New poll is up

As you can see, I'd like to know your opinion on leaks in general. Please vote, thank you.

28.2.2013

- the fact the tank in hangar always displays winter camo is a bug
- T69 has a huge gold ammo penetration (300) "for historical and balance reasons"
- M4A2E4 nerf is a "rollback" according to Storm and as for the Ram II, "nerf" is too strong a word
- the LFP Panther thickness is now 50mm for historical reasons - counts for Ausf.G hull (Storm quotes Jentz and Spielberger, posts this picture and quotes this book part as a reason for the LFP lower thickness), Storm also states the numbers WG used fits the Spielberger books (SS: not really, just checked, Spielberger in his book "Panther and its variants" on page 248 clearly states the LFP thickness for Panther Ausf. A, D and G was 60mm, Storm says it's an error in Spielberger's drawing)
- in 8.4, the profitability and repair costs of VK2801 were changed too
- if you have a bug during 8.4 that the textures are way too dark (like here), it can be fixed by setting the texture quality to maximum.
- it's not possible to turn on the removed speed governor consumable during the initial battle countdown simply because noone ask for this option

About the special vehicles' return to the giftshop

Source: http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/211242-status-of-rare-and-unreleased-premium-tanks-in-the-gift-shop

Please note this concerns US server, but I think we can assume the same applies to the EU one (RU is probably an exception).

US developer Major_Rampage:

Howdy Tankers!

I know there has been a lot of discussion about the various premium tanks and what is available in the gift shop, each week when the specials come out.

When it comes to the following tanks,  there is no current plan to release them back into the gift shop:

PzKpfw V-IV Alpha
KV-220 Beta
M6A2E1
PzKpfw V-IV
A-32
MTLS-1G14
BT-SV
SU-85I
PzKpfw II Ausf. J
PzKpfw IV Hydraulic
KV-220
WZ-111
PzKpfw 38H735 (f)
PzKpfw B2 740 (f)
Tetrarch
T1E6
Type 59
Type 62
KV-5

The Type59 G will never introduced to this server.
The T23 has been completely removed from the game. There are no plans to re-introduce it.
There are not plans to put the M3 Stuart Lend Lease in the gift shop,  if we do re-introduce it,  it would be part of the upcoming tutorials.

I know this not the answer many of you have been looking for, but I wanted to make sure you knew the status of these tanks

Storm talks about Nvidia drivers

Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/165410.html


At this moment, with our game and the Nvidia drivers we find ourselves in a rather stupid situation. The 306 driver series are stable, but they have low performance on mobile chipsets. Version 314 is unstable (it causes crashes when accessing some interface elements) but it improves performance on mobile chipsets by 50-100 percent!
Both we and Nvidia are working at this moment to fix the crashes. So there's hope. If the game doesn't crash for you when using 314 drivers (it doesn't crash for most people and works normally on most machines) and you have a mobile chipset (the one ending with M, for example GeForce 640M), I recommend using these new drivers.

Discussion:

- Storm states it's nobody's fault, just a coincidence
- Storm also states that the crashes happen in the interface (SS: the tech tree to be exact, drop-down menus, research etc.), often a large amount of crashes is caused by mods
- this bug doesn't concern Radeon products at all
- Wargaming is cooperating with Nvidia on this directly, Storm however doesn't know about the details of cooperation

MaLDo OnTheFly for Crysis 3

UPDATE 4: Uploaded new OnTheFly for Crysis 3 after patch 1.2

DOWNLOAD OnTheFly for Crysis 3 (1.2)

UPDATE 3: Important clarification

I saw in the comments below and in MyCrysis forum, the first case of multiplayer ban. The person who has suffered it believe has been through the use of this tool. Although Crytek still has not given specific reasons, I insist that you must not use this tool in the multiplayer. Disable it using Disable_MaLDoC3.bat or restore the original executable by hand before you enter in multiplayer.


I have also read that this tool causes graphics bugs, distant flickering and a shadow glitch around the player. Let me explain again what this tool is:

Crysis 3 has 95% of cvars blocked. Crytek has released a CVAR tool, which lets you use that 5% of the cvars through a configuration file that run before launching the game. Thus cvars testing is very limited. You can only use a small part of cvar list, and each test requires restarting the game.

OnTheFly tool has two objectives. The first is that you can use all the variables of the game console (locked and unlocked). And the second is that all the tests you want to do with them, you can do from within the game without pausing gameplay. Those are the objectives of this tool. And that's why you can be banned in multiplayer.

Keys binded for hide hud, slowmotion and the three presets included, are just examples of how you can use the tool. They are not the main objective. So you can use them or not, it's your choice. Fun part is that each one can use their own settings and key bindings. You can Alt+TAB game, create a new cfg changing a locked cvar value, return to game and load that file. Endless possibilities.

That said, because I think that it was not very clear, I am willing to "improve" each preset or include new ones as long as people with troubles can help me with screenshots of problems.

Flickerings in CryEngine always been associated with multi-GPU configurations, but I'm using multigpu from farcry, and I have not flickering in crysis 3 with any of the three presets. To realize a little more, it would be great if SLI users will use the same profile that I'm using, to see if we can narrow down the problem

C3 SLI profile (NVInspector)

And those are .cfg files of version 2

OnTheFly version 2 files

Copy them into Crysis 3 folder. You can edit autoexec.cfg to select startup preset and refreshrate. SLI users that suffer flickering please, type "exec maldo_sli" in console after launch the game and share results. If flickering persits, type "exec mgpu" in console.

I've included xbox 360 graphic config too, type "exec xbox360" in game console to enable that preset. If you want exactly the same 360 config, edit xbox360.cfg file and remove "--" in the first line (--sys_maxfps = 30).




------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 2: Added FTP Link

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 1: Added mediafire and uploaded links because dropbox link is temporaly down because high traffic. I'm adding new cvars to a new .cfg file so you will be able to modify a lot of stuff like force a refreshrate or change 3D config for example.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



Here we go.

As I said in the previous post, while I was working on a configuration utility for Crysis 3, I realized it would be much more fun to change the graphics options within the game just by pressing a key. This way you will be able to lower the graphic quality if you are in a very demanding situation, or rise it if you want to admire the scenery.

This OnTheFly tool also lets you enable or disable HUD by pressing a key. Even changing weapon FOV with another key, so you can change it every time there is a respawn and the game resets it to 55 (who could have the idea of reset the weapon FOV every respawn? Perverse minds! Crytek, correct way is reset it before every cinematic and restore user value after cinematic).

You can create your own graphics settings and bind them to the keys you want. Or share your results and ask me to do a preset to your liking, for example if you have a very powerful graphics card but a weak processor.

With '9' and '0' keys, you can change Depth of Field. '9' is normal DOF, with radial DOF while aiming and some blur in the nearest part of weapon. '0' is advanced bokeh DOF, but radial DOF while aiming is broken and no blur in the weapon.

I've added slowmotion too. 'T' key to start slowmotion and 'Z' to normal speed. You can change binded keys or disable whatever you want deleting in maldo.cfg.



VERY IMPORTANT

• Modified executable is not a crack, doesn't affect copy protection at all. You need EA Origin and Crysis 3 original game.

