... and other stuff

Gates of Hell Q&A October 23, 2021 by MrRevyTheEngines#0280
"When will USSR be balanced?""Stats show Germany has higher WR, big tank shells no longer 1 shot tanks, and Germany has an equivalent of Katyusha""What is faction 3?""Unknown, won’t say yet. Hoping to do 1 faction per year, but unlikely. Austria deconfirmed.""More gamemodes?""New gamemodes are coming, but will need to be quite unique like assault zone revamp in GoH, no dates or details yet""Will we get a survival mode like Call to Arms?""“Survival gamemode sounds exciting, I just don’t know what it is”""Please add Spanish voices in Conquest""“Yes, this will be done”""Early war starts with Barbarossa?""“Early war starts with 1936, Mid war starts in 1941. That’s the logical way for us to do it.”""Will you introduce Lend lease war and guns?""“Yes, we have already.”""Will you introduce more easter eggs?""More easter eggs were introduced in current patch.""Will conquest get pvp?""“Not anytime soon, it will be quite complicated. We want to do it.”""“We have plans to change how conquest ends”""Will allow scavenging after match ends (?)""Factions on allies v. axis screen not confirmed (USSR, SA, Finland, UK, Hungary, France, Italy, Japan)""Would like to add if game continues to do well""Will we have urban maps like Stalingrad/Berlin?""Yes.""Will Spanish war get a DLC?""They would like to, but depends on future of project.""Will syncing issues of towing be fixed?""“We’re actually on that right now”""When will you introduce more beautiful models of Soviet fighters?""“if you have better references than the ones we have do send them forth”""No current plans to create a ranked leaderboard separate from Steam""Larger maps than 4v4?""Netcode isn’t made for anything bigger than 4v4, so not going to happen. Current 4v4 maps are 1km/1km, first Men of War game had max 300m/300m. Large maps also take a long time to do.""When will the next faction be revealed?""Whenever testing starts, which will be sometime later this year.""Will Sturmtiger be added?""It is in the game, Jagdtiger isn’t, but will be added.""When will the game be marketed more?""They aren’t marketing superpower, so falls more on the community. There is currently (Oct. 23, 2021) a daily deal to help""Multiplayer pvp competitive conquest?""“Not yet.”""Will minor nations be introduced as doctrines?""“That is a very good idea. I suppose it does make sense”""Will Germany also get Croatian infantry or 369th?""“I’d like to.” They say getting good voice actors for jobs that specific is hard. “I would definitely like that idea.” They made Krasnybor because there is a lot of documentation.""What will modding SDK look like?""“Allow modders to learn all the peculiarities of GoH… without having to resort to external locations”""Will Sherman tanks be added for lend lease?""“When we add Sherman tanks, we may add them to the lend lease, but we are not going to add them now”""Will the new factions be a DLC?""Yes. “This is because they will come with a new singleplayer campaign, come with new multiplayer maps… It’s actually hard to keep running unless we release DLC that people pay for” Cost currently unknown. Devs and publisher have to agree on price, which they haven’t done yet.""Are you planning on updating MOWAS2?""“We can’t. We are not the devs of MOWAS2, so even if we wanted to, we wouldn’t be able to. Having said that, however, go ask 1AC for that answer and I believe the answer will be no.”""Will Stug 4 and Jagdpanther be added?""Yes.""Will there be changes to how units interact with cover?""Yes. Recent update added changing spacing by clicking and dragging inf. Trenches will be improved.""China war confirmed?""No.""Will combat gamemode be added to GoH?""“There’s a mod for that,” “There are certain problems with Combat Mode. What happens if both sides they won’t run into each other? They just make two defensive lines” so main problem is no incentive for going to an objective. Could auto destruct units to prevent other team from getting points (in MOWAS2 self destructing would actually subtract from your teams points). Don’t want to split community with weird game modes, would rather have people play any mode comfortably. Assault zones are more comfortable for MOWAS players (?)""Are you guys going to improve animation of soldiers holding pistols?""“We could”""Will you add attack move command?""