[World of Warships] News/Screens/Videos/Infos

[Galien]

Game Art – Concept to Completion

Author: Polina Malysheva, Creative Director.

Though everyone will know of the final versions of an artist’s work, one might not be very familiar with how game art is actually developed. What does it take for game art to go from concept to completion?

It all starts with a set of sketches. Artists let their imagination run free, creating countless concepts.

At this critical, initial stage of creativity, it is important not to interrupt or divert the artist’s attention. This is a time where the delicate creative process may be negatively affected by recommendations or technical specifications, potentially leading to a dull or mediocre result. An artist can be sensitive.

Once in possession of a number of sketches, we choose the best ones and then continue to work.

The next stage is less about creative freedom and more about taking careful and considered steps. Here it is important to select the main character and fabricate a fascinating storyline.

The artist has to find a delicate balance between making something visually appealing and dynamic, whilst also being historical realistic… and in accordance with the laws of physics!

Specialist Art QA staff and other artist colleagues become involved to provide feedback and check for historical accuracy. Afterwards the final composition and details are refined.

After receiving feedback, the artist makes whatever adjustments are felt necessary and chooses the color scheme to be used in the final image. The ability to observe the details and nuances in the world around us is a very important skill for an artist to possess. We’re very lucky in this regard as many of the references we require are easily seen from the windows of our studio.

Inspirational views of the river Neva.

Observations form an emotional palette from which the artist can draw upon to create the final piece of art. It is important for an artist to know what he or she wants to say, and to whom. In this specific case it was our aim to convey the magnificent power of the battleship Colorado, such that it remains formidable and unstoppable even when surrounded by enemy aircraft. Enemies attacking from all directions helps to visually enhance plot dynamics. In this work there is no place for mindless coloring-in; every detail is important and plays its part.

The next step will be made by a renderer. He takes the model—thoroughly prepared by the 3D department—and then the magic commences. The focus of attention is chosen, the necessary perspectives are considered, and illumination is taken into account.

The image lives with the artist for a few weeks, throughout all phases of creation. The image is an open question towards which the artist is constantly searching for an answer. The more energy and emotion the artist pours into the image, the more that will be portrayed to the audience.

Secondary characters may appear and disappear in the process, created or sacrificed in the cause of portraying the main theme or idea.

Finally we arrive at the most important and most time-consuming stage: the polish. Having almost finished the work, it is important to bring it to the point where—as Victor Kislyi would say—every pixel shines. This is like the final rehearsal of the orchestra: all instruments now play at the precise moment that they should, complementing each other, without interruption.

For World of Warships this is the voyage our game art takes, from the hearts and minds of our artists to your eyes.

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/game-art ... ompletion/

[Galien]

16 Game Design Questions

Hello, everyone! My name is Peter Porai-Koshitc and I’m the head of the World of Warships game-design department. I’m also known as PPK when playing inside Wargaming games, as well as in other games, too. Today I’m going to answer some of the most scintillating questions from you, the readers of our developer blog. Well, many of your questions at least; even the Yamato had a limited range!

How is damage visually represented on a ship?

The ship will have visible traces of artillery hits and will also show when it’s on fire. You will also be able to see which functional modules (main battery, torpedo launchers, radars…etc.) are damaged or inoperable.

Are there any intentions to introduce ship sub-types into the game? (Battlecruisers, for example.)

The game will feature 4 distinctive classes: Battleships, cruisers, destroyers and aircraft carriers. We do include battlecruisers along with other ship sub-types, they are simply included in the cruiser class but it’s up to players how to use them in the proper way.

Will there be any additional battle modes similar to World of Tanks, like “Assault” and “Encounter”?

Yes, World of Warships will include game modes that will be similar to those in World of Tanks, but we’re also looking at some modes specific to World of Warships. The “Convoy Escort” mode is no secret; we’re not 100% sure it will appear in the game at release, but we’re experimenting with it and we’ve had some positive results so far. Battleships advancing to clear the convoy’s path, while destroyers are arranging a fake convoy on the other flank… cruisers speeding to stop destroyers getting too close to cargo ships… lots of new stuff to keep in mind when considering your approach to such battles.

I’d like to get an update about maps! How many of them are planned for release, and what will their features be like?

I’m not sure of the exact number right now, but we’re looking at somewhere between 5 and 10 for release. Most of them are themed after the body of water they’re based in, for example: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, and South China Sea. The maps will also be different sizes; typically smaller size maps for the lower tiers. The Battle mode will also affect the selection of maps.

Will there be any sort of “free world” concept, where a player can be given a ship and an ocean to do whatever he wants with?

We’re considering this, perhaps sometime in the distant future.

What are the hardware requirements for WoWs?

They will be close to that of World of Tanks. The game runs well on laptops, even on those with integrated Intel HD video cards onboard.

How will a player control naval aviation?

