Dev Diary #11 - Upcoming Beta Maps and Tools
Hello everyone, we have presented the new specialization in previous dev blogs US Airborne and Coastal Troops.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1604270/view/4513261623769801522
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1604270/view/4513262258492538993
Now it’s time to introduce the battlefields where they will face each other.
Previous multiplayer beta proposed 6 maps so we have decided to ramp up things a bit and propose 8 brand new maps this time.
We have selected a panel of very different layouts to let you experiment various gameplay situations and see what you prefer.
All these maps are large enough to host an intense 5v5 multiplayer match and still have room on the sides to let planes maneuver and to give room for infiltrations and flanking attacks.
They are also full of details and contain unique visual elements, lighting, weather…
[h2]Kaliningrad[/h2]
At the heart of the Russian exclave located between Lithuania and Poland lies the city of Kaliningrad. It features the only ice-free Russian port on the Baltic Sea, making it strategically paramount.
The city is characterized by a fortified historic center divided by several waterways, at the center of which lies an island on which stands Königsberg Cathedral.
A large industrial harbor spreads from the city center to the estuary of the Pregolya river and is interfaced with a large railway classification yard surrounded by large hangars and numerous bridges. A massive stadium surrounded by multiple parkings is situated on the other side of the city and countless urban and commercial districts surround the city center.
The battle for Kaliningrad promises to be fierce as both teams start relatively close to each other on the western part of the map but on a different side of the estuary. They must rapidly progress East in the direction of the city center where the bridges are located to secure crossing points and capture objectives located on the other bank.
Of course amphibious units will prove their usefulness here more than anywhere else as their ability to cross the waterways allows them to infiltrate recon on the flanks or to launch assaults away from the heavily defended bridges.
[h2]River[/h2]
Far away from the hell of urban combat, this map proposes to fight in a much more open landscape mainly composed of fields surrounded by treelines, small villages and isolated farms. A river runs through it with several shallow water passages allowing any vehicle or infantry to cross at reduced speed.
These large open spaces might look like the perfect place to send formations of tanks on the attack, but beware, guided missiles can fully express their range advantage here. And high in the sky a drone might be watching you, maybe even designating you with its laser to guide artillery projectiles already flying in your direction. So run! Run from cover to cover, follow the treelines whenever you can and use smoke to conceal your movements. Otherwise, the apex predator of the open plains will swoop down on you with a roaring sound, and leave nothing behind but a carcass.
[h2]Refinery[/h2]
Countries fight to spread their influence in order to secure access to resources vital for their development. So what better symbol of this than to fight for the control of an oil refinery?
This large map features a huge oil refinery located on a plateau, separated by marchlands from the nearby city also located on another plateau.
The number of objectives proposed on this map is more than twice the usual number, separated into two main groups located in the refinery and the city. This unusual layout forces the teams to make a choice of repartition of their players. Will you play a classic 2xCity / 1xMiddle / 2xRefinery best suited for defense but that will fail to achieve numerical superiority anywhere or will you play an aggressive 0 / 2 / 3 or 3 / 2 / 0 to focus only on one side and the middle?
Having multiple possible strategies means that the victory will go to the most adaptable team, able to identify the enemy configuration, communicate and react accordingly.
For instance, dismounting your infantry early is a good reflex if you are going to be outnumbered but doing that when there is nobody in front of you and you failed to notice it means that someone else in your team is fighting 2v1.
[h2]Ruda[/h2]
Inspired by the area around the city of Kazlų Rūda in Lithuania. The city is surrounded by a large forest full of small clearing cut by agricultural expansion.
A military training ground and an airfield are also carved in the middle of the trees.
The unique layout of the trees on this map creates a different experience: instead of crossing fields to jump from one patch of cover to another, here you can follow narrow strips of forest to stay covered. This can facilitate infiltrations but it can also make troop movements slow and predictable. If an enemy is spotted progressing in a treeline you can easily guess where they are going and prepare an ambush or decide to move fast on a road instead as they won’t be able to react rapidly.
[h2]Dam[/h2]
Kaunas, the second biggest city of Lithuania is situated near an artificial lake created by a Dam.
We have faithfully represented this area which corresponds to the southern part of the city, the Dam itself and the zigzag of the river offering an interesting layout for a multiplayer battle.
The shape of the river impacts the layout of the roads and as a result each team has an advantage to push on one side of the map resulting in chaotic situations where both teams have successfully pushed their side which means they are now both located in each other’s back but on a different side of the river, meaning that they can cross the river to cut each other’s supply line resulting in a double encirclement hamburger.
