9 月 1 日

Game Update. Army Front! Stability & Fixes

Holdfast: Nations At War has been updated. As Game Version 0.15 hits the decks, it’s going to bring with it some long-awaited fixes to the naval and coastal combat scenarios. The Army Front servers are also making a comeback! Battlefield, Conquest and Siege all in one rotation.

New maps, a massive number of bug fixes, performance optimisations, stability and more! Check out the blog post for more about our plans for the next update.

Want to have a go at playing a variety of different game modes? We’re re-introducing the Army Front official servers! Capture strategic objectives in Army Conquest, Breach fortifications in Army Siege and fight to the last man in the Army Battlefield game mode.

Whilst working hand in hand with our community, we’ve re-designed the Army Conquest game mode. Multiple changes to both the selection of maps rotating on the Army Front servers and the game modes they are played on have also been set up based on feedback.

Here’s some of the feedback we’ve acted upon.

• Reduced the number of capture points on every map. Players were previously too spread out.
  
• Base spawns are now uncapturable. This will ensure that players in the server always have a position to spawn on.
  
• Significantly reduced the number of players that can spawn on a captured point. Captured points were almost impossible to re-take since the entire team could spawn on that more advantageous forward position.
  
• We’ve placed more defensive emplacements around capture points to make them easier to defend now that the number of players that can spawn on a specific location has been significantly reduced.
  
• Increased the points gathered when capturing a flag from 50 to 150.
  
• On the Army Front official servers, you will never find Desert, Grassy or Snowy Plains maps being played on the Conquest game mode.
  
• We’ve reduced the number of reinforcements on the Army Battlefield game mode for last stands to occur more frequently.

Most of the issues that have been plaguing the naval and coastal combat scenarios are now over and done with! You should no longer be experiencing any graphical issues or desynchronization whilst playing these game modes. We’ve also solved various instances that previously forced players to close the game on map load.

The only class equipped with a spyglass on deck was the Captain. Most of the time this fellow is busy steering the ship and there was no other class which could properly take the role of a spotter. To counter this, we’ve now assigned a spyglass to the Adept Sailor.



3 new maps unique in their playstyle from one another. Breakthrough multiple layers of defences and capture Fort Salettes on the Army Siege game mode. If you’re looking for some close-quarters action, then check out this map on the Army Battlefield game mode.



Fort Schwarz. This fortification is entirely destructible! Take control of the artillery battery and pour lead into its walls to topple them down.



We’ve also included yet another variation of the existing plains scenes with Snowy Plains 3. The community can always make use of a line battle map.



Before we entirely indulge ourselves in the melee combat update, we wanted to do away with some of the gritty issues that were unnecessarily degrading performance and fix various bugs within the game.

If you’re interested in reading a rather lengthy list of our development in this area, be sure to check out the changelog down below.

There’s a dedicated channel on our Discord if you’d like to make us aware of any issues you’ve faced whilst playing the game. Post in the ‘bug-reports’ channel and we’ll get back to you.

Join The Holdfast Discord!



After the release of the Prussian update, some community servers were failing to properly authenticate with Steam and appear empty in the lobby once launched. In this update, we’ll be releasing a permanent fix to this solution. You no longer have to apply the Hotfix that was previously present on the BETA branch to get your server back up.

ATT. Server Hosts
We highly advise that all server hosts switch over from the BETA branch to Live and apply the recent update. Since there’s been a lot of underlying changes, you should make sure to remove the previous game files download through Steam before copying the new ones over. This will ensure that the server remains stable.

The ‘holdfast_naw_public_servers’ folder now includes the new DLL files and VapuriLoadTester helper program. You need to copy these over as well.

Here’s a link to the folder for ease of access.

Download



It won’t come as a surprise to most that we’re growing to team as we’ve already announced our intent in the previous blog post. Be it improvements on melee combat, cavalry, player-built defences, new artillery mechanics or any other feature that you’d like to see in the game, they all require the expertise of a game programmer.

