History VideoGame / VectorThrust

* StandardStatusEffects: Standard for the genre, anyway. If an aircraft has datalink capabilities, they will be able to perform one or more of the following:

* UnfortunateNames: AI players you face in Skirmish include the standard AXE, VIKING, BLADE, [[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies RIBBON]], and others. Or, you'll be hounded upon by people like FAIL, GASSY and JUICY.

* HonorBeforeReason: Mission 5 of the Hollow Thunder campaign; after Coalition carrier Resolute loses Showtime Squadron to [[PlayerCharacter Ash]], they refuse to send anymore planes, only for the second carrier Stoykiy to angrily berate them and remind them of their obligations to prevent anyone from entering the Exclusion Zone, [[GratituousRussian even ranting in incoherent Poltavian at certain points.]]

* HonorBeforeReason: Mission 5 of the Hollow Thunder campaign; after Coalition carrier Resolute loses Showtime Squadron to [[PlayerCharacter Ash]], they refuse to send anymore planes, only for the second carrier Stoykiy to angrily berate them and remind them of their obligations to prevent anyone from entering the Exclusion Zone.

** Eulyria is based off a modern version of the Roman Republic, and neighboring Prytha is a smaller Roman Empire.

* TheDreadedDreadnought: The EOS-04-1 Leviathan easily claims this title. [[CurbStompBattle It wiped out ''FIVE'' naval battlegroups with ease.]] Consider that the Legion has ''TWELVE'' of these.

** Incubator Update 0.9115 brings us the Blackstar UAV, a super-sized Darkstar reconnaisance drone redesigned for ultra-high altitude ICBM interception using its [[FrickinLaserBeams array of three chemical laser systems.]]

* FrickinLaserBeams:
** The Linear One-Way Accelerator, or [[FunWithAcronyms L1WAC]]. It's hidden in the game files and can one-hit kill any unit with a chemical energy blast.
** There is also the SWA-1 Gaspring, a large aircraft similar in size and shape to the Ziz, that is armed with a myriad of special lasers that when shot, stay there and last a ''full minute'' before dissipating. The Gaspring makes a deadly no fly zone laser net with this by shooting said lasers all over the place. [[ShmuckBait Don't even think of going behind it.]]

* OneHitKill: The fate of any unfortunate victim of a [[FrickinLaserBeams L1WAC blast]], [[StuffBlowingUp MPBM or SWBM]].

* ShmuckBait: Anyone trying to get behind the SBA-21 Gemini heavy bomber or an [[FrickinLaserBeams SWA-1 Gaspring.]]

** AceCustom: Possible, and encouraged.[[note]]Textures in the game work a lot like they do in ''VideoGame/{{HAWX}}'', except each plane's folder has an unpainted template version of the texture, and with the addition of a text file you can ''add'' your skins to the game rather than simply overwriting the default one as in ''HAWX.''[[/note]]
** The S-24A Nighthound, an in-universe example, [[spoiler:Prince Clovis']] aircraft of choice.
** In the Hollow Thunder campaign, Ash starts being called [[spoiler:The Raven due to the bird emblem on the tail of his fighter.]]

* ArtificialBrilliance: The AI in the game is coded to resemble human behaviour, with several different 'persona's that can range from [[AttackAttackAttack highly aggressive]] to being [[AwesomeByAnalysis more calculating and cunning]]. One of the main principles for AI development is that "anything the player can do, the AI can do too."

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Usually, every aircraft starts off with an Angle-Of-Attack Limiter engaged to limit airframe stress, but the player can manually disengage this to perform some crazy moves in aircraft that couldn't usually even begin to think of pulling them off. We're talking things like ''A-10s pulling Cobras''.
** Pssh, how about ''planes flying'' '''''backwards''''' with the limiter off.

* BattleshipRaid: The Ziz Hunt battle scenario. There's also rumors about a new EOS naval superweapon.
** Revealed to be the [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BqPlLZDCQAAQLfP.jpg:large EOS-04-1]], which puts that poor Ziz next to it to shame in sheer size.

* FrickinLaserBeams: The Linear One-Way Accelerator, or [[FunWithAcronyms L1WAC]]. It's hidden in the game files and can one-hit kill any unit with a chemical energy blast.

