This update is still under development; the information in this preview is provided for reference, reflecting the current state of the prototype at the time of its publication. Some changes or features may be absent or may look different in the final release. Screenshots, certain specification figures, and in-game mechanics will not necessarily be relevant after this version’s release.
The French cruisers are at the final stage of testing, and are scheduled to be released in Update 0.6.4. The new branch will be represented by Émile Bertin, La Galissonnière, the heavy cruiser Algérie, and seven more warships. For more information about the newcoming ships, watch the “Developer Diaries“. And now let’s take a look at what else we’ve prepared for you in Update 0.6.4.
Maps and Locations
Maps and Weather
Work on improving the appearance of the in-game maps is also underway. In this Update, we have considerably reworked the Hotspot and Neighbors.
Also, we fixed bugs and made certain enhancements to the following maps: Ring, New Dawn, Trap, Islands of Ice, Islands and Trident.
Weather effects will now appear on the Haven and Ring maps as well. On the Ring map, rain will be possible at the beginning of a battle while on the Haven map there will be a 10% probability of a Cyclone.
New Port
A new Premium Port, Dry Dock, will be available for you. It will replace the current premium port Hawaii which will be converted into a standard, non-Premium port.
We designed it by reference to the existing shipyards with one of such docks being the Norfolk Navy Yard of the early 1940s.
A distinctive feature of the new port is its dynamic lighting that was created using a dedicated technology. Another difference from other ports available in the game is related to the location where the ship spawns. Any selected ship will have three possible spawn points that will depend on the ship’s type and size.
The adjustment of the quality for level of dynamic lighting is added to the client graphics settings. (Off, Low, High)
User Interface
In Update 0.6.4, we increased the space allocated for displaying player nicknames in the Tab-statistics window approximately by 6–7 characters and in the post battle statistics by 4–5 characters.
In addition, two new client window modes have been added: a window without a border and an unfolded window without a border.
A useful addition to the interface will be available for players looking for a suitable clan as well as for players that have already entered a clan. We added a context menu for the Clan tab and system messages related to clan activities. The menu may be opened in the Clans section by right-clicking on the name of a player or a clan.
Also the soundtrack for the tab was added: port music and notifications when interacting with interface elements (both for the clan player, when opening the clan tab in the port, or for the non-clan tab when you go to the clans page from the account menu).
With the approach of a Cyclone, spotting range will decrease gradually. The exact current spotting range will now be displayed on the screen. It will appear on the cyclone approach indicator.
Ship Appearance Changes
We’ve improved the exterior of the following Tier X ships: Gearing, Des Moines, Montana, Midway, Zao, Yamato, Hakuryu, Shimakaze, Moskva, Hindenburg and Minotaur
Other Changes
With the release of this Update, support of the operating systems Windows XP and Vista will be officially and finally discontinued. The game client will not launch on these operating systems. This decision is based on the fact that the operating systems have become outdated and are no longer supported by Microsoft.
This will allow us to optimize the game client for a more convenient and faster operation on modern operating systems, and integrate new graphics technologies in the future.
