War in the West has been officially updated to version 1.02.35. This new version brings many improvements and bug fixes, but good news is not over as the readme notes for 1.02.35 separately includes the changes made in the 1.02.28 public beta (June 2018) that never went official. So there’s a lot of changes since 1.02.15, including some nice performance boosts that were in 1.02.28.
You can read uthe full changelog below.
v1.02.35
• New Features and Rule Changes 1. Added save format version check which restricts loading "newer" saves/scenarios by "older" exes. 2. Adjusted retreat attrition. 3. Made several changes and corrections to air transport flights, including adjusting flak attacks on air transport sorties. 4. Adjusted temporary motorization unit depot selection routine to more accurately find trucks for motorization. Note: If it is more than 3 hexes to a depot, there can be a long wait (10+ seconds) while the system figures out where it will get trucks for the unit. 5. Improved going to map from CR air group screen. 6. Editor - Max end date of user created scenarios. Set the hardcoded max end date to Dec 24, 1945 (was Sept 1 1945).
• Bug Fixes 1. Rules for MP loss for defending units in combat were not functioning (they were mistakenly removed at some unknown point). Fixed. 2. Reinforcement units arrive 1 hex away from correct hex. Fixed. 3. Game froze during Axis AI movement in Rommel Attacks due to a line forming error. Fixed. 4. Can't assign construction unit to Lucera airfield. Off rail cities can be not linked to main supply network. Fixed. 5. Air transport flight is not following staging base setting. Fixed. 6. Small fix for the ground element mapping to the TOE(OB). 7. Merging isolated units can send troops to pool. Excess ground elements should stay in the isolated unit. Fixed. 8. Editor: Two leaders can end up showing as commanding the same HQ. Fixed. 9. Editor - Flak units with rail motorization listed incorrectly.
v1.02.28
• New Features and Rule Changes
1. Many adjustments to air execution code. Performance boost up to 30%. 2. Improved offrail calculation routine (~2x faster). 3. Improved game performance during air transfer mode (F10). 4. Adjusted FreightInterdictionEffect function 5. Small adjustments to unit ground replacement routine. 6. Unit Sym Naming. Some Ground Insignia are not picking up because unlike for the AirSym the _ character in the file naming is not being recognised as / in the code. I/57th Werfer Battalion. 7. Adjusted display of a/c loadouts 8. Interface – Added split of number of units destroyed/disbanded in Destroyed Unit list on the Loss screen. These appear in the format (#destroyed/#disbanded). 9. Editor - Fixed text overlap in editor - "INIT AIR DOCTRINES" 10. Editor - Fixed text overlap in editor - "INIT AIR DOCTRINES" 11. Editor - Added an AI unique ID# to each scenario to be used for distinguishing AI routines to be used. (for internal use) 12. Editor - Fixed editor bug on NAT/Weather tab. 13. Editor – Adjusted colors of EFB units. 14. Editor - Fixed text overlap in editor - "INIT AIR DOCTRINES" 15. AI - Bad line forming in Alps. Fixed. 16. AI - Br 15th AG reports to itself. Fixed. 17. Fixed ground element experience change when refitting units in EFB. 18. Adjusted ground element experience change when refitting units. 19. Adjusted average unit experience calculations. 20. Adjusted ground element experience change when refitting units. 21. Slightly adjusted supply phase routines. 22. Fixed ONMAP/Support/Multi filter in CR\ 23. Adjusted automatic staging base selection. 24. Added Axis cargo ship pool/usage info to the event log. 25. Adjusted Afv breakdown (reliability). Low reliability AFV should have higher chances to break down. 26. Adjusted Italian production: 80% in 1942, 70% in Jan/Feb 1943 and 100% after Mar 1 1943
