Second update with game fixes. In this update we added periscopes to the Panthers - more tanks will receive them in the next updates. Also regarding Panther tank when you lean out of the commander's hatch and use the KM (by pressing the N button, you shoot with the spacebar and not the LMB. There is a lot of room for improvement here. We want to address the problems here and solve them in future patches to make it more pleasant to use. Likewise the missing MG on the turret for Tiger E or PzKpfw IV Ausf. H.
In addition to this, a number of improvements to the game and some of the suggestions you have made to us, such as adding the option to enable V-Sync or disabling Gore including blood on characters.
Besided that there are also bigger and smaller updates, changes. Compass now will show current azimuth - its really handy especially while playing single crew mode/multicrew.
And if you are more into arcade UI visibility, we have changed indicator icons for tanks. Each vehicle has its own texture so it might be more recognizable after spotting an enemy. Also heavy tanks will be slighly bigger than medium tanks. AT static guns also have a different indicator than artillery/howitzers. More UI imrovmenets will come in next updates as well.
Chinese translation
We are getting help with improving the Chinese translation. A big thank you to JustSaySo and 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 who have decided to help us improve the translation. They have previously had the opportunity to help Marco and the team with Easy Red 2. Thank you very much, we will definitely repay you. Corrections to the translations earliest in the next updates to the game - we will write and inform for sure.
Dev Stream #3
We are going to stream today around 17 CEST and show next mission from our campaign.
Changelog 1.0.2
About today update below is the list of changes being made
Added:
Periscopes to Panther A tank
VSync option
Fixed:
Tiger E visors now are more useful
Too low resolution of impostors
Vehicles in squads when selecting a squad to spawn that are damaged/not combat ready do not appear at all instead of big X on them
Buying single units from quartermaster now works correctly (the unit is added to unassigned squad)
Panther should now have correct reticle while aiming
Rearming and refuelling in battle station while doing it from the vehicle works
C1M6 various visual fixes.
Converted T-34 have masks on wheels after camo is applied
Converted T-70 have masks on wheels, hull, turret after camo is applied
UI - some labels didn't scale properly
Order menu / Squad spawner - shows hint where by pressing "X" key (by default) you can open Spawner menu to be able to spawn infantry or tank squads
Repair Station should now correctly decide on which spawner to select for every player [modified] Hints now correctly will be enabled or disabled based on settings
Modified:
Gore toggle now blocks dismemberment as well as blood on soldiers (child friendly as suggested)
Changed game version from 1.0.1 to 1.0.2
Compass now shows current azimuth
Each tank has its own unique indicator texture instead of the same one
Heavy tanks indicator texture size changed from 30 to 40 pixels
Medium tanks indicator texture size changed from 30 to 35 pixels
When next update 1.0.3?
Next update most likely will be released on monday.
Known issues:
missing tank visors/periscopes
Panther tank
Some UI elements are still overlapping, we are aware
missing tutorial - bigger subject - we are working on that!
chinese localization - we are working on that!
for those who played demo version before: black/grey screen (temp fix is to remove local files from C:\Users\XXXX\AppData\LocalLow\DeGenerals\TankSquad and launch the game to generate fresh files)
converted tanks after customization applied doesn't have it during the battle
single tanks bought in Quartermaster they are not visible in Force Pool
Currently, everything is sitting on one processor core, which means that the rest of the resources, e.g. the GPU is waiting and only for example 20% of the graphics card can be in use. So there is a lot of potential to free up, which will result in an increase in FPS, better textures because more can be allocated, etc. So in basic words - no matter what GPU you have, the better CPU the better game will have performance - This is huge thing that we need to address in upcoming updates
of course there is more...
Thank you and have a good one! DeGenerals
Game Update 1.0.1
Dear Tankers and Mechanics!
It's tough, we got a rumble for optimisation among other things. There is work to be done and we will continue to improve.
We are getting a lot of feedback from you, reported bugs and issues. We are trying to collect them and one after another to fix and improve game. While writing this we are preparing another update 1.0.2 because there are still known issues to be fixed and we need a bit more time.
Except bugs, overall game performance and for example missing game features like tutorial - you are right about it and we are aware that it is missing in the game. We most likely are going to release bigger update next week.
