War of Rights News

[h2]Hello everyone,[/h2][p][/p][p]Today, we have updated the game in preparation for the anticipated time-limited 1776 event starting July 1st.[/p][p][/p][p]We cannot wait to march and fight alongside you all in this all-new War of Rights event experience, starting in just a few more days![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Steam Summer Sale - War of Rights 50% off![/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p]As part of the Steam Summer Sale, War of Rights is currently 50% off! [/p][p][/p][p]Now is the perfect time to pick up a copy for yourself or your comrades to shore up the line on the fields of glory in preparation for the Independence Day celebration that is the 1776 event![/p][p][/p][p]You can purchase the game here: [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h2]Hello everyone,[/h2]

Today, we’re excited to bring you Update 199: 400 Player Support to War of Rights!

As the title suggests, this update increases the official player cap from 350 to 400 players per server. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg in today’s update—there’s much more to announce, explore and enjoy.

Before we get into all the excitement of today’s update, we want to take a moment to celebrate three amazing people who have risen from the ranks in our incredible community to become valuable contributors at Campfire Games.

[h2]Where Passion Meets Profession: Players Become Developers[/h2]

With today’s update, we’re proud to highlight both new and long-standing developers who began as members of our community. Their passion and deep connection to War of Rights brings valuable insight as they help us continue to improve and expand the game.

At its core, War of Rights is a game with a dedicated, passionate, and knowledgeable community. Without your deep interest in the subject matter, your constant efforts in fostering an immersive experience for everyone, filled with a big focus on teamplay and roleplaying, the game would likely never have gotten to where it is today.

We’re thrilled to formally present three former community members who are now part of the Campfire Games family. We’ll be highlighting some of the exciting projects they’re working on and celebrate one of them reaching their 5-year anniversary with us!

[h2]Time-limited Event: War of Rights: 1776[/h2]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Get ready to shave those beards and powder those wigs. Today, we are proud to announce 1776, an all-new addition to our growing roster of time-limited annual events, which commemorates the War for Independence.

We’re extremely excited to announce this all-new addition to War of Rights, marking Independence Day in style. Kicking off on July 1st and running through Independence Day and the weeks that follow, this special event lets you step into the Revolutionary War and fight for liberty as an American patriot—or for the Crown as a loyal British subject!



This immersive dive into the Revolutionary War features a host of new content: historically inspired regiments, period-authentic weapons, unique flags, updated animations, refreshed UI elements, and more.



This event wouldn’t be possible without the incredible work of Morgan Seifer, known in the community as Pingu, who recently joined Campfire Games. A longtime contributor and passionate history enthusiast, Morgan has brought this vision to life with remarkable attention to detail, and we’re thrilled to have him on the team.

We cannot wait to head back, “four score and seven years ago” to 1776 and experience the flintlock musket action together with all of you! This time limited event begins on July 1st.



[h2]A new Campfire Games Video Series: Campfire Chats[/h2]

Today, we’re excited to launch Campfire Chats—a brand-new developer video series from Campfire Games, inspired by the classic George’s Corner videos. In this series, we’ll cover War of Rights gameplay, recent updates, announcements, and dive into historical discussions—plus much more!

Campfire Chats is hosted by our brand-new Marketing Specialist, Cody Karov—better known in the War of Rights community as General Cody HD, a bit of a legend for creating hundreds of standout YouTube videos about the game. He’s joined by Clark Morningstar, Campfire Games’ veteran historian, scriptwriter, narrator, sometimes singer, and more—known to the community as GeorgeCrecy. Rounding out the trio is Bradley Smith, our talented texture artist, battle flag connoisseur, and fellow historian, also known as Chaplain Bradley in the community.

Campfire Chats launches today on our Youtube channel as well as in the media section of our website and we expect to be publishing bi-monthly episodes for you all to enjoy!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Announcement: Weather & Atmospherics Overhaul[/h2]

Launching alongside the 1776 event on July 1st is a complete overhaul of the game’s atmospherics, cloud systems, and weather effects. First up are major improvements to cloud shape and formation. The skies now feature more natural, defined cloud structures—replacing the previously noisy and uniform appearance.



