In this digest we would like to tell you about our continuing work on improvements and fixes in the game. You can find information about all updates that have been released in War Thunder on the website special section.

Hull aiming re-worked

We have completely reworked hull aiming mechanics, which is used on such unusual vehicles as the Swedish Strv 103-0, Strv 103A, Strv 103 and the German VT1-2. Without going too deep into details of all auxiliary systems involved, were pleased to inform you that hull aiming has become smoother and much more precise in all gaming situations, including aiming from slopes! Its time to dust off these outstanding pieces of engineering and bring them back into battles. For correct hull aiming mechanics, don't forget to update your game to the most recent version.

Info cards for shells improved

Back in 2015 in pursuit of realistic armour piercing mechanics we simulated the effects of shell normalization and denormalization, i.e. rotation and deviation of a round when hitting armour. Armour penetration cards were supplemented by penetration values at different angles. These mechanics are quite complex in practice, and depend on the calibre of a round and thickness of armour. An example of the denormalization effect. A round is declined and had to overcome even thicker actual armour than so called effective armour.
The mechanics worked perfectly in the game, and have only been improving since then, but there was a tiny flaw in the info cards of shells. the armour penetration value displayed only for a fixed calibre-to-armour thickness ratio. And thi is important! The thicker armour is, the longer a projectile is affected by normalization/denormalization, which deviates it from a normal trajectory, making it deal with thicker or thinner actual armour thickness. Info card of the BR-471B before and after the recalculation of armour penetration algorithm for different impact angles.
Accuracy is important! Therefore we have completed the refinement of formulas to calculate armour penetration values of calibre projectiles at different angles of impact in shells cards - now they are completely equal to those in War Thunder battles. Yes, armour penetration calculation in battles worked well and correct from the beginning all the time. An important point. All physical peculiarities were most clearly reflected in the infocards of calibre armour piercing rounds, since they are mostly affected by the normalization and denormalization phenomena. A shaped-charge or, say, high-explosive rounds ignore the above-mentioned forces when hitting armour. Learn more about different behavior of shells and the purposes of their designs in our wiki.

Lost aiming controls fixed

You may have encountered this bug when actively using various enemy detection tools - night-vision devices, thermal imagers, gunner's and commander's sights. Sequentially switching between them, you could completely lose control of the gun. The naughty bug was found and fixed. Use the game mechanics with confidence!

Damage to the crew

This change is not so much a bug fix as a refinement of the existing projectile impact mechanics. In some cases, after breaking through the armour, a shell that got into the fighting compartment might not cause damage to a crew member or any module and, at the same time, disappear at the impact point. This picture looked as if the crew member had stopped a powerful projectile, but in reality, a much more complicated situation unfolds. This situation arose due to the loss of stability of a projectile, a parameter that falls when the projectile penetrates various obstacles, ricochets, armour itself and the distance traveled after breaking through or ricochet, including through the fighting compartment (where there is equipment, chairs, various partitions, etc.). If stability is completely depleted, the projectile will stop dealing damage and disappear on the hit camera. This, for example, can more often occur when it hits the fuel tank and is perceived by the viewer as a shell dissolved by this very fuel tank. But in the case of hitting live crew members, this behavior was incorrect and we fixed it for calibre and sub-calibre armour-piercing rounds. No more shells dissolved by crew, and you now know better about the penetration mechanics in War Thunder.

Gun blocking with separate brake controls

There are many fine gameplay settings in the game, including an option of Vertical aiming block by braking. This feature allows you to block the vertical guidance of a gun to prevent rocking of a gun on some vehicles when braking. Due to an error this function might work incorrectly while using separate brake controls - right or left. The bug is fixed, good hunting!

Unjust tribunal

No one likes deserters, and combat-able players get temporary crew lock by leaving a battle before time. But until today, the punishment might be imposed even if all your vehicles in the respawn window were listed as too expensive for Respawn Points (RP). Why did this happen? Secondary armament and armour piercing belts on aircraft increase the respawn points cost, but upon leaving the battle, the punishment was imposed at the cost of an aircraft, excluding suspensions and belts. Now, your choice of the main weapon for a particular aircraft will be taken into account, and if you initially selected specific suspensions in the hangar or used them in the last battle, then in the next battle you will not be punished when leaving the battle in case of a lack of RP. Succession your battles and try not to let your comrades down.

