---

Happy 8th birthday Forts!

Thank you to everyone who has joined us on this now 8 year journey of construction, destruction, and reconstruction. Perhaps the real fort we've been building was the friends we made along the way? Numbers and graphs and words alone can hardly express how much the Forts community means to us. Every stat represents countless stories from everyone who has ever played or watched Forts. We are honoured to share this ongoing story with all of you.

And to further celebrate, the entire Forts catalog is on sale now until April 26th. It's the perfect time to expand your own Forts library or to share Forts with friends. Here's to year 9!

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From the casual Corporals to the completionist Commanders. Whether an Engineer just dipping their toes or a dedicated Fabricator. If you're still a newly minted Private, fresh from the barracks and stilll learning which end of the cannon to point towards the enemy, or a seasoned Sergeant who has definitely never collapsed their own fort, your contributions show up in these totals. Where will you be in year 9?

EWG Lifetime Steam Units: 1,750,018
All-time peak players: 2583 (7280*)
Workshop Mods: 3260
Workshop Maps: 31166
Discord Members: 9730
Updates: 74

Most popular commander - Overall: Architect
Most popular commander - Ranked: Pinchfist
Players completed Black Gold campaign on hard: 8657
Players completed Moonshot campaign on hard: 2815
Players completed High Seas campaign on hard: 1444
Battles fought: 106.3 million
Hours spent: 26.7 million

*Free multiplayer weekend

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If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps and mods, and for more information on upcoming events.

Thanks for playing Forts, and here's to eight more years!
EWG

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Want to know how season 5 of the FPL is going? Join the mid season livestream, to see some of your favorite teams battle!

The group stage has been going for a few weeks, and about 40 matches have been played so far. This week marks the halfway point for the group stage, so we wanted to show you some matches, as well as give a recap of the scores up to now.

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Saturday 12th April 2025 at

• 12pm PDT (West Coast USA)
  
• 3pm EDT (East Coast USA)
  
• 8pm GMT (London)
  
• 9pm CEST (France, Germany)
  
• 5am April 13th AEST (Brisbane Australia)

We will be livestreaming 4 matches from the 4th round of FPL matches:

• Good Geese (Александр & TNV) VS Smaugsense (Baumständer & Lord Wahlter)
  
• Beaten (EtaN & butterdog) VS Underwater Hogs (Doriepixar & Brucepixar)
  
• Green Leaf (Dranistian & Taretar) VS Anime Gun Team (Odasan & Dieerel)
  
• ecks dee s1gma (Ryabzyk & zvxq) VS Famfulínci (spaghetsie & kuba)

During the matches, casters will also recap some of the matches from previous weeks, give the current scores, as well as some stats from the commander and map pick&bans.

• FPL Season 5 at Challengermode
  
  
• The Official Forts Discord

Project Incursus

Salzwerk

Communauté Forts FR (Gusteagle & Pile Rouillée)

Cheers,
EWG

Congratulations once again to EtaN, winner of Season 34. EtaN's vast array of accomplishments are well known, and far too large to accommodate within the margins of this announcement. Taking 2nd for their first time is Nils after a previous best 8th place finish in Season 33. And I am myself in 3rd adds another bronze to their collection, matching their Season 31 performance.

While the top 3 places receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze, every player finishing within the top 20 will receive a Season 30 Medal. Congratulations to all medalists as well!

For season 34 Trivia, see Ranked Integrity Progress below

---

1. EtaN
   
2. Nils
   
3. I am myself
   
4. klaualles
   
5. Kriegsseule
   
6. Buzzsaw-Bär
   
7. Kriegskeule
   
8. aurip
   
9. Snipper Sniffer
   
10. Doriepixar
    
11. Julian
    
12. butterdog
    
13. Domy
    
14. [BOG]#Kriegeule
    
15. 打帅币
    
16. Александр
    
17. Cloud
    
18. Susser
    
19. Nerf Buster
    
20. Probably Poolboy

---

We have made updates to the ranked play by rolling out a new analytics system. This allows us to collect match data, diagnose problems, and identify suspicious activity. Further work is ongoing as we progress towards a fully integrated arbitration server. Here a few data points taken throughout the season:

- German players accounted for 52.8% of all ranked match participants.
- Firebird was the most popular commander, with a 14.3% pick rate, just narrowly beating out Spook (14.2%) by .1% in the waning hours of the season
- Firebird had the highest winrate at 56%
- For factions, The Iron Bear Alliance was the most popular, followed by the Dragon Army
- The overall match completion rate* is now +95%

And as ever, we continue to apply bans and remove players from the rankings as our investigations warrant.


