Update 0.16 brings several new features to the game, but its main purpose is to address a number of the most pressing bugs in the game as per player feedback. In it, we are planning to correct a large number of the issues the players consider the most pressing.

Here are a few examples of the corrections that are planned to appear in Update 0.16.

Shot Delay

We have improved how shots are modeled in AW in several ways to mitigate the "shot delay" issue players have been experiencing. Players should now find their shots landing in the correct area after firing at a vehicle which is on the move. To accomplish this, we made the following changes:

We minimized the delay of network packet processing on both the client and server for shot requests by ensuring they are now sent and processed in the highest priority

We added predictive weapon firing on the local client. In doing so, we also now spawn the fired projectile immediately when the trigger is pulled instead of waiting for the server to first confirm the shot

We added server-side lag compensation when simulating physics for the projectile to improve the effects of network latency

Altogether, these changes should make the game much more comfortable to play, and we are looking forward to your feedback on this fix.

Incorrect Turret Facing

We have re-written the code which synchronizes vehicle orientation between server and client. As a result, players should no longer encounter instances where an enemy vehicle's turret is able to hit a player while pointed in a different direction.

This change affects both PvP and PvE, although players reported seeing it far more frequently in PvE.

Small Objects Slowing Down Vehicles

Previously, smaller objects such as cars, trees or walls were slowing down vehicles too much when colliding with them. We've updated the collision interactions between vehicles and destructible props to remedy this issue. From now on, players should be able to feel the weight of their armored vehicle pushing them through these objects with ease, as they would in real life, making gameplay more dynamic.

Shot Normalization Changes

Under the previous implementation of hit resolution, AP (armor piercing) ammo types would normalize upon impact with any part of a vehicle they impacted by up to 5 degrees, meaning the projectile would "turn" in toward the surface normal of the armor. In other words, the steepness of the projectile's angle of impact would be reduced by up to 5 degrees (or more from the effect of Retrofits).

The result of normalization is that it reduces the effective armor thickness that the projectile must pass through to penetrate. However, a secondary effect of normalization is that the projectile's vector (direction of travel) is also adjusted, which means the shell changes direction if it penetrates the first layer of armor it impacts. It was discovered that there were many cases where the normalization effect of re-directing a projectile's path from hitting tracks, wheels, thin spaced armor, and other weak parts of a vehicle would result in situations where weakly armored sections of a vehicle could be hit after normalization even though the shooter would not be able to aim at those weak points directly.

To resolve these issues, armor-piercing projectiles will no longer normalize when impacting thin or weak surfaces on a vehicle, for example:

Wheels/Road Wheels

Treads

Cannons

"Prop" parts (bags, bedrolls, stowage, etc.) and other non-critical external components

This list of corrections planned for Update 0.16 is by no means complete. It covers only the most important corrections.

We would like to thank all of the players who pointed these issues out as a part of their feedback. We are dedicated to listening to our community and will continue to improve the game based on your feedback!

See you on the battlefield!