The First World War was the original modern industrial war. It was also one of the earliest wars where cameras were small enough and quick enough to reliably capture unposed scenes of battle. But even with the very best equipment, actually capturing an outstanding image in the chaos of combat is very challenging.

Our question to you is: do you have what it takes to be a War Correspondent in Verdun and Tannenberg! After all, taking a screenshot is just one quick tap of F12 (after hiding the HUD with F8), and then adding an enticing 140 character description. So how hard could it be? ;)

Long story short, we’re starting a competition to see who can produce the best combat news report. Share your best story and screenshot from a battle and get featured in the official Steam Hubs and on our social media!



Want to join the competition?
Make sure to upload all images and info in our Steam Hub - Screenshots section. All content shared on other social media platforms won’t count as an entry.

To enter the competition please include:

• Image + max. 140 character story.
  
• The words ‘War Correspondent’ somewhere in your caption for the images (max. 3 entries) you want to enter.

There are no particular requirements for the content of photos - feel free to make your entries exciting, shocking, beautiful, or anything else. You can capture soldiers fighting, landscape shots, set up posed shots or whatever else you can come up with. Don’t forget to keep focused on the game itself if you’re taking photos during a public battle!

The first competition will end on 3rd of June 10:00pm PST. One winner will be chosen by community choice: the one with the most thumbs up. The second winner will be selected by the moderators and devs! We’ll announce both winners on the 5th of June.

You can discuss the competition on the forums. Good luck everyone!

Painting of Roumanian infantry.

Thanks to everyone who voted on Facebook and Twitter on which new squad will be added to Tannenberg. If you didn't hear yet, the winners were the Roumanians! We will bring you more information about the new squad as soon as possible. We’ve got some ideas of our own, but we’d love to hear yours as well on the hub.


We've made a start on the models!

Last Wednesday we released a new update for the WW1 Games Series, followed by some more fixes that Friday. Read all about it (including changelog) here.

We have been working on improving the sounds in Verdun and Tannenberg. You can already try them out and give us feedback in this thread on the Verdun hub!

You can join the testing by adding the following to your launch options: FMOD FMOD_WIP
Note: make sure you are on the latest version!

How to add launch options: https://gyazo.com/142bc5d7db202d57b67addd377b2e167

We are moving all bug reports and suggestions (except for particular things such as the FMOD beta sound feedback thread linked above) to our UserEcho support site. We have recently made some changes to the system there so that we can answer reports more easily. It's a great tool which:

• Makes it easier for us (and you) to keep track of suggestions and bug reports.
  
• Allows you to vote on what issues and ideas are most important.
  
• Makes it easier for us to communicate progress on issues or request additional information.

Focusing our attention there will allow us to react faster and more effectively. If you have any questions about how to best use the site, let us know.

The people behind the Verdun x64 and Tannenberg x64 group have recently reorganized their events into the three following categories, which should make things easier if you've not joined one before!

- Casual x64 Friday Matches (fun events)
- Historical Scenarios (themed public events)
- Reenactment Events (invite list only)

This Sunday they are running a Tannenberg Battle of Lemberg 1914 event. You can read more in this post!


A handsome Roumanian soldier, don't you think?

We are looking for an experienced Unity C# Programmer, who can work remotely on freelance basis. If you think that might be you, get in touch!

Screenshot by player Thomas Friedrich Grump.

We have released a new update to Verdun and Tannenberg. Notable items include:

• Made sure spawning within 15 meters of an enemy won't happen.
  
• In Maneuver mode, when an HQ sector is surrounded they will gain an artillery phone.
  
• The Fire Support ability needs to be held for a few seconds while standing still; goes faster using binoculars.
  
• Characters have been optimised to affect performance less.
  
• In Maneuver mode: Faction that's behind will now spawn faster while the other faction has to wait longer. This depends on the drain factor and ticket difference.
  
• The game .exe is now called WW1 Game Series.exe, and appears as WW1 Game Series in the Task Manager.

We’ve made a number of adjustments here based on the new sound system feedback thread, and it would be great if you could try it out and let us know what you think! How to activate the new system for testing is in the post above.

• Ambience volume feeling less empty.
  
• Grenade pull volume is louder.
  
• Trench whistle is louder.
  
• Made shots sound louder.
  
• Beefed up some shots with an added metal clang and resonance.
  
• Beefed up various reloading sounds.

As always, we’d love to hear from you about how the latest update affects performance, and if you like the adjustments to the sound effects!

Community highlights

• We now show a network health stats if they are not healthy values. It shows: Host migration, Jitter, Ping and packet loss. This can always be accessed by enabling opening the options screen. Hovering over will display the stats. Using this information we can identify why some players are having network issues such as teleportation and shots not registering.
  
