War Thunder News

This article goes over some points from the VFX team about the improvements made to Ray Tracing technologies in the Hornet’s Sting update.

As promised at the end of last year, work on making Ray Tracing better doesn’t stop! First up, Ray Tracing is now enabled on all PCs, regardless of GPU Vendor. AMD Radeon and Intel Arc users can now enjoy all RT features. We’re still working to make RT available on Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles.

By making several changes in the code, we’ve significantly improved RT performance.

• We have reworked the way rays go through foliage, which helps when going through a forest.
  
• We have updated the denoiser we use to process the RT results. The new version has a bigger improvement in speed, while maintaining the same quality.
  
• We have a new Shadow Quality setting. This is a big one. Low allows us to shoot half as many rays as before, while medium is contextual, but usually removes 30-50% of the rays in fully lighted or shadowed areas. This is a serious improvement, and you should be aware that even on the Low setting, the difference from the High setting is very small if you are using one of the advanced Temporal anti-aliasing methods, like TSR, DLSS, XeSS of FSR. They are for sure more demanding than less advanced methods, but surpass them in image quality in both native resolution and when doing upscaling. The Low setting is also less prone to performance drops in heavily loaded scenes.
  

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Don’t see much of a difference? Exactly. And as said before, Low demands two times less resources than High (which was used before the update).

All of these improvements can result in an overall 20-25% reduction of the GPU cost of the RT effects.

We’ve worked on the windows of buildings with Ray Tracing enabled. At launch they were way too mirror-like, but after some love they now look much more natural and physically correct.

Windows before vs after

We’ve also identified several code paths where RT became unstable, which lead to GPU or even game crashes. These are now greatly reduced, and RT is much more stable now.

That’s it for now! We’ve got even more great improvements ahead, so stay tuned.

Each month we share information about accounts that have been banned for cheating or for violating the TOS. We thank you for actively reporting players who aren’t playing by the rules: it really helps us! You can use the battle replay function on our website to report players who you suspect have violated the game’s Terms of Service and the License Agreement. Instructions on how to do this can be found here.

[h2]Banned accounts[/h2]
Since our last fair play, we’ve banned 4,268 accounts that were found to have violated the rules. Specifically 3.2.3 of the EULA namely in the automation of gameplay (using bots) and cheat software. For complete transparency, we’re publishing the full list of these banned players. This list will be available for two weeks after the publication of this article.

499 more accounts have been banned for a week or more for intentional teamkills.

[h2]Recommendations[/h2]
We recommend that you set a strong password for your account and enable two-step authentication in your profile security settings. We have the following 2FA options available: email, SMS, TOTP (Gaijin Pass/Google Authenticator), and Telegram bot, which we suggest trying if SMS 2FA messages are not reaching you.

We’d also suggest that you turn on 2FA for the email that is linked to your Gaijin account for additional security, as this will protect your account from fraudsters. And remember, don’t use prohibited client modifications and never share your account information with anyone.

The War Thunder Team

Today, we’ve rounded up and will be going over some of the bug fixes and improvements that we’ve made to the game today and over the past few weeks. If you’d like to catch up on every fixed bug, then be sure to check out the changelog section on our website.

If you’ve found a bug that you’d like to report, you can do so on our community bug reporting platform.

[h2]Non-Exploding Ammo Fixes[/h2]

You know how in action movies, cars usually blow up for any reason after a collision, even when there is nothing that could cause them to explode? Tanks definitely have ammunition that can explode, however due to a bug the ammunition, that wasn’t protected or inert, in some vehicles sometimes failed to explode or ignite when it was completely destroyed.

Ammunition not exploding once it was completely destroyed has been fixed for the following vehicles: T20, M4A4 (SA50), P.7.T (AA), Lorraine 37L, Flakpanzer 38, Flakpanzer I, Kugelblitz, Wirbelwind, Zerstorer 45, Panzerjager I, Sd.Kfz.140/1, Pz.II F, Sd.Kfz.221 (s.Pz.B.41), Pvkv III, Pvlvv fm/42, AEC AA, M2A2, GAZ-MM (72-K), T-60, ZiS-12 (94-KM) and any variant of the M51.

[h2]Camouflage Fixes [/h2]

Recently, a bug was discovered in the game that affected camouflages, in particular Market and custom ones. This bug caused camouflages to look excessively battle-scarred despite the settings and in some cases they were displayed completely incorrectly. This bug has now been fixed, so you can enjoy the beauty of your camouflages again!

[h2]Ray Tracing and Graphical Adjustments[/h2]

Ray Tracing was added to War Thunder quite recently, and we continue to work to ensure that this technology is implemented as fully and correctly as possible. In particular, we’ve fixed all inaccuracies and roughness associated with it. For example, players using Ray Tracing would notice yellow highlights on the walls of buildings, and bright pink flashes on glass when they fired, as if they were shooting some kind of laser instead of regular ammo. We’ve fixed these issues now, as well as another one not related to Ray Tracing, where objects could sometimes flicker just after they were destroyed.

