Reporting in, Commanders!

Our second Historic Battle video is now live: The Second Battle of Ypres. In interviews with Imperial War Museums and Petroglyph, we examine the history and gameplay behind each scenario.

Watch Episode 2 below:

Reporting in, Commanders!

The following changes have just gone live in and update:

• Fixed an issue causing German pawns to face the wrong direction when starting an Allied Campaign and then loading a Central Powers Campaign.
  
• Fixed an issue causing a mismatch between region flags and unit pawns for Allies when playing as the Central Powers.
  
• Fixed an issue resulting in the wrong flags for all regions after loading a Central Powers Campaign.

• Localization was added to Petroglyph Mods for Names and Descriptions within the Mod Manager for the Historical Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Petroglyph Test Map, and the Siege of Paris Campaign.

Thank you as always for your feedback and support. Continue letting us know about your experiences on the front!

The Great War: Western Front Team

Reporting in, Commanders.

This small update is being released to provide the following fix:

1. Fixed an issue in Campaign, where the following regions could not be surrounded:

• Ypres.
  
• Hasselt.
  
• Maaseik.
  
• Bruxelles.
  
• Leuven.

Thank you as always for your feedback and support. Continue letting us know about your experiences on the front!

The Great War: Western Front Team

Reporting in, Commanders!

We trust that you have been enjoying the 2.1.0 update and the additional modding tools. Update 2.1.1. is a follow-up designed to add further improvements and additional fixes.

• Added DX12 option to the Video Options page.

Note: Restore your Settings to Default to enable this change.

• Added more toggles to the modding diagnostic tool.
  
• Updated Modding Guides.

• Fixed various crashes, including while loading the Siege of Paris Mod Campaign.
  
• Fixed an out of bound Turkish localisation issue in Historical Battles menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where the US advisor would appear during the Historic Battle: Battle of Vimy Ridge
  
• Fixed an issue where buildings on Fort Overlook display no destruction FX.
  
• Fixed an issue on winter maps where trees could have a purple hue.
  
• Fixed an issue with the lighting on Fort Overlook (winter) causing unit models to display incorrect colours.
  
• Fixed an issue where infantry under fire would switch between prone and running too often.
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause blur when zoomed in on certain maps.
  
• Fixed an issue where a changed video settings popup would appear after quitting a Skirmish map.
  
• Updated localised messages for out of date save files.

Thank you as always for your continued feedback and support. Let us know what you think of the above changes and continue sharing your experiences from the front!

The Great War: Western Front Team

Reporting in, Commanders!

We are delighted to deliver this intel containing the details of our second Mod Support update. 2.1.0 includes multiple new features to enhance the modding experience, allowing you to create unique battlefields and Historic Battles.

Please be aware that given the scope of the changes in this update, users will require new save files for these to take effect. Steam users will be able to use the platform’s Beta system to roll back to a prior version and finish any ongoing campaigns. To do this, right-click The Great War: Western Front in your library, navigate to Properties and select the Betas tab. Then opt into “2.0.1 Rollback Version” in the Beta Participation drop-down menu. To return back to the latest version, select None in the same drop-down menu.

If you would like to test your strategy against your fellow commanders in Multiplayer, make sure you are using the latest version.

Added new trench emplacements:

• Ammo Cache – reduces artillery ability costs by 50%.
  
• Anti-Air Cannon – automatically targets enemy aircraft within range.

Three new maps added in Campaign, Skirmish and Multiplayer:

• Town and Country
  
• Secluded Copse
  
• Fort Overlook

• Added more Fort Map locations to the Campaign map, to represent the pre-war French and German border fortifications system. These will be found at Nancy, Metz, Thionville, Épinal, and Strasbourg
  
• Added a new Historical Battle presented as a Mod – Battle of Vimy Ridge.
  
• Added Campaign War Stats Screen.

Added modding tools and documentation:

• Map Editor
  
• User Interface Editor

• Fixed shadows that rendered too dark when on Low graphics settings.

• Fixed multiple soft locks.
  
• Updated text to account for added content
  
• Fixed an issue where the end game score screen was not reflecting player progress.

