Commanders!
Welcome to the newest Q&A Session where developers are answering questions posed by players.
On the EU server, we have a situation where we feel that not all maps are included in daily rotation. Can you look into it?
This is not the case – as you can see in player-made tracking threads, the missions that are active are available daily and the rotation is not limited. However, it is worth noting that not all missions are available for all difficulty levels (this is intended) and some missions are intentionally disabled pending an overhaul. In the next major update, we’ll be returning four of those to the game – Harbinger, Stormy Winter, Starry Night and Ghost Hunter.
The impression of a limited map pool is sometimes caused by situations where players encounter the same map five or six times in a two-hour gaming session, for example. This is unfortunately unavoidable as such a situation will statistically happen for at least some players every now and then.
Some buildings on several maps have wrong hitboxes – you can shoot through their walls and so on. Will you be fixing that issue?
Please report any such cases so that we may address them.
Some players claimed that the Object 640 Black Eagle MBT had a 75 percent Credit income bonus instead of the usual 50 percent one and that this bonus was removed. Is this true?
No. In fact, the vehicle has an additional 25 percent bonus on top of the original 50 percent one. Since these bonuses multiply one another, the resulting bonus is 87.5 percent compared to the standard 50 percent.
In the recent article about the future of Armored Warfare, you’ve disclosed some upcoming skin system screenshots of a Leopard with saw blades attached to it. Does this mean we’ll be able to attach such saws to every vehicle in the game as a part of the upcoming customization improvements?
Not all of them, but we are definitely planning to introduce more customization options (as a part of the upcoming skin system) that will include the possibility to add items to your tank, including various junk.
It seems there is a situation where Commander Cortez deals lower maximum damage in Special Operations than in standard PvE. Is that intended?
It is not. Might be a bug, we’ll look into it.
Will you optimize the Global Operations mode more in order to improve FPS?
We are doing that frequently – in fact, we are currently in the middle of an optimization round. It’s not always about the map itself, some of the issues are caused by the User Interface for example. Update 0.26 will feature some of the planned optimization improvements.
Yeah, that’s all well and good, but it feels the game was better optimized years ago. How come, since you’re “improving constantly” Give us specific examples!
Statistics don’t support your statement – in fact, the game’s really optimized better and better. But okay, let’s talk specific examples. One of the issues that we are facing is the automatic settings detector. It doesn’t work really well at the moment – simply put, it sets the settings in an unsuitable fashion for some PCs. For some advanced PCs, it sets the setting too low so that the game doesn’t look good. For some older PCs, it sets them too high so that the game performs poorly. We’re improving that mechanism in the next update and we are also working on a completely new one. This will help players who don’t set their settings manually to improve their game’s performance and looks.
Let’s talk about the current PvP and GLOPS situation. As you know, both modes have severe population issues. Why don’t you buff their Credit and Experience income so that more players play them?
This is a rather complex question that cannot be solved by one flip of a switch. If we oversimplify a bit, adding rewards to any mode does not make it popular enough, the way we’d like it to be.
Why don’t you make it so that once you die in battle, you can immediately use the same vehicle to enter another one?
Because every vehicle doesn’t represent a unit but an individual machine in your arsenal. And as you know, you can’t be on two places at once, even if you’re a tough merc commander.
Will you add Special Medals to PvE?
No. For excellent PvE performance, there are achievements, often with unique rewards such as decals and camouflages.
Can you introduce a special “duel” map where we’d be able to settle scores and grievances within the game with one opponent?
That’s what Custom Matches are for.
Will you add an option where, on the Proving Grounds, we get to choose what enemy tanks spawn during our session so that we can look for their weak spots?
That’s why we are introducing the Armor Inspector – it will help a lot in such a situation.
Are you planning to look into the spotting system? We feel it could use some improvements – for example, some smaller vehicles can be detected only at very close range when hiding behind a bush, MBTs can disappear even in an open field and so on.
Generally speaking, the mechanism is working as it should – firing adds a penalty to the vehicle’s camouflage rating which is why a tank can appear at a certain distance when it fires. Bushes also add camouflage to the vehicles hiding behind them, allowing them to stay hidden.
