Beyond The Wire News

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.

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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!

Welcome Soldiers!


Our latest Fields of Battle article presents Frise, a battle from the Somme. With nearly 3 million soldiers fighting on both sides in the battle of The Somme more than 1 million were killed or injured, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

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After a week of heavy shelling to disrupt German defences, the British and French armies advanced on the lines to the North and South of the Somme in hopes of pushing back the enemy. However, the German Empire had dug deep and reinforced their position which slowed the British and French forces, inflicting massive casualties with each day of fighting.



Spanning 1.2km² of playable area, the Frise battlefield features rolling hills, abandoned farm grounds and thick tree coverage that creates diverse biomes to fight over. This wide range of environmental features means Frise will have the most variety of the maps that will be launching at Early Access.



The assault begins with forces having to navigate through marshlands and over shallow rivers before progressing to the open fields of Frise. With many areas being ideal for defensive positions, the German Empire has spent time strengthening during their occupation making the approach from the Entente as difficult as possible.



Evidence of the initial skirmishes can be seen around the map, destroyed landships and burning crops reveal the difficulty ahead for both sides. With plenty of open ground to cover, teams must capitalise on any breakthrough before the enemy can regain their footing and establish rigorous defence lines.



Following the Somme river across the open haybale fields and ruined farm buildings, the map has many obstacles to progress through in order to advance. The remains of the Frise village presents a choke point for the advancing forces as firefights break out over roads and streets. High storey buildings and the surrounding bush must be flushed of any encamped enemies to ensure the position can be reinforced, allowing the village to be utilised as a springboard for the next advance.



With the French and British applying pressure across the front, the rear line of the Germans has been dug in a hurry and without reinforcement or extensive layouts, meaning the low earthen trenches provide just enough cover up to the middle ground.

We took an in-depth look at Frise during a recent developer livestream. Catch up below!

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Development for Beyond The Wire is now motoring along rapidly with weekly alpha testing helping us prepare for launching on Steam later this year. With that release now on the horizon, the team have begun looking at life Beyond The Wire once we're in the Early Access phase and reassessing some of the decisions in several areas. One of the subjects of discussion is level design and the library of maps we are planning on releasing. We have already revealed that the three maps that will be coming to Early Access would be Passchendaele, Argonne and The Somme. Due to our level design being tailored to sizes that promote the atmosphere, immersion and gameplay that we are aiming for, we have decided to make a slight change in direction for the naming of these maps.



The battlefields and front lines of The Great War were on a massive scale, so large that our maps can only depict certain areas that don't necessarily justify the name of the whole battle. Taking this consideration into our plans for environments and playable areas, both current and future, we have made changes to the names of the three maps we're launching with. Our maps are more representative of specific sectors within the larger battle and our naming convention now aligns with this.



These name changes reflect more accurately the sector that they are inspired by and also gives us room to expand on the frontlines of these three battles with future maps. Having multiple maps portraying these huge battles opens up possibilities for us to explore in the future as our game becomes more feature-complete and Beyond The Wire moves towards full release. All of our future maps will now follow this naming convention and we're looking forward to showcasing these new environments before too long!

Passchendaele will be changing to Zonnebeke.

Argonne will be named Ansoncourt.

The Somme will become Frise.

Frise is the final map we are due to showcase, and we are planning on delivering that very soon so keep the eyes peeled for that developer blog! For the meantime, here is a first screenshot of the map from in-game!






As always Soldiers stay posted for the next update!