Controlling aircraft in World of Warships is unique to this game. We looked at what was already available in this regard, what was needed for the game, and we also added our own personal touch. We continue to test and tweak this system to develop and improve it further.

Will it be possible to equip an aircraft carrier by only a certain type of plane, like for example fighters or bombers?

Player will have complete discretion on which aircraft will be on-board: reconnaissance planes, fighters, bombers, torpedo planes in their preferred proportions.

Are you developing physics for the sinking a destroyed ship?

Yes, we’re working on this. Keep in mind that not every destroyed ship actually sank. Some are destined to just float with only one single soul on-board. But this is gameplay component too. You may see some ships like this, or the smoke pouring off it might obscure your view.

Will the cannons differ by their depression angles, like in World of Tanks, where American tanks can point the cannon lower compared to other nations?

Main battery turrets of various ships are known to have pretty similar depression angles: 0–5°. But their elevation angles can vary from 20° to 45° which factors into the maximum firing range. We recreate this in-game as accurately as possible. Also we’re paying close attention to the horizontal firing arc for the main turrets and torpedo launchers, as well as their front angles and blind zones.

For instance, the Takao is a cruiser with 4 torpedo launchers, but it still lacks ultimate superiority since the the launchers have separate fields of fire that do not overlap. So basically you’ll need to turn your hull to aim each of them at your target. We have air defense sectors in future plans too. Thus you will be able to turn the most effective side of your ship towards approaching dive bombers.

Roughly how long will a battle last and will it be sufficient to fulfill all mission goals?

Currently, battles last up to 20 minutes, though this may be changed further on if necessary.
This time is enough to get 1-3 kills per battle. I once saw a cruiser with 6 kills by the end of the clash. There are also rumors about a “Black Destroyer” that appears online at midnight, makes 9 kills and then disappears, though I haven’t met her myself yet…

What does the workplace of a programmer look like (that one who compiles the final game code)? And who is responsible for that?

Well, the final code is assembled by a script overnight. Nevertheless it is up to us real humans which components will be included in each build and Andrey Lysak is the chap responsible for that. I now proudly present to you what his workplace looks like.

What are the chances that alpha testers for World of Warplanes and WoT: Generals for getting into the World of Warships test?

They are equal to those of ordinary users.

How about the entry requirements?

This is one of the most important things that we check for potential Alpha testers. Based on the tests we see that people with 10-20 thousand tank battles have no difficulties with the interface. Aircraft carriers seem to be the most difficult, and can appear complex to even the most experienced players.

Will there be a minimap in the game?

Yes, it will be included, similar to WoT. We plan to display shallow water on the minimap. There will also be a tactical map, that this will be useful for some important tactical functions.

But the map itself is something like 50x50km! How can it be possible to show small areas of shallows on there?

Well, we plan to mark them by icon on minimap. Its actual placement will be seen in the world itself. We didn’t say it was going to be easy for you!

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/16-game- ... questions/

[Galien]

Penetration areas of ships in World of Warships pt. 1

Author: Pavel Kayun, game designer.

We have already covered some peculiarities concerning World of Warships’ game mechanics, and knowing these may allow players to defeat enemies more effectively. So, to avoid repetition of our articles on penetration, shells and the immunity zone, let’s compile all these topics into one: armour penetration. Let’s start with it.

Armour penetration is a parameter of a shell that characterises its capability to pierce ships’ armour. A number of factors are considered in such computations: the shell’s weight, its impact velocity, the ratio of calibre to armour thickness, the incident angle, the target’s durability and many others. To make it short, below are the key points:

A shell’s muzzle velocity is always certain. Nevertheless, it decreases as the projectile travels (namely, air drag significantly contributes to it along with a number of other [url=blog.worldofwarships.eu/ballistics/]factors[/url]) and its kinetic energy also drops.
As firing range increases you may notice that a shell’s trajectory changes, as does its impact angle.

Armor penetration at different distances.

Of course you do not need to remember all these parameters in your head during battle, you’re not expected to perform complex computations. As practice shows – it is all a matter of time and training. After only a couple of battles players start to feel comfortable with the correct fighting principles and wisely choose their firing range depending on the battlefield situation.

A shell’s angle of incidence deviates a bit to get more perpendicular to the armour surface in case it approaches its target at an angle different from 90 degrees. This effect is well-known to all World of Tanks fans as “shell normalisation”.

Shell normalization

Some shellsmay be destroyed upon impact if the approach angle is too small, without affecting the target. This is conditioned by the excessive normalisation, when tensions within a shell’s body lead to its fragmentation.

Lots of ships have their armour belts mounted in a sloped manner. Hitting such a barrier means that a shell needs to travel through a thicker layer of armour that significantly exceeds the nominal value mentioned in documentation.

Armor penetration.

You may face a ricochet if your shells approach the enemy at an acute angle (namely, deviating more than 50 degrees from the normal surface). Such hits won’t cause any reasonable damage. Of course, this behaviour largely depends on the shell’s type but generally you should remember that AP shells are especially susceptible to the approach angle.