Rain and storm clouds are now physically simulated and move dynamically across the battlefield. You’ll be able to see them forming and rolling in from the horizon, giving you time to prepare for dramatic shifts in weather. In fact, it’s now possible for one part of the battlefield to be caught in a downpour while another remains completely dry.



Atmospheric effects and fog have also been significantly upgraded, with enhanced visuals and extended visibility. These improvements integrate seamlessly with the new cloud systems, creating striking sunbeams and more immersive weather conditions. A new weather type—thick, oppressive fog—has been added as well, offering a moody and intense battlefield experience.



Lastly, a new dynamic wind system has been introduced, affecting how grass, trees, and gun smoke behave in the environment.

These new features will continue to be developed and refined after launch, and we’re excited about the new visuals, variety and atmosphere they will add to future matches.

[h2]Shadow Improvements[/h2]



In today’s game update. we’re excited to bring a visual upgrade that adds even more depth and realism to the battlefield. Screen Space Shadows with Micro Detail. This enhancement allows for finer, more accurate shadowing on small geometry and surface details—making everything from subtle protrusions in the terrain to intricate object edges feel more grounded and visually rich.

It also improves how surfaces receive shadows, preventing them from looking flat or overly uniform. This added depth brings out the texture and shape of the environment, helping everything feel more three-dimensional and alive. Furthermore, we’ve also significantly extended shadow draw distances, allowing for greater visual fidelity across our large environments.

This is our own adapted and enhanced take on the brilliant work by Bend Studio, originally presented at SIGGRAPH. If you're interested in the technical details, you can learn more here: Inside Bend: Screen Space Shadows.

[h2]New War of Rights Website Released![/h2]

As many of you may have noticed, a few months ago we quietly launched our new website at warofrights.com. It brings much-needed visual and functional improvements compared to our previous site—which, at over 13 years old, was showing its age. This is also the first important step towards the integration of Service Records, detailed HERE. None of this would have been possible without the expert web development skills of yet another recent addition to the Campfire Games development team, Anthony Wiedman—known in the community as molex. Before joining CG, Anthony created several popular War of Rights-focused web tools, and we’re thrilled to have him on the team. The quality of his work speaks for itself!



[h2]Flags, Flags Everywhere![/h2]

We’d like to round this community-member-turned-developer presentation off with an honorable mention of Bradley Smith, who has just celebrated his 5-year anniversary as a Texture Artist and Historian at Campfire Games! Bradley was a long-term community member and original crowdfunder of the game before he became a developer (to the great joy of every player with a deep interest in battle flags or just historicity in general!). In many ways, his joining the team was a trailblazing moment, expanding the scope and pushing at the settled team composition that would eventually lead to us being able to present to you today the three old War of Rights community members turned into new Campfire Games developers!

Happy 5-year anniversary Bradley, and here’s to five more and thanks for leading the way (and for the flags!)



We hope you all enjoyed our presentation and are looking forward to the many upcoming additions to the game (in-game as well as outside of it!).

Now, let’s dive into the patch notes of today’s update below!

[h2]Update 199 Patch Notes[/h2]

• Added official support for 400 player servers in an effort to continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in an online FPS-game as we continue to work towards increasing immersion.
  
• Added support for time-sliced distance shadows covering the entire playable area, significantly reducing per-frame draw call and rasterized triangle counts.
  
• Added support for micro detail, drastically improving the visuals of textures up close.
  
• Greatly improved the visuals of trees at a distance, resulting in less pop-in as well as fewer porcupine-looking trees.
  
• Greatly improved the view distance of roads, resulting in more detailed levels in the distance.
  
• Reduced the height of most of the grass in the game by 37.5% for a more accurate depiction of the battlefields of Maryland, 1862 according to period photographs.
  
• Overhauled the cloud visuals of the game for far greater looking volumetric clouds, casting cloud shadows, covering the sky when it rains, and being synchronized between all clients so that the cloud patterns will be identical to every player on the server.
  
• Updated the aiming setup of the game in an effort to provide for more of a perceived depth when aiming and firing your weapon.
  
• Added new enter and exit At-the-Ready animations.
  
