Dear Tankers,
Welcome to our 36th Development Status. You can see on what we were working the last three weeks.
PAK 40
PaK 40 - a German 75 mm anti-tank cannon developed between 1939 and 1941 and used by the German army during World War II.
ZiS-3
ZiS-3 - a Soviet 76 field gun developed in 1942 and used during World War II by Soviet army.
Swamps
Prohorovka is a map mostly filled with grasslands, forests, and smaller urban agglomerations, which might seem a bit monotonous to some of the players. As a solution to this matter, we've decided to introduce a bit of variation in the form of a new terrain biome - the swamps.
Our main intention was to create an immersive surrounding that would make you guys feel the grim atmosphere of the wetland and provide some exploration potential for those, who curiously look at the world around them. You may find here tons of mud, puddles of the marsh water, and only a few roads that guarantee a safe passage - going out of the track might be beneficial, but you do it at your own risk!
The production process of a swamp was fairly easy, as it only required the use of basic terrain deformation tools, followed by polishing with some additional details - you may see it on our timelapse above! As we all know, nature is the most impressive artist, and to replicate its creations we needed some randomness and "organized chaos". Therefore, we used irregular "terrain brushes" to obtain natural-looking curves with randomized height and shapes of the "ground islets". Once the formation was done, we covered the area with a mixture of different textures and adjusted the water's color, so that it would suit the gloomy vibe of a smelly morass. Thus, after a few hours of creative efforts, we are finished with a new - hopefully interesting - location that is waiting for your tanks to come and take the challenge. Make sure that you pack a few shovels and equip the vehicles with a towing chain - the peat ground is dense and it most certainly won't give you an easy fight!
Level Blockout
We’ve recently changed our approach to level blockout - unlike previously, now we are using very basic-looking, geometric assets which’s the main purpose is to communicate terrain’s logical role. Our main concern is to place the obstacles, enemies, objectives, and events in such a way that it provides a player with the best gameplay experience possible.
As you can see, our map currently looks more like a floor full of plastic toys, rather than a photorealistic eastern terrain, but this is the case - for now, we are going for simplicity and clarity. This reversed strategy will allow us to precisely determine which parts of the map are still under blockout processing and which have already been finished.
Once the blockout stage is considered to be done, environment artists will take rule over the area and change it into more visually appealing - stay tuned, as we will most certainly share the results with you in the future!
Thank you and have a good one!
DeGenerals
