The three new guns we showed off in last week’s Frontline News are now in-game for you to play with!

The Austro-Hungarian Frommer Stop and Roth-Steyr M1907 are available for the K.u.K Trupp squad, while the Russian S&W No.3 is available for both Russian squads.




With a long bolt and integral magazine loaded from the top with 10 round stripper clips, the Roth-Steyr 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.




Firing a .44 cartridge, the Russian S&W No.3 revolver offers greater firepower and a faster reload (as you can see below), but the downside is that you need to manually work the hammer each time you want to fire.



The Frommer Stop is a Hungarian pistol, unusual in using a long-recoil operation more commonly found in shotguns. It also saw limited use by the Ottoman Empire.



While already live in Tannenberg for a bit we wanted to show what progress has been made on this front. Our audio engineering team at Game Audio Squad has been working in parallel to redesign the audio from scratch. Since April this year the community was brought and has been polished since.

For the weapon audio they were working from recordings supplied by our friends over at C&Rsenal (Thank you Othais & Mae), who fired and reloaded most of the available weapons, which have found their way ingame. Check out a large selection of fired weapons here

There are many features in the new system, some are tied heavily to the gameplay such as:

• A dynamic weapon fire system now handles distant gunfire and gives a spacious and roomy feel to gun battles when you advance up a line
  
• A dynamic breathing system based on the fatigue / stamina of the soldier
  
• Gas mask now affects the breathing of a player when sprinting
  
• Vegetation now makes a noise when running through it
  
• A sonic ballistic system now determines the whizz and cracks of bullets as they pass by, sub or supersonic
  
• A suppression system will muffle audio out based on incoming fire
  
• The tinnitus effect will occur if the ears are subjected to enough pressure
  
• Impacts on different surfaces are now accurate for melee, bullets, grenades and bodies
  
• Footsteps were reworked and now allow you to hear better on which terrain surface players are walking, from the mud into the grass
  
• The off-map artillery now creates a sense that a battery of fire is opening up on the players
  
• Combat ambient is now dynamic, with higher and lower intensity gun battles in nearby sectors
  
• Nature ambient is based on the weather of the map (crickets at night for instance)
  
• Explosions were reworked, they now sound more powerful and bassy to give you a kick in the stomach
  
• Grenades now have accurate bouncing sounds
  
  
  Many thanks to everyone who has given feedback on our forums and the support website, it's been very helpful. Curious how it now sounds? Here is an overview video to give you an impression of the new sound effects:
  
  https://youtu.be/VyIZ2TCCwAQ
  
  
  You can read the full changelog here.
  
  Let us know what you think of these new firearms!

Our work on the new user interface continues apace, but to tide you over until then we have several new guns for you to play with, to be released soon!

Following up from the recent networking update, we're going to be adding more firepower to the game with the Frommer Stop, Roth-Steyr M1907, and the Russian S&W No.3!


The Roth-Steyr M1907 was the first self-loading (semi-automatic) pistol adopted by a major army.


The Frommer Stop is unusual in using a long-recoil operation more commonly found in shotguns.


The Russian S&W No. 3 was designed by Smith & Wesson under contract to the Imperial government, but then reverse-engineered by Russian gunsmiths and produced in European arsenals for a substantially lower price.

Three different styles of reloading!

We recently pushed live our improved networking code, which should mean smoother movement for players suffering from bad ping or packet loss. Player positions are more accurate, and some networking lag has been removed. The exact effect will vary depending on your connection, location, and which servers you typically play on. Please let us know if you notice changes!


A laggy player seen through the old networking code.


The same level of lag under the new networking code.

There are more fixes and improvements as well - read the full changelog, or get some highlights below:

• Fixed a bug which could cause third person models to be at a different height to the first person view, particularly when prone (this stops other players appearing to be ‘buried’ in the ground).
  
• Trade kill checks now take into account how far a bullet has travelled, which should improve trade kill accuracy for long range shots.
  
• Improvements made to melee stabbing, with better locking on, better handling for stabs from above, and a slight speed boost during stabs.

After receiving feedback from both the in-game community and some dedicated reenactors from Romania (thank you Alex!) we adjusted the colours of the Roumanian uniforms. Firstly to match better with references (M.1912 green-grey pigment), and also to address several other points of feedback such as piping and helmet colours.

Green-Grey is quite distinctive from Pike-Grey.

In addition, and this was a big point of feedback from the community, it is now easier to distinguish Roumanians from the Austro-Hungarian early war uniforms:

With the variety of lighting conditions in tannenberg, uniform colours appear different. Wernd vs Bogdan, 1916.

If you spot issues in the game or have suggestions on gameplay or balance, you can post on our support website - vote up the topic if someone else has already made a post, or create one yourself!
If you want to see what’s coming next for Tannenberg, we have a WIP roadmap at on Favro - it also includes the Verdun roadmap.

