Continuing our small updates to fix issues and add quality of life changes, on Tuesday, February 18th, we’re rolling out Update 8.5.0. Find a list of changes below.


//The Battlefield Team

Discover a wide variety of Community Events, Featured Experiences and Double XP moments taking place on Battlefield 2042 via our frequently updated Community Calendar!

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. Join the official Battlefield Discord server over at http://discord.gg/Battlefield!

Loading Screen Improvements

One of the main areas of improvement for Update 8.5 is a visual overhaul of the loading screen for all game modes, now you will be able to see improved descriptions and iconography indicators for the rules of each mode before loading into the match in a much more pleasing and penguin-approved way.

This improvement also extends to Custom Experiences within Battlefield Portal, allowing creators more space for descriptions. Further improvements will be made to this loading screen in a future update too!

General

• Fixed overlapping input prompts on the deploy screen.

AI

• AI soldiers should no longer die out of bounds when fighting in the shipwreck.

Vehicles

• Added insertion sequence for the UH-60 Black Hawk.
  
• Camera transition should now be smoother when switching views in seats while in a vehicle.
  
• Fixed a bug where projectiles would despawn when firing from above the air vehicle max height.

Progression

• Fixed an issue where players were unable to purchase the accelerated event pass if all levels were completed before the purchase.

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.

The Archive is now using a pleasant background of ocean waves at night in constant motion, and there has been an addition of 75 minutes of Tribbling for your Cat Worshipping needs!

From within the Downloads drop-down on the DCS website is a wealth of community-created content within User Files. All this content is free and includes single-player and multiplayer missions, campaigns, liveries, documents, device profiles, sounds, and many other types of free content that can expand and improve your DCS experience. This is a powerful resource for DCS players that guarantees endless gameplay and customization.

Upon selecting User Files, you may filter content based on its Type, Localization, Map, Unit, Content Creator, and more.



In addition to the mission content included with aircraft modules like interactive training missions, instant action missions, and missions, a wealth of free mission content is also available within User Files. Each entry will often include comments, screenshots, and other details to allow you to best find content that interests you. This can range from simple engagements to large-scale campaigns that include hundreds of active units. Many very talented mission and campaign creators offer thousands of missions and campaigns for your enjoyment.

Although most aircraft modules include an offering of liveries spanning multiple squadrons and countries, we are limited to how much we can include to save hard disk space. User Files includes over 13,000 skins across every player aircraft in DCS. If there is a particular livery you are looking for, there is a good chance that it is included here.

These are the two most popular categories of User Files, but there are other valuable offerings:

• Documents. There are over 1,100 documents that span aircraft tutorials, checklists, map and airfield diagrams, kneeboard templates, and much more.
  
• Device Profiles. We are living in a golden age of flight simulation peripherals, and although we include default mappings for many popular DCS aircraft, we cannot include them all. User Files includes 670 controller profiles across a wide range of peripheral manufacturers and aircraft.
  
• Sound. Like skins, DCS also allows you to replace default sounds with your own. User Files includes 364 sound offerings to cater to your audio needs.

None of this would be possible without the outstanding support and dedication of the User Files contributors. Thank you!






Recent development efforts have focused on fine-tuning the aircraft’s distinctive flight model, capturing the potent climb and maneuverability that made the La-7 a fearsome adversary during World War II. Work on the cockpit has advanced significantly, with an emphasis on historically accurate instruments and systems that reflect the era’s engineering intricacies.

Octopus G has also continued to refine the La-7’s damage model for an authentic representation of its strengths and vulnerabilities in combat, while dedicating careful attention to external and internal artwork for a truly immersive experience. We appreciate your patience and enthusiasm as the team moves forward, and we look forward to delivering more detailed previews and updates in the coming months. Stay tuned for further announcements as the La-7 nears completion.


