Sep 10, 2022

1st Series. Words From The Game Director

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Greetings good fellows of our beloved community. First and foremost let me start by thanking every one of you lot for your most generous support and for being with us throughout this delightful journey. I can speak for everyone here in the team that it has been a great pleasure working on the game and seeing you enjoy the content we create.

Some of you might be asking the question of what’s the next big step for Holdfast and the team. I’ll be answering some of your questions in this decently sizeable post.

Anvil Game Studios is currently undergoing a major restructuring of its workflows, pipelines and schedules. We will be better defining the responsibilities and roles everyone in the team plays within the company based on each individual’s core strengths and aspirations. Why are we doing this? We want to ensure that our planned growth doesn’t come at the cost of lesser-quality releases or the sanity of everyone whom I have the greatest of pleasures working with.

Within the next year, we will be bringing new folks into the flock. As we have done so before, we will first look to recruit talented individuals within the confines of our community. The team will continue to grow as we embark on more ambitious updates for Holdfast and beyond.

Our sights are now set on a series of releases leading into 2023 that will bring Holdfast into the new age. Rather than continuing to pile on the many features that Holdfast sports, we will place the good majority of our development schedule focusing on improving existing content to deliver a smoother experience. We’re already doing this with Linebattle 2.0 by improving on performance, the fluidity of the game’s animations and its audio-scape.

To go hand in hand with the above-mentioned endeavour, we have been revisiting our planned update release strategy to ensure the longevity of Holdfast while keeping in mind the needs and wants of our community. We want you to be able to enjoy Holdfast and all that it has to offer for the years to come!

We will also be moving a few features from the previously released roadmap to future updates. But does this mean that the next foreseeable releases will be lacking in fresh new content? Most definitely not. We are committed to delivering improvements to existing content alongside new maps, a new… Austrian faction and more.

How will we be bringing Holdfast into the new age?
● Polishing the game’s existing animations.
● Improving the first-person view.
● More passes to redefine the role classes play on the battlefield.
● Increase gratification for kills.
● Expanding on the recently released progression mechanics.
● Improving replayability and player retention (more maps, roleplay features etc).
● Revisiting old props and game models.
● Further improve our sound-scape.
● Redesigning our dated user interface.
● Dishing out more optimisations to the game.
● Bug fixes and stability.

Our update release strategy has been fine-tuned with something big we have in store for Holdfast in 2023. This will ensure the longevity of the game for the years to come. We’ll be sure to bring you in on this as we reach closer to this huge release!

I’m sure you’d also be interested in knowing what we’re planning for near-future updates so without further notice, here’s what to expect. Be sure to join Discord if you’re looking at getting in touch with us or wanting to provide us with feedback.

What’s in store for Holdfast in the near future?
● Napoleonic Austria.
● More additions to Holdfast’s soundscape.
● Engine upgrade.
● Feature allowing artisans to select the recently introduced new faces through the Holdfast SDK.
● Festive content! We’ll be planning ahead for some lovely Fred lore additions this Halloween.

http://discord.gg/holdfastgame

If you haven’t checked out the Linebattle 2.0 update, we welcome you to do so!

We’ll be on Discord listening to feedback.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/589290/view/3301723568224735001
That’s all for my first TED talk. I look forward to sharing with you our goals, thoughts and direction in similar posts. You have my word that we will always stay true to our core values of promoting player-to-player interaction, encouraging roleplay and placing community at the forefront.

Until next time, I thank you once again and may good health be yours. ːrheartrː

- Andrew ‘Refleax’ Farrugia
Game Director

On behalf of all the great folks at Anvil Game Studios.

Sep 8, 2022

Linebattle 2.0! Customisation & Progression

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Fall into line and ready your musket with the release of the Linebattle 2.0 major update for Holdfast: Nations At War. Featuring player progression and customisation, the sergeant class, a rework of the game’s classes, new animations for all firearms, improved audio and much more.

Celebrating this anticipated release, we’re slashing the price of the game to 65% and all its respective cosmetic DLCs to 15-20%. Now’s a better time than ever to join the beloved Holdfast community! We hope to see you soon on the battlefield with us.

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

Before taking a read below of all that will come with this major update to the game, why not first check out the update’s cinematic release trailer?

Grenadier Regiments DLC

Releasing alongside this update is the Grenadier Regiments DLC. Stand side by side with your fellow elites in dashing new uniforms available now.

Content present in Holdfast’s 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 into the limelight.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2107250

Progression & Customisation

Battle-hardened soldiers will now be able to cosmetically display their skill through Holdfast’s new player progression and customisation mechanics.

Customisation is per faction and per class while also being tied into your class level. After reaching certain class levels players will be able to select from 17 new unlockable heads in the game, equip other nations' muskets, and melee weaponry and specify the pitch of their character's voice for shouts and calls.

Cavalry classes will also be able to unlock and select different horses to ride on.

Sergeants & Rocketeers

The sergeant arrives! This fearsome new class on the battlefield has the ability to order similar commands with buffs as the officer class to the rank and file and comes equipped with a long spontoon to face off any brave fellows who should dare challenge them.

Previously something only specific to the British Empire, the rocketeer class is now playable across all factions in Holdfast: Nations At War. Previous to this update this class served little to no gameplay purpose but it has been now redesigned to specifically excel at the use of rocket launchers.

Squads & Class Redesign

A variety of classes featured in Holdfast: Nations At War throughout this update have undergone a
considerable rework to ensure classes not only have a place but also a purpose on the battlefield. This is the first version in a series of redesigns towards this effort.

Significantly reducing the amount of downtime and running spent on the game’s Napoleonic front, the flag forward position mechanic accessible to the officer class has now been redesigned to feature a squad system. Everyone apart of the squad including the officer himself will be able to spawn on this forward position making it easier to play the game in groups where the most fun is to be had. Additionally to this, more classes can now spawn on these forward positions.

