The Kharkov map first appeared in Update 0.9.1.
It was the first historical map in the game.
Some players liked it, others…
not so much.
One of the map's issues was that the two flanks—
the town and the "green" area—didn't interact with one another very well.
In this rework, we aimed to improve gameplay
by sacrificing some historical accuracy.
Of course, we wanted to bring the map back.
We understood that the map was important to players.
In the new iteration of Kharkov, we wanted to keep the town recognizable
and improve the gameplay at the same time.
The new Kharkov is bigger.
The core part of the map— the city—was rotated 45 degrees,
which turned the once diagonal map into a vertical one.
The map is divided into an area with irregular terrain,
an area with the town, and an antitank trench.
There are two hills in the first area.
Also, there are good positions for ambush vehicles.
They can control the whole area.
There are new gameplay elements in the town, such as barricades
that stop you shooting at the main streets from the central square.
The same for the other side. The suburbs were expanded on the Kharkov map.
It has more space now and is better for fast, maneuverable, and agile vehicles,
and for distance- based gameplay.
The "green" area and the town are separated by an antitank trench.
It’s an obstacle that forces those who win the suburbs
to flank the enemy, and not just rush straight into them.
The open area of the map has strategic lines of fire
that can be used to support the allies in the town, and vice versa:
you can support your allies
that are fighting in the "green" area from the town.
Light tanks have an opportunity to drive into the field for initial spotting.
There are small cavities in the center of the map that they can hide in.
If you suddenly find that it's no longer safe,
the antitank trench can be used as cover for falling back.
That trench in the center of the map can also function as a sort of teleport.
For example, after being spotted, a light tank can drive down it unseen
and arrive at basically the enemy base, flank them, destroy the artillery,
and cause some chaos in general.
The gameplay for heavy tanks didn't really change.
They go into the town and hold a whole block.
Medium tanks will feel comfortable almost anywhere on the map.
Medium tanks can use the terrain irregularities,
use concealment to their advantage, try to push the line.
The more resilient tank destroyers
can ride into the city along with the heavies.
Those with worse armor can find remote and comfortable positions
on the hills in the "green".
SPGs also have many opportunities.
There are special valleys with vegetation on the sides of the map,
which will let them stay unnoticed for some time
and fire at enemies in both the "green" area and some areas in town.
When we were researching the map,
we found out that there was a Mk.V on a pedestal in the city.
They say when the Germans entered the city for the first time,
they thought it was a battle-ready vehicle and shot it just in case.
We decided to use it on the map in a slightly altered appearance.
Like it was already taken off the pedestal.
Maybe it was dragged away to reuse the metal,
but something went wrong, and it was abandoned on the streets.
We have several maps, like Himmelsdorf, Malinovka, and now Kharkov
that we didn't change the music for, or compose something new…
We just remastered old music but tried to keep the memory fresh for players.
These tracks are actually legendary.
Players listened to them a lot, they want them to stay.
The key reference for writing the music was, of course, the old track.
But that time, the time of war.
We wanted to add some sounds of that time,
create the feeling of being there, in Kharkov, during the war.
That's why we added a bit of accordion,
because I believe it was the musical instrument of that time,
the soldiers played it.
There’s a sort of cold atmosphere in the composition
because it's winter in Kharkov on the map.
When the sound fits the image, it feels amazing.
Regarding the technology, we of course used all our experience
gained from reworking all the other maps when we converted them to HD,
so that means that all effects and textures were reworked.
No old assets left.
I hope we managed to keep Kharkov recognizable
and the city residents will be able to still find familiar places on the map.
Kharkov became wider, bigger, brighter.
I think players will find many interesting positions
for any playstyle and any vehicle.