Mar 3, 2022

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Greetings good fellows of the Holdfast community! After the most exciting release of Frontlines, we’ll be pushing forward the first patch featuring bug fixes, optimisations amongst other additions. Come have a read of our latest blog post for all that needs knowing.

Expect more gameplay focused content to hit the game in April.

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame

Changelog 75 - Game Version v2.1.8096.40598

Bug Fixes

● Solved an issue where sometimes players turned invisible.

● Solved an issue with incorrect decimal numbers being read on server and client files when a language other than English is involved.

● Solved an issue where certain actions of the game chat could crash the game during the round’s end.

● Solved an issue where cavalry against cavalry collision wasn’t working as intended.

● Experimental fix towards an issue which caused squad camps to not show correctly in the spawn menu.

● Solved an issue which was causing naval servers to crash when a ship or a boat despawns.

● Solved an issue with incorrect clean-up occurring on interactable objects when it gets destroyed.

● Experimental fix towards an issue causing players to get stuck after they spawn.

● Solved an issue with the Mauser’s bayonet being incorrectly positioned.

● Solved an issue with the Fieldguns in Nations At War being difficult to interact with.

● Solved an issue with certain modded uniforms appearing in white when using the UBER shader.

● Solved an issue with certain modded uniforms appearing in pink when a mobile shader was involved.

● Solved an issue where players would be presented with a config error when launching the game.

● Experimental fix towards and issue which caused settings to reset on launch.

● Solved an issue where cannonballs where not penetrating through objects.

● Solved an issue where the damage radius of mortars and rockets was smaller than initially intended.

● Solved a memory leak with explosions on the server.

● Solved an issue where cannons where not recoiling correctly.

● Solved an issue where players didn’t play the crouching animation when aiming a cannon.

● Solved an error which occurred when players respawned.

● Solved an error which occurred when a player fired his firearm.

● Solved an issue when explosions erroring out if the player disconnects from the server.

● Solved an issue where grenades damaged individuals standing behind the protection of artillery shields still received damage.

● Solved an issue where players got stuck in position after spawning.

● Solved multiple issues revolving around the opening and closing of squads.

● Solved issues with line shader placement on the terrain.

● Changed the way the settings file is saved to try to avoid corruption.

● Solved an issue with one of the officers missing a head.

● Solved an issue where the ‘Fire’ command was not being correctly synched.

● Solved a bug with the locked server’s filter.

● Officer flags now use the correct material.

● Solved an issue with the artillery related UI not showing when an artilleryman takes over a piece from another player.

● Changed the rocket launcher to once again allow for freer downhill and uphill aiming.

● Solved an issue with horse saddles not looking as intended due to low mipmap priority.

● Solved an issue with lights from lanterns and other objects not rendering correctly when look from certain angles.

● Solved an issue with missing textures appearing in purple on Blackforest.

● Solved an issue with weather particles leaking inside the tunnel on St Peters.

● Fixed an issue with the river on Mansion not producing particles when shot at with a firearm.

● Solved an issue with one of the buildings not producing dust particles when destroyed.

● Solved multiple issues with incorrect particles and sounds playing when shooting at specific objects with a firearm.

● Solved an issue with the biplane on animating. You can now see it flying around as the battle rages on.

● Solved an issue with warnings appearing due to missing sounds on terrain.

● Solved an issue with the rainbow being too close to the playable terrain on Blackforest.

● Solved an issue with some of the barbed wire props not dealing damage.

● Solved an issue where players had to deconstruct barrels after exploding in other to build them again.

● Solved an issue with cannonball trails erroring out on low graphic preset options.

● Solved an issue with musket particles not appearing as intended when the particle is out of view.

Optimisation

● Optimisation passes on touch bending for grass interaction.

● Optimisation passes on the snow weather effects.

● Optimisation passes on the animator.

● Optimised and adjusted the explosion and smoke effects.

● Optimisation on data packets being sent to early prior to joining the server.

● Introduced an additional function to aid players with below the recommended RAM requirements to launch the game.

● Players now default to full screen borderless rather than full screen exclusive.

● Optimised the ocean to gain a significant FPS boost.

● Optimised the game’s user interface.

● Optimised cannon, grenades, mortar, shell and other physical projectile objects.

● Optimised the main menu scenes to reduce RAM usage.

Gameplay

● It should now be much easier to place a line whilst playing as the Infantry Officer class.

● Adjusted the detection of the line marker placed by the Infantry Officer class so players can more easily get the buff while standing behind it.

● Reintroduced all missing spawnable objects.

● Squads no longer output player join and leave messages in chat.

● Introduced new direction indicators for when an officer spawns a table.

● Officer respawn points are now hidden when aiming a firearm or using an artillery piece.

● Engineer and Sapper pre-placement buildable object identifiers now retain the rotation of the previously placed object.

