War Thunder is an online multiplayer combat game developed by Gaijin Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and PlayStation 4. It is currently in the open beta testing phase with players able to give feedback on any bugs before initial release of the full game.
Gameplay
The game is set to contain aircraft, armoured vehicles, and ships from the pre-World War II to Korean War time period, however the full game currently only contains aircraft and a limited number of ground vehicles, with ships to be implemented later. Most maps in-game are either directly or indirectly based on real-life battles of the era.
The average size of maps in the game currently range from approximately 65 km x 65 km to 100 km x 100 km to 200 km x 200 km, although the engine powering the game is likely to achieve larger map sizes in the future, estimates are said to be about 300 km x 300 km.
Arcade battles
In arcade mode, the game draws two teams of players (up to 32 people) with planes from different nations of similar level. It is possible to see war planes of the same type on different teams. Damage and physics are greatly simplified (e.g. in very high speed dives planes do not have their wings ripped off and are still controllable), but retain some realism (e.g. bombers are not as maneuverable as fighters, limited ammunition but able to reload midair). Multiple views are available, from third person view, cockpit view, gunner view (if the aircraft has a gunner) and virtual cockpit view (if the aircraft does not have a cockpit model the virtual cockpit will be used). Arcade Mode games are played in either "Ground Strike," where in order to win you must destroy all enemy ground units, shoot down all enemy aircraft, destroy the enemy airfield and bombing points, or "Domination", which consists of seizing enemy airfields by touching down on them for about five seconds, causing the enemy team to lose points. Also, to help simplify aiming, a 'leading marker' appears when an enemy plane is in range. This shows where the enemy plane will be by the time the bullets arrive if the plane continues its current trajectory, greatly improving accuracy
Realistic battles
Previously called "Historical Battles", this mode is designed for more advanced players. More realistic damage models makes long-range "sniping" difficult, and there is no 'leading marker' to assist with aiming. Also, due to realistic g-forces, making tight maneuvers at high speeds can cause pilots to black out or their planes to rip apart, and the views available are the same as in Arcade Battles. Once ammunition is used up, players will have to return to their airfield to reload and repair. In this mode, unlike arcade mode, players are selected for each team's nation, making it possible to recreate a real scenario, such as the Battle of Stalingrad between theSoviet Union and the Third Reich, although this possibility has decreased after several patches due to the introduction of premium prototype planes and alternate history setups as well as the match-up between planes determined by their "Battle Rating" rather than historical date of operation thus the name of the game mode was changed from Historical Battle to Realistic Battle.
Simulator battles
This mode is based on the most realistic simulation settings; only the first-person view in the cockpit or turret gunner views are allowed, and flight physics are at their most realistic settings, reflecting the attributes of the real world airframe to a fairly accurate level. The story mode is similar to the realistic battles - two teams of different nations are fighting each other for dominance in the sky, but the realism of the game at this level is even higher. Full Real setting also requires players to play with a joystick as opposed to a mouse and keyboard, whilst still possible to play with a mouse and keyboard it would be very difficult to control the aircraft under such circumstance.
Gaijin has planned to add playable Ground and Naval forces to the game with players being able to play all forces types (Air, Ground, and Navel forces) in one battle. As of now, ground forces such as AFVs (tanks)have been added into open beta with update 1.41. Currently only two nations have ground forces, those being Germany and the Soviet Union. Ground forces are, however, planned to be added to all the remaining nations. The most advanced tanks within the closed beta test as of now for Germany are the Tiger II PzKpfw VI Ausf. B armed with the 105mm KwK46, the Panther II, and the Jagdtiger, with the Soviet Union getting the IS-4M, T-54 mod 1951 and the ISU-152.
Although naval forces are not available for the player, as of yet, to control, due to development, players can take off from carriers in certain 'Arcade' and 'Realistic' mode battles. Naval Forces are in development, but not much is known about them. What has been confirmed is that the main ships types are going to beBattleships, Aircraft carriers, Cruisers, and Destroyers. There is much speculation as to whether Submarines are going to be added with naval forces not.
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