depression made it even worse, and his competitors wrapped it up.  Christie’s designs and suspension faced heavy criticism even though some of its major shortcomings had been eliminated by the engineer himself. His competitors took a hand in it. No wonder all American tanks from the late 1930’s had a very similar design to Chistie’s model. By the way, all of them were built with the support of the same person who is called  "the Chief Designer of American tanks" in Soviet documents of 1941 and was among Christie’s most harsh critics. That is the story of tank-related non-transparency and corruption, I don't like it.

4.  Your favorite tank of all time?

T-34, victory tank, that has served faithfully for 50 years.

5. Can You tell us more about characteristics of each tank in IS series? In-game they are pretty much mixed up, as IS-8 is considered weaker than IS-7, and IS-4 is far greater than IS-6. To sum up: they are in a very random order that does not match their real development. Is that because some versions were made from scratch, and not by further development of previous versions, or maybe these projects were just a bit to complicated and had to be "dumbed down" to simplify and reduce potential costs?

Vehicle  indices don’t always correspond to the order the tanks were developed. The first tank with the IS-3 index is The Object 239, which was the first IS prototype with the 85 mm S-31 gun. The Object 701 received its index “IS-4” in 1946, while its first prototype was built in the summer of 1946 –six months before the IS-3 pilot (Object 701). Moreover, the work on the IS-6 tank (Object 252 and Object 253) began at the Plant # 100 in strict secrecy in the winter of 1944. In 1945 engineers from the plant moved from Chelyabinsk to Leningrad, where they produced the IS-7 tank (Object 260). The IS-8 (Object 730) that would later become the T-10 tank was designed in Chelyabinsk. That is why it’s so similar to the IS-3. In a way, the epic battle between the Plant#100 (later the  Research Institute-100) and the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant is similar to that of the Experimental Plant#185 and the Kirov Plant in late 30’s.

6.  We have alot of new Chinese tanks just on their way. We all know that most of them were licensed versions of soviet vehicles, so many parts of these tanks should be nearly the same. At the same time the Chinese had to make some changes to fit their own technology, and I suppose some things were kept secret at that moment, so they might have not gotten the entire vehicle technology, but some sort of "basic elements" that were lacking a finishing touch. What exactly were the nuances and tiny differences that make these machines different?

Chinese school of tank construction shall be treated with understanding and respect. Lots of people in Russia and other countries around the globe are carping at Soviet industry of 1934-1940’s while not considering the country of that period was pillaged in World War I and Civil wars, and Russian people were hardly able to write or to read at that period. Regarding Chinese nation, they suffered even more. People went through perpetual hostility against their nation tearing their country apart for decades. Chinese had to create their industry from nothing. It explains why the technologies of that time were just the worse copies of the original. However, the Chinese engineers made a number of uncommon solutions, with some of which players will be acquainted later (or already acquainted). Modern China is one of the few countries able to build a decent tank from the own-produced components. England, for example, has lost its tank industry. It remains to be seen if they made the right decision, since the tank hasn't said the last word on battlefield yet.

We are working with one of the leading experts in Chinese tanks. I hope to see his publications on the tank-construction of 1940-1960’s to come out one day. You can trust me, there are lots of surprises.

7. Some tanks were designed for a totaly different kind of warfare after the second world war (like Object 279 that was focused on surviving a nublear blastwave), did this pursue of making them resistant to new kinds of weapons make them a bit more vounreable to the traditional armor piercing and high explosive rounds? These bizarre projects looks very much like a compromise, and it is clear that they had to be inferior in some categories to gain these totaly new atributes in other matters.

The studies of Research Institute-48 mentioned above ended up in the Object 279 project. A-22 and Object 907 medium tanks were also designed there in collaboration with the Research Institute-100 , as should be noted. The specification included the requirement to protect the turret sides from the penetration with 128 mm shell – and it was fulfilled. The feature was implemented on the medium tank, for the record. As post war documents are being slowly declassified, we are just going to face new revelations.