Reset your Settings to Default to enable the following changes:

• “Play Audio When Not in Focus” is now off by default.
  
• Fixed an issue where the scroll bar in the Custom Difficulty menu did not work correctly.
  
• Added option to allow loading of saved games with mismatched mods.

• Fixed multiple crashes.
  
• Tech tree updated to accommodate added content.
  
• Text throughout the game updated to accurately reflect changes that have been made since launch.
  
• Optimization of large historical image files.
  
• Added more photos to the “did you know?” loading screens.

Removed the supply chain status effect from the following strategic regions:

• Ypres
  
• Hasselt
  
• Maaseik
  
• Buxelles
  
• Leuven

Added more Fort Map locations to the Campaign map.
Improvements to persistence:

• Destroyed Tanks will now persist.
  
• Some dead bodies will now persist (all bodies still subject to Body Accumulation Setting).

• Early, middle, and late maps now show sequentially after the first battle.
  
• Added information to the supply tooltip to indicate when you are spending supply from the global bank.
  
• Changed when campaign maps transition from early, to middle to late war. This is now based on the number of battles fought on each specific battlefield.
  
• Added a confirmation when selecting Begin Battle to prevent accidentally starting a battle.
  
• Fixed an issue with one of the flower ground textures on map Pastoral Farmland (Summer)
  
• Fixed an issue with tree textures on map Rural Woodland (Winter).

• Fixed an issue where Infantry units would abruptly disappear once retreated.
  
• Fixed an issue where company banners for troops in trenches would not highlight when selected.
  
• Fixed an issue where company banners could become separated from the unit.
  
• Fixed an issue where infantry moving in opposite directions in a Communications Trench could get stuck.
  
• Fixed another instance where infantry could get stuck in prone.
  
• Increased damage of anti-tank rifle from sniper effect from 15 to 30.

• Fixed an issue where some Tanks could sometimes get stuck on trenches when moving around the map.
  
• Fixed an issue where Tanks could get stuck on each other when moving around the map.
  
• Fixed an issue where Tanks would sometimes not auto engage infantry and trench emplacements.
  
• Fixed an issue where Tank MG would keep firing after the Tank was destroyed.

• Fixed an issue where infantry in command and blockhouse trenches could take damage from artillery.
  
• Fixed an issue where Heavy Artillery would sometimes not be useable after finishing cooldown.
  
• Fixed an issue where Barbed Wire and Razor Wire could cross into trenches when placed on a connector.
  
• Fixed an issue where Historical Battle Rolling Barrage decals could sometimes face the wrong way.
  
• Fixed an issue where Siege Artillery could hit companies inside the Command trench.
  
• Fixed an issue where Fort Turrets where invisible in fog of war.
  
• Fixed an issue where MG crews would be all white when in snow.
  
• Increased damage caused by undermine explosion to correctly destroy all objects inside radius.
  
• Airburst shells no longer damage barbed or razor wire.
  
• Heavy artillery heavy barrage cost reduced from 9 to 8.
  
• Light artillery Rolling Barrage cost reduced from 15 to 14.

• Fixed an issue that was causing a mismatch between a region's flag nationality and pawn model nationality.
  
• Attacks ratio evaluations are continually reduced if no combat has occurred for several turns, to force an attack despite poor ratios.
  
• Added additional safety catches for minimum corps in a region.

• Fixed an issue that would mean AI infantry that lost in trench melee would retreat instead of surrender.
  
• Fixed an issue where AI infantry could move through undermine craters.
  
• Tanks now desire to remain closer to infantry despite having a combat target.
  
• Distant artillery usage re-enabled. Artillery counterbattery fire re-enabled.
  
• Artillery usage moderately increased.
  
• Reduced the number of comm trenches constructed by game difficulty, ensuring 0 on hardest.
  
• Lowered attack sizes and increased rally speed.
  
• Adjusted assault wave frequency
  
• Improved frequency of elite company purchases.
  
• Improved rally frequency.
  
• Improved reaction to companies in forest when charging nearby trenches.
  
• Increased stealth desire for scouting companies.
  
• Improved tank following infantry.
  
• Adjusted evaluation of available reinforcements vs. currency to induce less cease fire requests.
  
