Today we’ll take a look at some more improvements coming to the Firebirds major update: mud on ground vehicles and improved naval effects such as better fires.

With the release of the Firebirds major update, you’ll notice an update to various effects related to mud, soil traces and the nature of your ground vehicles getting dirty. In particular, the effects of mud from under the wheels have been improved, with many bugs and inaccuracies fixed. The effect itself has become more saturated as well!



But that’s not all. Ground vehicles have always been able to get covered in mud, snow and sand, but we’ve now worked to make this mechanic more elaborate and realistic. Before the Firebirds major update, the surface of an entire map consisted of one material; either sand, dirt or snow. But now, the areas of the surface you drive on can have different materials, meaning ground vehicles can get covered with different types of mud at the same time. In addition to being able to clean off dirt in water as normal, you can now fire your main caliber gun and use the physics of that to “shake and blast” that dirt off. Pretty awesome!

Previously before each flight, you had to manually set the required operating modes of aircraft radars which was inconvenient. In the Firebirds major update, you’ll have the opportunity to configure aircraft radars before the battle, and for each game mode, you can choose your own set of settings. Select a vehicle, be it an aircraft, helicopter, SPAA or naval vessel that is equipped with a radar with search mode and go to the test flight settings screen. From here, you can set the mode of the radar, radar search mode and radar scope scale. The same settings can be made at the beginning of the battle in the respawn screen and in the “Settings” menu. Radar settings are individual for each vehicle, and can be set for each vehicle that has a search radar.



Naval battles have also changed significantly. Surface vessel fires have been visually improved and divided into three categories: critical, which can cause imminent destruction, dangerous, which can cause little damage but can lead to serious consequences, and cosmetic, where the damage from fires is small, important compartments and modules are out of danger, and the battle can continue to be fought.

Today we’ll be going through some more new features and improvements coming to War Thunder in the Firebirds major update!

In the Firebirds major update, we’re expanding the functionality available in the “Sight settings” menu. It’s now possible to add the name of the shell you’re using to the sight and configure it in the same way as other elements can be within custom sights. You can move it to wherever you want, change the text and background color in different channels, change the size and font, and set the preferred name of the shell used — either its type or short name. In addition to this, the range scale can now be moved horizontally with the mouse cursor!



We’ve also improved the existing functionality of configurations. The sort list now puts player-created or downloaded configurations at the beginning, and a created or downloaded configuration that you no longer want can be deleted without leaving the game.

It’s now possible to see hits that you made or received during a battle as they actually happened, without needing to replay them manually in the Protection Analysis menu. You can view hits from a replay by clicking on the “Hit analysis” button when leaving a battle, or find the replay in the replay list (navigate “Community” > “Replays” from the hangar) and click the button from there.



Recorded hits are divided into two groups, where you can switch between both: either hits made by you, or hits from enemies. Each hit has time stamps, the name of the ammunition used and vehicle, and on the menu on the right, you can see the range and details of the projectile and vehicle. It’s also possible to save individual shots from the hit analysis menu to a file and play them from there, allowing you to both share them with your friends or attach them to bug reports. Please note that not all hits are saved. Some hits are filtered by gun caliber, so the list will not have a scattering of machine gun hits, as this can interfere with finding the exact hit that you wanted to see.

The first soldiers joined the ranks of the FRG Armed Forces on November 12th 1955. Until the mid-1990s, they served only on German territory, but then began to participate in international peacekeeping missions and major military operations. The number of people in the German Armed Forces exceeds 180,000 people.

Both vehicles are temporarily available for 1,000 and 2,980 Golden Eagles respectively.

When: From today until November 15th (07:00 GMT).
Where: Germany > Army > Premium vehicles.

About these tanks

• The https://wiki.warthunder.com/Pz.Sfl.Ic is fast, maneuverable and stealthy which is ideal for reconnaissance and getting to capture points. Armed with a small but formidable 50 mm PaK38 cannon and also having decent armor protection, the Pz.Sfl.Ic is also able to destroy most enemy vehicles at its rank.

• The Panzer IV/70(A) is a tank destroyer armed with a 75 mm PaK42 gun. In addition to this, it also has impressive armor penetration with its PzGr 39/42 round and boasts good armor protection too. This compact and highly accurate firing tank destroyer is ideal for long-range defensive gameplay.

