Wargaming and the player community will work together to bring a new map to World of Tanks: Mercenaries. In September, we held the phase 1 poll to decide on high level details informed by the kind of map the Community wants. Here are the results of that poll:

Season: Summer

General layout: Open range

Time of day: Day

Water rules: Minimum Water (no drowning)

Terrain elevation rules: Hills / hilly

Foliage density: Medium

Location: Europe

The Community Map initiative continues and provides a look into the development cycle of a WoT battlefield. We want to involve the players and provide insight on how the map creation process works, the time that it takes, the technical limitations, and the considerations for map balance and fun gameplay.

The next step is creating a draft of the map and introducing it to players. Get hands-on feedback, gather gameplay data, and share that data (in the form of heat maps and win rate percentages) with the Community. That data and feedback will determine a new Poll as we narrow down the focus of the map.

Today we get a first peek at the Community Map in development.

We want to thank everyone who participated and submitted their vote on the forums. It is thanks to all of your interest and your engagement that we are able to proceed with such a unique game initiative. We also want to give a special shout-out to some of the users on the Forums for their suggestions.

BroGueOne – Brawling zones on the map where heavies can play and attempt to push a flank

SPUK4U – Design the map with beautiful European vineyards

Westmech – Use an inverted heightmap of Prokhorovka as a starting point for map terrain

Gallant Prime – Elevated plateaus with walled cities

I am Zweistein – Make the map as accessible as possible

We initially experimented with taking the inverted heightmap of Prokhorovka and rotating it 90 degrees (to help distinguish this map further). We chose the following material textures to paint the terrain with: grass, dirt road, and stone. These textures are good identifiers for understanding traversal on a map. Dirt roads suggest direct routes on the map and are typically unblocked. The stone texture indicates steep slopes or elevated terrain that should not be traversable. Grass fills in everywhere else.

We smoothed out the terrain of what used to be the hill above the lake in Prokhorovka. We then turned this area into what we call the “proof of concept corner.” This corner is a small taste of what the rest of the map will thematically evolve into. We carved paths, added extra soft slopes, and populated the area with vineyards, foliage, and buildings. The vista hosts a Cathedral right off the border to serve as a landmark feature. This isn’t part of the playable space.

We added an aqueduct bridge to cut from a corner of the map to the hill on the opposite side (formerly the NE corner of Prokhorovka). Yes, that is the same aqueduct bridge from Westfield! After further defining this pocket area between the hills, we decided to replace the intact bridge with the broken version. This opened up the play space and removed restricted sightlines for that area.

The railroad that divides the map is now sunken. We broadened the terrain on both sides of the railroad, so it wasn’t as narrow. The intent is that this space can work as a quick way to traverse across the map with decent cover provided by both the terrain and the railcars. We chose to keep the railcars as they serve as opportunities for players to use them for cover. They also allow players to fire at enemies on the other side of the train from cover. A few railcars were removed here and there to provide passage to the other side and avoid any similarities with a corridor shooter.

The more open areas that used to be West Prokhorovka are dotted with dense and light foliage. These areas are populated with rocks that provide balanced cover for both sides. We added 3 prominent raised hills in this area, 2 of which have hard cover buildings and act as the farm households for the nearby vineyard crops. The other hill is centered at the border of the map. This hill provides both teams equal route opportunity to claim the top and hold the high ground.

We still wanted to add more hard cover buildings to the map. We were inspired by the central village in Prokhorovka, so we added close to a dozen buildings to the map. This area can work well for heavies and mediums who may try to push towards and claim the opposite hill. One concern here is that the buildings are on the low ground between the two hills. Tanks perched on these hills may tear up players amongst the buildings. If that happens, we may consider pushing the village buildings to the other side of the tracks. For now, let’s see how the environment plays.

There is currently no confirmed date for when this map will be available to test and play. But what you saw today will be the foundation of the experience when it is available. Your playtest feedback and data collected on the map will determine our Phase 2 poll questions.

Let us know what you think!

For more information, check out our forum post here!