Commanders listed in order of popularity. Winrate percentages shown on the Y scale, and below each commander

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*Match completion rate defined as the percentage of matches that successfully reach an in-game conclusion via core elimination or forfeit.

---

The Season 35 leaderboard was reset on the 9th of April due to two discovered and now patched exploits that were brought to our attention by several players. This is to ensure a fair and balanced competition for the entire season. We sincerely apologise for the loss of scores.

This season's map pool consists of the following battlefields:

• Abyss
  
• Crevice
  
• Desert Ruins
  
• Elephants
  
• Moorings
  
• Stalactites

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If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps/mods, and receive advance notice of upcoming events.

Cheers,
EWG

As always we've been working hard to improve your Forts experience. We think this update brings some exciting changes.

Firstly, the game's start up time has been optimised. In most cases it should take much less time to reach the main menu. Your mileage will vary depending on your hardware. There's also a new user constant, Game.SkipIntro = true, that will skip the EarthWork Games splash screen if you restart frequently.

Then there's the new in-game version information screen. Click on the version button under the title in the main menu to open it up. You can then select the updates of interest. Using the bar at the top, search the changes by keyword. Filters can be applied to the types of changes you see. Over 2 years worth of update history is included.


Inspect detailed change logs going back years.

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In the lobby, you'll now see the total file size of a map or mod before subscribing to it. While downloading, you and the other players in the lobby can see its progress.


Check the Workshop file size before downloading.

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For the last update we introduced a minimum scrap time to avoid rapid disappearance of deleted upgrades. We received some feedback about this, and decided to remove it. Instead, when you delete a device in the process of upgrading, the upgrade is cancelled and it reverts to the original.

Firebird has been tweaked a little, removing Flak from the active and reducing the incendiary mortar radius. Overdrive's upgrade boost now only applies to those requiring the Upgrade Centre so he can't build Deck Guns and Orbital lasers much faster than other commanders in High Seas.

Finally, anti-air has been improved, trying harder to avoid shooting at allies.

These are the highlights, but there are other minor changes and bug fixes. See the full list below.

---

Add: Change lists can be viewed in-game by clicking on the version in the main menu
Add: Game.SkipIntro = true can be set in constants_user.lua to optionally speed start up
Add: Show item size when requested to download mods and maps in the lobby
Add: GetProjectileAntiAirHitpoints script function to retrieve the current amount of anti air hitpoints

Balance: (Overdrive) Upgrade speed boost only applies to devices requiring the Upgrade Centre
Balance: (Firebird active) Flak shrapnel is not incendiary
Balance: (Firebird) Incendiary mortar incendiary radius reduced from 70 to 50 (-29%)
Balance: (Pinchfist) Remove 5% collection boost from Propellers and Smokestacks

Fix: Player returns to incorrect screen after ranked forfeit
Fix: Crash when using DestroyProjectile script function
Fix: Ground scale is not serialised
Fix: Device health is saved in map editor
Fix: Ground devices are gained and lost while moving a structure
Fix: AA doesn't fire if allied structure is in path
Fix: Players can enter lobbies with the incorrect password
Fix: (Moonshine) Backbracing limit can be exceeded by placing shield over device
Fix: Eagle Eye's reload banking is lost when a weapon is moved
Fix: OnProjectileDestroyed passes incorrect destroy type when colliding with devices
Fix: Commander name shows up as 'Drill Instructor' in the lobby
Fix: GetWaterDepthAt script function is limited by PhysicsManager::mMaxWaterDepth
Fix: Upgrade icon is not used if an upgrade can be built directly
Fix: SetNamedScreen* documentation typos preventing links from working