● Grassy maps on both Nations At War and Frontlines now have less of a chance to randomise weather.

● Grassy maps will no longer feature snowy weather pre-sets when randomising weather.

● Adjusted the frequency of certain snowy weather types on snow maps.

● Adjusted the ocean and the terrain surrounding the river on Island Plains.

● A different big tree on Island Plains has magically reappeared.

● Blocked off swimable areas on the Mansion map.

● Introduced some more boxes to make windows passable on Foxhole.

● You can now shoot through the window barricades on Foxhole.

● Changed how the Sapper menu works to be more responsive when swapping weapons.

Quality of Life

● You can now launch the Round Player ‘P’ panel when the match is at an end or voting initiates.

Misc

● Introduced a new loading screen on Foxhole.

● Introduced a sample ‘serverconfig_frontlines_default.txt’ to dedicated servers.

● The DLC text label now supports localised languages.

● Removed multiple unnecessary log messages.

Localisation

● Updated the Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional languages (Lengeka).

You're more than welcome to give us a follow on our Steam Developer Page.

Until then, may good health be yours. 💕

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice & Winston (The Cat).

Feb 17, 2022

Frontlines Released. March into WW1!

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Take your orders and make way to the frontlines with the release of Holdfast’s most ambitious and biggest update yet. After a year's worth of development we are pleased to announce ‘Holdfast: Frontlines’ a free World War 1 total-conversion DLC releasing as a show of thanks to our most beloved community.

Frontlines has been completely integrated into the base game, meaning all current Holdfast owners will obtain the expansion at no additional cost by simply updating their game. Similarly, if you do not own the game you will gain access to both Holdfast: Nations At War and Holdfast: Frontlines by purchasing it.

Have a look at the release trailer for this major update.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbmVTfsqp8

Those looking to take their first steps in Holdfast, either on the battlefields of the Napoleonic Era or into the no man's lands of the Great War will be able to pick-up Holdfast for a massive 60% off for the 2 weeks preceding the release of Frontlines.

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

Before taking to the front, be sure to take a read below of all that comes to Holdfast with the release of this major update.

Experience the Great War!

March into the Great War and experience the battlefields of World War One, featuring, new factions and playable classes, artillery pieces, infamous machine guns of the time, grenades, rifles, squads and camps serving as forward positions, additional role-play features, plenty of destruction, 7 unique maps and a brand new game-mode ‘Offensive’.

Whether you prefer shelling enemy footholds, defending trenches at the frontlines, leading squads or supporting your team by constructing defences there will be plenty for you to sink your teeth into.

Faction Coalitions

The 1st World War as the name suggests encompassed the globe, bringing nations into conflict that were previously separated by sometimes thousands of miles. Frontlines features two coalitions that each represent the scale of the war - The Allied Powers and the Central Powers. These factions house within them nations of their own.

The Allied Forces consist of troops from the British Empire, France, Australia and the United States as part of the American Forces DLC. Each nation is represented uniquely and is class specific. For example, the Engineers of the Allied Powers consist only of the good fellows from down under. Currently, the Central Powers are made up of German infantry only, however, we’d love to represent the additional nations of the Central Powers in future updates to continue representing those who took part in this historic conflict.

Fight for King and Country or for the Kaiser! Pick your side and engage in the greatest of wars.

New Classes

As war tactics and technological advancements developed so did that of specialised roles within the ranks. As is the case with Holdfast: Nations at War, Frontlines will also feature unique classes that offer specialised traits and abilities. The classes featured in Frontlines at launch are Officers, Riflemen, Combat Medics, Artillerymen and Engineers.

No matter your play style you will be able to find a class that best suits your personal war efforts! Take a read into the specifics of each class below.

Infantry Officer

Soldiers have always needed leaders, great tacticians and fearless decision makers. Officers in Holdfast: Frontlines are more important than ever with the introduction of squad system mechanics and squad camps to provide forward spawn positions for your men. Equipped with a quick firing revolver, despite having a short range, officers can quickly eliminate enemy troops at close range in rapid succession if required. Officers also carry smoke grenades with them to provide cover for their squad to advance.

Abilities

High Command - An officer in command. You are able to issue orders to the rank and file.

Traits

Distinguishable - Stand out from the rank and file. You appear differently on the minimap.

Resilient- A strong sense of duty. Melee damage dealt to you by other players is reduced by 15%.

Light Footed - Agile and equipped with a great understanding of the surrounding terrain. You are able to quickly move about increasing your running speed by 7%.

Rifleman

As infantry rifles became increasingly improved, riflemen soon took over the face of battlefields with their sharp accuracy, firing rate and new-found maneuverability with the abolishment of line-formation. These men come not only in large numbers but also pack a punch being equipped with a bayoneted rifle and hand grenades.

Abilities

Rank & File - Drills, drills and more drills. Your extensive discipline allows you to receive firearm accuracy and melee damage bonuses from orders given by officers.