Today, we’re pleased to officially announce that Alistair ‘PingPong’ Azzopardi has joined the team as a Game Developer (Programmer) bringing us to a total of 3 programmers working on a full-time basis.

Dylan ‘Wrexia’ Abela taking the role of a Senior Game Developer (Programmer) has been with us since the 13th of August. After pushing forward some fixes we had planned for this update, he’s now focusing on melee combat improvements.

A big welcome to both of these good chaps! You’ll be hearing more details about what they have been up to in our future blog posts. Our sights are already set on the next update.



Now that we’ve closed off Game Version 0.15, we’re placing our sole focus on the next one. Game Version 0.16 will be bringing with it a variety of improvements to melee combat mechanics. We’re well aware that this mechanic is at the heart of our community and we want to give it the proper attention it deserves.

The community will be deeply involved throughout this update’s development with multiple BETAs being hosted as we progress towards a full release. If you have an avid interest in all of this and would like to give us a helping hand with feedback, please do hop in on our Discord. We’d love to hear what you think!

Join The Holdfast Discord!



Here’s the entire list of additional features, bug fixes, improvements and content that you’ll find in this update.



Changelog 15 - Game Version 0.15.6817.29831

• Army Front! Various improvements to the Army Conquest and Army Battlefield game modes based on community feedback.
  » Reduced the number of capture points on every map. Players were previously too spread out.
  » Base spawns are now uncapturable. This will ensure that players in the server always have a position to spawn on.
  » Significantly reduced the number of players that can spawn on a captured point. Captured points were almost impossible to re-take since the entire team could spawn on that more advantageous forward position.
  » We’ve placed more defensive emplacements around capture points to make them easier to defend now that the number of players that can spawn on a specific location has been significantly reduced.
  » Increased the points gathered when capturing a flag from 50 to 150.
  » On the Army Front official servers, you will never find Desert, Grassy or Snowy Plains maps being played on the Conquest game mode.
  » We’ve reduced the number of reinforcements on the Army Battlefield game mode for last stands to occur more frequently.
  
• Naval Combat! Set sail once again. A multitude of fixes to further stabilise the naval and coastal game modes.
  » Fixed an issue that produced several graphical bugs when aiming with a cannon aboard ships, swimming or standing near a shoreline. This would sometimes appear as a green flickering screen or underwater splashes.
  » Fixed an issue that caused the camera to flicker severely when sailing a boat, a ship or sitting on a rowboat.
  » Fixed an issue on the Naval and Coastal Siege game modes were the textures turned black forcing the player to re-join the server.
  » Fixed an issue that caused players to desynchronize forcing you to close the game whilst playing on naval or coastal scenarios. Players would appear to be floating above ships or become invisible when this bug occurred. This specific problem also caused a variety of crashes to occur.
  » Fixed an issue that caused the map to stop loading on the naval and coastal game modes.
  » Fixed an issue that was causing performance to periodically plummet whilst playing on maps were water, rivers or the ocean is present.
  » Fixed an issue with the spawn menu background on naval and coastal maps appearing white.
  » Fixed an issue on the naval and coastal game modes that caused some of the spawn locations on ships not to be present after the map loaded.
  » Fixed an issue on Coastal Siege were rowboats were being respawned when destroyed. This severely degraded the server’s performance.
  » Fixed an issue were the Naval Battlefield game mode resulted in a draw if an equal number of ships were sunk before the round ends. When this occurs, the number of crewmen killed during a round will now determine the winner instead.
  » Fixed an issue in the Naval Battlefield game mode were no messages appeared if no crewman were killed or ships have been sunk and the round ended.
  » Spotter. You can now equip a spyglass if you spawn with the Adept Sailor.
  
• 3 new maps! Fort Schwarz, Fort Salettes and Snow Plays 3. Now playable on the Army Front official servers.
  » Input the following parameters to host these maps on your community server: map_name fortschwarz, map_name fortsalettes or map_name snowyplainsiii.
  
