Ships announced for War Thunder: when will the fleet be released? "War Thunder: Knights of the Sea" and the eternal war with unreliability What's new in tundra ships

Today, multiplayer computer games dedicated to the theme of war are becoming extremely popular. Gamers get into tanks and planes, lead entire armies, or go into infantry combat themselves. The military theme is again becoming popular, as at the beginning of the century, but at the same time it is taking on a new form - now it has a multiplayer flavor. And one of the most popular computer games in this direction today is War Thunder. Here you can choose any of the sides that took part in the Second World War and fight for it against real opponents. However, attention has already been drawn more than once to the fact that there are no naval battles here - the fleet does not exist in the game in principle. Therefore, it is worth answering a very important and interesting question for many - when will ships appear in War Thunder?

What kind of game is it?

Before considering the question of so much interest to all gamers about when ships will appear in War Thunder, you need to take a look at what this project represents. So, here you have to choose one of the sides that fought among themselves in World War II, and then start leveling up on various units of military equipment, earning yourself points for more advanced models. At the moment, the game has a fairly large number of models of tanks and other combat vehicles, as well as aircraft, which makes it very diverse and exciting. For many, this is quite enough, since other games like this do not even offer such variety - for example, projects from Wargaming allow you to get into a tank or a plane, but only in two separate games. But in the case of War Thunder, everything is different, and gamers want to know when ships will appear in War Thunder.

Announcement of ships

You are mistaken if you think that reflections on this topic are lengthy and groundless. In War Thunder, the ships were actually already announced by the developers. Of course, it is worth noting that no one has named specific dates, and the work is just beginning, but the very fact that the developers listened to the opinions of gamers and began to work in the right direction is important. Of course, this may have been their own initiative, but this will no longer play any role if ships do appear in the game. So far there is not a lot of information, but it is still there - and quite interesting. Of course, the developers will not admit when ships will appear in War Thunder, but they have already provided basic information about what exactly will be added to the project so that gamers can guess how it will all be implemented.

in War Thunder

The question of whether there will be ships in War Thunder has already been answered in the affirmative, so it’s time to look at this question more deeply - for example, figure out what exactly will be added. According to the developers, three types will be available in the game - aircraft carriers, destroyers and battleships. You can choose any of these types, but at the same time, naturally, you will have the opportunity to decide on the models that interest you. Naturally, no one has yet announced the specific names, so you will only be able to find out the models much later. But it has already become clear that, for example, there will be as many as ten variants of aircraft carriers in the game - this gives us the right to believe that other types of ships will be represented in approximately the same ratio. However, some questions about implementation already arise here, since this is a very important point that should never be forgotten.

Implementation of ships in the game

As all gamers know very well, realism plays a big role in this project - all models of combat units are reproduced with maximum accuracy, and it will not be easy to do the same for ships. There is a very high probability that when ships are released in War Thunder, there will be quite a few problems with balance, as well as simply with their use in the game. It will be necessary to think through not only the specifics of battles between ships, but also the features of confrontation between aircraft and ships. In general, this leaves developers with a very complex and large-scale job. And this leads to the final question - when will ships be added to War Thunder?

date of release

So far, unfortunately, there is no specific information about the release dates of the ships. They may appear quite soon, but for now this is very unlikely, since the developers still have a lot of work ahead. However, if we take into account the fact that on the Internet you can already find images of ship models in a fairly ready-made and playable version, then we can assume that there is not much left to wait. On the other hand, if we take into account all the features of the confrontation between the three types of ships, as well as all types of ships with aircraft, the work may drag on - it is already very, very difficult to implement such a large-scale project. We can only hope that the developers will succeed, and gamers will eventually be able to enjoy new types of technology, which until now have not been competently implemented in any project, neither modern nor old.

Gamers' opinion

Initially, gamers supported a similar initiative to introduce ships into the game. Naturally, this is such an incredible step forward. It will allow you to get impressions that you could only dream of before. But over time, the fuse died down a little, and the reason for this was the game itself, or rather, the actions of the developers in the process of updating it. If earlier this project was considered the best and most realistic, now it is gradually beginning to lose popularity. The reason lies in the fact that in pursuit of entertainment and attracting large crowds of gamers to the project, the developers began to change the balance, and now some sides have become practically unplayable.