Changelog 1.0.1
Added:
Another save is now made when returning from repair section to main menu
Fixed:
Current mission being overridden - fixed missions array after completing side mission while playing campaign
C1M5 wrong and missing prefabs near last point (side objective with mortars near a mill)
Vehicle - StuG III G should now be correctly visible on Units tab when selecting unit to spawn
ZiS-3 and M-42 static guns correctly changing it's mesh upon destruction
C1R1 Repair scene tessellation offset re-adjustment (fix for intersecting feet with the ground)
Fix collider issues near the customization station on the Repair scene.
Spawning underground fix
Vehicle turret rotating toward objects visible between camera and vehicle
Disappearing objects on Very Low setting (for e.g. barrels on Repair scene)
All hints on repair scene show proper key bidings on all languages
Repair station indicators appear or disappear based on player state to not confuse the player what he should do (different indicators visible when on foot and different inside vehicle)
Squads in Infantry manager are better visible, more squads fit in a panel
In Multicrew the driver correctly can see the towing item icon instead of commander (as it is the driver whos responsible for towing)
Reduced scene loading time in Single Player Mode
Info panel and Session Browser panel when typing a password
Patch notes opens a Steam overlay with news/announcements from game
Squad Manager changing names of new squads now is possible to type names like My Squad 123. (Existing squads names can't be changed - it is an issue and we will solve it in next patches)
Modified:
Game version from 1.0 to 1.0.1
Second mission - replaced enemy artillery (that was able to shoot directly) with tanks
Loading screen, added more information about keybinds
Known issues:
missing tank visors
missing tutorial - bigger subject
chinese localization
for those who played demo version before: black/grey screen (temp fix is to remove local files from C:\Users\XXXX\AppData\LocalLow\DeGenerals\TankSquad and launch the game to generate fresh files)
converted tanks after customization applied doesn't have it during the battle
single tanks bought in Quartermaster they are not visible in Force Pool
Currently, everything is sitting on one processor core, which means that the rest of the resources, e.g. the GPU is waiting and only for example 20% of the graphics card can be in use. So there is a lot of potential to free up, which will result in an increase in FPS, better textures because more can be allocated, etc. So in basic words - no matter what GPU you have, the better CPU the better game will have performance - This is huge thing that we need to address in upcoming updates
of course there is more...
Thank you and have a good one! DeGenerals
Tank Squad - RELEASED NOW!
ːtms_hammerː
Dear Tankers & Dear Mechanics!
ːtms_hammerː
Today at 6 pm (18:00) CEST, after four years of work - Tank Squad is going to be released.
We are happy to share the result of our long work with you and look optimistically ahead. There is still a lot of work to be done on the game and we hope that we can develop it further together with you.
The game is discounted by 10%, the discount will last for 7 days.
We have also prepared few bundles. One with Tank Mechanic Simulator and another one with our friends from Unity of Command II and Marco from Easy Red 2. Both bundles have -10% too.
The work on the game does not stop. Soon we will present a plan that will cover further game improvements, reported issues, and, of course what is coming next - Roadmap.
◆ If you encounter any bugs, please post them HERE
◆ In-game we have implemented Bug Reporter as well!
We are organizing a global sale event on Steam called WW2 Games Sale. It is starting at 7 pm (19:00) CEST and it will last till May 12. Make sure to check out a collection of great games, classics from various developers and publishers.
We want to thank all of you, without your help and support we wouldn't be able to make this happen. We look forward to continue this journey.
Have lots of fun,
DeGenerals
Launch Dev Stream
That day is coming
Dear Mechanics & Tankers,
tomorrow we are going to live stream launch of the Tank Squad. We would like to cordially invite you on this occasion to our stream, which starts tomorrow at 17 CEST. We're going to stream all weekend, make sure to join us!
We have also published a gameplay trailer from the game.
a lot of sweat, stress and love has been put into this project and the moment is finally coming when we can share the full version of the game with you.
We started the project shortly after the release of our first game Tank Mechanic Simulator - this was on 20.02.2020. After the success of this game, we expanded the studio and hired more people to get involved in new projects. In the course of developing Tank Squad, we managed to produce two DLCs and the project grew so much that it is basically a continuation of Tank Mechanic to some extent.