[h2]Airbase[/h2]
This map represents Chkalovsk naval air base situated a few kilometers North-West of Kaliningrad. It’s a single long airstrip surrounded by hangars and bunkers hidden in the middle of the woods.
Infantry can be concealed in the Il-76 cargo planes landed near the hangars. Beware, though, as they are not resilient at all so using them as a fighting position is taking the risk to see your squads disappear in a pile of debris.
You can see the suburbs of Kaliningrad stretching out in a corner of the map while the rest of the city can be seen in the distance.
The objectives are split in two groups located on both sides of the airstrip, generally resulting in the action being concentrated there and nobody paying much attention to what is happening on the airstrip itself. This is the occasion to try daring maneuvers across the airstrip or in its axis, all the way to the enemy rear where the fragile and expensive artillery and air defense units are located.
[h2]Airport[/h2]
Based on the international airport of Riga and its surroundings, this map proposes a unique and spectacular scenery for an epic battle. The airport is surrounded by large highways leading to it and to the capital city of Latvia.
Fun fact: the house of one of the moderators of the official Discord server is located on this map. Please avoid nuking it!
The objective zones are evenly spread and the frontline is large due to the fact that it is played in the diagonal of the map. Trying to create an impervious frontline in such conditions is not very efficient as there is too much ground to cover. It is more cost effective to keep just a few spotters surveilling key points or use drones to deal with infiltrators and use the rest of your resources to create a mobile group of units supporting each other which can maneuver and pick isolated enemy units one by one.
[h2]Klaipeda[/h2]
The coastal city of Klaipeda is the only large harbor in Lithuania, making it a vital supply hub.
The city spreads over a large area and features a big quantity of high rises but is not extremely dense.
The districts are split by large avenues merging on giant roundabouts and plenty of parks create open areas where long range missiles and tanks can maneuver.
This map is much deeper than wide so the frontline is rather narrow resulting in fierce urban battles. This does not mean the battle is completely static as there is a large quantity of streets that can be used to outflank the enemy. It is hard to progress unnoticed with a column of vehicles but at the same time easy to bypass an enemy defensive position by simply using the next roads and outrun the infantry.
[h2]Tools and performance[/h2]
Compared to previous beta we have managed to optimize the game and you can now benefit from the best graphics with a smaller configuration.
We have introduced the support of AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR 3) which is compatible with a large quantity of GPUs and increases the performance a lot with minimal visual degradation.
We have also optimized the lowest graphic settings to let people play with configurations that were previously impossible.
This beta will be the occasion for us to get statistical information about players’ performance and continue the optimization wherever it is needed.
We have also improved the drawing speed of the line of sight tool by a factor 6. Press Alt to display this tool which will help you to understand where the line of sight is blocked. If you have a unit selected the detection distance will be automatically adjusted to the optics value of this unit. The tool also snaps to buildings now.
We are also working on another tool to display the elevation curves and a color overlay on the map to help you verify the reliefs if you have a doubt.
Finally you can now see which command your units are following by selecting them and pressing Shift key. A line will be displayed between the unit and the position of the current command with a color code depending on the type of command.
That's it for today, we hope you enjoyed it. See you next week for the final dev blog before the launch of the open beta on November 12th.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1604270/view/4513261623769801522
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1604270/view/4513262258492538993
Now it’s time to introduce the battlefields where they will face each other.
Previous multiplayer beta proposed 6 maps so we have decided to ramp up things a bit and propose 8 brand new maps this time.
We have selected a panel of very different layouts to let you experiment various gameplay situations and see what you prefer.
All these maps are large enough to host an intense 5v5 multiplayer match and still have room on the sides to let planes maneuver and to give room for infiltrations and flanking attacks.
They are also full of details and contain unique visual elements, lighting, weather…
[h2]Kaliningrad[/h2]
At the heart of the Russian exclave located between Lithuania and Poland lies the city of Kaliningrad. It features the only ice-free Russian port on the Baltic Sea, making it strategically paramount.
The city is characterized by a fortified historic center divided by several waterways, at the center of which lies an island on which stands Königsberg Cathedral.
A large industrial harbor spreads from the city center to the estuary of the Pregolya river and is interfaced with a large railway classification yard surrounded by large hangars and numerous bridges. A massive stadium surrounded by multiple parkings is situated on the other side of the city and countless urban and commercial districts surround the city center.
