UI Improvement and Additional Research Tree Suggestion

Game Discussion General Discussion
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Hello All,

I have been playing War Thunder now for many years, and have a strong desire for Gaijin and this game to succeed. But the games current direction of subtrees, and lack of a significant UI change for new players, is something I cannot follow. I hope that this suggestion is taken onboard, or at least partially, to better the game as a whole.

To start with, I believe when a new or returning player opens War Thunder they should be greeted with a screen similar to that of the World War mode; an image of Globe. This would be easily navigated by simply clicking and dragging, allowing for zoom features as well via the scroll-wheel. It’s purpose would be to select the country you wish to play in War Thunder.

WT new Login Screen
WT new Login Screen1920×808 61.3 KB

Not all of these nations will be available right from the start of War Thunder, as some nations will require the unlocking of a rank for another nation. An example would be South Korea and North Korean: In order to unlock South Korea one must unlock Rank 4 of the United States tree and to unlock North Korean the player must unlock Rank 4 in the Chinese tree, for example. Once you have selected a nation to play, it becomes highlighted with a brief history of said nation and upcoming/past events of the nation (armed forces day, national holidays, etc.).

WT GBR tree selected
WT GBR tree selected1493×861 116 KB

For this example, I have selected the United Kingdom to play. It is at this point I must add that nations with subtrees are to be completely reworked. All vehicles of a selected nation are to be used by said nation, no exceptions. This makes logical sense from a Gameplay and Balancing point of view, and I do not agree with subtrees in their current implementation. Upon double clicking, I am presented with another screen showing me which tree to play.

WT GBR tree selection
WT GBR tree selection1920×809 104 KB

The player can then select either the Aircraft, Helicopter, Ground Forces, Bluewater Fleet, or Coastal Fleet tree to open it up, allowing for the creation of a lineup for that nation and go to battle. For this example, I have selected United Kingdom. In my version of this, South Africa has been completely moved from the GBR tree to the independent ZAF tree - the new subtree Ireland has been added to the United Kingdom. The image below shows the tech tree (Battle Ratings are placeholders, though an emphasis on readding an armour META has been taken into account):

WT United Kingdom Ground Forces Tech Tree
WT United Kingdom Ground Forces Tech Tree1175×3606 453 KB

As proven, the addition of the ZAF tree to GBR is not needed, and thus it can be added to its own tree and selected on the world map. However, certain trees will be required to be grouped, such as; BeNeLux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), ANZAC (Australia, New Zealand), CHEAUT (Switzerland, Austria), etc. Atop of this, subtrees with no place in a parent tree will also be removed and added to their own tree (BeNeLux, Thailand, Finland, Hungary, etc.). I hope you see the same vision as I do for the future of War Thunder, as I believe this is better for gameplay, balance, and general player morale.

The Benefits of this implementation:

  • Increased Nations to War Thunder (more player representation)
  • Better Balance for Gamemodes, such as simulator
  • Increased Grind for Players (more trees, more focused grind, more for the hardcore War Thunder enjoyers)
  • Increased Number of Event, Limited-run, Premium, Squardon Vehicles (more money for Gaijin, more reasons to grind for players)

Overall, I would love to see this suggestion added to War Thunder - but only if tech trees are reworked to remove subtrees that are not required. Whilst I understand removing Finland from Sweden is extremely controversial, trees such as South Africa sould be added to a ZAF tree and removed from GBR as well as China splitting into two seperate trees.

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On paper, I really like this suggestion as looking into the future this is clearly better than what we have now. The only problem is many of the subtrees were added to fill holes in the primary tech-trees they have been added to. Specific line-ups that are very weak (in regards to ground rb) or almost non-existent meaning people have no reason to play certain vehicles that are not at the same / similar BR to other vehicles. If and when we get significantly more vehicles into the game to pad out the trees then i could see them being separated into further groups, but as it stands separating the minor nations into more minor nations would (in my opinion) cause further polarisation and favouritism for the big 3 nations as they would still - for the most part - still have line-ups with options for different situations whereas some tech-tree BRs would currently be unplayable.

In terms of controversy I can see 4. The Finland /Sweden as mentioned, Communist China vs Republican China (America 2), East vs West Germany. Maybe I’m wrong with the East / West Germany but even so what vehicles did EAST Germany invent / pioneer, all the researchers got absorbed into the USSR. And finally the divide between the USSR and the Russian Federation.

I do like the UI that you designed especially the selecting nations and getting info about them, very cool. Though it seems a bit rigid when it comes to selecting vehicles within that nation (I’m aware you’re just one person I’m nit-picking a little here). I’m also keen on the restricting certain - more advanced tech trees until specific ranks have been reached. Though I would be partial to making the requirements less specific. As in not forcing someone to play a particular nation if they wish to get to another. (e.g. North Korea can be accessed through Communist China or the USSR or other economically allied nations).

Sorry if this seems quite negative, the genuine criticism mainly boils down to not enough vehicles in minor trees to divide them further other than that this seems very cool and a more personal experience of WT. ♥

Tl:Dr :

  • Good suggestion though we’d need more vehicles in most nations to perform the role that sub-trees did.
  • Nation splits may be controversial (and that kind of needs to be addressed - or maybe it doesn’t and Gaijin could be based)
  • UI is very cool, seems a tag rigid (i prefer the melding fluidity), have the Nation requirements be less tied to a specific nation - more opportunity.
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wish we had custom crosshairsand ui

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Whilst, yes, this suggestion would require alot of additional vehicles to fill the gaps that Sub-trees are. I believe this is necessary for the game moving forward. If we stick with the GBR tree, for this example, the M24 can be added (used by the British in large numbers during the Second World War) in place of the Concept 3. On the surface, people become very bitter and complain that this is just copy paste non sense, but I pose the question that vehicles such as the JAS39C and future Mirage’s used by ZAF are just as bad and simply do not have a place in the GBR tree. ZAF has enough vehicles to become it’s own tree, and there are numerous highly detailed suggestions on this very forum.

Nation splits are controversial, but they shouldn’t be. Let’s look at the Chinese tree, for example, currently made up of two very different “China’s”. Both the RoC and the PRoC can become there own trees, though for the RoC perhaps an adequate subtree would be needed - and it this time I cannot say which addational nation. Regardless of Politics, why have China the way it currently is ingame, it is a nightmare for simulator battles due to the rampant vehicle spread. By splitting the tree, this alleviates the issue entirely.

Whilst the UI may seem rigid, I would intend to smooth it out but given my Microsoft Paint skills I cannot lol. It isn’t perfect, but I’m glad you agree it is a nice alternative to what we currently have in game. As for Nation Requirements, I agree that they could be less strict but I also believe some should be locked from the start of the game. Again, numerous amazing posts on the forum has shown that, for example, Israel could start at Rank 1 - and that is a change I would love to see. However, I still believe they shouldn’t be unlocked until Rank 4 of another nation has been reached. Perhaps the main nations are left free to unlock from the start, and once you get to Rank 4 in a nation you get a “Nation Point” which can be spent to unlock another nation?

Thank you for your feedback btw, hopefully Gaijin takes some of these suggestions onboard to better War Thunder in the future :)

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This UI design is quite bad tbh, whole design is not simple enough and hard to navigate.

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<3