Tank Squad News

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 45th Development Status. You can see what we were working on in two weeks!

[h3]Animations[/h3]

Luger and M1895
Animation for German tank crew with Luger P08 sidearm and Nagant M1895 revolver. In the event of an evacuation from an inoperative tank, the crew will be equipped with sidearms or a submachine gun
[previewyoutube]https://youtu.be/fONRSIPj5PM[/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube]https://youtu.be/TXboqeDhbg0[/previewyoutube]

MP40
Work in progress- First Person animations for the MP40 gun (without VFX or camera shake). In Tank Squad, the player's ability to use weapons is an additional element, the gameplay will mainly focus on tank battles.
[previewyoutube]https://youtu.be/N7_riwCTltQ[/previewyoutube]

[h3]Migration to Fusion[/h3]
We have spent the last 2 weeks on migration from Photon PUN 2 multiplayer system to Photon Fusion. The main aim of this whole operation is to use the new possibilities the Fusion has to offer. Better performance during gameplay, optimized number and size of packages sent during online gameplay, etc. It is a must have for our needs as the game is very complicated and requires a stable and high performance engine to work perfectly.

[h3]PzKpfw III Ausf. M[/h3]

Our objective was to ensure that this tank would be as true to the original tank that was used on the Eastern Front. To accomplish this, we have made a concerted effort to include as many additional and authentic details on the actual mesh and textures as we possibly could.

From the external armor plating to the internal mechanics and painting, we have spared no expense or effort in order to make this tank as accurate and realistic as possible. This was a challenging and time-consuming task, but we are confident that the result is a true representation of the tanks that were used on the Eastern Front during WWII.


[h3]Level Design[/h3]
For the last couple of weeks, members of our Design Department have been working on a new map, numerically designated as C1M3 - the third battlefield that you are going to fight on, during the Kursk Campaign. The inspirational fundament for this level was the steppes, an unending sea of grass stretching as far as the eye can see. What will you find, when your forces enter this open area, filled only with flora, small lakes, and blazing fire of enemy cannons? Keep on reading!
This map was probably the most challenging level that we’ve worked on so far; steppes are by definition a wide, empty terrain where there is not many cover or strategical objectives and therefore our options for the targets' design or blockout were highly limited. We’ve decided to work mainly with ground deformation, creating a mirage of bumps and smaller hills. To break the monotony, we placed a soppy, marsh-like region, that is running through the middle of the battlefield; the life-giving water provided space for various plants and trees, which will bring some diversity to the mostly empty area. Further to the north, you may also find some sparsely scattered farmhouses and mills whose inhabitants had to flee from the upcoming war.
This map will offer a decent amount of long-range shooting, forcing players to strategically choose their positioning - one false move and you may find yourself in the middle of open ground, having nothing but bushes to hide from a crossfire. Lines of trenches mark the ground here, trying to slow down the German advancement. The artillery has been positioned somewhere in a distant forest and its fury is falling on the aggressors, shredding their tanks with deadly shrapnel. Countless soldiers and armored units were thrown into this green desert in a desperate attempt to defend the Soviet land and thus prevent you from conquering the Kursk Arch.
Will you fight your way through enemy fortifications and escape the hell of emptiness? Or will you be flooded by waves of Russian forces and this grassy ocean becomes your tomb? Stay tuned for the upcoming Development Statuses and future early access to find out for yourself!

Thank you and have a good one!
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 44th Development Status. You can see what we were working on in two weeks!

[h3]PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. H1[/h3]

The last few weeks have seen a lot of intensive work in the art department, among other things. We have been fine-tuning the tanks, and this week we would like to show off the Tiger I model.

Below is a sample of how these tanks will look in the game. The color scheme as well as the camouflage or side numbers are just examples of what can be done and what can be given. Here is an example of a Tiger in dunkelgelb shade in camouflage with the number 231.

We are experimenting a bit with shaders, below is a shader/material showing the insides - x-ray. It can help showing damage or destruction inside a tank. The topic is interesting to explore in terms of design - we will try to cover this in more detail in future development statuses


[h3]Tutorial Design[/h3]
As we’re approaching more and more to the release, we need to add the tutorial to the game. Last week we’ve designed the whole process, divided into sections, to help and explain the basic game concepts, interactions, etc.

Section 1 of the tutorial is about repair station gameplay, explaining what to do and when, how to proceed with the campaign, and how to repair, rearm and refuel a vehicle.

Section 2 of the tutorial is explaining battle gameplay, how to control the vehicle, how to aim, how to change ammo, how to give orders, how to call off-map support, how to check objectives and win them etc.

