Feb 5, 2021

Development update #96: Beta news and playtest demo

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront - Herr Flick

HD Link

Hi everyone, we hope you’re all doing well in these difficult times.
It’s time to shed some light on our beta, talk about a developer Q&A, and on the mechanics we’ve been testing. We also want to detail the way in which we intend to do our playtest demo.

Beta test

The closed beta test is running at the moment. Our testers are having a good time with it. Of course we’ve found a number of issues that we need to repair, and we’re correcting them systematically.
Besides checking for errors, we’ve asked our testers to focus on certain game mechanics. This is the short list:

medical rallying point (The rally point enables soldiers to be auto-resupplied with bandages to extend their survivability)
new healing mechanic (Not all of the fallen soldiers can be healed any more; soldiers squashed by tanks or hit by large munitions etc. can’t be revived)
refueling is semi- automated (refueling vehicles eliminate the need for micro- management)
shifted war time periods to make online play better (balancing)
many new engineering emplacements: foxholes, trenches have been added
repair mechanics are new (no unlimited repairs)
visualisation of vehicle component vulnerability reworked

HD Link
All screenshots in this update are from the “Partisans” SP mission

HD Link

Besides testing these, we’ve added extra MP maps, bringing the total to 16. We’ve also reviewed performance during the test which allowed for an optimization pass that got us about 20% performance improvement.

HD Link

Playtest particulars

As announced, we will add one step to our release plan: the playtest demo. Subscriptions are open! Join the test!! Click on the image below to enter the store page and subscribe as marked

Our playtest demo will happen as follows; when our closed beta ends, we will allow a first batch of players who own the basic version of CtA - or a higher version - to play a demo version of Gates of Hell for free; the content will be limited in volume and time. It is strongly recommended to read the FAQ about it first!
This may or may not be followed by some adjustments in the game, and after that we start to finalize a build for release.
We want to start this playtest in march, a precise date will be announced.
Steam will grant access at random! To have a chance of taking part,
You can request access right now on our store page.

HD Link

Community

We want to do a developer Q&A soon. Right now, we are working out the details. This may be via a developer screen share on Discord, or a livestream on Twitch (which you will also be able to follow on Discord).
For those who have been waiting for footage, here’s a bit of gameplay. This was done by one of our testers. With this footage we want to show you the look and feel of it. We hope you enjoy it, let us know what you think!

https://youtu.be/XD9MPmf10zY

Release

To us, a good quality product is more important than rushing it out, that's why we have chosen to do a closed beta with community veterans and an open beta via playtest for everyone to participate, before we set the release date in stone. Stay tuned.

HD Link

Did you know?

For finding out how we make content, you can check the blog posts on our Company website.
On Discord, we post screenshots & other media daily
During the Soviet winter counteroffensive of ‘41-42, the 4th Shock Army captured the town of Usvyaty, near Vitebsk. German army groups failed to notice their lines did not connect any more
The “Vitebsk gate” that resulted was a 20Km gap in the front line through which the red army could hand huge amounts of supplies to Partisans freely
The gap was “open” for 8 months, until late september 1942

Feb 4, 2021

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront BETA announced!

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront - Instinct

We are currently undergoing a closed beta test for Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront. As a next step we will launch an open beta via Steam playtest early March.

How will it work?

Simply sign up on the Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront store page. You will then get notified once you have been invited to join the beta. First come, first serve.

When will it start?

Small numbers may join later this month, the full beta will start early March. Once the beta starts, we will invite a certain amount of players per day, so make sure to be one of the first to sign up.

What are the requirements?

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront is a DLC for Call to Arms and requires you to own at least the Basic Edition. No further requirements.

Is the beta free?

Yes.

Will I keep the DLC?

No, you will have to purchase the full version later, if you want to have it.

How long will it last?

We will run it for around a week, depending on the feedback, we may or may not run another round later.

What’s the purpose of the playtest?

We want to collect tons of feedback from you! It is really important to us, that as many of you as possible are satisfied with the final experience. Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront is developed by a very passionate indie team with the support of us as an experienced developer. Made by people from our community for our community and therefore we want to take the time we need to create something you really deserve.

