Update 7.4 release notes

*Update 7.4  went live on June 20, 2012

The detailed list of changes between updates 7.3 and 7.4:

New Content:

- Added two new combat modes, appearing randomly: Assault and Encounter.
Assault: one team defends the only base, the second team should capture the base or destroy all enemy vehicles. The mode is activated for Erlenberg, Prokhorovka, Westfield, Karelia, Malinovka, Sand River and Siegfried Line.
Encounter:  In order to win teams have to capture the only base at the map center, or destroy all enemy vehicles. The mode is activated for El Halluf, Murovanka, Steppes, Ensk, Himmelsdorf, Ruinberg, Malinovka, Sand River, and Siegfried Line 

- Added two new maps: Airfield (North Africa) and Widepark (European town);
- Added French TDs: Renault FT AC, Renault UE 57, Somua Sau 40, S 35 CA, ARL V 39, AC Mle.1946, AC Mle.1948, AMX 50 Foch;
- Added French SPGs: Renault BS, Lorraine 39 L AM, AMX 105 AM, AMX-13 F3 AM, Lorraine 155 (50), Lorraine 155 (51), Bat. Chatillon 155;
- Vehicles IS-6 and JagdTiger 8.8cm KwK43 L/71 are now available for all players in the in-game store;
- Added one camouflage for each nation;
- Added new medals:

• "Expert" (by nation) - for destroying at least one example of each tank type, existing at that moment in the specified nation tech tree.
• "Medal of Raseiniai Heroes" - for destroying the whole enemy team (not less than 14 vehicles). Medal will be granted automatically to all players, whose maximum destroyed in battle is equal to 15.
• "Technical Engineer" (by nation) - for researching all vehicles, existing at that moment in a certain nation's tech tree.
• "Senior Technical Engineer" - for researching all vehicles of all nations, existing at that moment.
• "Sinai Lion" - for destroying over 100 "IS" tanks of any model and vehicles based on its model.

Game Mechanics Changes:

- Komarin and Swamp removed from Random rotation;
- Added the option of training skills and perks for combined qualifications of crew (for example, training perks and skills of Radio Operator, when a Commander combines qualifications of a Commander and Radio Operator);
- In order to reduce the amount of issues with "questionable" non-penetration/penetration, reworked the system of damaging with HE and armor-piercing shells. In some cases there's a possibility of damage and critical hits increase from HE shells;
- Changed operation of Large Aid Kit: a constant bonus of "+5% to avoiding critical damage to crew" works till the end of the battle, even when the Aid Kit is used;
- Changed operation of Large Repair Kit: a constant bonus of "+10% to repair speed" works till the end of the battle, even when the large repair kit is used;
- Now Repair Kit fixes both tracks, if they are both damaged;
- Changes camouflage cost for Т30, КV-2, КV-3;
- Added compensation to a team hit player, proportionally to the caused damage;
- Now, if a player team damages someone, and the same shot damages an enemy vehicle, the decreasing team damage coefficient is considered for this shot;
- ‘Master Tanker’ achievement now becomes ‘void’, if new vehicles were added;
- Changed terms of giving Lavrinenko's, Leclerc's and Abram's medal;
- Terrain and objects reworked to fit new game modes on El Halluf, Murovanka, Steppes, Ensk, Himmelsdorf, Ruinberg, Erlenberg, Prokhorovka, Westfield, Karelia, Malinovka, Sand River, Siegfried's Line;
- Removed inversion in howitzer view mode;

Vehicle Model Changes and Rebalance:

- Changed sizing of the following vehicles to match historical ones: JagdTiger (zoomed up to sizes of TigerII), Object 261 (degraded to sizes of IS-7);
- Fixed or reworked collision models of GW Type E, Т-20, M4A3E8, T2 Med, T-34-85, Maus (observation devices), PzKpfw VIB Tiger II (transmission size and machine-gun half-sphere), IS-8 (mantlet), Е-50 (transmission moved to front), Е-75 (transmission moved to front), VK4502 (P) Ausf. B (transmission moved to the middle part of the vehicle);
- Fixed or reworked models of ARL-44, KV-1S, PzKpfw III, Т-54, Valentine LL, T1 Heavy, M41, VK4502 (P) Ausf. A, IS-8;
- SPG LeFH18 B2: fixed parameters of radio FuG-8, changed wrong weight number, changed the MM weight;

M18 Hellcat:
- dispersion during movement increased by 10%;
- the cost of a Top suspension reduced from 23000 credits to 17000 credits;
- turning speed with the Top suspension reduced on 2 degrees per second;
- 76mm AT Gun M1A1 gun reloading time reduced from 4.1 to 3.9 seconds.

