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Games Discussion / Re: Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy

« Last post by Asid on October 12, 2025, 12:35:14 AM »

Meowupdate 0.9.0
Fri, 10 October 2025

Greetings, friends!

This update to Swordhaven brings a fresh coat of paint to the world, improves overall balance, crafting, and quality of life, and also adds a few new locations with unique interactions we hope you'll enjoy.

First off, you can now become the owner of a plot of land with upgradeable facilities: from beekeeping and tree growing, to hiring staff, collecting wooden pigs, and much more.

The quest that grants you access to this hefty purchase begins in Swordhaven, though it will lead you beyond the city walls.

Another quest for both the Patrician and Thieves Guilds has been added, along with many new characters in Swordhaven; including a pawnbreaker with a different selection of interesting goods every day.

The first area of the Mines, hidden deep in the southern mountains, are now playable, if you can reach them. Though if you do, we ask that you not spoil anything you discover there!

Weapons, companion techniques, and certain animal attacks were rebalanced for a better sense of progression, with another major update, this time to the Damage Threshold, soon to follow, perhaps in a patch between updates.

Ten new potions have been added to the world, including five utility remedies for specific conditions and five late-game, ingredient-heavy strong ones. Alongside them come new animations and a visual hint on your characters whenever they reach a new level.

Locations like the Lonely Shore near Clamreach received major updates, including a new area. Even more locations saw minor improvements, such as a new type of interactable loot container, additional ingredient growing spots, secret stashes, and more.

We have finally implemented the Shared Storage system. Now, every inn holds a special chest that shares its inventory with all others of its kind. Even the aforementioned personal mansion you can purchase has one.

Finally, there are cats now.

Thank you for checking out the update. As always, we greatly look forward to your feedback and suggestions, both on the forums and in our Discord!

Yours forever,
Atom Team

Games Discussion / Re: Broken Arrow

« Last post by Asid on October 11, 2025, 01:25:55 AM »

Dev Notes: Part II
Fri, October 10, 2025

New details about what our team is currently working on

Dear Players,

We continue to share details about what our team is currently working on. For us, these updates are not just a way to talk about the development process, but also an opportunity to show which tasks we consider to be our top priorities.

Your feedback helps us understand which features and changes are most important to the community, and it also guides us toward the areas that deserve additional attention.

Team Changes

Broken Arrow is our first major project ? and a significant milestone for the entire team. From the very beginning, the game was created by a small but incredibly close-knit group of about ten people: five programmers and several content specialists. Among us are 3D artists, interactive audio experts, and experienced wargame and strategy players.The journey was not easy, but at every stage of development we felt your support ? the very support that inspires us to move forward and keep improving Broken Arrow.

The release of the game became a major milestone for our team. It allowed us to significantly expand and bring in new specialists ? programmers, modelers, and other professionals, to help us tackle the challenges ahead. This growth enables us to develop the project much more efficiently, expand the in-game arsenal with new units, and bring to life ideas that once seemed too ambitious for a small team.

At the same time, the release is by no means the end of development ? we will continue to refine the game, expand its content and mechanics. It?s especially rewarding to see that our audience turned out to be much larger than we had anticipated.

Now, more than ever, we are focused on improving the technical side of the project and continuing its development. There are still many challenges ahead, but with our team?s dedication, your support, and our shared vision for Broken Arrow, we?re confident in overcoming them all. We sincerely thank each and every one of you for your trust, patience, and belief in our game. Thank you for staying with us!

Adding Allied AI

Many of you have long been waiting for the addition of allied bots, and we?re happy to finally share how development is progressing.

Our work began with the most complex aspect ? behavior logic. The bots must act as true allies: predictable and reliable teammates, yet flexible enough to adapt to different in-game situations.

To make interactions more convenient, we are expanding the lobby functionality. Players will soon be able to assign bots to any available slot on either side. The rest of the settings remain the same: difficulty level and specialization can still be customized. This creates space for experimentation ? you can form teams, balance forces, or try out new tactics.

During this process, we also had to adapt certain elements of the game logic: particularly those related to how bots interact with their surroundings, respond to threats, and carry out objectives. Our goal is to ensure they behave naturally and fit seamlessly into the rhythm of a match.

Final testing lies ahead, which will confirm the system?s stability and readiness for full release.

About Balance

Balance has always been and remains one of the key non-technical aspects of our game and others in this genre. As players ourselves, we?ve also enjoyed taking part in ?forum wars? debating the strengths of certain units.

Since the game?s release, we?ve seen intense discussions around faction strength, ?overpowered? units, and other balance-related topics. Initially, we didn?t have formal statistics to rely on, but through our own experience and observation, we identified problematic areas and made targeted adjustments. For additional insight, we also used general statistics without ELO segmentation. Of course, every change sparked debates from both sides, often resulting in heated comment sections and critical Steam reviews.

Over time, we developed our own internal metrics ? tracking win rates, pick rates, and the most commonly used units. The latest patch was built directly on these data insights. In this diary, we would like to share some of these statistics, helping players better understand the reasoning behind certain balance decisions ? and how future ones may be shaped.

