Sharpen the bayonets and prepare your powder! The Regiment Warfare update is out now.
This update brings with it entirely reworked plains maps, officer voice chat, the new maps Bonnie Crags and Drill Grounds, a new first person camera experience, controller support, game optimisations and plenty more.
Make sure to take read below of all that this update has to offer.
The mighty Drill Grounds is here at last. This behemoth of a map is the largest we've made to date and includes completely unique structures and buildings all designed to offer up the ultimate roleplay experience. Use the map name 'DrillGrounds' to load this map on your own server.
Range in the guns with the artillery training field, improve your accuracy at the firing range, hold ceremonies in the fortress walls or race horses throughout the expanse.
Even those sea faring fellows can set sail and practice engagements while those on land look on.
Why not take the King's 40 shillings and enlist in a regiment today? Check out the in-game Regiment Registry to get stuck in. With over 15,000 regiments registered you'll soon find a place within the ranks.
Bonnie Crags
After giving your men a good drilling why not head over to the crag-lands of Bonnie Crags to put your skill to the test. This brand new map set in the rocky landscapes of the Scottish coastlines is the perfecting proving ground for regimental linebattles. :drill_picklock:
Plains No More
Enlist and fight the foe today, over the hills and far away. Battle across entirely reworked linebattle maps in this update.
No stone has been left unturned, we've completely reworked all of the plains maps to provide a better experience more fitting for the modern linebattle experience. We've also made sure to keep true to their character through community feedback. Not only do these maps now feature new unique interest points and environments but they've also been renamed to provide better memorability and clarity.
A moment of silence for all plains maps. :GoldCross:
First Person Camera
A complete overhaul to the first-person camera experience! All of the Nations At War firearms have been freshly re-modeled and re-textured to bring them up to standard with the rest of Holdfast's art style. With the new view providing a closer look at one's trusty black-powder firearm, we wanted to make sure to do the weapons of this era justice.
To this effect all black-powder firearms also come with unique animation when firing in first-person.
Firearm Tracers
As if balls of lead being fired at you at close range couldn't be scary enough the new firearm tracers provide a "close call" experience alongside a visual aid to help you make any required aiming adjustments for your next shot.
These tracers can be disabled via the game settings tab should you not wish to see them.
Controller Support
Inline with our efforts to make Holdfast more accessible for players new and old this update brings with it full controller support for the game. This will greatly improve the experience of those playing Holdfast on Steamdeck along with those who prefer using their controller when playing on PC.
Players using a controller will be provided with an aim assist to help centre their crosshair on their enemies unless obstructed by smoke. Adjustments to this system are ongoing while we find a good balance. We look forward to welcoming feedback on this front so please feel free to plug a controller in and give it a go.
Those both with and without a controller are now also able to via the settings change their melee block and attack directions to be based on their movement direction.
Additionally a lot of the user interface has been reworked to include the use of radial menus for easier access to the games many mechanics and roleplay features. As such, now players can select a favourite selection of gestures and shouts per class to populate their radial menu.
The officer orders are also now within a radial, however, those who wish to may opt back to the legacy version of the menus by selecting 'Legacy' mode via the game menu selection settings.
Officer Voice Chat
Officer and Captain classes now have the brand new 'Personal Courier' ability allowing them to communicate with one another across the battlefield.
Call for help from your fellow commanders and organise offences by swapping through the new officer voice chat channels. Your calls for help will also be heard by those around you locally for the ultimate rambling British officer experience.
New Admin Tools
We've also heavily expanded on the toolset available to event hosts and server administrators. Expanding upon what was present in the great community modification made possible trough the Holdfast SDK - 'Elf's Auto Admin', now admins on official and community servers alike will have access to a plethora of new tools and automations to help lighten the load when hosting organised events.
Here's a brief breakdown of some of the new features available via the new Holdfast Admin Panel.
Trigger and setup all charge variables for organised linebattle events.
Configurable systems preventing players from firing out of line (FOL).
A kill log history with the ability to revive and slay.
Change naval wind settings on the fly.
Target players in free-cam or in-game using the new ray-gun system for quick action.
And a whole lot more.
Regimental History
A reworked version of the regiment history section can now be found when viewing a regiment. Simply press the scroll widget in the bottom right corner to be presented with a whole list of regiment activity and history.
See how much score members of the regiment have gathered for the regiment on official servers, view administrative actions, keep track of promotions and newly joined recruits all within this widget.
All this information will be visible and available for all players of the game regardless if they are in your regiment or not.