“Bundeswehr chevron” decal

When: From today until November 15th (07:00 GMT).
Task: Task: Play 3 battles using German vehicles at rank III or above to receive the “Bundeswehr chevron” decal!

Additional details:

• You must use a minimum of rank III.
  
• Your activity must not be below 70%.
  
• You can complete the task in random battles, except for Enduring Confrontation missions, [Assault] mode and Helicopter PVE battles.
  
• Track your progress in the hangar by clicking Nickname → Achievements → Holidays → Bundeswehr Day.
  
• You can find the decal in the “Germany -> Tanks” tab in the Customisation menu.

Today, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force of China celebrates its 75th anniversary, being founded on November 11th 1949. The modern PLA Air Force consists of five branches. In addition to aviation, it includes ground air defense forces, airborne troops, radars and other support units. The PLA Air Force has more than 3,500 aircraft and 400,000 people in service.

In honor of the PLA Air Force’s anniversary, the J-7D is temporarily available at a 50% discount

To get to the Gaijin Store through Steam, go to the in-game hangar > Shop > Online Store!

When: From today until November 18th (14:00 GMT).

Was: 69.99 Now: 35

• J-7D (Rank 7, China)
  
• Premium account for 20 days
  
• 2500 Golden Eagles

About this aircraft

• In air battles, the J-7D relies primarily on its impressive speed and rate of climb, where it can easily catch up with an enemy and disengage from combat. It’s armed with a powerful 23 mm cannon and can take a number of IR-guided missiles. It has flares for use against air-to-air missiles, and for hitting ground targets has rockets and small bombs.

Available for this day!


“PLAAF Flag” decal

When: From today until November 14th (07:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles using Chinese aircraft at rank III or above to receive the “PLAAF Flag” decal!

Additional details:

• Your activity must not be below 70%.
  
• You can complete the task in random battles, except for Enduring Confrontation missions, [Assault] mode and Helicopter PVE battles.
  
• Track your progress in the hangar by clicking Nickname → Achievements → Holidays → PLA Air Force Day.
  
• You can find the decal in the “China -> Aircraft” tab in the Customization menu.

On November 11th 1918, Germany signed the Armistice of Compiègne with Entente, ending World War I. It allowed Poland to declare its independence for the first time since the 18th century. In modern Poland, Independence Day is widely celebrated as the most important national holiday. It’s accompanied by a military parade in Warsaw, the laying of flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the raising of flags throughout the country.

Lanovski’s own plane is available for 6,090 Golden Eagles!

When: From today until November 14th (07:00 GMT).
Where: USA > Aviation > Premium Vehicles.



About this aircraft

• The Lanovski’s P-47M-1-RE combines all the advantages of the famous Thunderbolt fighter, adding an even more powerful engine and improved maneuverability. Its armament consists of eight 12.7 mm Browning machine guns and up to two tons of bombs. This fighter was flown by Witold Lanovski, a Polish pilot who served as an instructor in the Royal Air Force during World War II, and then flew combat sorties in the last year of the war as part of the U.S. Army Air Force. He shot down at least six aircraft, including four when he served in the 56th Fighter Group, 61st Fighter Squadron.

We’re once again returning the Winged Hussars camouflage temporarily for the Soviet Mi-24V!



When: From today until November 14th (07:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles with an activity above 70% while flying the Soviet Mi-24V to receive the “Winged Hussars” camouflage for this helicopter! This camouflage can only be obtained in random battles against other players.


Available for this day!


“Kotwica” decal

When: From today until November 14th (07:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles using British or US vehicles at rank III or above to receive the “Kotwica” decal!

Additional details:

• Your activity must not be below 70%.
  
• You can complete the task in random battles, except for Enduring Confrontation missions, [Assault] mode and Helicopter PVE battles.
  
• Track your progress in the hangar by clicking Nickname → Achievements → Holidays → Poland Independence Day.
  
• You can find the decal in the “Holidays” tab in the Customization menu.

We loved seeing all of your screenshots last week, thank you! This week, large caliber submissions! There is much to pick from- planes like the Kingcobra, or all-time classics such as the KV-2. The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!


Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen145. You have time until the 15th of November to submit your screenshot.

After that date, 6 winners will be selected (3 of which will be the highest rated by the community and 3 selected by our judges), each of which receive a reward of 300GE.

• Your screenshot must feature a vehicle with a large caliber.
  
• Aircraft and Coastal Vessels: 35mm or greater, Tanks and Ships: 130mm or greater.
  
• You must add the #WTscreen145 tag (title cannot have any other text in it).
  
• Artists may only win by popular vote once per four screenshot competitions.

[/b]

Screenshots need to be compliant with the War Thunder rules.

You need to be the author of the screenshot.

Screenshot needs to be new. You cannot use those which have previously been published or used in other competitions.

We will only accept raw screenshots from the game. You cannot use any editing software nor any other visual enhancements (like Nvidia Ansel filters).

You can use filters and settings built into War Thunder.

You can use the replay functionality built into War Thunder.

Rewards will be delivered to the author's account within 14 working days.

[/list]


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3359442219
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3359166849
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3359124423

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3360769445
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3359888738
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3360035670

Each winner will get 300GE! Congratulations and see you next week!

With the Firebirds update, War Thunder has support for Ray Tracing (RT) and is capable of doing several RT based visual effects, like shadows, ambient occlusion and reflections. In today’s blog, we’ll be taking a closer look at the details!

For RT to be used, we need to build and maintain a so called “Bounding Volume Hierarchy” (BVH). BVH is a triangulated representation of the whole world where all RT effects can work on that. Many games cut corners on what to include in BVH and what fidelity. Like only using less detailed models, removing everything at a relatively close distance. But that has a price. With such approach, it’s impossible to get accurate shadows.

With War Thunder, we decided to go for the real deal, so we can employ a wider range of effects in the long run. In War Thunder, almost the whole battlefield is accessible for RT effects at the same fidelity that is rendered in the game, so all of those effects can be physically correct and accurate.



Doing this has a price as the BVH building process makes use of as many CPU threads as possible, so a modern CPU is recommended.

Now we have BVH ready, we can start tracing rays in it and get some effects out of it. We have three main effects available at launch.

This replaces texture based shadow mapping and instead traces rays from every point on the screen onto the surface of the sun. As it’s using the whole surface of the sun, and not just the center point of it, shadows get a physically correct penumbra, depending on the shadow caster object’s distance, as one would expect.




The result is physically correct and pixel perfect shadows from the sun.

On high end GPUs one can also try shadows from dynamic lights. It enables hard, pixel perfect shadows from all dynamic lights, like explosions, muzzle flashes and the like. This is a very demanding feature, and aimed for high-end GPUs.




Ambient occlusion is a technique used to simulate object features blocking the ambient lighting, like the sky itself — a sort of ambient shadow. That’s why it’s darker under your bed.




Traditionally we do this with screen space techniques like SSAO or GTAO. RTAO is a ray traced version of these screen space techniques, and can correct errors, typical to screen space techniques, like when something casts ambient shadows outside of the screen. Screen space techniques can’t deal with that, but RTAO can. Similarly to when something casts ambient shadows, which is occluded by another object. Usually in these cases, you see shadows where it should not be, or vice versa. RTAO fixes all of these issues.

This is the most complex feature. RTSM and RTAO is really just about shadows, but with RTR, we’re visualizing BVH itself. In a mirror, you basically see what is in BVH and we’re working hard to make it match the rendered image closely as possible.

Again, even before RTR, we had reflections. Probe based and screen space reflections were used, but just as with SSAO, they have their limitations. Actually very similar. Handling out of screen or occluded objects for screen space, and positioning issues with probes. RTR has the whole scene to trace, so naturally it can reflect objects from any location.

There is another complication for RTR, namely surface roughness. A rough surface like concrete has reflections which are very soft and blurry, while gloss surfaces like glass or flat water has mirror like sharp reflections. Additionally, there’s everything in between. Simulating this is actually one of the hottest topics in computer graphics.

Our approach is rendering noisy reflections based on roughness, and using a so called denoiser to get physically accurate reflections.

