We have another patch to clean up and finish up the Quality of Life patch from last week.
This patch brings back Eye Adaption temporarily based on user feedback, the implementation currently doesn't work as it was intended which is why we initially removed it, but we will look at how we can fix the implementation so that it may remain within the game.
We have finished most of the Graphics Settings implementation, it should no longer be possible to turn off shadows.
Localization should now work for Russian, Chinese & Spanish.
We've also applied some fixes to stop players from being invincible while driving in trucks.
Thanks for the feedback & bug reports!
Changelog v2.1.1255.914
Added Driel Offensive 08.
Added Heelsum Offensive 07.
Added Doorwerth Offensive 06 & 07.
Added back Eye Adaption, it is now temporarily enabled by default as part of the Graphics Quality presets.
Added new strings to all localized languages for Server Browser.
Added Simplified & Traditional Chinese Localization.
Fixed being able to hip fire M1A1 Bazooka.
Fixed sandbags on the first cap in Dinant Offensive 01 blocking road.
Fixed missing Russian & Spanish Localization.
Fixed several floating trees on Dinant Geo.
Fixed missing Bush textures on Stug & Jagdpanzer IV.
Fixed shells missing tracer effect causing all shells to appear as a black texture.
Fixed AP Shell effect on dirt causing black smoke to appear.
Fixed Drivers being invincible again in the Bedford, Opel Blitz, Morris C8 & Chevy G7100.
Fixed Refresh text when localized would cover the button.
Fixed Farm_SiloB instanced meshes on Doorwerth, Driel, Heelsum, Grave & Oosterbeek having scrambled materials.
Fixed Doorwerth edge of level scale being wrong.
Fixed German & US Main base protection sphere on Grave Offensive 02
Fixed Several buildings in Doorwerth with scrambled roof materials.
This update brings in a lot of improvements to the game both in terms of optimization, new layers, new assets & graphical exploit fixes.
We will dive down into the changes in depth below. As per usual changelog can be found at the bottom.
Graphics Settings & Exploits - PLEASE READ
PLEASE READ Due to changes in restrictions to graphics settings, we encourage all users to reset their user cache in order to avoid conflicts with the new settings. In particular, those who play on LOW settings.
You can reset your user cache by pressing the temporary reset user cache button on your main menu or by going to Settings -> Game tab and pressing the "Reset User Cache button" in the lower right corner.
If you still have issues, please submit a ticket with our support via the link above.
Now onto the actual news surrounding this.
As with any multiplayer game, a few groups of people will try to find ways to circumvent settings in order to gain a tactical benefit, this is obviously a problem for those who play fair and by the rules.
Now, this particular issue has two primary sides that we need to take into account when we balance graphics settings. In one group we have the players who have hardware that just cannot perform and they require these measure in order to play, on the other hand, we have the players who purposefully lower the graphical fidelity of their game to get an edge in combat.
We want to punish the latter while avoiding influencing the former too much and that is the balance we have been working on striking.
So this patch will bring along some updates to detections that prevent players from using what we call ".ini exploits" which is players editing a .ini file with Unreal Engine render settings in order to alter the visuals of the game beyond what you can normally achieve with the in-game settings menu, This is stuff like disabling the fog, lowering render distances of foliage and objects amongst others.
We have been working through this list with our QA and our publisher to find the most troublesome configurations and they have been locked down so that any player that tries to use them will be unable to play the game until they revert the changes to our defined limits.
The second change is the in-game graphics menu. Here we have made a couple of changes that primarily concern the Shadows. It is no longer possible to turn off Shadows entirely, in the past the LOW Shadows settings would turn off shadows, this no longer happens.
Additionally, we have removed the Distance Field Shadows checkbox and integrated it within the Shadows Quality options. Distance Field Shadows will now be turned on when you select High & Epic Shadows Quality.
We have also removed the Eye Adaption setting as it isn't really used.
