SC2: Vengeance Trailer

The time until the launch of Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm draws ever closer, and with it comes the trailer build up. This one’s called Vengeance and it’s another pretty piece:

Are you an SC2 player? If you are let us know what you’re most looking forward to with the expansion.

Starcraft 2: Full Patch 2.04 Notes

sc2Wow – I knew Blizzard were doing some major overhauls of SC2 prior to Heart of the Swarm, but this patch brings some pretty huge changes indeed, particularly in regard to user interface.

Read on for all the details, but if you own the game definitely log in, download the patch and see how much things have changed.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Patch 2.0.4

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty patch 2.0.4 is now live! This major patch brings a number of exciting new systems and improvements to Wings of Liberty while paving the way for the release of our Heart of the Swarm expansion on March 12. Please read the full patch notes below.

GENERAL

All-New Menu Screens

The User Interface layout, art, and graphic style have been completely revamped.

Players are now one click away from any major screen in the User Interface.
Many redundant screens and game modes have been eliminated.

Clans and Groups

Anyone can now create or join a Clan and participate in private clan chat, post news on Clan affairs, and more. Clan tags are pre-pended to character names of all players who join a Clan.
Groups are for players who want to associate casually and in larger numbers. Joining a Group is a way for players to interact with others who share common interests. Players are allowed to join many different groups.
Players who have used their free character name change will receive an additional one.

Exciting New Replay Features

Watch with Others: Players can now watch replays with others in the same game.
Take Command: Players watching a replay together can also opt to “Take Command” of the replay and assume control of selected player armies.
Recover Game: Players can now choose trecover from a game that may have ended prematurely due to disconnection, input loss, or other abnormal causes.

Improved Score Screen and Statistics

Performance tab now tracks gameplay stats such as Average Unspent Resources, Time Supply Capped, Workers Created, and APM.
New buttons allow players to “Play Again” or “Watch Replay Solo” directly from the post-game Score Screen.
Additional Race and Map Report statistics pages in the Ladders section of the Player Profile:
Race Report: Tracks number of games played and win/loss ratios for every race matchup.
Map Report: Tracks number of games played and win/loss ratios on every ladder map.
Player Profile now shows all wins and losses for all leagues.

Global Play and Language Selection

Players will soon have the freedom to select any game region to connect to and play.
Global Play will be enabled in the coming weeks. Please see our Global Play FAQ.
Players can now select among different languages in StarCraft II.
Speech and Movie Language options added to the Options > Language menu.
Text Language added to the Options > Language menu.

New Matchmaking Options

Three options have been added to the Matchmaking Screen to help newer players make a more gradual transition from single-player to multiplayer.
Training Mode allows players to work their way up from basic StarCraft gameplay skills to great challenges.
Versus AI Mode is a reworking of the previous Coop Versus AI Mode in Wings of Liberty.
Players can now utilize the matchmaking system to challenge an AI opponent that scales in difficulty.
The new matchmaking AI can accommodate a wide variety of skill levels and play styles.
Unranked Play allows players to engage in matchmaking and find games vs. other players without the pressures of the ranking system.
For more details on these new features, please see our Ways to Play video overview.

All-New AI Enhancements

The overall AI play experienced has been greatly enhanced.
In a custom game, players can now elect for an AI player to follow a specific build order, such as Full Rush, Timing Attack, Straight to Air, and more.
AI players will now report key information back to their player allies, such as when they are scouting, attacking, expanding, and retreating.
Additional AI improvements, including the ability to issue specific commands to AI partners, will be coming in Heart of the Swarm.

Players Near You

Players Near You identifies and displays other players on your local network, making it easier to locate, chat with, friend, and play together.
This feature can be disabled in the Options > Social menu.
Game Privacy options
No Build Order: Selecting this option in the Custom Game lobby hides the build order from being displayed in the Score Screen.
No Match History: Selecting this option hides the game from the player’s Match History.
New Enable Group Sounds option in the Options > Sound menu produces additional sounds for groups of units performing the same activity, such as Marine marches, mech ground-shaking, and more.
The Help Section has been revised and updated.

