The sound of a cannon in the distance echoes off the hills. You can hear the drone of your vehicle's engine, the familiar thump and click of rounds being loaded. Your reticle pinpoints the weakest point of your enemy's armor, and with a single deft movement, you hear a familiar roar as you unleash a devastating round into their hull. These sounds are no doubt familiar to players through their experience commanding a vehicle in Armored Warfare, but we're pleased to be able introduce a substantial amount of new audio in 0.16, much of which includes changes and updates to older sounds.
Cannons
As arguably the most important feature on your vehicle, the cannon deserves special treatment. It may have seemed in the past as if a vehicle's cannon sounds weren't appropriately represented by its size, and all cannons of a certain caliber would sound relatively similar, but now the sound of a given cannon will come from one of over a dozen distinct sounds that have been created for vehicles at different tiers.
High-tier vehicles will feel inherently more powerful, with a bigger boom to accompany their shots than their lower-tier counterparts, just as large MBTs will surpass smaller AFVs and LTs in terms of scale. A larger number of variants for gun sounds have also been added, so even if two vehicles use the same cannon, the sounds that they produce will be recognizably distinct from one another.
Engines
Some of the older engine noises were not in keeping with the behavior with which they were meant to sync up. For example, vehicles climbing hills didn't see much by way of change in the sound of their engine. However, new behaviors have been instituted for all turbine engines and some diesel engines, with some smaller changes to LTs, SPGs, and MBTs, that revolve entirely around the engine load, including their RPM, speed, climbing angle, and mass. Expect to hear a gear shift when accelerating or decelerating more clearly pronounced in future gameplay, with future changes filling out more sound sets for other engine types. These changes to engine sounds are in large part based on how the sounds make the vehicles feel in play, the intention behind which to show that a vehicle is gaining momentum, struggling to mount a hill, and so on. One of the more visible updated behaviors will be that you will hear the sound of an engine starting during countdown alongside the appropriate VO. "Driver, crank it!"
Projectiles
Impact sounds have been altered to take a number of factors into account. The difference between each impact result has been highlighted so that when a round penetrates, doesn't penetrate, ricochets, or shatters, players will have a clear idea of their success. Feedback is also influenced by the type of projectile, so HE, AP, and SC rounds will all be easily distinguished from one another, with further distinctions made between single-shot and autocannon rounds. The player's ability to successfully attack or defend is now acknowledged immediately through use of audio cues. Another aspect of the audio update to projectiles will include shots that come close to players, but ultimately miss them; the sound of a shell whizzing past your vehicle is sure to prompt some immediate application of strategy.
There are plenty of other audio changes both large and small coming in 0.16. These changes are meant to involve players on a deeper level, with sounds that reflect real-world counterparts contributing to better gameplay immersion, and innovative engagement sounds to help entertain players as they perform maintenance and navigate the interface. Ultimately, there's a great deal of new content to discover, and we hope you'll keep an ear out as you explore the newest audio released in 0.16.
We'll see you on the battlefield!
