Ambient Infantry for ground battles

DISCLAIMER:
Infantry would not be directly playable/controllable and cannot be killed or interacted with while on the ground, and would act more as a form of ambiance to make the battlefield more lively. For additional info on specific questions that I have been asked previously please read the FAQ

THE REASON:
Infantry has been discussed throughout the history of war thunder in many forms and, in a few instances, has been added in some form or another, and issues have arisen from their implementation. However, I have an idea that may help to solve some (not all) of those additions. The addition of infantry into War Thunder would help to solve the emptiness that can be felt on many maps; it would also help to increase the immersiveness of the game significantly.

HOW IT WOULD WORK:
The infantry would “spawn in” along with players on both sides. Once they “spawn-in” they would begin to run along preset routes towards a random preset point in a small group of 3-6. Once they reach that point, they would begin to occasionally yell out random callouts (see below) and fire their weapons in the general direction of the enemy side after a minute or two, they would repeat these steps (except starting from spawns)

Callout examples

“take cover!”
“hold your ground!”
“charge!”
“get down!”
“look out, tank!”
random yells would also be possible as well

THE TWO VERSIONS OF INFANTRY:

TYPE A (NORMALLY SEEN ON BATTLEFIELD)

Purely visual non-interactable infantry (does not award any points or score and cannot be interacted with in any form (EX: will phase through tanks and cannot be hurt/killed or moved in any way)
They would “spawn” in at the player spawn and would immediately begin to move along a predetermined path towards multiple pre-set positions on the battlefield and, after reaching that point, begin to begin an animation to “shoot at the other team’s infantry” (this is not considered AI even in the simplest definition, rather it would be classified as an NPC), TYPE A would also have the ability to move around along preset paths, shoot, and yell random commands: Charge!, Fall back!, Get down!, GO GO GO!, etc.

TYPE B (FOR HELICOPTER AND/OR APC INSERTION)

semi-interactive infantry (for use with helicopters and/or APC’s) can be transported by specific helicopters and/or APC’s and be moved to the battlefield or friendly spawn points and then be dropped off by the player, after which they will become type A, and the player would be awarded a new award called “Troop Insertion*X” once the troops are dismounted the award would be based on the exact amount of troops dismounted. The reward would be limited, but it would help solve the problem of researching helicopters and even allow for new helicopters to be added that otherwise would not have much use in ground battles.

THE VISUAL VARIATIONS OF INFANTRY:
The infantry would not bear any nation-specific markings and would have randomized weapons and uniforms based on the current match Battle rating; they would also wear basic uniforms of different variations (think designs and/or colors)

Types of infantry uniforms and weapons displayed based on BR

1.0-6.3 a mix between pre-WW2 and WW2 uniforms and weapons

6.7-7.7 (due to the presence of quite a few post ww2 tanks at or around 6.3-7.7), a mix of WW2 and Korean war uniforms/ weapons

7.7-9.7 Cold War era and Vietnam uniforms and weapons

9.7-12.0+ Modern uniforms and weapons

details on weapons by era

This section is still a work in progress, and I may make minor changes.
weaponry follows the same layout as uniforms in regards to what br they can be seen at, and are organized in order of lowest br to highest
____ denotes none for that era, A * denotes that a model already exists in-game in some form (that I am aware of, and may be misremembering)

USA

M1918 springfeild
M1 garand*
M14/M16*
Scar H*

RUSSIA

Mosin-Nagant
Mosin-Nagant
Ak47*
Ak74

GERMANY

Gewehr 41
Gewehr 43
H&K 418
H&K G36

ITALY

CARCANO
CARCANO
Beretta BM-59
Beretta ARX160

FRANCE

CEAM Modèle 1950
CEAM Modèle 1950
FN FAL*
FAMAS

ISRIAL

. _______
. _______
FN FAL*
IWI Tavor

JAPAN

CARCANO
Type 99
Type 89
Type 20

SWEDEN

m/96 Mauser
m/96 Mauser
AK4
AK5
(thanks to karnitin75)

UK

lee enfeild*
lee enfeild*
FN FAL*
L85A3*

CHINA

. ________
Chiang Kai-Shek
Type 54/AK-47*
Type 95
Type 03
(thanks to OliverXRed)

FAQ

Why can’t infantry be playable?
No, because War Thunder is not an infantry-focused game, and it would make the game less focused on being a military vehicle simulator.

Can infantry give you rewards?
Not for tanks but for helicopters and APCs, it could possibly give you rewards for delivering infantry to the battlefield or specific areas.

Can the infantry attack players?
No they would not be able to attack players, they would be there to act more as a set piece with sound effects more than anything else, as If they could attack it would be unfair to players who cant fight back effectively as not all vehicles are built with the intention of having anti-personnel weaponry.