Let?s start with a dataset whose accuracy has been debated since its release: win rates by nation (without ELO segmentation). As you can see, these figures have remained largely unchanged over time, with a consistent difference of about 7%.

Now, for something new and interesting: win rate statistics after patch 1.0.10 ? this time segmented by ELO. The presented chart shows that the previously published graph, which did not account for player skill levels, reflected the overall situation fairly accurately, but not entirely correctly: one faction consistently holds an advantage over the other across almost all ELO levels. Deviations from this general picture are observed only at higher ELO levels ? where the situation looks less straightforward, but the number of matches is also significantly lower. The most recent patches, intended to reduce the overall gap at the most populated ELO ranges, were steps in the right direction.

The next chart presents the distribution of all available specialization combinations by win rate and popularity. We invite you to share your conclusions in the comments ? your thoughts and suggestions for improving balance are highly valuable. Please note that in this context, ?popularity? refers to how often a specialization is chosen, not its combat effectiveness.

Finally, we?ve included a list of the most popular units, segmented by ELO. These tables show which units are considered the most effective and are most frequently used by players at various skill levels. The dataset also includes mirror matches, though the findings remain highly insightful.

We hope this statistical overview will give players food for thought and perhaps even prompt some of our most passionate balance advocates to reconsider their positions.

Fighting Cheating

We are constantly working to improve our anti-cheat system, fully aware of how essential it is to maintain a fair and transparent environment for all players. Currently, we are integrating a third-party tool as part of a broader anti-cheat initiative. This solution will combine the capabilities of external software with our own detection systems.

It?s crucial that this new protection mechanism functions reliably without affecting game performance, which is why we are proceeding with caution and precision.

A significant part of this work also involves shifting key gameplay logic to the server side. This approach minimizes the potential for client-side manipulation and improves overall security.

If you suspect another player of cheating, you can report it in several ways: either directly in-game by clicking the /!\ button, or by emailing basupport@slitherine.comwith a detailed description of the situation.

To help our team investigate more effectively, please include the suspected player?s nickname and, if possible, video evidence of the violation. These materials greatly assist us in identifying offenders and taking the necessary action.

Adjustment to Mirror Match Option

We understand that this setting is an important part of the gameplay experience for many players, so we?d like to clarify the current situation. Although the option to disable mirror matches exists, players may still occasionally encounter identical team compositions.

This happens due to how the matchmaking system was originally designed ? modifying existing mechanics can often be far more complex than building new ones from scratch.

We are actively working on a fix. Our developers are carefully analyzing how to rework this function to ensure consistent results. Since the process requires a deep review of the matchmaking logic, implementation will take some time.

Closing

Thank you to everyone who continues to believe in us and stays by our side. Your support gives us the strength and confidence to move forward, opening new horizons for the project. We?ll continue sharing important updates with you. We are working on a long term roadmap, which we are looking forward to showing you in the next few weeks. In the meantime, our team remains fully focused on making the game better with every update.
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Games Discussion / Re: Armored Brigade II

« Last post by Asid on October 10, 2025, 12:09:21 AM »

Dev Diary #9 - Key Rebinding, New Units, and Beyond
Thu, 9 October 2025

Greetings, Commanders!

It?s been a while since our last Dev Diary, but we?re back with news following last week?s announcement of the first Armored Brigade II DLC, Scandinavia, and the release of our 12-month roadmap outlining the major features and improvements currently in development.

Each of those topics will be explored in dedicated diaries, but today we want to focus on the just-released Patch 1.594 and several upcoming near-term improvements that haven?t been mentioned before. These are features we have been tirelessly working on behind the scenes.

One of the most notable additions in the latest patch is the highly requested key rebinding feature, allowing players to customize controls according to their personal preferences. AI counterattacks in defense are now more aggressive, and infiltration mechanics have been refined to make them a more rewarding tactic, particularly when executed by highly trained reconnaissance assets.

This patch is part of our continuous effort to enhance not only overall accessibility and usability but also sound effects, an area we began improving with the August update. The current focus is on ambience (nature, explosions, weather effects etc.), as well as a new distance delay DSP system, where sound delay matches visual distance for a more immersive experience, especially for hardcore players. In the same spirit of improvement, we are finalizing testing on a new camera system that introduces mouse-wheel zoom, which should feel more intuitive to players coming from mainstream RTS titles.

Wiesel, The Last Tankette: a remarkable armored vehicle with a rich history that makes it a highly coveted addition to Armored Brigade II. This compact and agile platform, equipped with a 20mm cannon or the formidable TOW anti-tank missile system, offers a unique blend of speed, versatility, and firepower for tactical scenarios.

