Field Report 41: Phase 3 Release and Early Access Roadmap

Hello and welcome to the Forty-First Field Report!

What a week it’s been! We’ve seen a lot of fresh recruits taking part in some top quality teamwork on the battlefields. We’d like to thank you all for choosing to support the development of War of Rights and welcome you to our great community!

This post is primarily to go through a few of the much reported issues by you all as well as what to expect in terms of new content going forward in this all-new Early Access alpha phase of War of Rights.

Launch Issues

As most other alpha launches on Early Access, we have been running into several issues only really exposed by the increased number of active players during this first week on the platform.

We have already applied several hotfixes (drastically reducing load time, increasing the likelihood of the game shutting down properly upon exit and a much more stable server browser) to remedy some of these. Fixing up critical bugs will remain our top priority for the next while, so expect more fixes out in the near future.

The major issue reported by players has been being stuck in the loading screen when joining a very populated/full server. Our next several hotfixes will be containing possible fixes to this as it remains the most critical bug for us to currently fix.

We thought it a good idea to recreate/repost our Early Access roadmap as a lot of players having joined us recently are unlikely to know what we are intending to offer as the game advances in its development.

The below roadmap should be taken for what it is - a preliminary list of things we have planned for. As all plans are subject to change, there is a great chance that the list will also end up changing, however.

The order of the roadmap is also subject to change as the development moves ahead. Some things listed may arrive a great deal sooner or later than what their listing order indicates.

1. Bug fixes, stability improvements: This will be an ongoing focus throughout the development of the game. An alpha is never without its bugs. New content rarely comes without its fair share of bugs and issues required to fix up.



2. Performance improvements: We are well aware of the performance of the alpha is needing to be improved - especially at higher playercounts. Major programming work is currently going into reworking the most expensive part of the game at high playercounts. Once finished you should all be experiencing much better framerates on populated servers.



3. Expanded server moderation tools: This will allow server administrators more control to manage and configure their server using commands such as: kick,ban,change map, change skirmish area, change weather and time of day.



4. End game events: Taken out just before the launch on Early Access, the end game events will be making a comeback in a more fleshed out form, specifically designed to create more memorable end game moments in cases where the question of who were the winners of the match is heavily contested.



5. Improved melee: Melee is going to be receiving a much needed overhaul, including the availability of a parry move and animation kill sequences between two players (“kill-moves”) to increase the visual fidelity of close quarter fighting.







6. New battlefields: The Battles of South Mountain and Shepherdstown will eventually complete the Maryland Campaign of 1862.



7. Fleshed out officer order system: Additional officer commands will be introduced to allow for a greater range of tactical options.



8. Musicians: Working in tandem with the officer order system, musicians will have to relay the correct calls to help make sure the orders are received down the line.







9. Historical Battles mode: Besides the quicker Skirmish mode, the largest and main game mode intended for the game, known as Historical Battles, would open up the entirety of the 4x4 km battlefields for more of a complete playthrough, with a moving frontline consisting of several capture areas. This will also entail the use of the full chain of command where players take the part of Generals, using maps and couriers to direct troops across the huge battlefield.



10. Player controlled artillery: The many batteries already placed on the battlefields will become player controlled once we introduce an artillery system, where players will have access to some of the most destructive and tide-turning weapons of war.







11. Generals: The chain of command on the battlefield will be expanded with the addition of generals. Generals bring a tactical overview to the battle that all other classes lack, helping to command the troops when using the historical battles mode, helping to bring some order to the chaos of war.



12. Cavalry: Horses are to be implemented for both cavalry units, moving artillery pieces, as well as for the high command and their couriers. The cavalry was still an important branch of the armies of the period considering the changes in technology, acting as reconnaissance and quick response units as understandings for their use developed over the period of the war.







13. Final Release: Once the above features have been finished, we will be at the point that we would be just about ready for full release of the game to all and sundry! This final release would also be the point that those that had backed us originally would be getting their promised physical and digital goods. While we cannot give any definite date as to when we might get to release, we inch closer every day!

That is nearly it for this Field Report, but we want to again thank everyone for helping us get this far! With the recent release of Steam Early Access, we are sure that our more long-standing community members could relate when we at Campfire Games held a collective gasp of air in anticipation. So far, we have been overwhelmed at the response we have received with this public release, and we look forward to more of the same as we continue to expand our amazing community to additional new members.

Media

Below are a few official and community-made videos recently released - we’d like to thank you all for spreading the word of WoR!