Hey Runners, [drumroll] Update 1.70 aka the "usability update" is finally there! [/drumroll]

Usability Update

The lack of a solid tutorial explaining high level game elements has been an issue among new players and we decided to do something about it now. The little puzzle playground we had previously has been removed as obsolete. In the new approach you'll get informed about things you encounter while playing the campaign (or online invasion) in the form of journal notes, which are usually triggered by mousing over objects or by simply gaining XP. While there are still a few things you'll have to figure out on your own, this should definitely help players get into the game better! A good chunk of the new text content has been translated in all supported languages, kudos again to the translating community! In no special orders thanks to BrodaTy, CandyMew, Lagia8, Tadler, Zahar Savelyev, RaioOriginal, Etsy and some proof-readers. In the picture below there's a preview of what the journal system looks like:
In this update, we've made certain features more accessible for experienced players too. For example, deploying sandbags or heavy weapons on the roof only to see them fall over the edge from a slight misplacement of its position is finally coming to an end. Now, besides using improved collision models for the deployables, we also have a visual emplacement marker which turns red if the space in front of the player is not suitable for deployment. Alongside that, you can now order squadmates to man deployable weapons by giving them a move order over the gun! If (for some reason) you want to build 5 miniguns and 5 mortars side-by-side and want them all manned, no problem. In the picture below you can see it in action:
We entirely re-balanced the campaign after making some changes to the commander AI logic in pursuit of an improved pace for the game. Once a base has been captured, the next attack doesn't begin immediately - rather the commander will regroup his forces to defend against a counterattack and also gather for a larger attack when it does occur. In addition, we seized the occasion to add a new "veteran" difficulty which has same settings as the "hard" difficulty but with FoV enabled, which makes for a much more challenging experience. We also added radio call markers (visible on the map and in the game world) to provide better information for the players about where an allied radio call has been placed as well as an AoE so that you know in which radius you should not enter during the call in case it is a mortar/artillery strike. The subtle visual marker will hopefully lower the amount of unwanted teamkills happening when fellow soldiers run through the bomb showers.

Community Box #2

The first community box submission work was a great success and the modders had a lot of fun making experimental stuff and a good part of it made its way into the game. They had enough new ideas for another community project so here we go! In 1.70 there is a new community box with new exciting (and CRAZY) content! Have you ever dreamed of running through the frontlines in a banana costume throwing banana peels at the enemy? Or having a riot shield but actually being able to shoot at the same time? From goofy to highly helpful in combat situations, with the help of the modding community, we have more than a dozen new items/objects/costumes/vehicles in the community box #2!

Dominance - PvP

The experimental "Dominance" (PvP) mode is coming out now too. The main idea was to remove most of the RNG by simulating a healthpoint system where there is no longer a kill probability system from bullet damage. Most weapons have a smaller bullet decay (apart from sniper rifles) and some rare weapons have also been included, such as the F2000, the XM-8, 44 Magnum and a few more. As this gamemode is mainly about PvP, we removed stealth vests and added a special vest which is basically similar to the Vest Type II in vanilla, just that the top vest layers reduce bullet impacts more than the lower layers. We also added the bandage item that allow you to heal yourself! You can also heal your special vest with it. Bandages can be found at the armory but are also dropped by some AI soldiers. Keep yourself mobile and loot the bandages lying around to always be ready to engage the next fight!

Pacific Update

Pacific in update 1.70 aims to improve upon some of the major balance concerns in the community, as well as make the campaign more accessible, and to implement a few new weapons and units within the game. Some of the major balance changes include reducing the power of the Banzai Charge call-in, giving the USMC forces a better chance on the early beach-assault maps, and a lot of performance changes to the game's small-arms weapons. Specifically, most of the Common weapons (the starting guns available within the Armoury) have had their lethality improved in some way or another; reducing the large gap between their performance and that of Rare weapons. Some other changes include reducing the spawn frequency of the Armoured Sentry Soldiers, adjusting the performance of various armoured vests, and making Guadalcanal a bit more challenging with large numbers of players in an Invasion server (reducing the number of Friendly AI soldiers more per each joined player. This will not affect Solo Players and has very minimal impact on small numbers of players.) Lastly, there is an assortment of new weapons being added, from the iconic M55 Reising sub-machine gun to the pre-war experimental Type Hei automatic rifle. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) have also been added to the game in the form of their Special Naval Landing Forces - essentially Japanese Marines. The IJN replace the IJA on Tarawa and Downfall, serving as a "Boss" faction within the US campaign, but also playable in the Japanese campaign. They use a few different weapons from the IJA and can call-in a Heavy Amphibious Tank - the Type 4 Ka-Tsu - a behemoth of a personnel carrier equipped with two 13mm Machine Guns.