• Backspace in chat can now be held down again to remove multiple character
  
• Added extra logging to find lagshots cause
  
• Made it easier to play offline: When steam is in offline mode, force offline mode
  
• Make spawn point order deterministic by sorting them by name during map bake. This can fix the default spawn changing after each update. Note that this update should therefor be the last update that does change spawn point order for the last time.
  
• Made sure spawning within 15 meters of an enemy won't happen
  
• We're narrowing down why some players get stuck when loading a map (often Flanders): Added a timeout of 60 seconds and extra logging when a map fails to load.
  
• Fixed an issue where loadouts and some other stats were always reset when front-switching (but never lost when in the correct front)
  
  
• (Maneuver) HQ gets a artillery phone when surrounded
  
• Tannenberg: Fire Support ability needs to be held for a few seconds while standing still; goes faster using binoculars
  
• Tannenberg: Optimised characters to use less performance
  
• Fixed a case of invisible weapons when entering/exiting HMG
  
• Teamdamage is on by default in Tannenberg-Maneuver (this does not allow teamkilling, only a damage penalty)
  
• Explosive now default option when opening artillery phone
  
• Maneuver: Faction that's behind will now spawn faster while the other faction has to wait longer. This depends on the drain factor and ticket difference.
  
• Fix issue in prussia where the player would get stuck in the geometry around the artillery phone at forest edge.
  
• Weather settings (skybox, fog, ...) are now set during the loading screen. This might also fix the issue where the weather settings weren't loaded at all
  
• Fixed HMG offset when entering while sprinting
  
  
• Added new private match chat command '/teamdamage [on|off]'. When this is enabled, shooting a friendly will now reduce your points by 10, without killing the friendly. Your points will only be reduced once every 30 seconds on the same friendly.
  
• Added outline to icon of executable so it is also visible on a white background
  
• Fixed deploy widget sticking around when switching to a different specialization.
  
• Switch back to default control map when destroying chat UI, for extra insurance that the controls won't remain blocked when chat is closed.
  
• Allow reload actions directly after inserting a stripper clip to be cancelled
  
• Fixed occlussion culling errors with bunker-peekholes and poland houses
  
• Fixed players being able to damage their previous team by calling artillery and then quickly switching.
  
• Bots should no longer appear to be running while standing still
  
• No more shock/suppression effect from friendlies running past you when friendly fire is enabled
  
• Bots will try to keep some distance between each other (especially noticeable when capturing a sector)
  
• Explosions/Rifle shots cause body parts to have a force applied instead of merely dropping to the ground
  
• Fixed a kick/corrupt state when server host was not set-up yet during switch
  
• When spawning, your arms don't stick forwards for one frame anymore
  
• Disabled rotating camera before player is properly setup, especially noticable during pre-round screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where NCOs were sometimes unable to use their ability call-in
  
• Fixed a rare case where you could spawn with no ammo loaded
  
• Upgraded Unity Post Processing stack from V1 to V2. Image effects should look the same
  
• Changed the "Verdun" taskmanager/startbar name to "WW1 Game Series"
  
• Changed .exe name from "1914-1918 Series.exe" to "WW1 Game Series.exe". Note that the path to output_log has changed. Now at: "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\WW1 Game Series\WW1 Game Series\output_log.txt"
  
• Shadows are now more visible on snow
  
• No longer allow spectation in RDM
  
• Worked on the feedback we received on the FMOD_WIP (New sounds). We will now collect a second round of feedback. Changes:
  
  • New ambience layers added (people felt alone on the map)
    
  • Barbed wire volume fix (was too low)
    
  • Grenade pull volume fix (was too low)
    
  • Hitmarker sound removed
    
  • New reload sounds + added layers to beef it up
    
  • New layers to gunshots (beef up the gunshots)
    
  • New tail layer gunshots
    
  • New sounds: Fall damage + Ammo pickup + Bush/tree rustle
    
  • Skull crack fix
    
  • Vocal effects added (distance equalizing + delay)
    
  • Gramophone effect
    
  • New artillery explosions
    
  • Mosin reload - recharge fix
    
  • Overall mix changes
• Various error and exception fixes

We ran a survey a few weeks ago to get community feedback on Tannenberg, and the results have been very interesting. One finding was that most of you want to see more squads in Tannenberg. Now that the full release is going to be delayed as we polish up the new UI and everything else, we’re going to offer you a choice...

Romanian or Bulgarian, that’s the question! We are running a poll on our Facebook page to decide which squad will be added to the game next! Go vote :)



We had an amazing 400 people answer our survey questions, so a big thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it out! There’s a lot of data to work with and we want to make sure to make wise decisions. That said, we can already see some interesting details jump out at us:

• A large majority of you like the new Maneuver game mode, like having bots, and 87.5% of you agree that Tannenberg has got better since the open beta launch! This makes us hopeful that we’re on the right track.
  
