Beyond The Wire News

With the Steam Free Weekend around the corner, which will take place from Thursday, May 20th to Monday, May 24th, we are releasing an update to Beyond The Wire, which will address a variety of gameplay and balancing issues and optimizations.
This update won’t include any new content but should improve the gameplay feel overall.

Notable changes include the rework of various parts of Cantigny, Sniper scopes causing a glare to be visible from a distance, bolting speed being increased by 15%, the reduction of HMG accuracy over distance, stamina no longer depleting for sprinting or vaulting and the fixing of a variety of gameplay exploits.

We also have addressed a number of crashes and performance issues. Lastly, we’ve upgraded to Unreal Engine 4.23.1 which should help with additional stability.


[h2]Gameplay[/h2]
[h3]NEW[/h3]

• Added “Central Nervous System” hitbox which allows one-shot kills over distance if players hit the spine area
  
• Added scope glare to Sniper rifles
  

[h3]CHANGES[/h3]

• Increased bolting speed by 15%
  
• Increased visibility of muzzle flashes for bolt action rifles
  
• Disabled stamina consumption from player movement (running, vaulting, jumping). Focus aim and melee block still cause stamina to deplete.
  
• Changed bayonet charges to no longer perform an attack when stopping the charge or running into other objects
  
• Sappers can now rearm their Ladders on Ammunition Dumps
  
• Reduced Heavy Machine Gun accuracy over distance
  
• Reduced Heavy Machine Gun firing angle from 75 to 50
  
• Reduced player rim light “glow” opacity from 0.5 to 0.15
  

[h3]FIXES[/h3]

• Fixed players being able to build emplacements while they are in an emplacement
  
• Fixed players sometimes becoming invincible on emplacements
  

[h2]Weapons[/h2]

• Fixed SMLE MK III animation glitching out when spamming LMB during reload
  
• Fixed MG08 ammo count not showing on the HUD
  
• Fixed No. 20 Rifle Grenade being called “VB Rifle Grenade”
  

[h2]Maps[/h2]
[h3]ANSONCOURT[/h3]

• Added Ansoncourt Assault & Frontlines layers for FR
  
• Fixed trench lamps rendering out too soon
  
• Fixed terrain sticking out on bunker entrance at B2-4-5
  
• Fixed floating trees at C2-1-9
  

[h3]CANTIGNY[/h3]

• Added more paths and repainted large sections of Cantigny
  
• Added additional detailing
  
• Reworked sightlines and negative space
  
• Reduced foliage
  

[h3]COMBLES[/h3]

• Fixed some trees appearing glossy
  

[h3]FRISE[/h3]

• Fixed missing fire particle effect
  

[h3]POELCAPELLE[/h3]

• Fixed hole in the ground at B3-2-3
  
• Fixed exposed water plane at C3-1-4
  
• Fixed floating crater at C3-1-7
  
• Fixed shadow in artillery shelter at C3-3-8 being too dark
  
• Fixed exposed terrain at D3-4-9
  

[h3]SECHAULT[/h3]

• Fixed an exposed edge of a water plane at C3-3-5
  
• Fixed missing collision on trench wall at E3-4-5
  
• Fixed foliage clipping through some walls at E3-5-1
  

[h3]ZONNEBEKE[/h3]

• Added additional polish
  
• Improved areas around capture points
  
• Improved performance by updating terrain
  
• Reduced visual noise across the map
  
• Fixed rendering distance for various objects
  
• Fixed collisions for various objects
  

[h2]Art[/h2]

• Fixed Mk1 Grenade being oriented incorrectly
  
• Fixed BEF cape clipping through head
  
• Fixed decals on German medic role
  
• Fixed weapon and player model shadows not being displayed correctly on different quality settings
  
• Reduced the number of full beards on player models
  
• Removed pixelated smoke effect
  

[h2]UI[/h2]

• Added BEF and HHF loading screens
  
• Updated animations for Frontlines / Assault notifications
  
• Updated Commander call-in map markers to scale with the actual radius
  
• Updated blood screen effects when getting wounded
  
• Attempted fix to address floating deployment screen
  
• Fixed minimap alignment on all maps
  
• Fixed rounds sticking out of weapon on deployment screen
  

[h2]Optimization[/h2]

