- Yes
- No
Subtrees are a good way to help existing nations in their efficiency and vehicle variety, while introducing new and exciting nations to the game. They have been a part of War Thunder since the release of update “Ixwa Strike” in March 2021.
Yet, they also come with with a lot of criticism. From gameplay debates criticizing the addition of other nations vehicles “getting in the way” of researching the main nations vehicles, to more political discussions about what subtrees are and aren’t appropriate, especially about nations being “under” another, they have certainly not been for everyone.
But this suggestion aims to improve subtrees and take away as many of these issues as possible.
- If you have any thoughts about it, ideas for additions or improvements feel free to add those and potentially help improve the game.
Credit to @馮如 for his subtree rework suggestion on the old forum
What is a “Subtree”?
Spoiler
Surprisingly, this has been a large debate in and of itself, especially recently.
Some consider a subtree to be a specific line of one of the various branches. An example for this would be the right line of vehicles in the British tech tree. Here players sometimes distinguish between (for example) a “Ground subtree” and an “Air subtree”, rather than thinking of it as a gamemode independent nation.
However for the context of this suggestion, I will assume a subtree to represent a nation that is officially stated to be depicted within the tech tree of another. So for example the right line of the British techtree would not be a subtree, but a place where many subtree vehicles sit. Any South African vehicles, even those outside of the ground forces techtree, are also part of the subtree by this definition.
Nation Folders, as the name suggests, would improve the subtree system by completely reworking it from the ground up.
Rather than inserting another nation into the techtree of another, both nations have their own, independent techtrees. These are then both placed in a folder that is opened up when hovering over a nation in the existing nation selection bar.
Clicking on one of these nations opens that nation’s techtree. This is set up in the same way an existing techtrees are, with separate tabs for Army, Helicopters, Aviation, Bluewater Fleet and Coastal Fleet, provided a respective techtree of the specific type has been added for the selected nation.
The currently selected techtree will be shown in the nation bar, next to the other nations.
Special thanks to @Deathmisser and @patryk107 for helping to improve the concept
Just like current subtrees, these nations still share the same crew slots, lineups and can be used together in battle in much the same way as you can now.
For example, Italian and Hungarian techtrees would share a folder in the reworked subtree system. These nations can still be used together in the same lineup.
Research is done in much the same way as it is now. Despite the split tech trees, research remains shared. This means that just like the current game, all vehicles of the same branch (e.g. tanks) have a shared RP pool given to a single selected research goal.
However this also means that more often than not, the selected vehicle to research might not be in the currently selected nation.
To help keep track of research goals across nations in a folder, an indicator is added to the top right of the research tree, left of the search bar. This indicator shows the current selected vehicle for research, as well as the leftover RP needed to unlock it and the nation it is from, so that players don’t need to search for what they selected across multiple foldered nations.
Additionally, unlock requirements for ranks will also overlap nations. This way, once a certain rank of a branch in one foldered nation is unlocked, the same would be unlocked for all nations in that folder.
This allows a player to specifically research specific lines of other foldered nations alongside their main one to supplement their lineups to their liking.
Special thanks to @Noveos_Republic for helping to improve the research mechanics
To help players keep track of the many vehicles from all foldered nations, there is a new Faction Overview separate from the national research trees.
It contains from all nations of the selected faction and allows for a better overview that can be helpful when building lineups, assessing the general capability of a faction as a whole or comparing vehicles from different foldered nations.
The Faction Overview is opened via a button in the research tree, found to the left of the search bar.To go back to the research tree, simply click the same button again in the Faction Overview
The Faction Overview itself contains all vehicles from all foldered nations. These are organized into their separate vehicle classes (e.g. Light Tank, Medium Tank, Heavy Tank, SPAA, Tank Destroyer), as well as BRs. This makes it convenient to navigate and find vehicles from all foldered nations.
Unlike the national trees, the faction overview does not represent the research flow through the familiar arrows. However, the previous, as well as the following vehicle are shown in the statcard:
Inspired by Gaijin's "The previous vehicle must be researched"
Selecting a vehicle in the Faction Overview also gives a new option to view it in the respective research tree, making it easy to check the exact positions in the research tree and plan out your research.
Special thanks to @AlvisWisla for his original idea
Optional Nations; Playing the foldered nations is purely optional, and each of them can be played independently if a player wants to.
Additional Space; Each nation has it’s own trees, allowing for 5 vertical lines of space for each nation that can be used to add exciting new vehicles and create logical and intuitive progression.
Subree Controversy; All foldered nations are treated as equal, independent nations within their folder, there is no “main” nations the others are placed under. This helps avoid sensitive topics of nations being “under the rule” of another.
Flags; The display of national flags can be more dynamic. In battle, flags for all nations present in your lineup may be shown as part of the team, while in hangar the currently selected nation becomes the face nation for that faction.
Simulator Lineups; With a more clear distinction of nations, Gaijin could introduce Simulator matchmaking based on operating nation. For example Warsaw pact Hungary could be placed on the opposing side to NATO Italy.
“If the main goal is to get around issues as subtrees, why not add them as standalone normal nations instead?”
I see multiple reasons for this. The first and most obvious one is that this system not only affects new nations, but also existing subtrees. This helps fix issues with subtrees that already exist, while keeping all benefits, including the main reason for most subtrees, the support of what is currently the main nation.
New nations are also not always possible or practical. Many nations simply have less vehicle options, making a standalone techtree just not viable. However with the existing option to combine them in lineups with other nations this issue becomes much less pressing and smaller nations become viable additions to the game. And all of that while they still functionally get to act and be played as regular nations.
I personally believe Nation Folders would enhance the current game by improving it for those in favor of subtrees, as well as those opposed to them. It can help represent further nations in the game, support existing ones and could potentially lead to a rework of simulator gamemode matchmaking that many players want.