Everything is done out of our love for tanks, but most of all because we want to make games for you.
The last few months have been difficult for us. Especially the last weeks or even days. Our game has been under review by the Steam team for which we are of course grateful - if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have been able to release the game on time.
We are counting on you. On the day of the release we start the next chapter in our life, stay with us because there is a lot more on the horizon.
Base price is set to $19.99. We are using Steam system to calculate final price depends on country/region. During premiere game will launch with 10% discount for 7 days.
Make sure to join our server on Discord, where we share the latest news from the game and the general situation.
Thank you and have a good one! DeGenerals
Demo Hotfix #3 - 6.05.2025
Dear Tankers!
We've uploaded Demo Hotfix #3:
Added:
Option to toggle Voiceovers when giving commands to driver as tank commander
Spotting notifications are now not connected to AI weapon capabilites (the AI spotted only targets that his weapon could kill, ignored others)
Fixed:
Wide screen issues including black bars
Binocular is now stretching according to aspect ratio of the screen/resolution
Static gun crew evacuation and regrouping fixes
Modified:
Tooltips have preferred width na 500 px. Longer text will not extend besides screen canvas.
Settings panel, scroll view is much smoother. Drop down list for language selection is bigger now.
Thank you and have a good one! DeGenerals
Demo Hotfix #2 - 2.05.2025
Dear Tankers!
We've uploaded Demo Hotfix #2:
Fixed
Ammo container bugs in Tiger that caused the tank to explode even without penetration
Artillery no longer pinpoint accurate (again)
Tank that is shown during kill cam will no longer be lowered compared to original vehicle (bug happened when the player tank was killed by shot to the turret)
Tanks in kill cam, hit cam and wrecks will correctly show the camo/side numbers of represented wreck/kill cam vehicles
Radial Menu, Manual and Keyboard UI fixes
Thank you and have a good one! DeGenerals
Demo Hotfix #1 - 30.04.2025
Dear Tankers!
We've uploaded Demo Hotfix #1, addressing few most common problems.
Changelog:
Fixed
Framerate option now should work
Contracts in repairs mode should now work
Notepad has better shading and better zoom
Squad Manager in Repair Section has more readable layout
T-34 incorrect mount of tracks
Squads that did not had emblems attached (AI enemy tank squads during battles) won't display white square in various UI menus
Top DEMO label is now localized
Final mission of demo campaign now properly ends
Smoke grenades not being synced fix
M10 Arty OnMap Shooting
On-map artillery has correct radius offset while shooting (no longer hit with first shot)
crew units visible during xray
Errors with controlling driver when in order mode
Infantry units stuck in suppresion behaviour after leaving vehicle or regrouping
Crew not visible after getting out of tank during player kill cam
Thank you and have a good one! DeGenerals
Demo Update - 28.04.2025
Dear Tankers!
Developers Stream
Today, we will launch a dev stream here on Steam at ~18:00 CEST (UTC +2). We will show gameplay from one of the missions from the demo. We will try to show the basics of how to play the game, what the basic mechanisms are, how they work and what the gameplay is like. Make sure to check it out.
Full game release status
Full game of the Tank Squad is actually under Steam review. After positive approval we will be ready to announce the premiere date. We hope to be able to do it soon.
Basically better optimisation, less bugs, some new missions. Generally speaking we did and are still doing lots of improvements over asset optimization. From landscapes, environments to content. Compared to previous version of the demo you should notice huge improvements in that subjects.
For those who update the demo, after downloading the new update make sure to check-out game settings and apply new settings. Just to make sure anything wrong is not applied.
Regarding content, we have replaced some missions that we feel show the game better. Outskirts of Morton was a tech demo and actually a first mission that we really pushed the game mechanics forward and had a sandboxes to test, to play with. Once we jumped and continue to develop missions from the campaign, the scale of the battles changed a lot in terms of reception. There are missions with longer gameplay, further distances where there is an enemy hidden and also more fast, more driven scenarios like Morton. So it is diverse.
We are treating this update like some kind of a beta test before the full game release. Make sure to join our Discord and raport there or over the game (yes, we have added a Bug Reporter as well) to share feedback with us. Game at the beginning will ask (its not forced) but to share with us a player.log. That store crucial informations about crashes, null refs, any potential, hard to guess issues that might broke a game for you. It will help us to faster fix the issues.