The first information about the upcoming introduction of ships into War Thunder appeared in August 2016. Then, on the eve of the Gamescom exhibition (Germany), the developer of Var Tander, the company Gaijin Entertainment, provided all exhibitors with the opportunity to try out the first representatives of the fleets of the USSR, Germany and the USA.

An invitation to the test was received by all alpha testing participants, specially invited persons, as well as owners of one of two naval sets with unique ships (torpedo boats) available for purchase in the game store.

As of June 19, 2018, sets with torpedo boats were removed from sale in game stores. They were replaced by other sets with destroyers. One - with German, the other - with American. Both cost 2,499 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 sets with boats, there are 25% discounts.

Currently, you can get into the 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 a participant in alpha testing.

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 naval battles.

Firstly, because battles involving small ships will be dynamic and interesting for players.

Secondly, huge aircraft carriers and super-cruisers would simply take up the entire space of the map, leaving no room for smaller ships. This would not only deprive the game of any dynamism, but also cause outrage among many users.

Thirdly, preliminary testing showed that playing on ships of a class higher than a destroyer requires making most of the ships unrealistic, only vaguely similar to real ships.

Currently the game features:

more than 40 ships of the Soviet and German development branches;
30 premium ships;
20 ships of the American development branch.

Sea battles will take place on one of 10 ready-made game maps. Over time, all nations represented in the game will receive a line of warships.

Testing takes place in special events and “Naval Battles” tournaments on the main War Thunder server at certain hours.

A specific release date for the ships has not yet been announced, but judging by the dynamics of the project’s development, this date could be this year, 2018.

Development and economics

Currently, War Thunder features 4 classes of ships: torpedo and missile boats, destroyers, light cruisers. The appearance of heavier classes of ships is left for an indefinite future.

The ship research tree is in many ways similar to the tank and aircraft development trees, but there are also differences. In the “ground” and “air” trees, equipment is distributed by rank and arranged in chronological order from top to bottom. At higher ranks - later technology, at lower ranks - earlier technology. 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 testing revealed that some players constantly play only one class of equipment, while others play all classes. This is partly explained by the gameplay features of the game for each class of military equipment. Partially - 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 rank), you can open heavier classes of ships for research. Horizontally - ships 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 experience required to open a new piece of equipment and the purchase price increases 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 that of a tank. There is no forced target acquisition, and the player has the opportunity to manually set the elevation angle of the main caliber guns according to the rangefinder and lead angle readings.

A three-plane gun stabilization system has been implemented, allowing for comfortable targeted fire even in heavy seas. This is a fairly realistic system - on real ships at different times, a wide variety of systems for stabilizing 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 unified weapon control, one way or another, leads to the fact that the fire from all guns is concentrated on one target.

Therefore, in War Thunder, weapons for different purposes are divided into groups, and the player is given the opportunity to manually control one of the available weapon classes. The remaining classes will fire automatically at both air and sea targets, taking into account the player's target designation. An automatic firing mode is possible from all classes of guns, when the player only points out priority 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 a sailing fleet was seriously considered. As entry-level ships. There were even actually developed sailing ships of the British branch of the 1st rank - the Golden Hind galleons.

But over time, this idea was abandoned and currently the research tree represents ships from the World War II era, the pre-war and post-war periods. 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 weather types were assumed: from complete calm to a wild storm, and weather changes could occur right during the battle, which forced players to change their chosen tactics and strategy in accordance with changing weather conditions.

Subsequently, storms were completely abandoned. All that was left was 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 equipment 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 - are involved.

The fight for the survivability of the ship - repairing modules, firefighting and flood control - is activated by pressing a special button on the action panel. Moreover, activating several actions at once reduces the time it takes to complete each of them. This forces the player to think about what is more important to him at the moment: putting out the fire, repairing the hole, or repairing the module. In addition, activating any action leads to a significant reduction in the rate of fire of ship's guns.

In the early stages, the activation of each survivability system was automatic, and the execution time of each action was the same regardless of how many actions were performed simultaneously. Now things have become somewhat more complicated.