Optimization, New Tree Trunks, Dinant Improvements & Layers
The next item on the list regards Optimization, and we have been working through many of our assets over the last month in order to lower the amount of memory used by the game. We will obviously continue improving both assets and code in order to get as much performance as we can out of the game.
But even with these optimizations, we have to realize that Post Scriptum is a very big game with a lot of underlying code running that eats up performance, we hope to upgrade our game engine further in the future to allow for more performance gains.
Now let us talk about Dinant. We have taken a good look at this map since it is one of the worst maps for vehicle traverse. For Dinant we have done a couple of things, we have created some new roads to make traverse a bit easier, particularly in the city & the hilly terrain in the north of the map.
We have also improved the culling so that buildings don't disappear at higher distances, this is obviously ongoing and may have a negative performance impact, but we will monitor this closely and make adjustments where needed.
(Added a new road going north from the German main to the northeast of the map.)
(We decluttered the main road to make vehicle traverse a little bit easier while retaining enough cover for infantry.)
(This new route on the west side of Dinant will connect you with the road along the northwest bank. In the past vehicles had to drive over the railway to get here.)
We have also spent some time on making improvements in our foliage, this includes optimization, but also the addition of some new tree trunks for most of our tree assets, in the past we didn't have any proper bases for trees and it is very noticeable. With these new bases, the foliage and environment will feel much more believable. As we have made changes to most of our foliage, you may see some oddities with tree bases sticking out of the ground further than they should and we encourage you to report these bugs to us via our discord.
Lastly, we have added a couple of new layers to Chapter 1, we are aware that the gameplay can become very stale when there are no new layers to play on and we are actively working towards creating more varied and refreshing layers to play on.
Localization
As the last announcement, we have now added updated localization for the game, we have added the following Languages: - German - French - Spanish - Italian - Brazillian Portuguese - Russian
We are still missing the Chinese in both Simplified and Traditional, both of which will come a little bit later. These localizations couldn't have been done without our Community Localization team, so huge thanks to them.
Should you find any issues with localization, we highly encourage you to report them on our discord.
Changelog v2.1.1231.838
Optimization & Performance
Made several fixes to stop the exploitation of the .ini config files.
Changed so that shadows can no longer be disabled using the LOW Shadow Quality setting in the Graphics menu.
Distance Shadows are now automatically enabled when using High & Epic Shadow Quality.
Removed Eye Adaption checkbox.
Dinant culling fixes to help prevent long-range sniping behind culled objects.
Tree optimization + Texture mipmaps + lod values tweaked
Added UCX collision to new Oak & Norway trees.
Optimized most of our foliage assets.
Added new Norway spruce trees asset, materials and textures.
Added some new Oak trees textures and materials.
Added some brand new tree stump meshes and materials.
Optimized a lot of general game textures.
Optimized a lot of Plan Jaune textures.
Optimized a lot of Day Of Days textures.
Bugfixes
Fixed missing H35 Wreck.
Fallschirmjager gear fix (to be tested)
Fixed UCX Collision for Plan Jaune mudroad.
Fixed Cliff spline not looping properly.
Fixed TraceViewToggle command.
Fixed TraceViewToggle text being too small.
Fixed LODs for SM_factory_small_Long.
Fixed MAS-36 Materials LOD.
Fixed LOD for US Syringe.
Fixed US Tank Crews in Chapter 3 using Chapter 1 equipment.
You can find our Official Community Resource Google Drive with all layer information, ticket costs, spawn commands and more here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Bc0iNcgZP_wYzKQIuLAWTnkv3SwVCbCL?usp=sharing
Development Update - "Maginot"
Greetings!
The winter months have been a busy time for our development team as we are moving forward with the new Vehicle Overhaul, this is currently a project that is eating up most of our resources.
But there is good news, that news being that Maginot is finally getting to the point where we can put the final touches on the level design of the map. The map is currently undergoing QA Testing, public playtests will likely start soon, but it depends on the timeframe for the QA Testing.