Ricochet

Read more about damage upon partial penetration this Sunday, 19 January.

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/penetrat ... hips-pt-1/

[Galien]

Penetration areas of ships in World of Warships pt. 2

Partial penetration may lead to damage dealt by fragmentation explosion on outer surface.

Partial penetration.

Shells of considerable mass that travel at high velocity may pierce a ship and pass through, exploding only after that at some distance away from it. In such cases there is also no reasonable damage dealt. Normally this relates to AP shells, so obviously attacking destroyers with this type of ammo is not very sensible. HE shells carry a load of explosive that basically means far more damage is dealt to a ship upon its detonation. Nevertheless, these shells are capable of penetrating only thin armour. One of the most effective tactics is to use them in order to sweep off the deck all the weak unarmoured structures, including AAA sites. Many players take advantage of this strategy.

Detonation of HE shell.

In case your shell managed to penetrate a ship’s armour, the explosion will affect interior parts with varying severity. The damage will be conditioned by impact coordinates, the interior construction of a ship and the magnitude of the explosion, and commonly such hits lead to complete destruction of the affected ship. Complete penetration through a ship doesn’t exclude the possibility of direct damage to vital parts of a ship by the projectile.

Hitting interior sections.

Lucky hits into engine rooms or fuel tanks result in onboard fire; detonation will shortly follow a direct impact in an ammo room’s area. So the outcome is invariant: long-awaited destruction of the villain, while it is up to you which way you want to see him perish.

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/penetrat ... ps-pt-2-2/

[Galien]

Interview with Andrey – Head of Gameplay department

Captains! A few weeks ago you had the opportunity to ask questions to Danny, World of Warships Development Director.

This Thursday, January 23, you’ll have a chance to interview Andrey Lysak, Head of Gameplay department! All you need to do is to enter your question(s) as a comment to this post.

You can learn more about Andrey by reading this blog post.

The most interesting questions will be answered by Andrey this Thursday, January 23. The interview will last one hour: from 15.00 GMT to 16.00 GMT (16.00 CET to 17.00 CET).

Previous sessions of “interactive interviews”: The_Challenger, Ev1n, Danny

See you all on Thursday!

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/intervie ... epartment/

[Galien]

What represents a naval battle, Part 4

Author: Sergey Izyurov, programmer

Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek with an HE shell, do not turn to him the other – better to leave the injured one for subsequent blows. There are no hit points left there anyway.
Unknown philosopher (Russian humour)

You can’t just simply go and destroy a ship!

Well, the most difficult thing when you start writing a text is the introduction. I heard that Ilf and Petrov had the same trouble, so here’s how they dealt with the problem. They simply wrote a first page about nothing – random stuff, which was subsequently removed from the rest of the text. So I decided to pay homage to this method and try it myself. I’ll start with some boring, well-known facts and remove them from the text later on. So here we are!

(Abstract removed)

…Moreover, this fact amused the researchers so much that they could not believe their eyes. When they assured them that it was true, this fact was unanimously agreed upon as one of the most fortuitous events in the whole history of naval warfare. So, for us, the described case is important as it vividly shows that it is not that easy to give a universal reply to the question, “in which moment may a ship be considered a completely destroyed unit?”

It is obvious that it may be treated as “destroyed” in the case where the hull has been pierced and sinking is only a matter of time. But what if it’s still on the surface, completely destroyed above sea level with only a couple of surviving sailors, and even the ship’s cat has decided to take its chances and is now learning to swim instead of messing about on board? It would be quite logical to consider such a ship as destroyed, since a twisted metal ghost can barely be any sort of menace to enemies, and the player may be rightfully given a frag.

So how can we draw the line between a “destroyed” and “almost destroyed” vessel?

To do that we use the “hit points” concept that allows estimation of the health of a vessel. The number of hit points decreases each time a ship gets hit. If the number drops to zero – well, it’s not your day, Commander! Yes, you fought like a lion, but your team failed as always – chance is a hard beast to tame. No use in hitting your keyboard hard, though. There will be plenty of bright battles where you will survive and defeat the enemy. Nevertheless, now you can enjoy watching your ship sink in pieces. Or you can take your time looking at the lifeless smoking island that it has become.

At the moment, this scheme looks pretty common and similar to one used in many other games. But what we actually wanted to do in World of Warships was to keep a ship alive until all its parts had been damaged severely. Otherwise it would be strange to consider a ship as “destroyed” just because a sequence of shells hit it in the same turret and the hit points number finally reduced to zero. This approach omits the fact that there are still turrets that work, as well as the engine itself. Even the crew is largely unaffected (except those unlucky enough to be in the damaged turret).

So to avoid this we really need to ensure that hits in the same area will gradually lose their damaging effect. Namely, a shell that subsequently hits the previously destroyed turret can hardly add to the mess in that specific area. Maybe it will just twist the twisted parts a bit more and more thoroughly fragment the already destroyed interior. So there’s almost no ground for counting damage that hits this area.