8. With the characteristic late war speed and low profile on most russian tanks they would obviously be hard to hit tank vs tank, however would it be realistic to believe those tanks on average could withstand more direct hits than a western tank of similar comparison before being reliably knocked out?

Specification for the Soviet tanks in the second half of 1942 included quite strict weight requirement  with ever-growing demands on armor protection and equipment improvements. So the T-44 medium tank appeared, that was lower and lighter than T-34, while having enhanced armor. The price for the revolutionary design, however, was high –T-44 needed a lot of time to become really battle-capable and worthy, that happened only in the late 1945. Till then the tank failed performance tests with admirable regularity. Every innovative tank developed has always faced this.

A low profile didn’t mean to be the main point in T-34 creation, but later it had been always considered in the Soviet tanks design.  As a result of this improvement stride, Soviet and Russian tanks have the lowest profiles. Other countries came to this as well, for the record: “Abrams” MBT, which is higher than T-72 for 20 cm only, replaced the massive M60 with more than 3m in its height. Obviously, Soviet engineers moved in the right direction.

Regarding speed, it wasn’t the major characteristic. Tank reliability and its capability to march for hundreds of kilometers was appreciated much higher. Tank weight for these purposes was crucial. “KV-1” heavy tank at some point was overthrown with excessive armor ended up in crashes of dozens vehicles. Tanks that were produced at the beginning of 1942 had armouring similar to  “Tiger” heavy tank.

Excessive weight made IS-4 heavy tank to fall out of the improvement race and would fall KV-3 with the rest KV-4/KV-5 out as well.  However, it’s clear why the Soviet tank designers tried not to cross the line of 50 tons after the war’d ended.

9. it is widely known, that russian armor and the t34 in particular came as a shock to the germans, the germans thus learned from this and copied the ideas of sloped armor, wider tracks and better suspension (and maybe others wich i dont know yet) into there designs after the inviasion. But wich particular design concepts from the germans where learned from and coppied into russian design? Both before the war, during the war and imediatly afterwards.

The Soviets purchased one German PzKpfw III in 1940 and during the 1940-1941 all tank plants kept study on it.  As a result, T-50 got its commander's hatch, turret traverse indicator, and color signals for the driver. The T-34 medium tank wasn’t lucky in getting commander’s hatch as well as triple turret. It got it only in 1943, though tries to implement it’d occurred much earlier. As far as further adoptions are concerned, we can't but mention "Ferdinand-type" muzzle break, that was used for early 122mm D-25T gun and 100mm BS-3 gun, and also "Panther-type" hull junction.

10.   Were there any vechicles based on IS-4 chassis?:) There should be some considering the fact that there were some on IS-7 chassis and this tanks was not mass produced.

In the late 1945 documents there are requirements for 152 mm and 130 mm self-propelled guns, for which according to their specs, IS-4 suspension had to be used. Alas, as IS-4 hadn’t seen mass production, self-propelled guns on its basis were not developed in prototypes either. Search for the best does not always results in something good.

To be continued. 

[WoT] Misc Info. Updated

Updated. Added stuff in red. 

This post contains some misc information of World of Tanks.

Penetration mechanics is one of the hottest topics in WoT. Below is the summary of the most widely asked questions with answers, of course. :)


AP and APCR penetration and normalization:

• There is no normalization when hitting external modules - tracks and gun.
• Rounds ignore the armour slope when hitting external modules - tracks and gun.
• Rounds get normalized only when hitting main armour or spaced armour
• Normalization doesn't change the real round trajectory. This simplifies the calculation.
• Normalization is taken into account to calculate penetration / non-penetration at the point of impact (where round meets armour).
• If round penetrates the outer spaced armour and after that penetrates the inner main armour, it doesn't get normalized twice on the main armour. In both cases, when penetrating spaced armour - regular normalization value is used, for main armour - the same one is in place (no xN increase). The real round trajectory again stays the same for both penetrations. 
• Normaliztion value for all rounds will be substantilly decreased in 8.0 update: approx it will go down from 7 deg (on average) to 5 deg (on average).
• Ricochet angle is 70 deg. 
• Overmatch is the situation when round caliber is 3+ times bigger than armour. In this case, there is no ricochet. Round tries penetrate the armour regardless of the angle.
• After the ricochet, round changes its trajectory and continues its journey. Its penetration power is reduced by 25%. Only 1 ricochet is calculated by the server.
• Semi-overmatch is the situation when round caliber is 2+ times bigger than armour. In this case, normalization is increased proportionally to the semi-overmatch value, ie x2, x3, xN.