USER INTERFACE

In-Game UI Improvements

New waypoint and targeting confirmation icons have been added.
The Menu and Help buttons are now located above the command card alongside the Social button.
The Achievements and Message Log menus are now accessible via the Main Menu.
New Select Army Units button is located next to the Idle Worker and Select all Warp Gates buttons. These buttons are now all consolidated together in the UI above the minimap.
Decal art has been refreshed and now appears brighter and more visible in-game.
New Victory Fanfare sequences now play when a players is victorious at the end of a game.
New Unit Life Bar settings have been added to the Gameplay section of the Options menu:
Targeting: Shows friendly units when targeting a beneficial ability and enemy units when targeting a harmful ability.
Damaged: Only show for units with less than their maximum life, energy, or shields.
New UI options have been added to aid newer players in various gameplay functions. These can be toggled in the Options > Controls menu:
Display Team Colored Life Bar: Displays unit life bars using team color.
Always Show Worker Status: Displays the current and ideal number of workers above harvestable vespene geysers and town halls.
Enable Simple Command Card: Displays a more simplified view of the command card.
Show Current Order Indicator: Displays an indicator on the terrain when units are issued a movement or attack command.
Select All Larvae: Selecting a single larva will select all larvas attached to the same Hatchery.
Enable Enemy Unit Selection: Allows the player to select units that can’t be controlled such as neutral and enemy units.
The maximum numbers of players that can be in a party has been raised to 16.
All maps that appear in the Custom Games section can now utilize the same Game Info pages (Overview, How to Play, Patch Notes, Reviews) that Arcade games received with Patch 1.5.0.
New Copy Link buttons have been added, which automatically copy certain links tthe clipboard, allowing players to share them with others via clickable links in chat or on the web. When clicked, these links will navigate to the in-game page.

Observer Mode Improvements

Leaderboard

Added two new tabs:
Structures Tab (hotkey T): This panel shows the structures owned by each player.
Upgrades Tab (hotkey G): This panel shows the upgrades researched by each player.
Clicking on an icon in the Units/Structures/Production tabs will now center the camera on that unit. Continued clicks will cycle through all units of that type.

Minimap

Attacked units now flash white for observers.
Nuclear Launch and Nydus Canals now create pings on the minimap for Observers viewing Everyone.
Versus Mode Side Toggle (Hotkey CTRL-X)
Added a hotkey to flip sides that player names appear in the Observer UI when watching a Versus Mode 1v1 game.

Customizable Observer UI

Brand new SC2Interface mod support has been added, which enables casters and observers to watch games of StarCraft II using a completely custom user interface. This gives production crews a new set of powerful tools to create even more epic broadcast experiences.
For more information on how to use this feature, please see this thread in our User Interface forums.
Players who have blocked communication with others are now also prohibited from initiating chat with those they have blocked.

EDITOR

General

A new preload Info dialog has been added for defining game data, asset files, and banks to be preloaded in-game. This is accessible from the Map/Mod menus in all modules.
Added color preferences for text preview display.
The Arcade Info dialog has been renamed tBattle.net Info. This info is now available for non-arcade maps as well.

New SC2Interface files:

Mods can now optionally be saved as SC2Interface files as long as they don’t have any data which affects gameplay.
Mod gameplay/interface status can be checked using the Mod > Mod Status window.
New Export Locales and Import Locales commands have been added. These are available under the Map/Mod > Locales sub-menu. These can be used to export and import localized text to and from text files.
The Dependency dialog now includes a display of the full dependency chain resulting from the requested dependencies. Dependency reference checking and validation now accounts for the full chain properly in all cases.
The Dependency dialog now issues a warning when Multi mods are used in conjunction with Story mods. These are designed to be mutually exclusive and could cause a variety of problems in game when combined.
Added toolbar button size preference.

AI Module

A new Attack Wave Graphs window is now available from the Data menu, for visualizing attack wave cost/supplies vs. time.

Cutscene Module

Added Cutscene Frames. Cutscene frames are dialog items you can play a cutscene in.

