KTTS 2014: HD graphics introduced

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Silentstalker

Hello everyone,

many of you have probably seen the ASAP/KTTS video on HD graphics. It’s pretty impressive, take a look (left – old, right – new):

Independent suspension:

Demolishing houses (Havoc):

Turrets flying off (solid obstacles):

- apart from that, SerB mentions asymetrical historical battles (one team – 3 Tigers, other – 15 T-34′s)
- Clanwars will be improved
- garage battles have issues, might appears for tier 10 only

Tier 10 Japanese heavy might appear, here’s a drawing shown in the video:

No idea what that is, but it is not what was considered earlier as far as I know. The “tier 4,5,6 gap” mentioned by SerB is also a bit odd.

SerB also mentions unlockable hulls officially, which is cool (as alternatives, not one better than the other). Good. Also, further optimization will be made in 8.11 and 9.0.

98 thoughts on “KTTS 2014: HD graphics introduced”

Boris Dragonov on December 31, 2013 at 4:06 pm said:

looks great
- Silentstalker on December 31, 2013 at 4:14 pm said:
  
  It does. This will give War Thunder a run for its money even in graphics.
  - Anti-Communist on December 31, 2013 at 4:17 pm said:
    
    Umm not bad but still not WT level. Compare them all you want, but WT simply has far better game engine and it runs better than WoT. WoT makes my 7870 work on 70 degrees, while it has no troubles with WT.
    - Alexander Yordanov on December 31, 2013 at 4:32 pm said:
      
      Same thing I have been saying to WT players. WT is good looking…
      *Looks at Crysis 3, Metro Last Light and Battlefield 4*
      
      But compared to those…
      - jurjeskovici on December 31, 2013 at 4:47 pm said:
        
        You show me a current MMO game that has those graphics.
        
        TheStr0nkiest on December 31, 2013 at 4:49 pm said:
        
        Path of Exile has really awesome graphics imo.
        
        Anti-Communist on December 31, 2013 at 5:12 pm said:
        
        It’s top down hack and slash. How about no?
        
        Pussukka on December 31, 2013 at 5:39 pm said:
        
        Panzar is “an orc, elf” MMO and uses the newest Cry-engine :D
        
        Alexander Yordanov on December 31, 2013 at 5:42 pm said:
        
        I try not to segregate games based on their genre. WT looks good, after the updates wot will look good as well. It already looks decent. Any further comparisons are like Quake vs Enemy Territory to me.
      - Retia on December 31, 2013 at 4:47 pm said:
        
        I’ll never understand the “OMG WT is better!” “OMG WoT is better!” anyway.
        I play both, I have fun with both, period.
        They’re two different games with the same genre, and it’s the best thing that could happen to us as customers if WG finally makes WoWP playable.
        
        Competition is what keeps devs and publishers from screwing their costumers over,
        only people unable to think two steps ahead would wish for either Gaijin or Wargaming to crumble and dissolve…
        
        http://i.imgur.com/ZaeyD0A.png
        http://i.imgur.com/JexuFL9.png
        
        AcidLies on December 31, 2013 at 9:07 pm said:
        
        THANK YOU. I play both, I have fun with both. Competition brings about invention, while monopoly simply brings staleness without ingenuity. Anybody who wishes for their “least favorite” to go out of business will simply be screwing over their own favorite game. Isn’t it funny how all these HD reworks from WoT came about around the same time people realized WT tanks would looks great? If WT hadn’t done this, WoT wouldn’t be getting this upgrade, at least not as long as they still had people playing and it didn’t threaten a loss of playerbase (and therefore, revenue)
        
        Schepel on January 1, 2014 at 2:49 am said:
        
        Retia, you got the right of it.
    - 2goXD on December 31, 2013 at 11:33 pm said:
      
      i think that WOT HD models look much better than thouse of WT + this wot is4 is in beta stage !
      compare this 2 pics and you can see that all WT did was add loads of rust and scratches on their tanks, like they brought them right from the scrap yard (imo)
      http://ftr.wot-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/14.jpg
      http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8lMp3sIrLSs/UrFv9I5JOHI/AAAAAAAAAwk/nmI6d_jx6W0/s1600/war+thunder+vs+world+of+tanks+IS3.jpg
      http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KzAm6QiULpg/UrFv0xBwzMI/AAAAAAAAAvg/V4fzQRVmL0M/s1600/war+thunder+IS4+vs+world+of+tanks.jpg
  - Balage on December 31, 2013 at 4:21 pm said:
    
