Steel Division 2 - Roadmap
An early summer Steel Division 2 Roadmap ahead of Tribute to D-Day Launch this Saturday, 6th of June!”
Good day to you, commander!
We hope you are doing well. Today, we are taking a short break to give you some details on several Steel Division 2 updates and features we are working on. From improvements to the Army General mode to an upgrade to infantry combat - you might find some interesting tidbits in this early summer roadmap if you keep on reading!
We are hard at work at launching the newest Steel Division 2 Pack: Tribute to D-Day this coming Saturday, the 6th of June. This expansion brings 6 fan-favorite divisions from Steel Division: Normandy 44 to Steel Division 2, and will include several original units, such as the M18 Hellcat and “Beute” Firefly. Read all about the divisions, new Aces, and units in the following posts: the Elite Airborne Divisions, the Mechanized Infantry Divisions, the Armored Divisions.
[h3]A quick primer before we start[/h3]
Before we continue: we are rolling out a small update for a release tomorrow, Friday. Due to popular demand, we have changed two of our 10v10 servers to run Destruction mode. We have also created an “Eastern Front-only” 10v10 server. On a later date, we’ll also introduce new 10v10 Tactical servers on 3v3 maps.
We always check the forums or Discord to see how we can improve Steel Division 2 based on your feedback and suggestions. The following features reflect this.
Please note that we don’t have a precise date for when we will be able to implement many of the ideas into the game. Consider them all to be very much work in progress!
[h3]Improved infantry Combat[/h3]
One of the major projects currently in the pipeline is to improve Steel Division 2’s infantry combat. We want to find a way to make this type of fighting more accessible and clearer to understand. One way to do this is to overhaul how infantry weapons work. The goal here is to make individual weapons, such as a soldier’s rifle or SMG, more deadly and have the squad weapons such as machine guns or automatic rifles inflict more stress on the battlefield.
We are still trying to fit all the pieces together - more later!
[h3]Armored Warfare[/h3]
We are not entirely satisfied with the current tank-on-tank combat or AT versus tank actions. We want to step away from inconclusive engagements between tanks at extreme ranges, each unit exchanging fire with one another without any discernible results. We know that we can improve this, making it less sterile and more fun.
That’s why we are also thinking about introducing (reintroducing for you Wargame veterans out there) a wider array of gun ranges. This means that certain gun pieces will have less range. Sure, you might think decreasing the ranges would be a nerf, but the upshot would be that a gun’s performance will become more efficient.
You would have to get closer to engage the enemy, but by doing so, your chances to destroy an enemy unit will significantly increase.
[h3]Updating Army General[/h3]
Our single-player strategic Army General campaigns are set to receive some modifications in the near future. You might have noticed this already with our DLC campaigns, but we have gradually switched from a “generic battalion strength” depiction of each counter to a more realistic, asymmetrical representation of each pawn. Each battalion on the map will reflect better their historical counterpart; for Axis units this means “battalion strength” and for the Allied units it means “regimental strength.”
In direct comparison, a Soviet pawn will contain more troops and units than its German counterpart. This allows us to deploy more powerful Soviet armies directly on the map and not rely on overstretched lists of reinforcements. This allows for more interesting tactical battle resolutions. To obtain the same results for Axis formations, we decided to merge independent field artillery with combat battalions, giving these latter formations their own organic artillery support and reducing the number of stray artillery guns represented on the strategic map.
We are hard at work updating each side’s composition in the base game’s Army General mode: expect the Berezina, Orsha, Bobruisk, and Baranovichi campaigns to be upgraded soon!
[h3]Improving Army General Combat[/h3]
Continuing with Army General, we are thinking about improving the Army General combat experience by allowing, in some instances, the ability to fight with more than three battalions on each side.
There is more. We are also studying if we should give some battalion types a more dedicated, pronounced role on the battlefield. We are looking at how best to do this, but imagine that a Wehrmacht Pioneer battalion in combat might be able to remove an opposing unit’s entrenchment buff. We feel that it would set battalions apart from each other, granting a player more viable choices when selecting a formation for combat.
We can’t promise all units getting a special ability, but we are curious to hear what you think.
[h3]A big tease![/h3]
We left the best for last. Yes, that’s right, we are talking about the new History DLC! We see the rumors swirling around, some of them true, some of them decisively… not. Without giving away too much: while we had promised just one, the new DLC will actually feature two full Army General campaigns, a new nation with three new divisions, including a complete voice-over set, and three new Soviet divisions.
We are also working on a way to allow you to mod DLC units. It is one of the most recurring requests from the community, and we are happy to oblige!
That’s it, you won’t be able to twist our arms for anything more. Just keep an eye out and who knows, maybe in next week’s post, you’ll get to know even more!
[h3]That’s it for this week![/h3]
One last little bit before we leave you to digest all the news: we are still working on the new Urban Maps (as we talked about in this blog post here). Right now, there is not much more news to report. When we have some more, we’ll keep you informed!
Don’t hesitate to check out our Steam forums and Eugen forums, or our social channels (Facebook and Twitter). You can also join us on our Discord server or Reddit page.
See you on the battlefield, commander!