Beyond the Battlefield: The Making of Tempest Rising - Episode 3
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Watch the third episode of our mini-documentary series, Beyond the Battlefield: The Making of Tempest Rising, and learn about the development of the kick-ass music in the game! This episode features some of the composers on the game talking about what went into making the soundtrack, including the legendary Command & Conquer composer, Frank Klepacki.
It's been a week since our launch, and we're still going strong! Today, we're adding Ranked Matchmaking and Leaderboards for 1v1 matches. Now you can show your true strategic prowess to the world on the global leaderboard! 2v2 Ranked Matchmaking and leaderboards will come at a later date.
This is also our first major patch for Tempest Rising! Thank you to everyone who has played and shared feedback with us in our first week!
Regarding 2v2 Ranking and Queue with Friends
We know many players are eager to play Tempest Rising with their friends and rank up on the Leaderboards together. This is an important feature for RTS players, and the team is already actively working on implementing it.
We plan to add this functionality to the game as soon as possible. Stay tuned for updates, and as always, we appreciate your patience and support!
For the time being, we recommend joining the Tempest Rising Discord server to find a group to play against in Custom matches.
Key Known Issues
The MMR gains/losses post-game will show as "-1" in UI fields. This is ONLY a UI bug, all MMR calculations will show correctly in the leaderboards. We are working on fixing this as soon as possible! We appreciate your patience while we resolve this issue.
Patch Notes
Our first major patch includes a variety of balance changes, AI and general game improvements, and bug fixes. This update also notably resolves the issues players were having with hosting and joining custom lobbies.
Feature Updates
Ranked Update
Ranked Queue and Leaderboards are now enabled for 1v1 — test your skill and climb the ladder!
Quality of Life Improvements
UI Improvements
Improved input responsiveness for double-clicking to select units of the same type.
Added subtitles to the Game Intro Cinematics.
Skirmish Bot Improvements
Construction Yard placement logic has been improved
Unit pathing and movement are more cohesive, with bots now grouping units more tightly during advances.
Field Scout's "Throw Marking Mine" ability now functions as intended
Bug Fixes
Campaign and Gameplay Fixes
Fixed Veti Shield reappearing upon loading a save in the final DYN campaign mission.
Fixed mission failure when capturing the Repair Bay with the last Technician in DYN Mission 9.
Fixed issue allowing a second Hijacker to be obtained early in GDF mission 7.
Fixed objective "Eliminate prison guards to free the Civilians" not completing after save reload in GDF mission 8.
Fixed incorrect damage and range values in "Regional Networking Doctrine".
Skirmish
Fixed player losing control of base after loading a Skirmish save.
Achievements
Fixed "Doctor's Visit" and "Drive by Mechanic" achievements being unlocked by bots.
Fixed "Tempest Hoarder" achievement not unlocking (now correctly grants after match ends).
Controls & Input
Fixed quick group switching being unresponsive.
Fixed "Center on Base" hotkey not working with DYN Construction Yard Bastion upgrade.
Fixed WASD camera preset not applying when set from the Main Menu.
Fixed double-clicking not selecting all Spy Drones.
UI & Display
Fixed "Restore Page" button not resetting camera preset settings.
Fixed Spy Drone aura radius always being displayed when selected.
Fixed attack speed values not rounding to two decimal places for units with Veterancy.
Multiplayer & Networking
Resolved issues with creating and joining custom lobbies — players should now be able to host and join custom games without issues.
Fixed various server crashes occurring during matchmaking.
Fixed an issue where attacking a specific unit or structure under certain conditions could cause the player to be kicked from the match.
Balance Updates
As we enable ranked mode in Tempest Rising, this first balance patch is aimed at addressing trends and imbalances observed during the first week since release. The Global Defense Force (GDF) has proven a bit too dominant in late-game scenarios due to excessive scaling from Intel generation.
