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War Thunder MMO Officially Launches On Linux

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Last updated: 29 Nov 2020 at 11:59 am UTC

The highly popular War Thunder MMO game has officially launched on Linux. We don't have many decent MMO games, so is it worth a shot?

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The download includes a little executable to run that downloads the rest of it. I recommend you run the updater in the terminal to see the progress as I just double clicked it and it doesn't give you any indication as to what is happening other than files appearing, oops.

You can stop and start the updater any time though and have it resume when you use it again

Bit shocked they don't give you any warning if you just double click it, so in my opinion that's a bit of a flaw to start with, but oh well it works!

The download is currently a bit slow on my end too, so expect me to update this with how the port is later.

Once you login it will probably tell you it needs to download voices, if you click Download it will quit again and download them in the background and then re-launch. They really need a UI for the updater.

More Thoughts: The port seems to be of good quality and the performance certainly seems good. Setting a resolution lower than my desktop makes the game scroll past its own window though, so that's annoying.

There's a lot you have to learn in the game, and it can be pretty overwhelming when you start. As you have different currencies, research, planes to buy, pilots to level up and so much more. It's no wonder people sink so much time into it, as most of the time at the start is learning what the fuck you're doing.

Seriously, the tutorial barely covers anything it's stupid. It doesn't explain the currency, the research, fitting modules. The swearing is appropriate for how lacking the tutorial is.

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Official Announcement below:

QuoteWe’re happy to announce today that War Thunder is now available for Linux users. Just click the “Download game” button on the main page and chose the link for Linux version!

After extensive testing, Linux users around the world can finally experience War Thunder with cross-platform playability with PC, Mac and PS4 users, as well as all of the latest additions to the game, including the major 1.43 update.

Please note that only 64-bit systems are supported. Linux-version for Steam will be released later. We’ll appreciate your feedback on our forums. You can find answers for most frequently sked question in the War Thunder version for Linux section of the FAQ.


About

War Thunder is a next generation MMO combat game dedicated to World War II military aviation, armoured vehicles, and fleets. You will take part in many of the major combat battles fought during World War 2 and the Korean War, fighting with real players from all around the world.

The game is completely free to play.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Free Game, MMO
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
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lave 6 Nov 2014
so this is free2play with starter packs (tanks and aircrafts) right? is it pay 2 win or is there a decent amount of free vehicles included (that aint weaker than the ones in those dlc packs)
Teal 6 Nov 2014
Aaaaaaah shiz, Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss


This is consistently my number 1 time sink in past 2 years, now I can sink all the time into it without using Wine! Halleluyah!
Teal 6 Nov 2014
so this is free2play with starter packs (tanks and aircrafts) right? is it pay 2 win or is there a decent amount of free vehicles included (that aint weaker than the ones in those dlc packs)

This is one of the least pay-2-win games out there, but it's rather pay-2-progress.

By that I mean you will grind your ass off if you don't throw some money at the game. As exclusive "money only" vehicles go, tho, they 90% of them are either light variations of what's already available for free (protypes, experimental modifications) (after grind tho) OR, a "captured" vehicle of one nation placed into another nation's tree.

IMHO you can have a lot of fun even for free, you just gonna have to deal with having quite limited options, unlocking a vehicle here and there. The game has a match-making system in place, tho, so most of the time your enemies shouldn't be significantly more powerful than you, so you always have a chance regardless.

Generally, 4 out of 5 situations, individual skill is significantly more important than the vehicles the players have, be it further-up-grind vehicle or a premium one.
Mohandevir 6 Nov 2014
Haven't played for some time... Tanks in Warthunder? Yes!
World of Tanks just got flanked... :)
Xpander 6 Nov 2014
finally... i was in closed beta back in july and they still didnt put up a proper launcher..but thats not an issue if they put it into steam anyway.

its a really good game imo.
mattyy1hp 6 Nov 2014
Doesn't work for me.
WarThunder Updater version 1.0.1
Looking for a new version...
Checking game version... 
Checking files... 100%
Unauthorized access to memory (SIGSEGV)

Anyone has the same problem?
Xodetaetl 6 Nov 2014
I've created an installer for Lutris.
It launches the updater in a terminal (xterm, available in most distros) so you can see the progress.
It hasn't finished downloading for me so I'm not sure what happens next, if it's needed to launch another file, I'll have to modify my script.

