Happy New Year!

It’s been great seeing you enjoying, sharing and participating in our Battlefield™ 2042 Holiday Protocol, especially with Pondhawk Supremacy!

On January 16th we’ll be rolling out a small Update aimed at resolving some immediate issues. We'll follow-up with more substantial changes towards the end of January.

//The Battlefield Team

Stay Informed
Follow us on Reddit and @Battlefield to stay informed on the latest news, and on @BattlefieldComm for the rollout of updates and other live service changes.

• The YUV-2 Pondhawk is now available from the Light Ground Transport Vehicle list for Custom Conquest, Air Superiority and Ground Superiority Custom Experiences in Battlefield Portal.
  
• The YUV-2 Pondhawk should no longer spawn under the map when deploying on it within Breakthrough > Flashpoint as the attacking side, during the final sector.
  
• Attachments for the RM68 will now correctly display the Charon Weapon Skin colors rather than appear as factory standard items.
  
• Soldiers will now be able to successfully spawn on Capture Point A4 whilst it is being contested by the enemy team on Control > Breakaway.
  
• Fixed an issue on F-35E Panther changing its flying characteristics after activating VTOL while using mouse and keyboard peripherals.
  
• F-35E Panther and SU-57 Felon should now have similar flight sensitivity while using mouse and keyboard peripherals.
  
• Further improvements have been made to sticky input while using mouse and keyboard peripherals.

Dev Comment: This will make triggering sticky input quicker and easier especially for default settings, allowing players to do loops without constantly dragging their mouse across the mousepad. Players will still need to provide aggressive input in order to initially trigger this maneuver.



This announcement may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content. We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible.

With the release of multi-threading and DLSS/FSR, the next big core DCS task is the support for the Vulkan Application Programing Interface (API). Multi-threading was a prerequisite to support the Vulkan API backend and enhance system performance/efficiency.

Much of the Vulkan API work over the past several years has focused on adapting the DCS internal tools to seamlessly integrate with optimized functionality to ensure peak performance. This has been a challenging endeavor to rectify all validation errors, streamlining graphics and processing tasks, improving compatibility with Nvidia, AMD, and Intel hardware and a diverse set of drivers, and creating and refining the groundwork for rendering across multiple threads that will allow even more advanced graphic capabilities.

As we move into 2024, we continue to optimize and refine performance to exceed what is possible with DirectX 11. It is important that we continue to push graphic standards whilst maintaining excellent performance for both 2D, and even more so, VR.

However, like multi-threading and DLSS/FSR, results will vary between players based on their hardware and settings.





Here are some of the interesting functionality improvements coming to DCS:

Save Game. Our new game persistence system will allow you to save mid-mission and return to that save point at a later time.

Replay System. The current track file system was originally created as a debugging system that simply reproduced game input to construct a replay of the mission. However, this system depends on limited DCS version changes between when the track was recorded and when being played back. The system in development for 2024 is designed to address this and will offer additional capabilities.

Infantry Unit Improvements. We will be working on new infantry models and animations in 2024 along with more life-like behaviors.

New Air, Ground, and Naval Units. New units will be available in 2024 that will range from World War II to modern day. Each unit requires thousands of man-hours to create and will be provided as optional packs at their highest levels of detail. Standard versions will also be available for free to ensure both single-player and multiplayer compatibility for all.

Graphic Improvements. In addition to the graphic improvements that the Vulkan API will afford, we will also be making improvements to the Render Graph for better VR performance, new and improved special effects, and further advancements in the FLIR rendering system.

Weather. The weather focus for 2024 will be on a new fog system and towering clouds with appropriate line-of-sight blocking.

Voice Chat. 2023 saw great connectivity improvements and a unique, real-time voice processing allowing users to modify voices to replicate different radio eras and technologies. In 2024 we will continue to integrate radios to vehicles, ships, and other units. We also plan external application support and other player-requested features.

Spherical Earth. One of the biggest changes coming to DCS is the Spherical Earth. This substantial work is ongoing however we do not expect to release it this year due to the size of the endeavour.

Dynamic Campaign. Please read our Newsletter for 29 December 2023 where we discuss DCSDC in detail.

