Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/278181.html

Hello everyone,

Storm is answering the questions about patch 9.0 in one of his developer blog posts. Here’s what was written in the discussion with him. When I saw the extent of this thread, I was like “fuck this, I am going fishing” at first (considering I can’t fish and never went fishing before, it was quite an odd thought) – especially Maiorboltach’s set of questions made me beat my head against the wall (“Nice, I am almost finished translating, aaand… awwww fuck….”).

- common test will come in a frame of several weeks

- test server capacity will not be upgraded for 9.0 test

- roaming will come in in Summer or Fall

- developers have decided that there will only be one client (so HD/regular separate clients), although it is possible HD content will be downloadable separately. How exactly will this work is not yet decided. In 9.0, this option will not be implemented yet, as 12 tanks won’t be that huge to download and to develop this option just for them would be pointless

- for now, the required PC parameters to run the HD stuff are not yet known, final tests haven’t been made yet



- Storm on FPS in 9.0: “Unfortunately, nothing comes without a price”

- IS-4 HD model was not introduced in 9.0, because it was a “testing” model and not a “finished” one

- Havok will not come in 9.0, but it will come this year

- turrets flying off can be implemented even without Havok, because it’s made by serverside physics

- the patch will have like 2-3 gigabytes, but that’s only a rough estimate

- multicore support will not come soon, not in 9.1 or 9.2 at least

- the graphics settings will not be simplified into “good-bad”, current complexity will be kept

- Malinovka’s problem is that the imbalance between winrates of respective sides is higher than 10 percent

- Serene Coast has the same problem (side balance), Storm explains that when they reworked it, they focused on removing the massive campfest this map was known for and kinda screwed up the side balance

- there are already plans for a new batch of HD models, too early to tell though (Storm states that HD IS-3 will come in the future)

- apparently, the Malinovka changes consist of moving the church into the village

- new vehicles in 9.0: Panzer IV getting split to 3 vehicles (tier 3-5), StuG to 2 vehicles (tier 4-5), supertesters will get some stuff for testing (Storm later states that tier 5 StuG will remain unchanged)

- Panzer IV and StuG owners will get NO FREE STUFF

- drawing range will not be reworked into circle in 9.0, the drawing range from 724 to 565 meters will not be reduced

- the option to retrain one crewmember occupation to another (radioman to driver for example) is being worked on, it’s possible it will appear in 2014

- tank viewrange will not be increased to 700 meters, more like something like a circle witha 565 meters radius (Storm made a typo of 525 meters, later he corrected himself)

- these 565 meters are based upon the fact that the surface of a square of 1000 x 1000 meters is the same as that of the circle with 565 meter radius

- ETA of viewrange change is not known, Storm states many tests are needed

- in connection with the viewrange change, no plans to rebalance the viewranges of tanks in game for now

- ingame lags are “purely network-related issues, not depending on the engine/server/client”

- the developers haven’t scrapped the concept of maps bigger than 1×1 km

- developers are considering some changes in the spotting system logic (SS: a player in the question mentioned gradual disappearance of tanks and such)

- apparently, the shader optimization from World of Warplanes will not appear in 9.0

- Storm states that all the lags and freezes in WoT, caused by WG side, were already fixed

- the idea of reducing the damage of HEAT shells has little internal support in Wargaming apparently, will definitely not appear in 9.0

- the question of gold ammo rebalance (by other means than by changing its price) is kinda “stuck”, no solution yet

- Storm states that patch 9.0 doesn’t mean players with very weak computers will be unable to play completely

- KTTS/ASAP magazine will also be made along with the new Developer Diaries

- Storm earlier states that the historical battles will run as “portal events”, but he stated he’s not yet sure how long will these events run

- “fortifications” (clan bases) will not come in 9.0 (it was never planned for 9.0 anyway), they will come a bit later (this year though)

- it is possible that in 9.0, Confrontation (national battles) will be removed – it has many issues and the historical battles should cover the segment

- Storm states that the national battles were implemented as an experiment

- Wargaming states that regarding the rework of all models to HD, it’s very, very difficult to find enough subcontractors for that, because even experienced graphic contractors/offices send them models with 20-30cm discrepancies. The goal is to have most of the tanks converted to HD this year.

