welcome to our ninety-eighth development status update.

We are steadily progressing with task of adding the modding support/tools. This week we have reached another milestone, that allows the game to load custom collectable objects - this will come in handy when a custom tank requires some machine gun or props from a country that our game not yet has officially added.

The game now has all of its collectables as external files, located in StreamingAssets folder, called MetalObjects. Here players will be able to put their own models that they want to gather during Extraction missions.

Below is example of how a folder with one of the collectables look like and its items:

• .json file with the config for the object, so the game can correctly understand what this object is and what are its properties
  
• .png file for the texture/icon that will be shown in various places ingame, for instance in collectables shop
  
• .bundle file for the loadable object itself, in UnityEngine called prefab. This gets loaded when the game demands it, only when it needs to be spawned (no reason to keep this loaded at all times, as our game already takes too much memory in our opinion :( )

In next dev statuswe will show the same system/framework but focused for the ammuniton for tanks, so modders that want to add their tanks can also use their ammunition models, and the game will know how to handle them (load when required, put it into tank ammo storage etc.).





This week we have an update regarding the IS-2 development. Grab few screenshots from our modeller, shout out to him, nice work!




We will keep you updated, as we are coming to a point where all our effort is starting to be connected, and will be soon put to internal tests.

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

welcome to our ninety-seventh development status update.


We are making slow progress with custom tanks support, here's the report:



New features in Tank Creator Editor brings functionalities related with data export/import. Generated object has logic internally stored in fragments of code, called scripts.
Every script has special settings, called public fields. Editor automatically fills field values, depends on options selected by user from tool window.



Generated data is made from three files - two configuration files, and bundle file, which contains object data.

Tank loaded into game:





We would like to present another tank we are working in the meantime. This is the second british tank coming to the game. First one showed was first british prototype tank proposed by you - community to have it in game - Little Willie. A quick update reagarding Little Willie, we are still implementing this vehicle to the game. Be patient, we are working on it :)



The second tank we are going to introduce to the game is the Mk IV Churchill tank, or in fact its version - AVRE. This was special version of tank with Besa 7,92 caliber machine gun and with 290 mm Petard mortar. Created to be able to quickly destroy opponent fortifications and also to be used to transport specialistic sapper equipment.

More information and progress from the work as always now every Friday. See you next week!
Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

we would like to announce, that our game is now available to buy for macOS users here, on Steam. It has been asked/suggested many times, and now here it is.

The version that the macOS users can now download and play, is 1.1.0 (a stable version from May 2020n).

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Additionally, the game is set to be on -40% sale, for 14 days. Grab it when you can ;)

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Thanks and have a good one,

DeGenerals

welcome to our ninety-sixth development status update.

As you well know from our previous updates we are working on new tanks. In this status we would like to introduce you to the quality we aim at with the new models. Here are work-in-progress renders of Maybach HL230 from PzKpfw VI Ausf. B Tiger II (H) “King Tiger" tank.




The heart of every vehicle is the engine. That's why we want to make the disassembling of engines even more fun and a treat for enthusiasts. Additional elements such as movable / animated pistons in cylinders, fully modelled crankshafts. This is something we do and want to have in the game.






The current tanks are in for a kind of "renovation". We are going to review every vehicle in the game and adjust them to the "new standard" described earlier. At this point, there is already some work in progress. We are collecting even more references, also thanks to you! And making corrections e.g. in the part names.



More information and progress from the work as always now every Friday. See you next week!

Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

welcome to our ninety-fifth development status update.


This week it is time for Russian bias. We would like proudly present to you work-in-progress Soviet heavy tank IS-2.








we have finished the connection of tank-weapon-ammo config. Now working on player being able to pick-up the ammo on extraction missions (and spawning it in correct places on that missions).

We would like to provide support for additional languages for game, by Steam Workshop. It means, modders will be able to prepare custom text translations with CSV files, with following structure: KEY*###*VALUE. Example for tests, Finnish language (machine translation):




Also it is possible to dynamically load custom fonts from TTF or OTF files into game (for example, to support Non-Latin languages):




We are also cooperating with a musician, Mr. Michał Ratkowski, who is composing the music for original soundtrack to the game, here is a link to main menu theme:



Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

we would like to inform that our game Tank Mechanic Simulator with cooperation with Ultimate Games has been released and is now available on Nintendo Switch Game Store!