• Bug Fixes 1. Armored Cars appear Twice in Production List. Fixed. 2. Pilot replacement can get stuck. Fixed. 3. GS escort is not working correctly in Amphib mode. Fixed. 4. Depleted/routed unit in the hex which are not participating in the defensive combat can overwrite battle result for the participating unit. Fixed. 5. Fixed bug in SetUnitRebuildCity 6. Fixed supply tracing function. 7. Adjusted NearSupplySourceEFM 8. [UI] CR allows to disband air groups without regard to disband rules. Fixed. 9. Fixed temp motorization code. 10. Reinforcements should not arrive into an isolated hex. Fixed. 11. Fixed air doctrine init bug. 12. Fixed build unit morale calculation for the CW and American nationality ground elements. 13. EFB reinforcements have bad date. Fixed. 14. Typo in AD creation. Fixed. 15. Units are gaining duplicate weapon slots. Fixed. 16. Info hard to read during Strat Recon AD creation. Fixed. 17. British Manpower production in scenarios is producing too little manpower. Fixed. 18. Fixed map centering in air transfer mode (F10). 19. Fixed on map air directive shading with small attacking plane values. 20. Fixed map zoom/unzoom functions. 21. Axis controlled ports should have 15k capacity per port point. Fixed. 22. German Cargo Ships disappear from Atlantic. Display issue. Fixed. 23. Added missing sea control check that should be triggered at the end of naval/amphib movement (important for the ferry hexes). 24. Naval legal movement compass can appear over inaccessible ferry hexes. Fixed. 25. Fixed plane tab on air group detail screen. 26. AME/CW ground elements suffer increased break down rate when unit moves (treated as captured). Fixed. 27. Vehicle requirement does not zero out for the motorized STATIC units. Fixed.
• Data and Scenario Changes
1. Changes Common to All Scenarios: - Hidden/unused soviet ground/air units removed - Fix missing Elite Status for certain German Goering/Grossdeutschland units - Bulgarian Air units changed from Staffel (Yato) to Group (Orliak) size and rebuilt with 30 aircraft each - 16th USAAF Rec Sqn - disabled, Electronics Warfare squadron which we don't model - Some minor German HQ name changes - Multiple German HQs in EFB now have proper leader assigned so these leaders are not available in West - Several german infantry division reduced in size by using different OB - not field divisions but occupation divisions - Many reinforcing US Armies and Corps now arrive with proper leader pre-assigned - US Airborne Divisions rebuilt to new OB paths - Two reinforcing FF Tabor Goums Mountain Rgts now arrive as fullsize unit and set to arrive in Tunis - 6th SS Pz Army - changed to SS-Elite - 12th Army (EFB) - disabled, formed from existing unit - 22nd Airlanding Div (EFB) - rebuilt as standard Infantry div - 162nd Turkomen Inf Div - Exp/Morale lowered to 50 (non-german inf div) - 464th US Para Art Bn - removed, by time of arrival became part of 17th Airborne Div - 509th US Para Rgt - reformed as Bn, set to Allied-Elite - 550th US Para Bn - reformed as Airlanding Bn - 714th US Tank Bn - removed, part of 12th US Armored Div - 818th US TD Bn - changed to SP version with M10 TDs - Elite Status to following ground units: -- German: 1/3/5/6/9/11/23 Panzer Divs, 29th Panzergrenadier Div -- US: 2/3/4/6 Armored Divs, 10th Mountain Div - Added St Vith as a new location.
