Holdfast: Nations At War has been updated! There’ll be plenty of bug fixes coming along in this one. We’ll also be introducing a few quality of life additions requested by the community. Have a read at our latest blog post for all the details.

We have updated the 'vapuriloadtester.exe' server helper program. With this updated helper program, game servers will be able to automatically reconnect back to the lobby if the lobby server goes under maintenance.

Please download and update the server helper program. You can do so from the ‘holdfast_naw_public_server’ Dropbox folder.





Changelog 27 - Game Version 0.25.6996.26291

Game Core
• Performed a minor game engine upgrade.
  
  Quality of Life
  
• You can now connect to a server by pressing the ‘Enter’ key.
  
• Players can now display voice phrases in chat. It will come in especially handy for all those fellows leading regiments during events.
  » Enable ‘Shouts In Chat’ from the ‘Game’ settings to display phrases in chat.

Bug Fixes
• Solved an issue with a memory leak occurring on the game server after map load.
  
• Solved an issue with the Naval Battlefield server crashing after long periods of run time.
  
• Attempted fix towards an issue with weather sounds cutting off.
  
• Attempted fix towards an issue that caused the musician tunes to cut off during volley fire.
  
• Solved an issue with the game hanging on exit.
  
• Solved an issue with the attacking and defending factions being inverted in the scoreboard.
  
• Solved an issue with loading the moveable field gun while standing in front of its barrel.
  
• Solved an issue with the private admin chat introduced during the previous update being restricted to the team the player joins.
  
• Solved an issue with field guns randomly killing friendly players when friendly_fire is enabled.
  
• Solved an issue with cannonball kills displaying an incorrect kill distance in the kill feed.
  
• Solved an issue with spacing in the kill feed user interface.
  
• Solved various exceptions that occurred on the client during map load.
  
• Solved various exceptions that occurred on the server.
  
• Attempted fix towards a recurring error that sometimes occurs on the client when a player carries an item.
  
• Solved an error that was being outputted on the client related to audio.
  
• Solved an issue with incorrect audio files being assigned to the weather system. Static sounds no more.
  » If the weather sounds are slightly too high in volume, you can adjust them through the game’s 'Audio/Weather' settings.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the Rocketeer’s BETA in the coming days! Once again, we thank you for your support and as always, may good health be yours.

Feel free to chat with us on Discord.

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame

- Anvil Game Studios

Holdfast: Nations At War has been updated! This time around we’ll be pushing forward more performance optimisations and another game engine upgrade. It was a hefty bunch of work but we’re sure that the community will appreciate the increase in performance.

We have also been keeping ourselves busy with gameplay-oriented content that will be coming your way relatively soon! Be sure to have a good read at our blog post for a sneak peek of what’s to come.

First and foremost, we’ll be starting with a recap of everything that has been going on during our previous BETAs leading to this update’s release.

Time is our most precious asset. It is in everyone’s best interest that we dedicate time towards optimising our development workflow as this contributes towards producing content at a faster pace.

The entire project that Holdfast: Nations At War is developed in was given a well-deserved cleanup to reduce load times and all the models, code files, audio, animations, shaders and indeed everything else required to make a game function was sorted out for the developers to have easier access to.

Every minute we save from having to wait for a task to be completed, be it code compile times or general project responsiveness, will instead be going towards additional content or more optimisations.



Speaking of more optimisations, as this was our prime focus for this specific update, we’ve gone ahead and performed another major engine upgrade. This was a necessary step forward before we could deliver on our promise to further optimise the game as this exposes the team to newer technologies that can be utilised towards this effect.



Characters being one of the major bottlenecks in performance when a lot of players are on screen have received direct optimisations. We’re already seeing a good reduction in CPU usage on those massive 150 Player servers by utilising some of the newer technologies made available to us after the game engine upgrade.

Those individuals not limited by an older GPU will experience better framerate.



Players can now enjoy a much better-looking dynamic skybox and weather system due to changes we had to undergo while performing the game engine upgrade. We do hope that this fresh new look is to your liking!

It is important to note that the volumetric clouds introduced with this new time of day and weather system utilise more GPU resources than the one present in the version before this update. If you’d like to trade off looks for performance, simply go to your ‘Video’ settings and lower down the ‘Skybox Quality’ setting to ‘Low’.



We’ve also been looking into a solution to remedy the intermittent latency spikes present on the Naval Battlefield game mode. Functionality to ram and load cannons by holding the ‘E’ key aboard naval vessels has been temporarily disabled to confirm if this was indeed the cause.



As a quality of life addition for all of those individuals hosting events, we’ve introduced an admin chat channel that is specifically reserved for discussion amongst those with administrative privileges on a particular server.

You’re now also able to make use of some basic shortcut commands through this new admin chat. This functionality was all accessible through the ‘F1’ console but we thought that it would be especially convenient to have shorter versions of some of the most used commands accessible through this chat.

Here are the shortcut commands we’ve introduced.