Customise Your Main Menu
The games main menu background scene has been entirely recreated to feature a brighter atmosphere more fitting of Holdfast's gameplay.
Customise what nation is represented in your main menu scene by simply selecting it via the barracks. Whatever faction you last select will be represented within the scene. This also includes Frontlines-specific factions.
There are many more changes, features, bug fixes and quality of life additions being introduced in the this release. Have a read at the change-log for all the details.
Thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Count ● 60 new features and improvements. ● 12 gameplay additions. ● 5 optimisations. ● 14 quality of life additions. ● 22 graphical additions. ● 7 server configuration additions. ● 172 additions to the Holdfast SDK. ● 133 bug fixes.
Tomorrow marks the 109 year anniversary since New Zealand and Australian soldiers landed at Gallipoli. Anzac day honours the bravery, sacrifice, and camaraderie of all soldiers who served throughout that conflict and those since.
To commemorate Anzac Day, the Oceanic Holdfast community shall be hosting a special Frontlines event tomorrow on Thursday the 25th of April @ 20:00pm AEST on the Oceanic Official AUS8 - Public ANZAC Day Event server, check below for local times.
During this period of remembrance we will also be hosting a giveaway for the Australian, Ottoman and American Forces DLC's for Holdfast: Frontlines along with copies of the base game.
Simply click the button above to get started with entering the giveaway. 20 Winners will be selected in total!
Work on the games next update is still ongoing as we continue to finalise and polish off the many additions and changes coming with it. For now heres a small preview of what is to come.
Prepare for inspection! Drill Grounds is an advanced training grounds featuring multiple elements of Holdfast's battlefields for regiments and their rankers to gain some valuable training. From courtyards and firing ranges to coastal ports and more, this new map really has it all.
Thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Hop aboard and prepare to set sail! The community hosted ‘Le Merc’s Naval Warfront’ severs are now featured and ready for all seafaring souls to put hand to deck.
These servers introduce 10 new modded maps alongside the base game ones, custom ship match-ups for more variety and tweaks to damage. Battle fleets of ships or take coastal fortresses by force with the might of cannon, simply head over to the server browser and look for any of the servers below.
These servers will also gather you XP towards your class levels and the daily XP score.
Community Servers
Le Merc's NA - Naval Warfront
Le Merc's EU - Naval Warfront
Haven't hopped on naval before? Here are some quick tips to get you started.
Naval Warfront Tips
Going with the wind is faster.
When going against the wind do not deploy 'square sails' as they will cause you to go much slower and act as a wind brake.
Do not load cannons if you aren’t using them: A loaded cannon is a dangerous cannon. It can explode when hit and damage the ship.
Teamwork is key, work with your fellow crew mates to help with ammunition, pass along orders and fire off volleys at the enemy fleet.
Be sure to read through the rest of the blog post to learn more about our next update which we're currently hard at work polishing off preparing for the initial testing phase.
A Sneak Peek
Continuing with our mission of bringing Holdfast into the new era one part of the next update will feature a new first person experience in-game. This initial pass will include a new perspective along with entirely new models, animations and texturing of the game's Napoleonic firearms and melee weapons.
Take a look at our work in progress so far on this front. There'll be a few more changes still to come before release.
We'll also be expanding on the toolset available to event hosts. Now admins on official and community servers alike will have access to a plethora of new tools to help lighten the load when hosting organised events.
Here's a brief breakdown of some of the new features available via the new Holdfast Admin Panel.
Features
Change maps at ease via the new map rotation tab.
Create custom polls.
Setup all charge variables for organised linebattle events.
Trigger an all charge.
A kill log history with the ability to revive and slay.
Target players in free-cam or in-game using the new raygun system for quick action.
And a whole lot more.
Holdfast Sale
Holdfast and all its DLC’s can now be purchased at a discounted price for a limited time. Gather Holdfast on sale at 50% off and its cosmetic DLCs up to 50% off.
There are many more changes, features, bug fixes and quality of life additions being introduced in the next update so be sure to check out the change log when it releases! It'll also feature additional optimisations.
Thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Greetings good fellows of the Holdfast community. We're dishing out another update following our recent major release tackling bugs and introducing additional features. Should everything go well with this release we will set our sights on the next major update featuring CPU optimisations.
Optimising over 150 players running over a single server instance is no simple task but thanks to the engine upgrade we've embarked on in V2.15, we have more tools now available to us which will aid us continue pushing performance.
We want to deliver this to you as soon as humanly possible. We're excited for what the future holds for Holdfast! There's also a new office move we'll be embarking on during the beginning of February.
