BCoF - Developer Blog 44
Dec 06, 2019
Hello and welcome back to our Developer Blog. This is another small scale progress update, just to keep you informed about some of the stuff we have been working on, and to show you that we are still alive. As usual, we have done A LOT of stuff behind the scenes that we can not really show you, as it includes stuff like rewriting the network engine, performance optimizations etc. Please note that all of the stuff we will be showing you today is heavily WIP, and much of it is just a placeholder.
By the way, we have just created a new Discord Server! You can now talk to us directly about the game there.
More Confederate gear
Admiral has finished a large number of items since the last Blog and as such we want to highlight just a small set of English Leatherworks as well as a couple of hats. The in-game renders below show only a small number of available variations for the hats and leather.
English Leatherworks
A shortage of material and production capabilities forced the Confederate government to turn to Great Britain as a source of high-quality military goods. Among the most desired foreign imported goods was the whole category of leather accouterments.Faced with leather shortages, most of the confederate arsenals were earlier or later forced to improvise with alternative materials, and by the end of the war not only belts and slings, but even cartridge boxes and cap pouches were often made of canvas. In such conditions the the Confederate government started to turn to Great Britain as a source of high-quality military goods. British leather accouterments, even those inferior to the British military standards quality, were accepted and generally well liked.
On the screenshot below are, among other items, some of the most popular British imported accouterments, such as Pattern 1854 frog, in this case paired with Pattern 1853 socket bayonet scabbard for the Enfield rifle-musket; Pattern 1860 cartridge boxes produced by Ross&Co and S.Isaac Campbell &Co companies, paired with the standard black leather pouch belts, originally designed for the British rifle regiments, and standard five-compartment tins for the enlisted ; Pattern 1856/1857 cap pouches or pockets, both in rifle black and buff colors and the Pattern 1854 waist belt featuring a typically British snake buckle. All of these items were extensively used on all three theaters of the Civil War in considerable numbers, and we’re happy to duly represent them in our game.
First Person camera and aiming down sights
Previously we only had the ability to aim down sights when aiming, but players were not able to go into FPS view. As such, Thunder has spent some time on getting a "proper" first person view in the game. Players can now toggle between FPS and TPS view by pressing "V". This means that players can melee, and do anything else while in FPS view, and can easily switch to TPS view with the flick of a button.
Additionally, while aiming, players can look down the sights by pressing "B". This works from both the FPS and the TPS view and we think is very convenient. Aiming down the sights lowers the Field of View, but zooms in the camera, which makes it a lot easier to aim at targets in the distance.
New Maps
"River Crossing" is a remake of the popular Napoleonic Wars map of the same name. It features a roaring river in the center of the map and just like in NW, there is a wooden bridge on the right and small crossing on the left. However, this version of "River Crossing" does not have a small town, but a tavern with a toll gate. A long plank-road leads right through the middle of the map, with corn and wheat fields to the left and right. The east bank of the river has a small confederate artillery battery, overlooking most of the map.
"Schemmerbach" is another remake of a very popular Napoleonic Wars map. It too features a small river in the center of the map that divides it in half. The map is overlooked by a small Roman-Catholic church on a hill at the edge of the map.
The windmill that served as spawn point in Napoleonic Wars has been replaced with a small farm at the same location. It is right next to a large sorghum field, which will also double as a capture point in conquest.
Switching weapons
Thunder and Olafson have worked on a new weapon switching system. Switching weapons now plays a proper animation for both drawing and returning/sheathing the weapon. Weapons that are still in the inventory, but not selected, will be properly displayed on the player, so it is easy to tell what weapons a player has available. Each sword will have its own distinctive scabbard, with bayonets, axes and shovels receiving proper scabbards in the future. All of this work is part of the new inventory system that we have imagined and will hopefully have working before end of the year. You will probably hear more about it in a future Blog.
Fixing/Unfixing Bayonets
Also part of our new inventory system, we have made it possible to use bayonets that have been unfixed from the gun. While normal socket bayonets will not be of much use on their own, sword bayonets will actually make sense in melee combat. Some players might even prefer them over the bayoneted musket.
New Items
We also added a number of new items to the game. With the new items, the total count of usable items is now at 138. But don't worry, we plan to add more! Below are in-game renders of some of the items we added recently.
The Pattern 1856 Short Rifle was a standard British military rifle that had been adopted for British service before the outbreak of the Civil War. The P-56 was meant to replace the older Baker and Brunswick rifles and was therefore issued to all "Rifle" regiments and Sergeants in the regular infantry. The rifle was technically identical to the regular P-53 Rifled-musket, as it had the same rifling and mechanism, but it was much shorter with only 2 barrel bands. However, to compensate for the shorter length of the rifle, a sword bayonet could be attached which would bring it up to the same length as the 3-banded Rifled-musket that the regular infantry was carrying. The P-56 was imported by both the Federal and the Confederate government and issued to a large number of troops, especially early on in the war. In BCoF, we will also have the yet shorter, Artillery variant of the rifle.
