Fifth Iteration for the Public Test of Update 1.1

Not only is this a great opportunity to get a glimpse of the future of the game, but you will also be able to actively influence the final look of the update by providing valuable feedback to our developers. Through your help, they will be able to test the newly created features under life-like conditions and smooth out whatever rough edges still remain, based on the findings of the public test participants.

Changes for the Fifth Iteration

• A slight camera fix has been applied
• The default camera setting has been brought closer to how it appears in v1.0
• An extended "Free camera" mode has been added to the mouse settings

Changes for the Fourth Iteration

• Information about the maximum number of destroyed planes in a battle has been added to the Service Record window
• Camera settings now have an 'Alignment Delay' slider
• The percentage penalties indicator during crew retraining has been colorized
• Maps have been optimized for low and very low graphic settings
• Camera and plane behavior for the 'Standard' preset during mouse control have been updated
• It's now possible to remove complex equipment when selling a plane
• The correct throttle display will now be triggered when using the "Level off' option
• The 'Convert' button in the Experience Exchange menu is now functional
• Fixed the display for the skill level after it is dropped
• The price for the crew training in the personal file menu now displays any applied discounts
• Aircraft roll behaves more intuitively when using the 'Show the direction' function
• The display of certain emblems on the La-160 have been corrected

Changes for the Third Iteration

• Fixed a bug making it impossible to begin researching the 2nd perk for pilots
• Assorted minor fixes for both aircraft and maps

Changes for the Second Iteration

• A fix for the critical error that occured while exiting the battle to th hanger after changing the contro settings has been implemented
• Small fixes for ground object have been implemented
• Players' progress from the first iteration will have been saved in the second iteration

Main Features of the Test Version

• New branch of Focke-Wulf German Fighters
• New maps ‘Adriatic’ and ‘Castle’
• Revamp of map ‘Harbor’
• New Tier V premium aircraft
• Improvements to mouse and joystick controls
• General balancing

Please find the full list of changes in the Patch Notes section below.

How the Public Test Works

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 in your normal play account.

The test account is completely separate to your normal account. It will have a set of special rules for crediting experience, credits and gold. This will allow you to unlock all the contents of the game quicker, in order for you to be able to fully test the new features. If you have a Premium account on your usual World of Warplanes account, your Premium time will not transfer; you will need to rebuy it in the test with test Gold. The amount of Gold in your usual account will remain the same as it is before you begin the test.

As such you will receive:

• 2,000 gold for your 1^st victory of the day
• 5,000 gold for your 10^th victory of the day

Additionally, the following multipliers will be applied on the public test server:

Your test account will be a copy of your play account as it was on November 28^th 2013. This means that all the planes purchased or researched on your regular account by this date will also be available on the public test account from the start.

The progress achieved on the test server will not carry over to your regular World of Warplanes account.

Financial transactions are not possible on the test server and payments will not be accepted.

Public Test General Rules

Participation in the World of Warplanes Public Test is free. All players are eligible to take part in the public test as long as they registered before 28^th November 2013.

The test server will run all day long without interruptions or resets. We will communicate in advance when the testing period will be over and when the public test will be closed.

How to Join the Public Test

1. Download the test client installer
2. Make sure you pick a save location that is different to your regular World of Warplanes game files.  Save and run the installer. (8.5 MB)
3. Run the new copy of the game.  The launcher will download all the additional data (6.5 GB)
4. Log in and start playing.  Remember to post your feedback to this forum thread

Thank you for taking part in the public test. Good luck and have fun!

PATCH NOTES

General Features

This patch will introduce a lot of new content for our players:

• New Focke-Wulf branch of German fighters
• Five new Tier V premium planes
• Two new maps
• New Achievements and Medals

The balancing changes that have been introduced aim to fix the domination of high-altitude planes, which is very noticeable both in random battles and tournaments. The properties of high-flying planes will not be altered much. However, planes with a lower optimal altitude and more manoeuvrable planes will be retouched to give them more ways to avoid incoming fire and to be able to counter-attack more efficiently.