  
• You like the bots more than you think they’re good opponents - not by a huge margin, but this is clearly something we can continue to improve.

Haybales in the mist by (T.G.E) SpiderWarrior (G3R).

• Many of you specifically stated the larger maps, bigger battles, and greater freedom as reasons you enjoy Tannenberg. Others said they preferred the Frontlines mode in Verdun because it was less disorganized - we are looking into some ideas to help players coordinate more in Tannenberg. We think this shows that our strategy of releasing standalone expansions with different gameplay on different fronts is a good one, especially because 47% of you said you liked Tannenberg and Verdun equally. With the ability to switch fronts in-game, it easily allows you to play whichever front and game mode takes your fancy.
  
  
• For most of you, smooth performance and quiet servers are more of a concern than bugs while playing. That said, all of these are important, and we’re going to continue working on all of them.

Are these findings a surprise to you, or does it basically fit your experience? Let us know, and if you haven’t already, don’t forget to vote for which squad you’d like to see!

The first tank battle in history took place in the Battle of the Avre, which began 100 years ago today. German troops successfully attacked Villers-Bretonneux, with their ultimate goal being to secure ground from which they could use artillery to devastate the town of Amiens and the strategic railway junction there. However, a surprise counterattack by Australian and British troops entirely recaptured Villers-Bretonneux - this also marked the end of the German March Offensive.

But what about that tank battle? Many of you probably know the details, but as a quick summary three British tanks met and engaged three German A7Vs. Two of the British tanks were only armed with machine guns, so weren’t able to decisively damage the A7Vs. They were damaged and had to fall back. The third British tank was armed with 6 pounder guns, which enabled it to knock out one of the A7Vs and then force the others to withdraw.



It's easy to imagine that a realistic video-game take on WW1 tanks might not be as thrilling as people would like. Interesting perhaps, but low speeds, limited sight lines, and sometimes mismatched weaponry would make it more of a curiosity than an enjoyable experience for many players. But perhaps you disagree?

The first tank battle in history took place in the Battle of the Avre, which began 100 years ago today. German troops successfully attacked Villers-Bretonneux, with their ultimate goal being to secure ground from which they could use artillery to devastate the town of Amiens and the strategic railway junction there. However, a surprise counterattack by Australian and British troops entirely recaptured Villers-Bretonneux - this also marked the end of the German March Offensive.

But what about that tank battle? Many of you probably know the details, but as a quick summary three British tanks met and engaged three German A7Vs. Two of the British tanks were only armed with machine guns, so weren’t able to decisively damage the A7Vs. They were damaged and had to fall back. The third British tank was armed with 6 pounder guns, which enabled it to knock out one of the A7Vs and then force the others to withdraw.



It's easy to imagine that a realistic video-game take on WW1 tanks might not be as thrilling as people would like. Interesting perhaps, but low speeds, limited sight lines, and sometimes mismatched weaponry would make it more of a curiosity than an enjoyable experience for many players. But perhaps you disagree?

At the WWI game series HQ we have been quite busy with wrapping up Tannenberg for its launch whenever the new UI system is finished (It will be better, we promise).

Of course, we’ve not been sitting still on other fronts! While watching the latest games industry trends we’ve spotted a relatively unexplored niche in the market. There are a few games appearing in the survival genre, but we have a most unique twist: Just like the movie Highlander “there can only be one victor”. I’m sure you’ve never heard of such a game idea before, but we are sure it’s going to be popular. We even came up with a name for it:


We all know the bitter Northern Front is the ideal place for such a scenario.

Our concept would include a starting sequence in which players are parachuted out of a monoplane onto the vast Northern Front theater, where they will have to fight wolves, rats and other players for survival. All this will be set in a post-apocalyptic alt-right universe.


After our last cooperation with EADICE(™) in 2016 on the crossover, vehicles are no problem for us! Well… if you have the correct DLC that is.

Beside the innovative gameplay, we would also include community-requested features - one example being the ability to shoot,reload, or pretty much do anything while jumping as high as possible for maximum 1337-skill levels. All inspired by early 20th century Thunderbirds-style jetpack tech.


FAB looking Thunderbird l33t player, moments before recking your last loot crate!

Last but not least we have taken a look at the most successful features of similar games and came to the conclusion that additional bragging and gambling features are the way to forward, if we want that 4th house in Cabo for our shareholders to ensure a sense of pride and accomplishment for players as they collect different mustaches.


WIP of our booty crate system.

That pretty much wraps it up for this April first. An exciting step forwards for the franchise, if not the entire industry. Have a great Easter!

At the WWI game series HQ we have been quite busy with wrapping up Tannenberg for its launch whenever the new UI system is finished (It will be better, we promise).