    But will it run on my PC? >.< I don't want to buy a new computer. It is like now WT vs. WoT = CoD vs Batllefield xD
    - Schlomo Shekelstein on December 31, 2013 at 4:51 pm said:
      
      CoD and Battlefield are both shitty games for casuals… Hm, you might have a point.
      - Pussukka on December 31, 2013 at 5:41 pm said:
        
        SS typed your name wrong xD
        Also like WoT wouldn’t be a shitty game for casuals if CoD and BF are?
  - Mc307-NA on December 31, 2013 at 4:23 pm said:
    
    Yes baby, make my long long dream come true! :))) Thank you War Thunder for encouraging guys from WG to work harder :))))
    - zbyszko66 on December 31, 2013 at 5:07 pm said:
      
      Can’t… stop… drooling…
      
      This looks totally incredible, can’t wait to see this in game, let’s just hope the optimization they talked about will allow us to still play WoT in HD graphics :P But man, those new models… WT does not look so outstandind anymore ;D
  - crash_core on December 31, 2013 at 4:53 pm said:
    
    no it won’t…
  - C_D on December 31, 2013 at 5:02 pm said:
    
    WT optimization is far superior to WT, it looks better and it runs better. One can only hope this HD client brings better optimization with it.
  - 113 on December 31, 2013 at 5:38 pm said:
    
    So is that Japanese HT bigger than Maus?
    If so, i will expect so big HP pool due to unsloped armor…
    - hallo1994 on January 1, 2014 at 5:04 am said:
      
      It does look better, but not better than WT graphics.
  - Winds Willing on January 1, 2014 at 6:33 am said:
    
    Sorry, but no, it doesn’t give it a run for it’s money. War Thunder is still superior in visuals, and will most likely continue to be better optimized, like it or not. The big world engine is junk, and there are more sophisticated game engines used in Mobile OS games even.
Konachu on December 31, 2013 at 4:09 pm said:

Looks nice, Choice of hulls will be great to. More armour and less speed vs faster with more armour choices?
- alex sonny on December 31, 2013 at 4:17 pm said:
  
  Yes, but not just this, for instance on certain marder models different superstructure types and such… and front-drive / rear-drive E-50 was mentioned a lot.
  I also thout about StuG.III vs. StuG.IV, the IV is basically a StuG.III superstructure on top of pz.IV. this version would indeed have more armour and less speed…
  - Konachu on December 31, 2013 at 4:27 pm said:
    
    It would be interesting to come across tanks set-up in different configurations, variety is the spice of life as they say.
    currently you work to get the tank to its top configuration and that’s the set-up you always fight against. I only know of a few tanks in the game where the choice of gun is not so set in stone. If we could have more of that with Hull and even Turret choices…
Dragan on December 31, 2013 at 4:12 pm said:

damn dat ugly Jap heavy lol
- 113 on December 31, 2013 at 5:40 pm said:
  
  Its ugly indeed.
  But will be interesting to play.
  Wondering what caliber gun it does have? It looks pretty huge.
  - Krabb on December 31, 2013 at 6:35 pm said:
    
    90mm IIRC.
    - Kazomir on December 31, 2013 at 6:58 pm said:
      
      Expect huge gun depression tough, looks like its capable of -15 degrees at least.
Lacertus on December 31, 2013 at 4:13 pm said:

Wow, just wow.
At first I thought you posted some real-life pics and compared them with ingame footage, I was like, meh…
But when I actually read the post, I was like:
HOLY SHIZ, WOW, THAT’S FCKN AMAZING!
anyways, looks promising, looking forward to seeing more of these!
Ooorky1 on December 31, 2013 at 4:17 pm said:

Wow, someone finally read “Shaders for dummies” at the WG HQ.
simeoncho on December 31, 2013 at 4:18 pm said:

my VGA is gona die ahahah ….. to bad TD’s dont have nice way to BLOW up like the doors on jpzE100 fly away :)
- Balage on December 31, 2013 at 4:22 pm said:
  
  Hope it will get a multicore support, or plus 2 GB memory….:P
Pintér Nándor on December 31, 2013 at 4:20 pm said:

I don’t really like the destroyable houses… I can see a major arty buff here…
- Balage on December 31, 2013 at 4:27 pm said:
  
  I see most of the matches, ppl will shoot houses. xD Instead of tanks.
SeanPwnery on December 31, 2013 at 4:23 pm said:

Demolishing houses looks promising…

I hope it someday leads to the ability to arty the side of castle Himmelsdorf and watch it come crashing down on the 8 line alley on top of the enemy – entombing them and sealing off the lane.
- CounterMAN on December 31, 2013 at 4:34 pm said:
  
  or burial enemy tank alive XD
- Krabb on December 31, 2013 at 6:37 pm said:
  
  They need to hire DICE for some sweet Levolution.
rabiesdog on December 31, 2013 at 4:23 pm said:

I just hope i will be able to opt out of the HD. My wot is already running on minimal graphic settings to make it playable.
- Atomic_Emu on December 31, 2013 at 5:01 pm said:
  
  They always said the old render will stay in the game with no changes.
Vlkodlak on December 31, 2013 at 4:24 pm said:

This graphics on current engine… WG can’t be more backwards thinking than this.
nixxxie on December 31, 2013 at 4:28 pm said:

This independent suspension looks a bit too independent, lol…

That’s why i don’t understand this “hurrrr durr, WT models uber!!!” thing. First thing, it’s not models that make good gameplay and second WoT HD was scheduled quite long ago.
karn on December 31, 2013 at 4:30 pm said:

Let the screenshot wars begin :)
- Iron_Tsunami on December 31, 2013 at 5:53 pm said:
  
  *Fires ceremonial cannon (KV-2 152mm)*
Loki on December 31, 2013 at 4:33 pm said:

Looks… extacly the same, wtf is wrong with you guys?… They call it HD LOL and it still looks like the tanks were made of plasticine not metal…
- lusty_argonian_maid on December 31, 2013 at 4:37 pm said:
  
  http://futbolki.dp.ua/uploads/2012/01/IS-4.jpeg
  does he looks like he’s made from metal?
  i’m not sure so.
  - Mc307-NA on December 31, 2013 at 4:43 pm said:
    
    ^ You said what I would like to say :)) +1
    - Loki on December 31, 2013 at 5:37 pm said:
      
      Yeah that one looks like it just came straight from battle lol… And that solid driver view hatch, cuz you can see through the metal… Gj posting picture of 1:1 plasticine model lawl
      - Medjed on December 31, 2013 at 6:47 pm said:
        
        ^^ Never go full retard.
        
        snrub on December 31, 2013 at 7:42 pm said:
        
        I’m trying to figure out how he thought the hatch is see thru… That’s harder to believe than that he thinks its plasticine.
Dark on December 31, 2013 at 4:36 pm said:

Finally, realistic working suspension! :D I’m actually looking forward to it more than to any visual candy. It’s just silly to drive tanks with a car like 4 point suspension. I wish they would also implement differences between various types(leaf springs, torsion bars), it would make game more diverse and interesting. I know it would take a LOT of balancing, but a guy can dream, right? :P
Magston . on December 31, 2013 at 4:37 pm said:

I can’t wait for my Jagdtiger to look that sexy
Harold Biondo on December 31, 2013 at 4:41 pm said:

Dat log
- Kazomir on December 31, 2013 at 4:59 pm said:
  
  Someone at WG complained logs arent realistic enough, this is the result.
  - snrub on December 31, 2013 at 7:44 pm said:
    
    If only we could use those logs for what they are meant for – unditching.
    
    :) HD anti-stuck stick
Han Sulu on December 31, 2013 at 4:53 pm said:

It’s nice to see them step up their game, the costumer is most likely the winner of this competition.
I will continue to play both games, however.
- Kazomir on December 31, 2013 at 4:58 pm said:
  
  Competition is allways good for the customer, since the companies fight to provide better products.
  Im actually happy that WT came to compete with WoT, since without competition, I doubt WG would have improved their graphics on such short notice.
Spinee on December 31, 2013 at 4:54 pm said:

Optimized for weaker computers my arse. I’m playing on minimum settings and I can barely pull off 5 FPS. Since I can’t afford a new PC (There aren’t any jobs in my area either), I’m waiting for at least 15+ FPS, then I’ll be happy.
- Kazomir on December 31, 2013 at 4:57 pm said:
  