Air Traffic Control. Although we have a solid design to provide an exceptional ATC experience, much of the work in 2024 will involve how we generate the voice dialog and create a much-improved interface.

Improved Accessibility. To make DCS more accessible to new players, the Graphic User Interface will be updated to make it more user-friendly and include a Launcher with new capabilities. New interactive missions are also being developed to shallow the learning curve with popular modules like the F/A-18C.

Air-To-Air Missile Development. We plan to migrate the R-27 (AA-10) family and R-73 (AA-11) missiles to a new component structure and flight dynamics. This will be coupled with a new proximity fuse model that accounts for Doppler closing speed, modified seekers, and a more realistic interaction model between the missile and the supporting radar. This will be done within the larger MiG-29 project framework. Other missile types will also be developed in the same way.

Air-To-Ground Munitions. We continue to develop new munitions as well as update existing air-to-ground weapons to include a new component model with advanced flight performance. This includes guided bombs and tactical missiles.

Regarding Anti-Radiation Missiles (ARM), we are developing narrow-band specialized seekers that were used with early ARMs of the 1960 to 1980s prior to the more modern AGM-88 HARM class of missiles with broadband seekers. These older ARMs, such as the AGM-45 Shrike of the Vietnam era, will be modeled with other older ARM systems.

ECM. We are developing more advanced principles of electronic warfare that will allow simulation of a greater variety of electronic warfare attack and countermeasure modes and capabilities. This is a very complex task and confidential subject. We cannot promise quick results, but work is underway to deliver a satisfactory simulation of this opaque area of modern warfare.

New Landing Gear. A new two-component landing gear system was released for the Mosquito last year. We will continue integrating it to other aircraft this year. We plan a separate newsletter article that will explain the new capabilities and what it brings to landing gear behaviors.





In parallel with the development of the new modules discussed in last week’s newsletter, we will also continue to update, fix, and improve existing aircraft and maps. Some of these efforts include, but are not limited to:

Radar Improvements. In 2023 we released both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the radar improvements for the F-16C and F/A-18C. Phase 3 efforts will continue with a focus on better Single Target Track (STT) simulation, false target generation, and more realistic look-down effects.

Data Transfer Card (DTC). For each aircraft, the DTC consists of a variety of areas that are first modeled such as datalink, navigation, radio, weapons, sensors, and more. Once these elements are completed, they will be organized into a unified DTC interface.

Fuze Settings. All modern aircraft will benefit from the new and more advanced fuzing options first introduced for our WWII modules. This includes the new payload interface in the Mission Editor and Rearm/Refuel Window that will allow authentic setting nose and tail fuzes and new 3D rendering of fuze selections.

DCS: F-16C Viper. Priority work for 2024 includes the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP), a 1st perspective pilot model, and other improvements like new HUD symbology and RWR Handoff tones.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1090850/DCS_F16C_Viper/

DCS: F/A-18C. The biggest task for 2024 is a refactoring of the flight model and flight control system, landing gear physics, and improved external lights. Once the new external lighting system is complete for the F/A-18C, this technology will be used for other aircraft modules.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/411950/DCS_FA18C/

DCS: AH-64D. With the addition of the Fire Control Radar (FCR) core functions, next steps in 2024 include the addition of functions and modes such as LINK and remaining radar modes, new George and Flight commands, and the campaign.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1770580/DCS_AH64D/

Supercarrier. 2024 will see continued work on the new plane director operations that move aircraft out of the landing area to a parking location. This is in addition to work on the Air Boss deck and Ready Room.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1120305/DCS_Supercarrier/

Mosquito FB VI. This year we continue working on the features from the Early access list. Including AI crew members and the Drift recorder.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1724230/DCS_Mosquito_FB_VI/

Rest assured, our other modules and maps will also receive improvements and enhancements. We hope that the progress on the DCS core is to your satisfaction. Please stay tuned for more details on all the topics mentioned above. Stay healthy and as always, fly safe.

Thank you again for your passion and support,

Yours sincerely,

Eagle Dynamics

---

YO SNAILS!

Welcome to our wintery seasonal event, the SnowMob Shenanigans! (yeah, Christmas and all that is behind us but it's still winter! :D ), where, despite the cold, YOU're in charge. 😎😁

You have until January 23rd, 9 AM CST / 4 PM CET to make a cool, fun, original level with the Snowman Mafia!