• Optimized collision for various trench objects
  
• Optimized collision for farmhouses
  
• Optimized collisions on dead trees
  

[h2]Miscellaneous[/h2]

• Upgraded to Unreal Engine 4.23.1
  
• Fixed a crash related to SL abilities
  
• Fixed a crash related to the new interaction system
  
• Fixed a crash related to HUD widgets
  

[h2]Known issues[/h2]

• Changing stance causes the camera to flicker
  
• New blood effect visibility doesn’t scale with the amount of damage take or health left
  
• No. 20 Rifle Grenade equip animation not properly lined up
  
• No. 20 Rifle Grenade uses placeholder sounds
  
• Switching Audio quality in the options menu will cause a crash. Please restart the game to prevent that from happening.
  
• AMD FX users will have degraded performance due to issues with the audio system. We’re still investigating possible solutions
  
• VOIP widget role icon is not being displayed correctly
  
• Damage radius of field cannons will sometimes cause players to not be killed immediately
  

[h2]BUY NOW ON STEAM[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1058650/Beyond_The_Wire/

Earlier this month we finished up the Operation Two release with our first Community Feedback Survey where we asked our players to answer questions to help developers get a decent understanding of the sentiment across the community. The questions revolved mainly around the major changes that happened with Operation Two, with a final section engaging players to write their wishes for the future of the game.  With 900 responses, this article will show the full results from the form with no interpretation, so everyone can see how the community feels about various features and mechanics.

[h2]Section 1: General[/h2]

The first question asked players about their general time in Beyond The Wire. After the first 7 months of Early Access release, the majority of our players have played less than 50 hours (65%) with over a third of players having more than 50 hours in-game.


The next question aimed to see how the community perceived Operation Two as a whole. Thankfully over 85% of players said the update was good or better! This is reassuring for the development team to see the changes being made are welcomed.


The third question for this section asked players to state how much time they have played in the update. Over half of the respondents have played below 10 hours (63%), with the rest netting over 10 hours.


Finally, for this section, we wanted to see how the community feel generally about the update. It is reassuring to see over 75% of players felt an improvement in the game with this update, although a smaller percentage (16.6%) said they haven’t noticed a difference.



[h2]Section 2: Gameplay[/h2]

The second section sought to gauge the sentiment on a few of the mechanic changes and new systems introduced. The first question asked if players preferred the new interaction system, changing a few inventory items and player interactions into a single keybind. The large majority of our players (49.2%)  feel this change is an improvement, while a number would like to keep the system with some changes (31.8%), with the final 19% preferring the old inventory system.


The next question engaged the players on their opinion of the new hit detection audio feedback system. The overwhelming majority like the system (68.4%) and 21.1% want to keep the system but improve it. The remaining 10.5% of players stated the audio had a negative impact on their experience.


As we continue to tweak gun handling we asked the community their views on the new sway values. While 37.5% liked the new handling, most players didn’t notice the change and the final 7.3% would like to see sway values changed back.


The following question asked if players had noticed their engagements happening at closer distances due to the damage drop off. The majority stated they had indeed been engaging the enemy at shorter distances, with the remainder saying their firefights had been the same as before the update.


The last two questions on this section revolved around the latest revisions of our game modes.

First we asked if the community had found the Frontlines game mode more enjoyable since the overhaul. Again the majority said they have been enjoying the new version (64.6%) and 29.9% saying they hadn’t noticed a difference. The final 5.5% said they haven’t enjoyed the game mode more this update.


A follow up asked if the new Preparation Phase in the Assault game mode was worthwhile. 62.1% said yes, with 23.7% needing more time in the game mode to judge properly. Just 14.2% said the new phase was pointless.



[h2]Section 3: Maps[/h2]

The two questions in this section were written to identify which of the new maps was performing the worst for players, as well as which map from our collection was the favourite.

Out of the 3 new maps that released with Operation Two Poelcappelle has the worst performance (46.1%) followed by Sechault (28.3%) and finally Combles (25.5%) which appears to have the best performance.


For the first time, we have asked players to share their favourite map. Interestingly Zonnebeke is the community’s favourite map (22%) with Chateau-Thierry being the second (19.3%) and Poelcappelle being the third favourite map.
List:
Zonnebeke 22%
Chateau-Thierry 19.3%
Poelcappelle 15.6%
Combles  12.5%
Sechault 12%
Ansoncourt 7.4%
Frise 6.5%
Cantigny 4.8%



[h2]Section 4: Performance[/h2]

This section sought to identify the performance of the game. First, we asked overall how Operation Two performed compared to the earlier build. Most players noticed an improvement with 50.8% saying the game now ran better. 37.6% said the game ran the same as before, with just 11.6% of players noticing the game ran worse.