Shortcut Commands
• Administrators can broadcast a message by typing ‘/bc’ in the admin chat channel followed by their desired message.
  » /bc <message>
  
• Administrators can switch to a map by typing ‘/mr’ in the admin chat channel followed by a value according to the rotation set in the server configuration file.
  » /mr <map rotation id>

Thanks to the continued growth of the team since the game’s release on Early Access, we now have more hands working on various aspects of the game. These range from various themed updates targeted towards optimisations, bug fixes as well as bringing new content into the game.

Yet another new class, the Rocketeer will be making their glorious introduction into the game with the next update! We won’t be revealing everything just yet but you should also expect to see other gameplay-oriented additions with the same update.

What’s better yet is that we won’t keep you waiting for too long before you can get your hands on this. The next update will be going into BETA testing during the coming week or the one after.



Looking for a good bunch of fellows to play the game with? Do join our Discord! Linebattle events were players are encouraged to play in formations relevant to the Napoleonic era are hosted by the community through the week.

Discord is also a great place to be to stay in touch with the game’s development. Feedback is always greatly welcomed. We look forward to seeing you there!

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



Players that have updated to Game Version 0.24 will be unable to see servers that are still using the previous version in the server browser. We had to undergo changes to the lobby system’s backend due to the engine upgrade.

You should also make sure to update all the game server files present in the ‘holdfast_naw_public_servers’ folder. A new ‘Mono’ folder has been included that is required for servers to run. All the respective DLLs have been updated as well.



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



Changelog 26 - Game Version 0.24.6984.29141

Game Core
• Project Cleanup. Optimised our development workflow as this contributes towards producing content at a faster pace.
  » Removed all unused meshes, textures and terrains to lessen the load on our project and reduce wait times.
  » Refactored multiple scripts to make them more accessible to the developers.
  » Restructured the entire project for the developers to more easily locate particular items.
  
• Game Engine Upgrade. A necessary step forward before we could deliver on our promise to further optimise the game as this exposes the team to newer technologies that can be utilised towards this effect.
  
  Optimisations
  
• Character Optimisations. One of the major bottlenecks in performance when a lot of players are on screen have received direct optimisations. Players will experience a better framerate on those massive 150 Player servers pending that they weren’t already previously limited by an older GPU.
  
  Graphical Additions
  
• Time of Day & Weather System. Players can now enjoy a much better-looking dynamic skybox and weather system due to changes we had to undergo while performing the game engine upgrade.
  » The volumetric clouds introduced with this new time of day and weather system utilise more GPU resources than the one present in the version before this update.
  » If you’d like to trade off looks for performance, simply go to your ‘Video’ settings and lower down the ‘Skybox Quality’ to ‘Medium’ or ‘Low’.
  
• Additional commands to better control the time of day and weather system have been included. You can find all the commands detailed below.
  » rc nature weather preset <Weather Preset> <Transition Time>
  - Weather Preset: Calm, Calm2, Calm3, Calm4, Fog, Fog2, Fog3, Snowy or Storm
  - Transition Time: 5 - 60
  » rc nature time timeOfDay <Time>
  - Time: 0 - 24, 13.5 = 1.30 PM
  » rc nature time dynamicTime <Input>
  - Input: true or false
  » rc nature time dynamicTimeSpeed <Speed Multiplier>
  - Speed Multiplier: 0.01 - 1
  
  Quality Of Life
  
• Admin Chat Channel. We’ve introduced an admin chat channel that is specifically reserved for discussion amongst those with administrative privileges on a particular server.
  
• Admin Shortcut Commands. You’re now also able to more easily access some of the most common administrative tools by typing shortcut commands in the admin chat.
  Administrators can broadcast a message by typing ‘/bc’ in the admin chat channel followed by their desired message: /bc <message>
  Administrators can switch to a map by typing ‘/mr’ in the admin chat channel followed by a value according to the rotation set in the server configuration file: /mr <map rotation id>
  
• Made muting functionality more easily accessible through the Round Players ‘P’ panel.
  
• Players are no longer able to hide private messages sent by server administrators by toggling the ‘Broadcasted Messages’ user interface settings.
  
• You can now separately control weather sounds through the ‘Weather’ slider under ‘Master Volumes’ in the Audio settings.
  
  Bug Fixes
  
• We’ve pushed forward a tentative fix for the sudden latency spikes that players sometimes experience on the Naval Battlefield game mode.
  
• Fixed a bug where the confirmation text was being incorrectly displayed after a particular administrative action was clicked on in the Round Players ‘P’ panel.
  
• Fixed a spelling mistake on one of the spawn points present on Fort Imperial.
  
• Fixed various issues related to naval vessel destruction.
  
• Fixed an issue where players could go inside one of the props present on Dutch Canals.
  
• Fixed an issue with one of the bridges on Dutch Canals not being correctly placed.
  
• Fixed a bug were one of the mortars on Fort Imperial could sometimes incorrectly collide with an invisible object causing it to explode prematurely.
  
• Fixed a bug that was causing one of the ammo boxes on Fort Winston to become invisible.
  
