WoWS: Weather Effects Teaser

Clear Skies No More

Weather! A natural phenomenon caused by the uneven heating of the planet by the sun, yet something noticeably absent from World of Warships. Sure, there’s been billowy clouds and dramatic lighting, but now the development team has produced some truly atmospheric experiences for Update 0.5.5!

For most maps, weather effects will simply appear at the start of battle and serve to set the tone of the upcoming combat. These brief squalls will have no effect on gameplay, but the North map will feature weather that affects visibility. These new features are still a prototype. We’ll be adjusting the parameters based on player feedback. Everyone’s experiencing the same reduced vision, so it’ll come down to who makes the most of this tactical variable! Keep an eye out for a notification when the foul weather ensues and abates.

Fast Friends

There’s no avoiding that World of Warships is a team-based game. With that in mind, we’re rolling out a new system referred to as “Dynamic Divisions.” In addition to being able to create a Division prior to entering the queue, you’ll now be able to create a Division once the battle has started!

Whoever initiates the Division will be considered the Commander, and will have authority over who else is admitted.

Cooperation is key to securing victory. Make use of this new functionality to increase the amount of coordination in all your battles!

Travel the World

Two new maps arrive with Update 0.5.5, Mountain Range and Trident. Look forward to seeing these maps in the regular rotation.

Mountain Range

Modeled after the South China Sea, an area that has been fraught with naval conflict throughout history, expect to see exotic islands encircled by sheer cliffs. Beware enemies hiding around every outcropping!

Trident

Trident features an archipelago resembling those found in the Indian Ocean. During WWII, ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy were greatly attracted to places like this. The small islands made for excellent hiding places from which to launch raids. Trident is one of the first maps to feature time-of-day variants: dawn, morning, evening, and night.

New Client Optimization

We’re introducing a new file packaging system that will yield significant improvements for battle load times, not to mention faster installs for first-time or fresh installers. According to our internal test results, battle load times improve from roughly 10% for high and very high PC configurations and up to 50% for low configurations. Installation times are up to 2-3 times faster!

We plan to award three days of Premium time to offset the increased time required to install these new changes. Future updates will be faster thanks to these improvements! Keep a lookout for more information at a later date!

More Sight Leaf Options

New static and dynamic sight options for “binocular” view have been added to the Settings menu. Some of these options include designs by z1ooo, DeCease, and Mebius_LW. Choose the sight that best fits your needs!

And Much More

You’ll have to dive into the Public Test, or wait for the update notes upon release, if you want a full account of everything contained in Update 0.5.5. Here’s a small sampling!

• New Type 93 mod. Two torpedo options for Fubuki, Kagero, and Shimakaze
• New sorting filters for ships in Port
• New shell models consisting of three parts: shell body, shell end, and heat haze around the shell
• New full screen flame effects when your ship has been set on fire
• New ship destruction animations based on class and other contributing factors
• Sound design for ship destructions are improved
• Sound design when in binocular mode is improved
• More sound options have been added to the “Settings” menu
• New musical soundtracks
• New Modified Defensive AA Fire consumable added for high-tier aircraft carriers (designed to reduce the likelihood aircraft carriers are eliminated early in the match)
• Tougher “teamkiller” automation (the required damage to be flagged a “teamkiller” has been reduced)
• Significant changes to island configuration for the “Trap” and “Atlantic” maps, as well as numerous minor map tweaks

Trap

Atlantic