End of Beta and R1.28.8 Patch Release

[p]Greetings and salutations, Soldiers community![/p][p]The closed test has ended, and the R1.28.8 update is officially out. It might sound like a simple line, but there’s a lot of work behind it, as well as lots of empty coffee cups. Before we dive into the details, we want to thank everyone who joined the test, with a special shoutout to the small but incredibly active group of testers who kept us on our toes at Best Way. [/p][p][/p][h2]What Happens if a Programmer is Left Unsupervised?[/h2][p]Do you recall when Xalavier Nelson Jr. shared that story about receiving a message from Sam Chiet at 3 AM? Out of the blue, Sam had decided to make a PC game compatible with Kinect, a tablet, and even a Wiimote (the controller from the 2007 Nintendo Wii) all in a single night. Something of a similar nature happened to one of the Best Way programmers that affected the matrix and fabric of reality so tremendously that now we have a fully functional 21-year-old game with Steam multiplayer and Workshop support in 2025. [/p][p][/p][h2]The Tale of Soldiers[/h2][p]In December 2014, Andrey Roska, one of the programmers at Best Way was extremely bored while upgrading his version of Visual Studio. Once the upgrade was complete, he decided to test it by compiling the Soldiers codebase. After all, it was a perfect candidate to confirm that everything was working correctly. If the new build matched the previous compilation, he could be sure the upgrade had gone smoothly. But instead of stopping there, Andrey took things a step further, or more precisely, a few hundred steps further.[/p][p]Andrey dove into the Soldiers codebase and, just because he was bored, made the game compatible with Steam multiplayer and even added Steam Workshop support! This was no small feat. Back then, there were no AI tools or modern vibecoding shortcuts to lean on. It’s a textbook case of an OP programmer on steroids, crushing a massive task in record time purely through sheer willpower, flexing dominance, and scoring an enormous dopamine hit for nothing but the sheer joy of doing it![/p][p]When Andrey showed his work on Soldiers to Dmitry Morozov, Best Way’s creative director, Dmitry was genuinely impressed. He began to see that it might be possible to bring some of these new features, along with Steam achievements, to earlier Best Way titles. He asked the team to explore the possibility of bringing Steam achievements to Soldiers (GEM1), Faces of War (GEM2), and Men of War (GEM2).[/p][p]But that wasn’t all. Dmitry quickly became excited about the idea of a full remaster for Soldiers. In early 2015, the team ramped up work on bug fixes, new achievements, Steam items, and more. This effort continued into 2016, ultimately delivering full integration with Steam Workshop for Soldiers.[/p][p]As often happens, however, life and circumstance intervened. Along with all the progress made, the project was quietly shelved in favor of another project, Soldiers Arena, which would later be known as Men of War 2: Arena. A few years later, in 2021, support for Windows 10 was added to Soldiers, but once again, the project started gathering dust for another three years.[/p][p]Then, in late 2024, during an ordinary chat between two colleagues, the topic came up again. One thing led to another, and that “what if” moment turned into a real plan. You know that feeling when someone brings up a good idea and everyone in the room immediately gets on board? That’s exactly how it went.[/p][p]We had a round of internal discussions, and soon after, we shared the idea with Soldiers’ publisher, Fulqrum Publishing. Once they gave the green light, we got to work. The design team jumped in to finalize the four half-baked new missions, complete the achievements, and test every mission script to make sure things held up. Meanwhile, our programmers went through the old codebase, updating the engine to run smoothly on Windows 11. The art team followed right behind, finishing the work on the Steam items, including trading cards, profile badges, emoticons, and Steam backgrounds.[/p][p]It all came together surprisingly well for what started as a side project. We gathered everything from the 2015 build, the late 2024 work, and the early 2025 improvements into a single plan: two patches. The first would handle the technical overhauls, and the second would bring in the achievements and Steam items. We were also prepared for rolling hotfixes for potential critical issues that may appear out of the blue after the patch release.