Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront News

Hello everyone! After the Autumn sale, we are very happy to welcome a lot of new players to the wonderful world of Call to Arms - Gates of Hell. Today we will be having a look at the development for the upcoming “Finest Hour” DLC.

[h2]Factions[/h2]
For the “Finest Hour” DLC, we’ve taken another deep dive into the history of several years of war.
As you probably know, we distinguish 3 distinct war eras in our game; early-, mid- and late war.
The Commonwealth faction will be available in all three. Because of that, it opens up new possibilities for German missions in early war too!
So far, all of the German SP missions in Call to Arms - Gates of Hell have been about battles in 1941 or later; but in Finest Hour, you get some "Blitzkrieg" excitement as well.



All in all, like we have announced in Devblog #158, the Finest Hour single player campaign will consist of 16 single player missions, which will feature missions for the British Commonwealth and for Germany.



[h2]Representations[/h2]
The British Commonwealth consisted of many nations. Early on we decided that we wanted a limited selection of different English accents to acknowledge that fact.
As announced earlier, the representation of Commonwealth nations is limited to England, Canada and Scotland. On top of that, we will have Polish troops represented in the game as well. Although Poland was not a part of the union, its forces fought together with other Commonwealth armies. We will make sure we do the England, Canadian, Polish and Scottish nations honor.



[h2]Research[/h2]
Once again we have devoted a lot of time and effort to match our research with reality. Our field trip in the Netherlands in May of this year has enabled us to photograph a lot of the actual British and German equipment, vehicles and weapons that were used in several of the battles we intend to portray. This was possible through several museum visits and the event we attended while we were there.

Part of the BWS team at Hotel Hartenstein (nowadays the Airborne Museum) in Oosterbeek, NL

[h2]Landscapes[/h2]
Obviously it also helped our level designers to have been driving around when we were on our field trip, because it put us directly on top of some of the actual landscapes we were going to recreate.
Just like we have done in Normandy in past years, we wanted to make sure we had a good look at the landscapes we’re recreating - and we did.

This will once again enable us to design the missions and maps in such a way that they will be instantly recognizable, such as Dutch landscapes. Even if we omit the stereotypical tulip fields, wooden shoes and other tourist staples, they will be very authentic.
Other landscapes in the Finest Hour DLC will be French, Belgian and German; of course, these will each have a different atmosphere to them.



[h2]Campaign features[/h2]
The Commonwealth campaign in Finest Hour will offer a number of features that are meant to maximize immersion.

Cutscenes:

• New level of in-game cutscenes
  
• 20+ minutes of in-game and pre-rendered cinematics
  
• 40+ new MOCAP animations for characters used during cutscenes
  
• Smooth transitions between cinematics and gameplay

Voice lines:

• +/- 570 voice lines in the 7 Commonwealth(historical) storyline missions. Comparison: Ostfront German and Soviet campaigns, totalling 12 missions, have around 450 combined

Gameplay:

• Gameplay or story events happen frequently to keep high dynamic
  
• Average mission playtime is 45-60 minutes
  
• 10+ unique secret objectives
  
• All narrators now have their own names and some of them are historical characters

As an added bonus for modders, we have put in some easter eggs that only appear in the editor.



[h2]Multiplayer[/h2]
Of course we are working on the multiplayer content in parallel. Several weapons, vehicles and tanks that will be included in the DLC will be available for multiplayer only!
Since Finest Hour only covers the Western front, a number of tanks and other vehicles are not present at all in the singleplayer scripted campaign.
As an example; from the entire ‘cruiser’ class of tanks, the Crusader series was not yet in service during the 1940 campaign and had already been phased out by the time of the D-Day invasion, having been replaced by then. Since multiplayer and conquest require mid- war to provide you with appropriate weaponry, the Crusader series will be present there.



[h2]Progress and Planning[/h2]
We still intend to release Finest Hour before this year is out.
Closed Beta Testing has started earlier in October, which is where we want to be on our timeline.
We will reveal the release date after we have published the store page, at which time we’ll also reveal the Finest Hour trailer. Of course we will keep you posted on this.