• Fixed a bug were players couldn’t spawn as a Cannoneer on the Highlands map.
  
• Fixed various floating props on Ernest Ridge.
  
• Fixed an issue with players getting stuck underneath the watchtowers on King George.
  
• Fixed an issue on the Sacred Arena map which sometimes caused players to spawn behind the map’s border inside the church.
  
• Players are no longer able to walk on the metal flag poles present on Fort Arena.
  
• Fixed an issue with incorrect textures being assigned to the Prussian fife.
  
• Fixed an issue with players floating when interacting with cannons aboard ships or near the coast.
  
• Fixed an issue with players floating when interacting with the captain’s wheel on the 2-Gun Schooner.

We’d also like to convey our heartfelt thanks to all those good fellows that joined us during our BETA Testing! Thanks to your gracious efforts we can ensure that fewer hiccups occur during an update’s release.

Due to the unprecedented amount of development work that had to be undergone during this update, something could always have gone amiss even after all the testing. If you do experience any issues, please do let us know by posting on our Steam Tech Support board. You can also do so on Discord.

We have plenty of great content lined up for this year! Be sure to stay tuned. Until next time, may good health be yours.

We’re working on the next update.

- Anvil Game Studios

For King George! March gloriously at the sound of drums, fifes and pipes as Holdfast: Nations At War is now 50% off for the duration of Steam’s Lunar Sale. Join the community and participate in weekly organised events.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/589290/Holdfast_Nations_At_War/

It would be great if you can help us spread the word around about the sale to bring this genre of Musket Warfare games that we all love in the limelight. We want to continue strengthening the following behind the game as it grows and develops.

Have a read at our blog post for a brief insight into what we’ve been up to.



Thanks to the continued growth of the team since the game’s release on Early Access, we now have more hands working on various aspects of the game. These range from various themed updates targeted towards optimisations, bug fixes as well as bringing new content into the game.

One of the upcoming updates currently undergoing its testing phase will feature various game optimisations that will improve framerate on high player count servers. Another update in the works will also bring with it player-built defences that’ll change the dynamics of the battlefield.

To celebrate the Lunar New Year, we’ll be ending this progress update by showing off a new uniform that’ll be introduced in Holdfast: Nations At War with yet another update. Keep an eye out on our future blog posts for more about this!



Looking for a good bunch of fellows to play the game with? Do join our Discord! Linebattle events were players are encouraged to play in formations relevant to the Napoleonic era are hosted by the community through the week.

Discord is also a great place to be to stay in touch with the game’s development. Feedback is always greatly welcomed. We look forward to seeing you there!

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



We’d like to wish a happy new year to all of our Chinese followers and until next time, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios

Following the game engine update, we’ve been focusing our development efforts on more optimisations. You’ll also find that the good majority of bugs present in the previous BETA no longer present as we polish things through in preparation for this update’s official release.

Characters being one of the major bottlenecks in performance when a lot of players are on screen have received direct optimisations. We’re already seeing a good reduction in CPU usage by utilising some of the newer technologies made available to us after the game engine upgrade. Those individuals not limited by an older GPU will experience better framerate.

We’ll be sure to dedicate more time towards game optimisations even after the update sees a full release.



Game engine upgrades are quite the task! With almost every nook and cranny of the project Holdfast: Nations At War is built on requiring iterations to support newer technologies, one would expect to face a few bugs along the way.

In this update, we’ve tackled most the issues reported by members of our fellow community participating in the BETA and several others that came through during our internal testing.

Here’s a brief list of some of the bugs we solved from the previous BETA.

List of Fixes
• Fixed a bug with interaction labels not being correctly positioned.
  
• Fixed a bug with interaction icons rendering over all objects in the map.
  
• Fixed a bug with birds not animating correct and being assigned an incorrect texture.
  
• Fixed a bug were the atmospheric fog on Tahir Desert was excessive.
  
• Fixed an error which prevents players from loading some of the maps on Naval Battlefield.
  
• Fixed several errors that were being produced when players interacted with various objects around the map.
  
• Fixed an issue with reflection on the water present on land-based maps.
  
• Fixed several issues related to destruction on ships.
  
• Fixed an issue with some of the weather sounds being loud.
  
• Fixed an issue with the weather not transitioning correctly when switching from one preset to another.
  
• Fixed an issue were Cannoneers weren’t present on the Highlands map.
  And many more.

As a quality of life addition for all of those individuals hosting events, we’ve introduced an admin chat channel that is specifically reserved for discussion amongst those with administrative privileges on a particular server.

You’re now also able to make use of some basic shortcut commands through this new admin chat. This functionality was all accessible through the ‘F1’ console but we thought that it would be especially convenient to have shorter versions of some of the most used commands accessible through this chat.

Here are the shortcut commands we’ve introduced.