Edelweiss News Update

In case you missed our last dev blog, we announced the next DLC set on the Western Front! It will go through the battles that paratroopers participated in, most notably Normandy, Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge. We're excited to show more about this DLC further down the line, but for now, enjoy this:
Don't forget to join our RWR community on Discord and leave us a review on Steam if you like the game, it always motivates us a lot! Your Osumia Games Check this sexy changelog for a complete list of changes in Vanilla and Pacific: Changelog v1.70:

• maps: new base added in Rattlesnake Crescent
• maps: new base added in Keepsake Bay
• maps: Power Junction rotated by 45 and Power plant base slightly reworked
• maps: Airfield base in Vigil Island slightly reworked - new armory and radio jammer locations
• maps: several fixes here and there
• deathmatch: added map7 to the map rotator
• deathmatch: script ported to AngelScript
• minimodes: script ported to AngelScript
• minimodes: FoV is now enabled on default
• dominance: script ported to AngelScript
• dominance: rework to get rid of the RNG by simulating a simple health system - experimental phase.
• dominance: bandage added
• dominance: some rare weapons added (had none so far)
• man vs world: vehicles do not respawn to avoid spawn kills
• server: fixed character_kill event crash
• equipment: spawn flare XP requirement lowered from 3000 to 1500XP
• equipment: Cover deploy XP requirement lowered from 500 to 250XP
• equipment: EOD vest lethality vs bullets and movement speed equipped slightly decreased
• weapons: stock machine pistols accuracy and effective range slightly increased
• weapons: stock suppressed SMGs XP requirement in campaign/invasion lowered from 1500 to 1000XP
• weapons: stock pistols XP requirement in campaign/invasion increased from 250 to 750XP
• weapons: SPAS-12 - removed XP requirement in campaign/invasion which used to be 500XP
• weapons: PKM XP requirement in campaign/invasion increased from 0 to 500XP
• weapons: PAW-20 rate of fire increased by 27%
• weapons: Benelli M4 with suppressor stats increased
• weapons: Scorpio Evo-III bullet falloff time slightly increased
• weapons: QCW-05 bullet falloff time slightly increased
• weapons: Stoner 62 accuracy increased/recoil slightly decreased
• vehicles: mobile armory acceleration and max speed slightly increased
• vehicles: most vehicles have been re-scaled (made smaller)
• vehicles: re-spawn times for most combat vehicles increased by 20 seconds - also including mounted stationary weapons
• vehicles: special cargo reward delivery bonus increased from 400 to 1000RP
• vehicles: become un-steerable below 5% health points. Need repair or explode after some time
• vehicles: deployables configured to lose health on vehicle collisions+
• items: community box #2 added. A dozen of new goodies includes!
• calls: airdropped vehicles now have a visual parachute attached
• calls: visual markers for friendly mortar/artillery strike and paratroopers added
• calls: artillery (8x16) fixed - now launches 8 salvos instead of 10
• AI: vanilla campaign commander now issues an attack break after capturing his target base, for better pacing
• AI: squad leader player can give command to AI squad members to occupy static weapons such as deployable MG, mortar, etc.
• AI: improved the way AI considers usefulness of a static weapon, also with ability to abandon it
• AI: now considers occupying static weapons while fighting
• AI: fixed some issues with combat vehicle driving