  In The ASAP video SerB says that the two next patches (8.11 and 9.0, SerB accidentally have out their numeration in the video) will bring up some optimisation fixes. Wich will help you.
- Fedajkin on December 31, 2013 at 5:04 pm said:
  
  if you can’t afford a computer that can play WoT on minimum settings (video cards that can run WoT on minimal settings can be bought for 30-40 dollars), then chances are you can’t afford to spend any money on the game either, which begs the question of why the game developer would be interested in spending money on optimizing their game to make sure you can play?
- Dark on December 31, 2013 at 5:16 pm said:
  
  I have a rather oooollld pc- e4300@3ghz, 9600gt and 2gigs of ram, yet i get 30-26 fps in open terrain up to 50 fps in more closed locations(valleys, city maps) with improved graphics and everything set to at least medium, except textures, water, effects set to high and motion blur enabled at 1280X800.
  I’d say it’s not bad optimisation al in all.
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ComradeHX on December 31, 2013 at 4:56 pm said:

Less new tank; balance recent ones.

Would make WoT kick WT’s ass; not that it does not already with “hd” client.
Kazomir on December 31, 2013 at 4:56 pm said:

The tier 10 Jap heavy looks funky.
I sincerely do hope they include it.
eNumbra on December 31, 2013 at 5:00 pm said:

I showed a friend of mine the comparison picture of Warthunder’s KV-2 and WoT’s KV-2 a while back; his response was “Wow, wargaming should step up their game.”

Not bad, Wargaming. Not bad.
OttoVon Bismarck on December 31, 2013 at 5:03 pm said:

Looks good, but it’s still WG so I’ll take that with a pinch of salt. Might be killer even for good PC’s knowing WG’s
“skills” in optimization.
Jupiter on December 31, 2013 at 5:07 pm said:

- HD graphics is WoW!!!! guess i need a new VGA
- Demotion house look interesting, but hope it not stress the server much, or we will have more lag in that patch
- Jap tier 10 Heavy…. That flat chest…. That frontal transmission…..plus bigger than Maus…Only Gun depression look good but that huge and flat turret….. “Fk i’m get out of here before my eyes start burning”
- 113 on December 31, 2013 at 5:42 pm said:
  
  Gun looks massive. Also im expecting +3k HP pool.
  Who cares about slope if you sidescrape?
  That armor is surely thick. and no miniturrets like on O-Is.
  - Iron_Tsunami on December 31, 2013 at 5:49 pm said:
    
    This^
hornet331 on December 31, 2013 at 5:09 pm said:

meh so they added SSAO (you can see it at the log on the side of the is4) and increased the polycount on round objects to post 2003 level and added bigger then 256×256

Ground still lacks any normal mapping, “grass” are still transparent bitmaps

(not even talking about features like tessellation)

at least the physics look good.
- Alexander Yordanov on December 31, 2013 at 6:09 pm said:
  
  Textures were already 512×512 and 1024×1024 . As for polycount… nope. That’s AAA 2013 quality.
  - Grumpy_Stranger on December 31, 2013 at 7:42 pm said:
    
    Actualy, they broke the 2048 barrier around the 8.0 update. The newest tanks are mostly 2048×2048.
Sleipnir on December 31, 2013 at 5:18 pm said:

nice, in first moment i tought its a Wot/WT comparison
ExoNut on December 31, 2013 at 5:21 pm said:

OH MY GAAAWWWWD. I MUST MASTURBATE TO THIS

FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP
- Harbingers_Havoc on December 31, 2013 at 6:33 pm said:
  
  WOAH WOAH Slow down…. and get a Tissue will ya
Otakubouzu on December 31, 2013 at 5:34 pm said:

So will this affect skin modders? I mean, playing WoT tanks in vanilla skin is BOOORRRIIIING. If making new HD skin still as simple as old graphic then i golden.
Stevmon on December 31, 2013 at 5:40 pm said:

I want this now ! My PC need something to do.

It looks like a really great improvement, but I think they’ll have to improve the renderer.
Data Zero on December 31, 2013 at 5:42 pm said:

I think they will forget engine optimizatsion.