• Adjusted distances for trench entry evaluations. Attempting to increase trench manoeuvring during offensive assaults.
  
• Spaced-out spawns when all spawn locations are contested, to reduce congestion.
  
• Reduced morale check for melee engagements.
  
• Companies will not withdraw while in the In Combat state.
  
• Infantries are now less fearful of tanks and may attempt to circumvent the tank position instead of retreating in the opposite direction when they become afraid.

Thank you as always for your continued feedback and support. Let us know what you think of the above changes and continue sharing your experiences from the front!

The Great War: Western Front Team

Reporting in, Commanders!

Our second mod support update is arriving this Thursday! It will include numerous features and improvements based on your feedback as well as extensions to modding support, allowing you to create unique battlefields and take even greater control of the Western Front. Among the list of additional features is a Campaign Statistics screen to track the impact of your decisions more closely than ever before, alongside a brand-new Historical Battle which will place you in command of Allied forces in the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Please be aware that given the scope of the changes in this update, users will require new save files for these to take effect. Steam users will be able to use the platform’s Beta system to rollback to a prior version and finish any ongoing campaigns. To do this, right-click The Great War: Western Front in your library, navigate to Properties and select the Betas tab. Then opt into “2.0.1 Rollback Version” in the Beta Participation drop-down menu.

Here is an overview of the content coming in the update:

This editor will allow you to shape the battlefield to your specifications for use in your other mods! To access the Map Editor, launch it via the in-game Mod Manager.

Like the Map Editor, the UI Editor can be launched via the Mod Manager. This tool allows you to customise the user interface however you prefer.

This Historic Battle will be accessible as a pre-made mod, like the Siege of Paris custom Campaign. This will help demonstrate the possibilities when creating your own Historic Battles.

Alongside the additional mod support to compliment the features from June, this update will also contain the following:

• Ammo Cache - Reduces the cost of all artillery barrages for all artillery companies in the effect radius. WARNING: This will explode when destroyed, causing damage to everything in the area.
  
• Anti-Aircraft Cannon - Contains a dedicated anti-air cannon team. Highly effective against aircraft, but cannot fire at other targets. Vulnerable to infantry grenade attacks.

This screen will display in-depth statistics throughout and at the end of your Campaign. It will also track and display the total number of casualties throughout.

Three new maps will be added to increase variety:

• Town and Country
  
• Secluded Copse
  
• Fort Overlook

Numerous other changes and improvements will also arrive in the August update to further enhance the gameplay experience:

• Bug fixing
  
• Balance Changes

Further intel on all the items in this report will be received closer to launch in detailed patch notes. Until then, continue your valiant work on the battlefield! Thank you as always for sharing your suggestions and feedback.

The Great War: Western Front Team

New intel reports an incoming six-part video series to brief you on the Historic Battles!

These interviews with Imperial War Museums and Petroglyph examine the history and gameplay behind each scenario.

Watch Episode 1: The Battle of the Somme below:

Reporting in, Commanders!

Following feedback from update 2.0.0, the following changes have been implemented:

• Fixed a soft lock that would occasionally happen during the defensive battle in the tutorial.
  
• Fixed an issue that was causing some players to receive a failed to initialise Windows audio error on start.
  
• Fixed an issue with reinforcement points that was preventing players from calling in more units in specific scenarios

Thank you always for your feedback. Let know about your experiences on the front here on Steam, as well as on our Twitter and Facebook[www.facebook.com] channels!

Reporting in, Commanders!

You may have heard that today’s update marks an exciting change for The Great War: Western Front. We’re proud to confirm that alongside new content, this release will bring mod support and all the customisation and creativity that entails. We can’t wait to see how you redefine history through your own content and share that throughout the community!

With the new mod manager there are countless possibilities ranging from alternate-history versions of the Campaign to new types of units and much more. To bolster the modding experience, another update will arrive in August with additions such as Map and GUI editors and more.

Today’s update also brings with it a wealth of fixes, improvements, and balance adjustments from both the player and AI perspectives. Read below for more:

• Added Steam Workshop support and Mod manager.
  
• Support for custom player-created LUA/AI, XML, TEXTURES, MODELS, and AUDIO as well as model converter.
  
