Headquarters: World War II News

Hello!

It is Oleksandr from Starni Games with the new Dev log entry. One month has passed since the Headquarters: World War II release, and I would like to tell you more about how it went, what feedback we got, and what our team has been focusing on since the release. Additionally, I will touch on how we plan to move forward with the project.

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One month has passed since the release of Headquarters: World War II and we can finally draw our first conclusions.

First of all, most players enjoy the game overall and would like to play it more - which is very important for us as developers to understand. We would not want to develop a game that nobody likes and nobody wants. So, that is a big relief to our team that the overall reception of the game is positive and we can keep working on the project.

Secondly, we acknowledge there were numerous issues in the release version of the game that were detrimental to the players’ experience and enjoyment. We already fixed some of those issues, and we are trying our best to address the remaining problems as soon as possible. This is our top priority at the moment - to make sure the game runs as smoothly as possible.

Thirdly, we received lots of feedback and suggestions from the players on Discord, the Steam community hub, and Slitherine forums. We are looking through all the feedback very carefully, and categorizing all the issues and suggested improvements to prioritize them correctly. So, do not worry if you suggest some new feature and do not see it in the next update - chances are high it is stored for later updates.

Interesting fact: so far we get more improvement suggestions than the actual crashes and bug reports. So, there are lots of things you guys want to add, change, or improve. And it may take us some time, but we keep track of every suggestion.

Lastly, we see a lot of interest among the players towards the potential new content for the game and get a lot of questions about that. We are happy to hear that you want more content and we listen to your ideas and suggestions for it.



[h2]What is our plan?[/h2]

Step 1:
For now, our top priority is fixing all the most annoying issues and gradually adding some of the most-wanted quality-of-life improvements. We keep a good pace of 1 update per week and we want to maintain it until all most pressing problems are resolved. Then we will switch to less frequent but larger updates.

AI - We have made some improvements to the AI system since the release, but we are still getting reports of AI behaving passively in some games. We further investigate this issue and will do our best to address it as soon as we can.

Multiplayer crashes - we are gradually moving towards a crash-free multiplayer experience. So far, we are not satisfied with our results, but we are looking to improve the situation very soon.

File system issues - we had some issues if the path to the system folder with save files was in non-Latin symbols, or the game was run by a Windows user who is not an Administrator, and so on. We fixed the folder names issue in the 1.00.04 Update, and a couple more fixes are coming up in the next updates.

There are many other things, of course, but I highlighted the most problematic ones.

Step 2:
Since some updates may affect the ongoing multiplayer games, if the players have different versions of the game (all updates we released so far should be compatible, so I am talking about some future updates) - we want to implement a system that would check the game version and warn the players about the need to update their game to continue playing in multiplayer. That is when we will release a bigger update that would also include some stats rebalancing and so on. At the moment we are gathering the data and feedback, but not changing unit parameters for now.

Step 3:
Introduce the roadmap for the project to communicate to you our plans for its further development and expansion. We want to be very transparent about our future plans, and we will share our plans as soon as we finish gathering and analyzing all of your feedback and adjust our plans accordingly. Your input is most critical for our decision-making following the release.

Step 4:
Start running the multiplayer tournaments. As soon as we ensure that multiplayer is stable and solid, we will start running various tournament events and we hope that you will enjoy playing in them. For now, you have the time to get a better understanding of the game and train against other players on Discord to make sure you can show your best in the competition when the time comes.

Step 5:
Work on some additional content for the game. This could be in two forms - free extra content that comes to all players who purchased the full game at no additional cost; or a paid DLC that offers even more content and helps the team to keep working on the project in the long run - as we are speaking of years of additional development here, potentially.

I know many are skeptical of paid DLCs, but I think it greatly depends on how the developers approach them. From our perspective, it helps to produce more content and features for the game in the long run, part of which will become available for everyone to enjoy completely free.

We already got a bunch of questions as to what the next DLC would be. We have some ideas, but we also want to make something that you - the player’s community - want. So, please let us know in the comments or on Steam/Slitherine forums - what future DLC of your dreams do you anticipate the most?

Ah, and one last thing - we are now looking into the possibility of adding the Steam Workshop support, so we will keep you updated on that!

Stay tuned, and see you next time!

Hello everyone!

We keep working to process all of your feedback and ideas and use this information to plan our future updates accordingly.