Saving throws and gun hits:

• Being inside the vehicle round can go as long as 10-caliber distance inflicting damage to modules and crew.
• If module/crew is lucky to get saving throw, round doesn't go further
• If module/crew doesn't produce saving throw, round goes further having its damage reduced by the amount of HP module/crew had. If the remaining damage is <= 0, round doesn't go further (it gets stuck)
• Gun also has saving throw, but if it dodges, round goes further. However if round has penetrated the armour and inflicted damage before hitting the gun / gun dodging, it won't go further
• When gun (gun hitbox) is penetrated (2 outer spots of the model hit), round gets its penetration reduced accordingly
• Crew members don't stop AP rounds under any circumstances

Publicly available hitboxes

It is planned to display hitboxes (without internal stuff) in the game client, specifically in hangar submenu. Clicking on a particular spot, one will get its exact armour thickness and possibly angle of possible impact (based on camera angle) - thus it will be more clear what and where you can penetrate and when you have little chance.

Voiceover

The current algorithm (or sequence) of hit and penetration messages will be reconsidered. Yes, "we are on fire" shouts will finally get higher priority. Additional sounds will be added when hitting tracks or gun. ETA - soon! :)

PS. Latest poll results (votes / %):
Your opinion on "Digging Through Archives" posts.
keep them coming!  - 866 (50%) - sure thing, will do!
propaganda! - 371 (21%) - come on! :)  
don't care  - 333 (19%) - that's the right approach
let them be - 153 (8%) - see above
 
The new poll is up.

[WoWP] Questions and Answers. Session 2.

Questions and answers session for World of Warplanes. The user questions (italics)  were gathered on EU and NA official forums. The answers (bold) are brief and concise to save your time. If something needs clarification, ask in comments.

To your Qs: 

when is wop going to be ready for all of the public to play?

Open beta is planned for later this year. Closed beta starts on May 31, we will be inviting more players since then.
Do the Dev team ever plan on implementing Tessellation into their graphics models which would lmprove detail of models and effects 10x over what is currently in world of tanks and planes?

Tesselation is something WoT (with lots of small objects) can benefit from, as for WoWP, currently we are neither using nor planning to use this. 
hello i got some questions u might be able to answer (sorry for bad english )

1. do u guys have plans for adding heavy/med bombers (like b25, 17,29, pe 8 etc')?
maybe u can arrange a bomber tree which every bomber can be controlled by more then one person , one pilot and one control the turrets?

2. is there a way to change controls? ( if i use to ASDW keys and arrows keys to manuver i got no spare hand for firing with the mouse)
*somewhy i cant login right now and check if i realy cant change

3. will clouds be added? they can be usefull to hide, like trees in WOT

4. last one, there are any plans to make modules get damaged during battles from enemy fire? (flaps, guns, ammo, etc')

1. Probably some of them can be added as NPCs.

2. Yes, controls can be changed in menu.

3. Yes, clouds are currently one of the high prioroties. They are supposed to make the gameplay much deeper, brining more tactics.

4. Some things can be damaged (visually and gameplay-wise) even at this stage. 

how many players one battle can take in this game?

Battles are up to 15vs15. Just like in WoT.  

Will there be a tool included to create custom skins for aircraft? If not, will the files of the skins be editable in photoshop?(like DDS files)

It will be possible to edit skins however since they are supported server-side, all you changes will be visible to you only. 

