Hi everybody, it’s time for an update.

In this dev blog it’s about both Winter scenery and a map showing you how we use some of our assets to create a wintery atmosphere. We also want to show you part of our development to recreate operation “Wintergewitter”.

When we consider winter scenery for the game, we want things to be realistic of course. The conditions and atmosphere can be found in photographs like the ones below.





These are good study material but they are static and there are no dynamic effects.
So we used some different sources to complement this and the result can be seen in these effects and textures (all work in progress):



What do you think about these? Do they meet your expectations?

While we are showing you this content, we can reveal that we created a scenario with it!
As you may know, Wintergewitter (winter storm) was an attempt by the German 4th Panzer Army under the command of Erich von Manstein to break the Stalingrad encirclement. On December 12th, 1942 when the German offensive started at Kotelnikovo, it was a surprise to Soviet high command and initial gains suggested the offensive might just be able to relieve the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. After some days, the Soviet 2nd Guards Army was sent to block the advance, which it did.


One of our campaign missions will take you to Gromoslavka, the village that marked the end of the German advance - only 48 kilometres from Stalingrad.

The 6th Panzer division, under the command of Colonel von Hünersdorff, reaches the River Mishkova near Gromoslavka. There, the Germans run into the Second Guards Army streaming south across the bridge. Hünersdorff’s tanks are low on fuel and face a numerically superior enemy. Despite this, he deploys his tanks to engage the Soviets.
As the German tanks and assault guns blaze away at the Soviet positions, a Panzergrenadier Regiment crosses the Myshkova and secures a small bridgehead. Hünersdorff quickly sends reinforcements across and expands the German hold to a perimeter of just a few kilometres.
The bitter fighting for the expansion of the bridgehead lasts from December 20 to 22.

The situation that develops makes further German attack risky; the connection to the bridgehead is under severe pressure and besides that, the situation to the rear of the battleground (south of Mishkova) is anything but stable.

This is as far as “Wintergewitter” will get.
The 6th Panzer Army is not only blocked by the 2nd Guards Army after crossing the Mishkova, but there are all kinds of signs that the Soviets are readying themselves for a counterattack. German high command calls off Wintergewitter on the 23rd of December and all hope of rescue or relief for the German soldier in Stalingrad has now gone.


HD link
The Second Guards Army crosses the Mishkova river by night to engage the German attack. Hours later, the bridge is fiercely disputed.


HD link
After the battle at the south part of the village, the fight for the Gromoslavka bridge takes centre stage.


HD link
Gromoslavka. Note the icicles on the roof edges.

Did you know:

• One of the untold reasons why Wintergewitter failed was that the German reinforcements dispatched to von Manstein were exhausted from fighting in the “Rzhev Meat Grinder” near Moscow during Operation Mars. In this way, the heavy Soviet losses at Rzhev contributed significantly to the tactical victory at Stalingrad.
  
• Likewise, the quick gains made by von Manstein in the second week of the offensive were in part due to Soviet forces suffering from exhaustion after already having fought for weeks.

NOW: Back to our development, we have some questions for you!

1. When you look at these assets and imagine the wind blowing across at -30 celsius and the snow blowing in your face, can you feel it too?
   
2. Looking at the new map and scenario, what do you think?

We hope you liked today´s dev blog topic and we thank you for all your input that brings important infos to us to improve ourself and the game!

Hi everybody, it’s time for an update.

In this dev blog it’s about both Winter scenery and a map showing you how we use some of our assets to create a wintery atmosphere. We also want to show you part of our development to recreate operation “Wintergewitter”.

When we consider winter scenery for the game, we want things to be realistic of course. The conditions and atmosphere can be found in photographs like the ones below.





These are good study material but they are static and there are no dynamic effects.
So we used some different sources to complement this and the result can be seen in these effects and textures (all work in progress):



What do you think about these? Do they meet your expectations?

While we are showing you this content, we can reveal that we created a scenario with it!
As you may know, Wintergewitter (winter storm) was an attempt by the German 4th Panzer Army under the command of Erich von Manstein to break the Stalingrad encirclement. On December 12th, 1942 when the German offensive started at Kotelnikovo, it was a surprise to Soviet high command and initial gains suggested the offensive might just be able to relieve the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. After some days, the Soviet 2nd Guards Army was sent to block the advance, which it did.