That’s it for today. Which part of the DLC are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments!

See you on the battlefield!

[h2]Highlights[/h2]

• Added contextual reverse mode when vehicle is: selected, can move, and user places mouse cursor behind the vehicle
  
• Added toggle button 'Reverse mode' to the right control panel, along with keybind in option/controls for vehicles
  
• Added new feature to Conquest, allowing users to select textures (texmods) for their units in the preview area, and they save for use in the battle
  
• Added initial code support and animations for human idles in squatting and prone stances (not in cover, yet)
  

[h2]Optimizations[/h2]

• Optimized Multiplayer game modes (Battle Zones, Domination, Last Stand, Frontlines)
  - Skip loading units in doctrines that are not selected by players
  - Results in several gigabytes of reduction in memory usage and shorter loading times
  - This is similar to the optimizations done for Conquest in the last update (V1.054.0)
  
• Optimized Steam friends Icons to be removed from memory when loading into a match
  
• Optimized how vehicle views (vehicle schematics in the bottom left corner of UI) are loaded to and offloaded from memory.
  - Reduces memory consumption by ~600mb+
  - Reduces FPS drop when switching into direct control
  

[h2]Conquest[/h2]

• Added a new feature to allow users to select textures (texmods) for their units in the preview area, and they save for use in the battle
  
  
• Updated friendly fire to not force destroy in Conquest for both solo and coop modes
  
• Updated Conquest mission scripts to check the nation before building sandbags around MGs and to use shallow sandbags
  
• Updated t26_33_fin to not require t26e but instead require the vickers_6t_altb in research tree for Finnish Conquest
  
• Updated Soviet AT rifle man to not appear on stage 1 and instead on stage 2 and 3
  
  
• Fixed pathing issue on dcg_natramala map
  
• Fixed floating grass on dcg_utah beach
  
• Fixed pathing issue with railway tracks on dcg_puhoksen and dcg_puhoksen winter
  
• Fixed the wrong vehicle wreck player number on DCG Puhoksen and Puhoksen winter
  
• Fixed Conquest map .info files to Not have {texMode 'none'} and instead comment it out ;{texMode}. 'none' is not a actual texmod
  

[h2]Single Player[/h2]

• Updated friendly fire to not force destroy in Campaign missions for both solo and coop modes
  
• Fixed broken land polygons on Battle of Bloody Gulch(1944_06_06_bloody_gulch)
  
• Fixed wall alignment on SP Nijmegen
  
• Fixed 114 H/18 reinforcement missing image in buys list on Ilomantsi(1944_07-fin_ilomantsi)
  
• Fixed weapons used by a number of player soldiers so they match breed for auto resupply purposes for Closing the Pocket(1944_10_courland)
  
• Fixed invisible walls on cliffs on SP Kollaa
  
  
• The Hills of Saint-Lô(1944_06_saint_lo_hills):
  - Fixed and cleaned up part2/assign_3 reinforcements arrival possibility of not being assigned properly if extreme damage occurs right as reinforcements are spawned(such as a plane crashing upon them).
  - Assign 3 reinforcement (1 ht + 1armor based on doctrine) now is teleported in and cannot be damaged or affected via AI until assigned.
  
  
• The Ace of Swords(1943_07_petrovka)
  - Fixed final retreat task completion. (linked humans but not inactive who are crew of inactive vehicle, are considered active until task completion). Added a failsafe as well.
  - Fixed timer that tells when retreat task is shown, as the randomized delays there was small chance it would never happen(missing default switch case).
  - Fixed crash in coop if anyone was in direct control upon completion of the last task before the game is complete(must ables -select before player # switch).
  