Game modes:
Campaign (single player and cooperative)
Skirmish missions (single player and in cooperative)
Missions:
German Campaign Demo
Road to Prokhorovka (from German Campaign)
Steppe Mortar Rampage
Ribbentropp Platoon
Skirmishes
Road to Prokhorovka
Outskirst of Morton
Morton Defence
Pokrovka
Steppe Mortar Rampage
Ribbentropp Platoon
These missions can be played as a demo campaign and as a skirmish scenario. Both in single player mode and cooperative mode with up to 4 friends.
Vehicles
PzBfWg VI Tiger Ausf. E (Commander Tank)
PzKpfw VI Ausf. H1 "Tiger I"
PzKpfw VI Ausf. E "Tiger I"
PzKpfw IV Ausf. H
PzKpfw III Ausf. M
KV-1 (only playable when you take it over after as a wreck after battle during campaign mode)
T34-76 (only playable when you take it over after as a wreck after battle during campaign mode)
T-70 (only playable when you take it over after as a wreck after battle during campaign mode)
We look forward to your feedback. Check out our discord where you can share your suggestions and find other players willing to play coop!
Regions
In terms of regions, the game runs on the Photon Fusion engine. We tested with our community members whether it was possible to play in Chinese regions. Unfortunately, we were not able to connect to the ‘Mainland China’ region. However, we were able to connect with people from China for the region e.g. Asia, whose server is located in Singapore.
For this reason, as long as we cannot use this region, it has been blocked in the game. All players from China will be connected to the nearest server/region - Asia. Therefore, it will be possible to play together with players all over the world.
Censored vs Not-censored version of the game
We operate two game deposits. So that we don't make the same mistake as with Tank Mechanic Simulator. The game in German is censored. This is required by Steam, without this it will not be possible to release the game in Germany. So, any graphics, names that are not likely to be visible when the game is launched in the German version will be censored.
In Tank Mechanic Simulator, we had some markings e.g. medals or in the museum there were flags with some sign of luck. After 5 years after the launch we had to remove this. Fortunately there is a Steam Workshop available.
We as DeGenerals S.A. does not support any kind of totalitarian ideologies nor totalitarian systems such as National Socialism, Communism etc. This game only shows history as it is. History about tanks, their famous tank commanders and crew. Nothing more.
Steam Wargames Fest
Our game will take part in an event organised by Steam called Wargaming Fest. The festival runs from 28 April to May 5, 2025
Thank you and have a good one! DeGenerals
Development Status #74
Dear Tankers,
Welcome to our 74th Development Status.
Campaign is finished
Since we last published the development status, we have been working on the final missions in the campaign. We made improvements to the terrains due to changes on the mission design. After deeper analysis during testing, some of the tasks did not make sense or the distances between them were too long leading to nothing happening on the mission.
For each mission we have added an intro, minimaps, a series of text descriptions and voice-overs explaining what there is to do and perform on the mission and what to look out for.
C1M7 - Attack on Starozhevoye
We managed to finalise the seventh mission, the Attack on Starozhevoye. We recorded a video of this mission, which is available a bit below in this post. In a nutshell, the mission consists of breaking the blockade in the forest. This is followed by the destruction of enemy supplies. Additionally, before the final assault on the village of Starozhevoye, the enemy convoy got bogged down on the main road.
C1M8 - Road to Prokhorovka
Eighth mission. During this scenario we have to secure the left and right flanks. Then break through along the road towards Prokhorovka, which may not be so easy as the foreground is guarded by enemy howitzers. Finally, there is a village waiting and a headquarters to be captured.
C1M9 - Prokhorovka outskirts
The penultimate mission in the campaign. We start not far from where we finished the previous scenario. Our task is to break through the Soviet defence lines, then seize the Oktyabrsky farms. The final task is to capture hill 252.2.
C1M10 - Siege of hill 252
The last mission in the campaign. At the beginning of the scenario we have to help the infantry defend the hill from the advancing enemy units. The longer we hold off the counterattack the better our forces will organise a second line of defence.
