War Thunder Eagle's Shadow update overhauls rendering and dirt systems
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The developer says the War Thunder Eagle's Shadow update introduces rebuilt 3D dirt physics, humidity-based aircraft vapor, and water light reflections.
The developer says the upcoming War Thunder Eagle's Shadow update introduces a rebuilt rendering system. The new dirt and snow physics replace flat textures with 3D accumulation on armor plates, with mud and dust reacting to vehicle geometry like rivets and welds. Running engines and firing main guns now actively melt snow off engine decks and barrels.
What's in the update
- Rebuilt the dirt system to include 3D textures for snow, grainy dust, and bumpy mud.
- Dirt and snow now accumulate based on vehicle geometry like rivets, welds, and crevices.
- Running engines and firing main guns now cause snow to melt on specific parts.
- New humidity model makes vapor effects up to three times stronger in certain conditions.
- Added wing vapor sheets that appear at the critical angle of attack.
- All light sources, including muzzle flashes and fires, now reflect on the water.
- Nighttime water now features light spreading beneath the surface to illuminate the volume.
- Glints and glow on water are enabled on High or Ultra settings.
- Fixed dark banding at high altitudes by rendering fog and haze smoothly.
- Crepuscular rays, or godrays, have returned to the game.
War Thunder · official art via IGDBFlight physics also receive upgrades through a new humidity model. Speed, altitude, and weather humidity combine to generate wing vapor sheets that scale with G-forces and aircraft sweep angles. Naval combat adds light reflections for fires, lamps, and muzzle flashes on High or Ultra graphics settings, while Medium and Low settings remain unchanged. Additionally, high-altitude flights benefit from smoother fog rendering that fixes dark banding and returns crepuscular sun rays.
Background In November, the Eagle's Shadow update will also add NVIDIA DLSS 5 support for GeForce RTX 50 Series or RTX Spark devices. Our earlier story
War Thunder at a glance
- Players on Steam
- Peak 87,659 on Nov 11
- Latest patch notes
- Update 2.61.0.13
- PC guides
- PCGamingWiki
ProtonDB
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