• This tool is provided as is. No support from EA, no support from Crytek and no support from me. Use under your responsibility.

• This tool is for Crysis 3 singleplayer mode. Using it in multiplayer may result in a permanent ban.

• This tool has been created after patch 1.2. If possible, I will release an updated version of MaLDo OnTheFly tool after every patch.

HOW TO USE

• Make a backup copy of your original executable.

• Unrar and copy files into your Crysis 3 folder.

• Start Crysis 3. That's all.

• To disable this tool, use "Disable_MaLDoC3.bat" into "Crysis 3\Bin32" folder. Use "Enable_MaLDoC3.bat" if you want enable it again.

BINDED KEYS

Use them while you are ingame and not while you're in menus.

O - Hide HUD (Maybe you want to take some beautiful screenshots)

P - Show HUD (Maybe you want to locate enemies after taking screenshots :P)

I - Modify weapon FOV (Crysis 3 resets weapon FOV after every respawn)

6 - Reload low quality preset

7 - Reload recommended quality preset

8 - Reload ultra quality preset

9 - Activate normal Depth of field

0 - Activate ultra Depth of field 

T - Activate slowmotion

Z - Deactivate slowmotion.

Those presets are not original presets, you will have Global Illumination and great distance view in low preset, for example. Don't worry about the use low quality (IQ is awesome), think only about your framerate. Your brain is working filling frame gaps, so take care of your brain. XD

Enjoy and don't miss MaLDoHD 4.0 mod for Crysis 2 too.

Consider donating if you like this tool.

DOWNLOAD OnTheFly for Crysis 3 (1.2)





C3 SLI profile (NVInspector)

Multigpu users: Disable SLI or CFX in your drivers to play first level with better performance.

Vsync issues: disable vsync in game options and set vsync on in drivers or DXOverrider. If you see vsync is off after loading game, press twice Alt+Enter until game activate vsync.

Czechoslovak T-34/85 and T-34/100 tanks

T-34/85

The history of the Czechoslovak T-34 tanks was long and somewhat colourful. They served in the Czechoslovak People's Army (CSLA) for quite a long time and had several modifications made. Let's have a look at their history in detail.

In order to begin our story, we have to go back to 1945. Germany was just defeated after the worst war in human history and people were slowly recovering from the horrors of nazism, oblivious to the fact that the Soviets weren't the liberators they had hoped for - but they'd soon find out they weren't freed, they just changed one master for another. But for now, freedom was the word of the day. Leftist ideas (supported by the heroic pictures of Soviet troops in Prague on their iconic T-34 tanks) helped to shift the whole political system to the left. The situation escalated in February 1948, when the communists took over the country - and this is where it all started.

In months following the takeover, the army was consolidated, anti-communist elements eliminated and the independent development (notably in tanks) was stopped and fully transferred under Soviet command. Several promising projects were scrapped (for example the TVP and LP tanks) and the technology acquisition focused on Soviet tech. In july 1949, a license to produce a local copy of the T-34/85 tank was acquired from Soviet union and by November, the drawings and plans needed to manufacture the vehicle were transferred from Factory No.183. Along with the plans, Soviet "advisors" (some of them were intelligence agents) were transferred to Czechoslovakia. They helped to build the ČKD plant in Sokolovo and prepare it for production - it was ready by the end of 1950. The (by then nationalized) ČKD thus became the main contractor for the production of the T-34/85 tanks, with Škoda Pilsen being a subcontractor for engines, SMZ Dubnice nad Váhom a subcontractor for the guns and the J.V.Stalin Factory in Martin manufactured the hulls.

The first T-34 tanks were assembled partially from parts imported from Soviet Union. The first tank was assembled on 1.9.1951. Eight more were produced until October and they were subjected to series of army trials (whcih - under the pressure from Soviet Union - were made quicker than usual). The trial results were however a partial failure due to the low manufacture quality of the first vehicles (notably the steering, the clutch, the sprocket drive and the electroinstallation were problematic). However, despite this setback, the tank was given a green light by the government and serial ČKD production started in February 1952 (it continued until december 1953). Imported parts were used until winter of 1952, when the first fully Czechoslovak-made tank rolled from the assembly line. In the meanwhile, a political decision was taken to transfer the manufacture plant from ČKD Sokolovo to Martin (Slovakia) (the reason was the "expected American aggression", in which case Martin wouldn't be anywhere near the frontlines). First tanks in Martin were produced in May 1952 (the production ran for more than a year simultaneously in both plants) and they were manufactured here until the end of 1956.

Between 1951-1956, 2736 T-34/85 tanks were manufactured in Czechoslovakia in total (other sources however claim s many as 3185 tanks in total - it's possible this number includes the VT-34 engineering vehicles, JT-34 crane vehicles and the MT-34 bridgelayer vehicles, PBCHT-34 NBC-proof recon vehicle and PB-34 heavy bulldozer). The early series had their flaws (notably the gearboxes remained problematic for years, their quality was in the first year allegedly even lower than of those manufactured in Soviet union). All the vehicles produced in 1955 and 1956 however went for export (1437 went to the Czechoslovak army, 1299 were exported). In the last 3 years, the quality of the vehicles improved significantly and some improvements were made. The export desitnations were mainly Egypt (820 vehicles) and Syria (120 vehicles), Romania and Bulgaria, but also other exotic destinations, such as India, Iraq and Yemen. Cuba recieved 100 machines (possibly phased out from CSLA service) for 33 percent of their original price and Mali recieved another 10 machines like this also and so did Mozambique.

Apart from the locally manufactured T-34/85, Czechoslovakia also recieved wartime surplus machines directly from the Soviet Union - from 1945 to 1950, 366 vehicles in total (plus 5 T-34/76 in 1945). The 1945 machines weren't new however, they served before with the Red Army Czechoslovak units (1st Czechoslovak Army Corps).

Both the manufactured and the imported T-34 tanks were introduced to the Czechoslovak tank corps from 1952 to 1958 - in 1956, the number of active T-34/85 tanks peaked at 1701 machines in service. From that point, the numbers went down, but the tank remained in active service for very long. In 1967, the ČSLA still had 1120 of those tanks in active service and in 1971 around 780 of these vehicles. Last of these vehicles were apparently phased out in late 70's.

Differences from Soviet vehicles

The most significant difference remained the manufacturing quality. Despite the fact the initial series were quite bad quality-wise, the level of manufacture steadily improved and by 1954, the vehicles were better made than the ones in Soviet union. Notably the technical allowances were lower.

Other changes included:

- installing the German (captured) "Notek" night-lamps on the early vehicles
- shifting the commander's copula more to the left from the axis of the turret
- mounting the light/infralight combo under the common construction on the hull
- the infantry signal horn moved to the back of the vehicle under an armored "roof"
- mounting the compressor for filling the emeregency start gas canisters directly into the tank
- installing the new BTI-3 air purifiers
- bigger 107l fuel tanks
- left oil canister replaced by an additional fuel tank
- different fuel feed system (BNK-12B rotary fuel pump and 12-plunger injecting fuel pump)
- improved clutch
- improved transmission (5+1 with reduction possibility)
- different brake pads
- the braces for attaching logs to the vehicle on the left side of the tank
- special fording kit
- special CSLA one-shot smoke grenades.

