Gaijin Q&A no5
 
Q. How the Matchmaker works and the allocation of BRs for certain vehicles raises questions. We would like to hear your opinion on this matter.
A. There are two main factors to consider:
There are a few parameters to which the matchmaker must work - firstly, the place which the player holds in the queue. If in one queue there are 20 players in Fw190F-8s and in the other, 10 players in P63C-5s, then in Realistic and Simulator modes, the Matchmaker will not be able to make a game (in AB, it is obviously simpler), this is where many problems with poor matchmaking stem from.
No less important is the BR of a vehicle. Two aircraft with the same BR are not identical to each other in their handling characteristics, but often by class. (Attackers and bombers with the same BR, for example.)
BR is, primarily, an indicator as to a vehicles effectiveness in battle. To this end, a vehicle with highly effective armament and a higher BR can easily be defeated by a more maneuverable vehicle with worse weapons and a lower BR.
The bonus to reward and the cost of repair is set according to how often a vehicle dies and how many enemies it manages to destroy before it dies.
 
Q. Do you plan to introduce and model Radar for aircraft and tanks?
A. This is not planned for the near future. However, we are exploring the possibility of introducing similar facilities in the current form of battles.
 
Q. With the implementation of ground forces, there is the issue of there not being enough room for mixed equipment in your lineup. Will there be an option to change your line up before battle or are you planning to change the hanger?
A. We are planning to introduce a function whereby you can save presets (lineups in your hanger), but we are exploring other ways in which to address this and plans may change.
 
Q. Are you planning to release the data according to which you change the characteristics of ground vehicles? Why did you change the rate of fire of the "Sherman"?
A. The change to the rate of fire of the Sherman was simply down to incorrect data. We take the rate of fire to mean the maximum achievable in battle (in the case of the Sherman, it was given its theoretical maximum rate of fire, without factoring in the crew). Unfortunately, many technical documents are still protected by law and cannot be shared. We will include any changes to vehicles in the patch notes.
 
Q. Tell us about the change to the kill system. When an aircraft's wing is shot off, you do not get allocated the "frag" until the aircraft hits the ground.
A. Cases of aircraft returning to base after suffering extreme damage were not uncommon. These aircraft would land at a friendly aerodrome, or be able to shoot someone down whilst en-route home.
The old system was similar to that used during the war, where the number of kills credited to a pilot could be higher than the number of aircraft actually shot down (where a heavily damaged aircraft was counted as a kill).
We use a much more accurate system (where we always know whether an aircraft has been destroyed/damaged beyond all repair), this way we can avoid players having more deaths than flyouts.
In short, whilst an aircraft can still be repaired, it is not counted as a kill.
 
Q. How complete are the German and USSR tank lines and when can we expect the American tanks to arrive?
A. Work has already commenced on the American tanks and we expect to be able to release them sometime this year. If their models are ready, we shall show them off on the devblog.
Our team is working on other branches, including lines of aircraft, which will be published at a later date.
 
Q. Will the IL-28 be added?
A. Yes, it has already flown in-game and is awaiting competition from the other nations.
We think you will see it very Soon™™
 
Q. Are you working on changing the visibility of tanks, both behind obstacles and in the 3rd person view? What percentage of tanks are currently included in the branches? Which vehicles, other than those included in the release trees, will be included?
A. Firstly, we are waiting for the American tree to be ready, we will show these tanks Soon™™™™™™™™. The tank trees will be updated, but only after the current aircraft trees are updated. On the whole, the trees are up to date, but perhaps we will add new shell types that are not currently in game, etc. All irregularities and inconsistencies will be corrected. If new documents come to light showing different characteristics, we are ready to consider them. Regarding shooting through obstacles in 3rd person view, when the enemy tank is not visible through the gunsight, this shall be fixed.
 
Q. In Simulator Battles, no more than 8 players are needed for a fairly tactical game.
A. It is still early to talk about this as the introduction of new aircraft changes gameplay and tactics. Similarly, a small number of players on a very large map cannot find one another.
 
Q. What happens to the skills of duplicate crew member (ie, when there are two loaders)?
A. Each skill will be applied to both crew members. In vehicles where a single crew member performs multiple roles, the skills for each role will affect him.
 
Q. Are their plans for the Linux version of the game?
A. Yes.
 
Q. Has the game mode with glasses been forgotten? - translator's note, I believe this refers to Oculus Rift support
A. We may return to this topic after finishing testing.
 
Q. How does the game know when to start a battle? Is it after a set amount of time, or after a set number of players load in?
A. It is assumed that from the moment the Matchmaker finds a game, it takes players approximately 30 seconds to load the match and about 15 seconds is given on the pre-battle countdown.
 
Q. What statistics have you gathered on the tanks? When can we expect the first changes in their BRs?
A. It is difficult to name a date. There are imbalances in the game balances and in the maps. For the balancing of maps, it is possible to remove the ties to team and respawn. More likely, Heavy Tanks will have their BRs reduced and the early T-34 and Sherman will have theirs increased.
 