Sappers now also have the ability to build ammo depots that can be strategically moved and placed around the battlefield to ensure everyone remains well equipped. Ammunition has been reduced across all weapons in balance with this.

Carpenters looking to deal some real up close and personal damage with their two-handed axe can now enter a berserk mode by pressing their ability button (default ‘Q‘) allowing them to swing their axe in additional directions while having a slight run speed increase.

There’s plenty more to this first version of the class redesign! The full extent of the class rework changes can be found within the class selection UI under the abilities and traits section and within the changelog of this blog post.

Animations & Audio

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve Holdfast, this update brings with it brand new animations for all firearms across the game’s Napoleonic front (excluding melee weapons). Featuring new reload and firing animations for both the muskets and pistols, new bayonet attaching and detaching animations and new healing animations for the surgeons amongst other animation tweaks and improvements.

As a result of these new animations, surgeons healing and soldiers attaching or detaching their bayonets can now perform these actions while crouching.

Reloading and firing sounds for muskets and pistols have been completely reworked. A small collection of maps now also feature unique in-world ambience sounds to further develop the atmosphere of Holdfast’s battlefields.

In-world audio across all maps is an ongoing process, those wishing to get a taste of what is to come on the audio front of the game should head down to the docks on Port Nile or sit with a picnic under the great oak tree on Ravenstone.

5 New Battlefields

In this release, we’re introducing 5 new linebattle-themed battle maps. Engage in heated volleys or glorious bayonet charges on Al Kimar Pyramids, Avignon, Pillerone Pass, Vanoise Heights or Hudree Marsh. Hop in, stand shoulder to shoulder and make your stand on these new battlefields!

Game Optimisations

Efforts to optimise the game for low to high-end PCs have continued throughout the development of the Linebattle 2.0 update. Bringing Holdfast to a wider audience by making the game increasingly accessible will continue to be at the forefront of development to further aid in bringing this leading title in the roleplay shooter genre into the limelight.

Experiment with different graphic preset settings in the game to gather the performance to graphical fidelity balance that you desire. This will not be the last time you’ll be hearing from us working on optimisation-oriented updates.

Map loading is now also significantly faster.

Community Discord

Whether you’re interested in modding, participating in community events or just wanting to get involved deeper within our great community, the Holdfast Discord 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 (clan) recruitment, game support, suggestions, history discussion and more.

http://discord.gg/holdfastgame

Changelog 81 - Game Version 2.7.8286.30379

Count
● 20 new features and improvements.
● 7 optimisations.
● 4 user interface additions.
● 41 bug fixes.
● 4 miscellaneous additions.

Click here for the full change log.

Due to the unfortunate event of the team catching a touch of that COVID that’s been going around, we had to delay the release of the Napoleonic howitzer to the next update - Don’t you worry, however, there’s still plenty to enjoy in this update!

Big thanks to Ed, Charles E. Jesus, Mattrobes, Skyold, Nitropunch and all those good fellows who joined us in the testing prior to this update’s release.

Stay tuned for more Holdfast soon. As always, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː

- Anvil Game Studios

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

Jun 22, 2022

Regiments Assemble! 3 New Maps

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Raise the banners and fall into rank with the release of the Regiments Assemble update. This update comes as precursor to the great ‘Linebattle 2.0’ update releasing to Holdfast in August. However, this update is rather plentiful in itself featuring 3 new maps, a new scoreboard, new medal designs and the introduction of new regiment registry features to the game.

So before you head to the frontline be sure to take a read below of all that is coming to Holdfast with this update. Be sure to join us on Discord for all things Holdfast!

http://discord.gg/holdfastgame

Registry Upgrade

Regiment owners rejoice! Coming with this update are a plethora of new features and upgrades to the in-game regiment registry system.

Regiment owners will now be able to assign unique rank icons to each rank within their regiment that will then be displayed alongside player names and on the scoreboard in-game to showcase their position within the regiment.

Alongside this, promoting and assigning ranks has been streamlined to allow automated rank and tag assigning based upon a format defined by the regiment’s owner. When a regiment member is promoted their tags will now automatically update in their name, no longer will you need to hassle new recruits to ‘fix your tags!’, the in-game system will handle that all for you.

Players are given the option to opt out of this system via the naming options in the settings menu should they wish to temporarily merc with another clan. Regiment owners can also opt out of this system if they desire by simply leaving the tag formatting empty.

Those assigned as regiment moderators can now also kick and promote enlisted individuals. You will also no longer have to remove ranks to insert additional ones in between. Simply arrange their sorting ID and you’ll be good to go.

New custom regiment specific emblems have also been added into the regiment registry banner editor, these can all be found at the end of the symbol selection in the banner editor.

A big thank you to those who took the time to send over their custom icons, any regiments wishing to have their own icons included should reach out via discord to Harper#0410 to then be added in future updates.

A New Scoreboard

To compliment the regiment rank icons and to make the scoreboard easier to comprehend at glance we have designed and implemented a new in-game scoreboard. Parallel to this we have also re-designed every single medal found within the game and introduced new designs for the leaderboard ranking medals.

Take a look at the new scoreboard and medals below.

We’ve also created unique icons to represent the many classes one can play as once they hop in Holdfast. Different classes are playable across the game’s Napoleonic and Great War fronts on both land and at sea.

3 New Maps! Freurlund Revisited

The battle of the bridges! Featuring in this update are 3 new maps all of which have bridge crossings as a focus on their battlefields respectively. This update brings 2 new maps to Nations At War and 1 new medium sized map for Frontlines. Take a look at these maps in more detail below.

Ryhall Vale - Nation At War

A deep crevice carves its way through the vale of Ryhall with rickety wooden bridges spanning across its crest. Watch your footing as the battle rages on from one side of the deep expanse to the other because there’s nothing that will save you from the drop below.

