Public Test of the Historical Battles Game Mode

The new game mode is coming, and it’s time to test its functionality!  The World of Tanks development team needs to conduct a thorough test and they want you to take part.

The development team want to make the game as good as possible and getting your feedback is a big part of that.  Taking part in the public test is your chance to let us know your thoughts and suggestions on upcoming updates.  This means we can review your feedback and make any further changes before the update goes live.

All World of Tanks players are eligible to take part in the public test as long as they registered before 1st March 2014.  You don’t need to be an experienced tester to join in, you just need to be willing to try out as many of the new features as you can and send us your feedback!

Main Features of the Public Test

• Historical Battles
• Full 9.0 functionality, including turrets blowing off upon ammo rack explosion
• 3 tanks remodeled in HD (T-54, Tiger I and M4 Sherman)
• 150 tanks remade for PBS (Physically Based Shading)
• Maps remade for PBS (Physically Based Shading)

For the full list of changes, please see the Patch Notes section below.

Disclaimer

• The public test will use a new graphic technology called “physically based shading” that is planned to be the basis for the future graphical changes in 2014, such as HD tank models.
• The public test will include some of the HD models planned for release in Version 9.0, as well as some new physics functions such as turrets being blown off upon the explosion of the ammo rack and realistic suspension behaviour in the HD models. We hope to collect early feedback on these functions so that we can make any necessary changes before the release of Version 9.0.
• This test’s main focus points are the technical aspects of the new features and the Historical Battles game mode. The content provided for testing should not be considered as final and is subject to change. We strongly encourage you to send us your feedback and opinions as they are very important to help us to improve the features.

When it is time to run a public test, the developers release a test version of the client.  This can be downloaded by following the instructions below.  Make sure that you follow all of the instructions carefully so that you don’t accidentally cause problems on your main play account.

Your test client account will usually be a copy of your play account, meaning that all the vehicles purchased and research that you have completed will be the same.  However, please note:

• The test account is completely separate from your normal account.  Achievements and research that you complete on the test client will not be carried over to your main play account.
• Financial transactions are not possible on the test server and payments will not be accepted.
• Depending on the needs of the test, your test account may be credited with gold, credits or experience. 
• The test server is subject to the same EULA and general rules as the World of Tanks game server.  This means that you still need to play nice or face the usual consequences, just the same as on the official game server.
• All test accounts will receive a one-time credit of:
  • 100,000,000 free XP
  • 100,000,000 credits
  • 20,000 Gold
• The rate at which credits and experience are gained will not be increased for this test. 

Once you have logged in to the test client, you can play as much or as little as you want. We encourage you to try out all the new features and see what you can do!

Once you have been playing for a while, pleasesend us your feedback by posting to these special forum threads:  The first is for bug reports and the second is for general feedback about the test version. The community managers will collect up all your responses on the thread and send them to the developers.

The sort of feedback we are particularly interested in includes:

• Any bugs or glitches that you have found in the game.  Got stuck in the scenery?  Game crashes when you do a certain action?  Tell us all about it!
• Honest feedback about vehicles and game mechanics.  If you think something doesn’t function well, then please tell us.
• Is there anything you especially like?  For example, do you love the new stats for a previously underpowered vehicle?  Confirm to the developers that the community is now satisfied with that feature, letting them focus on other improvements.

How to Join the Public Test

Eager to get going?  Follow the instructions below to join the test!

1. Download the test client installer.
2. Make sure you pick a save location that is different to your regular World of Tanks game files.  Save and run the installer. (9.2 MB)
3. Run the new copy of the game.  The launcher will download all the additional data (4.5 GB).
4. Log in and start playing.  Remember to post your feedback to this forum thread.

Please be aware of the following:

In order to make the test experience more efficient, it may be necessary to limit the number of players on the test server.  .  If the server is full when you log in, you’ll be placed into a queue.

The test server will be restarted regularly, according to the following schedule: 

• First Periphery: 05:00 CET (04:00 UTC) daily.  Average duration will be around 25 minutes.
• Second Periphery: 06:00 CET (05:00 UTC) daily.  Average duration will be around 25 minutes.
• Central Database:  10:00 CET (09:00 UTC) daily.  Average duration will be around 2 or 3 minutes.

The test server may be subject to unscheduled restarts and maintenance.

And of course, remember that it is a test server!  This means that you may encounter bugs and temporary features. Everything in the test version could change before the final release.

Thank you for taking part in the public test!  Good luck and have fun!