• Fixed an issue were Steam failed to authenticate when launching a community server causing them to appear empty in the lobby.
  
• We’ve performed a minor game engine upgrade in order to solve the Steam authentication issues with community servers.
  
• You will now find a refresh button at the very bottom of the server browser. This will come in especially handy for those players that sometimes experience issues with not seeing servers in the lobby.
  
• The official servers in the ‘Join Other Server’ panel have been updated. You can make use of this panel if you ever face any issues with servers not appearing in the lobby.
  
• In the Settings menu, the ‘Blend Weights’ option has been renamed to ‘Animation Quality’. If you’re playing on the lower settings and are looking for better character looks with relatively no performance impact, you can adjust this setting.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused players to quickly turn 360 degrees after they shot with a pistol, rifle, musket or a blunderbuss. You will now also experience recoil whilst moving your weapon and firing.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused a server to crash whilst capturing flags on the Army Conquest, Army Siege and Coastal Siege game modes.
  
• Your screen will no longer flicker when you stand in the way of a door that is opening or closing.
  
• Fixed an issue were the compass didn’t rotate when you look around using the tilde key.
  
• Fixed an issue with an error being outputted when Stereo Mix isn’t enabled and no microphone is plugged in. This was severely degrading performance.
  
• Fixed an issue with localisation were you could previously ‘Turn On’ a door. Brilliant, right?
  
• Fixed a miss-type on the British emblem. These emblems are visible on the victory screen.

• Fixed an issue with localisation for the Prussian faction in the scoreboard. Kingdom of Prussia.
  
• Fixed a spelling mistake that appeared when the Prussians won the round ‘The Prussians Are Victorious’.
  
• The game now takes less disk space. Comparatively, we’ve managed to reduce the game’s file size by around 3 Gigs.
  
• Increased the spawn limits for the defenders on Coastal Siege.
  
• We’re now directing logs for the actions done by server administrators to a separate log file for organisational purposes.
  » The following entry can be placed in the batch file before launching the server to direct the admin log file to your desired location: --adminCommandLogFilePath "Path Goes Here”
  
• Fixed an exception that occurred on map load and was severely degrading performance over longer periods of playing hours.
  
• Fixed multiple warnings being outputted after the map loads and artillery was present. This was severely degrading performance over longer periods of playing hours.
  
• Optimised and fixed a variety of issues being caused by shaders.
  
• Fixed an issue were if two players with the same name join a server, it caused an exception to occur.
  
• Fixed an issue with one of the ground textures not producing footsteps sounds. This texture is used on a variety of maps.
  
• Fixed an issue with localisation in the Army Battlefield game mode when the Prussian reinforcements depleted.
  
• Fixed an issue with 3D VoIP. This was degrading performance over time.
  
• Removed unnecessary logs from the server upon launch.
  
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the server to be launched as our development version. This was degrading performance.
  
• An attempted fix towards an issue that is sometimes caused when a player is carrying an artillery shot. This was degrading performance.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused Army Conquest to be played as a single life game mode if you switched from Army Assault to Army Conquest.
  
• Fixed an issue were the map took longer to load from the server when switching between different game modes.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused the wrong factions to appear in the top bar if you spectated another player or used the free-flight camera.
  
• Fixed an issue on the Training Grounds map which prevented players from using the field guns.
  
• The stone bridge on Arendan River is now wider. You’ll also find more objects to take cover behind on the bridge itself.
  
• Fixed an issue with one of the houses not casting shadows on Arendan River.
  
• An attempted fix towards an issue which caused players to bug underneath the fortification on Fort Christina.
  
• You’ll now find more objects on Desert Ruins serving as additional cover.
  
• Fixed an issue with some of the doors on Sharpton spawning wood of the wrong colour when destroyed.
  
• Re-added Conquest game mode support for the Training Grounds map as this was causing some community servers to crash.
  