To make this happen we have divided the ship into a number of damage areas. Such an area may be represented by a module or a compartment. The difference between them is that a module is a functioning element (like a turret, engine or torpedo launcher), but a compartment is something like a “hit points storage area” that may be affected by enemy fire. Each damageable area is defined by its own amount of hit points. Their loss results in reduction of overall ship “health” by the same value. But if a certain area has lost all its hit points, more hits to that area will not damage the ship further.

In the case of a module, damaging it also influences its function. For instance, the turret that was hit will consequently traverse slower or shoot at a lower rate or even fail to do anything at all. Specific hit points of the damageable areas are defined in a way that their sum slightly exceeds the hit points of the ship. Thus, to destroy a ship you will have to damage at least the major part of its modules and compartments. Although there is always a place for exceptions: setting off a detonation in the vicinity of magazines with a single lucky shot may cause a huge monster explosion, HMS “Hood” guarantees that. It takes a really lucky shot though.

You may also simply sink an enemy by hitting its hull below the waterline, so we introduced “buoyancy points” as well. To be exact, these are a sort of flotation measure that are responsible for keeping a ship on the water independent from everything on the upper decks. They are given to the compartments that may be potentially flooded, so their amount reduces if underwater sections are hit. And again, sinking a ship doesn’t imply that every section must be filled with water, only a major part of them.

This Sunday at 13:00 CET we’re going to blow the ships up! Do not miss the continuation of this article.

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/what-rep ... le-part-4/

[Galien]

Peculiarities of the development of various nations

Author: Andrey Gashkov, Lead Producer World of Warships

Dear readers!

We are glad to present an interview with Andrey Gashkov, World of Warships producer, where he reveals some details on different nations’ development, tech trees and balancing basics, and shares his thoughts on American and Japanese shipbuilding traditions.

It was already announced that the first nations to appear in World of Warships will be the USA and Japan. Why were these nations chosen?

Well, there’s an easy explanation – only these two nations possessed the most sophisticated and menacing fleets by the beginning of WWII. What’s more, their rivalry was the most fierce and profound. Britain had lost its authority since WWI. The Soviet, German and French navies were generally inferior compared to the other two nations.

What are the subsequent nations that you plan to introduce further on?

Well, the majority of them have been announced already. We plan to add Britain, Germany and the Soviet Union (including vessels from the time of the Russian Empire) – possibly France and Italy will find a place as well. There are also some ideas to have an “aggregate” team based on ships produced by other European countries. Lots of countries had their own unusual and interesting ship projects, namely Holland, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Greece. Separately, each of these nations can barely be represented by a number of ships sufficient for a decent tech tree. Put together, though, they may be added to our game.

Can you briefly tell us about the key differences between the two nations? Their weak and strong sides, specific shipbuilding traditions or warfare tactics.

As was mentioned before, we try to stick to historical realities as much as we can. Both opposing sides had their own unique military doctrines that influenced all spheres, from ship construction to preferred battle tactics. The Japanese fleet enjoyed balanced, consistent and easy-to-operate squadrons. They were the first to reveal the potential of aircraft carriers, turned out be crafty night warriors and their torpedo armament was the best in those days.

The USA, on the other hand, put all their production might into building up the most technological, versatile and reliable vessels. These ships had state-of-the-art equipment (radars and AAA systems).

Generally, Japanese ship builders tended to endow their ships with character and individuality, making them close to works of art, whereas American engineers were way more pragmatic. Having run into a successful engineering solution they instantly churned it out, trying to take the best parts of it. At the beginning of the 30s, the USA developed a successful Mark 12 127mm cannon. When it showed excellent performance on the battlefield, the Americans quickly arranged its mass production. This essentially placed the Mark 12 almost everywhere where it could actually fit

All these facts and realities will be reflected in our game.

What is the principle for selecting ships for tech trees? How are they balanced in the end? As you possibly know, the Japanese shipbuilding development wasn’t smooth and even. Instead, it witnessed a number of evolving successions. Didn’t that interfere with building balanced tech trees?

There are a number of ships that we cannot help but mention, as they left a remarkable trace in history and on people’s minds. Among these floating legends are the “Yamato”, “Bismarck”, “Aurora” and say the “Essex” carrier, which represents a symbol of American victory in the Pacific Ocean. These ships will be added to the game for sure, it is only a matter of time and place for them to take their place in the tech trees.

As I used to say, arranging development trees is both an interesting and complex occupation. While working on them, one should thoroughly consider the fact that the shipbuilding didn’t develop evenly in each country. For instance, the USA possessed a number of battleships sufficient for parallel tech trees; on the other side they lacked cruisers. The “Omaha” – a powerful cruiser suitable for Tier V-VI followed her predecessor, the “Chester”, which was commissioned in 1907. Unfortunately the USA haven’t built any ships between these two models and that’s why the relevant tech tree turns a bit hollow. So we have to deal with partially-built or “existing on paper” ships to fill this gap. Our studio even possesses a special department for that. They resemble a real development laboratory, where all documentation is collected: archives and blueprints that are used later for the virtual assembly of a ship that has never seen reality.