[h2]Radar Fixes[/h2]

Several radar-related issues have also been fixed and tweaks have been made in recent weeks. For example, the maximum radial speeds of targets have been increased for search and track modes of aircraft pulse-Doppler radars, allowing for the detection and acquisition of, for example, missiles flying towards the radar carrier. It’s useful to know where exactly the threat is coming from!

Here are some other radar bug fixes: Firstly, a bug where it was impossible to move the radar scanning area horizontally or vertically in the track-while-scan mode. Secondly, a number of bugs with the radar getting stuck in memory tracking modes after dropping the target track. Thirdly, the Kopyo-25 radar on the Su-39 no longer locks onto “empty space” when trying to lock on ground targets. And lastly, there was a lack of indication of the player’s own ARH air-to-air missiles on the radar indicator for all AN/APG-65Q radar carriers.

[h2]Sighting Enemy Vehicles from the Cockpit[/h2]

A bug was discovered on a number of Soviet aircraft (Su-25, Su-25K, Su-17M2, Su-17M4, Su-22M3, MiG-21S). When looking at a target from the cockpit through the sight glass and through the cockpit glazing, vehicles were displayed at different distances. For example, it was possible to spot an enemy somewhere off to the side, start to approach it to aim, and see nothing through the sight glass as vehicles were displayed at a much shorter distance.

This bug has now been fixed. Vehicles will display correctly at the same distances, regardless of which part of the cockpit you see them through.

[h2]That’s not all[/h2]
You’ll find the full list of improvements in separate update notes. For example, vehicles no longer appear wet, spectators in Air Realistic Battles can see allies and enemies again, and bugs in the new weapon stat cards have been fixed.

Today's Update 2.45.1.40:

[h2]Aircraft[/h2]

• A bug that caused a reduced radius of fragment dispersion for aircraft bombs with a large amount of explosives (more than 100 kg) with a low fill factor (less than 30% of the mass of the munition) has been fixed. For example, this has affected the GBU-27, PC 1400 X (Fritz X), KAB-500Kr, UPAB-1500B, etc.
  
• Brimstone (SAL) — maximum launch angle has been increased from 11° to 40°. (Report).
  
• Su-39 — a bug when Kopyo-25 radar was acquiring “empty space” has been fixed.
  
• A bug that sometimes caused radar to get stuck in TRK MEM mode when trying to drop the target tracking has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused the radar mode name in GMTI mode to not change from ACQ GMTI to TRK GMTI when tracking targets has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused the radar to get stuck in MEM mode after a target track has been dropped in GMTI mode and then in any of the AA modes has been fixed.
  
• AN/APG-65Q — a bug that caused the number of available datalink channels to not display in the X-ray has been fixed.
  
• AN/APG-65Q — a bug that caused the player’s launched ARH missiles to not display on the radar indicator has been fixed. (Report).
  
• AM-1 — a bug where parts of the air brake remained floating in the air when the flaps were torn off has been fixed.
  
• F/A-18A — a bug where text keys were displayed on the HUD in the cockpit when selecting AIM-7M missiles, Mk 83 or Mk 83 AIR bombs, Mk 77 incendiary bombs and Zuni rockets has been fixed. (Report, Report).
  
• Su-30SM — a bug where the incorrect pylon was used for the T220 targeting pod, causing them to intersect has been fixed. (Report).
  
• Su-30SM — a bug that caused the missile lead and NCTR indicators to be missing from the HUD in Simulator Battles has been fixed. (Report).
  
• Su-30SM — the thermal imaging resolution in the Kh-38MT missile camera that was different from the same missile resolution onthe Su-34 and Su-25SM3 has been corrected.
  
• F-15I Ra’am — a bug where it was impossible to turn on the thermal imager in the AGM-65D missile camera has been fixed. (Report).
  
• P-51D-20-NA (Israel) — erroneously increased machine gun recoil has been reduced. (Report).
  
• Do 217 E-2, Do 217 E-4, Do 217 K-1, Do 217 M-1 — when torpedoes are being used, a restriction on releasing the flaps to the “landing” position has been added. (Report).
  
• Tornado (all variants) — a bug where it was possible to continue using countermeasures even when the wing that had the countermeasure pod was torn off has been fixed.
  
• F-104C — display of the missing RWR sensors has been fixed. (Report).
  
• F8F-1 (all variants) — a bug that caused a sharp loss of rudder efficiency at high speeds has been fixed.
  
• Ki-43-III (all variants) — fuel tanks have been made self-sealing. (Report).
  
• 30 mm Ho-155, Type 5 cannons — the incorrectly underestimated sensitivity of the HEF shell fuse has been increased (the threshold has been reduced from 0.8 mm to 0.1 mm). This issue could cause them to penetrate aircraft without exploding.
  

[h2]Ground Vehicles[/h2]

• Rapier — a bug that caused the missile warhead to deal too little damage has been fixed. We’d like to note that the mass of explosives in the Rapier missiles is significantly lower than in other SACLOS missiles, therefore Rapier missiles still deal less damage than other missiles of similar calibers. (Report).
  
• Churchill NA75 — the number of smoke grenades has been increased to 30. (Report).
  