This patch aims to dial that back by requiring more thoughtful Intel allocation and reducing its efficiency when Credit-starved. In addition, several high-performing units are being tuned to reduce their ease of use or over-efficiency, while underperforming tools are getting the adjustments they need to become more viable.
Overall, these changes are focused on tightening the skill curve, promoting unit diversity, and keeping strategic play front and center.
Structures - GDF
We had some players identify strategies to scale Intel income considerably in the late game, and wanted to make some changes to limit the GDF’s ability to mass produce Intel passively. We have also tweaked some Tier 3 units’ Intel costs to make them less spammable.
Construction Yard
Now generates 1 Intel per 10 seconds (from 1 Intel per 7 seconds)
Satellite Uplink
Intel cost increased to 20 (was 0)
Now generates 1 Intel per 20 seconds (from 1 Intel per 10 seconds)
Data Core
Intel cost increased to 40 (was 0)
Now generates 1 Intel per 10 seconds (from 1 Intel per 5 seconds)
Haywire Turret
Intel cost increased to 40 (was 30)
Structures - DYN
SAM Site SAM Sites were underwhelming for their price. This makes them more accessible as a core part of air denial.
Cost reduced to 800 (from 1300)
Attack now has a 200 AOE effect
Units - GDF
DCU (Drone Control Unit) DCUs were too cost-efficient. These nerfs make them easier to snipe and limit how freely they can be fielded, without compromising their core role. Additionally, we are removing its ability to Mark enemy units in an area, which should help with late-game Intel scaling.
Range reduced to 2600 (from 3200)
Health reduced to 800 (from 1050)
Drone respawn time increased to 15s (from 10s)
Intel cost increased to 70 (from 50)
Population cost increased to 6 (from 5)
DCU’s Target Designator no longer Marks enemy units
Condor Condors were scaling too well relative to their cost. This makes high-Condor plays more of a commitment.
Intel cost increased to 50 (from 40)
Population cost increased to 4 (from 3)
Comms Officer This unit had the highest win rate in the game. We’re tuning back its overall efficiency while keeping its role intact.
Damage reduced to 30 (from 40)
Range reduced to 2600 (from 2800)
Health reduced to 300 (from 400)
Queller Bringing the Queller closer to the frontlines to attack should increase counterplay opportunities, especially from AA options.
JUDGE Laser range reduced to 1850 (from 2000)
Minigun range reduced to 1750 (from 1800)
Health reduced to 850 (from 900)
Shieldmaiden This improves Shieldmaiden utility in countering ground pushes and helps reduce reliance on air-heavy strategies.
Range increased to 3800 (from 3500)
Fixed Standoff Orders to correctly target ground units instead of air
Units - DYN
While our main focus this patch was bringing some of the GDF’s Intel scaling under control, we also wanted to make sure that the Dynasty was getting proper attention.
Many air units on both sides have been overperforming, so the Matchstick and Leveler have been toned down somewhat. Additionally, some cornerstone Dynasty vehicles are getting some minor improvements to hold up more in battle.
Matchstick These changes make Matchsticks more vulnerable to anti-air and less oppressive in clustered fights by reducing their range and splash damage.
Attack range reduced to 1700 (from 1800)
Damage reduced to 80 (from 90)
Attack AOE reduced to 350 (from 600)
Health reduced to 600 (from 650)
Leveler The Leveler remains deadly, but its reduced attack AOE and range, along with a cost bump, will demand better positioning and timing, curbing how easily it can be massed.
Movement speed reduced to 600 (from 700)
Attack AOE reduced to 500 (from 600)
Cost increased to 3200 (from 2800)
Havoc A slight buff to help them survive longer and be a more relevant factor in early-game AA defense.
HP increased to 290 (from 280)
Operative With a very high win rate, a slight reduction in DPS helps bring Operatives more in line without gutting their usefulness.
Attack interval increased to 2.2s (from 2s)
Boar Tank A small survivability boost to make Boars a sturdier frontline option.
Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback in the Discord and Steam forums in our first week! With your help, we'll continue to improve Tempest Rising on our post-launch journey.
