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On The Western Front
Asid:
Fortresses
Mon, 27 July 2020
Hi all,
Relatively minor update this time, since I'm currently working on the Verdun map. That being said, I added fortresses to the Eastern Front.
Fortresses consist of both above-ground and underground tiles, and act as permanent field supply dumps for the side that owns them. Fortress tiles generally act as open ground, except that they obscure vision and lines of fire. However, some fortress tiles are casemates, which allow units underground to fire at units above ground with impunity.
To attack a fortress, you must use fort entrances to enter the fortress underground. Once units enter a fortress, they must navigate to various goal points, represented by the flag of the nation in control of the fort. To capture a fort, units must hold all goal tiles for 24 hours.
A progress bar appears above the fortress when all goal tiles are being captured. Once it finishes, the fortress is yours.
I've also added a few new events unique to the Eastern Front.
Bugfixes/Changes:
• Fortresses occasionally appear on the Eastern Front.
• Order delay has been drastically reduced, but being under attack will increase it. This is a two-way modifier. For example, the delay between brigade and battalion HQs is lengthened accordingly if either party is being attacked.
• New events:
Foreign Advisors (Operations)
If playing as Germany on the Eastern Front, the Austrians may ask you to lend them some officers. Doing so will increase troop morale but lower readiness.
If playing as Austria on the Eastern Front, the Germans may ask you to accept instruction from their officers. Doing so will increase troop readiness but lower morale.
Kaiser Franz Josef Dies (Austria Only)
Always happens on Nov. 21, 1916
All units lose 30% Cohesion and 40% Morale
Tsar Nicholas II Abdicates (Russia Only)
Always happens on March 15, 1917
All units lose 40% Cohesion and 20% Morale
Kaiser Wilhelm II Abdicates (Germany Only)
Always happens on Nov. 9, 1918
All units lose 20% Cohesion and 20% Morale
Asid:
Verdun
Wed, 9 September 2020
Hi all,
Sorry for the delay between this update and the last, it's been a busy month for me personally. I've added the Verdun map type, which encompasses the area between Fort Douaumont and Fort Souville. The trenches in this sector are pre-determined, but obviously can be expanded as you see fit. Fortresses play a larger part in this map, and the player's goal is to have all four of them in your possession by 1918.
Besides the fortresses, the main difference in this map type is the fact that the Germans begin with much higher numbers of both front-line and reserve personnel, whereas the French have to make do with what they have until they gradually receive reinforcements. Reinforcements occur each week and allow either more front-line units to be deployed, or more reserve units to be called up.
Due to the lack of uniformity in trench dispositions, I've added extra functionality to formal offensives. Prior to an offensive, you now have the option of moving units up to the front line en masse. As a corollary, sending men over the top now only does so for units in the front lines. This allows you to control how many men to keep in reserve by moving them away from the front lines prior to charging.
Bugfixes/Changes:
• Verdun map added.
• Rate of Morale loss from low food has been reduced.
• Units only receive passive resupply from field supply dumps and fortresses when Resting.
• Artillery unit now no longer require all targeted tiles to be in range with clear line of sight when firing. However, if a targeted tile is not within range of within line of sight, it cannot be hit. This may waste some of your artillery unit's attacking ability.
• Tooltips for different attack types have been updated. Previously, they would all say "Under Fire" and players would have to rely on the icon to differentiate attack types.
• Enemy artillery barrages prior to offensives have been tweaked to be less piecemeal.
• There is now a preliminary step you can take prior to sending men over the top when an offensive starts, which moves all combat units to the front line.
Thanks for playing!
Asid:
Trentino and Trieste
Thu, 24 September 2020
Hi all,
I've gotten around to adding the Italian Front to the game. This is the last major map type to be added into the game in terms of maps that add new gameplay elements. I'm still flirting with the idea of smaller-scale scenarios, but they would likely be variations of existing maps.
The most obvious difference between this map and others is the presence of karst, which affects both movement and readiness during task switching. Karst creates two separate effects depending on elevation. An elevation of 4 causes the Crossing Karst effect, which does not affect movement but does cause more damage from shrapnel and ballistic weapons in the open. An elevation of 5 causes the Climbing Karst effect, which heavily affects movement and readiness for all units except mountain units.
Mountain units can cross and operate with no penalty when climbing karst.
Bugfixes/Changes:
• Italian Front has been added.
• Added Karst ground type, which slows down non-mountain units at an elevation level of 5, as well as inflicting more damage on units when using shrapnel shells.
• Rebalanced offensives to make success rates less permissive - previously it would be too easy to permanently conquer enemy lines.
• Tooltips added for divisional artillery upgrades.
• Tooltips added for various staff officer traits.
• Star shells are no longer infinite. In the interest of game balance, your division receives a new allocation each month.
• Line of sight no longer reveals enemy trenches when fog of war is enabled.
• Attacking no longer reduces readiness.
• Number of tiles attacked by artillery has been tweaked.
• Artillery attribute effects have been increased.
• Fixed issue with incorrect values in order delay tooltip.
• Fixed issue with sight range not being updated properly in adverse weather conditions and time of day.
• Drag and drop windows for showing unit details, selected units, and ground information can now be reset by pressing ESC if you accidentally drag them off-screen. The next time anything is selected the popup dialogs will be placed back in their default position.
• Fixed bug in which units in dugouts were not appearing when starting a new map.
Thanks for playing!
Asid:
Medals
Fri, 30 October 2020
Hi all,
Since all the map types are in, I've begun adding some frills to the game. Most obvious change is that there are now a few customization options on the Headquarters screen. From here you can customize yourself a bit, such as adding a division insignia and changing your name.
This gave me the chance to implement some achievements/medals in the game. Hovering over them will produce a tooltip detailing their requirements. These aren't hooked into Steam yet, as I'm not sure if they're final, but the system for recognizing achievements is in and I'm open to suggestions.
Lastly, it is now possible to "win" scenarios. The Meuse-Argonne and Verdun maps have explicit win/loss conditions, while the other fronts simply measure how many times you advance or retreat by Nov. 11, 1918. Advancing or retreating reloads the map, but progress shows up under your commander's portrait.
Verdun requires you to hold all four fortresses by the Armistice, while the Meuse-Argonne requirements change depending on your nation. The Americans must conquer the map by Nov.11, 1918, whereas the Germans only need to survive. I'll probably add things like more comprehensive enemy starting trenches and improved AI as you advance, but for now there is at least some kind of end goal in sight.
Bugfixes/Changes:
• Added Division commander section on Headquarters screen.
• Added medals in game.
• Americans now start with four rifle brigades both in the field and in reserve.
• Units now return to original positions when scheduled order is completely done. They will still remain relatively close to the order target area when taking breaks if the order is set to repeat.
• Previously, only balloons would permanently decrease the size of artillery target areas. Now, unlocking the new Calibration Range upgrade will also do this.
• Fixed bug in which resupplying units would lag the game down heavily.
• Fixed bug with damage on grass appearing in the wrong areas when playing as Germany on the Verdun map.
• Got rid of sharp edges in grass.
• Fixed bug in which reverse slopes were not properly protecting units on them.
Thanks for playing!
Asid:
Hotkeys
Sun, 6 December 2020
Hi all,
It's been a busy time for me personally, so this update is relatively small despite the time that has passed since the last update. The main new feature this time is the addition of customizable hotkeys.
The default hotkeys are kind of all over the place, but you're free to remap them however you wish. It's worth noting that the arrow keys and the + and - keys on the numpad are always mapped to the camera scroll and the timer speed respectively. Other than that, you're free to customize everything to your heart's content.
I've also addressed some bugs that have been brought up in the forums.
Bugfixes/Changes:
• Customizable hotkeys for construction actions are now available.
• Fixed incorrect scenario end popups.
• Fixed bug in which HQ units would stand around outside fortresses after conquering them.
• Fixed crash when attempting to replace a reserve unit.
• Fixed crash when removing area of interest.
• Added inverted camera scroll option on settings screen.
Thanks for playing!
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