Tank Squad News

[h2]Dear Tankers![/h2]Welcome to our 88th Development Status.

[h3]Patch 1.2.0 summary[/h3]
First, a brief summary following the release of patch 1.2.0, which finalizes the latest roadmap.

To correspond with the patch, we launched a 7-day sale offering a 25% discount. We received a record number of wishlist entries. In the history of both Tank Squad and Tank Mechanic Simulator, we cannot remember ever experiencing such a significant increase in registrations in one go. Could it be that people are waiting to buy because they see potential? Ultimately, we surpassed the peak number of players from the Tank Squad launch. We are extremely happy that you appreciate our work and our efforts to improve the quality and performance of the game.

[h3]Roadmap 2026[/h3]


As far as this year's roadmap is concerned, the plans are as follows. Regarding the next major update (1.3.0), we intend to release procedural missions and implement AI fixes.

The bigger topic this year will then be the release of DLC with a new Ponyri campaign, which will differ slightly from the current one. As we mentioned in the previous dev status, the map itself will be huge, so we want to create a view of the operational map.

Why DLC? As you may or may not be aware, we aim to keep you informed about our activities and plans, and we always write openly and honestly. Since the release, we have constantly released updates, fixes and new content, which we as players appreciate from other developers.

This is what we did with our previous game, Tank Mechanic Simulator. Before releasing two DLCs featuring tanks, we introduced several new tanks through updates. Unfortunately, Tank Squad is not selling very well. The launch was underwhelming, and we failed to deliver a good game on time. It was also a mistake to release the game as a full release rather than via Early Access.

For those who are not familiar with the situation, here's why we released the game in May in its current state:

Originally posted by author

Last April, we (DeGenerals) split with PlayWay. PlayWay took full IP rights to TMS and we took Tank Squad. We had to release Tank Squad as it was in order to survive as a company.

Despite the difficulties, we took up the fight for survival. We managed to improve the game's ratings, changing them from 'Mostly Negative' to 'Mostly Positive', which is now 'Mixed'. Now, about 20–40 people play the game every day.

We accomplished almost all of the goals set out in the previous roadmap, and we are already formulating a new one. We are trying to attract more players, but we need your support. This is why we have decided that the new campaign will be DLC.

One issue is what to do with Ferdinand: should he be added as part of the DLC or released in a free update? Another idea was to make Ferdinand a vehicle himself in the DLC. Following lengthy discussions within the team, we have decided that Ferdinand will be included in the add-on. The remaining question is whether someone without the DLC who joins a session will be able to drive or spawn Ferdinand. This is probably not possible, but we will continue to consider how to resolve this issue.

In terms of new vehicles, one thing we know for certain is that we want to incorporate the option of creating your own Force Pool into the game. This would open up possibilities such as adding any vehicles to missions/campaigns, including those that did not exist in a given time period.

In the meantime, between the release of major patches (1.3.0) and DLC, we plan to release smaller updates containing fixes and new features. There will also be discounts.

We are considering switching to the new Unity 6 engine, which would allow us to make significant visual improvements to the game.

Unfortunately, if we fail to attract more players, it may be difficult to implement some of our plans outside the roadmap, such as adding a mission/scenario editor.


[h3]Sd.Kfz 251[/h3]
I have just started working on Ferdinand, but I took a break to prepare the SdKfz 251 model for use in Tank Squad. Robert has been waiting a long time for this vehicle, so now is the perfect opportunity to include it.



While we're at it, we'll try something new: tanks and vehicles with a suspension system don't use dice, which is a good way to make the suspension behaviour of vehicles such as the Sd.Kfz 251 or Opel Blitz more realistic.



Firstly, we will create a base vehicle and then proceed to add further variants.

• Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.D standard version with two MG42s;
  
• Sd.Kfz.251/2 Ausf.C Schützenpanzerwagen (Granatwerfer) with an 81 mm mortar and MG42;
  
• Sd.Kfz.251/3 Ausf.C version with a radio that could be used as a command vehicle in the game.
  

Creating the Sd.Kfz 251 for the next update is also a good approach for the Ferdinand tank. I want to make some changes to the material structure and texture appearance of both vehicles to improve their quality and overall appearance in the game. Time will tell.




Thank you and have a good weekend!
DeGenerals

[p][/p][h2]Dear Tankers and Mechanics![/h2][p]
[/p][h3]Situation report[/h3][p]This is the second patch as part of hotfixing and patching bugs encountered in the game this week. In the meantime, we are working on AI fixes, which is one of the main issues. We will write about this and our plans for the coming weeks and months in the next development status update.