Oh and make sure you have the last version of Lutris, 0.3.6.1
masteredu 6 Nov 2014
To change language, open config.blk with the texteditor, and add this line to the very beginning of the file:

"language:t="German" "

for example for German :)

You have to do this, because the linux version has no launcher (yet).
Forge 6 Nov 2014
so this is free2play with starter packs (tanks and aircrafts) right? is it pay 2 win or is there a decent amount of free vehicles included (that aint weaker than the ones in those dlc packs)

Been playing WT for quite some time, excited to be able to play it properly now. There's some P2W in there, the real-money-paid planes and tanks come with all upgrades already unlocked/installed, and they receive a much larger number of free repairs before they start dinging your income, but it's entirely possible to play F2P forever and do well. It is made massively easier and faster to progress initially if you invest some money into premium time, at least for the first 3 tiers or so.
linux_gamer 6 Nov 2014
Just click the “Download game” button on the main page and chose the link for Linux version!
I just get: War Thunder is not available on your current platform.
Forge 6 Nov 2014
Odd. I get a Linux installer. Refresh, clear caches, etc?

http://i.imgur.com/KnFi2QI.jpg
Skully 6 Nov 2014
Apart from the launcher being unfinished, the game itself runs extremely well. Some top quality porting work. I don't know about pay to win yet. It's made by the same people as Star Conflict, and I don't find that to be pay to win. So I hope this is the same.
Orkultus 6 Nov 2014
During the launcher, i got this error.

./updater
WarThunder Updater version 1.0.1
Looking for a new version...
Checking game version... Failed
Downloading warthunder.yup...
Patching resources... 0%
Downloading files... 99%, 319.4KB/sec, ETA 0s
Downloading files... 100%, 2.4KB/sec, ETA 0s

Illegal instruction (core dumped)

Then when i try to run it, i get = ./aces
Illegal instruction (core dumped)


Im running Arch linux 64bit. Anyone else getting this error?
linux_gamer 6 Nov 2014
Odd. I get a Linux installer. Refresh, clear caches, etc?

http://i.imgur.com/KnFi2QI.jpg
My bad, I was looking on the Steam store.
Posibly we have to wait some days here.
Segata Sanshiro 6 Nov 2014
That's really cool that they feature all those experimental planes, especially the Horton "flying wing".

Really tempted to play this, but feel like it's the kind of thing where if I start then I won't be able to stop so going to avoid it haha
loggfreak 6 Nov 2014
i get a segmentation fault at the end of the download :(
Forge 6 Nov 2014
Yeah, Steam Linux WT is "later". Hopefully no more than a week or two, it's one of the few games I keep a Windows install around for.

As for addiction, yeah. I generally get on and fly for an hour or two most nights, but skipping a day or even a few days won't kill you. Your first win each day with each air force gives you additional lions (f2p in-game currency) and RP (grindable XP for unlocking planes/mods/etc). Most of the time it's 2X, and once you're decent you can bang out five wins in under an hour with just a little luck.

It's also astoundingly pretty, particularly if you have high end hardware and let the quality sliders run away. There are often times where I'm way up in the clouds in one of my jets, just looking at the sun and the cloud layers and stuff. Usually about that time someone starts shooting at me.
strel0ck 6 Nov 2014
It's no wonder people sink so much time into it as most of the time at the start is learn what the f u c k you're doing.

Really? F u c k? OK...

I love your articles and am glad you're back, but I honestly don't think that language is necessary.

I am downloading the game now, I really like World of Tanks, but this looks just as good and works on Linux!
Liam Dawe 6 Nov 2014
  • Admin
It's no wonder people sink so much time into it as most of the time at the start is learn what the f u c k you're doing.
Really? F u c k? OK...

I love your articles and am glad you're back, but I honestly don't think that language is necessary.

I am downloading the game now, I really like World of Tanks, but this looks just as good and works on Linux!

EDIT: OK, so I can't say f u c k in a comment but it's OK in an article. Nice.

It's allowed in comments, but a warning comes up stating that it's not always needed.

The reason it is in place for comments is to stop people attacking each other. Having one little word in an article is not an issue. Don't make a meal out of it.

If you bothered to read our rules (link above the comment box), you would know this.

Ps. No need to comment the same thing twice ;)

Edit > I am in the process of removing the notice though I don't think it's needed since we turned off guest comments.
Forge 6 Nov 2014
Also, I regularly fly with random people, so if any penguins want to fly with me, just let me know. I don't even mind flying biplanes to help you guys have more fun. I'm Forge64 in game.
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