Why is the infantry not able to be killed?
In order to keep War Thunder’s age rating the same as it is currently, if they were able to be killed it would cause the game’s age rating to be increased as it would likely fall under the “intense violence” category as laid out by the ESRB, this is because the “intense violence” actually refers to military equipment being used to kill/wound “people” as being under that category, and as the saying goes “better safe than sorry”

For those wondering the exact quote is: “Graphic and realistic-looking depictions of physical conflict. May involve extreme and/or realistic blood, gore, weapons and depictions of human injury and death.”
(the bold parts are what would apply if the infantry could be harmed)

What vehicles can carry infantry?
Any Helicopter capable of carrying troops along with any APC’s with seating for crew, For example, the M3 Bradley and UH-1 series can carry troops however the Merkava cannot due to it only being able to carry troops while not carrying much ammunition

Images and videos

1941._Бой_на_улицах_Сталино
vffb2hrn7gx41
download (3)
Yes, this a from a movie War Thunder was involved in helping to produce, if anyone wondering (Pavolav’s 28 men)
victory is ours war thunder - Google Zoeken
yes, this is a war Thunder trailer

[Would you like to see this in-game?]
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Do you think that changes could be made to make this better? (please list below)

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5 Likes

If it’s just ambiance then maybe the Type a infantry could probably be shot by other tanks, No reward though if they can’t fight back though. Just having them spawn back in at spawn and run back to the same spot. It would at least give a pass time for capturing a point lol

Type B seems interesting, Being semi-interactive. Might have them hold/capture a control point that they get dropped off as that’s kinda tied to the reward for dropping them off.
(if a utility heli can hover over a point long enough they’ve earned it lol)

(imo they should probably interact more with there environment and not be truly ambient but eh)

3 Likes

Yeah, Unfortunately, if they are killable, it would most likely cause an increase in the age rating, so having them be killable was kinda off the table.

1 Like

Oh, i thought the age rating woulda been up by now sense we have online auctions now lol. But i get it.

Maybe the snail could say we “Knocked them out”

2 Likes

The auction isn’t actually a direct part of the game. Also, their getting knocked out isn’t what would cause the rating change. It would be the implied “Intense violence.” (cause machine-gunning a group of people is kinda well, controversial I guess is the way to say it)

1 Like

Huh, I guess loop holes and goals. As for the intense violence though, thats more iffy sense we can actually gun down flack busses and see the people lol. (I’ll make a thread to talk about it so your post wont get filled with this lol)

Spoiler

WT's age rating (what are your thoughts?)

I dig this idea, since you could hear random dialogue of “watch out enemy tank” which might just be a coincidence but it would honestly be ironically good call outs.

3 Likes

There may be a loophole for this. For example, having them just appear injured or incapacitated before eventually despawning. Shooting the majority of a squad could show them as “knocked” or “neutralized” rendering them invulnerable to player actions. Afterward being “knocked”, their animations could be them taking cover, carrying or dragging other soldiers or (the easiest option) just crouching or going prone near incapacitated allies. It would be cool to get points for “MEDEVAC” in a something like a UH-1 or BMP. Theres an extremely popular game with a pegi rating of 12 that includes people getting domed by snipers and blown up by explosives (it rhymes with Fort light).

I think they should just be able to be dropped off by vehicles with infantry carrying capability, and they sort of have the ability to hold points (They old a predetermined point on a cap, and prevent capture until killed), maybe give 1 rp and 10 SL for every one killed, they shoot at you, but only with rifles or something so can only damage tracks/exposed crew.

2 Likes

But you wont kill them you will make them “unconcious”

To make some corrections and build upon your weapon suggestion, I would probably suggest it as following:

Nation Pre WW2 WW2 1950-60s 1970-1990s 2000s
USA M1918 Springfield M1 Grand M16 / M14 M4 FN SCAR-H
DEU Kar98k Kar98k HK G3 HK G36 HK416 A8
RUS Mosin-Nagant Mosin-Nagant AK-47 / SKS AK-74 AK-12
GBR Lee-Enfield Lee-Enfield FN FAL L85A1 L85A3
JPN Type 30 Type 99 Type 64 Type 89 Type 20
CHN ? Chiang Kai-shek Type 56 (AK-47) Type 95 Type 03
ITA Carcano Carcano Beretta BM59 Beretta AR70/90 Beretta ARX160
FRA Lebel Model 1886 MAS-36 MAS-49 FAMAS HK416F
SWE M/96 Mauser M/96 Mauser Ag m/42 Ak 4 Ak 5
ISR - - FN-FAL IMI Galil IWI Tavor

If I have to be honest, the pre WW2 section, would probably be something that would be worth cutting off, since most of the weapons is the same as the WW2 section I listed, or very similar to the WW2 section. However I left it in, in case that you would want it for your suggestion.

1 Like

but in Heli EC you can kill off AT guns? you can literally see two people maining it.

Carcano, not Cacarno.

fixed thanks

1 Like

Technically the AT guns count as vehicles so its kinda loop hole there I guess, but also you usually cant see the crew unless your using optics so its not really violent.

The pre ww2 is actually just for the 1.0-2.0 area as a lot of vehicles at that br where built before the outbreak of ww2, and thank you for the Chinese section I have realized that I apparently forgot to even cover china

Carcano.

my bad give me a sec
alright should be spelled correctly now seems that it was autocorrecting it

Now it have too much “r”.
Dang, take out that autocorrector!

bro what, I copied what you said
fixed it idk why it did that

2 Likes