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Replay rewind

The ‘Danger Zone’ update brings the long-anticipated rewind in replays! Read our DevBlog about the new feature and how it works in War Thunder.

Rewind in replays has been amongst the most requested features for players for a long time. This tool is useful not only for ordinary players who want to see details of a cool moment of the past battle. It is also needed by the content creators of our huge War Thunder community, masters of video and graphic editors.

Previously, we tried to solve the problem of navigation in game replays, but it was impossible to solve the issue quickly and easily due to the peculiarities of the game engine and replay recording algorithms. In one of our Q&A sessions, we even made an official statement that this feature is not planned for the game. But the constant requests from the community forced Gaijin programmers to come up with another solution for navigating through replays. Well, we did it! The replay rewind is coming with the Danger Zone update, and here's how it will work.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

In the usual sense, free rewind is impossible in War Thunder, since a replay is a sequential parallel recording of each player's control commands and server events. If the replay recorded the state of the entire game world at every moment in time, the size of the replay file would be very large, and recording such a huge file would slow down even the most solid gaming PC builds. We have implemented navigation between the so-called "snapshots" - virtual images of the events of the game session, placed in the course of the replay. The player has the ability to jump forward or return to any snapshot on the playbar to start playing the replay.

Navigation through replay will only work for client replays with the release of the Danger Zone update. Recording each snapshot requires certain computing resources. In some intense action scenes, like the massive firefights between heavy ships with hundreds of simultaneously flying bullets, shells and fragments, on weaker PCs or consoles, short FPS drops may occur at the time of snapshot recording. Therefore, recording snapshots for navigation in replays will be enabled in the options menu, being disabled by default. If the recording option is not enabled, navigation through the game replay will work as before - forward only. However, if you run a replay marked with snapshots, the navigation will work. For the convenience of watching and editing the replay, you can set the frequency of snapshot recording - 10, 30, 60 or 120 seconds.

We hope that the new feature will be useful for you. Try the game replay rewind, tell us what you think about the new tool and make even more cool content! The update is almost ready - stay tuned!

Screenshot Competition - Pimp my ride!



Welcome to the 19th War Thunder Steam Screenshot Competition!


We’ve seen the amazing screenshots of your favourite vehicles from last week, and absolutely love them, there were some very interesting ones! Well done, all! The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

[h2]Let’s begin the 19th edition of our competition![/h2]

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen19. You have time until the 17.06.2022 to submit your screenshot.

After that date, 6 winners will be selected (3 of which will be the highest rated by the community and 3 selected by our judges), each of which receive a reward of 300 GE.

[h2]Important addition: Screenshot theme - Pimp my ride![/h2]

[h3]Terms:[/h3]
  • Do you follow history and have a historic camo? Perhaps, you like something a little more fictional? Have you got a collection of 3D decorations? Great! Post a screenshot of your vehicle with a historical or fictional camo, or decorate your vehicle with 3D decorations. The choice is yours!
  • Screenshots need to be compliant with the War Thunder rules, otherwise they will not be considered.
  • You need to be the author of the screenshot.
  • Screenshot needs to be new. You cannot use those which have previously been published or used in other competitions.
  • We will only accept raw screenshots from the game. You cannot use any editing software nor any other visual enhancements (like Nvidia Ansel filters).
  • You can use filters and settings built into War Thunder.
  • You can use the replay functionality built into War Thunder.
  • Rewards will be delivered to the author's account within 7 working days.


[h2]And now, time for the winners of the competition’s 18th edition - Your favourite vehicle![/h2]

[h3]Winners selected via community votes:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2816822764
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2817119922
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2816813386

[h3]Winners selected by our judges:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2816819675
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2817081159
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2818188500

Each winner will get 300GE! Congratulations and see you next week!

Helicopters of China: Z-19E



The Harbin Z-19E light attack helicopter will be the first Chinese helicopter available for all War Thunder players!

[h2]Z-19E, attack helicopter, China, rank VI. Premium, available in a pack.[/h2]

Features:
  • High combat capabilities
  • Air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles
  • Thermal imager
  • Radar/laser warning system and countermeasures
  • Lacks turret


In the Danger Zone update, China receives its first rotorcraft, the Z-19E attack helicopter, which will become available with the release of the update as part of a special pack in our online store. This is a modern combat helicopter, equipped with up-to-date electronics and effective weapons to perform the full range of battle tasks. A convenient sight with a high magnification, an IRST, a thermal imager and a night vision mode makes it easy to detect, track and destroy armored vehicles at long distances.



