Month: September 2024

New update brings latest German IFV, first Swiss military aircraft and more

Gaijin Entertainment announces the release of the “Dance of Dragons” major content update for the online military action game War Thunder. It is named after the Chinese-made J-10 and JF-17 fighters, while dozens of other new interesting military vehicles have been added to the games, such as the famous Soviet Su-24M bomber, the state-of-the-art German Puma IFV with Spike missiles, and the heavily armed Japanese battlecruiser Amagi. In addition, the first domestically designed Swiss jet in the game, the P-16 attack aircraft, a model of which was created by players, debuts in the game as well.

Watch the ‘Dance of Dragons’ Trailer HERE.

The Su-24M frontline bomber with variable wing sweep was designed primarily to destroy ground targets, although it can also stand up for itself in an air battle. The aircraft is equipped with a six-barreled GSh-6-23M cannon with a rate of fire of up to 9,000 rounds per minute. There are 8 suspension points under the fuselage and wings capable of carrying a total of up to 8,000 kg of payload. It will rain fire on ground targets using Kh-23, Kh-25 and Kh-29 families of guided missiles (including the laser-guided Kh-29L and TV-guided Kh-29TE) and the KAB-500Kr and KAB-1500Kr guided bombs, the KAB-500S ( new for War Thunder), as well as the laser KAB-500L and the new large-caliber KAB-1500L, plus unguided bombs and rockets.

PUMA VJTF differs from the basic Puma by the presence of a launcher with two Spike-LR ATGMs. Missiles and an automatic target tracking system significantly increase the combat range of this IFV, allowing it to destroy even top MBTs at long distances, as well as try to shoot down low-flying aircraft and helicopters with a decent chance of success.

The update improves many aspects of the game ranging from the improved interface of suspended weapons to the customizable aiming grid. In addition, the damage model of individual helicopter modules has been improved, meaning that it now takes into account damage dealt specifically to the avionics system, weapons control, night vision devices, countermeasures and radar equipment. The separation of the tail boom during strong impacts of the fuselage and tail on the ground and other objects is now also calculated more accurately.

You can learn more about the new vehicles and other features of the “Dance of Dragons” update on the official website of the game.

Prepare to navigate new depths of strategic warfare with the latest update to Victory At Sea Atlantic! This highly anticipated update introduces historical scenarios, offering players the opportunity to relive iconic World War II naval engagements in real-time. Players have eagerly requested this feature since our Early Access launch, and we are excited to deliver it, expanding the strategic experience even further.

With these four new playable historical scenarios, players can immerse themselves in the intense naval conflicts that defined the Atlantic Theatre. Whether commanding Allied or Axis forces, these missions offer thrilling challenges that blend historical accuracy with the fast-paced strategy that fans of the series know and love.

You can check out the intro to one of the Historical scenarios here!

What’s New in This Update:

Additional Gameplay Enhancements:

Find out more about Victory At Sea Atlantic on Steam.

Wargaming, the publisher and developer of the world’s leading naval battle MMO World of Warships, is setting sail into a sea of celebrations, as the game marks nine years since its release. To commemorate the occasion, Festive Rewards, an Aquatica Fair event, and a new Port will be introduced to the game. Accompanying all this anniversary content will be Early Access to new Pan-American battleships, and new seasons of Brawls and Ranked Battles. World of Warships: Legends will also introduce a new campaign, Pan-European destroyers, and the European Navies collection for players to enjoy.

Join the celebrations for World of Warships’ 9th anniversary

To celebrate nine years on the seven seas, World of Warships is introducing a series of rewards, a new Planeta Aquatica Port, and boatloads of other celebratory content. Festive Rewards are also returning for the anniversary, allowing players to earn Festive Tokens that can be redeemed for a variety of items, including U.S. Tier VIII Premium cruiser Rochester, a range of containers, Aquatica Tokens for the newly introduced Aquatica Fair, expendable economic bonuses, patches, and flags.

A new puzzle collection will also be released, featuring 60 pieces that can be obtained from Battle of Paso de Patria containers. Upon completion, players will be rewarded with unique historical Pan-American Commander Joaquim Marques Lisboa. Finally, the anniversary will introduce the Aquatica Fair event to the Armory, offering new items to earn, special Anniversary Daily Rewards, and the Ninth Anniversary Event Pass that unlocks additional opportunities for players.

Early Access to Pan-American battleships begins

A brand-new line of Pan-American battleships are sailing into the game, first stopping at Early Access. Players will be able to obtain battleships Ipiranga, Los Andes, and Libertad, each boasting powerful main battery guns and secondary weaponry, Enhanced Repair Party consumables, and Combat Instructions to help improve each ships’ firepower in the heat of battle.

New Clan Battles, Brawls, French destroyers, and more in World of Warships

To make space for the Pan-American battleships, the previous line of Early Access French destroyers will now be available through the Tech Tree, giving all players access to Tier V L’Adroit, Tier VI Duchaffault, Tier VII Le Hardi, Tier VIII L’Aventurier, Tier IX Orage, and Tier X Cassard, each equipped with devastating torpedoes that deliver incredible damage. Along with the destroyers, the update will also introduce a new season of Ranked Battles on September 5, new Brawls from September 9, and Season 27 of Clan Battles on September 11.

Watch the Update 13.8: The 9th Anniversary Trailer HERE.

For more information about the update please visit the official World of Warships website.

The World of Tanks development team is excited to launch one of the biggest updates of the year: Hailstorm. This update introduces a wealth of exciting content, including a new line of Czechoslovakian light tanks with completely new firing mechanics, more dynamic Random Events, a fully reworked Crew Perk system, and a brand-new Battle Pass Season. Additionally, there is a special Back in Action event for those who have been away for a while, offering the chance to earn great rewards like days of Premium account, vehicle rentals, credits and more.

Watch the Update 1.26 Trailer HERE.

Leading the charge in this update is the new line of Czechoslovakian light tanks, consisting of four swift flankers with the formidable Tier X Vz. 71 Tesák at the top. The high-tier tanks feature unique autocannons that unleash thousands!! of rounds per minute, so tankers should be ready to master these dynamic firing mechanics. Three vehicle branches just got stronger so players can expect the updates to the Bat.-Châtillon 25 t, M48 Patton, and K-91 branches.

Eight maps have been revamped for gameplay comfort, and three more have received Random Events. Players will witness the central plant in Pilsen being bombed, a plane crashing on the Malinovka mountain, and a rockslide altering the landscape in Karelia. These events reshape the battlefield, creating fresh opportunities and challenges.

The improvement of the Crew Perk system, which has undergone significant changes over several years, culminates in this update. From now, each crew member can learn up to 6 perks, and the XP earned thereafter will allow players to receive universal training manuals. Alongside these enhancements, players will find new and rebalanced perks, bonus perks, and more. This is the perfect time to fine-tune crew’s setup, as there will be a one-month period of free perk resets available after the first login to experiment and optimize.

Finally, the last Battle Pass Season of the year infused by the Waffenträger universe, echoing the excitement of the future battle, is ready to explore. It unveils Max von Krieger’s early life and features exclusive customization rewards.

World of Tanks Update 1.26: Hailstorm is now live and ready for players to enjoy.

For more information on World of Tanks, visit the games official website.

Flying Squirrel Studio is poised to announce the next playtest of its bloody and gruesome WWI shooter, Over the Top WWI, on Steam today.

Flying Squirrel Entertainment is initiating a special play test campaign. This maneuver, set to commence today, and conclude on Monday, September 9, 2024, at 9 am ET, invites players to enlist and engage in the game’s initial skirmishes. Prospective soldiers eager to join the play test can rally at the Steam page here.

Play Test Campaign Briefing

From September 6, 2024, onward, the play test campaign offers players a unique opportunity to engage in the pre-release battlefield. This period will allow participants to experience the intense trench warfare scenarios, strategic operations, and the dynamic environmental conditions that authentically mirror the Great War’s brutal realities.

Check out the Over the Top WWI playtest trailer HERE.

Over the Top: WWI is scheduled for early access release in 2024 for PC on Steam.

New update also brings French coastal fleet tech tree

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the online military shooter War Thunder will receive the “Dance of Dragons” update in September. It will bring two iconic Chinese-made fighters – the J-10 and JF-17. Closed beta testing of the French coastal fleet will also begin. War Thunder is going to receive dozens of other naval, ground and air military vehicles as well, i.e.the Pakistani Al-Khalid-I tank developed in China.