Ok aside from joystick support will the flight dynamics for say, Mouse and keyboard, be arcadeish and like that of this game called Heroes In the Sky (HIS)?

The game is fairly arcadish and supports keyboard and mouse (apart from gamepad and joystick).  

what is the best way to play wowp? ie. joystick, keyboard, gamepad? and what brand or type is best suggested?

Depends on your preferences of course, most of the players use various KB+mouse combinations.  

Q1: Do you plan on adding commander planes / scout planes/ mother planes into the tech tree ? like the planes that command other planes, send coordinates, jamming radars, spot, etc. like the Bristol Blenheim or the Dornier Do 215? These planes were used as motherships, reconnoise airplanes, light bombers.

Q2: About Flak cannons and AA guns, I have seen in the overlord blogs that they are in the map and that can be destroyed, but do they fire upon enemy aircraft or they are just decoration ?

Q3:Can we turn our engines voluntary or just when they get shot?

1. Definitely not in the tech tree directly. Such planes can be added as NPCs for PVE modes or tutorial. Regular tech trees will be more conventional, with some exceptions of course. Just check out that F5U

2. They fire upon enemy aircraft. There are two types of AA guns at the moment, light and heavy ones.

3. You can voluntary turn off the engine to increase your maneuverability.  

Will there be a cockpit view? Dogfighting games aren't dogfighting games without a cockpit view.

We are not planning to add a cockpit view to the game.  

Will there ever be any Canadian planes? premiums perhaps?(like in WoT) a Canadian Spitfire would be nice, we had alot of those, and some of the wars' greatest aces were Canadian : / 

Quite possibly. As premiums.  

Can we Upgrade T10 planes in WoWP? I would love to change those 4 20mm into Mk108 or even MK 214 

That's not 100% decided yet. Possibly they will be upgradeable.  

i have one question about RAM Memory.
How much RAM consumes WOWP ?
I have Win 7 - 32 bit (i want change to 64) and 4 GB RAM
What detail i can run with Graphic card GeForce HD 520 ?

4GB should be enough for medium settings at least, the graphic card is somewhat weak, borderline allowable to launch.  

Will there be british planes? like the spitfire and hurricane

Yes, British planes are in in plans. Spitfires and Hurricanes FTW!  

Calculations for 3D movement are way more complicated. I would be surprised if final requirement were not significantly higher than WoT

System requirements will be similar to the ones we have got in WoT, nothing extraordinary.  

I assume there are AP and HE shells for most of the Guns.
Is any Type of Gold Ammo Planed? And what will be then?Better AP/HE shells or even Incendiary Rounds? And can we set a Explosion timer for Rockets? Will there be any kind of ballistic drop or does the game handle that automaticly like in WoT?

Currently we have got only one type of ammo - regular AP rounds. Other types of ammo are also planned for future. In addition to that we are thinking of such feature as customization of cartridge belt, ie it will be possible to create your own ammo setups like 1 AP, 2 incendiary, 3 HE, etc
The game accounts for ballistics automatically.  

Hi, do you develop native application for MAC OS? 

WoWP is being developed solely for PC at this stage.  

I was digging through a topic, but couldn't find my question - will alpha tersters get any profits in future stages of development of WoWP just for participating in the alpha stage? If yes, are there any conditions of receving such profit (i.e. certain number of battles played or something like that)? 

We appreciate the contribution of our alpha testers and won't forget their input.  

I have applied me for the Alpha.So my Question is ,do I have to apply again for the closed beta? 

No, you don't have to do that.  

I have a question too. If players participated in closed beta, will their stats be resetted when "normal" verision come, like in WoT? Or they will keep stats and planes which they had in beta?

In release version everyone will start with a clean sheet.  

I applied to Alpha on February, do i get a Notification on my Forum Profile when i get an Invite? and What happens if i accidently delete my invite, is there still a notification on my Forum Profile? 


You will get an email notification once you are accepted. Even if you delete the message, you will still be able to play. All you need is to DL the game.

If your question is not on the list, you can ask in comments to this post or in the respective Q&A thread - EU or NA. 