• Fixed an issue were players could get stuck inside the chimney on Linburg.
  
• Dutch Canals has received further optimisations.
  
• The fences on Dutch Canals have been lowered so they’re easier to jump.
  
• Fixed a variety of mesh related issues on the ruin models present on Tahir Desert and Desert Ruins.
  
• Fixed an issue were one of the doors on Martello tower appeared to be floating.
  
• Fixed lanterns floating on Linburg.
  
• Fort Winston now officially supports the Siege game mode.
  
• Fixed an exception that was being outputted on Fort Winston. This was degrading performance.
  
• Fixed an exploit on Tahir Desert which enabled a player to shoot from inside one of the walls near the ruins.
  
• You can now pass through one of the shallow lakes on Black Forest. It is no longer blocked off.
  
• Fixed an exploit on Linburg that allowed players to jump underneath the water.
  
• Fixed an issue on Fort Imperial which caused one of the textures on the destructible models to appear black.
  
• More chairs and benches on Fort Christina are now sitable.
  
• Fixed an issue with capture points not appearing in alphabetical order on some maps whilst playing the Army Conquest game mode.
  
• Fixed an instance were errors were thrown on the server whilst it is running the Open Waters map. This was degrading performance.
  
• Fixed an issue with the 8-Gun Schooner throwing errors on the server when it was being destroyed.
  
• Fixed an issue on Arendan River were the pikes were clipping through one of the sandbags.
  
• Fixed an issue on Grassy Plains 2 were one of the sandbag textures appeared to be black.
  
• Fixed an issue with a sound not being outputted when destroying one of the objects on Fort Imperial.

We’re looking forward to get working on the melee combat update! With a rather exciting time ahead of us, we’d like to end this blog post with a huge thanks to Pierre from the 59th and Starblazer from the 63e for their game level contributions, to the entire community and to all of those good folks that joined us in the BETA tests.

Thank you for your support and as always, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios

8 月 5 日

Dev Insight. Our Plans. We're Growing The Team!

Now that everything is set in stone, we have a rather exciting announcement to make regarding the future of Holdfast. We’re growing the team! This will be integral towards bringing the game out of Early Access with bigger, more content-filled updates.

Having to take care of expanding the office space, recruiting new individuals and the upcoming update, has resulted in an extremely busy month for everyone at Anvil Game Studios. We’re sure that you’d love to hear more details about our plans and what we’ve been up to.

Starting with the most exciting recent announcement, we’d like to give you a better insight into the changes that’ll be happening to our programming department. Melee combat improvements, cavalry, player-built defences, new artillery mechanics and any other feature that you’d like to see in the game all require the expertise of a game programmer.

On the 13th of August, a Senior Game Developer (Programmer) - Dylan ‘Wrexia’ Abela will be joining the team. He’s been working in the industry developing games for over five years and we’ll be sure to put his experience to good use! He’s an awesome chap to hang out with as well.

There’s going to be yet another addition to the same department coming soon! We’re currently in the process of recruiting a Game Developer (Programmer) bringing us to a total of 3 programmers working on a full-time basis. We already have plenty of prospective individuals that we’ll be conducting interviews with this Monday.

Dylan ‘Monroy’ Vassallo has taken a step backwards from development by switching from working on a part-time basis to freelance. He’s doing this to further his studies. The team here would like to wish him the best of luck with his master’s degree! Monroy will be taking the role of mentoring new Game Developers to hasten productivity.

Walentin ‘Walki’ Lamonos, a Level Designer who works remotely from Germany will also be joining us for a few weeks during this month. Truly exciting times ahead of us! Here’s a look at the renovated office space to house the new folk that’ll be joining the team.







Growing the team is all well and good but some might pose the question of what our plans for the near future in terms of game updates are. We’ve been listening very closely to feedback from the community and we’re sure that what we have planned will please the good majority.