Finally, thanks to everyone who joined us this weekend for one of the two 128 player Tannenberg battles! It was great fun - we’ll certainly look into planning a few more events like this. We’ll see you on the (smoother) battlefield!
YouTuber HylianVoice made a video of Sunday's event: https://youtu.be/TZXQuAECk8Q

We’ve been making good progress on the networking update, which should make the game smoother and reduce the amount of stuttering characters, especially for those with weak internet connections. Our data currently suggests that player positions are now twice as accurate compared to the old networking, which should reduce the chance of being shot while behind cover and ping advantages.


A laggy player seen through the old networking code.


The same level of lag under the new networking code.

There are also a range of other bug fixes on our open testing build, which you can help out by testing right now - of particular note:

• Syncing of players made instantaneous - this prevents heavy lag at the start of matches and lag spikes when new players join.
  
• Fixed a bug which could cause third person models to be at a different height to the first person view, particularly when prone.
  
• Trade kill checks now take into account how far a bullet has travelled, which should improve trade kill accuracy for long range shots.
  
• Improvements made to melee stabbing, with better locking on, better handling for stabs from above, and a slight speed boost during stabs.

Read the full open testing changelog - with links to the support forum cases where applicable.
Note that you may encounter minor issues on the open testing build, and reporting them on the support forum will help get everything fixed for when the update goes live!

Activate open testing by following the simple instructions below and don’t worry, it’s easy to switch back to the regular game afterwards.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=572388553
There are two historically themed 128 player events happening this weekend! Join us around 7pm CEST on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 for the Kerensky Offensive, 1917 and the Battle of Lemberg, 1914. Players will be limited to particular squads and uniforms, but there will be no weapon restrictions. All you have to do to join is hop on the maneuver game we’ll convert specially for the occasion - no password or anything required! Read more here.

We’ve been working hard over the last few weeks to focus on bug fixing, and today’s update with 60+ fixes is the result of that! Many of these will be familiar to those of you trying out our open testing branch.



There are too many fixes to list in full here, but these are a few of the most significant:

• Fixed bug where you would spawn with a gray screen
  
• Fixed case where you could get stuck in ADS
  
• Fix two achievements that were never achievable: "Before the Leaves Fall" and "Strength in Numbers"
  
• Fixed bug where ammo crates in HQ of your own side were hidden untill you switched side
  
• Spawn time penalty for when the teams are unbalanced is now correctly displayed in Maneuver mode
  
• Fixed a specific syncing issue where calling in an ability was not allowed
  
• Fixed a case of third person machine gun animations not playing correctly which resulted in weapons being held wrong
  
• Allowed more trade-kill time for melee hits which should make close combat more reliable.

Read the full changelog for Tannenberg.


Smoothed out first person weapon movement


Tweaked distance shadows and overlap with realtime


Tweaked gasmask goggle FX and how light falls into the mask


This wouldn’t have been possible without the reports made to our UserEcho site where we’ve been managing feedback. Many of the fixes seen on the full changelog link back to UserEcho cases, so you can see how helpful the reports are! We are aware there are still some unanswered bugs and feedback but we are working on this and we will catch up soon.

Thanks everyone!

A small Frontline News, but a big testing update today! Our current open testing branch already contained a substantial number of fixes and improvements, but we’ve just added another large batch. The open testing branch is open for all players to try out.

Here’s some highlights from among the 79 changes and fixes currently on open testing:

• Fix two achievements that were not achievable: "Before the Leaves Fall" and "Strength in Numbers".
  
• Allowed more trade-kill time for melee hits which should make close combat more reliable.
  
• Fixed various first person weapon animation bugs/stutters.
  
• Fixed ghost colliders appearing in standalone builds blocking areas that ought to be walkable.
  
• Fixed being able to access the roof of a house on Poland, and a sometimes deadly pole roof in Prussia.

You can find the full changelog on the discussion boards, including links to cases on our our UserEcho support forum where appropriate. If you happen to see an issue which hasn’t been resolved, dropping a note on the UserEcho case will allow us to look into it again. It’s also helpful to let us know if issues have been fixed.

It’s a very simple process which is part of Steam itself, so it’s also easy to switch back to the regular version of the game. Here’s a guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=572388553

Everyone’s had time to try out the new Roumanian map that recently arrived in Tannenberg, and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback about it. In particular, people liked that it’s quite different from the other maps in the game so far. Let’s talk a bit about our process for building new maps and where we get our inspiration and reference materials. But that’s not all - read on for topics from sounds to spelling!



Our latest update added the new Roumania map to the game. We put a lot of time and effort into creating maps that capture the reality of WW1, while often bringing together elements from several different places in a cohesive whole. This culminates in the ‘moodboard’ you see above! But how is the overall concept of the map formed, and where do those images come from?

We started out with the goal of making a map which would be different from the others in Tannenberg so far. The Roumanian front in 1917 was ideal for this, since it had effectively become classical trench warfare - something that wasn’t represented in Tannenberg yet. That meant we could include trenches and heavy destruction of the surrounding area.

Videos and images are very useful for both inspiration and reference, of course. Here are a few example posts.



