Update 0.5.3.34

Update 20 February 2024

Smarter AI soldiers, improved mission balancing rules and better visuals. Introducing the minor update with a wide list of improvements based on your feedback!

We have taught the soldiers in your squad to keep an even closer eye on dangerous directions and to expect the enemy to return from cover longer. Outsmarting AI soldiers has become noticeably more difficult. They have also learned to use the trenches you dug.

You will also be able to fight with greater comfort and enjoy the results - now every bullet, shell or thrown explosive affects the bodies of fallen soldiers. Bodies and their parts scatter depending on the received impulse.

And so that you don't miss out on this beauty, we have reduced the visual recoil of weapons with aperture sights.

Also, as you requested, we’ve changed our approach to balancing missions and have decided not to use the capture time of strategic points for this.

Take a look at the full list of improvements - we tried our best!

Weapons and Soldiers

For a number of allied weapons with aperture sights, the camera position has been changed and the stability while aiming has been improved during movement and shooting. Now the rear sight is no longer too close to the camera while aiming for the following weapons: Thompson M1, M1A1, M1928A1 (with 30, 50, 100 round magazines); M1, M1A1, M2, M2A1 Carbines; M1, M1E5, M1C Garand; T20E1; Johnson M1941; Farquhar-Hill M1918; M50, M55 Reising; UD M42; Owen .45 ACP.
Improved the way soldiers die when hit by bullets.
Reworked the damage from fragmentation grenades. For a soldier without vitality increasing perks, the lethal blast radius of a fragmentation grenade is 4 meters, knockdown radius is 7 meters, and injury radius is 10 meters.
Fixed that in some cases the paratrooper crate would end up in incorrect positions (floating in the air / falling under the terrain).
The rate of fire of the VG.2 has been increased by 20%, and reload time has been reduced by 9%.
The rate of fire of the Gewehr 1888 has been increased by 60%.
The reload time of the OVP 1918 has been reduced by 21%.
The rate of fire of the SMLE Mk lll has been increased by 22%.
The carried ammunition capacity for Gewehr 41, Gewehr 41 (M), Sniper Gewehr 41, Turner SMLE, and SKT-40 has been increased from 30 to 50 rounds.
The carried ammunition capacity for AKT-40 has been increased from 30 to 60 rounds.
Magazine drop sounds have been added for BSA Model 1929 Thompson, DPM, and AT-44. The sound differs depending on the material of the surface on which the soldier is standing.
Magazine drop sounds have been added for several rifles. The sound differs depending on the material of the surface on which the soldier is standing.
The sound of a fallen casings now changes depending on the material of the surface on which the soldier is standing.
Fixed that in some cases switching to grenades would not correctly work when changing from another weapon.
The names of some weapon models that exceed 36 characters have been shortened to fit easily in the combat log.
Adjusted the parallax for certain scopes.
Synchronization of reload sounds for the Ross Mk. III rifle, Mosin M44L rifle, Mosin M44 carbine, Mosin M1938 carbine, Mosin M91 "Infantry" and Mosin rifle with grenade thrower have been fixed.
Various customization options have been added for the Soviet event Paratrooper squad.
Semi-automatic firing mode has been added for MG 30 and MG 34 machine guns.
Fixed the incorrect assignment of helmets equipment slots for German soldiers and soldiers in the Tutorial.
Customization elements for the German event Paratrooper squad have been fixed. Pants customization has been re-enabled.
More winter uniforms have been added for the US Army in the Ardennes.
Adjusted the uniform of the premium USA squad with a flamethrower.
Shorts have been removed from available customization options in Stalingrad for certain Italian squads.
Corrected the average height of Japanese soldiers.

Vehicles

Added new improved effects of bullet and shell hits of various calibers, as well as damage from fragments on vehicles. More details in the related developer diary.
Puddles no longer disappear after a tank drives over them.
Now all ground vehicles, without exception, leave tracks.

UI

Now when selling melee weapons, pistols, flamethrowers, mortars and grenade launchers, you can choose "All available".
In the main menu, a button to change clothes has been added before the list of soldiers in the squad.
Functionality for displaying event tasks in the main menu has been added.
Event tasks are now displayed in battle when opening the map.
Now when trying to sell a scope or bayonet attached to a rifle, a warning window appears stating that the rifle must be unequipped from the soldier first.
Now, if you don't have enough silver to upgrade a weapon, nor any upgrade orders, a text notification will appear.
Improved the look of the matchmaking window.
Fixed an issue where part of the interface was covering the vehicle spawn point in the "Dominant Height (Conquest)" mission.
Added the ability to quickly view the perk list of the selected soldier.
An asterisk now appears next to the soldier's perk point if it’s the maximum value of the class.