Other than the large number of improved models, the update also introduces a completely new Giessen map, along with a selection of new units that bring a distinct air assault atmosphere. The Bundeswehr is now complete with the legendary airborne vehicles of the Fallschirmj?gertruppe, including the Munga jeep with M40 recoilless gun, Kraka motor cart, and the Wiesel Armoured Weapons Carrier, available in both cannon and ATGM variants. You can put them to the test in the new Operation Steinbr?cke scenario.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the German armed forces were seeking a cross-country, air-transportable weapon carrier for their airborne units. After nearly a decade of prototype testing and various mission kits, the Kraka was finally delivered to the Bundeswehr Airborne Troops in 1974, where it went on to serve for more than 20 years.

But that?s not all. Another exciting addition is the WP-8, a Polish airborne multiple rocket launcher. While the MRL class of units was introduced in the third Armored Brigade I DLC, it had not yet been functional in Armored Brigade II. The WP-8 now provides players with the ability to rapidly saturate an enemy position, offering new tactical possibilities on the battlefield and paving the way for additional multiple rocket launcher systems in the future, where historically appropriate.

[size=150]What?s Next[/size]

Looking ahead, the next patch will continue expanding the airborne theme with the addition of East German Fallschirmj?ger and Luftsturm formations from the 1980s. It will also introduce more conventional forces, including Volkspolizei-Bereitschaften motorized and mechanized units, new Grenztruppen and KdA company formations with historically accurate structures, as well as East German Flamethrower Platoon and Pionier troops. This update will also come with a reworked East German support tab, featuring motorized transports and additional options.

Finally, a new linear Soviet campaign is in development, continuing the story of the 120th Motorized Rifle Regiment after the events of the first campaign. This time, players will face new operational challenges with a strong emphasis on combined-arms coordination, and a few surprises along the way.

In parallel, we are refining several systems that are less visible but essential to the overall experience. The most significant of these are exit objectives, which will enable new scripted scenario types such as evacuations and breakthroughs, along with the introduction of primary and secondary objectives, giving scenario designers greater flexibility to fine-tune their missions. Our goal is to make every update feel like a tangible improvement in both gameplay depth and overall polish.

As always, community feedback remains a cornerstone of our development process. Your reports, suggestions, and discussions help us shape Armored Brigade II into the most authentic and flexible tactical sandbox possible.

Thank you for your continued support, Commanders. Stay tuned for more updates, and see you soon on the battlefield.

Games Discussion / Build your own Military Operations Bundle

« Last post by Asid on October 10, 2025, 12:09:15 AM »

About this Bundle

Every commander's dream. Fill your gaming arsenal with this exceptional collection in the Build your own Military Operations Bundle.

This bundle features leading titles from franchises including Armored Brigade, Battle Academy, Combat Mission, Decisive Campaigns, Flashpoint Campaigns, Strategic Command and more.

2 + Games 5.00/Per item
5 + Games 4.00/Per item
8 + GamesBest value 3.75/Per item

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-military-operations-bundle

Command your troops and armaments in vast and varied strategic campaigns across multiple locations, terrains and settings. Here are some of the many highlights in this bundle:

Scramble: Battle of Britain - Take to the skies of 1940 with tactical dogfighting in intense aerial battles in a 3D airspace.

Armored Brigade: - Real-time tactical wargame, focusing on realism and playability. The Cold War has heated up, and Europe is once again torn apart by conflict. An "Iron Curtain" divides the Western Powers gathered together under the NATO banner from the Soviet Union.

Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris - Simulates Germany?s military successes in Poland and France in 1939 and 1940. The first in an innovative series of operational World War II wargames.

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm Player's Edition - Command NATO or Soviet forces locked in battle on the ground in 1980?s Central Europe. Balance your mission objectives with the strength and weakness of both your forces and your enemy.

Headquarters: World War II - Fast-paced turn-based strategy where your battlefield tactics are as important as your army management skills. Storm bunkers, occupy houses, and win tank duels, battling in Europe as the USA, the UK, or Germany.

Panzer Corps 2 - Panzer Corps 2 is the ultimate Second World War strategy game! Enjoy the time-proven gameplay formula which has been appreciated by millions of players over the years, brought to a whole new level of refinement up to the latest technical standards.

Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front - Enter the action in the east, on the bloodied plains of Mother Russia. A gritty, feature-rich, battle-proven gameplay classic!

Combat Mission Shock Force 2 - From the famous Combat Mission franchise of wargames, Shock Force 2 delivers a hypothetical conflict in Syria between the forces of NATO and the Syrian Army with an impeccably detailed and realistic 1:1 tactical simulation.

Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe - Deeply immersive turn based strategy game covering the greatest conflict in modern history!

Bring your tactical genius to the fore and take your place as the most celebrated strategist of all time. Build your own Military Operations Bundle today!

Games Discussion / Re: Bargains / Sale

« Last post by Asid on October 09, 2025, 11:21:29 PM »

About this Bundle

Every commander?s dream. Fill your gaming arsenal with this exceptional collection in the Build your own Military Operations Bundle.

This bundle features leading titles from franchises including Armored Brigade, Battle Academy, Combat Mission, Decisive Campaigns, Flashpoint Campaigns, Strategic Command and more.

