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Update 0.5.8

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Armor Protection

As part of the game process improvement, we continue to revise 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. Mainly, in version 0.5.8, we redefined armor models for cruisers more precisely. In some cases, this resulted in around 5% of HP being redistributed between the ship's parts. The improved level of detail of the inclined protective deck and ship's lines increased the chances of a ricochet for armor-piercing shells in some scenarios, particularly when hitting the ship on the bow or stern. Armor interaction with high-explosive shells and bombs is not affected. It is noteworthy that almost all Soviet and some of the German cruiser hulls were originally created at a new level of detail so changes will primarily affect Japanese and U.S. ships.

The full list of upgraded armor models is below.

General changes: All armored artillery guns, main guns, AA, and secondary guns of all ships. Exception: Main guns of battleships. Those models will be upgraded in a future update.

Germany (except hulls that were initially added in 0.5.6 with a new level of detail):

Japan:

USSR / Russia:

USA:

Balance Changes

Rotating Turrets and Main Battery Mounts

In update 0.5.8, we added a special feature to enable full 360-degree rotation of certain turrets and turret mounts. This change will make the gameplay more comfortable on certain ships and allow their commanders to maneuver more aggressively, reducing losses in firepower when shifting fire from side to side. The full list of ships and the number of turrets affected by this change can be found below:

Ship/Hull	Turret Number (from Bow to Stern)
Konigsberg	2, 3
Hashidate	1
Tachibana	1,4,5
Umikaze	        3
Minekaze	1,2,3
Mutsuki (A)	1,2
Mutsuki (B)	1,2
Mutsuki (C)	1
Kamikaze	1,2
Wakatake	1
Aurora	        1
Diana	        1
Novik (A)	6
Novik (B)	8
Storozhevoi	1
Derzki	        3
Chester	        1
Sampson	        1
Clemson	        1
Wickes	        1
Campbeltown	1


We have also extended horizontal aiming angles as well.

Other Ship Changes

Tirpitz: We reconsidered horizontal pointing angles of main guns. As a result, pointing angles of the second the third and the fourth main battery turrets extended at 8, 10 and 6 degrees respectively. The changes became a result of increased accuracy of main guns motion trajectories, which will make the game more comfortable without influencing the ship’s balance.

Yubari: Health points increased on 400 points (from 18300 to 18700). This change will slightly increase the ship’s combat effectives.

Warspite: 2 AA-guns Oerlikon Mk4 were added in accordance with historical configuration. As a result, an average damage of AA-guns within 2 km raised up to 3 points (from 44 to 47).

Shchors: horizontal pointing angles of main guns were narrowed down in order to fix the bug with her settings that had led to angles dissymmetry.

  • Hull (A) and (B): horizontal pointing angles of the third main gun turret were narrowed down to 3 degrees.
  • Hull (B): horizontal pointing angles of the first main gun turret were narrowed down to 3 degree.

Game Maps and Modes

Bastion Mode

To bring additional diversity to high-tier battles, in version 0.5.8 we introduced a new experimental mode called 'Bastion'. Currently, it is only available on "The Atlantic" map. The main feature of the mode is it's onshore installations designed to give fire and reconnaissance support to the team that captures them. There are two types of these installations in the game:

  • "Forts" are fortifications armed with an array of large-caliber main guns and an air defense battery. It's a powerful force even with minimum support from allied ships.
  • "Surveillance stations" are fortifications that provide their team and forts with additional capabilities for enemy ship detection.

Onshore installations can be captured or temporarily neutralized by main battery gunfire or aircraft bombs. These actions reduce the efficiency of the enemy team and earn advantage points similar to the Domination mode that players are already familiar with. To win, a team should be the first to earn 1,000 points by suppressing and capturing enemy fortifications and destroying enemy ships.

Here is some additional information that will provide deeper understanding of Bastion mode game mechanics:

  • The mode is available for Level X battles (Tier VIII, IX and X ships)
  • There are certain capture sectors for onshore installations on a map. While these sectors are neutral, the installations do not participate in a battle. Once captured, they start to provide fire support and intelligence service to the team who controls them.
  • ‘The Atlantic’ – the only map where Bastion mode is currently available – provides two possible settings for capture sectors – sectors 3 and 4. They are chosen randomly.
  • Forts and Surveillance stations lose health points then whey hit with main guns, secondary guns and bombs. Dealing damage to Forts and *Surveillance stations causes the loss of capture status of sectors they belong to and brings additional domination score for the team.
  • When a Fort or Surveillance station runs out of HP, it is considered conquered.
  • Conquered objects are temporarily out of battle and gradually recover their HP. Once recovered, they work as normal.
  • If Fort or Surveillance station located in enemy’s section are conquered, the sector becomes neutral.
  • Forts and Surveillance stations have simplified damage model without armor and fire. Any hit influences an object directly in a full scale.
  • Forts attack enemy ships at the shortest distance to them
  • Forts equipped with 406 mm artillery guns and 80 mm AA-guns. The type of shells (AP or HE) is chosen randomly.
  • Forts have limited field of view that’s why they perform their best acting together with Surveillance station. Surveillance station are able to locate enemy’s ships and aircraft, but not torpedoes.
  • Forts have their certain sectors of fire and dead zones where they cannot shoot enemy’s ships.

