War Thunder

I switched to this game late last year, and am still enjoying it.  I know Tedwj from DmH is also an occasional WT pilot, and Agent of Change has just started playing (we use the US servers).  I'd be very surprised if quite a few old MB pilots aren't taking off in Spitfires & Zeros now and then, so I thought it'd be a good idea to create a thread that could act as a register of MB folk in War Thunder.  We could therefore add each other to friend lists and maybe join up in squads or at the very least recognise an old friend on the battlefield.

I should point out that this game is _not_ a serious WW2 flight sim, in the same way that there was nothing serious about MB.  Its a fun arcadish game that lets you make friends and kill them

So, here's a list of the War Thunder nicknames for moonbreaker pilots:-

Name	WT Nickname	Server(s)	Game Type
Agent of Change	Agent_of_Change	US	Arcade
Brodur	Brodur	US	Arcade
Ferc Polo	FercPolo	US	Arcade
Foxhound	Foxhound_6	US	Arcade
Hunter	Hunter5991	US	Arcade
Longshot	long5hot	US	Arcade
Nitestalkr	Nitestalkr	?	?
Nostromo	nostromocrew	US	Arcade
Tedwj	Leatherneck_	US	Arcade & HB
the anger	TheAnger	?	?
Viking Jack	VikingJack	US	Arcade

... and hopefully more to come  If you play the game, please post your nickname & the server you use below.  I'll add your names to the table when I'm able to find you on WT.

Update:  The above are now mostly part of the newly registered Dead Mans Hand Squadron in War Thunder (and anger & Jack are just as deadly in WT as in MB)

Sounds legit, I'm in. Downloading right now. Info will most likely be:
Brodur
US

Looks Good,

Nitestalkr
Uk. Us if the Uk server is empty

Ok, but the only servers are EU, RU and US (so far). They're never empty - if only MB had that many players.

When you click "To Battle" it tells you what server you're using, and you can switch to another one or to "any" at that point, but obviously go with whichever has the best ping.

It's free to play, I'm downloading it.

ok i have to reg so my nick wont take anyone else i will check it this evening...

Would it be of help if I posted an introduction to the game? Things to configure, the basics of how the economy works, simple gameplay tactics etc?

By the way a major update has just been released, which means a new 3gb download for those who already have the game installed (happens automatically when you run the launcher). They don't release these very often, and if you only just downloaded its unfortunate, a case of bad timing...

Btw it uses bittorrent for its patches, which means variable download speed but it'll resume if you have to cancel partway through.

Basics? Yes please.

Ok here goes:-

The Launcher:  The most important function here is the graphics settings - resolution size and quality.  These can't be changed from within the game itself.  First time in leave them as default (apart from setting the resolution) and then when you're in an actual battle look at the FPS (top left corner) when flying over water and when lots of bullets and explosions are going on.  If it drops below 30 then your in-game performance will suffer and you'll need to lower the settings next time you run the game.  Even on the very lowest setting the game looks fabulous.

The Economy:  Apart from simply having fun & getting good at the game, you'll probably want to progress.  In War Thunder there are 5 nations, each with their own tree of aircraft in 20 tiers.  You start at the lowest tier flying reserve planes, which are slow but nimble, fragile and shoot little popguns.  When a reserve plane is lost it'll be instantly available for the next battle.  You'll gain XP from killing other planes, ground targets and capturing airfields by landing on them in Domination games.  This builds up and soon enough you'll rise to a new tier in whatever airforce you're flying.  You'll then see new aircraft that you can purchase, using Silver Lions that also accrued due to your performance in battle.

On the lower left of the main screen in the game, is a little spanner with a tick beside it.  Turn that tick off - it means planes are auto-repaired which with the more expensive planes will bankrupt you of Silver Lions.  The downside is that the planes will free-repair but this takes time.  When this happens just switch to another nation - or you can manually repair individual planes if you want to (paying whatever the cost is).  The higher tier, the more expensive planes are to both buy and repair but they can generate higher rewards.

Gameplay: You can practice flying a plane that you own.  Click on it in the list at the bottom, and above it will be a row of buttons.  One will be free-flight, which means you take off and fly it around on your own doing whatever you want, getting used to the controls & adjusting them as needed and practicing taking out ground targets.  Doesn't matter if you crash as it doesn't count.

Speaking of Controls, go into them from the menu and set them to Mouse Aim (if they're not already).  Also I highly suggest going into the general game Options, go to the Interface tab, then halfway down the list set Lead Indicator to No.  The lead indicator is a small circle that shows you where to shoot at enemy planes, and its often wrong & is also visually distracting.  You'll have more fun without it.  The Mouse Aim works similar to MB's - the plane tries to fly towards where you put the mouse cursor.  Unlike MB, guns only fire at where the plane's currently heading (represented by small cross-hairs) and its possible to move the mouse faster than the plane's ability to turn.  As the camera tracks the mouse rather than the plane you can find yourself staring your pilot in the face

Get used to using the keyboard in addition to the mouse - A & D for roll, W and S for pitch.  The game's attempts to fly to the mouse cursor won't always work perfectly - it tends to use too much rudder and not enough roll and it also tries to restore level flight whenever the plane catches up with the mouse.  Those keystrokes will override it and force the plane to move as you want.  Also you'll want to get used to holding C and moving the mouse to look around you, its a huge help to your situational awareness.

