Hope you all had a good winter. Again, thank you all for the great energy from the Mud and Blood community, feedback, suggestions and bug reports. I'm very fortunate that you guys enjoy Mud and Blood and want to be part of this adventure as I make my dream game.
I had a few objectives with this patch. The first one was to augment the diversity in some of the campaign maps, so I injected more art assets in the composition of mid-game (almost end game) biomes Ardenne and Hurtgen Forest. This was the first time the seasons were altered in the engine and had precipitations (snow in Ardenne) and it turned out pretty good. These 2 new biomes have different grounds which will generate new sounds when soldiers walk around. Cold temperatures now make the soldiers generate condensation when breathing.
I've also added 2 new battle conditions (BC) to the 50 ones already present in the games augmenting the variation in campaign mode by one notch.
The first BC is called Hard Case. I particularly like this one since it almost gives Recon vibes to the game. Hard case will place all enemies in a fortified field base at then of the map. The nice touch is that you really have to approach the Hard Case with a solid game plan based on the layout of the ground and your current squad composition. Conducting the attack on a concentrated enemy force is very enjoyable as the events unfold at an amplified rate and scale. I've seen players bringing the full might of the US army into the mix with arty and airstrikes and others sneaking their way into some fancy angle fights with a squad of green troops. It is also quite enjoyable to see the Germans acting as a platoon size element.
The second BC is Master Sniper, which spawns an elite German sniper in the game. This sniper has a very long range of engagement and is generally smarter in his approach. The player has to run from cover to cover in a more expedited way which brings an interesting aspect to the game dynamic. The player still maneuvers forward but now less under his own terms and every dash in the open is a potential dice roll. It gives a good layer of tension, especially in certain map configurations. Counter sniping and the use of smoke also evolved because of this condition.
I've added a few new assets including an HQ tent. In classic, this can be built for 3tp and will allow all soldiers inside the tent to act as a signaller regardless of their class. Additionally, a tent can generate an additional 1tp per wave at a rate of 5% per soldier in the tent (up to 6).
In Campaign, any German who is in a tent can act as a signaller. This makes the tents a considerable factor to consider when mounting your attack. A choice between fighting for good ground or disabling the enemy's abilities to drastically change the fight will have to be made. This adds some depth to the fight since usually the prioritization of targets was mostly done in conjunction with direct lethality rather than potential hazardous and substantial shifts to the dynamic caused by German support calls. Fun stuff!!
Classic had some options added, the first one is the Air superiority call. This will vector US fighters to fly over your AO. It cost 1 TP and will prevent any Axis fighters to operate in your area for 60 seconds. It can also cancel incoming plane calls from the Germans if done in a timely fashion. This is where experienced Signallers come really handy compared to 3 green soldiers in an HQ tent.
The second option is a SitRep. This is a 1 tp call that if successful can harness you (10% chances) a 5 tp reward. It is a fairly simple and easy action to perform all you need is a signaller and 1 TP. The interesting part is ( in my opinion) reflective of the real-life counterpart. An updated chain of command can make decisions based on its updated reality of the situation on the ground. Which at times, will directly improve your situation. But a sitrep, as critical as it can be doesn't have guaranteed returns nor should it be expected, since resources in war are limited and priorities can and will change at a greater scale.
The last thing I wish to talk about is a new lootable, the extinguisher. It started with the idea that the player and the AI would beneficiate from affecting fires around them. In Mud and Blood fire is very unpredictable and destructive. With the addition of the extinguishers, areas considered interdicted can become available again and on short notice. This changes the dynamic of the fight and creates new possibilities for emergent gameplay and clever tactics. Burning soldiers can be saved by extinguishers. Also, using an extinguisher on individuals at a short-range can create some confusion for a short time. Definitely not its primary use but in a pickle, you never say never.
AI soldiers will use the item to the best of their abilities either to save burning soldiers or to clear a path.
This sums up the specifics I wanted to communicate with you but 3.3. has more features (new support calls for Germans) added which are described within the patch notes below.:
0.3.3 change list
- Fixed an additional fault with the precision strike on tigers- Added an extra measure in bazookaHit() function to be properly represented in the directional hit function when triggered by infantry
- Germans will carry more fausts if you have more vehicles
- Changed the timings for hand-to-hand combat so the bulk of the weapon used affects the speed.