Improve: Observer HUD quality of life
Improve: When DestroyProjectile and DestroyStructure is used, new DESTROYTYPE_SCRIPT is passed as destroyType parameter for clarity
Improve: Documentation for MuteAllSounds script function
Improve: Add national flag icons in front of each language option
Improve: Deletion during upgrading cancels instead of scraps, with full refund

Optimise: Game start up time

Remove: Minimum device scrap time


Fix: Corrupt dynamic pack files cause exit at main menu
Fix: Crash when a teamId without resources is passed to some script functions
Fix: Crash when DestroyProjectile is used on structural nodes
Fix: Cursor device state icons are incorrect in some cases
Fix: Deleting many foundations gains additional metal
Fix: GetProjectileAntiAirHitpoints only returns the initial value
Fix: Polish flag is inverted
Fix: Reload progress is not restored when an upgrade is cancelled
Fix: Upgrade cost is avoided when downgrade is cancelled and there are insufficient resources
Fix: Upgrade icon sometimes shows when cancelling scrap
Fix: Weapon overheating can be circumvented by upgrading and then cancelling


Fix: Crash when GetRayHitMaterialSaveName is used after the previously hit device has been destroyed
Fix: Crash when an invalid teamId is passed to script functions which use GetDeviceType
Fix: Crash when using the lobby context menu on a disconnected client
Fix: Device selection is lost when cancelling upgrade
Fix: Workshop maps are sometimes inaccessible to the fort select screen, causing desyncs

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If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps/mods, and receive advance notice of upcoming events.

Cheers,
EWG

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Congratulations to team 974, winners of Tournament XXX!

Julian, Nils, and butterdog constructed gigantic shared bases to deliver precision attacks on their way to winning Tournament XXX. Taking full advantage of co-op on elimination, removing cores only made them stronger and allowed their fort to grow. Then they employed focused firepower to hammer away at weak spots.


974 finding a fatal weakness in Die Kupferstecher's base

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In 2nd, Alesio, I am myself, and klaualles on team Die Kupferstecher put on a dazzling display of map control and weapon variety. With ever present snipers, and a dizzying mix of cannons, lasers, mortars, missiles, and magnabeams they applied constant pressure from every angle.


Die Kupferstecher circumventing the defenses of team Pizza

---

And in 3rd, EtaN, Der Benzinpreisvergleicher, and Taichu showcased superb base designs and individual prowess.


Everything is on fire courtesy of team Pizza

---

974

• Julian
  
• Nils
  
• butterdog

Die Kupferstecher

• Alesio
  
• I am myself
  
• klaualles

Pizza

• EtaN
  
• Der Benzinpreisvergleicher
  
• Taichu

Prizes split equally between teammates

Tournament XXX Bracket


Thank you to hosts and casters Project Incursus and Salzwerk

Tournament replays are available in the Featured tab of the Replays menu in-game, and tournament videos are available below.

English cast with Project Incursus



German cast with Salzwerk



If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps/mods, and receive advance notice of upcoming events.


Cheers,
EWG

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Congratulations to Poolboy, winner of Season 33. Having thrice finished second and countless top 20 appearances, this marks their first time topping the rankings. Finishing in 2nd is EtaN, perennial winner and reigning FPL champion with partner Dranistian. And in 3rd taking Bronze is klaualles, ending their 2 season winning streak but retaining a spot on the podium.


While the top 3 places receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze, every player finishing within the top 20 will receive a Season 30 Medal. Congratulations to all medalists as well!