Questions and Answers. Session 1.

[WoT] Questions and Answers. Session 1.

Questions and answers session for World of Tanks. The user questions (italics) were gathered on EU  official forums. The answers (bold) are brief and concise to save your time. If something needs clarification, you can ask in comments.

a question.. you will create a factions mode!? example: usa tanks versus German tanks, or Russian versus France etc. thanks

That's called historical battles in our interpretation. However not all the combinations will be possible. Only those that took place in RL. 

When will you (Wargaming) realize that the Match-maker is not WORKING AS INTENDED, but that it actually does need some work?
Also, when are these long awaited new game modes planned for release? DO NOT SAY "Soon" - you said that ages ago. 

1. The new MM system is currently in the works, it's really a difficult and time-consuming task, thus the new system has to be really working smoothly before we can release it.
2. Two new game modes are planned for 7.x series. 

Have you decided on a general "theme" for British tanks yet? US tanks are mobile and comfortable
German tanks have accurate guns/good armour and burn like empty crisp packets Russians Have good armour/Gun power French tanks have autoloader's and high penetration guns
British tanks have...?  

Difficult to say at this stage, since the we haven't done any kind of tuning yet. My personal expectation is that they will balanced all around, sort of jacks of all trades. However this wouldn't apply to each particular vehicle of course.  

Q: Any plans for the future patches to remove the nerf which occured to the French tanks? Tier 8 and up? Mostly the Batchat?
Q2: Why a tier 9 French med has the same top gun as the Lorraine 40t? Could it get atleast a better aim time or rld time to blance it out coz fo the tier difference? Since I can understand alot of ppl did cry about the Lorraine or AMX being op when having such a gun on that tier, but at the same time it is terribly underperforming against Tier 10 tanks.  

1. Currently there are no such plans, the adjustments that took place in 7.2 were needed indeed. Stat-wise most of the top-tier French tanks are on par with their counterparts.
2. As a BatChat driver, I'm fine with its current performance. In general tier 9 meds, being closely balanced, enjoy slightly overrated performance. BatChat win ratio according to 7.3 data from RU side is the highest of all tier 9 meds.  

Seriously, this is a post from a "guy" that feels threatened in his IS-7, fearing that he will no longer be able to noob around in his easymode tank, bouncing off every shell the E-100 have to offer. But ok, i bite the troll. IS-7 have more penetration, better frontal armor with virtually no weakspots, vehicle is smaller, more agile and faster than E-100. So besides having a tiny bit more HP, and ability to ram other tanks, what does the E-100 really have to offer, that justifies a player buying it over the IS-7? To my question: When are E-100 going to be buffed, and what changes are being considered? 

As of early 7.3 data, E-100 performs (48.2% win ratio, 458 exp) in line with 50B and IS-7, being slightly worse than IS-4 (48.3% and 465 exp respectively) and T-110 which is in the lead. With this gap of E-100 not being dramatic, presently we are not considering any changes to it.  

Do you acknowledge that team balance and matchmaking are terribly broken and will take steps to fix it sooner rather than later? Or as far as you're concerned all is good on this front and won't do anything? By "terribly broken" I mean that I can actually guess the winner team as soon as I see the setup in most matches. 

No, I don't.  

Q: Can there in future be some kind of achievment added for the most usefull tank in a LOST game? Damage dealt and/or base capture/defense wise.

After a brief thinking, I do like it. Really. Will consider it for WoWP at least.  

Does the new MM takse into account the winratio of a player whem making teams?

No, it doesn't. 


Heard that the Type 59 is once again available, on the Russian cluster. Any comments on that (or was it just a rumor)? Will it be added back on the European one as well?

This tank is not going to be returned to the in-game Stores in the foreseeable future. It can only be available during various special offers. 


Q: Are we getting clan logos in this patch?

Yes, they are enabled. Finally. 

Q: Why are the developers so keen on implementing the tanks historical weaknesses, but not their historical strenghts? And dont say its balance issues becouse the balancing in this game could be done ten times better tbh.