• Custom Mod Campaign Example Added

• Added new French Infantry: Army of Africa and Colonial Troops Corps (Start a new Campaign to access to these).
  
• Added new German Infantry: Royal Bavarian Infantry Corps (Start a new Campaign to access to these).
  
• Added new French Heavy Tank: The Saint-Chamond.
  
• Added new German Light Tanks: The Leichter Kampfwagen II (LK II).

• Added new Air Mission: Recon.
  
• Added new Campaign Objective Events.
  
• Added Custom Campaign settings options.

• Fixed an issue where client would use too much CPU when minimized.
  
• Optimisation of dead bodies to help further improve performance.
  
• Optimised performance in Multiplayer.
  
• Fixed an issue where snow maps were too bright when on low graphics settings.
  
• Fixed multiple crashes.
  
• Fixed multiple soft locks.

• Made performance improvements to Multiplayer.
  
• Fixed errors in Tutorial text.
  
• Added Target FPS option (reset to default settings to enable)
  
• Fixed an issue with volume slider skipping some values (reset to default settings to enable).
  
• Historic missions now default to trainee difficulty to match default campaign difficulty.
  
• Enabled Encyclopaedia button on main menu.
  
• Updated the Campaign select menu.
  
• Various UI adjustments.
  
• Added a button to the Encyclopaedia that allows players to see a full list of all IWM images and videos used in game.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Encyclopaedia could not be navigated using the arrow keys.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Campaign Victory screen would not show the correct campaign progress.

• Fixed an exploit where large numbers of regions could be surrounded by utilising the edge of the playable map, by adding Supply Chain Regions
  
• The "Bankrupt!" event for hitting zero or negative gold reserves now has a -25 national will penalty (previously -10). Bankruptcy is also now a recurring event each turn.
  
• Gold reserves are no longer clamped to available reserves when using Autoresolve, so Autoresolve can now reduce Gold Reserves into negative values.
  
• Updated tech tree to reflect new content.
  
• Fixed an issue where Care Package level 3 could not be used in some instances.
  
• Updated corps UI to better distinguish different types of infantry corps.

• Various battle maps were graphically updated.
  
• Added anti-tank sniper status effect icons.
  
• Added map-wide ambient combat audio.
  
• Fixed various instances of incorrect textures showing up throughout the maps.
  
• Fixed an issue where rainy season speed reduction not being applied.
  
• Updated battlefield setup text in skirmish: changed Time Period to Destruction Level to better reflect that setting’s impact on battlefield.
  
• Fixed an issue where minimaps would not match the layout of the battlefield.
  
• Fixed an issue with enemies spawning during the Historic Battle of the Somme.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Siege Artillery moral penalty would apply to the wrong units if the HQ trench was captured.
  
• Fixed an issue where the firing arch would not display.

• Fix an issue where infantry was getting pushed to the edge of a newly detonated undermine.
  
• Fixed an issue where Army Intel missions would not reveal attacking units on the battlefield deployment pane.
  
• Infantry will only use the anti-infantry sniper effect outside of standard rifle range.
  
• Added the Anti-Tank Rifles to the Sniper tech as an ability for Elite Infantry
  
• Infantry will only use the AT Rifle effect at standard rifle range.
  
• Pathfinding was improved in short-distance trench formations.
  
• When attacking a trench, Raider and Flamethrower units will now stop and use their main weapon briefly before jumping in and entering melee.
  
• Fixed an issue where infantry would stay prone while moving around.
  
• Fixed an issue where infantry bypassing a full firing trench would not re-enter the trench network at the earliest opportunity.
  
• Improved infantry movement through trench networks.
  
• Fixed an issue where infantry could become locked outside of the map.
  
• Infantry now slows when running through water such as rivers.

• Airwings no longer influence mixed nationality calculation.
  
• Fixed an issue where flags would not show on regions with only airwings present.
  
• Fixed an issue where refuelling planes would not be correctly returned to the available pool for Air Missions.
  
• Fixed an issue where tank cannons could get stuck targeting something that cannot be fired at.
  
• Fixed an issue where tanks would struggle to move through crowds of infantry.
  