The B. Douglas Confederate nonregulation Officers Sword was a Confederate nonregulation Officers sword made by B. Douglas and Company in Columbia, South Carolina. It is very similar in pattern to the Confederate States Armory swords of the same design. The sword has the cut-out letters "C.S.A." in the guard. The hilt is covered with leather and wrapped in thin brass wire, very similar to the Federal Regulation Officers Sword.
The Philadelphia Deringer (Center) was a small percussion handgun designed by Henry Deringer. It was a very popular pocket pistol of the era, as it was small, light, but could still "pack a punch". It probably is most famous for being the handgun that John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. on April 14, 1865.
The Navy Elgin patent cutlass pistol (Right) is a very interesting gun. It was produced by George Elgin in 1838. Elgin managed to receive a contract by the US Navy and produced 150 cutlass pistols for the Wilkes-South Seas Expedition. As such, it is the first Percussion gun in US Service. The handgun is a single shot .54 caliber muzzle loader with a 11 inch long bowie knife permanently attached to its barrel. The grip has a protective hand guard. While not extremely popular, a few Elgin Pistols were used in the early stages of the American Civil war. In the game, the pistol will be the only handgun to have the ability to be usable in melee mode.
The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company Lever-Action Navy Pistol (Left) was one of the first magazine loading pistols. Even though its design was revolutionary, and lead to the development of the popular Henry Rifle, the Volcanic itself was a very poorly performing handgun. Its "Rocket Ball" cartridge placed the black powder in the cavity of a conventional lead bullet. This meant that the projectile would leave the handgun at the suboptimal speed of a mere 70m/s.
New Options Menu
Thunder and Olafson have worked on finally upgrading the options menu and making it modular. This means that we can now easily add/remove options in a very short time. We exposed as many options as possible, and are also providing a couple of presets. Graphics presets range from Awful to Slideshow. In addition, we have also finally made it possible to choose between Soundtracks. More about that in the Paragraph below.
Background Music
As many of you know, we included a number of classical music pieces in our previous game. These have been playing and inspiring us in the background for many years now and we want to continue this tradition in Battle Cry of Freedom. But instead of just adding classical music pieces, we decided that we would require something more fitting.
As such, we asked the 2nd South Carolina String Band for help. Some of you might already know them for their wonderful music! They perform and record historically accurate songs on historically accurate instruments. Here is a sample of one of the tracks we will include in the game, "The Bonnie Blue Flag".
But this is not all. We did not want to limit ourselves to just one type of music, so we also included the option to switch to classical music. Players will be able to choose to hear either the 2nd South Carolina String Band or a selection of classical music, many of them recorded by the United States Army Field Band, such as the recording of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" below.
In addition to that, we have a small selection of tracks made specifically for Battle Cry of Freedom that will play in the main menu. Here is one of our favorites, called "Courage of Fathers".
Thank you for reading this progress update. We are currently in the final stages of preparing the game for an early alpha test and as such we are currently very busy. We are prioritizing game development over writing Blogs, so please bear with us if updates are rather spread out.
Flying Squirrel Entertainment
Join the discussion of this blog here.
By the way, we have just created a new Discord Server! You can now talk to us directly about the game there.
More Confederate gear
Admiral has finished a large number of items since the last Blog and as such we want to highlight just a small set of English Leatherworks as well as a couple of hats. The in-game renders below show only a small number of available variations for the hats and leather.
English Leatherworks
A shortage of material and production capabilities forced the Confederate government to turn to Great Britain as a source of high-quality military goods. Among the most desired foreign imported goods was the whole category of leather accouterments.Faced with leather shortages, most of the confederate arsenals were earlier or later forced to improvise with alternative materials, and by the end of the war not only belts and slings, but even cartridge boxes and cap pouches were often made of canvas. In such conditions the the Confederate government started to turn to Great Britain as a source of high-quality military goods. British leather accouterments, even those inferior to the British military standards quality, were accepted and generally well liked.
On the screenshot below are, among other items, some of the most popular British imported accouterments, such as Pattern 1854 frog, in this case paired with Pattern 1853 socket bayonet scabbard for the Enfield rifle-musket; Pattern 1860 cartridge boxes produced by Ross&Co and S.Isaac Campbell &Co companies, paired with the standard black leather pouch belts, originally designed for the British rifle regiments, and standard five-compartment tins for the enlisted ; Pattern 1856/1857 cap pouches or pockets, both in rifle black and buff colors and the Pattern 1854 waist belt featuring a typically British snake buckle. All of these items were extensively used on all three theaters of the Civil War in considerable numbers, and we’re happy to duly represent them in our game.
First Person camera and aiming down sights
Previously we only had the ability to aim down sights when aiming, but players were not able to go into FPS view. As such, Thunder has spent some time on getting a "proper" first person view in the game. Players can now toggle between FPS and TPS view by pressing "V". This means that players can melee, and do anything else while in FPS view, and can easily switch to TPS view with the flick of a button.
Additionally, while aiming, players can look down the sights by pressing "B". This works from both the FPS and the TPS view and we think is very convenient. Aiming down the sights lowers the Field of View, but zooms in the camera, which makes it a lot easier to aim at targets in the distance.