More improvements

For this digest we have prepared a large set of useful fixes and game improvements. Be sure to read the full list which we have prepared in the separate changelog - there are many interesting things. Once again, many thanks for all your bug reports that you submitted in our bug report section on the War Thunder forums.
Improvements and fixes

• Turn dynamics in 1st gear in AB has been improved. Theres now no switching to neutral with the speed drop.
• Crew lock mechanics when leaving a ground RB battle in an aircraft. Now, to determine the possibility of respawn in a vehicle, the last selected armament and ammunition (in the hangar or during the previous respawn) are used, rather than the basic cost of the vehicle. This also fixes a bug where the crew was blocked for leaving a battle early in aircraft without basic weapons, for example, with some helicopters and with the Sea Vixen F.A.W. Mk.2.
• Added a hint in the interface when changing the rate of fire for a helicopter's automatic cannon.
• Toggling of NVD mode in binoculars now switches the camera to the commanders sight with night vision on.
• A bug has been fixed that disabled selected weapon controls after consequent toggling of the binocular button, night vision mode button, and gunners view camera.
• A bug has been fixed that prevents the aiming block while using separate brake controls with the Block vertical aiming while braking function enabled.
• Strv 103-0, Strv 103A, Strv 103 hull aiming has been completely reworked: The new aiming system with differential control of the gears and the torque of the tracks increases the accuracy and the quality vehicles positioning in space allows you to compensate for rollback when aiming on slopes. (report).
• VT1-2 hull aiming at low angles has been improved.
• The location of key points in naval missions has been changed for locations in Denmark, La Manche, Jungle, Midway, New Guinea. Airfields have been moved in order to reduce the time of approach and reloading for aviation.
• Fixed a crash that sometimes happened from the main menu when opening the friends list or chats.

Ground vehicles model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

• A bug has been fixed which resulted in incorrect values of armour penetration at different angles for the info cards of AP rounds.
• A bug has been fixed with shell behavior after penetration of armour that in rare cases prevented damage to the crew after a direct hit from APCR/APFS rounds.
• APDS L15A3 the shell effect animation has been corrected in the rounds card.
• BMP-1 an incorrect bulkhead between the fighting and troop compartments has been removed.

Aircraft model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

• Javelin F.(A.W.) Mk.9 a bug has been fixed that resulted in the detachment of ailerons with the detaching of stabilizers.
• F9F-2 Tiny Tim rockets have been added.
• F8U-2 left and right gun groups are now in the same gun group.
• Jaguar Gr.1, Jaguar A fixed fragments from the pylon hanging in the air after a wing has been destroyed. When the keel was detached, the horizontal tail section was not damaged.
• SA 341F Gazelle fixed a bug when installing the Flares/Chaff modifications there might be duplicated ammunition for the 20 mm cannon GIAT M.621.
• Ju 188 A-2, TBF-1C, Avenger Mk.II, DB-3B, -29, Beaufort Mk.VIII, H8K2, H8K3 the firing angles for turrets have been specified.
• S-13OF rockets weight has been adjusted from 66.6 to 69 kg.
• PARS 3 LR, AGM-65A AGM-65B air-to-ground missiles fixed a bug where it was impossible to capture some AI targets in Arcade mode.

Fleets model, damage model, characteristic and weaponry changes:

• HMS Liverpool fixed a bug due to which torpedoes wouldnt reload in arcade battles.
• HMS Southampton the thickness of the barbets on the main calibre turrets above the upper deck has been changed from 24.4 mm to 25.4 mm.
• Type K-8 No.13, Type K-8 No.13 late fixed the name of the 76.2 mm gun.
• HMS Montgomery, HMS Churchill fixed the name of the 76 mm anti-aircraft gun.

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.