Additional score is given for killing or maiming someone while following officer orders.

Guardsman - Duty bound to guard the high-command. You reduce the damage dealt to nearby allied officers and medics by 8% (Stacks 8 times).

Bayonet Handling - Drilled in the handling of bayonets. Charge with a bayonet equipped and make use of your trusty rifle as a makeshift spear in melee combat or detach it from your weapon to gather a 5% increase in firearm accuracy.

Press the ‘T’ key to attach or detach your bayonet when equipping a rifle.

Traits

Orderly - Strength in numbers. You significantly increase your chances of surviving shots from firearms at longer distances when engaged in combat as a group.

Following an officer’s order to hold ground will activate this trait.

Medic

With the nature of the war, casualties and injured soldiers were ever more prominent and as such required medics to push themselves to their limits in the horrors of the war. The Combat Medic class, as the name suggests, provides medical assistance on the frontlines for those lucky enough to just escape death. Equipped with a rifle for defence and smoke grenades for healing cover, medics can ensure attacks and defences to not falter by keeping soldiers alive.

Abilities

Medicine - Well versed in the field of medicine. You are able to heal wounded players.

Bandage - Duty bound to guard the high-command. You reduce the damage dealt to nearby allied officers and surgeons.

Traits

Distinguishable - Stand out from the rank and file. You appear differently on the mini-map.

Engineer

With the stalemate of trench warfare, engineers played important roles in attempting to break that said stalemate. Provide your team with important on-the-fly defences, reinforce the trenches or build carryable machine guns and ammo boxes to support your fellow men.

Abilities

Engineering - Well versed in the construction of military works. You are able to enact various defensive emplacements and artillery.

Explosives Handling - Well versed in the handling of explosives. You are able to carry explosives.

Traits

Distinguishable - Stand out from the rank and file. You appear differently on the mini-map.

Artilleryman

Utilising Howitzers and Mortars the artillerymen of the time carved chunks out of both man and land. These wielders of such great destruction and power can reign hellfire down upon the enemy, using howitzer shells or mortars. Artillerymen can also provide a large smoke screen to aid allied troops by firing smoke shells.

Abilities

Artillery Operator - Trained in the operation of various artillery pieces. You have sole ownership over the use of howitzers, mortars and other artillery.

Grants the ability to see where your mortar shells land as well as a range indicator to fire shells with great precision.

Traits

Light Footed - Agile and equipped with a great understanding of the surrounding terrain. You are able to quickly move about increasing your running speed.

Artillery Pieces

Artillery was synonymous during the Great War and could quite literally shape the face of the battlefields of the time, both physically and metaphorically.

Frontlines introduces 4 new artillery types - Light Howitzers, Heavy Howitzers, Fixed Heavy Mortars and Heavy Mortars. All pieces come with unique traits that will be better suited to specific scenarios.

Heavy Howitzers feature a slower firing rate but have increased damage and area of effect, perfect for bringing down well defended structures. In contrast, the Light Howitzers are easier to manoeuvre and feature a faster firing rate perhaps more appropriate for targeting infantry.

Mortars offer a way to reach parts of the battlefield usually unobtainable by conventional artillery cannons due to their nature of soaring over the battlefield rather than through it. This unique ability of Mortars make them a nightmare to escape as cover offers little protection. Heavy Mortars require a longer setup time, manoeuvring into position but allow you to position them exactly where desired. Fixed Heavy Mortars require no setup time as they have been pre-placed in specific strategic positions to offer optimal bombardment coverage of capture points and strategic positions.

Given the right crew these artillery pieces, if combined and well organised, can devastate the battlefields of Frontlines and push your team forward to victory!

Machine Guns

Arguably the sole cause for trench warfare, the invention of the machine gun changed wars forever. Although making you a target, utilising machine-guns can ensure your teams defensive lines hold and used correctly machine guns can provide cover for advancing charges over the top and cut a way through to enemy lines. Frontlines features both fixed and carryable machine guns constructed by engineers.

Those who take the side of the Allied Forces can expect to use the iconic Vickers machine gun and those of the Central Powers are provided with the dominating Maschinengewehr 08. Pressing the ‘Rick Click’ mouse button while aiming with this gun will zoom in providing you better visibility of the enemy.

Grenades

Storm trenches, blow up defences and provide support for your team with the introduction of grenades. Genades can be used to break deadlocks with well dug in enemies, provide smoke screens against machine gun fire and blast enemy built defenses and squad camps to smithereens.

Aim a grenade by holding the ‘Left Mouse’ button then release it to throw. Quick throws are also a possibility and can be achieved by tapping the ‘Left Mouse’ button rather than holding it.

Rifles

With a level of accuracy never reached before, the introduction of rifles changed how wars were fought forever. Their faster firing rate, reload times and compact size make the muskets of the Napoleonic Era feel futile in comparison. Those who are skilled marksmen will be able to eliminate enemies instantly by a headshot kill, dropping the enemy where they stand and ringing out a ‘ding’ that will surely send shivers down the spines of anyone close by.

