Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront News

Hi everyone, here we are with some new stuff we want to show you, and also we have an announcement to make. Things are getting closer and closer to being finished and the excitement is going up slowly but surely.

First, let’s have a look at a specific piece of weaponry: the Nebelwerfer 41. Let’s start with a bit of history.
“Nebelwerfer” is the generic German name for this type of weapon. Some sources state that the name was given to it because it’s rockets created dense smoke trails that could be seen for miles. This is not true; it’s because of the original (main) task of laying smoke screens that these specialist units had. In the campaign in France for instance, successful Nebelwerfer smokescreens blinded enemy artillery observers on several occasions when German troops were crossing rivers or attacking sections of the Maginot Line.

Before 1941, the “Werfertruppe” had two models of the 10 cm Nebelwerfer at their disposal (the 35 and the 40). The collection was expanded by a new model in the summer of 1941, which was not a 10cm but a 15cm “Werfer”, which was named Nebelwerfer 41 in accordance with the then current naming convention in the German army.
It was intended for firing 2 types of rockets; smoke and HE. Eventually, the units were used almost exclusively to fire HE rockets.
There were 5 regiments of rocket artillery when operation Barbarossa started, “Werferregiment” 51, 52, 53 and 54 and the “Werfer- Lehr- Regiment”. These served in close support, right at the front line. They provided a dense bombardment and were quite effective; German army commanders liked the weapon very much. Notable battles where the Nebelwerfer played a role were the battle at the Stalin line and the Perekop isthmus, both in 1941. Its characteristic loud noise made British & American soldiers call it “Moaning Minnie” when they opposed them in Africa and Italy.
The Nebelwerfer 41 stayed in production until the war’s end.




In Gates of Hell we will have a completely new Nebelwerfer 41 for you.
What’s new about this one?
Well, as you know by now, the rockets used for this weapon left dense smoke trails that could be seen far beyond the normal line of sight. This will also be true in GoH.
Also, it will feature a support at the front to stabilize the Werfer before it can be fired.
It’s crew will duck & cover their ears when the weapon is being fired, to avoid going deaf with the astonishingly loud noise.

This is how it looks (by the way, everything you see in our blogs and on facebook & VK is work in progress):

HD Link

HD Link

HD Link

HD Link

Note: WiP alert! The flame effects and the animations are due to GIF limitations and do not represent the actual in- game effects.

For historically correct game design purposes we researched how the rockets (Wurfgranate 41) were designed and manufactured.
Two features of this design are different compared to the soviet rocket equivalent - the Katyusha’s M-13. Having found that stabilization fins were no option, the rockets were designed with tilted nozzles that made the rocket spin as it travelled, offering gyroscopic stability, similar to the rifling in gun barrels. Another difference is that the explosive was at the back of the (31,8 Kg/ 70 Lb.) rocket, whereas Soviet rockets had the explosive load at the front.
The result was that the Nebelwerfer rocket was more accurate and had a more effective shockwave. However, the BM-13 fired way more rockets (16 vs. 6) per salvo.



One remark about development balance; what we see here is a German piece of artillery. But this rocket science series of blogs is not over yet! Our Studebaker-mounted Katyusha rocket systems are moving to texturing stage. We plan to have them suited up for the next rocket artillery update.
Having said that, you can see we are busy putting these rocket launchers in the game. So how can we be sure that will they work? By testing, of course.



We are gearing up for the beta and so we need testers.
Since we are a small studio, it would be very unwise to take hundreds of testers on board; we would simply be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of feedback.
We think the beta can be successful if we have a very strict selection of about 15 testers.
Probably the most important asset for a tester is the ability to explain issues to the devs, and our internal communications are always in English. We’re really sorry for those who come from many countries and who do not speak English, but we must prioritise efficiency at work.

Overall, this is what we look for in our beta testers:

Hi everyone, it’s time for an update and here we are.

There are lots of things being developed in parallel, some things more interesting to write about than others; so we picked something that will be available in early access, and describe how we made it and what it will look like.


The struggle at the Vistula spit happened right at the end of the war, after a campaign that had seen unbelievably bitter fighting under extreme conditions, with staggering loss of life on both sides.

The Vistula spit and the Curonian spit are sandbank formations that are emblematic for the geography of the Baltic coast between Gdańsk (Danzig) and Klaipėda (Memel). As German units became cut off from the rest of the German Army (which was retreating towards the Oder during the Soviet offensive of january 1945) two pockets of resistance emerged around Königsberg (Kaliningrad) to the east and Danzig to the West, only linked by the Vistula spit after Soviet troops reached the Vistula lagoon at Heiligenbeil.