Create a level in-game, using Infinite's tools, and blow the community's mind away with your creations! As for the last events, we'll kindly ask you to record yourself playing the level you made, from start to finish, using either any broadcast software you have, or any third party screen recorders (such as https://recordscreen.io/ , for example.)

If you have any questions or need any help building your level, feel free to ask the other community members, of course!

Post your creation on our Discord server in the #snowmob forum channel and share it with your fellow snails! 🐌

• One submission per participant;
  
• No mods should be used;
  
• Your creation needs to make use of the snowman mafia;
  
• Your submission must be created by you, of course;
  
• Your creation should be one video, and one video only!
  
• The submission deadline is January 23rd, 9 AM CST, 4 PM CET ;
  
• Submit your creation on the forum channel #snowmob on Discord, including the Steamworks link to your level;

As for our "One-Screen Halloween" event where the level didn't need to be spooky, please note that your level doesn't have to necessarily have its background be set to the Winter theme. You can make it that way if you wish but as long as your level makes use of the Snowman mafia in one way or another, and the other rules are validated, you'll have a chance at winning! =)

The voting period will open after the submission period is done. Vote by reacting to the posts! Your reactions will help with the final judging. You can also talk about the submissions using threads (just like the feedback channels work).

Submissions will be judged by Jonas, the Community Management team, and the Discord Mods. The levels will be critiqued on the following:

• Originality and creativity;
  
• Rules validation;
  
• Reactions to the submission piece (which will be a strong factor in the judging process).

• The Trophy Snail role on Discord
  
• Have your level marked as an event winner on the Steam Workshop
  
• Get Jonas to try out your level on a Jonas Bonus video
  
• One WYS Steam key AND one Thronefall Steam key

Join our Discord server to take part in the fun!

As usual, we can't wait to see what you'll create and come up with! 😁

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since our last announcement, so we just wanted to drop a message and say hi!

We've been hard at work on Card Survival: Fantasy Life!

Some of the things we've been working on recently are the Magic system (which I'll describe in more detail in this announcement), a new and improved cooking system that we believe will greatly enhance the experience and many improvements to the general interface/interactivity of the game like for example a new type of mini-inventory (for items like fishing rods or kitchenware), and a new feature that allows players to expand and collapse stacks of cards (especially useful for farming).
Content implementation is progressing well, and the forest setting for the game is gradually coming to life.
Art development is taking bit longer than anticipated, but it's progressing nonetheless. I'm putting considerably more effort in trying to make cards more visually appealing and as a result they're taking a bit more time... Hopefully you will be happy with the results!



Addressing some questions and concerns we've seen, I want to clarify and reiterate that Fantasy Life, like its predecessor, is primarily a simulator game. Whether the survival scenario takes place on a tropical island, a primordial nordic forest, the ruins of a post-apocalyptic city, or a spaceship on its way to Mars, Card Survival is still going to be Card Survival. :)
Our main goal with this game is to create a deeper, richer, and more fulfilling experience than Tropical Island. We're adding many new systems to make our engine more robust and pave the way for new and more complex features in this and future games. It's important to note that Fantasy Life is not going to be a High Fantasy adventure with elves, dwarves, and wizards casting fireballs. Instead, we're crafting a grounded, small-scale, living world that immerses you in a survival situation, closer to the life of an iron age pagan in a northern forest than that of an epic fantasy novel hero.
We want the game to be a day to day survival experience (like tropical island) where players have a complex relationship with the primordial forest that surrounds them, as they fight to earn their own unique place in it, be that of a hunter, a farmer, a spirit seeker or something else.



For those interested, here's some more in-depth information about the new Magic system which I think can help convey some of these new flavours the game has.