Many thanks for your passion and support,

Yours sincerely,

Eagle Dynamics

• Finished Elaine Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Soulless Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Hunter Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Elevated Soulless Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Gwen Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Gwen (flying) Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Alis Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Cled Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Meliora Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Meliora (clone) Profile/Dialogue Artwork.
  
• Finished Squadmember Profile/Dialogue Artwork.

Calling all creators! Level up your YouTube channel in partnership with the Content Creator Program between now and March 4 to earn WarpReals.

If you want more information about the Content Creator Program, keep scrolling or check out the dedicated article.
The Wild Ten is coming, and we want to see your content go truly interstellar by the time War Robots: Frontiers launches as a free-to-play game on March 4.

Here’s our challenge to you:

• Complete three video tasks by publishing War Robots: Frontiers videos on YouTube between February 12 and March 4.
  • Videos must be uploaded on or after February 12.
  • Minimum Duration: 3 minutes.
  • Minimum 1080p.
  • Must include commentary (voice or text).
  • Use gameplay footage to support your content.
• Tag your videos with ‘War Robots: Frontiers’ in the title.
• Submit videos via your Creator Dashboard.

All eligible Content Creators who complete the challenge will receive 125 WarpReals. Additionally, participants will be entered into a prize draw to win a massive 1,425 WarpReals!

You must be a member of the MY.GAMES Content Creator Program to participate in the YouTube Creator Challenge. Sign up today if you haven’t already! And if you’re looking for ideas and inspiration, why not strike up a chat with fellow Pilots on Discord?


The MY.GAMES Content Creator Program is an initiative that supports talented content creators, and enables them to create their best work for games like War Robots: Frontiers. When you become a Content Creator for War Robots: Frontiers, you’ll get support and access to exclusive events and rewards (with revenue sharing coming at a later date).

Create engaging content, share your passion, and reap the rewards. Videos, streams, or social posts — the more you make, the more rewards you can unlock!

If you’ve got a great channel and want to level it up together with War Robots: Frontiers, join the Content Creator Program today.

Get out there and make some killer content, Pilots!

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💖 The Strand Demo is LIVE!💖

It’s time to unravel the mystery, the Strand demo is officially playable now! 🕵️‍♂️✨

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, why not spend some time falling into the unknown? Play solo or with a friend watching over your shoulder, and let us know what secrets you uncover.

💻 Download now:
🔗 https://store.steampowered.com/app/3295530/STRAND/

Let us know your thoughts or share your first impressions on social! Can’t wait to hear what you think. 🎮💫

#Strand #MysteryGame #DemoLive

Greetings Heroes,

As we step into 2025, we’re excited to share an announcement that marks the beginning of an incredible new chapter for Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults.

Thanks to you, we already achieved remarkable milestones, including over 5,000 backers during our successful Kickstarter campaign. Your support has been the foundation of this project.


Today, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with Megabit Publishing to bring Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults to market!

Megabit is the publisher of multiple upcoming titles including Thick As Thieves, a new take on stealth from the creative minds behind Thief and Deus Ex, which debuted at The Game Awards in 2024, the surreal fever dream OMUT from Madame Cyclone, and the cozy open world adventure Lou’s Lagoon from Tiny Roar and more.

Click here for the full Kickstarter Project Update.

The demo for Ambient Dark has been out for a few weeks now. Thanks to everyone who has tried it out and the feedback given.

Specifically, things that came up which I plan to fix/improve in the near future:

• Bug: Skybox is suffering from banding/gradation.
  
• Suggestion: Sensitivity slider for mouse look and console controls
  
• Suggestion: Walk button (e.g. left shift) and/or way to modify walk/run speed.
  
• Suggestion: FPS controls, to let people with higher powered graphics cards increase the framerate.
  
• Suggestion: Better icons and/or an easier way to work out what all the things are on the menu. I want to keep the game to being ideally zero text anywhere, so it can be played in any language, but I may add some text in the menu for some languages just so it's easier for players to understand, and then leave other languages as blank.