The situation became similar to the Courland pocket further east: the bulk of the Red Army was focused on breaking the Oder-Line and reaching Berlin, while efforts were made to contain and slowly destroy the German pockets. For the Germans “holding at all cost” had become the usual official mantra, and the evacuation by sea of civilians, wounded and valuable equipment didn’t mean the position would be abandoned. The evacuations took place mostly by ship and were supported by the Kriegsmarine. Many civilians and soldiers were evacuated in the extreme cold, and evacuations continued during spring. After the major ports of Königsberg and Danzig had been lost the only real alternatives for evacuation by ship were the small ports of Pillau and Hela.

Civilians and soldiers line up to be evacuated in Pillau, 1945.

A tank ditch was dug across the peninsula north of Pillau to defend the city. What seem to be the remains of the defensive line can still be seen today; copy/ paste the coordinates (54.719827, 19.945084) into google maps to find it. The Lochstädt (Lochstedt) castle was the pivotal defense point of the German defenses north of Pillau in april 1945, it was defended by guns of the 18. Flak-Division and fell after heavy fighting on the 23rd of april. Pillau itself fell on the 25th of april.

Part of a German situation map, indicating Pillau had a “fortress command”

After the fall of Pillau, remnants of the German 4th Army - various surviving units and civilians - fled across the Pillau Strait.
Soviet troops of the 11th Guards Army pushed hard to pursue the fleeing Germans, harassing them with aircraft and building a pontoon to cross the strait. At the same time soviet troops used boats to land on both sides of the Spit to cut off retreating German troops. The main landing took place on the 27th April and was supposed to be a synchronized attack on both sides of the Spit, but the timing was off and Germans troops managed to push the Soviet troops back.

German infantry held blocking positions along the Spit, the northernmost part held by the 28. Jäger Division made up of remnants of the LV. Army Corps, while the remnants of the 5th Panzer Division and the “Grossdeutschland” Panzer Division served as mobile counterattack forces with the very few vehicles that were still operational.
Wounded soldiers, civilians from Pomerania and East Prussia and all sort of support units were now stuck on the Spit. The fighting continued until the 8th of May, the day the German troops on the Spit surrendered (2. Army on the nearby Hel-Peninsula surrendered only the next day).


The mission in Gates of Hell will be set in the aftermath of the fall of Pillau, during the gruelling last days of the war in Europe. Desperate German units trying to hold on and Soviet troops determined to end the war once and for all clash in the spring weather of 1945.

HD Link
The geography of the area is unique and very different from the plains, cities and snowy battlefields of the Soviet Union. Instead the spit is heavily forested, giving great cover for infantry to hide from the ever watchful eyes of the Soviet air force. And of course sand, a lot of it (it’s coarse and rough and irritating obviously). This interesting mix of terrain is why we chose to look at this battle for Gates of Hell.

The mission we’re designing for the map will rely on these geographical features and the context of the last days of the war unfolding to provide an engaging fight for the player. The map can be roughly described as being composed of three distinctive areas that blend into each other: the shore on the baltic sea, the forest, and the dunes on the vistula lagoon shore.

HD Link

HD Link
The baltic shoreline is thin and offers little cover. An improvised road follows the shoreline: the only north-south road on the spit was quickly congested by the military traffic and especially civilians but also military units used the sandy shore as an alternative road. This worked well during the winter when the sand was firm from the cold but when spring came around the loose sand became the last resting place for more than one German vehicle.

HD Link
Most of the spit is covered with pine forest. The sandy and mossy ground offers little resistance to tracks and so the only road going through the forest was of strategic importance. The almost straight road offers little cover, so beware if you want to rush your tank down that road, anti-tank crews and panzerfausts are lurking in the forest!

HD Link

HD Link
In the forest itself, German troops are seeking refuge from the constant Soviet air presence; here they can fortify. For Soviet soldiers it will be no simple task to drive them out, it will be a bloody forest fight.

HD Link
Then the forest and the dunes on the eastern side of the spit start to blend. Sand and greenery mix and create a playground for infantry ambushes. Flanking attacks to outmaneuver the fortified forest positions will have to come through here.

HD Link

HD Link
The dunes are open terrain, suited for long range fighting. Here tanks can deploy all their firepower, although the bumpy, sandy terrain doesn't make for an easy ride. The wavy dunes also provide great cover for sneaky infantry attacks. But beware, from above the mighty Soviet air force is always watching - and who knows what danger might come sailing in from the lagoon?