Secondly, we tried to seek out which issue was giving the players the most frustration. Map optimization was the biggest area of concern (42.6%) along with network issues (40%). Worryingly, 17.5% of our community have had crashes ruin their experience since the update was released.


[h2]Section 5: A Look To The Future[/h2]

The final section was aimed at the future and asked players to write their wishes for the future. A multiple-choice question closed out the form to see which types of content our players would like to see in the future. This list was written to gauge what content the community deemed important and perhaps reflect our development decisions for the immediate future.

More Factions 65.4%
More maps 57.8%
A new theatre 57.2%
Customization and progression 51.7%
New game modes 38.9%
Steam challenges 15.8%


Thanks to all of our players who submitted their feedback, it has given our dev team a great snapshot of the current situation. We will continue to share these surveys when large updates make changes to the game. Stay posted for the next one arriving later in the year. See you in the trenches, Soldier!

After the successful release of Operation Two and the reveal of our new and updated road map, we are now ready to open up Beyond The Wire for a Steam Free Weekend! Kicking off on the 20th of May, Beyond The Wire will be free to play on Steam until Monday the 24th! Coinciding with the free weekend Beyond The Wire will also be on sale during this time, with a 35% sale happening meaning the game will cost just £18 / $22.75 / E19.50! We can't wait to open Beyond The Wire to those looking to try the game and meet the new people joining our community. The game will be receiving a quick update next week in preparation for the free weekend with balancing, optimization work and bug fixes being the main agenda.



As Beyond The Wire opens up to the public it is important that our veterans take time to help new players understand the game and get maximum enjoyment. With communication and teamwork being a huge part of the experience, we're hoping our experienced players can set the example for how our community behaves and interacts with one another.

Stay posted on that update arriving soon Soldier. See you in the trenches!

It is with great excitement that we reveal our latest road map, and for the first time give a broader view of how Beyond The Wire will look in the future. While we have discussed plans sporadically during streams and discussions with the community we decided it was time to lay the future down so our players can see all the interesting features being planned and where Beyond The Wire is headed. With Operation Two closing out the first 6 months of Early Access, we are ready to present the journey ahead for Beyond The Wire. Throughout Early Access we will continue to release Operations to deliver relevant and fascinating content that delivers a new experience on the Western Front, with new diverse battlefields, iconic weapons and important factions all changing the battlefield around them. Supplementing these larger releases will be smaller updates to fix bugs, make UI improvements, introduce new weaponry for existing factions and make general quality of life and optimization improvements.

Note: This roadmap is subject to change dependant on community feedback and development requirements.

The major pieces to identify in our new roadmap are the two Operations that follow For King and Country. This summer brings Canada's 100 days, releasing the Canadian Expeditionary Force along with our initial customization and progression system and new weapons for existing factions. Following this operation players will see the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps joining the fray along with a first iteration of vehicles, flamethrowers and a multiplayer campaign. Throughout Early Access, there will be ongoing improvements to client and server optimization, sounds & special effects and continued level polish as we improve the game in all areas.

Our long term development plans which go beyond the 1.0 launch will see us aim for air battles, a COOP mode against AI and a brand new theatre, opening a new front of World War I. We will reveal details on all these new features and operations in due time, so remember to stay up to date on our development recaps and future updates on the game. See you in the trenches, Soldier!

[h2]Welcome Soldiers![/h2]

Our recent update For King and Country made some big changes and we wanted to get a better understanding of how the community as a whole feels about the recent changes. These feedback surveys will be used when we release large updates that make certain changes to the game. The development team are wanting to see how the community reacts to the changes and their general sentiment on the game at that point. We'll be using these over the course of Early Access where we feel a need to survey the communities feedback. Please fill out this google form below before Friday 14th May when we will be closing submissions, after which we will share the results publicly. Thanks in advance for your time to complete the form, we appreciate your feedback and we will endeavour to address areas of concern.

https://forms.gle/82wHVGXjWnsNWmt98