Squad 44 News

[h2]Greetings folks![/h2]

We’re excited to announce the final step in our re-brand: introducing Squad 44mm!

Become immersed in World War II warfare from the ground up, literally! Even the smallest of soldiers can turn the tides of war, especially infantry. Take on WWII from an entirely new perspective!

[h2]With our new name comes three new game modes:[/h2]

[h3]Lily Pad Invasion[/h3]

Storm the shores and take over the backyard! Make sure to watch out for environmental hazards like frogs, newts, and pesky dragonflies!

[h3]Panzer Garden Party[/h3]

War is no picnic, folks. Hit the garden with your tot-sized tanks and dig up that soil! Leave no blade of grass unclipped!

[h3]BONUS MODE: Lieutenant Colonels Tea Time[/h3]

Sneak into the lieutenant colonel's office and sabotage his tea with too much sugar! Watch out: he may spit out hot tea with disgust!

[h2]We hope you like the new direction of Squad 44mm. Let us know your thoughts in the comments![/h2]

Hey folks! Luna from Offworld here.

There happen to be a lot of Easter eggs in Squad 44. They can be easy to miss, especially when you’re focused on the objective.

I asked the Mercury Arts team to share with me all the Squad 44 Easter eggs they know and have compiled a bit of a hunt for you all. This list doesn’t cover all the Easter eggs you could find, so let me know if you have others that aren’t on this list!

There was also one that I couldn’t find but have been told exists, so if you find it, please share it with me!

With this list, I’m only sharing the maps of the Easter eggs, so have fun this holiday weekend and go hunt!

[h2]1. Maleme - Bob Semple Tank[/h2]

We’re starting off with an easy one!

This lovely feat of engineering is on Maleme and is a little obvious. Watch out for those dangerous curves!

[h2]2. Maleme - Duck on a Boat[/h2]


Now, you won’t be able to find this one on foot. Seeing this lovely homage to the snazziest duckling takes a bit of cheating (using the admin cam).



[h2]3. Hagenau - Dog Shrine[/h2]

This shrine is dedicated to developer Gunschlinger’s sweet dog. This one can be tricky to find since this map has a lot of places to search, but I bet you all are up for the challenge!

[h2]4. Rethymno - Dog Plane[/h2]

A few planes on Rethymno have this cute decal on the side.

[h2]5. Rethymno - Paintings of Katz’s dogs[/h2]

Katz’s sweet pups have been immortalised as lovely oil paintings on Rethymno. See if you can find them!

[h2]6. Best - Narnia Lampost[/h2]

It’s a classic! This secluded spot is perfect for secret meetings, alone time, or reading a timeless fantasy novel.

[h2]7. Carenten - Playable Piano[/h2]

This one is also easy to find. Did you know you can play it by pressing F? Try it out the next time you see it!

[h2]8. Ride-able tractor - Veghel, Carentan, Maginot[/h2]


Thanks to Lelun on Discord for showing me this beauty. This tractor spawns in different locations on Veghel, Carentan, and Maginot (possibly other maps too, but we weren’t certain). If you see it, definitely take it out for a test drive!



[h2]9. Ducks on Doorwerth?? [/h2]
This easter egg was the one some helpful playtesters and I could not find. I was told that McDuckSauce had hidden a bunch of rubber ducks all over Doorwerth, but we could not find a single one! If anyone finds a rubber duck on Doorwerth, please let me know! Maybe I was lied to…

[h3]Big shoutouts to the playtesters who helped me look for these! [/h3]

[h3]Are there any Easter eggs that I missed? Let me know in the comments! Good luck, and happy hunting![/h3]

Hey folks! This patch includes performance fixes, as well as logistics changes based on community feedback. Please note, that logistics will continue to be refined and updated as we move forward, so keep your feedback coming! We greatly appreciate it.

We're continuing to refine the art direction behind the scenes, stay tuned for future content previews and updates.

[h2]Changelog - 14/03/2024[/h2]

[h3]Logistics changes[/h3]

• All first defensive caps get 1000 supplies in offensive
  
• Aligned spawn vehicles on all offensive layers to 2x Inf logistics (1000 supplies each), 2x logistics (2000 supplies each), 1x MSP
  
• Allowed all logistics players to build everything including spawn tents
  
• Removed requirement for logistics players to need a second player with them to build a radio/spawn tent
  
• Changed Radio exclusion zone to 300m
  
• Changed buildable area around radio to 150m
  
• Changed buildable area around supplies to 150m
  
• Changed resupply range to 150m
  
• Changed weapon buildable limits and costs: so now (per faction) max 8 Fobs (500 supplies), 8 repair cranes (250 supplies), 10 Ammo Boxes (100 supplies), 4 Large AT Guns (not 20mm) (800 supplies except Flak36 (1000 supplies)), 2 Heavy Support weapons (20mm) (500 supplies), 6 Mortars (500 supplies), 10 MGs (100 supplies) [Upgrade cost 50 supplies].
  