Maginot has been in development for well over a year, that time has been spent very productively and the map being in the QA Testing phase is getting very close to release.
We first showed off Maginot in July 2020, but at the time the location was still unknown. And then again during the Maginot Devblog in October 2020, you can find the devblog for that post here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/736220/announcements/detail/5342917415237290194
Now we can finally show off what we’ve got almost half a year later and we certainly don’t think it’ll disappoint in the presentation.
(This capzone is situated along a fairly wide river with lots of options to cross from one side to the other.)
(This smaller town located slightly north of the river is going to be a key road for vehicles and logistics.)
(But be careful as there are plenty of ambush positions with hilltop snipers being able to cover the valley below.)
(Maginot just wouldn't be the same if there wasn't plenty of obstacles to stop troops and vehicles.)
(This abandoned fort, turned outpost is going to be very hard to take, it has the benefit of being located high above the terrain, approach with care!)
(Underground bunkers and structures are commonplace on the Maginot line. Make good use of them!)
Secondly, we have been working hard on the new Vehicle Overhaul that will rework how all our vehicles feel and play, we are super excited about the progress currently being made on this new system.
One big thing that we have spent a good amount of time on is discussing how tank shells should interact with the world and objects in it. We think we’ve come up with a fairly good system that balances realism and gameplay in a way that rewards both skilful shooting, but also with a level of fun that you have a fighting chance if you are on the receiving end.
We aren’t quite ready to talk about everything to come with the new overhaul as there is a lot of information to digest, not enough to cover in this devblog. But we will leave you with the following video showing off the Work In Progress shell mechanics that will come to PS.
[previewyoutube="VONqWkIqZTg;full"]
We also recently did an interview with one of our Official Post Scriptum Partners: Yazoo and we highly recommend watching the interview, it contains a lot of information about Post Scriptum, the future and the team itself. Plus many questions from the community were answered!
[previewyoutube="ARVmlnoFpYs;full"]
Just before we end the devblog we also want to inform you that we are currently working hard on getting a big Quality of Life patch out to the live servers, that should bring a lot of improvements and fixes to the game.
We hope you all enjoyed your holiday, the entire team had a wonderful time and got to relax a little on top of a hectic year.
Now that we are back we have been working through the last week to get a patch ready for release. Bunch of gameplay fixes, so have a look at the changelog below.
You can find our Official Community Resource Google Drive with all layer information, ticket costs, spawn commands and more here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Bc0iNcgZP_wYzKQIuLAWTnkv3SwVCbCL?usp=sharing
Hotfix v2.1.1143.481 - Changelog
Greetings!
A last small hotfix to fix two issues before we leave. This is the last update you'll get this year. Happy holidays!
Changelog v2.1.1143.481
Fixed deployables being placeable in main base.
Fixed Arnhem causing vehicles to explode on spawn.
Post Scriptum is 25% off for the Steam Winter Sale!
Deck the point with guns and bunkers, Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
2020, what a year it has been, a year that has tested us all, but it is also a year that has shown that we can stick together even through what may seem like the worst of times.
We here at Periscope Games want to thank all of our players who have been there for us in 2020 and we hope that you will be there again in 2021. And of course, we want to wish everyone a very happy holiday and a great new year.
Onwards to the announcements to round off our year, we start with a very nice announcement for those who have been eyeing Post Scriptum or other OWI titles.
Winter Sale 2020
It's that time of the year again. The Steam Winter Sale is here and Offworld Industries is having a grand sale for the holiday with sales on all its titles. Post Scriptum is 25% off, with Beyond The Wire at 20% off and Squad at 25% off.
It's also time for the development team at Periscope Games to get some well-needed rest for the holiday, we will be away from the 23rd of December until the 4th of January.