You _can_ play the game with a joystick, but the 3rd person view sucks and aiming is very difficult. Up to you.

I could go on at length about tactics but I'm sure most here know as much (if not more) than I do about how to fly.  The basics you've learned in MB apply strongly.  Assess a situation before charging in headlong.  Pick off weak targets.  Know where friendly planes are if you get in trouble.  Also you'll want to learn the importance of altitude - it takes time to gain height and once you have it, you have a speed advantage over lower enemies plus the ability to decide whether to engage them or not.  Turning a plane sideways bleeds off speed, turning it in the vertical plane does not (not as much anyway).

Server: Click the To Battle button and you'll see the Current Server listed.  Click on it to change it to whichever is closest to you of EU RU US, or choose Any if you're feeling brave.  Ping matters a lot in this game, so you'll want the best possible (it shows ping on the lower left of the screen when you're flying).

Friends List: This is accessed in the Main screen by clicking the small people's-heads icon at the top of the screen & a little to the left.  You can search for people's names and add them, then invite them to join squads etc if they're online.  Note that adding someone as a friend does not show up on their end, they need to search for & add you as well.

Thanks for the instructions. is there a better plane than the Sabre ?
Is it possible to have a mouse aim which doesn't require me to lift the mouse up when flying a circle ?

I don't think there's a better fighter than the Sabre - can't compare it to bombers as that'd be oranges & apples - but then again I don't own a jet and aren't likely to in the foreseeable future. Advancing that far through the tiers will require far more time and dedication to the game than I'm able to bring.

By lifting the mouse, do you mean having to continue picking it up, putting it down and moving it to keep the cursor to the side so the plane keeps turning? If so, try using the keyboard to assist - once the plane's rolled sideways hit the elevator key & hold it.

I was only able to have good dogfights in the realistic mode. I don't like mouse aim mode and arcade mode.
I'm going to play dogfight games again about in a year, when cheap VR-HUDs will be ready for the market.

How come the sabre is better than a mig 15?

Downloading the game right now

I think i will dig out my joystick for this one it looks like fun.

P3jota wrote:How come the sabre is better than a mig 15?

Maybe it is - I don't know, as I don't own any jets

Abstractness wrote:I was only able to have good dogfights in the realistic mode. I don't like mouse aim mode and arcade mode.
I'm going to play dogfight games again about in a year, when cheap VR-HUDs will be ready for the market.

off topic but any more info on the VR-HUD? same one as you have mentioned before that's going to be compatible with Crytech3 engine?

the-anger wrote:

Abstractness wrote:I was only able to have good dogfights in the realistic mode. I don't like mouse aim mode and arcade mode.
I'm going to play dogfight games again about in a year, when cheap VR-HUDs will be ready for the market.

off topic but any more info on the VR-HUD? same one as you have mentioned before that's going to be compatible with Crytech3 engine?

Yes, the Oculus Rift seems to be the most promising at the moment.
I think they will get rich in a year and later other companies will bring more advanced HUDs to the market.
I just found that there are already people playing with the prototype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mImcRHsdAvk

P3jota wrote:How come the sabre is better than a mig 15?

Downloading the game right now

I thought the Sabre has been built to kill Mig 15 ? This was their first real encounter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRbNLbAvzKs

Its the other way around, mig 15 is a copy of the sabre, based on spying and getting a rolls royce jet engine from britain.

It was faster and could turn more, i believe the sabre had the upper hand on diving and climbing, it also was a more stable platform, but for a skilled russian pilot the mig 15 and its tendency to stall was an advantage on a tight turn.

ok, so these Sabres killed these migs because of their new radar guided guns and because most enemy pilots were noobs.

DmH fly once more (starring Agent of Change, Brodur, Nostromo, "mailliw" a friend of Agent's and tedwj disguised as Leatherneck)

P3jota wrote:Its the other way around, mig 15 is a copy of the sabre, based on spying and getting a rolls royce jet engine from britain.

It was faster and could turn more, i believe the sabre had the upper hand on diving and climbing, it also was a more stable platform, but for a skilled russian pilot the mig 15 and its tendency to stall was an advantage on a tight turn.

Actually, the Mig was not a copy of the saber.  It was designed using "liberated" Nazi research and equipment.  They originally tried to use the BMW turbine engines that were used on the Me262, but they quickly discovered how crappy they were compared to the Rolls Royce engines (BMW engines were supposed to last 10 hours before overhaul, but usually came apart after 5 hours of use, destroying the aircraft they were in).  England sold the Soviets the rights to produce the Rolls Royce engine and the Soviets had an awesome fighter.

I would mock the English for their roll in this, but I come from the US, where we specialize in making stupid international policy.

started playing. nick: TheAnger

Just started my download, let's see how long you Yankee scum will last against Nazibuck

Nick will be Starbuck or something similar if already in use.

Let's see how long Nazibuck lasts against Brtidur.