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Every time a new War Thunder update comes out, I think to myself: I'm finally going to progress a bit more into the aircraft research and then get side-tracked by tanks. But now, with stealth added in the Firebirds update, I might just have to sink some more hours in.

An exciting addition is the F-117A (Squadron Vehicle) which brings in a brand new stealth capability to the game. The developers note this craft has a "lower IR and radio signature". There's also multiple other aircraft including the F-15E, Su-34, Tornado GR.4 and Mirage 2000 RMV. There's also multiple new helicopters and new tanks.

But there's a lot more to this update as they've added in AMD FSR 3.1, DLAA, XeSS, TSR, Direct3D 12 (beta) and Ray Tracing (beta) with an overhaul to the graphics settings menu. They say they're looking at adding frame generation for a future update too. There's also some small reworks to multiple locations, but the "Abandoned Factory" got a huge upgrade visually and looks awesome.

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While it has Native Linux support with Vulkan, it looks like AMD FSR, XeSS and Ray Tracing are all currently only available via DirectX 12 - so you'll need to run War Thunder with Proton to see any of that. I'm hoping they continue to work on their Vulkan renderer too.

See a lot more about the update on the Steam announcement.

War Thunder | Release Date: 15th August 2013

Official links and where to buy from:

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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10 comments

chr Nov 22
I was tempted before to switch to Proton version of War Thunder to try out the Windows-only VR (ground matches are immersive but uncompetitive; hope it gets better when Valve does more VR stuff). Now I'm even more tempted. So when their Ray Tracing supports AMD (but not Vulkan & Linux yet) I will probably switch.


Last edited by chr on 23 November 2024 at 6:59 am UTC
Pikolo Nov 22
Do NOT try to run WarThunder with Proton. It will most likely work for playing replays, but you will get banned by Easy AntiCheat if you try playing PvP
Liam Dawe Nov 23
Do NOT try to run WarThunder with Proton. It will most likely work for playing replays, but you will get banned by Easy AntiCheat if you try playing PvP
Since when? It would either work or not with Proton, and last I checked it does. You don’t just get banned for using Proton, if anti-cheat isn’t enabled you would just get kicked.
chr Nov 23
Do NOT try to run WarThunder with Proton. It will most likely work for playing replays, but you will get banned by Easy AntiCheat if you try playing PvP
Since when? It would either work or not with Proton, and last I checked it does. You don’t just get banned for using Proton, if anti-cheat isn’t enabled you would just get kicked.

Judging by the Proton-specific reports, it seems there are issues since about a month ago but not earlier. 😮


Last edited by chr on 23 November 2024 at 9:41 am UTC
Samsai Nov 23
Do NOT try to run WarThunder with Proton. It will most likely work for playing replays, but you will get banned by Easy AntiCheat if you try playing PvP
Finally, a way to deal with War Thunder addiction.
M@GOid Nov 23
I wish they released a version that is a traditional system, you pay once and get access to everything, no grinding needed. I have no patience for those pay-to-win games, nor for the extortion prices of bugged DCS modules.

I guess I just miss the days of IL-2 1946...
Tuxee Nov 23
I wish they released a version that is a traditional system, you pay once and get access to everything, no grinding needed. I have no patience for those pay-to-win games, nor for the extortion prices of bugged DCS modules.

I guess I just miss the days of IL-2 1946...

Well, that's pretty much the only way MMO games can work. WT has been around for 12 years now and since then you got tanks. Ships. Vulkan. New maps. More tanks. More planes. Guided missiles. More ships. Destructible environment. Detailed round physics. Tutorials. Night vision. Ray tracing. etc etc.

How could a one-time payment with "access to all" be a feasible approach to financing the servers and all the development poured into the game?

Besides:
It is not pay-to-win. It's pay-to-speed-up-the-grind. If you restrict yourself to lower tiers the grind is more than bearable (and in all honesty those lower tiers are much more fun). Your IL-2 (tier II and III) is unlocked in no time.

It's not pay-to-win but rather the other way round: Whenever they have discounts plenty of players pour into the game with shiny premium vehicles only to be obliterated by seasoned gamers in their standard vehicles. Whichever team has less "premium players" wins. It's really that simple.
M@GOid Nov 24
I wish they released a version that is a traditional system, you pay once and get access to everything, no grinding needed. I have no patience for those pay-to-win games, nor for the extortion prices of bugged DCS modules.

I guess I just miss the days of IL-2 1946...

Well, that's pretty much the only way MMO games can work. WT has been around for 12 years now and since then you got tanks. Ships. Vulkan. New maps. More tanks. More planes. Guided missiles. More ships. Destructible environment. Detailed round physics. Tutorials. Night vision. Ray tracing. etc etc.

How could a one-time payment with "access to all" be a feasible approach to financing the servers and all the development poured into the game?

Besides:
It is not pay-to-win. It's pay-to-speed-up-the-grind. If you restrict yourself to lower tiers the grind is more than bearable (and in all honesty those lower tiers are much more fun). Your IL-2 (tier II and III) is unlocked in no time.

It's not pay-to-win but rather the other way round: Whenever they have discounts plenty of players pour into the game with shiny premium vehicles only to be obliterated by seasoned gamers in their standard vehicles. Whichever team has less "premium players" wins. It's really that simple.

I don't care about the MMO part. I would gladly buy a package of a offline version were access to the planes was behind a fixed fee. I just want to fly the planes without loads of obstacles put there to make me shed a couple bucks. DCS allows that, but I find their prices outrageous. I don't need to flip every single switch in the cockpit, just give me realistic physics with reasonable graphics for a reasonable price.

This is something I miss in today's flight sims. You cannot simply buy something for a reasonable price and have a good selection of planes to fly. You either have to shed a lot of money for so called "ultra detailed" models (but with lots of bugs) in DCS, or grind away on War Thunder. Even the last IL-2 game became a cash grab scheme with multiple problems.

I'm a flight simmer since the late 90's, from the Warbids days. I'm well aware flight simulators always had their problems, but today the hobby is only becoming more expensive than it ever was. Also, the small number of games out there in this genre frustrates me, because with limited options come limited efforts to make things better.
Tuxee Nov 24
I don't care about the MMO part.

Then we are talking about an entirely different game. Not just "a [different] version".
Pikolo Nov 25
I don't care about the MMO part. I would gladly buy a package of a offline version were access to the planes was behind a fixed fee. I just want to fly the planes without loads of obstacles put there to make me shed a couple bucks. DCS allows that, but I find their prices outrageous. I don't need to flip every single switch in the cockpit, just give me realistic physics with reasonable graphics for a reasonable price.

This is something I miss in today's flight sims. You cannot simply buy something for a reasonable price and have a good selection of planes to fly. You either have to shed a lot of money for so called "ultra detailed" models (but with lots of bugs) in DCS, or grind away on War Thunder. Even the last IL-2 game became a cash grab scheme with multiple problems.

I'm a flight simmer since the late 90's, from the Warbids days. I'm well aware flight simulators always had their problems, but today the hobby is only becoming more expensive than it ever was. Also, the small number of games out there in this genre frustrates me, because with limited options come limited efforts to make things better.
WarThunder still has single player campaigns, though I think they've stopped developing new ones due to low demand. Some campaigns are unlocked by unlocking particular ranks in nations tech trees, and others have to be purchased
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