Oct 12, 2021

The Operation Anti-Drug Update is coming November 2nd – Open Beta starts now!

Police Simulator: Patrol Officers - wladi | astragon

Fellow officers,

Fall has begun - and once again, we're bringing you fresh new content for Police Simulator: Patrol Officers. Welcome to The Operation Anti-Drug Update, now in Open Beta!

We hope you're ready for your next shifts in Brickston, the third district in the city of Brighton. The streets are waiting for you, especially when the full update launches on November 2nd.

Introducing: The Operation Anti-Drug Update

A new district

A third district will enrich the city of Brighton even further: Welcome to Brickston, the oldest district in the entire city - consisting of the neighborhoods of Sharnwick, Nelson Hill, Brianna, Wilcox, and Bannock. The iconic red brick houses are still considered a unique sight as history truly comes alive in this district. The street scene is characterized by a large number of narrow one-way streets while also housing the Brighton Hospital.

Greater, better, faster

In addition, we're introducing the Panther Z, a new car waiting for you in the parking lot. Choose your vehicle and go on car patrol, officer. While we're talking about mobility: We've expanded the player character animation system, making it more robust, dynamic, and responsive. Player movements should feel better now. Welcome to what we call Advanced Locomotion!

New violations

Oh, we're also adding some new violations to the game. First, some nasty people are putting graffiti all over the map. Poor houses. Second, some careless drivers started to block bus stops. Third, drug dealers are now present in the area and must be caught.

Bugfixing

But our main priority with this update is bugfixing, bugfixing, bugfixing. We are trying to work on as many bugs as we can of which you reported a bunch of. Thank you so much for that!

This time, we were able to resolve a bunch of issues related to multiplayer and have made the game a lot more stable which should lead to way fewer crashes. In addition, a lot of bugs where arrests, tows, frisking and searching plus handing out tickets were considered to be unjustified - even though they were definitely justified.

Good news: Issues connected to the use of gamepads, including not accepting inputs from the A button, were also fixed. You can find the full list of fixed bugs further below as we resolved some other issues connected to UI, NPCs, Patrol Cars, and Traffic Cars as well.

Balancing

Some events happened too often - and some were way too rare. That's why we rebalanced some of them, increasing a bunch while reducing some others. Yay!

Your wishes, our duty

Your voices have been heard: Suspects will now be handcuffed from the back. Last but not least, we're adding more alleys to allow better traversing on both car and foot patrol!

The Operation Anti-Drug Update will launch officially on November 2nd – but starting today, you can try out all the content already as part of our Open Beta!

How do I enter the Open Beta?

We've made the process as easy as possible to include you, the community, early on during the development of the game. To join the Open Beta, you only need to perform the following steps:

Right-click on Police Simulator: Patrol Officers in your Steam library.
Select 'Properties' in the menu.
Select 'Betas' in the sidebar on the left.
Select 'Beta' in the drop-down menu and confirm your decision to switch to that branch.
An update should now start - you are now officially part of the Open Beta!

To switch back to your stable save game, just repeat these steps again - but instead of selecting 'Beta', you just select 'None'. Easy.

Everyone can test the beta extensively and provide feedback on its features, balancing, and bugs. Feel free to send us your impressions on Discord, in the Steam Beta forums and on our Socials.

Here are the official patchnotes for The Operation Anti-Drug Update

New features, fresh content, fixed bugs - there's a lot to mention in today's patchnotes. Without further ado, here we go:

New Features & Improvements

New District: Brickston
New Car: Panther Z
New Violation: Drug Dealing
New Violation: Vandalism - Graffiti Spraying
New Parking Violation: Blocking a bus stop
Improvement: Handcuffing behind the back
Improvement: Player character locomotion updated
Improvement: Added 60min and 90min as options to customize shift duration setting

Game balancing

Increased chance of 'Stolen ID'
Increased chance of 'Missing Profiles' within 'Stolen ID'
Increased chance of 'Stolen Car'
Increased chance of NPC to stop fleeing when ordered to stop by the player
Reduced chance of 'Expired ID' in 'Stolen ID'
Reduced the chance of 'Too Loud Engine'

