Greetings!

We hope you enjoyed the last devblog where we talked about the new tank handling and the mechanics surrounding it. If you missed it you can find it here:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/736220/announcements/detail/3037095871635357739

This devblog is probably the one we have been the most excited about since the changes are very extensive and involved.

We have a lot of stuff to cover, so let’s get started.



Let’s kick this off with the work that has gone into the penetration system, this is a place where we wanted to focus a lot of our work.

The first order of business was defining the gameplay logic of this new penetration system. We looked at the flaws of our current systems and came up with a pretty good idea of how we wanted the base logic to function.

This part is a bit technical, so please bear with us.


https://medal.tv/clips/60621401/d1337IxYRUlW
Shell Penetration Demo (Fullscreen version)

In the new system, we went back to the drawing board and redefined how we calculate armour penetration. In addition to the Line of Sight (LOS) penetration, we now also consider the angle at which you hit a plate.

What this means is that even if your shell is able to penetrate an angled plate, if the angle is too high your shell can bounce off the armour. This makes considering the angle of your opponent's tank more important.

Certain shells will also cause spalling when they penetrate an armour plate, this means that a single shot can damage and hurt multiple components and the shell can even continue through the tank and out the other side.

Another change is that shells no longer stop existing when they hit an object instead, the shell can bounce off surfaces, change direction or even shatter based on what objects you hit in the world. The shell will only stop existing in the world if the shell shatters, if it has lost all its velocity or if it travels for an unreasonable amount of time, like if you shot straight up or out of the level.

We have also created several new sub-classes of shells, each being designed according to their real-life operation, we will quickly list the different types of shells and how they differ from each other. These are simply the damage types and it does not reflect the difference between each shell type such as APCR, APCBC and so on.

• AP - This is any shell that does not have any explosive filler, but instead a solid shell, this type of shell is commonly used by the commonwealth forces.
  
• APHE - This type of shell has an explosive filler within the shell which is triggered by hitting objects or armour at a certain thickness, once triggered it will explode after a short period, which means that upon penetration it will explode doing a massive amount of damage to crew and internal components.
  
• HE - This type of shell will explode on impact and is used against external components, infantry, light vehicles or fortifications.
  
• HEAT - This type of shell is typically used by infantry Anti-Tank rockets, it is capable of high penetration, but is easily countered by spaced or add-on armour.
  
• Shaped Charge - This isn’t really a shell but it is functionally identical to HEAT, except it’s usually found in magnetic mines.

And again please keep in mind that these are basic damage types and we are able to create realistic shells for each tank with a functional difference between each shell using the above system, this means that shells like APCR is still an AP type shell, it's great for penetrating flat armour but not very good against anything that is sloped.

We were also able to make functional add-on armour to tanks, stuff such as side skirts, track links and other objects attached to a tank can provide slight additional protection and is even capable of being blown off the tank.

This will prove to be particularly useful for dealing with infantry anti-tank weapons such as a bazooka or a panzerschreck.



https://medal.tv/clips/60623068/d1337aFkzQye
Component Damage Demo (Fullscreen version)

The component system that Post Scriptum uses is by no means a bad system, but with the additions made to the penetration system as well as the tank driving mechanics we discussed in the last devblog, we have not only reworked many of the mechanics behind the component system but also made a couple of new additions to the system that will be important to gameplay.

To start off, we have gone through and split our components into external and internal components and each of these components can be considered a vital or non-vital component.

The internal and external classification allows us to designate how and when a component can be damaged, certain components like tracks, side-skirts or objects on the tank can be damaged without needing to penetrate the armour of the tank. Internal components will require a shell penetration before they will start taking damage.

What the vital and non-vital classification means is that we can determine the value of one component over another, obviously, a periscope doesn’t have the same value to the crew as the engine or main gun and as such we can tell the system which systems are or aren’t critical for vehicle functionality.

The damage system was also overhauled in such a way that when a certain amount of components are destroyed the tank will be considered knocked out and this means the tank can no longer be repaired, forcing the crew to abandon their tank.

When a component is damaged it will have an effect on the performance of the tank itself. If the transmission is damaged you will not be able to use all your gears and as such your top speed suffers a transmission destroyed will cause the vehicle to be immobilized.

Certain components like ammo, fuel tanks & engines can start a fire if penetrated, this fire will need to be put out by the crew using a fire extinguisher from their inventory, failure to extinguish the fire will result in the fire spreading, damaging nearby components and eventually causing the tank to burn down.

• Engine - The engine component is one of the two components primarily required to drive the tank, the engine when damaged will lower the amount of throttle available, thus limiting the power output of your tank until repaired, if destroyed the tank can no longer move. This component has a small chance of starting a fire when damaged by a shell. Keep in mind that engines have a high armour value and shooting the engine may not penetrate into the fighting compartment of an enemy vehicle.
  
• Fuel Tanks - This component will be the primary source of any tank fire, penetration of the fuel tanks will bear with it high risks of fires starting, a fire in the fuel tank, if not put out, will very quickly spread to other parts of the tank and damage the tank, eventually leading to the tank burning down. But fuel quantity is not simulated and tanks will not run out of fuel with damaged fuel tanks.
  
• Transmission - The transmission component like the Engine component is the other component primarily required to drive the tank, when this component is damaged it will limit the gears available to the drive and eventually the tank becomes immobilized, like the engine this component has a high armour value and thus shooting the transmission may not result in penetration into the fighting compartment.
  
• Ammo Stowage - This component represents the ammo stored inside the tank, when this component is hit there is a high chance of either a fire or instant explosion causing the tank to be destroyed, however unlike other components this component can be emptied, as the crew fire shells the ammo stowage is progressively emptied which lowers the chance of an explosion or fire.
  
• Turret Ring - The turret ring component when damaged will turn slower, when fully destroyed it will no longer turn the turret.
  
• Cannon barrel/breech - This component represents the cannon and breech inside the tank, this component can be destroyed by shooting the barrel or breech inside the turret, damaging the cannon will slow the elevation speed and a fully destroyed cannon will no longer elevate or fire.

• Periscopes - The periscopes can all be damaged and will become cracked when damaged, however, they will not count towards any vital component knockout.
  
• Tracks - The track component is special, unlike the other vital components, it is both a vital and non-vital component depending on some conditions. If the tracks on one side of the tank is destroyed, this component is only considered a non-vital component, but if both tracks are taken out it will be considered a vital component knockout.

https://medal.tv/clips/60697870/d1337ZPszeHJ
Component Repair Demo (Fullscreen version)

The crew are also considered as components and internal crew can be hurt and wounded by a penetrating hit, fire or spalling as a result of penetration.

This new component system means that we are able to simulate tank combat much more in-depth and offer more nuance to combat in tanks.





Lastly, we wanted to dedicate this section to the new wreck system, but given it has not yet been completed we will instead use this time to talk briefly about the roadmap and what lies ahead of us after the Overhaul.

One of our biggest concerns after the Armour Overhaul is going to be general game improvements, including a second large QoL update, this one we hope to include a lot of community feedback as well as address gameplay concerns from our players.

We also hope to be able to deliver new and improved RCON Tools for our server hosters, so that they can better administrate and moderate their servers.

Chapter 4 is still a little bit out, but it won't be long until dev blogs start dropping and we can start talking about the plans for Chapter 4 which is set during December 1944 - February 1945 in the Battle of the Bulge.

We will obviously not leave you without at least showing you parts of the wreck system before we leave.

https://medal.tv/clips/60695085/d1337eRF45Mu
Roman candle wreck demo (Fullscreen version)



This devblog marks the completion of all major modules for the Armour Overhaul and from here on its primary focus is on bug fixing, balancing and tweaking tanks to get them just right.

But we will also be live next week showing off the new Armour Overhaul on our Team Time with the Devs live stream! We would love to have you come join us as we show off the work we've been doing for the past several months as well as answering questions from the community!

This is all happening over on our twitch https://www.twitch.tv/postscriptumofficial


All these changes will mean that there is a much greater emphasis on the performance of tank crews to succeed in a tank engagement and it means that similar to real-life the tank that fires first stands the greatest chance of winning an engagement.

We are also extremely excited to see you all on our live stream later next week where you can come and see the system with your own eyes as well as ask any questions you may have.

Until then we highly recommend joining our Discord server where developers chat actively with the community as well as sharing small inside information from development. It's a community definitely worth being a part of!

Sincerely,
Periscope Games

JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON DISCORD

Greetings!

Since the launch of the SDK in December last year, our modding community has been getting familiarised with our modding tools. Since then many amazing mods have spawned, ranging from simple layers, maps, gameplay changes to full conversion mods.

Since many new mods are being created by incredibly talented people, we felt it would only be right to spotlight individual mods and modders so that we can all see the amazing amount of work and effort being put into modding.

This new series will put focus on anything and everything modding. We will look at mods in development, mods that have been released, updated and anything in between.

So if you are a modder with a burning passion and a mod you want to tell the world about, you can find more information about submitting your mod via our Official Modding Hub Discord.

So let us take a deep dive into the world of modding and what these modders are currently up to.


Our first stop on our list is the North African desert featured in the Shifting Sands Community Mod, which aims to bring the North African theatre of WWII into Post Scriptum. This mod is currently in development and not yet released.

This mod was started a little over a year ago before the SDK was even released and since then, their team has only grown with many more talented individuals.



They say that their key motivation for doing this is their passion for the history and the story of the campaign in North Africa, and it quote "Has to be one of the most dynamic fronts of WWII, which is why we think it is perfect for portraying it in-game."

This is certainly something we can agree with, and we cannot wait to see what challenges await soldiers in the African deserts.



The team also explained what their current focus is and where their development efforts are currently.

The team said that they are currently focused on the year 1941 and the Siege of Tobruk with the relief efforts by the British 8th Army. They mention that most of the fighting was done in the rocky desert within the fortified perimeter, so it'll be a very different landscape for players of Post Scriptum to fight over.



And the team talked about how they plan to make a realistic portrayal of the battle. They mention that they have done a great amount of research about the areas that people will be fighting in, as realism is something they take seriously and want to portray correctly.



As this mod is portraying an earlier period of the war, the team also includes completely new vehicles to reflect this. These include tanks, armoured cars, and personnel carriers from both sides that are currently not in-game. The team did a lot of research on the vehicle models and camouflage to make sure it was all authentic and in the process, have learnt a lot about the North African campaign, something that will come in handy for the future development of the mod.



Now a little personal note from the team:

We know the community has high expectations of the mod, and we intend to rise to that and deliver something that has all the great features of Post Scriptum, transported into a completely different environment – with all the new vehicles, weapons, and atmosphere. If the player gets the feeling of immersion when they play the mod, we will know we have done a good job!

And if you are interested in keeping up to date with the progress made by the team, you can join their official Shifting Sands Community Mod discord.



https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2382579481


Next up is a map created by Tyler Ernest or Tyler_E on the Modding Hub. The map is called Simonskall, and it is based on the town of the same name located in the Eifel region of Germany, historically it was part of the battle over Hurtgen Forest in November 1944.

Hurtgen Forest was famous for being very difficult to traverse for armoured forces, which is still true in this map. We think the level of detail that has gone into making a historically authentic map is amazing, and we can't wait to see what else Tyler can bring to the modding scene in the future.


What makes this map so special, and why should you care about Simonskall?

Well, first of all, it's a map of traditional Post Scriptum size, with the map being 2.5 km by 2.5 km. That's a pretty good size map for both your infantry and vehicle needs, although given it's based on the Hurtgen Forest, maybe be careful with the vehicles.

Other than the nice size, it also comes with its own custom historical factions and layers, new weather conditions, custom map assets as well as some fictional layers, including the Fallschirmjäger.



Tyler was so very helpful to include a bullet point with the current map features that you should know about:

https://gfycat.com/windinganotherarabianhorse
(GIF real-life comparison)

- 2.5KM by 2.5KM size map.
- Custom Factions (Historical divisions + Some not so historical, like Fallschimjager layers).
- Custom forest floor textures.
- Many custom historical buildings (by Gunslinger).
- Satellite heightmap terrain.
- 8 Different Offensive Layers with different layouts and times of the day.
- 1 Invasion layer.
- 5 Weather conditions.
- Custom 3d models of small props at the main bases.
- Custom foliage assets
- Custom highly optimized grass from UE4 marketplace which adds around 20 FPS (give or take), all while looking better map-wide than the vanilla grass textures/mesh.

Now that is very impressive stuff! But of course, being a map based on a real historical location, knowing the history goes a long way to understanding the decisions made by the level designer.



So have a little history lesson from Tyler himself:

Simonskall is a town located in the Eifel region of Germany. It was part of the Hurtgen Forest Campaign in November 1944. The Hurtgen Forest was famous for being difficult to traverse for armored forces. That remains true in this map.

The Hurtgen Forest occupies a rugged area between the Rur River and Aachen. In the autumn and early winter of 1944, the weather was cold, wet, and cloudy, and often prevented air support. Apart from the poor weather, the dense forest and rough terrain also prevented proper use of Allied air superiority, which had great difficulties in spotting any targets. The dense conifer forest is broken by few roads, tracks, and firebreaks; vehicular movement is restricted. Conditions on the ground became a muddy morass, further impeding vehicular traffic, especially heavy vehicles such as tanks.

So it definitely sounds like a challenging place to fight, but it also sounds like an interesting place to fight doesn't it?



Tyler again summarises what he believes makes his map unique and what makes it an interesting level to play, so let's hear what he has to say. He also mentions the extent he has gone to ensure that the map is as authentic as it can be to the real location, this is no easy feat.

This is a very unique map and takes place in a completely different location than all of the other Post Scriptum maps. A lot of the stock maps generally feature flat terrain, whereas Simonskall is very hilly and rugged terrain.

The inspiration for this map was to create something new and lesser-known while still being something people could relate with for WW2 fans, historians, and players alike. I started studying towns in the Hurtgen Forest for a future map and was interested in how rugged the terrain was in this particular valley/area and how it could be interesting for gameplay. I tried my best to recreate the location from satellite maps, height map terrain, and various pictures and videos of the area.

The gameplay experience in this map can be very different from the other maps in the game. For example, there is a large plateau-like farm area to the north of the map, which lends itself well to armoured engagements and long draw distances for sniping, whereas the rest of the map is extremely rugged and hard to navigate for vehicles.

Infantry has an edge in the other areas of the map. The large gorge across the entirety of the map is very interesting for armoured engagements as well.



And of course, Tyler went into detail about the future plans for the map:

The map itself is 99.9% finished. However, there may still be some lingering bugs which I encourage people to post bug reports on the workshop page for the map if they see something. I also plan on replacing the current US player models with the upcoming Chapter 4 winter player models, given the fact this map takes place in November. The Sherman firefly placeholder tank will also be replaced by a Chapter 4 tank at a later date. Please also note this isn't a 100% accurate recreation of the location and never claimed to be. However, I personally think it's a pretty good recreation given the fact it was created by one person with a limited budget and resources.

And if all of this still hasn't convinced you of the quality and attention to detail put into the map, here is an even hosted on the Simonskall map showing off just how well done this map is.





https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2414809400


Onwards to our last and probably least historical mod, but a weirdly interesting concept.

Girls und Panzer: Real Sensha-Do! Is a mod that brings to the game… Well, Sensha-Do!

And if this concept still eludes you well, mod creator KV will explain what Sensha-Do is.

Sensha-Do is a fictional sport and martial art originating from the anime “Girls und Panzer” in which players battle with real tanks, although with security measures in place to prevent the usual consequences of battling with real tanks.

In that universe, it is a very well known and loved sport, with school teams partaking in it on big tournaments which are televised for everyone to see.

This mod aims to use Post Scriptum’s detailed and realistic tank combat framework and SDK to create a “Sensha-Do Simulator” A game where you can play Sensha-Do as closely as possible to what is depicted in the anime. So far, this has been a four-month process, and lots of work still has to be done, but the current Mod is already a certainly unique experience of crazy tank combat.

So, school girls duking it out in tanks? What a weird but cool concept, but just how difficult and involved was it to make a cartoon concept come to life in Post Scriptum?

KV continues to explain what it took to create this mod.

Firstly, war and death elements had to be removed due to this being a harmless sport. The death screen was replaced with “You got Knocked Out” tank explosions were swapped around by a puff of smoke and a white flag poking out (Like in the Anime) Infantry, which had been replaced by anime characters resembling the ones that practice Sensha-Do in the show, was made invulnerable and blood and gore was removed.



Next, a new game mode had to be done. There are two types of battles in Sensha-Do.

Annihilation: Where a team has to wipe out the opposite team to win andFlag Tank: where each team has a tank which, if killed, loses them the game.

Since flag tank game mode would not work in a public server with respawns, an annihilation-style game mode was created, where each team would start with the same amount of tickets and every tank destroyed would result in a loss of one ticket.

For organized tournament battles, a flag item was added to allow marking flag tanks as such. Anime versions of maps were created, using this game mode.



The Mechanics needed to be improved or adapted to fit the new gameplay style, so many things were added and tweaked. Most tanks were made to die when flipped, long cannon barrels were given collision which would stop them from turning in narrow streets, and allowed them to break if hit too hard, handbrake code was tweaked to allow tanks to have drift FX like in the show, crash effects were improved, camera shake for impacts was added, tanks were made to “die” in one penetration like in the show, but their speed and handling was also tweaked to be a lot more agile and fun.



Lastly, no Sensha-Do game would be complete without Sensha, or tanks. Post Scriptum has a very nice selection of tanks, but more were needed, repaints, different variants, and all-new vehicles were added (Some with the wonderful models by Chapter: Mercury, which they gave permission to use) Currently the mod features more than 25 different tank variants, and that selection is always growing with more tanks being added almost on a weekly basis.

Of course, a lot more than this has also been made and is being worked on, anime-style graphics with cartoon outlines, different characters with unique items,physics-based antennas, detachable side skirts and other parts and much more

This week I was focusing on getting ready for the mod’s latest venture, which is a tournament dubbed “The Real Sensha-Do Summer Cup” it is intended to span three months until September when autumn starts and aims to make the mod more lively by allowing players to form teams, challenge each other with flexible schedules, and give them more motivation to play by allowing them to earn points and tournament currency, buy better tanks and even get the chance to win custom-made content like tank skins, custom characters and even whole new tanks being imported. This tournament recently started this weekend and is going well so far with seven teams have signed up and the first battle has gone smoothly, and I am personally looking forward to seeing it grow and become more active and fun.



With most of the mod’s foundation already laid, the way forward for the mod looks like it’s going to be relatively comfortable, adding more and more tanks of all kinds and nations is a big priority, so is making new maps, characters and items, and getting the team coordination down so all the people who volunteered to help can work on new features as well. New characters are also on the horizon as well as more ambitious projects that feature a whole amphibious vehicle framework and many more ideas that I will be trying out eventually.

With the armour overhaul probably coming soon though, I plan to attempt to take full advantage of that when it comes out to add new features, and with hopefully more SDK updates on the horizon that open up new possibilities, I am also hoping to be able to push the limits of what is doable right now and really put out some unorthodox and crazy content



If fighting against schoolgirls in tanks, drifting around Carentan sounds like your kind of mod, then you should definitely grab this mod, or maybe even join the Girls und Panzer Mods Discord Server


And with that we have come to the end of this very first modding spotlight, we will try to do these on a monthly or bi-monthly schedule, with many new mods on the way, we cannot wait to tell you about all the interesting things happening in our modding scene.

Sincerely,
Periscope Games

JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON DISCORD

Greetings!

Summer is here and you all know what that means! The Steam Summer Sale 2021 is finally here and Post Scriptum will be 50% off.

Starting today at 10 AM Pacific and running until 10 AM Pacific on July 8th, Post Scriptum will be 50% off throughout the entire Steam Summer Sale.



Post Scriptum is currently undergoing the massive Armour Overhaul task that we showed off last week.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/736220/view/3037095871635357738

So if you've been eyeing Post Scriptum or know a buddy you'd like to bring along into battle, now is the chance to get a good deal on Post Scriptum, one of the most immersive WW2 Tactical Shooters on the market.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/736220/Post_Scriptum/



Due to a bug reported by Intel with Unreal Engine 4.21, some users may experience trouble getting the game to launch.

We are currently working on resolving this bug for a future update, but it arose during the Armour Overhaul, meaning we are unable to currently patch this issue.

If you have encounter issues with starting the game on these CPU's please see the following post for a workaround:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/736220/discussions/0/3148556875506186868/


Sincerely,
Periscope Games

Greetings!

We are super excited to finally be able to share some more details about what you can expect from the new Armour Overhaul coming later this year.

Before we dive deep into the blog below, we first want to thank you for your patience as we go through this long procedure of overhauling a vital aspect of our game. We believe that the game is only as strong as the weakest link and our armour system was one of the key items on this list.

We also want to remind you that the following information is work in progress and as such, it is not representative of the final product.



https://medal.tv/clips/55445942/d1337PvRzFZp
New Seating System

One of the first topics we discussed when we started planning out the new driving mechanics was the topic of the seating system. Most of our players are very familiar with the “Offset Bug” where characters will be offset from the vehicle, this causes those characters to float or have a weird angle when in a vehicle.

This is an old OWI Core bug that has been problematic for us for a long time. The core of our new driving system was focused on creating a new seating system in an attempt to eliminate this bug permanently.

While developing the new seating system, we also wanted to address the concern of the tank crews entering and exiting the tank. We wanted a system that would allow players to enter a respective seat directly rather than having to switch seats after entering the vehicle. But we also wanted to focus on eliminating armoured crew magically entering the tank from any angle.

As an example, in order to enter the driver seat, you will need to climb on top of the tank and enter by interacting with the hatch leading to the driver's position. This is true for all seats, this allows all players to immediately hop into their respective seats without needing to deal with seat switching, it also encourages players to be more cautious with how and when to exit the tank.

Players can still switch seats using the same key layout as in the previous system.

https://medal.tv/clips/55248126/d1337W9Og3ok
New Hatch System

Additionally, we have added some new stages to how players can turn in and out of the tank. Now players will be able to better control the level at which they expose themselves from their hatches. Ranging from just peeking out of the hatch, to being fully exposed.

This has advantages and disadvantages as exposing yourself fully allows you to get the best possible view, but you are heavily exposed to enemy fire, peeking out will act as a middle ground between being turned in and out, giving you some protection from enemy infantry.



https://medal.tv/clips/55058684/d1337pwGoQ4b
Tank Driving Demo

The other topic we discussed surrounds how we can improve on how the tank drives, how it interacts with the environment and most importantly how the player experiences driving tanks.

To this extent we completely broke down our existing driving mechanics and built it up from scratch, now instead of using an imaginary automatic transmission system, the tank is controlled by gearing and throttle.

The way this differs from the old system is that you no longer press a key to go forward and backwards, but instead, you control a throttle up and down. This means that players no longer need to hold down a key to keep driving, but instead, they can set the throttle at a certain value and this affects how fast the tank accelerates.

What this means for the driver is that they have much more control over how fast their tank drives, allowing them to tailor the speed better to a given situation.

Turning the tanks is primarily done by braking one or the other track, this means that with the new system tanks will not drift from side to side as much, requiring less constant input from the driver in order to keep a tank going straight.

Driving a tank means matching your RPM to your speed, as speed changes you will need to adjust your gear in order to keep RPM high enough so that you won’t come to a stop. This puts greater emphasis on the driver paying attention to his instruments when driving as well as the terrain they drive on.

Another important change to the driving mechanics is that different driving surfaces will affect how your tank performs. Driving on a road will allow your tank to reach its top speed, but you run the risk of running into mines, anti-tank guns or enemy infantry.

Alternatively, you can go off-road and lose out on the top speed, but obviously, you don’t run the same risk of hitting any mines, anti-tank guns or infantry unless you get really unlucky of course.

We have also put extensive work into ensuring that physics act how you’d expect from a tank, tanks should feel heavy and somewhat clunky to drive, but they should be able to ford over objects and gaps with relative ease, our old system wasn’t as good in this regard with tanks being stuck on objects it should otherwise be able to scale.


Lastly, we have put some work into a new HUD & UI that will help crews get a clear overview of the tank as well as its condition. Since the new armour mechanics are almost entirely based on component damage rather than hull damage it means that we need to ensure crew members can get an overview of the status of various components at a glance.


For the driver, you have new HUD symbology for your Throttle, Parking brake, RPM, Speed in Km/h and gear setting.

The throttle is represented by a white bar that fills up or depletes depending on how much throttle you want, the throttle will stay where you leave it, making it convenient to set up to a certain speed. Next to the throttle, you will find the parking brake symbol, if the parking brake is on, the symbol will be lighted up.

The RPM, Speed gauge and gear setting is located above the throttle and will help you keep track of the optimal conditions for driving your tank, this is a skill that any driver will need to learn and mastery of the driving system can allow tankers to use their vehicle to the fullest.



Now let's talk about the compass and damage indicators. One thing we wanted to do with the new system was to come up with a solution to help give tank crews a general idea of where they are being engaged from, this is done by representing the general location a hit came from by using a hit indicator.

This hit indicator is not very accurate and will only give you a general idea of the direction of your enemy, this ensures that combat is fair towards the tank engaging, but also gives crews a fighting chance to get their bearings. Crews should not rely on this system, but their commander and his spotting ability.

When you inevitably take damage from an enemy, this is represented by the damage icons which are ordered by their function to the tank. At the top, you will find component status for your turret drive and cannon breech/barrel.

Below is the health status of your ammunition and fuel tanks. (While we do not simulate fuel levels, they do pose a significant fire hazard to the tank.)

After that you will find your engine and transmission status, damaging these will seriously affect vehicle performance and potentially causing the tank to become immobilized until repairs have been made.

And lastly, you can see health status for your left and right track respectively.



In the gif example above the tank has taken a hit from its 12 - 3 'o clock and the hit caused significant damage to the transmission as well as starting a fire in the ammunition stowage if the fire is not put out quickly it will lead to the tank burning down.


So to end off this devblog, we want to thank everyone for their patience while we work through this update, as you can see we have gone through every part of the armoured system, giving it more than just a bit of bug fixing, we are super excited to allow our players to get a hands-on experience with this new update.

In the next devblog, we will talk about the shell mechanics as well as a more in-depth explanation of the component damage system.

Until then we highly recommend joining our Discord server where developers chat actively with the community as well as sharing small inside information from development. It's a community definitely worth being a part of!

Sincerely,
Periscope Games

JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON DISCORD

Greetings!

We hope you enjoyed the small peek at what we are doing with the armour overhaul last week as well as the new vehicles coming to Post Scriptum with Chapter 4. We will be releasing more details on that soon.

But it’s time to return to Chapter 2 for a moment and talk a bit more about Maginot, while the Vehicle Overhaul is ongoing, our Level Designer Sergey is hard at work finishing up Maginot and coordinating with the QA Team.



One of the last tasks for us to complete at the moment is the Maginot Tunnel System which will span parts of the map and function as alternative paths within the maps. We have done similar underground systems before on Dinant and Grave, but never on this scale and as such, there is a lot for us to consider when it comes to design and balancing to ensure it doesn’t become a mess to navigate or fight in.



The Maginot tunnels were an important part of the Maginot line itself, it spans across the entire line linking it together using tunnels and railways, this meant that soldiers could quickly and safely be moved around on the line.

In Post Scriptum we don’t want to make the tunnels a focus point, but we do want to make them an alternative and something useful for either defender or attackers, holding and controlling the tunnels will allow for relatively safe travels between several capture points.



In the Tunnel system, you will find several features such as armoured doors and hallways that can be used to, in a limited capacity flank your enemy should they fail to guard these flanks. The armoured doors will serve as a means to block attacking forces from moving up quickly and will require explosives to open, or the capture of the two-door controls on the other side of the door.

In a similar fashion, some external doors will only be available to certain teams and the use of these doors by an enemy team will require explosives.



Below you can find a copy of the Minimap that we will use for Maginot alongside the tunnel layout. The tunnel system is colour coded to help the player identify where they are located in the tunnels, this can help you navigate more easily.





Sincerely,
Periscope Games

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Greetings!

As some of you might be aware, we are currently working full time on the Armour Overhaul that will significantly change how we interact with the armour mechanics in Post Scriptum.

During these next few months, we will be covering significant developments in these Armour Devblogs, talking about specific aspects of the armour system as a whole and what you can expect from the system when it releases to the public.

So let us start off from the very fundamentals of why we are even undertaking this huge task, it boils down to several key reasons, the most important of which is the fact that we just really haven't been happy with the armour system, we’ve been saying this for the last several years and Post Scriptum is finally in a state where we can spend the time working on this task, given the last 2 years was spent primarily doing Chapter 2, 3 & the SDK.

Fundamentally the armour system is flawed as it is currently based on the OWI Core which is a heavily modified Unreal Engine 4 designed by Offworld Industries our publisher for their own game SQUAD.

Our system and game as a whole borrow heavily from this Core and as such we also inherit all of its limitations. Up until now, we’ve tried to work our own systems into their core with mixed results. So late last year we decided that we were going to scrap the majority of the vehicle systems and develop it from the ground up to suit our needs.

The problem of inheriting our vehicle system from the OWI Core lies in that it is very difficult to maintain efficiently since bugs can occur anywhere in between, which causes us massive headaches.

With the new system, we will still inherit a lot of the base functionality, but we will be able to significantly improve our own maintenance and future development on that system, it also allows us to develop features that we couldn’t do before. One of the key aspects of this was the way we simulate armour penetration and its effects on vehicles.

You can watch a small W.I.P video of the new shell mechanics here:

We have been working on prototyping, experimenting and planning the changes since late last year when we agreed that we would finally commit to giving Post Scriptum an immersive and realistic armour experience that players already expect from our game.

Over the last few months we had been preparing a QoL patch that was aimed at resolving some of the major issues with the game so that the effect of significant downtime would be lessened, we have to realise that overhauling our vehicle system is a mammoth undertaking that would take several months, not to speak of testing and debugging.

Currently, the coders are hard at work building the fundamental elements like tank seats, gun mechanics, animations, vehicle handling and all other underlying systems. We are currently working towards having a fully working vehicle that we will then use as a template for any future vehicles.

So to summarise, we are working hard on finishing the vehicle handling and all the fundamental coding and designs that we will use for all other vehicles, we will be sharing progress via these dev blogs as we get further with that development.

Now we don’t want this devblog to go on for too long about the armour system as we will have a lot of topics to cover over the next few months and we are very excited to share our progress with you.

And just to finish off this devblog we’d like to talk a bit about some upcoming tanks for Chapter 4 as well as giving you a look at the updated model for our Tiger.




The Tiger has been in Post Scriptum for many years, even before release and it’s been an iconic feature within the game for many players. The model, however, did start to show its age in the fidelity and texture quality, to that extent we remodelled the tank from scratch and we are quite happy with the results. We will eventually give our other tanks similar updates so that we keep our vehicles up to date visually.

On top of the new textures and model, we also started to create some new winter camo patterns in preparation for Chapter 4. We will need to do similarly for our other vehicles in preparation for this chapter.







A vehicle many of our community members who follow our Youtube and Twitch will have already seen snippets of is the M4A3(76)W HVSS or simply M4A3E8. This is one of the better developments of the M4 Sherman with the very good 76mm M1 cannon. Similar to that of the Hellcat tank destroyer.

The M4A3E8 was the result of several years of work improving the problems with the M3 Lee and the M4 Sherman. One of the most notable features was the development of the Horizontal Volute Suspension System or HVSS for short, coupled with the wider tracks and the improved M1A2 76mm cannon, it made the Sherman a much more well-rounded tank, capable of taking on the German panzers. Although the tank still suffered in the protection department, the tendency for Shermans to explode from ammo detonation due to lacklustre armour compared to their German counterparts was one of the reasons that Wet stowage was introduced. Hence the ‘W’ designation in the name.



It will obviously see its introduction in Chapter 4 and has been a vital testbed for us while prototyping the armour overhaul. This Sherman is more than capable of taking on the majority of the German tanks you’ll face.




A brand new vehicle is also coming to Post Scriptum.

The Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B or Jagdtiger is a Heavy Tank Destroyer developed and built by Germany during 1944 and 45. This tank didn’t see much service since it entered service near the end of the war. The tank was first reported fully fielded by the Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 512 & the Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653 during January - February 1945.

Incidentally, this tank was not much use since the Allied had full aerial supremacy and as such it never saw its full potential amongst all of the mechanical problems or fuel problems due to the war. The Jagdtiger is often portrayed as the stigma of too much, the King Tiger is often crowned as the pinnacle of German tank design. If that is the case the Jagdtiger is just overkill and shows just how desperate Germany was to try and get an edge over the Allied.



Today only 3 Jagdtigers exist, none of which reportedly still operate under their own power anymore. But the good news is that you will be able to drive this behemoth into limited battle during Chapter 4.


Sincerely,
Periscope Games

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Greetings!

Thanks for an enjoyable April 1st. We know it wasn't as elaborate as we'd like, normally we would do a devblog for April 1st, but this year we decided to do a small in-game event.

The next update to land will very likely be the Armour Overhaul. We can't wait to share all the juicy details of this new system.

As per usual, the changelog is below.

April Fools 2021

• Removed the April Fools gags

Sincerely,
Periscope Games

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You can find our Official Community Resource Google Drive with all layer information, ticket costs, spawn commands and more here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Bc0iNcgZP_wYzKQIuLAWTnkv3SwVCbCL?usp=sharing

Greetings!

We have a very small patch that fixes an annoying bug in Arnhem. (Sorry for the small patch, but we are now working full time on the Armour Overhaul.)

On top of this, we've finished an emergency April Quality of Life patch, as we are aware that the gameplay could really do with some improvements across the board. You can find the April specific changes below the bugfix.

As per usual, the changelog is below.

Bugfixes

• Fixed Arnhem Church pain volume being too large and killing players in the stairwell.

April QoL Patch

• Added some gameplay improvements to Arnhem, Driel, Carentan, Dinant & Best.
  
• Fixed vehicle horns now playing the correct sounds.
  
• Added sound warning station on top of Arnhem Bridge.
  
• Added new headshot notification to ensure maximum realism.

Sincerely,
Periscope Games

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You can find our Official Community Resource Google Drive with all layer information, ticket costs, spawn commands and more here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Bc0iNcgZP_wYzKQIuLAWTnkv3SwVCbCL?usp=sharing

Greetings!

We have been working away the last couple of weeks with fixes that focus primarily on localization, prior to continued work on our vehicle overhaul.

We hope that this will be the last big patch before the vehicle overhaul can start taking shape.

As per usual, the changelog is below.


Optimization & Performance

• Made improvements to 20mm AP hit effects.
  
• Added new HE effects for 20mm.
  
• Added ricochet sounds to rocket launcher bounces.

Fixes

• Added some more pain volumes on the Arnhem church to stop players from getting on the roof outside of the church tower.
  
• Fixed the RANDOM parameter in server start file not correctly randomizing layers consistently.
  
• Fixed Opel Blitz glass rendering on top of effects.
  
• Fixed water near the factory on Doorwerth not triggering pain volume.
  
• Fixed floating rail wagons on Dinant.
  
• Fixed Driel S08 DZ strip not being below level.
  
• Fixed various wheat variants not being affected by wind.
  
• Fixed broken vertex normals on Oak Med 1 variants & removed some old Norway Spruce materials.
  
• Removed the "Show Modded Servers" in the server browser as it was unnecessary.

Localization

• Added Localization team to credits
  
• Fixed a few hundred localization errors.
  
• Fixed player counts being cut off in localized languages.
  
• Fixed Respawn button clipping with Localization.
  
  FRENCH:
  
• Fixed Ambient Occlusion being uncapitalized.
  
• Fixed Screen Sharpening being uncapitalized.
  
• Fixed Hold to Crouch being uncapitalized.
  
• Fixed Double Tap Time being uncapitalized.
  
• Capitalized and Fixed SL Place Map Marker #2 translation
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for UK Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for Civilian Citroen Cars.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for GER Kubelwagen Command Variant.
  
• Added missing translations for the American Anti-Tank role description.
  
• Added missing translations for the Combat Engineer(AP) role description.
  
• Added missing translations for the Combat Engineer(AT) role description.
  
• Added missing translations for numerous weapon descriptions.
  
• Fixed an issue where the translations for the M1 Garand was described as a M1 Carbine for the US 82nd Grenadier and 101st Squad Leader roles.
  
• Fixed issue where text at the top of the server browser was overlapping each other.
  
• Fixed issue where the translation for Text Chat to All was translated as Text Chat to Team.
  
• Removed translations for previously translated weapon names.
  
• Cleaned up & removed numerous translations for various text being improperly marked as requiring translation and being translated to english instead of the indicated language.
  
• Added Missing role name translations for Tank Officers & Tank Crewmen.
  
• Added Missing translations for the Squad Leader Command Menu.
  
• Added Missing translations for attack & defend markers.
  
• Added Missing translations for Ammunition markers.
  
• Added Missing translations for numerous miscellaneous text.
  
• Added Missing and adjusted incorrectly translated specialized characters in numerous translations.
  
• Added missing translations for the description of the Gewehr-43 Rifle.
  
• Added missing translations for the description of the Gewehr-41 Rifle.
  
• Added missing translations & standardized the description of the BAR Automatic Rifle.
  
• Added missing translation for the description of the Sturmgewehr 44 Select-Fire Rifle.
  
• Added missing translations & standardized the description of the Karabiner 98 Bolt-Action Rifle.
  
• Added missing translation for the description of the Maschinengewehr 42 MachineGun.
  
• Added missing translation for the description of the Maschinengewehr 34 MachineGun.
  
• Added missing translation for the description of the Thompson SubMachineGun.
  
• Removed certain numerical values being marked as being localized and translated.
  
• Adjusted the Translation of the firemode selection text in the Weapon User Interface to fit properly.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Number of Players text on the scoreboard would clip outside its widget.
  
  ITALIAN:
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for UK Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for Civilian Citroen Cars.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for GER Kubelwagen Command Variant.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon descriptions.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon tool-tips.
  
• Fixed issue where Text at the top of the server browser was overlapping each other.
  
• Cleaned up & removed numerous translations for various text being improperly marked as requiring translation and being translated to english instead of the indicated language.
  
• Added missing translations and standardized various role descriptions.
  
• Fixed improperly translated SL Place Map Marker #5 text in the input settings portion of the settings menu.
  
• Removed certain numerical values being marked as being localized and translated.
  
• Added Missing translations for the Squad Leader Command Menu.
  
• Shortened translations for Bombing Mission, and Move Fast in the Squad Leader Marker Menu.
  
  GERMAN:
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for UK Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for Civilian Citroen Cars.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for GER Kubelwagen Command Variant.
  
• Added missing translations for numerous weapon descriptions.
  
• Added missing translations for numerous weapon tool-tips.
  
• Fixed Issues where specialized characters were not being capitalized in the control section of the settings menu.
  
• Fixed Issues where certain role descriptions were not be translated.
  
• Fixed issue where certain deployable names were being capitalized in translations.
  
• Fixed issue where Text at the top of the server browser was overlapping each other.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain countdown timer values were not being displayed properly.
  
• Fixed an issue where the join queue menu time was not properly showing the remaining time.
  
• Added Missing translations for attack & defend markers.
  
• Added Missing translations for the Squad Leader Command Menu.
  
• Cleaned up & removed numerous translations for various text being improperly marked as requiring translation and being translated to english instead of the indicated language.
  
• Removed certain numerical values being marked as being localized and translated.
  
• Added Missing translations for Ammunition markers.
  
• Added Missing translations for logistics menu buttons.
  
• Adjusted the Translation of the armored recon section text to fit properly.
  
• Added Missing role name translations for Tank Officers & Tank Crewmen.
  
• Adjusted the Translation for Anti-TankGun in the spawn & section screen to fit the user interface properly.
  
• Adjusted the Translation for Leave Queue in the Server Queue user interface to fit the user interface properly.
  
  SPANISH:
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for UK Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for Civilian Citroen Cars.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for GER Kubelwagen Command Variant.
  
• Added missing translations to several role names.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon descriptions.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon tool-tips.
  
• Changed the title of "AVAILABLE SPAWNS" translation to fit the Spawn Screen.
  
• Retranslated the spawn selection menu to work with the new title translation.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain countdown timer values were not being displayed properly.
  
• Added Missing translations for the Squad Leader Command Menu.
  
  SIMPLIFIED CHINESE:
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for UK Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for Civilian Citroen Cars.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for GER Kubelwagen Command Variant.
  
• Added missing translations to several role names.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon descriptions.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon tool-tips.
  
• Fixed issue where Text at the top of the server browser was overlapping each other.
  
• Added Missing Translations for the Squad Leader Command Menu.
  
• Removed certain numerical values being marked as being localized and translated.
  
• Cleaned up & removed numerous translations for various text being improperly marked as requiring translation and being translated to english instead of the indicated language.
  
• Added Missing Translation for the Screen Space Reflection button text in the video settings menu.
  
• Added Missing Translation for the Primary Weapon Header text in the Loadout Selection menu.
  
• Added & adjusted Translations for ammunition types for vehicles and emplacements.
  
• Added missing translations for the Commander Command Menu.
  
• Added Missing translations for various button texts.
  
  TRADITIONAL CHINESE:
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for UK Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for Civilian Citroen Cars.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for GER Kubelwagen Command Variant.
  
• Added missing translations to several role names.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon descriptions.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon tool-tips.
  
• Fixed issue where Text at the top of the server browser was overlapping each other.
  
• Added Missing Translation for the Screen Space Reflection button text in the video settings menu.
  
• Added Missing Translation for the Join Section Button in the Faction selection screen.
  
• Added Missing Translation for the Primary Weapon Header text in the Loadout Selection menu.
  
• Added & adjusted Translations for ammunition types for vehicles and emplacements.
  
• Added missing translations for the Commander Command Menu.
  
• Added Missing translations for various button texts.
  
  RUSSIAN:
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for UK Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for Civilian Citroen Cars.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for GER Kubelwagen Command Variant.
  
• Added missing translations to several role names.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon descriptions.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon tool-tips.
  
• Fixed issue where Text at the top of the server browser was overlapping each other.
  
• Added Missing translations for the Squad Leader Command Menu.
  
• Cleaned up & removed numerous translations for various text being improperly marked as requiring translation and being translated to english instead of the indicated language.
  
• Adjusted Translation of the firemode selection text in the Weapon User Interface to fit properly.
  
• Fixed an issue where a specific role had an incorrect label used for its tertiary equipment.
  
• Shortened translations for Mechanized, Explosives, Anti-Tank Gun, and Point of Interest in the Squad Leader Marker Menu.
  
• Added translation for Bombing Mission in the Squad Leader Marker Menu.
  
• Fixed capitalization issues in the Squad Leader Marker Menu.
  
  BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE:
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for UK Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for US Airborne Willys Jeep Command Variant.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for Civilian Citroen Cars.
  
• Added Missing Translation for Incorrect role to enter seat message for GER Kubelwagen Command Variant.
  
• Added missing translations to several role names.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon descriptions.
  
• Added missing translations for various weapon tool-tips.
  
• Fixed issue where Text at the top of the server browser was overlapping each other.
  
• Fixed an issue where Hours/Minutes/Seconds are not displayed as numbers on the Faction screen
  
• Fixed an issue where Hours/Minutes/Seconds are not displayed as numbers on the Spawn/Section screen
  
• Added Missing translations for the Squad Leader Command Menu.
  
• Cleaned up & removed numerous translations for various text being improperly marked as requiring translation and being translated to english instead of the indicated language.
  
• Shortened translations for Bombing Mission, and Point of Interest in the Squad Leader Marker Menu.

Sincerely,
Periscope Games

JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON DISCORD

You can find our Official Community Resource Google Drive with all layer information, ticket costs, spawn commands and more here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Bc0iNcgZP_wYzKQIuLAWTnkv3SwVCbCL?usp=sharing

Greetings!

We hope this is the last patch before we continue work on the Armour Overhaul, which is going to take a significant amount of time and work.

This patch should fix up the last few issues like certain vehicles still having invincible drivers. Vehicles not taking damage from most rifle calibres & the black shell has been fixed, we recently starting playing with the first iteration of a shell wake effect to replace the weirdly cartoony tracer shell.

Currently, these shells have no tracer but we plan to work on making these shells closer to their real-life counterpart as part of the armour overhaul.

Thanks for the feedback & bug reports!

• Fixed Sdkfz. 251, Universal Carrier & Citroen driver being invincible.
  
• Fixed vehicles not being damaged by rifle caliber bullets.
  
• Fixed M18 Hellcat Wreck missing collision.
  
• Fixed Teamkills with headshots in vehicles not being counted as a Teamkill.
  
• Fixed Admins.cfg permission "Immune" being spelled as "Immunity"
  
• Fixed Wiggly spruce trees.
  
• Moved Refresh icon on the Server Browser.
  
• Added first iteration of shell wake effect to replace tracers in most tank shells.
  
• Added new & better particle effects for HE shells on Concrete & Brick materials.

Sincerely,
Periscope Games

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