1. GC43 - 3/6 BUL Fighter Group rebuild with Bf 109 G-2 - Some german Corps HQs present from start in EFB so they start with at least minimum Corps HQ requirement fulfilled - Two german Panther Battalions set up for Kursk merged back into their parent Panzer Divison - 8th Army (EFB, reinforcing) - disabled, renamed from existing unit - 155th Reserve Pz Div - rebuilt to lower standard - 250th 'Blue' Infantry Division (EFB) - add withdraw at end of 10/43 - 323rd Infantry Division (EFB) - disabled, was non-existent as coherent fighting unit, just some parts left under command of 88th ID - 88th US Inf Div - reassigned to AFHQ, arrival changed to Oran - 92nd US Inf Div - reassigned to AFHQ, arrival changed to Oran - 507th Sep. US Para Rgt - arrival changed to Liverpool, withdraw removed - 508th Sep. US Para Rgt - reformed as 504th Para Rgt (+), arrives late 12/43 in Tunis (minus some guns who are present in 82nd Airborne) - 517th Sep. US Para Rgt - withdraw removed
2. 43 GC (Addl Air HQs) Majority of changes linked to significant improvements based on game play. This includes adjustments to experience, morale and those units considered as Elite. - Experienced US Division have Exp & Morale >60 and New units are at 60 not 55 - Early arriving US Infantry, Tank and TD units have Experience & Morale slightly raised from 55 to 60. Units with an excellent combat records slightly higher than 60. - Some Elite-SS Artillery Bn’s raised from 60 to 80. Set to Rest the German single-engine fighters in NW Europe. It saved about 60-109G-6 and 60-Fw-190As from being destroyed by P-47s and Spitfires. The German Commander can decide how to proceed on his first real turn. - Drop zone for 1/1st BR Airborne to 153,294. It is not destroyed as often making this jump.
3. GC44 - 2/6 BUL Fighter Group rebuild with Bf 109 G-2, 10 more G-2 placed in pool - 3/6 BUL Fighter Group rebuild with Bf 109 G-6, 10 more G-6 placed in pool - 2nd Panzer Army (EFB) - Rendulic installed as leader (Note: to mid 6/44, 20th Mountain Army afterwards) - V Corps (EFB) - Mueller,F. installed as leader - XV Mountain Corps (EFB) - von Leyser installed as leader (Note: to mid 7/44, switched command with Lehn (XXI Mountain Corps)) - XVIII Mountain Corps (EFB) - Eglseer installed as leader (Note: to late 6/44, Hochbaum afterwards) - XIX Mountain Corps (EFB) - Jodl,F. installed as leader - XXI Mountain Corps (EFB) - Fehn installed as leader (Note: to mid 7/44, switched command with von Leyser (XV Mountain Corps)) - XXXIII Corps (EFB) - Koehler installed as leader - LXIX Corps (EFB)- Auleb installed as leader - 92nd US Inf Div - reassigned to AFHQ, arrival changed to Oran - 507th Sep. US Para Rgt - withdraw removed, add 95 Airborne Prep points (D-Day only) - 508th Sep. US Para Rgt - reformed as 504th Para Rgt (+), detached from 82nd Airborne (D-Day only), will be frozen in England until July - 517th Sep. US Para Rgt - withdraw removed.
4. 4SC - Göring replaced by Kesselring as leader of OKL (as per Torch manual) - Göring, Guderian, Rundstedt disabled as leader (Göring considered removed, other 2 in general staff/high leadership positions) - Several GER/ITA leaders who historically surrendered in North Africa reactivated - considered evacuated - Several leaders who were arrested/executed/killed on/after 20th July 1944 reactivated - did not happen in this alternate reality. - 3/6 BUL Fighter Group rebuild with Bf 109 G-2 - Some german Corps HQs present from start in EFB so they start with at least minimum Corps HQ requirement fulfilled - Two german Panther Battalions set up for Kursk merged back into their parent Panzer Davison - 8th Army (EFB, reinforcing) - disabled, renamed from existing unit - 155th Reserve Pz Div - rebuilt to lower standard - 250th 'Blue' Infantry Division (EFB) - add withdraw at end of 10/43 - 323rd Infantry Division (EFB) - disabled, was non-existent as coherent fighting unit, just some parts left under command of 88th ID - 88th US Inf Div - reassigned to AFHQ, arrival changed to Oran - 92nd US Inf Div - reassigned to AFHQ, arrival changed to Oran - 507th Sep. US Para Rgt - arrival changed to Liverpool, withdraw removed - 508th Sep. US Para Rgt - reformed as 504th Para Rgt (+), arrives late 12/43 in Tunis (minus some guns who are present in 82nd Airborne) - 517th Sep. US Para Rgt - withdraw removed
5. BG Italy - Multiple german leaders assigned to their proper East Front HQs - TF 86/545A Amphib HQs will stay with their naval support groups, all others withdraw - 504th US Para Rgt - reformed as 504th Para Rgt (+) - 517th US Inf Rgt - reformed as 517th Para Rgt (+)
6. Salerno to Rome - Multiple german leaders assigned to their proper East Front HQs - TF 88/545A Amphib HQs will stay with their naval support groups, all others withdraw - German airbases in WA Italy controlled area around Rome reformed as WA Italy airbases, assigned Luftwaffe units moved to german Viterbo airbase - 504th US Para Rgt - reformed as 504th Para Rgt (+) - 517th US Inf Rgt - reformed as 517th Para Rgt (+)
7. Torch to Tunisia - 2-509th US Para Bn - renamed 509th and strengthened
8. Westwall -The Axis Air Directives have been updated. -The 176th Infantry Division is on map at Bielefeld and not arriving as a Reinforcement. -The 190th Infantry Division is also On-Map at Neumunster instead of arriving as a Reinforcement.