Bug Fixes
GAMEPLAY

During NPC interaction: Fixed an issue where player suddenly interacts with a wrong NPC
Fixed an issue where wanted NPC didn't match description
Fixed an issue where NPCs with Fake ID can not be arrested with justification
Fixed an issue where intuition feedback is triggered when focusing on NPCs before reaching the crime callout
Fixed an issue where expired ID is sometimes not reflected correctly in background check
Fixed cases where sometimes calling a tow truck was considered to be unjustified
Fixed the issue where finding a switchblade by frisking / searching was considered to be unjustified
Fixed an issue where gun aim was not working correctly

MULTIPLAYER
Host: The player hosting the multiplayer session
Client: The player joining the multiplayer session

Fixed the issue where frisking/searching and finding Switchblade was giving unjustified points
Fixed an issue where a player can't enter a patrol car in the next shift after the other player caused a 'Game Over'
Fixed an issue where the client can't enter co-driver seat after the host exited the co-driver seat while the player is still sitting in the driver seat
Fixed an issue where co-driver has no engine sound during car patrol
Fixed an issue where the client got completely stuck after entering police car
Fixed an issue where car color is different for host and client
Fixed an issue related to the movement of the client
Fixed an issue where camera tracking during interview from host applied to client and left camera stuck for client

NPC BEHAVIOUR

NPCs now behave more realistic when arriving at a waypoint and then choosing a new one - no more stuttering
Fixed an issue where a lot of NPCs are standing still in a particular alley
Fixed an issue where NPCs are sliding while getting into the ambulance

PATROL CAR & TRAFFIC CARS

Fixed an issue where the patrol car might sometimes not be available in car shifts
Fixed an issue where an NPV crashes into an existing accident, leading to a pile-up
Fixed an issue where a tow truck picks a random NPV not involved in the accident
Fixed an issue where the player can get NPVs towed while the driver is still inside
Fixed an issue where a vehicle has the expired license plate intuition displayed incorrectly when focusing on the license plate of pulled-over NPV
Fixed an issue where the front of the police cars have a spot that opens the trunk
Fixed an issue where emergency lights are activated for the client if they were turned on in the previous shift

Fixed an issue where mouse gets stuck in center or corner of the screen
Fixed an issue where clicking on board computer icon on the bottom left of the shift report screen leads to a blue screen

CONTROLS

Gamepad: Fixed an issue where walking speed switches to "walk" when person flees
Gamepad: Fixed an issue where the game will sometimes not accept inputs from the A button
Fixed an issue where keybinds for mouse and keyboard are reset after restarting the game (Specific keys like special characters, ex: +, ?)
Fixed the HUD issue caused by the shortcut key “U”, by removing the shortcut

MISCELLANEOUS

Fixed collision issues along with some level design issue

CRASHES

Fixed a random crash for client when driving around in patrol car
Fixed a crash while talking to accident npc
Fixed a random host crash when talking to wanted suspect and giving back their ID
Fixed random crash when focusing on NPV
Fixed a random crash when joining a multiplayer session
Fixed a crash when accepting a major accident callout
Fixed a crash when host exists the game
Fixed a crash for host when the connection to client gets lost
Fixed a crash when resolving a dynamic accident
Fixed a lot of other user reported crashes

https://store.steampowered.com/app/997010?snr=1_2108_9__2107

Oct 12, 2021

New Skirmish Trail Update - Now Live!

Stronghold: Warlords - Paul

Today's new Skirmish Trail Update adds a 15 mission trail for players to conquer, with each mission offering unique opponents, warlords and tactical scenarios to overcome. Also included in today's update are three new multiplayer maps remade from Stronghold: Crusader, a new Thunderbomb Thrower unit capable of ranged incendiary attacks and the addition of the Wolf Warlord to conquer and command.