With your help we will be able to shape this game into something bigger and better!

What is Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront?

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront is a WW2 experience based on the Call to Arms engine! Experience 64-bit and OOS free netcode. 2 new handcrafted campaigns, as well as the latest version of Conquest (dynamic campaign). The multiplayer experience will feature doctrines and different periods of war. Furthermore, highly detailed and very realistic gameplay is waiting for you with an emphasizes on classic controls and advanced penetration mechanics. Lots of new things to discover, as almost no detail has been spared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD0o9xC8lkM

https://store.steampowered.com/app/400750/Call_to_Arms__Gates_of_Hell_Ostfront/

Follow our developer website to stay updated on future sales, new games and updates. You may also want to join our official Discord to stay in touch with us more closely!

Dec 26, 2020

Development update #95: Beta and Discord

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront - Herr Flick

HD Link

Hello everyone, we have a lot of news, right at the end of a remarkable year!
We have news about our closed beta, about our Discord server and release.

Beta test

Our beta is now in progress, and the testers have started to have their first and thorough look at our game.
Since our beta is a closed beta the testers will not be publishing any videos or images, but we will record some footage in- game as we go along and show it to you soon.

HD Link

Discord server

As promised a long time ago, the beta test is also the “go” for our discord server.
This is where we intend to keep you entertained with a meta game and more images than we did before on social media, we will also continue to do so after the release of CtA: Gates of Hell. We may be doing some developer Q&A as well. Here’s the invite: GoH Discord

Be sure to check the rules, and have a good time!

HD Link

Release

We have a releasable product at the moment, just before the end of the year. Q4 has passed and we can’t release before the year is out, but our beta is under way and we have great support from DMS. They will be supporting us to release as soon as we can. On the way to release, they will help us to provide some very nice possibilities; for instance, we intend to offer you an early opportunity to play a demo-version of the game for free! We plan to do a random player access "free to play" test. This will be specified soon, and we plan to allow quite a number of players access to it. As mentioned, the closed beta test is also playing out at the moment. The beta will give us a very honest first impression, and the feedback from that will make for a “warmer” experience for you, the future players. This combination of beta and FtP tests may give us a few bugs to repair. Please stand by for a release date.

HD Link

Did you know?

GoH will feature quotes by famous ww2 people, instead of tips.
Against zero budget, over 30.000 man-hours have been invested
Blog Posts on our methods & the connections to ww2 history can be found on our company website

That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by, we hope you liked this update, and as always you’re welcome to let us know what you think in the comments section. We will be back with more news soon!

P.S.: it's Steam sale. Check our publisher's great offers!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/302670/Call_to_Arms/?curator_clanid=1560170

Nov 27, 2020

Development update #94: Getting closer

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront - Herr Flick

HD Link

Hi everyone, here’s another update on our project. We’re getting ever closer to release and this update will tell you a bit more about what it will contain.
So what’s in store? We have goodies to show you, and progress to report. Last but not least, we want to show you a briefing. Keep reading!

Beta testing

Our beta test will be very short compared to other beta tests, because of the way we set it up (with a relatively small group of highly experienced and qualified testers). This is now right on the doorstep and we will update you as soon as we can about any dates we set (including release).

HD Link

Doctrines

The beta will be about a new feature as well. This multiplayer feature will offer special units that can be called in when you start your battle. They are related to the time period of the war to keep a balance in that respect; They don’t force odd situations, like facing an IS-2 with a Panzer II or anything like that. Doctrines are meant to give you a choice of special units that suit your playstyle and your tactical ideas. Before starting your battle, you can choose (per faction and per war period) from 2 to 3 different doctrines, so the choice you make depends on how you want to fight at that moment.
Let’s say you want to have an attacking, aggressive tactic and you’re playing an early war scenario. You could choose “Breach and secure” to get special units that help break defensive positions. You could also do the opposite if you want to take a passive aggressive stance. In that case you choose “Not one step back”.
All in all there are 4 types of doctrine: offensive, defensive, support and all- round. Of these, 2 or 3 are available for every faction, depending on the war period. There are 3 war periods; early, mid and late. Doing the math, that means we have a maximum of 9 different doctrines per faction. In the initial release there’s a total of 16 doctrines, which will be expanded to 18 later.