• Added an automatic full cock hammer animation if the player aims a loaded rifle with its hammer seated or at the half cock.
  

• Adjusted the boundaries on the Burnside’s Bridge skirmish area to allow Confederates to occupy the bank on their side of Antietam Creek.
  
• Pushed the CSA further back from the Union spawn at the Cooke’s Countercharge skirmish area, Antietam.
  
• Updated the boundaries and spawn points of the union on the High Street skirmish area, Harpers Ferry.
  
• Increased the tickets for the defenders on most of the skirmish areas in an effort to improve game balance:
  
  ANTIETAM:
  
  
  • Hagerstown Turnpike 10% Defenders
    
  • Miller's Cornfield 7% Defenders
    
  • East Woods 12% Defenders
    
  • Nicodemus Hill 5% Defenders
    
  • Bloody Lane 10% Defenders
    
  • Pry Grist Mill 5% Defenders
    
  • West Woods 10% Defenders
    
  • Dunker Church 10% Defenders
    
  • Burnside Bridge 10% Defenders
    
  • Cooke's Countercharge 15% Defenders
    
  • Otto & Sherrick Farm 10% Defenders
    
  • Roulette Lane 5% Defenders
    
  • Piper Farm 12% Defenders
    
  HARPERS FERRY:
  
  
  • River Crossing 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Downtown 10% Defenders
    
  • School House Ridge 12% Defenders
    
  • High Street 5% Defenders
    
  • Bolivar Heights Camp 10% Defenders
    
  • Shenandoah Street 8% Defenders
    
  • Bolivar Heights Redoubt 5% Defenders
    
  • Washington Street 5% Defenders
    
  SOUTH MOUNTAIN:
  
  
  • Garland's Stand 5% Defenders
    
  • Anderson's Counterattack 5% Defenders
    
  • Reno's Fall 5% Defenders
    
  • Colquitt's Defence 5% Defenders
    
  DRILL CAMP:
  
  
  • Alexander Farm 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Crossroads 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Smith Field 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Crecy's Cornfield 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Larsen Homestead 3% Defenders
    
  • South Woodlot 3% Defenders
    
  • Flemming's Meadow 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Wagon Road 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Crossley Creek 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Union Camp 3% Defenders
    
  • Pat's Turnpike 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Stefan's Lot 7.5% Defenders
    
  • Confederate Encampment 7.5% Defenders
    

• Replaced the old grass, moss and leaf ground textures in the game with newer, more high-quality ones.
  
• Fixed some incorrect normals on a bunch of ground textures, resulting in better and more accurate visuals.
  
• Fixed a seam in the macadamized road texture.
  
• Fixed a lot of floating bushes, Harpers Ferry.
  
• Overhauled the Henry Rohrback farmhouse.
  
• Fixed some Sherrick Farm textures, Sherrick Barn model, Piper Smokehouse model and Nicodemus House model.
  
• Updated the 3rd Maryland Potomac Home Brigade flags to match their real-world counterparts, with many thanks to the archivists at the Maryland State Archives for their assistance.
  
• Updated the Hampton Legion national flag.
  
• Vegetation detail work, Antietam.
  
• Fixed a small normal artifact on the Springfield M1855.
  
• Vegetation detail work, South Mountain.
  
• Added two new light probes on Harpers Ferry along the rivers for better lighting during sunrise and sunset.
  
• Fixed several bad door rotations, Antietam.
  
• Fixed a rare edge case where simultaneous interactions on the same dropped flag could result in it being duplicated to several different players, resulting in multiple flag pickups.
  
• Made the dirt accumulation on characters take 10 times longer.
  
• Several Louisiana uniform tweaks and fixes.
  
• Begun a renaming process of all of our customizable uniform parts to match the names of their real-world counterparts.
  
• Removed a massive amount of code bloat. This is an ongoing optimization process.
  

That’s all for now - we look forward to seeing you all on the new 400-player servers for an even greater and more immersive gameplay experience!

[h2]- The Campfire Games Team[/h2]

[h2]Hello everyone,[/h2]

Today we’re happy to be bringing you the first alpha update of 2025 to War of Rights, titled Update 198: Scopes, Sights & Ballistics!