The vehicles were armed with the Slovak-manufactured Vz.44 cannon, which was basically an improved version of the Soviet ZIS-53 gun. The ammunition was unified with the Soviet original.

T-34/100

Since early 50's, there have been attempts to improve the design of the T-34/85 to increase its combat value. In 1953, the army technical institute recieved an order to arrange the installation of the Soviet D-10S gun (resp. slightly improved Czechoslovak copy thereof under the name of 100mm vz.44 S, produced in Slovakia for the SD-100 - a Czech copy of SU-100) in the regular T-34/85 turret, if possible without changing the original turret parameters. In September 1953, the Slovak company Konštrukta Trečín was tasked with the development of this project. The initial evaluation of the project stated that the turret modifications would result in changes to depression and gun elevation (-3/+20 degrees), with the rate of fire of 8 rounds per minute.
On 6.4.1954, two design variants were presented by Konštrukta developers to the VTU (army technical institute), along with a preliminary price calculation. Both variants presumed the removal of TŠ-20 indirect fire sights. The gun was also modified by adding a coaxial DTM machinegun to its right side. Both variants differed by solving the gun mantlet and by positioning the gun. Both were also viable, but the price was far less space for the gunner and the loader in the turret. It was absolutely clear that the gun aiming and loading time would suffer. Worse still, it was found out that the ammunition load would suffer too - for both variants, only 6 ready rounds would be able to be stored in the turret itself. Both variants were however sound stability-wise and the designers hoped the handling characteristics of the tank wouldn't be diminished.

Despite this, the project was judged as fundamentally flawed. Even though the army command still wanted to increase the firepower of the T-34/85, it was clear this wouldn't be the way. In April 1954, one army general issued yet another demand for firepower increase for the T-34 for the production years 1955-1960, but this time, they had a completely different weapon in mind (an indigenous Czech 100mm autoloaded and fully stabilized cannon, possibly the still-developed AK1, originally meant for the TVP project). This demand however was not accepted by the high command and that was the end of the attempts to increase the firepower of the T-34. The project was officially cancelled on 30.6.1954 - the main reason for it (apart from the aforementioned flaws) being the successful negotiations about the T-54 production licenses.

Epilogue

As mentioned above, the T-34 served in the Czechoslovak army until the 70's and in that time, it became an icon. First - an icon of liberation from nazism, then an icon of the brutal practices of the 1950's new "people's army" and ultimately a symbol of Soviet oppression. Nevertheless, it has proved its qualities over and over - it was a rugged war machine, that got the job done. In World of Tanks, we can already play this vehicle - personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a Czechoslovak copy thereof in the game. But, I guess that's up to the Wargaming guys.

Pictures

Czech T-34 in Syria

Czech T-34 in Havana, Cuba

Reconstructed T-34

Sources:
www.valka.cz
M.Dubánek - Od bodáku po tryskáče

27.2.2013

As you know, the patch 8.4 has been announced (comes out tomorrow on Russian server). English full patchnotes for example here.

- when the enemy tanks damagets your periscope (rangefinder, vision device) while being out of range for the damaged visor (but not the repaired one), it will disappear with the next cycle of visibility check (SS: the visibility checks frequency varies from splits of second to up to 3 seconds I think)
- damaging the rangefinder (periscope, visor) works even for open-topped vehicles (SS: there it apparently counts as the binoculars being destroyed)
- the top German (Bundeswehr) LT's and meds won't be Bundeswehr-green, they will be gray
- the devs won't remove the possibility of changing your tank models (remodelling)
- HESH shells in game work just like HE shells, this won't change
- Q: "There are rumors the IS-7 will have the speed increased in 8.5, is it true?" A: "Interesting, where did you here these rumors?" (and after the player posted the source - some blog post) "Ah, okay. Not rumors. I don't read posts/suggestion for tank rebalance at all, because history shows that they're wrong in 99 percent of cases."
- no plans to allow the crews to retrain for tanks of other nations, not even for gold
- there is no special medal for dealing damage, as dealing damage is already rewarded with silver
- Conqueror will not be made a premium tank
- torque isn't take into consideration when calculating engine performance
- Leopard and Luchs don't have historically drum-autoloaders, but magazines
- VK3002DB a part of the second medium branch? "Wait for official announcement"
- the VK7201 FaiLowe isn't a fake (confirmed by Storm)
- New branch of German heavies planned? "No comment"
- Sturmtiger will not come in 2013

Poll results

Alright, the first FTR poll is officially over. What are its results?

First and foremost, lets look at Overlord's poll - after all, it was the inspiration for the one of mine. Overlord asked, what kinds of tanks do we want. His results were:

Votes: 2017
Expansion of current trees: 40 percent
Japanese tree: 16 percent
Mixed EU tree: 24 percent
Separated EU minitrees: 12 percent
Something else: 5 percent

This is a general result for the EU and NA server - I assume those are the people who read Overlord's blog. The "expansion of current trees" victory is not surprising - after all, this category includes the Leopard 1 branch, the German TD's, the British Firefly and other highly-requested vehicles. I am rather sure that if Overlord asked after their introduction, the results would be a lot, lot lower.

The result of the Japanese tree come (IMHO) mostly from the US server - while the US community has a strong "faction" focusing on Japanese tanks, such a "faction" is missing on the EU server. Altogether the Japanese tree result is unsurprising - if anything, I expected it to be lower (since the US server has nowhere near as many players as the EU one).

EU tree results - altogether 36 percent - are not surprising either. After all, 2 out of 3 biggest EU communities (Czech and Polish) don't have their own vehicles yet (unless you count the Panzer 35t and 38t, used by Germans, which is not exactly the same thing as having Czechoslovak crews). What is surprising is the difference between Overlord's poll and FTR poll. Here's how the FTR poll ended:

EU tree - what would you prefer?
Votes: 2006

Separate smaller national trees: 43 percent

One big EU supertree with everything mashed together: 56 percent Here, the difference between audiences probably takes place. Only about 15 percent of this blog's readers are Americans, the rest is Europe and Asia (China, Vietnam, Hongkong, Korea - altogether roughly 5 percent). Thus, it can be concluded that the Europeans are much more in favour of the separate national minitrees than Americans (roughly 50:50), while Americans would prefer one big EU tree (roughly 75:25 or even more). This is logical due to the EU server demography. It is already decided that the Japanese tree will come first (possibly end of 2013 or early 2014), but I really hope Wargaming takes a long hard look at their EU pre-concept and will start working on series of minitrees, leaving only the most exotic vehicles for the "EU mashup". After all, considering we do now have a Chinese tree (even though the Chinese civil war was brutal, original Chinese World of Tanks vehicles had very little impact on the world history of tank designs), Polish, Czechoslovak, Italian, Swedish, possibly Hungarian and other vehicles do warrant their own separate minitree as a tribute to the tank history contribution

26.2.2013

- each crewmember gets as much XP for the fight as the tank does (unless a crewmember is wounded)
- AMX-13/90 reload time won't be lowered from 40 to 35s
- at some point, the balance weight of the vehicles of different class but same tier (for HT, MT, TD) might be the same (not soon)

HyperThreading and real custom graphics Tool

First of all, I want to note that multithreading optimization in Crysis 3 is awesome. Asaid famous ropes, enabling HyperThreading makes a significant difference in performance. If you see some different shadows in those screenshots is because moving clouds shadows. I've tested three times, indeed.

