FRONTLINE NEWS: Updated UI has almost reached the trenches...
Did you know it was Verdun’s fourth Anniversary last April? Four years is a long time anywhere, but especially in video games. Four years on, and we still have another free update on the way - let’s take a look what will be included!
A new look!
The new UI revamps the look and feel of the game. We've shared quite a bit about the new UI already, so we'll leave you with a few new WIP screenshots today:
The new main menu.
Role loadout and squad screen.
Tutorial Hints
To help new players get the hang of things, we will be adding a new system of hints. Here are a few WIP screenshots demonstrating the concept:
The hints will highlight and describe parts of the interface.
They will appear in menus and anywhere else an explanation will be handy for new players.
The hints will explain things during the game itself as well, such as NCO commands.
...and more!
As we mentioned last time, the 32 player classic mode will be going away. Naturally you can still start your own 32 player games via private matches. For instance, check out X’s Friday events - more info here!
Finally, if you weren’t aware, we have a big console update on the way. Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of Verdun will see the new squads and other content from the PC version implemented, plus the new UI and other improvements.
See you then!
Wolf Truce in Tannenberg!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwDXkextcWg
From today until April 21 wolf packs will disrupt some Tannenberg maneuver battles! When you hear howling, you will have to decide whether to try and hold a truce to deal with the attacking beasts, or take advantage of the situation. If you can successfully hold a truce, you can earn a special medal. Tannenberg will also be on sale tomorrow in a Steam daily deal!
We have also released a small update with a fix to an issue which could cause an unusually long loading time and possible freezes when the game started up.
Join the Wolf Truce!
Be careful in the woods...
FRONTLINE NEWS: Spring Update
We have a pretty packed update for Verdun today with a range of fixes and tweaks. We'd love to get feedback on some of these, in particular the MG deployment changes. There should be less clipping, floating, and exploitable positions where you can shoot without being seen. We've been crawling around the trenches in awkward places trying to do strange things with machine guns and have seen significant improvement.
In part this is due to a new deployment system: you now aim where you want to place your MG, or simply hold the deploy button while standing to go prone and deploy on the ground. A red marker will indicate where you will deploy, so you can easily see if particular bits of terrain are legitimate deploy locations or not.
Let us know your experiences with the new MG deployment!
On the opentesting branch there is also a new report function as part of the new user interface! It will be possible for players to report other players for cheating, chat harassment, voice harassment and offensive names. Data is gathered from the match, processed, and passed on to administrators who may then take manual action based on multiple reports. Note that we will not apply automatic bans based on reports.
The new report function in the new UI.
Updates!
Today's update fixes a range of issues, polishes various aspects of the UI, and makes improvements to bot behaviour. Here are some of the most notable:
General Features
In the new UI (currently only on opentesting) players can now report others for cheating / toxic behaviour in-game, and add them to a personal ban list.
MG deployment improvements: less clipping/floating, fixes instances where MG players could see & shoot at someone while not being visible themselves.
On Artois, fixed "getting stuck under bridge".
Update to Douaumont fixing tunnel being sun lit on the inside.
Spawn map camera is less close in frontlines .
Fixed being able to switch squad type in squad defense after the first wave
Fixed third person choke animation not playing after dying by gas
Menu Adjustments (in new UI on opentesting)
Now when you try to join a full squad, instead of attempting to load, no action is taken.
Front selection can now be done via a sub-panel in the main menu, instead of an overlaid menu.
Replaced Private Match banner button with Custom Match game mode button.
Added LOW/MED/HIGH server population indicators. Will also display ping if we have pinged this session.
Bots
Fixed bots not dying from gas.
Bots will take of their gas mask after exiting gas.
Fixed issue where bots would still know where their target is if it went hidden by smoke/gas after acquiring the target. The first target acquisition was already never possible through smoke/gas.
The new UI and tutorial system are very close to release now. We are also planning on removing the 32 player game mode to streamline the main menu and establish a clear focus on the 64 player Frontlines mode. Of course you will still be able to arrange 32 player games via private matches.
Finally, there will be a special event beginning in Tannenberg this Friday. If you've been following our Twitter or Facebook you'll likely have some idea what to expect...
FRONTLINE NEWS: Guns, artillery, and an Eastern Front trailer!
We just released a new trailer for our Eastern Front game Tannenberg, featuring all the battlefields currently in the game along with the historical battles which inspired them. Check it out!
https://youtu.be/lv1aKJrosU8
Gun Fire Rates
Which guns do you think have the fastest fire rates in Verdun? Outside of obvious candidates like the various machine guns, which rifles are able to put out the most rounds in sixty seconds? Surely something like the 10 round SMLE would be one of the best, right? The results in this post by forumite X may surprise you!
Heavy Artillery
You may know that you can adjust various things in private matches, such as bot numbers, accuracy, limiting the game to specific squads, and so on. It’s also possible to adjust the cooldown of NCO call-ins…
https://youtu.be/GArl7JBDlbQ?t=14
Now this is a heavy artillery barrage!
PS4 Community Event
Some of our PS4 players recently organized a community event, and sent us this nice screenshot :) If you'd like to join them in future, search for the Verdun WW1 Events community group on PS4.
