- Yes
- No
LOTS OF WORDS!
To developers and Community Managers,
With the continuous evolution of the Dagor Engine, War Thunder’s atmospheric lighting and post-processing pipelines have seen massive technical leaps. However, many players within the content creation, cinematic, and veteran communities deeply miss the distinct, high-intensity aesthetic of the game’s older rendering eras—specifically the aggressive screen-space lens flare halo and radial chromatic ring system, including me as well.
Currently, the modern lens flare presentation is much more subdued. While this appeals to some players for competitive clarity, it lacks the raw, dramatic, and cinematic grit that defined the classic War Thunder look during high-luminance events (such as dropping a tactical nuclear weapon, high-altitude sun glare, or intense atmospheric mist).
Instead of reverting the modern pipeline, we respectfully request the implementation of an option within the Post-FX settings menu: “Legacy Lens Flares” (Toggle On/Off).
Why this feature is highly requested:
- Cinematic & Content Creation Freedom.
The older screen-space refraction rings gave user-made movies, screenshots, and custom content a highly cinematic, photorealistic camera-lens quality that gave people the best times… except the nuclear sun they talked about.
2. Player made cinematics.
players prefer the violent, intense lighting threshold of the classic era, which made combat under low-angle sunlight feel incredibly visceral.
Compromise for Competitive vs. Casual Players: Keeping it as an optional Post-FX toggle ensures that competitive players can keep the cleaner, modern layout, while casual players and creators can opt into the classic visual style.
I understand that maintaining legacy rendering elements alongside updated engine architecture can introduce edge-case shader anomalies or bugs. We would gladly welcome this feature even with an implementation disclaimer (e.g., “Enabling legacy flares may cause graphical inconsistencies under specific weather parameters”).
Please consider giving the community the option to bring back this iconic visual staple of War Thunder’s history!
Thank you for your time and continued dedication to the game’s visual engine.