Shortcut Commands
• Administrators can broadcast a message by typing ‘/bc’ in the admin chat channel followed by their desired message.
  » /bc <message>
  
• Administrators can switch to a map by typing ‘/mr’ in the admin chat channel followed by a value according to the rotation set in the server configuration file.
  » /mr <map rotation id>

Would you like to have a go at what’s to come? Join us in the BETA! Hop in on our Community Discord to do so. You'll find all the details in the #announcements channel.

It’s a great chance for you to provide us with feedback before the update sees a full release and help us make sure that everything is working as intended while you’re at it.

You will be unable to see the BETA server in your server browser unless you download the game version present in the BETA branch. We had to undergo changes to the lobby system’s backend due to the engine upgrade.

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



We would like to extend a special thanks to all of those good fellows who joined us in our testing. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated. Once again, thank you very much for your support and as always, may good health be yours.

We’re working on the next update.

- Anvil Game Studios

After the team had a few short days of holidays, we’re now back at it once again! Since the start of the new year, we’ve been focusing on optimising our workflow and upgrading the game’s engine in preparation for the performance optimisations to follow.

More about this in our latest blog post.

Time is our most precious asset. It is in everyone’s best interest that we dedicate time towards optimising our development workflow as this contributes towards producing content at a faster pace.

The entire project that Holdfast: Nations At War is developed in was given a well-deserved cleanup to reduce load times and all the models, code files, audio, animations, shaders and indeed everything else required to make a game function was sorted out for the developers to have easier access to.

Every minute we save from having to wait for a task to be completed, be it code compile times or general project responsiveness, will instead be going towards additional content or more optimisations.



Speaking of more optimisations, as these are up next on our list, we’ve gone ahead and performed another major engine upgrade. This was a necessary step forward before we deliver on our promise to further optimise the game as this exposes the team to newer technologies that can be utilised towards this effect.

In this update, we released all the underlying changes that came with the engine upgrade on the BETA branch for everyone to access. This is so we can test the foundations of the client-side optimisations to come with a broader player base. We would greatly welcome your participation in doing so!



Players can now enjoy a much better-looking dynamic skybox and weather system due to changes we had to undergo while performing the game engine upgrade. We do hope that this fresh new look is to your liking! Join us in the BETA to check it out.



We’ve also been looking into a solution to remedy the intermittent latency spikes present on the Naval Battlefield game mode. The root caused was narrowed down to a specific occurrence that happens due to physics of which we’re now testing a fix for in this BETA update.



It should be plenty clear by now what our plans are up next. Characters being one of the major limiting factors causing a bottleneck in performance (when a lot of players are on screen) will be receiving optimisations. It's going to be a hefty bunch of work but it'll greatly benefit the game.

Keep an eye out for our future blog posts.



Would you like to have a go at what’s to come? Join us in the BETA! Hop in on our Community Discord to do so. You'll find all the details in the #announcements channel.

It’s a great chance for you to provide us with feedback before the update sees a full release and help us make sure that everything is working as intended while you’re at it.

You will be unable to see the BETA server in your browser unless you download the game version present in the BETA branch. We had to undergo changes to the lobby system’s backend due to the engine upgrade.

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



Look forward to what’s to come this year! Expect us to release new content based on some of the most-requested gameplay features by the community and additional improvements on the game’s core mechanics.

Once again, thank you very much for your support and as always, may good health be yours.

We’re working on the next update.

- Anvil Game Studios

Vive L'Empereur! Fight for your Emperor with a musket in hand as Holdfast: Nations At War is now 60% off for the duration of Steam’s Winter Sale. Join the community and participate in weekly organised events.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/589290/Holdfast_Nations_At_War/

It would be great if you can help us spread the word around about the sale to bring this genre of Musket Warfare games that we all love in the limelight. We want to continue strengthening the following behind the game as it grows and develops.

Read more about what's to come in our latest blog post.



We’d like to reaffirm our dedication towards pushing forward frequent game updates. With the recent introduction of two additional developers, Dylan ‘Wrexial’ Abela and Alistair ‘PingPong’ Azzopardi we have been delivering content at a much faster pace. We’re looking forward to bring new members into the team as the following behind the game grows.

Have a look at the trailer for our most recent major update! Moveable Artillery. Expect more game updates to follow soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztiwMnY5gc
Game Updates

• Army Front! Battlefield, Conquest and Siege game modes all in one rotation.
  » Multiple improvements to the Army Conquest game mode based on community feedback.
  
• 9 New Maps! Fort Pierre, King George, Ernest Ridge, Fort Salettes, Fort Schwarz, Snowy Plains 3 (L), Grassy Plains 3 (L), Desert Plains 1 (S) & Snowy Plains 1 (S).
  
• Melee Combat Mechanics! Direct improvements towards melee combat. More work will follow on this mechanic in a future update based on community feedback.
  
• Melee Arena Game Mode! Come up with new strategies on how to best your opponents before the arena gates open throwing you in a single-life team-based battle to the last man standing. Melee weapons are your only arsenal.
  »6 new maps specifically designed for the Melee Arena game mode.
  End of Match UI! Strive for the very top before the match ends to boast about your standing.
  
• Game Engine Upgrade. This was one of the largest undertakings that the team has undertaken to date.
  
