The participants of the upcoming naval battles closed beta will be called the “Knights of the Sea”. Made up of torpedo, artillery and missile boats, coast guard vessels and submarine chasers, this so-called “small” naval contingent served in all oceanic theatres of the World War II era.
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“The high level of realism is one of the key design features of War Thunder. Vehicles are as close to their real life counterparts as possible. Classic large ship battles during the war were contests of patience and planning, where engagements could last from several hours to several days. In War Thunder, where all kinds of vehicles fight in one battle and players can control aircraft, tanks and ships, it is not possible to change the size of the ships or make time run faster, as everything needs to remain consistent. Our internal testing showed that battles with large battleships would be too long and boring, or required design changes that made ships entirely unrealistic. For this reason, we are focusing on fast attack-based craft, which are rarely reproduced in games. Ships, that are more suitable for the formula of our game. These fast, agile and dangerous “Knights of the Sea” are worthy contenders for aircraft and tanks on the ground” – says Kirill Yudintsev, Creative Director of Gaijin Entertainment.
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All nations will have Naval research trees and different ships from each nation will be revealed at this year’s Gamescom, taking place from August 17th to August 21st. Testing will take place on the main game server during specific hours. Dev testing team, other invited players and those who purchase one of two packs with unique craft, will be able to join the closed beta testing as soon as the testing phase begins later this year. The first Naval Pack includes the Soviet Project 1124 Armored River Boat with the unguided rocket launcher, the legendary Katyusha. The second pack includes the famousAmerican PT-109, a motor torpedo boat on which the future US President John F. Kennedy commanded and performed acts of wartime heroism. Both motorboats will be available at the start of the closed beta testing as will other nations vessels.
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The first to take part in the naval battles of War Thunder will be the visitors of Gamescom 2016, which takes place this year from August 17th to August 21st. In the game booth in Hall 6, Gaijin Entertainment has organized a special closed area, where guests can try their hand as captains of attack boats. For those unable to visit the exhibition, there will be a special video broadcast on the official Twitch channel and new devblog updates each day, where developers of the game will talk about the latest addition, present ships of different nations and run giveaways of access for the closed beta test for the viewers.
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