New Properties have been added:

Animation Element:
Right-Aligned: Animations can now specify that they always end at the end of the block.
Weight: The blend value for this animation block.
Director Node:
Reverb: The reverb to set while playing back the cutscene.
Auto Destroy on End: When disabled, the cutscene will not be destroyed when it ends, but instead it will pause on the final frame.
Sound Node:
Non-Seeking: If enabled, causes the sound to not change its current time when the current time jumps.
Speaker Mix: You can now set and animate the speaker mix values.
Fade Node
Priority: Allows you to specify the priority level of a fade when multiple scenes attempt to control fade.
Terrain is now automatically imported when starting the Cutscene Module.
Active Light Nodes will now search for a light suffixed with “_Low” if graphics options are set to Medium or Low.
New icons added for all node types!
Added a new “Time Follows Edits” mode under the edit menu that causes the timeline cursor to always follow the edited block.

Sound Improvements:

Added Sound Group Nodes: These folder-like nodes allow you to add sound nodes to them then set properties for all sounds inside the group at once.
Volume and pitch properties are now treated as multipliers instead of absolute values.
Setting sound index t-1 now causes it to pick a new variation each time it plays.
Sounds now properly fade out after their blocks end.
Sounds can now specify Active Shots.
Value changes that represent less than 0.1% of a difference no longer create new keys in auto key mode.
You can now add multiple cutscene filters when playing back a cutscene.
Cutscenes are now played back in Replays.

Data Module

Added the Data Navigator Window. This new window visualizes how objects are linked to one another.
Each tab in the Data Module now remembers its own view mode.
Model Preview Panes now animate with the model’s default animation, making effects easier to identify.
New data types have been added: Herd, Herd Node
User Type fields defining user links can optionally specify a required user type
Added a new Select in Palette command.
Added F2 support for renaming objects.
“Show Advanced Values” is now “Show Basic Field Labels”. Instead of hiding advanced fields, it adds “(Basic)” to the name of basic fields and sorts them to the top.
Fixed size arrays are now edited as one control for each array entry rather than using a list-based UI.
“Show Default Values” is now “Sort Fields By Source”. Instead of hiding default values, it will sort values in the order: Active Document, User Mod, Blizzard Mod, Core Mod.
Added field hint tooltips to dropdowns for enum type fields.
Structure sub-fields now properly display composite field hint tooltips.
Many new field hints added for Abilities, Actors, Effects, and Units.

Overview Manager

Added a new Jump To Instances command in the context menu for jumping from function definition to corresponding calls.
Added a new Show Global Links Only option in the View menu for seeing global trigger elements directly in the Used By links.

Terrain Module

A new Diamond region shape has been added.
A new Diagonal Selection option has been added in the Tools menu for selecting objects and terrain along the diagonal grid.
A new View option has been added for displaying normal/upgraded creep, under View > Show Terrain > Show Creep Upgraded.
Units marked as Initially Hidden will use an alpha fade effect in the editor display.
Palette existing objects lists now include a Group filter and column, and context menus for Add To Group and Remove From Group.
The Water palette now includes a Height slider for adjusting the height of the current water template.
No Fly Zones now have three color states: Normal (no overlap), Overlap (hard radii overlap), and Warning (only soft radii overlap). For best pathing performance, avoid the Warning state.
Foliage density maximum reduced to 2.0 per cell. Anything larger than this significantly impacts game performance.
Added “Force Occlusion Hide” to placed doodads, which forces doodads to be transparent if units are behind it.

Trigger Module

Added a Preview button for previewing sounds directly from parameter dialog.
A View History Navigation option, including Back and Forward commands, is now available from View > History sub-menu.
A new Explorer view has been added for seeing global elements referenced by the currently selected element, available under View > Show Explorer.
A new Smart group display has been added, which opens a second group only when an element is explicitly viewed via double-click or View Selection command. This is toggled under View > Show Groups.
Libraries defined in the active document are now shown in the Triggers list rather than the Libraries list. The Libraries list will only contain read-only dependency libraries.
Elements can now be dragged and dropped from one library to another. This will include updating all usage of those elements in the active document.
A new view option has been added for setting default input focus on search fields vs. lists, available under View > View Options > Default focus On Search Fields.

BUG FIXES

General

Fixed a crash that would occur when StarCraft II is run with low disk space.
Fixed an error that occasionally occurred when queuing for a match if a disconnection occurred in the previous game.
It is no longer possible to build Creep Tumors on top of lowered Supply Depots.
Fixed an issue preventing Zerglings, Roaches, and Ultralisks from autocasting Unburrow when an enemy Colossus was near.
Fixed an issue where Hallucinated units would not play Hallucination death animations when playing in Reduced Violence mode.

