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Holdfast: Nations At War News

Celebrating 5 Years of Holdfast!



Today we celebrate 5 years since Holdfast: Nations At War was first released into Steam's Early Access program.

A heartfelt thank you to all beloved community fellows new and old for being part of Holdfast's unique, delightful and prosperous story! Your ongoing support has been and continues to be incredibly appreciated.

Take a read of our 'Words from the producer' blog post to gain an insight into what the future holds for Holdfast and the team at Anvil Game Studios. Here's to 5 more years of Holdfast and as always, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː

Read The Blog Post
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/589290/view/3301723568232040433





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan & Winston (The Cat).

Linebattle 2.0! Additional Fixes



Hello there good folks of the Holdfast community! Before we head straight into the next gameplay-focused update we are releasing a minor one to solve intermittent server stability issues amongst other changes.

Some of you might be asking the question of what’s the next big step for the team. If you haven't already, be sure to read these few words from our producer.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/589290/view/3301723568232040433
[h2]Community Discord[/h2]

Whether you’re interested in modding, participating in community events or just wanting to get involved deeper within our great community, the Holdfast Discord is the place to be. It is your central hub for all things Holdfast and houses a plethora of channels dedicated to event and game announcements, regiment (clan) recruitment, game support, suggestions, history discussion and more.

discord.gg/holdfastgame







Changelog 82 - Game Version 2.8.0000.00000

Count 9 new features and improvements.
18 bug fixes.
2 miscellaneous additions.

Click here for the full change log.


Thanks again for all your generous support. You'll be hearing from us again soon!





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan & Winston (The Cat).

1st Series. Words From The Game Director



Greetings good fellows of our beloved community. First and foremost let me start by thanking every one of you lot for your most generous support and for being with us throughout this delightful journey. I can speak for everyone here in the team that it has been a great pleasure working on the game and seeing you enjoy the content we create.

Some of you might be asking the question of what’s the next big step for Holdfast and the team. I’ll be answering some of your questions in this decently sizeable post.

Anvil Game Studios is currently undergoing a major restructuring of its workflows, pipelines and schedules. We will be better defining the responsibilities and roles everyone in the team plays within the company based on each individual’s core strengths and aspirations. Why are we doing this? We want to ensure that our planned growth doesn’t come at the cost of lesser-quality releases or the sanity of everyone whom I have the greatest of pleasures working with.

Within the next year, we will be bringing new folks into the flock. As we have done so before, we will first look to recruit talented individuals within the confines of our community. The team will continue to grow as we embark on more ambitious updates for Holdfast and beyond.

Our sights are now set on a series of releases leading into 2023 that will bring Holdfast into the new age. Rather than continuing to pile on the many features that Holdfast sports, we will place the good majority of our development schedule focusing on improving existing content to deliver a smoother experience. We’re already doing this with Linebattle 2.0 by improving on performance, the fluidity of the game’s animations and its audio-scape.

To go hand in hand with the above-mentioned endeavour, we have been revisiting our planned update release strategy to ensure the longevity of Holdfast while keeping in mind the needs and wants of our community. We want you to be able to enjoy Holdfast and all that it has to offer for the years to come!

We will also be moving a few features from the previously released roadmap to future updates. But does this mean that the next foreseeable releases will be lacking in fresh new content? Most definitely not. We are committed to delivering improvements to existing content alongside new maps, a new… Austrian faction and more.

How will we be bringing Holdfast into the new age? Polishing the game’s existing animations.
Improving the first-person view.
More passes to redefine the role classes play on the battlefield.
Increase gratification for kills.
Expanding on the recently released progression mechanics.
Improving replayability and player retention (more maps, roleplay features etc).
Revisiting old props and game models.
Further improve our sound-scape.
Redesigning our dated user interface.
Dishing out more optimisations to the game.
Bug fixes and stability.

Our update release strategy has been fine-tuned with something big we have in store for Holdfast in 2023. This will ensure the longevity of the game for the years to come. We’ll be sure to bring you in on this as we reach closer to this huge release!

