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Ancient Warfare 3 News

Community Event Result

The Trauma Team Exfil event is now over!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/758990/view/3623739004293453221
Thanks again Earthy for creating this awesome map.

Over 400 individual players attempted to complete the map and nearly 100 players successfully finished the map at least once to have a score on the leaderboard. The ~25% success rate means that the map certainly wasn't easy to beat, but the overall response was pretty good, so we will most likely have an event like this again in the future!

Just a reminder, the top 3 can choose an in game content addition or small feature.
Only reasonable stuff that fits in the game and is technically possible will be added. (also no copyrighted stuff)
The complexity of the stuff you can choose depends on your place on the leaderboard after two weeks.
The winner can choose something which takes up to 5 hours to develop, second place chooses 2 hours and third place 1 hour.

In addition to the content addition, the winner will receive 3 steam keys for AW3 to give away to their friends. 2nd to 5th place will each receive one steam key for AW3.

The top 5 on the leaderboard are:
  1. GeOmEtRy (41885 points)
  2. Supa Player (41066 points)
  3. oklpo908 (40034 points)
  4. Chris P. Bacon (38985 points)
  5. Count Landshark (38354 points)


If you are one of the top 5, please reach out to me to tell me what addition you would like to pick and to receive your steam key(s). You can reach me by:
  • Joining my discord server and ping @JNI#3310
  • DM me on discord, my tag is JNI#3310
  • Adding JNI-Games as a steam friend and send a message

Map Competition

Starting today and running until the end of the year, there will be an official map competition! You can create a map based on a certain topic and if it wins you can choose the next in-game addition/feature.
You can find all you need to know below.

Start: Now
End: December 31 2022, 23:00 UTC

[h3]Rules[/h3]
Breaking the rules will result in an exclusion from the ratings
  • Each participant can only submit one map
  • The map is created by yourself
  • (no collaborations in any way!)*
  • The map has to feature a player controlled unit
  • (static/spectate only maps are not allowed)*
  • Old maps are not allowed, you have to start creating the map after the competition started
  • The map has to be submitted before the competition is over, updates to the map are not allowed after the competition is completed
  • The scripting system, custom equipment/items/objects, custom units/prefabs can be used in any way

    • This includes public workshop items of other players and content that you created in the past
    • However, if you use content created by other players, you have to clearly state which parts of you map/content were not created by yourself

[h3]Theme: Containment[/h3]
Create a containment-themed battle/map! The topic can be interpreted in many ways. Whether the player is trying to stop zombies, creatures, monsters or infected units from escaping, or is it himself who needs to break out of the containment is up to you. Your map can play in any era and could be full of action, spooky/story based, or a mixture of both.

[h3]Rating[/h3]
Each map will receive a score which depends on these categories: (modified based on Desert-Mammoth's original map competition)
  • Appearance (0-3)
    Appearance is how the map looks from an aesthetics point of view - that is to say, how easy it is on the eyes
  • Technical Design (0-5)
    Technical design covers how well a map is put together; that is to say, how well it runs, the efficiency of object and unit usage, and the complexity of the map in general.
  • Balance (0-2)
    How balanced is a map, when the theme is taken into account? Is it too easy or too hard? Is one team steam rolling the other when it shouldn't be? Is the player waltzing all over the competition without breaking a sweat? Or is the player dying the moment they leave the starting area?
  • Originality (0-3)
    Has it been done before? Has it been over done? Does it use original prefabs or does it borrow from the workshop? Is there something about the map that makes it stand out from the rest?
  • Units (0-3)
    Is your map using custom units? Are they a designer brand fit for the catwalk or are they as bland as shredded wheat? Are they balanced, and do they fit the map?
  • Gameplay (0-3)
    Is the map fun to play? Is there non-stop action, or is it scary/exciting/trilling
  • Thumbnail (0-1)
    Does the map have an appealing thumbnail?
  • Theme (0-3)
    How well is the theme represented in the map

Other relevant information about the rating:
  • If you use custom scripting, it can positively influence categories like balancing, gameplay or technical design, but it can also negatively impact the performance! That being said, there is no need to use scripting to score the maximum points in the technical design category
  • Custom equipment/items/objects are not required to score the maximum points in any of the categories, but it can help. In any case, using a variety of good looking custom units with vanilla equipment is sufficient


[h3]Reward[/h3]
1st, 2nd, 3rd place each receive one AW3 steam key
The winner can choose a small content addition or feature similar to the old WMC competition rewards. The addition has to fit into the game, respect the technical limitations/boundaries and take no more than 1-2 hours to develop.

