War of Rights News

Hello everyone,

Today sees the release of alpha update 181, featuring our very first Steam achievement batch of 10 (let us know if you’d like us to add more and which ones you’d want to see!) and major performance improvements thanks to Aleksi’s work at instanced batching - otherwise known as “magic” to the uninitiated.

[h2]Steam Achievements[/h2]

Steam achievements allow us to reward the players with a completionist outlook on things with a few tokens. We’ve been very careful not to include any achievements that will subtract from the teamplay aspect of the game in a major form and we will continue to tread very carefully indeed when/if we add more to the game.

For the achievement art, we’ve opted to go with an old-timey photo style (and a hand painted, as was tradition during the era, for when an achievement is unlocked).



[h3]Update 181 Achievement List[/h3]

Blue Name?
Meet a developer on the field of battle.

To War!
Join the battle in War of Rights!

Tactician
Watch a recorded match replay.

Dress Up
Create a customized uniform.

Barbershop Visit
Create a customized head.

Skirmisher
Play 100 games of Skirmish.

Conqueror
Play 100 games of Conquest.

Patroller
Play 100 games of Picket Patrol.

Untrampled
Pick up a flag from a fallen flag bearer.

Bullseye
Score a bullseye on a drill camp target.

[h2]Performance Improvements[/h2]

Rendering for common world objects such as fences, buildings and vegetation is now binned to be rendered in instanced batches. This results in a significant CPU overhead reduction on the render thread, especially noticeable in areas with far view distances. In addition to the world rendering overhead being reduced, the per-frame setup of dynamic render objects is now much faster.

Here are a few off/on comparisons captured with a Ryzen 1700X paired with an RTX 3060 running the very high graphic preset setting:

Instancing disabled

Instancing enabled

Instancing disabled

Instancing enabled

Instancing disabled

Instancing enabled

[h2]Update 181 Patch Notes[/h2]

• Added 10 Steam achievements.
  
• Added major performance improvements via instanced batching.
  
• Increased the max view distance of trees and bushes by 25%.
  
• Increased the max view distance of all non-vegetation objects by 40%.
  
• Drastically increased the max amount of rendered character shadows (from 30 to 150 on very high for instance).
  
• Increased the view distance of indirect light bounces (SVOTI) by 300%.
  
• Added 2nd Mississippi, 3rd Alabama, 14th Brooklyn and 20th Maine to the pool of customizable units.
  
• Added base spawn tags to drill camp picket patrol spawn points.
  
• Fixed a number of missing fence ledges and proxy walls, Limestone Bridge & Waterways Conquest areas, Antietam.
  
• Doubled the resolution of the speaker, muted and demoted icons on the name tags.
  
• Added a new grass model variant to the mix.
  
• Reduced camera movement on exit “at the ready”, melee mode and when selecting the revolver.
  
• Fixed a few potential issues with the overlook point at Harpers Ferry.
  
• Added 2nd Mississippi, 30th Virginia and 5th Alabama BTN national flags.
  
• Fixed the flipped artillery battery spawn positions in the Forest Stream Conquest area, Antietam.
  
• Fixed a flipped morale count during the battle report playback when playing the Skirmishes game mode.
  
• Cocking a revolver no longer causes the automatic freelook to kick in (if this feature is enabled).
  
• Servers running 150 or more player slots will now continuously warn their admins about possible performance issues if their hardware hasn’t been upgraded (this is free) by contacting Gportal.
  
• When getting killed and triggering last stand, thus causing an instant respawn, the player should now be able to move about just fine.
  
• The character customization level is no longer loaded immediately when starting the game or when leaving a server, but only while the character customization is to be shown, resulting in faster game startup times.
  
• Fixed an issue with joining a Skirmish server during a round transition after the battle report has finished resulting in the client remaining stuck in the static spectator camera.
  

That’s all for now. We hope you will enjoy unlocking the achievements as well as the major performance improvements of update 181.