Of course it can be. On top of that, the balance is probably one of the very few things, everyone has its own special/unique attitude to, thinking that
only
their opinion is right, while everything else, including impersonal data, makes no sense. However I do admit that the overall balance is improving in the long run. With each influx of new vehicles (and we add them every update) we sort of undermining the current status quo or shaking it at least which requires some time to settle things down. And the ongoing revision of the tech trees only complicates the process.  

Q. Does this mean that the Japanese tech tree will be delayed and not here this year as estimated?

I would say that the chance of arrival of Japanese tanks this year is rather low. However, there will be other delicious tanks. Probably, for some players, they will appear even more delicious than the whole Japanese tree.  

is the maus/e100 equal to the other T10 tanks of the other nations now? in my oppinion its not, we dont have anny benefits with the slow big tanks now, with all the hi penetrations guns that have come in the latest paches. is there going to be some increace in the performance of the german T10s ? and do you know when the second gun on the maus e100 will be enabeled?

Currently only T110 stands out from tier 10 crowd, the rest are quite close to one another in terms of performance.

[WoWP] Questions and Answers. Session 1.

Questions and answers session for World of Warplanes. The user questions (italics)  were gathered on EU and NA official forums. The answers (bold) are brief and concise to save your time. If something needs clarification, ask in comments.

Here we go:

Will you have vehicle/nation specific crew/weapon/engine sounds or the generics ones like in WoT?

The sounds will mostly be similar to WoT, however in WoWP we are planning to pay special attention to national crew voice-overs (each nation will get its own voice-over) and soundtrack to make it really catchy and matching the game style.

I was just wondering how the CBT will start. Do we get an e-mail or will we have to keep watch to the WowP portal.

The announcement will be loud enough so as those who are insterested don't miss it. Of course it will be mentioned on the portal, but not only there.

Having flown other prominant flight sims, such as FSX and the succesful IL-2 series, and also holder of a pilot's licence in real life, I am interested to know how many feature's you are planning to include in game. For example will we be able to use airbrakes to give us an advantage in dogfights? Airbrakes are also essential for the ground attack aircraft that are on your tech tree. Can we use flaps to decrease the turning circle and allow us to fly slower + more lift? Also will the game have true to life physics, or will it be another game where the plane's auto-right and automatically turn and bank when you move the stick?

We are not exactly doing a sim, that's why WoWP will be more of a genre mixture. Both landing and take-off are not considered vital for the intended gameplay. Currently we are not planning to include air brakes. As for flaps control it's already in the game and functioning. Flight model is going to be rather complex allowing aerobatics, stalling and such stuff, however we really want that in-game players fight vs players not vs their own aircraft or ground.

What about perks for crew in wowp ? If warplane like Me109 C1 have 4x MG17 and 2x 20mm cannon, its possible to switch between ?  like LPM-MG PPM-Cannon

Crew progression is going to be more advanced in WoWP in comparison to what we have got in WoT, containing greater rpg elements. Mostly because of the comparatively tiny crews in WoWP. Yes, it will be possible to switch between the two.

When talking about the adding of the British tree, you tend to stress it will be soon, more so than you did with the French and WoT. Does this mean we probably won't have to wait as long as we did for the French to be added in WoT?
 
Yes exactly, it's quite safe to say that Brits in WoWP (the initial line) will arrive earlier than French tanks it WoT.

Considering that dogfights were much more dependent on skill than tank battles, how will this affect the matchmaking? I mean, even the tier 1 fighters could take down an advanced WW2 plane with enough skill.

Indeed the influence of skill level will be higher than in WoT by all means, we are planning to smooth over the rough spots tuning the matchmaking.

You've stated that light bombers will be added, now these bombers needed fighter support because they couldn't defend themselves very well. This means we will need alot of teamwork to actually play these roles and judging by the WoT community, these people have never even heard of teamwork and don't have a clue how to do anything other than hide or go forward. Do you have any plans to force these people into actually working as a team? Perhaps a hefty bonus for taking out fighters that are firing at your bombers?