The infantry class’s rifles specifically come with detachable bayonets that players can swap to and engage in close melee combat should the enemy breach their defences.

Squad Camps

With the increased scale of warfare, squad camps provide a way for players to set up forward positions to quickly engage back in combat should they fall victim to death. These camps are placed by Officers and can be spawned on unlimited amounts of times by their squad members.

Should you find an enemy encampment, quickly destroy it using explosive grenades or shooting at it with your firearm to push that squad back to their team’s HQ.

Roleplay Features

Roleplay has always been at the forefront of Holdfast and its community. Frontlines will be no exception, the release of Frontlines introduces plenty of new roleplay features to bring the war to life. Play rock, paper, scissors with your fellow trench-men, take a snooze on a bed while others bravely fight on, play classical musical instruments such as the new cello, surrender to your enemies and much more.

Can’t decide who’s going over the top first? Why not settle it with a good old fashioned game of rock, paper, scissors. Simply open the gesture menu by pressing ‘v’ and select your desired outcome.

Fought to the last man against all odds? There's no shame in surrendering. Be aware as warcrimes are often committed during these most dire times.

Are the frontlines too much? Have you fallen sick or taken a bullet wound? Head to the medical beds and rest up, the medics will keep you in good health and get you fighting fit ready for battle once more. Players will heal up when resting.

Good soldiers follow orders! March to the front with splendid discipline by using the new ‘March’ gesture. This gesture will shoulder your rifle while still allowing you to march onwards with your squad.

Go over the top! Utilise ladders across the battlefield and in trenches to reach new heights. These ladders can be used by pressing your ‘E’ or ‘USE’ key respectively whilst looking at one.

Bring music to all with the Gramophone. These wonderful music players bring joy to us all during the most harrowing of times. These can be found pre-placed around various locations on maps and feature both songs appropriate to the Allied and the Central Powers

Patriotism runs rampant. Carry a faction’s flag from your Headquarters and make with it to the frontlines! Should you drop your flag and leave it defenceless, the enemy can capture the flag in a display of dominance. You will also benefit from a 10% increase in movement speed while carrying the flag.

Sound the call to go up and over the trenches! The trench whistle is available as part of the officer’s utility selection similar to how a spyglass functions. Select the whistle by pressing the ‘J’ key to send out a signal for your men to charge over the top!

Become the next Mozart with a click of a button. Play tunes together with cellos and pianos creating a beautiful orchestra.

These are only a few of the many new roleplay features you can expect to find in Frontlines. We look forward to seeing them put to good use.

Destruction

One of the most destructive wars in history, destroying earth, brick and man. Destruction in Frontlines is taken to another level yet to be seen in Holdfast before. The good majority of structures in Frontlines can be brought down to its foundations by artillery.

Take a look at the scale of destruction you can cause in the examples below.

Battlefields

Inspired by WW1 battles, the battlefields of Frontlines feature all of the aspects of WW1 warfare, featuring trenches, rail-lines and trains, bunker systems, machine gun nests, dugouts, impact craters and much more. Holdfast: Frontlines at launch will feature 7 uniquely designed maps all offering different playing experiences and settings for both large scale and small scale battles.

Freurlund

Set in and around a recently abandoned rail-yard within steep snowy mountains, Freurlund pushes players to their limits, battling not only the enemy but also the harsh environment it features. Men can find solace from the steeps down in the rail-yard, the central point of the map, but only for some time, as it will soon turn to a war-torn battlefield as players fight over the capture point and control of a usable locomotive train to shunt troops to and from your HQ to the front.

Marre

Once a prosperous town and industrial powerhouse, Marre has been reduced to ruins and has had its land carved out by lines upon lines of boggy trenches. Featuring a central capture point atop a hill, players will battle it out for control of this great vantage point and its surroundings.

Mansion

Battle over a bespoke mansion set on the coastlines of France. Mansion brings close quarters combat to a whole new level, once inside the mansion players must navigate through it’s narrow hallways and passages to battle within the great hall and capture this important position. Those who may find themselves claustrophobic may prefer to focus their efforts on the town and railway station that overlooks the mansion. Both positions are equally as important to ensuring victory.

Countryside

A small countryside village that once sat quietly beside its flowing river. This smaller battlefield offers little respite from the war and will quickly throw you into intense small scale combat against your foes. Utilising cover to your full advantage is key for victory on Countryside.

St. Peter's

Foxhole

Two opposing trench lines overlook a derelict town within a valley surrounded by barbed wire, mortar craters and bodies. Artillery barrages have left this land for ruin so watch your step and stay alert, you never know what or who is lurking in the rubble.