War Thunder fleet: news and first details

Developer responses about the fleet:

▪When will closed testing of the War Thunder fleet begin?
Closed testing of ship combat will begin this year.

▪How to get into closed testing?
Early access to testing will be given to the alpha testing team and other invitees, as well as owners of one of the two Starter Sea Sets with unique ships, which are already available for pre-order in the game store. We will tell you how to get into the closed testing team later.

▪When will open testing begin?
Open testing is planned for 2017.

▪What types of boats and from which countries will be added?
Throughout the CBT, we will gradually fill the ship lines and by the start of the MBT there will be enough of them to fill the research tree of each main nation. Also, throughout the CBT, new ship modes and locations will be added to the game.

▪Will there be controllable large ships (cruisers, battleships, aircraft carriers)? If they don’t, why are torpedoes needed?
Larger ships will be featured in the game under AI control in some game modes. One of the main combat missions of torpedo boats will be their destruction.
Perhaps in the future there will also be large ships controlled by players - destroyers and others, in other game modes. This will be determined based on the results of the CBT.

▪What will ship research look like?
Just like aircraft and tank trees. In battles, you earn Research Points, through which you research new ships in the branch of the selected country, as well as modules on those ships that you used in battle.

▪Will there be special maps for ships?
Of course, we are creating new separate locations for naval battles. All major naval theaters of World War II will appear in War Thunder: the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans, as well as the Mediterranean.

▪When will the starting lineups of nations be announced?
After the Gamescom exhibition. It is worth adding that ships from all nations that are in War Thunder will appear in the game. The game will implement a damage system. Ships will lose their rudders, get holes and go to the bottom, just like in real life.

This is what the main questions and their answers look like. Most of all, the players were interested in the paragraph that said that there would be no battleships and cruisers. Or rather, they will be, but only under the control of AI. We present to your attention the developers' answers to the topic of large ships:

“A high level of realism is one of the key design features for War Thunder. We do not change the characteristics of the equipment and create it as it was, as close as possible. Classic capital ship battles are a contest of patience and planning, with battles lasting from a few hours to several days. In our game, where battles of all types of troops are combined, and players can control planes, tanks, and fleets, there is no possibility of speeding up time by 5-10 times or changing the size and speed of ships. The development of the fleet in War Thunder began even before the development of tanks, and as tests showed, battles on a heavy fleet, ships larger than a destroyer, would have been too long and uninteresting, or would have required making the ships completely unrealistic, only resembling real ships in appearance and names. Therefore, we decided to recreate that part of the battle fleet that was rarely reproduced in games. Ships that are more suitable for the formula of our game are fast, swift, dangerous, real Knights of the Sea, worthy and equal rivals for planes in the air and tanks on the ground,” says Kirill Yudintsev, creative director of Gaijin Entertaiment.

Anticipating the indignation of the players, detailed material was posted on the official forum of the game in defense of this decision. Here are the main theses of the developers about why it is impossible to add a “large” fleet. If you are interested, there is a detailed topic on the game forum.

There are no suitable cards for huge ships. The huge size of the cars requires a lot of time to play, as well as for maneuvers.
The game between large ships will continue until the first hit from a large-caliber salvo.
The interaction of such ships with other units of equipment is hardly possible. The gameplay will be uninteresting.
The scoring system cannot be implemented. It seems to the developers that it will not be possible to count frags with the current damage system. Moreover, the system of earning and leveling also seems complex and is unlikely to be implemented.
According to the developers, not all nations have large warships. As KEOFOX states, the USSR, in this case, simply will not have a decent aircraft-carrying fleet.
According to Gaijin, there will be too many ships like the Yamato and Missouri in the game, even though they were unique vehicles. The developers do not want to introduce a system of restrictions.

In our opinion, these arguments are not significant. It seems that the developers were afraid of the size of the fleet. There are huge maps in the game, the time spent on movement is enormous and in realistic tank and aircraft battles. Mechanical and pumping problems can be solved. By last argument ra hard work Tchikov seems completely stupid. What prevents you from introducing a limit on the number of ships of one type or another? Why can there be 10 Mouses in a battle, when none of them took part in battles and were not really completed? Players are waiting for a large fleet!