Ravenstone - Nation At War

A peaceful river flows through the valley of the farmland of Ravenstone with stone walls offering opposing lines of defense. Trampling on crops and using haystacks as cover will be a common sight on this battlefield as players try to push across the river to victory and glory!

Lisart Valley - Frontlines

The once great train passage of Lisart has been ravaged by the great war. Take cover behind derailed train carriages from the rattling machine guns that overlook the central stone bridge and flank past the flowing waterfall that feeds the river below.

Freurlund Revisited - Frontlines

Alongside the introduction of these new maps we have also introduced an update to Freurlund which now allows it to be played on the invasion gamemode for Holdfast Frontlines. Heros Landing has also ungone some changes to ease the landing process for attacks on the initial phase of the map.

Linebattle 2.0 Major Update

Coming in the following month/s is the greatly anticipated Linebattle 2.0 update, the team has been very hard at work preparing this next major update for the game.

One key element of the Linebattle 2.0 Update is a new focus on character progression and customisation. Players across all eras of Holdfast will now be able to customise and progress each individual soldier (class) found within the game.

Players will be able to select and unlock up to 15+ heads featuring impressive facial hair, accessories and scars by leveling up their class and completing certain tasks. You will also be able to set your character's voice pitch. We will be looking into expanding upon the customisation in the future as the game develops.

As mentioned in the Linebattle 2.0 announcement blog a new artillery type will be making its way to the Napoleonic side of the game. The Howitzer will feature a unique firing ability that allows you to set a fuse timer to explode the howitzer shot mid-air which will then rain down shrapnel upon those below.

Here’s an exclusive preview of this new artillery type in action.

Take a read of the Linebattle 2.0 blog post here to find out about what else is coming in that update. Expect some additional content to also make it into the game - This will be one of the largest updates to hit Holdfast since the release of Frontlines!

We’re extremely excited and we hope that you are as well.

Changelog 80 - Game Version v2.6.8208.20814

Regiment Registry

● Regiments that haven’t submitted any score (by playing on official servers) for 10 consecutive days will be categorised as inactive. Those that are marked as inactive are not deleted, they remain static until a regiment member submits score again. Inactive regiments will not show in the #regiment-registry Discord channel.

● The regiment registry is now much quicker. Have a go at opening one of the 150+ player regiments to see this for yourself.

● Moderators can now kick enlisted. They are unable to kick other moderators and the regiment owner. The moderators will now also feature a unique stud icon in the registry.

● You will no longer have to remove ranks to insert additional ones in between. Simply arrange their sorting ID and you’ll be good to go.

● Regiment owners are now able to assign a rank icon within the regiment manager. These will show in game next to the enlistee’s name both in game and on the round scoreboard.

● Promoting and assigning tags has been streamlined allowing you to now automatically assign regiment tags and ranks to your enlisted. The ‘Registry Name Formatter’ will allow owners to format their regiment’s tags as desired. By default players will use the given format of their regiment, however, at the enlistee’s discretion they will have the options to disable this feature from their name within the settings menu.

3 New Maps! Freurlund Revisited

● Ryhall Vale is now playable in Holdfast. Join the Nations At War game type to check it out.

● Ravenstone is now playable in Holdfast. Join the Nations At War game type to check it out.

● Lisart Valley is now playable in Holdfast. Join the Frontlines gametype to check it out.

● Introduced Invasion support for Freurlund. Join the Frontlines gametype to check it out.

A New Scoreboard

● Made the scoreboard easier to comprehend at glance by giving a well deserved cleanup to this UI.

● Re-designed every single medal found within the game and introduced new designs for the leaderboard ranking medals.

New Class Identification Icons

● Created unique icons to represent the many classes in Holdfast.
» Classes on Holdfast’s Napoleonic army front.
» Classes on Holdfast's Napoleonic naval front.
» Classes on Holdfast’s WW1 front.

Holdfast SDK

● Updated the script SDK DLL files to match the new Frontlines standard.

● Solved an issue with local scope mod variables not working. Now local scope variables should be defined as mod_variable_local <string>.

● Solved an issue with the stonewall prop naming conventions.

● Introduced several new props to the Holdfast SDK.
» Mountain cliff dark rock variants.
» Lettuce props.
» Carrot props.
» Gallipoli ivy.
» Gallipoli ferns and plans.
» Small train.
» Small lumber carriage.
» Small liquid carriage.
» Small train track set.
» Pre-destroyed brittany houses and variants.
» Pier with stands.

Server Administration

● Players that get banned directly through the server’s file will now be immediately kicked from the server once the file is reloaded.

Gameplay Additions

● Introduced spawn points for officer tables at the top of the destroyed church on Foxhole.

● Removed a few MGs that covered the beachhead on Heroes Landing.

● Moved the flag closer to the shoreline on Heroes Landing.

● Changed a few tree sizes on Grassy Plains 5 to make them match ones pre the graphical additions with the Frontlines update.

● Updated Ancient Plains to balance gameplay and reduce its size.

● Port Nile is now playable on Army Conquest.

● Introduced additional clime-able ladders to the back of Fort Salettes and a mortar for the attackers to make use of during the siege.

Optimisations

● Performed several minor LOD-based optimisations on props.

● Optimised several textures in game to reduce VRAM usage.

● Optimised Freurlund.

Bug Fixes

● Performed a few additions to prevent people from getting stuck on map load.

● Solved an issue where custom uniforms could sometimes crash the server on load.

● Solved an issue with mod prefabs not featuring flag poles for the Kingdom of Italy, Central and Allied Powers factions.

● Solved an issue with one of the trees floating above ground on Fort Pierre.

● Solved an issue that allowed field gun cannonballs to explode using the explosive properties of a mortar.

● Solved an issue on Fort Pierre which disabled fire particles that killed players from showing if playing on the lower settings.

● Solved an issue with occlusion on Wasteland.