Stay tuned for more to come and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Features & Improvements (7) ● Upgraded FSR 2.0 to FSR 3.0 improving its quality. ● Upgraded DLSS to 3.5.10 improving its quality. ● Introduce an option allowing players to have the Microphone Echo setting always on. ● Players are now able to disable upscaling through the game’s video settings. ● Players are now provided with the option to disable grass and tree wind movement through the game’s video settings. Go to Grass Movement and switch this to Off if you experience visible blurriness on flora. ● Updated the game’s lobby to reduce rare cases of individuals being unable to receive a populated server list. ● When selecting any of the game’s input text fields such as when changing a regiment’s description or custom player name the cursor will now appear respective to where you click.
Gameplay Additions (2) ● The ladders atop Fort Schwarz are now climbable. ● Stationary swivel guns on Spanish Farm are now able to load round shots.
Graphical (6) ● Adjusted the chimney smoke on Glacier. ● Improved the resolution quality of the Empire map loading screen. ● Adjusted player banner and nameplate visibility. ● Adjusted the bush sizes on Aunby Valley. ● Updated the in-game store banner to match the existing Napoleon update banner. ● Adjusted the sandstorm particle’s looks.
Bug Fixes (24) ● Solved an issue with players getting stuck on map load while using ExpressVPN's Lightway protocol. ● Solved an issue with players sometimes getting stuck on map load. ● Solved an issue with cavalry floating on specific maps. ● Improved issues with blurriness players were experiencing. ● Improved issues with distant fuzziness players were experiencing. ● Solved an issue with fallen trees on Camp Salamanca not looking as intended. ● Solved an issue with raindrop particle effects not working. ● Solved an issue with a small rouge pixel being visible in the kill feed. ● Solved an issue with people spawning on roofs on Empire. ● Solved an issue with code exceptions appearing when using FSR. ● Solved an issue where you could look underneath the water plane when swimming in first person on land-based maps. ● Solved an issue which caused the audio volume to reset when switching from mono to stereo. ● Solved an issue where VoIP sometimes stopped functioning if the player switched from mono to stereo. ● Solved an issue with grass being present inside the church on Lamarsh Fen. ● Solved an issue with terrain clipping through one of the houses on Hills of Tyrol. ● Solved an issue with transparency on one of the props in Fort Al Farid. ● Solved an issue with water on Hudree Marsh being low resolution. ● Solved an issue with one of the trunks on Fort Darial appearing as pink. ● Solved an issue with the weapon shuffling sound always playing while on horseback. ● Solved an issue with floating grass on Fort Salettes. ● Experimental fix towards an issue which produced a halo underneath players when switching graphics presets. ● Experimental fix towards a rare case that prevented players from spawning when clicking the spawn button. ● Experimental fix towards an issue with nameplates going invisible when individuals are moving an artillery piece.
- Anvil Game Studios
Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles & Winston (The Cat).
Napoleon's Rise! Fixes & Additions
Good evening ladies and gentleman. We've been hard at work since the recent major update release solving issues you so graciously reported to us on our Discord and Steam forums. Being one of the largest updates to date we've ever embarked on with development efforts akin to a full game re-release, its bound to produce a few challenges.
You'll see them addressed soon enough. For starters, we're dishing out a few client fixes.
We'd also like to extend our thanks to all those who have reached out expressing their appreciation for the new Holdfast Original Soundtrack and Napoleon's Rise DLC. The reception to both has been outstanding! Once again, we thank you.
Stay tuned for more to come and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Changelog ● Experimental fix towards the audio clipping issue. ● Solved an issue with the in-game store page not working as intended. ● Solved multiple instances which would cause pink objects to become visible. Kindly report back to us if you experience this issue. ● Experimental fix towards an issue which caused players to get stuck on map load. ● Solved an issue which prevented end-of-round faction jingles from playing. ● Solved an issue which caused the player's set framerate to reset if they changed to a different graphics preset. ● Solved a bug which caused non-movable cannons to appear in blue instead of green. ● Solved an issue with invisible props on Linburg. ● Solved an issue with sand mist rendering through explosions. ● Improved resolution of the game's map loading screens. ● Darkened the fallen tree particle leaves. ● Adjusted rocket explosion particle effects. ● Adjusted the distance fog on Linburg. ● Adjusted the material colour on Sapper buildable earthworks. ● Adjusted the fog on Heartmound. ● Adjusted the fog on Al Uddin Ruins amongst other terrain adjustments.
- Anvil Game Studios
Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles & Winston (The Cat).