Stronghold: Warlords v1.7 Update - 12 October 2021
Build Number: v1.7.22922
Update Size: 615.1 MB

Updates

Added new Skirmish Trail, ‘The Trail of the Tactician’
Added 3 Classic Skirmish maps, recreated from Stronghold Crusader
- The River - A mighty river courses through the desert on The River, attracting many who would wish to control its bounty.
- Tyre - Venture too far south on this map and you may get your fingers burnt!
- Border Patrol - This is a four-player map with a large border stopping each player moving troops over to the other side. The access point is through the center of this border and if a player manages to patrol the center they will be able to control the game.
Added new unit, the Thunderbomb Thrower
- A lightly armoured unit that throws explosive bombs, setting fire to troops, land and buildings caught in its blast radius.
Added new Warlord, the Wolf Warlord
- The Wolf specialises in heavy weaponry, providing cheap siege equipment to his allies. He attacks with ferocity, using strong armies to overwhelm his enemies and builds a heavily fortified castle to form a well defended lair on the battlefield.

Balance Changes - All Game Modes

Gunpowder workshop worker dropoff: 1 > 4
Gunpowder buy/sell: 40/80 for 5 > 30/60 for 5
Saltpetre buy/sell: 20/40 for 10 > 30/120 for 10
Reduced the speed of crossbowmen bolts from 85 to 80
Fire lancers that are standing on keep stairs can no longer fire at enemies standing on the keep roof
Actors which are knocked straight down (e.g. by a monk attack or samurai charge) now stay on the ground for just 0.8 seconds, down from 2 seconds

Balance Changes - Skirmish/Multiplayer Only

Increased fire armour from 2.0 to 0.5x for imperial guardsmen, imp warrior, imp cavalry, imp bannerman, general, samurai
Increased gunpowder cost for fire oxen from 1 to 2
Increased warrior monk cost from 30 to 40 gold
Increased hoarding health by 50%
Increased rice given for starting food settings:
- Very Low: 50 -> 75
- Low: 50 -> 100
- Medium: 100 -> 150

Multithreaded Optimisations

Moved the bulk of troop pathfinding and formation movement calculations from the main thread to a secondary pathfinding thread. This permits these calculations to be done during the rendering phase, smoothing out a major source of stalled frames in large games, and generally improving frame rates.
Moved troop displacement and pushing logic to the pathfinding thread, speeding up all game logic frames, especially with many active troops.

General Fixes

Fixes for desyncs that could happen during saving in Multiplayer games
Fixed AI castle building getting stuck when trying to place turrets
Fixed bug where the cursor suggested arrow carts could attack buildings
Stopped players from being able to type in the name of the Skirmish Trail
Fixes for selecting engine towers
Walls built on unpathable tiles now show a barricade on top of the wall
Ninjas now decloak when in range of enemy tigers
Fix for some range units being able to continue to firing at targets that had left their effective range
Siege weapons can no longer spawn from the siege camp on tiles with walls on them
Melee troops can no longer be ordered to attack arrow turrets
Fire lancers now stop attacking when their target goes out of range, instead of attacking but doing no damage
Fixed siege weapons and ranged units not attacking turrets when ordered to attack them from out of range
Healthbars now appear over hoardings and turrets when they are damaged

Map Editor

Re-added the ‘Purge Entities at Origin’ command to the Map Editor
Field Hospitals can now be placed in the Map Editor

Oct 12, 2021

Unit Guide: Axe Raiders

Conqueror's Blade - Kaeden

With their trusty workers’ tools fashioned into deadly weapons, the Axe Raiders are the second Seasonal Unit ready to fight in Season IX: Tyranny Available to unlock now via Unit Challenges. Axe Raiders throw their makeshift axes at their opponents for brutally damaging strikes and use their own pain to their advantage for do-or-die attacks.

Unlocking

The Axe Raiders can be unlocked via Seasonal Unit Challenges. They enjoy a Seasonal Bonus in the form of Leadership requirements decreased by 10 and resupply costs reduced by 50% during Season IX.

Gameplay

As the Tyrant rose and famine swept the Borderlands, everyday people were forced to take arms and repurpose what tools they had to survive in the face of this new threat. The Axe Raiders are a band of unlikely soldiers defending their lands and lives with the tools that once worked the land. While some troop members chose to follow the Tyrant, others became mercenaries and grew into a formidable fighting force against the new evil.

Throwing their axes at their foes with precision, this unit will stop at nothing to defeat the enemy, especially when they are injured themselves.