We used that approach while making the Japanese battleship tree. The Japanese “Kongo” cruiser became the successor of an early “Kawashi” dreadnought. The new vessel was superior in many respects, but actually there was a significant gap between them. Digging into the archives revealed that there was an early “Kongo” project, featuring weaker 305mm cannons. This prototype fit our purposes perfectly.

Actually, we always tend to provide a smooth increase of firepower and other characteristics across the tech tree, thus ship selection is quite thorough, but leaving the logic of the whole process transparent for end users. Not every player realises what it takes to increase a cannon calibre, say from 305mm to 356mm. The exterior of the cannon will barely show any significant difference. In fact, the energy of a shell is proportional to its calibre raised to the third power, so a couple of lucky shots from 356mm barrels would be far more effective than dozens of 305mm ones. It is even more true in naval warfare where everyone manoeuvres and the firing range is long.

This Saturday, January 25th, we will publish an article that will reveal the World of Warships balance work principles and describe the historical battle mode.

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/peculiar ... s-nations/

[Galien]

Balancing ships of all tiers

Dear readers!

In the 2nd part of this interview Andrey will describe modernisations that ships undergo, the historical battles mode and the balancing principles for light and heavy cruisers.

Many of the ships faced a series of modernisations that caused an increase of their parameters. How will this work in World of Warships? Will it possible for a ship to “jump” to a higher tier based on these modernisations?

Normally, most of the ships are developed for long-term service. The record belongs to the Scandinavian countries – some of the ships they developed served for up to 70 years. Many of them underwent a sequence of modernisations and improvements, which were sometimes pretty radical. One of the most successful examples is the “Kongo” project we mentioned before, as the ship was almost completely re-built in the 30s. So in this case the vessel may be represented in the tech tree by two versions – early and modernised. If the changes were not that drastic and large scale, say just the replacement of FCS systems, AAA sites or radars, it will be reflected in the internal research tree of a ship.

Light and heavy cruisers of the same era may differ a lot in their parameters, and some of them are even comparable with battleships. How are you going to balance these ships?

Well, it is the wrong approach to assign battlecruisers to the “cruiser” class. Actually, they were just less heavily armoured and more speedy battleships. Even naval establishments of the first half of the 20th century marked these ships as battleships. So that’s why we’re going to stick to this tradition and include them in the battleship tree as well.

In turn, it was decided to group light and heavy cruisers separately so that the first would fight low tier battles, whereas the latter would fight high tier ones. Possibly their ways will cross in middle-tier battles, ensuring exciting gameplay. Who will win such a battle – a low weight cruiser with rapid-fire artillery or the more heavily armoured and heavily armed battleship? It seems that soon we’ll have a chance to learn that ourselves.

How many “paper” ships, represented only by blueprints, are to be added into World of Warships?

Well, this largely depends on the nation, ship class and even the tier. For instance, the German fleet possessed only one carrier (apart from early seaplane carriers) that could be considered as almost completed, the “Graf Zeppelin”, so that’s why we need “paper” ships to fill the empty places. The British tech tree also faces the same difficulty. Great Britain had a hard time keeping her ships afloat during the war, barely dreaming about laying the keels of any new ships. That’s why the major part of its high level ships will be represented by vessels that were never built.

Moreover, some models simply deserve to be added to the game. For instance, the USA had plans to build a whole fleet of aircraft carriers that would carry ordinary cruiser armament and be equipped with takeoff strips for a dozen on board planes. There are lots of these instances so we’re going to introduce some of them into our game.

20th century history is famous for fierce naval battles. Most of our fans would like to witness these on their screens and, of course, participate. Are you planning a battle mode that will reproduce famous battles of that era?

It is certain that the release stage of World of Warships will not include “historical battles”, though this does not imply that there’s no place for them at all in the future. Currently this idea is being thoroughly considered.

There are a number of concepts to consider before it is realised. Firstly, these could just be ship clashes with their historical configurations. Secondly, this could imply the reconstruction of a whole battle, like the Battle of Leyte Gulf or the Hunt for the Bismarck. The problem there is to get players to play the same roles that the real ships did in the “historical scenario”, otherwise the idea becomes senseless. Ultimately we’ll get a PvE fight that demands a completely different approach.

The first variant (ships with historical configurations and a setting of relevant maps) seems to be more realistic. This matter is being actively discussed now, but there’s still no idea when (and if) it will see the light of day

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/balancin ... all-tiers/

[Galien]

What represents a naval battle, Part 4 – continuation

And, enough with the words! Let’s proceed right to the explosions!