[/p][p]After several rounds of internal testing, on January 20, 2025, the first 2025 patch for Soldiers went live. There were a few hiccups, as always, but things seemed stable. Or at least… that’s what we thought at the time. Oh, boy![/p][p] [/p][p]After the first patch went live, we were met with a flood of feedback. Everything from interface quirks and localization issues to unit balance problems, crashes, and even a few ghosts left behind by old editor entities that hadn’t seen daylight in years. But that wasn’t the end of it. [/p][p]When we rolled out the next update with achievements and Steam items, things really got interesting. It turned out that some achievements refused to unlock in cooperative mode, others ignored single-player completely, and a few seemed to trigger whenever they felt like it, just like a teenager with a rollercoaster mood.[/p][p]If you missed that part of the story, we covered it in detail in “The Achievement Overhaul & A Little Extra (update R1.28.7)” dev diary.[/p][p]After countless hours of testing, tweaking, and retesting, we finally managed to verify all 72 achievements across both single-player and cooperative modes. A titanic task that was made possible with a lot of help from our incredible community volunteer testers.[/p][p][/p][h2]Original Localization: Good Old Times![/h2][p]Back when Soldiers was first being developed, internet access was slow, unreliable, and scarce. Online resources weren’t nearly as diverse or abundant as they are today, and search engines were literally still learning to crawl. AI tools, in the modern sense, didn’t exist at all.[/p][p]Research back then meant turning libraries inside out, collecting magazines and brochures, visiting museums, and talking to veterans who had actually served in World War II. For a small team like Best Way, cross-referencing all those materials and verifying details was a real challenge.[/p][p]The translators faced the same uphill battle. They worked to bring the game from Russian into English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Polish, each with its own hurdles and historical nuances. Despite the best efforts of both the development and publishing teams, a series of inevitable “oopsie-daisies” slipped through the cracks.[/p][p]A heartfelt shoutout to everyone who originally worked on Soldiers, from Best Way, Codemasters, CD Projekt, GameSpy, NVIDIA, publishing teams, and to others whose names might not have made it into the credits but whose work still lives on in the game. [/p][p][/p][h2]New Localization: From the Community for the Community[/h2][p]Do you remember when we mentioned the localization reports earlier? Since then, we’ve received a flood of feedback about inconsistencies across different languages, mistranslations, incorrect historical terms or designations, and even some voicelines that played incorrectly in particular languages.[/p][p]On top of that, the addition of the Steam Workshop and the mod syncing feature, which lets players join modding sessions automatically, introduced a whole set of new strings that needed translation. When we first started working on localization, we had no idea we were about to open the door to an entirely new world of challenges.[/p][p]In fact, one of our colleagues at Best Way strongly suggested that we skip going through the entire text and focus only on the new additions. On the contrary, the Best Way community manager, with pleading eyes, insisted, “It’s just a few changes.” Or was it?[/p][p]We spent a lot of time discussing the localization internally. The task was enormous: seven languages, each with 1,700 strings, totaling 11,900 pieces of text! Converting all the data into tables, reviewing, revising, and updating each string was clearly beyond our human resource capacity and our budget. The solution? We turned to the community for help. Within a few weeks, several volunteers stepped up, eager to make it happen.[/p][p]By February 2025, the Localization Hub was officially formed on the Best Way Discord, and work began in earnest. Our team of six volunteers included four core members with whom we held weekly meetings for nine months to review and refine the localization. Dominique Guiochon (DGN) focused on historical research and French localization, Matthias Seppelt (Matt) generously handled German texts, Pablo C. Amezcua (BlaueDivision) single-handedly tackled Spanish and Italian, and Dawid Bujalski (Rubikon05) meticulously checked the Polish localization. [/p][p][/p][h2]Polish Localization Dilemma[/h2][p]Many Polish players and communities have asked us to include the official Polish localization in the game, and even though it was carefully updated during the 9-month(!) effort of our volunteer team, legal ambiguities mean we still cannot include Polish localization as part of the official game release on Steam.

