Verdun News

We have released an update with a wide range of changes and improvements. There are performance tweaks, bug fixes, map adjustments to Douaumont, an update to a new version of Unity, and more! Read the highlights below:
Unity version updated to 2018.3.
Various new UI updates, performance optimisations and fixes.
Bots: Artillery call-in will now target a player that's clearly in sight (or was recently in sight) and with an extra random offset.
Improved gasmask checking on spawn, which should resolve the 'spawning in gas' issues.
Third person character now matches the first person vision more closely when a player goes prone. Reduces invisible prone issues when not deploying.
Walking over a prone player will no longer slow you down
Less chance of floating prone people.
Some boundaries on Flanders shifted to include sections of trench.
Fixed incorrect "Your NCO called in..." message for actions of other squads (now only display for your own squad call-ins).
Improved gasmask checking on spawn. This should resolve the 'spawning in gas' issues.
Fixed Tirailleurs not having Phosgene call-in.
Network bandwidth optimisations.

Douaumont adjustments Douaumont updated with: less entrances for Entente Powers, tweaks to trenches, walls and gun positions.
Fixed bots getting stuck against the bunker in Douaumont.
As always, check out the full changelog on the forums.


https://youtu.be/fhSr9ZMtk6kSay hello to the Bulgarians!

The countdown has started - thirteen days to go until the release of Tannenberg on February 13th!

Cheers!

Welcome back to the first Frontline News of the new year! We’re going to take a look back on everything which happened over 2018, and then what’s coming in 2019. Let’s go!


We started the year of 2018 by merging the code bases for Verdun and Tannenberg. Although there were a few struggles at first, it set the stage for a big graphical upgrade for Verdun, shared progress for both games in the future, and ultimately the free expansion that would be released in December…



Last year's April Fools joke was taking a gentle dig at the Battle Royale craze. Battle Royal: Northern Front would have featured booty crates, jetpacks, and more wild stuff…



The focus was on performance through to September, with a ton of things fixed or tweaked. There were also more graphical updates bringing better distance shadows, lighting and first person view details! As well as general improvements, particular attention was paid to networking and the smooth movement of other players online.

Meanwhile the first new squad on the roadmap was released: the ANZACs! They form a squad of engineers with a flair for close combat.



In October we updated and improved many of the sound effects in the game, and added a new prestige system allowing veteran players to gain prestige ranks in exchange for resetting their level to one and starting over. Here’s a video showing off some of the new sounds that were added:
https://youtu.be/VyIZ2TCCwAQ
It was a special Armistice Day last year, being the 100th anniversary of the day the fighting ended. We posted short stories about 100 people who were killed in the fighting or otherwise died as a consequence of the war.



In December we released a free expansion for Verdun to round off the year with a big update. The Senegalese Tirailleurs and St. Mihiel Salient are classic new content, while bot support in a new 64 player Frontlines mode offers an entirely new way to play the game! The objectives might be the same in Frontlines 64, but doubling the number of soldiers fighting makes far more intense battles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnAjYsLD9NE


To top it all off, we ended the year with our now traditional Christmas Truce in Verdun. Thousands of people joined the truce map to throw snowballs, play football, sing carols, and send Christmas cards to their friends.

While preparing for the truce, we were also reminded that many soldiers propped up trees in their trenches to serve as Christmas trees. This tree propping inspired the people of M2H to donate a new forest of 2,500 trees via Dutch foundation Trees for All. Each player could plant one tree. We hoped they could match our 2,500 trees... and they blew us away with more than 6,000 trees planted in-game!




So that was 2018, now what do we have planned for the new year? We already announced that Tannenberg will be released on February 13th, 2019 - and that players could expect a surprise to arrive at launch... we're tight-lipped about details for now, but it's barely a month away now!

The trailer for that also teased the Bulgarians who will be arriving with the release. Bonus points to the keen eyed fans who got the movie reference! Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyUjCk03a0Q&feature=youtu.be
We are also working on the user interface update for Verdun, bringing the new style of the revamped Tannenberg UI to our first game. You can already try out our WIP version via the opentesting branch on Steam. You can join opentesting branch by following these instructions:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=572388553
Check out how the new UI looks in Tannenberg, where a first version was released last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfnOYoBHcK4
That’s it for now! Stay tuned for future Frontline News posts, and don’t forget that for more news, you can sign up for our newsletter!

Banitsa, a Bulgarian New Year’s Eve specialty!

It’s Christmas time, a momentous time in World War 1 as during the darkness and untold misery of war, our common humanity prevailed and both sides laid down their arms to celebrate. We celebrate this extraordinary event with an in-game Christmas Truce, as has become a tradition among Verdun players as well as earning the commemorative Christmas truce medal!



Players will be able to engage each other in snowball fights, football matches and exchanging christmas cards. What you might not know historically about this event, was that some German soldiers also propped up christmas trees among the trenches. For this year’s Christmas Truce Event, you’ll be able to plant your own Christmas tree among the trenches.

This tree propping inspired us this year to raise awareness for our planet earth. Deforestation and the resulting environmental damage has hurt our planet and climate significantly these past decades. Because of this, we at M2H want to donate a new forest of 2.500 trees via Trees for All, which will be planted in the Netherlands and Uganda in the fall of 2019. Trees for All is a Dutch foundation that endeavors to combat the deforestation and to compensate for CO2 emissions by planting trees as well as spreading awareness across the world.
As a counter challenge we hope you, the community, plant at least 2.500 trees in-game as a show of solidarity to our planet and help raise awareness for this cause. During the Christmas Truce, you can plant one tree among the trenches. As a token of our gratitude you’ll be added to the ‘Tree log’ credit list as well as receiving this year’s Christmas Truce medal!

More info on the 'tree planting' can be read here: http://truce.ww1gameseries.com/



Just like previous years we will also give away some WW1 Game Series swag. Everyone who sends postcards from the trenches to their loved ones via email or social media, has a chance on winning a Steam key for Tannenberg, peppermint can or thermos. We’ll announce the five winners in the first week of January.
Lastly; for those interested in Tannenberg, the game is offered at a 40% discount during the Steam Winter sale!

On behalf of the entire team, we wish you all a merry Christmas and an inspiring, peaceful New Year!