9. Bulge to the Rhine and 1945 Campaign - Axis Air Directives have been updated and a new AI Script has been set-up. It should be a Challenging Allied Turn 1 in both games. - In BttRfixed the Brest AF as it was delayed and not functioning. Also replaced Beaufighter ITF with the Beaufighter TX X. - Removed drop tanks from German fighters. - Move some support units from German Army HQs down to Corps level. - Added an additional Spitfire XIV Squadron to each game. - Reviewed Detection Levels
10. Breakout & Pursuit - Allied Air Directives have been improved to provide Level 9 Interdiction in almost all break-through hexes. - German units in Brittany are Frozen 1 Turn and the 15th Army is frozen for different lengths of time by Corps HQ. This will prevent abandoning the Pas de Calais on Turn 1 and forming a very strong barrier on the River Seine. It is much more enjoyable as the Allied Player, but still a challenge unless some type of pocket can be formed.
11. OB - Multiple changes and new OBs for US Airborne units - German reserve Panzer Division OB reduced in strength
12. Ground Elements - Crews assigned to Mortars and US MGs reduced to gun operators (excluding ammo carriers, supposed to be in support squads) - Weapon composition changes for US Airborne Squads - Minor changes to allied minor nation equipment - Weapon composition changes for SMG/Assault Rifle equipped german squads, typically reducing by 1-2 SMGs and replacing by LMG and Rifle+Rifle Grenade - Crew reduction for german 251/2 mortar carrier ¬Crew increase for allied 3.7in and 90mm AA Gun
13. Aircraft - 300 gal ferry drop tanks removed from F-5/P-38 Lightnings, replaced by 165gal tanks available 1/44 - German Bf 109 in /U4 subversion changed to fighters - Reorganize Bulgarian Bf 109 and activate imports from Germany - British Liberators converted from import to production version with corresponding reduction in build limit for US versions - Changes to early B-26/F-5/P-38 to better fit African scenarios - F-5 recons converted from import to production version with corresponding build limit reduction for P-38 models, F-5C renamed F-5B
14. Leaders: 0007 Balck, Hermann -> set available date to 09/1944 0019 Bulowius, Alfred -> renamed to Buelowius 0029 Demelhuber, Karl-Maria -> renamed his forename to -> Karl 0037 von Falkenstein, Sigismund -> delete 0141 Peltz, Dietrich -> set available Date to 09/1943 (will have ingame the wrong rang, was promoted to GM 17.03.1944) 0163 Schmalz, Wilhelm -> set available date to 05/1944 and reduce his Air rating to 2 0229 von Stulpnagel -> renamed to -> von Stuelpnagel 0251 Ziegler, Heinz -> set last Date to 11/1944 0342 Mauchenheim, Anton-Reicha -> renamed to -> von Mauchenheim, Anton 0347 Vogel, Wilhelm -> renamed to -> Vogel, Emil 0349 Postel, Ge org-Wilhe -> renamed to -> Postel, Georg 0351 Krappe, Guenther -> set restriction: Ground only 0352 von Sass, Eduard -> delete
Following leaders will not be available for the West Front: 0013 Block 0018 Breith 0020 von Buenau 0022 Buschenhagen 0023 Busse 0025 Cloessner 0051 Gollnick 0053 Graeser 0054 Grasser 0056 Guderian 0066 Hartmann 0067 Hasse 0070 Heinrici 0074 Herrlein 0079 Hoffmeister 0083 Hossbach 0099 Kleemann 0109 Kreysing 0110 Krueger 0127 Matzky 0149 Recknagel 0155 Roehricht 0170 Schulz 0185 Tiemann 0189 Volckamer 0209 von Luettwitz 0221 von Saucken 0234 von Vormann 0240 Wegener 0249 Wuthmann 0269 Henrici 0281 Stemmermann 0339 von Kessel 0408 von Edelsheim 0411 Weidling
15. Art Changes: Pictures: Ld0037 - empty slot Ld0576 - Gloria Ld1755 - Langford-Sainsbury Insignia: Added Darojax’s Insignia Add on v1.7 GE 8th Mountain Div 84 Group RAF
It's just a week to go until Train Simulator 2019 arrives, bringing with it the much anticipated 64-bit tech upgrade!