Wasteland

The Offensive Gamemode

Offensive is a new domination inspired gamemode that requires teams to capture points linearly to progress through the battlefield. IE. You must capture A and B before moving on to C. A ‘tug-of-war’ ensues as both teams converge to capture the same point or multiple pronged locations

Each team will start at an initial Headquarters that is uncapturable and must then head towards neutral capture points sequentially, eventually meeting the enemy in the middle to begin the ‘tug-of-war’.

Forward camps placed by officers will be put to good use as both teams coordinate assaults on the offensive. Capture points back from entrenched enemy units in defense of capturable points through flanking maneuvers.

Should a faction manage to capture all points on the map, they will find themselves the victor through ‘Domination’. Giving those that are on the brink of loss through ‘Domination’ with a fighting chance for a glorious comeback, a 120 second timer will count down before a win is declared through domination unless the team is able to capture back a minimum of 1 capture point.

Good teamwork is integral for victory on the Offensive gamemode. Join a squad and stick close to them to ensure you’re doing your part in the war efforts.

Support Us. American Forces

Featuring the brave fellows of the 103rd Infantry Regiment (2nd Maine), part of the famous Yankee Division. It brings the American Forces to Holdfast, allowing players to fight for the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Those who purchase the American Forces DLC will gain access to playing as the 103rd Infantry Regiment (2nd Maine) Officer and Riflemen skin. They are equipped with the M1903 Springfield Rifle ready to turn ‘No Man's Land’ into ‘Yankee Land’.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1906771/Holdfast_Frontlines_WW1__American_Forces/

Content present in Holdfast DLCs is purely cosmetic. It doesn’t and never will impact gameplay. Your kind generosity will be put to good use and bring this genre of roleplay warfare games which all of us are fond of in the limelight.

Graphical Remaster

Frontlines is not the only new addition to Holdfast. We also spent considerable time re-crafting our environments for Nations At War - The game’s beloved Napoleonic setting to provide improved graphical fidelity and new weather presets. These graphical changes have been made to not only bring the game up-to-date but to also further immerse you within the experiences of Holdfast.

Changing the over 50+ maps that we already have in the game was no easy task, but we felt it necessary to bring Nations At War up to the same standard and quality we’d be setting with Frontlines. The graphical overhaul also introduced new weather presets such as snowstorms, sandstorms, various calm presets and many more, all now also featuring volumetric lighting.

Take a look at the preview sliders below to view the graphical improvements that come with this update.

Players on lower end specifications can now also make use of a spatial upscaling algorithm to reduce graphical settings while retaining some visual quality. Navigate to the video tab in the settings menu to select an upscaling profile that best suits your needs.

250 Player Event Battles

Event and community servers can now support up to 250 players per server! While this player count will not be reflected on official servers, as it remains important to keep gameplay and performance as consistent as possible, those who own their own servers will now be able to accept 250 players onto their servers running the Nations At War game type.

The increased player count means even more Holdfast goodness packed into one server. Get involved in these large scale events by joining the community discord server today! Whether you’re interested in modding Holdfast, hosting your own community events or just wanting to get involved deeper within our great community, the Holdfast official Discord server is the place to be. It is your central hub for all things Holdfast and houses a plethora of channels dedicated to event and game announcements, regiment recruitment, game support, suggestions, history discussion and more.

http://discord.gg/holdfastgame

Until then, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice & Winston (The Cat).

Dec 20, 2021

Holiday Update! Its Christmas Time

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Head back from the frontlines and let the festivities commence! Yet another year of Holdfast is coming to a close, but do not fear as there is plenty still to come with this update and in the new year.

As it is the time for giving, Holdfast: Nations At War will soon be on sale and has now already been updated to introduce a new rewards system for regular returning players. We’ll also be giving some more information away about this “Big Update” this blog post so be sure to read until the end.

Daily Rewards

Climb the ranks to eternal Holdfast glory with the addition of daily XP rewards for all players to enjoy. Featuring x2 and x3 experience multipliers, along with future undisclosed in-game rewards, your player score can now be boosted by simply playing Holdfast: Nations At War.

Those who reach at least 2000 xp gained per day for a minimum of 3 days of the week will gain access to the weekend bonus multipliers.

Be sure to check out the new experience panel in the main menu as it will keep track of your progress towards the weekend bonus rewards.

Themed Content

Keep warm by a roasting fire, build an army of snowmen, fire giant snowballs out of cannons, sing carols and ride on the back of a ‘reindeer’ while fighting off foes. There’s plenty to get you in the spirit of the holidays this winter sale.

Practice the age old craft of snowman-ship by constructing makeshift snowmen with the sapper class. These brave snowmen whilst not doing much as they are just for ‘snow’ will offer some comfort, and cover, during the cold winter wars.

Light up the night sky in celebration of the Holidays by firing the new firework rocket type out of the rocket launchers. This unique artillery ammunition, while not dealing any damage, will still provide plenty of amazement as the light twinkles across the battlefield.