[h3]How to submit a map[/h3]
Submitting a map is very easy, but make sure your map doesnt break any of the rules!
(Make sure you have the latest update installed)
1) Upload your map to the workshop
2) The is a banner on the left side in the main menu where you can select one of your workshop maps to submit it

Update 0.41.1

[h2]In game event[/h2]
Before starting with the patch notes, there is a new in game event map available for the next two weeks. Participate on the leaderboard for a chance to choose the next content or feature!
[Event Information]

[h2]New siege weapons[/h2]
This update includes 3 new static weapons that can be used to fortify and defend locations:
  • TOW anti tank missle launcher
  • M2 .50 cal HMG
  • Static LMG (5.56mm light machine gun on tripod)


[h2]New vehicles[/h2]
There are also 3 new vehicles included in this update:
  • M113 troop carrier
  • M132 'Zippo' flame thrower tank
  • KV-2 tank


[h2]New quick play system[/h2]
The new quick play system features workshop maps that are worth playing to reward uploading high quality maps. It will be updated about every two weeks with new and older maps.


[h2]Gate feature for custom objects[/h2]
Custom objects which act as gates can now be created. They can have a single or double doors which can be rotated, moved or hidden. Gates work similar to doors and can be locked and opened/closed by the player, scripting or units.


[h2]Animated pose changes[/h2]
When switching between guard poses (with scripting), the change is now be animated instead of snapping to the new pose immediately. In addition, there is a new pose to let units sit.


[h2]Other features & improvements[/h2]
  • Color categories can now be deleted in the color browser
  • Searching for workshop items by name works much better now
  • Added scripting node to get the weapon id from a unit
  • Added 'origin' output to ProjectileImpact event nodes to get the spawn point of the projectile
  • Added IsRefType script node to check if a reference is of a type
  • Added OnInteraction possible event to detect when the player can interact with an object
  • Added GetRefObjectsOfType node to get all objects of a type
  • Added IsInVehicle node to test if a player is currently in a vehicle


[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]
  • Fixed a bug that caused rendering problems when returning to the battle editor while driving a vehicle in 3rd person
  • Fixed incorrect bloom values after leaving the scripting editor
  • Fixed that hovering over node inputs would display the wrong description
  • Fixed that custom particle effects and items did not load correctly when loading a script from the workshop
  • Fixed a rare bug that prevented certain maps from being saved
  • Fixed that the OnShoot event node was triggered incorrectly in burst fire mode


[h2]Next update[/h2]
The next regular update will be in January 2023. It will contain some more content and there are also some technical changes planned to make the game work more reliable with complex maps.

Community Event

[h3]For the next 2 weeks, we have a new in game event made by Earthy.[/h3]
Participate in this futuristic cyberpunk themed event by pressing on it in the main menu.
By completing the map, your score will be submitted to a leaderboard and you can play the map as often as you want!

[h3]In game reward[/h3]
The top 3 can choose an in game content addition or small feature.
Only reasonable stuff that fits in the game and is technically possible will be added. (also no copyrighted stuff)
The complexity of the stuff you can choose depends on your place on the leaderboard after two weeks.
The winner can choose something which takes up to 5 hours to develop, second place chooses 2 hours and third place 1 hour.

[h3]Steam key reward[/h3]
In addition to the content addition, the winner will receive 3 steam keys for AW3 to give away to their friends. 2nd to 5th place will each receive one steam key for AW3.

Update 0.41

This update features a lot of improvements and features related to visual scripting to make it easier to use and increase its functionality!