2 + Games ?5.00/Per item
5 + Games ?4.00/Per item
8 + GamesBest value ?3.75/Per item

https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-military-operations-bundle

Command your troops and armaments in vast and varied strategic campaigns across multiple locations, terrains and settings. Here are some of the many highlights in this bundle:

Scramble: Battle of Britain - Take to the skies of 1940 with tactical dogfighting in intense aerial battles in a 3D airspace.

Armored Brigade: - Real-time tactical wargame, focusing on realism and playability. The Cold War has heated up, and Europe is once again torn apart by conflict. An "Iron Curtain" divides the Western Powers gathered together under the NATO banner from the Soviet Union.

Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris - Simulates Germany?s military successes in Poland and France in 1939 and 1940. The first in an innovative series of operational World War II wargames.

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm Player's Edition - Command NATO or Soviet forces locked in battle on the ground in 1980?s Central Europe. Balance your mission objectives with the strength and weakness of both your forces and your enemy.

Headquarters: World War II - Fast-paced turn-based strategy where your battlefield tactics are as important as your army management skills. Storm bunkers, occupy houses, and win tank duels, battling in Europe as the USA, the UK, or Germany.

Panzer Corps 2 - Panzer Corps 2 is the ultimate Second World War strategy game! Enjoy the time-proven gameplay formula which has been appreciated by millions of players over the years, brought to a whole new level of refinement up to the latest technical standards.

Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front - Enter the action in the east, on the bloodied plains of Mother Russia. A gritty, feature-rich, battle-proven gameplay classic!

Combat Mission Shock Force 2 - From the famous Combat Mission franchise of wargames, Shock Force 2 delivers a hypothetical conflict in Syria between the forces of NATO and the Syrian Army with an impeccably detailed and realistic 1:1 tactical simulation.

Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe - Deeply immersive turn based strategy game covering the greatest conflict in modern history!

Bring your tactical genius to the fore and take your place as the most celebrated strategist of all time. Build your own Military Operations Bundle today!

Games Discussion / Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War

« Last post by Asid on October 09, 2025, 11:05:35 PM »

Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War Dev Diary #1: An Abundance of Content
Wed Oct 08, 2025

"This is what you've trained for, soldier!"
Do you ever get that feeling like the Cold War never ended, You will, after exploring over 100 vintage 1989 scenarios set in central Germany during an alternate reality when the Cold War went hot. Mobilized Warsaw Pact troops from the USSR, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland flood the inner German border. NATO forces including Belgium, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, West Germany and the United States scramble to put doctrine into action across over 60 map locations in Germany and France.

To help with tracking the abundance of scenarios, forces, and units, developer On Target Simulations Ltd. is shipping an interactive version of the monumental Flashpoint Campaigns game manual. Outlined below is a sample from the professional-grade wargaming content you will experience in Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War. This wargame will inevitably become a cornerstone in your collection.

Chronology of World War III
Pundits of the day decided it would be the Politburo who would make the final order to commence a mutually assured destructive attack on the West. In the Flashpoint Campaigns timeline, it was an unexpected group of disgruntled Pact division commanders intent on reunification of Germany by decisive military action and not compromising political terms.

Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War is undergoing a narrative overhaul to ensure all scenarios fit cohesively into a riveting storyline. Cold War solidifies what Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm started, Germany Reforged expanded and Southern Storm overhauled.
Who Will You Lead to Victory?
There are thousands of unit platforms across the 10 force nations in FC: Cold War. Outlined below is the tip of the iceberg for types of platforms, featuring some of the most famous kit for each force.
With 46 campaign scenarios and 59 standalone scenarios, you can equip a NATO or Warsaw Pact force and battle your way through their sectors. Choose which force to command at the battalion, regiment, brigade or division level:

NATO:

West Germany:
24 standalone scenarios
"Fraenkische Sinfonie" Campaign (7 scenarios):
Take command of Panzerbrigade 36 (PzBrig 36) as they defend Bavaria from the Warsaw Pact onslaught led by their East German counterparts. Equipped with formidable Leopard 2 main battle tanks, highly mobile mechanized infantry, anti-aircraft platforms, and flexible artillery support, PzBrig 36 is ready to engage NATO-doctrine maneuver warfare to defend their homeland.

United Kingdom:
7 standalone scenarios
"The Rats in Europe" Campaign (4 scenarios)
The British 7th Armoured Brigade is bearing the brunt of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army pouring across the plains of the British I Corps sector in central Germany. The famed "Desert Rats" screening force responds to delay the Soviet forces long enough for the remainder of the Corps to deploy into their General Defense Positions (GDP). The British forces constitute orders of battle for I Corps, British Army of the Rhine mechanized and armoured brigades, including Territorial Army reinforcements. Scorpions and Scimitars are ready to make contact and delay enemy forces, while mechanized infantry maneuver to defensive positions in their FV432, and the mighty Chieftain and Challenger tanks on overwatch are ready to put a stop to the Warsaw Pact advance.