If you have any questions about the Switch version, please ask Ultimate Games directly or feel free to contact us.

DeGenerals S.A. - contact@degenerals.com.
ULTIMATE GAMES S.A. - contact@ultimate-games.com

Thank you for all the support :)

Have a good day,
DeGenerals

welcome to our ninety-fourth development status update.

This week we want to introduce you to another tank we are working on that we want to add to the game.
Here are some work in progress pictures of Maus :)







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About code progress, not much to inform, still working on the of system tank - armament - ammo, and correct loading/unloading procedures of all logic connected with it. It requires much more time than we anticipated :(

As a last note, we do not have any date set for this patch, as we won't push out the patch before clearing all reported bugs and implementing quality of life improvements.

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Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

welcome to our ninety third development status update.

We have some new stuff to show about custom tanks modding support, and the overall state of work, check below for more details.

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We have started to create a tool/wizard that will allow adding custom-user made tanks into game.
The process will be parted into steps, each with proper explanation and helping tips on how to complete this step. Additionally, a template tank will be added to the tools, so the modder will be able to use it as a template for his own work.

Right now we are planning this to be an asset package for the Unity Engine Editor, as a first step. If we manage to make such a tool, then we will start to look on how to create these tools as an .exe file attached to the build, or a special scene/level included in the game.
At this stage of development, the tool requires tank geometry (for example FBX or OBJ file) and
textures. With these provided, the tool will try to automaticly set up basic stuff, as an example, our Tiger I tank:
Raw .FBX file (based on Tiger1 geometry):

Effect:

And this is the amount of textures required for correct material creation/initialization for the tank



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Next step has been completed, that connects the need of merging of tank workshop and test-drive models into one, and the need of damage system to correctly spawn ammo inside extraction tanks. The game now uses stored config in the merged tank to load and keep the information about it's used armament.

How this works:

• each tank has configuration of it's armament, for instance we will show how Tiger I is configured
  
• Tiger has information, that it has 2 types of armament, Gun (should be rather called MainGun) and MachineGun, then references to that armament, then references to AmmoContainers, that are used to store the ammo for this armament (right now only implemented for Gun ammo, not MGs), here's a screenshot from editor how it looks right now:
  
  
• Tigers 88mm weapon config has ammo config, and that config references a shell/projectile model, that will be used both on Proving Grounds and Extraction scenes, here's screenshot of 88mm shells models we are going to use:
  
• These will be pickable while during extractions, and player will be able to manage them in a special menu. More about this in future dev status, as we still are designing it (in which you can help, by sending your ideas below ;))

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Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

welcome to our ninety second development status update.

It has been a busy month since the last dev status, we want to showcase what we have been working on.

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Four weeks ago, after moving the damage generation from test level to extraction missions successfuly, we have been left with two tasks left to have the new gameplay mechanics working:

• The damage making holes in tank hull and turret (parts on the way of the damage or in it's range go missing)
  
• Spawning shells inside extraction tank, so the player must get rid of any explosives from the dig area to be able to get the tank out

And for that second part we have come to a point, where again, the need of configuration of what type of weapon and shell the tank is using was needed not only for the Test Drive/Proving Grounds tank model, but also for the workshop tank model.

At that point we came to conclusion, that it is time to merge these two models.

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Each tank was separated into two tank models:

• Workshop model - used when player extracted the tank or wanted to repair it
  
• Test Drive model - used when player took the tank to test drive or proving grounds

The separated models required lot of additional config and code, that copied the tank state when, for example, player took a tank to test drive yard:

• the workshop tank state was saved
  
• the test drive tank was spawned, and the state copied and applied on the test drive tank
  
• the workshop tank was destroyed (unloaded from memory)
  
• player drove the tank around and could at some point fill the fluid of the tank during test drive
  
• when player finished test driving, the state of the test drive tank was saved
  
• workshop tank was spawned, and the state copied and applied on the workshop tank
  
• the test drive tank was destroyed (unloaded from memory)

