Developer Wargaming's World of Tanks released in 2011, a time much different than ours. So different in fact that World of Tanks only featured up to 8,000 polygons per tank. Only 8,000. This is stone age stuff, guys. But don't freak out just yet, World of Tanks' developer is working to fix this troubling issue; a new developer diary from Wargaming has been released and in it we're given a comprehensive rundown of the game's upcoming graphical overhaul.
The developer diary - which sounds a lot like an episode of “How It's Made”- shows off the new coat of paint that will be applied to the game's stars: the tanks. The diary explains that a typical tank model when the game launched was comprised of up to 8,000 polygons. As time went on, the game saw some graphical improvements that doubled the polygon count of tanks, but the upcoming overhaul will be quite significant, with updated models reaching from 50,000 polygons to 100,000.
When World of Tanks launched in 2011, it was designed with low-end gaming PCs in mind. The 2014 graphical update will account for today's standard and bump up the game's visuals. The diary shows that the team created their new tank models by making 1,000,000 polygon replicas and then optimizing them down to something more easily handled by modern GPUs. They also 3D scanned real tanks and captured even the smallest details, like normal wear and tear as a result of how soldiers would move on the tank's surface. It's actually pretty impressive even if you're not a fan of the game.
The game's environments will also be given an update, with new effects, textures, and dynamic weather changes. Server-side weather effects, such as snow, rain, or dust storms will affect player visibility and will change during the course of a multiplayer battle.
The graphical updates have not been given a release date just yet, but they're said to be coming this year. I've not played World of Tanks, but the attention to detail to this update is commendable.
Via: Polygon