Over the next several weeks, we are going to be covering all the reasons why you should be playing Train Simulator, and if you already are, maybe there will be something you haven’t thought of yet!
Being an indie is a state of mind, a way to be in the hype, hum... well i decided to add a complete useless thing to the game, and so completely unavoidable : the Indie Mode.
Cute is not your thing? you prefer to play the last perfect indie asbtract game? Not a problem, just enter the indie mode to play Swap Swap the pastel way.
The Scenery menu has new options for changing the look of your train:
Individually pick colors for the body, base and trim
3 paint patterns: Blank, Lines and Checkerboard
Paint condition - Optional chipping and damage
Paint thickness - How intense you want the colors to be
Option to hide the whistle
Styles are currently saved and loaded within your track files. Let me know if you would prefer them to be in their own little category.
There is a checkbox to prevent your current style from being overwritten when loading a new save.
:HealUp: Improved Scenery controls
Fog Color has been replaced with Sky Color.
It works in a very similar way but now you can set the color of the sky (and fog) even with a very low Density value - no more default yellow when you want a clear day.
Lowering Fog Density now also changes how quickly it becomes thick, so slightly lower values can fade out far away objects while close ones remain clear.
If you load a save made in a previous version you might need to tweak the values a bit to get the same look that you had before.
:HealUp: Updated engine
Tracks now runs on the latest version of the Unreal Engine.
Upgrading can add new bugs (reports in the forum are appreciated) but keeping up-to-date is important for the long term health of the game, and the latest version includes some nice new features for me as the developer.
:HealUp: New Objects
:romopolis_house: Funfair Tent :romopolis_house: Circus Tent :romopolis_house: Ferris Wheel :romopolis_house: Hot Air Balloon
:romopolis_house: Bushy Tree :romopolis_house: Palm Tree :romopolis_house: Palm Tree Group
Changes:
:fix: Fixed Track Supports sometimes being flipped when loaded :fix: Fixed certain objects immediately creating another copy when placed :fix: Fixed Scenery Tone not being saved correctly :fix: Various improvements to the quality of the train textures :fix: Fixed the snapping size option failing when it became incredibly small :fix: Fixed collision shapes for the lamp and TV stand in Modern Apartment :fix: Fixed the train getting stuck when running through tunnels in quick succession :fix: Fixed an issue when changing level while mid-transition from the menu to the game :fix: You will no longer be shown a red Down piece option if you're already on the floor :fix: Moved Turntable from the experimental category :fix: Color wheel shade now adjusts based on the value slider :fix: Added an animation to make it clearer when the color wheel switches function :fix: Scenery sliders now work with percentages instead of arbitrary numbers :fix: Fixed scenery options not updating when loading if the save has the default settings :fix: Fixed some text in the Toy Box not changing size with icon scale :fix: Fixed tutorial saying you need to hold Alt for alternate mode
The latest update, version 0.1.4, published on October 1, contained a bug that caused the save game for the Leap of Faith level to be reset every time the player attempted to load the game from a checkpoint, sending the player back to the beginning of the level. This issue has now been resolved and an update has been pushed to Steam. We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration that this caused. Finally, we would like to thank Discord user ccdeltabeta for bringing this bug to our attention; your feedback has been invaluable to us.
