Holdfast: Nations At War News

We’ve been plenty busy this week getting the relatively sizeable naval update up to speed. Even though there’s more that needs doing, progress has been smooth-sailing. With the latest BETA release, you’ll find various iterations to existing naval-oriented mechanics, multiple bug fixes, and a new coastal siege map!

Have a read of our latest blog post to join us in our testing.


Here’s a list of all the changes and additions that we have undergone during this update. The sooner we get the testing done, the faster our update release schedule goes so please do join us in the BETA! If you haven’t set sail on the 50-Gun Frigate yet, do take up the chance.

New Additions
• Balamor Bay. A new coastal siege map!
  
• Causeways makes it back into the game as it could prove useful for roleplay scenarios due to its size.
  
• An indicator identifying the ship you’ve spawned on in the status top bar has been included.
  
• Players will now receive a score for damaging or destroying fort walls and various other objects.
  
• Ring-able bells. Because it’s now a thing.
  
• A user interface to aid Captains better distinguish the sail groups they have risen or lowered.
  » Be sure to take down square-rigged sails when going against the wind. It’ll improve the ship’s manoeuvrability.
  
• Included more tips to inform players on various features within the game.
  
• Server administrators can now configure the global health points for each and every vessel type by using override commands.
  
• Server administrators can now define the classes spawned on ships and their limits by using override commands.
  » We’ve also made it possible to allow army-based classes such as the Line Infantryman to spawn on ships if you so desire.
  

Game Balance & Changes
• Redesigned the way cannon trajectory’s function when round or chain shot is fired from cannons aboard ships or along the coast. This was done so players don’t have to aim too high with a cannon in order to reach the maximum effective range providing better visibility when firing.
  » Increased the range and velocity of the chain shot to match that of the round shot.
  » The trajectory for artillery shots fired from Field Guns remains as is.
  
• Slightly reduced the time it takes to reload a coastal artillery gun.
  Increased the overall health points of the 50-Gun Frigate.
  
• You can now sail for a longer distance before reaching the border in the Naval Battlefield game mode.
  » Players aboard a ship will also receive the notification that they’re going out of battlefield much earlier.
  » A sound queue to notify the player when the warning pops up has been included.
  
• Coastal fortifications can now take more shots before they’re destroyed. This was done to make up for the fact that the 2-Gun Schooner’s gun now deals upwards to 150 damage per shot being one of the largest calibre guns present on ships.
  
• Unique names for the British and French 50-Gun Frigates in the spawn menu have been included.
  
• The same goes for French Gunboats and Rocketboats.
  
• Lowered the volume of the naval announcer.
  
• You will now find more lanterns on the 50-Gun Frigate.
  
  Graphical
• Adjusted the water splash particle effects on various ships.
  
• Decreased the size of the captain’s wheel on the 50-Gun Frigate.
  
• Improved the animation of the pennants atop a ship’s mast.
  
• Improved the looks of the initial camera spawn location on South Sea Castle.
  
• Solved an issue with textures on one of the sandbags present on Fort Christina.
  
• New map loading screen for the Open Waters map.
  
  Performance
• Reflections no longer cast on low quality water. This was done to gather some additional performance.
  
  Bug Fixes
• Solved an issue that was causing players to get stuck on a black loading screen until the map is switched.
  
• Solved an issue that was causing players not to receive any score when they damage other naval vessels.
  
• Solved an instance which was causing an error to appear on the server when players spawn.
  
• Solved an issue within the ocean shader that was causing errors to appear on the server.
  
• Solved an exception that was being outputted when a player shot a cannon, rocket or mortar.
  
• Solved an occurrence which was causing the rocket’s model to remain following a naval vessel after the rocket explodes.
  
• Solved a bug that which was causing the audio played while the rocket is mid-flight to continue playing after the rocket hits the water.
  
• Solved a bug which was causing rocket trails to immediately disappear after the rocket hits the water.
  
• Solved a recurring error that was sometimes being outputted when a player interacts with one of the four rowing positions on the rowboat.
  
• Solved an error that was sometimes causing names of damaged ships to not be displayed correctly.
  
• Solved a bug which was limiting firearm aiming movement in both 1st and 3rd person views.
  
• Solved an issue were players rowing the rowboat could be seen rowing the boat even if the rowboat wasn’t being rowed (Just a little bit of a tongue twister).
  
• Enlarged the size of the wind direction indicator on the minimap to make it more prominent. Wind plays a huge role in naval scenarios!
  