Looks sexy though.
Iron_Tsunami on December 31, 2013 at 5:47 pm said:

6th picture is a new map! :O

CITYMAPSCITYMAPSCITYMAPSCITYMAPSCITYMAPS!!!
- WolvG on December 31, 2013 at 7:03 pm said:
  
  CIIITY MAAAAAPS! Yeah WG said they’re working on Kharkov.
  - Jupiter on January 1, 2014 at 4:05 am said:
    
    Nah.. i don’t think that’s a new map. you can see 3 similar building and 2 similar lighthouse. What city have 2 light house stand close like that. It’s not realistic . I think that a test map for test the environment or just a map to show new model.
Iron_Tsunami on December 31, 2013 at 5:48 pm said:

YES! FINALLY! Tier X Japanese heavy pic! Looks just as beautiful as I imagined. :D
Athrael Emathors on December 31, 2013 at 5:50 pm said:

So for the folks who are concerned about the HD graphics for WoT: You should consider upgrading your PC, don’t worry, it won’t cost you 2000$++++
Here is why:

1. The most expensive stuff about a gaming PC isn’t the internal HW but the external stuff like Monitors, Keyboard, Mouse etc. and since most of you are already playing on a pc, that means you all have that stuff already and don’t have to buy that again.

2. NEVER buy the most expensive internal HW(CPU, Board, etc), you don’t need it, most of the price differences for Hardware are accessories, like extra connectors on a Graphics Card.

Let me give you a list+price for an average gaming pc:

CPU: Intel i5-4670K ~200$/160€ -I don’t recommend AMD here, because currently they have pretty shitty CPUs available, may change in the future.

RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz ~ 80$/€

Board: Intel Z87 Board, manufacturer doesn’t really matter ~ 90$/70€

Graphics Card: AMD Radeon R9 280X Or Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 both are around 400$ € prices are around 260€ for the AMD and around 300€ for Nvidia

That leaves us with around 770$(610€ with nvidia). You don’t need a new case for your PC, since you probably already have one, otherwise get one that doesn’t look too fancy, it only costs money and you don’t get anything from “blingbling”

If you aren’t sure your PSU can take the new hardware, there are calculators online, but a good 600W 80+ PSU costs around 90$/80€

That leaves you with the Hardware needed to properly play WoT/WT for the next years. Oh btw the CPU can easily be overclocked to 3.9GHz if you don’t use the stock cooler.
- Winds Willing on January 1, 2014 at 6:36 am said:
  
  You have no clue what you are talking about, and doing a massive disfavor to the master gaming race by posting this. Extra connectors on a GPU? Wut?
Harbingers_Havoc on December 31, 2013 at 6:13 pm said:

OMG havoc engine made the Buildings more destructable… damn I’m not safe against Artillery fire and Hiding forever. I did remember something about spaced armor more destructable?

I hope the new graphics update doesn’t mess the framerate
Yurra on December 31, 2013 at 6:24 pm said:

Tier 10 Jap looks very KV-5ish, just without the R2D2s. I like KV-5 very much and I’m looking forward to this beast. And there’s the gun, which looks pretty thick (I’m not familiar with Jap guns but I’m thinking of a 150-ish gun). Maus will need some buffing…
- Kazomir on December 31, 2013 at 7:01 pm said:
  
  KV-5 but with a gun depression by the looks of it.
Theeutv Eutv on December 31, 2013 at 6:42 pm said:

Well graphic is good but nothink about server lags to do best now EU1 working bad :( but wg don’t care about server
GTD on December 31, 2013 at 7:03 pm said:

Did SerB got younger or WG hired a sorcerer / make-up artist for videos.
- Iron_Tsunami on December 31, 2013 at 11:02 pm said:
  
  Nah, he nerfed his wrinkles.
Kinderschlager on December 31, 2013 at 7:43 pm said:

unless the add multi-core support at the same time, meh
Lance Coolie on December 31, 2013 at 8:16 pm said:

HD client is looking good. It’s not WT ground force good but it’s good enough consider WoT has such a huge arsenal.

Now if only they would properly optimize the codes…
demonsmaycry on December 31, 2013 at 9:01 pm said:

o my god !

wt suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuksssssssssssssssssssssssss!

lol :P
Eject91 on December 31, 2013 at 9:04 pm said:

Yeah, looks simply awesome, but I don’t really care, not with my PC. I won’t be using these and changing my medium-high settings till I get a new one.
yowanx7 on December 31, 2013 at 9:15 pm said:

I hope they implement a DX11 renderer and compile a native 64-bit client.
Otto-matic Reiffel on January 1, 2014 at 5:59 am said:

Somewhat OT, but has SerB had botox or something? His eyebrows and forehead didn’t even twitch throughout the whole interview.
Medjed on January 1, 2014 at 5:06 pm said:

I wish WoT will become optimized as FarCry 3. That is the best optimized game i’ve ever played. Even on my PC i played it on decent details and with good fps. But that’s all about game engine and BigWorld ain’t really good at it’s job.