At the moment, the only solution we can see is to release the Polish localization as a mod on Steam, including all the latest changes. The mod is fully compatible with the vanilla cooperative and multiplayer experience, so players won’t encounter any desync issues while playing with others. We hope this mod serves as a tribute to the original team at CD Projekt who worked on the Polish localization, and as a token of appreciation for Dawid Bujalski (Rubikon05), whose dedication brought the Polish localization back to life; and you can already find it in the Steam Workshop. [/p][p][/p][h2]Multilingual support[/h2][p]We’ve also added full multilingual localization support. All localization files are now included upon downloading the game, regardless of the language preference, so players can switch between available languages without needing to re-download any files.[/p][p]To manage localization packages, we’ve introduced a new file called [c]language.set[/c]. Mod creators can use this file to handle localization packages in their mods. They can also include [c]language.set[/c] along with their localization files to provide multilingual support, while maintaining compatibility with existing mods. You’ll find this file under the [c]resource\\set[/c] directory, and it contains additional comments to guide mod makers. [/p][p]We’ve also created modular localization packages to make it easier to update and manage different languages. To find more details and learn more about the structure of the new modular localization, check the comments inside the [c]language.set[/c] file. [/p][p][/p][h2]Stability Upgrade[/h2][p]Alongside all the other bug fixes and improvements, we’ve doubled the total entity limit for maps and missions, raising it from 8,192 to 16,384. If you’re planning to create massive maps or epic missions for Soldiers, now you really can go wild with spawning entities! [/p][p][/p][h2]AI Behavior Improvements[/h2][p]Following requests from the community, we thoroughly reviewed the files responsible for unit AI and targeting behavior, then applied a series of fixes to address issues where certain units couldn’t engage their intended targets. The fixes cover a wide range of units, including the Crusader Mk II, Churchill Mk IV, M26 Pershing, ISU-152, M8 Greyhound, Daimler Mk II, 203mm M1888, FlaK 30, FlaK 37, FlaK 38 (shipflak), Naval Gun, DS-39, and Willys MB.[/p][p]Additionally, all vehicles can now automatically engage the M4A3 Calliope and Panzerwerfer 42. Control over the rocket launchers on the M4A3 Calliope and Panzerwerfer 42, however, remains in the hands of the player. [/p][p][/p][h2]You’ll be Remembered![/h2][p]This update wouldn’t have been possible without our passionate and dedicated community, especially the Localization Hub volunteers and our closed testers. Your feedback, patience, and support are invaluable in improving the game. To show our gratitude, we’ve included the names of the Localization Hub volunteers and the closed testers who actively helped during the testing process, alongside the Best Way (2015–2025) and Fulqrum Publishing credits. [/p][p][/p][h2]Did you know?[/h2]

• [p]40 players joined this stage of the closed test.[/p]
• [p]A German-speaking tester helped with localization feedback, preventing further delays to the patch release.[/p]
• [p]The “Hell on Rails” mission (formerly known as Train) is the most replayed mission in cooperative mode.[/p]

[h2]R1.28.8 Patch notes:[/h2][p]Highlights[/p]

• [p]Reviewed, revised, and updated the Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian localizations.[/p]
• [p]Updated hundreds of units and equipment names to represent the correct historical names.[/p]
• [p]Updated the names of four new missions, replacing the previous generic titles with more specific and engaging ones.[/p]
  • [p]"Save & Attack" changed to "Brothers in Arms".[/p]
  • [p]"Defensive" changed to "Final Bastion".[/p]
  • [p]"Train" changed to "Hell on Rails". [/p]