Here is the continuation of the article “What represents a naval battle”:

Major damage inflicted by a shell is conditioned by its explosion upon impact. Of course, its kinetic energy also counts, but the relevant damage will be considerably lower. The blast wave from an explosion occupies a characteristic area, and the damage it inflicts will be equally distributed among all modules and compartments within it. Let’s have a closer look at this mechanism. Please keep in mind that standing too close to an explosion may harm you a bit So you better put on a safety helmet before we proceed.

The effect of an explosion may be inhibited, partially or completely. Each damageable area may have its own specific armour and common armouring pattern. This additional armour may actually lessen the damage dealt (of course, only in cases when a shell hasn’t penetrated a section, so that it escapes an internal explosion). It would happen exactly in the same manner as if you had read something in the previous articles that blew your brain. The helmet couldn’t help you then as the explosion was internal As you would expect, damage also depends on the distance between the detonation epicentre and the damageable area. Thus an internal explosion will obviously have the maximum effect. In the case of a blast wave covering several adjacent areas, the damage will be distributed among them.

So now we have to define, what actual volume will be occupied by this specific explosion and what maximum damage may be dealt in this situation? Of course, you could just use your imagination to estimate the numbers, based on your anticipation of the potential blast. But that would be too complex in the case of an enormous amount of naval artillery shells, especially to make them proportional to each other and exclude any obvious fails. Essentially we would run into a similar problem to the one that related to shell trajectory computations. The game designers would then have a hard time tweaking and balancing all the parameters necessary for the main calibre guns, without even mentioning those for the anti-torpedo cannons.

Having discussed this matter without a fight, the game designers and programmers finally came to a consensus. As we have decided to keep up with the historicity, even for shell trajectories and armour piercing factors, it would be reasonable to stick to this scheme for damage computations as well. Well indeed, would it be wrong just to define the historical damage provided by each shell in the form of hit points, i.e., the ship “health” that it could take away in real life?

Of course you are hardly going to find such definitions in any historical documentation. Actually, no ship that was built ever had any sort of hit points. This approximation was introduced especially for games. That’s why the phrase, “historical damage of a shell”, may sound quite confusing, especially keeping in mind these pesky hit points. But remember that the detonation of a shell is conditioned by the explosive charge within it. Obviously, the energy from the consequent blast is proportional to the amount of this charge. Moreover, the blast itself is essentially a rapid expansion of hot gases and their volume (i.e., the casualty area) also depends on the mass of the charge.

So we may simply set the damage and casualty area proportional to the masses of relevant charges in various shells – this data may be easily obtained from the vast amount of documentation readily available. What coefficients to choose? Well this depends on plausibility and gaming process dynamics. All in all, now these are the only two parameters we have to tweak, instead of potentially hundreds of them.

Note that luckily neither math nor mutant rabbits were mentioned in this article Something tells me the New Year wants us to be more kind to our readers.

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/what-rep ... -part-4-2/

[Galien]

A look at the World of Warships Alpha test in 2013!

Captians!

2014 is here and the alpha test for World of Warships is already underway! Today we would like to share some highlights from the past few months of testing.

Action stations!

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/a-look-a ... t-in-2013/

[Galien]

Focus on Battleships

Author: Mikhail Merzlutin, Lead of Game Logic Group

Whatever happens,
we have the battleship,
and they do not.
(remake of a quote by Hilaire Belloc)

Dreadnought battleships. Steel monsters. Formidable and proud overlords of the sea that now reside in museums. They lack the elegance of aircraft carriers, or the speed of destroyers and cruisers – all they have is monumental, menacing might.

Nowadays, you may run into a battleship as a museum exhibit. Or you may read about them in books or see them in movies and video games. Unfortunately there is a very low chance of becoming a captain of one of these monsters, so games, by far, are the only source for getting this experience. Choosing a battleship is quite logical: these mighty beasts impress everyone, even me.

Do the ships “go on parade” in random battles?

“Well, if you’re so clever, why don’t you parade then?!”

Let me clarify: they actually do that in-game. Though they do it rarely – randomness is only so random, you know. But the concept of the salvo itself, as a method to inflict maximum damage, is pretty instinctive, even for newbie captains. So, we’ll inevitably see these ships heading in a similar direction (if not directly that way), with most of their cannons directed at the enemy.

The battleship – a vessel of contrasts.

The pros of battleships are quite obvious: their high survivability and powerful armament. They may withstand many hits while simultaneously turning opponents into smoking wreckage, which is a very attractive option.

The cons are the following: battleships are the largest ships on the battlefield, so they are pretty easy to aim at, whereas its heavy shells may simply penetrate unarmoured parts of the enemy without detonation. Nevertheless, a single successful hit may make an opponent change its mind and flee. Of course, if it succeeded in withstanding this initial impact.

When one fights a battle, at least it is a short one.