• Player has to wait for all of these saving/copying/spawning/destroying stuff (time loss on loading)
  
• Lot of code that can lead to various bugs (and indeed it was causing bugs, for example the fluid state was not copied correctly between tanks up untill few weeks ago)
  
• Any change to workshop tank had to be also made for test drive tank, so for example we have added more details to interior or new animations, all this has to be copied and checked for the test drive tank (double time needed for tank config)

• It will decrease the time of loading
  
• It will allow of faster creation of new tanks, and is another step in supporting custom made tanks (each step that simplifies this process is a good and required step)

So we began working on merging the tanks into one model, and today have finalized one of the milestiones, the merged model correctly switches itself to driving or repairing on demand, and drives without an issue on test level.


Testing merged Tiger physics when driving on test level

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• Adding the new weapon config to the tank (to be used when extraction mission happens, to spawn correct shells for the generated tank, and on proving grounds when shooting)
  
• Adding tank holes spawning
  
• Modyfing the game logic connected with saving/copying and spawning workshop/test drive tanks to new system, without all that needed

Here's some of our tests on the tank hole shader

This decision will cost us more time to spend on the patch, but it had to be done at some point. We have estimated, that the stuff we wanted to do would be achievable by September but we know it is impossible now. We will keep you guys updated with next development statuses, as we do not want to push out a patch full of bugs, that will ruin your game/save files. Sorry for all these delays.

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We present you another tank in production. By just looking at its silhouette this tank does not need to be described :)







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Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals

welcome to our ninety first development status update.

In this status we want to present our plans for the patch we are working on, what will be included and why we do not yet have a date of release.

The patch name will be 1.2.0, we want it to have these main features:

• New damage system (covered in status #90)
  
• Tank Warehouse (tank parking)
  
• Tank manager menu - the player will be able to move tanks around the workshop scene in a special menu, without the need to approaching it
  
• Extended crafting options, such as create tank from scratch (that places hull base and turret base of that selected tank on a free slot, so player can start building rest of the tank)

There are many other suggestions waiting to be done, but we have to at some point release this patch. We were estimating, that making and testing all features above, should take us at least 1,5 month, so basicly we can expect the patch will be out in September 2020.

Of course, there are new tanks being modelled and we also want to include them into this patch. We will modelled, implemented and tested correctly before releasing the 1.2.0 patch.

Now let's show what is done with the new damage system:

1. Damage generation
   Generating a point around the tank, for specific kind of damage, here's a test scene screenshot:
   
   Cubes represent position and direction of where a damage of a type of AP/HE round was shot, the red line is a helper to show the developer direction to the tank. Spheres are damage of type of aerial bombs, artillery shells etc. Right now I made double sure that this type of damage does not fall directly on tank, as a direct hit from a aerial bomb would probably tore a tank to pieces completely. This situation will be covered in later stage of development. In this test of damage generation there wasn't generated a damage of type of AT mine (represented by a capsule) spawned below the tank, within its bounds.
   
2. Weapon and ammo config
   Configuration of all current tank ammunition and weapons the game has, into JSON file types, here's example of 88mm ammo config:
   
   and 88mm gun (for our Tiger tank):
   
   
3. Tank config
   Implementation of new configuration required for the system to work properly, right now only done in Tiger I and started in Sherman M4A3E8, here's some screenshots from Tiger I config in editor:
   
   To configure the tank properly, it is necessary to add the ammo containers and then ammo slots for this container (in proper, real life place for each tank if we can get good references on it), and setting up oil and fuel containters with special configuration, allowing all of them to explode or go on fire and destroy parts in the explosion/fire range
   In the Tiger we have configured the position of each shell, but we still need to model the missing interior of the ammo rack, that actually holds each shell. The same goes for every tank we have.
   
4. From other tasks, we have also finished an optimisation task, that includes static batching meshes of all collectables in museum, and also a task that will allow occlussion culling in tank museum room for tank tracks and wheels (these are very heavy for gpu to handle)

Bonus: some shots of Panzer II tank (WIP):





As a last note, tomorrow we are starting with a discount, -30% for 14 days, grab it when you can ;)

Thanks for all the support and have a good day,

DeGenerals