Development Status #99

Dear Tankers!

Welcome to our 99th Development Status.

Status report

Here's another update on our work on the game this week. We're testing and making improvements to Ponyri as well as the game itself. We're developing controller support and working toward verifying the game on the Steam Deck. Sebastian shows off his progress on the train station in Ponyri.

If possible please consider reading our last news regarding previous patch 1.3.11 :) Below we are describing on what we are working and what might end up with next game update soon.

Recreation of the Historic Ponyri Train Station

The most important historical part of our Ponyri DLC is the battle for the train station. It was a crucial location in the region, because whoever controlled it could use it to establish a supply hub, opening the way to the entire Kursk region.

Using official architectural documentation for this type of building (in this case, a modified version of the Class II Serpukhov station, which can still be seen near Moscow on the historic Moscow–Kursk railway line), we were able to model the building’s structure.

The modern train station in Ponyri has been completely rebuilt, and only the general shape of the original structure remains; thus, using historical photographs, we were able to recreate the building’s actual appearance during World War II.

As a result of our restoration work, we are presenting you with a high-poly version of this train station.

The station is 72.5 meters wide, 18 meters high, and 26.5 meters long, not including the platform itself. The model will feature a simple interior from which enemy infantry will fire upon the player’s advancing forces.

Update on the Work on Ponyri

This week, we continued working on the Ponyri train station and on implementing the SU-152 into the game.

We’re still working on improvements to both campaigns. We’ve already written dedicated missions for the Soviet side. Just like in the German campaign, one scenario will open the campaign, and the other will close it. Ponyri will be a key location in both campaigns.

Regardless of which side you choose, a fierce battle for this town awaits you. We’ve also introduced a resupply system. Reinforcements will arrive regularly, every few missions, so even after heavy losses, you’ll be able to rebuild your forces and continue the campaign.

In defensive missions, command vehicles will start closer to the defended positions, which will shorten the travel time to the objective.

We’ve also diversified the AI behavior so that each side has its own combat style. One side will aim to close the distance quickly, use smoke shells more often, and advance with larger forces, while the other will more often hold its positions, fire from a greater distance, and look for opportunities to outflank the enemy.

Steam Deck + Gamepad controllers support

We continued our work on Steam Deck support. We started by essentially redesigning the buttons at the very bottom of the UI screen where we see, for example, ESC or F1 as icons, even though they were actually text that emulated button icons.

To ensure that icons and glyphs display correctly when using a controller such as a PS4, Xbox, or Steam Deck we had to replace them everywhere, literally throughout the entire UI, with prefabs that can display the appropriate graphics based on the currently selected control scheme.

The game now automatically displays graphics based on whether you’re playing with a keyboard/mouse, a gamepad, or a Steam Deck. Currently, our icon atlas includes buttons for keyboard/mouse, PlayStation, Xbox, and, of course, Steam Deck.

Next, we modified the panels slightly so they could be navigated using the buttons on the controller. On the Steam Deck, this works just like a mouse the Deck also supports a mouse, for example, via the right touchpad. We’re testing it, and where features are missing, we’re adding them for example, the ability to physically switch tabs using L1/R1 instead of navigating to those buttons.

We’re still missing icons and assigned buttons for functions such as “DEPLOY” on the BATTLE MAP or “BEGIN MISSION/REPAIRS” in the mission selection panel, so that you can select what you need without additional navigation and physically move on immediately.

We’ve reorganized the tabs in the settings panel. They’ve been standardized for example, from “Crane” or “Offmap Support” to “UI CONTROLS.” There, you’ll find settings for global action buttons, such as F1–F8. We’ve also added button mappings on panels where we deemed it necessary. For example, you can now map different keys for unit selection instead of the default 1–9, or change the interaction key from F to something else. In other words, we’ve added a lot of features that weren’t there before.

We've added a test configuration for the button layout on the Steam Deck. We're continuing to test the game on this device, and the plan is to go through Steam's full verification process. We still need to optimize the game and add a dedicated quality profile for the Steam Deck to ensure it runs smoothly.

SU-152

We've improved the SU-152 model, made optimizations (such as LODs), and modeled more accurate collisions based on armor thickness. The vehicle drives, fires, and looks great. It does its job ;)

Cinematic Tools

We’re also adding support for Cinematic Tools, which will be available in-game while playing, so… it should be cool to take some great screenshots now (default F8 key).

When you press F8, the camera switches to spectator mode, disabling control of the player’s vehicle and giving you full control over the tools, including the ability to change post-process effects, camera settings, weather, and time of day. We’re currently testing this in-game, and changes can be made from the client as well as the host.

When new patch?

Most likely we will release the new patch 1.3.12 next week.

Thank you for your support, we are working. See you next time! DeGenerals