• AI: made AI aware of min_health_to_steer with vehicles
• campaign/invasion: complete re-balance
• campaign: veteran difficulty added (same as hard but with FoV enabled)
• campaign: amount of Elite soldiers raised by 60%, which also implies 60% more rare weapon drops
• campaign: added some commander dialogue when spotting and/or destroying important targets
• campaign: added base recon objective to further encourage players to travel and attack secondary bases
• campaign: cargo truck location hints made less frequent
• campaign: special crates have now randomized spawn locations and numbers. Can also spawn ultra rare weapons
• campaign: changed item unlock expiration timer to 100h for campaign
• campaign: extraction points now show at the screen edge when map is complete
• quick match: amount of Elite soldiers raised by 60%, which also implies 60% more rare weapon drops
• invasion: amount of Elite soldiers raised by 30%, which also implies 30% more rare weapon drops
• invasion: changing player faction to Greenbelts in official invasion
• gameplay: "King of the Hill" timer reworked. Now the timer isn't reset anymore when the hill changes ownership. It is paused and resumed on re-capture
• animations: leaving_wounded animation added after getting healed while wounded
• visuals: changed character shading method to happen in postprocessing for less noise and light direction awareness
• visuals: changed tree foliage billboard rendering for less flicker
• visuals: changed post processing for tighter outlines and resolution adaptation
• visuals: added deployment area helper visual
• menu: various changes
• misc: added system to show help notes as notifications
• misc: removed the vertical-coordinate ignoring when figuring out which items are within the picking-radius of the character - e.g. no more floor item picking when on a roof
• misc: added a HUD helper to show which weapon slot is selected
• misc: fixed text alignment in inventory view when inspecting items
• misc: added suppressed weapon icon in item inspector in inventory view
• misc: player location cross in map view made more visible
• misc: map legend added
• misc: pause key removed, accessing menu will pause game (except when playing online)
• misc: added reload indicator when empty mag
• misc: chat balloon happening on the right side of screen now extend to left if it would clip with the screen edge
• misc: various changes in menu UI, no more overflowing text and controls
• misc: adjusted UI to support 21:9 better
• misc: improved UI text justification method
• misc: fixed scrolling in mapview over a spawnpoint being mistaken for intent to respawn
• misc: added survivability option in quickmatch and campaign for increasing the odds for player to survive; easy difficulty now utilizes it instead of boosting/nerfing capacities and accuracies that much
• misc: configured deployables physics and collision models to not fall off from roof edges
• misc: configured deployables to use high mass and blast_push_threshold to prevent being bulldozed by vehicles and moved by blasts
• misc: added optional dedicated primary / secondary weapon change keys
• misc: fixed wounded character stand-up issue in online
• modding: added ... support in static object spec
• modding: added call_event, with phase="queue"/"acknowledge"/"launch"/"end" and id field to distinguish calls from each other
• modding: added roof_elevation keyword for buildings with elevated roofs
• modding: added attack_change script event
• modding: resource doesn't require to be in_stock anymore to be able to respawn_with