I’m sure you’d also be interested in knowing what we’re planning for near-future updates so without further notice, here’s what to expect. Be sure to join Discord if you’re looking at getting in touch with us or wanting to provide us with feedback.

What’s in store for Holdfast in the near future? Napoleonic Austria.
More additions to Holdfast’s soundscape.
Engine upgrade.
Feature allowing artisans to select the recently introduced new faces through the Holdfast SDK.
Festive content! We’ll be planning ahead for some lovely Fred lore additions this Halloween.

discord.gg/holdfastgame



If you haven’t checked out the Linebattle 2.0 update, we welcome you to do so!

We’ll be on Discord listening to feedback.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/589290/view/3301723568224735001
That’s all for my first TED talk. I look forward to sharing with you our goals, thoughts and direction in similar posts. You have my word that we will always stay true to our core values of promoting player-to-player interaction, encouraging roleplay and placing community at the forefront.

Until next time, I thank you once again and may good health be yours. ːrheartrː





- Andrew ‘Refleax’ Farrugia Game Director

On behalf of all the great folks at Anvil Game Studios.

Linebattle 2.0! Customisation & Progression



Fall into line and ready your musket with the release of the Linebattle 2.0 major update for Holdfast: Nations At War. Featuring player progression and customisation, the sergeant class, a rework of the game’s classes, new animations for all firearms, improved audio and much more.

Celebrating this anticipated release, we’re slashing the price of the game to 65% and all its respective cosmetic DLCs to 15-20%. Now’s a better time than ever to join the beloved Holdfast community! We hope to see you soon on the battlefield with us.


http://store.steampowered.com/app/589290

Before taking a read below of all that will come with this major update to the game, why not first check out the update’s cinematic release trailer?

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Grenadier Regiments DLC[/h2]

Releasing alongside this update is the Grenadier Regiments DLC. Stand side by side with your fellow elites in dashing new uniforms available now.

Content present in Holdfast’s DLCs is purely cosmetic. It doesn’t and never will impact gameplay. Your kind generosity will be put to good use and bring this genre of roleplay warfare games which all of us are fond of into the limelight.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2107250



[h2]Progression & Customisation[/h2]

Battle-hardened soldiers will now be able to cosmetically display their skill through Holdfast’s new player progression and customisation mechanics.

Customisation is per faction and per class while also being tied into your class level. After reaching certain class levels players will be able to select from 17 new unlockable heads in the game, equip other nations' muskets, and melee weaponry and specify the pitch of their character's voice for shouts and calls.



Cavalry classes will also be able to unlock and select different horses to ride on.



[h2]Sergeants & Rocketeers[/h2]

The sergeant arrives! This fearsome new class on the battlefield has the ability to order similar commands with buffs as the officer class to the rank and file and comes equipped with a long spontoon to face off any brave fellows who should dare challenge them.



Previously something only specific to the British Empire, the rocketeer class is now playable across all factions in Holdfast: Nations At War. Previous to this update this class served little to no gameplay purpose but it has been now redesigned to specifically excel at the use of rocket launchers.



[h2]Squads & Class Redesign[/h2]

A variety of classes featured in Holdfast: Nations At War throughout this update have undergone a
considerable rework to ensure classes not only have a place but also a purpose on the battlefield. This is the first version in a series of redesigns towards this effort.

Significantly reducing the amount of downtime and running spent on the game’s Napoleonic front, the flag forward position mechanic accessible to the officer class has now been redesigned to feature a squad system. Everyone apart of the squad including the officer himself will be able to spawn on this forward position making it easier to play the game in groups where the most fun is to be had. Additionally to this, more classes can now spawn on these forward positions.



Sappers now also have the ability to build ammo depots that can be strategically moved and placed around the battlefield to ensure everyone remains well equipped. Ammunition has been reduced across all weapons in balance with this.



Carpenters looking to deal some real up close and personal damage with their two-handed axe can now enter a berserk mode by pressing their ability button (default ‘Q‘) allowing them to swing their axe in additional directions while having a slight run speed increase.