[/p][h3]Changelog 1.2.2[/h3][p]Below is the full list of changes being made:

Added:
[/p]

• [p] An option in gameplay tab to enable or disable notifications (sound/voice overs) when enemy is spotted
  [/p]
• [p] Option to not apply camo to wheels (vehicle customizer)
  [/p]
• [p] Support for 2560x1600 resolution
  [/p]

[p]Fixed:
[/p]

• [p] Issue when ballistics simulation used to predict hits (white cross following mouse when aiming) shown red/yellow/green colors incorrectly - now it should calculate the penetration better
  [/p]
• [p] Position of vfx shot for mosin nagant 1895
  [/p]
• [p] Morton Counter attack should now happen correctly
  [/p]
• [p] Pokrovka counter attack should now happen correctly
  [/p]
• [p] ZiS-3, maxim, 62k AA gun had incorrect AI detection collision pivots - very low near ground, resulting in AI tanks not seeing them at all if the gun was behind a sandbag wall.
  [/p]
• [p] AI tanks should now shoot at a target that they see but their line of fire is blocked by a sandbag, wooden wall etc.
  [/p]
• [p] C1M6 Ozerovskii Logging Plant missing trees are not missing anymore
  [/p]
• [p] Morton terrains should now be correctly visible
  [/p]
• [p] You can correctly use Loader hatch in Panther A to get into the tank (only in total control mode)
  [/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fixing Quarter Master Rect Transfrom, was showing wrong widths of some UI panels
  [/p]
• [p] Various issues with AI navigation, tanks exposing their side to enemy, our gunner not able to shoot at very close range
  [/p]
• [p] Tiger wheels became invisible too fast when they became detached - fixed that
  [/p]
• [p] Vehicle tracks did not became visible after they were fixed by AI - now this should work[/p]
• [p]Error when AI hull mg gunner or whoever had additional mg under control in the vehicle used all ammo in reload[/p]
• [p]Vehicle Crosshair + Aim Prediction mode are now correctly applied when the game is running (during battle) [/p]

[p]Removed:
[/p]

• [p] Removed indestructible sandbags from C1M6 scenario
  [/p]
• [p] Removed endless spawning for enemy infantry during C2M3 scenario
  [/p]

[p]
[/p][h3]Sale[/h3][p]Our game is now 25% off. Today is the last day of our sale!

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]
Thank you for your support, we are working. See you next time!
DeGenerals

[/p]

[h2]Dear Tankers and Mechanics![/h2]

[h3]Situation report[/h3]
After releasing the big patch 1.2.0, several bugs appeared that we had to fix. Over the weekend, a new build was released, actually two, but there was no event. Today we made another build with fixes marked as 1.2.1. This week you can expect another update with more fixes - there is a lot to improve.

[h3]Changelog 1.2.1[/h3]Below is the full list of changes being made:

Added:

• Small push when tank gets hit
  
• Battle exit points for SM1 and SM3 scenario
  

Fixed:

• Fixing varius issues
  
• Issues with custom settings not properly managing shadow quality settings[Fixed] After crew repair tank, driving forward at full speed Fix
  
• Destroyed vehicles slipping on ground
  
• Fixed vehicle keep position after repair
  
• Fixing tanks not shooting issue + ammo being restored on despawn
  
• AI movement bugfixe
  
• Stug III G, Panzer IVH customization issues
  
• Counter attacks now should work
  
• Game correctly removes destroyed vehicles points from capture zone
  
• Issue where modded content with many textures in single mod didnt properly synchronize on multiplayer session
  
• Issues with a modding
  

Modified:

• AI speed modifier on different surfaces
  

Removed:

• Offset from setting destination on ground
  

[h3]Sale[/h3]
Our game is now 25% off. The sale will last till 27 February.

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]

Thank you for your support, we are working. See you next time!
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers and Mechanics![/h2]

[h3]News in Patch 1.2.0[/h3]
Of course, there are plenty of changes, fixes, and improvements in terms of game performance. Please see the more detailed description below, where we discuss the most important things we have done since December. At the very bottom, you will also find a changelog with all the changes.

UI overhaul
We described the changes to the UI in previous Development Status reports #87, 86, and 85. First and foremost, the changes affected the appearance of the main menu and in-game elements. The new Battle Map design comes to the fore here, where the map is rendered across the entire screen and the selection of units or troops has been completely reworked.



We have also improved the overall support for widescreen displays. The game should now correctly adjust the UI to the given resolution.