Just the facts: Axe Raiders (4-Star)

Formations

Dispersed: The Axe Raiders spread out to reduce damage from ranged attacks.
Column: A formation suitable for the Axe Raiders’ fast charges.

Unit Traits

Slaughterers: Axe Raiders are brutally precise. When an attack command is given, this unit will throw axes at the enemy. After using Double Axe, throwing axes reduce all enemies’ defences by 200 for 5 seconds and can be stacked up to 3 times.
Indomitable: Axe Raiders become more fierce the more pain they suffer. When their throwing axes are depleted, the unit will acquire two new skills: Raider Charge and Cutting Edge.
Borderlanders: Leadership costs are reduced by 10 during Season IX.
Spite: Upon taking damage that reduces their health below 50%, the Axe Raiders won’t back down and will instead receive increased Attack and Defence for 8 seconds and will recover some much-needed Health.

Unit Orders

Throw Axes: Order the Axe Raiders to throws their axes, inflicting major damage and knocking down the enemy. After use, Close To The Edge can be triggered within 7 seconds.
Close To The Edge: Quickly rushing to where the Throw Axes attacks fell, dazing enemies along the way and dealing a small amount of damage, the unit will then attack nearby enemies with their replenished ammo. After ammo is depleted, this skill changes to Raider Charge: the unit charges as directed, stunning enemies along the way and dealing damage.
Double Axe: Each warrior quickly throws two axes at the enemy, dealing relatively high damage. When no targets are nearby, the Axe Raiders’ movement speed is increased, allowing them to quickly find their next victim. After ammo is exhausted, this skill changes to Cutting Edge, whereupon the unit immediately rushes toward the nearest enemy and launches a series of quick attacks.

The Axe Raiders are available to unlock via Unit Challenges now!

The above information is correct as of the time of publication. Please check in-game for the most up-to-date Unit information.

Oct 12, 2021

World War 3 Closed Beta Test Launching November 25!

World War 3 - NathanOfCydonia

The next phase of World War 3 is coming. Get ready to fire the first shots when the Closed Beta Test (CBT) launches for PC on November 25!

Once deployed, the CBT will remain active until the planned launch of the Open Beta Test (OBT) in March 2022, when World War 3 will change to a free-to-play model. You can secure your CBT access by purchasing a range of CBT Packs today, which also contain special gear and items which will be available in the OBT.

The Closed Beta Test will extend the battlefield to any players who purchase a CBT Pack or receive a Veteran Pack. Four maps will be playable across two different modes: Tactical Ops and Deathmatch. Players can fight on the battlefields of Berlin, Warsaw, Polyarny, and Moscow, and a range of customization options will also be available, with samples of realistic gear and weapons available for players to adapt their loadouts.

Five different CBT Packs are now available via the official World War 3 website (coming soon to Steam), including the Private Pack, Sergeant Pack, Lieutenant Pack, and Major Pack. Each Pack guarantees access to the CBT, and also includes a range of awesome in-game content available from the OBT onwards, including Battle Passes, weapon skins, character and vehicle blueprints, operators, and much more. Available exclusively to one big spender, the prestigious President Pack promises a real-life Ronin Helmet, the chance to see your hometown and likeness immortalized in World War 3, plus a starring role in your own movie!

The CBT will remain active and accessible to eligible players until the start of the Open Beta Test, which has a targeted launch date of March 2022. Starting with the OBT, World War 3 will become a free-to-play experience, giving players across the world the chance to hit the battlefield without limits.

We know that many players purchased World War 3 when it was previously available in Early Access. As thanks for your incredible support, we’re delighted to offer a free Veteran Pack to all players who purchased the game before October 4, 2021! Credited directly to your game account on Steam, you'll receive guaranteed CBT access plus exclusive gear (available in the OBT) to show off your veterancy on the battlefield.

With World War, The Farm 51 is dedicated to bringing players an unparalleled first-person shooter experience, having spent the last year revamping existing content and adding new features. Improved gunplay, animations, and many more improvements, realistic maps, an extensive set of customization options, and a vast array of incredibly detailed uniforms are ready for players to experience when the CBT launches later this year.

Keep your eyes glued to the newly-relaunched official World War 3 website for all the latest news as it drops!