Game and Reality: Atmospheric Paris
Paris leaves no one indifferent. It was the first time the developers worked with a place packed with such remarkable monuments. The Eiffel Tower, Palais de Chaillot, districts of Haussmannian buildings, and cosy cafes – now players can enjoy all of these in World of Tanks!
The Paris map was created in 2015 for Rampage mode. The map was beautifully designed and offered many tactical approaches. Following players’ feedback, it was decided to rework the map and keep it in the game. Now, anyone can visit Paris while playing!
This time, the developers considered all their experience and did their best to provide an enjoyable gameplay experience for all vehicle types... an often difficult task when designing urban maps.
One of the features of the new map is a dual-level combat area for heavy tanks. This is different from the previous version of the Paris map that players may remember from Rampage mode. In the new version of the map, players can find a newly added bridge with combat taking place both on and beneath it. The Trocadero area, the center of the map, also underwent changes specifically reworking the main streets that were exposed to fire.
A completely new set of structures and large objects were created for the map. The Eiffel Tower is located beyond the play area but remains a good orientation point. The developers tried to stick to the general layout of Paris, down to the smallest details. For example, not far from the Ferdinand Foch statue, players can find a cafe where Sergey Burkatovskiy ate ice cream during a walk in Paris. When discussing the map, he mentioned that it would be good to add that atmospheric place into it. At first, the idea was treated as a joke, but eventually it was implemented.
When working on the map, the artists decided to spend their personal vacations in Paris—mixing business and pleasure. Their vacation resulted in changes made to several districts, in order to recreate the realistic atmosphere of la Ville Lumière.
The developers noticed that the terrain of Paris is not very even and has several elevations. However, it is impossible to implement such terrain irregularities in the game, so the city had to be levelled for the sake of gameplay – by the way, pay attention to the play of light and reflection in the puddles.
The map can be divided into three gameplay areas:
