Have a look at what's to come! The development roadmap details a list of new features and improvements upon existing ones that you’ll be seeing get into the game.

Early Access is being used for its intended purpose; allowing the community to become directly involved in the development of the game and helping to fund further development. Features listed in the development roadmap may see a release after the game is out of Early Access unless otherwise stipulated.

Join us on Discord to provide us with feedback as we push towards the game’s eventual release.

Steam Early Access. Alpha

Holdfast: Nations At War is still under active development (and will be for some time).

This Alpha state means that some features and content are not in their final form. Improvements are ongoing for the core mechanics of the game. On top of this base, we are also planning on the inclusion of new features such as cavalry and maps.

These features have been the most-requested additions to the game in our draw-down period. We hope that this shows that we are listening to you and mapping out development accordingly.

Anvil Game Studios. Meet The Team

Holdfast: Nations At War started being built from the ground up by a core development team of 3. Andrew ‘Refleax’ Farrugia as the Producer, Andreas ‘Dreas’ Grech as the Lead Programmer and finally, Julian ‘Rycon’ Farrugia as the Lead 3D Artist.

Thanks to your generous support, the team has seen continued growth since the game’s release on Early Access! Both Dylan ‘Wrexial’ Abela and Alistair ‘PingPong’ Azzopardi have made significant contributions towards the development of Holdfast: Nations At War.

We’re a small indie team putting long hours into something that we all love. We’re giving it our all to make Holdfast truly great and we’ll continue to do so for the years to come. You’ll surely be seeing more from us.

We’ll do our best to provide estimates for the releases of content most sought out by the community. Holdfast: Nations At War’s development team is composed of no more than 5 individuals and sometimes it gets difficult to determine content release schedules.

Items marked as a WIP are currently undergoing development by the team. Those marked as Done are complete but are still prone to changes as the game progresses.

Ahoy! Naval & Coastal Warfare

Developers: Walki, Wrexial & Rycon | Est. BETA Timeframe: May 2019

The fight at sea in Holdfast: Nations At War certainly won’t be ignored. With larger naval vessels being worked on and additional features and functionality, the naval combat will only keep getting bigger and better.

A relatively sizable content update targeted towards this warfront will continue building upon the concept of fighting on multiple fronts.

Crews! Server Optimisations - Provide a solid base for crews to thrive and prosper! As it currently stands, both the Naval Battlefield and Coastal Siege game modes maximise server-side CPU usage. Once this is over and done with, the monthly costs of renting a naval or coastal server will go down significantly potentially encouraging more events to take place on this front. (Done)

Coastal Siege Returns - Coastal Sieges will be making a glorious return. This game mode was available upon release of Early Access however it wasn’t performing as intended. We’ll be sure to bring back this game mode as soon as we iron those issues out. (Done)

Naval Battlefield Redesigned - The Naval Battlefield game mode will be undergoing a complete rework. Simply having the game mode factor in which faction sunk the most ships doesn’t make for an interesting dynamic. (Done)

Instead, we will be changing this mode to reward a set number of points depending on the type of enemy vessel that was sunk or captured. Ships will also continue to respawn until the round ends. (Done)

Combined Naval Warfronts - Naval Battlefield and Coastal Siege game modes combined in one map rotation. (Done)

Designated Rowboat Spawns - A designated rowboat spawn position will ensure that players will always find an available spawn point to join the round irrespective if a particular ship has been captured or sunk. (Done)

Take A Prize! (Capture) - You can take enemy ships as a prize through a boarding action! Capturing a naval vessel will prevent the enemy faction’s players from spawning on it. Functionality may be delayed in preference of other functionality.

Battlefield Areas - Borders placed around the map edge will restrict naval engagements to a specific area. This will prevent players from endlessly sailing the seven seas making the fight at sea more engaging. (Done)

Player Scoring - Reward players for contributing towards the Naval Battlefield game mode’s primary objective of sinking or capturing enemy naval vessels. Players assisting with a task will also be rewarded for their efforts. (Done)

Glaring Bug Fixes - Solve multiple glaring bug fixes. Ships will no longer be able to take flight upon collision. (Done)

Rocket Boat - We have not forgotten about the rocket boats! Rockets can be fired on both land and sea. They will also make a presence on Coastal Siege scenarios. (Done)

Frigate - We are planning on adding a larger ship to complement our current selection and the frigate class of ship seems to be a good place to start from. Armed with a larger number of guns, her broadsides will bring a quick end to other naval vessels. Check out our progress on the French frigate ‘La Proserpine’. (Done)

Frigate 'La Proserpine'

Class System Expansion

Developers: Wrexial, PingPong & Rycon | Est. BETA Timeframe: 2019

Expand the features of all the current classes! Issue orders to the rank and file, introduce various traits to diversify a wide selection of classes along with additional melee weapons and firearms.

Class System Expansion - We will be working towards expanding the features of all of our current classes. You can have a look at our very first developer blog about the Officer class which also goes into detail with an overview of the class system. Do let us know what you think! (Done)

Developer Blog 5 - Infantry Officer (Class System Overview)

Score System Expansion - Reward players for healing others while playing as the Surgeon class and much more. Scoring will undergo a rework. (Done)

Firearms & Melee Weapons

Developers: Wrexial, PingPong & Rycon | Est. BETA Timeframe: 2019

As the game is set during the Napoleonic Wars, the firearms of the time were very different from what you may be accustomed. The reliance on muzzle-loaded smoothbore muskets (and less often rifles) means a longer reload time. The accuracy of these weapons is also limited to a much smaller range. You will often have to rely on your sword or bayonet during combat.

New Melee Weapons - More melee arsenal! Swords and bayonetted muskets. (Done)

New Firearms - You’ll also be seeing a new set of firearms in the game during Early Access. They’ll be there to complement both the existing and new classes. (Done)

French Firearms

British Firearms

Cavalry. Ride To Glory!

Developers: Dreas | Est. BETA Timeframe: 2019

Cavalry played a huge role in the Napoleonic era. You’ll be seeing them added to the game during Early Access. It’s a hefty bunch of work to get to a point where they can be battle-ready! However, other systems have been designed in a certain way to have their integration as smooth as possible.

There’ll be more coming out on this much-requested gameplay addition as we’re nearing its release. Stay tuned.

Cavalry Classes - A selection of diverse cavalry units for all existing factions ranging from hussars to dragoons (or cuirassiers) will be making it into the game. (Done)

French Cuirassier (Work In Progress)

Sappers. Fortify Your Position!

Developers: PingPong, Wrexial & Rycon | Est. BETA Timeframe: June 2019

Well placed player-built defences will turn the tide of battle in your favour! Sappers will come with a unique set of uniforms making them distinguishable from the rest of the army-based classes. You will find them available to play on army-based maps.

Sapper Class - Construct player-built defences and repair damaged objects! They are your go-to class of choice for breaching the enemies’ defences. (Done)

Player Built Defences - Equip your trusty hammer to construct, deconstruct or repair damaged objects. (Done)

Here’s some of our current thinking in terms of the Sapper (Engineer) class. Kindly note that we may favour the development of certain player-built defences over others:

Repair - Sappers will also be able to repair destroyed artillery pieces, player-built defences and other objects on the map. Deconstruct - Deconstruct defences to gather back your materials. Explosive Barrel - Engineers can construct and carry explosive barrels underneath fortifications to create breaches. Explosives can also be used to destroy bridges. Gabions - Engineers can construct wickerwork defences filled with earth to provide cover. Shooting Platform - Engineers can construct platforms to allow players to shoot above cover such as walls. Chevaux de frise - Engineers can construct chevaux de frise which damage cavalry if they touch them. Infantry Spikes - Engineers can construct spikes which damage infantry if they touch them. Chairs - Engineers can construct chairs because chairs are nice.

British Sapper

French Sapper

Grenadiers. Infantrymen

We have already talked about the inclusion of Cavalry. However, there’s more we’d like to do to continue adding to the increasing selection of army-based classes! Grenadiers will be yet another class available to play in Holdfast: Nations At War.

Grenadier Class - Grenadiers were chosen from the strongest and largest of soldiers during the Napoleonic era. They will be making their way into the game during Early Access. (Done)

French Grenadiers

Bagpipers. More Pomp & Circumstance

A touch of pomp and circumstance! You cannot stay true to a Napoleonic era without fife, drum and pipe tunes. We’ll be sure not to neglect this during Early Access.

More Drum & Fife Tunes - Continue adding to an already great selection of fife and drum tunes. (Done)

Bagpipe Tunes - A wide selection of bagpipe tunes recorded in the highest possible quality. A total of 22 bagpipe tunes have been added to the game. (Done)

Bagpiper Class - Against all odds, kilted Scotsman will be marching gloriously into battle. Equipped with a pistol and sabre, they can also be effective on the charge. (Done)

British Bagpipers (Musicians)

Artillery. The Military’s Backbone

Artillery pieces were the backbone of an army during the Napoleonic era. In Holdfast: Nations At War the selection of artillery pieces is already quite vast. This ranges from a variety of long guns, field guns and mortars. We’re not stopping here, however, have a look at what we have planned for improvements on artillery mechanics, new artillery pieces and shot variety.

Ramming Your Shot - We are looking into ways on how to make the operation of artillery pieces more teamwork-oriented and this is one of them. (Done)

Shot Bounce - Round shots fired from artillery pieces bounce off the terrain until they lose momentum. (Done)

Moveable Artillery - Multiple players can interact with an artillery piece to start moving it around the battlefield. (Done)

Rocket Artillery - Intended for long-range bombardments, rockets can be relatively inaccurate. Fear not, however! You’ll be able to send rockets flying at a relatively fast pace and one of them is bound to hit your intended target. (Done)

Rocket Artillery

New Artillery Shot Types - We’ll also be working on a variety of different artillery shots such as the infamous grapeshot. Case rockets can also be fired from rocket emplacements. (Done)

Cannoneer Class - The go to class for dedicated artillerymen! Cannoneers have a priority over the operation of field guns and indeed all of the other artillery pieces present in the game. These range from various long guns, carronades, mortars, as well as swivel guns. (Done)

British Cannoneer

French Cannoneer

Rocketeer Class - Staying true to their history, this class will be exclusively available to the British Empire. They will come equipped with a spyglass, a sword and a pistol. Rocketeers also have priority over the use of rocket launchers. (Done)

British Rocketeer

Additional Improvements - Gameplay balance in both organised and public play scenarios as we introduce new artillery mechanics will be an ongoing process.

We’re always looking for new ideas to some interesting mechanics we can include in this area. You’re welcome to engage in discussion about additional improvements for artillery mechanics on our Discord.

Holdfast: NaW Discord - #Feedback Channel

Building Destruction

Developers: Rycon

The destruction mechanics that can already be seen on coastal fortification will also be present in various other buildings. Warfare on building-heavy maps will see a drastic change upon the release of this update.

Destructible Doors - Break doors with melee weapons. (Done)

Destructible Windows - You’ll no longer see all the windows destroyed from the get-go. Instead, players will have to do the deed themselves either by shooting or striking them with melee weapons. (Done)

Destructible Buildings - Topple down buildings with round shot and rockets! We'll work on this post-release pending community feedback and priorities.

Building Destruction (Work In Progress)

Factions

We will be including new factions in Holdfast: Nations At War - The community will be involved in our decision as to which faction is brought first into the game during Early Access. We’ll be doing this through a poll on our forums.

Variations to uniforms for existing classes within the same faction will also be introduced depending on the priorities of the community.

Kingdom of Prussia - Muster the men and march for the glory of the King! Cheers, shouts, insults and a plethora of German voice-acted orders, brand new uniforms and most importantly, new fife and drum tunes to make your presence well known throughout your conquest.

This faction was voted in by the community shortly after Holdfast’s release on Early Access. (Done)

Prussian Officer

Prussian Light Infantry

Prussian Rifleman

Prussian Grenadiers - The Kingdom of Prussia is still missing its Grenadier class. This will be introduced into the game in an update. (Done)

Prussian Grenadiers

Line Infantry Class Variation - One of the most commonly used classes in organised play will be seeing a secondary variation added to the game. The 92nd Gordon Highlanders for the British Empire, Vistula for the French Empire and the Freikorps for the Kingdom of Prussia. (Done)

French Line Infantry (Polish Vistula Legion)

Map Selection & Game Modes

The selection of maps available on land, sea and coast will continuously be expanded upon. Our priorities for maps intended to cater for a specific type of gameplay defined below will depend on the feedback we receive from our community. Plans for introducing an additional game mode are also underway.

We are taking what you are saying into account when it comes to the design of our maps. The most obvious example of this is the creation of a place for you and our entire community as a whole to share with us your map ideas! You’re most welcome to join in the discussion by heading here:

Map Concepts - Share with us your Ideas!

Army Conquest - An objective based game mode playable on all land-based maps. (Done)

Melee Arena Maps - Game levels specifically designed to go hand in hand with the Melee Arena game mode. (Done)

Castle Arena

Palisade Arena

Training Map - A map specifically designed for regiments to train their men with the use of firearms, melee combat, artillery pieces, formations and more. This will be coupled with shooting targets and areas where promotions can occur. (Done)

Linebattle Maps - Continue expanding on our current selection of plains maps specifically designed for competitive and organised play. They will feature different environments ranging from deserts, grasslands, snow-covered plains and more. Smaller and larger variants will also be present.

Snowy Plains 4 (L)

Army Front Maps - These maps are specifically designed to cater for the Battlefield, Conquest, Siege and Deathmatch game modes. They can range from ancient desert ruins, villages, towns, fortifications and forests.

Fort Christina

Ernest Ridge

Naval Warfront Maps - Coastal maps offering combined gameplay on land and sea! Both factions will clash over a coastal fortification. Naval maps designed with the intent to provide players with a variety of interesting points to sail around would also make a great addition to the game. (Done)

Balamor Bay

Random Plains Maps

Widely requested by the community, random plains maps will be a great addition for organised play. The layout of the terrain present on these maps will never be the same and regiments (in-game clans) must rethink their strategies making engagements always different from the rest.

Random Plains Maps - Until this feature makes it into the game, we’ll be sure to dish out a couple of pre-designed plains maps to support organised play. Development on this may also occur post the game’s full release.

Roleplaying

‘Roleplay’ sits quietly in the corner of a game like this, taking form in small ways like spontaneous duels on the battlefield and even bigger ways like entire servers dedicated to the simulation of a garrison. We will continue to support this within Holdfast: Nations At War.

Fix Bayonets - Players can attach and detach bayonets. Having a bayonet detached will slightly increase your accuracy with that weapon. We'll work on this post-release pending community feedback and priorities.

Roleplay Scenarios - We will be providing hosts with the capability of creating their own roleplay scenarios through various server configuration settings.

Configure limits for classes, define the allowed spawn-able classes per spawn point, select the equipment they spawn with, equip weapons from racks, replenish ammunition, spawn various props, interactable objects and artillery pieces per map rotation and more. (Done)

Weapon Racks

Hardcore Mode - A mode specifically designed to cater to the needs of organised play. Reduced firearm accuracy to encourage closer range engagements, reduced minimap visibility and much more. (Done)

Additional Improvements - We’re also very open to engaging with our community in a discussion about more additions to roleplay elements within the game. (Done)

Melee Combat

Melee combat is important for sustaining a healthy and competitive player base. We will also continue working closely with members of our competitive community to improve upon this core mechanic of the game. All the improvements for melee combat listed here in our roadmap are based directly on player feedback.

Melee Arena Game Mode - Test your might in the Melee Arena game mode. You will only come equipped with a bayoneted musket or a sword as you attempt to fend off your enemies. Several maps specifically designed for this purpose will see their introduction into the game. It will also feature multiple rounds. (Done)

Melee Arena Multiple Rounds

Hit Reactions - Hit reactions to help players more easily identify if they managed to hit another person with a strike. (Done)

Hit Reaction Animations

Improved Feinting - We are currently working on improving the melee combats’ feinting mechanics. This is also an effort to add more depth to the system. (Done)

Additional Improvements - There are a lot of factors to take into account for melee combat. The smallest of changes could make a big difference to the entire system. We’ll be working on additional improvements and tweaks during Early Access pending on feedback from our community.

Player Count

Up until our release on Early Access, we have managed to ramp up the player count to over 125 players on land, per server. Needless to say, we won’t be stopping here! We want to see epic Napoleonic battles rage on just as much as you do.

Research on the way forward to support an even higher number of players per server has already been completed. The battles in Holdfast: Nations At War will become grander during Early Access.

Larger Player Battles - Allow a total of 25 other players to join in the ongoing battle on the Army Front servers by supporting upwards to 150 players per server. Provided that the hardware is sufficiently modern, battles on event servers will be able to support upwards to 200 players per server. (Done)

Marching Out

User Interface

The user interface is yet another aspect of the game that we’ll be focusing on during Early Access. We’ll continue iterating and improving the game’s User Interface as we progress through updates.

Spawn Menu - Work on redesigning the spawn menu is ongoing. Here’s a look at our progress in this area. We’re also thinking ahead on how to allow players to select different uniforms for the same class from this interface. Uniforms from the Napoleonic era are a beautiful sight to behold. (Done)

Spawn Menu UI

Server Browser - Functionality for the server browser isn’t fully fleshed out and will be finalised during Early Access. You can already sort servers in the browser and join a game directly through a friend on Steam. (Done)

End Of Match - Bragging rights! Show the scoreboard in the victory screen after the match ends. (Done)

End Of Match UI

Interaction Icons - These icons will help players better visually identify the various interaction points throughout a map or when sailing aboard a naval vessel. An example of a few interactable objects within the game are artillery pieces, launchable rowboats, the captain’s wheel and more.

