0.2 Alpha - Beta Transition

Hi all,

As mentioned in Tuesday's patch, 0.2 is at target feature parity with 0.127. So all work will now go into fixing bugs, improving stability, and refining the new 0.2 features.

0.2 is moving to the 'experimental' branch and the '0.2-alpha' branch will eventually be closed. Version 0.127, which is currently on the experimental branch, will move permanently to the new '0.127' branch.

So to participate in this 0.2 beta, you'll need to opt-in:

Recap

For those who are just joining us in 0.2 and haven't been following development, here's a summary for you:

Volumetric to geometric internals

Components (Engines, crew, fuel, etc) are now 3D objects which need to fit inside the vehicle. The internal space based system has been removed entirely.

This removed need to measure internal space combined with the new 3D armour plates allows you to make open topped vehicles.

Editor

Fully rewritten, it's now a more stable and intuitive experience.

• Part editing UI has changed from switching between tabs, to simply right-clicking on the object you want to edit.

• The editor now has a more thorough reload when switching designs and eras, often providing a quick fix should you run into any stability issues.

• Undo/redo is much more dependable now.

• Cleaned up the GUI and made it more sleek.

• Select-ability and visibility of types of parts can now be configured in the new overlay configuration panel.

Freeform

Rewritten from the ground up, freeform is now an in-house system tailored for tank design. All armour plates now have physical thickness. Overall it's much more stable and comes with a few more quality-of-life features, though this is still only the beginning.

Riveting is now integrated with freeform directly, with generation that allows entire vehicles to be rivetted at the press of a button. (https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1674170/view/4602203912333747714?l=english)

Deletions, fills and extrusions all now support mirroring. There's also few new selection methods: full plate select, box select, radial select, linked select and invert select.

Colson (aka The Wonder Waffle) has made an excellent tutorial covering the new freeform and a few useful building techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8BBezsBxBo

Damage model

The damage model received a full rewrite, to work with the 3D plates. It's now semi-volumetric, so thicknesses will be different when shooting down the length of plates, or through their corners.

The simulation is far more realistic now, with improved ricochets, spalling, de-normalization and overpenetrations.

The new system is fully exposed through the armour overlay, allowing you to run your own simulations and see exactly what would happen in battle.

(https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1674170/view/525336841073723104?l=english)

Crew efficiency

Crew no longer have an efficiency value which affects how quickly they perform tasks. Instead, they always perform 100% (at full health) but can only do one task at a time with each limb.

E.g. a gunner can control elevation with one arm, azimuth with another and the trigger with a foot pedal. Should you assign them to loading, which uses all limbs, they will have to take some time to switch to the new task before they start.

This lets small crews work better and more realistically.

Other changes

There were quite a few changes, so I'll keep this to the most notable:

• Track belts now sag under their weight. +

• Significantly improved track belt generation. +

• Dirt is now applied more heavily towards the ground, with much more build-up on the tracks. +

• AI formations now form in a more orderly fashion and follow their leader more organically.

• Visual effects are now affected by wind.

• Exhaust visual effects have been improved. +

• You can now place parts on cannon barrels.

• Added attachable freeform structures. Combined with cannon barrel part attachment, you can use these to make your own mantlets.

• Decals now have adjustable depth. +

• Cannon elevation and azimuth is now more intuitive. You set the value you want (then have to fit it in) instead of it being calculated for you. +

• Paint job colour now supports HSV editing and hex codes.

• Part repositioning during freeform edits now affects rotations to keep parts aligned with the slope.

• Parts can now be moved on 2 axes, instead of being limited to 1.

• The powertrain (tracks, engine, transmission, etc) can be fully removed, allowing you to make AT guns.

• Many scenarios have been reworked. With many moving away from simple deathmatches which can be easily recreated through custom battles. +

• Penetration holes now glow red around the rim. Not realistic, but provides good feedback.

• Improved overall multi-threading of the game.

• Added an in-battle overlay to show the health of each part and the remaining ammo in each ammo rack. +

• All decorative parts can now be flipped. +

• Return roller arrays can now be slanted. +

• Crewmen are now placed manually, fully posable to allow you to squeeze them into tight spots.+

• The scenario framework has been rewritten to allow far more flexibility and interesting scenarios.

And much more under the hood! These two years have primarily been paying off tech debt and prepping the game to be able to handle everything on the roadmap.

Regressions

Some features have taken a step backwards since 0.127. I'll list them here so you know that they're being kept in mind and are planned to be improved in the beta:

• AI decision-making and collision avoidance

• AIs not checking their line-of-fire for friendlies

• Cannon barrel editing

Thank you for the endless support, kind words and constructive feedback guys. Always inspires me to work hard and do my best by you.

• Hamish