[WoWP] German Bias

Soviet bias! From Russian devs to Russian players! etc 

Those are often heard in WoT. Tank performance stats are know made public thanks to community efforts, while aerial data are still unknown for many.

I have taken a brief look at the current performance charts of World of Warplanes 0.3.2 beta, and am completely astonished now.

Just have a look at this

Soviet bias has fully gone and there is a strong German bias instead. Among top 20 performers we have got 11 jerries and 6 yanks, while only 3 ruskies (and LA-15 is not at all representative here!!!).

On a seriuos note, at this early stage of the game, balancing is rather rough and will be improved by a mile even before open beta comes. 

[WoT] On German Tech Tree

So, let's turn on creative and slightly crazy mood, assuming that the data provided here is not a second-class Soviet propoganda, but something that has ties with the reality, and try how it could work out.

JagdPz IV will lose its 8.0, however the importance of L/70 with 150mm pen will grow. Certain RoF buff might be required, all in all, the vehicle will be good. Stug will go totally OP, and we might want to cut L/70 off. Have to maintain Soviet bias theory after all.

Both Tigers can't mount anything  better than 8.8. It would be easier to file down the long one and lift them one tier up in the tree. All VKs would lose 8.8 guns and Schmalturms, having L/70 as top mounted in standard 3001 and 3601 turrets. Minor agility buff would also come in handy. Thus we are getting fast and furious machine guns and slow heavies with huge alpha-strike.

Heading to higher tiers. KTs (and up) and Porsche vehicles would also go one tier up, loosing overbuffed guns. KT loses its 105mm, VK4502 B - loses 128mm and gets armour reduction (there is another version of it). Free slot at tier 8 (tiger line) would be filled by Lowe (yes, no more farming for it) with its native 105mm.

That was easy indeed. Now, we are facing some issues. We need 2 more tier 6 vehicles, keeping in mind that Tigers should be descended from Pz. IV as a replacement of that sub-heavy. Doing some shifting in the tree and eventually getting that Pz. III/IV path leads to its complete strangers - 3001 and 3601. Not good at all. Ok, introducing DW here, which in reality was an interim vehicle. It can mount L/48.

And Ferdi! Ferdinand is no longer connected to its direct ancestor - that's bad. Ok, decreasing its tier and removing this sci-fi 128mm thing. Should it keep the 105mm? Hm, prolly. Testing will show, anyway the armour it too good and can be decisive.

And yes! Now we've got two mice: the 2nd Maus at tier 10 with 150mm gun and E-100 turret.

And now the final German tech tree ...

Note: Легкий танк - light tank, Средний танк - Medium tank, Тяжелый танк - Heavy tank. 

a competely idiotic one that will never come true, I must say. Looks hilarious, though! :)

[WoT] For Better Armour!

It was decided that in 8.0 update the normalization value will be decreased to 4-5 degrees for all rounds.

The change is supposed to raise the importance of armour in the game, leading to increase of "we-didn't-even-scratch-'em" shots.

Aiming weakspots and not shooting blindly will become even more beneficial.

Precise vehicle control and aiming FTW!

[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!