One of our campaign missions will take you to Gromoslavka, the village that marked the end of the German advance - only 48 kilometres from Stalingrad.

The 6th Panzer division, under the command of Colonel von Hünersdorff, reaches the River Mishkova near Gromoslavka. There, the Germans run into the Second Guards Army streaming south across the bridge. Hünersdorff’s tanks are low on fuel and face a numerically superior enemy. Despite this, he deploys his tanks to engage the Soviets.
As the German tanks and assault guns blaze away at the Soviet positions, a Panzergrenadier Regiment crosses the Myshkova and secures a small bridgehead. Hünersdorff quickly sends reinforcements across and expands the German hold to a perimeter of just a few kilometres.
The bitter fighting for the expansion of the bridgehead lasts from December 20 to 22.

The situation that develops makes further German attack risky; the connection to the bridgehead is under severe pressure and besides that, the situation to the rear of the battleground (south of Mishkova) is anything but stable.

This is as far as “Wintergewitter” will get.
The 6th Panzer Army is not only blocked by the 2nd Guards Army after crossing the Mishkova, but there are all kinds of signs that the Soviets are readying themselves for a counterattack. German high command calls off Wintergewitter on the 23rd of December and all hope of rescue or relief for the German soldier in Stalingrad has now gone.


HD link
The Second Guards Army crosses the Mishkova river by night to engage the German attack. Hours later, the bridge is fiercely disputed.


HD link
After the battle at the south part of the village, the fight for the Gromoslavka bridge takes centre stage.


HD link
Gromoslavka. Note the icicles on the roof edges.

Did you know:

• One of the untold reasons why Wintergewitter failed was that the German reinforcements dispatched to von Manstein were exhausted from fighting in the “Rzhev Meat Grinder” near Moscow during Operation Mars. In this way, the heavy Soviet losses at Rzhev contributed significantly to the tactical victory at Stalingrad.
  
• Likewise, the quick gains made by von Manstein in the second week of the offensive were in part due to Soviet forces suffering from exhaustion after already having fought for weeks.

NOW: Back to our development, we have some questions for you!

1. When you look at these assets and imagine the wind blowing across at -30 celsius and the snow blowing in your face, can you feel it too?
   
2. Looking at the new map and scenario, what do you think?

We hope you liked today´s dev blog topic and we thank you for all your input that brings important infos to us to improve ourself and the game!

Hello everyone, time for an update!
We want to thank everybody for their useful input on the previous blog.
It helps us improve things every time, so keep it coming and we will take it all in.

These days mark the 75th anniversary of one of the most significant battles of the course of recent human military history.

So, 75 years after the fact, you can start re- enacting this historic battle and find out just why so much work has gone into it.
At the moment, about two thirds of the 3D modeling tasks related to the battle are finished and we are underway with scenarios and maps. As with every game, this proves to be quite a task but we are moving ahead as planned.

To commemorate the fact that the end of the battle is 75 years ago, we want to show you some progress that typifies the type of fighting that took place inside the city.
The fierceness of the battle and the circumstances under which it was fought led to horrendous casualties; The Axis suffered 628.000 total casualties and The USSR suffered 1.128.000 total casualties. By the end of the battle, many soldiers were suffering from illness and lice and were hardly capable of fighting.




We cannot model the lice and the illness, but we are working hard to make things rather realistic. As mentioned earlier, we’re working on maps and these have many buildings and wrecked buildings that players will want to use in- game; that’s why we want buildings to be usable and interactable also when they have been ruined. Check the screenies below.


HD link

Here’s a generic building with multiple floors:


HD link


You can see from this screenie that we intend to show the city in a rather damaged state. We want to offer you a battleground that looks and feels like the gates of hell and which is usable right down to almost every little corner, just like the real thing. We think that because of this, gameplay will feel more realistic. As you may know, the snipers played their part. Messengers did their dangerous job too. Engineers tried to lay phone lines all the time. Can you make yours survive? Will you know how to “hug the enemy”? Will your supplies reach you or the enemy? Can your artillery bomb the right spot?

Some rather iconic names from the battle will appear in- game, such as Pavlov’s house. Modeling these is quite a task because every bit that is known about them should be modeled correctly of course. In fact, Pavlov’s house was remodelled over two times already as we kept digging for documents about how it really looked. This is our “Fallen fighters square” (the map that you guys elected a while ago):


HD link

We have planned some more Stalingrad maps, more about those in a later blog.

Did you know?

• Pavlov’s house was named after the Soviet army sergeant that first occupied it with his men.
  
• When surviving Italian troops arrived back in Italy after the battle, the Fascist regime tried to hide them from public life as their appearance was considered too shocking.
  
• The Romanian R-2 tank, of which about 84 were serviceable at the time of Operation Uranus, was almost identical to the German Panzer 35(T) as it came from the same Czech production line in 1938. The battle proved that this type had to be relegated to training duty. Some 77 had been either destroyed or abandoned during the battle.

Hello everyone, time for an update!
We want to thank everybody for their useful input on the previous blog.
It helps us improve things every time, so keep it coming and we will take it all in.

These days mark the 75th anniversary of one of the most significant battles of the course of recent human military history.

So, 75 years after the fact, you can start re- enacting this historic battle and find out just why so much work has gone into it.
At the moment, about two thirds of the 3D modeling tasks related to the battle are finished and we are underway with scenarios and maps. As with every game, this proves to be quite a task but we are moving ahead as planned.

To commemorate the fact that the end of the battle is 75 years ago, we want to show you some progress that typifies the type of fighting that took place inside the city.
The fierceness of the battle and the circumstances under which it was fought led to horrendous casualties; The Axis suffered 628.000 total casualties and The USSR suffered 1.128.000 total casualties. By the end of the battle, many soldiers were suffering from illness and lice and were hardly capable of fighting.




We cannot model the lice and the illness, but we are working hard to make things rather realistic. As mentioned earlier, we’re working on maps and these have many buildings and wrecked buildings that players will want to use in- game; that’s why we want buildings to be usable and interactable also when they have been ruined. Check the screenies below.


HD link

Here’s a generic building with multiple floors:


HD link


You can see from this screenie that we intend to show the city in a rather damaged state. We want to offer you a battleground that looks and feels like the gates of hell and which is usable right down to almost every little corner, just like the real thing. We think that because of this, gameplay will feel more realistic. As you may know, the snipers played their part. Messengers did their dangerous job too. Engineers tried to lay phone lines all the time. Can you make yours survive? Will you know how to “hug the enemy”? Will your supplies reach you or the enemy? Can your artillery bomb the right spot?

Some rather iconic names from the battle will appear in- game, such as Pavlov’s house. Modeling these is quite a task because every bit that is known about them should be modeled correctly of course. In fact, Pavlov’s house was remodelled over two times already as we kept digging for documents about how it really looked. This is our “Fallen fighters square” (the map that you guys elected a while ago):


HD link

We have planned some more Stalingrad maps, more about those in a later blog.

Did you know?

• Pavlov’s house was named after the Soviet army sergeant that first occupied it with his men.
  
• When surviving Italian troops arrived back in Italy after the battle, the Fascist regime tried to hide them from public life as their appearance was considered too shocking.
  
• The Romanian R-2 tank, of which about 84 were serviceable at the time of Operation Uranus, was almost identical to the German Panzer 35(T) as it came from the same Czech production line in 1938. The battle proved that this type had to be relegated to training duty. Some 77 had been either destroyed or abandoned during the battle.

HD Link

Hello everybody! Thanks for solving our little challenge from the last dev blog! Today's topic regards the map ‘Dolgelin’, which we want to show you and talk about! This week’s devblog comes courtesy of the project’s level design lead.


The Battle of the Seelow Heights was one of the last offensives against the Third Reich before the capture of Berlin. The major battle, also known as the battle of the Oder, marked the end of the German eastern front. Amidst the center of the Soviet main attack lies stranded the village of Dolgelin, which was an important spot to reach the ridge of the Seelow Heights, a well prepared defensive position, which provided perfect cover for German troops to hold the frontline in the north of the area. In April 1945, the Soviets reached the road towards Dolgelin, and the Germans were hence commanded to blockade it at all costs.