The primary focus of today’s update is to overhaul the ballistics of all small arms fire within the game, improve rifle zeroing handling and sight pictures, and introduce highly limited scoped variants of the Whitworth and Sharps rifles to the game.

Let’s dive into the details below!

[h2]Scoped Sharpshooting Rifles[/h2]



Although they will be exceedingly rare, rifles with mounted scopes make their debut in War of Rights with the introduction of the four-powered scoped Whitworth and six-powered Sharps rifles. These technological marvels of their day are currently limited to the NCO ranks of 1st Sergeant and Sergeant Major of the regiments deployed with either Whitworth or Sharps rifles;

[h3]CSA[/h3]

1st North Carolina Sharpshooters
5th Alabama Battalion
Palmetto Sharpshooters

[h3]USA[/h3]

1st U.S. Sharpshooters
2nd U.S. Sharpshooters
42nd Pennsylvania
5th New York



The Union exclusive 6-powered long-rifle Malcolm telescope available on the Sharps rifle is a direct replacement of the iron sights of that rifle, while the Confederate exclusive 4-powered scope on the Whitworth rifle is a side-mounted scope, allowing you to not only change views between the scope and iron sights by pressing Z while aiming, but also to adjust the zeroing on the iron sights of the Whitworth.

Bayonets are not issued to either of the two scoped rifles.

[h2]Overhauled Sight Handling[/h2]


All rifle sights in-game now work as intended, mimicking their real-world counterparts. Changing your rifle zeroing is now accomplished by using the mouse wheel (up or down) while aiming your rifle. The zeroing of the sight is now visually maintained even when you do not aim and networked so that other players can see your zeroing adjustments.

[h2]Overhauled Ballistics[/h2]

In Update 198: Scopes, Sights & Ballistics, the ballistics of the rifles have received a major overhaul to ensure range zeroing is precise and functional. Furthermore; the randomized bullet spread, representative of variance in ammunition qualities, has been drastically decreased in order to more closely mimic the characteristics of the ballistics of the real-world counterparts to the in-game rifles.

Left: old random bullet spread vs right: new 60% decreased random bullet spread.

Other ballistic changes include a damage dropoff to buck and ball pellets and pistol balls at distances beyond 33 yards. In short, this means that you may be able to survive a hit at a distance of a smaller round if you are at full health.

[h2]Update 198 Patch Notes[/h2]

• Added scoped variants of the Whitworth and Sharps rifles, available to 1st Sergeants and Sergeant Majors of the units issued with the non-scoped variants of the weapons in question.
  
• Decreased the random bullet spread of the M1841 Mississippi, M1853 Enfield, M1854 Lorenz, M1855 Springfield and M1861 Springfield rifles by 60% to more closely mimic their real-world counterparts.
  
• Decreased the random bullet spread of the M1859 Sharps rifle by 70% to more closely mimic its real-world counterparts.
  
• Decreased the random bullet spread of the Whitworth rifle by 90% to more closely mimic its real-world counterparts.
  
• Slightly reduced the muzzle velocity of the Sharps carbine.
  
• Added a dropoff damage to buck and ball pellets and pistol balls related to distance travelled.
  
• Overhauled zeroing the rifle sights, resulting in a cleaner gameplay experience.
  
• Re-added the removal of the powderbag when loading double or triple canister.
  
• Lowered the chance for the broken twig sound to play to 10%
  
• Optimized and improved a number of wallpaper textures.
  
• Tweaked the revolver sprint animation.
  
• Increased defender starting morale by 10% on Larsen Homestead, South Woodlot & Union Camp skirmish areas, Drill Camp.
  
• Added interactable flag poles to the Drill Camp game mode.
  

• Changed the front sight post of the Whitworth rifle to match earliest known models in Confederate use.
  
• Fixed up several snake rail fence rotations for better vaultability on Smith Field skirmish area, Drill Camp.
  
• Various minor vegetation fixes, South Mountain level.
  
• Added more environmental props to the game.
  
• Overhauled the R. Miller farm.
  

• Various detail updates to the farms of Antietam.
  
• Fixed landslide materials.
  
