Development blog

ST 0.10.1, ZF-2 and Z-31

Clarifications regarding the models of ZF-2 and Z-31, changes to ZF-2, and the characteristics of Z-31.

Reasons for choosing the current ZF-2 model

When creating models of premium ships we use the following approach:

• If a ship was historically built to completion, we make her in-game model correspond to the real ship according to its status on a specific date to the best of our ability, to the extent that the materials that we have allow us to. 
• In case a ship existed in reality only as a project, or her construction was incomplete, we can consider various options on how the project could be developed, taking into account all the nuances of the shipbuilding industry of the particular time period and country, and implement it in the game. When we make the decision to move away from historical blueprints, it's primarily influenced by game balance.

ZF-2 was one of the unfinished French Le Hardi-class destroyers—L'Opiniâtre—captured by Germany in 1940. The historical project for the ship's completion assumed a complete replacement of the armament with German samples, but these changes were not brought to life. In our game, the project of the ship is also based on the Le Hardi-class, but we implemented a possible variant of the development of these destroyers considering the historical features of shipbuilding at that time in Germany. 

To ensure that our design did not contradict the actual blueprints, we decided to rename the ship ZF-6 - the first name assigned to the captured L'Opiniâtre before it was renamed ZF-2.

Changes to the tier and the concept of ZF-6 

• The ship is moved to Tier IX.
• The Hydroacoustic Search consumable is removed.
• The Smoke Generator, Engine Boost, and Defensive AA Fire consumables were added.
• Main battery reload time reduced from 6.5 to 5 s.
• Torpedo tubes parameters were changed:
  • Reload time increased from 90 to 120 s;
  • Torpedo damage increased from 13,700 to 18,400;
  • Torpedo speed increased from 64 to 75 knots;
  • Torpedo detectability range increased from 1.3 to 1.8 km.

For the new concept, we decided to make the ship more versatile, having good concealment, AP shells with improved ricochet angles, the Engine Boost, Smoke Generator, and the Defensive AA Fire consumables. The Main Battery Reload Booster consumable will be useful for fighting enemy destroyers. As for more heavily armored targets, torpedoes with high speed and damage, but long reload and high detectability will be of use.

Why is Z-31 different from the existing prototype?

When creating the models of researchable ships, we can take several projects of the same type of ships into account. The resulting researchable ship is a collective image which may differ from any single historical prototype for balance reasons. She can have armament that doesn't exactly match that of the lead ship or any other ship of the historical class. As a rule, each researchable ship is named after the lead ship of its class, even though it differs from her historical counterpart. That's why, for example, researchable ships do not have side plates on the bow or stern with their names or historical identification numbers.  

Z-31 is the lead destroyer of the 1936 Mob class. When creating her model, apart from the original blueprints, the blueprints of other projects of same-type ships were also used. We changed the artillery layout so that Z-31 is in a consistent progression with regards to the artillery development within the branch of German destroyers. 

The characteristics of Z-31