Update 0.5.7

Upgrades

In pre-0.5.7 versions of the game, the upgrade system, while seemingly versatile, often did not provide any real choices to players. Our analysis of the popularity of upgrades has shown that many upgrades were practically never chosen, especially upgrades for auxiliary armament. We have overhauled the upgrade system to provide players with real options when enhancing their ships.

First Upgrade Slot

Almost all players mounted Main Battery Modification upgrades in the first slot because bonuses from other upgrades were too slight. With the 0.5.7 update, a new set of useful upgrades is introduced to replace the old one.

Removed Upgrades:

• Main Battery Modification 1 (-20% to the risk of the main battery becoming incapacitated; -20% to main battery repair time; -20% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonation)
• Torpedo Tubes Modification 1 (-20% to the risk of the torpedo tubes becoming incapacitated; -20% to torpedo tubes repair time)
• AA Guns Modification 1 (+20% to AA mounts survivability)
• Secondary Battery Modification 1 (+20% to secondary battery survivability)

Added Upgrades:

• Main Armaments Modification 1 (-20% to the risk of the main battery and torpedo tubes becoming incapacitated; +50% to main battery and torpedo tubes survivability, -20% to repair tme for main battery and torpedo tubes)
• Auxiliary Armaments Modification 1 (+100% to secondary battery and AA mounts survivability)
• Magazine Modification 1 (-70% to the risk of a ship's magazine detonation)
• Aiming System Modification 0 (+20% to traverse speed of main turrets and torpedo tubes; +20% to secondary battery maximum firing range; -40% to maximum dispersion of main and secondary battery shells). This upgrade will be available only for Premium Japanese ships with 140-mm main guns (currently: Iwaki, Yubari and Katori)

Second Upgrade Slot

For the second slot, three upgrades were combined to form two new enticing upgrades. Moreover, the Main Battery Modification upgrade became more attractive because its penalty was reduced.

Removed Upgrades:

• Artillery Plotting Room Modification 1 (+16% to main battery maximum firing range)
• Torpedo Tubes Modification 2 (-10% to torpedo tubes repair time; +20% to the torpedo tubes traverse speed)
• Gun Fire Control System Modification 1 (-7% to maximum dispersion of main battery shells)

Added Upgrades:

• Artillery Plotting Room Modification 1 (+16% to main battery maximum firing range; -5% to maximum dispersion of secondary battery shells; +5% to secondary battery maximum firing range). This upgrade will be available only for US battleships
• Aiming Systems Modification 1 (+5% to secondary battery maximum firing range; -5% to maximum dispersion of secondary battery shells; +20% to the torpedo tubes traverse speed; -7% to maximum dispersion of main battery shells)

Reworked Upgrades:

• Main Battery Modification 2 (+10% to main battery loading time; +15% to the main battery traverse speed): the penalty has been decreased to +5% to main battery loading time

Third Upgrade Slot

For this slot, the available upgrades are now more useful in terms of purposefully enhancing the performance of auxiliary armaments.

Reworked Upgrades:

• Main Battery Modification 3 (-12% to main battery loading time; -17% to the main battery traverse speed): the penalty has been decreased to -13% to the main battery traverse speed
• Artillery Plotting Room Modification 2 (-7% to maximum dispersion of main battery shells): the bonus has been increased to -11% to maximum dispersion of main battery shells. This upgrade will be available only for US battleships
• AA Guns Modification 3 (+20% to average damage per second of AA mounts): the bonus has been increased to +25% to average damage per second of AA mounts

Fifth Upgrade Slot

We increased the usefulness of an upgrade that was rarely used by players.

Reworked Upgrades:

• Propulsion Modification 2 (-20% to time for reaching full power) the bonus has been increased to -50% to time for reaching full power. Moreover, with this upgrade the engine is automatically boosted by 50% while the ship accelerates from 0 to 6 knots (in both ahead and astern directions)

Compensations

To make switching to the new upgrade system more comfortable for players, you will receive automatic compensations for all alterations that significantly affect gameplay:

• For all the Main Battery Modification 1 upgrades, the same number of Magazines Modification 1 upgrades will be added and available for mounting.
• All the Main Battery Modification 1 upgrades and Torpedo Tubes Modification 1 upgrades will be replaced by the Main Armaments Modification 1 upgrades.
• All the AA Guns Modification 1 upgrades and Secondary Battery Modification 1 upgrades will be replaced by the Auxiliary Armaments Modification 1 upgrades.
• All the Gun Fire Control System Modification 1 upgrades will be replaced by Aiming Systems Modification 1 upgrades.
• All Torpedo Tubes Modification 2 upgrades will be removed. You will receive a compensation of 500,000 credits for each removed upgrade.

Interface

We improved the post-battle statistics screen, especially the Detailed Report tab:

• The amount of damage will now be highlighted in bold, and the normal font style will be used for the number of shots fired. For both of the statistical parameters above, we added pop-up windows hints with detailed information.
• Added a pop-up hint with detailed information about the aircraft shot down by the player and the player's aircraft that were destroyed.
• Added pop-up hints with detailed information about damage received from bombs, torpedoes, and artillery shells.
• In the Credits and XP tab, added a pop-up hint with information about a Commander. This window will be displayed when the cursor is placed on the Commander's name.
• We enhanced the layout of in-game surveys. Now available responses will be more numerous or more detailed.

Battle Interface and HUD Improvements

• If a ship has two main armaments (main battery and torpedoes) the reloading status panel will show the reloading indicators for both main armaments. To enable this option, use the corresponding interface item in the Controls tab.
• For the alternative battle interface mode — which can be activated by pressing the [Alt] key or ticking the corresponding checkbox in the Controls tab if not permanently enabled in the settings — tiers of the corresponding ships will now be displayed for both allied and enemy aircraft.
• Now players will be able to switch to the Binocular View when their ship’s torpedo armament is selected.

Maps

Added a new map, "Warrior's Path", for battles between Tier VII-X ships. Warrior’s Path is an archipelago near Canadian shores engulfed by cold and hostile seas. The opposing teams will have to navigate through numerous islands in order to engage their enemy.

Some existing maps have also been modified:

• The "Islands of Ice" map has been reworked after we conducted surveys and analyzed feedback from players. We came to the conclusion that the middle part of this map is too open which makes it less tactically diverse. Moreover, we have decided to remove the "diagonal" placement of key areas because they were placed too far from each other.
• The "Islands of Ice" and "North" maps now will be available again for Ranked Battles.
• After we analyzed the statistical data and feedback from players, we made the "Strait" map unavailable for battles where Tier VII ships are present.
• We've added an Island to the strait on "The Atlantic" map. This will allow players to escape concentrated enemy fire on their way to the center of the map.

Moreover, the Standard Battle mode probability for Tier IX-X battles has been reduced from 35% to 10% because of the following reasons:

• In this mode, the bases on most maps are far away from each other, and players often had a tough time arriving to impact the outcome of the battle. Because of this, players are often unable to have enough impact on the outcome of the battle.
• It lacked intermediate "points of interest" where the most exciting action usually takes place.
• In this mode, protecting the base is crucial, and players used more passive tactics, which led to less exciting play.

However, we do understand that this battle mode brings additional variety to the high tier battles and some players enjoy it, that is why we decided to keep it instead of removing it from the game entirely.

Audio

• Enhanced special sounds for "distant events" in battle.
• Enhanced the sound for the air attack on a ship by bombers.
• Improved the ship destruction sound: now the character of this sound will depend on the way the ship was destroyed.
• Enhanced sounds that play when the player's ship is hit.
• Improved the sound notification for Surveillance Radar activation.
• Optimized and enhanced sounds for low sound quality settings.
• Improved dropping sounds for ejected main battery shell cases.
• Game interface sounds have been improved.

Other Updates

Economics

Within the framework of a systematic approach to researching and unlocking ships and their modules, we have removed all of the modules that were duplicated on several ships, and names for many starting modules have been corrected. Now every ship has her own unique modules. This change will have no significant effect on the game play process. All the progress made by players before this change is implemented will be retained.

Weather

The Hydroacoustic Search and Surveillance Radar consumables will now work at the maximum corresponding distance even during the Cyclone weather conditions. This change is based on analysis of the feedback we received from players after the introduction of weather mechanics in version 0.5.5.

Visual-only weather effects were replaced with the Cyclone weather conditions (with the 10% chance of a Cyclone during a battle) for battles between Tier VII-X ships on the following maps:

• The Atlantic
• Islands of Ice
• Hotspot
• Trap
• Two Brothers
• Land of Fire
• Trident
• Shatter
• Okinawa
• Neighbors
• Estuary

Overall probability of Cyclone will only slightly increase in comparison to Update 0.5.6. This change will allow players to try new tactics on the maps they are already familiar with while still keeping the occurrence a rarity.

Water Visualization

We reworked the effects for interaction between the water surface and in-game objects. Now visual water deformation will be increased for the following events: bomb explosions, ship destructions, torpedo wakes, ship wakes for some ships, and firing main guns.

Technical Changes

The time required for loading ship models during a battle has been decreased. Now ship models will load faster on some computers and there will be less cases where a ship becomes visible to the player only after a delay, though she should have already been visible according to the ship detectability/spotting mechanics.

The game content in .pkg archive files has been reorganized in order to further optimize utilization of resources. Foliage and skybox textures have been moved to map archive files User interface items, particles, effects and camouflage patterns have been moved to individual archive files.

Spectator Camera

• Improved the functionality of the spectator camera that the player sees after their ship is destroyed.
• Spotting range is no longer taken into account when allies and spotted enemy ships are displayed.
• Now, you can track shells and torpedoes fired by allied ships, as well as their squadrons.

