War Thunder is one of the most famous computer multiplayer games in our country, dedicated to armored vehicles and aviation during the First and Second World Wars, as well as the immediate post-war period. The fleet will be added to this game very soon - the first ships entered the closed beta stage on June 19, 2018.
Development stages
The first information about the upcoming introduction of ships into War Thunder appeared in August 2016. Then, on the eve of Gamescom (Germany), the developer of the option tander, Gaijin Entertainment, provided an opportunity for all exhibitors to try the first representatives of the fleets of the USSR, Germany and the USA.
All alpha test participants, specially invited persons, as well as owners of one of two sea kits with unique ships (torpedo boats), available for purchase in the in-game store, received an invitation to the test.
Since June 19, 2018, torpedo boat kits have been removed from sale in in-game stores. They were replaced by other sets with destroyers. One with German, the other with American. Both cost 2499 rubles and the set, in addition to the ship, includes:
- 15 days of premium account;
- 2000 units of game currency (golden eagles);
- some other bonuses in the form of decals.
For those who have already purchased kits with boats, there are 25% discounts.
Currently, you can get into closed beta testing in one of two ways:
- buy a marine set from those presented in the game store;
- take part in a special event;
- be an alpha test participant.
Despite the fact that most players hoped to see sea monsters in the game - battleships, cruisers and aircraft carriers, the developers relied on combat boats and ships of small displacement. There will be no submarines in sea battles.
First, because battles involving small-sized ships will be dynamic and interesting for players.
Secondly, huge aircraft carriers and super-cruisers would simply take up the entire map space, leaving no room for smaller ships. This would not only deprive the game of any dynamism, but also caused the outrage of many users.
Thirdly, preliminary testing has shown that playing on ships of a class higher than a destroyer requires making most of the ships unrealistic, only vaguely similar to real ships.
The game currently features:
- more than 40 ships of the Soviet and German development branches;
- 30 premium ships;
- 20 ships of the American development tree.
Naval battles will take place on one of 10 ready-made game maps. Over time, all the nations represented in the game will receive lines of warships.
Testing takes place in special events and tournaments "Naval Battles" on the main War Thunder server at certain times.
The exact date of the release of the ships has not yet been announced, but judging by the dynamics of the project's development, this date may be the current 2018.
Development and economics
Currently, there are 4 classes of ships in War Thunder: torpedo and missile boats, destroyers, and light cruisers. The appearance of heavier classes of ships is left for an indefinite future.
The ship research tree is a lot like the tech tree for tanks and aircraft, but there are some differences. In the "ground" and "air" trees, the vehicles are distributed by ranks and arranged in chronological order from top to bottom. At higher ranks, later technique, at lower ranks, early technique. However, such a system is not entirely suitable for ships. The combat power of a ship depends not only on the year of manufacture, but also on the class of the combat unit.
In addition, preliminary tests revealed that one part of the players constantly plays only on one class of equipment, the other - on all classes. This is partly due to the gameplay features of the game on each class of military equipment. Partly - by individual preferences of users.
One of the key features of the fleet in War Thunder is the horizontal development system. It allows each player to explore exactly the class of ships that interests him. It is this system that makes it possible to take into account the above-mentioned distinctive features of the fleet.
Vertically (by ranks), heavier classes of ships can be opened for research. Horizontally - vessels of later models within their class. Thus, you can choose an individual development strategy: either quickly open a heavy class of ships, or quickly upgrade light ships.
The cost of the experience needed to open a new unit of equipment and the purchase price grows proportionally both horizontally and vertically. At the same time, the pumping time for all equipment does not differ much from the same tanks and aircraft.
Naval weapons
The aiming system is similar to the "tank" one. There is no forced capture of the target, and the player has the ability to manually set the elevation angle of the main battery guns according to the readings of the rangefinder and lead angle.
A system of three-plane stabilization of guns has been implemented, which makes it possible to comfortably conduct aimed fire even in high seas. This is a fairly realistic system - on real ships, at different times, a wide variety of stabilization systems for gun platforms and gun barrels, including three-plane ones, were installed.
Each ship has many guns of different calibers and purposes. It is impossible for one player to control each gun separately, and the unified control of weapons, one way or another, leads to the fact that fire from all guns is concentrated on one target.
Therefore, in War Thunder, guns for different purposes are divided into groups, and the player is given the opportunity to manually control one of the available weapon classes. The rest of the classes will fire automatically at both air and sea targets, taking into account the target designation of the player. A mode of automatic firing from all classes of weapons is possible, when the player only indicates the preferred targets with a marker.
Sailing fleet and other interesting features
Back in 2016, when the fleet in War Thunder was at the stage of ideological considerations, the introduction of the sailing fleet was considered seriously. As entry-level ships. There were even really developed sailing ships of the British branch of the 1st rank - the galleons "Golden Hind".
But over time, this idea was abandoned and now the research tree presents ships from the Second World War, pre-war and post-war periods. The finished sailboat models are reserved for special events dedicated to certain holidays.
The weather conditions in which naval battles take place are also of interest. Initially, a variety of types of weather were assumed: from complete calm to a wild storm, and the weather could change right during the battle, which forced the players to change the chosen tactics and strategy in accordance with the changing weather conditions.
Subsequently, the storms were completely abandoned. They left only calm with varying degrees of excitement. The fact is that the force of the waves seriously affects the speed and maneuverability of boats - the lightest class of ships in War Thunder. Stormy weather greatly reduces the capabilities of this class of vehicles to the point of their absolute uselessness in battle. And this cannot be allowed.
In the future, storms may be introduced, but only in battles where only heavy ships - destroyers and cruisers - participate.
The fight for the survivability of the ship - repairing modules, fire extinguishing and combating flooding - is activated by pressing a special button on the action bar. Moreover, activating several actions at once reduces the execution time of each of them. This makes the player think about what is more important to him at the moment: extinguish the fire, repair the hole, or repair the module. In addition, the activation of any action leads to a significant reduction in the rate of fire of naval guns.
In the early stages, each damage control system was automatically deployed, and the execution time for each action was the same regardless of how many actions were performed simultaneously. Now things have become a little more complicated.