To destroy ground targets, the helicopter is equipped with up to 8 BA-9 (Blue Arrow) ATGMs with a launch range of up to 6 km, as well as two types of unguided rockets: up to 76 of small Type-57-1 and up to 28 Type 90-1 with a HEAT warhead. The helicopter does not have a turret or other installed armament, but pilots might suspend .50 machine gun pods under the wings.The Z-19E can also be equipped with air-to-air guided weapons - TY-90 missiles with an all-aspect seeker and a launch distance of up to 6 km.

The helicopter is well protected from possible threats - a radar/laser warning system will warn the pilot about nearby SPAAGs or enemy aircraft aiming at Z-19E, and flares will give a chance to avoid incoming missiles.



The premium Z-19E will significantly strengthen the position of Chinese top tier tanks in mixed battles, and very soon its dark blue silhouette will be a frequent guest in War Thunder battles. Welcome to helicopter battles, China!

Italian Navy Day



On the 10th of June, 1918 the Italian Navy sank the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought SMS “Szent István” during its first major voyage. In honor of this, the 10th of June in Italy is celebrated as Navy Day.

[h3]
From 14:00 GMT on 10th of June until 14:00 GMT on the 13th of June purchase RN Geniere - a premium Rank III Italian destroyer for Golden Eagles.
[/h3]

It has excellent mobility and strong firepower, especially good anti-aircraft weapons. It was withdrawn from sale back in late 2020 and is now temporarily coming back: don’t miss your chance to purchase this rare ship!

BTR-ZD: Gun Savvy



The BTR-ZD is a light Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft unit, developed as a makeshift solution based on the design of the BTR-D airborne APC. Coming soon as part of the next major War Thunder update, Danger Zone, the BTR-ZD will join the battle and provide capable air defense for the mid rank units of the Soviet ground forces tree!

Briefly: A compact Soviet SPAAG, featuring excellent mobility and fast-firing 23mm cannons.

[h2]BTR-ZD, SPAAG, USSR, Rank IV[/h2]

Features:
  • Rapid-firing 23mm cannons
  • Good mobility
  • Lightweight protection
  • Exposed crew


In War Thunder, the BTR-ZD will be a new SPAA unit arriving in rank IV of the Soviet ground forces tree with the release of the next major update, Danger Zone. Combining a fast-firing automatic AA cannon with a light and highly nimble chassis, the BTR-ZD will be a potent new Soviet skywatcher soon arriving to War Thunder combined battles.



The BTR-ZD comes fitted with a single twin 23 mm ZU-23 anti-aircraft cannon. However, don’t be led astray by its classification as an AA gun as the ZU-23’s high versatility allows it to do much more work than that. Of course, the 23 mm cannons with their high rate of fire make short work of low flying aircraft up to engagement distances of around 2 km. But the cannons can do a lot more than that: thanks to armor-piercing ammunition, the BTR-ZD can effectively engage lightly protected targets and even pose a serious threat to more heavily armored units, if commanders manage to strike their foe in thinly protected areas.

Getting into advantageous firing positions, both for engaging enemy air targets as well as opponents on the ground, should prove to be no challenge for aspiring commanders of the BTR-ZD. That’s because on the one hand the BTR-ZD possesses a low weight of just 9 tons, and a 240 horsepower diesel engine on the other. As a result of this good power-to-weight ratio, the vehicle can reach a respectable top speed of around 60 km/h on paved roads and manages to traverse even more difficult terrain with relative ease. Furthermore, being an amphibious vehicle, the BTR-ZD can also cross deep bodies of water, thus expanding the tactical options for its commanders.




However, being based on the chassis of an APC means that the BTR-ZD doesn’t feature a comprehensive armor scheme. In fact, the vehicle is only fitted with thin aluminum armor plating, giving it enough protection to deflect rifle-caliber fire as well as shrapnel from nearby explosions. That being said, commanders should also bear in mind that the crew operating the anti-air turret on top of the vehicle is also relatively exposed to enemy fire, meaning that the BTR-ZD is everything but well-suited for spearheading an attack on the enemy lines.



The BTR-ZD is soon arriving to rank IV of the Soviet ground forces tree as part of the next major War Thunder update. In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to the news as we continue revealing what other exciting new features and additions await you in the upcoming update. Until then, happy hunting tankers!