• Added unique skeletons to all weapons which will allow them to better represent their real life version.
  
• Changed 12th New York Militia to 12th New York National Guard with new uniforms.
  

• Fixed a number of fences on Antietam.
  
• Updated all of the affected barn prefab doors to lessen the chance of players being able to exploit them to glitch onto the roofs.
  
• Overhauled all NCO chevrons for the USA and CSA.
  

• Added footstep sounds to artillery tool walk animations.
  
• Added footstep sounds to melee mode aim walk animations.
  
• Fixed the fingers and hands ceasing to play animations at a distance.
  
• Increased the texture budget on low and medium graphical presets.
  
• Made the low and medium graphical presents less aggressive in culling objects.
  

[h2]Steam Spring Sale: War of Rights 50% Off![/h2]



Starting today, War of Rights is 50% off for the next week as part of the Steam Spring Sale!

Considering joining the ranks? Now is the time to grab a copy for yourself or your friends at:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/424030/War_of_Rights/

That’s all for now - we look forward to be setting our sights on you on the fields of glory!

[h2]- The Campfire Games Team[/h2]

[h3]Hello everyone,[/h3]

As the year draws to an end, we’re excited to be bringing you the 197th alpha update to War of Rights titled Drill Camp Skirmishes today!

The last major update of 2024 includes several new additions that are bound to shake up the game and a fair few improvements, as well. Let’s dive into the content of Update 197: Drill Camp Skirmishes below!


[h2]13 New Drill Camp Skirmishes[/h2]


Today’s update expands the ever popular Skirmish game mode by introducing 13 additional Skirmish areas situated on the Drill Camp level. Each of the 13 new Skirmish areas are roughly the same size as that of the Dunker Church Skirmish (one of the 3 very first Skirmish areas ever released). When playing the new Skirmish areas, players can expect the same attention to detail as found throughout the rest of War of Rights thanks to the diverse nature of the Drill Camp level; Farms, roads, fields, forests, army camps and much more are all part of the Civil War experience awaiting you.

Victory screens make a return to these new Skirmish areas, however instead of showing generic ranks of men and their officers at the conclusion of the round, this skirmish rotation will feature the actual players who participated on the winning side of the battle, complete with their customized appearances. This new variation is a work-in-progress and only features infantry, at this time.

Last, but certainly not least, is the return of the historical narration and flybys between each Skirmish area. Our two historians, George & Bradley, have written as well as narrated a series covering 13 different topics detailing the life of the soldier during the Civil War. We hope you’ll find them interesting while you ready yourself for the next battle!

Please note that the initial balance of the 13 new Skirmish areas is subject to change as mass testing gets going, starting today.

[h2]Snake Rail Fence Destructibility[/h2]


Update 197 expands the destructibility system of the game to also include snake rail fences. These were often used by farmers to keep livestock out of their fields at the time of the Civil War and are thus prominently featured within War of Rights. The snake rail fences can be destroyed by artillery fire as well as rifle fire and will undoubtedly shake up the flow of many battles to come!

[h2]That’s Some Yankee Wallpaper![/h2]


The development of War of Rights began more than 12 years ago, and thus a lot of graphical iterations have been required throughout the years in order to keep the game up to date visually. One of the areas that haven’t seen much if any visual improvement for the past decade is the wallpaper textures of the game. In update 197 this is remedied by an introduction of 8 era appropriate wallpaper designs for the Sherrick and Roulette farmhouses.

We’ll continue to push for visual improvements throughout the lifetime of the game, no matter how small or insignificant they might seem individually as they all add up in time.

[h2]Steam Winter Sale, Snowy Wonderland & So Long ‘24[/h2]


Starting today, War of Rights is part of Steam’s Winter Sale and 50% off for the next two weeks! Now is a perfect time to jump in and experience the new Skirmish areas, complete with historical narration and area transitions.

You can pick up the game HERE

The big Winter Sale is certainly upon us, but that is not the only wintery event that is happening in War of Rights; The Christmas event is currently active, turning the lush countryside of Maryland into a bitterly cold and snowy winter landscape until the end of Christmas.
So head in-game and experience the snowy winter weather and a chance of getting a present from Santa - if you’ve been nice this year, that is!