Q. After 1.39, there is an imbalance with bomber gunners, especially in SB.
A. Gunners and Damage Models have not changed. Perhaps some parameter that we could not see has changed. We plan to make bomber DMs more accurate to eliminate questionable and difficult to understand sitations.
 
Q. Are you prioritising fixing incorrect aircraft trim settings?
A. Yes. We are working on this.
 
Q. Will you fix the massive repair times? Will tank DMs be changed to provide a longer life?
A. The huge repair times are a bug - caused by injured crew. This will be fixed. It is possible that after a large number of hits, you will be offered to abandon the vehicle.
Regarding extended vehicle lifespan, we may strengthen the ammo rack as at the moment, almost every hit to it causes an explosion.
 
Q. What plans exist to add anti-aircraft guns, particularly in Tiers 4 and 5?
A. In the next major update, we will most likely add more AAA for both Germans and USSR. For the USSR, around 3 machines and for the Germans, around 4. For the high tiers, we are planning the ZSU 57-2 for the USSR, which falls beyond the timeline of the game, but will be added anyway. The Germans will get the Flakpanzer V, based on the chassis of a Panther, for example.
 
Q. Will a manual gearbox be included?
A. There is already a manual gearbox modelled in game, but it needs some configuring.
 
Q. Will the camera ever be attached to the tank's gunsight, rather than to the cursor, as in other simulators?
A. Not all tank simulators use the same camera behaviour.
 
Q. Will wing damage affect the ability of the wing to produce lift?
A. For the most part, wing damage affects loss of lift, consistent with reality.
 
Q. Will 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 etc duels ever be implemented for AB and RB, with their own sets of BRs?
A. No. This way the perceived effectiveness of an aircraft is not influenced by individual players.
 
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Q. Why, in "sniper mode", is the camera not located next to the cannon, where it should be?
A. At the moment, "sniper mode" centres the camera along the gun's bore, so that it is more obvious where your shots are going. We are aware that this is not historically accurate and will return to this at a later date.
 
Q. We have already seen a number of "rare" tanks, will we get the Tiger P? When are you planning to introduce multi-gun support and anti-aircraft ammunition?
A. Yes, the Tiger P will most likely be a Premium Tank. We are currently working on multi-gun support and will attempt to implement it as Soon™™™™™™™™ as possible.
 
Q. Do you plan to publish all in-game statistics? You always refer to these whenever a change is made to the game.
A. No, and for this reason. This information is very difficult to comprehend and is not always immediately clear. You need to know how to read this information and if we publish it, players may come to incorrect conclusions.
 
Q. Are you planning to introduce a colourblind mode?
A. Yes. We are working on it.
 
Q. There are huge problems with bombers in SB. They do not have cockpits, are extremely resiliant and their gunners pose a problem due to the 3rd Person view. This is particularly serious with strategic bombers, such as the B-17 and B-24. Do you plan to fix this?
A. There have been no buffs to gunners or damage models in the last few updates. In the future, we are planning changes to DMs, pushing them closer to reality. B-17s, for example, will be able to be downed by A6M "Zero"s, with some effort. They should not be immune to shots.
 
Q. There are a number of sub-nations in the tech trees, notably Italy and Australia. Will you add lines of aircraft into the current branches, particularly in the case of the French?
A. Yes. If possible, we will move Italy into its own branch, other nations may be unique to other branches. We have not decided yet and wish to first finish work on the current 5 nations.
For tanks, the USA will be the next, followed by British and Japanese tanks. Afterwards, we may add different models of tank into the existing branches. There may be problems with the higher tiers in the Italian tree, so we will keep you updated.
 
Q. There is a feeling that the current timer for repairs does not fit into the game. Are there any plans to replace it?
A. We do not plan to totally change this mechanic, but we are going to fine-tune it and fix any issues it might have (the length of time it takes to repair, exploding and irrepairable gun barrels).
 
Q. Why are complete blackouts and redouts not in the game? Is this for game balance?
A. We have considered this, but complete losses of consciousness of the pilot will lead to massive changes in gameplay and we are still debating on how best to implement them, if we do so.
 
Q. Has the status of the IL-28 and B-29 changed? Last time these were mentioned, you said they would not be added for balance reasons.
A. We are delaying their release due to the lack of competition against these aircraft. We want to add them, but they are not only good bombers, but also very well protected. This could cause a lack of balance.
 
Q. Will there be tank battles in an urban environment?
A. Yes, we will create urban maps in the future. Buildings will be destructible, we are currently working on this.
 
Q. Will the MiG-17 be added? The MiG-15 is currently inferior to the Sabre.
A. For the moment, no. If we see that the MiG-17 is needed to achieve game balance, then we will re-evaluate our decision not to include it.
 
Q. The Me-163 has been in game for a while and still does not have the correct procedures for takeoff and landing. Are there going to be any improvements to the Me-163?
A. Yes, this issue is well known and we would have liked to have fixed this in the previous patch, but we ran out of time. We aim to fix this issue in the next patch.
 
Q. Will there be armoured cars in the future?
A. Yes.