The Big Update

Since announcing the sign-ups for the closed beta of the “Big Update” we’ve received an impressive 600+ applications for closed testing and while we cannot accept everyone, we will soon be sending invitations out to those who applied.

As we’ve mentioned many times, this project has been the most ambitious to date and will begin a new era in the new year for Holdfast and its community. We cannot wait to show you more of what we’ve been working on as we start to roll out larger scale testing and finalise the “Big Update”.

The community for the past month has been hard at decoding the torn letter Rycon found just before Halloween, it just so happens that Rycon has yet again found another letter whilst out fishing with Walki. It looks rather damaged though so we will yet again need some more help decoding the secrets it holds.

Be sure to join the official Holdfast Discord and enter the chat #the-letter to join the team hard at work trying to figure out what the “Big Update” has in store for Holdfast.

Make sure to keep up with our social media and official Discord server over the beginning of the new year as we’ll be slowly revealing more about what is on the horizon for Holdfast.

Community Spotlight

In-line with the release of scripting support and further support for controlling bots, the modding community has been hard at work innovating and pushing boundaries with their new creations. One such innovative project is the Holdfast: Commander Battles mod that allows players to control a line of bot soldiers and partake in large scale battles commanding your men to victory! We caught up with Alexaroth, who has been taking on the challenge of further refining and improving the community made gamemode.

“As a former competitive line leader, I always pushed the boundaries of what I could get out of a line of musketeers. Having one made out of bots seemed like the next step in line leading for me, which is why I took an interest in Core's original mod, and made a new, workshop version, with help from Elf and Wrexial. I believe Commander Battles allows line leaders to get the best out of their instincts and abilities, while providing a great atmosphere and an experience that's hard to replicate in normal line battles.

I believe a lot of people that normally wouldn't take a leading role with other players, enjoy having that kind of experience offered to them through this mod, and that is why the community has had such a positive response to it.” -Alexaroth

Be sure to check out the community commander battle server and lead your men to death or glory!

Whether you’re interested in modding Holdfast, hosting your own community events or just wanting to get involved deeper within our great community, the Holdfast official Discord server is the place to be! It is your central hub for all things Holdfast and houses a plethora of channels dedicated to event and game announcements, regiment recruitment, game support, suggestions, history discussion and more. Click below to join today!

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame

Changelog 72 - Game Version v1.21.8024.25001

Christmas Event

● Suspiciously large reindeers make a comeback.

● Sing a carol or two while sitting comfortably next to a piano as these tunes turn jolly for the festive season.

● It's not Christmas without a tree! Decorated shrubbery can be found on all maps.

● Catch prizes in true Holdfast fashion as cannons remain just as lethal a force when their iron balls turn snowy.

● The main menu has turned festive.

● Practice the age old craft of snowman-ship by constructing makeshift snowmen with the sapper class.

● Light up the night sky in celebration of the Holidays by firing the new firework rocket type out of the rocket launchers.

Regiment Registry

● You can now select 'Turkey' as a region for your regiment.

Holdfast SDK V3.2

● Bots can now be kicked or banned.

● None regiment-affiliated bots do not join a random fake regiment anymore.

● The officer order UI is now ignored if Shift, CTRL or ALT is pressed.

● Introduced a new command rc carbonPlayers combinedInput.

Everyone here at Anvil Game Studio would like to say a huge thank you for the ongoing support and for making the last 4 years of Holdfast so special. Here’s to many many more! We all hope you’ve been able to have an equally as special year this year and until next time, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper & Storey

Oct 28, 2021

Halloween Update! Monsieur Fred

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Douse the Jack-o’-lanterns! The Plague Doctor returns to the frontlines this Halloween, bringing with him a game sale, SDK updates and a spooky new friend to reign terror upon the battlefield.

Be sure to take a read till the end as alongside these additions we will also be taking a look at what the Holdfast modding community has been up to recently and discussing the ‘Big Update’ coming to Holdfast: Nations At War in the near future.

Game Sale

From October 28th until November 1st, Holdfast: Nations At War will be on sale for a massive 45% off!

With the games ever growing public, regiment and modding communities and plenty of future content still to come, now is the perfect moment to fire in volley, storm walls, rain artillery fire and charge on horseback this Halloween sale.

So what are you waiting for? The generals of the British, Prussian, Russian, French and Italian armies call for your enlistment!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/589290/

A Chatty Friend

Why didn’t the skeleton go to the party? Because he was too busy being fired out of a Napoleonic cannon!

Lonely artillery men fear no more as coming with this Halloween update is a new friend to keep you company through the nights. Not only will the plague doctor be returning this spooky season but with him comes a new foe to the battlefield… Monsieur Fred.

For the duration of the Halloween update Monsieur Fred, a talking skull, will replace round-shot ammunition bringing terrible jokes and catchphrases with him. Monsieur Fred is the perfect ammunition to decrease the morale of the enemy by bombarding them with the talking fellow.