  
• Christmas Trouble(1944_12_hotton)
  - Removed stray weapons at 0,0,0.
  - Fixed one building mid-air
  

[h2]Multiplayer[/h2]

• Increased cost of t26c from 235 to 250 mp
  
• Reduced cost of t26 variants to 180 mp
  
• Removed limit from doctrine_squad_scoutcar_marines
  
  
• Increased cost of doctrine_kv1_42_fin_late from 40 to 50 dp
  
• Increased cost of doctrine_kv1e_fin from 40 to 45 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_p204_f from 10 to 5 dp
  
• Reduced limit of doctrine_p204_f from 5 to 4
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_pz35t from 15 to 10 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_sdkfz10_pak38 from 30 to 25 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_panzer742r from 20 to 15 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_panzer2f_mid from 20 to 15 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_pz38t_g from 20 to 15 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_sdkfz250a_9_mid from 15 to 10 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_sdkfz251c_2_mid from 20 to 15 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_sdkfz7_2_mid from 25 to 20 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_75mm_pak9738_mid from 35 to 30 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_squad_stosstrupp from 25 to 20 dp
  
• Removed limit from doctrine_sdkfz10_flak38_fin
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_bt5_mid from 20 to 15 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_towed_m42 from 20 to 15 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_50cal_quad_m45_mid from 15 to 10 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_m4_mortar_carrier_mid from 20 to 15 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_t30_hmc_mid from 30 to 25 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_75mm_m1a1_mid from 30 to 25 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_m6_gmc_mid from 25 to 20 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_m3_gmc_mid from 30 to 20 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_m4a1_mortar_carrier_late from 20 to 15 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_75mm_m3a3_late from 30 to 25 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_75mm_m1a1_late from 30 to 25 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_75mm_legebig18_late from 30 to 25 dp
  
• Reduced cost of doctrine_76mm_m43 from 30 to 25 dp
  
• Reduced cost of light bombers from 1000 to 300 mp for scoring purposes: from 50 to 15 score
  
• Reduced cost of heavy bombers from 1000 to 500 mp for scoring purposes: from 50 to 25 score
  
• Changed unlock (initial) timers for many manpower vehicles so that better vehicles and emplacements will unlock later
  
  
• Increased aircraft speeds in multiplayer by 10%
  
• Increased opening cooldown of Finnish t3 and t4 infantry to 180 and 300 seconds - similar to other factions
  
• Reduced both cooldowns of USA midwar allround and offensive t4 ranger squads to t3 timer: from 300 to 180 seconds, due to those doctrines not having any t3 squads
  
  
• Fixed pathing fix on 1v1_tormasenvaara
  
• Fixed a pathing issue on 1v1_oryol
  
• Fixed broken land polygons on 4v4_dubovka
  
• Fixed one house not accessible, pathing, and heightmap near it on 4v4_dubovka
  
• Fixed MP map .info files to Not point to {texMode 'none'} and instead comment out ;{texMode}. 'none' is not a actual texmod
  

[h2]Everything Else[/h2]

• Animation Updates
  - Added initial code support and animations for human idles in squatting and prone stances (not in cover, yet)
  - Added new idle animations
  - Added MOCAP idles back into idle_gun blunt rotation
  - Updated and replaced squat_take_gun
  - Updated Bolt_Open animations to return to base pose when finished. Should fix any 'no ammo' issues when bolting guns open
  - Updated Idle animation sorting & speed/timing
  - Updated run_fast_ to only use 1hand sprints
  - Updated stand_take_gun animations
  - Updated cover_snipe_empty animation with a new one
  - Removed idle_gun_2hand_high from random idle rotation
  - Fixed squat take animation and updated it
  - Fixed squat end pose to no longer look awkward
  - Fixed stand gun take animations frame-pausing, added gun manipulation.
  - Fixed additive animations by forcing the last frame of the animation to be equal to the first one. Should address the accumulating offset from additive animations, causing strange poses for humans when hit.
  