HD Link

Mission briefings

Playing Call to Arms - Gates of Hell should be fun, and at the same time - like we have said from the beginning - we want to make it as immersive as we possibly can.
One element that we feel will contribute to the immersion is an introduction video for each SP mission. These will show you where the mission takes place, and its meaning in the grand scheme of things; we use the historical situation to get you up to speed for each mission.
We did a try- out a while ago and decided, based on this video, that we will go ahead and do all the missions like this:

https://youtu.be/4XDDwxZf7x0
We think it will contribute to the immersion, do you agree?

HD Link

Did you know?

Roald Dahl, the author of “Charlie and the chocolate factory”, was a RAF fighter pilot in WW2, fighting in North Africa and over Greece.
After injury forced him to stop flying in 1941, he became a spy for MI6 in the USA.
Antoine de Saint- Exupéry, author of “The little prince”, was a fighter pilot too. He disappeared in 1944; the wreck of his P-38 was found in 1998.
He was probably shot down by Horst Rippert of the Luftwaffe - a fan, who had read his books in the early 1930s.
Kurt Vonnegut, author of “Slaughterhouse five”, fought in the US army and was taken prisoner during the battle of the bulge. He survived the bombing of Dresden as a PoW.
Arthur C. Clarke, author of “2001 - A Space Odyssey” was a RAF pilot and technician in WW2. He helped develop radar systems, among which GCA radar.

That’s it for this month. Thanks for your continued interest & see you next month!

Oct 23, 2020

Development update #93: Assorted news

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront - Herr Flick

HD link

Hi, everyone, time for another update.
In this one we want to show you some more of the content you will find in our initial release.
Most of you will know that the background of our campaign missions is always a historical battle, and that we use the actual location for our maps.
Since we will have a dynamic campaign generator as well, it’s important to note that our DCG maps are an exception to that. But now, on to the SP mission we want to show today, which plays out in late 1943 when the weather becomes wintery.

The Wotan line in WW2

Following the battle of Kursk, a change of strategy seemed to be necessary for the German army. Abandoning the “blitzkrieg” idea, the germans wanted to switch to a strategy that would lead to a battle of attrition, assuming the Soviets could be stopped by a strong defensive line, and that the losses that the red army would suffer when attacking the line would exhaust their offensive capacity. A construction order was signed on august 12th, 1943, and work began on a line that spanned from the Finnish gulf to the Crimea.
The northern part of the line was called the “Panther- Stellung” and the southern part was called the “Wotan- Stellung”. It ran along the Dnieper river for most of its length.

In retrospect, the fate of this defensive position seems obvious. The lack of building capacity and suited materials led to mediocrity and in the fall of 1943, the red army was already on the Dnieper and threatened to break through the line in several places. In late 1943 and early 1944, several breeches appeared and many german defensive positions found themselves threatened on their flanks. In many places they successfully repelled attack after attack but in other places the sheer weight of the soviet attacks could not be checked.

This is how Newsweek magazine presented the situation at the Wotan line in their december 6, 1943 issue

The mission in Gates of Hell
November/ December 1943. You command a small part of Heeresgruppe Mitte. You overlook a German defensive position just west of Gomel, and you are about to find out how many soviet units have already crossed the Dnieper river.
The weather is awful; the wind blows the snow around, chilling your men to the bone, and visibility is not very good either.
At first, you feel confident that your position can withstand any infantry attack from the east; you are fortunate to have the 20th panzer division on your south flank. But then, the red army attacks in force.
From the northeast, wave after wave of enemy infantry comes forward; the russian 3rd army is not short of anything and it shows!
Even if your position has no real bunkers, you should be able to fend off the waves of infantry. Your fate now depends on your ability to keep your troops supplied and keep your enemy out of your trenches.
Then, a familiar sound is heard from the southeast. Tanks! A first wave of T-34’s appears at speed, coming for your part of the line. You need assistance immediately! After a call to the 20th panzer, some tanks are put under your direct command. But how to stop an enemy that outnumbers you?
Well, that is for you to answer when you play this mission. If you want to get the historical outcome (defensive success) you’ll have to give it everything you’ve got!
We included some screenshots from this mission, what do you think of these?

HD link
Our buildings are destructible, allowing positions like this to be made

HD link
muzzle flashes last under 0,2 sec.

HD link
Listen to the sergeant’s orders and prepare for the attack

HD link
If needed, you can hide your StuG in a smokescreen

HD link
The enemy doesn’t throw snowballs

Doctrines

On to a completely different topic, one that has been a wish we have had ever since we started developing. This was one of our long- time goals, and now it’s complete; the addition of “doctrines”. This feature will be available in multiplayer.
What we call doctrines is a way of allowing each player to make choices based on their personal approach to doing battle.
Doctrines are sets of equipment that come as extras (special units), on top of your regular equipment. Depending on the task you see ahead, or based on your personal tactical preferences, you can choose a set of goodies to help win your battle.
They change depending on the historical period of your game. Examples of these doctrines are “breakthrough”, “order of the red banner”, “lend lease equipment” and the like. Each of these has its own set of units that will fit the role.
In a next update we will specify these doctrines, of which we have more than a dozen in the Ostfront release.

HD link
Screenshot from the Glushkovo mission, see the note below.

Did you know?

The Elefant/ Ferdinand tank destroyer used the hulls that had been built for Porsche’s failed Tiger I design.
The first KV-85s appeared at the front in september 1943, but production was halted after 148 had been built, just 3 months later.
The KV series of tanks was named after Kliment Voroshilov, the defence kommissar and general who had commanded the red army in the winter war (after which he was made deputy premier of cultural matters).
The T-34 was still in use in no less than 9 countries in 2018.
The BT series of tanks followed a first modification (BT-2) of the american Christie tank, which was refused by the US army.
Gates of Hell campaign missions are based on real locations. Check out how our Glushkovo minimap compares to satellite imagery HERE.

That’s it for now, thanks for stopping by & thanks for your continued support!

Sep 25, 2020

Devblog #92: Testing times

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront - Herr Flick

Hi everyone, we’re back and there’s a lot going on at the moment, so let’s have a look at what we’ve been up to. We’ve also promised to give you more schedule info, so here we go.
In general, we are progressing very well at the moment.

General

Our previous update was followed by our trailer, and we can only be pleased by the awareness and the positive reactions it generated.
Apart from that it’s been business as usual, so we’ve been very productive in the past weeks. A lot of work was done on the UI, while more new animations, new voice lines are being added and new DCG maps have been finished.
With the DMS support we get, it’s been a smooth ride and a real co-production so far.
Some examples:

New Pak40 model is ready and in the texturing stage after the old one was discontinued due to some deviations from blueprints.
Windmill is now fully finished with destructibility
72-K and SgrW 42 were exported (WIP)
Winter Depot map is ready.

Beta testing

The beta will start as soon as we finish the UI. This is just a bit later than we intended but we’re going flat- out. The beta will be a big landmark because our testers will be the first ones outside the studio to see the game and as the saying goes, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”.
Perhaps we should note that our beta test is a closed beta. We were asked very often by people who want to take part, but we’re not planning any changes or additions to the team at the moment.

HD link

Discord

Our Discord server will go live when we start our beta. We intend to use it for communication with you, the community. Of course we will try to entertain you with visuals, maybe a Q&A here and there and a meta game. Meta games are a different format than the game they support. Ours will prepare you for your first campaign mission, and there’s some fun to be had on the way. More about that later.

HD link

Release

We planned to tell you the release date today. However, It's a bit early to be announcing a definite release date at the moment. We are sure we can tell you very soon.

HD link

The past weeks have been quite intense for us. We are edging ever closer to releasing the first game we ever made. After all that happened, we now want to see our indie baby get born!

That’s it for the moment; so thanks for stopping by, and see you next time.

HD link

Other places to follow us

Vkontakte

Instagram

Facebook

Youtube

Twitter

Please like & share.
Thanks for your support!