Hardcore gameplay with limited UI
In the video below is a snippet of our gameplay from the seventh mission from the campaign, the Attack on Starozhevoye. During this streaming at some point we disabled a significant part of the interface including: minimap, battle log, kill feed, compass, markers of the marked enemy as well as our allies.
We wanted to show in this way that it is possible to change the face of the game in an accessible way. When there is a lack of information on the screen, we look for it ourselves and thus play more cautiously, more prudently. We invite you to watch the material.
Further game optimization
We have replaced the next batch of special effects with newer and more optimised ones in order to simultaneously make the gameplay more visually interesting, as well as reducing memory consumption.
One of the most important parts of the game to improve is optimization. After playtesting the campaign we found few issues, mostly with memory management and too high CPU and GPU usage.
This is an ongoing process that won’t have a definitive finish. Before we release the game we’ve set ourselves few points to fix and optimize:
vehicle physics - the amount of vehicles present at the scene and physics required to simulate their suspension is going to require a rework. This is the biggest issue that the profiling tools are highlighting as CPU problem
network synchronization - amount of networked objects and synchronized values can also be a problem when a lot is happening. Not only because the game visually has synchronization issues (example - vehicles movement is jerky for clients) but also the CPU requires much more time each frame to pack all the data and then to unpack it
AI combat - AI units and their behaviour, looking for enemies, shooting at them etc. has been already optimized in the past. But now, after playtesting we see that just having too many units at once on a big scene, that previous work is still not enough to have good CPU usage for AI units.
RAM usage - we’re working to reduce the amount of memory that the games require - as well as fix any memory leaks. Our minimum requirement of system RAM we would like to set to 16 GB. Right now the game can take up to 15-17 GB of RAM, and we just need to get it lower.
Game balance
After playtesting the campaign we have ran into balancing issues:
player team could buy everything after mission 2-3
player team had no other way to obtain their faction vehicles as replacements after buying out all reserves from quartermaster
ammo and fuel resources were missing most of the time, as repairing captured vehicles and converting them requires both of them
some campaign missions resulted in the player team losing from 10-20 vehicles. The limit of gathered wrecks after battle was 8.
To mitigate these problems, we have:
added an option to obtain more recovery vehicles, that enhance the number of gathered vehicles after battle
added ability to buy totally damaged (but repairable) random wrecks (max 3 per repair scene section, resets after next battle)
added two new tools, a canister and ammo box. Both can be filled for free on repair section and can be used directly on any vehicle to rearm or refuel
modified some squads/units from reserves to not be available immediately at quartermaster, but become available later in the campaign
Other changes
Contract system (new game+) on repair station
During the campaign and after finishing all missions from the campaign, players can continue to play on repair stations alone or with friends/other players in cooperation. In fulfilling the tasks from HQ like repairing tanks from other panzer divisions etc. By completing these contracts, players will receive additional resources.
Side missions on repair station
In addition to the main missions, the staff will also be able to carry out side missions. For completed missions, players will also receive resources including additional offmap support.
Economy including exchange rate
At the quartermaster's, it will now be possible to exchange resources. We used to have this option but it was disabled. It has been possible to exchange again for some time.
Missing voice overs for Soviet side
We have finished recording Russian voice overs. This was necessary to enable playing in some skirmish missions and also will serve as a solid foundation for future Soviet campaigns.
New smoke VFX for tanks main guns and new mud VFX for tank tracks
We have changed the appearance of every cannon aftershot smoke. We wanted to have it more visible to the players, for easier spotting of hidden enemy armor. They are also more realistic than previous ones.
Flares VFX when offmap support is called
Now offmap support on the enemy side will be red, and on the allied side blue, for easier recognition of possible friendly fire.
New animations & possibility to open hatches and take over
We’re extending the player control over vehicle hatches and allowing the use of roof MGs. The ability to take a look out the hatch will be divided into several steps. Closed, Low Stance, Standard, High Stance. If a player has binoculars in their inventory they can use them at any stance. The transition between stances would be triggered by the mouse wheel.
StuG with MG operated as a player
After playtesting the campaign we found that StuGs are really vulnerable to enemy infantry - although we have the roof mg shield modelled. We’ve decided to add ability both for player and AI to control the roof mg to at least give the player an option to defend against enemy infantry.