• KV-1 (L-11) — the material of the skirts has been changed from rolled homogeneous armor to structural steel. (Report).
  
• 2S19, 2S19M1 — thickness and material of armored boxes on the skirts have been corrected. Material has been changed from 4 mm thick structural steel to 10 mm thick armored steel.
  
• R3 T106 FA, FIROS 6 — test drive has been replaced with the more modern one.
  
• 90 mm smoke shell M313 — a bug where instead of the smoke screen radius an explosive mass was shown in the header of the shell card has been fixed.
  

[h2]Interface[/h2]

• A bug where the replay progress and fast forward markers were not displayed on the timeline when viewing a replay from the debreifing window has been fixed.
  
• A bug where the option to call in an artillery strike would not appear in the gamepad radial menu has been fixed. (Report).
  

[hr][/hr]
Patch notes reflect only key changes, meaning they may not include a complete list of all improvements made. Additionally, War Thunder is constantly being updated and some changes may not require an update. Changes reflected in patch notes are formed by taking reactions and requests of the community from the bug reporting service, forums and other official platforms into account. Bug fixes and changes are implemented in order of importance, for example a game-breaking bug will be worked on and implemented sooner.

April 9th is traditionally observed in the Philippines as a national memorial day known as Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor). This day commemorates the fall of the Bataan Peninsula to Japanese forces in 1942. For nearly four months, the defenders of the peninsula held off enemy attacks despite being starved, short of ammunition and low on manpower. For Filipinos, their feat is a shining symbol of valor and selflessness.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

In honor of this day, we’ve prepared a special video from the Moments of Valor series, as well as an exclusive bundle with premium vehicles and unique camouflages created by the War Thunder Live community. This bundle is available at a 50% discount in the Gaijin store until April 16th (6:00 GMT). Vehicle owners can purchase camouflages separately for Golden Eagles.

During the same time period, the F-86F-35 Sabre Skyblazers and Stuart VI (5th CAD) are available to purchase for Golden Eagles on all platforms.

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

[h2]Moments of Valor: Philippines Bundle -50%[/h2]
1̶2̶5 62.49

• Sabre Skyblazers Pack + Philippine Air Force Sabre “468” camouflage by RenaiCirculation
  
• F-5C Pack + Philippine Air Force Blue Diamonds Aerobatic Team camouflage by Wilk28
  
• Stuart VI (5th CAD) Pack + + No.108, Armed Forces of the Philippines camouflage by Filipino_Komrad
  
• Unique decal: “Philippine Eagle”
  
• Unique title: “Protector of the People”
  

Additionally, all three packs are available separately with a 30% discount from April 9th until 16th (6:00 GMT) in the Gaijin store.

You can also get the decal and title if you already have all the vehicles in the pack and play 3 battles with each of them from April 9th to 16th (6:00 GMT).

The following camouflages created by War Thunder Live players have been permanently added to the game for Golden Eagles:

• Sabre Skyblazers (USA, Rank V) + Philippine Air Force Sabre “468” camouflage by RenaiCirculation
  
• F-5C (USA, Rank VII) + Philippine Air Force Blue Diamonds Aerobatic Team camouflage by Wilk28
  
• M113A1 (TOW) (Italy, Rank VI) + Philippine Civic Action Group camouflage by Filipino_Komrad
  
• M41A1 (USA, Rank IV) + 10th Battalion Combat Team, Armed Forces of the Philippines camouflage by Filipino_Komrad
  
• Scimitar (UK, Rank V) + “Scorpion” camouflage by Badass_Jellykin
  
• Sherman I Composito (Rank 3, Italy) + “Always Ready” camouflage by TonyTheJackal
  
• Stuart VI (5th CAD) (USA, Rank II) + No.108, Armed Forces of the Philippines camouflage by Filipino_Komrad
  

[h2]Aircraft[/h2]

• Sea Harrier FA 2 — a bug where the HUD in the cockpit did not automatically switch to the “air-to-air” mode when selecting air-to-air missiles has been fixed.
  
• Su-25, Su-25K, Su-17M2, Su-17M4, Su-22M3, MiG-21S — a bug where vehicles were rendered in from shorter distances when viewed through the sight glass than when viewed through the cockpit glass has been fixed. (Report).
  

[h2]Ground Vehicles[/h2]

• Sabra Mk.I — a bug that caused the gun mantlet fabric cover to not rotate with the turret has been fixed. (Report).
  
• Ho-Ri (all variants) — a bug where the armor plate above the gun did not rise in the damage model has been fixed.
  
• A bug where it was impossible to switch to the weapon view in replays has been fixed.
  
• Vilkas — a bug where the X-ray of the right rocket was not positioned coaxially with the launcher has been fixed.
  

Patch notes reflect only key changes, meaning they may not include a complete list of all improvements made. Additionally, War Thunder is constantly being updated and some changes may not require an update. Changes reflected in patch notes are formed by taking reactions and requests of the community from the bug reporting service, forums and other official platforms into account. Bug fixes and changes are implemented in order of importance, for example a game-breaking bug will be worked on and implemented sooner.