● Solved an issue with a few of the fence posts on Berkton Green not playing the correct audio and particle effects.

● Replaced the old background trees on Fort Winston with new ones.

● Solved an issue with incorrectly positioned water on Fort Winston.

● Solved an issue with a tree floating above ground on Aunby Valley.

● Solved an issue on Causeways which disabled fire particles that killed players from showing if playing on the lower settings.

● Updated a few of the trees on Causeways to be in line with the graphical upgrade introduced during the Frontlines update.

● Ensured that all ruin props on Tahir Desert are applied one uniform sandstone brick texture.

● Solved an issue on Desert Plains (S) having twice the spawnable Carpenter classes available instead of the Sapper class.

● Removed moonbows from showing.

Changelog 81 - Game Version v2.6.8210.20814

● The scoreboard is now more transparent allowing for greater visibility when having this UI open.

● Solved multiple layouting issues with the scoreboard.

● Increased the speed at which players scroll down the scoreboard.

● Solved an issue which restricted players to 25 character limit instead of 32 when inputting a custom name.

● Solved an issue where the new symbols for banners in the regiment registry weren’t selectable.

● Solved an issue with the 'Use Regiment Name' toggle not functioning as intended.

● Solved a bug which prevented the class identification icons from showing in the spawn menu.

Do feel free to join us on our Discord for a chat. You’ll also find many regiments (game clans) on there willing to show you the ropes.

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

- Anvil Game Studios

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

May 29, 2022

Join Us! Holdfast At The OTK Games Expo

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Dust off your parade dress and shine your bayonets! Holdfast: Nations At War will be featured at the first-ever OTK Games Expo. Holdfast will be showcased in all its glory on June 8th, 2022 streaming live from http://twitch.tv/asmongold.

The OTK Games Expo is an online showcase of new and upcoming games, ranging from a variety of genres. Holdfast has kindly been accepted and will take centre stage featuring an exclusive interview with Holdfast’s Producer Refleax, a community showcase trailer and much more. We invite everyone to tune in on June 8th as we continue to bring the genre of roleplay shooter games into the limelight.

Take a read below about more of our plans and be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming trailer as there’ll be a sneak preview at the end of an update landing soon to Holdfast: Frontlines.

Follow the OTK Games Expo here: https://twitter.com/OTKGamesExpo

Community Collaboration

Leading up to the OTK Games Expo we have been working hand in hand with the video and live streaming content creators of Holdfast to make a community trailer that showcases all the glorious, funny and ridiculous moments that come with Holdfast.

We’ve collected some of the greatest and iconic clips from Holdfast to create a trailer that will show everyone what the Holdfast experience is really all about. We also took some time to reach out to some of the good fellows creating Holdfast content to get an insight into what inspires them to produce content of the game.

₿itcoin ₿aron
http://twitch.tv/thebitcoinbaron

“I started playing in June 2019 with matches of 75v75 players, and tons of different classes. Holdfast hooks you in with its large vistas and the grand spectacle of historical warfare, even if you’re just following someone else's orders, it makes you feel part of something.

At the heart of the game, it is all about the crazy, characters who step up and hit that push to talk button, whether they are role-playing as a 17th Century Officer leading the infantry, blasting out 80s classics, or partitioning off some corner of a map for a bare-knuckle fight club, the community is very creative, and proximity voice chat helps a great deal.

Because I use my voice in-game, and because Holdfast is a close-knit community, I’ve made a lot of friends inside the game, from all over the world. There are lots of cool people that turn up regularly for streams, and I got a lucky start in streaming this, by finding a fantastic group of friends (bruceluke420, nickymadison, pirategamer123 and thrashingbacon to name the main culprits). There are also a lot of random people that dropped by the stream, stayed around and became big supporters too. I have a nice little community of watchers that come by, and are the absolute best.”

5uh Dude
http://youtube.com/5uhdude

“I first got into Holdfast in 2018 after seeing a funny Twitch clip of it. The community is what brought me to the game, to begin with, and it's what keeps me playing to this day! I think it's just a great mix of all the best parts of gaming, from funny moments with friends to the epic charges and battles with 150 people!

To anyone who is looking into creating Holdfast content, my best advice is to get to know the regiments in the Holdfast community! They host some awesome events that make for good fun and great YouTube content!”

Get Involved!

Working alongside the content creators of the Holdfast community has been an absolute pleasure of ours and we look forward to soon revealing the trailer which will include a sneak preview of the next game-changing update coming to Holdfast: Frontlines.

If you’re interested in connecting with other Holdfast content creators or are 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 the event and game announcements, regiment recruitment, game support, media, history discussion and more.

Click below to join today!

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame

Until next time, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː

- Anvil Game Studios

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

May 20, 2022

Modding! Holdfast SDK 5.0

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Artisans rejoice with the release of the Holdfast SDK 5.0 update! Featuring over 1500+ new props, uniform atlasing and newly exposed code for scripting. This update comes as a precursor to the linebattle major update landing next month and artisans are encouraged to utilise these additions to the SDK to bring forth the next generation linebattle maps.

This update to the SDK tools will bring a new wave of community creations and not only make modding more accessible but also provide new opportunities for unique custom experiences such as commander battles to be created.

Join us on Discord today to get involved.

discord.gg/holdfastgame

The Editor Experience

An important addition to this update is the streamlining of the SDK editor. The first step to achieve this was by updating to a newer version of Unity which now enables artisans to utilise the terrain hole functionalities as seen in Holdfast: Frontlines and a whole slew of new features that come with the upgraded SDK engine.

In addition to this, to make the map creation process less taxing we have introduced on-demand loading to the assets available in the SDK. No longer will you have to wait while the SDK loads up every single prop, rather you will simply only load the assets as and when they are being used in your scene. New filters have also been introduced to make searching for assets easier.

Following the release of this update we will be providing some informative quick and easy to grasp Holdfast SDK video tutorials.