Tempest Rising - Launch Gameplay Stream
This gameplay was recorded on April 17 by CohhCarnage.
Our Discord server is the best place to share feedback and chat directly with our team and the rest of the Tempest Rising Community!
Hotfix Update #1
Custom Lobby Issue
We're still investigating the issues players are experiencing with joining and creating a Custom Lobby. We have added new dev tools to help us track these issues and resolve them sooner. We've listed steps to take to try and resolve this here.
Please submit a ticket to our Support Page if you continue experiencing this issue. Thank you for your patience!
Bug Fixes:
Gameplay Fixes:
Hijacker units are now prevented from capturing Veti-faction vehicles.
Achievements:
Fixed an issue where the “The Ultimate Silo-Fest” achievement wouldn’t trigger correctly
Fixed an issue where the “Base-Builder's Fiesta” achievement wouldn’t trigger correctly
Fixed an issue where the “Air Traffic Controller” achievement wouldn’t trigger correctly
The “Marking for Life” achievement can no longer be completed by bots on behalf of players
The “Squatters Rights” achievement can no longer be completed by bots on behalf of players
Crash Fixes & Stability:
Fixed a variety of server crash issues.
Fixed a crash occurring when resizing the game window while in the main menu.
Matchmaking & UI:
Fixed an issue where the UI would not update properly if matchmaking failed early
Fixed an issue where player "None" would be displayed in Match History
Dev Tools - Logging & Debugging:
Added enhanced logging internally for tracking Custom Lobby join/create errors; these will help us further investigate this issue and related issues
Our Discord server is the best place to share feedback and chat directly with our team and the rest of the Tempest Rising Community!
Tempest Rising is available NOW for all players!
Ready for deployment, General!
We’ve been blown away by the response from the community in the 24 hours since our Early Unlock launch!
As many of you noticed, Tempest Rising was unexpectedly made available yesterday morning for all players who pre-ordered the game. While the team worked quickly to address the issue, the most seamless solution ended up being to release the game to everyone. This means that right now you can buy either the Standard or Deluxe Editions and play today!
Commander Pack
All players can still grab the “Commander Pack” pre-order bonus! Purchase either edition of the game before 7am PDT / 10am EDT / 3pm BST / 4pm CEST on Thursday, April 24, and you’ll receive instant in-game access to all bonus content, including: the “Commander” Main Menu Backdrop, the “Commander” selection box and cursor, unique player avatars, and more.
To Our Deluxe Edition Players
With this new launch time, we know the 7-day Early Unlock period promised for Deluxe Edition owners no longer applies. Rest assured, we have not forgotten about you. To show our appreciation for your support, we are working on new exclusive in-game content to compensate for this last-minute change in our release plans. We’ll share more information about this replacement content as soon as possible.
Please note that your Deluxe Edition still includes the Tempest Rising Digital Artbook and the full 41-track digital game soundtrack.
Ranked Matchmaking and Leaderboards
These features were originally promised for April 24, and while we have released the game early, we are still releasing both features on this date.
Thank you!
We want to take this opportunity again to thank all of our passionate fans for the love and support you’ve shown our game and our team during our development journey all the way to launch.
Our Discord server is the best place to share feedback and chat directly with our team and the rest of the Tempest Rising Community!
Early Unlock is Available Now for Deluxe Edition Players!
Weapon systems live, awaiting orders...
Your army is ready, Commander! Tempest Rising Early Unlock is now available for all players who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition
We want to thank you all for supporting our game since we first announced it way back in 2022. We read every comment, and the excitement we've seen from RTS players around the world has kept us motivated throughout development.
Also, a special thank you to all the players and other developers in the community who played Tempest Rising at live events, tried out our demos, and participated in our Closed Beta; your passion for RTS games was clear, and the feedback you gave us was invaluable during development!
We hope you enjoy Tempest Rising as much as we enjoyed making it!
Double Time!