  
• Small Arms Updates
  - Updated SMGs time-outs between bursts to be based on ROF and not clip capacity (Bergmann m20, ppsh41 stick, Thompson 20 and 30 rounders)
  - Increased SMGs with shorter shots per burst to be the same as other SMGs with longer shots per burst (MP40s, Later Thompsons, PPS43, M3 Grease)
  - Increased accuracy of STG and M1 Carbine at 60m and slightly at 95m
  - Reduced SMG bullet damage over distance curve
  - Reduced accuracy of semi-rifles slightly at both 60m and 95m
  - Reduced forced delay for rifles when switching targets from 0.5s to 0.25s
  - Fixed bolt-action rifles not having zeroing (increased accuracy with multiple shots at the same target)
  
  
• Added contextual reverse mode when a vehicle is selected and the user moves the cursor behind vehicle
  
• Added toggle button 'Reverse mode' to the right control panel, along with keybind in option/controls for vehicles
  
  
• Updated damage modifier to human limbs to be unified at 0.8
  
• Updated order of grenades in USA soldiers' inventories for smoke grenades to be thrown first before white phosphorus if the soldier has both
  
• Updated tank gun skill to be 15% improvement per level after level 4 (5-8)
  
• Updated skybox textures by lowering clouds to be more visible
  
• Updated Stand Gun idles to be more optimized
  
  
• Increased Interaction ID limit from 256 to 65,535 IDs
  
• Increased smoke grenade count for USA infantry
  
• Increased ammo count for Volvo 127d Itk40 to be inline with other AA trucks
  
  
• Fixed crew positions for 150mm_sig33
  
• Fixed 76mm_itk31 getting stuck in towing vehicle when changing stance from tow to fire by adding animation to shift it away from the vehicle
  
• Fixed 600mm_thor gun break animation
  
• Fixed crew for 76mm_k00 to sit in seats when towed
  
• Fixed m36b1_gmc missing parts
  
• Fixed "removable" shield components on T28E variants
  
• Fixed enumerator on Vickers 6t altb
  
• Fixed the recoil animation for 76mm M1927 variants
  
• Fixed wheelr on both 300mm_krh42 x and xx mismatching with the normal version (unbroken/undamaged)
  
• Fixed flying dshk on the zis5_dshk_xx model
  
• Fixed SU85 series gun rotation limit to +-10°
  
• Fixed the wrong tiger E bump map
  
• Fixed scale 25mm_pstk37 AT gun
  
• Fixed wrong inventory item preview for 50mm_ger_l87_apcbche
  
• Fixed flak36 seat bones and animations when being towed by a vehicle
  
• Fixed stretched body mesh on sdkfz251d_1_xx
  
• Fixed missing faces on the barrel's end for panzer4f2_x and panzer4g_x
  
  
• Fixed for the 300mm krh42
  - Obstacles not rotating with the vehicle
  - Attack ground not working for more than one shot
  - Rotation /aiming speeds to help reduce the chance of a rogue shot flying outside of the aiming point
  - Pivots are possibly resolving its aiming issues
  
  
• Fixed for ba_20, ba20_command, and fai_m
  - Hatches during break and repair animations
  - Replaced with open animations
  - Fixed missing hatch sounds for doors
  
  
• Fixed various armor bugs for Sherman tanks:
  - Sherman III mantlet now counts as a turret component (just like Liberation Shermans have.)
  - Fixed wrong rear armor for: m4a3_105_hvss, m4a3_76w_field1, m4a3_76w_field2, m4a3_76w_field3, m4a3_76w_hvss. Previously had 10mm, now they correctly have 38.1mm
  - Fixed roof armor for 76mm Shermans: m4a1_76w, m4a1_76w_mid, m4a3_76w, m4a3_76w_field1, m4a3_76w_field2, m4a3_76w_field3, and m4a3_76w_hvss
  - Fixed roof armor for 76mm Shermans: m4a2_76w_early_rus, and m4a2_76w_late_rus
  - Fixed wrong gun shield armor for m4_75_early and m4_75_early_armor. Before it was 89mm (which is for M34A1), but now it correctly has 76.2mm (which is for M34).
  - Fixed inconsistent armor values between normal and xx model for m4_75_early_armor_xx, before turret4_vol was 89mm, now it's correctly 76mm.
  - Fixed missing component tag for mantlets on: sherman3_late, m4a2_75_late_rus, and m4a2_76w_early_rus
  
