[WoT] Digging Through Archives: We've Hit Them Hard

The first firing tests with King Tiger playing key role took place on September 2, 1944, it happened right where the vehicles were stopped in battle.

This King Tiger was hit near Polish town of Sandomierz. After that it was used as a testing target for artillery to try the armour.

N4.

1. In the photo: right side of the vehicle and the gun pointing to the left.
2. Huge dark spot is a reach-through breach made by 152mm artillery round.

Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defence, fund 38, inventory 11355, case N2548, p.252

[WoT] Improving Physics of 8.0 Update II

As many of you already know currently we are testing new physics model for 8.0 update. I have given a small update on the progress here. Below is the most recent things that are being worked on (tuned):

• Tuned and adjusted ramming damage. The goal to make it predictable.
• Decreased damage when falling from small heights and when driving cross-country.
• Fixing issues with tanks stopping close to minor objects (rocks, etc)
• Increased "drifting" ability. By the way, T-50-2 turning ability was decreased by 20% to fit the current physics model.
• Increased vehicle turning when being detracked on the move.
• Increased acceleration (approx by 25%) when climbing hills. There was too much gravity.
• Fixed bug with tanks getting stuck on bridges (near the edges) and cliffs.
• Fixed bug with disappearing destroyed tanks and "alive" tanks getting stuck in the spots where destroyed tanks were initially
• Currently fixing bug with no damage being inflicted when landing on a destroyed tank.
• Currently fixing the "flood" bar which doesn't work properly in some cases.
• Currently removing the rest of invisible walls that have been mistakenly left.

Physics is really a key feature of the 8.0 update that is going to affect gameplay greatly, thus we are determined to polish it out 100% before the release. Your feedback is welcome.

PS. Latest poll results (votes / %):
What's the best tier 10 medium?
M48  - 802 (31%) - nerf incoming?!
BatChat - 729 (28%)   
T-62A  - 594 (23%)
E-50M - 444 (17%)
 
The new poll is up.

[WoT] Digging Through Archives: Soviet 122mm D-25T and 152mm ML-20S Being Tested on Ferdinand and Panther

As continuation of the penetration topic, below are the photos featuring the results of 122mm D-25T and 152mm ML-20S tests with Ferdinand and Panther being used as test targets. What the pics show is that guaranteed penetration doesn't equal to extreme penetration. Shells of 100+ mm have their own (sometimes very funny) effects for their victims.

First off, the results of BL-8 tests (regular AP rounds).
Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defence, fund 38, inventory 11369, case N304

150mm armour plate 

Rounds 1-4 fired at 30 deg slope, 5 and 6 and 0/90 degree slope.

180mm armour plate

All rounds fired at 0/90 degree slope.


203mm armour plate

All rounds fired at 0/90 degree slope.

Now getting to our Panther and Ferdinand using Следующий эпизод - обстрел Пантеры и Фердинанда из D-25T and ML-20S.
Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defence, fund 38, inventory 11369, case N40

D-25T vs Panther

 

See the image above: Panther's front hull has got a reach-through hole of 150x230mm from 122mm round (distance - 1400m).

And the second image, far more interesting..

N33.  Panther's turret hit by 122mm rounds.
1. A reach-through hole of 130x180mm. The opposite side of the turret is off.
2. A reach-through hole of 130x230mm. The turret itself came off the hull by 500mm.
Distance - 1400m.

N34. Rear turret coming off.

Strangely, the same thing happened to Ferdi. Based on table values its superstructure shouldn't have been penetrated by this gun. 

N35. Ferdinand's front hull being hit by 122mm rounds.
The first plate has been penetrated (100mm), the second bounced the round off.
Distance - 1400m.

N36. Ferdinand's turret being hit by 122mm rounds.
1. There are a dent of 100mm and a small bulge on the other side. Armour thickness is 200mm.
2. A reach-through hole, the shell got stuck. Armour thickness - 150-180mm.
Distance - 1400m.


And now it's ML-20's turn. Looks impressive.

N37. Panther's front hull being hit by 152mm AP rounds.
There is a breach of 360x470mm.
The round ricocheted.
Distance - 1200m.


N38. Panther's turret being hit by 152mm AP rounds.
Again, there is a breach of 360x470mm, including the opposite side. Turret is really messed up.
Distance - 1200m, estimated angle of impact - 60 deg.

And our Ferdi.

N39. Ferdinand's side being hit by 152mm AP rounds.
And we are gettinga breach of 220x230mm.
Distance - 1000m.

N40. Ferdinand's front being hit by 152mm AP rounds.
The outer plate (500x1000mm) has naturally come off. 
Distance - 1200m.

And that's how the poor Ferdi looked after that.

[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.

[WoWS] Let the Flood Begin!

Those who are interested in naval warfare has got an opportunity to discuss related stuff and communicate with WG staff working on the World of Warships project.

NA and RU forums went live, EU board is coming soon.

Time to post has come!

[WoWP] Gamescom Trailer of WoWP

Check out the new trailer of World of Warplanes created for Gamescom 2012. And visit WG booth, if you happen to be in Cologne these days. 

[WoTG] Do You See What We Did There?

Wargaming has announced its newest World of Tanks game, World of Tanks: Generals. Generals is a free-to-play browser-based MMO that will combine card collecting with real-time strategy, allowing players to control tanks, artillery and infantry.

Players will be able to buy new tanks and units by conducting research about new technology, and battles will be based on real historical events. Four nations will be available at launch: the United States, France, Germany and the USSR.

Generals will feature both single and multiplayer gameplay modes and 220 unique cards in all. Special bonus cards will grant additional offensive or defensive elements, including additional firepower or defenses. Generals won’t require an installation to play as it’s completely browser-based, allowing it to be played from any PC or mobile device. It will also support the ability to start playing on one platform and finish on another. Continue reading.

Official website - http://wotgenerals.com/

[WoWP] Japanese Planes Confirmed for Release

Japanese aircraft is officially confirmed for World of Warplanes release, meaning that there going to be (at least) 4 starting factions from scratch.

The inclusion of Japanese warbirds are really going to provide players with a wide variety of tactical freedom in how they play the game and combat other players. Players will benefit from the speed, power, and maneuverability of these planes as well as an increased field of vision.

We expect a line of Japanese carrier fighter aircraft (including Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero, the Nakajima Type 91, the twin-boom Mitsubishi J4M1 Senden interceptor fighter, and the three prototypes Kyushu J7W1, J7W2, and J7W3) to be ready by that time.

Waiting for the Brits now, heh?