Captain! In this Update, we're introducing the branch of French battleships.
Everyone has been waiting for it, at least I have.
As you know, I'm fond of battleships.
Over two updates, players are going to have access to unique gaming activities.
By completing special missions, players can access French battleships
one update before the latter will become available in the game.
The first two ships of the branch have a rhombus-shaped placement of guns,
allowing you to hide your sides from the enemy.
But you won't be able to fire a full broadside either.
Next in the branch, we have Bretagne, a Tier V battleship.
With this ship, you can fire a full broadside
and the caliber increases to 340 mm.
Next, we have Normandie. She is a solid representative of Tier VI battleships.
The Tier VII battleship is the most musketeer-like.
How many screws does she have? Four!
How many turrets does she have? Four!
How many guns in a turret does she have? Four!
Long live Alexandre Dumas!
Then, the most interesting part starts.
Richelieu is the first in-game battleship with the Engine Boost consumable.
She can both chase down and punish enemies.
She has both turrets placed on the fore end.
Two by four, with a caliber of 380 mm.
Next, we have Alsace. Alsace has three turrets each with four guns.
She follows more classic gameplay, but she also has the Engine Boost,
and can both chase down and deal damage to enemies.
And the pinnacle of the branch is battleship France:
she has only two main turrets, four guns in each turret.
But she has a solid caliber—431 millimeters;
if you install the Engine Boost equipment, she has the fastest speed at her Tier.
You will chase down anyone.
The branch worked out well.
The branch features excellent four-gun turrets.
The battleships are fast and adequately armored.
I was given the task to model Tier X battleship France.
I received the blueprints—
they were projects designed at our studio; it was a "paper ship."
The feature of this ship is her rotating funnel.
It was designed to prevent smoke from obstructing gunfire.
The detail on the ship worked out to be quite high,
and the image was colorful, bright, and intricate.
We were given the task of creating port Marseilles…
Our working basis wasn't just the historical accuracy,
we also strove to make the camera views as picturesque as possible.
The history of port Marseilles in our game is pretty interesting.
The thing is, first we made the Neighbors map themed on the Mediterranean region
and used the main opponents and participants of that theater of war—
Italy and France—
so that we could select two naval bases.
Initially those were Toulon, a French base, and Taranto, an Italian base.
So while Taranto is excellent from an artistic point of view—
it has interesting objects, picturesque views;
Toulon isn't so great—it's, how to put it, like a parking lot at a mall.
There’s nothing really to look at.
That's why we've decided to use a civilian port
and create a naval base out of it instead.
In fact, it was a really good choice,
since Marseilles relates to the story from the event
dedicated to the release of the French battleships.
This port has lots of interesting buildings:
St Mary's Cathedral is very close, and you can get a nice view of it;
historical buildings, such as the stronghold.
Regarding some interesting technical structures, you can see LeO 242,
the airplane used by Air France when they were founded.
For the attentive ones: some Easter eggs are waiting for you in the port,
especially those of you who are fond of cinema and cars.
In this Update, players will be able to start gathering a collection
dedicated to the history of the French Navy in general,
and French battleships in particular.
Here you can see the emblems of cities and provinces,
historical figures that gave their names to French battleships.
Several photos will tell stories of different episodes from World War II
where the ships of Marine Nationale took part.
Some of these stories are unique.
Especially the one about gold shipping through the Atlantic.
The story starts at the beginning of World War II.
The gold that was meant to be paid for U.S. military order deliveries
was loaded aboard warships—battleships and cruisers—
that went to Canada across the ocean.
On their way back, the warships escorted convoys
and transported warplanes for French carrier aviation.
You can see some of these warplanes in the collection too.
Exactly this story served as a prototype
for creating a new in-game operation for players.
While we were creating the collection,
we just couldn't forget about rewards for our players.
The collection reward is a unique commander and flag.
We used an image of our coworker, a colleague from the 2D Art department.
Apart from the unique appearance and name,
this commander will have two unique perks.
The first perk is the turret rotation speed
that allows you to rotate your turrets slightly faster, inflict damage,
and react swiftly to enemies that suddenly appear around your ship.
The second perk is Adrenaline Rush.
It will allow you to fight more intensely when you receive damage.
We had enough thoughts and ideas about that.
We stopped at the game of petanque.
Because petanque is played with balls, balls are like cannon balls;
and petanque also slightly resembles the game of Battleship.
That's why the game is French and the battleships are French.
Since we can show neither cheese nor oysters—
you can’t relate these to the sea by any means—
that's why we decided that petanque relates to the sea the most.
Since we’re talking about 1944 to 1945,
we needed to start from the clothes that the people of that time would wear.
Texture, color, style.
We needed to stick to clothes of that time both for sailors and for civilians.
To my mind, it worked out quite well.
We were given the task not just to draw some warships sailing and firing,
but to convey the spirit of France.
So the symbol of revolutionary France, Marianna, suited this role the best.
We used the famous painting "Liberty Leading the People"
by Eugéne Delacroix for our inspiration—
but we wanted to not just copy the plot, but to make our own up-to-date variant.
To make the girl look dimensional and realistic, we used a 3D model;
and to make her look alive, I personally posed for an artist for inspiration.
We tried to make the girl look ready for battle—
we didn't want her to look as if she was inviting you to dinner,
but rallying you into battle.
The graceful, sophisticated, but militaristic Marianna
impersonates the branch of French battleships.
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