Despite being heavily armoured vessels, battleships are not invulnerable. They’re just more complex targets to sink. Even cruisers are sometimes capable of destroying one of these monsters by penetrating its armour from short distances in the vicinity of its magazines. Size and inertia also add to the difficulties with game-manoeuvring compared to destroyers and cruisers. Coupled with unarmoured range finders, AAA sites and anti-mine cannons that are too easy to lose. So, on the whole, raging in solo attacks against enemy squadrons leaves you a miserable chance of leaving the battlefield safe and sound.

No place for sniping practice.

Shooting at the enemies from long distances won’t work as well: shells would have to travel for a long time with decreased accuracy, so you will only make successful hits against static or slow-moving targets – for instance, aircraft carriers that were spotted by allied aviation. A naval battle barely tolerates slowpokes.

The best option for a battleship is to join a crowd of similar ships and together push in a certain direction, covering each other with the onboard AAA. In this case, if you’re not under heavy return-fire, you can simply sit at a comfortable distance and shoot the enemies you want to.

Of course, you need to know what ships may be effectively hit from such a distance – for this check the 2nd part.

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/focus-on-battleships/

[Galien]

Is it easy to be a battleship?

Reconnaissance and long-range shooting capability

You join some battles with the thought that all of your opponents are doomed: “Sinking all of them? Pfff, piece of cake!” It is only when you get face to face with a pack of them that you realise something really bad is about to happen to your ship. This is the hard way that battleship commanders learn to use reconnaissance planes. Without them, you will have to rely fully on your team, and they don’t always deserve that trust.

Hydroplanes are quite quick and durable with a good view range. However, they’re quite vulnerable – they can only spot enemies visually and cannot survive AAA hits or fighter-plane attacks. Considering the fact that aviation resources are limited, you should refrain from sending recon planes straight into the fray.

How can you eliminate an enemy battleship?

As we mentioned before, the firing range conditions what type of surface (vertical or horizontal) is likely to be hit. Firing ranges themselves vary depending on the cannon type. In any duel combination, such as the Yamato vs the Iowa, there is always an area where the enemy’s armour cannot be penetrated. This is called the immunity zone.

This is widely known but you shouldn’t think of it as a completely safe zone! Heavy main-calibre shells could still seriously damage the armoured parts even without direct penetration, causing fragmentation damage, minor crew injuries or similar effects.

This is common knowledge for real battles, like in the Jutland battle. Below is the description of such a hit by George van Hase. The shell hit the conning tower of the Derflinger battlecruiser. It was quite safe in the tower until that moment.

“So far, those of us in the armoured tower had come off very well… but my train of thought was sharply interrupted. Suddenly, we heard a crack that sounded like our impending doom. A terrific roar, a tremendous explosion and then darkness, in which we felt a colossal blow. The whole conning tower seemed to be hurled into the air as though by the hands of some portentous giant, and then to flutter, trembling, back into its former position. A heavy shell had struck the fore-control about 50cm in front of me. The shell exploded but failed to pierce the thick armour, which it had struck at an unfavourable angle, though huge pieces had been torn out.”

Knowledge of firing ranges (both for you and your enemy) may help you to avoid such situations. A direct hit to valuable modules significantly takes up your time, which is necessary for other purposes like correction of hydroplane reconnaissance and evading torpedo attacks, air attacks, or even your own team members that haven’t noticed you in their path. No time to get bored for sure!

Of course, this kind of fun differs from that of a destroyer, but with no less action. Having become accustomed to the game a player develops a set of working tactics ranging from thoughtful actions in parallel columns similar to the battlecruisers clash in the Jutland battle, to speedy approaches and precise shooting at enemy magazines resembling the Dutch Bay encounters.

[/quote]
-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/is-it-ea ... attleship/

[Galien]

Closed Alpha Test in numbers – January update

Captains!

With January ending we’d like to share with you some updated statistics from the Closed Alpha Test!

Over and out!

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/closed-a ... ry-update/

[Galien]

You ask, We answer

Captains!

We’d like to share with you a short video with World of Warships Devs answering some of your questions

Actions Stations!

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/question_answer/

[Galien]

Through the Eyes of an EU Alpha Tester

Author: Schultz, EU Alpha Tester
It was a calm and cheery morning. My ship was anchored near a wonderful island with a great view. I was up in the conning tower, enjoying a glass of sake and reading the Nowhere Newspaper.

All of a sudden, the radio officer came inside, huffing and puffing.
What’s the matter? Where’s the fire?

*Huffs and puffs*
- Calm down sailor. Take a deep breath and tell me what’s going on.
- Captain Schultz, you have a phone call from one of the enemy commanding officers.
- Forward it to this phone.
- Hello!?
- Hello Captain Schultz. This is Captain Jee Wee.
- Oh you again! What do you want Jee Wee?
- I have a message for you!
- What is it?
- Fiyah za lasers!
I am blasted off my chair as the entire ship starts shaking. In a split second, I got up and went to the intercom.
What in tarnation is going on?!

*Buzzing sound*
– We’ve been hit, sir! We’re taking on water.