Graphics

Added smoke from the barrel of the tank’s gun after firing.
Now the barrels of guns and machine guns heat up when overheated.
Improved destructibility of natural objects from explosions.
Added the effect of scattered leaves and rising dust after explosions, hits from large caliber weapons, and artillery shots.
Now the detonation of powerful explosives lifts up soil of the corresponding shade into the air.
Improved effects of bullet and projectile ricochets.
Fixed particle effect flickering (when they have dark colors).
Added effect of hitting a haystack.
Added effects of explosions for anti-tank, anti-personnel mines and TNT charges.
Increased speed of ejection of casings from weapons.
Improved rendering quality of ground textures.
Improved volumetric fog shadow casting, both quality- and performance-wise.
Updated lighting from light poles in Normandy locations.
Updated lighting from spotlights in bunkers, improved road details, added puddles, improved water behavior in rivers, added effects of wind swirls on slopes and snow being blown off trees in Ardennes.

AI soldiers

AI soldiers can be sent into trenches and they will use it as cover (they will try not to leave).
AI soldiers now react more actively to player markers, unless they are expecting a previously detected enemy to emerge from cover.
AI soldiers now finish off heavily wounded enemies in hand-to-hand combat (it's not a war crime, we're in the game).
Improved memorization of the last known position of a spotted enemy by AI soldiers. Soldiers will be more vigilant and will wait longer for attacks from dangerous directions.
During descent on a ladder, AI soldiers will get stuck less often.

Locations and Missions

Our approach to balancing game missions has been changed. Now the "capture time" of the same type of points will not differ in all missions. Points located in the open will be captured slightly faster, but they will also be identical to each other in all missions. In the future, we will not balance missions with the speed of capturing points.
Adjusted winter biomes in the Ardennes location.
Added mission "Munda Trail: Shimizu Hill (Invasion)".
Added a new mission "Dominant height South (Invasion)".
Added a new mission "The Reich Chancellery West (Invasion)".
Improved the ground vehicle spawn points and battle areas in the "Monastery (Invasion)" and "Monastery (Destruction)" missions.
Improved the spawn points and battle areas in the "Werbig station (Confrontation)" and "Werbig station (Invasion)" missions.
Improved the ground vehicle spawn points and battle areas in the "Ver-sur-Mer (Conquest)", "Communist street (Confrontation)", "The Kroll Opera House (Assault)", "Omer North (Invasion)", "Gogol street West (Invasion)" missions.
Improved the ground vehicle spawn points and battle areas in the "Fortified district (Invasion)" mission.
Improved the spawn points and battle areas in the "Gare de Saint-Lo (Confrontation)", "Gare de Saint-Lo South (Invasion)" and "Gare de Saint-Lo North (Invasion)" missions.
Improved the infantry spawn points and battle areas in the "Dominant height (Invasion)" mission.
Improved the battle areas in the "Quarry South (Invasion)", "Quarry North (Invasion)", "Omer South (Invasion)", "Omer North (Invasion)" missions.
Improved the infantry and vehicle spawn points in the "Airfield West (Invasion)", "Airfield East (Invasion)", "La Perelle Village North (Invasion)", "La Perelle Village South (Invasion)", "Omer North (Invasion)", "Omer South (Invasion)" missions.
Improved the vehicle spawn points in the "D-Day North (Invasion)" mission.

Other Improvements

Fixed shaking of various additional equipment items when changing them.
In the equipment window, the weapon list now displays a tooltip indicating the classes that can use the weapon.
Mod editor, the format of packed mods has been changed to ZIP (for future support of custom content).
Changes have been made to the trenches in the Ardennes location. The width of the trenches has been reduced, making it easier for tanks to overcome them. The height of the infantry positions has been slightly adjusted for more comfortable shooting.
Various balance improvements have been made to the Berlin location, as we previously wrote in our developer diary.
Auto-aim assist for hands and elbows of soldiers has been removed. (only for consoles)
Free perk reset has been given for the Assaulter squads from the Operation "Winter Fantasy" event due to changes in soldier characteristics.
A unique sound has been added when receiving a soldier with maximum possible characteristics.
Fixed the ability to bring up the radial menu on the spawn screen.
Fixed the inability to exit a vehicle without the squad or change seats when using a gamepad in some cases.
Fixed synchronization issues with settings when exiting the game.
German gas masks and sniper masks now properly fit the soldier's head and face shape.
Improved camera smoothness when switching between soldiers.
Improved audibility of enemy footsteps and enemy vehicle’s engines.
Improved server-side hit registration.