Beyond The Wire News

Our latest update is here and is filled with new content, changes and fixes as we continue to improve everyone's experience Beyond The Wire.  We recently revealed the latest map Cantigny and new Training Range were arriving with this update, but many more changes are also included, with videos, screenshots and full patch notes below!

[h3]Cantigny, 1918[/h3]



[h3]Training Range[/h3]



[h3]New lighting system[/h3]
A new lighting system has been worked on to give more realistic and immersive visuals to all environments.








The placeholder animations for the German and French rifle grenades have been updated:
VIDEO Gewehr 98 rifle grenade animation VIDEO Lebel rifle grenade reload animation

[h2]Patchnotes[/h2]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]
- Added new map Cantigny
- Added 4 gameplay layers for Cantigny
- Added new map Training Range
- Added interpolation to deviation during ads transitions, making quick-scoping less effective
- Added option to start shooting range from main menu
- Added shovel to french recruit kit
- Disabled melee in enemy territory
- Disabled rally point sharing
- Fixed kills not being awarded to commander
- Fixed not switching back to the correct weapon when equipping or unequipping gas mask
- Fixed placement of Ammo Box and Trench Shield
- Fixed players being able to heal and bandage others through walls
- Fixed section leaders not being able to kick members using kick button
- Fixed Water Volume not applying slow when traversing two water volumes
- Increased all ads transitions by 0.1 sec
- Increased player movement speed to 100% during melee attacks
- Increased team kill auto-ban threshold from 7 to 15
- Reduced lifespan of ammo bag from 300 to 30 seconds
- Reworked Commander Phone to work more reliably
- Reworked enemy territory functionality
- Set amount of grenades per bag from 5 to -1 (unlimited)
- Update ammo crate to resupply player with 1 grenade and 1 magazine every 5 seconds


[h3]Optimization[/h3]
- Added custom LODs to all infantry weapons and equipment items
- Added new LODs and imposters to foliage assets such as trees and bushes
- Enabled distance field shadows on large Frise foliage assets
- Fixed collisions on various environment art pieces, such as trenches, to increase rendering performance
- Fixed non-FX AMD CPUs being forced to use low audio quality settings
- Fixed incorrect VRAM budget calculation
- Optimized main menu UI performance
- Optimized nametag widget reliability
- Optimized network priority for spawn points
- Optimized render distance for trench pieces
- Optimized scoreboard UI performance
- Optimized Staaken plane asset
- Optimized weapon information UI widget
- Optimized barbed wire textures, materials, and static meshes
- Removed need for restarting game when changing texture setting
- Removed unnecessary references to unused or outdated assets to reduce RAM consumption
- Reduced maximum texture size for a variety of placeholder assets
- Updated field cannon and grenade launcher impact particle effects against metal surfaces
- Updated grass to only update 3 times per second rather than every frame
- Updated physics components for the MG08 heavy machine gun
- Updated physics components of all infantry equipment items


[h3]UI[/h3]
- Added a notification if a player cannot select a role
- Added message to UI when receiving a respawn pentalty because SL is too far away
- Fixed dismount UI not disappearing when emplacements get destroyed
- Fixed gas mask overlay not showing when player is on an emplaced weapon
- Fixed leave section button being white and not visible for active section when locked
- Fixed objective markers being visible in Role Selection Screen on Assault gamemode
- Fixed rally points not showing on deployment screen unless a section member is close to it
- Fixed UI font rendering issues
- Improved emplaced weapons camera functionality
- Reduced interaction widget delay from 1.5 to 0.7 seconds and give up widget delay from 2.5 to 1.5 seconds
- Updated loading screen images
- Updated various UI icons


[h3]Visuals[/h3]
- Added 3rd person equip animations for Enfield VB grenade launcher
- Added new lighting system using real-world exposure values
- Disabled collisions on new tree assets
- Fixed dark spots on various foliage assets
- Fixed floating pistol on deployment screen
- Fixed Frise layers (including rain weather) not having the correct ambient sound
- Fixed glowing Character skin on various maps
- Fixed lighting issues related to cloud shadows
- Replaced placeholder animations for G98 rifle grenade launcher
- Replaced placeholder animations for Lebel rifle grenade launcher
- Updated colour of Adrian helmet for Machinegunner and Grenadier class
- Updated various textures, materials and particle effects to work with new real-world lighting system
- Various bug fixes on Ansoncourt
- Various bug fixes on Frise
- Various bug fixes on Zonnebeke


[h3]Audio[/h3]
- Added delay before applying wounded sound effects
- Added First and third person melee swing sound effects
- Added missing sounds for G98 rifle grenade equip and unequip
- Added sounds to M1903 Springfield
- Fixed Viven-Bessières rifle grenades impact sounds
- Increased max audio channels to 128
- Updated incoming field cannon shell sounds
- Updated medium distance grenade explosion sounds


[h3]General Fixes[/h3]
- Fixed bandage not checking if player is dead before checking team affiliation
- Fixed gunner being teleported back to emplacement if the emplacement is shoveled down and back up
- Fixed weapons floating in the air after a player disconnects
- Fixed floating Chauchat when player is killed
- Fixed not being able to rebind actions to the H key
- Fixed a crash where it showed the loading screen when quitting the game
- Fixed artillery gun not checking collision with tanks
- Fixed emplacements not being destroyed when a section is being disbanded


[h3]Misc[/h3]
- Added server information to scoreboard for administrators
- Added Server and Admin messages to be shown on a separate queued message display instead of chat box
- Added SteelSeries GameSense integration

[h3]0.8.5941 Hotfix[/h3]
- Fixed game crashing when loading into the Shooting Range from the main menu
- Fixed sound layer not loading in for Frise Frontlines


We wish everyone in the community a happy holiday as we see out the end of 2020. We're very excited about the next year for Beyond The Wire, we hope you are too! Stay posted, Soldiers!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Our December update brings a new field of battle to Beyond The Wire. Cantigny will take players to be part of the spring offensive of 1918 and the first major assault that the AEF led, alongside the French Republic, since entering the war a year earlier.