Forts characteristics:

  • Hit points: 300,000
  • Fire range (main gun): 13 km
  • Loading time (main gun): 3-5 sec
  • Fire range (AA-guns): 5 km
  • Average damage per second (AA-guns): 77
  • Visibility: 10 km
  • View: 5 km (individual), 15 (with allies)
  • Full regeneration: 2,5 min

Surveillance stations characteristics:

  • Hit points: 9000
  • Visibility: 15 km
  • View: 15 km
  • Full regeneration: 3 min

New Maps

In update 0.5.8, we added two new maps for Tier VII-X ships:

  • The "Sea of Fortune" map depicting a location somewhere between France and Great Britain. The map suggests interesting gameplay situations across all directions. The right flank is ideal for aggressive battles involving cruisers and battleships. The left flank is suitable for long-range firefights because of the relatively low height of islands. The center of the map is interesting due to an important strait passing through it and a small picturesque island with a castle on it.
  • The "Loop" map is a fictional location somewhere within the crossing of sea lanes; it contains two groups of Portuguese islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Large islands provide opportunities for defense and unexpected breakthroughs. Due to the dense arrangement of the islands, it is necessary to plan your route in advance in order to be able to assist your allies in time.

Matchmaker Changes

The matchmaker is a game component that enables quick composition of teams for all battles. In version 0.5.8, we are launching a new and improved matchmaker for the Random Battles mode. The purpose of this change is to remove situations when players could immediately guess the outcome of a battle by the composition of the teams, and to make confrontations fairer. The features of the new matchmaker are as follows: Situations when opposing teams appeared to have a different number of players were completely removed.

  • Aircraft carriers on opposing teams will continue to belong to the same tier.
  • In every battle, we have "battle tiers", i.e. the maximum tier of a ship for a given battle. Ships of tiers corresponding to the tier of the battle are called "tops" or "top ships". The following rules will apply to them:
  • For each type, the number of top ships will be strictly symmetrical. For example, if in a Tier VIII battle one team has two Tier VIII battleships, two Tier IX cruisers and one Tier VIII destroyer, the other team would also have two Tier VIII battleships, two Tier IX cruisers and one Tier VIII destroyer. The above rule also applies to battleships belonging to a tier that is one step lower than the tier of the battle. For example, if in a *Tier VIII battle one team has one Tier VII battleship, the other team would also have one Tier VII battleship.
  • Permissible difference in the number of divisions between the teams is limited and now equals 1.
  • Permissible difference in the number of destroyers between the teams is limited and now equals 1.
  • Permissible difference in the number of battleships between the teams is limited and now equals 1.
  • Permissible difference in the number of cruisers between the teams is limited and now equals 2.

After the launch of first matchmaker improvements, we plan to solve three more highly prioritized issues within the next few Updates:

  • New rules that are intended to assure more honest balance of teams, are planned to apply to other battle types (co-op and rank battles)
  • According some technical issues, the logic of new matchmaker does not take into account nations and their distribution within teams. It means that theoretically there can appear a situation when three Japanese destroyers are against three Americans. We treat this rule as a necessary one and work on putting it back.
  • Since we had added divisions in the game, it was allowed to gather together ships of broad tiers’ variety (low-tier ships are allowed to join divisions with high-tier ships, also known as "Fail Divisions"). Despite this option helping players who know each other to play together, a large part of our audience treats it negatively. That is why this option is likely to be reconsidered.

There are also some allowances that we are still going to verify and determine whether they are necessary or not:

  • If it takes too long to assemble teams for a battle for whatever reason, battles may be fought between teams with an incomplete lineup (11х11, 10х10 etc.).
  • Balancing Low-Tier ships outside of their type is allowed. For example, a tier VIII battle could involve a Tier VI destroyer against a Tier VI battleship, and Tier VII cruiser against Tier VII destroyer;
  • Balancing two same-type ships with enemy ships of adjacent Tiers is allowed if they are not in the top of the team and if they are not battleships. For example, in a Tier VIII battle, a Tier VI cruiser could find herself against a Tier VII cruiser on the opposing team.