HD Link


HD Link

Field Marshal Zhukov prepared a cunning tactic when attacking the Seelow Heights. Before dawn, a staggering array of searchlights would be switched on towards the germans. This was to clear the way for the Soviet infantry and also aimed to demoralise and scare the Germans. However, they were quickly switched off since they did not complete the roles they were intended to, instead outlining the silhouettes of the soviet infantry to the German trenches.

The road towards Dolgelin included two anti tank ditches, right and left of the road, as first defending line. The high and soft ground next to the street made it hard for Soviet tanks to outflank the dangerous position. They were forced to drive on the main pathways, which was making them easy targets for the Germans.


HD Link



With heavy casualties on both sides, the Soviets were able to breach the small sector, advancing into the little village, which was additionally strengthened with tank traps. In April 16, 1945, six Kingtigers belonging to the heavy SS Panzerabteilung 502 were used to defend the second defensive line at the crossroads (railway transition) at the village of Dolgelin. Soon enough they fought against 20 T-34s of the 1st Guards' Armored Brigade, which they were able to defeat. When it got dark, the heavy tanks were forced to retreat, because they lacked the immediate protection of their own infantry, and the cost of having lost such valuable tanks were too high to run the risk.


HD Link

The Germans, as it happened often in late war, used the special landscape (in this example the Seelow Heights) in their favor. The elevated ground was excellent for heavy anti-tank guns positions and to keep the overview over the battlefield, which leaded to big advantages within the fights.


HD Link


HD Link


In its area of attack, the Soviet 1st armored army deployed with about 600 tanks and self-propelled vehicles between the Seelow Heights line and Sachsendorf area (ca. 10 km). From a statistical point of view, this would mean that there was a soviet tank rolling each 10m along the front. The unit strength relation (men) of the whole Battle of Seelow was about 10:1.


HD Link

What are your impressions about the Dolgelin area? What points were most interesting for you? Is there something additionally that you like to know? Please share your ideas and discuss below in the comments.

Last but not least, we hope you had some excellent time during christmas and we wish you a great start to 2018, which will be the year so many of you are waiting for!

HD Link

Hello everybody! Thanks for solving our little challenge from the last dev blog! Today's topic regards the map ‘Dolgelin’, which we want to show you and talk about! This week’s devblog comes courtesy of the project’s level design lead.


The Battle of the Seelow Heights was one of the last offensives against the Third Reich before the capture of Berlin. The major battle, also known as the battle of the Oder, marked the end of the German eastern front. Amidst the center of the Soviet main attack lies stranded the village of Dolgelin, which was an important spot to reach the ridge of the Seelow Heights, a well prepared defensive position, which provided perfect cover for German troops to hold the frontline in the north of the area. In April 1945, the Soviets reached the road towards Dolgelin, and the Germans were hence commanded to blockade it at all costs.


HD Link


HD Link

Field Marshal Zhukov prepared a cunning tactic when attacking the Seelow Heights. Before dawn, a staggering array of searchlights would be switched on towards the germans. This was to clear the way for the Soviet infantry and also aimed to demoralise and scare the Germans. However, they were quickly switched off since they did not complete the roles they were intended to, instead outlining the silhouettes of the soviet infantry to the German trenches.

The road towards Dolgelin included two anti tank ditches, right and left of the road, as first defending line. The high and soft ground next to the street made it hard for Soviet tanks to outflank the dangerous position. They were forced to drive on the main pathways, which was making them easy targets for the Germans.


HD Link



With heavy casualties on both sides, the Soviets were able to breach the small sector, advancing into the little village, which was additionally strengthened with tank traps. In April 16, 1945, six Kingtigers belonging to the heavy SS Panzerabteilung 502 were used to defend the second defensive line at the crossroads (railway transition) at the village of Dolgelin. Soon enough they fought against 20 T-34s of the 1st Guards' Armored Brigade, which they were able to defeat. When it got dark, the heavy tanks were forced to retreat, because they lacked the immediate protection of their own infantry, and the cost of having lost such valuable tanks were too high to run the risk.