Despite only being a small hamlet of farmyards, houses and shops, the village of Cantigny was important geographically to both sides with Paris, Amiens and the English Channel all within striking distance. After seeing many years of undisturbed peace despite the war raging around, The German Empire took control of Cantigny during spring offensive in March 1918, and after suffering through a month of artillery exchange, the AEF launched a counter-attack to retake the small village.



Across the whole battlefield, the damage from the early barrages is evident. Water filled craters make for treacherous crossing even without enemy fire. The engineers have constructed narrow wooden bridges and placed duckboards where the mud and water are particularly troublesome.



Both forces have to fight through the remnants of the hamlet as they progress. The low stone walls and reinforced firing platforms offer positions of hardcover for infantry to prepare for the next push. The outer edges of the farmland feature dense hedgerows which provide concealment when looking for flanking opportunities.



Thick rows of barbed wire have been erected around the hamlet as defences, blocking paths and funnelling infantry through dangerous chokepoints. Soldiers must be wary of pushing through thick hedgerows though as coil's of wire line many of the foliage around the area.



With long lines of sight, fire support crews have an abundance of options on engaging in the battle. With the barbed-wire chokepoints making traversal awkward for infantry, HMG and artillery detachments can take advantage of well-planned positions to protect exposed flanks.



At the centre of the map is the Cantigny Cathedral which has been heavily fortified in preparation for the assault. Hills of barbed wire have been installed around the building to deter the entente from entering.



The old Catacombs that lie beneath the cathedral have been established as a temporary storeroom. Attacking forces must enter the dark and gloomy corridors to flush out any enemies, removing any threat of ambush from below.



Safety in the rear lines is found through the entrenched positions at headquarters. Teams will need to move through a short stage of field encampments and trench networks before hitting the main fields of battle.



Join us tomorrow, Friday 11th December at 11 AM PST / 7 PM UTC for a developer livestream taking a look at this December update!

We revealed in our road map last week that our December update will include our first iteration of the Training Range. Providing space behind the lines, Command has approved the construction of a small firing range where recruits can hone their skills before heading to the front. The range allows players to use all classes and weapons systems in an offline area.



Swinging sand-filled buckets make up the majority of targets for increasing small arms familiarity. These target posts are spaced sporadically at 50m, 100m,150m and 200m. Other make-shift targets such as glass bottles can also be found on the range.



A sandbag-lined firing position allows machine gunners to deploy bipods, while field canons are stationed at various positions giving artillery crewman practice to perfect their aim.



The training range has been set up to replicate the environment’s that soldiers will be fighting over on the frontline. Muddy ground, barbed wire restrictions and small tench networks present the challenges that all soldiers on the Western Front will face.



Soldiers also have the opportunity to get comfortable sweeping underground spaces. A small bunker has been established underneath the remains of a building giving areas to practice breaching and close-quarter engagements.



The Training Range will go through changes and improvements as we continue development and will be one of the introduction features that help new players get to grips with the systems in Beyond The Wire. Expect additions such as in-game tutorial videos and further offline areas in the future!

Stand by for further detail on this new update coming in December!

After an extremely exciting month of release, working to get hotfixes our for major issues and some recovery time for the team, we are now spinning up to deliver the major instalments of Early Access content for Beyond The Wire. Below you can find the initial living road map that we will be updating over time as update plans and timelines are cemented.



The final months of this year will see players enter the battle of Cantigny, the first assault of the AEF which featured a combined effort with the French Republic and our upcoming developer blog will take a look at this new field of battle. Also included in this update will be the first version of our Training Range where players can hone their skills offline.



Operation Two: For King and Country arrives in Q1 of 2021 with the British Expeditionary Force joining the battlefield. Three new maps will also come with this new faction, Sechault and Saint-Thierry and Poelcapelle. Operation Two also includes the first sub-faction for BTW - The Harlem Hellfighters, who will be an option as a faction on certain maps. The 369th Infantry Regiment was one of the first American regiments to serve alongside the French Army and we're excited to feature this infamous force! Following on from the second operation will be further instalments where you can expect new weaponry, maps, sub-factions and more!

As always, stay posted for future updates on development. See you in the trenches Soldiers!

Our latest hotfix arrives with some more fixes to issues reported. After a tremendous effort in getting the game to Early Access, our development team are now taking some well-deserved time off and will be back before the end of the month ready to work towards the first content update later in the year. With this in mind please expect a lull in updates while our batteries are recharged. For this week's hotfix please see the full changelog below:


[h2]Gameplay[/h2]
Increased bandages for medics from 8 to 12
Increased max ammo count on ammo bags from 100 to 1000

[h2]UI[/h2]
Fixed join button not working when infantry section has 9 members
Fixed chat item taking up too much vertical space and player name wrapping too early
Fixed ranging widget showing up briefly when first loading into team selection view
Fixed placement preview texture for field telephone
Adjusted default value for server description in the server details panel
Adjusted icon and font for section members
Replaced warning text on modal when pressing giving up button
Replaced any reference to "Squads" with "Section" in section creation panel
Replaced telephone HUD texture
Removed "Friends only" option from section creation pane
Removed Fire Team context options

[h2]General Fixes[/h2]
Fixed placement angle for field telephone being too low


We'll see you on the next update Soldier!