Way back in the day I played a game called “Fighter Ace” and they had a few different arenas.
Dogfight & Territorial Conquest.
The Dogfight was was set up more like the EC type where you could join ongoing or continuing matches, but they did end when it hit a set amount of tickets or points and then it reset. It had 5 nations, and they all their own airfields (forward and rear) and it was just a giant furball in the middle of the map.
Territorial had the 5 nations, but there were factories and trains etc that supplied forward airfields. You could bomb the factories and if you inflicted enough damage you could deprive your enemy of the resources plus it would trigger a tanks to launch which would try and capture factories or airfields. You could also capture airfields, by flying transport planes to drop paratroops .
If you your own factory or airfield was damaged then there was limited resources (ie: no bombs), which then required you to wait for it to repair or fly in supplies. It was an interesting mode because you had objectives and fighters could fly cover and bombers could do their role, plus you did have to be somewhat organized to ensure that supplies were available, especially if you captured an enemy airfield then you need to ensure supplies were deliver so that you could defend it.
When I came to War Thunder I’d hoped the Air RB would be like that, but it’s really just a version of TDM like stated.
It’s really such a shame that there isn’t something more strategic in War Thunder. All the game modes are fairly simple focusing on TDM or some sort of a conquest mode.
For a long time, especially with aviation, we’ve been asking for these more strategic modes and it goes nowhere. Part of it is the community and part of it is Gaijin.
The community is so split and everyone has their own little idea or variation of an idea that would be perfect and god forbid your idea doesn’t perfectly match their idea, then its a total freakout.
Gaijin is so afraid of pioneering anything new in existing game modes because of how the community reacts to change. Its also just not rly profitable for them to spend all this time on fun when everyone is addicted to the grind and the new shiny vehicle.
I think for aviation, this will wear off. Especially once we really start getting all the modern aircraft and mechanics. Its probably going to take them really breaking the mode and a huge number of aviation players quitting or freaking out in order to get Gaijin to put some time into the mode. I hope im wrong but after years of asking for changes or additions to Air RB and getting nothing, i just don’t have much faith.
But hey maybe we’ll get an F15, Su27 or Gripen soon that we can enjoy for 3 minutes at a time.
The Territorial mode were pretty fun as you had squadrons that play only specific countries, while others would specialize in just bombers or fighters. There seemed to be something for everyone, as you might have fighters flying high cap or covering transports/bombers, while others would concentrate on ground pounding etc.
I do also remember they put on some “historical battles” each weekend, which required coordination. They did a bombing Berlin scenario where there were over 30 players in P47s, P51, covering 20 B-17s in formation (they actually could soak up some damage and dish it out), against the same number on the other side as fighter defense.
Another was a midway style with carriers against carrier fleets with their fighters and bombers.
I totally agree that Air RB should have multiply modes for its fan base.
Already suggested a few times on the forum but never got heard so ill pop it here since its the topic
What is we go for Something like a more tactical approach
-Operation maps or even bigger(Rocky mountains, Afghanistan)
-2 Teams
-4 Sectors
-4 Squads starting on different airfields on both teams each assigned to one Sector
-All 4 squads on each side have to clear their designated Sector of enemy team squads and objectives first to move on to the next Sector.
-Keeping the teamwork bonus but increasing it immensely so squads stay together rather than going solo or trolling off
-Different roles have different objectives
-Bombers bombing , Interceptors having specific targets to destroy, Fighters escorting bombers first then destroying air targets.
-If a squadron completed their objective they would receive additional orders/objectives depending how the other squads are doing on the other Sectors, if they need assistance or we need to hunt down remainders of other enemy squads
-In a way it would be more of a Domination type of battle. The one who controls more sectors wins but with an elimination twist since its one life.
-I would increase the time limit as well to make it more of a Prolonged battle, with decreased points gain from sectors so the game doesn’t end in 5-10 minutes just because one team is doing better.
-It would look like as 4 different battles going on in one big map constantly changing.
If it works then the mode can be added to even lower tiers as an option. I am not saying delete the original Air RB mode just add a new mode option like Tactical Air RB or Domination Air RB.
Many people go to DCS or IL2 for that type of gameplay whereas War Thunder caters more towards a casual audience that likes the 3rd person views. So an EC mode for RB would serve more players.
I do feel though, that a lot of potential Sim players avoid the mode due to being intimidated about the new controls, no Instructor, lack of enemy markers, forced cockpit, etc. Even I was intimidated by Sim for a long time as a joystick player, so I stuck with RB longer than I should have.
There’s also this belief that you need a full-on cockpit setup, which simply isn’t true. Ive seen many successful mouse/controller users in Sim.
I feel that many RB players would thoroughly enjoy Sim, if they’re willing to get over the learning curve. Admittedly, it’s a daunting task at first, but that also makes the skills you learn along the way much more rewarding.
I typically play Sim EC with a mouse and keyboard and it’s definitely a bit funky to get used to but it isn’t bad. Certainly not as twitchy as Air RB but not bad.
My biggest issue is always identifying enemy vs friends. Especially since the enemy teams typically have a lot of the same aircraft, sometimes it’s impossible to IFF.
Target identification is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. What helps is to be aware of the objectives going on. When you see a target, ask yourself, “do they belong there?” Pay attention to the direction they’re flying, and mark your position on the map so friendlies can confirm or deny if they’re in the area.
You missed an option: convert it to a more EC-inspired mode and not add a separate dogfight-only mode, since Gaijin is so paranoid about queue time changes from adding new modes.
Not only are high tier matches just…clusterxxxxs…, but also a large fraction of the game’s aircraft are kinda worthless in the Air modes since their main purpose is CAS or strategic bombing. As are many of the multirole loadouts common on high tier fighters.
If Gaijin wasn’t so squeamish on the thought of new modes, then sure, go chuck in a dogfight-only mode for all I care. I would be playing the objective-centric mode with all plane classes any day of the week. But they’ve been steadfastly against adding new modes except by absolute dire emergency - look how bad Naval RB had to get before they made Naval EC a regular thing.
An objective-centric mode does not mean dogfights don’t matter there. They just wouldn’t be the only thing that matters anymore, and also unable to end rounds all by themselves, since otherwise aircraft whose main job is not PvP would still be worthless, only slightly less so.
It feels like we’ve been calling for a new game mode for air battle for years and years.
Could someone who is familiar with Gainjin’s forum and communications enlighten me?
I don’t understand why something this much in demand isn’t always available.
I invite you to post the suggestion yourself. I made one about spreading objectives apart and providing with more airfields to take off from, but it’s not quite EC and it’s still waiting for aproval from the mods. The more attention we bring to these issues, the better.
Also vote here: Reduce the amount of players in Air RB matches in top tier
I’d sure many people would like to make suggestions, but can’t. I tried to post one about how to fix the Su-27’s dumb interface problem where it has 2 desperate groups for R-73’s and my post seems to be stuck in moderator limbo.