As 2024 draws to an end we’d like to thank everyone within the War of Rights community for making it possible for us to continue into the 13th year of developing the game in an effort to make it the best possible 19th century warfare game that it possibly can be. We’re really excited for what’s to come in 2025 and we look forward to experiencing it with all of you.

Here’s to many more years of WoR with you all!

[h2]Update 197 Patch Notes[/h2]

• Added 13 new Skirmish areas to the Drill Camp level.
  
• Snake rail fences are now destructible by both small arms and cannon fire.
  
• Updated the interior of Roulette farmhouse.
  
• Updated all barn prefabs.
  
• Added more interior props,wallpapers and tiles to the game.
  
• Added outhouses to most of Harpers Ferry.
  
• General vegetation detail updates, Harpers Ferry.
  
• Minor Antietam detail level updates.
  
• Various character item updates.
  
• Updated WA artillery uniform customization.
  
• A few visual fixes for the customization level.
  
• Slightly reduced tree bending.
  
• Made the deep mud/snow footprints a little more distinct.
  
• Removed a tire tread from one of the dirt textures.
  
• Removed the invisible walls from the firing ranges on the Drill Camp level.
  
• Fife and bugle spin animation fix.
  
• Playing the fife while quicktiming should now look better.
  
• Added hit particle effects to the wheat bundles.
  
• Bullet impacts are now slightly louder.
  
• Added gun and equipment rattle sounds to the game.
  
• Added a breaking twig sound to the game.
  
• Detail work, Drill Camp level.
  
• Fixed the missing tree trunk on one of the oak tree LODs.
  
• Replaced 1st USSS with the 2nd USSS on Hooker’s Push Skirmish area, Antietam.
  
• Updated all distance terrains throughout the game for a more immersive and seamless transition.
  
• Fixed Fence5 LODs.
  
• Improved the cornfield billboard LODs and made them draw at much longer distances at an overall lower polycount than the old shorter range ones.
  
• Fixed the landslide model’s material.
  
• Added a new work-in-progress victory screen version to the 13 new Skirmish areas on the Drill Camp.
  
• Modified Sherrick House and added new wallpapers to it.
  
• Updated the texture of the national flag of 1st Delaware, with many thanks to the curators of the Delaware Historical Society for their assistance.
  
• Added a new 5th Texas regimental flag.
  
• Darkened and widened the text chat background for better readability.
  
• Made the winter grass more snowy.
  
• Added drum textures for 1st and 5th Texas as well as 1st Delaware.
  
• Removed a number of unused ground textures from the game.
  
• Added new quicktime movement animations for artillery soldiers when holding a sponge/rammer.
  
• Fixed some bad door rotations.
  
• Updated the 4th US Artillery flag.
  
• Possible fix for a particle crash that sometimes occurs when changing levels.
  
• Improved resource lifetime management logic on various resource types to allow for pre-caching global data once during game startup, as well as geometry, materials and textures persisting from level to level instead of requiring redundant reloading every time the level is changed.
  
• Made muddy footprints leave mud behind for a few footsteps after exiting a muddy surface.
  
• Fixed headbobbing mostly disappearing when having about 30% health and fixing it going crazy at 1% health.
  
• Fixed a bayonet-related reload exploit.
  
• Enabled the voice chat volume in the sound settings to go to 0.
  
• Geometry level of detail and texture mipmap streaming priority update is now executed asynchronously, resulting in an up to 5% performance improvement in CPU bound scenarios.
  

That’s all for today. We hope you’re enjoying the holidays as well as the new Drill Camp skirmishes and wintery visuals of the game. We look forward to be seeing both green and veteran players alike take on the latest additions to the game!

[h3]- The Campfire Games Team[/h3]

[h3]Hello Everyone,[/h3]

For the next week, War of Rights is 50% off as part of Steam's Autumn Sale. Now is a great time to pick up the game and join the ranks, partaking in massive 350 player first person 19th century warfare!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/424030/War_of_Rights/

We look forward to be welcoming all of the new recruits on the fields of glory!

[h3]- The Campfire Games Team[/h3]