Т30:
- turning speed reduced by 2 degrees per second;
- 105mm AT Gun T5E1 gun reloading time increased from 7.8 to 8.2 sec;
- 120mm AT Gun T53 gun reloading time increased from 7.8 to 8.2 sec;
- 155mm AT Gun T7 gun reloading time increased from 20 to 20.3 sec;
- 155mm AT Gun T7 gun aiming time increased by 0.1 sec;
- influence of turret rotation on gun dispersion increased on 20%.

M103:
- passability on bad and middle soils decreased by 5%;
- 120mm Gun M58 gun reloading time increased from 10.9 to 11.2 sec.

T110:
- passability on all soils decreased by 10%;
- 120mm Gun M58 gun reloading time increased from 9.3 to 10 sec.

KV-4:
- durability increased by 40 hit points;
- side armor increased by 20mm;
- cupola armor on the second turret increased on ;
- passability on bad and middle soils increased by 5%;
- stock turret is now able to mount 107 mm ZIS-24 gun;
- 107 mm ZIS-24 gun reloading time on top turret decreased from 11.5 to 11.1 sec;
- influence of turret rotation on 107 mm ZIS-24 gun dispersion decreased by 20% for top turret;

- Angles of vertical aiming of 107 mm ZIS-24 gun on top turret increased by 6 degrees.

UI Changes:

- Added game client notifications about relevant discounts or specials;
- Changed pop-up hints on tank modules, consumables, ammunition and crew members;
- Changed the information in pop-up window about vehicle;
- Removed a check field for currently unavailable option "Tanker's voices by nation" (will be returned later along with feature introduction);
- Added the autoloader indicator for the howitzer view mode;
- Added the option of switching on the "server" reticle marker to the game settings;
- Added the option of sending chat messages in a platoon;
- Changed the mechanism of choosing a message receiver in the battle chat. Now for switching from messages to the team and to all players you should use "TAB" key;
-  Added new hot keys for opening chat window: Enter - starts team chat, Ctrl+Enter - starts general chat, Shift+Enter - starts platoon chat;
- At entering the battle menu, mouse cursor is centered on the "Back to garage" button;
- In a platoon or a tank company, when the Commander speaks, volume of his mates speaking in the voice chat reduces;
- Reduced ‘neon’ lighting in elements of hangar vehicles panel and in pop-up hints;
- Added the reaction of the program icon in Windows 7 tray for several in-game situations: battle start, invite receipt;
- Added forward/rewind to combat replay playing;
- On minimap, the tank point changed to "tank arrow", pointing out the motion direction, and the "view triangle" now turns according to the camera rotation;
- On minimap, tank destruction is now marked with a slight tank marker flash;
- During map loading and countdown before the battle start the target of the current battle mode is now indicated;

Audio and Graphics Changes:

- Corrected some French camouflages;
- Reworked lights on Himmelsdorf map;
- Added sounds for environment: birds, rivers, sea, forests, villages;
- Reworked several sound effects for environment;
- Fixed or reworked effects for hitting wood and snow;
- Reworked base and spawn markers on the minimap;
- Base and spawn markers on minimap are added to the "color blind" mode;
- Added sounds for several interface buttons;
- Changed the design of free experience and gold conversion windows;
- Added new logo of Wargaming.net to the login window;

Technical Changes and Optimizations:

- Ruinberg map optimized on performance and memory consume;
- All sounds in-game were optimized on compression and frequency;
- Corrected the vehicles with camouflage display on old ATI Radeon video adapters;
- Improved the work of chat filters;
- Added new in-battle complaint point: ‘Non-informative message’;
- Added controls with light-emitting diode glow over game events for ROCCAT mouse;

Fixes:

- Fixed M12 suspension name;
- Fixed some inaccuracies in IS-7 and Marder II camouflages;
- Fixed the work of ‘Eagle Eye’ perk in howitzer mode within the direct visibility;
- Fixed the description of Fadin's Medal;
- Fixed some objects on Steppes map;
- Fixed several bugs with the passability on Siegfried Line, El Halluf, Ensk;
- Fixed the bug with the display of "post-mortem" panel when interface is off;
- Fixed the bug with the green color of "Invite" button after leaving or excluding a mate from platoon;
- Fixed the rare bug with the game client hang-up at the end of map loading;
- Fixed the description of ‘Brothers in Arms’ perk;
- Fixed a rare ‘jamming’ of vehicle durability indicator in the vehicle marker;
- Fixed the rare bug with the game client hang-up when entering ‘Sniper’ mode;
- Fixed the ‘Sniper’ mode mask in the windowed-game screen for cases, when the height of the window is bigger than its length;
- Fixed some inaccuracies in ‘Color-Blind’ mode;
- Fixed chat text highlight after the battle start;