What do you think? Take part in our survey at

Almost three years ago, the developer company Gaijin announced the imminent release of ships as the third available equipment for the player. Since then, topics have periodically appeared on forums and social networks about when it will be possible to fully enjoy a controlled naval battle. Take command of a battleship or submarine. Most often, topics are closed by moderators with the words “we have to wait.” There is not even an approximate date for the release of a controlled fleet in War Thunder.

At the beginning of 2015, enough messages appeared on the network that ships could be controlled. However, this is only available through closed testing, to only a small number of human testers. And this is most likely true, since in the fall of 2014 some information sites close to Gaijin even posted video reviews about Japanese aircraft carriers from the Second World War.

At the same time, an approximate list of future equipment was announced - battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers. However, given Gaijin's desire for realism, they will not be able to limit themselves to this technique. The above mentioned fleet cannot do without smaller vessels. And don't forget about submarines. Without the famous wolf packs it is simply impossible to imagine the fleet of Nazi Germany. But, more reliable and accurate information has not yet been provided.

However, there is still a fleet in War Thunder! The only pity is that it is currently controlled by a computer. It appears on many marine and coastal charts. Such as Wake Island, Guam, Merchant Marine, Rocky Coast, etc.

Types of ships in the game.

The fleet in War Thunder is currently represented by the following ships - heavy cruiser, light cruiser, aircraft carrier, destroyer, battleship, cargo ship, landing ship (landing ship).

The role of the fleet in War Thunder.

Despite the fact that the fleet is still controlled by the game's artificial intelligence, it sometimes plays a significant role during the battle. It plays both an auxiliary function for attack and the role of a protected object.

On maps like “Pacific Secret Base”, landing ships land tanks to capture a ground point, which ensures a win. If you let enemy ships get to the shore, it will be much more difficult to destroy the tanks. And in the “merchant fleet” mission you need to protect your transports and destroy enemy floating targets.

It is worth noting that the role of the fleet is more visible in arcade air battles.

The ships presented in War Thunder are equipped with air defense. Shells from anti-aircraft guns and heavy machine guns that ships are equipped with can damage structural elements of the aircraft, which will affect its flight characteristics. A leaking radiator, a broken oil line, or shot through ailerons can lead to rapid destruction by the enemy. But the ship's air defense itself does a good job of shooting down unwary pilots.

How to destroy the enemy fleet in War Thunder.

To prevent a tank landing on the coast, it is necessary to destroy enemy landing ships. They are equipped with weak air defense, but they can harm or shoot down. It is also worth noting that the landing is almost always covered by enemy fighters. But this type of ship easily shatters into pieces from targeted shots from 20 mm Berezin, ShVAK, Hispano and the like cannons. There is no need to talk about heavier aviation artillery, like the YAK9-K and others like it. Large caliber destroys small ships with a bang.

Destroying small landing ships brings victory in the mission closer and brings additional points to the pilot who destroyed them.

And if boats with landing troops are easy to destroy, then a cruiser, battleship, or destroyer is worth tinkering with. There is no need to fly headlong into the bristling vents of the ship's air defense with your machine guns and small-caliber cannons. Well, you can cause some damage, and also become an additional frag for artificial intelligence. It is optimal to destroy large ships with bombs from a height inaccessible to the ship's air defense. Or torpedoes, launched from the appropriate type of aircraft.

For destroying large enemy ships using torpedoes, you can be awarded the title “sea wolf”, “sea hunter”. For bomb attacks on ships, the titles “destroyer” and “thunderer” are counted.

Still, we should hope that the current modest presence of ships in War Thunder will not last long. And each player will soon be able to say to the other “seven feet under your keel.”

The triune battle concept, once announced Gaijin Entertainment, became a little bit closer. At the end of June, a massive closed beta test of the fleet started in , and the first lucky ones set off to conquer the vastness of the oceans. The chosen ones had been racing ships for a whole year, but this could not be called a full-fledged game. As one streamer said: “This is a fisheries inspection simulator.” Indeed, most of the equipment was represented by boats and almost motor boats. But time passed, content was added, and now destroyers and light cruisers were launched. There is no such variety as in , but the beginnings of exciting gameplay are already visible.