A screenshot of the participants!
On our side, steady progress is being made on the big update for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which will bring all the new content which has been added to Verdun’s PC version to the consoles.
Until next time!
Chinese and Japanese translations added!
Today we had a small update for Verdun which included several bug fixes and two additional language packs. Read the full changelog here.
Language update
After several requests and reviews from players missing Simplified Chinese and Japanese translations in the game, we made sure to add the additional languages to Tannenberg and Verdun.
Screenshot of the squad overview in Simplified Chinese
Community events
Last week we saw several great events organized by community player Ranjid such as the historical Battle of Verdun 1916 event and the Second Battle of Artois, Lorettoschlacht 1915.
Screenshot of those participating in the Sunday battle - Lorettoschlacht 1915
Those wanting to participate in one of his or other player initiatives should make sure to keep an eye on the Competitions/ Event subforum. Community initiatives can be mentioned to one of the mods, this way we can make sure to help you promote your event. The next community event is planned for March 17. Another historical event based on the Battle of Verdun, this time on the map Fort Douaumont!
103 years ago today, the Battle of Verdun began at 7:15 a.m.
It would be the longest battle on the Western Front in the First World War, with hundreds of thousands killed in the fighting and within the city of Verdun itself. We produced a short video to commemorate the 103rd anniversary of Verdun’s namesake battle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz-VJd_HQ2Q&feature=youtu.be
Chinese and Japanese translations on the way!
Our last update added Turkish, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese language support. Japanese and Simplified Chinese will be supported within the next few days!
Here’s some screenshots from Tannenberg showing a few of the many languages supported in both games!
Work is also proceeding apace on the Verdun console update! Before that we plan to bring full controller support to the PC version of the game, release the UI update and add a new tutorial hint system. You can check out the roadmap for Verdun and Tannenberg for more.
That’s all for now! See you next time.
Tannenberg released and Verdun update!
We have some exciting news… today we officially released our second entry in the WW1 Game Series: Tannenberg!
Our Eastern Front shooter is available now, and all you Verdun owners have received a 25% loyalty discount voucher in their inventory - we’re looking forward to seeing you on the Eastern Front!
https://youtu.be/9RW4pfqNyeg
Verdun Update
Today also brings an update for Verdun! Alongside bug fixes and bot improvements, there is language support for Turkish, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese added, and Japanese and Simplified Chinese will be following soon after release! In addition, the price of Verdun will be slightly reduced, so if you know friends who have been interested, now could be a good time for them to check it out! Read the full changelog in our hub.
Tannenberg release!
The release of Tannenberg brings a new squad, map, weapons and… a secret event!
The new Bulgarian squad utilize a number of iconic weapons like the Mannlicher M90 carbine and the venerable Martini-Henry rifle. As a support squad, they can call in recon flyovers, and have access to a number of balanced loadout choices with rifles, pistols and grenades!
The Bulgarians will join fighting for the new map, which is set in the Dobrudja region between Bulgaria and Romania. With the strategically important waters of the Danube river visible in the distance, there is a central hilltop position to contest, with small fortifications scattered around the hillside leading down to a valley in the north.
After an Early Access period full of updates, useful feedback, and gameplay tweaks, every squad now has their own distinctive loadouts and abilities, and every map has a mix of strategic sectors, offering distinct advantages to the side strong enough to take control.
What’s more, we have announced a new special event for this Spring in Tannenberg. The details are still secret for now, but we’ll reveal more soon...
The battle has begun - the Eastern Front awaits!
Game Update - A bit of everything
We have released an update with a wide range of changes and improvements. There are performance tweaks, bug fixes, map adjustments to Douaumont, an update to a new version of Unity, and more! Read the highlights below:
<*>Unity version updated to 2018.3.
<*>Various new UI updates, performance optimisations and fixes.
<*> Bots: Artillery call-in will now target a player that's clearly in sight (or was recently in sight) and with an extra random offset.
<*> Improved gasmask checking on spawn, which should resolve the 'spawning in gas' issues.
<*> Third person character now matches the first person vision more closely when a player goes prone. Reduces invisible prone issues when not deploying.
<*> Walking over a prone player will no longer slow you down
<*>Less chance of floating prone people.
<*>Some boundaries on Flanders shifted to include sections of trench.
<*>Fixed incorrect "Your NCO called in..." message for actions of other squads (now only display for your own squad call-ins).
<*>Improved gasmask checking on spawn. This should resolve the 'spawning in gas' issues.
<*>Fixed Tirailleurs not having Phosgene call-in.
<*>Network bandwidth optimisations.
Douaumont adjustments <*>Douaumont updated with: less entrances for Entente Powers, tweaks to trenches, walls and gun positions.
<*>Fixed bots getting stuck against the bunker in Douaumont.
As always, check out the full changelog on the forums.
Tannenberg Teaser Trailer!
https://youtu.be/fhSr9ZMtk6kSay hello to the Bulgarians!
The countdown has started - thirteen days to go until the release of Tannenberg on February 13th!