So, if you have a cpu with HT, activate it to play Crysis 3 because this is one of the first games that makes it worth having a i7.


And now, the big thing.

I spent a few days preparing a setup application for Crysis 3. And it was quite finished

The idea is very similar to Crytek CVAR Tool, but using slide bars, and most important, some kind of autodetect optimal cvars config after user enter his computer components.

Surely many of you are familiar with the look because it resembles the configurator into MaLDoHD for Crysis 2. And like mod configurator, hovering mouse for each command draws some text with description / help.

While writing the heap of help lines describing each option and giving recommendations for each command, I realized that perhaps this type of tool is not what the players need. So I think twice about what is more important.

Finally I decided to make some custom .cfg files to get graphic customization on the fly. What is it? I binded a few keys to some functions and graphics presets. Those are the keys:

• O Hide HUD (Maybe you want to take some beautiful screenshots)
• P Show HUD (Maybe you want to locate enemies after taking screenshots :P)
• I  Modify weapon FOV (Crysis 3 resets weapon FOV after every respawn)
• 6 Reload low quality preset
• 7 Reload recommended quality preset
• 8 Reload ultra quality preset
• 9 Activate normal Depth of field
• 0 Activate ultra Depth of field (Bokeh filter in far distance but no weapon DOF and no radial DOF while aimimg)

Low, recommended and Ultra presets are customized presets I've created. Recommended is the preset I use. So, gamers that don't want to mess with cvars or config tools can select one of three and modify quality pressing one key while playing. Lowering if they have low performance or rising quality if you have enough powerhorse. You don't have to pause the game at all, no more menus!

Funny thing is if you are a gamer that wants more customization level, you can edit those presets or create new ones and bind all the keys you need (your keyboard is your limit).

What's the problem?

Crysis 3 have some of the cvars I use locked, so you can't use it now. But I've created a modified Crysis 3 executable that allow all those things. Now I only need the approval of Crytek / EA to upload.this "On the fly Config Tool". If you want this, you can help me supporting it in mycrysis forums or wherever you may.

mycrysis post link

Thank you!

Consider donating if you like it.

"The mods strike back" - Storm writes on the mods topic

The mods strike back
(by Storm)

As a followup to the previous post:

After reading some of the comments under the article, it became clear to me, that when using some sort of weird logic (brain process), it's possible to somehow draw a conclusion from my post that we want to "ban all mods!". I'd like to make this matter clear.

The amount of mods is increasing. The amount of players using them is increasing too. Mods are appearing - both useful and quite harmful to the game. We want to put some order in all of it. Our goal is not to "ban everything". We will analyze the available mods, their popularity and so on. Noone will "fire from the hip" and ban everything just so, or just because "SerB and Storm feel like it." We will investigate them carefully. Some mods (often used and not harmful to the game) we will even implement in the client - which ones we will officially decide, for some things (mostly the interface) we will make my own mod-API, we will also re-work the EULA (so there's no schizophrenia) and we will ban some harmful mods.

Short version:
No need to get hysterical. We'll try to talk straight with the modders and to make this right.

From the discussion:

- it's not decided that all modifications of *.ryc files will be banned (as previously deduced). It's just an idea, currently under evaluation, the previous "ban announcement" was trolling
- the devs are thinking about official mod builds, but there is a problem with support of those during new patches
- dynamic tank properties in garage: when it's done it's done (SS:unrelated to the discussion)
- Storm himself plays without mods
- currently, the most likely first mod to be implemented according to Storm is the reload timer
- Storm describes how to fight laser pointer mod: "It's for example possible to check the gun length in the runtime, if it's longer than for example 30 meters, it doesn't get rendered"

Another fake Sturmtiger

Source: http://wotbase.ru/archives/2331/%D1%88%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%BC%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80.html

Not much to the story. The server wotbase.ru released an info, that the Sturmtiger is being supertested, alongwith this picture:

It's a fake.

My contact confirmed no such thing is being supertested. Additionally, screenshots from supertest contain watermarks, visible when the picture is blue-shifted in photoshop to identify leaks. This one doesn't have it. Most likely a changed model. Same goes for the "E-25".

Aufklärungspanzer Panther - tier 7 LT

Hello everyone,

yesterday it has been sort-of confirmed (well, confirmed again) by Storm that Wargaming has not abandoned the tier 7 light tank Aufklärungspanzer Panther idea. As an upgrade to the VK2801, it sort of fits - it's big, heavy and cumbersome. Let's have a look at this vehicle.

 History

Not a lot is known about the recon Panther. It was a project from early 1942. W.Spielberger in his book "Panther and its variants" (Panther und seine Abarten) states:

"Also worth mentioning here is a recommendation by the Ministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion from 1942, calling for the Panther to be built as a recoinnaissance vehicle along with the planned Leopard combat recoinnaissance vehicle. The turret under consideration had originally been developed by Daimler-Benz for the 8-wheeled Panzerspähwagen ARK. With somewhat increased armor, it was to be used on both the Leopard and Panther recoinnaissance vehicles." 

So, as you can see, it was basically a Panther hull with the Leopard turret. It was to be armed with a new 50mm gun, using the KwK 39 L/60 barrel - the contract for development of this gun was awarded to Krupp and Rheinmetall in January 1942. First units were scheduled to be manufactured in October/November 1942, but the development never really continued, it stayed in the "that's a cool idea" phase, much like other German projects. And that's basically it. Not much else is known for sure. We can however look at the planned properties of this vehicle, based on the research.

What would be the point of even proposing such a massive vehicle. Books don't mention this specifically, but after consulting some people, who are big fans of the German vehicles, we came up with following conclusions:

- existing Panther plants, making a Panther based vehicle is cheaper than building a new plant just for that one tank
- the Panther hull was only marginally more expensive than the Panzer IV hull (note that by 1945, Panzer IV's were scheduled for phasing out and were to be replaced by the Panthers)
- the engines and drivetrains were already there also


Properties

Historically, the Panther belongs BEFORE the VK2801 (VK2801 was a later project), therefore we can theoretize it will be heavier (otherwise putting it on tier 7 instead of 6 makes no sense), which means the hull will most likely have the full armor of the Panther.

The turret is more interesting. Spielberger mentions a Leopard turret, while Hilary Doyle (in his Panzer Tracts 20-2) mentions several types of Leopard turrets. The most common variant is already in World of Tanks. Doyle mentions that the turret is very similiar to the Sd.Kfz.234/2 turret (a heavy armored car with a 50mm gun). The turret had 50mm frontal armor sloped at 20 degrees, the sides are 30mm thick at 30 degrees. It's quite possible the ingame AP will use this as a stock turret (quite sure in fact, because the Leopard turret is the most historical option) and the VK2801-ish turret as an upgrade. Second option is the Schmalturm (unlikely, this would make the Panther practically a clone of the medium one). Third option is the Beobachtungsturm (from the artillery vehicle, I'll get to that later).