Battle.net

It is no longer possible for duplicate versions of the same Arcade game to display in the Top Rated dropdown filter.
Fixed a display issue with the scroll bar on the Replays page.
Fixed a display issue that could occur when viewing Patch Notes for an Arcade game.
Arcade games played through Fun or Not now appear properly in the Match History and Recently Played lists.
Clicking Create Game in the Single-player Vs. AI menu while a map is downloading no longer causes the game t enter a state where it is unable to launch any maps.
Fixed an issue causing a player’s online status tbe set to Available when it was changed from Away to Busy.
Fixed issues with some displays that could occur when viewing Arcade Game Info pages while queuing up for matchmaking games.
Fixed an issue causing the race selection buttons on 3vAI queues to occasionally change to names of colors.

Editor

General

Automatic backups for documents saved as component lists will now properly save multiple backup files.
Tutorial game variant will not be changed when other variants are added or removed.
Fixed various issues with downloading dependency data from Battle.net when opening a document.
Fixed issues with team settings in variants for maps with a large number of players.
Fixed an issue where the editor could crash if the user’s build was not completely downloaded.

Cutscene Module

Fixed several issues related to Undo/Redo.
Fixed several issues related to element linking.
You can now place or move objects at height zero if there is no terrain visible.
Actors with conversation nodes will now animate when not in view, allowing dialog to play at the correct time.
Active Light elements no longer change the light one frame late.
You can now chain together bookmark jumps.
You can no longer use non-Ascii characters in Cutscene Names or Bookmark Names.
You can no longer rename the (Previewer) scene.
Scenes with very large linking webs should now load much faster.
Fixed a bug where models would sometimes continue to draw when switching cutscenes.
Editing curve values should now preserve custom curve tangents.
Previewing from other modules will now set the Cutscene Module back to the (Previewer) scene.

Terrain Module

Painted pathing visibility is now properly tied to visibility of the Pathing layer.
Distance measurement now accounts for ramps properly.

Trigger Module

Eliminated excessive delays when modifying functions which are heavily used in the document.
Comments can now be moved/pasted into switch cases.
Ability Commands using Any or All sub-types will now show all possible parameter values.
Unit trigger events now properly handle using a unit array element for the unit parameter.
Last Created functions now return an empty value if the last creation failed, rather than the result of the previous creation.
Invalid effect ids will no longer be treated as “any effect” in events.
Data conversations with choices will now run properly in game, as long as cinematic mode is enabled.
Fixed an out of memory crash that could occur when adding a region to itself using triggers.
It is now possible to copy triggers across libraries inside the same mod.

Data Module

Ability and Weapon Arc data values now accept 360 as values.

Mac

General

Targeting arrow reticules now display properly when shaders are set to low.
Fixed an issue with “Disable OS Keyboard Shortcuts” and the mouse cursor.
Fixed an issue with resolution options being limited on Thunderbolt displays.

Editor

Points in the Curve Editor can now properly be deleted.
Placing keys in the Curve Editor are now being created correctly.
Text labels are no longer clipped in the Curve Editor.
Fixed an issue involving Vertices and Primitives on the status bar.
Fixed a crash that could occasionally occur when attempting to publish a map.
Fixed an issue involving setting up multi-dimensional arrays in the Trigger Module.
The mouse cursor is now visible in the viewpoint windows.
Fixed an issue with the status bar overlapping text when using the Regions or Cameras layer in the Terrain Module.
Improved Retina hardware compatibility.
CMD + Tilde will now switch between multiple editor windows.

Elder Scrolls Online: Bring It On

Elder Scrolls OnlineMy first foray into the Elder Scrolls series came in 2002 when I purchased Morrowind on the Xbox. I’ve always been a fan of RPG’s (especially sandbox ones) so when I got home from work (I was with EBGames at the time) I put in the disc and I haven’t stopped playing the series since.