Cheers!
FRONTLINE NEWS: Looking back on 2018 and forward to 2019!
Welcome back to the first Frontline News of the new year! We’re going to take a look back on everything which happened over 2018, and then what’s coming in 2019. Let’s go!
2018 in Summary
We started the year of 2018 by merging the code bases for Verdun and Tannenberg. Although there were a few struggles at first, it set the stage for a big graphical upgrade for Verdun, shared progress for both games in the future, and ultimately the free expansion that would be released in December…
Last year's April Fools joke was taking a gentle dig at the Battle Royale craze. Battle Royal: Northern Front would have featured booty crates, jetpacks, and more wild stuff…
The focus was on performance through to September, with a ton of things fixed or tweaked. There were also more graphical updates bringing better distance shadows, lighting and first person view details! As well as general improvements, particular attention was paid to networking and the smooth movement of other players online.
Meanwhile the first new squad on the roadmap was released: the ANZACs! They form a squad of engineers with a flair for close combat.
In October we updated and improved many of the sound effects in the game, and added a new prestige system allowing veteran players to gain prestige ranks in exchange for resetting their level to one and starting over. Here’s a video showing off some of the new sounds that were added:
https://youtu.be/VyIZ2TCCwAQ
It was a special Armistice Day last year, being the 100th anniversary of the day the fighting ended. We posted short stories about 100 people who were killed in the fighting or otherwise died as a consequence of the war.
In December we released a free expansion for Verdun to round off the year with a big update. The Senegalese Tirailleurs and St. Mihiel Salient are classic new content, while bot support in a new 64 player Frontlines mode offers an entirely new way to play the game! The objectives might be the same in Frontlines 64, but doubling the number of soldiers fighting makes far more intense battles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnAjYsLD9NE
To top it all off, we ended the year with our now traditional Christmas Truce in Verdun. Thousands of people joined the truce map to throw snowballs, play football, sing carols, and send Christmas cards to their friends.
While preparing for the truce, we were also reminded that many soldiers propped up trees in their trenches to serve as Christmas trees. This tree propping inspired the people of M2H to donate a new forest of 2,500 trees via Dutch foundation Trees for All. Each player could plant one tree. We hoped they could match our 2,500 trees... and they blew us away with more than 6,000 trees planted in-game!
...on to 2019!
So that was 2018, now what do we have planned for the new year? We already announced that Tannenberg will be released on February 13th, 2019 - and that players could expect a surprise to arrive at launch... we're tight-lipped about details for now, but it's barely a month away now!
The trailer for that also teased the Bulgarians who will be arriving with the release. Bonus points to the keen eyed fans who got the movie reference! Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyUjCk03a0Q&feature=youtu.be
We are also working on the user interface update for Verdun, bringing the new style of the revamped Tannenberg UI to our first game. You can already try out our WIP version via the opentesting branch on Steam. You can join opentesting branch by following these instructions:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=572388553
Check out how the new UI looks in Tannenberg, where a first version was released last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfnOYoBHcK4
That’s it for now! Stay tuned for future Frontline News posts, and don’t forget that for more news, you can sign up for our newsletter!
Banitsa, a Bulgarian New Year’s Eve specialty!
Happy New Year from M2H and Blackmill Games!
Christmas Truce - Plant a Tree!
It’s Christmas time, a momentous time in World War 1 as during the darkness and untold misery of war, our common humanity prevailed and both sides laid down their arms to celebrate. We celebrate this extraordinary event with an in-game Christmas Truce, as has become a tradition among Verdun players as well as earning the commemorative Christmas truce medal!
Players will be able to engage each other in snowball fights, football matches and exchanging christmas cards. What you might not know historically about this event, was that some German soldiers also propped up christmas trees among the trenches. For this year’s Christmas Truce Event, you’ll be able to plant your own Christmas tree among the trenches.
This tree propping inspired us this year to raise awareness for our planet earth. Deforestation and the resulting environmental damage has hurt our planet and climate significantly these past decades. Because of this, we at M2H want to donate a new forest of 2.500 trees via Trees for All, which will be planted in the Netherlands and Uganda in the fall of 2019. Trees for All is a Dutch foundation that endeavors to combat the deforestation and to compensate for CO2 emissions by planting trees as well as spreading awareness across the world.
As a counter challenge we hope you, the community, plant at least 2.500 trees in-game as a show of solidarity to our planet and help raise awareness for this cause. During the Christmas Truce, you can plant one tree among the trenches. As a token of our gratitude you’ll be added to the ‘Tree log’ credit list as well as receiving this year’s Christmas Truce medal!
More info on the 'tree planting' can be read here: http://truce.ww1gameseries.com/
Just like previous years we will also give away some WW1 Game Series swag. Everyone who sends postcards from the trenches to their loved ones via email or social media, has a chance on winning a Steam key for Tannenberg, peppermint can or thermos. We’ll announce the five winners in the first week of January.
Lastly; for those interested in Tannenberg, the game is offered at a 40% discount during the Steam Winter sale!
On behalf of the entire team, we wish you all a merry Christmas and an inspiring, peaceful New Year!