“It’s a cool thing I’d like to see. The move command exists for this role” Possible in the future.""Will you add airplane missions?""“No.”""Will you add offmap abilities like naval bombardments?""No current reason for them, but if they add Normandy then maybe.""More vehicles for conquest?""“Sure.”""If UK is added, will colonial units be added?""Would be cool, but no research done yet.""Will fortifications be added upon?""Yes. Modular and upgradeable.""Can repair kits be replenished?""Yes, at engineer trucks. Also resupplies engineers.""Will we ever get a Gustav cannon map?""“I don’t know. Sounds like something that would be hard to do”""Will picking up items be improved?""Maybe.""Sdfkz. Will be added?""In early war.""Will LAN multiplayer be introduced?""Would be good for competitive play, maybe.""Will there be more building models for urban areas?""Yes.""Planes added in multiplayer?""Only airstrikes and computer controlled for now, maps are too small.""Field modifying vehicles in conquest?""“That sounds like a cool idea. Unfortunately at the moment we don’t have enough examples to introduce such a feature” like Kv1b. too few and far between, other stuff needs more work""Will we see engine improvements? Multithreading, CPU?""Are being improved, but takes time.""Beutepanzer add German insignia?""Sounds cool but would also need to be added for USSR. “its an interesting cosmetic in theory. I like the idea”""When will it be reworked so the game can be purchased as a gift for others?""Currently have approached steam but no solution yet.""Stability in 3v3 improved?""Have done testing but requires improving servers.""How involved are DNS with GoH? CTA has been quiet lately.""GoH devs are not involved with CTA development. Engine improvements in GoH could be “retrofitted” with CTA.""When will you fix minimap clipping?""“Soon!”""More planes to existing factions?""Yes, but not soon.""Lend lease thompsons to USSR?""“That’s a very good idea” will add when Thompson added.""Mix Fallschirmjäger weapons to show they used a variety of stuff?""No. Prefer knowing what you’re buying""Add sort inventory button?""“Is this important? I feel like this could be done by hand”""Karl gerart Sdz 222?""Maybe in the future for sdz.""Engie truck resupply inventory when mines are removed on cost of resource amount?""“I don’t see this being done easily by mods. It would require changes to the source code I think”""Will maps from Devblog 16 be added? (Berlin april 45, Tannenberg line, Warsaw 1944, Kursk, Stalingrad Fallen Fighters, Stalingrad grain elevator“""Some maps yes (Berlin), some no because of map prioritization changes. Committed to fulfilling community vote, so yes.""Continue button for conquest after winning map?""Yes!""Will conquest be expanded? Will early war/mid war be options?""Will be able to choose starting time for conquest campaign, like 1943 or 1944.""Defense level 3 on conquest – will it be more defensive stuff like AT guns/arty instead of just more infantry?""Maybe yes.""Airstrip mechanic for refueling/repair/rearm?""“I don’t like this idea”, contribute to problems and wouldn’t make sense to have airfield on frontlines. Already a couple of maps, so making it a mechanic would be frustrating/take entire map.""Beutepanzer/captured vehicles change skin?""“Would be nice”""Will aircraft ever get a full flight model revamp?""Culeee designed current flight model, would require a lot of work, “I don’t think there will be a revamp” unless flying becomes far more important and integral to the game. Had brought aircraft best status and functionality in development (like bailing out of planes), will consider adding.""What happened to following missions/maps: Brest-Litovsk, Red October factory, Seelow heights, Berlin, Reichstag, Vistula, Volga, Balaton, Novorossiysk?""No plans for Berlin due to lots of unique buildings needed.""MP-34, ZK-383, MP-28 smgs? ZB-26 Mg was also used?" Lots of weapons were used in WW2, but just because it was used does not mean it will be added. Would rather work on weapons for next faction than small, less relevant arms for existing factions. Need to pick priority carefully. Will continue to support the game but need to think about future. People want pacific, colonies, would rather focus on big picture factions and stuff than small stuff. Want to grow. Work on what they can afford, improve the game.