Hop into Holdfast and simply pick up a round shot to awaken him at your own risk…

Credit goes to ApexPhantom for the zombified 3e regiment mod.

Holdfast SDK V3. Bots

The Holdfast SDK has opened many opportunities for the community to create their own custom content and experiences. For over a year now players have been able to create some very impressive custom maps, uniforms and scripts which is why we’ve continued to update and improve the Holdfast SDK.

This update improves upon Holdfast’s bots by allowing them to be targeted by rc commands, opening up a treasure-trove of opportunities to create bot oriented game modes and events.

Be sure to take a look at the community spotlight section of this blog to see some of the impressive work already done by members of the community with these new additions. You don't have to update existing modifications with the release of this update - Its backwards compatible.

The Big Update. Signups

For the past months we have been teasing the ‘Big Update’ coming to Holdfast: Nations at War, and as we approach closer to its release we are now able to reveal more information about what is to come.

The ‘Big Update’ has been in the works for over a year now and will bring something completely fresh and new to Holdfast, featuring new gameplay mechanics, features and much more. It is the most ambitious update to date!

The continued support of the community has allowed us to bring a new experience to Holdfast and as such we would now like to open Closed-BETA signups for the ‘Big Update’. Signups will be available to all Holdfast: Nations At War players but do keep in mind that spots are limited and you may not be accepted to this wave of tests. It is also subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

The Big Update - Signup Here!

Don’t be too disheartened however if you are not picked as the update will be coming to all of the Holdfast community in the coming year. While you wait though, you could help us put this letter back together. Rycon found it while he was out fishing just off-shore from here in our office in Malta. We tried our best to dry it off but we could still use some extra hands piecing it back together and making it readable. Be careful with it though, it looks rather old.

Community Spotlight

As mentioned, the support from the community over the years has been integral to the games success and our ability to work on bigger and greater updates for the game. It is because of this that we’d like to showcase some of the brilliant work of our modding community and regiments of the game.

With the SDK scripting update release we’ve already seen some incredible work from the community. One mod that has recently risen to popularity amongst the Holdfast community is C0reDump3r’s Commander mod. The mod allows players to take command of a line of bots and compete against other players in glorious large-scale linebattles. We caught up with C0reDump3r to find out more about their brilliant mod. Anvil Game Studios will be aiding the growing team working on this modification in their conquests by exposing modding-related features and functions present in this update to bring this brilliant idea to fruition.

“It was my friends in my regiment who said commander battle will be fun , then I just decided to make it happen. Recently, I'm planning to add a melee system for bots. I really like the idea of making cavalry bots, so I will definitely try to implement this.” - C0reDump3r

We also chatted with Davwado who has been kind enough to host a public commander battle server so all of the community can command at will!. We asked Davwado why they decided to help out.

“I decided to host the commander battle server purely out of curiosity at first, I was sent a mysterious video showing off some gameplay and was amazed. From this first test server a full community has spawned around it with an almost constant player base only typically seen on the official servers. Mods which alter the gameplay such as this one provide a whole new experience to players, ordinarily you may need 40+ players to play most maps now you can do the same with 4. It fundamentally changes the dynamic of the game. Already we've had close to 600 man battles with a fraction of the people required for a normal linebattle. Hopefully in the future we can have more development leading to more and more unique game modes.” - Davwado

The regiment community has been just as integral in keeping a constant stream of new experiences for players over the past years, their custom events, tournaments and many other activities have been key for players looking to get more out of the standard Holdfast experience. We decided to ask a few regiments members and leaders what brought them to making a regiment in the first place, starting with Jev from the 7.Fuß.

“I first made the regiment to be able to play with my friends and lead a group of people in a manner that was fair and focused on player experience more than anything else. To this day it is still my main drive to continue pushing on and putting the work in, especially during the pandemic. Providing a place for people to unwind, make friends and have a good time has proven and keeps proving to be a great boon not just to those people's fun but often also to their mental health.” - Jev

We asked the same question to Meal of the 21st Jägers.

“I joined my regiment thanks to an older member who loved to be loud and RP in public servers. This drew my attention when I was new to the game, and when he linked his discord I was hooked. As for why I've stayed, what started as a regiment, a couple weekly gatherings to play a specific game for an hour, eventually turned into something I'd be willing to call my second family. I whole-heartedly view the regulars within my regiment as I would a brother or sister. There hasn't been a week in years that we don't laugh until we're in tears during the course of an event, either because of the game itself or the company we share it with. This is something I wouldn't throw away for the world.” - Meal

Whether you’re interested in modding Holdfast, hosting your own community events or just wanting to get involved deeper within our great community, the Holdfast official Discord server is the place to be. It is your central hub for all things Holdfast and houses a plethora of channels dedicated to event and game announcements, regiment recruitment, game support, suggestions, history discussion and more.