With that being said, it’s not like we are not investigating the system. Not so long ago, we made some changes in order to reduce the amount of situations where players can fire with impunity while staying hidden behind some bushes and the changes worked as intended according to our statistics. However, it’s also worth noting that this mechanism cannot be just removed – otherwise lighter vehicles would be helpless against MBTs. Plus, camouflage with branches and bushes is still a thing in real life – not everyone’s running around with a thermal imager.
We are carefully monitoring the spotting system situation and are making adjustments where needed in order to make bushes and stealth useful, but not overpowered. And, as was mentioned above, the recent changes helped a lot.
Is the game dynamic enough? Some vehicles like the MBTs feel really slow, might as well be driving a WW2 tank.
We agree, which is why we are working right now on seriously improving the dynamic feel of the game. We are also working on a deeper, more global rebalance of our vehicles but that’s a long and arduous process and we don’t have any specific time frame to share with you just yet.
Let us return to the customization system for a while. Back in 2016, there was a Q&A where you guys said that decals would be resizable and we would be able to put them anywhere on our tanks. In the early 2017, you also mentioned the ability for players to customize their camouflages and basically do what they want with their paintjobs. What happened to those plans?
Yeah, that’s almost two years back. Unfortunately, we had to sit down and review our plans and the whole decal thing was shelved for the foreseeable future. Right now, we are focusing on the abovementioned skin system and one more visual customization feature. After that, we might return to the decal mechanism.
Can you add the option to remove the special camouflage from various reskinned vehicles?
This doesn’t look like something many players would use. We’ll likely not implement that.
Can you make it so that retrofits aren’t tied to a specific vehicle and can be switched between vehicles? At least between reskins and the original.
We are considering some improvements to the Retrofit system but it’s too early to mention any deadlines. But, as for the reskin example in your question, let’s just say this issue will be resolved with the introduction of the skin system.
Many players use different sets of retrofits, consumables and ammo for each mode of the game. Can you introduce a system where players can select a “profile” (different setup) for each mode of the game?
Even though the idea is interesting, we haven’t considered adding such profiles yet.
Many vehicles have similar modules – the same APS for example. Why don’t you make it so that players only have to unlock the same module once and the modules are shared between vehicles?
We are not planning to make that change.
What about the vehicles that are simply terrible, like the ZBL-08? It just sucks. Are you planning to buff it along with the other notorious underperformers?
Yes, we are regularly buffing underperforming vehicles in our updates. But as for the ZBL-08 specifically, we don’t have any specific deadline to share yet.
Since the Black Sea Incursion takes place in Georgia, are planning to implement some Georgian armored vehicles?
No.
In the past, you introduced several vehicles with unguided rockets, such as the MT-LB S8. Are you considering making a full branch out of such vehicles?
While we are considering adding more vehicles with unguided rockets, we are currently not discussing a full branch.
Will you allow players to choose how much ammunition a vehicle carries more freely? For example, if a vehicle has both a cannon and an ATGM launcher, it would be nice to be able to load more missiles at the expense of cannon rounds carried even beyond the standard limit.
That is an interesting idea. At the moment, we aren’t planning that, but in the future, it’s quite possible we’ll add this feature – but first, we need to take a closer look at how it would affect vehicle balance. One negative thing about this idea is that it’s not very realistic. In real life, space for different types of ammunition is not freely interchangeable. A vehicle carrying guided missiles and cannon rounds both can have the missile tubes attached to the sides of the vehicle while the ammunition lies in a storage container underneath them. You can’t just switch them without modifying the vehicle layout. That would not work. Either way, we’ll take a look at it.
In the past, you mentioned that there would be special vehicles for battalion activities. But, the thing is, I don’t want to enter a battalion – I am a solo player. What am I to do to get my hands on these vehicles?
You can always create a one-man battalion for yourself. Sure, the progress will be slower than if you play with others, but you can do that.
Can you add a feature where a commander that I don’t have would be available for a test run?
We’re not considering that at the moment. Maybe in the future.
Will you allow us to rent Premium vehicles without using Gold, for example for a month – for Credits, Reputation or a combination of both?
No – that would seriously damage the game’s economy. Besides, we are, from time to time, allowing you to receive Premium vehicles as a part of our events with the most recent one being Flashpoint One. We are preparing more events for the future. Follow the portal to make sure you don’t miss out on anything.
That’s it for today! We’ll see you on the battlefield!