When it was announced that there would be an Elder Scrolls MMO I was immediately interested (I won’t lie I may have cheered and danced a little jig). The release of the recent cinematic reinforced my excitement* (see below)

This is a franchise steeped in lore, possibly moreso than any other currently on the market. This can be both a blessing and a curse, as there are certain things that “have” to occur in the Elder Scrolls timeline which can make it difficult for creating a truly unique online experience for gamers. As with Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Elder Scrolls Online is set at a time before the game we know and love. It is set approximately 800 years before Morrowind and 1000 years before Skyrim. This means that it is set in a well-established period of Elder Scrolls lore, but Tamriel is a big place and Bethesda has proven that they can deliver strong lore-based games before.

The game itself has been in  development since 2007; meaning that Zenimax had five years of development prior to the announcement of the game. It also allowed them to work alongside the Skyrim team during development, helping to ensure that the world of Skyrim will translate into the Online medium smoothly. Indeed it appears that all of Tamriel will be open to players for the first time, allowing us to revisit many of our favourite locations such as Morrowind, Skyring and Cyrodiil.

In addition we will encounter a number of familiar enemies such as the Daedroth:

eso2

The Storyline of Elder Scrolls Online will encompass the struggles of three factions: The Daggerfall Covenant, the Ebonheart Pact, and the Aldmeri Dominion as they take up arms and fight for control of Cyrodiil, the Imperial City, and the throne of Tamriel. At the same time, the factions will be attempting to counter the machinations of the Daedric Prince Molag Bol. Zenimax currently plan to enforce race restrictions on each of the three factions, limiting the playable races for each one. Already there is a lot of pressure from the ESO community to remove this restriction, the primary argument being that it takes away from the freedom found in previous Elder Scrolls games for the player to largely decide who they fight for. It also severely limits the roleplaying options for those so inclined.

Personally, I hope they retain the restrictions –  it is a simple fact of MMO gaming that races are commonly restricted to specific factions and given the basis of the storyline supplied so far by Zenimax and Bethesda it certainly fits with the lore we are dealing with.

So, there are the very basics of what we know so far about Elder Scrolls Online, so much more can be found on their website with their weekly Developer questions and a number of videos that easily explain the political situation and tensions that can be found in the game. I encourage anyone who is interested in the game to check it out.

You can also find out more about; and sign up for the beta here.

*The trailer:

SC2: Heart Of The Swarm – Ways To Play Vid

You can tell it’s getting close to a Blizzard game launch, as the videos start coming in thick and fast. In this case it’s StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm, and the latest release is a 6-minute plus overview of the changes to the types of gameplay on offer in the expansion.

And the changes are pretty significant, with some of them, like the introduction of levelling, are causing a huge amount of debate already. Have a look at the vid:

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the changes coming with Heart Of The Swarm, so sound off in comments.

Also don’t forget there’s a local launch event for HOTS.

Latest Crysis 3 Trailer

Just for something a little different, here’s the latest trailer for Crysis 3, which is due for release in just under two weeks on the 21st February on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Check it out:

Have you played the previous Crysis games and if so, are you excited about this one?

StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm Melbourne Launch Event

Heart of the Swarm Melbourne Launch EventTo coincide with the 12th March launch of SC2’s first expansion, Heart of the Swarm, Blizzard Entertainment have announced a local launch event.

Melbourne scores the guernsey, with some fun planned for Federation Square on the evening of March 11th. The details:

MELBOURNE – FEDERATION SQUARE
MARCH 11TH – 8 PM TO MIDNIGHT (AEDT)

Cnr. Swanston Street & Flinders Street
Melbourne VIC 3000View map

EVENT DETAILS

The Swarm’s global invasion begins in Australia! Join the Zerg rush to Federation Square in the heart of the city of Melbourne, Victoria. From 8 PM AEDT on Monday, March 11, you can be part of the excitement in person or via the live stream!

ACTIVITIES

  • Heart of the Swarm matches featuring top pro-gamers
  • Q&A with members of the StarCraft II development team
  • Cosplay Competition

EVENT SCHEDULE

  • 8:00 P.M.

    • Event kicks off at Federation Square
  • MIDNIGHT

    • Stage activities end

    • StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm available for pick up (final EB Games sales receipt required)

    • Blizzard autograph table opensNOTE: One copy of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm autographed per person

So there you have it: will you be going? If you are and would like to snap some pics or cover the event more fully, drop us a line. You can check out the official launch website here.