• Server Optimisations. Multiple server optimisations to stabilise performance over long periods of run time and reduce latency when a lot of players are in close proximity.
  
• Customisable Crosshairs. A much-requested quality of life addition that gives players full control over their crosshairs.
  
• Recruitment Channel. A dedicated chat channel that regiments (game clans) can use to advertise their own group.
  » If you aren’t too keen on seeing recruitment messages, we’ve also included an option that allows you to disable this channel through the ‘Game’ options.
  
• A New Class! Cannoneer. The go-to class for dedicated artillerymen. They have a priority over the operation of field guns and indeed all of the other artillery pieces present in the game.
  
• Moveable Artillery! Move artillery around on the field of battle. Assist another player to move the gun at a faster pace.
  
• New Artillery Mechanics! Well trained crews will triumph over others as the new artillery mechanics have been designed from the ground up with team-play at the forefront.
  » Carry ammo boxes to supply ammunition for field guns.
  » New loading and ramming mechanics for artillery pieces.
  » Moveable field guns will recoil back once they are fired. You can no longer automatically push the cannon forward on the field guns to encourage team play.
  
• A New Shot! Grapeshot. Artillery can be loaded with grapeshot which is especially effective against infantry.
  
• Quality of life additions, performance optimisations, bug fixes, gameplay balancing and a whole lot more.

Player built defences will be making an introduction into the game with the release of the next major update! Well placed defences will turn the tide of battle in your favour. There’ll also be a new class coming along with this update.

There’ll also be other updates besides the ones we’ve mentioned coming to the game leading to the release of the next major update. One of those updates being that we’ll be providing players with the option to vote for their own maps after the round ends.

Here’s a first-hand look at one of the uniforms for the class that will be assigned the role of building defences. As always, we’ll keep you up to date on our progress.



Looking for a good bunch of fellows to play the game with? Do join our Discord! Linebattle events were players are encouraged to play in formations relevant to the Napoleonic era are hosted by the community through the week.

Discord is also a great place to be to stay in touch with the game’s development. Feedback is always greatly welcomed. We look forward to seeing you there!

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



Once again, thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours.

We're working on the next update.

- Anvil Game Studios

Holdfast: Nations At War has been updated! We’ll be pushing forward additional bug fixes and iterations focused on game balance.

Here’s the entire changelog for this update.



Changelog 25 - Game Version 0.23.6927.34248

Bug Fixes
• Multiple attempted fixes towards spawning related issues on the Naval Battlefield and Coastal Siege game modes.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused blood effects not to appear when a player was killed by grapeshot.
  
• Fixed an instance which caused the player to get stuck with a ramrod in hand if they got hit while ramming a cannon.
  
• Fixed an instance which caused the player to get stuck with a ramrod in hand if a ship sunk while they’re ramming a cannon.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused the swivel guns on the 8-Gun Schooner to retain the cooldown timer that was present pre the introduction of the time-based loading and ramming for artillery pieces.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused the player’s user interface to disappear after the match ended on the Melee Arena game mode.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused the gaussian blur present behind the end of match and spawn menu interfaces not to be visible.
  
• Attempted fix towards an issue which sometimes causes the player to get stuck in an animation if they’re killed while moving a field gun.
  
• Fixed an issue which prevented other players from seeing cannons animating while you’re using them.
  
  Game Balance
  
• Increased the damage of the larger variation of the grapeshot.
  
• Reduced the drop of the larger variation of the grapeshot.
  
• Prevented the mortar’s barrel from recoiling after firing as it is already increasingly difficult to line up a shot with this particular artillery piece.
  
• Slightly increased the speed at which a cannon moves and rotates.
  
• Reduced the health points of wooden palisades found on various maps so they can be destroyed more quickly.
  
• Reduced the health points of the chevaux-de-frise props found on various maps so they can be destroyed more quickly.

Once again, thank you very much for your support and until next time, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios

Holdfast: Nations At War has been updated. Make ready the guns as the all-new teamplay oriented artillery mechanics are here! Move artillery on the field of battle, carry ammunition, bring a quick end to nearby infantrymen with grapeshot and support the fight from the rear with the new Cannoneer class.

There’s plenty to look out for in this update. Better spot enemies at the distance with the improved spyglass, another map to continue adding to an already vast selection of game levels, user interface additions and more.

Before you have a read at the blog post, check out the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztiwMnY5gc

Assemble the artillery crew and support the fight from the rear! Well trained crews will triumph over others as the new artillery mechanics have been designed from the ground up with teamplay at the forefront.

With plenty of mechanical changes centred around artillery, we’ve sectioned the blog post into several steps that one must go through to operate a moveable field gun. You’ll also find some of these mechanical changes present on various stationary guns.

Moving The Field Gun - Stage 0
Nearby the spawn locations for each faction, you’ll now find field guns that can be moved around on the battlefield. Look at either of the gun’s wheels, press the ‘E’ key and you’ll be able to move the gun around.

