[WoT] Improving Physics of 8.0 Update

Below is Storm's (WoT producer) summary of the current state of in-game physics of 8.0 update for World of Tanks.

Main issues detected so far:

1. Disappearing destroyed tanks and "alive" tanks getting stuck in the spots where destroyed tanks were initially. 90% of all cases when vehicle gets stuck are of that kind.
2. Tanks getting stuck on bridges (near the edges).
3. When being detracked on the move tanks don't get turned.
4. Too much damage when falling from relatively low height. This especially applies to light tanks driving cross-country terrain (due to the roughness of terrain).
5. Too little damage when ramming, especially heavies vs lights/mediums. Tanks just bounce getting minor damage. While some bouncing is legitimate, there should be noticeably more damage to vehicle and tracks.
6. Most of the tanks have seen a drop in acceleration. Especially heavies.
7. There should be some more drifting/sliding. Now it's possible only for the 2-3 fastest tanks in the game, as a result, this feature is barely noticeable.
8. Low terrain rendering settings are unclear for players which leads to massive complaints of tanks falling into the ground or hovering in the air. Possibly, this setting should be removed from auto-detect functionality and graphic presets, allowing to change it only in manual mode.
9. Small stones, stumps, and other small objects should not have own hitboxes. Vehicles get slowed down too much because of that.

In comments to this post, please state whether you can confirm the aforementioned issues or not (assuming you have tested it on public test server, otherwise - don't do it! :) ). Alternatively you can add what you consider to be a fault of physics. Please avoid posting minors, focus on the main issues. 

Thanks in advance.

[WoT] Digging Through Archives: Some Penetration Tests

Not wishing to continue (pour oil on the flames) the gold old "underestimated penetration of  German guns" topic, just sharing some of the newly-found information (as always thanks to our military experts).

The tables below feature the penetration data gathered by the Soviet tank forces during the WWII. Unlike some propaganda materials, these figures were used directly for military purposes such as the calculation (and subsequent construction) of the necessary protection level for Soviet tank armour plates.

Table 1

Some explanation. The first column gives distance to target in meters, penetration is given for a number of guns for both 60 and 90 deg armour slope.
Tested guns (from left to right):

• 45mm mod. 1938 for T-70 (USSR)
• 57mm ZiS-4 for T-34 (USSR)
• 76mm F-4 for T-34 and ZiS-3 for SU-76 (USSR)
• 85mm D-5 for SU-85 and S-53 for T-34-85 (USSR)
• 85mm experimental (USSR)
• 100mm D-10S for SU-100 (USSR)
• 122mm D-25 for ISU-122 (USSR)
• 152mm howitzer (?) for ISU-152 (USSR)
• 152mm gun (?) for ISU-152 (USSR)
• 152mm OBM experimental (USSR)
• 57mm (UK)
• 75mm for M3 (US)
• 50mm mod.1938 for Pz. III (Germany)
• 75mm mod.1940 for Pz. IV (Germany)
• 75mm mod. 1942 for Pz. V Panther (Germany)
• 88mm for Pz. VI Tiger - L56 - (Germany)
• 88mm for Ferdinand - L71 - (Germany)

German guns are marked with red square in the pic.

Notes:
1. Fraction represents penetration value for AP (above) and APCR (below) rounds
2. Penetration is measured in mm.

Comparing that data to what we have got in the game at the moment:
50mm mod.1938 for Pz. III (Germany) - 74/110 (table) vs 60/96 (in-game) -18.9% / -12.7%
75mm mod.1940 for Pz. IV (Germany) - 103 (table) vs 106 (in-game) +3%
75mm mod. 1942 for Pz. V Panther (Germany) - 150 (table) vs 138 (in-game) -8%
88mm for Pz. VI Tiger - L56 - (Germany) - 120 (table) vs 132 (in-game) +10%
88mm for Ferdinand - L71 - (Germany) - 168 (table) vs 203 (in-game) +20.8%

Smell antyhing here?

You can compare the rest on your own.

Table 2

Table 2 basically repeats what has been given earlier, only 105mm K18 gun is added there. Plus the table at the bottom contains the data on armouring in mm (front, side, rear, top) of Panther (it's called a heavy tank there btw), Tiger, and Ferdinand.

And a bit of German tactics explained at the very bottom (also translated from the document):

• high concentration of tanks on the main attacking directions
• taking advantage of accurate guns at long-range combat (1500-2000m)
• taking advantage of good armour and right positioning (hiding one's hull)

[WoT] Soviet TDs of 8.0

Below are some screenies of SU-100М1, Uralmash, SU-122-54, and Object 263 on various maps. Also check out the lighting effects (HDR) of the render that are planned for 8.0 version of World of Tanks

Full size images here.

PS. Latest poll results (votes / %):
How long have you been playing WoT?
Since closed beta - 724 (31%)
Since open beta  - 524 (22%)
One year - 749 (22%)   
Since release - 268 (11%)
Half a year - 130 (5%)

A few months - 47 (2%)

Evan earlier than closed beta - 35 (1%)
Just started - 35 (1%).
 
The new poll is up.