New Menu Scene

Thanks to Mecho we now have a new fantasy themed menu scene with orcs and some ghost units. Have a look at it in game or check out the video below to see how good it looks!
https://youtu.be/9GoQarJrZG4

Widescreen support
The game now supports 21:9 (widescreen) resolutions without black bars. There are also some changes to update the available/supported resolutions after moving the game to a different monitor on multi-monitor systems.

Other Improvements
  • When importing a model without triangulated faces, a warning is displayed to remind you to triangulate wavefront .obj models before exporting them
  • Increased the amount of sounds that can play at the same time to prevent issues with clipping audio effects


Scripting Features & Improvements

All the new features and improvements can be found below. There is a lot to go through, information about the next update are at the bottom of this post.

[h2]Improved object selection[/h2]
  • Multiple scripting objects like lights, triggers, variables, etc. can now be selected at once in the scripting view
  • This can be accomplished by holding shift/ctrl while selecting objects or by dragging a box over multiple objects
  • Scripting objects now also give visual feedback to indicate their selection status to make it easier to work with them
  • The scripting object settings (like light or wall settings) now also support multi object editing
  • Fog areas can now be selected by simply clicking on them instead of having to search the icon


[h2]Script settings[/h2]
This update contains features to split logic into different scripts. To help with that
  • Scripts can be referenced, deactivated and enabled from other scripts
  • And scripts have an execution order setting to select in which order multiple scripts run


[h2]Custom events[/h2]
The new custom event nodes can be used to define custom starting points for your script. This can be used to prevent repetition of nodes that do the same thing. You can also add parameters to your custom events. The event can then be executed from the same script with the Invoke node, or from other script with the InvokeExternNode.


[h2]Input UI[/h2]
To help with using other player's scripts or adjusting your own large scripts, most input nodes can now be given a name and a description and will then be displayed in the scripting list. This means that these settings can be edited without having to edit and try to understand the script.


[h2]Script workshop[/h2]
To make it easier to share scripts with other users, there is now Steam Workshop support for visual scripts! Script can be uploaded in the script editor or loaded when pressing the 'Add Preset' button in the script list.

[h2]Script editor improvements[/h2]
There are some nice quality of life improvements which can be toggled on/off in the toolbar in the bottom left corner of the script editor:
  • When dragging a output point in an empty area, the panel to add nodes will show up and display all compatible nodes. After selecting a node, it will be inserted and connected automatically.
  • If you like clean looking scripts, you can now enable nodes to be snapped to a grid or aligned to other nodes


[h2]Runtime event binding[/h2]
Events that depend on a reference like the OnDamage event can now be bound while the script is running instead of having to pick the reference in advance.
With scripting the reference is often only generated when a unit is spawned for instance. The Bind event nodes can then be connected and all the nodes that are connected to the event will run when the event is happening.

[h2]Improved custom UI[/h2]
Ever since the addition of the CustomInfo node, players used to create custom UI elements to replace or add more information to the vanilla HUD. To help with that, there is a new version which outputs a HUD element reference whose settings like color, text, etc. can be changed.
And a new input parameter can be used to allow the cursor to interact with these hud elements. There are new events to detect hovering and clicking and a new node (UnlockCursorInteraction) to unlock the cursor of the player to actually use these events.


[h2]Custom UI transform editor[/h2]
The new UITransform input node makes it easier to create custom info elements by allowing users to adjust and preview positions, sizes and anchor/stretching behaviours for their UI elements.