Napoleon's Rise Release! Holdfast OST
Holdfast updated! The past few months we have been hard at work undertaking one of Holdfast's largest updates to date.
We've upgraded Holdfast's game engine and render pipeline allowing us to utilise new technology for optimisations while also improving the graphical fidelity of the game. Holdfast has never looked better and now as a result of these optimisations will also run smoother and more consistently across various setups.
But that is not all... Your Emperor calls. Napoleon himself marches onto the battlefields of Holdfast along with some iconic uniforms of his past in the new Napoleon's Rise cosmetic DLC available for the game. Plus the official soundtrack for Holdfast is out now!
A brand new urban map featuring new environments themed on the city streets of France will also be playable for all for free.
Development efforts targeting framerate improvements on large player count servers are also ongoing and will be present in future updates. This has all been made possible thanks to the above mentioned engine upgrade exposing the team to new tools to further optimise the game.
Just before you go though be sure to take a read of what this update brings down below!
Holdfast's New Look
An entire rework of the games graphics was yet another one of the mammoth tasks throughout this update. No stone was left unturned to bring-forth the new graphics for the game. The entire post processing stack for the game was changed from the ground up and now features some excellent looking sun rays, reflections, colour grading and many more effects to give you the full Holdfast immersive experience.
Many structures and props have been freshly retextured bringing a more consistent and vibrant appearance to the game's battlefields. We also spent some time touching grass as the foliage has undergone a complete rework from the smallest blade to the tallest of trees. Foliage will also interact with players as they move through it, something especially handy for spotting a sneaking carpenter in the wheat fields.
Slimming Down Holdfast
A significant benefit of our work across these months has been that reduction in Holdfast's file size. Given the number of battlefields and faction diversity that Holdfast offers it was inevitable that this would eventually catch up to us and needed remedying.
Thank's to the updated engine and new optimisation efforts we have successfully brought the games install size down from over 40gb to a now much more comfortable 17gb while still maintaining both Nations At War and Frontlines in one game install for all to enjoy.
Its safe to say that we've speed run our way through a most challenging new year resolution - Queue us the Rocky theme.
Napoleon's Rise
Explore Napoleon’s rise to power through this cosmetic content dedicated to the Emperor Napoleon. Lead the armies of France to victory as either First Consul Napoleon or Emperor Napoleon with the 2 new character heads and iconic uniform of the great tactician himself. Players will also be given a new portrait, banner and medal to showcase on their playercard via the in-game barracks.
Rise up in the streets of France with the new French Republican Infantry uniform available for the Line Infantry class, charge forth into the fray as the Imperial Guard Chasseur-a-Cheval or skirmish the enemy as Light Infantry dressed in the dashing uniforms of the Guides a Pied de Bonaparte.
Make use of the the new unique officer gestures that display some of Napoleon's most iconic poses of the time.
Napoleon’s horse Marengo is also available as a horse skin for cavalry players and features the saddle Napoleon would have sat upon.
Empire City Map
Battle throughout the city streets of Empire! This tight urban environment is the first of its kind and offers unique verticality and urban city combat all in one map.
Charge through the grand mansions of nobility and capture the city square or sneak under the city and traverse through the sewage system to flank the enemy. Keep your bayonet fixed and stay alert, there wont be a moments break from the rage of war.
Original Soundtrack
With great pomp and circumstance the Holdfast original soundtrack ‘The Plight of War’ presents to you a plethora of epic renditions of some all time classics to uplift spirits and set the tone as you charge forward to glory.
Featuring iconic songs spanning from the Napoleonic Wars to The Great War this soundtrack brings-forth not only 20 tracks (including instrumentals) but an entire music player available both in the main menu and in-game so that you’ll never be without the choirs of war.
There are many more changes, features, bug fixes and quality of life additions being introduced in this update so be sure to check out the change log! Thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Count ● 11 new features and improvements. ● 2 gameplay additions. ● 12 optimisations. ● 10 quality of life additions. ● 15 graphical additions. ● 98 bug fixes. ● 200 additions to the Holdfast SDK.
Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Walki, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan, Gest, Matt, Grandayy, Charles & Winston (The Cat).
Vive L'Empereur! Releasing 17.01.2024
"To have good soldiers, a nation must always be at war." - Napoleon Bonaparte
Rally the Old Guard and raise the banners. The Emperor himself will soon set foot upon the battlefields of Holdfast. Here's a sneak peak at what's to come. Napoleon's Rise, a cosmetic DLC for Holdfast: Nations At War will release on January 17th 2024 alongside free content themed around the Emperors rise to power.
