How To Change Loading Screens In War Thunder: The Ultimate Customization Guide

Customize your War Thunder loading screens by choosing officially unlocked achievements in the profile customization menu or by deploying custom client-side graphic mods. To use personalized images, you must edit the game's initialization files to enable localization testing and format your assets to specific DirectDraw Surface standards. Following these exact technical steps guarantees high-fidelity, crash-free loading sequences tailored to your favorite combat vehicles.

Essential Assets and Pre-Configuration Checklist

Modifying the graphical interface of War Thunder requires preparing specific files and understanding the directory structure of your installation. While Gaijin Entertainment allows players to select officially unlocked artwork in-game, executing a manual, custom-image override requires client-side modification files. This process is completely safe from Easy Anti-Cheat bans, provided you modify only the permitted user-interface, localization, and hangar configuration files.

Before beginning the modification process, review the following hardware, software, and duration prerequisites to ensure a seamless implementation:

• Essential Software Tools: A standard text editor such as Notepad++ for configuration edits, and an advanced image manipulation tool such as GIMP or Adobe Photoshop equipped with a DirectDraw Surface (DDS) export plugin.
• Asset Requirements: High-resolution digital artwork in either lossless Truevision TGA format or DDS format, cropped to match your monitor's native aspect ratio (typically 16:9 or 21:9).
• Mandatory Technical Knowledge: Familiarity with your operating system's directory navigation, basic file extension management, and plain-text file editing.
• Estimated Cost and Time: 0 USD (completely free utilizing open-source utilities) with an estimated completion time of 10 to 15 minutes.
• System Permissions: Full administrator access to the PC user account containing the War Thunder local directory.

Step-by-Step Guide to Customizing Your War Thunder Loading Screens

Step 1: Navigating and Selecting Official Unlocked Loading Screens

War Thunder features an array of high-quality, official loading screens depicting historical armored clashes, dogfights, and naval engagements. These screens are unlocked via in-game milestones, Battle Pass progression, or special promotional events.

To select an officially unlocked loading screen, launch the War Thunder client and log in to your account. Click on your player profile icon located at the top center of the main hangar screen. In the profile menu, navigate to the Shop tab on the left-hand column, and select the Loading Screens sub-category. Here, you will find a catalog of your unlocked artwork. Select any unlocked image, and click the Choose button to set it as your primary loading background.

Pro-Tip: Selecting the Random option from this menu rotates your loading screen among all currently unlocked artworks, keeping your loading transitions dynamic and visually fresh.

Step 2: Accessing the War Thunder Root Directory and Modifying Config.blk

To bypass the official selections and implement your own personalized image files, you must configure the game to run in a localization testing state. This forces the client to reference a local modifiable database instead of its encrypted internal packs.

First, close the War Thunder game client entirely. Locate your root game directory. For Steam users, the standard path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\War Thunder. For players utilizing the standalone Gaijin Launcher, the default path is C:\WarThunder.

Inside the root folder, locate the file named config.blk. Right-click this file, choose Open With, and select Notepad++ or your system's default text editor. Scroll through the configuration lines until you locate the block starting with the header debug. Within the brackets of the debug block, insert a new line containing the text test_localization:b=yes. Save the changes to the file and close the text editor.

Warning: Do not modify any other parameters inside the config.blk file, as altering engine, graphic, or network strings can cause the game client to fail to initialize or result in performance degradation.

Step 3: Generating the Localization and UI Directory Structure

Once you have configured the game to search for localized files, you must trigger the client to generate the editable directories.

Launch the War Thunder client via your standard launcher. Once the login screen loads and verifies your files, close the game immediately. This brief launch forces the game to read the newly added configuration string and automatically generate a folder named lang within your War Thunder root directory.

Navigate back to your root directory and open the newly created lang folder. This folder contains dozens of CSV localization files. The file that controls interface graphics, menus, and file paths for loading screens is menu.csv. Copy this file and paste a backup of it in a secure location on your desktop before making any manual adjustments.

Step 4: Formatting Custom Images for Game Engine Compatibility

The Dagor Engine utilized by War Thunder requires precise graphic formats to render textures quickly without causing memory leaks. To prepare your custom image, open your preferred graphic editing software.