The main magic system in the game aligns with what many call low magic, or perhaps folk magic, i.e., the practice of working with and understanding spirits.
It is a very coherent and traditionally intuitive system where one sees the world as a manifestation of the spirits behind it.
Here are some of its features:


Every time you start a fire or warm yourself by one, your fire affinity will slightly increase, symbolizing how familiar and attuned you are to the essence and properties of fire.
Then, sometimes while gazing into the flames of your campfire, if your affinity is high enough, you might notice a fire spirit.
You can then attempt to bind this spirit to your soul. If successful, the spirit becomes a part of you, possessing you in a way (or at least a minor part of you), and granting some of its abilities and desires.
For example, a minor fire spirit might warm you up at night, but also instill a desire to burn things. The stronger the spirit you bind, the more significant and potent the abilities granted, but also the more its will merges with yours, altering you in the process. This makes magic a double-edged sword, where those delving too deeply run the risk of losing themselves and their soul to the spirits within.


An alternative to soul-binding is binding spirits to places or objects.
This allows you to retain many of a spirit's powers (though not all) while keeping the spirit at a safer distance.
For instance, a fire charm might warm you without the urge to burn things. A spear imbued with a boar spirit will strike with additional strength without influencing you with the animal's temperamental nature. Spirits, in this way, can be used to create what are basically magic items, such as weapons that grant courage or special moves, necklaces that warn you from danger, and cloaks that help you blend with your surroundings.


Spirits vary in strength. Only a minor spirit may emerge in a campfire, but a large pyre might summon a greater fire spirit. Unique spirits can be found in special locations or under unique circumstances. Generally, stronger spirits are more challenging to bind and control but offer greater powers to their host. A minor spirit might provide warmth, while a greater one might allow you to walk through flames almost unharmed. However, such power brings the risk of losing your mind or meeting a fiery end.
Smaller spirits can be nurtured into greater ones too. By maintaining a high affinity to their essence (e.g., fire for fire spirits) while bound to your soul, their power will gradually increase and eventually transform them into a higher category.
Conversely, neglecting a spirit can weaken it, potentially leading to anger and backlash, and eventually reducing it to a weaker form or causing it to leave you.


The game features a large number of spirits and a powerful magic user will have a wide selection of useful ones. Spirits are typically connected to a concept, such as an element (fire or water), an emotion (fear or anger), a creature (a deceased person or animal), or a force (like decay or growth), among others.
Each spirit has its own unique discovery method, with greater spirits being more elusive. For instance, water spirits might be found in rivers and lakes, wind spirits in high, windy places, and animal spirits in the remains of hunted animals.


Some spirits allow basic interaction and communication, while more powerful ones can engage in proper conversations and impart knowledge. Keeping a good relationship with your spirits is essential to staying attuned to them so they can be nurtured into strength or prevented from leaving you (or worse).


We hope this gives you an insight into the magic system we implemented for the game.
In the world of Card Survival: Fantasy Life, people are closely connected with spirits, using them for protection, farming, healing, and other everyday tasks.
It's important to note that spirits usually provide minor effects or boons, offering practical benefits in most cases unless one chooses to delve deeper into the paths of magic. For most players, spirits will mostly be a special flavor that hopefully will help capture the vibes of what living an existence in the shadows of a powerful and mysterious nature might be like.
The most powerful spirits and more "out there" abilities will require one's character to walk the path of magic by learning to interact with spirits, to understand them and to bind the more powerful of their kind. That path that will be difficult to walk!


That's all for now. Thank you all for reading! ;)

Until the next announcement!

---

Things went a bit differently than expected. We mostly expected combinations of weapons, perks and mutators with perhaps a few new mutators mixed in here and there. What we got from you instead was an absolute onslaught of fantastic ideas for new ways to play, that a couple of simple quests would almost not do justice. We’re currently exploring ways how we could introduce those as kind of “special” game modes or challenges. Since we’re also all hands on the new map which as promised has our priority at the moment we hope you forgive us if the implementation of those will take a little while.

We read through all of your suggestions and collected a lot more inspiration than just the presented “winners” here, but for some ideas we still need some time to check how feasible they are from a technical and gameplay perspective.

For the following “winners” however, we can already say with high confidence, these will make it into the game in one way or another.


No Preparation, go go go!
By matan

“Complete [Map Level Name] with less than 15 secs of preparations timer between waves"

This post received the most community upvotes by a long margin so how could we say no. The idea didn’t cross our mind before and it sure does sound like a fun new way to play Thronefall. We’ll think about where to best implement that into the game and give it a go go go!