* GunsAreWorthless: A special case, because guns ''are'' intended to be the inferior weapons, but they deal ScratchDamage, have a retarded aiming reticule that [[TheComputerIsALyingBastard lies to you]], and the M61 used by most American jets overheats if fired continuously for more than a couple seconds. Updates have increased their damage and accuracy, but even with those bonuses, [[ATeamFiring good luck hitting anything with them]] (at least you can rest easy knowing that the AI can't hit you at close range either).

* EvilIsHammy: Rather widespread in Hollow Thunder. Particular mention for a bomber pilot in mission 2 who sounds taken straight out from ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', and [[spoiler: Prince Clovis, who turns it into an art form.]]

* NGOSuperpower: Several companies and PMCs, such as APEX Solutions, Samson, CRADLE, and Cerin Defense have large and effective armies that get the job done, complete with tanks, logistics, navy, air force, and even a few superweapons as trump cards.
** Special mention for Sigsawa Heavy Industries, who designed and built the EOS series of weapon platforms. That's right, they designed the EOS-01 Ziz and EOS-04-1 Leviathan, among various others. And used them well against their competitors when the need arose.

Vector Thrust can be found [[http://www.moddb.com/games/vector-thrust on ModDB]] and [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/242130 on Steam]].

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!!Tropes:

%%* BadassArmy: ''Legion''.

* AppliedPhlebotinum: Machovsky particles, which are used to power chemical lasers and turn them into [[OneHitKill One Hit Kill weapons.

** [[DoppelgangerAttack Mirror]]: Receives and broadcasts false electronic signals in response to enemy radar searches, granting the illusion that there are more units out there than there really is. Advanced variants can even fool enemy radar into locking onto them, wasting precious ammo for the enemy if long-range attacks are launched. At close range however, enemy pilots will realise that the mirrored aircraft are nothing but thin air, and they can't fool heat-seeking missiles.

* WildWeasel: The classic aircraft for the role, the F-4G Phantom II was introduced in an incubator build, naturally using the AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile as its first choice against enemy radar sites. The game mechanics reflect this also, with the HARM and its anti-radar cousins incapable of locking onto targets which o not use a radar signal.

* [[WeaponOfChoice Aircraft of Choice]]: The Legion almost always fights in their black-and-gold liveried Berkuts. Canonically every ace or player character has a certain aircraft they are portrayed as flying.

** Justified in-universe. In a setting where [[NukeEm dropping a nuke on somebody is often a viable first move]], every nation trying to survive has some sort of sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system that has made conventional nuclear delivery means like [=ICBMs=] and cruise missiles have been phased out in favor of bombers that can penetrate these defences, and the fighters and interceptors to defend and attack them, resulting in militaries with heavily developed and highly advanced air forces.

* ExtremeGraphicalRepresentation: The default briefing layout involve a ridiculous login sequence with systems diagnostics and TechnoBabble scrolling up the side of the screen on par with AceCombat standards. Context-specific briefings such as Hollow Thunder's allows for a considerably more immersive, voiced and animated briefing speech.

* GameMod: Half the reason for the game is the ability to tweak absolutely anything you can think of.

* GratuitousFrench: Played straight with the Campaign-specific paint scehmes. As French implicitly seems to be the Kingom's most widespread language, Ash's aircraft generally feature french letterings and signs such as "NE PAS MARCHER", the equivalent of "DO NOT STEP", something usually printed on a Rafale's control surfaces and other sensible spots.

* EvilIsHammy: Rather widespread in Hollow Thunder. Particular mention for a bomber pilot in mission 2 who sounds taken straight out from Pirates of the Carribean, and, [[spoiler: Prince Clovis, who turns it into an art form.]]

* MightyGlacier: The A-10 and its less common counterpart the Su-25 make an appearance. They may be slow and ungainly, but they carry a massive warload: The A-10 in particular is the only aircraft in the game capable of mounting 6 AGM-64 missiles and [[MacrossMissileMassacre firing them all at once]], making it one of the heaviest-hitting attackers in the game.

** Pssh, how about ''planes flying'' '''''backwards'''''.

** Updates every week!

** With the amount of aircraft to choose from, there are too many to count. Examples can include the Su-47, Su-27, F-14, [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets MiG-29]], F-15 and F-22. There are variants of each plane that are even cooler though, like the F-22X Alvaraptor, which is a F-22 with ''forward swept wings'', the F-15J Kai+ from ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'', and the Su-37 "Terminator".

** The Ion Rain Mutator involves several dozen of them raining [=L1WAC=] beams onto the battlefield.