That's actually the reason why bombers were not chosen as a separate class in WoWP. As well as ground attack aircraft those will need to focus mainly on ground targets and require certain support from the team. From our side we would encourage team play by clear designated class roles, clear and concise UI, and advanced tutorial.

I just wondering about the difference game types, al i have heard (read) about it sound intresting but just thinking how it will be when i load up my heavy assult plane with bombs/canones and was hoping that it would be an ground assult map but no it was an plane escort mission i ended up with.
we got the posibilities to pick each fight?

We are planning a couple of game modes for release, most likely that would include some sort of escort with significant PvE element and aerial deathmatch with both aerial and ground targets.

And for secound when i applied for the alfatest i choosed joystik but it showes that my old dusty stick not working anymore, will that have some thing to say on the outcome to be accepted to GAT?

Not at all. We welcome the use of all types of controls.

 will it be a major difrence between the alpha and beta testing or will it be as any other update? I`m not experencd with beta and alpha testing of a game so that is why i am wondering.

In closed beta we will be inviting more players to join than we do now. Of course at that stage we will have far more stuff to try and test as well.

are some planes oversized or undersized in comparison to other planes ?

Intentinally - no. :)

At the start of the round will we ever have the chance to take off from the runway(like in combat flight simulator 3)?

Currently everyone start up in the air. We would like players to focus on the combat itself.

I wasn't perfectly sure what you meant in an earlier post, when you said something about it being keyboard + mouse only. Did I understand that right, or are you planning support for joysticks and pads? Can't wait to be approved by the way, and please thank the Devs for me, for the awesome job!

Sure thing, they are already supported.

Considering the recent post about the community's artistic side and the fact that the reward is acceptance into GAT, does this mean that any applications to GAT are now no longer being accepted?

We are inviting more and more players in as the alpha testing progress. Plus your application will be still valid for CBT if you are not accepted by then .

Is the whole game about WWII-Aircraft or are we going to see more modern planes also?
Our time range is 30-50, so we are starting with basic biplanes and going up to early jets.

Will there be a Cockpit-View or only Third-Person-Perspective or both?

Only the latter.
Can you already estimate how big the Game-Client will be?

Approx the same size as in WoT. Currently it's about 1.5Gb

When you open game for more players? CBT or so...

CBT which start around E3 will be more "public" than global alpha, however both limited access and the NDA will be in place. The game will be fully open during open beta stage - OBT.

WoWP will have AA guns? If they are in game, will be available for players like arti in wot?

Yes, there are AA guns controlled by AI.

Tail-gunner will be controled be AI?

Yes.

High tier Planes will have misiles (like X-4)?

Yes.

What type of customization we have in wowp?, example, you can swich diferent machineguns/canons, or/and you can add more or remove machineguns/canons. Example of 4, 190WA4 basic = 4 canons and 2 guns, if you can customize, 4 guns, or only 2 canons and 2 machineguns....

That's not exactly customization. It's upgrading, currently we are working on different setups of upgradable modules for aircraft, which won't be limited to weapons only.

Hey i accidentally entered the Ru site of world of warplanes , and out of curiosity i used google to translate . Turns out hey have a lot more contests wich ... doesnt sound very fair to me .Could we get more contests too ? Also , dont take this as an insult , its just a desperate man begging for alpha acces.

We are inviting approx the same percentage of players in every region. So the number of contests in terms of GAT invitations doesn't really matter.

will there be stalls? (esp.due to low airspeed)  what about plane-ground interactions? Will we crash into the scenery if we're not careful (or if we stall )?

Yes to both. However auto-pilot will be in place to prevent uncontrolled maneuvers from player's side. Of course it will still be quite possible to actually crash.