See you in the fields of glory!

- The Campfire Games Team

Hello everyone,

Today, we’re happy to once again be heavily expanding the offerings of the newly introduced Conquest mode! Update 180 adds an additional 6 Conquest areas to the game, bringing the number of available Conquest areas up to 18. With the added easy-to-use level and/or game mode changing via the in-game server settings, admins and players alike should be able to tailor exactly the experience they’d like!

The update also includes another polish pass to the deployment UI, an AFK to Spectate feature and several minor fixes and improvements.

[h2]Update 180 Patch Notes[/h2]

• Added 4 new Conquest areas in the South Mountain level: Log Cabin, Wheat Fields, Rocky Slopes and Hilltop.
  

• Added 2 new Conquest areas in the Antietam level: Limestone Bridge and Waterways.
  

• The Server Settings menu now allows server admins to change game mode and level on the fly without having to restart their server. Note that this feature requires mass testing and so please report any issues you might experience that are tied to it.
  
• The deployment screen now allows for previewing the state of the spawn queues on the main base or the flag spawn by simply clicking on either one.
  
• The deployment screen now provides a much more detailed state of your company's flag bearer, helping you determine if it's worth it to remain in the flag spawn queue or not. This info can be viewed even while in the queue of the main Infantry spawn.
  
• Improved the 1st person exit animations of Ready and Melee Mode with a bayonet attached.
  
• Added an automatic AFK system, moving the AFK player into the spectating team. This happens sooner during Last Stand in order to cut down on AFK players prolonging the length of the event.
  
• Capturing all 3 capture points in the Conquest mode while the enemy is in Last Stand no longer results in an instant win. Instead, the Counter-Attack mechanic will be triggered (as is the case in all other morale level scenarios already). We have done this to eliminate the very hard-to-understand victories that could occur due to the above mechanics.
  

That's all we have for now. See you on the fields of glory!

- The Campfire Games Team

Hello everyone,

Following last week's major update, we are now pleased to be bringing you even more content with Update 179. This update focuses on expanding the Conquest game mode with 4 new areas situated at the town of Harpers Ferry: River Town, Outskirts, Overlook and Valley, as well as tweaking the layout and size of the Smokestacks and Framing Fencelines Conquest areas located on Antietam.

Several of the Harpers Ferry Conquest areas are radically different in overall layout than any other Conquest area in the game thus far due to the vertical differences as well as urban layouts found in the level and so we will be keeping an eye on any feedback you might have regarding them.



Update 179 also features the first implementation of Battle Report replays (selectable by the “Replays” button found in the main menu). This will present the user with a list of recorded battle reports available to be replayed. This feature could prove useful for any unit conducting a tactical debrief following a battle or simply if you want to relive some great (or bad) outcome of a recent match of yours.

As noted earlier, this is the very first implementation of the feature and so we’re very much looking forward to hearing your feedback as to what to improve/add to it going forward.



The pool of customizable regiments is also expanding in Update 179. With the addition of the 2nd US Regulars, 1st Minnesota, 1st Georgia and 13th Virginia to the mix.



Aside from the usual bug fixes, this update also includes minor gameplay additions, such as an optional automatic freelook during reloads and bayonet fixings, located in the gameplay options. This setting is off by default. We are looking for feedback from you all as to whether or not it should be enabled by default in the future so please chime in once you have tried it!

Additionally, Update 179 brings a 50% reduction in bandwidth related to the character customization. Furthermore, we will be testing support for changing the level and game mode without requiring a server restart. This will initially be mass tested on the official test server and released for every server owner to make use of relatively shortly after if no issues are found.

[h2]Update 179 Patch Notes[/h2]

• Added 4 new Conquest areas on Harpers Ferry: River Town, Outskirts, Overlook and Valley.
  
• Reworked Conquest areas: Smokestacks and Framing Fencelines on Antietam.
  
• Added the first implementation of the Battle Report replay feature to the main menu.
  
• Added 4 new customizable regiments to the pool of available units: 2nd US Regulars, 1st Minnesota, 1st Georgia and 13th Virginia.
  
• Reduced the networking load of the character customization system by 50%.
  
• Added an automatic freelook setting in the gameplay options menu.
  
• Detail work, Forrest Stream area, Antietam.
  
• Added 4 new poses to the customization menu: Parade Rest, At The Ready, Wave Flag and Crossed Arms.
  
• When dead while last stand triggers during a skirmish round, you are now correctly instantly spawned again.
  
• Drill Camps now have a working inspection camera again.
  
• Potentially fixed players that seemingly fly when they interact with the artillery pieces.
  
• Fixed a bug sometimes resulting in the first-person weapon being linked to the wrong hand after spawning.
  
• Fixed a bug where weather effects such as puddles would linger into the next conquest area.
  

That's all for now. We look forward to be fighting with you in Harpers Ferry, where the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers converge and John Brown once sparked the whole thing.

- The Campfire Games Team

[h2]Update 178: Conquest & Customization - Released![/h2]



Hello everyone,


Today, we’re excited to be bringing you War of Rights alpha update 178 featuring not one, but two major features! The first of which being Conquest, a genre fan favorite, with a unique take and all the gameplay nuance that you would expect from War of Rights! Secondly, the very first implementation of our character customizer with a photo mode to boot!

The past month or two, we have been releasing several Field Reports detailing the specifics of the two main features being released today.

You can find them below:

Field Report 45: Character Customization Preview

Field Report 46: Public Test Branch: Conquest Mode & Customization

Update 178 also contains a massive amount of backend code work on the user interface and various game systems. This includes: game modes, spectator camera, battle reports, freelooking and much more beyond the scope of this change log! We have also been making a concerted effort to move away from flowgraphs/visual scripting as they have proven unreliable and unstable throughout the lifetime of War of Rights. These have been rewritten in C++ to streamline the continued development of the game. Moreover, providing a more stable experience for you and for us to more easily debug and fix issues that may arise going forward.

We thought it a good time to give you a visualization of some of the work the programmers Mike, Aleksi, Emil & formerly Philipp have been working on since 2020. The visualization shows file changes made over time where each dot represents a file. Every lazer represents when that file has been modified and by whom. The branches and overall structure constitutes the folder hierarchy. Quite notable from the showcase is the acceleration in progress over the past 11 months since we restructured our programming team.

Busy little bees indeed!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

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



To mark the release of alpha update 178 featuring the two major game features Conquest & Customization, War of Rights is now on sale at 50% off for the next week!

Now is a great time to pick up your musket, trim your beard, tailor your uniform and join the ranks!

You can purchase the game below:

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

[h2]Update 178 Patch Notes[/h2]

• Added Conquest, a brand new game mode for War Of Rights. This game mode focuses on taking control of points scattered strategically throughout the map. Capturing them with the use of the pivotal Flag Bearer class by interacting with the flagpoles. The team that controls the fewest points will suffer a morale drain.
  
• Featured with Conquest are 8 exciting new areas: Smokestacks, Forest Stream, Framing Fencelines and Farmland to Antietam and Corn Crib, Farm Lane, Railroad Cut and Towering Trunks to the Drill Camp level.
  

• Added the first implementation of uniform customization, featuring 8 fully customizable regiments: 6th Wisconsin, 69th New York, 72nd Pennsylvania, 8th Ohio, 1st Texas, 6th Louisiana, 3rd South Carolina and 27th North Carolina. Additionally, a photo mode to let your artistic talents fully capture your custom character in the way you want.
  

• The first implementation of character head customization with a wide range of options to create your perfect civil war digital self.
  

• Greatly improved the quality of shadows on characters and buildings.
  
• Reduced the specular on all distance trees for a less washed out look.
  
• Added a slight color variation to all trees.
  
• Reduced the amount of wind bending on leaves.
  
• Replaced the cornfield distance model.
  
• Increased the depth buffer from 24 bit to 32 bit, reducing the amount of shadow and volumetric fog banding as well as shading artifacts.
  
• Developers can now download the latest server crash memory dump, making it easier to debug server crashes.
  
• If a client should crash, it will now put its memory dump into a new Diagnostics folder in the game directory.
  
• When deploying on a flagbearer, the deploy timer will now display the estimated time to deployment, taking the queue size into account. If the flag bearer is In Formation and you are number 4 in the queue, it will estimate your time to spawn to be 40 seconds, if the flag bearer is skirmishing, the estimated time to spawn will be 80 seconds.This also means that the estimated time to deploy may change drastically as the flagbearer continuously switches from being Skirmishing, to being In Formation.
  
• Made flag bearers able to wave their flag. It can be done by pressing and holding the left mouse button.
  
• Fixed the flag cloth sometimes turning invisible, resulting in flag bearers just running around with a stick.
  
• Updated the benchmark to be more representative of the larger servers.
  
• Increased the camera shake from artillery explosions.
  
• Replaced the default view system with a new camera system, no more freezing into cutscene cameras.
  
• Replaced the localization system and updated the file structure of all localization.
  
• Added a star icon to the officer of your company to more easily locate your officer. It can be seen by pressing T.
  
• Replaced all icons with dynamic ones that now follow the entity they belong to.
  
• Added a new icon to all skirmish and conquest areas, indicating the location of your teams main spawn.
  
• The round timer and morale state indicator on the deploy screen is now able to display exactly the same info as the compass ingame, counter attack, overtime, overtime timer and capture progress.
  
• On the Skirmish gamemode, the UI will now display Capturing in the bottom right corner when you are close enough to the capture point to assist in its capture. Likewise it will now say Defending, if you are close enough to help keep it in your teams favor.
  
• The flag bearer position of your company will now be highlighted on the map on the deploy screen as an orange flag. Friendly flag bearers of other companies will be displayed as a blue or red flag for the Union or the Confederacy.
  
• Rewrote the user graphics and keybindings saving to be more reliable (Your current settings will be wiped)
  
• Fixed the tabview not scrolling to the top when typing into the search field.
  
• Fixed the chat sometimes losing focus while it’s active, forcing the player to hit enter twice to get rid of it.
  
• Added a graphics option that disables collisions between corpses, greatly improving their performance on heavily populated servers. It defaults to on.
  
• Added an option in the sounds menu to disable the tinnitus effect.
  
• Officer order chat messages will now only display to players in the same company.
  
• Updated the steam rich presence for the menus, showing what you are doing on the menu to your steam friends.
  
• Added an advanced mode to the framerate display to give more information.
  
• Fixed players occasionally getting stuck on the wrong side of a fence when vaulting.
  
• Potential fix for placing shells sometimes removing the artillery sponge rammer item.
  
• Reduced the amount of network transmissions whenever a player is interacting with the artillery or limber.
  

That's all for now. We look forward to be expanding upon both Conquest and Customization in the weeks and months to come.

See you all on the fields of glory!

- The Campfire Games Team

Hello Everyone,

The public test branch is now once again available for everyone to test throughout the weekend!

This round 2 of testing includes 4 new Conquest areas situated on the drill camp level as well as 4 additional customizable regiments.

A number of visual and technical improvements & bug fixes have also been added.

Below is a great little video created by community member Steve Lovaski, showing you the steps required to change from the live branch of the game into the public test branch.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Note that we recommend you to take a backup of your live branch War of Rights folder located in steamapps/common/War of Rights for a quick way to be able to revert back to the live branch without having to redownload the game, should you so wish.

We will be active on the public test server throughout the weekend to gather as much feedback from you as we possibly can and so we hope to see a great many of you joining in.

- The Campfire Games Team