• [p]Fixed the bug in the German localization that caused German soldiers to use English voicelines instead of German voicelines. [/p]
• [p]Fixed the bug in the Russian localization that caused some English voicelines to play when the user language is set to Russian. [/p]
• [p]Increased the entity limit in maps and missions from 8192 to 16384. [/p]
• [p]Added multilingual localization support. All localization files are available to the player upon downloading the game. Switching between available language localizations no longer requires redownloading localization files. [/p]
• [p]Added "language.set" to manage localization packages. Mod creators can use this file to handle the localization packages. Furthermore, they can include this file along with the localization packages in their mods to provide multilingual support. This change maintains compatibility with the old mods. "language.set" is stored under "resourceset". Additional comments are available inside the file. [/p]
• [p]Created modular localization packages. Read comments inside the "language.set" file. [/p]
• [p]Fixed the bugs with AI and targeting logic that prevented the enemy units from engaging some units and prevented some units from engaging the enemy. These units include Crusader Mk II, Churchill Mk IV, M4A3 Calliope, M26 Pershing, ISU-152, M8 Greyhound, Daimler Mk II, Panzerwerfer 42, 203mm M1888, FlaK 30, FlaK 37, FlaK 38 (shipflak), Naval Gun, DS-39, and Willys MB. [/p]

[p]Generic [/p]

• [p]Added multilingual localization support. All localization files are available to the player upon downloading the game. Switching between available language localizations no longer requires redownloading localization files. [/p]

• [p]Added "language.set" to manage localization packages. Mod creators can use this file to handle the localization packages. Furthermore, they can include this file along with the localization packages in their mods to provide multilingual support. This change maintains compatibility with the old mods. "language.set" is stored under "resourceset". Additional comments are available inside the file. [/p]
• [p]Created modular localization packages. Read comments inside the "language.set" file. [/p]
• [p]Added some variation to the skins, nationalities, and inventories of the civilian breeds. [/p]
• [p]Updated the preview screen and lobby images of the Convoy, Brothers in Arms, Final Bastion, and Hell on Rails missions. [/p]
• [p]Fixed several bugs with some units using the incorrect type of ammo. [/p]
• [p]Fix the bug that prevented the FlaK 30 (gun20) from being manned. [/p]
• [p]Fixed the preview screen image of the Final Bastion mission. [/p]

[p]Stability [/p]

• [p]Increased the entity limit in maps and missions from 8192 to 16384. [/p]

• [p]Fixed the crash that occurred due to the absence of the inventory view for the air bomb. [/p]
• [p]Fixed the crash that occurred due to the missing human skins of civilian1, civilian2, civilian3, civilian4, and civilian5 entities. [/p]

[p]AI[/p]

• [p]Fixed the bugs with AI and targeting logic that prevented the enemy units from engaging some units and prevented some units from engaging the enemy. These units include Crusader Mk II, Churchill Mk IV, M4A3 Calliope, M26 Pershing, ISU-152, M8 Greyhound, Daimler Mk II, Panzerwerfer 42, 203mm M1888, FlaK 30, FlaK 37, FlaK 38 (shipflak), Naval Gun, DS-39, and Willys MB. [/p]

[p]Localization[/p]

• [p]Reviewed, revised, and updated the Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian localizations. [/p]
• [p]Updated hundreds of units and equipment names to represent the correct historical names. [/p]
• [p]Updated the names of four new missions, replacing the previous generic titles with more specific and engaging ones.[/p]
  • [p]"Save & Attack" changed to "Brothers in Arms".[/p]
  • [p]"Defensive" changed to "Final Bastion".[/p]
  • [p]"Train" changed to "Hell on Rails".[/p]

• [p] Added Best Way 2015, Best Way 2025, and Fulqrum Publishing 2025 credits.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the bug in the German localization that caused German soldiers to use English voicelines instead of German voicelines. [/p]
• [p]Fixed the bug in the Russian localization that caused some English voicelines to play when the user language is set to Russian. [/p]
• [p]Fixed Codemasters credits in Russian localization. [/p]
• [p]Fixed several missing localization strings of entities. [/p]
• [p]Added localization code and string for air bomb ammo and bomb-dropper weapon.[/p]