[h2]New scripting nodes[/h2]
This update features a lot of new scripting nodes:
  • RunOnce and RunOnceFrame can be used to only let the connected nodes run once while playing or once per frame
  • The Select node can be used to select one of two values depending on a bool condition. This works similar to the if node, but a value is selected to prevent having to copy conditional branches in scripts
  • The Break node can be used to stop the loop from which it was executed
  • The new version of the EndlessLoop now works like the other timed loops and can be started multiple times (this doesnt affect old scripts)
  • GetAllUnits and GetUnits can be used to retrieve a list of all units (of a team)
  • TryGetNavPos can be used to find the closest walkable position on the AI navigation surface for a position
  • IsNavPos can be used to test if a position is on the walkable AI navigation surface
  • Set/Get MovementSpeedMult can be used to adjust the movement speed of the player (0-2x multiplier)
  • OnAIAttack/OnAIAttackGlobal event nodes run when an AI attacks another unit
  • OnAIShoot/OnAIShootGlobal event nodes run when an AI shoots at another unit
  • OnAIMelee/OnAIMeleeGlobal event nodes run when an AI swings their weapon at another unit
  • OnProjectileImpact event node runs when a projectile hits any surface and outputs information like the position, hit normal and hit object
  • OnProjectileBodyImpact event node runs when a projectile hits a unit body part and outputs additional information like the hit body part and damage values
  • OnMeleeImpact event node runs when a melee weapon hits any surface and outputs information like the position, hit normal and hit object
  • OnMeleeBodyImpact event node runs when a melee weapon hits a unit body part and outputs additional information like the hit body part and damage values
  • IsHovered node can be used to test if a custom info is hovered
  • OnBeginHover/OnEndHover/OnClick can be used to detect custom info interactions
  • UnlockCursorInteraction/LockCursorInteraction can be used to unlock the cursor for custom info interactions
  • Jump node can be used to let the player jump without ground checks for mechanics like double jumps
  • PickupWeapon/PickupSupport/PickupShield can be used to set inventory items of the player
  • Added various new nodes and parameters to existing nodes to drop weapons, shields, etc and to switch weapons
  • RestrictAll node can be used as a shortcut for all the other restrict nodes
  • Raycast/Linecast nodes can be used to shoot rays and detect colliders
  • New input nodes for body parts, types, ui transform and equipment item references
  • ArrayHint node can be used to hint the type of an array after it was passed as a parameter in custom events
  • DynamicRefCast can be used to cast any reference type to another type (for instance unit to health reference)
  • DebugLine node can be used to temporarily render lines in the scene
  • SetX/Y/Z and SetR/G/B nodes can be used to quickly set one component of a vector or color
  • Added nodes to get and set all parameters of an existing custom info
  • New runtime event bind nodes for all the reference event nodes


[h2]Script warnings[/h2]
The scripting system is pretty robust in terms of error handling, but unfortunately it is difficult to detect all user errors. For instance, some players used the OnDamageGlobal event and then just added more damage to a unit, which would cause the event to run again and cause an endless loop and game crashes. With custom events it is even easier to create actual endless loops which are difficult to detect in the editor.
To fix that, the game will no longer crash when a script causes an endless loop. Instead a warning is shown while playing and the script is deactivated.
In addition to that, there is also a warning if a script runs really slow.

[h2]Other scripting improvements[/h2]
  • Node warnings are now displayed for placed nodes
  • Nodes with serious warnings related to performance now use a red background
  • Added 'Tab' as a possible key in the input event nodes and key input node
  • Comment nodes will no longer reset their size when reloading a script
  • OnPickupEquipment/OnPickupObject/OnConsume nodes will now output the reference to the used object


Bug fixes
  • Fixed that the OnPickup scripting node did not work for door keys
  • Fixed that pressing continue in the pause menu resulted in a different behaviour that pressing escape to close it
  • The mute in background option will now correctly mute sounds instead of pausing them and causing sound desync
  • Custom modular doors should work more reliable now
  • Fixed that the rect shaped terrain paint would flip to the other side when painting borders
  • Fixed that the rendered color picker would not pick colors from units in the unit editor
  • Fixed various problems with picking up shields (duplicated shields, multiple shields on the player, etc.)
  • Fixed that custom bayonets did not cause any damage
  • Fixed that resetting the scale in the script editor would not update the scale text
  • Fixed a visual bug for array nodes with many values
  • Fixed small gap in the concrete windowframe model
  • Fixed that menu music would stay quiet after changing the music volume
  • Fixed that siege units did still control their siege weapon after being zombified
  • Fixed S42 scope retricle clipping
  • Fixed floating scopes on the future grenade launcher
  • Fixed +0 bullets spam when walking over some weapons
  • Fixed that units from spawners were missing their weapon attachments and shield backpacks didnt work correctly
  • Fixed floating bayonet on B1918 weapon


Next update

The next update will include a new quickplay section with curated workshop items to increase the visiblilty of workshop items and new content.