• Changed Obstacle building costs and limits: so now (per faction) max 30 ladders (50 supplies), 30 AT obstacles (100 supplies), 30 Razor wire (50 supplies), 30 Sandbag barricade (100 supplies), 30 Wooden Barricade (100 supplies)
  
• Changed Fortification building costs and limits: so now (per faction) 30 Sandbag W Logs (100 supplies), 30 Regular Sandbag Logs (100 supplies), 30 Small sandbags (50 supplies), 30 sandbag nest (150), 30 bunkers (200)
  
• Removed the roofless bunker
  
• Players cant build in red zones (red zones to be adjusted for attackers and defenders all layers remains work in progress)
  

[h3]Rearm cost of weapons[/h3]

• MGs - 50 supply refill to full
  
• Mortars - 300 supplies refill to full
  
• Heavy Support Weapons - 300 supplies refill to full
  
• Large AT Guns - 300 supplies to refill to full
  

[h3]Performance[/h3]

• Bone LODs introduced to improve performance
  
• Logistics trucks and Inf Logistics Trucks related FPS drop fixed
  
• Virtual Textures removed (approx 500 MIs and textures amended) to prevent client crashes
  

[h3]Art Amends[/h3]

• New tarpaulin for the German Infantry Supplies Truck
  

[h3]Known Bugs[/h3]

• Reloading deployable weapons will only reload one ammo type
  
• Buildable pontoons can be bugged
  
• Buildable MGs and AT Guns can be jumpy
  
• Map markers on players can be offset
  

The team has been working hard behind the scenes to identify and fix the server crashes; thank you for your patience while we have hunted down this bug. We hope the issue is now resolved so you can all have a good weekend. See you in game!

Changelog:

• Hotfix for server crashes and SSGI bug
  

[h3]All information provided in this blog is under development and highly subject to change.[/h3]

Hello Soldiers,

We’ve gotten our hands on some top-secret documents, so let’s go through them!

[h2]SQUAD 44 - 6 Month Roadmap
[/h2]

First off, some meaning behind the sections:

Current Operations:

• These changes are coming soon in the next updates (some have already happened)
  

In concept:

• These are currently being developed for future updates
  

Future Operations:

• Plans for far into the future, highly subject to change and could take longer than 6 months to implement.
  

Also, note that all this information is subject to change, and we plan to release another roadmap later this year to keep you updated on changes.

[h2]Current Operations[/h2]

• Chapter 1 Overhaul
  
• New map textures
  
• Updated weapon textures
  
• New environmental meshes
  
• Overall optimization and bug-fixing
  

Our current focus is on a graphical overhaul of Chapter 1 maps. The ambition is to upgrade the appearance of these maps to provide players with a much more realistic and immersive environment. Research has gone into finding period-specific imagery of the Market Garden areas to further align Chapter 1 maps to the battlefields they reflect. Following the recent lighting and foliage update, the team is working hard to refine building and environment meshes and provide more realistic textures to get players a little bit closer to the frontline in 1944.



While our graphics overhaul of Chapter 1 is ongoing, our coders continue working hard to fix bugs in the game and push further optimization where possible, while combating previous negative game metas (such as backline camping). As such, systems like the new spawn and logistics system continue to be refined, and the team is grateful for all the feedback from the community in assisting with that. As this rework continues to develop, the Logistics section will start to receive more love in the coming updates, with more buildables coming to give the Logistics section a greater punch in the future and further define their role in the team. You can see some examples of new buildables and emplaced weapons coming to the game in the future below.



In addition to the above, weapon textures will soon start getting a pass to bring them up to a new standard. We are also looking at bringing to the game various new historically accurate weapons and vehicles to add greater variety to the existing factions.



[h2]In Concept[/h2]

• Further chapter overhauls
  
• Increased accessibility
  
• Improved admin tools
  

Although the current focus remains firmly on Chapter 1 maps and models, we will spread the love further to other chapters to spruce them up and further immerse players across all Squad 44 battlefields. This also includes work to improve the heads and arms of various player models and further refinements to vehicles to accommodate changes made to the gameplay and to offer a more genuine look.



Following multiple requests from Server hosters, admin tools will also be looked at throughout the summer, while tutorials and an improved Arnhem Range will be developed to help support new players accessing the game.

[h2]Future Operations[/h2]

• New game mode
  
• New faction
  
• New theatre
  
• Increased server player limits
  

Oh, how we would love to tell you about what is being worked on here! Already we have a new game mode in mind, and several weapons for our next faction made and animated, ready to go into battle later this year…. but where? While we can't give that away yet, we can say that when these weapons do see action, we hope they will be on servers of 100 players! Please share your thoughts on where you would like to see Squad 44 go next in the comments.

[h2]Community Plans[/h2]
The community of Squad 44 is what truly makes it unique, and we have plans to show it off more this year!

Current plans for community:

• Showing off the modding community through Modding Spotlight blogs, social media, and live streams
  
• Supporting community clan events with advertising in Squad 44 community spaces
  
• Revamping the Partner program
  
• Regular monthly live streams, playing games with the community, dev Q&As, events, etc.
  

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Feel free to reach out in our community spaces here on Steam, or on social media, Reddit, or Discord! We’re always checking these spaces for feedback.

[h3]All information provided in this blog is under development and highly subject to change.[/h3]