The interaction icons will only become visible when a player is close by an interactable object. They can be toggled on and off through gameplay settings. (Done)

3D VOIP Speech Indicator - An indicator within the game which shows above a player when they’re communicating through 3D VOIP. These indicators can also be toggled off through gameplay settings. (Done)

Improved Wind Indicator - Improvements on this interface to help players better identify the direction they need to sail towards to be in favour with the wind. (Done)

Gameplay Balance

We’ll be here to engage in discussion and take action upon any gameplay-related issues that may crop up during public, organised as well as competitive play. If you feel that any aspect of the game could be improved upon, you’re more than welcome to post on our Discord.

Holdfast: NaW Discord - #Feedback Channel

Bug Fixes

We are always on the lookout for bugs which slipped through the cracks of our testing. If you face any bugs or issues whilst playing, we would be extremely grateful if you can report them to us so we can get them fixed!

Holdfast: NaW Discord - #Feedback Channel

Graphics & Atmosphere

We have plenty of ideas on how to continue improving the game’s atmosphere. Improvements on graphics will also be ongoing during Early Access and it will not come at the cost of performance.

Graphical - Improve the game’s lighting amongst other additions to improve its looks. (Done)

Sounds - A selection of environment sounds on land, naval and coastal maps will be making it into the game. There will also be improvements upon sounds on naval vessels.

Quality Of Life

These are a variety of changes, improvements and additions which will facilitate the way you go about doing things in the game.

Throughout the game’s development on Early Access, you’ll be seeing various other Quality of Life additions undergoing development based on community feedback and suggestions.

Player Map Voting - When a match is at an end, players will be able to cast a vote for the map they’d like to play next. An option for administrators to disable this functionality through the server configuration file will also be provided.

Server Admin Message Improvements - Display the name of the server administrator broadcasting the message on screen.

Configurable Class Limitations - Server administrators will be able to configure their own specific limitations for classes per map rotation through the server configuration file. This will help facilitate the hosting of events where the entire selection of classes (Line Infantry, Light Infantry, Rifleman, Guards, Etc.) is permitted. (Done)



Holdfast NaW Wiki - Server Configuration





Reload Firearm From Melee Mode - Players will be able to reload their firearms whilst in melee mode. (Done)

Go To Melee Mode While Crouching - Go directly into melee while crouching by pressing ‘x’. This will also cancel your reload. (Done)

Server Administration - Continue expanding upon features to facilitate server administration. The banning of individuals, private messages, detailed logging and a chat solely reserved for administrators are some of the things we will be working on during Early Access.

Even though the above-mentioned additions have been finalised, we are still on the lookout for additional features we can introduce based on community feedback. (Done)

Freeflight Camera - Additional improvements upon the freeflight camera to help casters gather better shots during an organised match. (Done)

Player Indicator Improvements - Officers, Captains and other classes with a leadership role to be introduced in the future will have a different colour for their player indicator, separating them from the rest of the rank and file. This will help players better distinguish the high command during organised play. (Done)

Toggle UI - The ability to toggle on and off the entirety of the User Interface in the game by pressing a single key. Functionality to selectively toggle certain elements of the User Interface can already be found in the gameplay options.

This can be done by pressing the ‘ScrollLock’ key. (Done)

Different Crosshairs - Players will be able to choose from a variety of different crosshairs through the game options. The community will also be involved in the creation and design of these crosshairs. (Done)

Game Translation

We will be translating the game into multiple languages to make it available to a wider audience.

Multiple Languages - Support multiple languages. Chinese, Japanese, French, German and more. (Done)

Revisit Game Translation - Most of the current language translations will be revisited and polished throughout the game’s development. (Done)

Beyond The Roadmap

Features that go beyond the scope of the roadmap are also being continuously included. New gameplay-oriented content, balance, bug fixes or optimisations. Most of these additions are directly based on community feedback.

It’ll be too long of a list to notch down each and every addition out of the roadmap’s scope here. Do keep an eye out on our blog posts, however! You’ll find a changelog that details everything after the release of each and every update.

Holdfast: NaW - Game Updates (Steam)

Thank you very much for supporting Holdfast: Nations At War! We're Looking forward to your feedback.

Feel free to join in the discussion on our Discord and as always, may good health be yours.

Once again thank you for all of your support from all of us on the Holdfast: NaW team,

- Refleax, Rycon, Dreas, Wrexial, PingPong, Walki, Cameron & Rejenorst

Anvil Game Studios