Here are the key changes in the 1.00.04 update:

• The Bias setting is now working as intended. (It allows you to add a modifier to all incoming prestige in Skirmish/Multiplayer for each player. For example, a Bias of 80% would mean that this player receives 20% less Prestige from both Starting Prestige and Prestige Income. While setting Bias to 140%, would mean that the player gets 40% Prestige more than other players (if they have Bias set to 100% for them)
  
• Fix an issue that caused problems when the user had non-Latin symbols in his Windows folder names. For example path to the save files folder, etc. One example would be having some key folder names in the Chinese language.
  
• On Steam Deck the UI scale is now set to 75% not only during the first game launch but at every launch.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused Tile information to sometimes show incorrect Armor and Camouflage values.
  
• Fixed numerous UI issues when using 100% scale on resolutions higher than Full HD. (We still recommend using a higher UI scale on resolutions above Full HD)
  
• Fixed bug where new units that join your army (for example scout unit in tutorial, etc) are only displayed in the unit list after you did one more action. (Now they appear in the list immediately).
  
• Fixed a bug with the AI, that caused it to not be able to use the Clear Wreck ability on the Wrecks that were set in Editor. (It could only clear the ones that appear during the game)
  
• Fixed the problem with Overwatch symbols sometimes showing incorrectly. This issue was due to a rule that units do not overwatch if they are guaranteed to do 0 damage (for example MG vs tanks). The problem was that when displaying the Overwatch area, the armor and attack angle were not always predicted correctly, so you could move a unit thinking there would be no overwatch, but because the angle changed you would get hit and receive some damage.
  
• With this update, the Overwatch icon will be displayed over a Tile even if you are expected to take 0 damage there, so some Tiles could be shown as Overwatch tiles, and then your unit would not get Overwatched if the enemy unit sees that it would deal 0 damage with all types of hits.
  
• Now after generating and exporting a new map in the Random map generator, you will be taken back to the Skirmish/Multiplayer game creation form, instead of the Main menu.
  
• Fixed a bug when the unit could in some situations be dislocated from its tile (be shown in an incorrect tile), potentially causing the game to crash.
  
• Minor localization text fixes. (Added a few missing strings)
  
• Minor UI fixes for Multiplayer screens.
  
• Fixed some environment objects behaving incorrectly when under fire in the “Marshland Clash” skirmish map.
  

We have a lot more fixes and improvements in the works and will keep updating the game regularly, so stay tuned for the next updates. We are also working on a bigger update that would introduce some balanced changes based on your feedback and our observations.

Please, share your feedback and thoughts with us on Discord, the Steam community hub, and Slitherine forums!

See you soon!

Hello everyone!

We keep working to process all of your feedback and ideas and use this information to plan our future updates accordingly. For the first few updates our main focus remains on the key issues, but we plan to have much more quality-of-life improvements later down the road.

Here are the key changes in the 1.00.03 update:

Fixed one of the most common crashes that could also be one of the main reasons for LIVE games crashing at some point.
Fixed AI behavior being sometimes affected by the wreckages of destroyed units. (Now it no longer prevents AI from attacking in some situations.)
Improved support for 4K monitors (disabled option that caused the image to look sharpened on High-Resolution monitors and caused flickering of image when the camera moved if Motion Blur was on)
Improved Chinese localization
Fixed glitch with unit camouflage in multiplayer
Fixed HQ skills (Eg. Dive bomber) showing incorrect damage value. (You would hit for 4 damage, but see 1 Damage displayed etc.)
Fixed the issue where the player could not deselect the HQ skill with a left mouse click if the mouse cursor is outside of the playable map area.
Fixed crash that happened during unit renaming, if you enter (/\*_-=+<>,.&^|`~) symbols and press the Esc button.
Fixed unit customization - the “Apply to all” button not working correctly in Multiplayer for all players.
Fixed player coloring on units not being displayed in the unit preview.
Fixed building destruction sounds not working for Random generated and Editor maps.
Fixed Fog of War not updating when the unit is unloaded from a Transport vehicle.
Improved support
Fixed glitch when selecting several save files and empty slot remaining selected.
Fixed glitch where minimap would be replaced by a placeholder during post-game review.
Fixed glitch with extra placeholder ability being displayed in the unit info on the 8th USA map.
Various UI fixes
Various localization fixes

Adjusted some limitations and default values for the Skirmish and Multiplayer settings:
1) Default Victory Points number increased - 40 -> 50 victory points
2) Maximum Victory Points value increased - 100 -> 200 victory points
3) Default turns limit increased - 10 -> 25 turns
4) Default turn timer increased - 30 -> 120 sec
5) Default starting prestige increased - 1000 -> 2500
6) Minimum starting prestige limit reduced - 1000 -> 500
7) Maximum starting prestige limit increased - 5000 -> 30000
8) Maximum Bias value increased - 120% -> 160%*

*Note that the Bias settings are not functional at the moment and we will address that in the next update.