The gun - all we know it was supposed to be a 50mm L/60 - Doyle uses the KwK 39/1 designation. Its (ingame) properties are unknown, but unlikely to differ from the KwK 39, because most of the work was focused on pressing it into the smaller turret. It's also unlikely that the vehicle will be armed only with a 50mm gun. I think that when we look at other tier 7 light tanks, we can expect the (unhistorical but necessery at this point) 75mm L/70 gun. Personally, I very much doubt the 88 will make an appearance, as this would require a massive turret (some sort of Schmalturm), making the vehicle basically a copy of the medium Panther. L/70 seems to be an acceptable compromise.

Engine - well, this is where the big difference will assumingly lie. I think we can assume the original stock engine to be the HL210/HL230 (650-750hp). The top engine - my guess would be the HL234. This 750hp (Spielberger states 850hp) engine was used in Panther II variant under the designation Gerät 544. Now, I am not sure it would fit into the AP, but we can definitely expect stronger engines than the ones of the medium Panther. Another option would be the MB507 (850hp) Panther variant, considered for Panther Ausf.G. A rather exotic option would be the GT 101 gas turbine (1150 horsepower).

How does it fit together, what can we expect ingame?

Please note that this part is a pure speculation. Basically, what we can expect would be a very heavy "light" tank, possibly a passive scout.

First, let's have a look at how the vehicle will move. Let's take the 8.3 (!) VK2801 as a comparison (because not everyone had the possibility to test the 8.4 one). The VK2801, in its top configuration, has roughly 26,1 hp per ton (this influences the acceleration a lot, but also the steering to some extent).

And what about the Aufklärungspanzer Panther? Let's say it'll have the Leopard turret, 50mm gun, a 750hp engine (eg. a somewhat stock variant).

Stock ingame Panther weights 44,9 tons. Let's say we remove the gun and the turret, that's 33,56 tons left. Next, we add the ingame weight of the 50mm L/60 and the Leopard turret, that's 37,26 tons. And as final touch, let's add the best radio (+80kg) and upgrade the engine to 750hp HL 230, that's another 80kg. So, total weight, 37,34 tons for 750hp, that's nearly exactly 20hp per ton

To compare: 

Aufklärungspanzer Panther - 20hp/ton
VK2801 (8.3) - 26,23hp/ton
Leopard (8.3) - cca 25hp/ton in its top configuration
AMX-13/75 - cca 20hp/ton in its top configuration
WZ-131 - cca 23,3hp/ton in its top configuration

Well, it seems like the Aufklärungspanzer Panther is not THAT bad, even though it sure looks big and heavy. If we upgrade the engine even more (HL234, 750kg, 870hp ingame), we'll get at 23,3hp/ton and that's really not terrible. A fun fact: if Wargaming decided to go wild and install the GT 101 jet turbine engine (450kg, 1150hp), we'd get whopping 31hp/ton.

What is NOT the Aufklärungspanzer Panther

There was one more proposal based on the Panther chassis, shown in Doyle's Panzer Tracts 20-2: the "Artillerie-Panzer-Beobachtungswagen Fahrgestell Panther". Basically it was an armored artillery spotter post based on the Panther hull - there were several turrets considered, including a modified regular Panther turret with a 50mm KwK 39/1 L/60 gun, or a special Beobachtungsturm (I mentioned in the turret section). Most turret options were however equipped with a mock-up wooden gun. The vehicle was equipped with very advanced series of optics, including a rangefinder, so it can be expected the viewrange of such a turret in WoT would be very high. This is how it looked:

And here a closeup of the turret

(photos uploaded by Vito_Von_Bang, EU forum, originally from Panzer Tracts 20-2)




Summary:

Hard to tell, how will WG implement this vehicle. Could be a relatively decent tank, could be a disaster. Let's hope it's the first.

25.2.2013

- it's theoretically possible 8.4 on RU server will come this week (SS: a very weak hint)
- the render range of tanks might be prolonged, but not anytime soon (definitely not this year)
- no tier 9 premium tanks
- Aufklärungspanzer Panther confirmed, both it and the RU251 will be light tanks, but that's all the info the devs will release for now
- there will be no special reward for setting a record result on a tank (SS: meant server-wide record)
- dynamic map objects (SS: for example random positions of various bushes, trees, wrecks) are not planned
- Q: "Why don't you make such a skill MM as DOTA has?" A: "Well, you can always return to it"
- according to SerB, there are no overpowered premium tanks in the game, because selling them would be less profitable than the current regular grind system
- there will be a new replay system - the replays will be stored on the World of Tanks server for a limited time (when it's done it's done)
- SerB states that overall, the gold ammo for silver had little effect on balance of tanks
- SerB is currently in Charleston, North Carolina
- there will definitely be no arty introduced in next couple of months (excluding Sexton, the answer was meant for the tier 10 arty)

Also, as you have already read perhaps, there is a new mod policy going to be implemented. Overlord talks about it on his blog, but so does Storm. Storm's post was actually translated by Overlord, so I won't post that here, but here are some points from Storm's post discussion:

- there will be new extended statistics introduced for each player (for example split of company and random battles statistics)
- apparently the "Damocles sword" artillery aim helper is a cheat according to Storm
- it's theoretically passible 2D hitzone skins will be banned too, it's still discussed
- ENB and SweetFX "shader injectors" (whatever that is) are legal
- if I understand this correctly, "zoom mod" (sniper mode zoom more than usual) will be banned also
- Storm plans to implement "special checking of client files and other measures", will work for bots

Please keep in mind I can be wrong in these translations. Storm and others are using IT lingo I don't understand even in English.

Overlord confirms anti-cheat campaign

Source: http://overlord-wot.blogspot.cz/2013/02/wot-new-mod-policy.html

As I informed you earlier, measures are being taken to disable cheating mods. Previously, there were some doubts on that info, but now Overlord confirms it.

Specifically, he names following actions:

• Disable everything that gives any kind of advantage in direct form: laser-like pointer, transparent tree crowns, hit-box like skins in-game, etc
• Also there is an intention to disable mods that are using modified client scripts (automated fire extinguisher, automated repair kit, auto-shooting etc)
• Mods that are not related to scripts and only modifies visual side of UI will still be tolerable (WR efficiency mods, XVM, etc)
• Some mods can be integrated into the game client (which ones - under discussion).

  Overlord states that the whole issue is a complex one and it will not be ready for 8.4.