The effect is sometimes obvious, like in the case of mirror like reflections.




Other times, it’s less obvious but makes the rendered image just more correct, making it look natural. If you look at these shots, take a look at the vehicle and its surroundings. On the non RT one, it is basically glowing in the shadow, as the building which should block the sky from the reflection on it is not on screen, so screen space techniques can’t know the sky should be blocked. On the RT version, this blue tint is gone, as BVH has the building, regardless of it being on screen or not, and blocks the sky correctly.




Again RTR is fixing the issues traditional screen space and probe based reflections have.

A sub feature of RTR is reflections on translucent glass surfaces. In these glass surfaces, you can now see an accurate reflection of the world, instead of the probe we used before. The result is accurate reflections again.

And finally another sub feature is reflections on water.

Our water reflections are using planar reflections in the game, which is a very accurate way to have reflections, and then it’s distorted based on the waves. With RTR water, the reflection rays are shot out correctly, based on the wave normal vectors. The reflection itself is simply more correct, as it’s not just distorting a 2D image, but actually use different reflections per pixel.




The difference is sometimes larger, sometimes smaller.

Ray Tracing is heavy lifting, but there are many scalability options to make it more accessible.

First of all, all three options can be enabled/disabled independently, meaning you can use only the effect which you are care about the most if you have an older RT capable GPU.

Then there is the quality levels. In general, RTSM with dynamic lights is for the latest high end GPUs. Normally it’s not much more expensive than just sun shadows, but in the middle of the action with many fires and explosions, it can become very demanding.

For RTAO, low quality is using a lower internal resolution for the calculations. This is however the same resolution as with the screen space techniques, but without the screen space errors. Medium gives you higher resolution and high gives better de-noising. This is really only visible in certain circumstances, but we wanted to give you the control over it.

For RTR, low is a good tradeoff. It lacks RT shadows in reflections, improving speed considerably. Medium has RT shadows in reflections. Both low and medium is using a so called checkerboard rendering to double performance by tracing half the number of rays. High disables this checkerboard rendering, but the denoiser actually does a great job hiding the checkerboard pattern, so the difference is small. Again, it’s up to you to decide.

RTR also has a control to render at full or half resolution, both for water and normal surfaces. The difference is mainly visible in mirrors, and look good on half resolution even if you don’t have a beefier GPU.

Finally the RTR translucent glass reflections can also have RT reflections inside the reflections on high, or not on medium. This usually impacts performance slightly as these surfaces are not very common in the game.

For an optimized setting, where you get a good tradeoff on performance/image quality we recommend using the Medium RT preset. Pushing beyond further improves the quality of the effects but at greater price in performance. But if you have the latest top of the line GPU, go for it! :)

When using RT effects, we recommend using an upscaling anti aliasing method, with a preset that suits your graphics card. Like DLSS, FSR, XeSS or our TSR. With these upscalers you can achieve great performance and image quality. Balanced presets are usually a good middle ground for ray tracing, but on an older GPU, there’s nothing wrong in going for the performance preset if you want to enjoy the RT benefits.

We’re committed not just to add more RT features in the future, but also to improve the performance of existing ones, so stay tuned for future updates.

At launch, RT effects are supported on Nvidia graphics cards. Making it work on both AMD and Intel cards is a priority for us. It’s working with our internal builds, but not ready for release, we need to iron out some issues specific to these GPUs. It will be ready soon, along with the current generation consoles.

The Esports III Trophy is now complete, with camouflages created by the authors on WT.Live! This new wave of additions includes 20 camouflages for different vehicles: 9 aircraft and 11 ground vehicles. We’re continuing to showcase mid-level vehicles with unique creations by our artists.




Like the previous Esports trophy, the new trophy can be obtained by simply playing regular War Thunder battles. In the future, it’ll also be possible to obtain by participating in Esports events in War Thunder tournaments with an increased chance! PlayStation and Xbox players can purchase the trophy in the Item Shop for Golden Eagles.

Read more on our Wiki.

To open it, you’ll need to purchase a key on the Market (income is shared with the authors of the camouflages). You can either activate the coupon on your account, or trade it on the Market to get Gaijin Coins (GJN). A trophy can be sold as well!