United States:
26 standalone scenarios
"Big Red One" Campaign (5 scenarios)
The storied United States Army's 1st Infantry Division "The Big Red One" mobilize from their barracks and deploy along the defensive lines to thwart advancing Soviet forces. As the overwhelming enemy stages their advance, the US force must strategically withdraw to absorb and counter the blows. Deploy the nimble 4th Cavalry to delay while you prepare the full arsenal of Army assets at your disposal, including AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, M1A1 Abrams, M270 MLRS and M1 Bradley IFV's.

"Stop Gap" Campaign (4 scenarios)
The speed of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army (1 GTA) has caught everyone by surprise, including the 3rd Brigade of the US 3rd Armored Division. The "Spearhead" battalions are moving into their defensive positions, to adapt and overcome an early Soviet breakthrough attempt. Prepare your Abrams with interlocking kill zones, dig in your infantry and get ready for the onslaught.

France:
6 standalone scenarios
"pilogue" Campaign (4 scenarios)
As the Soviet 1st Tank Army achieved a deep breakthrough penetration towards the French-German border, the French Army's 1re Division Blinde maneuvers into screening positions. Your objective is to delay the incoming Soviet forces to allow NATO time to bring up reserves and conduct a counter-attack. You will need to trade terrain for time and consider force preservation to avoid another disastrous gap in the defence line. At your disposal are some of the fastest tanks, the AMX-30, yet they are fragile. Mechanized infantry are equipped to pack a punch with anti-armour capabilities, and the air support including Mirage aircraft are at the ready.

Canada:4 standalone scenarios
"Opportunity Knocks" Campaign (4 scenarios)
You will be leading the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI) whose planned rotation back to Canada last year was delayed while tensions were growing in Europe. The battalion is tasked with blocking Soviet forces, with the aim to set up conditions for a counter-attack to destroy Soviet forces south of Stuttgart. The 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade is ready to reinforce the defensive lines with disciplined mechanized infantry riding in M113's, led by Lynx reconnaissance vehicles, and backed up with Leopard C1 tanks. Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornets are also fueling up for air strikes to support the troops testing their mettle below.

Belgium:
4 standalone scenarios
For the third time in the 20th-century, Belgian sovereignty is threatened by an outside force. Thankfully, the hub for NATO branches out from Brussels and Belgium willingly deploys its forces eastwards into Germany and absorbs the blow before a red wave can reach their land. True to the NATO maneuver doctrine, the Belgians are equipped with mechanized infantry, carried to the battle in AIFV-B-C25, and equipped with the highly effective MILAN II anti-tank guided missile systems. Their armoured menagerie is primarily the Leopard 1A5BE with reconnaissance support from the Scorpions and Scimitars.
Warsaw Pact:

East Germany:
10 standalone scenarios
"Panzer Leader" Campaign (5 scenarios)
Leading a thrust into the Hof Gap, towards the reunification of Germany under a Communist banner, the 7. Panzerdivision of the East German Army will first need to puncture the screening force of the US VII Corps' cavalry units. Tank regiments leading the charge into the breach are equipped with swarms of T-72M tanks ready to punch a hole in the NATO lines for the BMP-1's carrying mechanized infantry to exploit. Speed and aggression are the doctrine of the day.

Czechoslovakia:
11 standalone scenarios
"Leading the Way" Campaign (4 scenarios)
Take command of the 49th Motor Rifle Regiment as the Czechoslovakians embark from their border with Bavaria. With the aim of capturing Nurnberg, your force will need to secure a crossing with the mighty Donau river and the tenacious West German defensive force. While your motorized infantry is abundant with their BVP-2 APC's, your limited T-55AM2B tanks are regarded as second-rate to your more modern peers. Use the reconnaissance and artillery units at your disposal for an efficient and steady advance.

Soviet Union:
36 standalone scenarios
?We Fly To Work? Campaign (4 scenarios)
The war started with a distant rumble of Soviet helicopters, rising to a crescendo over the inner border observation posts and landing to secure critical bridge crossings. This campaign offers the opportunity to command an air assault force that requires diligent transport planning and intelligent decision making to pull off the audacious invasion. Escorted by the emblematic Mi-24 Hind, the highly trained VDV troops packed into their Mi-8 helicopters will leapfrog across the battle space to confront West German, American and French defensive forces.

"Red Hammer" Campaign (5 scenarios)
As NATO expected, planned and trained for, the Fulda Gap and Hof Gap offensives initiated the invasion plan. What they didn't know is that the primary Soviet force tasked with striking a fatal blow towards the West German capital of Bonn was quietly assembling. This campaign launches three days into the war and intends to exploit weakened NATO forces and their reserves. The 57th Guards Motor Rifle Division will flood the battle space with mighty T-80B1 tanks, infantry carried by BMP-1's, all being backed up by the overwhelming 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery guns. Carry out the classic Soviet doctrine in an attempt to take the Rhine river within 7 days.

Poland:
2 standalone scenarios
The second echelon Polish mechanized divisions are reinforcing the invasion force a few days into the attack. Despite older tank variants like the T-55L being at the tip of their spear, the Polish forces also have the benefit of punishing RM-70 rocket artillery, and infantry carried into battle by the SKOT-2AM APC's equipped with ATGM's. Regardless, they will be a formidable opponent versus a worn down NATO defensive force.

Games Discussion / Re: Gary Grigsby's War In The East 2 WITE2

« Last post by Asid on October 08, 2025, 12:02:57 AM »

Official Update
Tue, 7 October 2025

Official Update - v1.04.12

Welcome.

Thank you for playing Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2TM! We are always looking for ways to improve your gaming experience.

Below you will find the latest and greatest information on Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2. oup AOGs not following the same front as their master HQ

Highlights:

- Some major fixes for ground combat and unit upgrade bugs

- Additional tweaks for air and ground combat and logistics

- Some map corrections and improvements

- Many data fixes and changes

- Some scenario tweaks

Games Discussion / Re: War of Rights

« Last post by Asid on October 08, 2025, 12:02:47 AM »

The Plague Spreads! Drill Camp Onslaught Available
Tue, 7 October 2025

Union and Confederate alike had long struggled to keep the risen dead confined to Harpers Ferry, yet now their plague had seeped into northern Maryland. Quiet farms and scattered army drill camps, once peaceful and orderly, now lay under a fragile dawn. The pale sun rose slowly, casting long, trembling shadows across the fields, as if the land itself sensed the coming horror.

A cold, creeping fog rolled in, winding between fences and over crops, thick and almost alive. Within its ghostly veil, the dead stirred ? shuffling, moaning, and reaching toward anything that moved. The fog swallowed sound and shape alike, turning the tranquil landscape into a waking nightmare where each step forward might bring the living face to face with the relentless dead.

Risen Dead Event 07/10/2025 Patch notes

- The Drill Camp level is now available in Onslaught.

- The XP screen is now shown at the end of the narration for Onslaught.

- All players are now rewarded with an additional experience gain for collectively killed zombies.

- Fixed the Inferno Titan not being stunned for the correct duration.

- Fortifications should no longer cause stutters/freezes when placed or damaged.

- Thrown zombie boulders now play impact sounds, and apply impulses to player corpses correctly.

- Fix for audio and voice chat being muffled while in the follower spectate mode.

- Killed zombies now respond correctly to the impact from bullets and explosions.

- LeMat buckshot ammo is now replenished when Refill Ammo is purchased.

Previous Hotfixes

Hotfix 1 - 04/10/2025

- Increased the base payout from a completed wave from $200 to $300.

- The wave bonus multiplier is increased from $50 to $100.

- The retreat phase now awards 50% of the wave victory bonus.

- Officer Ability costs reduced:

- - Concentrated Strike: $1250 -> $500

- - Blanket Barrage: $2500 -> $1250

- - Boost Morale: $2500 -> $750

- Fortification Limits Increased:

- - Cheval De Frise: 6 -> 8

- - Palisade Wall: 8 -> 10

- Reduced the distance at which Zombie Brutes will attempt to throw rocks.

- Increased the velocity of Zombie Brute rocks from 20m/s to 30m/s

- Reduced the supression effects from friendly teammate gunshots and bullet whizbys by 50%

- Increased the volley window for Zombie Brutes from 1.5 seconds to 2.0 seconds.

- Increased the volley window for the Inferno Titan from 1.0 seconds to 2.0 seconds.

- Reduced the volley requirement for the Brute from 24 shots to 16 shots on a full server.

- Extra pellets from Buck and Ball no longer count towards the Brute/Titan volley check.

- Reduced Brute damage to fortifications from 800 to 300.

- The Inferno Titan now has set spawns for each point and should no longer randomly despawn.

- Dead players now get force-deployed when entering wave preparations.

Hotfix 2 - 05/10/2025

- Fortification Health Increased:

- - Gabions: 600 -> 800

- - Cheval De Frise: 1000 -> 1500

- - Palisade Wall: 2000 -> 3000

- Fortification Limits are increased for *each* lost point as follows.

- - Gabions: +5

- - Cheval De Frise: +4

- - Palisade Wall: +2

- Any flipped over artillery pieces and limber carts will now be removed at the end of a wave.

- Limbers automatically refill their rounds after a wave.

- During Final Push the morale boost is extended from 30 seconds to 180 seconds, and is upgraded to an instant-kill instead of double damage.

- Reduce the volley shot requirement from 70 to 60 for the Inferno Titan.

- Increased the duration of the Inferno Titan volley stun from 6.0 seconds to 8.0 seconds.

- Increased the duration of the Inferno Titan artillery stun from 6.0 seconds to 20.0 seconds.

- Artillery explosions and cannister now deal full damage to the Titan and Brutes even when not stunned.

- Reduce preparation time from 2 minutes to 1.5 minutes on the first 5 waves.

- Class restrictions can no longer be turned off for Onslaught.

- Added flavor text to the Onslaught loading screens.

- Potential fix for an issue where servers would hang indefinitely with VOIP still enabled.

Games Discussion / Re: Reentry - An Orbital Simulator

« Last post by Asid on October 07, 2025, 12:52:23 AM »

Reentry has been updated to 0.99.89 - Rendering, Bug Fixes
Mon, 6 October 2025

This update improves Mercury autopilot fuel efficiency, updates rendering and lighting systems, adds the new Plume Renderer to Mercury and Gemini, enhances the Mercury cockpit, and resolves reported issues.

Note: If you experience new issues related to this update, please report them. You can revert back the a previous build using the Steam betas tab for the game. Most recent rollback option: Reentry Version 0.99.88.

Mercury ASCS

The Mercury ASCS is responsible for automatic attitude control. I made some improvements to it and fixed an issue where it would typically overshoot in roll, then enter a ping/pong mode until the target has been reached. I corrected the rate limiter issue that caused this to happen, and improved a few other things to reduce fuel consumption.

Tips: It is always recommended to use a manual mode for most of the flight.

https://clan.fastly.steamstatic.com/images//33371327/f7a001abf383c6d1ea50e2dff653d849d46c709c.png

Earth Rendering / Atmosphere shader fixes

I fixed a shader issue in the Earth Atmosphere shader that previously caused a NaN (Not a Number error). This created a small spark in the atmosphere as the faulty pixel was overbright and triggered the bloom system (many believed this was lightning strikes or other phenomenon. It became a little thing). For you who wondered what this actually was, now you have the answer.

As this is fixed I was finally able to re-enable the games blooming logic as part of the post processing effects.

This can make it possible to further down the line make an option to toggle off the Lens Flare, and instead render a bloomed sun. I will at a later update make it possible to toggle off the Bloom Effect in the post processing layer.

In addition, I made some improvements to the Earth and Cloud brightness settings and coloring to try and reduce the brightness of Earth, and the occasional but rather blinding areas where if over a desert with clouds below you, could be quite annoying. I will continue to iterate but I hope this reduces the issue.

Astronaut/Crew Hider

The astronaut hider responsible to hide the astronaut if your camera is near or inside its head had an issue that I though was corrected in the previous update. It was not, and I rewrote the logic. It should now work as intended.

New Launch Vehicle Plumes for Mercury and Gemini

I am continuing my pursuit of improving the plumes in the Mercury and Gemini ascent. These are quite simple but will adjust itself as the rocket climbs. You can see that the plume isn't static. Its size and shape is dynamic and will look different at lower altitudes compared to higher altitudes.

P01 Timescale block

Players trying to time scale through the P01 alignment in the Apollo Command Module before liftoff might have noticed that it can cause the alignment to fail. I have made a quick check to disable time scaling during P01 alignment.

Mercury Cockpit Improvements and Rendering

As I was fixing some issues with rendering and lighting conditions in the cockpits, along with re-enabling bloom, and decided to take a few hours to improve some of the elements inside the Mercury cockpit. This is the oldest craft, but the first step for most new players. When you enter the cockpit you will see new and improved cockpit indicator lights, fixes to a few gauges, updates to the Earth Path Indicator (EPI) model, and general fixes to various interactable components. I have also fixed an issue with the SSAO layer that could cause barely visible dark lines (artifacts).

Dynamic Cabin Audio

I continued to iterate on cabin audio in Project Mercury. I replaced the cabin depressurize and repressurize placeholder sound effects with new ones, and improved their logic. I also worked on the EPI and added its ticking noise. This is a test of the 3D cockpit sound effect.

Unity Security Update

A Unity security patch has been applied to the games executable to accommodate a security issue in the Unity Game Engine.

End-of-Early-Access Price Adjustment

As the game prepares to leave Early Access and launch version 1.0, the price is adjusted as mentioned in the Early Access interview on the games Steam Store page.

To accommodate Steam schedules, sale cooldowns and release logistics in November 2025, the price will be increased as soon as Steam publishes the new prices. The price of 34.99 USD is the final price for 1.0.

The journey doesn?t stop at 1.0 - it?s just the start of the next chapter. You can hear about the journey and the 1.0 release here, followed by the recording of my Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) I held October 1st.

The Ask-Me-Anything:
https://www.youtube.com/live/MvVKT1y_CUM

Patch notes:

- Fixed the Earth Rendering sun reflection blob on the oceans

- Fixed the root cause of the Atmospheric Flashes issue, it was caused by a Nan in two of the atmosphere shaders.

- Astronaut Hider fixes

- Improved Mercury Redstone Launch vehicle plume

- Improved Mercury Atlas Launch vehicle plumes

- Improved Gemini Titan Launch vehicle plumes

- P01 timescale block

- Mercury ASCS roll overshooting issue

- Minor changes to CM lesson 9, Earth Entry

- Fixed an issue with the RCS Rate Command logic in both Mercury and Gemini

- Small updates to the Mercury EPI

- Small updates to the Mercury Cockpit light indicators

- Fixes and improvements to the Graphics Rendering logic

- Fixes to the Earth brightness and tone

- Fixes to the Clouds renderer, and re-coloring

- Unity Security Patch

Update: Another build was released due to some meta changes, version is still the same.