The battle for Kaliningrad promises to be fierce as both teams start relatively close to each other on the western part of the map but on a different side of the estuary. They must rapidly progress East in the direction of the city center where the bridges are located to secure crossing points and capture objectives located on the other bank.
Of course amphibious units will prove their usefulness here more than anywhere else as their ability to cross the waterways allows them to infiltrate recon on the flanks or to launch assaults away from the heavily defended bridges.
[h2]River[/h2]
Far away from the hell of urban combat, this map proposes to fight in a much more open landscape mainly composed of fields surrounded by treelines, small villages and isolated farms. A river runs through it with several shallow water passages allowing any vehicle or infantry to cross at reduced speed.
These large open spaces might look like the perfect place to send formations of tanks on the attack, but beware, guided missiles can fully express their range advantage here. And high in the sky a drone might be watching you, maybe even designating you with its laser to guide artillery projectiles already flying in your direction. So run! Run from cover to cover, follow the treelines whenever you can and use smoke to conceal your movements. Otherwise, the apex predator of the open plains will swoop down on you with a roaring sound, and leave nothing behind but a carcass.
[h2]Refinery[/h2]
Countries fight to spread their influence in order to secure access to resources vital for their development. So what better symbol of this than to fight for the control of an oil refinery?
This large map features a huge oil refinery located on a plateau, separated by marchlands from the nearby city also located on another plateau.
The number of objectives proposed on this map is more than twice the usual number, separated into two main groups located in the refinery and the city. This unusual layout forces the teams to make a choice of repartition of their players. Will you play a classic 2xCity / 1xMiddle / 2xRefinery best suited for defense but that will fail to achieve numerical superiority anywhere or will you play an aggressive 0 / 2 / 3 or 3 / 2 / 0 to focus only on one side and the middle?
Having multiple possible strategies means that the victory will go to the most adaptable team, able to identify the enemy configuration, communicate and react accordingly.
For instance, dismounting your infantry early is a good reflex if you are going to be outnumbered but doing that when there is nobody in front of you and you failed to notice it means that someone else in your team is fighting 2v1.
[h2]Ruda[/h2]
Inspired by the area around the city of Kazlų Rūda in Lithuania. The city is surrounded by a large forest full of small clearing cut by agricultural expansion.
A military training ground and an airfield are also carved in the middle of the trees.
The unique layout of the trees on this map creates a different experience: instead of crossing fields to jump from one patch of cover to another, here you can follow narrow strips of forest to stay covered. This can facilitate infiltrations but it can also make troop movements slow and predictable. If an enemy is spotted progressing in a treeline you can easily guess where they are going and prepare an ambush or decide to move fast on a road instead as they won’t be able to react rapidly.
[h2]Dam[/h2]
Kaunas, the second biggest city of Lithuania is situated near an artificial lake created by a Dam.
We have faithfully represented this area which corresponds to the southern part of the city, the Dam itself and the zigzag of the river offering an interesting layout for a multiplayer battle.
The shape of the river impacts the layout of the roads and as a result each team has an advantage to push on one side of the map resulting in chaotic situations where both teams have successfully pushed their side which means they are now both located in each other’s back but on a different side of the river, meaning that they can cross the river to cut each other’s supply line resulting in a double encirclement hamburger.
[h2]Airbase[/h2]
This map represents Chkalovsk naval air base situated a few kilometers North-West of Kaliningrad. It’s a single long airstrip surrounded by hangars and bunkers hidden in the middle of the woods.
Infantry can be concealed in the Il-76 cargo planes landed near the hangars. Beware, though, as they are not resilient at all so using them as a fighting position is taking the risk to see your squads disappear in a pile of debris.
You can see the suburbs of Kaliningrad stretching out in a corner of the map while the rest of the city can be seen in the distance.
The objectives are split in two groups located on both sides of the airstrip, generally resulting in the action being concentrated there and nobody paying much attention to what is happening on the airstrip itself. This is the occasion to try daring maneuvers across the airstrip or in its axis, all the way to the enemy rear where the fragile and expensive artillery and air defense units are located.
[h2]Airport[/h2]
Based on the international airport of Riga and its surroundings, this map proposes a unique and spectacular scenery for an epic battle. The airport is surrounded by large highways leading to it and to the capital city of Latvia.
Fun fact: the house of one of the moderators of the official Discord server is located on this map. Please avoid nuking it!
