Tips

Please take your time and read the blog rules

Mar 22, 2013

Gas Powered Games work on a F2P MMO for WG

Source: http://www.gamer.ru/news/gas-powered-games-rabotaet-nad-f2p-mmo-dlya-wargaming-net (via wot-news.com)

As some of you know, Wargaming recently (few months back) acquired the Gas Powered Games studio, led by the known game designer Chris Taylor. What it meant was that their prepared game called Wildman was basically scrapped and currently, Chris Taylor revealed his studio is working on a "big free-to-play MMO under the Wargaming name" - so it's probably not any of the studio's previous franchises. It means that GPG get to develop their own separate project and won't be participating on the currently running ones.
Currently, people who left the studio during its unsuccessful Kickstarter attempt to finance the Wildman are returning - plus GPG is hiring additional people. The game is apparently developed for PC and Chris Taylor says he's not sorry he's not independent anymore, as GPG and WG have a lot in common (V. Kislyi, WG CEO loves Chris Taylor's Total Annihilation).

Soundtrack and Voiceover

Hello everyone,

as you might have heard, Russian WoT client recieved a special voiceover, made by Russian popular actors (sorry, I have no idea who they are and I have most likely never seen any movie with them). With that in mind, I have a few questions for you, my dear readers.

Just a quick summary of the unrelated previous poll though: most players (unsurprisingly) prefer historical realism in vehicles, combined with reasonable balance. Makes sense and that was my choice too. Back to the sound then:


Voiceover

Do you play with sounds on? If so, would you actually like a voiceover done by a famous actor? I am now speaking about the English localisation (I am sure each European country has famous actors of their own, but the other nations probably don't know them). So, which actor could you imagine as the WoT voice?

Music

A new poll is up. What music do you listen to, when you play WoT? Please, vote, comment under this post - and if you want to, add some examples (for example from Youtube) of what you listen to. I am rather curious, what most players listen to. As for the music itself, I am not an expert, sorry - in case I forgot some genre, just write a comment. Oh, and you can vote for more answers than just one.

Personally, I listen to AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Mark Knopfler (the new album is brilliant), Rush (totally addicted to 2112), Czech country and folk music, Irish and Scottish folk and ballads, Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi rocks.... on occasion :) )

22.3.2013

- Q: "Storm, is the test coming?" A: "Winter is coming..."
- the bug where the two aim crosses (one aimed by the player, one where the gun aims) sometimes don't combine properly (notable on Redshire) is known, it's being solved
- for now, the player chat command "I'm under fire" is not planned
- tier 2 premium tank destroyers and arties are apparently not planned, as all of them were special-purpose vehicles with only a narrow use
- US/German actor voiceover is not planned for now (SS: to explain - Russian client of the game will get a Russian voiceover made by local famous actors)
- voiceover with developer voices is also not planned :)
- gold shells: the fact that some tanks have very useful gold shells (SS: 105mm T5 derp) while others have completely useless gold shells compared to the regular ammo (SS: Mk103 or the 7,92mm gold ammo comes to mind) is not viewed as a problem by the devs
- players will be able to switch the client physics (havok) off, it won't increase the size of the client, it will contain realistic destruction of objects and buildings, the independent suspension (each wheel reacts to the surface realistically) and small objects on the tank (antennae, boxes) behaving according to physics
- the turret flying off after the vehicle destruction will be handled server-wise, the realistic destruction of tracks (pieces flying off) will most likely be also implemented, the tools (spades etc.) installed on the tank flying off are also possible, but not guaranteed
- the client won't be stressed more with the introduction of client physics (Storm's reaction on the question: *facepalm*)
- devs have not considered increasing TK penalty for each additional subsequent shot
- two sniper medals in a battle won't be implemented
- Storm has not read the Song of Fire and Ice, but he likes the Game of Thrones TV series a lot
- really big maps are planned for distant future
- a shell that penetrated the tank and killed a crewmember will continue flying, it might damage additional module
- a shell that penetrated the tank and did hit an already dead crewmember hitbox will also continue flying and it might damage additional module
- female voiceover for tanks was not considered

ZIK-20 (possible premium Soviet TD?)