- Fixed a fault caused by the game loading when an SDFKZ222 was turning its turret.
- Added German Combined forces. This has chances to trigger when the Germans are seeing their troops being dispatched very fast by large squads.
- Soldiers with first aid kits will not be able to get medic medals anymore.
- Increased medic bag rarity by 2%
- Cargo drop item count will now be randomized so a normal rarity cargo drop will drop 1 to 4 items instead of a steady 4.
- Reduced the explosion crater of the Pak88 by 50% to represent a more AT-driven capability rather than HE.
- Germans have purple smokes which call heavy mortars. Similar to the player ability, heavy mortars will start firing fairly fast after the signal has been deployed.
- Germans have grey smoke which calls propaganda pamphlets which if read by your soldiers will demoralize them. Propaganda can be "disarmed" by intel soldiers.
- Fixing a fault where Goliaths would spawn on the player's frontline
- Asset added Mortar pit. Acts as a trench but larger and round. Found in the Hurtgen forest.
- Assed added dead trees x 4
- Asset Standing dead tree which is used in Ardenne
- Asset added piles of planks, 50% cover 150 px long cover
- New sounds added for footsteps in Hurtgen forest
- Pine trees will now drop pine branches when destroyed
- Mud backdrop colour for Hurtgen forest maps.
- Snow backdrop for Ardenne.
- Fixed an occasion where a vehicle would remain hidden even after firing
- Fixed an occasion where the stationaries would not fire if close to the edge of the map
- Preliminary biome for Ardenne and snow particles
- Added snow effects for Ardenne
- Fixed an occurrence where the Stug would retreat if not engaged after an ambush
- Added condensation clouds when soldiers breathe in Ardenne
- Fixed a few occurrences where the Commando class would panic despite being immune to fear
- QoL changed the selection circle to a more discernable colour, especially on cobblestone or snow backgrounds
- Fixed the global timers for duplicated allied radio calls to not reset on a map restart
- Vehicles will obstruct other vehicles if too close.
- Standing on top of a rock will make you visible and vulnerable to explosions now.
- New asset, Tent provides 15% cover, used in the Hard case battle condition.
- Campaign tent mechanics: any Germans standing in an HQ can act as a signaller.
- Classic tent mechanics: any Allies standing in a tent count as a siggy for call purposes. Must remain in an unrestricted tent for the duration of the call or call is cancelled and TPs are lost.
- New battle condition, Hard Case. Germans have built defences at the end of the map and wait for you there.
- New battle condition, Master Sniper. A smart and deadly German sniper with an unlimited engagement range.
- Obstruction (when a soldier moves within the personal space of another while shooting) maluses have been increased by x5 for both factions
- Scout plane command ability has been changed. In addition to spotting all enemies, it will also deter German troops to fire artillery as per historical accounts. The no arty coverage would be 1 min in classic and Campaign +10 sec per rarity tier in classic command abilities. Scout planes will not cancel arty calls already in play, however.
- New command ability, Air superiority. This can be called if you have a signaler in classic mode and will cost 1 tp. This will clear the axis sky of any fighters for a min.
- The procedural battlefield soundscape is back!!
- Idle troops voice flavour chat back
- New lootable: Extinguishers. This item can be used to quite effectively extinguish fires up to 300 pixels away and or burning soldiers. Extinguishers will also stun for a short time. AI will also use extinguishers to the best of its abilities.
- Decrewed gun will recrew if there are no enemies nearby. If crews are killed but the gun is not destroyed, Germans that are familiar with this weapon (roughly 10%) can recrew the stationary. If guns are left behind and the player retreats it is possible that Germans will recrew the gun as well.
- Added Camnet outline when attempting to build in classic mode
- Buildings cannot be built too close to each other anymore in classic.
From community:
Are you having a hard time finishing the beach map in the Campaign? Check out Puguasu DDay with honour while facing SS troops to catch maybe a tip or two.
Also, check out his Aure valley with Honor guide. A good drop of info since Aure valley can get pretty tricky if you don't know what you are doing.
Check out Zeterman having a hard time in Brest but still pulling it off.
Check out caliigulasAquarium
playing MNB and doing fairly well.
Well, this is it for me folks, I hope you dig the new features and changes. There are a few in here so we will be fixing issues and adjusting as we go in the next few days.
respectfully,
urb
Changed files in this update