New Maps
"River Crossing" is a remake of the popular Napoleonic Wars map of the same name. It features a roaring river in the center of the map and just like in NW, there is a wooden bridge on the right and small crossing on the left. However, this version of "River Crossing" does not have a small town, but a tavern with a toll gate. A long plank-road leads right through the middle of the map, with corn and wheat fields to the left and right. The east bank of the river has a small confederate artillery battery, overlooking most of the map.
Thunder and Olafson have worked on a new weapon switching system. Switching weapons now plays a proper animation for both drawing and returning/sheathing the weapon. Weapons that are still in the inventory, but not selected, will be properly displayed on the player, so it is easy to tell what weapons a player has available. Each sword will have its own distinctive scabbard, with bayonets, axes and shovels receiving proper scabbards in the future. All of this work is part of the new inventory system that we have imagined and will hopefully have working before end of the year. You will probably hear more about it in a future Blog.
Fixing/Unfixing Bayonets
Also part of our new inventory system, we have made it possible to use bayonets that have been unfixed from the gun. While normal socket bayonets will not be of much use on their own, sword bayonets will actually make sense in melee combat. Some players might even prefer them over the bayoneted musket.
New Items
We also added a number of new items to the game. With the new items, the total count of usable items is now at 138. But don't worry, we plan to add more! Below are in-game renders of some of the items we added recently.
The Pattern 1856 Short Rifle was a standard British military rifle that had been adopted for British service before the outbreak of the Civil War. The P-56 was meant to replace the older Baker and Brunswick rifles and was therefore issued to all "Rifle" regiments and Sergeants in the regular infantry. The rifle was technically identical to the regular P-53 Rifled-musket, as it had the same rifling and mechanism, but it was much shorter with only 2 barrel bands. However, to compensate for the shorter length of the rifle, a sword bayonet could be attached which would bring it up to the same length as the 3-banded Rifled-musket that the regular infantry was carrying. The P-56 was imported by both the Federal and the Confederate government and issued to a large number of troops, especially early on in the war. In BCoF, we will also have the yet shorter, Artillery variant of the rifle.
The B. Douglas Confederate nonregulation Officers Sword was a Confederate nonregulation Officers sword made by B. Douglas and Company in Columbia, South Carolina. It is very similar in pattern to the Confederate States Armory swords of the same design. The sword has the cut-out letters "C.S.A." in the guard. The hilt is covered with leather and wrapped in thin brass wire, very similar to the Federal Regulation Officers Sword.
The Philadelphia Deringer (Center) was a small percussion handgun designed by Henry Deringer. It was a very popular pocket pistol of the era, as it was small, light, but could still "pack a punch". It probably is most famous for being the handgun that John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. on April 14, 1865.
The Navy Elgin patent cutlass pistol (Right) is a very interesting gun. It was produced by George Elgin in 1838. Elgin managed to receive a contract by the US Navy and produced 150 cutlass pistols for the Wilkes-South Seas Expedition. As such, it is the first Percussion gun in US Service. The handgun is a single shot .54 caliber muzzle loader with a 11 inch long bowie knife permanently attached to its barrel. The grip has a protective hand guard. While not extremely popular, a few Elgin Pistols were used in the early stages of the American Civil war. In the game, the pistol will be the only handgun to have the ability to be usable in melee mode.
The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company Lever-Action Navy Pistol (Left) was one of the first magazine loading pistols. Even though its design was revolutionary, and lead to the development of the popular Henry Rifle, the Volcanic itself was a very poorly performing handgun. Its "Rocket Ball" cartridge placed the black powder in the cavity of a conventional lead bullet. This meant that the projectile would leave the handgun at the suboptimal speed of a mere 70m/s.
New Options Menu
Thunder and Olafson have worked on finally upgrading the options menu and making it modular. This means that we can now easily add/remove options in a very short time. We exposed as many options as possible, and are also providing a couple of presets. Graphics presets range from Awful to Slideshow. In addition, we have also finally made it possible to choose between Soundtracks. More about that in the Paragraph below.
Background Music
As many of you know, we included a number of classical music pieces in our previous game. These have been playing and inspiring us in the background for many years now and we want to continue this tradition in Battle Cry of Freedom. But instead of just adding classical music pieces, we decided that we would require something more fitting.
As such, we asked the 2nd South Carolina String Band for help. Some of you might already know them for their wonderful music! They perform and record historically accurate songs on historically accurate instruments. Here is a sample of one of the tracks we will include in the game, "The Bonnie Blue Flag".
But this is not all. We did not want to limit ourselves to just one type of music, so we also included the option to switch to classical music. Players will be able to choose to hear either the 2nd South Carolina String Band or a selection of classical music, many of them recorded by the United States Army Field Band, such as the recording of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" below.
In addition to that, we have a small selection of tracks made specifically for Battle Cry of Freedom that will play in the main menu. Here is one of our favorites, called "Courage of Fathers".
Thank you for reading this progress update. We are currently in the final stages of preparing the game for an early alpha test and as such we are currently very busy. We are prioritizing game development over writing Blogs, so please bear with us if updates are rather spread out.
Flying Squirrel Entertainment
Join the discussion of this blog here.