gamescom World of Warplanes developer Q&A

As our gamescom coverage continues, we want to bring you more reports on what’s going down at our Wargaming booth at gamescom 2012.  This time we want to tell you about the latest Developer Q&A session with Development Director Oleg Gotnyam (OG) and Game Producer Sergey Ilyshyn (SI) who came down to Cologne to bring you the latest scoop on World of Warplanes

Not only did the devs respond to questions from players at hand, but for the first time ever, we also allowed our live stream viewers to participate as well.  Was your question one of those that was answered?

Q: What will the physics system be like in World of Warplanes?  We already know it’s coming for World of Tanks. Is something similar planned for the new game?

OG: Yes it actually is already in the game!  We knew from the start that the flight physics had to be a major part of the game, to make it feel realistic and to make the game appeal to a sim-oriented audience.

SI: In fact, our physics engine for World of Warplanes is even more sophisticated and complex than the one you’ll find in World of Tanks.  Since planes are much more maneuverable in the sky and can perform a lot more moves than, let’s say a tank could on the ground, we knew early on that a strong physics model would be needed.  And we’re proud to say that we’re very happy with the results you see in the game, which will be even improved up until and after the beta.

Q: Will there be multi-core support for World of Warplanes?

OG: Yes, definitely.  The game runs on an engine that allows for the usage of multi-core CPUs and knows how to exploit your machine’s power.

Q: (Asked by “King Bradley in the livestream chat)

When will we finally see an open Beta?

SI: We care deeply about providing you with a polished gaming experience.  Even for an open beta we have very high standards in terms of quality.  The first impression you get always matters the most, even if the game is in beta.  We want to make sure that when we allow the entire world to join our open beta, they find a game that’s really already very enjoyable and that will be fun to test and to provide feedback on.

OG: And that is exactly the purpose of a beta.  So in response to a date, we can’t really say right now when open Beta is going to start.  Probably KTTC – as soon as possible – but only when we’re satisfied with the quality.

Q: Will there be female pilots in your flight crews?

OG: That’s a very good question.  We haven’t responded to that so far, but for gamescom I guess we can make the announcement:  Yes! There will be women that you’ll be able to use in your flight crews!

Q: Will there be Clan Wars in World of Warplanes?

SI: Yes, absolutely.  This game mode proved to be very popular amongst dedicated World of Tanks players and we want to introduce this aspect of the game for our virtual pilots as well.  After all, there was a big war fought for dominance in the air in WWII in real life.  So it makes sense to have this feature in the game as well.

OG: And we even want to take it one step further!  With the arrival of World of Warplanes, we’ll be able to combine the worlds of tanks and planes on the global map.  Not only will plane fighters fight on their own in Clan Wars, but they’ll also be able to interact and influence battles fought on a combined world map that’ll be populated and played both by World of Tanks and World of Warplanes players alike.

SI: If we ever get there, we could even envision all three of our games – WoT, WoWp and WoWs – being combined in this fashion on one global map in Clan Wars.  But we’re a long way away from that now, and we’ll see if and when this becomes reality.

Q: How many developers are working on World of Warplanes in Kiev, Ukraine?

OG: There are over 100 people working on the game right now in our offices. There are artists, producers, programmers, managers, and executives who are all working around the clock to ensure that you get a great gaming experience once we release the game.

Addition from Moneo on the stage: In fact, worldwide, Wargaming employs over 1000 people now in 10 countries on 4 continents.

Q: (Asked on the live chat) Right now we see planes from up until the early 50s in the beta.  Is the tech tree going to stop there?

SI: As of now we’ve got planes that have been built up until 1953 in the game.  Of course there’s always the possibility to expand.  But we think that we already will have a pretty decent number of planes in the game with the time period we’ve chosen.  It’s unlikely that we’ll go beyond what we have right now in terms of the timeline.

Q: (Asked by “Warrior12” on the live chat)

Will we be able to take off from the ground or from aircraft carriers?

SI: At the moment no.  Short term future: Also no.  But can we consider integrating it (for example in a special game mode) in the long term?  Yes, absolutely.  But there are no plans for this right now.

Q: Will the matchmaker in World of Warplanes be as unforgiving as the one in World of Tanks?

Insert from Mo on stage: Guys, the World of Tanks matchmaker is a very delicate system.  Firstly it has been improved recently to ensure a much better gaming experience.  Secondly you need to consider that there are thousands of players that want to join a game every second of the day.  That takes a lot to handle.

OG: For World of Warplanes we developed the matchmaker from scratch.  We drew from the experience we’ve gained from World of Tanks and improved the system significantly.  You will see a much improved matchmaker that’ll be fair and that’ll ensure enjoyable gaming.

Q: Why don’t you allow more players in the closed beta?

OG: We need to watch the number of players that we allow in the closed beta.  Right now, we can only grant access to as many players as we currently need in our development stage, to be able to gather the feedback we need for further development.

SI: But don’t forget guys: Just yesterday we gave away over 1000 access cards for closed beta here at gamescom.  So we’re letting players in, but gradually and at our own pace.

Q: (Asked from the live chat)  Will there be Spanish planes in the game?

OG: Yes, we plan on integrating planes from Spain or even France further down the line.  Right now we cannot give an estimate when this is going to happen, though.  There will be planes from many different nations in the game that you’ll be able to discover.

Q: (Asked from “cattlethemortar” from the live stream) Will you still be able to steer the plane if the rudder on the tail of the plane gets hit or damaged?

SI: You will be able to steer the plane in any case.  But if it gets damaged badly your steering capacity will be greatly reduced.

Q: (Asked from “biodragon” in the live chat) Will we have more planes than there are in the beta right now?

OG: Yes we will add more German and USSR planes for sure. There’ll be plenty more from other nations as well.  You’ll get to discover them very soon!

Q: Will World of Warplanes feature the same tech tree and progression system as WoT?  Will you be able to customize your plane?

OG: Yes we will have a similar tech tree system as in World of Tanks.  But you will have many more options for customising your plane.  Historically, planes consisted of more parts and modules than tanks, so we’ll be able to offer you a lot of choices to style up your plane individually.

SI: We already have the modules in the closed Beta right now.  Just grab an access here at gamescom, download the game and try them out!

Q: Will it be possible to target specific plane modules and take them out individually?

SI: Yes eventually.  We’re working on something called a “Snapper-Modification”, which will allow you to aim directly for specific parts of the plane.  We’ll see if this makes it into the game.

Q: (Asked by a cute kid in the audience) What are your plans for after World of Tanks, Warplanes and Warships?  Will there be any new games?

OG: Well, good question!  What would you propose?  Do you have an idea for us?

Kid: Yeah, World of Spaceships!

OG: (laughs) Ok. We’ll think about it!

We hope you liked this little recap of our World of Warplanes developers Q&A session.  Stay tuned to the news for more exciting gamescom content!