• Attempted fix towards an issue that causes other players to be seen slightly floating when interacting with one of the rowing positions on the rowboat.
  
• Solved various issues with localisation on spawn-able interactable objects.
  
• Solved an issue that caused various weapons inside the weapon rack model to spawn inside one another.
  
• Solved an issue which caused one of the user interface assets to improperly appear when other players interacted with a weapon rack.
  
• Solved an issue which caused the player to receive a false positive message that the spawn is obstructed if they double tap the ‘E’ button while trying to launch a rowboat.
  
• Solved an issue with the naval map border shader when playing on the lower quality game modes.
  
• Solved an issue which caused other players to vibrate significantly when standing to the very front of the 50-Gun Frigate.
  
• Solved an issue which caused the player’s look direction to automatically change when aboard a naval vessel and switching between 1st and 3rd person views.
  
• Solved an issue that caused players to fall to the lower deck on the 50-Gun Frigate when walking near one of the masts.
  
• Solved an issue that caused some of the sails to remain in place when the foremast was destroyed on the 50-Gun Frigate.
  
• Fixed the position of the main entrance door on South Sea Castle.
  
• Solved an issue with a warning being outputted when hitting the shrine present on the Martello Tower map.
  

Would you like to have a go at what’s to come? Join us in the BETA! Hop in on our Community Discord to do so. You'll find all the details on the #announcements channel. It’s a great chance for you to provide us with feedback before the update sees a full release and help us make sure that everything is working as intended while you’re at it.

Everything present in this BETA is still a work in progress and bugs are to be expected.

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



We’re also planning on releasing a little something next week before we head off with the release of the relatively sizable naval update. A big thanks to all those good fellows who joined us in our testing.

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

We’re working on the next update.

- Anvil Game Studios

Prepare to set sail once more as the relatively sizable naval update has entered its BETA phase! We need all hands on deck as the new game-play additions will require plenty of testing to make sure everything is in order before the update sees a full release.

Have a read at our latest blog post for a brief look at what’s to come.


Well, where to start? When we said that the update is relatively sizable, it is indeed relatively sizable.

Starting from the largest of additions, the 50-Gun Frigate based on the ‘La Proserpine’ is truly a sight to behold! She packs enough arsenal to make quick work of other vessels pending that its crew is sufficient to the task. Rocketboats will also come in especially handy during the bombardment of coastal fortifications. Work your way through the enemies’ defences and create a breach before the landing parties do their deed.





Speaking of coastal fortifications, the Coastal Siege game mode will also be making a comeback! We have done extensive development to ensure smoother server performance. Prior to this update, servers on both the Coastal Siege and Naval Battlefield game modes idled at a 100% CPU usage due to several inefficiencies with how a third-party plugin functioned.

Now that this is over and done with, monthly costs for renting a coastal or naval server can be reduced by providers to almost match that of servers hosting army-based game modes. We do certainly hope to see crews forming up and more events taking place on this front.

It’s going to be quite the task to consolidate all that was done into one ‘brief’ summary. Row-able rowboats, completely redesigned the Naval Battlefield game mode so it functions according to a score-based mechanic, a new interface detailing the ship’s current statuses, designated rowboat spawns ensuring that players always find an available spawn point to join the round irrespective if a particular ship has been sunk, players are now rewarded with personal score for contributing towards the primary objective of sinking enemy ships and a whole lot more.



If you’d stick with us for a while longer, we’d like to let you know of other game-play oriented features present in this BETA besides all the naval and coastal goodness. Roleplay sits quietly in the current of a game like this and seeing the popularity and daily occurrence of community-hosted events, more functionality in support of this would indeed make for a great addition.

Providing solid groundwork for various roleplay scenarios to occur, hosts can now configure limits for classes, define the allowed spawn-able classes per spawn point and the equipment they spawn with, spawn props on a pre-defined location per map rotation, allow players to equip weapons from racks or even replenish ammunition and the list continues. Guides detailing how hosts can make use of this new functionality will be provided for.

Be sure to check out our updated roadmap if you’re interested in knowing more about our plans for both the naval and coastal scenarios. A new coastal siege map currently in the works is planned for release with the same update.

Holdfast NaW - Development Roadmap




Would you like to have a go at what’s to come? Join us in the BETA! Hop in on our Community Discord to do so. You'll find all the details on the #announcements channel. It’s a great chance for you to provide us with feedback before the update sees a full release and help us make sure that everything is working as intended while you’re at it.

Everything present in this BETA is still a work in progress and bugs are to be expected.