Gates of Hell Q&A October 29, 2021 by MrRevyTheEngines#0280
New update released later this weekend (Oct. 30/31), will set the game until next big update Q: Will Foxhole queing be fixed eventually? A: Yes

Q: Weekly Q&A? A: No, these two Q&A was special.

Q: Can we expect more performance patches? A: Yes.

Q: Are you going to switch to UE5? A: No.

Q: Will we ever get any wonder weapons? A: No. It’s hard to implement (V2 impacted with speed higher than speed of sound, making a model for that at high altitude would mean seeing a model for half a second).

Q: Do we get Sherman tank in lend lease doctrine? A: Yes.

Q: Is there a chance you might think about adding british? A: Yes. Eventually.

Q: Will campaign mode be enhanced? A: “We have very big plans for conquest.”

Q: More theaters of war/factions? A: Absolutely. Will be added for GoH, not a separate games. “We have plans for many factions.”

Q: There are a lot of issues regarding desyncs. Will these be addressed? A: Yes, new patches every weekend, new patch will fix cannons and crew and boarding. Netcode was still WiP when GoH was being made. “We’ve been developing the netcode for 2 years now, slightly under 2 years.” Netcode might be added to CTA but is up to Mindsoft.

Q: Will there be a way to time scale the time wrecks stay on map? A: “Yes, you can definitely scale them, and modders can do so easily.” Under Entity Manager can set the fade out of objects and corpses and so on (can set max entity, not time).

Q: With future optimization planned, what does this entail for maps? A: “We will be looking at huge maps… the problem is why would you make a map more than a kilometer square?” Can be done though.

Q: What are some features lost in transition from Bestway GEM to DMS (CTA) GEM? A: Not any, really. Behind the scenes working for first person for vehicles but no ETA yet. Trying to get it to work for a different engine (and improving netcode) makes it challenging).\

Q: Are there more PvP gamemodes planned for release? A: “Define soon.” But yes. In content update 3 (no ETA yet). About 4 months is realistic, “it is very likely you will have new gamemodes in 4 months.”

Q: Flag bearer units? A: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that request before.” “It certainly could be fun” (Culee). Something to consider.

Q: Plans for conquest? A: Late war will be added. Looking at other features too (?). First addition will be late war. Conquest is still very WiP. Will make tech tree research be in accordance with time it was used in war.

Q: T-34 (example) as Beutepanzer? A: Yes, “I think we have some Beutefarhzeuge.”

Q: Please fix grenades and pathfinding. A: “It would be nice if you elaborated on that”

Q: Will you raise the difficulty of conquest? A: There are already difficulty options.

Q: Can we get DSHK for IS 2 doctrine? A: ISU-122 already has DSHK. Adding right gun (cannon) which has faster reload.

Q: Will you redo infantry weapons? A: Would like to add first person to infantry. It is a huge endeavor, considering FPS games take years to develop. “If we do add first person for infantry… we would definitely redo the infantry weapons to have the details a first person shooter would require. To answer your question it is perhaps.”

Q: How did it happen that a lot of Men of War modders got into GoH mod team? A: “Because it did!” Modders asked to be on the team, and they are looking for more developers to join the team. “The more the merrier.”

Q: Do the sales of the game actually allow you to keep working freely on your plans? A: “I don’t think this is a question we should answer on a Q&A.” It’s more a question for production team.

Q: Weather will be implemented? A: “I think weather currently is implemented.” There is already missions with rain/snow.

Q: When can we expect the next update? A: “Relatively soon.” Can look at past update dates and guess from there.

Q: Can you make multiplayer defense maps? A: “That sounds like a new gamemode. We want to add new ones at some point.”

Q: Will you ever do a map making competition where the winner would be put in the game? A: They still need criteria for the map making, and it could be part of the mod competition (which will be announced shortly) “We will certainly give that a thought”.

Q: Will you add new buildings? A: This is the first time seeing new buildings because they take a long time to make. “It’s quite boring to be honest. You will see new buildings, yes… but it definitely is a challenge to do them.”

Q: Is the campaign going to be fully voiced in the future? A: Yes, they are looking for voice actor (Soviet Commissar VA).

Q: The buy menu in single player requires scrolling even on huge resolutions. A: There are plans to add resolution scaling, but they don’t want to spend too much time on it.

Q: What are some pathfinding improvements you’d like to make. A: “That’s a very broad question.” “What we’d like to do is change the pathfinding model to be more predictable and easier to understand.”

Q: Out of map artillery and guns? A: Same answer as last Q&A. Not likely unless relevant for missions (Normandy). “you’ll see something in the future.”

Q: The game does not use units with intelligence for more difficulty. A: AI improvements are coming this weekend.

Q: Do you ever get tired of having such a dedicated userbase? Ex. Enlisted uses a non-historical weapon and gets away with it. A: No! “We thrive on it.” Culee hesitant to answer, Flick say they rely on new information if they are given it like historical documents.

Q: Was it necessary to add BM-31 after 132mm was nerfed? New one more OP. A: BM-31 will get changes next update.

Q: Do you think you will add gore/dismemberment? How do we support this game? A: “We have been asked by the authorities to adhere to the PG-13 rules.” So no. They will see if it changes. Support by spreading the knowledge of the game. Be active online, answer questions, etc.

Q: Will GoH eventually upgrade the engine of same scale as when CTA went from 32 to 64 bit? A: “We’re already making a lot of engine upgrades”, added waveworks from NVIDIA before release, more changes planned “that are extremely large”. Multilayer ground changes “aren’t gonna happen” because they are the foundation of the engine.

Q: Will you fix grenade timer? Will you fix their physics? Fix desync for vehicle teleportation? When will tanks stop stopping when hitting a fence? When will medics auto heal people? A: “What is wrong with the grenade timer? The grenades are made intentionally to bounce. This is a feature.” Doesn’t know what desync question is. Stopping tanks for fences will be fixed. Medic automatic healing will be added.