If you have not pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition, but are now considering playing early, don't worry, there's still time. Or maybe you're looking to get access to the Commander Pack items, like the Commander Main Menu backdrop. You can still purchase either edition before April 24 and still get the early bonuses for each!
Below, you will find a brief breakdown of the Early Unlock information.
Early Unlock
To cover off some key points related to the Early Unlock period for Deluxe Edition owners and pre-orders in general.
Ranked matchmaking and Leaderboards WILL NOT be available during the 7-day Early Unlock period. This is to ensure that all players start at an equal position in the rankings.
Quick play matchmaking will still be available, using a hidden MMR to match players; this will not count towards any official ranking.
Deluxe Edition pre-order owners gain 7-day Early Unlock access to Tempest Rising, and receive the base game, the digital art book, a digital download of the original soundtrack, and the 'Commander Pack' items.
Standard Edition pre-order owners also receive the 'Commander Pack' items.
You may pre-order the game anytime before full release on Thursday, April 24 at 7am PDT / 10am EDT / 3pm BST / 4pm CEST and still receive the bonuses for each edition.
If you pre-order the Deluxe Edition before April 24, then you will be able to play the game for the remainder of the Early Unlock period.
If you pre-order either edition before April 24, you will still receive the 'Commander Pack' items.
Our Discord server is the best place to share feedback and chat directly with our team and the rest of the Tempest Rising Community!
Beyond the Battlefield: The Making of Tempest Rising - Episode 2
Incoming transmission...
We're on the eve of war, General! Tempest Rising Early Unlock starts tomorrow at 7am PDT / 10am EDT / 3pm BST / 4pm CEST for players who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game.
Faction Face-off
In Tempest Rising, global superpowers collide in a fight to control a powerful new resource, the Tempest. Watch the second episode of our mini-documentary series, Beyond the Battlefield: The Making of Tempest Rising, and learn about the Factions of the game and our development journey creating them!
To cover off some key points related to the Early Unlock period for Deluxe Edition owners and pre-orders in general.
Ranked matchmaking and Leaderboards WILL NOT be available during the 7-day Early Unlock period. This is to ensure that all players start at an equal position in the rankings.
Quick play matchmaking will still be available, using a hidden MMR to match players; this just won't count towards any official ranking.
Deluxe Edition pre-order owners gain 7-day Early Unlock access to Tempest Rising, and receive the base game, the digital art book, a digital download of the original soundtrack, and the 'Commander Pack' items.
Standard Edition pre-order owners also receive the 'Commander Pack' items.
You may pre-order the game anytime before full release on Thursday, April 24 at 7am PDT / 10am EDT / 3pm BST / 4pm CEST and still receive the bonuses for each edition.
If you pre-order the Deluxe Edition before April 24, then you will be able to play the game for the remainder of the Early Unlock period.
If you pre-order either edition before April 24, you will still receive the 'Commander Pack' items.
Prepare for battle, General! Launch is almost here and you'll be conquering your foes on the battlefield in no time. Tempest Rising Early Unlock starts on Thursday, April 17 for players who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game.
Command in style!
You still have time to unlock the Commander Pack for Tempest Rising if you pre-order either edition of the game before the full launch on Thursday, April 24. Notably, you will receive this exclusive main menu backdrop that puts you right at the center of the GDF and Dynasty command centers!
Pre-order to unlock the Commander Main Menu Backdrop!
Share your feedback with the team and chat with the devs and other players in the community!
What is Tempest Rising?
Ready for deployment, stand by...
Good day, Commander! We've been developing Tempest Rising for many years, and now the launch is just around the corner. We're very proud of what we've created and we can't wait for you to dive in, command your armies, and conquer your foes on the battlefield when Tempest Rising launches on Thursday, April 24!
We have the information.
New to Tempest Rising? If you are just discovering our game for the first time, you're in luck. We've created a summary video to give you a crash course on the story, factions, and mechanics of Tempest Rising. Watch the video below to get up to speed on everything the game has to offer in less than five minutes!