Game Settings

• 15% for a destroyed aircraft (instead of 50%)
• 30% for a destroyed ground target (instead of 50%)
• 90% for a destroyed HQ (instead of 100%)

Controls

Mouse

• Advanced settings screen was changed. Additional camera settings for "horizontal" camera binding mode were added
• New camera added for the mouse control profile. The camera follows a different algorithm for how to revert into proper view again when the plane is inverted
• "Standard" camera preset was reconfigured for the new camera. New preset for alternate "Free Camera" settings was added
• As a result, after installing the patch, this "Standard Mouse" control preset will be set as the default state

Physics changes and balance system changes

Physics

• Planes controllability was changed for below optimal-speeds. Improved controllability for close-to-stall speeds
• Faster recovery from stalls. Improved roll controllability when stalling
• Improved afterburner efficiency at critical altitudes
• Roll manoeuvrability reduced at non-optimal altitudes

Shooting

• The connection between the damage dealt and the altitude of the two engaged planes has been removed. Previously this connection led to insufficiently low damage rates when shooting at a plane from below and excessively high damage rates when shooting at a plane from above
• The difference in dispersion of fire on different speeds was reduced. Dispersion for shooting at low speeds was reduced
• A bug, which led to plane speeds not being taken into account for damage calculation, was fixed. (This means that planes will now take more damage in head-on attacks.)

USSR

Lavochkin fighters Tier V-X

• Optimal altitude increased up to the level of medium-altitude planes
• Increased afterburner capacity for La-5, La-7, La-9
• Rebalanced weapons to allow for more comfortable firing during dogfights
• Increased HP

Yakovlev fighters Tier V-X

• Close-to-ground speed was improved
• Increased afterburner capacity for Yak-1, Yak-1M, Yak-3 and Yak-15
• Rebalanced weapons to allow for more comfortable firing during dogfights
• Increased HP

Ground Attack Planes

• IL-2: airframe upgrade added

Germany

• Reduced afterburner power for AGO Ao 192 Kurier

USA

• Wing-mounted M3 machine guns replaced with M2-HB for P-51H Mustang

Japan

Japanese fighters Tier III-X 

• These planes are meant to be very manoeuvrable, well-armed planes with good performance at low and medium altitudes
• Optimal altitude for Tier V-X planes was increased
• Increased HP for tier III-X planes
• The following planes were rebalanced: J7W1, J7W2, J7W3 – handling, optimal altitude and durability (HP) were increased, manoeuvrability was reduced

New Planes

• The new branch of German Tier II-X fighters has the following planes: He-51, FW.159, He.112, FW.190V, FW.190A5, FW.190D, Ta.152, Ta.183, FW.252
• New Tier V premium planes
• New premium German fighter Me. 209V, and four premium Tier V planes from the Beta test:
  • P-40 M-150
  • Il-2 with rear gunner - field modification
  • Me. 209 V
  • XF4U-1
  • Miles. 20
• Compared to other fighters, this new branch is made up of well-armoured and fast, but less manoeuvrable, aircraft

Planes

New branch of German fighters:

• Heinkel He. 51 (Tier II)
• Focke-Wulf Fw. 159 (Tier III)
• Heinkel He. 112 (Tier IV)
• Focke-Wulf Fw. 190V (Tier V)
• Focke-Wulf Fw. 190A-5 (Tier VI)
• Focke-Wulf Fw. 190D (Tier VII)
• Focke-Wulf Ta. 152 (Tier VIII)
• Focke-Wulf Ta. 183 (Tier IX)
• Focke-Wulf Fw. 252 (Tier X)

The following premium planes are now available for purchase in the in-game store and Premium Shop: 

• Curtiss P-40 M-105 (USSR, Tier V fighter)
• Ilyushin IL-2 mod. (USSR, Tier V attack aircraft)
• Miles M. 20 (Great Britain, Tier V fighter)
• Grumman XF4U-1 (USA, Tier V fighter)
• Messerschmitt Me. 209V (Germany, Tier V fighter)

Paint schemes

Alpha/Beta test paint schemes were added for the following planes:

• BSh-1
• Fw 56
• Bf 209 A1
• Bf 109 Z
• He 51
• J7W1
• Hawk 75M
• IL-10
• F6U
• LaGG-3
• La-15
• Bf 109 E
• Bf 110 E
• Fw 190 A1

Interface

• Introductory video added
• Added new function to the game settings to enable switching between different types of sniper modes
• Two sliders, responsible for the camera settings, were added to the advanced mouse settings
• Clicking the button "Development" from a plane’s research menu now returns to the tech tree that the plane in question belongs to
• Login screen now has a limit to how many characters can be entered in the login and password fields (255 and 100 characters respectively)
• Keyboard navigation fixed for login screen. One can switch between the fields with the Tab key, but arrow keys only work inside the fields
• Game mode menu was reworked
• Camera shift was added to the hangar subsection
• Extended statistics in achievements menu

Battle Interface

• A special damage indicator icon was added for two-engine planes
• You can now check the battle chat log with Page Up/Page Down keys
• The arrows on screen, pointing to the position of your enemies, have been increased in size and their transparency was reduced
• Afterburner indicator was changed to resemble the gun overheating indicator

Maps

• Battle activity on the ground was added on the following maps: 'Harbor', 'El Halluf', 'Pacific', 'Bay' and 'Eastern Front'.
• New game maps were added:
  • 'Fortress': Available for Tier II-VII planes
  • 'Adriatic': Available for Tier V-X planes
  • 'Harbor' map was completely redesigned. Available for Tier I-V planes

Achievements

New tiered medals showing progress on the number of aerial kills, destroyed objects and epic achievements for destroyed enemy planes (with a higher tier than the player's plane) were added

• Epic achievements:
  
  • Akamatsu medal: Awarded for destroying 3 or more enemy planes in one battle in a fighter. Enemy planes must be at least 2 tiers higher than the player’s plane
  • McGuire medal: Awarded for destroying 3 or more enemy planes in one battle in a heavy fighter. Enemy planes must be at least 2 tiers higher than the player’s plane
  • Yefimov medal: Awarded for destroying 3 or more enemy planes in one battle in a ground attack plane. Enemy planes must be at least 2 tiers higher than the player’s plane

• Tiered achievements:
  • Graf Medal IV class: Awarded for destroying 10 enemy planes
  • Graf Medal III class: Awarded for destroying 100 enemy planes
  • Graf Medal II class: Awarded for destroying 1,000 enemy planes
  • Graf Medal I class: Awarded for destroying 10,000 enemy planes
  • Begeldinov Medal IV class: Awarded for destroying 30 ground targets
  • Begeldinov Medal III class: Awarded for destroying 300 ground targets
  • Begeldinov Medal II class: Awarded for destroying 3,000 ground targets
  • Begeldinov Medal I class: Awarded for destroying 30,000 ground targets

Audio

• Hangar sounds were updated
• New music added to login and hangar screens
• Significantly improved audio quality on all maps

Training

• Added new training mission on how to attack ground targets
• Added new descriptions to the "Team battle" tutorial mission
• Training mission II now occurs on the updated "Harbor" map

Chat

• You can now resize the chat window
• Sorting of the contact list was added
• User channel moderation feature was added:
  • ability to remove a user from the channel
  • ability to restore access to the channel
  • High channel load mode was implemented. Now you can invite an unlimited number of players to the channel

Bug fixes

• Various bugs in flights, store, barracks and pilot's personal file were fixed
• Fixed the bug, which caused players in a flight to end up in battles with planes of up to two tiers higher than the top plane in the flight
• Bug with different number of ground targets on all maps was fixed

Chat bug fixes:

• A range of bugs affecting the display of player names were fixed:
  • Moderator colour not applying correctly
  • Numbers appearing instead of a player’s nickname
  • Fixed several bugs in the state and behaviour of chat interface elements
  • The bug causing a channel creation window to freeze when entering an incorrect name was fixed
  • The bug occurring in the contact list when trying to change a user group name into the current name was fixed