We are super excited for what 2021 will bring and we can't wait to return in January, well-rested, a clear mind and a strong development roadmap that we announced earlier in December.
Chapter 4: Watch On The Rhine
As we announced in our development roadmap update, a 4th Chapter is coming and we can now reveal that it will take Post Scriptum to the Battle of the Bulge during December 1944 - February 1945.
It will join us as part of a large update to Post Scriptum, our schedule for 2021 is already pretty packed so while we cannot give any dates, we are going to share a couple of images from a map many already knew was coming.
You can find our Official Community Resource Google Drive with all layer information, ticket costs, spawn commands and more here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Bc0iNcgZP_wYzKQIuLAWTnkv3SwVCbCL?usp=sharing
Update v2.1.1137.460 - Changelog
Greetings!
We have a smaller update for you with a couple of fixes before the holiday. This will be the last update for Post Scriptum in 2020.
Additionally Post Scriptum, Beyond The Wire & Squad will all be on Sale for the Steam Winter Sale which starts tonight at 7 PM CET.
Changelog v2.1.1137.460
Fixes:
Fixed an issue where server would ignore password check.
Fixed emplacements showing the red vehicle hull.
Fixed Stug III A missing armoured spawner icon.
Fixed Stug III A missing from KillDeathRuleset.
Fixed Best terrain issues being off in C3-5-6.
Fixed Arnhem Geo issues at I1-1-1
Fixed FOB being buildable in Redzone on RAAS.
Fixed hedgehogs not being completely destroyable by explosives.
Fixed floating fence on the railroad on Driel.
Fixed Fence in I-6-3-9 not being passable by vehicles in Oosterbeek.
Fixed Stug III A dust effect being offset.
Fixed French & German ammo crate in wrong mains on Stonne S02.
You can find our Official Community Resource Google Drive with all layer information, ticket costs, spawn commands and more here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Bc0iNcgZP_wYzKQIuLAWTnkv3SwVCbCL?usp=sharing
Update v2.1.1126.430 - Changelog
Greetings!
Since our last update, that added the first iteration of modding support to Post Scriptum we've been hard at work getting the second iteration of modding support to our players.
The second iteration of our modding system includes new user features to make it easier for players to get in and play with mods. Currently, you are required to subscribe to mods before joining a server, it's also not possible to tell when a server is or isn't modded.
All of these issues have been addressed and you can now join and download mods directly from the server browser. You will get a pop-up notification telling you that you are missing some mods and you get the option to download all required mods to join the server.
We have also added some new browser UI Icons and filters to help you quickly check if a server is modded or not. The filter will allow you to toggle between seeing modded servers or only vanilla servers that are running no mods.
A wrench icon will also show in the browser whenever a server is identified to be running with modded content, this helps you know if a server is modded from a glance.
Apart from that, we have made several gameplay fixes and improvements. We will continue to make more fixes as we move towards the Christmas holiday, but this is likely to be the last big update of the year.
Changelog v2.1.1126.430
Modding:
Added support for downloading mods while joining a server.
Added new vanilla games only browser filter & icons for modded servers.
Replaced default loading screen with a version for modded servers.
Added a functioning Workshop button to the Main Menu.
Main Menu:
Added a winter holiday-themed main menu.
Vehicles:
Added Stug III A to Chapter 2 Deck. (See community resources)
You can find our Official Community Resource Google Drive with all layer information, ticket costs, spawn commands and more here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Bc0iNcgZP_wYzKQIuLAWTnkv3SwVCbCL?usp=sharing
Hotfix v2.1.1088.314 - Changelog
Greetings!
This patch should enable basic functionality for downloading and running mods on a server.
How to Download Mod to Server: https://squad.gamepedia.com/Uploading_a_mod_to_a_dedicated_server
Post Scriptum AppID: 736220
You will need to change out the AppID with Post Scriptum's. Alternatively, you can find a guide on our discord. The link to which is at the bottom of the post.