HD Link

The Germans, as it happened often in late war, used the special landscape (in this example the Seelow Heights) in their favor. The elevated ground was excellent for heavy anti-tank guns positions and to keep the overview over the battlefield, which leaded to big advantages within the fights.


HD Link


HD Link


In its area of attack, the Soviet 1st armored army deployed with about 600 tanks and self-propelled vehicles between the Seelow Heights line and Sachsendorf area (ca. 10 km). From a statistical point of view, this would mean that there was a soviet tank rolling each 10m along the front. The unit strength relation (men) of the whole Battle of Seelow was about 10:1.


HD Link

What are your impressions about the Dolgelin area? What points were most interesting for you? Is there something additionally that you like to know? Please share your ideas and discuss below in the comments.

Last but not least, we hope you had some excellent time during christmas and we wish you a great start to 2018, which will be the year so many of you are waiting for!

HD Link

Today, we have a short dev blog as we have been extremely busy in our personal lives and developing Gates of Hell.

This week, our modeling team finished the Sturmhaubitze 42 Ausf. G and handed it off to the game designers who fully imported it into the GEM engine. Check one more vehicle as 100% complete.



https://youtu.be/RxzuGP-FIpc

This StuH in the video is located near Dolgelin (battle of seelow), one of the last defence points that russians had to break before capturing Berlin. You may be able to guess where he is on google maps. Quick hint: There is a hill beside a tank trap line which this StuH used to wait for the enemy. Good luck on finding the place! Share your ideas in the comments. If you found it, we will present the full map with more interest spots to see!

"Dolgelin in Google Maps"


The SU-76 has been modelled and is in the texturing process, and the KV-1 is also coming soon!

HD Link

Today, we have a short dev blog as we have been extremely busy in our personal lives and developing Gates of Hell.

This week, our modeling team finished the Sturmhaubitze 42 Ausf. G and handed it off to the game designers who fully imported it into the GEM engine. Check one more vehicle as 100% complete.



https://youtu.be/RxzuGP-FIpc

This StuH in the video is located near Dolgelin (battle of seelow), one of the last defence points that russians had to break before capturing Berlin. You may be able to guess where he is on google maps. Quick hint: There is a hill beside a tank trap line which this StuH used to wait for the enemy. Good luck on finding the place! Share your ideas in the comments. If you found it, we will present the full map with more interest spots to see!

"Dolgelin in Google Maps"


The SU-76 has been modelled and is in the texturing process, and the KV-1 is also coming soon!

HD Link

Some time ago we showed you a model, which as you correctly guessed, is the french Panhard 178 adopted into the Wehrmacht as the Sd.kfz. 204 (f)

The (f) designation refers to a french-adapted vehicle in service. This letter seen amongst many German vehicle designations represents the country of origin.


Why did we design this vehicle? Well, for three main reasons:

1. It's faster than most other armoured cars and has a very interesting gun, which makes it a unique addition.
   
   
2. It can be converted to a railroad patrol car with the rail-track wheels observed in the renders, this is again something unique that we can use in many singleplayer scenarios.
   
   
3. We plan to add the French Army in the far future, so with little effort this will quickly be adapted to the french unit roster just as well, and pay honour to their former owners. With this same principle you can expect more US/British/etc lend lease vehicles coming in the release!

HD Link


HD Link

HD Link

Some time ago we showed you a model, which as you correctly guessed, is the french Panhard 178 adopted into the Wehrmacht as the Sd.kfz. 204 (f)

The (f) designation refers to a french-adapted vehicle in service. This letter seen amongst many German vehicle designations represents the country of origin.


Why did we design this vehicle? Well, for three main reasons:

1. It's faster than most other armoured cars and has a very interesting gun, which makes it a unique addition.
   
   
2. It can be converted to a railroad patrol car with the rail-track wheels observed in the renders, this is again something unique that we can use in many singleplayer scenarios.
   
   
3. We plan to add the French Army in the far future, so with little effort this will quickly be adapted to the french unit roster just as well, and pay honour to their former owners. With this same principle you can expect more US/British/etc lend lease vehicles coming in the release!

HD Link


HD Link