Beyond The Wire News

We hope you're enjoying Beyond The Wire so far! The feedback and bug reporting from the community have been a massive help in tracking down these issues and work towards fixes. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we're gathering this feedback and working through critical and game-breaking issues.

In our first post-release hotfix we've addressed issues regarding Simplified Chinese localization, game crashes, Windows 7 players crashing during loading screens, texture quality issues and more!

See the full changelog below:

- Fixed Simplified Chinese localization not rendering correctly due to misconfiguration of the fallback font
- Fixed game sometimes crashing when interacting with emplaced weapons
- Fixed game sometimes crashing when entering an emplaced weapon
- Fixed game sometimes crashing when equipping the Gas Mask
- Fixed game sometimes crashing when spawning limbs after player model gets dismembered
- Fixed team damage not being disabled during preparation phase on Frontlines
- Fixed skybox loading additional a high-resolution textures
- Fixed landscape textures not loading lower resolution variants
- Fixed Frise ground textures not looking wet on Frise Assault v2
- Disabled loading screen videos for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users due to outdated codecs causing a crash
- Increased connection timeout when joining a server to 7 minutes to help players with slower connections and hard drive

Please keep reporting your issues and problems so we can help deliver the best experience for players.

Stay posted, Solders!

The day has finally arrived! After thousands of hours of testing, hundreds of thousands of rounds fired and countless battles over the Zonnebeke Church, Beyond The Wire has launched to Early Access!

Releasing today, 21st October Beyond The Wire is priced at $34.99 USD, €29.99 EUR or £27.79 GBP. There is also an optional soundtrack bundle for an additional cost of $4.99. Players who purchase the OST bundle will get access to all of the BTW soundtrack releases going forward.

Heading into Early Access with a plethora of features and options for gameplay, Beyond The Wire aims to deliver a new WW1 experience concentrating on immersion, action and strategy. Whether leading the charge as an assault troop or guiding fire missions with the artillery detachment BTW has a role for everyone. Below we have highlighted some of the main aspects of this Early Access launch, including main features and content.



Maps Zonnebeke Frise Ansoncourt Development update: Fields of Battle

Factions French Republic German Empire American Expeditionary Forces Development update: Character models

Weapons
https://playbtw.com/early-access-weapon-mechanics-systems/ https://playbtw.com/development-update-armaments/ https://playbtw.com/early-access-arsenal/

Rifles
– Lebel Modele 1886/M93
– Gewehr 1898
– Enfield 1917

Revolvers
– Modele 1892
– Colt 1917

Semi-automatic pistols
– Ruby M1915
– Colt 1911
– Pistole 08
– Lange Pistole 08 (Stick and Drum Mag variants)

Rifle grenade launchers
– M1917 Karabinergranate
– VB Rifle Grenade

Grenades
– Grenade F1
– M1916 Stielhandgranate
– Mk1 Grenade
– M1916 “Geballte Ladung” (6x)
– Handnebelbombe

Melee Weapons
– Improvised Trench Clubs
– S98/05 Bajonett

Tools
– Binoculars
– Wire Cutters
– Gas Mask

Deployables
– Ammo Crates
– Sniper Shields
– Sandbags
– Field Telephone

Emplacements
– Maschinengewehr 08
– Feldkannone 96 n.A.

Off-Map Support
– Heavy Explosive Artillery Barrage
– Smoke Artillery Barrage
– Chlorine Artillery Barrage

See you in the trenches, Soldier!

The latest instalment of developer blogs is a  reveal of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). Closing out the faction reveals, the AEF is the third faction that will be available at Early Access release. Weighing in with some of the highest standards of weaponry and uniform, players will have a tough time in any match-up against this faction.



Despite being a supplier to the Allied Powers, the US had remained neutral before entering the conflict in April of 1917. Mobilising millions of personnel to the war effort, the US was reinforcing the Western Front with 10,000 men per day by the summer of 1918.



Combining their own innovations with many of the entente’s equipment, U.S. forces were thrown into action after a series of successful advances on the Western Front by the German forces. Over the later part of 1918, the American Expeditionary Force played a pivotal role as the Allies finally halted and pushed back the German Empire. The American uniform was one of the best for the Western Front theatre with no expense spared. The fine, thick-soled boots and thick leg strappings handled the landscape hazards well, and the durable brown wool that made up the uniform provided half-decent protection against the weather.