[List]
Before and after the surrender, food was in short supply. Even though potatoes were available, these were not handed out immediately because they were needed for planting new crops.
In the last weeks of the war, German light FLAK units were almost exclusively used in ground battles, for which they had to conserve ammunition; with the Luftwaffe already incapacitated, the VVS (Soviet air force) not only had complete mastery of the air, but the FLAK also stopped shooting at its aircraft.
The side streets of Pillau were littered with big piles of equipment in those last weeks. Soldiers were told to leave behind their guns, gas mask drums etc. to save space on the evacuating ships.
The Teutonic Order built the castle at Lochstädt. You can still visit the ruins of the castle today. In Pillau itself you can find a war museum as well.
We post regular WiP screenshots on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/gatesofhellgame/
[/List]

HD link

Hi everyone, here we are with a development update! The last update was quite general; this time we want to present something really specific. In fact, what we want to show you is a historical scenario we’ve been working on: the battle of Tikhvin.



In October 1941, the defenses of Leningrad appear to be impenetrable to the German attackers. Instead of attacking frontally, German high command decides to concentrate its efforts against the city’s supply lines. The focal point is the railway line linking Leningrad to the eastern regions supplying the Road of Life, and the offensive will target it’s largest railway node: the town of Tikhvin. After a devastating aerial bombardment, disabling most of the infrastructure, the German forces advance on the Volkhov sector to conquer the town and cut the supply line to Leningrad.

When the Germans reach the outskirts of the town on the 8th of November a blinding snowstorm starts, slowing the attackers and concealing the enemy positions. The few Soviet guns still present in the area fire at the panzers at point blank range, and the Germans have a hard time breaking through the Soviet lines. The fighting stops when Soviet troops retreat. Afterwards, Soviet High Command organises a counter offensive with fresh reinforcements and latest version T-34s.

Because this battle was unique at the time, we felt it deserves a place in Gates of Hell. For this scenario we even built a very special vehicle; completely historical of course.





The mission starts after the German attack on Tikhvin. Soviet aero sleds are commanded to recon the area in preparation for the Soviet counterattack. The Germans are establishing logistics and defenses of their own, which makes the perfect scene for sabotage and observation operations.

HD link

The player [soviet] will have to fight his way through the German rear and jeopardise the supply columns and other vital strategic assets. There is room for plenty of secondary tactics to be employed, from sabotaging communication lines to denying the enemy a chance to call for reinforcements and preventing partisan executions. We have modelled the logistics and communication setups as accurately as possible.

HD link

The player will have to micro-control his small squad and keep key members alive - resembling the classic gameplay of the original games of the series. Despite the numerical inferiority, two factors are strongly in favor of the player: the element of surprise and the crucial use of NKL-26s. While the Germans struggle to cross the deep snow, your aerosleds will be speeding on the surface, and the Germans won’t know what hit them.
With this setup, we want to bring something new to the table and ensure each mission is unique and has something special and new.

HD link

The Soviets eventually took back the town on December 8th, making Tikhvin the first place where a Soviet counteroffensive actually repelled the Germans. In doing so, they reopened the supply line to Leningrad, albeit for a very short period of time. The Leningrad blockade was one of the most cruel events of WWII. Through our game, we wish to pay tribute to the soldiers and civilians who endured the brutal struggle. In the future we plan to develop new scenarios depicting the ‘Road of Life’ and other key events where the Soviets faced Army Group North.

HD link

That’s the battle of Tikhvin for now. In the background we are working on a lot more scenarios such as Mount Elbrus (check the screenshots on Facebook and VK) and the battle of Tula (around Kondrovo), and we will make sure there is a good score of scenarios when we announce the EA later this year.
Do you like what you see? Let us know!

Did you know?

• A few days after the Germans captured Tikhvin, the temperature fell off to -40°c. At this temperature, any contact with metallic objects immediately burns the skin. Because of this, both armies were forced to halt operations as men were dying of cold and most equipment was frozen.
• From the end of 1941 to February 1942 the only food available in Leningrad was a ration of 125 grams of bread per day, which contained more than 50% sawdust and other inedible materials.
• In 1942, the Soviet army tried to break the Leningrad siege for the third time. The plan was called the Sinyavino Offensive and for the first time involved major forces. The Germans had also been preparing an offensive in the same month and the same region, called Operation Nordlicht (Northern Light). They were both unaware of the enemy’s plans. This offensive also saw the first involvement of Tiger tanks, although technical failures and swampy terrain prevented them from actively taking part in the fights.

Hello everybody, today's news is one of our job ads, which we wanted to share with you! Please spread it to those who might be interested! Our next content dev blog will follow shortly in the next 2 weeks! See you in the comments!

