War Thunder

War Thunder is a World War II-inspired massively multiplayer online combat game developed by Gaijin Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Shield Android TV.

Game model

The game is modeled on a micro-transaction system but with the ability to get almost every feature of the game without paying. This may require players to complete certain challenges (such as shooting down a certain number of enemy aircraft or destroying a certain number of ground targets), or submitting user created content such as skins, or camouflage for vehicles. There may also be other celebratory events throughout the year such as commemorating historic figures in aviation or famous battles allowing players to win premium currency and premium vehicles without any expenditure.

There is also a referral service, whereby players can invite people to the game, earning both themselves and the new player an in-game bonus.

Game Currency

War Thunder uses 4 main currencies: Silver Lions, Golden Eagles, Research Points, and Convertible Research Points.

Gaijin Entertainment

Gaijin Entertainment is a Russian video game development company established in 2002.

Overview

The Gaijin team, consisting of more than 160 employees, specializes in the creation of games for various platforms (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Microsoft Windows/iOS/Linux/SteamOS). The company's projects have received a range of mass media and game industry awards including a few Japanese Game Developers Conference Awards as "Best simulator for next-gen consoles" (IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), "Best technologies" for Dagor Engine, "Best sound" and others.

Today's Gaijin Entertainment is the largest independent video games developer in Russia and an official partner of Activision, 505 Games, Microsoft, TopWare Interactive, SouthPeak Interactive, Sony Computer Entertainment, 1C Company, Apple Inc. and many others.

Reception

Gaijin's most successful title is War Thunder, receiving a 7.2 out of 10 from IGN, 8.10 from GameSpot, and averaging a score of 82/100 on Metacritic.

ASU-85

The ASU-85 (Russian: Авиадесантная самоходная установка, АСУ-85, Aviadesantnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka, 'airborne self-propelled mount') is a soviet-designed airborne self-propelled gun of the Cold War Era. From 1959, it began to replace the open-topped ASU-57 in service. It was, in turn, replaced by the BMD-1 beginning in 1969.

Development history

Development of a new assault gun for the armed forces started at the OKB-40 design bureau of the Mytishchi Machine Building Plant (MMZ), under the supervision of chief designer Nikolaj Aleksandrovich Astrov. The first Ob'yekt 573 prototype was ready for factory tests in the second half of 1953. This first vehicle was followed by a small batch of three improved vehicles that were evaluated by the armed forces in 1956-1957. The improved vehicles were powered by a new, horizontal six cylinder diesel engine, the YaMZ-206V, instead of the original V-6 of the PT-76. In 1958, the order to start series production of the SU-85 - as it was initially known (although there was already a vehicle with that same name, based on the T-34) - was given. However, as a result of an order from the Ministry of Defense to add an armoured roof (the initial vehicles were still open-topped), series production could only begin in 1961. By then, the configuration was already out of date and in the second half of the 1960s, the VDV became the main operator of the SU-85 and renamed it the ASU-85.

Tank destroyer

A tank destroyer or tank hunter is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct-fire artillery gun or missile launcher, with limited operational capacities and designed specifically to engage enemy armoured vehicles.

Tanks are generally armoured fighting vehicles designed for front-line combat which combine operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities and perform all primary tasks of the armoured troops on the battlefield; the tank destroyer on the other hand is specifically designed mainly for taking on enemy armour. Many have been based on a tracked tank chassis, while others are wheeled.

Since World War II, gun-armed tank destroyers have fallen out of favor as armies have favored multirole main battle tanks. However, lightly armored anti tank guided missile (ATGM) carriers are commonly used for supplementary long-range anti-tank work. The resurgence of expeditionary warfare in the past twenty years has seen the emergence of gun-armed wheeled vehicles, sometimes called "protected gun systems", which may bear a superficial resemblance to tank destroyers, but are employed as direct fire support units typically providing support in low-intensity operations such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thunder

Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending on the distance and nature of the lightning, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble (brontide). The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within a bolt of lightning. In turn, this expansion of air creates a sonic shock wave, similar to a sonic boom, which produces the sound of thunder, often referred to as a clap, crack, or peal of thunder.

Cause

The cause of thunder has been the subject of centuries of speculation and scientific inquiry. The first recorded theory is attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle in the fourth century BC, and an early speculation was that it was caused by the collision of clouds. Subsequently, numerous other theories were proposed. By the mid-19th century, the accepted theory was that lightning produced a vacuum.

In the 20th century a consensus evolved that thunder must begin with a shock wave in the air due to the sudden thermal expansion of the plasma in the lightning channel. The temperature inside the lightning channel, measured by spectral analysis, varies during its 50 μs existence, rising sharply from an initial temperature of about 20,000 K to about 30,000 K, then dropping away gradually to about 10,000 K. The average is about 20,400 K (20,100 °C; 36,300 °F). This heating causes a rapid outward expansion, impacting the surrounding cooler air at a speed faster than sound would otherwise travel. The resultant outward-moving pulse is a shock wave, similar in principle to the shock wave formed by an explosion, or at the front of a supersonic aircraft.