Originally posted by author

The main menu and Battle Map are just the beginning of bigger changes. You can expect further improvements to the interface in upcoming updates. We take your feedback and reports seriously. If something isn't working, we try to fix it, and if something isn't working at all, we try to change it for the better ~Dev Michal ”Winters"

Roadmap 2025 & Steam Workshop & Modding tools
With the release of patch 1.2.0, we would like to finalize and summarize the 2025 roadmap that we published shortly after the game's release in May. During this time, in addition to working on the game itself, improving performance, and actually fighting with the project and Unity itself, we managed to bring the game to a state where it can be played with decent FPS. It's still not perfect, but it's definitely better than it was in May when we had to release the game to survive as a company.



We released the Soviet campaign, added the missing tutorial and periscopes to tanks. We added several new static guns and two versions of the KV-1, thus expanding the pool of Soviet tanks.

The last few weeks have been marked by UI improvements, further optimization efforts, and literally squeezing every last drop of performance out of the engine by performing some design tricks.

We added basic support for the Steam Workshop. We added a tool that allows you to create and upload mods to the workshop. We described what and how in the PDF documentation, which can be found in a folder in the game's installation directory on Steam.



That's not all. We have more ideas in mind, including your suggestions for the game's development. After the patch is released, we want to sit down and work on a new roadmap, and as soon as it's ready, we'll publish what we'll be cooking up over the next few months. We hope you'll stay with us, but we also hope that new players will join us and that those who doubt us will see that we're trying our best to fix this game and make it better.

[h3]Optimization[/h3]
We managed to improve the game's performance even further by implementing a few tricks. Among other things, when the player's camera is not “looking” at units, their animations are disabled. This trick allowed us to increase the FPS. In addition, we made changes to the rendering distance of track animations in order to improve the performance of tanks on the scene.

We still have two open issues ahead of us, which should further improve optimization in the future, but we are reaching a certain wall that we cannot overcome without a revolution. The issues mentioned above are infantry/crew animations, which start to put a heavy load on the CPU when there are many of them on the screen, regardless of how far they are from the player's camera, and the optimization of the amount of data that the game sends during battle to synchronize gameplay.

[h3]What next?[/h3]
We are preparing plans for a new roadmap. We are continuing to work on Ponyria, procedural missions, an editable force pool, and new vehicles. You can expect more information about these issues in future development status updates.

[h3]TMS 02/20/2020[/h3]
Exactly six years ago, we had the opportunity to release our first game, Tank Mechanic Simulator.



[h3]Game discount[/h3]
Today we are launching a discount on the game. The 25% discount will last for the next 7 days.



[h3]Changelog 1.2.0[/h3]
Below is the list of changes being made:

[expand]
Added:

• Added behaviour for enemy units to shoot while moving and replaced Pak40 with Pak38
  
• Waterbox to the lake on C1M6 environment scene
  
• Swamp area for navmesh for C1M9/C1M10
  
• Terrain Tesselation Quality as video setting option
  
• StuG to Proving Grounds force pool
  
• [UI] Localization for new Main Menu items
  
• [UI] Main menu click & hover sounds
  
• [UI] Click & hover sounds to various panels
  
• Synchronization of direction of penetrating shot as well as direction of ricochette
  
• [UI] KW IS(r) icon
  
• [UI] Main menu overhaul
  
• [UI] Battle Map new design
  
• [UI] BattleMap SpawnSelector, WreckSelector, OffmapSelector buttons & animations backend added
  
• [UI] In-game panels (wide screen support)
  

Modified:

• Game version from 1.1.2 to 1.2.0
  
• [UI] HQ improvements over wide-screen
  
• [UI] Intro improvements over wide-screen
  
• Optimized C1R1 scene (german repair section)
  
• [UI] Spectator
  
• [UI] Pause Menu
  
• [UI] Battle Map before more drastic changes
  
• [UI] Battle Progress
  
• Drastically decreased CPU needed for animations
  
• Counterattacks and hunting should now be more aggressive
  
• Movement speed for units
  
• Reworked how ai calculate destination points
  
• Optimizing character animators when we can't see them (performance boost)
  

Fixed:

• [UI] Play commander VO is now shorter
  
• [UI] UI Scale changed to UI Scale match; moved slider to VIDEO tab
  
• [UI] Intro canvas scaler
  
• [UI] Engine icon fix
  
• Vehicle being able to run down player disabled on repair scene
  
• Vehicle flip-death logic disabled on repair scene
  
• Wooden barrack won't be destroyed by MG fire
  
• Binocular item now disables properly after reentering a tank
  
• Removed too many captured tanks from german campaign captured platoon
  
• KV-1C GER black interior placeholder no longer visible outside
  
• Tiger I H1 radio and driver hatches material
  
• Main menu UI bug with locked tutorial button after leaving Steam lobby
  
• [UI] Battle Map bottom buttons scaling on low resolutions (Steam Deck etc.)
  