Q: When will medics auto heal people? A: Medic automatic healing will be added.

Q: When will tanks stop stopping when hitting a fence? A: Stopping tanks for fences will be fixed. Similar objects too.

Q: Why did USSR not receive lend-lease doctrine mid war? A: They already have 3 doctrines in mid war.

Q: Will Italians be added? A: “Maybe in the future.”

Q: Are there going to be balances in terms of mission difficulties? A: “You get a lot of reinforcements on the new soviet mission.” They do have plans to rebalance to campaigns.

Q: Will you add vehicle position firing? Like how windows work. A: Nope.

Q: Will city destruction be improved? A: Yes.

Q: Digging in tanks for fortifications? A: New faction engineer will be able to upgrade stuff.

Q: Is building emplacement system of CTA going to be in GoH? A: “We are going to use this feature to build custom emplacements.”

Q: Porsche tiger, Dicker Max, Sturer Emil rare vehicles added? A: “I wouldn’t say no to that.”

Q: Minor nations like Hungary/Italy/Romania? A: “I wouldn’t mind it.”

Q: Hummel, Nashorn, Wespe, Wirbelwind, 250 halftrack? A: “We are making them; it just takes time.” Takes about 3 weeks to make one model from scratch. Two have been manufactured.

Q: More Beutepanzers? A: No current plans. Artists are working on new faction stuff. It would take too long, and Russians would also need their own captured vehicles. They would like to add 3 new tanks every update but current updates don’t bring new money to fund development. Updates improve the game, yes, but they need to balance DLC for $, and updates for polishing.

Q: Ironsights and infantry weapons? A: Ironsights will be added for first person (if it is added). GoH is a strategy game, improving all the animations and mesh and textures would take a while.

Q: Are you going to deploy warships? A: No. “We’ve not really had the time to do this till now.” Naval battles weren’t a thing on Eastern front, so very unlikely.

Q: General idea of conquest like Rome Total War? A: “I don’t think so. I think you will like the idea we have for conquest; it’s quite unique.”

Q: Paratroopers or recon planes? A: “Not for now.” Will add paratroopers by the time America is added (if it is added).

Q: If you drive a truck in DC and turn off DC while driving, it will teleport. A: This will be fixed.

Q: Will we ever see variation in vehicle turn time? A: “There are currently no plans.”

Q: Do you have plans to add back how units react to throwing nades, like throwing them back? A: “We’ll look into it.” But sounds like a Men of War thing.

Q: Is it possible to fix how interacting with other units or things with an inventory? A: It is a complicated bug, but it will be fixed.

Q: Will troops be able to climb up ladders? A: There are ladders and towers that you can climb, but no current maps would be useful for that. Perhaps future maps.

Q: Will higher fidelity be needed for FPS mode? A: Yes. It will be expensive and take time.

Q: Will tanks get option to open hatches? Like to use a machine gun. A: “We currently have that.” Vastly uncommon for PZ III/IV to have top mounted MG. Some PZ IV had it, but kept out of game because too rare.

Q: Will crouch running and walking be a possible in future? A: Yes. “When we get around to doing it is a different story altogether”

Q: Any plans on optimizing fog of war? A: They want it more realistic, dynamic coating on fog of war based on line of sight. It will not help optimize. Visibility of units is implemented as recognition time, like IRL reaction time. That’s why units sometimes don’t shoot immediately even if they can see an enemy.

Q: New faction going to be participant on Eastern Front? A: “I don’t think we are going to answer.”

Q: Will you improve building garrisoning and multiple layer floors? A: “We will improve garrisoning yes, for city buildings and stuff.”

Q: More SD.Kfz like 250? Ammo lock? A: Yes. Ammo lock is there in a sense, with you having to choose HE for your tank to shoot infantry.

Q: Option for RTS and DC would be nice to have same keybinds. A: If you are in DC you can still give orders to squad with middle mouse button, like follow or go to certain destination.

Q: Will you add conquest commanders? A: They would like to add doctrines that add perks. Adding even more to conquest will make it hard to balance, so they want to keep their scope realistic.

Q: Add faction of a nation like Waffen SS/USA Marines? A: Doctrines already fulfill this purpose. They will have marines but no SS. “There are certain things we will not do. We are bound by legal obligations to not add the Waffen SS.”

Q: Will Blau Division have different heads? A: No. Adding VA was already big.

Q: Draw distances appear shorter in third persion/fps. A: This is for performance. Loading distances are reduced to help with framerate.

Q: Mortar/MG in trucks for faster movement? A: Mortar versions of units yes, but no carrying. No towing or loading into truck.