Public Test of Update 8.5

Update 8.5 is coming, and it’s time to test the changes!  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 forthcoming 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 April 2013. 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 Version 8.5

• A new branch of German medium and light tanks. 
• A new line of USSR light tanks.
• A new Asian map named “Pearl River".
• Reworked graphics for Siegfried Line, South Coast and Malinovka.
• Premium consumables are now available for credits.
• Added additional matchmaking rule to keep the balance of scouts in both teams.

The full list of the new features of the first test of the version 8.5 is available below.

When it is time to run a public test, the developers will 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 to 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 to your normal account.  Achievements and research that you complete on the test client will not be carried over to your 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 of credits and experience gain will not be increased for this test. 

Feedback

Once you have logged into the test client, you are encouraged to play as much or as little as you want. Feel free to try out all the new features and see what you can do!

Once you have been playing for a while, please let us know 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.
• Anything you particularly like? 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 new improvements.

How to Join the Public Test

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

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: 07:00 CEST (05:00 GMT) every EVEN day of the month. Average duration will be around 25 minutes.
• Second Periphery: 07:00 CEST (05:00 GMT) every ODD day of the month. Average duration will be around 25 minutes.
• Central Database:  5:30 CEST (03:30 GMT) every day. 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!

New features of the first test of the version 8.5

New Vehicles

• Added the following branches to the German line of medium and light tanks:
  • VK 20.01 (D) (MT tier IV)
  • VK 30.02 (D) v1 (MT tier VI)
  • Indien Panzer (MT tier VIII)
  • Prototype der Arbeitsgruppe A (MT tier IX)
  • Leopard 1 (MT tier X)
  • Aufklarerpanzer Panther (LT tier VII)
• Added to the branch of USSR light tanks: 
  • Т-60 (LT tier II)
  • Т-70 (LT tier III)
  • Т-80 (LT tier IV)

New & Updated Maps

• New Map: Pearl River
• Updated Maps: Siegfried Line, South Coast, and Malinovka
• Minor changes and improvements made for the following maps: Redshire, El-Halluf, Karelia, Sand River, Steppes, Himmelsdorf, and Live Oaks

Gameplay Changes & Additions

• Premium consumables (med kits, repair kits, etc.) are now available for credits (matching the gold/credits exchange rate similar to that of premium shells)
• The creation of platoons for three players is now available for non-premium accounts
• The creation of tank companies is now available for non-premium accounts
• Reduced the credit cost for temporary camouflages, emblems, and inscriptions
• Changes and improvements made to the after-battle stats screen
• Added new inscriptions for five nations
• Inscriptions resolution size increased
• Added additional matchmaking rules to keep the balance of scouts even for both teams

Tank Changes & Updates

• *More specific information will be made available with the release of the final patch notes
• Fixed the depression angles of the gun for the M4A2E4
• Improved visual models for the following vehicles: IS-3, Valentine AT, Pz V Panther, Pz IV/V, Object 263, VK 3001H, Conqueror, IS-4М, Matilda Black Prince, IS-7, ARL-44, Black Prince
• Max speed of the IS-7 increased from 50 to 59.6 km/h.
• Changed velocity of all shells for the 17сm PaK K72 gun from 850 to 925 m/s.
• Added fixes for collision models on the following tanks: PanzerJager I and JagdPz E-100

Minor Fixes & Updates

• Changes made to the "Expert" medal requirements
  • Those who have already received these medals (but are having it displayed in gray) will regain the medal
  • Neither "Master Tanker" nor "Expert" by nation achievements will "fade" after new tanks are introduced in later patches
  • Other medals that appear in gray (Master Tanker) will need to complete the list of objectives (found on mouseover) to earn the medal
• Fixed the situations causing large vehicles to become stuck under overhanging objects
• Fixed a rare bug causing shells to disappear after hitting an enemy gun of a higher tier
• Fixed a bug limiting the damage of HE shells to external modules after penetration
• Fixed a bug that caused shells to appear as if they were exploding in the air
• Fixed a bug that caused a failure of the indication of a damaged or destroyed fuel tank to appear
• Destroyed vehicles no longer absorb damaged cauased by HE shells. HE shells now always explode on the surface of destroyed vehicles
• Vehicles stacked on top of one another will both suffer damage
• Fixed disappearing of emblems and inscriptions on vehicles after alt-TAB or adjusting AA settings
• Fixed the wording of the memory leak warning message
• Fixed errors when creating a private chat channel: not displaying channel creator, freezes of chat window when attempting to close it, etc.
•  Fixed description of achievements:  "Raider ", "Reaper", "Dumitru’s Meda", "de Langlade's Medal"
• Fixed description of consumables:  "100-octane Gasoline" and "105-octane Gasoline"
• Updated the description of the skill "Situational Awareness"
• Fixed minor errors in the names of vehicles and modules
• Chinese tanks based on the “IS” tank are now included in condition for obtaining "The Lion of Sinai" achievement
• Fixed minor bugs in the battle tutorial
• Fixed a bug causing the loss of the benefits from camo net and binoculars when attempting to move a vehicle with a destroyed track
• Fixed a failure of the Sixth Sense indicator from appearing after rapidly being respotted once hidden
• Optimized the look of  vehicles' motion effects (dust and dirt from under the tracks)
• Reduced terrain resistance when driving a tank on certain destroyed objects
• Fixed the display of lag indicator with green color when server operational load is close to 100%
• Fixed the display of tank collision effects when tanks are at the same location but at different altitude
• Fixed some models of ambient objects
• Reworked multiple ambient object destruction effects