• [UI] Weird looking player details panel after selecting one of them
  
• Ammo bug for bought wrecks or captured vehicles
  
• Vehicle Customization menu now correctly keeps the icons loaded if you re-enter the menu
  
• Shadows of various tanks should now be better balanced
  
• Increased distance of last Level of Detail for T-70
  
• Issue with shadow cascades not working as they should in custom video settings
  
• Decal on the front of the Stug is reversed
  

[/expand]

Thank you for your support, we are working. See you next time!
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers![/h2]Welcome to our 87th Development Status.
In this status update, we continue the saga of UI changes, but we also describe new features related to modding. We have enabled and are testing mods on the Steam workshop.

[h3]Modding[/h3]
The last two weeks have also seen the development of tools for the Workshop. We have developed a tool for Tank Squad to support the creation and uploading of mods to Steam. We have also written a PDF with documentation.



As we mentioned earlier, and as stated in the roadmap, we are starting modestly by adding only a few options, including decals/unit/division emblems, camouflage, and side numbers. Over time, we want to add more features, and our dream is to include a mission/scenario editor. Time will tell.





[h3]Further UI changes[/h3]

Battle map changes & map selection

Since the changes to the Battle Map described in the previous Development Status #86 were mostly received with enthusiasm, we have added a few more extras to the Battle Map. A new element for selecting units to spawn, similar to the units at the bottom, but showing larger icons/pictures of the tanks that are in that unit.


We have added a larger range of movement on the map. We noticed that if mission objectives or respawn points are close to the edge of the map, it is difficult to zoom in or move the map so that you can see them clearly. The larger range helps you move the map further, so that you can easily move things on the edges to the center of the screen.



Another thing is that when you click on a task in the list, the map will automatically move to the location of the marker. The same thing happens when you click on a respawn point – the map will move there and gain focus.

Widescreen support

After receiving your reports about the UI not working on widescreen displays, we checked our code and the logic that was supposed to detect the set resolution and switch the UI scale in the game. Unfortunately, it turned out that the methods were not being called—they may have worked in the editor, but not in the game.



UI scale match option in game settings

We restored their functionality in the game, and this week was marked by UI fixes to prevent the interface from stretching on large widescreen resolutions. It takes a bit of gymnastics to get everything to work together, but we are well on our way to preventing menu and in-game elements from stretching.

In addition, we also support resolutions on Steam Deck devices, because we want to finally add support and pass verification. Thanks to continuous optimization changes, we managed to reduce the game's RAM consumption even further.

We have added a slider to the game options that allows you to scale or, more accurately, adjust the aspect ratio of the interface. For example, the default value in the editor is 0.5 for a resolution of 1920x1080. With UI sizes such as 5120x1440, this value must be 1.0 so that the UI elements are not proportionally large. Setting the value to 0.0 for a resolution of 1280x800 (Steam Deck) will ensure that the interface is displayed correctly.


Main menu

At the time of writing this status update, the “scaling” modifications and corrections already cover the main menu, including the Settings screen. The settings screen in our game is common to both the main menu UI and the game itself, which are two different “ecosystems” in our case.



Headquarters
Yesterday, I started reworking the in-game elements, including the HQ panel.


The next panels are waiting in line, and I hope that we won't see any more dramas like the one in the picture below in the game. And if, by some miracle, it still happens, let me know and I'll fix it.



[h3]Optimization and bug fixes progress[/h3]
We’ve found another few places where the game could run better and already fixed them. They were connected to how the game handled physics and terrain shaders.

We still have infantry animators to optimize and some netcode bandwidth to fix but we won’t make it on time next week - it will be optimized and added in a patch after 20.02.

The game runs much better than it had a few weeks ago and after fixing the topics above we are coming to a wall - to optimize the game further we are going to need much more time and probably a new engine version - which must wait.

[h3]Unstable branch update[/h3]
We’ve uploaded the current build to an unstable branch, check the link above for instructions on how to access it and what is the changelog ;)

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1498130/discussions/0/601910715107996635/

[h3]When we can expect new patch 1.2.0?[/h3]

• We plan to release the update 1.2.0 on February 20th. This will be the sixth anniversary of the release of our first game on Steam. But to do that we still need to make a finalization of the 2025 roadmap.
  
• One last big thing left is to add Steam Workshop support and give you tools as a "starter pack". Starter pack will include possibilities to add mods like decals, camos + damage taken in battle (visuals) visible in the repair section.
  
• Next big thing is solid optimization step up. We removed some unused meshes from memory there should be again less RAM usage.
  
• And at the end mentioned mentioned above - UI overhaul for main menu and few other menus like Battle Summary.
  
• UI fixes and changes, especially support for widescreen displays
  
• QoL fixes to Battle Maps
  

Thank you and have a good weekend!
DeGenerals