Are crews going to be visible in the aircraft? In WoT, there are no crew in open vehicles. However, in the teasers, I noticed that aircrew were visible. Will we be able to see our crews?
Yes, the crews are visible both in combat and in hangar.

i was wondering if there are going to be objectives in this game or is it goin to be like WOT where you just start shootin ppl up

Game modes with different objectives are planned, apart from standard deathmatch and shooting ground targets, we are also working on escort mode, where you need to make sure your VIP(lane) survives or destroy the enemy's one.

"Planned" or "in" is the question here, simply because WoT has been running now forever on one mode and it was promised long ago that new modes were coming so "stay patient". So if I were to hear "planned" I'm just going to assume they're not happening any time soon. I would like to see their "planned" content timeline as well.

WoWP will start with at least 2 game modes and advanced combat tutorial. Unlike WoT.

Question: will exist something like a "blinding sun"?
 
Yes, this effect is planned.

will you restrict the tiers of planes fighting each a little bit more then in WoT. I would love to be in Dog fights with only tier 5 planes, rather then battles with planes from tier 4-9. Especially if I'm the Tier 4 plane. I know the waits would grow, but still. I'm imagining the tier 10 planes almost never being bothered by the lower tiers.

The MM spreads most likely will be tighter than it WoT now, however tier 5 only battles are not exactly the pattern we are aiming at.

Will the all planes be able to gain the same heights? I've been wiki'n the planes and noticed the different ceiling levels. Will a tier 1 plane be able to reach the same in game height as a tier 10 plane?

No, we are capping the max heights artificially for the sake of gameplay. In general fights will take place on a lower heights than they did historically so as to enable taking advantage of landscape and fighting ground targets.

If Sim, can you stall out. does weight vs power effect climb rate/angle. On A scale of 1 - 10 (1 ace combat - 10 L-2 Sturmovik ) .. where would it land ?

Stalling is in place, however deadly maneuvers are prevented by auto-pilot. Weight vs power effect climb rate/angle will also be added. Closer to arcade than to sim. You can't control air-fuel mixture.
  

A lot of people are going to play this game and I wanted to ask if there is any sort of plane customization being implemented. I ask this because a lot of pilots in WWII had custom symbols or emblems on there planes usually self chosen ones and it would be a really cool way to see what people come up with on their planes.

We are planning to implement advanced customization tools to the game. E.g. the camo system is already in. Each plane will get a set of unique camos, unlike WoT where camos are mapped/tiled for all vehicles of a particular nation.

Are there any plans to Introduce Compatibility with Linux platforms Given the growing popularity and use of platforms like Ubuntu?

Official Linux support is not planned in the foreseeable future.

1. Will there be a fuel limit or just no fuel at all?
2. Is there going to be mid-air crashes or not?
3. Will there be any mountains or hills you can crash into or land on?

1. No fuel limit just like in WoT.
2. Yes, sure thing. Ramming FTW!
3. Many mountains, hills, towers, etc to crash into. :)

1. Since there will be no stall from maneuvering how realistic the world physics will be?
2. What the max altitude a plane can climb?
3. Will the bombers have rear gunner protection?
4. Will the planes have gas or ammo or even better the pilot him self weak areas?
5. Will there be female pilots?(For the USSR mostly since historically there were many women soldiers and pilots)
6. Well the skies are different from the ground and there are not many places to hide, what about the visibility? Can i spot a plane in an open sky up to 1000 - 2000 meters?
7. What about pilots skills and perks?

1. Flight model is going to be quite complex allowing aerobatics and preventing player from commiting deadly maneuvers.
2. It will be different for different tiers/groups of tiers. There would be an artificial cap to keep fights closer to the ground, so as to enable players to take advantage of landscape and fight ground targets.
3. Some ground attack planes already have it.
4. Yes, each plane will get its own weakspots, realistic armouring is already in place. Pilots are currently exluded from the hitbloxes for gameplay reasons.
5. Possibly.
6. Yes, enemy can be spotted being a few kilometers away.
7. Since planes obviously have smaller crews than tanks, we will pay special attention to crew progression devising a lot of skills and perks some of which will progress simultaneously.

If your question is not on the list, you can ask in comments to this post or in the respective Q&A thread - EU or NA.