LOCATION: REMOTE WORK
LEVEL: EXPERIENCED
DEPARTMENT: LEVEL DESIGN
PAYMENT: AFTER RELEASE

As a Level Designer at BWS, you are responsible for providing immersive, high quality maps:

• You will recreate the battlefields of WWII with stunning historical accuracy and immersion, based on research and verified sources, including correct map sizes/scales, extracting hightmaps and being able to pinpoint locations of different objects/environments such as houses, landscape elements, flora, etc. While said work is planned, you will also take care of producing project documents to note down important information before you go hands-on.
  
• You will be coordinating your work with the mapping team as well as your team lead to increase your skills, to develop new mapping techniques and to share innovative ideas with everybody, in a continued ongoing process.
  
• You will regularly developing test areas in the GEM editor to find the best mapping and design techniques before you adapt the result into the final project.
  
• The process of creation of a map is long: You will be an active member of our team, driven by passion and willing to run the required miles to fulfill our self set targets and standards.
  

• You are skilled in level design and you understand basic art principles.
  
• You got solid experiences with the GEM Editor and you are able to work with all its tools (highmapping, colour tool, polygon edit etc.).
  
• You are committed to learn and use Discord (communication means), Git (version controlling & every mapper can see everybody's work) and Trello (organisation).
  
• You are open minded (also for feedback/critics), willing to work in an international team.
  
• You are fluent in english so you are able to communicate with us.
  

We are an international, innovative and homegrown team born out of dedicated enthusiasts - our target? We strive to build an RTS that unlike all others, puts both historical value and atmosphere upfront to deliver a product that both an immersive game and a loyal portrayal of WWII. Thus, we are looking for people who share our passion. We grew up watching the classic war films, reading the books and travelling to the places where modern history was forever shaped. Is this your cup of tea? Then please get in touch with us now, right here.

Note: When sending us your application, please make sure to attach your CV and references from your mentioned work, as pictures or Steam Workshop/Youtube Links. (References are required to evaluate your skills in level design).

We look forward to receive your application!

Hello everyone!

We have been very busy in the past weeks, working in all kinds of directions. For instance, we were setting up parts of the process to facilitate future beta testing. We also did some testing of our own. But now it’s time for a development update!
This dev blog is more about general game updates. Of course we want to show you some nice stuff we’ve been working on. Here is a collection of screenshots with the developer’s notes.
Have a good look, we hope you like them!



HD

If you take a close look, you can see this particular King Tiger has been in a fight. Two shots from T-34/85’s have scarred the upper glacis plate and one has bounced off the (Pre- production type) turret. It’s gun has been fired a number of times, blackening the barrel around the muzzle brake with burnt gunpowder. It also shows white stripes around the barrel, indicating that this tank has destroyed 8 enemy tanks. The screenie was taken “somewhere in Western Poland”. Note that the trees, bushes and grass are all new.



HD
We showed you a number of things from the Wintergewitter scenario in devblog #66. Here’s another scene from that scenario; note that the Panzer III has side skirts (and rather muddy ones). The tracks on the Panzer III were easily damaged - even by Soviet AT rifles - making this model one of the first German tanks to receive “Schürzen” for that reason.



HD
As you can see this Tiger is firing its gun. The flames, like they would in real life, go sideways thanks to the muzzle brake. At the front it’s mostly smoke. The spare track sections on the turret add armor protection in-game, but they can be shot off as well. Note the additional camouflage, mostly attached to the extra bits of track.



HD
This tank was a nasty surprise to the Germans in 1941. Its extremely heavy armor made it almost impenetrable, at least from the front, for most German AT guns. Some accounts will tell you that a handful of KV tanks could stop a large group of Panzers. In august 1941, a company commander, lieutenant Kolobanov, reported that his company destroyed 42 enemy tanks in 1 day, with just 5 KV tanks. Note that this screenshot clearly shows the infantry riding along, something the KV-1 offers plenty of room for. Also note the bolted armor on the turret.
HD
Here’s another angle; a maximum of 7 infantry can ride along.



HD
Here’s the Soviet ROKS flamethrower unit. As you see, the flames are one step up, and so is the coding behind it. It will be much harder to burn yourself with the new algorithms, which is something that had always been a nasty problem with flamethrowers in the game engine, and “farshooting” exploits in multiplayer are not possible any more. Its accuracy is also different; your aim will need to be more precise than before. Also note the volume of smoke.

Did you know?

• The King Tiger from the tank museum in Saumur, France has a non- historical paint scheme according to some people, so we don’t use its color scheme; however, we will use its sound in-game, as it is the only running example in the world.
• You can find more on our Facebook and VK pages. Like & follow us so you are sure to miss nothing, for instance when we open applications for our beta this summer!

Beta testing (15-20 testers) will be open for applications this summer (summer in Europe) and we are still on schedule to have EA in 2018.

That’s all for now. Do you like what you see? Let us know!