- tanks stuck on slopes might be fixed when new motion physics system is introduced (this system will be introduced in 9.1 or 9.2)

- regarding the Panzer IV split: Soviet tanks (SS: apart from KV-1S) will not be split like that, there is no need for Soviet splits

- there will be no platoons allowed in Historical Battles’ first iteration

- it will not be possible to see two same tanks with different guns in one historical battle (SS: for example a L/42 and L/60 Panzer III in one battle)

- there is apparently no tier limit for historical battles, the limit is “real vehicles only”

- in 9.0, no user mod functions will be added (SS: as in, functions, currently obtainable only by using mods)

- two “mod functions” that are planned (related to question above) are the texts (tank names) on minimap and more crew functions (easy moving the crew between tanks)

- No Scroll mod (mod preventing you from scrolling the mousewheel into sniper mode) will apparently not be implemented (only a few people use it)

- improved tank filter in hangar will not be in 9.0, but it will be implemented

- carousel (the way tank selection in hangar works) will be improved eventually

- serverside replays: “when it’s done it’s done”

- in historical battles, every tank will have its own specific MM weight for each historical battle and based on these weights, MM will be put together

- apparently, Object 430′s size is unhistorical, its armor is fine though, it will be reworked, but not anytime soon

- there will be no changes to the Super Pershing

- it’s completely possible Havok will appear in 9.1 or 9.2

- developers worked in parallel on 8.11 and 9.0, that’s why the test comes soon after 8.11

- Kharkov will not appear in 9.0, it will come later

- apparently, Konigsberg map is not yet developed

- dynamic tank characteristics in hangar: when it’s done it’s done (no exact ETA)

- alternative hulls: 9.2 or later

- new regular tanks will not come in 9.0 (or 9.1) (SS: earlier it was leaked that 9.1 could bring US lights, I guess they changed that)

- Grosstraktor will not be a regular vehicle

- regarding the artillery shells flying outside of the aim circle bug: “For starters, I will fix the bug, where shell trajectory is displayed incorrectly in replays. So that we have a base to confirm the issue.”

- Chinese tanks models will not be reworked anytime soon

- there will also be graphic changes on non-HD models and maps, but Storm says it’s better to see it than to describe it

- physically, serverside amount of “connecting points” for each suspension is the same for all the tanks (5 per side), so all tanks’ suspensions will behave the same way basically (adding more of these contact points – points where the track movement is modelled – would stress the server too much apparently)

- camouflage mechanism will not be changed for now in general, only camo coefficients (and not in 9.0)

- new tanks will appear in HD already (for example the Chaffee – T49 branch)

- hangar carousel, company and training room interface rework will not come in 9.0

- ripping off armored screens (applique armor) by explosions and penetration is modelled by Havok, it will not come in 9.0

- there will be garage battles in WoT, only for top tiers though

- for now, only tank models are improved to HD, although ground texture improvements are planned as well

- TD camo nerf will not come in 9.0, but it is planned

- the historical battles that will come first are Kursk 1943, Balaton 1945, Ardennes 1944-1945

- no tanks will get nerfed or buffed in 9.0

- maps used for historical battles will be “the most suitable for each respective historical battle”

- impact decals will not be changed in 9.0, WG is not developing new ones at the moment

- IS-3 will not come in the next batch of HD models apparently,

A set of questions from Maiorboltach

- there will be only ONE new regular branch in 2014, if you don’t count the US light tanks (with them, it will be two)

- T95E6 was made as a reward for clan events (Evilly adds: for Clanwars)

- hightier premium Japanese medium will be one of the STA/STB prototypes (Storm doesn’t remember exactly) – (SS: STA-1B, basically a Pershing with 90mm, kinda odd looking)

- the development of EU tree has not even started yet

- apparently the announcement that 2014 will be a “year of tank rebalance” was some kind of misunderstanding, there will not be apparently a massive tank rebalance

- historical battles will play as random battles, not as companies

- “escort” mode was completely scrapped

- it’s possible the company mode will be eventually closed, but it’s not sure yet

- the way interface looks for various modes will be unified

- new engine/track sounds will not come in 9.0, 9.0 test will have new engine sounds, but for feedback purposes only, new sounds will be released in 9.1 or 9.2