NEW FEATURE: Free Camera mode

• Control the Free Camera using [A], [S], [W] and [D] keys, as well as with the scroll wheel of the mouse (change elevation).
• Press [SHIFT] to switch modes.
• By pressing [SPACE] key you can move the camera to any allied ship/squadron you see in the center of the screen (crosshair).

Server Maintenance

Introduced notifications about planned server restarts. These notifications will be shown in Port or in Battle Chat if the player is in battle.

Ships

New ships Arizona and ARP Ashigara were added into the game to be tested by Supertesters and WG employees. These ships are unavailable for purchase, but players can encounter them in battle.

As part of the game improvement process, we started a gradual revision of all armor models. Our aim is to bring the armor models, created at different stages of the project development, to the same level of detail. In version 0.5.7, we more precisely defined the destroyers' armor models. In some cases this lead to slight redistribution of HP within parts of the ship/ Increased details of jogs and curves will also lay additional groundwork for AP shell ricochet in some situations. Armor interaction with HE shells and bombs is not affected.

• Changed the default angle of fire for small-caliber AA guns.
• Revised the display of halyards, signals and ensigns from various distances.
• Murmansk: revised the display of stars on her port and starboard.
• Colorado: revised the display of her textures from various distances.
• Benson: removed the overlap of her torpedo tubes with the ship structures.
• Arkansas Beta: revised the display of the crane and its model.
• Chapayev: corrected defects of her textures and details, revised her stern funnel shape.
• Dmitri Donskoi: added "Machta-11-14" and "Coral" antennas, fixed the erroneous texture of the ship's bottom.
• Baltimore: changed the positions of drum winches in order to remove the overlap with the main battery turret.
• Khabarovsk: improved her geometry and textures, replaced the boat of 1390 design with the boat of 378 design that is more historically accurate.
• Błyskawica: fixed errors in her textures and geometry, improved the quality of the coat of arms.
• Campbeltown: changed the geometry of the "Type 286" surveillance radar, changed the radar location.
• Moskva: now, respective radars rotate together with the ship's guns.
• New Orleans: removed the overlap of ventilation elements with the aft main battery turret.
• Myogi: removed the overlap of main gun barrels and the catapult gear.
• Indianapolis: fixed the error where the Manual Fire Control for AA Armament skill was not working properly in some cases.
• Molotov: fixed the error because of which the Manual Fire Control for AA Armament skill was not working properly in some cases.
• Udaloi: fixed small errors in in-game cameras for this ship.
• Kirov: corrected models and rotation of her radars.
• Budyonny: fixed the bug because of which some objects from her model remained visible above the water surface after the ship had been destroyed.

In-Game Logic and Interface

• Corrected the error in in-game logic related to effect of the Survivability Expert skill. In some cases, this error resulted in ship repair cost being added instead of being deducted. Moreover, sometimes this error made it possible to earn the Dreadnought achievement with a ship that is not capable to recover HP with the use of the Repair Party consumable. We also revised the description of this skill.
• Fixed the bug because of which the artillery camera's point of view was passing through a ship's superstructures when tracking the fired shell.
• Corrected visuals for flooding effects when switching cameras after a ship is destroyed.
• Corrected transition between zoom levels when in the Binocular View.
• Revised the hint displayed when the player is trying to demount a permanent camouflage.
• Fixed the bug because of which the on-screen fire effect did not disappear after the player's ship had been totally destroyed.
• Fixed the bug that resulted in the camera's point of view passing inside some islands.
• Fixed the bug related to incorrect camera position when going back to the battle HUD from the Tactical Map view.
• Fixed the bug that made it impossible to assign a priority target for secondary guns when the target was beyond the maximum firing range of main guns.
• Fixed the bug because of which the command to close the game client was ignored when in the Basic Training screen.
• Fixed the bug because of which the animation for the active Defensive AA Fire consumable was still shown when there were no enemy aircraft within the corresponding ship's AA engagement area radius.
• Fixed the error because of which the checkbox for enabling/disabling display of a "circle" for the main battery firing range was available in the *Minimap settings when playing on aircraft carriers.
• Fixed the error because of which a wrong number of aircraft a player destroyed in a battle was sometimes displayed in the post-battle results screen.
• Fixed the bug that made it impossible for the player to recover an air squadron.
• Fixed the bug related to display of completed missions and challenges in the post-battle results screen.
• Fixed the error because of which the wrong amount of XP earned by the player in the last battle was displayed when the player had damaged their allies in that battle.
• Fixed incorrect behavior of crosshair-related hints when in the Binocular View.

Other

• Fixed the error that caused the game client to exit unexpectedly during the Introductory Mission.
• Fixed operation of the Vertical synchronization option.
• Fixed some memory leaks in the game client.
• Fixed the error that caused the game client to terminate unexpectedly when launched on a computer under heavy load.
• Removed unused files from the game client.
• Fixed the error that caused the game client to crash under certain conditions when loading into the battle.