The Editor Expanded

We have also spent some time expanding upon the already available possibilities of the Holdfast SDK. There have been some rather amusing, epic and extravagant modifications made across the years and we look forward to supporting the Holdfast modding community in their efforts to make new experiences for us all to enjoy.

Uniform Editor

Reduce the download size of your uniforms by packing multiple uniforms together using and atlasing their textures into one file. You will optimise your uniform collection by packing textures into an atlas reducing draw calls. It takes some experience to do but this will greatly reduce the impact a mod uniform has on the client FPS.

Uniform creators will also now have the ability to introduce multiple variations for an existing uniform. IE. Randomly change the colour of the pants for your Line Infantry uniform when the player spawns with it.

Map Editor

Artisans can now find over 1500+ new assets to place within their own battlefields, featuring all the new props from the Frontlines update and some additional unused assets too. Even Fred, our beloved can now make an appearance on community made maps.

Moreover, the new Offensive and Invasion game modes will now be supported on community made maps. We are really looking forward to what the community can come up with using these new gamemodes.

Finally we have introduced new improvements to aid map makers with the graphical fidelity of their maps. Map makers will now be provided with temporary terrain textures inside of the SDK which will then be replaced by high-quality terrain textures in game. A new renderer for grass has also been implemented to allow for thicker fields without an FPS cost.

Spotlight. Commander Battles

After exposing the functionalities of Holdfast’s bots to allow increased control of their functions and the brilliant work of the Commander Battles team, players can now take charge of a line of men and engage in battles on a scale never seen before. The team have set forth a new era for Holdfast modifications and have surpassed all expectations of the possibilities that the SDK presents.

The team behind the Commander Battles modification has a lot more in store for this new game mode so please do join them on Discord! Everyone at Anvil Game Studios will make sure they have all the tools necessary to continue improving the mode.

http://discord.gg/GhSXaPh46u

Join A Server

Hop in one of the below servers featuring this game mode to have a go at the Commander mod.

EU - Europe
Commander Battle | EU | Powered by BMGHosting

US - Unites States
Commander Battle | NA | Powered by BMGHosting

How To Play

Once in, you can use the !addBots command to spawn yourself a line of infantry like so.

Type In Chat
● !addBots <Amount> [NamePrefix] [ClassName] [UniformID]
» Elements in [] brackets are optional.

Examples
● !addBots 20
» Spawns 20 Line Infantry bots.

● !addBots 20 [98th]
» Spawns 20 Line Infantry bots with prefix ‘[98th]’ in their name.

● !addBots 20 [98th] guard
» Spawns 20 Guard bots with prefix ‘[98th]’ in their name.

● !addBots 20 [98th] lineinfantry 2
» Spawns 20 Line Infantry bots using uniform id 2 and prefixed by the ‘[98th]’ tag.

Issue Orders

● Form Line (Press Q then 1)
» This will form your men into a line facing forward.

● Aim (Press Q then 2)
» Tell your line to aim in the direction you are aiming at the time the command is issued. Note: Aiming at a ground point will make your line aim straight at that point, while if you aim in the air (for long-range shot calls for example), your men will mirror your aim direction and pitch. Take that into account when engaging at long distances.

● Fire (Press Q then 3)
» Your line will fire their muskets then reload.

● Charge (Press Q then 6)
» Orders your line to charge at the enemy line or commander that you are directly looking at.

● Toggle Double Rank (Press Alt+2 or N)
» Next time your line forms or follows you, it will form into a single/double rank.

● Break Line (Press Q then 7)
» Orders your men to stop aiming (if they are), and removes the officer line.

● Follow Commander (Press Alt+1 or B)
» Orders your line to follow you. Starting from the closest end of the line, your men will proceed to follow you on the battlefield in a single line. If the man in front reaches the Commander's position, the entire line will stop, forming a column behind the Commander.

● Crouch Line (Press Alt+3)
» Orders your line to crouch or stand up.

Artisans! Get Involved

Should you find yourself inspired to get stuck in with the Holdfast SDK to make experiences of your own, then don’t hesitate to join the official Holdfast discord server and acquire the Artisan role.

To acquire this role simply visit the #getting-started modding channel and press the reaction emoji below the post. This will assign you the artisan role and give you access to all available modding community channels.

http://discord.gg/holdfastgame

Changelog 79 - Game Version v2.5.8175.24022

Holdfast SDK 5.0 - Level Editor

● Introduced over 1500 new assets to design new maps with. There are more than 3600 assets to design maps with.

● Drastically improved the loading of assets in the level editor.

● Improved the performance of the editor while it is loading assets.

● Exposed multiple functions enabling artisans to link custom destructible objects, have custom climbable props and prevent weather from showing inside buildings among other functions.

● Introduced a new system allowing artisans to use Holdfast’s original terrain textures greatly reducing the map’s download size.

● You can now collapse the filters to make up for more space.

● UI now remembers what state your settings were between fresh launches.

● Performed several additions to improve the level editor interface user experience and looks.
Set a minimum width to this UI so artisans don’t hide it erroneously.

● Placed items on the ground will now align with other objects and not just the terrain. This allows for the easy placement of objects on top of objects (ie. in buildings).

● Updated all the plugins being used in the editor to the latest version.

Holdfast SDK 5.0 - Uniform Editor

● Performed several additions to improve the uniform editor interface user experience and looks.

● Introduced a new SDK Tools -> Screenshot Editor Tool which can aid artisans quickly taking screenshots for their custom uniforms.

● Artisans can now package multiple uniforms in the same modification bundle.
» Reduce the download size of your uniform collection for your regiment by packing textures into an atlas.
» Optimise your uniform collection by packing textures into an atlas reducing draw calls.
» Package all of your regiment uniforms into one bundle to reduce complexity for event hosts.
» Ability to have multiple variations for an existing uniform. (ie. randomly change the colour of the pants for your Line Infantry uniform when the player spawns with it).