If you want to give more feedback, I made a feedback thread here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3396470/discussions/0/727997144358725480/

Or you can hunt me down on social media, e.g. via discord: https://discord.gg/hYSbQwFQZQ


I would love to add new environments to Ambient Dark. Specifically I have an idea for a planet-based spaceport control room. As well I would like to add in various facilities dotted around the galaxy such as research stations or industrial sites.

However, I want to limit future environments to single rooms. Partly to make them feel a bit cozier. And partly because I'm developing Ambient Dark as a hobby project and so don't have a whole lot of hours spare for it. Hopefully I'm able to get at least one more environment in the game before release, and more afterwards, but it all depends on how much time I can sneak into working on the game between other projects.


Another area I want to improve with Ambient Dark is making the world outside the window feel more alive. For the current spaceport lounge environment, I think there is enough activity from the passing spaceships, but for future environments, I want to have more sophisticated behaviour and movement of spaceships and/or vehicles, so that viewers can tell a bit more of a story about them, rather than watch them just passing by.


The music in Ambient Dark is based around whole albums rather than individual tracks, since albums are more relaxing and practical for playing in the background, and not having to worry about unexpected tonal changes or needing to constantly pick the next track.

The demo currently features 3 albums, with a further 3 locked that will be available in the full game. The music is a mix of Dark Ambient and Space Ambient and I will probably stick to just those genres in the future.

That said, I am currently speaking to some additional musicians to get extra music into the game. It depends on agreeing licensing terms and prices, so may or may not happen. I've already had one approach from a musician about making music specifically for the game and while it's not really practical to do right now, it may be something I'm able to do in the future.

I don't however plan to allow players to upload and/or play their own music already on their computers via the game, since this is a bit of a technical faff and a weird legal grey area.


I've also had some suggestions of things that would be really cool but are not the direction I want to take the game.

I'm not planning to have any sort of spaceship that you can fly around or any navigation between places in the galaxy beyond just selecting an environment from a menu + loading screen.

I'm also not planning to add in a story. I want to do a bit of environmental storytelling but mostly leave it up to players to have fun imagining their own stories and filling in the blanks for themselves.

As well, I don't want to expand the spaceship spotting beyond what I've mentioned above. So no stockmarket-style trading or incremental type gameplay based on the ships going to and fro.

Which is not to say those things aren't great ideas, just that for me, they'd be different games or spin-offs. The core of Ambient Dark is to have a virtual space for relaxing, listening to music and watching the galaxy go by.

The following multipliers await you this weekend:

🔥 15.02 - Experience x3, Carats x3
🔥 16.02 - Fletta x3, Carats x3

Enjoy the game!

Dearest NosFriends, spring is in the air, and that means there’s a fresh opportunity for you to showcase your artistic talents! We’re inviting all you creative players to design an Easter-themed background for the character selection screen!

Get your creative caps on and send us your suitably Easter-themed images. Please remember that there must be space for the characters in the middle of the image (see below for more details).

• Create an Easter-themed image for the character selection screen.
• Dimensions: 1920x1400 (the image may be slightly stretched depending on game resolution)
• Format: .png
• Using AI tools is not allowed and will lead to disqualification
• Send your creations directly as an email attachment (no external links) with the subject line Easter 2025 Fan Art Contest to: event@nostale.co.uk
• Don’t forget to supply your character and server name.
• Deadline for submissions: 7th March 2025
• You can find the Terms and Conditions at https://agbserver.gameforge.com/files/pdf/en_GB/terms_raffles_and_competitions_en.pdf

Please note that there must be space for the characters in the center of the image, as illustrated in this example:



The best 10 Easter artworks will win an exclusive XXL NosTale Mousepad plus 1x set of wings of your choice (e.g. Mecha Flame Wings, Christmas Tree Wings etc.).

The best artwork of all will even be added to the game for Easter and can be admired by all NosPlayers.

We look forward to seeing your ideas!
The NosTale Team