Fixed the Esc button not closing the Credits screen.
Fixed windbreak (tree line) being displayed in Editor incorrectly.
Added company logos to the Main menu.

In this update, we fixed an issue that prevented AI from moving around the map in some situations. We are still checking how AI behaves after all the fixes - and so far we have not seen it sit idly by during our tests (but got a report from the beta branch player on Discord). So, if you run into any game where AI is still not moving actively around the map - please let us know, as we are still gathering data and trying to pinpoint the potential issues.

We have a lot of important fixes and improvements coming up, so stay tuned for future updates. Right now, the plan is to keep delivering weekly updates until everyone is fully happy with the technical state of the game, and then focus on larger but less frequent updates.

Please, keep sharing your thoughts on Discord, Steam community, and Slitherine forms.

See you soon!

Hello everyone!

It is 1 week since release and we have got tons of feedback and suggestions thanks to all of you! We are processing all of that, and setting up priorities of what we could do and when. Right now the main focus is on the most common crashes, AI-related issues, and localization polish. Then we would move on to the less critical issues and implement improvements based on your feedback. We plan to deliver weekly updates until the game is more stable and no frequent issues occur.



Here are the key changes in 1.00.02 update:

- Added the missing Email notifications for the Slitherine account about your turn in PBEM games.
- AI bug: Fixed a major issue that could have prevented AI from advancing toward the enemy flag
- AI improvement/bug: A major increase in its calculating speed, without impairing its capabilities. (Please, let us know how well it now works for you in terms of speed)
- AI improvement: AI now will try to keep attacking the same target with both attacks.
- AI improvement: AI will now have more incentive to “focus” enemy units - i.e. if one enemy unit was already attacked by AI controlled unit - other AI units will more likely attack it as well, unless they have a much better target available to them.
- Fixed a major issue with Chinese localization where some lines would not fit the UI (Combat Prediction and Terrain info). Now the font is smaller (but still big enough) and everything fits the UI better.
- Various localization fixes in all languages.
- Fixed a crash that would occasionally occur when Assaulting a unit with 0 Reactions left.
- Fixed a bug where an Info panel of a Spotted enemy unit could be opened via a hotkey.
- Fixed the counter on map 9 of the German campaign. Previously it did not work on the first turn of the mission.
- Added missing Smoke grenade sounds.
- Fixed Unit list not always updating in Hotseat when passing the turn to another player.
- Various UI fixes.
- Fixed a bug with incorrect use wreck for a unit Sherman Firefly (Poland). Previously the wrong mesh was used - Panzer IIIE
- Fixed a bug with incorrect use wreck for a unit Panzer III (FL). Previously the wrong mesh was used - Panzer IIIE.

Open Beta branch is now live

Additionally, we now added an Open Beta branch for everyone to check out new updates even before they are delivered to the main game. So, all new updates are first available in the Open Beta branch, and in a few days go to the main game. If you want to get the latest fixes ASAP, you can always switch to the Open Beta branch. To do it you have to:
1) Right-click Headquarters: World War II in the Library list
2) Select Properties
3) Select Betas
4) Select 'beta - open beta' in the branch dropdown
This should allow you to update to this new branch.

To opt out of Beta, just go through the same steps and switch to the “None” branch.

Further updates

We are already working on the 1.00.03 Update to be delivered next week. We found one AI issue that slipped through when we were working on the 1.00.02, so we will finalize the AI fixes in 1.00.03. Also, there are still a number of very important problems we will do our best to address. For example, some issues are happening, because the Windows user is not an Administrator, so we are looking to address that in 1.00.03. That and much more.

Your feedback

Your feedback and suggestions help us greatly, and we invite you to share them and discuss them with us on Discord, the Steam community hub, and Slitherine forums. We are always very open with the community and believe that without good communication between the dev team and the players' community, there cannot be a truly great game made.

Have a great weekend everyone!

See you next week with another update