Holdfast SDK 5.0 - Flag Editor

● Performed several additions to improve the flag editor interface user experience and looks.

● Artisans can now package multiple flags in the same modification bundle alongside uniforms.

Holdfast SDK 5.0 - Misc.

● Updated the SDK to Unity 2020.3.34f1 exposing additional terrain functionality.

Holdfast SDK 5.0 - Bug Fixes

● Solved multiple issues when creating a new map using the Holdfast SDK editor tool.

● Solved an issue with filters not working as intended when used in conjunction with search.

● Solved multiple issues whit dragging props into the scene to improve the experience.

● Removed the ‘Prefab Type’ filter since this is now obsolete.

● Solved an issue with layout sizes being wrong when undocking some windows.

● Solved an issue where the preferences window would crash the editor on launch.

● Solved multiple issues with props being half-placed under the terrain when dragged due to incorrect pivot placement.

Map Balance & Changes

● Introduced more spawn locations to the final defender objectives on Fort Imraan.

● Introduced another climbable rope near the ‘A’ capture point on Fort Imraan.

● Engineers can no longer build defences to block doorways on the final defender objective on Fort Imraan.

● Improved texture fidelity on several cliff props, rocks and stump textures.

● Optimise multiple other textures to reduce VRAM usage.

General Bug Fixes

● Solved an issue with players getting stuck in a box when using one of the mortars on Fort Imraan.

● Solved an issue with missing faces on a cliff near the artillery battery on Heroes Landing.

● Solved an issue with missing faces on the stone walls a the back of the town on Heroes Landing.

● Solved multiple issues with cliff terrain blending on Berkton Green.

● Solved an issue with ambient occlusion producing a ghosting effect. This will also improve performance.

● Solved an issue with the roundEndFactionWin erroring out when no variables were inputted.

● Solved an issue with players sliding with the out of bound colliders on King George.

● Solved an issue with missing stair colliders on the windmill base platform.

● Solved an issue with alt-tabbing when in fullscreen mode changing to an incorrect resolution.

● Solved an issue with the main menu not showing in the game.

● Solved an issue which enabled players to input empty names.

● Possible fix for occlusion issues on Fort Al Farid.

● Solved an issue with water being disconnected on Island Plains.

Other Additions

● Introduced a new broadcast mode enabling messages to show from ‘Game’ rather than ‘Admin’. Valid for the automation of server restarts amongst other gameplay features.

● Introduced a ‘set ShouldUnlockMouse true/false’ command to support UI unlocking for mods.

● Tweaked the scoreboard player count to look better when triple digits are involved.

● Renamed the ‘Commander Battles’ override to ‘Commander’ so it fits better in the server browser.

● Bots no longer show any medals.

Changelog 80 - Game Version v2.5.8180.29273

Client-Side Hotfix

● Solved an issue where the water would overlay on screen due to an issue with anti-aliasing.

● Solved multiple instances of corrupted audio.

● Solved an issue with the river on Sacred Valley.

● Solved an issue with the server's 'Welcome Message' not being displayed.

We look forward to seeing what the community will produce with these tools.

Until next time, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː

- Anvil Game Studios

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

May 13, 2022

Napoleonic Content! Linebattle 2.0 (Coming Soon)

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Return to the era of canon and musket with the new linebattle-themed major update! It’s time to take a break from the Great War front and fall in to rank and file on the great battlefields of Napoleon.

Holdfast: Nations At War will receive a major update in August/Early September. All hands will be on deck, polishing off this content update for the games Napoleonic front. This update will bring some of the biggest new additions and changes many of which where requested by our community.

Linebattles are a staple of the Holdfast community and they will be receiving the attention they duly deserve. Be sure to join us on Discord!

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame

New Class. The Sergeant

Arriving on the battlefield will be the new Sergeant class, coming with its own unique abilities that will support other members of the rank and file during brave charges. Keep in touch as we undergo its development for more specifics.

Equipped with a musket and spontoon, these dashing fellows will maintain discipline and order throughout the raging battle.

New Artillery. The Howitzer

Explode terrifying howitzer rounds above the dwindling ranks of the enemy with the new Howitzer Artillery piece.

Effective at short to mid range, this new addition to the battlefield will crush morale and thwart off mass assaults from foes. Well drilled artillerymen will be able to arch shots over hills and explode shells above the enemy by adjusting the fuse prior to firing.

Additionally, the explosive damage from field guns will now be removed to make way for this new beast of the battlefield.

Character Customisation & Progression

Personalise your Holdfast experience with the introduction of character customisation and progression. Holdfast players across both Nations At War and Frontlines will initially be able to pick a head for their character from a variety of options and also set a voice pitch. Customisation will be class specific, allowing players to create unique ‘characters’ for each and every class available in the game.

By playing on officially hosted Anvil Game Studios servers, players will unlock additional faces featuring beards and battle-ridden scars to showcase their veterancy as they gather experience.

Regiment Ranks & Banners

To further expand on customisation within the game, regiment leaders will now be able to assign preset rank images to their custom ranks within their regiment. Players will then have this rank image shown in-game next to their name and also on the round scoreboard.

We will also be working closely with regiments to bring in additional imagery for their regiments banner customisation tool to truly allow them to represent their regiment as they desire.

Would you like to submit a unique symbol for your Holdfast regiment? Hop in Discord and take a look at the #enlistment channel to gather access to the officers mess.

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame

Battlefield Atmosphere

Improving the battlefield atmosphere has been another key focus of this forthcoming major update to build upon the general ambience of the smoke filled battles of Nations At War. New reload animations for muskets and changes to the 1st person camera are some of the new features coming with this update.

“The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies” - Napoléon Bonaparte

Linebattle Maps

New, specifically made, linebattle maps will be making their way into the game with this major update. Featuring interest points and designed with competitive play at the forefront, these new maps will provide a fresh take on gameplay.