Of course, we’ve not been sitting still on other fronts! While watching the latest games industry trends we’ve spotted a relatively unexplored niche in the market. There are a few games appearing in the survival genre, but we have a most unique twist: Just like the movie Highlander “there can only be one victor”. I’m sure you’ve never heard of such a game idea before, but we are sure it’s going to be popular. We even came up with a name for it:


We all know the bitter Northern Front is the ideal place for such a scenario.

Our concept would include a starting sequence in which players are parachuted out of a monoplane onto the vast Northern Front theater, where they will have to fight wolves, rats and other players for survival. All this will be set in a post-apocalyptic alt-right universe.


After our last cooperation with EADICE(™) in 2016 on the crossover, vehicles are no problem for us! Well… if you have the correct DLC that is.

Beside the innovative gameplay, we would also include community-requested features - one example being the ability to shoot,reload, or pretty much do anything while jumping as high as possible for maximum 1337-skill levels. All inspired by early 20th century Thunderbirds-style jetpack tech.


FAB looking Thunderbird l33t player, moments before recking your last loot crate!

Last but not least we have taken a look at the most successful features of similar games and came to the conclusion that additional bragging and gambling features are the way to forward, if we want that 4th house in Cabo for our shareholders to ensure a sense of pride and accomplishment for players as they collect different mustaches.


WIP of our booty crate system.

That pretty much wraps it up for this April first. An exciting step forwards for the franchise, if not the entire industry. Have a great Easter!

This week we have another new weapon, a survey for Verdun players, and a delay…



We’ll be blunt, we’ve got some unfortunate news today. The full release of Tannenberg is going to take a bit longer than planned - we want to have the UI overhaul in place before leaving Early Access, and that is taking longer than expected. We also want to make some adjustments based on the feedback we got from the hundreds of you who took the time to fill out our survey. We can’t give you a new release date right now, but we hope to share the new plan once it’s fully worked out! Until then, regular updates will continue as usual.

We’re not going to be coy about the identity of today’s new weapon reveal - the Roth-Steyr M1907 has a very distinctive appearance! Almost 100,000 of these pistols were produced up to 1914, after it won a k.u.k. Army pistol competition in 1906. It became the first semi-automatic service pistol adopted by a major army.



With a long bolt and integral magazine loaded from the top with 10 round stripper clips, it stands out on the battlefield. Despite the name, Steyr didn't contribute much to the produced design, instead primarily providing production facilities that Roth didn't have.





The community has been busy setting up and running more historical battles, including the first in Tannenberg! Last Sunday saw the Battle of Lodz.
The next big event will be in Verdun, to be held next Sunday, April 8. Read about the details and sign up in this thread. Here’s a GIF one of our developers took in a previous Verdun historical battle:



If you’re not familiar with these historical battles, the basic concept is that players sign up and agree to follow rules about using certain roles and weapons, and most importantly following orders from superiors. This allows more organized and focused ‘set-piece’ battles, which you can maybe get a sense of from the GIF above.

We were so pleased with the results of our Tannenberg Survey that we put one together for Verdun players as well! A few of you were already asking for this, so here you go :)

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for news and interesting history snippets until our next Frontline News post, or talk with us on Discord!

This week we have another new weapon, a survey for Verdun players, and a delay…



We’ll be blunt, we’ve got some unfortunate news today. The full release of Tannenberg is going to take a bit longer than planned - we want to have the UI overhaul in place before leaving Early Access, and that is taking longer than expected. We also want to make some adjustments based on the feedback we got from the hundreds of you who took the time to fill out our survey. We can’t give you a new release date right now, but we hope to share the new plan once it’s fully worked out! Until then, regular updates will continue as usual.

We’re not going to be coy about the identity of today’s new weapon reveal - the Roth-Steyr M1907 has a very distinctive appearance! Almost 100,000 of these pistols were produced up to 1914, after it won a k.u.k. Army pistol competition in 1906. It became the first semi-automatic service pistol adopted by a major army.



With a long bolt and integral magazine loaded from the top with 10 round stripper clips, it stands out on the battlefield. Despite the name, Steyr didn't contribute much to the produced design, instead primarily providing production facilities that Roth didn't have.





The community has been busy setting up and running more historical battles, including the first in Tannenberg! Last Sunday saw the Battle of Lodz.
The next big event will be in Verdun, to be held next Sunday, April 8. Read about the details and sign up in this thread. Here’s a GIF one of our developers took in a previous Verdun historical battle:



If you’re not familiar with these historical battles, the basic concept is that players sign up and agree to follow rules about using certain roles and weapons, and most importantly following orders from superiors. This allows more organized and focused ‘set-piece’ battles, which you can maybe get a sense of from the GIF above.

We were so pleased with the results of our Tannenberg Survey that we put one together for Verdun players as well! A few of you were already asking for this, so here you go :)

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for news and interesting history snippets until our next Frontline News post, or talk with us on Discord!