Season 33 trivia:

• Balls had both the longest and shortest matches of the season (and for the same reason)
  
• Shockenaugh came into their own with the expansion friendly map pool
  
• Missiles also made a comeback as a result of all the available real estate
  
• The evolution of core swings has continued unabated, some of which even work

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1. Poolboy
   
2. EtaN
   
3. klaualles
   
4. Not Poolboy
   
5. [WTF] Domy
   
6. Hallrassy
   
7. Nainibrok
   
8. 9tr
   
9. Nils
   
10. margarinedog
    
11. budderdo
    
12. I am myself
    
13. greatwo
    
14. brainboomxs
    
15. salty snekko
    
16. Julian
    
17. Snipper Sniffer
    
18. Cloud
    
19. ニャミ•キメラ
    
20. BaumstaenderTTV

---

Season 34 is already underway and will run through March 31st. This season's map pool consists of the following battlefields:

• Balls
  
• Elephants
  
• Hillfort
  
• Pillars
  
• Split
  
• Vanilla

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If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps/mods, and receive advance notice of upcoming events.

---

Cheers,
EWG

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Are you ready for Season 5 of the Forts Pro League? Now with massively increased prizes! Everyone can sign up for the FPL group stage and registration opens on February 8th! Register your team on Challengermode and Discord following the instructions below.

Teams will be seeded into groups of 8 where they will face each other in a round robin format, with one match being played per week. Teams may schedule their match at any time during the week, but if they have not played by Sunday at 8pm utc that given week they must contact a league official on Discord and make themselves available to play their match at this time. Any team not present will forfeit that match. At the end of this stage, the teams with the most points in each group will qualify for the playoffs, where the ultimate winners will be decided.

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When is it going to happen?

Signups for the FPL begin on February 8th and end on March 8th at 8pm utc. Opening day is March 15th at 8pm utc. The playoffs (tentatively scheduled for May 10th 8pm utc) will be held once the round robin stage has concluded.
If you want to participate, make sure you are free on May 10th as well as the two weekends afterwards.

How to participate?

Everyone is eligible to sign up for the group stage of the FPL!

First, see the Forts Pro League Official Rules

Then form your team of two and meet the following requirements. Player names must be clearly readable and match on Discord, Steam and Challengermode. The maximum length is 16 characters for teams. Players are expected to use this name when playing all of their matches. Offensive player or team names and profile images will result in disqualification from the league. Players currently under ranked or multiplayer bans are also ineligible to compete.

Team tags must be 3 characters or less.

Team logos should be 128x128 pixels. Offensive images will result in disqualification.

How to join the Forts Pro League:

• Make sure you have created your team on Challengermode;
  
• Message @42scientist or @taichuz on the Forts Official Discord with your Team name, composition, team tag and logo. Also include the Discord and Steam ID's of you and your teammate.;
  
• You will then receive an invitation for your team to join the League event;
  
• Accept the invitation on Challengermode;
  
• You are now officially registered in the Forts Pro League!

Sample entry with Team and Logo



What are the prizes for Pro League?

• 1st place: $500
  
  
• 2nd place: $250
  
  
• 3rd place: $100

Prizes will be split equally between team members and distributed as a Steam gift card.

• FPL Season 5 at Challengermode
  
  
• The Official Forts Discord

For more information on rules and match scheduling please read the Forts Pro League Official Rules

Earthwork Games reserves the right to make changes to this event as needed


Project Incursus

Salzwerk

Communauté Forts FR (Gusteagle & Pile Rouillée)

Cheers,
EWG

G'day Forts fans!

In this update we introduce four new 3v3 maps, including the winners of the recent Forts Map Making Contest 6. Input responsiveness is improved, and we've tweaked camera controls for better feel. There are also a few balance changes to commanders, and a bunch of bug fixes.