We’ve worked alongside some of our tremendous Holdfast SDK artisans to bring in some of the community's favourite custom modded Linebattle maps into the game alongside our own. Take a look below at a preview of some of the maps coming in this update.

Hudree Marsh

Avignon by Charles E. Jesus

Class Rebalance

A first pass review of all the infantry-based Holdfast: Nations At War classes! We’re wanting to make sure that there is a reason for players to choose one class over another and for these decisions to not only feel balanced but also be appropriate for gameplay.

We’ll be changing and improving some class abilities to give increased meaning to class selection and teamwork. Line Infantrymen will also be given an accuracy buff to help bolster their presence on the battlefield.

Additional changes will be made and new buffs added to classes across the board.

Faction Coalitions

March into battle shoulder to shoulder with soldiers from other nations. Re-enact the grand battle of Waterloo with this new addition to the private event sector of Holdfast.

Server owners will now be able to enable Faction Coalitions, allowing soldiers of the British army to fight alongside those from the Prussian, and Russian armies. Those who wish to fight under the banner of Napoléon will also find themselves marching with those good fellows from the nations of France and Italy.

Grenadier Regiment DLC

Stand side by side with your fellow elites in dashing new uniforms with the release of the Grenadier Regiment DLC.

Content present in Holdfast: Nations At War’s 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.

"Some talk of Alexander, and some Hercules. Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these. But of all the world's great heroes. There’s none that can compare. With a tow, row row row, row row row. To the British Grenadiers!" - A Banger

Changing The Meta

Feedback taken from our regiment meetings indicated a present issue with the current linebattle meta. Artillery for some time now has been dominating the meta of linebattles, slowing the experience down and punishing indiscriminately any brave fellows who do decide to abandon the safety of cover.

We will be re-balancing the artillery pieces to reduce the amount of kills a player can get from a single cannon shot. Field-guns will no longer have explosive damage with the introduction of the new Howitzer artillery piece. Howitzers will also have limited range and only be effective at short to mid ranges.

Holdfast SDK 5.0

Coming in a separate update before the release of the linebattle one, the Holdfast SDK will receive a massive update that includes new modding functionality for atlasing custom uniforms and over 1500+ additional new props to use within the creations of our wonderful artisans. But what sort of change will this bring to the community?

● You can reduce the download size of your uniform collection for your regiment by packing textures into an atlas.

● You can optimise your uniform collection by packing textures into an atlas reducing draw calls. It takes some experience to do but this will greatly reduce the impact a mod uniform has on the client FPS.

● We were made aware that some events place a limit for the number of mods a regiment can feature in a particular event due to the complexity involved in putting them in each and every map rotation. Now you can simply package all your uniforms into one bundle and you’re good to go.

● The ability to have multiple variations for an existing uniform. IE. Randomly change the colour of the pants for your Line Infantry uniform when the player spawns with it.

We will also be giving more opportunities for modded content creators to get their creations into the game officially. We have already begun porting over some of the communities most played custom linebattle maps into the game and we look forward to seeing what will be created with the coming update to the SDK tools.

Enlist In A Regiment

Rise through the ranks of a regiment, support your fellow soldiers as a musician, artillery, surgeon, or remain a humble line infantryman as your regiment clash against other regiments in organised and competitive events.

Regiments are organised in-game groups or clans who hosts and participate in both private and public events. These events range from hardcore linebattles, ceremonies, melee tournaments, training, and many more that varies depending on the regiment.

Those who are interested in playing in an organised and competitive setting should consider joining a regiment and can do so by visiting the in-game regiment registry enlisting to one of their choosing.

Stay tuned as there's much more in store for Holdfast this year!

Big thanks to Crout and Binghampton for their lovely shots.

Until next time, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː

- Anvil Game Studios

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

Apr 29, 2022

Game Update. Fort Imraan!

Holdfast: Nations At War - AGS | Refleax

Siege the grand fortress of Imraan with rifle in hand, storm the cliffs of Gallipoli with the new steamboat mounted Vickers machine gun shield and make your community server stand out with the new lobby gamemode overrides. There’s plenty more also coming in this update so take a break from the front, take off your boots and put your feet up while you take a read of everything this update has to offer.

Be sure to join us on Discord for all things Holdfast!

http://discord.gg/holdfastgame

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

Fort Imraan

This desert fortress has stood for centuries. Its impenetrable keep has long withheld against the enemy of its land. Built upon a steep plateau and surrounded by a small farming town this hardened defence will require careful and tactical thinking in order for its attackers to overcome the odds.

Fort Imraan is now playable on the Invasion gamemode for Holdfast: Frontlines.

Heroes Landing. Revisited

There have been many valiant efforts to capture the beaches of Heroes Landing over the past week, some have been successful, however, many haven’t despite some excellent sailing from Captain Chips and his crew. Balancing this map has been a priority of ours both before and after its release and thanks to your feedback we have now made the necessary changes to aid in balancing this behemoth of a scenario.

Shoreline Defences
The shoreline defences have been heavily reduced in order to discourage defenders from dominating the beach the entire round which made it very difficult for any landings to actually take place. A has also been moved closer to the shoreline of the beach to help landing attackers reach it more frequently.

Ship Turret Sights
With the vast distance between the ships and the land, ranging and hitting targets was possible but infrequent which didn’t give the turrets the impact they truly had and require to help the landing troops. A new zoomable periscope sight, featuring ranging markings has been added to the ship turrets to help bring the power of these artillery pieces to life. Their reload time has also been reduced by 2 seconds for an increased firing rate.

Vickers Machine Gun Shield
Those brave enough to man the Vickers MG at the front of the steamboats may have found themselves often on the receiving end of a headshot or two as they neared the beach. With the new shield attachment to the Vickers, players using the MG will be covered from direct line of sight fire, the guns recoil has also been drastically reduced to make opperating them more manageable on the rough seas.