This is a complex game and the tutorial will be extensive. Wait for the next statuses to see some screenshots from the tutorial :)

[h3]Second Contest Results[/h3]
As announced, we present the winners of the second contest for our community!

JaG kanpz Gomax6 Petja85k

Thank you all for participating! The creators of the above works can expect a message on our discord with a code for the WW2 Rebuilder game.

[h3]Field Hospital[/h3]
We’d like to invite you to take a look at the field hospital that we have created. To make it we had to create models of:

• Ambulance based on Opel Blitz
  
• Medical tents
  
• Medical equipment
  
• Medical boxes
  
• Medical stretches
  
• Characters with bandages

Paweł, our animator, has animated medics and wounded soldiers.


Thank you and have a good one!
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 43nd Development Status. You can see what we were working on in the new year!

[h3]Main Menu UI Work in progress[/h3]
A lot of work has been done in recent weeks on the interface in the main menu. Among the major changes are the Lobby, Settings, or Loading screens.



In addition, windows communicate an event such as quitting the game or another player joining the server.



[h3]Shader for Vehicles[/h3]



One of the basic things that the tanks in our game must have are materials and shaders. We have created a new basic shader for vehicles to support our assumptions about damage states and more. It will be possible to display camouflage or some inscriptions such as markings on the material.



[h3]User Experience[/h3]

This time our design department took a short break from map creation and focused on analyzing the current state of User Experience. We are aware of the importance connected to UI’s transparency, game mechanics' intuitiveness, or simply knowing “what to do and where to do it”. Therefore, most of our time this month was dedicated to testing gameplay loops and proposing necessary improvements.

We started with the Repairs Scene, where players will spend their time in between missions, conducting repairs, managing their resources, and preparing for the upcoming battle. Our priority was to design an easy-to-learn and instinctive vehicle repair sequence - taking into consideration an enormous amount of feedback from our recent whole-team tests, it was pretty obvious that we need to implement a solid portion of “quality of life” updates. This process of repetitively challenging various features with questions like “does it REALLY serve its purpose?” or “would players CERTAINLY know what to do here” bore fruits in form of multiple concepts, such as a new visual guidance system, need for more icons in place of text, reworked equipment or notebook functionalities and so much more. Now, these ideas are being assessed, which in a short time will certainly lead to improving the overall feel of repairs, hopefully also bringing you more fun from this part of the game.

The second point of our concern was the battle scenes, to be precise: navigation on the battlefield, various messages that the player obtains (ex. warnings about the incoming airstrike), and once again, visual communication. Conclusions were pretty similar to those above, although the dynamic specific of armored warfare requires a little different approach than using a screwdriver 😛. In the weeks to come we will do our best to raise tankers' awareness in the field of their machine’s condition, and battle objectives and generally improve the experience of driving the steel goliaths.

[h3]Community Contest 2[/h3]

Another year, and another contest! This time prepared together with Madnetic Games, and their WW2 Rebuilder game, which is going to be released on 16.01.2023!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1573280/

Your task will be to generate graphics through AI graphics generators (there are plenty of them on the internet) thematically combining WW2 Rebuilder and Tank Squad. In addition, participants must add a caption to the graphic - a catchphrase, which will also be evaluated.



To participate in our contest, you must be a member of our discord server, the link to which can be found below.

https://discord.gg/MRjreApkvW

You can post your works in the dedicated channel #contest on our discord. Each participant can only send one message containing their submission. Winners will receive a keys for WW2: Rebuilder!

Contest starts today, and will last till 22.01.2023 We are going to post results in the next development status.

[h3]KV-1 Progress[/h3]

Today we want to show you the fighting compartment in the Soviet KV-1 tank. The whole crew consisted of five people, three of them were operating in the turret and the rest two crewmen (driver and radio operator) were placed at the front of the hull. Inside you will be able to find fuel tanks, ammo racks, radio station, some optic stuff, and other most important devices which would help you to survive on the battlefield. Remember, do not let your enemy flank your KV-1 because ammunition storage under the turret can be pretty sensitive to any hit you get. The real strength of KV-1 comes from his front armor so have in mind to always correct your position while fighting.



[h3]Bridges & Factory buildings[/h3]



We have created several new objects for use on the maps. These include steel and wooden bridges. We are also working all the time on other infrastructure such as adding factory buildings on the stages.



Thank you and have a good one!
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 42nd Development Status. You can see what we were working on during the last two weeks.