The AEF backpack gear and support equipment were of the highest standard and workmanship, which is not surprising for a country that entered the war later than the rest and not at a point of exhaustion caused by the prolonged campaign. A water flask, first aid kit and other supplementary equipment were attached to the belt in their own pouches along with ammunition. The AEF adopted the gas mask made by the French Army, perhaps one of the most convenient in the entire war.



The haversack formed the basis of the “Field Pack” and carried all of a soldier’s needs such as rations, extra clothing, and all personal items. The haversack often contained a wrapped tent along with pegs, a shovel and a poncho for cold weather and was secured tight, often with 3 straps.



The AEF faction in-game will also have a variety of headgear that is inspired by the items that the soldiers wore during the conflict. NCO's, Commanders, Assault troops, all have specific headgear that allows you to identify team mates, and enemies, quickly.




The American Expeditionary Force will be available when Beyond The Wire launches tomorrow at 10 AM PDT / 5 PM UTC / 6 PM BST. Join us an hour beforehand at 9 AM PDT / 4 PM PDT for a launch livestream with some of the lead devs for a chat and a preview of some of the content we haven't previewed up to now!

After announcing Beyond The Wire back in March the efforts of the team have been fully engaged towards preparing for Early Access release this year. After 5 months of alpha testing, we are now ready to enter the next stage of development and a release to steam.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


With great excitement, we can confirm that Beyond The Wire will be launching to Early Access on Wednesday 21st October 2020 and will be priced at $34.99 USD, €29.99 EUR or £27.79 GBP On launch day we will be hosting a developer livestream as well as spending some time in-game, so stay tuned for more information on that front!



With our release date planned for next week, applications for server hosting licenses are now open! Server licensing is managed by the Offworld Industries Server Hosting team who ensure server's meet standards. Follow their discord link below to join the hosting community and get the full information on this process, as well as any support that may be needed to get your server set up.




OWI Server Hosting Discord

One of our first developer blogs after announcing the project was the reveal of the French Republic and the German Empire. With those models being the foundation of our in-game characters, this article will be showing some of the progress on the 3d art for our character models, with new equipment and gear that represents more accurately the challenges and requirements demanded by the frontlines of the Great War.



With multiple player roles utilising many different types of equipment for their task ahead, player models in-game will need to reflect these loadouts. Continuing to consult media and documents from the period our authentic character design will ensure players get the most accurate WW1 experience possible.



The difficulties of trench warfare and the slow years of conflict forced advancement of not just the weapons of armies, but also the equipment and uniform of the frontline soldier. Prolonged engagements, stuttering supply chains and environmental hazards meant the modern soldier had to be much more extensively equipped than earlier.



[h2]French Republic[/h2]

France entered the war with slightly archaic ideas about modern combat, and this is clearly seen in what the soldiers wore. From afar, the French shoulder equipment resembled a pile of junk barely secured by the tight straps. However, it was based on the proven design of the Havresac Mle 1893 (or the Mle 1893/1914 "as de carreau" backpack variant), which was used until the Second World War.



In addition, the Poilu usually carried with them a spare pair of boots and a fabric, semi-rigid pouch in the shape of a bucket which was used to carry bulk goods. This Seau en toile was useful in trench warfare and was often used as an impromptu sandbag.





[h2]German Empire[/h2]

The German soldier met the beginning of the war with a standard backpack and a lot of equipment that he carried with him on the march, but in the trenches or on the offensive, this kit was too bulky and heavy. Later, German soldiers began to use the Sturmgepäck (“assault pack”), consisting of the greatcoat or a blanket, covered by a tent and rolled around a mess tin. This was the minimum necessary equipment used on nights in occupied territory.



The waist belt usually held ammo pouches and auxiliary gear, such as a water flask and a gas mask container. However, the soldiers sometimes changed the location of these things for more comfortable use or wear. The long handle of the Stielhandgranate caused difficult carrying but the slings wrapped around the neck allowed for the grenades to sit against the body and under the arms. The grenades were now within easy reach while still being unrestrictive.




Combining this equipment with the weaponry from each army, Soldiers will be visibly equipped to handle life on the harsh frontlines of the Western Front! We'll be livestreaming later today Friday, 9th October at 11 AM PDT / 6 PM UTC for discussions on our character models with Art Producer and Character Artist Juan, and Creative Director Bruno!