Import your chosen image and crop it to your monitor's native resolution, such as 1920x1080 or 2560x1440. Save the file under a concise, alphanumeric name with no spaces, such as custom_loading_01. Export the file as a DirectDraw Surface (DDS) file. When exporting, select the BC3 / DXT5 compression format and ensure that the option for generating mipmaps is disabled, as UI textures do not require multi-distance scaling. Alternatively, you can save the image as an uncompressed, 24-bit Truevision TGA file.

Create a new folder inside your War Thunder root directory path under War Thunder\content\base\images. Move your newly formatted custom_loading_01.dds file directly into this folder.

Step 5: Mapping the Custom Asset Path in Localization Files

To finalize the custom loading screen implementation, you must redirect the game's internal pointer to look at your newly created DDS file instead of the default package assets.

Open the menu.csv file located inside your lang folder using Notepad++. Use the search function (Ctrl + F) to search for the string loading_start_screen or loading_screen_bg. You will find lines of code mapping various loading screen assets to default internal paths.

Replace the default system path listed next to these variables with the relative path pointing to your custom asset. For example, change the destination path to content/base/images/custom_loading_01.dds. Save the CSV file.

Launch War Thunder. The client will now load your custom image during the initial synchronization and matchmaking screens.

Technical Specifications for War Thunder Custom UI Assets

The following table provides the precise parameters required for custom graphic integration. Using settings outside of these industry standards can lead to visual artifacting, system lag, or game client crashes.

War Thunder Customization Errors and Solutions

The Game Reverts Config.blk Edits Upon Launch

• Root Cause: The Gaijin Launcher automatically runs a file integrity check upon startup, which frequently overwrites manual changes made to local configuration files to ensure the client matches the official distribution.
• Actionable Fix: Navigate to your config.blk file, right-click it, and select Properties. Check the box marked Read-Only at the bottom of the General tab, then click Apply. This prevents the launcher from overwriting your custom localization string. Remember to uncheck this temporarily whenever the game receives a major content patch, allowing the launcher to update the file naturally before you re-apply your custom settings.

Custom Loading Screen Appears Stretched or Pixilated

• Root Cause: The custom image file aspect ratio does not match the monitor aspect ratio, or the image was exported with mipmap generation enabled, causing the Dagor Engine to render a lower-resolution texture.
• Actionable Fix: Re-import your original image into your editing software, crop the canvas to your exact monitor resolution, and re-export the file. In your export settings, explicitly disable generate mipmaps and verify that your DDS compression setting is set to BC3 / DXT5 to preserve fine pixel details.

The Game Crashes to Desktop with a Fatal Exception Error

• Root Cause: The game engine cannot locate the path defined in the menu.csv localization file, or the file path syntax contains backward slashes rather than forward slashes.
• Actionable Fix: Open the menu.csv file and verify that the file path matches your folder structure exactly. Ensure that the directory path uses forward slashes (/) instead of backward slashes (\), as the Dagor Engine utilizes Unix-style path formatting for internal assets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you get banned for changing loading screens in War Thunder?

No, you will not receive a ban for modifying your loading screens, menus, or hangars. These edits are client-side visual modifications that do not grant any competitive advantage in combat, and the Easy Anti-Cheat system does not flag localization or UI folder modifications.

Where do I find custom loading screen mods for War Thunder?

You can find thousands of community-created loading screens, custom hangars, and user skins on the official War Thunder Live portal. Search the site using tags like loading screen or UI mod to find pre-formatted, ready-to-use packages.

Why does my custom loading screen disappear after a major update?

Major game updates often introduce new localization keys to the database, causing the launcher to generate a brand-new menu.csv file that overwrites your edits. To resolve this, keep a backup of your modified localization files on your desktop and paste them back into the newly generated folders after the update is complete.

Can I change loading screens on PlayStation or Xbox consoles?

No, custom graphic modifications and localization configuration edits are restricted entirely to the PC platform. Console ecosystems do not allow users to access root file directories or modify initialization parameters due to platform security guidelines.

Elevate Your War Thunder Gaming Experience

Fine-tuning your user interface with personalized loading screens is just the first step in creating a fully customized combat environment. Visit the official War Thunder Live portal today to explore a massive repository of user-generated content, custom missions, and stunning historical camouflages designed by the community.