Click below to join today!

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame

Changelog 71 - Game Version v1.20.7970.28120

Halloween Event

● The Plague Doctor returns! Bring gruelling disease with this class this Halloween.

● Monsieur Fred rattles his way through Holdfast this Halloween.

● Many more goodies from previous events.

Holdfast SDK V3

● Bots are now smarter and can perform their actions more human-like.
» They are able to perform melee actions, pitch their weapon, block as well as fire.

● Introduced several rc commands allowing great control over several other actions to complement the above.
» Switching weapons.
» Rotation.
» Play a voice phrase.
» Equipping a carriable object.
» Switch from walking to running.
» Movement and interaction relative to cavalry mechanics.
» Heal.
» Play an instrument.
» Order commands.
» Interact with in-game objects including artillery pieces and chairs.
» Build defences.

● Go to our Wiki for a full list of commands to use during your modding ventures.
» Modding Wiki - Shared Methods 2
» Modding Wiki - RC Commands
» Modding Wiki - Server Config Enums

Misc

● Updated the server browser list in the 'Join Custom Server' panel accessible through the game's server browser.

Look forward to what more we have in store for Holdfast: Nations At War. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for making this community an ever-welcoming place filled with wholesome individuals. :rheartr:

You're more than welcome to give us a follow on our new Steam Developer Page.

Until next time, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper & Storey

Aug 16, 2021

Game Update. Bug Fixes & Community Spotlight!

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Since the release of the map voting update, it has been rather splendid watching players voting for their favourite maps and controlling the official public servers in a way not possible before.

Additionally, we’d like to extend a thank you to those who submitted bug reports post the release of the update. We are pleased to announce that a good portion of these bugs have now been addressed with the release of this bug fix update along with some small changes to the map voting setup.

Along with reading the changelog, why not also take a look at what the community has been up below to since the release of the map voting and SDK update.

Community Spotlight

With the recent addition of modded scripts to the SDK the modding community of Holdfast wasted no time creating some already impressive scripts to assist gameplay on community run servers.

There is some real talent within the modding community and we look forward to seeing what is to come next for Holdfast modding. To celebrate this talent we caught up with some of the modders and map makers to showcase some of their brilliant work.

Auto Admin Script by eLF

eLF has been an active member of the Holdfast map making and modding community since the SDK’s release and with the release of the scripting update they have already been hard at work making an auto admin script for private events to manage things such as ‘fire out of line’ and other rules. Take a look at the gif above to see the script in action. We also asked eLF what got them into modding Holdfast, here’s what they had to say.

“Between running linebattle events and competitive matches, I often find myself spending as much time hosting events as playing the game. So once I got invited to the beta for the SDK update, I became focused on automating as much as I could before the update was released. So far I'm very pleased with my AutoAdmins results in the linebattle testing it has completed.”

Modded uniforms by UberJuice

Like eLF, UberJuice has been at the forefront of Holdfast modding since almost its conception and has produced some stunning maps and uniforms during their time.

“Creating mods for Holdfast has motivated me to dive deeper into 3D work. In this past year of making maps and uniforms I have learned a ton of new skills and ultimately a new passion. Regardless if I’m trying to recreate a uniform from an old painting or dressing a chimp up in a British uniform - the creative outlet feels limitless. The greatest reward for it all is seeing a battlefield of players enjoying my work.”

Join The Community

Changelog 70 - Game Version v1.19.7894.19868

Bug Fixes

● Solved a server-side error log related to cavalry units when swapping maps.

● Solved an issue with mods not loading in the correct order.

● Solved a warning on the spawn menu with modded uniforms.

● Removed all unnecessary logs from the map vote system.

● Solved an issue with the new revive admin tool not working as intended due to Discord integration.

● Solved an issue with the new revive admin tool not working as intended when reviving a cavalry unit.

● Solved an issue with the new revive admin tool not working as intended when two administrators revived the same person.

● Solved an issue with the new revive admin tool placing the team’s score on the negative.

● Solved an issue with modded maps using capture points not loading.

● Solved an issue with some gabions having the wrong physics layer applied.

● Solved an issue when striking to the right from horseback. It could sometimes get stuck.

● Solved an issue where mounted attacks from horseback would let go despite the player holding the attack.

● Solved an issue where score applied for healing other players when a map is changing would apply on the next map.

● Solved an issue with some stairs on Port Nile speeding up the player.

● Solved an issue with the Russian officer sword dealing less damage than intended with the up attack.

● Horse to horse collision is now more reliable.

● Attempted a fix for the Officer reinforce order running out prematurely.

Misc

● Solved an issue with the american servers experiencing latency issues.

● Changed the map voting history count on official servers from 3 to 5 maps.

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

You're more than welcome to give us a follow on our new Steam Developer Page.

- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper & Storey