Games Discussion / Re: Exanima

« Last post by Asid on October 07, 2025, 12:52:17 AM »

Coffee Diary - October 2025
Mon, October 6, 2025

Hey Exanimates,

It's been a very hectic month working on many different things, but also a nice change of pace from endlessly working on a single huge game or engine system. We're trying to get all the new content ready for release, and there's a lot.

The Gardens is the largest map yet and also the most complex, varied and unique. There's a lot of new nature and other assets and additions to the terrain which we're currently polishing and optimising. With so much work on terrain, we also made some nice improvements to our tools. Good content creation tools are always a big part of our development efforts, we think they are extremely important, we plan to continue making content indefinitely and also releasing the tools to the community. Optimisation has been a particular concern, as vegetation is notoriously expensive because of the complex 3D models with many layers to render. Usually this is featured outdoors where the lighting is simple, but in this case we also have to deal with many local lights and shadows, multiplying the cost. We wanted to maintain good performance without sacrificing the visuals, and while our engine is very well optimised, this is just a much bigger rendering workload than we've ever had it deal with. Making sure all assets are well optimised is part of what we're doing, but we've also been trying to squeeze even more performance out of the rendering engine.

We did a thorough investigation of performance bottlenecks, not really expecting to find much we could do, but when we looked at the results we started having some ideas. When something is already well optimised, even small optimisations can make a relatively large difference. Beyond optimising various special cases, we went looking for approximations. Real time rendering in general is all mathematical approximations of the real world, and often approximate versions of the expensive mathematical functions doing those approximations. Basically there's always some wiggle room in how approximate your approximation of an approximation is. Combinations of these can have a compounding or mitigating effect on each other, one approximation could help correct the error of another, or make it worse. After a bunch of experimenting we came up with various things that could perform much better with minimal detriment, or that might make the lighting look a little bit different, but not objectively worse. This helps us alleviate the expensive nature of the new area, but as a result we have improved performance in general. We can use these on lower settings to boost performance with minimal visual compromise, or even on higher settings for elements where the difference is just not noticeable, such as grass and most vegetation.

Speaking of grass, we've been overhauling our 3D grass and small plants to improve them visually and to support larger and more realistic plants for dense undergrowth more efficiently. As part of the terrain system this level of vegetation is subject to some special optimisations and careful procedural generation that can realistically produce better results than someone placing thousands of little plants by hand, while saving lots of time and rendering performance. This becomes increasingly important when producing and maintaining large natural environments. Being procedural also means we can easily scale back the density of this vegetation for lower end systems if necessary. We've also made other visual improvements in revisiting some of the rendering, an important one being better support for the detail shadowing with lower or disabled supersampling settings. Detailed and immersive visuals with smooth performance are very important to us and we're genuinely excited about how our latest efforts have come together in the new content.

Still on the topic of vegetation, while we don't consider this an urgent feature, we are also working on plant physics. Everything in Exanima interacts with physics, and plants should be no exception. We don't want plants to just wiggle and rustle when touched, but to bend and push back realistically. We considered various approaches here, and as usual performance is a big concern, but also with our very small team we can't be creating detailed physics models of every plant. We're still early in its development, but we've come up with a way of automatically generating accurate simplified physics structures for plants that can be simulated and deform them efficiently. This likely won't be featured in the earliest releases of the Gardens, but we are actively working on it.

On a totally different topic, we've been trying to finally tackle some important physics related issues that have been discussed recently in the community. This stemmed from a discussion on a functional unstuck feature, but it's relevant to several problems with positioning characters. A case some of you are probably familiar with is finding NPCs in weird spots, stuck inside something or each other, or reacting violently to some unseen force somewhere nearby. This happens for example when characters are repositioned while you're unconscious or away, and if they are colliding with something in the new position all sorts of bad things can happen. Identifying a collision free position for a character to occupy is a difficult problem, but is also needed for a good unstuck feature and for NPCs to move away from other characters or dynamic objects around them. But this alone isn't enough or always possible, we also need to pose characters to avoid near objects and gently nudge them into the space without disturbing objects and causing violent reactions or other issues. Not the most glamorous aspect of development, but these are some of the challenges we face with the game's complex physics and scope.

We have of course also been working hard on the new thaumaturgy domain. We have a few fully functional powers now, we've finalised all sorts of mechanics and visual interactions, done the sound design, figured out some new control and other mechanics for players and also started working on the domain tree images. This one is a bit more fleshed out than Energy, and there's a cool surprise in there. If you're wondering why we'd put effort now into player mechanics and UI, that's because we've decided to introduce the acquisition of powers from others when they are defeated in this update. If you weren't aware, the domains you start with are your "innate" ones and you naturally learn their powers, but when you witness the death of another shaper you might unlock powers that are from their domain, as well as absorb some of their "potential". This can be invested in powers to make them and their domain stronger. We still want to introduce more progression and reward mechanics, and these are some important ones. With the big core engine and game systems developed as they are now, we're finally really switching focus to enriching the gameplay experience, with things that are relatively much easier to develop, but add lots of perceived value.

Best,

Bare Mettle