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



Once again, thank you for your support and until next time, may good health be yours.

We're working on the next update.

- Anvil Game Studios

Greetings ladies and gentleman. We have updated our development roadmap to keep you abreast with our progress. Go have a look at what’s to come! There are also a few sneak peeks to look out for showing some of the features most sought out by the community.




A link to the roadmap can be found to the top right of the game’s main menu scene. Alternatively, you can access it directly by going to the below link on our website. Be sure to keep an eye out on this as we’ll continue to update it as development progresses.

Holdfast NaW - Development Roadmap




Expect the BETA for the upcoming major content update to hit the decks relatively soon! You're most welcome to join in the discussion on our Discord.

Once again, we cannot thank you enough for your support and until next time, may good health be yours.

- Anvil Game Studios

Holdfast: Nations At War has been updated! As we gear up for the release of the upcoming major content update, we’ll be releasing 3 new maps targeted towards organised play. We’re sure that all those fellows participating in community-hosted events will find this a welcoming addition.

Be sure to stay tuned as we have plenty of other game-play oriented content in the works! The roadmap we’ll be releasing in the next few weeks will also show off our progress on some of the most community requested features.


Here’s a look at all the linebattle maps. Ancient Plains, Snowy Plains 4 and Snowy Plains 5.

Ancient Plains

Snowy Plains 4

Snowy Plains 5


Looking for a good bunch of fellows to play the game with? Do join our Discord! Linebattle events were players are encouraged to play in formations relevant to the Napoleonic era are hosted by the community through the week.

Discord is a great place to be to stay in touch with the game’s development. Feedback is always greatly welcomed. We look forward to seeing you there!

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



You can have a read of this update’s changelog below.



Changelog 30 - Game Version 0.28.7053.30152

New Game Features
• 3 New Linebattle Maps! Ancient Plains, Snowy Plains 4 and Snowy Plains 5.
  » Input the following parameters to play these map on your community server: map_name ancientplains, map_name snowyplainsiv or map_name snowyplainsv
  
  Combat Changes
• Solved an issue with changing attack directions while using a musket, pike or a flag. Right or left mouse movements are no longer taken into consideration when changing between up and down stabs.
  

Once again, we thank you for your support and may good health be yours.

We’re working on the next update.

- Anvil Game Studios

Holdfast: Nations At War has been updated! There’s a new map to dive into for this week’s release. Situated atop hilly areas, you’ll find plenty of natural and man-made defensive positions to make your stand on Camp Salamanca. We’ll also be pushing forward changes to combat mechanics within this update.

Have a read of our latest blog post for more on what’s to come.


Rich with natural resources, the garrison in the area made good use of all that is available to fortify one of the highest positions. Camp Salamanca sits overlooking a farmhouse close to its vicinity leading to a secluded church.

Expect plenty of combat to occur on this terrain as the attackers attempt to capture the fortified camp in a siege. Salamanca is playable on the Siege, Battlefield, Conquest and Deathmatch game modes. Hop in on one of the Army Front official servers to check it out.






There are some changes to existing combat mechanics coming with this update. We redesigned the way damage is dealt to players when struck with a melee weapon, improved player to player collisions, blocking responsiveness and various other changes.

Damage Mechanics
The mechanic which dictates the damage received by a player when struck by a melee weapon has been redesigned to favour consistency.

Bayonets
When it comes to the use of bayonets, striking your opponent with this weapon on their upper body will guarantee a one-hit strike. The only exception to this rule is if you significantly drag your strike after you release your left-click. In this case, you must end your opponent by landing another strike.

When it comes to strikes that hit the lower body, you must land no more or less than two strikes to finish your opponent off.

Swords
You are guaranteed to end a player in two strikes by landing a right or left swing on your opponent while having a sword equipped. The same goes for a lunge strike. Upswing strikes are still as deadly as they were before and your enemy will meet their end with a single strike.

Player To Player Collisions
We have worked on improving player to player collisions to reduce instances of players clipping inside one another while staying up close and personal. A preventive measure to reduce instances where players clip inside one another while aiming downwards with a strike has also undergone development.

Blocking Responsiveness
Blocking mechanics have undergone a few adjustments to improve their responsiveness. We have also slightly reduced the pace at which players can feint a strike to further aid with this.

Sword Strikes
Right and left swings from sword strikes no longer collide with the terrain. This will further responsiveness when a player using this weapon is engaged in combat on uneven terrain.