Meanwhile, the team of World of Warships developers would like to express their gratitude to all commanders who send in their ideas and comments regarding the matchmaker. We will continue to collect your feedback on update 0.5.8 to make the process of selecting ships for a battle fair and enjoyable for all players.

Audio

  • Enhanced sound configuration capabilities.
  • Added an option to select voiceover language.
  • Added an option to select audio modification.
  • "National" voiceovers for Commanders.
  • Added an option for selecting the Arpeggio of Blue Steel -ARS NOVA- voiceovers to be used throughout the entire game.
  • Added an option to completely turn off music playback in the Port and/or during a battle.
  • Added new music tracks.
  • Refined the sounds of hits to the ship and to the landscape.
  • Reworked the sound of the stun sound effect.
  • Leveled the overall volume of the sound profile for a wide and narrow dynamic range.

Interface

Ribbons and Damage

  • Players wishing to get more detailed information on their actions in a battle may use the "Detailed Ribbons" option. Once enabled, the "Target hits" Ribbon for the main battery is divided into 4 sub-types:
  • For AP and HE shells: "Penetration"
  • For AP and HE shells: "Non-penetration"
  • For AP shells: "Over-penetration"
  • For AP shells: "Ricochet"
  • In the same advanced mode, a damage counter appears near the obtained Ribbons, updated throughout the entire battle. Please note that this counter doesn't include damage dealt to onshore objects in the calculations.
  • The standard layout of the components was reworked as well. The "Hits to citadel" badge now appears in black while the "Critical Hit" one comes in yellow to better distinguish between them. Moreover, we have added two new Ribbons: "Suppressed onshore object" and "Secondary battery gun hits".

Other Interface Improvements

  • When the VSync option is switched off, the Triple Buffering option can be disabled as well.
  • We've enabled an option to save all Port chat history during battle.
  • Added a friendly fire notification for the team members. The notification is displayed at an interval of at least 60 seconds in order to not to spam in game chat.
  • Fixed the Minimap bug that allowed players to set a way point on the landscape when playing an aircraft carrier.
  • Added an option to display a survey in the Port, if a player leaves a battle before it ends.
  • Added automatic Secondary guns/AA turn on in settings if manual priority is set.

Other Updates

Tracers

For a better visual distinction between AP and HE shells as well as between a player's own and other shells, the tracer color scheme has been adjusted.

Situational Awareness

Improved the logic of the "Situational Awareness" skill’s operation. From now on, the detection indicator is displayed in all cases when the ship is visible to the enemy team, including the short interval (approximately 3 seconds long), which is set between the time of the last detection and the moment when the ship disappears from the location it was spotted.

Client

Client Structure

Optimized method for storing Python-based scripts, which are now placed in a separate packet. This should reduce the risk of problems with game updates, especially when several versions are released at once. Content compression in PKG-archives has been intruduced. This change will allow us to save harddrive space for players.

Modifications

Improved the system for connecting user interface modifications to the game client. This will have a positive effect on the protection of the game client and allow developers to work more closely with the creators of modifications

Personal Offers

We have enhanced our Personal Offers mechanism. The changes will allow for more diverse and interesting offers to players.

New Ship Testing

The following ships are now available in the game client for testing by developers and supertesters: Krasny Krym, Scharnhorst, König Albert, Kaiser, Flint, and Black. These ships are not available for purchase and research, but players may encounter them in battle.

Minor Changes and Improvements

  • Fixed bug that blocked the joining-battle screen for people with an incomplete division, or for the team of a player who refused to join a division.
  • Fixed bug that caused an indication of the Random battle icon in Co-op battles.
  • Fixed bug that made some nicknames to be hit by the obscenities filter in combat chat.
  • Fixed bug that caused a squadron that had just taken off the deck of a destroyed carrier to hang over the water.
  • Fixed bug that caused an instantaneous launch of a catapult fighter after the death of the previous one.
  • Fixed bug that didn't allow entry to the game to users who haven't played since the previous Ranked Battle season.
  • Fixed the tooltip description for the checkpoint in the standby screen for "Standard battle" mode.
  • Fixed bug with invoicing an extra star from the previous Rank battles season. The current progress of players is not affected.
  • Svietlana: Fixed bug that in some cases led to a miscalculation of the deck armour.
  • Kirov: refined the appearance of its main guns turrets.
  • Ranger: AA Guns Modification 1 was replaced with Secondary Battery Modification 1.