Author: Yuri Pasholok
Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/105289.html
              http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/174561.html



On 15.4.1942, on a general meeting of all the members of the Artillery directorate of the Red Army (Артком ГАУ КА), several self-propelled gun projects were accepted. One of them was a heavy bunker destroyer, built on KV chassis, equipped with the 152mm BR-2 gun.
Since the authors of the project couldn't get their hands on such a vehicle, it was instead decided to use the KV-7 platform and the 152mm ML-20 howitzer. As a parellel project, in spring 1942, works began on a similiar vehicle in Factory No.8 under the leadership of F.F.Petrov. The chief designer of the SPG project - now designated as ZIK-20 - became T.A.Sandler (he already was the general chief designer of the Factory No.8). The project documentation was ready in September, 1942.
At that point, the designers became somewhat confused as to what exactly a "KV-7" is. In their mind, any KV model with fixed casemate was designated KV-7 and they basically managed to scrape 20 such hulls to work with. The ML-20 howitzer was also changed significantly and the re-worked gun itself recieved the ZIK-20 designation. The biggest change was the absent muzzle brake.
Eventually, after a discussion within the technological committee of the artillery directorate, several changes were made and a permission was given to manufacture a full-sized mockup. However, when the mock-up was ready, the project became kinda obsolete, as was the original KV-1 hull. KV-1S became the new platform for the project. Also, the vehicle was supposed to weight 53 tons and there were serious doubts about the reliability of the drivetrain (it would apparently be overloaded by the weight). The whole project was transferred to Chelyabinsk and eventually dropped.

There were other projects undertaken in the Factory No.8 under F.F.Petrov. 7 projects were made in total, of 2 a prototype chassis (SS: or metallic mockup, unclear) was built and one of them had a gun installed, the 152mm D-1. Amongst them, a project was concieved - when F.F.Petrov was working on the ZIK-20, a thought came to him that the chassis could carry even a bigger gun - and so he made a project where he replaced the ZIK-20 gun with the BR-2.


He wrote rather optimistically about it. The ZIK-20 gun was to be replaced by the 152mm BR-2 gun on the same carriage in a fixed casemate. He noted that the BR-2 gun would fit the ML-20 mount. An armor steel muzzle brake was to be fitted also. The cast steel breech however would have to be re-worked, the recoil brake was more or less compatible (one part had to be adjusted). The vehicle would have following characteristics:

Caliber - 152mm
Shell weight - 49kg
Muzzle velocity - 880 m/s
Type of loading - two-piece shells, the shell and the artillery cartridge

Weight:
On KV-1 platform - 55 tons
On KV-1S platform - 48 tons

Amount of shells carried: 40-47 pieces
Armor thickness:
Frontal - KV platform - 75mm, KV-1S platform - 60mm
Side - KV platform - 75mm, KV-1S platform - 60mm
Superstructure - KV platform - 75mm

Vertical gun range: +/-5 degrees
Elevation, depression: +15, -3 degrees
Barrel overlap length beyond the shape of the tank: 3000mm
Line of fire height: 2206mm

According to the constructor, the vehicle with the BR-2 is different compared to the ML-20 mount, and the installation is not without problems, but the gun is twice as powerful as the ML-20. The length of the barrel (including the muzzle brake) was 8000mm (L/52) - it was a massive beast and the designer does mention potential difficulties when aiming such a monster. Furthermore, F.F.Petrov stated that since the 152mm BR-2 shares the same mount and the recoil compensator with the 203mm howitzer, it's possible to potentially refit the vehicle with the 203mm U-3 howitzer.

This project (just as the original ZIK-20) never moved forward, but according to Y.Pasholok, it started a series of efforts to refit the SU-152 with something bigger, an idea that would stay around for quite a while.