How to Use the Replays

Version 1.2 of World of Warplanes has brought, among other things, a long-awaited feature to the game: replays! Replays are recordings of the games that you’ve played which allow you not only to re-view but also to analyse your battles using additional dedicated features. What you need to know is that there is a big difference between a World of Warplanes replay and any recording that you may have previously made using third-party software. The new in-game replays are stored using a specific algorithm which shrinks down the file-size of recordings to a minimum of only a few megabytes for even the longest battles. Additionally, unlike with resource-hungry video recordings, you will experience no fps-drop from recording a battle replay through the in-game feature.

How to activate the World of Warplanes replay function

In order to start recording replays of your battles, you’ll need to turn on the feature in the Settings menu. The function is turned off by default, in case you’re playing on a PC that’s not your own and you don’t want to leave copies of your game on the local drive of the machine that you’re using.

• Go into the Settings menu and switch to the Game tab.

• At the bottom you’ll notice a new section called Battle Replays. Check the box saying Save battle replays in order to have the game start recording your battles.

Notice how the line below tells you where the replay files will be stored.

• You can also check or uncheck the box Automatically delete replays older than X days to either keep your replays forever or have the game delete the oldest ones periodically whenever you like.

How to view a World of Warplanes replay

Go to the folder where your replays are saved. In it, you’ll find files that are named like this:

140307_151403_usa_4_p-36c_16_fortress.wowpreplay

The filename is not random but actually gives you the following information:

• 140307 – date of the recorded battle in the format YYMMDD 
• 151403 – time of the recording in the format HHMMSS 
• usa_4_p-36c – nation, tier and plane model that was used 
• 16_fortress – name of the map that the battle took place on

Make sure that your World of Warplanes client is closed. Then simply double-click on the replay-file that you want to view.

How to control the playback of the replay

• Right-click + move the mouse to enter the Free Camera mode
• Right-click + Mouse Wheel will make the camera zoom in or out
• CTRL button will make the replay control panel appear

1 – Go back to the beginning of the recording. Alternative keyboard button: Home.

2 – Go back 20 seconds. Alternative keyboard button: Left Arrow. Shift + Left Arrow will jump back 40 seconds.

3 – Slow down the replay playback. Alternative keyboard button: Down Arrow.

4 – pause/un-pause the replay playback. Alternative keyboard button: Space.

5 – speed up the replay playback. Alternative keyboard button: Up Arrow.

6 – Jump ahead 20 seconds. Alternative keyboard button: Right Arrow. Shift + Right Arrow will jump forward 40 seconds.

7 – Jump ahead to the end of the recording. Alternative keyboard button: End.

The same keyboard commands that are available in the regular game are also valid in the replays:

• CTRL + Home turns off the interface
• Print Screen takes a screenshot in the .jpg format

Using the dedicated replay functions will not only allow you to view your replays, but also jump directly to the specific moment in the game that you are looking for. You’ll also be able to slow down the playback in order to gain a better view of everything that is going on. Use the Free Camera Mode to rotate the camera around your plane, freeze time and create awesome-looking screenshots that are unobstructed by the game’s interface.

Take a look at the gallery below to see some screenshots that have been created using the Update 1.2 replay feature!

Will you be able to take equally impressive snapshots, pilots?