*Picks up phone*
– Damn you Jee Wee! I’m not going down that fast!

*Ends call*
– All crew to battle-stations! This is not a drill! Start the pumps. Ahead flank! Prepare to return fire!
– All guns ready to fire, sir!
– FIRE!

* Spotter reporting*
– We’ve hit their magazine, sir! The ship is breaking in half!



I hope you enjoyed this little story I made up for you. Hi gentlemen, gentleladies and fellow sailors! The name’s Schultz (as you may have noticed) and I come from the European “branch” of the Wargaming forums. Some people call me “Schultz von Cannon” because in World of Warplanes, I used to fly the Me-410 with the 50 mm cannon.

My journey with Wargaming began with World of Tanks, where I tried to contribute as much as possible. I moved on to World of Warplanes, where I contributed even more for the European forum community and for the North American community too, believe it or not.

I have been keeping my eye on the start of the World of Warships Alpha Stage for some time, and a few months ago when the recruitment started I was one of the lucky people to be picked.

You can’t imagine the joy I had when I read the email confirming my Alpha Tester status. I was ready to help out with this project.

Today I will share with you some bits and pieces about World of Warships, thanks to the opportunity given to me by the WG personal.

Maybe you have seen some of the in-game screenshots posted by the developers, and I’m sure you were wondering if the game looked like that or if you just saw some “purty” modified images. Well, I was one of those people that said “It’s too good to be true”.

After I finished installing the game, I typed my “credentials” and with a childish curiosity, I pressed the login button and there it unveiled before my eyes. It wasn’t a garage or a hangar, it was a port/dockyard! I took a little “tour” of each ship to check out their look and characteristics. They seemed so lively and imposing that you could almost touch them and feel that cold armour and those big guns!

I was like a kid in a candy store. I wanted to try them all at the same time but I couldn’t, so I went into my first battle with the Yamato. Who doesn’t want to command this legendary battleship from World War II?

Like in World of Tanks or World of Warplanes, I zoomed in to inspect the small details of my ship and I must say that the graphic designers did a good job. The same goes for the surrounding ships, the map itself and other visual elements. This proves that the Big World engine in the right hands is capable of dishing out some really nice graphics.

In the game there are four classes: destroyers, cruisers, aircraft carriers and battleships.

Destroyers are lightly amoured and nimble ships with small caliber guns capable of harassing the enemies. They are good in a support role when it comes to covering other ships with a smoke screen and they can ambush other ships and pepper them with the torpedo launchers. They are mostly used for taking down battleships, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them on other ships as well.

Cruisers can be compared to the medium tanks from World of Tanks. They have generally good armour, good firepower and good mobility. Some of them have different configurations, like torpedo launchers or extra secondary guns or more Anti-Aircraft (AA) batteries.

Mostly I use a cruiser in an AA role to cover the bigger ships from enemy planes, and with the main guns I try to “chew” bit by bit the other ships.

Aircraft Carriers are like a spec ops team. They scout for you and deliver heavy blows to the enemy with torpedo planes and bombers. You can also use fighter planes to escort and protect your other aircraft so they can deliver their payload.

Keep in mind that your ship is only fitted with secondary guns, which are not enough against incoming enemy vessels. Don’t let them get too close!

Battleships are the “Crème de la crème”, the titans, the backbone of the navy! With their big guns, thick armour and generally decent speed, they are worthy adversaries. Unfortunately, they are not very nimble and you need to plan your manoeuvres in advance so that you don’t oversteer, understeer, stop too early, stop too late or hit a friendly ship. This goes for other ships too also when it comes to manoeuvring, but is most obvious with battleships! This type of ship needs time to stop because of the momentum. You need to treat them carefully and if do you’ll have great results. Even if you miss your target, the sight of those water “towers” is amazing!

When it comes to gameplay, the best comparison is the artillery from World of Tanks. You have an ‘arty view’, you spot your target with a recon plane that you have deployed or a friendly ship spots for you, you traverse your turrets (which takes time), you aim, you fire, and you damage the ship and some modules until it goes down to Davy Jones’ Locker. Simple as that.

This is a team-based game with manoeuvring involved and tactics. You can’t win by yourself. You have to work together to achieve total annihilation of the enemy team or capture the base.

In conclusion, I say that the producers of World of Warships are on the right track. The graphics look good, the ship classes feel and behave differently from tier to tier, it’s easy to play and understand, even for the people that didn’t play World of Tanks or artillery.

Have no fear, even though I sound very optimistic, as if pouring honey with milk, I have my feet on the ground and if the situation calls I am always realistic, pointing out the issues to the developers.

We have a great tester team behind World of Warships and I assure you that we are taking our tasks seriously, so that in the end you can enjoy a polished game.

Thank you for your attention and I hope I cleared some things up for you.

Time to get back in the conning tower. Schultz signing out! Action Stations!

-> http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/through- ... ha-tester/