There’s plenty more to this first version of the class redesign! The full extent of the class rework changes can be found within the class selection UI under the abilities and traits section and within the changelog of this blog post.



[h2]Animations & Audio[/h2]

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve Holdfast, this update brings with it brand new animations for all firearms across the game’s Napoleonic front (excluding melee weapons). Featuring new reload and firing animations for both the muskets and pistols, new bayonet attaching and detaching animations and new healing animations for the surgeons amongst other animation tweaks and improvements.



As a result of these new animations, surgeons healing and soldiers attaching or detaching their bayonets can now perform these actions while crouching.



Reloading and firing sounds for muskets and pistols have been completely reworked. A small collection of maps now also feature unique in-world ambience sounds to further develop the atmosphere of Holdfast’s battlefields.

In-world audio across all maps is an ongoing process, those wishing to get a taste of what is to come on the audio front of the game should head down to the docks on Port Nile or sit with a picnic under the great oak tree on Ravenstone.

[h2]5 New Battlefields[/h2]

In this release, we’re introducing 5 new linebattle-themed battle maps. Engage in heated volleys or glorious bayonet charges on Al Kimar Pyramids, Avignon, Pillerone Pass, Vanoise Heights or Hudree Marsh. Hop in, stand shoulder to shoulder and make your stand on these new battlefields!



[h2]Game Optimisations[/h2]

Efforts to optimise the game for low to high-end PCs have continued throughout the development of the Linebattle 2.0 update. Bringing Holdfast to a wider audience by making the game increasingly accessible will continue to be at the forefront of development to further aid in bringing this leading title in the roleplay shooter genre into the limelight.

Experiment with different graphic preset settings in the game to gather the performance to graphical fidelity balance that you desire. This will not be the last time you’ll be hearing from us working on optimisation-oriented updates.

Map loading is now also significantly faster.



[h2]Community Discord[/h2]

Whether you’re interested in modding, participating in community events or just wanting to get involved deeper within our great community, the Holdfast Discord is the place to be. It is your central hub for all things Holdfast and houses a plethora of channels dedicated to event and game announcements, regiment (clan) recruitment, game support, suggestions, history discussion and more.

discord.gg/holdfastgame







Changelog 81 - Game Version 2.7.8286.30379

Count 20 new features and improvements.
7 optimisations.
4 user interface additions.
41 bug fixes.
4 miscellaneous additions.

Click here for the full change log.


Due to the unfortunate event of the team catching a touch of that COVID that’s been going around, we had to delay the release of the Napoleonic howitzer to the next update - Don’t you worry, however, there’s still plenty to enjoy in this update!

Big thanks to Ed, Charles E. Jesus, Mattrobes, Skyold, Nitropunch and all those good fellows who joined us in the testing prior to this update’s release.

Stay tuned for more Holdfast soon. As always, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan & Winston (The Cat).

Prepare For Battle! Linebattle 2.0 Teaser



Order your sergeants to prepare the men for battle as the Linebattle 2.0 update will be released on September 8th 2022.

This major update to Holdfast will introduce the much-anticipated character customisation and progression mechanics, new animations for all firearms across the game’s Nations At War front, 5 new Napoleonic battlefields, the new sergeant class and plenty more new additions that will be detailed throughout the release blog post on September 8th.

It will be the first in a series of updates targeted at taking Holdfast into the new age while ensuring it stays true to its identity. While you await the release of this bountiful update take a look at the teaser trailer below for a glimpse at what is to come and be sure to get involved with the community on Discord.

https://discord.com/invite/holdfastgame

Check Out The Teaser Trailer!
https://youtu.be/GhbLHpqIsao

We’re most excited to share with you all this update has to offer. Stay tuned for what is to come later this year as we continue to develop and bring this new genre of Roleplay Shooters into the limelight. Until next time, may good health be yours. ːrheartrː





- Anvil Game Studios

Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, Walki, Jackson, Rejenorst, Harper, Storey, UberJuice, Stan & Winston (The Cat).