  
• Fixed textures for T26C and sdkfz234
  
• Fixed wrong SP maps for mine_tmi_43 and panzer5a
  
• Fixed normal maps (textures) for many vehicles (special thanks to Colditz)
  
  
• Fixed repair kits stacking in groups of 5 instead of 1 in the soldier's inventory
  
• Fixed Finnish heavy engineers not being able to build mortar pits
  
• Fixed Finnish jacket to all cases where it's used in #winter variations
  
  
• Fixed several missing small icons
  
  
• Replaced interaction scripts that check for 'destroyed' tag (airborne and marine.inc). That tag is now automatically applied via source code.
  

r3453-4023

Cover art based on a screenshot by spaceflame_ivan

Community members! The time has come for another sale; the Steam Autumn Sale has started.
This sale will run for just one week!

The highest potential discount for this sale can be found on the “Complete Edition” bundle, making this the perfect opportunity to complete your collection. Check your bundle discount here:

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/26447/Complete_Edition/
Tell all your friends and get it while you can!

Community members! As announced earlier, we will have an open beta for game version 1.055.0, starting today.

• Multiplayer memory optimization and reduction of loading times.
  
• New animations
  
• Reverse features for better vehicle control.
  
• Customization of skins for conquest
  
• Numerous bug fixes
  
• Numerous balancing tweaks
  

We have described some of the highlights of this update in more detail in our previous devblog #160.

You can find the full changelog HERE.

Screenshot by Coolshark



On devblog 160 we mentioned that we were working on a reverse-lock feature for vehicles but didn’t know if it would make it in time for the update. We think it’s stable enough to test, so we’ve included it. With this feature, you will now be able to:

• Make a vehicle be locked in reverse motion, which is good for an armoured retreat to always face the enemy with the thickest frontal armour.
  
• The ability to see if, for a given location, the unit will want to go forward or in reverse. It allows you to predict the way your unit will face, thus preventing any nasty surprises. A similar quality of life improvement was also implemented much earlier by our competitor colleagues, credit where credit is due.
  

Screenshot and header image by Maplee


To join the beta, you only need to switch your game to the beta version. Later, when the beta becomes the live version, you don’t need to do anything at all to reverse the process.
If you want to participate, go to your Steam library, right-click on the game, select properties - betas - open beta. You can switch back to the current version at any time, using the same process.


That’s it for now, enjoy the update! Which change do you like best? Let us know in the comments!

[h3] [/h3][h3]Hello Tank Commanders, [/h3][p]We’re excited to announce Early Access is Available Now for Call to Arms: Panzer Elite

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h3]Call to Arms: Panzer Elite Pricing[/h3][p]Standard Edition - $29.99 [/p][p]Deluxe Edition Upgrade - $19.99 [/p][p]Supporter Bundle - $49.98 - 10% (includes both Standard & Deluxe Edition)[/p][p]
We will offer a Supporter Bundle at 10% off for those who wish to contribute even further to the game’s development and it already includes the Deluxe Edition upgrade!

You may ask why we are releasing a DLC during Early Access. The reason is simple: we are already planning and working on a Deluxe Edition for the full release, and we believe it would be unfair to withhold content from our early supporters who are already helping us during this phase.[/p][p]To be transparent about our plans, the DLC is available at a reduced price during Early Access, and some of its content is already included for you to enjoy. Our philosophy is that the earlier you support us, the less you should have to pay for the game.[/p][p]To make things even better, Early Access will launch with an additional 10% discount during the first week!
[/p][p]Price can vary from region to region [/p][p]If you purchase during Early Access you own the game during & after Early Access. [/p][p][/p][h3]Info on Early Access, what to expect and our Roadmap plans[/h3][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h3]TALK TO THE TEAM, JOIN OUR DISCORD![/h3]