E-100 8.4 fix

This picture was made by M1ll4n (EU forums) to illustrate how the E-100 was fixed (obviously the numbers should read 8.3/8.4)

24.2.2013

(a lot of bullshit trolling SerB today, not in mood - skipped it)

- Q: "Dear devs, you wrote that the IS-7 is an example of an overnerfed tank. If you were to remove it, what tank would it be replaced with?" A: "We'd likely remove it totally" (SS: without replacement). SerB also stated that if IS-7 had its real life parameters, he'd be on tier 12-13, the most nerfed parameters are currently speed (IRL 60 km/h), ROF. There was a real parameter IS-7 during the alphatest - it was terribly overpowered
- out of T-44, T-54 and T-62A, SerB considers the T-44 most popular
- on T9 there is Lorraine and not AMX-13/105, "because we simply think Lorraine is better"
- further tank customisation - in far future (it's possible that in far future, hull and track models will also be changed)
- the coefficient of how much silver do you get when winning and losing is the same for all tanks, but SerB states the system is much more complex
- E-100 8.4 change? "upper frontal plate angle configuration"
- the same (gold) round has different parameters for different guns (D-25, BL-9), because it's historical
- SerB likes the work of V.Vysotsky (SS: a known Russian songmaker)

Japanese answers:

Q: When the first post-war Japanese tank was being developed, the plan for the tank was 20 tons with a 76 mm gun, which was changed to a 25 ton tank with a 90 mm gun due to the T-34 during the Korean War. However, the mockup team for the 25 ton proposal realized that the armor would be too thin to deal with bazookas and anti-tank missiles, which was why uparmoring lead to the 35 ton Type 61. Based on this history (as can be read in the Japanese wikipedia article on the Type 61), couldn't a Tier 6 and Tier 7 light tank be possible? (SS: please note that the question didn't sound like this, this is more like an explanation)

A: These tanks (20t 76mm/25t 90mm STA) were only "sets of requirements", they weren't developed industry-wise. Technically, they could be introduced into the game, but there are relatively big differences between light tanks that saw combat and these "requirement" tanks. So they (STA tanks) will most likely remain as medium tanks.

About the perspective 57mm gun, SerB states it's most likely an adaptation of naval 57mm, it might appear on "Ho-I" and the first "Chi-To" prototype, but SerB's not sure.

- the haystack at Prokhorovka do not work as bushes (no camo bonus)
- there might be additional music added to WoT

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India

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Cheaters beware! Anti-cheat software implemented

Source: http://blogtanker.ru/wot-trepeshhite-chitaki.html#more-10527

On 20th of February, the Russian server got a small patch (which is scheduled to hit the EU server around 26.2. or so). This patch contains some small engine fixes, but also several Wargaming programs. These programs scan your client - much like the World of Warcraft software does - for illegal mods, possibly even for bots. Obviously, if it finds any, you'll be banned. Of course if you don't use any, you have nothing to fear.


What mods are banned:

- "laser sights" (red line pointing from the barrel)
- defoliants (leaf removers)
- 3D hitskins (which make tanks transparent and show the modules inside) - please note regular hitskins are NOT banned
- tracer changes/hacks
- free camera mods

Please note: some reputable mod sites (drongolab) have been offering them lately. That does NOT mean they are okay.

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Straight Outta Supertest part 2

And today in the news....

New supertest vehicle, the.... *drumroll* M60 Patton! 
Apparently it's slower, but better armored than the M48

Also, here's the picture of the supertest VK7201 Lowe

Sorry, no better quality available - gotta make sure the source stays anonymous.

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23.2.2013

- the German LT branch will merge into the medium Leopard-1 one (RU251 - T9 Leo prototype)
- it's pointless to ask if T110E5 statistics are "historical", since that tank existend only on paper
- regarding the Chinese tanks' characteristics, all the data came from the Chinese partners, they come from the development documents on those tanks
- artillery vehicles were unarmored even in real life, the weight of the gun forced the developers to remove armor because of the weight
- there won't be a special voice command that the loader would say when the gun is loaded, SerB thinks the breech clanking is enough
- SerB on capturing bases: capture points are accumulated on each tank in the base circle separately, 1 point per second (maximum 3 per second in total, eg. 3 tanks) - if there are 4 tanks in the circle, only 3/4 "collect" capture points, if 5 then 3/5 etc.
- devs prefer open maps, because they load the server and client less, but city maps (such as "Ruinberg") are also in development (SS: I heard a rumor 8.5 will bring 2 maps - one winter city map (possibly Stalingrad) á la Himmelsdorf, one an open "Mexico" map)
- no player-designed maps option in forseeable future
- it's possible the devs will introduce a hangar option that you will be able to see the effective armor thickness on various places of your tank, but not soon
- no customizable decals/inscriptions on tanks
- Q: "Why can't we change the colors of the tanks the way you can change the color of the planes in WoWp?" A: "So we don't have pink tanks"
- SerB personally can affect events, resp. tanks sold during them, for example he specifically was against further sale of Type 59
- the VK3002DB top engine might be unlocked for the tank following after it, "tests will show"

Japanese time:

Q: There is talk on European forum about 20t STA LT variant. To be honest, it feels like an attempt to bring a LT8 out of thin air, but I'll ask: do you have info on anything like that?
A: LT based on STA is not planned. We have no info on 20ton version.

Q: The same goes for Chi-Ru medium tank. Also a fake? (earlier this name was attributed to a twin-barreled TD)
A: We don't have any reliable sources on Chi-Ru. Maybe it's a fake, maybe there was such a project.

Q: How did the Chi-To prototype differ from the planned mass-produced version? Which version will be introduced?
A: Most likely it differend by having a cast turret - such turrets were developed for Chi-To, Chi-Nu and Chi-Ri, but the work was not finished.

Q: What kind of premium Japanese tank will there be in advance before the whole Japanese branch, if any?
A: Won't tell for now. The branch is still worked on, so the tanks can be shifted here and there.

Q: If the upper limit of the O-I weight is 140t, what is the lower limit? Do you believe there was a significantly smaller 100t or less version?
A: We don't have any data on O-I variants lighter than 100 tons.

Q: Do these naval SPG's (one, two) count as TD's in the game?
A: Most likely yes, TD's.

- it's not planned to allow removing the tracks from Christie tanks (SS: for those who don't know, Christie suspension allowed the tank to drive on the roads without tracks)

EU tree alternative tier 1: Praga MT, Praga YNH

Hello everyone, I'd like to bring your attention to two little-known designs, that could easily serve as an EU tree tier 1 vehicle: Praga MT and Praga YNH.