The objective zones are evenly spread and the frontline is large due to the fact that it is played in the diagonal of the map. Trying to create an impervious frontline in such conditions is not very efficient as there is too much ground to cover. It is more cost effective to keep just a few spotters surveilling key points or use drones to deal with infiltrators and use the rest of your resources to create a mobile group of units supporting each other which can maneuver and pick isolated enemy units one by one.
[h2]Klaipeda[/h2]
The coastal city of Klaipeda is the only large harbor in Lithuania, making it a vital supply hub.
The city spreads over a large area and features a big quantity of high rises but is not extremely dense.
The districts are split by large avenues merging on giant roundabouts and plenty of parks create open areas where long range missiles and tanks can maneuver.
This map is much deeper than wide so the frontline is rather narrow resulting in fierce urban battles. This does not mean the battle is completely static as there is a large quantity of streets that can be used to outflank the enemy. It is hard to progress unnoticed with a column of vehicles but at the same time easy to bypass an enemy defensive position by simply using the next roads and outrun the infantry.
[h2]Tools and performance[/h2]
Compared to previous beta we have managed to optimize the game and you can now benefit from the best graphics with a smaller configuration.
We have introduced the support of AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR 3) which is compatible with a large quantity of GPUs and increases the performance a lot with minimal visual degradation.
We have also optimized the lowest graphic settings to let people play with configurations that were previously impossible.
This beta will be the occasion for us to get statistical information about players’ performance and continue the optimization wherever it is needed.
We have also improved the drawing speed of the line of sight tool by a factor 6. Press Alt to display this tool which will help you to understand where the line of sight is blocked. If you have a unit selected the detection distance will be automatically adjusted to the optics value of this unit. The tool also snaps to buildings now.
We are also working on another tool to display the elevation curves and a color overlay on the map to help you verify the reliefs if you have a doubt.
Finally you can now see which command your units are following by selecting them and pressing Shift key. A line will be displayed between the unit and the position of the current command with a color code depending on the type of command.
That's it for today, we hope you enjoyed it. See you next week for the final dev blog before the launch of the open beta on November 12th.
PDSS: A team of 4 combat divers able to swim across waterways. They are extremely stealthy and can be airdropped, making them superb at infiltration behind enemy lines.
Spetsnaz VMF: A 6 man special forces team equipped either in close quarter configuration with Bullpup PKP machine guns and SVU-AS marksman rifles or long range fire support with ASVK anti-materiel sniper rifles.
BRDM-2: An old wheeled armored car with a variety of weapons options available including a mix of Kord 12.7mm and KPVT 14.5mm heavy machine guns, automatic grenade launcher and KPVB 23mm autocannon.
1V14 Mashina-S: tracked recon platform with a laser designator which can be upgraded with MRU advanced recon module to increase its detection range.
BTR-90 is a transport exclusive to naval troops’ recon teams. This is basically an upgraded BTR-80 using a BMP-2 turret with its 30mm autocannon and Konkurs ATGMs and optional AGS-17 grenade launcher.
Chernye Berety: A 14 man squad of veteran morpehi equipped either with RPG-27 or larger 125mm RPG-28s. They are a formidable unit in any situation but come at a high price and the number of available squads is low.
Gornostrelki: Mountaineers consisting of 7 man team, armed with medium range weaponry including 2 SVD marksman rifles and a light Metis ATGM. They are best used as skirmishers engaging enemy infantry and light vehicles outside of the usual combat range and falling back once the enemy gets in range.
PTRK Konkurs: A dedicated anti-tank team manning a Konkurs ATGM launcher which can be upgraded to the Konkurs-M with additional damage and armor penetration. Its long range makes it an efficient deterrent against any armored vehicle but will still lack the teeth to seriously threaten modern tanks' frontal armor.
The BMP-3F, a navalized version of the BMP-3, which can provide some serious firepower to any infantry battle with its 100mm gun + 30mm autocannon. The “Sodema” fire control system can be installed, providing better optics, weapon range, and access to the more powerful gun launched Arkan-M missiles.
The BT-3F, is a turretless version of the BMP-3 with an enlarged troop compartment allowing up to 14 soldiers to be transported which allows it to bring 2 squads at once.
BRDM Konkurs/Kvartet: A BRDM-2 chassis equipped with 5 ready-to-fire ATGM tubes on the roof. The loadout consists of 10 Konkurs-M anti-tank missiles and 10 smaller Fagot missiles for use against infantry. The turret can be replaced by a modified BRDM-2 turret equipped with 4 ready to launch Kornet missiles and 4 additional missiles in reserve.