There's plenty more coming with this update including an entire graphical overhaul and important optimisations drastically reducing the game's file size. Here's one more peak at what we've been working on.
The orchestra are tuning up! Releasing alongside this update will be the official sound track of Holdfast 'The Plight Of War'. Charge forth with some classic songs ranging from the Napoleonic Era to the Great War.
There are many more changes, features, bug fixes and quality of life additions being introduced in this update so be sure to check out the change log when it releases! Thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Celebrating 6 years of Holdfast! September 21st 2023 marks 6 years since Holdfast initially released into Early Access way back in 2017. Since then Holdfast has seen multiple evolutions of the game including, new classes, factions, customisation, a free WW1 total-conversion DLC, the regiment registry and most recently the Howitzer artillery piece just to name a few.
The best thing about it all is that we’re not done yet… Anvil Game Studios are committed to further bettering the experience of this game we all love so dearly. Our development efforts for the remainder of the year and the year to come will continue to be focused on bringing the game into the new era and revolutionise this genre of Roleplay Shooters with new features and mechanics for players new and old. Development on more optimisations making the game increasingly more accessible is also currently ongoing.
Celebrating this remarkable feat, Holdfast and all its DLC’s can now be purchased at a discounted price for a limited time. Gather Holdfast on sale at 60% off and all of its cosmetic DLCs up to 55% off.
These past 6 years have truly been a blast! The community has grown and evolved in ways that we could never truly have imagined. Your ongoing support and dedication are very much appreciated and we look forward to expanding the great Holdfast community even more.
We wholeheartedly thank you and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Following suit with the previous update to the game this one too has a focus on optimisations, quality of life and bug fixing. However, this time this update will bring with it the return of the soldier medals with a whole new design ready to be displayed at your will on your playercards. Head over to the barracks to check these out.
Soldier medals are back! Now that we’ve tested the robustness of the new playercard system we’re pleased to announce the reintroduction of the class medals into the game. These medals have undergone a complete redesign and to better reflect the class they are associated to so you can display your skill as your favourite class with pride.
You can now also apply previously earned medals onto your playercard, display up to 4 medals from the same class medal on your playercard to showcase your veterancy.
The spectate system has also undergone a rework to make transitioning between player specific spectating and freecam easier, now you can easily swap between the two modes seamlessly by simply pressing ‘E’ (this can be rebound). Swapping to freecam from spectate on a specific player will enter freecam on the players position allowing for easy movement between the two modes.
In-game interaction icons have also been redesigned to compliment the latest UI overhaul and make for more distinguishable and understandable calls to action.
On the game optimisation front we've specifically taken a look at map loading times with this release. Our team will continue dishing out more improvements on this front in more Holdfast updates to follow.
Part of this change is an experimental new option for a reduced main menu which can be accessed by inputting -hddMode as a Steam game launch parameter. This lightweight version of the main menu currently in BETA is intended to aid individuals that have the game installed on a hard drive.
Be sure to take a read of the full change log to see the list of optimisations, bugs and quality of life features that have been addressed in this update. Thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Changelog 88 - Game Version 2.14.8661.23780
Count ● 3 new features and improvements. ● 11 quality of life additions. ● 4 optimisations. ● 3 graphical additions. ● 23 bug fixes.
Holdfast has been updated! Following the release of the Howitzer and UI update we’ve been hard at work fixing bugs, optimising and introducing some requested quality of life features to compliment the update.
Important Notices ● Individuals having issues launching the game on Steam Deck are advised to use Proton 8.0-3. ● Be sure to let us know in #bug-reports on discord.gg/holdfastgame if you experience further issues.
Known Issues ● We're aware of the chat not unfading when other players type in a chat.
Although extensive BETA testing was undertaken now and again things can slip through the gaps and getting the update into a stable state has been the priority the last few days as a result. Namely, optimisations have been implemented to return the game’s performance back to on par with previous iterations of the game.
Two crosshairs have also been introduced into the Nations At War selection, the 'Nail’ and the ‘Fixate’ crosshairs can now be applied from the game tab in the settings menu.
In addition to this, further customisation of the games UI can now be accessed via the settings, now players can change the colour of the health bar to either a solid red, gradient or dynamic bar.
Be sure to take a read of the full change log to see the list of optimisations, bugs and quality of life features that have been addressed with this hot fix. Thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours. :oheart:
Changelog 87 - Game Version 2.13.8650.21866
Count ● 2 new features and improvements. ● 6 quality of life additions. ● 3 optimisations. ● 1 server configuration additions. ● 35 bug fixes.