---

Add: 3v3 version of the Vanilla map
Add: Winning maps from Forts Map Making Contest 6 (Shattered Rift, Mountain King 3v3 and Regicide 3v3)

Balance: (Pinchfist) Removed the 5% resource gathering boost
Balance: (Overdrive) Increase GaugeDamageHitpoints from 4050 to 4860 (+20%)
Balance: (Firebird active) Machineguns take 33% less time to overheat

Improve: Reduce FramesPerTick from 4 to 2 to increase input responsiveness
Improve: Zooming in step is equal to zooming out step by default

Fix: (Crevice) Some foundations not exactly aligned to grid
Fix: (Crevice) Team 2 can't fire missiles down from ball
Fix: Clients who have left still appear in the player list UI
Fix: Damage device smoke is drawn under terrain
Fix: Device SaveName is not always set during sprite loading of device scripts
Fix: device.lua and weapon.lua is not applied during sprite loading of device scripts
Fix: Devices can be deleted rapidly after upgrade
Fix: Directional camera controls sluggish while zooming in
Fix: FireWeapon doesn't use correct fire cost when using Eagle Eye's ReloadBack mechanic
Fix: Forfeiting in the ranked commander selection screen allows the same map to be repeated
Fix: Freeze or desync caused by corrupt packets
Fix: Host crash when a player joins and the world state is very complex
Fix: If host sets 'lock forts' while clients are in fort select screen, they can still select their forts
Fix: Map preview generation inconsistent when you start from the team 2 fort
Fix: Map preview generation is inconsistent with vulkan
Fix: Map requires Moonshot when included mod only supports it
Fix: Moonshine generates a warning about MaxLinkLength being out of bounds
Fix: Moonshot environments not visible or have no preview
Fix: Players with previous bans missing the Continue button if EnableBanWarning = false
Fix: PNG files can cause a crash when using Vulkan.
Fix: Resetting tips in game causes lua errors
Fix: Sniper laser sight can pass through terrain
Fix: Unable to extrude Moonshine shield to full extent
Fix: Warhead trail (flying) sounds were higher priority than explosion sounds, causing explosions not to be heard when spammed by the crazy modders (yes, I'm looking at you DeltaWing)

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Fix: (Vanilla 3v3) Buggy windfloor and surface texture is missing at back right (replays from previous build will desync)
Fix: (Vulkan) Screenshots are not included in crash reports
Fix: Ranked desync reports are not uploaded
Fix: Failure to connect to a lobby always shows the timeout or corruption message

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Fix: Join desync when host CPU is under heavy load
Fix: Latest ranked season medals appear as white squares
Fix: Vanilla 3v3 map can be opened by the map editor
Fix: Error messages from ranked match are not shown until player returns to the lobby select screen

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If you haven't already, join our Forts Official Discord server to connect with other players, share strategies, create maps/mods, and receive advance notice of upcoming events.

Cheers,
EWG

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Right after the previous Map Making Competition, we'd like to move swiftly towards our next event! It will be including some of the newest maps added from FMMC6, using the Moonshot DLC. XXX will be held on February 22nd at 8pm UTC, March 1st at 8pm UTC, and March 8th at 8pm UTC. This event will be 3v3 Co-op on Elimination with up to 16 teams competing on a variety of maps. Qualifiers will be Best of 1, Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Bronze match Best of 3. Due to time concerns, we cannot guarantee the Finals to be Best of 5 as of now.



Registration will open at 8pm UTC on the 1st of February. In order to register, every participant should ping 42scientist on the Forts Official Discord server with their challengermode team, and then be invited on Challengermode.

Hosts:
Project Incursus
Salzwerk

---

On to the details.


When will Registration open?

February 1st 2025 at

• 12pm PST (West Coast USA)
  
• 3pm EST (East Coast USA)
  
• 8pm GMT (London)
  
• 9pm CET (France, Germany)
  
• 7am February 2nd AEDT (Brisbane Australia)

Entries submitted before this time will not be accepted. Once registration has opened the first 16 teams to submit a valid entry will be admitted. Valid entries must fulfill the requirements listed below under How do I join?


How will players be seeded?

Seedings will be based on past results in official events and ranked seasons.


Prizes?

The prize pool is as follows:

• 1st place $150
  
• 2nd place $75
  
• 3rd place $30

Prizes will be awarded in the form of Steam digital gift cards, divided equally between players of the team

If you have any additional questions please contact us on Discord.

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In order to participate, you must do the following...

• Join the Official FORTS Discord
  
• Your names on Discord, Steam and Challengermode must match
  
• Inappropriate competitor names/logos/team names will not be accepted
  
• Send a message on Discord to 42scientist with your CM team and Steam profiles, team name, tag, logo and team composition
  
• Team name must not exceed 16 characters, team tag must not exceed 3 letters
  
• Team logo must not exceed 100kb (ideally 128x128)
  
• Registration will not open until February 1st at 8pm UTC
  
• Maximum of 16 teams

• Tournament XXX starts February 22nd, 2025 at...
  
• 12am PST (West Coast USA)
  
• 3pm EST (East Coast USA)
  
• 8pm GMT (London)
  
• 9pm CET (France, Germany)
  
• 7am 23rd of February AEDT (Brisbane Australia)

• The FORTS Tournament lobby
  
• The Official FORTS Discord
  
• Challengermode Bracket

• 3v3 Co-op on Elimination
  
• Choose your own fort
  
• Single elimination
  
• 30 minute time limit
  
• Moonshot enabled
  
• Tons of Guns enabled
  
• Portals enabled
  
• Commanders enabled
  
• Commander bans
  
• Draws decided by core damage inflicted (total damage if core health is equal)
  
• Maximum of 16 teams
  
• Check-in on Discord starts 1 hour before tournament
  
• Late or absent players forfeit their matches
  
• Use of exploits or bugs for self-charging or any other purpose is strictly forbidden.
  
• Tactical sacrifices are allowed
  
• Earthwork Games reserves the right to make changes to this event as needed

Project Incursus
Salzwerk

• Vanilla 3v3
  
• mountain king
  
• shattered rift
  
• up & down 3v3
  
• pillars 3v3
  
• java 3v3

Cheers,
EWG

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Seeing how few 3v3 maps there are in the base game, we dedicated our 6th official map making competition to the creation of new 3v3 battlegrounds. Our judges and community were given the complicated task of selecting 3 finalists for the livestream out of the 20 entries received. Then after a series of showcase matches featuring a handful of pro players from the FPL, the winners were announced, with some intriguing maps...

Congratulations to Cronkhinator, winner of Forts Map Making Contest VI! Shattered Rift will be added into the base game map pool as will mountainKing 3v3 from runner-up Pile Rouillée and Regicide 3v3 from third place winner asca. These will make a fine addition to the currently lacking 3v3 pool.

The winners also receive Steam Gift cards of $100, $50, and $20 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

---

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3395338593
Shattered Rift was praised by all judges for its spectacular terrain, making extremely good use of the polluted preset to complement the shattered nature of it. On top of this, the trained eye will recognize the inclusion of a fort design from the hit map Crevice, also from Cronkhinator. Finally, the community vote made on our Forts Official Discord gave Shattered Rift a massive boost in ranking, allowing it to score far ahead of all the other competitors.

---

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3383184682
mountainKing takes inspiration from one of the most controversial ranked map, Hillfort, having a rather large obstacle preventing the bottom fort from shooting straight ahead, but improves on it with astonishing terrain design. The immaculate use of background terrain for mountains is so good, Incursus did not even notice the shadows were in fact built by hand. Combined with good base design, small props easter eggs and an edge from the community, Pile Rouillée takes 2nd place by the thinnest of margins.

---

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3389374617
asca's Regicide makes the very bold choice of combining regular gameplay with Capture Point features, using blast doors as a lock & key mechanism to protect the middle fort. Not only does it introduce this unique gameplay feature, but it also drowns the map with intricate easter eggs using meticulously placed props, that even animate for the observers, full with descriptions. Aside from this, Regicide utilises solid terrain and base design, letting it reach 3rd place.

---

Thank you also to our showcase players, Dranistian, Vykro, Pile Rouillée, Gusteagle, 42 scientist and the newest caster Cloud for field testing the maps live on stream.

And to our hosts and judges, EWG developers Blammo and Noze, Project Incursus, Salzwerk and event organizer 42 scientist, as well as our community on Discord.

Livestream VoD

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If you haven't already, join the Forts Official Discord server to find these and other maps and for more information on mapmaking, modding, strategy, and upcoming events.

Cheers,
EWG