Moving an artillery piece isn’t restricted to a specific team. Want to go for the rather risky endeavour of stealing the opposing team’s cannon? You can very well do so with these new mechanics.



Assist Move The Field Gun - Stage 0
A secondary player can interact with the other wheel enabling the gun to move at a faster rate. Each and every class in the game is able to assist with moving the field gun so your chances of finding someone willing to help out is greater.



Selecting Your Shot - Stage 1
After you’ve moved the field gun to your desired position, you should look for an ammo box close to your vicinity to select a shot of your preference. Press the ‘E’ key once and select either the round or the new anti-personnel grapeshot.



You can also carry ammo boxes around the field of battle. As you can imagine, it’s going to be especially convenient not having to constantly run back to your spawn to pick up ammunition. Find a fellow Cannoneer willing to do the task and work together to operate the gun.

Ammo boxes can be carried around by pressing the ‘E’ key once and selecting the ‘Carry Ammo’ option. To drop the ammo box, scroll up or down with your mouse wheel or press one of the number keys to switch to another weapon.



Loading Your Shot - Stage 2
Go to the front of the gun and look directly at its barrel with ammunition in hand. Keep hold of the ‘E’ key until the round user interface indicator fills up to load your shot in the cannon.



Guns loaded with ammunition will cause an explosion if destroyed. Be sure to stay out of harm’s way! Moveable field guns will also respawn after two minutes if destroyed.



Ramming Your Shot - Stage 3
Now that you’ve loaded your cannon, you need to ram your shot down the barrel. Keep hold of the ‘E’ key until the round user interface indicator fills up to ram your shot. You’re now ready to fire the cannon.



Firing The Gun - Stage 4
Head to the back of the gun, look at the barrel then press the ‘E’ key once to aim the cannon. Pick your target well then fire away! It is highly recommended that you have another player assisting with ranging targets using a spyglass.



Upon firing, the field gun will recoil backwards. Moveable field guns are intended to function in this manner instead of being automatically pushed forward to promote teamplay.



By now it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s a new shot that players can choose from. Swivel guns, field guns, carronades and various long guns can be loaded with Grapeshot which is especially effective against infantry.



The go to class for dedicated artillerymen! Cannoneers have a priority over the operation of field guns and indeed all of the other artillery pieces present in the game. These range from various long guns, carronades, mortars, as well as swivel guns.

They also come equipped with a spyglass which is especially useful to range targets at long distances. There’ll be more coming to this class in due time when development of the class system update begins.

French Empire


British Empire


Kingdom of Prussia


We’ve given the spyglass a well-deserved overhaul! First and foremost, we significantly increased the viewing distance when looking through a spyglass. It’ll come in especially handy for the artillery crewman in charge of ranging targets.

The underlying code-base that makes this system function has also been re-designed to prevent various instances which caused players to get stuck viewing the spyglass. We’ve also cleaned up most of the interface while using a spyglass and improved its looks.



Bring out the guns and batter Fort Pierre’s walls! Make good use of moveable field guns to open multiple entry points for the assaulting infantrymen by pouring led into the wooden palisades.

It does indeed seem quite fitting to introduce a siege map along with this update. Join one of the official Army Front servers to check it out.



As the number of objects that you can interact with on the map increases, we required an additional feature to help players better identify their location. Once a player gets close to an interactable object, they will be presented with an icon marking down its location.

For the scope of this update, we’ve placed interaction icons on all moveable and stationary artillery pieces as well as ammo boxes. We’re planning on expanding this system for various other points of interaction present on various maps including lanterns, pianos, sitting, climbing rigging and more.

We’ve also made sure to provide players with the option to disable interaction indicators. You can find this in the game options under all the other user interface settings.



After we iron out any issues that may have slipped through the cracks due to the latest introduction of the artillery update, we’ll be splitting our development efforts between quality of life additions and the next major update.

Let’s head off with the most exciting of announcements. Player built defences will be making an introduction into the game with the release of the next major update! Well placed defences will turn the tide of battle in your favour.

In the near future, we’re planning on providing players with the option to vote for their own maps after the round ends. Even though this is a relatively smaller addition compared to the gameplay-oriented features that’ll be coming in the next major update, it has been highly requested by the community so we’ve set our sights on doing just that.

There’ll also be other updates besides the ones we’ve mentioned coming to the game leading to the release of the next major update. As always, we’ll keep you up to date on our progress.



Looking for a good bunch of fellows to play the game with? Do join our Discord! Linebattle events were players are encouraged to play in formations relevant to the Napoleonic era are hosted by the community through the week.

We look forward to seeing you there! Stay in touch.

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



There are plenty more additions to go through but the blog post is already getting rather lengthy. Have a look at the list below for the entire list of additional features, bug fixes, improvements and content that you’ll find in this update.