However, written reports (by contemporary historians or memoirs) can also be highly effective at giving a sense of what it was like to fight in particular battles or areas. This excerpt from Erwin Rommel’s Infantry Attacks talks about fighting for Mount Cosna. He mentions details like grenades thrown down against attacking Romanian troops rolling further than intended, or how to shoot down you needed to expose your head and upper body which was far from ideal. This might not help with creating props or creating authentic trench lines, but it’s invaluable for understanding what kind of situations you are trying to create with your map design.


A sketch made by Rommel.

Stories and accounts of significant combat actions are often a great starting point for deciding what to include in a map. The fighting for Mount Cosna provided the starting point for the Roumania map, which meant putting the peak of the mountain at the center of the battlefield. From there the rest of the map could be planned based on ‘mini-themes’ like the trench lines, an artillery position, the clear slope leading up to a treeline, and so on.



Finally, we base our maps on other maps… meaning paper maps, of course. Well, some more modern online maps too. Everything from plain maps showing height and terrain to detailed battle plans can be useful in different ways.



What do you think of the new Roumania map?

The FMOD sound effects were implemented in the main release version of Tannenberg in the same update as the Roumania squad and map. As well as improved individual sounds, the sound system itself changed in a few subtle ways. The most notable difference is probably being able to hear which directions sounds are coming from more clearly, as well as having a better sense of the distances between sounds.

We’ve had feedback from the Romanian community that our current voices are too ‘commercial’ sounding and we will look in to re-recording the Romanian voices so it does not break the immersion. Thanks to the native speakers who let us know their thoughts!

Testing of the FMOD sound update for Verdun is ongoing - you can try it yourself and leave feedback via this thread on the Steam Hub.

We’ve had a lot of questions about the spelling on our new Roumanian squad and map. The issue comes from the difference in how various foreign countries spelt the name during the early part of the 20th century.

Of course the modern day spelling is Romania, we aren’t arguing that. However, during World War One, it was commonly spelled differently outside of Romania itself, alternating between Rumania and Roumania, as discussed in this thread.

Names change over time, and we thought that using the older spelling would create a better sense of period than using the modern spelling. We didn’t intend any offense, and if you think it should be changed, please vote on the topic we’ve made on our support website.

Our first War Correspondent competition finished earlier this week, and we had a lot of good entries! But there could only be two winners… here they are:

Player Votes Winner: Thomas Friedrich Grump
"War Correspondent: Today the German High Command announced plans to combat recent British gains in Ypres with Unrestricted Submarine Warfare"

Mods and Devs Choice Winner: SOVIETDOGE "OUR WAR CORRESPONDENT IN FRANCE - Our French allies have commenced their attack to retake the fort of Douamont. Over the top mon amis!"

Another War Correspondent contest will be starting soon - keep an eye on our social media or Steam Hub to find out when. For now, check out both entries on our Facebook album.

The latest update brings the Roumanian Infantry squad and a brand new map! On the 100 year anniversary of Roumania signing the Treaty of Bucharest with the Central Powers in May 1918, their valiant efforts against the odds are now represented within Tannenberg. Download the new content now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q7mzfUizDE&feature=youtu.be
The centerpiece for this update is the new Roumanian Infantry squad and their accompanying map. You voted for them to be the next squad in Tannenberg, and here they are!


Roumanian Infantry squad: Subofițer (officer), Puşcaş (rfleman), Vânător (gunner) and Grenadier (grenadier).

Their weapons include the Mannlicher M1893 rifle and carbine, the Revolver de 8 mm modèle 1892, and the Grenade Mle 1916 Billant F1.


A fine weapon!

Although the equipment of the Roumanian troops is fascinating, their geographical location is also significant. With that in mind, we produced a new Roumania map. Inspired by the fighting around Mount Cosna at the Battle of Oituz, as well as western and northwestern Roumania in general, it features trench lines on the slopes, oil wells, and blasted trees and rocks.


Roumanian oil fields - a potentially valuable prize for the Central Powers.

Join the Roumanians at war today!

Improved sounds are something we’ve been working on for a while - you may have tried out the beta versions of our new sound system. We have now implemented this new system in Tannenberg for everyone. It includes new sounds, but it also makes faraway noises sound better and makes it easier to tell where sounds are coming from.
The new sound system will be implemented in Verdun later - there’s already an open beta for you to test with launch command FMOD FMOD_WIP! You can test out the beta version and give feedback on this thread in our forums.

The new squad, weapons and map for Tannenberg isn’t the only thing we’ve been working on - our programmers have been dedicated to fixing issues reported by all of you on our support website. This means a big update with a ton of bug fixes and gameplay improvements for both games.

Take a look at the Verdun news post for the highlights there, or check out the full Tannenberg changelog on the hub. And don’t forget to continue posting your bugs and suggestions on our UserEcho support website as this is the best way for us to track your input and respond to it. If issues aren’t posted we can’t effectively reproduce and fix them.



Cheers!

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!