Patch Notes

List of changes between World of Tanks Version 8.11 and the Historical Battles Public Test #1:

Changes to vehicles:

Added new German vehicles:

• Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. A, Tier III German medium tank
• Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. D, Tier IV German medium tank
• StuG III Ausf. B, Tier IV German tank destroyer

Reworked and improved the following vehicles:

• Т-54
• Tiger I
• M4 Sherman

Fixed a suspension issue for these improved vehicles.

Changed the following characteristics of the below vehicles:

T7 Combat Car:

• Maximum forward and reverse speed increased from 38.6 to 56km/h, and from 16 to 20km/h, respectively.
• Ammunition capacity changed from 1,100 to 1,350 shells.
• 12.7mm MG HB M2, 12.7mm MG HB M2 A and 12.7mm T23 heavy machine guns:
  • Rate of fire per shell container increased from 450 to 550 r/m.
  • Gun range increased from 350 to 395m.
  • Penetration increased from 22 to 27mm.

Light Mk. VIC:

• Gun range increased from 350 to 395m.
• Penetration increased from 25 to 27mm.

Other changes:

• “Malinovka”, “Serene Coast”, “Steppes”, “Redshire”, “Mountain Pass”, "Pearl River" and "Severogorsk" maps modified and reworked.
• New “Historical Battle” game mode added.
• “Confrontation” battle type removed.
• New “Graphics” window added in “Settings”.
• Option added to reduce the game area resolution while keeping the Graphical User Interface (GUI) resolution unchanged (the “Dynamic resolution” option in graphics settings).
• Field-of-View (FOV) configuration option added.
• Option added to set the “Colour filter” intensity.
• Option added to set the screen refresh rate.
• Tank turret will now fly off when ammo rack explosion occurs.
• New full screen effect in Sniper Mode added.
• Input language indicator added to login screen.
• New awards added for Team Battles: “Fighting Reconnaissance”, “God of War”, “Will-to-Win Spirit”, “Crucial Shot” and “For Tactical Operations”.
• “Vehicles” tab in “Service Record” window reworked and corrected.
• “Statistics” tab in “Service Record” window reworked.
• Requirements for “Steel Wall” award changed.
• Improvements to certain characteristics of Light Mk. VIC and T7 Combat Car tanks added.
• In after-battle statistics, “Potential damage” score replaced with “Damage blocked by armor”.
• “Voice chat” malfunctions fixed.
• Visual depiction of “Dispersion Indicator” during battle playback fixed.
• Minor bugs during battle playback fixed.
• Issue with artillery shells landing out of dispersion circle in Artillery mode fixed.
• Issue with artillery shells exploding in midair fixed.
• Issue with game client disconnecting upon exit fixed.
• Game client performance on some PC configurations improved.
• Draw quality of decals (a special texture that can be applied over a base texture, for example, blood, bullet or shell holes, logos, etc.) and motion-blur effect optimised.
• Performance issue occurring after enabling of track traces fixed.
• Display of shadows on vegetation at medium and high settings fixed.
• Notification and invitation windows when in the Garage fixed.
• Table displaying tiers of vehicles in queue removed.
• “Ammunition is empty” message added when pressing F8 after running out of shells.
• Auto-aim point selection system changed.
• Auto-detect system for graphics settings reworked.
• Draw quality of large lists of vehicles in “Missions” window optimised.
• All music re-mastered.
• Maximum number of complaints per day increased from 5 to 10.
• Complaint titles changed.
• “Will-to-Win Spirit” award moved to “Honorary Ranks”.
• Minor bugs in “Missions” window fixed.
• Audio interruptions during automatic gunfire fixed.
• Issues with track traces disappearing and flickering fixed.
• Occasional issue with shells hitting vehicles without a sound effect fixed.
• Uncontrolled relocations of destroyed vehicles fixed.
• Issue with spinning wait icon being displayed every minute while in the Garage fixed.
• Issue with “In Depot” icon being displayed after removing permanent Camouflage that was purchased prior to the release of 0.8.11 fixed.
• Issue with the amount of experience displayed in tooltips in respect of a researched vehicle or module fixed.
• In the “Vehicles” statistics tab, display of statistics according to the awards obtained in Team Battles fixed.
• Issue with occasional delayed awarding or failure to award the “Abrams' Medal” fixed.
• Issue with rounding of the win percentage fixed.
• Issue with connection to training room voice chat upon client re-launch fixed.
• Draw quality issue with tracer moving outside shell trajectory fixed.
• Dynamic target (Gunner's) viewpoint added to target points subject to visibility checks from other (Commander's above-turret and Gunner's on-gun) viewpoints.
• Issue with after-battle saving of the distance from the camera to the player's vehicle fixed.
• High-Explosive shells will no longer explode when they hit a crew member located outside a vehicle (for open-type SPGs).
• Performance issue with filtering by Commander's name of Tank Company fixed.