Climbing Ropes & Sewers
To further improve the flow of the map additional climbing rope points have been added around the fortress to help in eliminating some of the choke holding points that existed before. New sewer exits have also been placed.

All additional changes made to Hero’s Landing can be found in the changeling at the bottom of this post.

Events. Lobby Overrides

Make your server stand with the new lobby overrides! Community hosted servers featuring unique experiences can now display a gamemode name in the lobby that best accurately represents their custom experience.

For example, community hosted line battle servers can now feature the custom lobby gamemode title of “Linebattle” regardless of what gamemode they set in their rotation. Those hosting a tournament could also set their gamemode title to be “Tournament”.

Available Titles
● Battle Royale
● Team Battle Royale
● Commander Battles
● Duels Only
● Tournament
● Group Fighting
● Linebattle
● Roleplaying
● Jail Break
● Prop Hunt

These titles are predefined by us but can be expanded upon should the community require more.

Changelog 78 - Game Version v2.4.8154.39028

New Features

● Fort Imraan! Fight over the desert fortress that has stood for centuries.

● Dreadnaught turrets now have gun sights. Press ‘Right Click’ to zoom in while aiming.

● Reduced the dreadnaught turrets reload time by 2 seconds.

● It is now easier to disembark from the spawnable rowboats on Heroes Landing.

● The MG aboard steamboats now have a shield for added cover.

● The MG aboard steamboats are now easier to fire.

● Performed various balancing changes on Heroes Landing.
» Increased the health of the wall on the final fort stage near the cliff edge.
» Introduced mortars to the upper decks of the dreadnaughts.
» Introduced a new objective to fight over the trench line.
» Moved objective A closer to the shoreline of the beach so it easier to capture.
» Removed cover on the beach to encourage defenders to use their trench line and natural height advantage.
» Added small ditches into the sand near the new A capture point location providing some cover.
» Introduced more ladder entry points for the tunnel rats.
» Engineers are no longer able to construct defences to block the tunnel rat exit positions.
» Introduced more climable ropes to the fort and exterior cliffs allowing the attackers to more easily break through.

● Added 3 new tunes for Frontlines! Play them on the Cellos or Pianos across all maps.
» Waltzing Matilda
» Gladiator
» Ceddin Deden

● Players assisting with aiming a rocket launcher or the new dreadnaught turrets give assist score on kill.

● Introduced a lobby override command which will enabled administrators to change the lobby game mode to one of the many brilliant activites hosted by our beloved community. Insert the following command per map rotation to change the game mode: lobby_override_game_mode <override>
» BattleRoyale
» TeamBattleRoyale
» CommanderBattles
» DuelsOnly
» Tournament
» GroupFighting
» Linebattle
» Roleplaying
» JailBreak
» PropHunt

● Introduced direction indicators for the tables constructed by engineers on Frontlines.

● The new Invasion game mode now includes an objective indicator UI. This shows underneath the player’s health bar to the top right.

Upcoming

● Are you a fan of the Commander Battles player-controlled bot game mode? Stay tuned. We’re working on something great with a fellow member of our community. Join this Discord for more.
» Join The Commander Battle Discord!

Bug Fixes

● Solved an issue which prevented the attackers from spawning on captured positioned on the Army Siege and Coastal Siege game modes.

● Solved an issued where sometimes players would be able to switch to the ship camera view even though they are not interacting with said ship.

● Experimental fix for an issue which causes naval vessels to automatically sail forward at the start of the round or upon respawning.

● Solved an issue where smoke grenades would sink steamboats and rowboats.

● Experimental fix which very rarely causes artillery rounds to not explode.

● Solved an issue where players couldn’t switch to first person while sailing rowboats.

● Solved an issue with the smoke particle effects aboard the dreadnaughts on Heroes Landing.

● Solved an issue with the Sighting The Barn and Explosive Specialist achievements.

● Solved an issue which prevent players from unloading an MG aboard a spawnable steamboat.

● Solved an issue with one of the broken building colliders on Heroes Landing,

● Solved an issue with one of the stair colliders on Heroes Landing.

● Solved issues with some objects allowing rain to go through on Heroes Landing.

● Solved an issue with duplicate props being present on the boarding platform for the HMS Vengeance spawn.

● Solved an issue where players could get stuck between the trench and the rocks on Heroes landing.

● Solved an issue on Black Forest where the lake didn’t meet the land.

● Solved an issue where some spawn positions where below the map on Sacrifice.

● Solved an issue where sometimes players would spawn inside the fire on Sacrifice. Truly a bug fitting to the map’s name.

● Solved an issue where some fences on Berkton Green lacked collision.

● Solved an issue with one of the bike props floating on Berkton Green.

● Solved an issue with the Ottoman character models.

● Experimental fix towards an issue disallowing players to view servers in the lobby when sitting behind a VPN.

Optimisations

● Optimised all weapon models in the game.

● Optimised Heroes Landing.

● Optimised the new assets used across Frontlines and Nations At War.

Localisation

● Updated the translation for the good majority of languages.

Administration

● The new Mask Name administrative feature was moved to the Discord Ban webhook instead of the warning one.

● Reordered the Round Players ‘P’ menu. The new Name Mask function was placed before the VoIP mute function.

● Widened the Round Players ‘P’ menu for administrators so the player names don’t clip through the administrative functions.

● Introduced new commands to forcefully end the round. Expect some brilliant mods to be created using this new feature.
» rc set roundEndPlayerWin <playerId>
» rc set roundEndFactionWin <faction> <reason>

Hotfix

● Solved an issue with the carriable lanterns being somewhat oversized.

● Solved an issue with some textures going amiss on desert props.

Stay tuned for the next major update. We're bringing a few goodies to the game's Napoleonic front - Nations At War.

Until next time, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː

- Anvil Game Studios

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