I like it just the way they are
By Gertimoshka

“Never move any of your own units from their starting positions.”

Both we as well as the community liked the idea. We’ll find a way to put it into the game, probably as a mutator so you can’t accidentally move your units and mess up the quest.


The great Wall
By CaporalNico

“Before Night 3 build a wall or two. They can protect your castle. Then don't let a single part of your wall get destroyed”
The idea of having to protect something specific came up a few times but protecting your walls seems like the most fun and intuitive twist on the idea. We’re not sure how well it would work as a quest (the rules don’t quite fit into the quests section), but we have some ideas and will find a way to make it work. Nice one.


One Man Army
By Hjorse Rider

“Thematically, you're a one man army who wins whichever battle you participate in.”

This concept or idea came up multiple times in different variations. In Hjorse Rider’s version building towers would still be allowed but building units would not be. In other variants e.g. by FlediX2 you may only build and upgrade your castle center and nothing else. Hjorse Rider gets the win in this category for choosing the best name “One Man Army '' and for receiving the most community upvotes. That being said, we find all of these options interesting and will likely explore different variations of this idea in the game.


When are these “quests” coming?
We are currently hard at work on a new map, so we’ll look into this right AFTER the new map is out.

With pride, we announce that the First International Contest for the Best Acaristan Inspector has concluded!

The winner of the contest is: Skyman1.0 from Germany with a score of 65647, who endured 98 days on duty and earned total of 221,578 Acaristan dollars!

We sincerely thank all participants for their incredible dedication and commitment to service.

Those with the highest overall scores will receive the following prizes:
Places 1-3: Hand-painted border inspector figurine.
Places 1-10: Portrait of the First Secretary: Igor Acarov.
Places 1-30: Official letter from the Ruling Party.

We will be reaching out to the winners via Steam messages, so please keep an eye on your inboxes.
Prizes will be dispatched by the end of January.

Hail to the winners, hail to the participants, hail to the party!
Glory to Acaristan!

Crazy Rocks Team

Hello, fellow mutants,

We hope you all spent your holidays well. We are back and wanted to address some issues with this small hotfix patch. In this hotfix, we have:

• Fixed an issue with Assault Rifle MK2 and MK3 not being dropped
  
• Fixed an issue where Turret hazard didn’t do any damage to the players
  
• Fixed issues with Achievements: “Our Boss”, “You are not the boss of me”, “Tough but Fair”, “End of the road”, “Learn The Ropes”, and “Firestarter”
  
• Fixed an issue with Critters staying in the air after the enemy is killed on the Client's side
  
• Fixed an issue with a loadout of the MK1 weapon staying in the player's hands even tho the MK2 or MK3 version is crafted
  
• Fixed issue with sound from interactable objectives continuing to play after the interaction is over
  
• Fixed an issue with crafting components being rewarded to the dead players who didn’t finish the mission.
  
• Added new fire animation for the Long Gun
  
• That’s it for now. Thank you for continuing to play RIPOUT and for all the feedback you have provided to us. For players who wish to submit feedback and engage with the developers directly, consider visiting the Official RIPOUT Discord server.

That’s it for now. Thank you for continuing to play RIPOUT and for all the feedback you have provided to us. For players who wish to submit feedback and engage with the developers directly, consider visiting the Official RIPOUT Discord server.

Make the most of your time in the Sphere this coming weekend!

In the coming days, the good magic of multipliers will help you.

On Saturday:
✨x2 experience
✨x2 craft

On Sunday:
✨x2 experience
✨x2 drop
✨x2 gold
✨x2 craft

Good hunting!

This weekend you have more things to do than ever! Hurry up and take the long-awaited level 200 to get into the Labyrinth of Light, and upgrade your weapons to Pure White!

On the way to greatness, as always, good magic will help you.

Right now and before tech on Monday:
⛄x2 chance of enchanting cloaks

Saturday:
❄x2 drop
❄x3 varnish

Sunday:
❄x3 experience
❄x3 varnish

Don’t be distracted by unnecessary things and grab the rates before they run away!

The following multipliers await you this weekend:

❄13.01 - Drop x3, Carats x3

Enjoy the game!