History:

In the early 20's, the newly-formed Czechoslovak army was built according to the European standards. Unfortunately, that wasn't always a good thing. New ideas adopted slowly - and the idea of a tank was new in general. In early post-WW1 Czechoslovakia, tanks were regarded by the older generals and soldiers (some of who actually had vast experiences from the Legions, fighting in Russia) with suspicion. Indeed, the idea of a vehicle providing fire support for the infantry was given mostly to armored cars (and trains), most of which were produced in Pilsen by Škoda. These cars - although having nowhere near the terrain passability of a tank - were reliable, easier to manufacture and cheaper than tanks.
Still, the wartime successes of tanks could not be denied and the idea of a tank slowly seeped into the minds of the military staff. The first tanks, adopted by Czechoslovakia were the French surplus FT-17's. From 1922 to 1924, Czechoslovakia bought 7 of these vehicles, which then remained the mainstay of Czechoslovak armored corps for years. They however were used only for training or for military parades. These vehicles were used extensively and remained in service until mid 30's. By that time they were totally worn out and were gradually scrapped. A few stayed as "non-usable" with the army until the surrender to Germany. Although never firing a shot in anger, the FT-17 tanks influenced the early postwar Czechoslovak designs heavily.
First attempts to make an indigenous fighting tank took place in 1922, when Škoda offered the Ministry of defense to produce modified licensed FT-17 tanks. This offer was not accepted, as the ministry was concerned about the license issues.
From 1923, the Czechoslovak army bought and was using several Hanomag WD-25 and WD-50 tractors. Škoda and Breitfeld-Daněk also bought the license for these vehicles and used their suspension to produce Kolohousenka series of vehicles. The Praga company also however constructed its own small catterpillar tractor in 1925 - two prototypes were built under the designation of Praga MT ("Malý Traktor" means "small tractorů in Czech). Generally, the whole MT vehicle (especially the suspension) resembled the one of Renault FT-17. First prototype was taken for army tests on 10.5.1925, second on 7.7.1925 and the tests were performed until April 1927 by 51st Artillery Regiment in Brandýs nad Labem. After the successful tests, the vehicles were accepted for service and served with Milovice tank batallion until 1933, when they were decomissioned due to them being worn out.
Despite the opposition of certain "oldschool" officers and thanks to the success of the artillery tractors, the army started to show more and more interest in tanks. In 1926, an order was given to the Army Technical institute (VTU) by the commander of the army, gen. Syrový, to develop an indigenous light tank. A series of demanded specifications was also issued by the army - these included for example 15-20km/h speed, 12-15mm armor, 6-8ton weight, short 75mm armament or the ability to drive for 6-8 hours straight. One of the most pressing demands of the army was to make the vehicle run on gasoline-benzol-spirit mixture known as "biboli", which would allow the vehicle to be fuelled completely from Czechoslovak sources. This order has been passed to the Czechoslovak company ČKD, the owner of the Praga construction bureau.

Praga took the army demands under consideration - but before the order even arrived, another indigenous tank project was designed here, based on the aforementioned Praga MT tractor. The design dated to 10.2.1927 and held a designation of "Pancéřový tank Praga MT" (armored tank Praga MT), where MT no longer stood for "malý traktor", now it stood for "malý tank".
The suspension remained practically the same, but the chassis was prolonged and the engine was moved to the back from its original middle position. A fully traverseable turret was mounted where the engine was earlier. It was fitted with a 37mm Puteaux S.A. gun or a heavy machinegun, much like the FT-17. It is not known how thick was the armor exactly, but it can be estimated that the armor would provide protection from small arms only, given the vehicle's low weight. It was propelled by a 32hp Praga MN 4-cylinder engine and it could move as fast as 15 km/h. While not a complete disaster, this project was immediately considered obsolete. A prototype was never built, it stayed on the drawing boards.

As the second decade of 20th century came to an end, the demands on tanks started to stabilize, as more and more nations, armies and companies gained valuable experience in their construction. It was the same with Praga engineers. After the unsuccessful Praga MT proposal, the designers focused on the army order from 1926. Combining their own experience and the world trends in tank development, they came in 1929 with a light tank project, designated Praga ÚV (útočný vůz = assault vehicle), or Praga YNH (as it was sometimes designated). It wasn't a heavy vehicle: it was to weight 7 tons. The armor was projected as 15mm thick in the front and 12mm on the sides. The (rounded) turret was 15mm thick. It was to have a crew of three (commander, gunner and driver) and it was to be propelled by a 55hp Praga N V4 engine, allowing it to move as fast as 25km/h. It was supposed to be equipped with a Vickers 44/60mm gun (ČKD was an owner of the license for these guns) and with one machinegun.
This project was introduced to VTU in early 1930. However, despite being more advanced than the MT project, it still had many construction elements (and flaws) of the FT-17. The army was not interested in this project, because it didn't fully correspond to the 1926 demands and also because a new set of demands came in 1930 and the Škoda development moved ahead in the meantime.

Characteristics:

Praga MT

Crew: 2
Weight: 4tons
Engine: Praga MN 2,3liter, 32hp (other sources say 2,8l)
Speed: 15km/h
Armor: estimated 5-7mm
Armament: 37mm Puteaux, or MG

Praga YNH

Crew: 3
Weight: 7tons
Engine: Praga N 6liter, 55hp
Speed: 25km/h
Armor: 12-15mm
Armament: Vickers gun, MG

Additional pictures:

Praga MT - plans

Praga MT - tractor

22.2.2013 - Part 2

- it's more likely the devs will remove the Soviet LL tanks (Churchill, Matilda, Valentine) than return the German premium ("captured French") ones (B2, H38)
- Storm suggests players use the Nvidia driver 306 series
- it's not possible to leave permanent track marks, the client wouldn't handle it
- the gold shells were not nerfed in order to richochet more (SS: that's a popular conspiracy theory)
- there will be no option implemented to change the look of your hangar just so (with one click) from festive to regular
- "a lot" will be changed in the camouflage system, SerB will tell "when the time is right"
- it's confirmed that the T8 German LT line will continue to the T9 Leopard prototype, much like the Chinese branch (XP-wise too)
- the T8 German LT properties will be "about the same as those of the AMX-13/90"
- Soviet medium premium tank will be apparently tier 7 and not 8 (SS: T-44A)
- there will be no free stuff for old players as a reward
- there will be no researchable modules for premium tanks
- it's possible the golden derp shell prices might rise ("we'll see")
- hangar details are set high "in order to look good", because performance is not that needed in it

22.2.2013

- Storm considers the delays between RU and EU patches "very small"
- Q: "Is the Object 907 a fake?" (SS: as in "false news", not "made up tank") A: "It's a tank project"
- the 0.4.0 WoWp render improvement won't be applied on WoT, as the tanks are developed differently
- it's possible the premium tanks will be somehow developed, for example by adding special tanks that farm only XP, others that farm only money. Storm won't disclose details, but options for premium tank development are being considered
- developers like the tutorial map a lot (SS: which means we can expect such style)
- Storm plays games on PC, he doesn't use consoles. He was also disappointed a bit by the PS-4, as it doesn't seem to be the nextgen console he expected
- platoon infestation is not considered a problem by Storm

Japanese time! (as requested, I will try to translate this part as precisely as possible):

Q: Were there many variants of the O-I tank? I found some mentions that for both the early and the late variants, more variants of turret placement were considered. Was there an O-I on Hara suspension? Were there any other suspensions? Is it true that the late variant was heavier than 130 tons? When did the Japanese start working on them - 1937? 1938? If the info on the 75mm cannon is confirmed, will it be possible to stretch the O-I from tier 5 to tier 8, like it happened with the Tortoise prototype in the British TD branch? Or is this not really needed?
A: We know of 3 variants of turret placement and of 4 variants of suspension, including the one with "40 roadwheels". The "Hara" suspension is one of the variants. Maximum weight reached is 140 tons. The work started as really difficult this year, as very few documents arrived. As for the tier spread, there are still unresolved questions. We can clearly cover tiers 7 to 9, Iwakuro tank goes to T6 normally with its 150mm (much like the 152mm KV-2), but we have problems with tier 4 and 5

Q: What are those 4 variants of suspension?
A: Hara, Bugatti, Interwoven single torsion bar, Interwoven double torsion bar

Q: Did the Japanese 80-wheeled supertank have torsion bar suspension? Was it multiturreted? Were more main gun caliber variants considered?
A: We assume, that the "40-wheeler" had both multiturret and singleturret variants. Tier 10 will be singleturreted. The guns will most likely be one 140mm gun, but if necessery, we can consider also 127mm and 150mm.

