Update 0.8

29.04.2016

Defeat your enemy in the updated Assault mode and new Historical Campaign missions!

In anticipation of the celebration of the end of the War in the European Theatre, we would like to invite you, commanders, to try this big new update full of exciting changes.

 

What’s new?

  • Three new missions for the German campaign: North Africa, March on Daugavpils, and Arras.
  • Completely redesigned Assault mode:
    • The player’s main objective (victory condition) is to destroy the enemy’s headquarters, instead of the earlier requirement to capture the Control Points within a particular period of time;
    • Control Points are now points of interest for the player, not the final objective. Their role is secondary: they increase Reinforcement Point generation;
    • A new reinforcement summoning system has been introduced: the player uses Reinforcement Points to request troops from the base that haven’t been used as advance forces (all the troops available at the base are available in battle).
    • Reinforcement Points are continually earned during the battle, as well as when a Control Point is successfully captured. The amount of points credited depends on the number of Control Points under the player’s control: each subsequent CP captured will grant fewer points. For instance, when you capture your first control point (or re-capture it after losing all of your control points), you score more points for it than for the last control point.
    • Opponents have varying cooldown (recharge time) and point limits. The attacker has many more troops at the beginning of the battle, but the defender has three Control Points and a quicker Reinforcement Point generation rate.
    • This approach allows for a “see-saw” system, making it easy to get back into the battle. Example: the attacker has thrown all his troops into the battle and almost made it to the HQ. Meanwhile the defender managed to save up enough points and summoned troops that effectively resisted the attacking force. Once the attacker has been driven back to his starting position, he can summon forces optimally suited to fight the defender’s current forces. Thus players will be able to steal the initiative from each other.
    • The attacker now has a reinforcement point for his attack, a base of sorts. The defender’s base has also been redesigned. Destroying the enemy’s HQ now automatically scores a victory, while destroying their Communication Centre deprives them of reinforcements and supports.
  • The central and support panels have been redesigned for battle mode. A reinforcement panel has been added. However, the interface is still not informative enough, and a number of our solutions are temporary. We are working hard on it and will soon improve the situation.
  • The launcher has been removed for all Steam players. News and maintenance announcements are now shown in the main menu, and updating is conducted via Steam servers.
  • Numerous balance adjustments: unit speed, support cooldown time, ranged effects. We are still working on this and will continue doing so far into the future. So we’d greatly value your comments about the balance of our redesigned Assault mode.
  • Players can place more infantry squads in some houses than in others, depending on their size.
  • New support added: Fighter. Smoke Screen and Paratroopers supports have been reworked. Paratroopers now land from aircraft which can be shot down.
  • The defending AI now uses supports and reacts to the player’s actions more aggressively and actively. 
  • Steam authorisation has been significantly sped up; the Leaderboard now loads much more quickly.

 

Fixed Issues

  • Improved game stability (frequent crashes were reported after the January 27th patch).
  • Several squads can now be treated at the same time on the first mission of the Single Player campaign (Poland).
  • The crashes during the town capture in the first mission of the Single Player campaign (Poland) have been fixed.
  • An issue causing incomplete update installation when there is insufficient hard disk space (freezing during the game logo) has been fixed.
  • Flags used during battle have been replaced with correct ones (the attacker’s flags were previously shown on the defender’s Control Points).
  • Paratroopers no longer “jump” on the roofs of buildings while walking.
  • The incorrect behaviour of the patrolmen in the first mission of the Single Player campaign (Poland) has been fixed: when troops were trying to circle around a patrol, and at the start of battle, the patrolmen continued walking along their routes as if nothing had happened.
  • We’ve fixed an incorrect behaviour of infantry during an abrupt change in movement direction: an infantry squad, when ordered to run in the opposite direction, used to first turn towards where ordered but then resume moving in its initial direction.

 

Known problems to be fixed later:

  • Attack Aircraft attacks base buildings instead of units
  • Incorrect location of icons on the minimap
  • Reinforcements available to call after the battle is over
  • Upgrading a fortification cancels the selection
  • When leaving trenches, infantry doesn’t follow orders
  • Severe game freezing when capturing a building with obstructions using several infantry squads
  • No visual effects for AT landmine explosions
  • Incorrect animation of snipers when shooting
  • Units stand above a trench while sitting in it
  • Cutscenes in the Daugavpils mission may work incorrectly (lag) on some PC configurations
  • Objects on the minimap may be displayed incorrectly (with their positions shifted)