GW2: Dynamic Leveling Changes

caledon2Isaiah Cartwright from ArenaNet has posted an update detailing changes made in the last patch to dynamic leveling in the game:

We had a few issues with this system that we made adjustments to. When high-level characters played in lower level zones, they were a bit too powerful, so the content was not as challenging as it could be. As a result of this, we also scaled down the rewards a bit too much.

As of the January 28 build, we made some changes to the dynamic scaling system to address these issues:

1.) We changed the formula for how attributes are calculated when the dynamic leveling adjustment system scales you down. This makes returning to lower level zones more fun and better balanced.
2.) We changed the formula for how rewards are calculated when scaled down to make it more rewarding for high-level players to visit lower level areas.

The goal is to more accurately reflect the attributes you should have at that level for a similarly geared character. While this will make some areas harder, our goal is to make all areas of Guild Wars 2 exciting and fun for players of any level. We also want players of all levels to feel like their time is well spent and rewarding in any map they go to.

You can read the full post here – is the change something you’ve already noticed, and/or is it something you think that will improve gameplay?

Queensland Floods: Bond University Turns To Minecraft

Faceroll_in_the_Level_up_LabIf you live in Australia you’ll have definitely seen the impact the weather has had in Queensland over the last week or more, with lots more people looking at being affected as the flood waters move down the river system.

There’s no real good news stories in such a situation but here’s a great yarn on how a Bond University academic worked around the weather to provide a scheduled class in Minecraft.

Have a read of the full story here – and tell us your stories of using games in ways that you otherwise thought you would have!

GW2 Achievements and Rewards System Update

GW2 Achievements and Rewards SystemMatt Wuerffel from ArenaNet has posted on the official blog and update about some revamping they are doing for rewards and achievements in GW2. If you’re not an achievement junkie like me, you may not find this stuff that relevant, but otherwise have a look at the details.

Aside from stuff occurring in the near term, Wuerffel has also hinted at what’s happening further down the track:

Down the road, we’ll also be adding a reward structure to total achievement points, and we’ll be looking at revamping portions of existing UI to help players understand all the different kinds of content they can play and the types of rewards available. Once we have that framework in place, we’ll be able to really expand on the content accessible through the achievements system and provide you with even more new and exciting ways to play the game.

 

Let’s hear from you: do achievements matter to you in GW2 and if so, do you like what’s planned?

Oceanic Soap Box: What’s Got You Excited?

oceanic-soap-box

Most people are back into the swing of day-to-day activities after the Xmas / New Year period, and that well and truly includes games developers. There’s been some great announcements already this year, not least of which is the release of the opening cinematic for Starcraft 2’s first expansion, Heart of the Swarm. If you haven’t seen it already, here it is:

Here’s where you come in: what games have you excited for this year? For me Heart of the Swarm is one, Marvel Heroes another and the upcoming Sim City release has me drooling as well. What about you?

Blitzkrieg: Chinese Model 113 Comparison

wot-blitzkrieg-banner
Blitzkrieg is a regular column devoted to the very popular MMO World of Tanks. If you’ve got a topic you’d like our resident expert Matthew “Scope” Pearce to cover, drop him a line!

G’day gamers – firstly I would like to apologise for my lack of articles over the holiday period. Myself and my family have had a very trying time with which we nearly lost a family member.

Real life aside, another reason for no articles was because there has not been much in the way of news for World of Tanks until recently with the launch of the Chinese tank tree with patch 8.3. You can check out the Patch 8.3 Trailer, or the the 8.3 patch notes here!

So what will we be checking out in this week’s column? Well, let’s take a look at the new Chinese Tier X heavy tank and compare them to the Russians.

The Model 113

113

Development on the Model 113 started in 1963 the vehicle was conceived as an alternative to the WZ-111 and used parts and components of medium tanks -the project was cancelled however due to the development of main battle tanks.

Let’s compare the stats of the Model 113 to both the Russian IS-4 and the IS-7 heavy tanks using the three major categories firepower, armour and speed/mobility and see where the Model 113 stands.

