Behind the Scenes: Oyster Bay

Commanders,

We've got the sun, the sand, and the sea. It's the perfect tropical paradise, and a battlefield that promises a myriad of possibilities. Fresh from Recon Mission, let's take a look at the making of the Oyster Bay map!

Q&A with our Dev team!

Q: Players are really enjoying the wonderful landscape on the Oyster Bay map. How was this landscape created? For example, how did you design the rocks, seaside, and volcano?

A: We designed the landscape using models created with modern photogrammetry technology. This greatly increased the quality and detail of the landscape elements. We were able to capture the elements we wanted and add them to the map.

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Q: We spotted a turret on the map that continuously fires at the seaside. Are there any other interesting features we should look out for?

A: The highlight of the map is the volcano that looks ready to erupt. At some points, you can see planes in pursuit between rocks or crashing into bunkers.

Q: Which part of Oyster Bay was the most challenging to create?

A: The whole map was a challenging experiment for the development team. However, the area we reworked the most was the port. We changed the setting and visual style of the area several times.

Q: How did the team overcome the challenges of making Oyster Bay?

A: Oyster Bay is a special map. The size and setting of the map are absolutely unique within World of Tanks. We put a huge amount of work into prototyping, creating new models and textures, and testing.

To adapt to these new conditions, we experimented a lot.

Q: How did you continue to work on Oyster Bay after Recon Mission? Were there any key changes to the map?

A: After Recon Mission, we hardly made any serious changes to the gameplay. However, we did heavily modernize the visuals. We kept the main concept of the map, which was the island, but created a more realistic setting. We designed the entire infrastructure on the island to reflect that of an important strategic base during the Second World War, and restyled one of the locations as a port.

The Port

Before After

Q: During Recon Mission, players liked that Oyster Bay allowed them to try out a variety of tactics with every vehicle class. Can you tell us about how you created this balance in Oyster Bay?

A: One of our key reasons for creating such a large, unique map was to provide a variety of gameplay for all vehicle classes. We analyzed battles on existing maps to better understand the kind of gameplay players of each vehicle class prefer, then implemented our findings in the new setting.

Positions of Both Teams
Movement
Deployment of Vehicles
Directions of Shots

Positions of Both Teams

Blue - First team
Yellow - Second team

Movement

Orange - First team
Blue - Second team

Deployment of Vehicles

Blue - Tank destroyers
Orange - Heavy tanks
Red - Light tanks
Turquoise - Medium tanks
Green - SPGs

Directions of Shots

Yellow - From the second team
Blue - From the first team

LEARN AND CONQUER!

Now that we know the journey it took to get here, let's check out some of Oyster Bay's most interesting features. Use these tips to dominate this beautiful battlefield, now available in Random Battles!

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