[h3]Level Design C1M1[/h3]

For the last couple of weeks, our Level Design department members were tasked with the creation of the new map, numerically designated as C1M1. It is loosely based on the environmental surroundings of Kursk (about 200 km from this city) and shall be featured as the first map players are about to explore.

As always, we’ve started with general molecule design, holistically planning the four scenarios and intersections between each of the objectives. For now, our work is focused around Scenario B, which includes 4 objectives - it will provide you with gameplay experience both in open spaces and urban locations.

At this stage we are nearly finished with this path - general level design is finished and the scenario is fully playable. It will, obviously, require some more love and polishing, especially from our environment artists, but the general foundation is ready. Now, in days to come, we will be testing, obtaining feedback, and introducing various iterations in order to provide you guys with the best possible entertainment, which will serve as a training zone before the true challenge awaiting in the world of Tank Squad.

What’s next? For now, we may only unveil a small mystery - we are rapidly arriving at one of our milestones and therefore all departments are heavily involved in extensive development of the project, including Level Design. Most probably we are going to start working on the new map, also focusing on one scenario, so that we could present you the biggest scope of the variety… but you will read about it in the next Development Status - stay tuned! 😉

[h3]New Environment Assets C1M5[/h3]
According to the level design of the scenarios, we are replacing placeholder blockout objects with new assets. C1M5 as you might still don’t know it's Mission 5 from the first campaign in Tank Squad.

Last weeks we focused on making trenches, fortifications, bunkers, and surroundings. Below is a sneak peek from the editor/game itself showing the work that is in progress on the environment side of the missions we are producing.

Fortified enemy artillery positions received some touch and love as there role is to stop the attackers.

Villages and other residential areas received new assets, We are using a simple destruction system on objects such as fences so that they can collapse or be destroyed after a vehicle drives into them.

Below are some of the other assets you'll be able to find on our C1M5 map!


[h3]High poly Gearbox for KV-1[/h3]
This week we present you a high poly model of transmission with a brake system for a KV-1 soviet tank. It is a completely different model than used in the T-34 tank which we showed you a pretty long time ago in previous Development Statuses. The whole high poly model of the tank is done so be careful not to miss the next statuses of the production and see how the crew compartment in KV-1 looked like from the tanker's perspective!


[h3]Contest results[/h3]
As promised, we have prepared the announcement of the winners from the picture caption contest announced 3 weeks ago. We received as many as 25 entries from you, from which we selected 5 that made us laugh the most!

McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache - [previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
kanpz - [previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Batman - Hyperion - BIG! -

Thank you to all participants and congratulations to the winners! We will contact you via Discord with the won cd-keys.

Thank you and have a good one!
DeGenerals

[h2]Dear Tankers,[/h2]

Welcome to our 41st Development Status. You can see on what we were working the last two weeks.

[h3]Community Contest![/h3]
Together with our friends from Gaming Factory, we have prepared a contest for you, in which you have a chance to win keys to the Electrician Simulator game!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1080020/Electrician_Simulator/

The rules are very simple! To participate in the contest you must join our discord server and to think of how a tank could respond in that situation from the screenshot!



You can put your idea directly into the graphic or send a text message in a specially prepared #contest channel! The funniest wisdoms of the tank will be rewarded with the key to Electrician Simulator. Each user can participate only once, so think a second before sending your answer!

You can submit your work until 4th December, and we will announce the results in the next development status!

[h3]Environment optimization[/h3]
On the repair scene, we’ve begun the process of optimization of its environment. That means two things: most of its environment is done and there is major performance improvement. Optimization of the environment consists of:

• Merging several models into one to make GPU have to make fewer calculations.
  
• Lowering the resolution of textures.
  
• Adding LODs to 3D models (we’ve explained how that works in our Development Status #21)
  
• Simplification of collisions.
  
• Lowering the amount of triangles in models that have less importance on the scene.
  

[h3]Soviet Anti-aircraft gun M1939[/h3]
We’ve decided to add some anti-aircraft guns as a feature in the game. As a player in some missions, you will have to destroy them to unlock for yourself a possibility to call airstrikes and aircraft recons.


[h3]Environment[/h3]
In the last development status, you could see how we've moved from level blockout to scene dressing. Here we show you some more progress that we have done on the environment at the Prokhorovka level. It is our first pass at scene dressing, which means, we've focused on the basics like painting terrain, and placing the largest and most repetitive objects like trees, trenches, and buildings. In the next stages of development, we are going to add more details to the environment.


Thank you and have a good one!
DeGenerals