If you are still experiencing FPS Drops, 0x00000, or 0x00005 error, after the maintenance, please help us out by filling out Survey Closed You will need to attach your DxDiag files.
We are doing our best to address the issue as soon as possible, we are sorry for the inconvenience!
Thank you for your patience, -Your Black Squad Team
Good news, everyone! We’re adding voice acting to Arcade Spirits! It’s our number one requested feature by far, something people kept coming up to us at conventions asking about. And now that we’ve got it in the works, I feel confident talking about this new feature with you all!
How about some Q&A about this new feature? Yeah. Let’s pull up a chair and straddle it from behind while turning our ball cap to a jaunty angle so we can rap, kids.
How will acting in the game work, given all the customization options?
We’re using a couple stellar games as our model for this — Octopath Traveler, Danganronpa, Dream Daddy, Fire Emblem. Instead of voicing every single line (which let’s be honest, would cost us a fortune) we’re voicing key emotional moments in every “level” or chapter of the game. Outside those moments, you’ll hear brief emotional reactions (“Yes!” “Woohoo!” “Hrmmm…” “I don’t know.”) to ensure you’re still getting some of that juicy voice flavor in every bite.
How many characters will have voices?
Fifteen of ’em. The core cast, of course, as well as any secondary character that keeps coming back in the story. And a few fun surprises.
Who has been cast so far? Can I be in the game? Please?
Alas, can’t tell you. The casting process is ongoing. We may also have an open casting future in the weeks ahead, so keep an eye out for details — no need to contact us ahead of time, we’ll be sure to let you know when it starts. Gotta be vague here because this is a work in progress and I don’t want to promise anything just yet.
I don’t like voices in my visual novels!
That’s fine! If you’re a streamer who wants to do the voice-over on your own, there’ll be a volume slider for voices, just like everything else in the game. You can turn it down or turn it off at any time. And if you leave it on it should automatically “duck” the volume of our amazing music a bit, so you can clearly hear the voices. In addition, you can leave the emotional quips and reactions in, while turning off the fully-acted lines if that’s what you prefer.
Will the demo be updated with voices?
We might update it with the short emotional reaction lines, but the demo’s dialogue script doesn’t have any fully voiced scene content since it’s using a time compressed / specialized chunk of the main game.
When is Arcade Spirits releasing?!
We’ve got a target in mind, but again, we don’t like to promise anything until we’re totally sure. It’s not fair to you if we make mistakes. We’ll have an announcement for this in future, though, we promise! You won’t miss it.
Oh, hey, while I’m here, what’s going on with the Patreon?
October is the last month of our Patreon. Thanks to everyone who’s been supporting us along the way! Anyone who contributes $25 or more over the lifetime of the project (including October) will get a few final beta versions, and a final release copy of the game. If you want to get in on that as a new player, you can! Just join with a “monthly” donation of $25, then cancel it a day later. We charge up front, so it’ll count! Or you can wait for the full release, that’s cool too. It’s up to you.
Regardless… thanks for being a part of Arcade Spirits. All of you. If you’re reading these words, you’re down the rabbit hole with us, and we welcome you. Let your friends know about Arcade Spirits, get the word out. The more successful we are, the more likely we can keep this ball rolling well into the future!
