Tank Mechanic Simulator News

[h2]Dear Mechanics,[/h2]

welcome to our eighty ninth development status update.

Today we would like to discuss about features we are currently adding to the paint room module (and planning for future).

[h3]Improvements[/h3]



[h3]Color Palette[/h3]

• Saturation and Brightness sliders - self explaining, each slider sets the saturation or brightness of the color, from 0 to 1 (but presented as 0 to 100% value)
  

[h3]Color Picker[/h3]

• RGB and Hex Color Input fields - Player will be able to input a custom value to either a RGB or Hex type input field, and the tank color will be selected based on that input. The input fields and color picker will be set initially, when the tank is placed into paint room to the color, that the tank currently has.
  

[h3]Color Swatches[/h3]

• Saving current color as a Color Swatch (and adding Steam Workshop support for this) - An option, that player will be able to save currently selected color as a new Color Swatch, and saved as a file (.txt) to StreamAssets folder. This also will be followed by Steam Workshop support, so if anyone likes to share the color pallette he has prepared, he could do so.
  

[h3]New addition planning for future[/h3]

[h3]Paint sets[/h3]
will be a set of options, that will be applied to the tank visuals, including:

1. Color
2. Camo:
   • Texture
     
   • Scale
     
   • Rotation
     
   • State
     
3. Hull and Turret decal textures

Player will be able to select a paint set from a list, or save the current state of the tank as a new paint set, assign a name and then a file will be created at Streaming Assets folder. When this is ready, we will add Steam Workshop support for paint sets, allowing to share them.

We will also look into how to implement following features for the game, including tank visuals:

• Decorators - objects like tree branches, sandbags to be placed on tank when in paint room
  
• Paint sets for extraction/workshop tanks - we will need to change some shaders/materials in order for the paint sets to work for tanks on extraction missions and for tanks that are not yet covered in final paint. We will inform about the progress here in future dev statuses.
  
• Damage and destruction - allowing to add holes and overall any visual representation of combat, that the extraction tank was part of.
  
• Mirroring decals - this might be the trickiest part, but we will check what can we do here
  
• Toggle to add or not to add camo to wheels - some players requested such option, and we plan to add it.
  

Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Mechanics,[/h2]

welcome to our eighty eighth development status update.

We would like to present to you next tank coming to the game. It is a Soviet light tank - BT-7.
Below you can see the work in progress from the production process of creating game asset to the game. We put a lot of emphasis on the interior. More details in the engine or in gearbox such as pistons etc.



Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Mechanics,[/h2]

welcome to our eighty seventh development status update.

As we mentioned in the previous entry on the occasion of the release of patch 1.1.4 we are working on an update to Steam Workshop.

The first change that has already been made was to convert textures from SteamingAssets folder .png and .tga format to .dds format. With this step, we have achieved unification in the textures files. Each texture of e.g. poster or decal has the same format and extension. Thanks to .dds the file size has also been significantly reduced so that all files weigh significantly less.



After game release we were and still working on fixing and improving game stability. One of the key factors is RAM usage. Next step in improvements is related to museum stands. Right now each stand have it own texture per tank. Such a solution proved to be problematic. From the creation of new textures for new vehicles to the increased consumption of players' RAM.

A solution for this is to combine all the stands into one texture.

• One file /texture per vehicle
  
• Less RAM usage
  
• A more accessible and easier way to create new graphics for tank or vehicle
  

The new implementation of museum stands will look more or less like on the pictures below.



We would like to share with you a .psd source file with a wireframe so you can prepare your custom textures for an upcoming update. Link below:

Click here to download TMS_NewMuseumStands.psd

Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Mechanics,[/h2]

we have uploaded a hotfix for update 1.1.4, list of changes:

• Added an option to use or not the screw mouse cursor block (in game tab)
  
• Added M3 Half track achievement
  
• Fixed a null reference exception that caused some errors in shop, after player had bought few parts, and tried to filter the tank parts
  
• Fixed a null reference exception in Paint room menu, that did not allow opening it for some players, added more debug logs to help us fix it further if something wrong happens again
  
• Fixed some dependency errors in M3 Halftrack
  
• Fixed error with KV-2 wrong materials
  

Thanks and have a good day,
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Mechanics,[/h2]

we've uploaded next patch, version 1.1.4.

First of all with this update we are continuing -20% discount, joining our publisher, PlayWay, weekend sale event.
Secondly, we worked in secret and today we are presenting new vehicle in the game - M3 Half-Track which is included with this update as well for you for free :)
And thirdly, we have added portugese localization :)



Please find attached change log below:

[h2]1.1.4[/h2]

Added:

• Portuguese translation
  
• M3 Half-track
  
• More parts can now be painted with decals on KV-1
  
• Mouse cursor now follows the screw automaticly, that the player is interacting with
  

Tweaked:

• The order of tools on belt, when using mouse scroll wheel
  
• The default mode of grinder is now set to grind, instead of cut
  

Fixed:

• Paint room bug, that did not allow it to open properly
  
• Paint room menu now correctly initializes when opened, without showing white square
  
• Error for decals that scaled down with quality settings (texture quality)
  
• PZIIIM low quality textures for painting
  
• Some dependencies in Stug, PZ III M and M10 Wolverine
  
• Wrong animations for Stug test drive model
  
• Wrong scale of museum props
  
• Possible help with bug of invisible collectables in customizer menu. Now each item will have additional sprite as outline and a name. It will help when the prop icon does not load properly.
  
• An error with duplicating machineguns when placing them onto tank
  
• Animations of engine hatches for KV-1, KV-2 and T34-76, also the turret hatches for T34-76 of test drive model are now openable
  
• Map in tablet now correctly resets on extraction
  
• Suspension physics of Sdkfz
  
• An error when player could open radial menu while the game was faded out.
  

We have also been working on improving the quality of content in StreamingAssets / Steam Workshop for example decals or posters. So far, we have used two formats depending on it, these were .tga and .png.

With 1.1.4 update we switched our assets to .dds for standarization as well as for a better quality in the game.

We will explain it a bit more and share updated Modding documentation on next Development Status.
Don't worry, .tga and .png will be still supported, at least for a month.

Thank you for all the bug reports, suggestions, reviews. Without your support this would not be possible.

Thanks for all the support and have a good day,
DeGenerals