Changelog v1.70 (PACIFIC DLC):

• maps: USMC campaign balance adjusted so the first few beach-assault maps are more forgiving to low-ranked players.
• maps: Guadalcanal in USMC campaign now loses more friendly troops when more players are in the match. Reduction from 2 to 3 per player.
• maps: Guadalcanal hidden in quickmatch menu
• maps: Fixed issue with capturing LZ Sun on Downfall.
• fix: bug where soldiers clumped up on the Attack Ship on Iwo Jima resolved
• fix: animation issues regarding hipfire weapons resolved
• fix: bug where IJA campaign could not reach Peleliu Airfield resolved
• fix: bug where ladders on left side of Saipan attack ship were unclimbable resolved
• fix: bug where damaged tank on Downfall was destroyed resolved
• soldiers: the Sentry AI soldier spawns 25% less often.
• soldiers: fixed an issue with dialogue used by POW soldiers.
• soldiers: reduced the RP available to Banzai Officers, POW soldiers, and US Army Squad Leaders.
• soldiers: Banzai Chargers can no longer spawn with medkits.
• soldiers: reduced the spawn chance of Flamethrower Operators for the regular Imperial Japanese Army.
• gameplay: weapons in Quickmatch now have XP requirements similar to the Campaign.
• gameplay: the Banzai Charge call-in now deploys 1 less Light Machine Gunner soldier, who is now replaced with an additional Rifleman.
• gameplay: Banzai Charge Squad now costs 350 RP, matching the cost of the US Army Rifles Squad.
• gameplay: you can now unlock the M1903A3 with bayonet for re-purchase at the USMC armoury by selling 5 of them.
• gameplay: You can now unlock the Type 38 with bayonet for re-purchase at the IJA armoury by selling 5 of them.
• gameplay: You can no longer unlock enemy weapons (to reduce overcluttered Armouries).
• gameplay: Adjusted some briefcase unlocks.
• gameplay: The Rubber-boat call-in has been adjusted, spawning in a slightly randomized position, so that it can not be used to accurately crush enemy soldiers.
• gameplay: enemy anti-tank grenades, bazookas, grenades, at grenades, and heavy MG deploys can no longer be unlocked at the armoury. (99% were statistically the same anyways.)
• items: Banzai, Veteran, and Sentry vests have been modified to more consistently take damage from small-arms, rather than being heavily chance-based.
• items: Banzai Vest and Veteran Vest improved to have 3 layers of armour instead of 2. The cost of Banzai vest has been raised from 10 to 15. This does not effect the AI-controlled Banzai soldiers.
• items: The Sentry Vest has had its cost lowered.
• items: All vests now have altered weights when carried in the backpack.
• vehicles: Added NEW Type 4 Ka-Tsu - a heavy amphibious tank the Imperial Japanese Navy can deploy on Tarawa and Downfall.
• weapons: Added NEW M1903A3 Bayonet variant.
• weapons: Added NEW T22 Garand variant (20-round magazine).
• weapons: Added NEW M1 Thompson - faster RoF but only 20-round magazine, compared to M1A1 Thompson.
• weapons: Added NEW M1918A2 BAR Rapid Fire variant - faster RoF than regular.
• weapons: Added NEW M1919A6 Mobile - hip fired variant carried by Sentries.
• weapons: Added NEW Bayonet variants to the Type 100 SMG and the MP 34 "Type STE" SMG.
• weapons: Added NEW Type 99 Sniper Rifle - with more powerful scope zoom than the Type 97 Sniper Rifle.
• weapons: Added NEW Mk 3 Concussion Grenade - knocks down opponents. Carried by Flamethrower Operators.
• weapons: Added NEW Type Hei Automatic Rifle - fully automatic rifle with 20-round magazine and good recoil control. Extremely deadly, but also quite rare.
• weapons: Added NEW M55 Reising - very high rate of fire, but small 20-round magazine. Replaces M1A1 Thompson on early-war maps. Variation with folded stock in side-arm slot exists.
• weapons: Added NEW Type I Carcano - used by the Imperial Japanese Navy, serving as their standard service rifle. Very similar to Type 38. A bayonet variant exists.
• weapons: Added NEW Type BE Submachine Gun - used by Imperial Japanese Navy Veteran soldiers, it is a Bergmann MP 18 chambered in 7.63mm Mauser with a large 50-round stick magazine. A bayonet variant exists.
• weapons: Added NEW Type 2 Model B Submachine Gun - named simply "Type 2 SMG". With moderate rate of fire and 30-round magazine.
• weapons: Adjusted some discrepancies with grenades and AT weapons' performances between the IJA and USMC.
• weapons: Adjusted performance of some explosive weapons, and enabled Type 98, Oerlikon, and Anti-Air Gun to damage Tanks.
• weapons: Can no longer respawn with Type 99 LMG Scoped variation after dying. This will give it the rare 'blue' colour of a special weapon.
• weapons: Satchel Charge renamed to Anti-Tank Satchel Charge in English, for a bit of extra clarity.
• weapons: Mk II Grenade Fuse set from 3 seconds to 4 seconds (bug fix).
• weapons: Type 100 moved to early war IJA arsenal, MP34 "Type STE" given to IJN.
• weapons: SMG/Carbine "base" weapon (affects many SMGs/Carbines) - max spread reduced by 5%, running accuracy raised from 5% (affects first shot fired while moving.)