- the questions whether SU-76i, SU-85i and Panzer IV Hydro will be used as mission rewards can only be answered by Publisher department (SS: the way Wargaming RU works is – the company is basically separated into developer and publisher offices. Developers like Storm answer the requests from publishers, such as “give us new German hightier medium”, find sources for it, model it, develop it and test it, but it’s the publisher branch that is responsible for its release, not Storm for example)

- regarding the previous question, Evilly adds that it was decided to save Panzer IV Hydro and SU-76i for various promotions, events and possibly mission rewards, while SU-85i will be sold as a regular premium tank

- Wargaming is not planning for now to introduce anti-inject system such as Punkbuster

- live gamemaster idea (like Zeus in Arma3) will not be implemented

And back to regular answers

- the way models look will change for all tanks, not just HD models

- new motion physics: 9.1 or 9.2

- the sounds of turret turning and of switching transmission gears will come in 9.1-9.2, reworked sound will most likely come for all tanks at once

- Maus will not be nerfed or buffed, IS-7 neither

- plans for new tanks introduction are only made for 2014, there will be no massive tank rebalance in 2014

- Japanese heavies will not come 2014

- there will be some random element as well in the ripped-off-by-ammo-explosion turret trajectory

- turrets being ripped off will work for all the tanks in 9.0, independent suspension only for the HD models

- FV4202 will be switched for another tank (SS: almost certainly Vickers MBT Mk.I, although Storm states this issue is not completely decided yet)

- multi-gun mechanism was postponed to year “who-the-fuck-knows” (SS: as in, shelved)

- for now it was decided not to remove Komarin map from the game

- Storm confirms that Panzer IV and StuG split happened due to historical battles, new StuG and PIV models will be the last models in the old quality (not HD)

- Storm is aware of bugs with ingame scale (SS: some things are too big, some too small), it will be fixed

- new premium tanks? “Will tell later”

- “disappearing shells bug” (SS: probably connected to the artillery) was not confirmed yet, Storm states that this bug is different from the one where shells fly through tanks

- traverse angle of Sturer Emil and SU-101 will apparently not be buffed

- new spotting system and new perks/skills (or the rebalance of old ones) will both be developed in the future

- premium T-54 will not come earlier than in 9.3

- 9.0 will contain no HD map object/landscape rework

- light tank rebalance? “Not in 9.0, I won’t tell anything for now” and “wait for new LT8″, change (buff) will come in 2014 though

- US premium TD will come in 2014

- the principle of miniturret penetration will not be changed (SS: earlier, it was proposed that for example hits on small parts of the vehicles, like commander’s copula or rangefinder, would cause less damage, apparently it was rejected)

- there will be multicore support, Havok will use that

- Crossfire support will be implemented

- AMD Mantle support is not planned

- Q: “Did War Thunder influence the fact there are more developer news now?” A: “And is there something going on over there, that should influence it?”

- Storm states that statistics show that tier 8 do not end up in battles with tier 10′s more often than before 8.11

- the possibility to remove some of the maps by a player will not be implemented at all, because it creates problems with MM

- the fact you will have 3 Panzer IV’s and 2 StuG’s in 9.0 means you will also have 5 different crews

- new hangars will come in 9.0 (both regular and premium)

- historical battles will be accessible from hangar, vehicles will switch automatically to historical configurations apparently, there might be more historical module setups for one tank

- for team battles, choosing the setup for each map option was not scrapped, but it will not appear in 9.0

- there will be no new map in 9.0

- the bug where the notifications about your tanks being hit are delayed will be fixed by a hotfix

- Storm states that the alternative hulls will not be a mass issue – they will appear for a third of all the tanks

- there will be a German premium (hightier, possibly tier 8) medium tank (in 2014 apparently)

- it’s not finally decided yet, whether historical battles will allow for premium tanks, Wargaming developers have long argued about this according to Storm

- benchmark function is planned

And a few points from another thread with Storm

- it will be possible to play WoT without HD quality in 9.0

- T57 Heavy will not be nerfed in 9.0

- KV-1S will be split into two tanks, most likely in 9.2

And the rest in evening’s QA.