Firepower

The Model 113 has the 122mm 60-122T Gun which can penetrate 257mm of armour with standard shells, dealing an average damage of 440 hit points with an accuracy of 0.36 at 100m at a rate of fire of 5.5 rounds per minute with an aiming time of 2.7 seconds. That means this gun has 2420 DPM compared to the IS-4’s 122mm M62-T2 gun which can penetrate 268mm of armour with standard shells dealing an average damage of 440 hit points with an accuracy of 0.38 at 100m at a rate of fire of 5 rounds per minute and an aiming time of 2.9 seconds. That means this gun has 2200 DPM

And now for the Is-7’s gun the 130mm S-70 which can penetrate 260mm of armour with standard shells dealing an average damage of 490  hit points with an accuracy of 0.4 at 100m at a rate of fire of 4.38 rounds per minute and an aiming time of 3.4 seconds. that means this gun has 2146.2 DPM

So that means the Chinese Model 113 has the highest DPM of the tree tanks, the best accuracy and the quickest aim time. It comes at the cost of the lowest penetration although the gold rounds’ penetration is 400mm which is on par with the IS-4’s and 100mm more than the IS-7’s.

This means that the Model 113 wins the firepower comparison.

Armour

The Model 113 has 120mm of frontal hull, 90mm side and 70mm rear armour while its turret has 240mm of frontal, 150mm side and 80 rear armour. It also comes with 2.300 hit points

The IS-4 has 140mm of frontal hull 160mm side and 100mm rear armour while its turret has 250mm of frontal 200mm side and 170 rear armour, plus 2.500 hit points

The IS-7 has 150mm of frontal hull, 150mm side and 100mm rear armour while its turret has 240mm of frontal, 185mm side and 94mm rear armour, with 2.150 hit points

So this means that the IS-4 is the clear winner in terms of Armour as well as having the highest hit points.

Speed and Mobility

The Model 113 has a 750hp engine pushing the 45ton tank at a max speed of 50km – it is also able to traverse at 36deg a second and traverse its turret at 26deg a second.

The IS-4 has a 750h.p engine pushing the 66.3ton tank at a max speed of 43km the IS-4 can traverse 26deg a second and traverse 22deg a second with its turret.

The IS-7 has a 1.050h.p engine pushing the 70.95ton tank at a max speed of 50km with a traverse speed of 28deg a second and a turret traverse speed of 25deg a second.

That means that the Model 113 weighs less than both the IS-4 and the IS-7 giving it better acceleration but the same top speed of 50km as the IS-7 the Model 113 also has the best traverse speeds of the three tanks meaning it can turn faster and track targets quicker with its turret.

That means the Model 113 wins the Speed and Mobility comparison.

Comparison winner

So what we can see from the statistics is that the Model 113 has a very accurate gun that has good damage per minute of 2420 with a max speed of 50km . That’s a very good traverse speed but it suffers from having less armour than the Russian heavys as well as less gun penetration with normal rounds.

Unfortunately I was unable to try this tank out on the test server to give you guys my personal opinion on how I feel about this new heavy tank and how well it does, but after comparing the stats to some of the other Tier X tanks in game I would have to say the Model 113 looks like it will be a destructive force on the battlefield when driven by a skilled tank commander.

I will leave you with an image of the next tank I am working on unlocking – the German Leopard 1:

1st Armoured Regiment

So over to you: will you be working towards unlocking yourself the Model 113 Chinese Tier X Heavy Tank?

The Walking Dead FPS Trailer

Like a lot of people I’m a huge fan of The Walking Dead franchise. I’m currently playing the 2012-released point-and-click game and enjoying it heaps. I also spent quite a few hours during 2012 playing Left 4 Dead 2, so I’ve had a bit of zombie action – and that’s before playing The Secret World.

Which is why I was excited to hear a first-person shooter version of The Walking Dead is coming. Until I actually watched the trailer that is. Before I start my gripes, have a look for yourself:

Actually instead of whining, I’ll just pose a question: is there anything you see in that trailer that hasn’t been done better in other zombie games? Now that The Secret World has its reticle option I’d argue it looks at least as good and has a lot more gameplay options in addition.

If you want a laugh, read some of the comments on the vid on YouTube. The trailer overall does nothing to demonstrate to me it’s anything that a cash-grab from a very popular franchise.

Do you agree?