Q: Will the T10 TD based on the Chi-Ri?
A: Not yet decided. Known vehicles based on Chi-Ri (Ho-Ri 1 and Ho-Ri 2) would normally go on tier 8, since they are almost fully comparable to the Ferdinand. High tiers were not yet decided.

Q: Were the Ho-Ri I and II open-topped?
A: On canonical drawings they are shown as closed

Q: And what about Type 95, wouldn't it fit the role of Tier 4 heavy?
A: Type 91 and 95 both would normally go to tier 3, they are weak for tier 4. In the end it is possible to push Type 95 to tier 4 (and we'll probably do that anyway), but it would be better to find something else

- US H.L.Yoh tanks are being considered, but the tree won't yet be disclosed
- new unique crew abilities? "We haven't found any suitable ones yet, when we do, we will make"
- the devs want to focus on winter maps now, there will be fewer sand maps for now
- Q: "All tier 10 heavies lost their meaning!" A: "Checked your stats, shrugged, didn't read further"
- SerB considers armor-relying heavies (Maus etc.) still useful, the armor has its role
- devs prefer to remove overpowered premium tank from the shop rather than rebalancing it, because that way, if they put it back for special events, only people who really want it buy it and the battles won't get swamped by a huge number of them
- Chinese top TDs will be based on one of the current Chinese heavies, arties were not determined yet

To be continued

On supertest leaks

Hello everyone,

to clarify a few things regarding the supertest leaks (aka the VK7201 faiLowe, the Object 907 and others):

- This info does not come from some random source. A supertester decided to share the info with me directly. This is not a privilege I take lightly, I appreciate it greatly.

- No screenshots for now. It's as simple as that: you can never be sure that WG doesn't implement some kind of crap to track the leak into the supertest client. Yes, it does mean that I have no proof for my claims.

- I am not making anyone trust me - you don't have to, I won't convince you otherwise. I trust the source a lot and I will pass any interesting info he/she approves, but it's all on faith, as internal leaks usually are. As far as I am concerned, it could still be an elaborate fake or a lie.

- I will not share everything, simply because the leaks should not reach the level where it is a REAL problem for Wargaming. Noone wants WG to take drastic measures. Just some really interesting stuff, like the faiLowe.

- even if all I post is true, it does NOT mean the vehicle has to appear in the game. This is the supertest - it's all still very rough, there have been cases where designs didn't pass the supertest stage. We might not get the VK7201 faiLowe at all, if it's bad. You might ask yourselves: what are supertest leaks good for then? One thing only - they show the direction Wargaming is going and some general thought patterns. Nothing else, vehicles usually seriously change from supertest to public test, so it's pointless to post any kind of data.

I hope this is comprehensive.
-SS

Performance bug in Crysis 3 first level

EDIT: Oh man, this post views number is nearly outnumber MaLDoHD 4.0 final version post. This post is fine but my mod is better than a Crysis 3 bug. So, for you that don't know what MaLDoHD is, try my mod for Crysis 2 :p


EDIT2: I find a configuration to play first level with stable framerate so I've tested next levels. SLI bits posted here was fine for first level but 0x000040F5 is better for next levels. I'm working in a new autoexec.


-------------------------------------------------

I am a maniac with the concept of "perfect experience". I can park two years a game I like if I think I can't enjoy it as it deserves. Sometimes it is due to lack of power, sometimes for lack of a patch that fixes a problem.

The first level of Crysis 3 has performance issues. Everyone has reported on the forums. Although I also know that next levels do not have this problem (do not know if they have others) I have preferred to find out what happens in the first level. I have also seen that the SLI profile in nvidia beta drivers that considerably improved performance for the multiplayer beta, does not perform as well in the final game. It's far better using 0x0C0320F5 value (at least in my case). I've been testing with unlocked cvars but did not draw anything conclusive. It is unfortunate that only a few are unlocked and although I could make the game detects a mod folder, it doesn't use the presets inside the "mods\modname\c3\CVarGroups" folder.

I have read people saying performance issues of the first level are a problem with glass windows, but it is a coincidence. The real problem are the moving ropes. Sounds weird, right?

Please Crytek, fix it.

Leaks, more leaks, oh my god!

You'll like this:

Straight outta supertest (not confirmed obviously but I trust the guy):

Current tanks being supertested?
T-60, T-70 light tanks, the aforementioned Object 907 and.... *drumroll please*

New Tier 10 German heavy tank, the 150mm VK7201. Apparently, the devs decided to use the "Leichter Lowe" model for some reason and strapped unhistorically thick armor on it. Looks about like this:

Leaked: Object 907 will be implemented

Object 907 will be apparently implemented as the alternative Soviet tier X medium tank. A screenshot was leaked by a supertester and Storm - when confronted with it - replied simply "when it's done, it's done".

History:

On 20.5.1952, Ministry of Defense industry of USSR organized a meeting with tank constructors and with the marshal of tank forces, I.S.Bogdanov, to discuss the future of armored forces development. The result of this meeting was a set of tank requirements from 18.6.1952. The resulting tank was to be better than T-54 - that was however no easy tasks and several teams (notably from plants no. 75, 174, 183 and research institute no.100) were tasked to make a preliminary study. The design, produced by the research institute was designated "Object 907" and - as requested - its armor was significantly better than the one of the T-54. From 1954 to 1956 the metal prototypes of the hull and turret were manufactured in order to conduct armor tests and to find ways to improve the protection even more.
There two variants of the hull. The first hull was cast as whole, the second was welded from cast components. After the tests, the protection levels of the vehicle were found to be significantly higher than the ones of the T-54 (by as much as 30 percent). The turret was (thanks to its angles) as well protected as the one of the T-10 heavy tank.
The vehicle was to be equipped with the 100mm D-10T gun, but there was a plan to install even the 122mm M-62 gun. It was to be propelled by the 700hp B12-5 diesel engine with two transmission types: hydrodynamic (like in T-54) and mechanical (like in T-34).
The vehicle stayed in the semi-prototype phase, apparently because by the time it was introduced, the production of T-54 tanks was already underway.

Characteristics:

Armor - frontal hull plate (upper part): cca 162mm
             frontal hull plate (middle part): cca 150mm
             frontal hull plate (lower part): cca 30mm
             hull sides: 60-124mm
             rear hull: 45mm
             turret sides: cca 144mm
Gun - D-10T or 122mm M-62
Engine - B12-5, 700hp
Speed - 55 km/h (45 in terrain)

Other pictures:

Armor scheme (thanks to coolathlon, EU server)

8.4 MM table

This was posted by Panzergert (EU), thanks :) Red are the ones that got changed.

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