Arena Game Mode
Players are now able to switch classes as well as the faction they initially joined without disconnecting from the server. We’re sure that players actively playing this mode will find it a welcoming addition as teams can be balanced more easily.




Prepare to set sail once more as there’s going to be a relatively sizable naval oriented update hitting the decks! The Coastal Siege game mode, a favourite amongst players on this warfront, will be making its way back into the game.

With the same update, multiple server configuration settings to make events more interesting will be introduced. They’ll pave the way ahead for engaging roleplay scenarios to occur. Those with an avid interest in organised events will indeed be delighted to hear that we have more plains maps in the works.

Pending that we won’t require shifting some of our development efforts on hotfixes for the most recent additions, we estimate that the BETA for the naval oriented update will kickstart in two weeks.




During the coming weeks, we’ll be updating our development roadmap to keep you abreast on our progress. For all those good fellows reading our blog posts, by now you should already be aware that we have multiple developers working on different updates. Player-built defences, destruction and various other game-play oriented features much requested by the community.

Be sure to keep a look out for this!




Looking for a good bunch of fellows to play the game with? Do join our Discord! Linebattle events were players are encouraged to play in formations relevant to the Napoleonic era are hosted by the community through the week.

Discord is a great place to be to stay in touch with the game’s development. Feedback is always greatly welcomed. We look forward to seeing you there!

https://discordapp.com/invite/holdfastgame



Here’s the entire list of additional features, bug fixes, improvements and content that you’ll find in this update.



Changelog 29 - Game Version 0.27.7046.36487

New Game Features & Additions
• A New Map! Camp Salamanca. Join one of the Army Front servers to check it out.
  » Input the following parameter to play this map on your community server: map_name campsalamanca
• Revisited the rotation present on the Army Front official servers based on community feedback.
  
• Players are now able to switch classes as well as the faction they initially joined on the Melee Arena game mode without disconnecting from the server.
  
  Combat Changes
• The mechanic which dictates the damage received by a player when struck by a melee weapon has been redesigned to favour consistency. Strikes will now deal a set amount of damage pending on if they land on the upper or lower body.
  
• Player to player collisions have been improved to reduce instances of players clipping inside one another while staying up close and personal.
  
• Introduced a preventive measure to reduce instances where players clip inside one another while aiming downwards with a strike.
  
• Blocking mechanics have undergone a few adjustments to improve their responsiveness.
  
• Slightly reduced the pace at which players can feint a strike to further aid with blocking responsiveness.
  
• Right and left swings from sword strikes no longer collide with the terrain.
  
• Increased the stun timer that disallows a player to commit to another strike after they get hit to favour blocking.
  
  Game Balance
• Reduced the rate of fire of rocket artillery by increasing the time it takes to load a rocket by 2 seconds.
  
• Reduced the blast radius of the rocket.
  
• Solved an issue which caused the cannon ball’s hitbox to be larger than that of the model itself.
  
• Reduced the damage done in an area when a round shot hits the terrain or an object on the world map.
  
  Game Core
• Performed a minor game engine upgrade.
  
  Optimisations
• Client-side optimisations to improve framerate when a lot of players are on screen.
  
• Server-side optimisations to reduce data throughput.
  
• Lobby optimisations to reduce data throughput.
  
  Bug Fixes
• Solved an instance which caused the map to randomly switch to the first one in rotation in the middle of the match.
  
• Solved an issue which caused the player’s ragdoll when killed by a grape shot to animate incorrectly.
  
• Solved an error that was sometimes being outputted when playing on Tahir Desert.
  
• Solved an error that was sometimes being outputted when shooting at a rocket launcher with a firearm.
  
• Solved an issue on the Melee Arena game mode which caused a team to win rounds repeatedly if no players remain in the opposing team.
  
• Solved an issue which caused a player to always strike upwards if they rotate to the left and strike.
  
  Quality Of Life
• Player name plates when having the ‘Show Player Names’ options enabled, will now continue to rotate with the player even if the player dies.
  
• The ‘Show Player Names’ option no longer switches back to its default value after closing the game.
  
• The ‘Escape’ menu no longer appears if you minimise the game while in freeflight or spectate mode.
  
• Flattened out the terrain on Palisade Arena and removed the poles present on the map.
  
• Removed the trees present on Watchtower Arena to improve visibility when playing.
  

Changelog 29 (Hotfix) - Game Version 0.27.7047.40095

Bug Fixes
• Solved a server-side issue related to player movement.
  

Once again, we thank you for your support and may good health be yours.

We’re working on the next update.

- Anvil Game Studios