Changelog 24 - Game Version 0.22.6925.42022

New Game Features
• New Artillery Mechanics! Well trained crews will triumph over others as the new artillery mechanics have been designed from the ground up with team-play at the forefront.
  » Move field guns on the field of battle. Assist another player to move the gun at a faster pace.
  » Cannoneers are able to carry ammo boxes. It’s extremely convenient to have this present nearby a field gun to use at a moment’s notice.
  » You are now required to hold down your ‘E’ key to load a shot.
  » Guns must now be rammed after a shot is loaded.
  » Moveable field guns will recoil back once they are fired. You can no longer automatically push the cannon forward on the field guns to encourage team play.
  » You are now required to go through the same process of loading and ramming while operating a stationary artillery piece.
  
• Artillery Respawn. Moveable field guns will respawn back to their initial spawn location after two minutes. They will also be repairable in a future update.
  » Server administrators can configure the time it takes for an artillery to respawn after it gets destroyed by inputting the following command in the server configuration file: artillery_fieldgun_respawn_timer 130
  
• Grapeshot! A new artillery shot that is especially effective against infantry.
  
• A New Class! Cannoneer. The go-to class for dedicated artillerymen. They have a priority over the operation of field guns and indeed all of the other artillery pieces present in the game.
  » Cannoneers also have their own chat channel to communicate in.
  
• Spyglass Overhaul! You are now able to view players at a much greater distance while looking through the spyglass. This will come in especially useful for ranging targets.
  
• A New Map! Fort Pierre. Make good use of moveable field guns to open multiple entry points for the assaulting infantrymen by pouring led into the wooden palisades.
  » Input the following parameter to play this map on your community server: map_name fortpierre.
  
• Interaction Indicators. Once a player gets close to an interactable object, they will be presented with an icon marking down its location.
  » You can disable these indicators from the game options under all the other user interface settings. Look for Interaction Indicators.
  
• Dutch Canals. This map has received quite the overhaul with bridges being added to create pathways over canals and additional houses and trees to serve as cover. We’ll be re-visiting other maps to improve their playability in future updates.
  
• Most of the maps present in the game received various iterations to support moveable artillery. A hefty bunch of work!
  
• We’ve made sure to include two moveable artillery pieces on every map specifically designed for organised play.
  » You’ll also find additional stationary artillery pieces present on some of the maps.
  
  Quality of Life
  
• We implemented a system that ensures the order of classes in the spawn menu remains consistent with the exception of the Training Grounds map were classes from both the Navy, Army and Coastal branches are present.
  
• Changed the font used for all interaction labels in the game so it becomes more readable and added a slight fade to all of the interaction labels.
  
• Included additional sounds to all artillery pieces.
  
• The list of official servers available to join in the ‘Join Other Server’ panel has been updated.
  
• Changed the colour of the recruitment channel to make it more distinguishable from the rest.
  
  Game Balance
  
• Implemented a system that restricts players from loading specific shots in certain artillery pieces. You are no longer able to load round shot in swivel guns. Instead, they can now be loaded with a smaller iteration of the grapeshot.
  
• Upon firing an artillery piece, the gun’s barrel will slightly recoil. This is being done to further increase the skill gap.
  
• You’ll now find more ammo boxes on the 8-Gun Schooner. These contain the smaller version of the grapeshot to load swivel guns with.
  
  Other Additions
  
• Included additional spawns near the barn on Highlands when played on the Army Conquest game mode.
  
• Change the spawn limits for the Garrison Arena map when played on the Army Conquest game mode.
  
  Optimisations
  
• Solved an instance which was causing a dip in framerate when an explosion was caused.
  
• Optimised various particle effects in the game.
  
  Bug Fixes
  
• Fixed a bug which caused the sound when pushing a cannon forward not to play.
  
• Fixed a bug which prevented firearm trajectories from showing when a server administrator set the drawFirearmTrajectories to true.
  
• Fixed a bug which caused players to get stuck in an animation after using a spyglass.
  
• Fixed a bug which caused players to get stuck looking through a spyglass forcing them to respawn.
  
• Fixed a bug with the wheels not animating correctly when a cannon is being pushed forward.
  
• Fixed a bug which caused the particles produced when a shot from a firearm hits a snowy terrain to be not very visible.
  
• Fixed a bug which caused players to get stuck behind the rowboat passage on King George.
  
• Fixed a bug which prevented players from using any weapons while walking on one of the rowboats present on King George.
  
• Fixed a bug on Fort Sallettes which prevented players from going in certain rooms.

We’re working on the next update. Once again, thank you very much for your support and until next time, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios

Holdfast: Nations At War - BETA has been updated! As the upcoming major update is nearing its release, it’s now due time to host the very first BETA Test for the Artillery focused update. We won’t be going into all the fine details just yet as development is still ongoing but here are some of the things we’ve been up to.

Moveable field guns, a new artillery shot type, carriable ammo boxes, a new class, multiple adjustments to most of the existing maps and more! This new gameplay mechanic has been designed with team-play in mind.



Would you like to have an early go at what’s to come? Come join us in the BETA! Simply hop in on our Community Discord to do so. You'll find all the details in the #announcements channel.

It’s a great chance for you to provide us with feedback before the update sees a full release and help us make sure that everything is working as intended while you’re at it.

