We’re excited to announce the final step in our re-brand: introducing Squad 44mm!
Become immersed in World War II warfare from the ground up, literally! Even the smallest of soldiers can turn the tides of war, especially infantry. Take on WWII from an entirely new perspective!
With our new name comes three new game modes:
Lily Pad Invasion
Storm the shores and take over the backyard! Make sure to watch out for environmental hazards like frogs, newts, and pesky dragonflies!
Panzer Garden Party
War is no picnic, folks. Hit the garden with your tot-sized tanks and dig up that soil! Leave no blade of grass unclipped!
BONUS MODE: Lieutenant Colonels Tea Time
Sneak into the lieutenant colonel's office and sabotage his tea with too much sugar! Watch out: he may spit out hot tea with disgust!
We hope you like the new direction of Squad 44mm. Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
There happen to be a lot of Easter eggs in Squad 44. They can be easy to miss, especially when you’re focused on the objective.
I asked the Mercury Arts team to share with me all the Squad 44 Easter eggs they know and have compiled a bit of a hunt for you all. This list doesn’t cover all the Easter eggs you could find, so let me know if you have others that aren’t on this list!
There was also one that I couldn’t find but have been told exists, so if you find it, please share it with me!
With this list, I’m only sharing the maps of the Easter eggs, so have fun this holiday weekend and go hunt!
1. Maleme - Bob Semple Tank
We’re starting off with an easy one!
This lovely feat of engineering is on Maleme and is a little obvious. Watch out for those dangerous curves!
2. Maleme - Duck on a Boat
Now, you won’t be able to find this one on foot. Seeing this lovely homage to the snazziest duckling takes a bit of cheating (using the admin cam).
3. Hagenau - Dog Shrine
This shrine is dedicated to developer Gunschlinger’s sweet dog. This one can be tricky to find since this map has a lot of places to search, but I bet you all are up for the challenge!
4. Rethymno - Dog Plane
A few planes on Rethymno have this cute decal on the side.
5. Rethymno - Paintings of Katz’s dogs
Katz’s sweet pups have been immortalised as lovely oil paintings on Rethymno. See if you can find them!
6. Best - Narnia Lampost
It’s a classic! This secluded spot is perfect for secret meetings, alone time, or reading a timeless fantasy novel.
7. Carenten - Playable Piano
This one is also easy to find. Did you know you can play it by pressing F? Try it out the next time you see it!
8. Ride-able tractor - Veghel, Carentan, Maginot
Thanks to Lelun on Discord for showing me this beauty. This tractor spawns in different locations on Veghel, Carentan, and Maginot (possibly other maps too, but we weren’t certain). If you see it, definitely take it out for a test drive!
9. Ducks on Doorwerth??
This easter egg was the one some helpful playtesters and I could not find. I was told that McDuckSauce had hidden a bunch of rubber ducks all over Doorwerth, but we could not find a single one! If anyone finds a rubber duck on Doorwerth, please let me know! Maybe I was lied to…
Big shoutouts to the playtesters who helped me look for these!
Are there any Easter eggs that I missed? Let me know in the comments! Good luck, and happy hunting!
Hey folks! This patch includes performance fixes, as well as logistics changes based on community feedback. Please note, that logistics will continue to be refined and updated as we move forward, so keep your feedback coming! We greatly appreciate it.
We're continuing to refine the art direction behind the scenes, stay tuned for future content previews and updates.
Changelog - 14/03/2024
Logistics changes
All first defensive caps get 1000 supplies in offensive
Aligned spawn vehicles on all offensive layers to 2x Inf logistics (1000 supplies each), 2x logistics (2000 supplies each), 1x MSP
Allowed all logistics players to build everything including spawn tents
Removed requirement for logistics players to need a second player with them to build a radio/spawn tent
Changed Radio exclusion zone to 300m
Changed buildable area around radio to 150m
Changed buildable area around supplies to 150m
Changed resupply range to 150m
Changed weapon buildable limits and costs: so now (per faction) max 8 Fobs (500 supplies), 8 repair cranes (250 supplies), 10 Ammo Boxes (100 supplies), 4 Large AT Guns (not 20mm) (800 supplies except Flak36 (1000 supplies)), 2 Heavy Support weapons (20mm) (500 supplies), 6 Mortars (500 supplies), 10 MGs (100 supplies) [Upgrade cost 50 supplies].
Changed Obstacle building costs and limits: so now (per faction) max 30 ladders (50 supplies), 30 AT obstacles (100 supplies), 30 Razor wire (50 supplies), 30 Sandbag barricade (100 supplies), 30 Wooden Barricade (100 supplies)
Changed Fortification building costs and limits: so now (per faction) 30 Sandbag W Logs (100 supplies), 30 Regular Sandbag Logs (100 supplies), 30 Small sandbags (50 supplies), 30 sandbag nest (150), 30 bunkers (200)
Removed the roofless bunker
Players cant build in red zones (red zones to be adjusted for attackers and defenders all layers remains work in progress)
Rearm cost of weapons
MGs - 50 supply refill to full
Mortars - 300 supplies refill to full
Heavy Support Weapons - 300 supplies refill to full
Large AT Guns - 300 supplies to refill to full
Performance
Bone LODs introduced to improve performance
Logistics trucks and Inf Logistics Trucks related FPS drop fixed
Virtual Textures removed (approx 500 MIs and textures amended) to prevent client crashes
Art Amends
New tarpaulin for the German Infantry Supplies Truck
Known Bugs
Reloading deployable weapons will only reload one ammo type
The team has been working hard behind the scenes to identify and fix the server crashes; thank you for your patience while we have hunted down this bug. We hope the issue is now resolved so you can all have a good weekend. See you in game!
All information provided in this blog is under development and highly subject to change.
Hello Soldiers,
We’ve gotten our hands on some top-secret documents, so let’s go through them!
SQUAD 44 - 6 Month Roadmap
First off, some meaning behind the sections:
Current Operations:
These changes are coming soon in the next updates (some have already happened)
In concept:
These are currently being developed for future updates
Future Operations:
Plans for far into the future, highly subject to change and could take longer than 6 months to implement.
Also, note that all this information is subject to change, and we plan to release another roadmap later this year to keep you updated on changes.
Current Operations
Chapter 1 Overhaul
New map textures
Updated weapon textures
New environmental meshes
Overall optimization and bug-fixing
Our current focus is on a graphical overhaul of Chapter 1 maps. The ambition is to upgrade the appearance of these maps to provide players with a much more realistic and immersive environment. Research has gone into finding period-specific imagery of the Market Garden areas to further align Chapter 1 maps to the battlefields they reflect. Following the recent lighting and foliage update, the team is working hard to refine building and environment meshes and provide more realistic textures to get players a little bit closer to the frontline in 1944.
While our graphics overhaul of Chapter 1 is ongoing, our coders continue working hard to fix bugs in the game and push further optimization where possible, while combating previous negative game metas (such as backline camping). As such, systems like the new spawn and logistics system continue to be refined, and the team is grateful for all the feedback from the community in assisting with that. As this rework continues to develop, the Logistics section will start to receive more love in the coming updates, with more buildables coming to give the Logistics section a greater punch in the future and further define their role in the team. You can see some examples of new buildables and emplaced weapons coming to the game in the future below.
In addition to the above, weapon textures will soon start getting a pass to bring them up to a new standard. We are also looking at bringing to the game various new historically accurate weapons and vehicles to add greater variety to the existing factions.
In Concept
Further chapter overhauls
Increased accessibility
Improved admin tools
Although the current focus remains firmly on Chapter 1 maps and models, we will spread the love further to other chapters to spruce them up and further immerse players across all Squad 44 battlefields. This also includes work to improve the heads and arms of various player models and further refinements to vehicles to accommodate changes made to the gameplay and to offer a more genuine look.
Following multiple requests from Server hosters, admin tools will also be looked at throughout the summer, while tutorials and an improved Arnhem Range will be developed to help support new players accessing the game.
Future Operations
New game mode
New faction
New theatre
Increased server player limits
Oh, how we would love to tell you about what is being worked on here! Already we have a new game mode in mind, and several weapons for our next faction made and animated, ready to go into battle later this year…. but where? While we can't give that away yet, we can say that when these weapons do see action, we hope they will be on servers of 100 players! Please share your thoughts on where you would like to see Squad 44 go next in the comments.
Community Plans
The community of Squad 44 is what truly makes it unique, and we have plans to show it off more this year!
Current plans for community:
Showing off the modding community through Modding Spotlight blogs, social media, and live streams
Supporting community clan events with advertising in Squad 44 community spaces
Revamping the Partner program
Regular monthly live streams, playing games with the community, dev Q&As, events, etc.
Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Feel free to reach out in our community spaces here on Steam, or on social media, Reddit, or Discord! We’re always checking these spaces for feedback.
All information provided in this blog is under development and highly subject to change.
Happy New Year, folks! Welcome to the first update of 2024!
New Year, new start!
This update focuses on a comprehensive quality-of-life update for Squad 44, encompassing animation, level design, and coding changes designed to further optimise the game. There’s also been work on bug fixing, improving the new player experience, and making the game environments more immersive.
Starting with the level design, we have been working hard to upgrade the graphics, focusing primarily on the foliage, lighting, and water on Chapter 1 maps. Work has also been undertaken to improve various historical landmarks in the game to align them more with their real-world counterparts (e.g. Koepelkerk and Veghel Town Hall). This has all been undertaken with optimization in mind, with draw calls significantly reduced, LODs refined, and textures appropriately packaged. Players also have extra options now to refine their graphics settings in-game. DLSS and texture streaming has been updated to improve performance further. This graphical overhaul of Chapter 1 maps is ongoing work as we look to update the game's overall appearance and performance in 2024.
Old: Updated:
In addition to level design optimization, we have also been busy cleaning up code. In doing so, we have entirely reworked the spawn and logistics systems. This means that all infantry squads now have access to a truck capable of carrying supplies to allow Infantry Squad Leaders the ability to build FOBs independently, with the FOB limit increased to 6. While the Infantry Squad Leaders will be able to use supplies to place light weapons down, they will be entirely reliant upon the Logistics Squad to keep those weapons supplied with ammunition, in the form of construction points. Red zone restrictions preventing construction of emplacements behind the lines have also been introduced, to help reduce backline camping and present a more realistic front-line concept of warfare.
These changes have been made for technical and gameplay reasons. When playing with the new update, feel free to share your feedback as we will continue to refine these systems going forward.
We’ve started work on making the game more approachable for newer players (with plans for a bigger look at accessibility slated for later this year). There are a few things you may notice: - On-screen compass to assist with player orientation - Visual prompts notifying players when a point is won or lost - Sound prompts when players health is low, to signify risk of bleeding out - Several gun sights have increased peep-holes for easier use: Grease gun, Sten, Springfield, and the M1 carbine) - Springfield M1905 now has a bayonet - Refined camera shake on shooting
Long-term bugs like those encountered when shooting out of windows from slight angles have been fixed, as have the Cromwell armor and the offset markers on maps. There’s also a new spawn menu UI, improving FPS and allowing Squad Leaders to name their sections and delete previously placed markers.
We have many more changes coming down the line - a roadmap is coming very soon! In the meantime, let us know your thoughts, feedback or suggestions!
Changelog
Improved Spawn UI + Less FPS drop + Added spawn points list + Fixed offset on minimap for all UI/marker + Can name sections + SL markers removable (auto marker disappear time of 10min) + Fixed section info bug on changing SL
Added new compass to player UI + Removed old compass + Updated vehicle compass
Updated Dead/Incap UI + Created a give-up button + Created an automatic switch to spawn UI after 30s of death + Added bleeding/pain sfx
Changes to server hosting + Server queue limit = 20 + Added modding info on server browser
Minor amends + Reduced VoIP ducking from 80% to 20% + Added wiki & new social media link to the main menu + Added a new entry map with camera movement + Added new loading screens for all CH1 maps + Removed "Modded content" startup loading screen + Gebirgs-Division name fix + Changed Greek logistics NCO name from Lee Enfield to Männlicher + Added a screenshot mode button inside the main menu + Removed old logos out of the virtual shooting range
Rally System + Added a new UI to reduce the friendly RP size + Fixed overlapping friendly RP bug + Removed bug that everyone sees the RP timer + Give commander only the visibility of the timer of every RP + Changed redzone being visible to everyone + Can now destroy enemy rallies by holding "F" (~15 secs) + Fixed bug on radioman radial menu and updated UI
Vehicles + Fixed tank section not usable on Utah + Extinguisher & Wrench range increased + Fixed Cromwell internal collision normal + Fixed firefly coax mg name from BESA to M1919 + Updated Flak 38 (10 x 20rnd mags, 6s reload, 10s swap projectile, new reload sounds) + Updated Flak 36 reload time to 7 seconds + Added missing impact and shrapnel effect for APHE 88mm + Vehicle Icon direction arrow added + Created Infantry Supplies Truck (IST) + Fix for Tank kills and deaths not counting on scoreboard + Added "X" to close tank deck menu if the close button is blocked by UI + Removed towing radial
Weapons + Fixed shooting offset at tight angles through a window + Checked zeroing of all infantry weapons (fixed K98k, K98k sniper, Springfield sniper, Garand, M1 Carbine, G43, Mannlichers, Gras, MAS36, Lebel & Lee Enfield Sniper) + Increased sight aperture on M1 Carbine, Springfield, Sten & Grease Gun + Thinned front-sight on the Mannlicher and Lee Enfield No. 1 MK3 rifles + Tweaked basepose on the Lee Enfield No.1 MK3 so the bolt is angled closer to the receiver + Added proper Mannlicher rifle non-dry reload + Changed firing audio sound for the Mannlicher rifles to be unique + Increased firing rate on the M1928 Thompson to the realistic 850RPM + Fixed a number of third-player reload animations having no blending + Enabled dynamic physics on loose sling ring and bi-pods for multiple weapons + Set all bolt action rifles to not allow an additional round in the chamber on a full magazine due to the nature of their reload animations + Added Springfield 1905 bayonet + Changed Lewis gun model & animations + Regenerated physics assets for a number of weapons so they are more accurate to the shape of the weapon + Fixed skinning issue on the bullets for the Mannlicher rifles + Fixed hand glitching when transitioning between in-and-out of ADS on the Lee Enfield No.1 Mk3 + Increased ADS time for the M1 Carbine slightly + Fixed odd right-hand thumb position on the Bren bipod basepose + Fixed offset of M2 ironsights on the halftrack + Bumped up the recoil on the FG42 while in bipod to be on par with other similar weapons of its class + Fixed K98k, Lebel Scoped, and Springfield Sniper showing bayonets while in ADS in first person + Reduced intensity of blur on the M1 Carbine, Sten and MAS36 further + Fixed shell ejection offset on the No.4 Mk1 Lee Enfield while reloading + Fixed bullet poking out of the weapon briefly during the Springfield reload animation + Slight animation tweaks to fix some clashing on the STG44 + Tweaked lowered poses for the FG42, K98 grenade launcher, MG42, MG34, Boys Anti Tank Rifle, ZB26, Mac 24, Mas36, Mas 38, Bren, Lee Enfields + Increased visual recoil on the Emplaced machine guns + Added camera shake on firing the handheld mortars + Smoothed out ADS transitions for the Luger, FN1922, PA1935, 1911 and P38 pistols + Sped up bipod deployment for the Bren, Mac24 and ZB26 slightly + Fixed Cup Discharger base angle looking off - Simplified range settings on the Cup Discharger to 50m/100m/150m/200m/250m + Fixed M1A1 Bazooka being unable to freelook while in ADS + Set Piat to the same weapon lower settings as the other rocket launchers + Set M7 Grenade launcher to the same lower settings as the other Grenade Launchers + Fixed broken ADS on the Mauser C96 + Fixed Brandt 50mm mortar having camera shake desynced from the firing animation + Added handling foley to all handheld mortars + Fixed visible bullet when firing the G41 + Fixed stretched UVs on the K98 follower + Slight tweak to the Luger weapon firing animation (slide moving slightly) + Added missing lowering animations + Fixed offset ADS positions for Panzerschreck & Bazooka + Gave recoil to Piat + Fixed M1 Garand & Lewis Gun animation + Tweaked camera shake on several weapons (added to emplaced weapons) + Fixed some weapons missing blur on ADS + Added zeroing to MP40, Thompson M1928, Thompson M1A1, C96 & Browning M1919 + Set zero of the Greasegun to its IRL 100m setting + Fixed Mac 24 animations + Added SFX to Gras mle1974 bayonet equip and use + Replaced modern M2A1 Browning barrel with older authentic M2HB barrel + Standardized throwing animations for grenades & throwables + Fixed sides exposed on binos at 120 FOV
Medics + System change for bandage/syringe: (Medic revives to 30% health, bandage heals to 100%, other revives to 10% health, bandage heals to 50%)
Squad Information + Added improved info on neutralized/capped/lost flags + Added section leader notifications (Player joins/leaves section & on promotion to section leader) + Set Sapper/Pioneer to a max of 2 per team
Deployables/Logistics + Rework of the emplacement/deployable system (Inf trucks carry supplies, removed MSPs, Radios and spawn tents introduced, Emplacements only buildable at FOBS, all emplacements cost construction points) + Set exclusion zone between radios to 400m + Set FOB lost to 20 tickets if destroyed by enemies + Made FOB placing unavailable in redzones and out of bounds zones + Removed vehicle tents + Possible fix of not being able to logi resupply + Emplacements no longer placeable in mains (150m radius) + Logistics shovel builds/destroys faster than normal players + Fixed problems with the interact collision on deployable weapons + Updated multiple deployables (various changes to costs) + Added several new faction-specific deployables (razor wire and hedgehogs etc) + Set ladders to not block vehicles
Performance/Level Design + Fixed texture streaming to be set to on + Updated DLSS plugin to 3.5.2a + Fixed DLSS settings selection bug + Enabled Mesh Distance Fields on Med & Low graphics settings + Added graphics setting for screenspace reflection + Fixed smoke bugging out on multiple transparent materials + Reduced VRAM significantly on various maps (inc Maleme/Rethymno) + Multiple LOD and optimisation fixes to Maleme/Rethymno + Maleme - Fixed rockwall turns black on close range + Fixed broken LOD mesh on Maleme/Rethymno airfield/barracks + Fixed pavement collision on Arnhem + Fixed Doorworth castle door weird LOD + Doorwerth 03: Removed double axis cdr car + Updated redzones for Offensive levels + Changed Out of Bounds kill time from 20s to 10s + Reworked buildable pontoon system + Added extra buildable pontoons to Grave, Arnhem, Veghel, Dinant, Driel + Fixed snow ditch gap + Improved snowy landscape material + Fixed penetration values on different materials (E.g. – Can now shoot through wood fences) + Optimized vehicle spawners + Ongoing level design overhaul (new buildings e.g. Koepelkerk, Veghel Town Hall, etc) + Re-added Arnhem Range (still under construction) + Removed Proving Grounds to investigate client crashing bug
Rally System: + Set RP to block placing in out of bounds zones
If you haven't heard, Post Scriptum has been acquired by Offworld Industries and we're currently working with the wonderful team at Mercury Arts to bring you new updates and content. With the acquisition, we're also proud to announce a new name for Post Scriptum: Squad 44!
We're incredibly excited for the future of Squad 44, and growing the community around it. This is a new era for the game, and we're hopeful you'll come along for the ride.
With that, we also have a new update for you!
New Update - Contents
The Battle of Rethymno took place on the Island of Crete between May 20th and 29th in 1941 with Greek and Australian Forces clashing against Fallschirmjäger from the German 7th Fliegerdivision.
As the second and final map in the Battle of Crete series, the Rethymno battlefield has been recreated utilising modern terrain height maps and original maps and sketches dating back to the battle.
This new release also includes a new Greek Faction developed with input from historians and Greek reenactment organisations. The new faction will bring an eclectic mix of German, French, English, Italian and Greek weapons to the game. New weapons include 4 rifles, 2 pistols, 1 light mortar, and a knife.
Changelog - v0.1.0.227771
Gameplay changes
Added Greek faction (5th Cretan Division)
Added Aussie faction (19th Brigade AUS)
Fixed height on JU-52 parachute cmd call-in
Fixed small bugs on the DFS-230 glider cmd call-in
Disabled JU-52 logi drop for FPS testing reasons
Updated OutOfBounds for Maleme and Rethymno to avoid CMD call-in problems
This update brings Post Scriptum's 19th map to the game Colmar. This is the 3rd map as a part of Chapter 4.
For our initial release, we will include 12 layers of Offensive game mode on both Summer and Winter version of it. Later on we will bring more game mode like Armoured, Supremacy and RAAS.
As per usual, you can find the complete changelog for this update below.
We are pleased to announce the Steam Winter Sale 2022 with Post Scriptum participating in the sale 65% discounted, with a Free Weekend running from January 5th - January 9th.
Now is also a good time for us to give everyone a heads-up that Periscope Games will be closed and away for the holidays from December 23rd - January 4th where we will return ready to take on 2023.
Our initial plan was to have our Quality of Life update that was planned on the roadmap out by the end of the year, due to some constraints we haven't been able to carry out this update and will instead commit to this update during 2023.
We hope you too will use this time to spend time with family, friends and your loved ones.
Now lets talk about some Winter Sale and Free Weekend news!
Steam Winter Sale 2022 + Free Weekend
65% Discount on Post Scriptum Dec. 22nd - Jan. 9th @ 6 PM UTC
Free Weekend for Post Scriptum Jan. 5th - Jan. 9th @ 6 PM UTC
Starting December 22nd @ 6 PM UTC the Steam Winter Sale will start off giving everyone a great opportunity for some good Christmas presents and deals on Steam throughout the holiday.
Post Scriptum be participating in the Winter sale with a 65% discount for Post Scriptum through to January 5th. The sale will then extend from January 5th until January 9th with a Free Weekend.
As we close in on the winter holidays, we wanted to let you know that we will be running a public playtest of the new Colmar map coming to Post Scriptum as the 3rd and final map for Chapter 4 "Watch On The Rhine"
The test will start Wednesday, December 21st @ 6 PM UTC | 10 AM Pacific | 1 PM Eastern
This playtest will take place on our Public Testing app which can be installed from your game library.
If you have already installed it, an update will be made available at least 24 hours ahead of the test for you to download.
To stay up to date and to join the discussion, we encourage you to join our Official Discord Serverwhere we interact regularly with our community.