• Tanks will now delay 0.5 seconds before firing their first shot when getting a bead on their target.
  
• Increased time between heal ticks to 4 seconds (previously 3)
  
• Increased the out-of-combat delay (the time the tank must be out of combat before regen begins) to 10 seconds (previously 5).
  
• Tank regeneration speed is now based on their specific maximum health such that all tanks will take about 4 minutes to regenerate from near death (assuming no interruptions).

• Fixed an issue where undermining could not be selected if the player had reached the population cap.
  
• Fixed an issue where vision would linger on destroyed artillery objects.
  
• Fixed an issue where movement arrows would linger on destroyed tanks.
  
• Improved late war pre-placed trench networks.
  
• Fixed an issue with destroyed structures reappearing on the mini map when covered by FOW.
  
• Reduced the cost of Barbed Wire to 7 Supply.
  
• Reduced the cost of Razor Wire to 10 Supply.
  
• Barbed Wire and Razor Wire are now fully immune to bullet-based damage (rifles and machine guns). Tank machine guns, infantry rifles and MG emplacements can no longer target wire.

• AI construction of Supply Depots improved. If funding is available, 2 to 6 are now built every turn depending on difficulty.
  
• Improved selection of opportunistic offensives.
  
• Priority planned assaults (e.g., salient heads or lines) now allow reducing non-priority and non-planned regions to 1 corps minimum defenders to bolster the planned priority assault.
  
• Increased the evaluation weight of a region's distance to its capital to further reinforce focus on salient bulges which are closer to the capital, when two or more bulges occur simultaneously.
  
• Normally salient heads will not push further and overextend into empty regions, but now if they are near a map edge the AI will ignore this rule and try to take the opportunity to surround.
  
• Priority assaults may cancel all opportunity assaults to avoid over-expenditure during priority defence situations, except for capture of empty regions.
  
• Further tuning of defensive company distribution based on distance and priority assaults.
  
• Ensured the sniper upgrade is available at appropriate time period for campaigns.

• Incorporated scripting system enhancements.
  
• Ensured more rear defence of flank Control Points with a couple companies each.
  
• Adjusted minimum company check for rush code.
  
• Further loosened minimal enemy defence evaluations.
  
• Added three starting trenches to the first battles to compensate for additional artillery defence addition.
  
• Companies in the woods will not retreat from tanks or Verdun turrets as they are hidden and should not move.
  
• Companies in defensive mode will no longer exit woods.
  
• Companies will use marked forests as potential cover locations in addition to trenches.
  
• Reduced the usage of airburst in compared to other options.
  
• Cleared previous movement destination record if an attack order is given, to prevent possible movement orders if the company stops moving.
  
• Added basic trenches in late game regions which are not on the front line.
  
• Further adjusted AI use of forestry.
  
• Fixed defensive adjustments for Allies when in defensive mode.
  
• On offense, scouting parties are now sent to multiple Control Points immediately. Initial attacks are slightly delayed to compensate.
  
• Fixed an issue with suppression artillery adjustment to cover multiple targets.
  
• Siege artillery was set as a fallback type for tank assaults, if heavy is available.
  
• Reduced the frequency of comms trench construction.
  
• Adjusted the scale of withdrawal percentages down slightly, based on difficulty.
  
• Fixed minor issues with artillery targeting, deviation, and friendly fire checks.
  
• Added scouting aircraft to initial tactical engagement. Ensured aircraft have a default target of the enemy HQ if there is no viable target provided.
  
• Fixed an issue so that tanks specifically follow infantry, not just other members of the same attack force.
  
• Assault force general size is now increased when companies are available. Consequential reduction in defence to a standard 5 companies, when attacking.
  
• Rallying companies will now depart immediately if over half the original attacking force is within engagement distance of the target control point.
  
• Tactical AI now considers artillery visibility of targets when evaluating which control point to attack.
  
• Removed companies in melee combat from artillery target spotting.

We trust that the long list of game changes above will greatly improve your experience in The Great War: Western Front™. Let us know what you think of the update and be sure to share your creations with us by tagging @PlayTheGreatWar and using the hashtag #TGW.

The Great War: Western Front Team