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



Everything present in this BETA is still a work in progress and bugs are to be expected. We’ll be working on stabilising and balancing all the new features throughout the coming week.



Once again, thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios

Holdfast: Nations At War has been updated. Named after King George himself, we’ll be introducing yet another map in this week’s release! Join the rank and file as Holdfast: Nations At War is now 50% Off for the duration of Steam’s Black Friday sale.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/589290/Holdfast_Nations_At_War/

It would be great if you can help us spread the word around about the sale to bring this genre of Musket Warfare games that we all love in the limelight. We want to continue strengthening the following behind the game as it grows and develops.

More about what’s to come in our latest blog post.

Strive for control over two war-thorn camps. Situated near the coastline, a lighthouse stands to overlook the possibility of an invasion. Along the paths leading to these camps, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to outwit your enemies as you attempt to break through their defensive positions.

Designed with the intent to promote quicker more action paced gameplay, King George is playable on the Army Battlefield and Army Conquest game modes. Join one of the Army Front servers hosted in various regions to check it out!

Here’s a first-hand look at the map.







We’d like to once again affirm our ongoing dedication towards pushing forward frequent game updates. To this effect, we recently introduced two developers, Dylan ‘Wrexial’ Abela and Alistair ‘PingPong’ Azzopardi to help produce content at a faster pace. We have also optimised our development pipeline to allow us to bring more members into the team as the game grows.

Here’s a very brief list of what we’ve been up to during the past few months.

Game Updates

• Army Front! Battlefield, Conquest and Siege game modes all in one rotation.
  » Multiple improvements to the Army Conquest game mode based on community feedback.
  
• 8 New Maps! King George, Ernest Ridge, Fort Salettes, Fort Schwarz, Snowy Plains 3 (L), Grassy Plains 3 (L), Desert Plains 1 (S) & Snowy Plains 1 (S).
  
• Melee Combat Mechanics! Direct improvements towards melee combat. More work will follow on this mechanic in a future update based on community feedback.
  
• Melee Arena Game Mode! Come up with new strategies on how to best your opponents before the arena gates open throwing you in a single-life team-based battle to the last man standing. Melee weapons are your only arsenal.
  »6 new maps specifically designed for the Melee Arena game mode.
  
• End of Match UI! Strive for the very top before the match ends to boast about your standing.
  
• Game Engine Upgrade. This was one of the largest undertakings that the team has undertaken to date.
  
• Server Optimisations. Multiple server optimisations to stabilise performance over long periods of run time and reduce latency when a lot of players are in close proximity.
  
• Customisable Crosshairs. A much-requested quality of life addition that gives players full control over their crosshairs.
  
• Recruitment Channel. A dedicated chat channel that regiments (game clans) can use to advertise their own group.
  » If you aren’t too keen on seeing recruitment messages, we’ve also included an option that allows you to disable this channel through the ‘Game’ options.
  
• Quality of life additions, performance optimisations, bug fixes, gameplay balancing and a whole lot more.

Expect more updates to follow soon.



We’re going to stick to our plans and focus on artillery mechanics for the upcoming major update. The majority of the groundwork required that will allow players to move field guns around on the battlefield is already in place. Our sights are set on having a BETA up in the next few weeks.

Until then, have a good look at a couple of uniforms for the Cannoneer class that will be introduced in the same update.

Prussian Cannoneer


British Cannoneer


French Cannoneer


Looking for a good bunch of fellows to play the game with? Do join our Discord! Linebattle events were players are encouraged to play in formations relevant to the Napoleonic era are hosted by the community throughout the week.

We look forward to seeing you there.

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



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



Changelog 23 - Game Version 0.21.6899.27024

Game Features
• A New Map! King George. Now playable on the Army Front official servers.
  
  Quality Of Life
  
• The official server list found in the ‘Join Other Server’ panel has been updated. If you are unable to see servers in the lobby, you can use this to connect to any of the official servers.
  
• You will now find a link to the official Holdfast Discord in the game’s ‘Escape’ menu. We wanted to make sure that joining the community on there is more easily accessible.
  
• Re-designed a section to the top right of the main menu that re-directs players to various places were our community resides.

Game Balance
• Capturing all flags in the Army Conquest game mode will no longer end the match.
  
• Re-positioned the spawn points on Snowy Plains 2 for the Army Battlefield game mode.
  
• Reduced the time it takes before the Army Battlefield and Army Conquest game modes end in the official Army Front rotation from 25 to 20 minutes.
  
• Reduced the number of reinforcements on the Army Battlefield game mode to balance everything in accordance with the above-mentioned change.
  
• Re-visited the rotation of the Plains maps in the Army Front rotation so the maps that can more easily encourage line battle engagements to occur are rotated more frequently.
  
  Bug Fixes
  
• Confirmed fix for a bug which reduced firearm accuracy over long periods of server runtime.

Once again, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the regiments and indeed the entirety of the community for their support.

We’re working on the next update and until next time, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios