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Holdfast: Nations At War News

In Memoriam. A Friend’s Farewell



During this joyful time of year, the Holdfast community lost a stalwart and an icon to mental health struggles. Jon_Snow was nothing but a kind soul. It is not just the community that is at a loss but indeed everyone who was as fortunate as all of us that have met him.

A memorial in remembrance of E|C Jon_Snow has been erected on the map Highlands. Please don’t forget to reach out if you’re having a rough time.

Here’s our final salute to you good friend.

Jon's Highlands Watch

Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who spared their precious time and paid their respects to the departed.

Jon's Service

Do share with us and the community a few anecdotes of your ventures with Jon on Discord should you wish to do so.

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame





Changelog 63 - Game Version 1.13.7668.21840

New Features

Erected a memorial in remembrance of Jon Snow on the map Highlands.


Bug Fixes

Solved an issue which caused framerate to drop when a player played a tune on the piano.

Solved an issue with the ocean turning invisible when selecting the 'Low' graphical preset setting.


Rest in peace, Jon_Snow.

Until next time, may good health be yours.





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper & Storey

Steam Winter Sale! Now 60% Off



Christmas has come early! Holdfast: Nations At War is now on sale at a whopping 60% off for a limited time only. Now is a better time than ever to take to the front lines. With the recent release of a major content update, you’ll have more Holdfast than ever to experience and plenty of good fellows to play alongside with.

So what are you waiting for? The generals of the British, Prussian, Russian and French armies call for your enlistment!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/589290/Holdfast_Nations_At_War/

Not only will the base game of Holdfast: Nations At War be on sale but so will the cosmetic game DLCs (High Command & Regiments of the Line) and Loyalist Edition of the game. These will be available at 20% off for the same duration.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/13424/Holdfast_Nations_At_War__Collectors_Edition/

Recent Content Update!

As mentioned now is a better time than ever to join the battlefields of the great Napoleonic Era in Holdfast: Nations at War! The recently released major content update brings new maps, prestige systems, the long-awaited Guard DLC uniforms and much more.

Experience musket combat like never before with the 3 new battlefields that accompany the plethora of maps that Holdfast has to offer. This now numbers over 40+ unique battlefields!

Fort Al Farid

Straighten your uniform and tie your boots as the regiments of Holdfast are now able to prestige once reaching the new rank limit of 70! Join a regiment or create your own to climb the regiment leaderboards and showcase your achievements in all their glory.

Regiment Prestige

Stand tall for the guard with the new Regiments of the Guard DLC! Charge onwards with the most-revered Imperial Old Guard for the French Empire, the British Empire’s Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, the Kingdom of Prussia’s Zweites Garde Regiment zu Fuss or the Russian Empire’s Leib-Gvardii Litovskii Polk (The Regiments of the Guard DLC will not feature as part of the sale).

The Old Guard

Take an in-depth read of this major content release and all that has come with it, by visiting the blog post here.

Winter Update. 3 New Maps & Regiment Prestige!

Community Spotlight

Why not take a look at what the community has been up? With the rise of our modding community, community-run organised events and servers have become increasingly popular! Take a look below at some of the modded uniforms, maps and game screenshots by members of the community.

Orderly Prussian Grenadiers

Linebattle (Modded)

Christmas Truce

Regiment On Parade (Modded)

Musketry

Get Involved

Should you have any questions about Holdfast or wish to participate in the community more, why not join the official Discord server? It is your central hub for all things Holdfast and houses a plethora of channels dedicated to event and game announcements, modding, regiment recruitment, game support, suggestions, history discussion and more. Click below to join today!

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame




May you have the best of holidays. Do look forward to what we have in store for Holdfast next year!

Once again we thank you and until next time, may good health be yours.





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper & Storey

Winter Update. Bug Fixes



Following yesterday’s content-filled update, we’ll be pushing another featuring bug fixes and other additions based on feedback. Come have a read of our latest blog post for all the details and while you're at it, feel free to join our Discord.

Join Discord!

If you are experiencing issues with launching the game, or crashing please try verifying the integrity of your game files through Steam. You're also welcome to reach out to us on Discord for assistance.

Steam - Verify Integrity of Files




Changelog 62 - Game Version 1.12.7662.23499

New Map - Glacier

Solved an issue with one of the areas being blocked by an invisible collider next to a house.

Solved an issue with an invisible collider blocking an entrance leading to a cave.

Solved an issue with one of the swivel guns floating on Glacier.

Solved an issue where players could reach an area on the map which wasn't meant to be accessible.

Introduced an additional ladder leading to the rooftops on one of the houses.


New Map - Fort Al Farid

Solved an issue where the tower's cannon wasn't getting destroyed when the tower itself is reduced to rubble.

Solved an issue with one of the pillars being incorrectly textured.

Solved an issue where players couldn't fire the tower's cannon after it was loaded.

Solved an issue where cannons present on Fort Al Farid were not required to be rammed before firing.

Solved an issue where players sometimes went underneath the terrain when aiming cannons on Fort Al Farid.

Players now face towards the fort when spawning as the attackers on Fort Al Farid.

Solved an issue with the carriable rocket launcher on Fort Al Farid.


New Map - Port Nile

Solved an issue where the player didn't run smoothly on the staircases leading to the edges of the map.

Solved an issue where certain objects went invisible when looking towards a specific area on the map.

Solved an issue with one of the docked Brig-Sloop's missing its front mast.

Solved an issue with an error popping up when shooting at the barrel on Port Nile.

Player spawn locations on both base spawn for either faction have been spread out.

Introduced another staircase next to the base spawn leading to the garden on Port Nile.


Soldier Medals

Changed the colouring of the Gold, Decorated and Valour medals.

Players can now better distinguish between Bronze and Valour medals.

Solved an issue where soldier medals overlapped in the scoreboard.


Regiment Banners

Solved an issue where sometimes a regiment's banner didn't show above the player's head.

Solved an issue where certain banners were not tiling correctly.


Regiment Medals

Awarded the [45e], KRA and BB with a unique medal for having reached the maximum regiment rank of 50 prior to the introduction of prestige.


Naval Warfront

Solved an issue with textures flickering on the Naval Warfront game mode.


Once again we thank you and until next time, may good health be yours.





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper & Storey

Winter Update. 3 New Maps & Regiment Prestige!



Here comes a new content update! Introducing 3 new maps, regiment prestige mechanics, new soldier ranks, the long-awaited Guard DLC uniforms and much more. Holdfast continues to expand and improve thanks to the community’s ongoing support.

So shoulder your musket and sit by the fire while you take a read of what is coming to Holdfast: Nations At War this Holiday season! Don’t forget to clean the chimneys and prepare a cup of hot milk and cookies for the ‘man in red’ to drink though.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/589290/Holdfast_Nations_At_War/



Regiment Prestige!

Expanding upon the game’s regiment registry system, regiments are now able to prestige should they reach the new rank limit of 70. It will be possible to prestige your regiments through 3 additional ranks once you have obtained that level.

Of course, as fitting for the time, there will be a special way to recognise regiments that manage to achieve such heights in the form of shiny new decoration around your regiments banner both in the registry and in-game. You can take a look at these decorations below.

Additionally, the curve for collective experience required has changed, this may mean your regiment’s level has also been altered but the experience gathered has remained the same. Be sure to capitalise on these new features and changes as Holdfast official servers will boast an increased XP weekend starting Thursday the 31st of December 2020 and running until Monday 4th of January 2021.

Congratulations to the [45e], BB and KRA for reaching the maximum legacy regiment rank. Let’s kick this new year off with a bang!

Regiment Banners - Level 1, Level 50 & Level 70

Regiment Banners - Prestige Rank 1, 2 & 3

Soldier Ranks! Valour

It is not just the regiments who will be able to showcase their brilliance with new decoration, the individual soldier rank limit has also been increased from 50 to 75! To go with this change a set of brand new medals have been introduced for dedicated fellows to achieve and showcase their hard work in all its glory.

Correspondingly, all of the soldier rank medals have been redesigned and altered to fit the new design of the new - Valour Medal.

Bronze Medals - Soldier Rank 5, 10 & 15

Silver Medals - Soldier Rank 20, 25 & 30

Gold Medals - Soldier Rank 35, 40 & 45

Decorated Medals - Soldier Rank 50, 55 & 60

Valour Medals - Soldier Rank 65, 70 & 75

The Old Guard Joins The Fight!

Stand tall for the guard! Charge onwards with the most-revered Imperial Old Guard for the French Empire, the British Empire’s Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, the Kingdom of Prussia’s Zweites Garde Regiment zu Fuss or the Russian Empire’s Leib-Gvardii Litovskii Polk.

There will never be any content outside that of purely cosmetic items packaged in a DLC. As we’ve previously promised, it doesn’t and never will impact gameplay.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1489800/Holdfast_Nations_At_War__Regiments_of_the_Guard/

Through these DLCs we can continue supporting 'Holdfast: Nations At War' while remaining totally independent and not privy to any external influences. It’s been like that since the founding of the team and we plan on keeping it that way.

It'll also help us fund damn exciting future projects which stay true to Holdfast and everything that makes it brilliant!

Regiments of the Guard DLC Uniform Unlocks Unlock the French Empire's 1er Grenadiers de la Garde Impériale uniform.



Unlock the British Empire's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards uniform.



Unlock the Kingdom of Prussia's Zweites Garde Regiment zu Fuss uniform.



Unlock the Russian Empire's Leib-Gvardii Litovskii Polk uniform.



3 New Maps! Battlefields

Of course, we couldn’t just introduce the new prestige system, soldier ranks and dashing guard uniforms without also featuring some new battlefields to enjoy these new features to the fullest!
This update sees one new Army Siege map created by Storey; Fort Al-Farid and two new Army Battlefield maps by Harper; Glacier and Port Nile added to the game and playable now on official game servers.

Fort Al-Farid
Fort Al-Farid is a desert fortification and spiritual successor to recently added map Fort Darial that is a favourite among many players. Al-Farid puts attacks up against not only a formidable stronghold but also the blazing sun and heat of the desert. Refill your canteens in the sparse oases and clear any sand jamming your musket, as breaching this fort will be a sweltering task.



Glacier
In contrast to the sweltering heats found on Fort Al-Farid, Glacier is a cold, frozen battlefield that sees players battling over a small port town that has had its port frozen over. Tread carefully on the port's ice as at any moment it could be struck by a cannonball plunging you into the hyperthermic temperatures of the deep. Rankers who prefer the safety of land can find refuge from the blistering cold winds in a repurposed cave that overlooks the town. Be sure to take your musket with you however, as this will certainly be a point of contest for both armies as they seek shelter.



Port Nile
Unlike the frozen port of Glacier, Port Nile is a warm, tropical and rich city port that provides an urban battlefield experience that has yet to be seen in Holdfast: Nations At War. The narrow streets of this port and market city places infantrymen in close-quarter engagements that require quick thinking and flanking via ladders, rooftops and alleyways to gain victory. The multiple sections of the city, that vary in height, will put soldiers used to fighting in open fields to the test.



Featured Servers

With the success of the Battlefield Forger contest and the rise in the Holdfast: Nations At War modding community this update also includes the ability for community servers featuring modifications that alter the typical gameplay experience to be featured alongside official game servers on the lobby browser.

The featured status will be awarded for a limited time to well managed and put together servers that offer new experiences for players who may perhaps wish to try their hand on them.

We hope this will encourage community servers to strive to create new game modes and experiences with the Holdfast SDK tools and server configurations for all to enjoy. It is only fitting we feature those who put back into the game with their own unique take.



Community. Get Involved

Should these new additions to community servers inspire you to get involved in the modding community please do not hesitate in acquiring the artisan role in the official Discord. This will give you access to various text channels dedicated to modding Holdfast: Nations At War.

To acquire this role simply visit the #getting-started modding channel and press the reaction emoji below the post. This will assign you the artisan role and give you access to all available modding community channels.



If you have yet to join the official Discord why not do so now? It is your central hub for all things Holdfast, not just modding but a plethora of channels dedicated to event and game announcements, regiment recruitment, game support, suggestions, history discussion and more. Click below to join today!

discord.gg/holdfastgame








Here’s a list of all the changes, additions and bug fixes you’ll find in this update.





Changelog 61 - Game Version 1.11.7660.25581

New Features

Regiment Prestige! Expanding upon the game’s regiment registry system, regiments are now able to prestige should they reach the new rank limit of 70.
» Decorative banners will be awarded to those that achieve this feat.

Soldier Ranks! Valour. It is not just the regiments who will be able to showcase their brilliance with new decoration, the individual soldier rank limit has also been increased from 50 to 75.
» Soldier rank medals have been redesigned to fit the new valour medals.

Regiment of the Guard DLC. Stand tall for the guard! The Regiments of the Guard DLC unlocks 4 unique uniforms for the Guard class.
» Unlock the British Empire's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards uniform.
» Unlock the French Empire's 1er Grenadiers de la Garde Impériale uniform.
» Unlock the Kingdom of Prussia's Zweites Garde Regiment zu Fuss uniform.
» Unlock the Russian Empire's Leib-Gvardii Litovskii Polk uniform.
» Regiments of the Guard DLC - Store Page

3 New Maps! Battlefields. Glacier, Fort Al-Farid and Port Nile all of which offer different styles of play. Check them out on the Army Front official game servers.
» Input the following commands per map rotation to host these maps on your community server map_name fortalfarid, glacier and portnile.

Featured Servers. With the success of the Battlefield Forger contest this update also includes the ability for community servers to be featured alongside official game servers.
» Featured status will be awarded to well managed and put together servers that offer new experiences for players who may perhaps wish to try their hand on them.

Regiment Registry Medals. Introduced a system allowing us to reward regiments with medals.
» More about this in the coming year, stay tuned!


Seasonal Event

It's a jolly time of the year! Christmas trees, murderous snowball cannonballs, festive piano tunes and totally legitimate reindeer will be present.
» You can toggle off festive events through the game’s settings.

Most fitting to the season, the main menu is now extra chilly.


Gameplay

Reduced the score gathered through kills with officer pistols.

Indicators exposing the location of surviving players on the minimap will show once reinforcements run out on the Army Battlefield game mode.


Quality of Life

Bans, kicks, slays, mutes and PMs will now show in the game’s admin-specific chat. It’ll surely help make the administration of events just a little bit easier.

Server administrators are now provided with the functionality to mute individuals that are affiliated with one particular faction while having others still able to speak.
» Input the following commands to make use of this new function.
»» rc set voiceChatEnabled false - Disables VoIP for all teams.
»» rc set voiceChatEnabled true - Enables VoIP for all teams.
»» rc set voiceChatEnabled Attacking - Allow only the attackers to communicate through VoiP.
»» rc set voiceChatEnabled Defending - Allow only the defenders to community through VoIp.

Particle effects that are shown when a player is getting healed by a Surgeon are now more visible.

Introduced more map loading tips detailing blocking, the use of the carpenter class as well as regiment recruitment.


Holdfast SDK

Terrains using the Microsplat shader in the Holdfast SDK can now feature snow accumulation.


Bug Fixes

Solved an issue with floating objects on Marquette.

Solved an issue with one of the fires next to the broken cannon on Autumn Watch.

Solved an issue where sometimes the carriable Rocket Launcher would get stuck on the bridge in Heartmound.

Solve an issue with black moving dots showing on certain props. Especially on buildings.

Solved an issue on certain objects contributing towards added points on the Army Conquest game mode.

Solved an issue where the loser was sometimes shown as the winner in the top bar.

Solved an issue where if you are killed whilst attempting to respawn with a different class, you would still respawn with your previous selection.

Solved an issue where the 92nd Highland Officer was unable to equip a sword and a lantern at the same time.

Solved an issue where sometimes other players wouldn’t show the reloading animation.

Solved an issue where the ‘rc remove ships’ command didn’t update the top bar detailing ships and their damage correctly when the ship despawns.

Solved an issue where you would receive additional experience for standing in line even if you damage a friendly player.

Solved an issue which resulted in mouse sensitivity changing when going to aiming whilst crouching then standing.

Solved an issue where sometimes a ghost strike could be issued when holding a spyglass, instrument or other carriable objects.

Solved an issue where the crouch to stab timer didn’t trigger correctly when meleeing with rapid crouching inputs.

Solved an issue where audio was missing from the launch screen where the Anvil Game Studios logo shows.


ATTN: Server Hosts

You will be unable to see servers in the lobby unless you update your game servers to the latest update - Game Version 1.11.


The whole team at Anvil Game Studios would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has continued supporting us throughout what has been a challenging year for everyone. Without you, none of this is possible.

We hope that we have brought you a glimmer of joy for this year and we look forward to the start of the new year and what is to come.

Once again we thank you and until next time, may good health be yours.





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper & Storey

Battlefield Forger Contest Ends!



Everyone here at Anvil Game Studios would like to say a big congratulations to everybody who participated in the first-ever Holdfast: Nations At War mapping contest. Members of the modding community both new and old showed great passion, creativeness and support for others throughout the duration of this contest. It was truly admirable!

Over the course of the month that the contest was running we received a massive 24 entries into the competition which made whittling them down to a top three rather challenging indeed. They were all brilliant in their own unique ways.

77th Ed’s Prussian Hills

Winners Announced!

Judging commenced on the night of the 15th of November 2020 and lasted a good number of hours as Refleax, Rycon, Harper and Storey took their time analysing each map one by one in all their creativity. Despite each map showing their brilliance in their own way, the top 3 had to be given the highest honours.

So without delay here are our Battlefield Forger winners!



1st place is awarded to
Willy - Aspern

This countryside battlefield really stood out to us as it incorporated all aspects of Holdfast: Nations At War within one map. It’s rolling hills, fields of wheat and beautifully designed village lent itself brilliantly in making a hybrid urban and rural battlefield. We look forward to seeing this officially added into the game.





2nd place is awarded to
Davwado - Port City

The clear amount of effort put into this battlefield, with its custom sewer system and detailed village, was deserving enough to be within the top 3. The streets of this Napoleonic port city really immersed us within the world as we explored hidden alleyways, sewers and marched along the cobble. We can’t wait to see how this battlefield will play out on the official server.





3rd place is awarded to
Amblco - Lyster Countryside

The dense forests of Lyster Countryside provided a unique battlefield experience unmatched by any other entity. The aesthetic of this entry was one of the lush thick trees that surrounded a well-designed village overlooking a celestial river which was more than deserving of a top 3 position. Well done!



Congratulations to our winners! Those who did not win however please do not be disheartened as the #forger-submission channel will remain up within the modding section of the official Discord to commemorate this great contest and all its participants.

You will also find below a list of all the participants and their submissions.

Honourable Mentions

Though we could not award prizes to everyone we’d like to take some time to acknowledge just a small portion of the many battlefields that came very close to the top 3 winners.

Uber Juice's - Hills Of Havoc was one such map that came incredibly close to a top 3 position. Its attention to detail and unique ideas all came together to make a wonderful representation of a Napoleonic era siege that would truly be a battle for the ages.



Another submission that came close to the top 3 was Cody’s - Blood Lake. This small twin hilltop battlefield was a front runner for the top 3 from the moment we loaded into this clever battlefield. The use of varying heights, defensive positions and rocky paths leading to the top of the hills provided a fun and fast past battlefield experience.



And a special honourable mention to all the other participants who took part in making some glorious battlefields.

Father Merrin’s - The Hidden Cove & Boyne Valley
PizzaIsDelight’s - Danube River Siege & Balaklava
Kiri(s)Chomping’s - Cossacks’ Raid
Alan’s - Lake Fort
Spammy McJunkMail’s - Plainfields
GDE Skyold’s - Vanoise Heights & The Forgotten Woods
BigMamba’s - Grassy Plains & Snowy Plains
Monkey_Nipples’s - City Siege & Silver Hills
Bastelork’s - Road to Verdun
Ed’s - Prussian Hills
Alatriste’s / Carlosdeb’s - Cadiz
Battle Rifle Assembler’s - Fenrir
FrostyBrew’s - Twin Peaks
Metal Face’s - Telnice

Over The Hills & Far Way

Now the contest has concluded the AGS art department will commence work on incorporating the 1st and 2nd place battlefields into the game officially in the coming year. This will, of course, require changes to some of these battlefields ensuring optimal performance and gameplay.

During this time we invite everyone who took part, or perhaps didn’t have the chance to take part, to continue making battlefields and pushing the modding boundaries for Holdfast: Nations At War so we can continue to expand this brilliant side of the community.

GDE Skyold’s Forgotten Woods

Once more we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone or took part and helped out throughout the contest. It was a great first contest. Be sure to keep an eye out for future competitions...

Get Involved

Should this contest inspire you to get involved in the modding community please do not hesitate in acquiring the artisan role in the official Discord which will give you access to various text channels dedicated to modding Holdfast: Nations At War.

To acquire this role simply visit the #getting-started modding channel and press the reaction emoji below the post. This will assign you the artisan role and give you access to all available modding community channels



If you have yet to join the official Discord why not do so now? It is your central hub for all things Holdfast, not just modding but a plethora of channels dedicated to event and game announcements, regiment recruitment, game support, suggestions, historical discussion and more. Click below to join today!

discord.gg/holdfastgame


Until next time, may good health be yours.





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Cameron, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper & Storey