Watch the “Dance of Dragons” update Trailer HERE.

The JF-17 is a fighter developed in China for the Pakistan Air Force. It has been in service with this country since 2007 and has repeatedly participated in military operations. The aircraft’s power plant is a Russian turbojet twin-circuit RD-93 engine, the same as on the MiG-29. JF-17 features a modern radar system as well as radar and missile approach warning systems closely integrated with the aircraft’s countermeasures.

The J-10A is a Chinese 4+ generation fighter, developed in the late 90s and utilizing all the advanced technologies of its time. It is produced and used in China today. The powerful AL-31FN turbofan engine is capable of very quickly accelerating the aircraft to speeds of around Mach 2 at high altitudes, and the large-area tail allows for excellent controllability, which is especially important at high speeds. The pilot will be able to place an impressive arsenal on 11 external weapon hardpoints, including the maneuverable PL-5E close-range air-to-air missiles, new to War Thunder.

The tech tree of the French coastal navy begins with nimble light artillery and torpedo boats, such as the VTB-8, VTB-9, and VTB-11. Fans of military history will be interested to look at the Vedette-type 40K, which changed three flags – France, Britain and Germany – and in each case was equipped with different weapons and equipment. Another intriguing boat is the Arras sub-chaser disguised as a merchant ship, or as the French often called this class, “Aviso”. This relatively slow boat with artillery armament is almost like a mini destroyer!

More information on the “Dance of Dragons” update content will be published on the official website of the game in the coming weeks.

You can read more about War Thunder on the games official website.

Slitherine Games has released the Scramble: Battle of Britain – Flight School, Episode #8 video.

The Scramble engine is built from the ground up to make capturing content from your matches as easy as possible. Every moment of each Scramble match can be scrubbed through with our rewind system, and the action of every Scramble match can be saved to a small replay file that players can share with friends.

Watch Flight School, Episode #8 “Cinematic Tools” video HERE.

Full Match Replays

Scramble matches save as a small text file composed of a scenario definition and the control inputs for every aircraft. After loading a replay file, Scramble will re-simulate its match turn-by-turn with the ability for players to interrupt and take control of any turn. The turn-by-turn simulation and interrupt features are useful for post-match analysis and for exploring alternate tactics. And players have access to the same cinematic toolset and turn/match rewind features during a replay as they normally have in a live dogfight. The Scramble replay system lets players come back to any match at any time and find the perfect screenshot, gif, or video.

Sharing Replays

Match replay files are lightweight and easy to share over the internet; demo players have been sharing match replays in our Discord server since June. If you download a friend’s match replay file you can relive their favorite matches in the Scramble engine from your own PC, you can act as a film director and capture footage of their successes and failures, and you can interrupt and control their aircraft yourself on any turn to fix their errors or challenge their scores.

Cinematic Toolset

The rewind and scrubbable nature of Scramble gameplay makes it perfect for staging screenshots, gifs, and video. Our already robust cinematic toolset will continue expanding throughout the life of the Scramble engine, and below is a list of some of the features that will be available at launch.

Scramble currently features a free camera for movement around the sky, a dolly camera that will travel at an offset relative to the selected airplane, and a hardpoint camera with a list of preset camera positions for each aircraft. Scramble gameplay can also be viewed from our tactical mode, where the action unfolds in isometric perspective like a diorama and the player can move a cursor around the sky to investigate detailed information about different airplanes.

The Scramble camera allows positional and orientation control both in world space and in reference to a selected object, and camera orientation can be defined relative to the horizon or relative to the roll angle of the selected airplane. The camera allows players to smoothly adjust field of view for zoom and the camera can remember preferred zoom levels in different camera modes.

The Scramble camera can be commanded to track a selected airplane or a target aircraft in any of its major modes. And players can toggle UI layers on and off including both the 2D HUD and the 3D worldspace UI.

Thank you for sticking with us! For now, Flight School stops here. We’ve truly enjoyed training our pilots by sharing the features and development phases of Scramble, and we encourage you to continue giving your feedback on the demo to help us implement enhancements in the game.

Click here for more game information.