However, more about everything below.

Fleet changes to the closed beta

So, where did the Battle Thunder fleet come up in beta testing? First of all, a pumpable tree for researching ships and their crews, as well as modifications of units, appeared. Now you won’t just be thrown into battle - ship sessions will be available on an ongoing basis in the “Events” mode. The first four levels of two nations - the USA and Germany - will be available to the player for now. The class of technology can be divided into the following types:

torpedo boats,
artillery boats,
minesweepers,
floating batteries,
destroyers,
light cruisers.

Torpedo boats are designed to attack clumsy ships, artillery boats focus on direct fire, minesweepers lay mines, anti-aircraft barges fight off aircraft attacks, destroyers and cruisers conduct standard linear combat. In addition, hydrofoils were introduced (very good against torpedoes), as well as remote-controlled glide bombs for bombers. Anti-aircraft weapons are now controlled by bots, but you can return them to your control.

Gameplay

For beginners who have not yet encountered naval battles, we will briefly explain the basics of the game mechanics. Overall, it is quite similar to that of Wargaming, however there are a lot of differences. The concept of a single battle allows you to enter the map not only on a ship, but also to roll out an airplane from the hangar. Of course, there are no tanks, since it is somewhat difficult to imagine their battle with a ship. Otherwise, everything is as usual - capture points, interesting modes (attacking convoys, destroying ships in the rear) on a wide variety of maps.

But the most important gameplay difference is the traditional “Snails” damage system. There is no hit point bar, which gradually decreases. Each ship is a full-fledged model with many compartments, modules and components. The crew is at their combat posts, where they die during shelling. On a separate screen you can even see the route of the shell that pierced the armor, how it passes through the hull of the ship and what is damaged in the process.

Therefore, simply bombarding the enemy with a barrage of fire will not work - very targeted shooting is required, and some ships are very, very tenacious. Shells are divided into armor-piercing and high-explosive. If the first ones can go right through without catching anything critical, then a successful hit in the underwater part of the hull, in the engine compartment or artillery magazine causes significant problems. Although high explosive shells do not have penetrating properties, they cause general damage to compartments and cause fires.

At the same time, each vessel has a flood indicator. Shot below the waterline? Water immediately begins to flow. As soon as the water level in the hold exceeds the critical level, the ship may sink, or even spectacularly break in half. The crew is fighting this, as in the case of fires. It is important to very competently maneuver human resources and redistribute priorities during a heated battle, since trying to do everything at the same time will slow down the overall processes.

It is very important to maintain a class role in the game. The boats will respawn closer to the center and engage in initial reconnaissance. Destroyers and light cruisers appear at the very edge of the map and slowly move forward to carry out their main combat mission, fighting off aircraft. However, despite the small size of the mosquito fleet, they should still be wary of boats, especially in archipelagos where it is very difficult to turn around. Even one successfully hit torpedo can do a lot of business.

Gaijin vs Wargaming

Of course, every fleet lover may ask the question - which ships are better? “Snail” or “potato”? However, this is not the most correct way to pose the question, since these are projects from different gaming niches. Despite the presence of an arcade mode in War Thunder, playing even on it is quite difficult from the point of view of the varnished ships of World of Warships. But the latter is not intended for hardcore - its goal is to provide maximum entertainment in a short time in a naval-themed setting. And the gameplay of the “potato” is no less exciting than in a serious simulator from the “snails”. I myself play both here and there, depending on my mood. On the side of War Thunder is authentic immersion in the era, but poor content and beta testing. And World of Warships is a finished product, with numerous ships, maps and polished balance, but these are essentially the same arcade tanks, only in profile. So just try both projects and decide which you like.

How to get to the CBT?

It's very simple - leave a request to participate in the closed beta test, and wait for a response from the developers. But if you are a leader by nature and don’t like to rely on chance, then it’s worth purchasing “Sea Sets” for 2,000 rubles, where, in addition to premium ships, the coveted key will be waiting for you. Don't miss your chance!