After we release the upcoming update aimed towards solving the most pressing bug fixes, game stability, 3 new maps, a minor game engine upgrade which was necessary to bring the community servers back online and other additions focused on performance optimisations, all we’ll be working on is melee combat. We’ve done our first Closed-BETA test for the upcoming update during the previous week and things have been progressing well in preparation for its release.



Right after the release of the upcoming update, we’ll place our sole focus on melee combat mechanics. The community will be deeply involved throughout this update’s development process with multiple BETAs being hosted as we push forward improvements towards this mechanic.

Andreas ‘Dreas’ Grech has already taken care of a substantial amount of the work required to solve the hitbox issues that players experience whilst engaged in melee combat. Even though this is the most pressing issue, we will be doing much more in relation to this mechanic during this update as we are aware that it is at the heart of the community. To name a few others, we’ll be nerfing the melee damage dealt by flags and looking into improving feinting mechanics.

It has been a long road to come up to a point where we’re able to push more updates towards melee after we improved blocking responsiveness. We’re doing our best to finish the upcoming update as soon as possible so we can head off to the much-anticipated melee combat update.

If you have an avid interest in this mechanic and would like to give us a helping hand with feedback, please do hop in on our Discord. We’d love to hear what you think!

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



Even though this will spoil the surprise a tad, here’s a look at the artillery class that will be introduced in an update focused on artillery mechanics after we finalise the melee combat improvements. We’ll be introducing new shot types, moveable artillery pieces, shot bounce and more.



To sum everything up, we’ll first finalise the upcoming update, then head over to melee combat and after that, we’ll start developing an update focused on artillery mechanics. We’ll also slot in performance optimisations and quality of life improvements as we go through the development phase of an update. We haven’t forgotten about team-balancing functionality as well.

There’ll be much more coming to the game besides what we’ve mentioned here before the game leaves Early Access.



Let’s get into what we’ve been working for the upcoming update. Most of the team have been busy here with recruitment and renovating the office space but we’ve got plenty of things done already.

Besides the on-going work on hitbox issues for melee combat that will be released after the upcoming update, he’s been looking into various ways to improve stability as well as solving some of the more pressing bug fixes.

First and foremost, he performed a minor game engine upgrade which was necessary to bring the community servers back online. A hotfix for this has already been released and will be present in the upcoming update. Dreas then solved an issue which caused players to start floating around and de-synch during naval combat scenarios, a graphical bug that caused the screen to flicker when a player touches the water, reduced the game’s files size, solved various issues with language localisation and spelling errors, yet another bug that stopped the map from loading forcing players to close the game, solved a variety of instances with 3D VoIP which impacted client-side performance and more.

Be sure to check out the entire list of changes in the upcoming update’s blog post.



Rycon has been polishing maps from our level designer and the community to make sure that they’re done and ready for release. He’s also been re-designing the Conquest game mode based on community feedback. You’ll now find fewer capture points present in this game mode so players are less spread out on every map.

In the upcoming update, you’ll be able to check out two new maps designed by Walki. Inspired by a historical fortification, Fort Salettes will be one of the largest siege maps to be released in the next update. The attackers will have to break through multiple layers of defences and capture them as they reach the main objective. When an objective is captured, the entire team will be able to spawn on it.



Causeways is a map designed for the Army Battlefield, Conquest and Assault game modes. The map features plenty of open places where players can fight in formation.



This time around Pierre from the 59th Regiment of Foot decided to go for something different from the Blackforest map that was introduced along with the release of the Prussian faction. Fort Schwarz is a destructible fortification playable on the Army Siege, Conquest and Battlefield game modes. It will be available in the next update.



A line battle map designed by Starblazer from the 63e is currently undergoing its polishing phase by Rycon.

Once again, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the brilliant Holdfast community for their support. It’s been a daily pleasure of ours seeing the community grow and prosper, and we look forward to more. You can rest assured that we’ll deliver on our promise.

May good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios