Dec 20, 2019

Call to Arms - Instinct

Great news everyone!

The German campaign has been released for all Season Pass owners. Fight your way with the German army and cease a deadly conflict in Eastern Europe. Ten new and exciting missions await you!

Note: the missions are currently only available in English and without VO. More languages will be added soon. This way we can listen to your feedback and still implement it.

Of course there is also new content for everyone and a new update has just been released. ːcta_emo1ː

German Campaign

https://store.steampowered.com/app/302670/Call_to_Arms/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/561140/Call_to_Arms__Season_Pass/

Holiday Spirit meets Call to Arms. We added a very special treat for you this year, get epic value for money and we will donate either one tree to help save the environment, or one Euro to an organization founded by members of the gaming industry that helps people in need. Enjoy new items at a great price and help us doing good!

Nov 26, 2019

Developers Update #34

Call to Arms - Instinct

Welcome to our 34th developers update for Call to Arms.

We are pleased that the new update has been well received and we see a big spike in player activity! Only with a great community an innovative game like this can be successful and Call to Arms is turning out to be doing pretty well. This couldn’t be accomplished without your help. So, thank you very much!

We are devoted to listen to your feedback, and we are eager to provide solutions as soon as possible.

Now let’s talk about how we plan to improve this game even further.

Conquest

We believe the Conquest gamemode has lots of potential and we have a great vision for it. We cannot promise it just now, but we can imagine turning this into some pvp gamemode as well. Wouldn’t that be cool? But aside from that, we will enhance the singleplayer / cooperative experience for you with several steps presented below.

Strategic Map
We are planning to introduce a strategic map. There you can choose your next targets and battle the AI for total map control. A lot of players have asked for this feature and we are listening. It will take a couple of months to complete, but it’s shaping up nicely already.

Gamemode Variety
We plan to introduce an attacker versus defender gamemode for Conquest. Defenders will already have some map control and get supported by allied AI. For the future, we also plan to introduce bonus objectives and special missions that deliver an additional variation. We understand, that the current gamemode can be become repetitive, so we are already working on solutions for this.

Cooperative
Some players want to be able to plan beforehand, who gets what units on match start. Our take on this is to create an option to pre-assign units in your unit stages. This way, you don’t have to bother assigning units to your friends on match start, because they will be automatically distributed to your coop mate based on your previous set-up. You can still share units via the coop unit assign feature, but at least the main assignments will be automated.

New Netcode

As we mentioned in the past, we are working on an entirely new netcode. It already works and we are now in the process of implementing all features to be synchronized through a server model, as well as internal testing. We plan to have a playable beta test later this year! Once it is completed, out of syncs are a thing of the past and online performance will enhance significantly. After that, we want to move on with match-making and ranked games.

Airstrikes

A lot of players mentioned how much they liked the special unit branch in our previous games. We will have a return of the special units menu and introduce multiplayer airstrikes for the first time in Call to Arms. It’s also a good step to increase the faction diversity and replayability.

German Campaign

The German campaign has been completed and we are now going through internal QA and prepare it for release. This is exciting and something many of you have waited for a long time!

Of course, we are also working on many more improvements, fixes and new features. Call to Arms has a bright future ahead and we thank you for joining us on this ride!

Don’t miss out on the Steam Autumn Sale!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/302670/Call_to_Arms/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/561140/Call_to_Arms__Season_Pass/

Sep 20, 2019

Free version to be discontinued and new update coming!

Call to Arms - Instinct

Hello everyone,

we will discontinue the option to get the free version for Call to Arms next month. If you own the free version, you will still be able to play the game. The free version will not be removed from your library, unless you do so by yourself. If you want the free version, you should hurry and collect it from the store page now. However, once you removed the game from your library, you will not be able to receive the free version in the future anymore.

All purchase editions remain unaffected.

Major new update

We are working on a major update for Call to Arms that brings in more singleplayer variety to you, by adding a conquest mode versus AI. The new feature is for free, but the factions you can choose are linked to the packages you own. Basic Edition allows you to choose between USA and GRM, Deluxe adds Rebels and UAF, Ultimate adds Germany and Russia. It’s the same way singleplayer campaigns work.

We are also working on a lot of balance tweaks, especially in regards of the armor system. The update will contain multiple fixes and enhanced online stability until our new netcode is ready.

New Netcode

For months, we have been working on a new netcode that brings huge changes to the game. So far, we have been using peer2peer networking. The problem with this solution is, that all PCs must do all the same exact calculations and even more so, their results must be identical. The “out of syncs” are caused by different calculation results, which appear too often in 64-bit environments, because float values differ depending on the CPU architecture. Furthermore, it is also likely that some changes in code can break the synchronization model very easily. Out of syncs are an annoying and a repeatedly appearing issue that we want to get rid from once and for all.

Therefore, we have been working very hard on a server to client architecture. The server will do all the important calculations and sends the results to clients, who then will just work with the server data.

Two massive benefits: out of syncs are a thing of the past and clients need to do much less work and therefore will see a significant boost in performance. The person with the fastest computer, can now host and make the life easier for everyone else. You will also not depend that much on the speed of other players and everyone is responsible for themselves, to have a proper connection to the server and to run the game at appropriate graphic settings. We completed our proof of concept and we will now move into the testing stage. We hope to have a public beta testing by the end of next month.

For the full netcode to be completed, we will need more time, because the singleplayer/cooperative code needs major re-design to work with servers.

Your opinion matters

We have been thinking about ways to involve the community more than before, as it is important for us to receive your feedback to improve the game. For this matter, we have created a new discord channel to do user opinion polls on specific matters:
https://discord.gg/HkGyEZh

This way, it will be easier for us to understand what topics matter to you the most and how decisive some change requests are. Based on your feedback, we can announce that the "old school" direct control will make a return to the game in the next update!

You can also drop us your in-depth feedback in this dedicated topic:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/302670/discussions/0/541907675762213439/

Thank you!

Jun 1, 2019

Developers Update 33

Call to Arms - Instinct

Welcome to our 33rd developers update for Call to Arms.

We have been quite silent lately, as we were working super hard on the next update for Call to Arms. As our communication has been far from perfect, while in the heat of pushing ahead with the many improvements we are working on, we decided to launch our official discord to public!

Our goal is to have a meeting point for similar minded people, who enjoy our games, share experiences and learn from each other. We want to improve our communication and share what we are doing and allow you to ask questions to developers more frequently.

This developers update is going to be rather technical, as we want to report on our performance improvements progress.

Below we have the current Steam build versus our latest developer build:

You will notice a performance boost of 10% on a simple, static scene, with no units around, even though it uses more advanced anti-aliasing methods.

In this scene, we disabled the distance clipping and you can see, that the performance difference increased to 60% boost. Simply put, we are able to render scenes on a much larger distance now and we are still working on enhancing it. You will also notice, that we render more objects in the newer builds and still have this huge gain.

This is how multi-threading has been improved and AI optimized:

As you can see, the FPS increase somewhere between 100-150%. This is an amazing result and we had to triple check it ourselves, as we couldn't believe it. But it's true and we are not done optimizing the game yet and we will deliver further improvements this year!

Of course, we weren't neglecting our other work and pushed hard to finalize the new factions, including the new weaponry you can expect in the upcoming update this summer, which will be really big. We also progressed well with the campaigns and will start the QA of the German campaign soon, which means it is on its way to release later this year.

Follow our developer website to stay updated on future sales, new games and upcoming updates!

Feb 9, 2019

Developers Update 32

Call to Arms - Instinct

Welcome to our 32nd developers update. After quite some time, we are back with some status report on our current work and planned work for the future.

There are two major tasks, that are our priority list at this point:

New campaigns

We are working very hard on finishing two new campaigns that are included in the Season Pass / Ultimate Edition. You will receive a total of 20 missions, 10 for Germany and 10 Russia. As before, they are fully scripted missions with varying mission objectives and gameplay. We tried to improve upon the first missions, by creating larger scenarios and with more units available at your disposal. Also, we moved most missions away from the Middle Eastern setting and provide you some interesting and fresh Eastern European battlegrounds with new assets all over the place.

If you are into singleplayer content, we suggest upgrading your package during the sale!

Performance

The second key goal for this year, is to enhance the game performance significantly. 2019 will be all about optimization and improvements to the game engine. We are currently working on improving the multi-threading capabilities of the game engine. Furthermore, we go through each major feature, that is demanding, most of them are related to AI and think about ways to optimize them even more. We already made great progress here and we expect noticeable boosts from our current work. Not only do we want to improve performance, but we also want to improve AI behaviour. For instance AI will now have a peripheral vision and can notice units moving in from behind. If you are careful, you can still sneak up on enemy units, but it won't be that easy anymore.

Also, we aren’t quite happy with the multiplayer stability, since we switched to 64-bit. The CPU architecture isn’t all too compatible with fully synced multiplayer. Something that put us in a pretty bad spot, as 32-bit is stable netcode wise, but unstable due to the memory load, while 64-bit offers more than enough potential memory usage, but the synchronization model is not fully in sync and causes OOS. To solve this, we are moving the netcode from a fully synced model between clients, to a server to client architecture. Step by step, the server will handle more and the clients less, which should also help gaining performance for clients and fixes OOS related issues, as the server makes sure everyone has the same data. At one point, it could also possibly allow us to have a full server model, including dedicated servers.

For solo skirmish players, we are also working on a feature, that allows you to play against AI, as if you were playing in singleplayer. All netcode related implications will be removed and you have a perfectly smooth game, just like in singleplayer. Obviously, there are some limitations when playing in multiplayer, tick rates and similar, that limit the maximum possible performance. We think, if you play solo, these limitations shouldn’t apply to you and that's why we are working on this special case.

We are fixing the 1st person controls, that sometimes tend to warp, as the weapon aligns to the target. Furthermore, we plan to have the local aiming model, once we completed the server / client architecture. This will help significantly to minimize the input lag.

Overall, we expect the game to perform better and better throughout the coming months, which should be a noticeable quality improvement for everyone.

But we are also working on some nice little extras as well:

New water technology

The new water allows us to create different scenarios, with windy oceans, or calm lakes. Depending on the environment, the water will behave differently, look much better and realistic.

Match-making

We’ll soon start working on match-making, as we think, it’s time to create some competitive scene around Call to Arms. You will have an ELO-rank system in place, that helps to determine your skill level and rank you versus the best players. We will most likely support 1v1 and 2v2 at the beginning. Hoping for more, as we improve the system.

New units

Of course, we are also working on new units. Aside from enhanced weapon models, you will soon have mobile artillery at your disposal. We think these units will add another layer of strategic depth to Combined Arms matches and give defensive players new tools to fight with.

Tell us in the comments what units you would like to see in-game!

Follow our developer website to stay updated on future sales, new games and upcoming updates! We are also posting small updates and insights on game development on our newly set up Twitter account.

Sep 23, 2018

The Russians are coming!

Call to Arms - Instinct

We are getting much closer to the release of the two new factions. We are closing in on the public beta in full swing and expect the factions to be available for limited testing next month with the public beta to follow after. To be part of the public beta, which will last a few months, you require the Ultimate Edition. There are no limitations to play with foes or allies who use the new factions, if you don't own it. After the German and Russian campaign is available, the factions will become available to the Basic Edition of Call to Arms for free.

Today, we we will talk about the Russian Army. It was extremely important for us to make the Russians unique, even though a lot of Russian equipment is already present in the game. Therefore we invested a lot of time into researching Russian military equipment and picked a lot of interesting vehicles and small arms that will expand the options for you in-game drastically.

High tier Russian infantry consists of VDV, Russian paratroopers with solid training and experience. The famous Guards are combat proven and well experienced units, that leave no gap to comparable Western units and had to earn their ranks in previous battles. On top of it, we have the Special Forces, Specnaz, with a good mixture of close combat weapons and support utility. Unlike the Middle Eastern counterparts, Russian troops use modernized AK-74M and even more specialized versions in limited quantities such as the AK-12, AK-15, AK-103, AK-104 and AK-105 and improved machine guns such as the PKP Pecheng, or RPK-16. Russian Specnaz come with the light sniper VSS Vintorez, which makes their available strategies different to their Western counterparts and open up new gameplay options.

The unique supports units, include Grenadiers with 40mm grenade launchers, very similar the the American version. This is a nice addtion, as the Resistance alliance that had no such option before. The Anti-Material-Rifle team is an extremely nice choice to take out lightly armored vehicles from a save distance with the ASVK-M Kord-M. On top of all that, you will find the Stealth Sniper Team equipped with a VKS silenced sniper capable of doing serious damage while staying unnoticed. The Russian sniping abilities are extraordinary. Combined with their ability to dominate light support vehicles with cheaper, yet reliable options, is a great start for any battle.

We made sure, that trucks, light vehicles, armored cars all differ from existing factions and reflect the modernized Russian military of today and tomorrow. Needless to say, they come with a wide range of improvements.

The Russians have very potent and widely available anti-tank options, which are capable of dealing with most if not all Western tanks effectively. However, most Russian vehicles lack strong armor themselves, so they should be used with the necessary amount of care.

However, as most Russian equipment has been modernized over the last couple of years, even partially Soviet Era equipment has been improved with modern technology and the BTR-90, as well as the BRDM are solid backbones of your armored units.

The latest tank that is available for the Russian faction, is the T90M. It is the top of the line tank that the Resistance alliance can offer and delivers a strong message to Western units.

With the Ka-52, the Russians have a very powerful helicopter option and once again deliver nothing short of a bold statement to their foes.

This is it for now, stay ready for the upcoming beta. We are excited to see the new factions roll out soon. ːcta_emo1ː