Dear Tankers!
Welcome to our 83th Development Status.
KV-1B 756(r) and KV-1C mod 1942 - work in progress
Turret is done for both versions
As we mentioned in the previous Development Status #82, we wrote there that we would now be working on creating a new cast turret for both versions of the tanks. I have spent the last few weeks working exclusively on preparing models of these turrets.
The cast turret features thicker armour on the sides. The Soviet version will still have the ZiS-5 gun, while the German version has been modified. Instead of the ZiS-5, it has a 7.5 cm KwK 40 gun. A commander's cupola from the PzKpfw IV tank has been added, as well as a vent from the T-34 on the left side.
The models will soon be added to the project, and Robert will have the opportunity to implement them. Before that happens, I still need to finish the interior. It will be based on what was in the KV-1S, with some modifications, of course. More on that in future updates.
There will be three new vehicles for the game. As a reminder:
- KV-1 mod 1942 or KV-1C mod 1942
- same hull as KV-1S
- new cast turret
- new hull, few minor modifications, especially seen on the rear
- new cast turret
- German camo/paint
- as a conversion for tank above
- new hull, new mudguards, some additional modifications made by Germans
- new cast turret with new gun
- German camo/paint
- as a more costly conversion
PzKpfw KV-1B 755(r) (ZiS-5 gun)
PzKpfw KV-1B 756(r) (7.5 cm KwK 40 gun)
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New Ponyrii campaign level art and design tools improvement
We are working on new set of tools that will help us do two things:
- Create the large maps that Ponyrii needs without spending so much time on them as we did on previous ones, with the detail level we want
- Work on these tools so they could be reused or simplified for user modding (map or scenario editor)
Watch on YouTube
The tools we’re using come from a system called MicroVerse. We showcase these tools below with examples on how we can place trenches without a lot of time required to merge the terrain around the trench or that we don't need to cut the terrain underneath ourselves.
In-game screenshot to show how the trench blends in with terrain without much effort from us
We want to streamline the process of creating fortifications, lines of defense etc. enviro and to focus on the mission itself. Previously we’ve added very much detail to some maps that ended up being very dense and not really playable in co-op or with other AI tanks under command. This changes for the next campaign.
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Battle Save system (WIP)
We are finalizing the Battle Save System. How will it work:
- Auto save every 5 minutes during battle
- Auto save upon leaving the battle early (before it finishes)
- Manual save available in pause menu
- Manual load available in pause menu
- Loading a battle from main menu
The game will save following information:
- who played on session and their stats
- overall stats of battle
- spawned units and their state, what was their command, who was in charge, their position and rotation
- objectives and event states
- wrecks state
- damageable objects, trees and deformation state
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Explosives and aim prediction improvements
We are also reworking how Explosives damage is handled by our game.
Let’s start from the need of this work, the new campaign will also introduce the soviet perspective. Now imagine fighting against Tigers, Ferdinands or Panthers on flat terrain without much cover on distances around 1500-2000m away.
This requires us to add a bigger tank for soviets for 1943 Kursk, the SU-152 that will allow the player to knock out these tanks on long distances. After adding a prototype of SU-152 we’ve noticed that it doesn't really do that, the shots hit the target but fail to destroy it.
This also applies to Air attacks, heavy artillery bombardment direct hits - they should knock out a KV-1 or Tiger. Having all this in mind, we also need to think about the infantry and how players have a hard time killing them when they are entrenched.
Here we also have some improvements but that’s for next dev status, where we’ll showcase how these changes must help players dominate a fortified position when he’s shooting with HE shells or calling in offmap support on it.
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Thank you and have a good weekend!
DeGenerals