PT-76: This light amphibious tank has been in service for decades in the Naval troops. The original 76mm gun is now completely obsolete and can only be expected to deal with the lightest vehicles or as fire support against infantry.
T-80BV/BVM: This tank is assigned to naval troops because its gas turbine engine works better in the extremely cold temperatures of the arctic where the naval troops are operating. The base BV version is pretty old, its armor is still good enough to resist even the most powerful autocannon rounds but will be pierced by pretty much any tank gun. The armor piercing rounds are pretty old too and will barely scratch an Abrams at maximum range. But this tank has other advantages: it is fast and has an advanced autoloader providing a good rate of fire. So it is perfect to counter numerous vehicles or to provide fire support against infantry.
2S23 Nona-SVK: A 120mm mortar mounted on the wheeled BTR-80 platform making it mobile on roads and amphibious. It can trade speed and the amphibious capability for more armor and can be upgraded with rocket assisted and laser guided mortar rounds. The ammo reserve is low, meaning you will frequently have to resupply it.
2S39 Magnolia: The opposite of the Nona-SVK, this is a mortar based on the slow DT-30 chassis towing a 120mm mortar system. A large quantity of ammunition is stored and you can choose between high-explosive rounds efficient against infantry in buildings and cluster rounds spreading their damage over a larger area and effective at disabling vehicles.
2S1 Gvozdika / 2S34 Hosta: The Gvodzika is an old 122mm howitzer rather inaccurate and with a low rate of fire equipped with high explosive and smoke rounds as well as a few HEAT rounds for self defense. It can be upgraded to the more modern 2S34 Hosta with a faster rate of fire, more accuracy and it can access laser guided rounds.
A222 Bereg: This coastal defense system equipped with a 130mm gun usually mounted on Russian war ships. It can be used as a standard howitzer but can also engage ground targets and helicopters with special rounds equipped with proximity fuzes.
9K720 Iskander: This long range missile launcher can be equipped either with 2 large ballistic missiles or 2 to 4 cruise missiles.
Tor-M2DT: This is a DT-30 chassis with a Tor-M2 module towed. This anti-aircraft system stores 16 vertically launched missiles, that are very efficient against helicopters and against airplanes at short range. Activating the radar increases the range of detection and engagement, and gives the ability to target projectiles like cruise missiles. The Tor module can be upgraded to a Pantsir module with 18 missiles with more range and damage.
ZSU-23-4 Shilka: An old anti-aircraft system equipped with four 23mm cannons, it can still prove a menace at short range against low flying aircraft, even more so when upgraded with additional Igla MANPADS.
S-350 Vityaz: This modern anti-aircraft defense system mounted on a truck holds 12 vertically launched missiles. The missiles are smaller and have less range than the S-300 which makes it less efficient against aircrafts but better at intercepting saturation attacks with cruise and ballistic missiles.
Ka-52K Katran: A navalized Ka-52 attack helicopter with only 4 pylons instead of 6 to make it easier to store on the deck of a ship. On top of the usual Rockets and ATGM carried by the regular Ka-52 it has exclusive access to some exotic weaponry: Kh-31P anti-radiation missiles, Hermes-A fire and forget ATGMs, and even Kh-35U cruise missiles.
Mi-38T: A recent evolution of the Mi-8 intended for use in the arctic. This is an unarmed medium lift helicopter, it can transport 30 men or 7 tons of supplies in one trip at a relatively fast speed.
MiG-29K: A lightweight fighter, agile but with a low autonomy designed for interception. There is a joke saying that this plane grants you air superiority over your own airfield.
Su-33: This old multirole aircraft is limited to R-73 and the older semi-active R-27 missiles for anti-aircraft duty. It also lacks the avionics to use guided air-to-ground munitions so it is limited to dumb bombs and rockets but has access to a large choice of yield for them.
Tu-142: Naval patrol variant of the Tu-95 “Bear” strategic bomber, it carries a smaller bomb load than its sibling, but can still deliver 8 Kh-35Us cruise missiles, 32 FAB-250s, 6 FAB-1500s or a single FAB-3000.
Tu-22M3: This large supersonic maritime strike aircraft makes an appearance delivering up to 3 very fast Kh-32s missiles, or utilizing its afterburner to deliver fast bombing runs with a multitude of bomb options, including 8 KAB-1500 laser guided bombs.
Yak-38M: A slow and lightly armed VTOL aircraft, it stands little chance in a direct air to air engagement, but can still prove valuable in hunting enemy helicopters with gunpods and old R-60 missiles, or performing a light bomber role.