• weapons: Sniper Rifle "base" weapon standing accuracy reduced by 6%. This was to give it a more distinct disadvantange when compared with non-scoped Bolt-Action Rifles.
• weapons: Bolt-Action Rifles (non-scoped) crouching accuracy raised by 5%. This is mostly to make them more reliable during online play on Invasion servers, where net lag can hinders these weapons most.
• weapons: M1A1 Thompson heavily rebalanced for more mid-range performance.
• weapons: M1928 Thompson w/ 100-round drum renamed to M1921 Thompson w/ 100-round drum, to better reflect how it lacks a muzzle-brake.
• weapons: The M1921 Thompson w/ 100-round drum has had its reload speed reduced, and its movement speed from -0.05 to -0.075.
• weapons: Type 100 SMG - kill probability raised by 6%, kill decay start time raised by 12.5%. Result is a bit more power in short range, vastly more at longer ranges.
• weapons: Type 100/44 SMG heavily rebalanced for less long-range performance, while still being superior to most SMGs in short / medium-short range.
• weapons: C96 Carbine renamed to Type MO Carbine to reflect its Japanese nomenclature.
• weapons: M1 Carbine and C96 "Type MO Carbine" kill decay start time raised by 40%, end time by 10%. Result is better medium and long range performance.
• weapons: MP 34 renamed to Type STE to reflect its Japanese-contracted version. Rechambered in 7.63mm Mauser. Statistics adjusted - generally, higher velocity and lower recoil.
• weapons: Type 2 Model A renamed to Type 1 SMG, reflecting a more accurate nomenclature for the weapon.
• weapons: M2 Carbine and Bayonet variant - recoil reduced by 15%, kill decay start time raised by 40%, end time by 10%, walking accuracy reduced by 16%.
• weapons: M1 Garand and Bayonet variant - recoil recovery improved by 45%, kill decay start time raised by 40%. Able to fire accurately at long range much faster, and hit harder too.
• weapons: Scoped M1D Garand - recoil recovery improved by 45%, velocity reduced by 7% (so it matches other Snipers now).
• weapons: Type 4 Rifle - recoil recovery improved by 17%. While still poor in accuracy compared to most rifles, it is easy to fire quick, deadly bursts with this weapon.
• weapons: Type 44 Carbine - velocity raised by 2.5%. This improves both accuracy at long range, kill probability, and requires less leading of targets. It is a bigger boost than it sounds.
• weapons: M1941 Johnson Rifle - velocity raised by 2.5%, recoil recovery improved by 7%. Much more efficient at long and medium ranges.
• weapons: M1918A2 BAR crouching accuracy raised by 20%, standing accuracy raised by 19%, reload speed increased by 5%.
• weapons: M1919A6 can now be respawned with, accuracy raised by 3%. The respawn change is significant, and the slight accuracy boost helps it keep up with the new M1 Garand.
• weapons: M1941 Johnson LMG crouching accuracy raised by 22%, but rate of fire reduced by 19%. Overall it is more versatile and controllable, but doesn't have such insane DPS when prone.
• weapons: ANM2 'Stinger' accuracy slightly raised. This improves its damage output at range to be a bit closer to the Type 98 LMG.
• weapons: All 'mobile' hip fired machine guns have had their movement speed raised from -0.25 to -0.2.
• weapons: Type 96 LMG, Bayonet, and Trench variants - kill probability raised by 8.5%.
• weapons: Type 99 LMG and Bayonet variant - kill probability raised by 3%, kill decay start time raised by 40%.
• weapons: Scoped Type 99 LMG - kill probability raised by 3%, kill decay start time raised by 30%.
• weapons: Type 38 kill probability raised to match other bolt-action rifles, kill decay start time reduced by 20%. This overall improves its reliablity in short range.
• weapons: Type 14 pistol recoil reduced by 3%.
• weapons: M1919 HMG and Type 92 HMG kill probability reduced by 12.5%, kill decay start time improved by 17%.
• weapons: Adjusted the commonness of a variety of weapons. SMGs are generally a more common than LMGs on AI soldiers now. Some rares are also a bit more common. HMG deploys are more rare.
• weapons: Type 100 Grenade Discharger can now be respawned with.
• invasion: changing player faction to IJA in official Pacific invasion
• misc: new medikit model added.
• misc: new demolitions charge model added.
• misc: C96 "Type MO" model adjusted.
• misc: M1919A6 model and HUD icon adjusted.
• misc: MP 34 "Type STE" sound changed.
• misc: Type 99 LMG Bayonet model slightly adjusted.
• misc: new M1918 BAR sound, and model adjusted.
• misc: new M1941 Johnson LMG sound.
• misc: new models for overencumbered backpacks; both light encumbrance and heavy encumbrance.
• misc: adjusted position of the Type 93 Flamethrower model so that it is better held by the soldier's hands.
• misc: the Imperial Japanese Navy faction has been placed on Tarawa and Downfall.
• misc: Binoculars XP requirement in Campaign lowered from 10k to 1k.
• misc: new model for the US Willy's Jeep.