To unlock the trophy, you'll need an “Esport” key that can be purchased on the Market for GJN.


Read more about the Market and Gaijin Coins on our Wiki.



Air Superiority tournament sponsored by Thrustmaster, this weekend, from 13:40 GMT, Twitch Drops will once again be accompanying the final stages of the last Major Esport event of the year! Here’s a sneak preview of the BO7 matches on Saturday 9th November.



Watch the tournament and get Twitch Drops also on the official English, German, French and Russian War Thunder Esport channels!





In this pack:

• "Flanking Snail" decal
  
• "Slick flanker" title
  
• 300 Golden Eagles

Let’s have a look at the Mirage 2000D RMV, an upgraded version of the strike variant of the Mirage family of aircraft and one of its most modern variants currently in service.

At a glance:

• Top speed of Mach 2.
  
• Access to advanced missiles.
  
• Large caliber laser bombs.
  
• HMD

Vehicle History
[expand type=details]
In an effort to modernize the Mirage 2000 and extend its service life, Dassault launched the ‘Rénovation Mi-Vie’ (RMV) program in 2015. As part of the program, the Mirage 2000D RMV received updated avionics and was enabled to carry GBU-48 and GBU-50 guided bombs. Although demonstrator had been built by and exhibited at the 2017 Paris Air Show, the conversion of the first operational aircraft to the RMV standard started in 2019, the first aircraft was delivered 2021 and test flights were conducted shortly afterwards by the Air Force. The Mirage 2000D RMV subsequently entered service in 2022 with 55 aircraft being upgraded to this standard.  
[/expand]




The Mirage 2000D RMV is on its way to the top rank of the French aviation tree in the Firebirds major update, becoming the most advanced strike aircraft available. Building on the airframe of the Mirage 2000D, the RMV modification brings with it key upgrades to the Mirage’s strike capabilities, further increasing its effectiveness against ground targets. Let’s take a closer look!




Representing a direct upgrade of the Mirage 2000D-R1, the RMV modification inherits much of its key characteristics from its predecessor. As such, the aircraft maintains superb flight characteristics, thanks to its delta wing design as well as the powerful SNECMA ATAR M53 afterburning turbofan engine. This combination in particular enables the Mirage 2000 to retain excellent maneuverability, representing a signature feature of the Mirage family of aircraft.

Unlike the R1 variant which precedes it, the Mirage 2000D RMV is specially outfitted to accommodate the installation of the more advanced GBU-48, GBU-49 & GBU-50 guided bombs, which most prominently feature GPS guidance in addition to the traditional laser guidance system.




Apart from these new weapon options, the Mirage 2000D RMV also retains some more familiar faces in its arsenal, such as conventional 250 kg bombs, MATRA rockets or the BGL-400 and BGL-1000 laser guided bombs. Lastly, the aircraft can also be equipped with the new CC-422 gunpod which houses a single 30 mm DEFA 553 cannon. All in all, these upgrades further increase the Mirage’s lethality against ground targets and thus make it a must-have in any top tier Ground Battle lineup. 



That’s it for this one! The Mirage 2000D RMV is on final approach and is expected to arrive in the Firebirds major update. In the meantime, make sure to keep a close watch on the news for other dev blogs that we’ve got planned!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.

On November 10th, 1888, outstanding Soviet aircraft designer Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev was born. He designed over 100 types of aircraft, including the Tu-2 frontline bomber, which was widely used in WWII, the Tu-4 strategic bomber, and the first Soviet passenger jet aircraft, the Tu-104.

This Soviet premium bomber is available for 3,416 Golden Eagles!

When: From today until November 11th (07:00 GMT).
Where: USSR > Aviation > Premium vehicles.



About this aircraft

• The Tu-1 is fast but fragile. It features two 23 mm forward-firing cannons as well as two 45 mm cannons. Additionally it has bombs and torpedoes, including three powerful 1,000 kg bombs capable of destroying any ground target. While working on the Tu-2, Tupolev wanted to make a truly multi-purpose aircraft capable of escort, interception and attack, which is how the Tu-1 project began. Work on it was completed only after the war, and the prototype did not go into production, since it was inferior in characteristics to jet aircraft.