Dear Tankers!
Welcome to our 91th Development Status.
Sd.Kfz 251
Since the last development update, we have already implemented three versions in the game: the standard transport version with an MG-34, the mortar version, and the command version.
- Sd. Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. C (standard)
- Sd. Kfz. 251/2 Ausf. C (81 mm mortar)
- Sd. Kfz. 251/3 Ausf. C (command, antenna, etc.)
I have started work on the fourth version, equipped with a 7.5 cm Kwk 37 L/24 short-barrelled gun, commonly known as the “stummel” (“stump”). Whilst working on this version, I decided to refresh the interior, as it still dates back to our first game, Tank Mechanic Simulator, when I created this vehicle back in 2019. Changes were required anyway due to the modifications made to the interior to fit the Stummel gun or the 3.7 cm Pak 36 version 251/10.
The interior looked as follows:
The changes currently planned include a complete overhaul of the interior and adapting it for these versions, including a radio unit, modified benches and seats, and a brand-new dashboard complete with gauges and rev counters. I also want to make new visors and periscopes. Basically, I want to add more detail so that it’s a pleasure to sit inside.
Patch 1.3.0
What's in the patch?
Procedural missions
The main new feature in the upcoming patch will be procedural missions. We explained how they work and the thinking behind them in the latest Tank Squad – Development Status #90. Steam News
The entire procedural mode (encompassing both individual missions and the procedural campaign) is an essential component for the further development of the Ponyria DLC. Ponyria will be divided into several dozen sectors, and it would not make sense to create a scripted mission for each one. We prefer to create a system that will serve as the foundation for subsequent, more generic/automated missions for other game modes – such as the career mode, some form of domination/tug-of-war, etc.
The fact that this mode will be released in the upcoming update does not mean we will stop developing it – we still believe that AICommander should be able to manage its forces better and that it makes mistakes. However, it already fulfils its purpose and fights against us without scripted events or collision-based triggers.
Ballistics
We have also introduced a major change to the ballistics system: previously, for moving vehicles, the game would render armour collisions in an unspecified order in the next frame. This meant that a projectile approaching in a given frame, for example, might not detect a piece of armour at all, as it was only rendered after the impact.
The change involves checking the projectile’s path to see if it has penetrated armour marked as primary before inflicting any damage on the crew or the vehicle’s interior. Of course, the question then arises: what if the vehicle has open hatches or is simply open? We will add support for this scenario as well. For now, following brief tests (as we only added the fix this week), we have not actually observed any situations where a projectile, such as a 37mm Soviet anti-aircraft round or a 45mm round from a T-70, penetrates the Tiger’s main armour.
Changes, fixes and other updates
There have been quite a few fixes and changes to the UI. The HQ interface has been improved. Changes have also been made to the Repair Tasks in the repair area. In addition, there have been a number of cosmetic changes, for example in the Force Pool Creator.
When is the release?
We plan to release the update on 8 May as part of the special WW II Sale.
On this day, we’re also celebrating the first anniversary of Tank Squad’s release on Steam. I’m sure many of you remember what a tough time it was for us. Thanks to your support, we’ve managed to survive this year as an independent studio with no ties to anyone. We’re looking forward with optimism to the future of the Tank Squad series and our other projects.
The list of changes includes:
- Procedural missions & campaign
- Correct VO for APC spotting
- Current gun + secondary gun switch (Maus case)
- APCs Squad emblems icons
- Groundhits by machineguns and smaller arms
- Random weather option to session creation menu settings
- Ballistics issue when the game calculated trajectory/collision for a projectile before the game teleported/created vehicle armor in given position
- Soviet mines now correctly spawn
- TS-8081 HQ button do not scale
- TS-8085 Move avatars in tasks more to the left
- TS-8086 Scale down toggle to put camouflage on wheels
- TS-8087 Camouflage also applies on mask
- Ballistics Simulation errors with ricochet detected that resulted in the prediction cross staying red when penetration will happen
- Using Battle Map menu now will properly hide sub-menus that do not belong to currently selected mode (for example offmap support won't be visible by default in spawning mode etc)
- Command Tiger side emblems are moved to be visible (hidden by logs)
- Maus has now correctly looking tracks on bigger distances
- Text that was out of bounds when the game tried to showcase too many information about multiple converted units at once
- Dragging and dropping a filled squad in force pool creator menu correctly repositions child unit items
- Untranslated text in loading hint when starting the game
- Weather correctly applies to mission
- Changed how ballistics allow to penetrate and damage interior tank modules - now the ballistics system check if given projectile has hit and penetrated armor that was marked as main armor of vehicle
- Battle Progress menu (Tab) won't open in main menu
- Opel blitz indicator icon is now proper truck
- [ ZiS-5 truck indicator icon is now proper truck
- KV-1 mod.1942 has now proper icon in battle map menu
- Main Menu roadmap F1/F2 buttons works properly
- Added new VFX for default rifle and pistol impacts
- Battlelog & Kill feed GUI items (removed black transparent background)
- Avatars seen on a repair tasks are now under main task title
- Right panel in HQ standarized as seen in main menu etc
- Settings bottom buttons layout order
- Indicators on screen will show text as TT instead of Tt (CAPTURE MORTON not Capture Morton)
- How the game displays details of received damage by selected wreck
Thank you and have a good weekend!
DeGenerals