War Thunder - upcoming F2P WW2/Korea flight sim

**Graphic** · 08-10-2012, 13:52

I got this post ready for when I get access to the beta forums (long story)

Just organizing my thoughts on why American planes suck ass:

American planes are really bad in this game. In Arcade mode it's like they have to use 'simulator' settings while all the other nations planes get to use 'simplified.'

They suck for several reasons that are flaws with the game that for some reason seem to only impact American fighters.

1. Turn rate is the only relevant attribute in the game. You will never climb out of gun range with someone chasing you in time to prevent serious damage or death, and you can never dive out of range of someone either because the game takes place under 10,000 feet 99% of the time. By "out of gun range" I mean where the shot leading prediction circle vanishes...if you're going almost straight up they don't even really need it to hit you.

2. Cannons are overpowered, 12.7mm machine guns are underpowered. Any kind of cannon will rip apart any kind of fighter with usually just a second of firing that connects. .50 cals, on the other hand, can take 5-10 seconds of continuous fire to down even Japanese aircraft if you're unlucky.

3. Weight doesn't seem right. Spitfires, Zeros and Bf 109s feel like they weigh nothing, like they're a WW1 biplane or something. Nearly all American aircraft feel WAY too heavy. I know they were heavier than their contemporaries a lot of the time, but the disparity is greater than reality. The P-47D is nearly unflyable when kitted out with rockets and bombs; it handles worse than a B-17 in that case.

4. The game doesn't (yet?) seem to recognize self-sealing fuel tanks as a thing, which is a kind of high tech thing that most American planes had. It makes you bleed like a stuck pig when your fuel tank is hit like everyone else when it should be an advantage.

5. Anything with two engines seems to operate on different rules than single engine planes, so the P-38 is extremely stunted in it's maneuverability when it's legendary for it.

This all creates a terrible situation for American fighters.

You can't dogfight. As soon as most American planes start to turn, they immediately start hemorrhaging speed and altitude while the Zero or Spitfire you were chasing turns in place like a Cylon Raider and blasts you away. If someone gets behind you, you're dead. There's literally nothing you can do. A Japanese A5M4 (a "tier 1" plane, to use WoT terminology) can easily defeat the late-war legend that is the P-47, because the P-47 can. not. shake it. Even planes that were known for their low-altitude performance like the P-39 and P-63 can't compete with the other nations. Dog fighting maneuvers are out of the question if you're anywhere near the ground because you're too damn heavy, you'll just crash; and near the ground is almost always where you end up because the first thing anyone does when you get behind them is dive to the ground to pick up speed.

So what does that leave you to do? Boom and zoom tactics or hunting down bombers. Both of which are tasks other nation's planes can do much better than most American ones thanks to your stunted 50 cals. You will rarely kill anything in the few bursts you get off in a boom and zoom run; usually you just soften it up for someone else and end up getting an assist. Once in a while you can get lucky and kill the pilot or shear off a wing, but it just doesnt compete with the near certitude of destruction that cannons bring. This is all assuming the man you targeted isn't in a Spitfire and doesn't start doing cartoony crap as soon as he realizes he's in danger. With bombers you can't usually afford the time it takes for 50 cals to chew through a wing since it seems like the turret gunners aim for the pilot.

**Graphic** · 08-12-2012, 23:56

http://forum.gaijinent.com/index.php...a-goes-global/

Today we start the Global beta of our combat MMO game – a massive testing program that will give players from Europe, America and Africa the opportunity to join the never-ending battles in the skies of War Thunder.

Furthermore, Global beta means that we’ll be inviting new players every week and those who already have access will be randomly given invite codes that can be shared with friends without any restrictions. Also everyone who has purchased Wings of Prey and activated their copy at YUPLAY.com before August 12th will be granted access to the Global beta automatically.

To give players additional opportunities to prepare for exciting aerial combat in the virtual skies of War Thunder we’ve created special War Thunder Starter Kits. These are various bonus packs that will be available for purchase only during the Global beta.

«Dora Starter Kit» and «Typhoon Starter Kit» upgrade player’s hangar with Fw.190D-13 or Typhoon Mk.IIb respectively, add 1 week of Premium account and 1000 Golden eagles. «Pacific Starter Kit» unlocks two full-scale Historical campaigns, gives 2 special gift planes, 1 month of Premium subscription and 5000 Golden eagles. Players who would like to get as much as possible and save a lot at the same time will be offered the ultimate starter pack named «Ultra»: it includes all content from the packs listed above, but the amount of Eagles is raised to 10000 in it and Premium account is given for 2 months.

Each starter kit automatically adds its owner to the list of authorized War Thunder beta-test participants.

The «Sign-up for Beta» form is still available on the official website and remains the best way to get into the Global beta. And we’d like to express our sincere gratitude to all participants of alpha and beta tests who constantly help us improve the game preparing it for the open beta test stage which is set to start later this year.

The official F.A.Q. document was updated with the newest info about the developers’ plans for future changes and improvements in War Thunder:
http://warthunder.co.../game/faq/#q-52

Bomber cockpits are going to be added too

**Graphic** · 08-14-2012, 15:04

Every concern I've had with this game has been repeatedly reported in the beta forums. The flight models and balance in general are not done for any plane, little more than place holders right now.

I am now at peace.