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Phase 2 and release

Hi everyone, we have some progress to tell you about.
We are currently in the final stage of preparation for the next phase. It will consist of a multiplayer test with limited content. The date is to be announced. It will give you a single war stage and a set of maps, and this phase will run for exactly one week. During the week, we will add conquest mode.
Conquest will be available for the closing weekend only. After the weekend, the open beta will end officially.
We will then take your feedback, use it for the quick final polish and prepare Call to Arms: Gates of Hell for release!


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Tank weaponry overhaul

Call to Arms: Gates of Hell is a project in which we have always been in close touch with the community, and the community has given us tremendous support and feedback over the years.
Therefore, the fact that phase 1 of the OBT gave us valuable feedback was no surprise. We were curious how you would comment on the different aspects of gameplay and the associated new dynamics, besides finding glitches.

We took your feedback about improving the logic for tank combat, and decided it should be overhauled. The result includes revised ranges at a gun-by-gun basis, adhering to how effective at longer ranges some guns were compared to each other. We also made sure that different projectiles for the same gun have longer or shorter ranges, depending on how they performed in real life.
We have redesigned our penetration curves to depict the frequent fights (Most WWII fights happened at 700-1200m). At the usual engagement distances in the game, the penetration values will be closer to those, so that the tank vs tank combat relates better to the WWII experiences.

While doing so, we have also taken steps to help reduce and limit farshooting and other exploits which could become a problem in competitive multiplayer.
Long story short; your feedback has been used to improve balance and historical use of each type of cannon, while keeping it as realistic as we can within our game’s design philosophy.

Support Weapons

We have made an important design choice with heavy assault guns as well. We're keeping them as direct fire weapons, because that is how they were used in real life.
There is a widespread misconception that support tanks have longer ranges and operate in an indirect manner, but at the same time they used to have a flatter trajectory and accuracy, like direct-fire weapons. The result is that units like the KV-2 or StuH 42 are long range weaponry with ranges superior to that of the big AT guns. In reality, these vehicles were used as direct fire weapons only (there are exceptions like the SU152, which could do both direct and indirect fire).

Therefore, we have re-assigned these kinds of units to fulfill the direct fire role.
In reality, they were used at shorter ranges than other specialised AT guns, and this is how we will implement them in CtA: GoH. New units have been established to cover the gaps left behind by the support gun redesign.

In the future we'd like to add a switch to change between direct and indirect fire for some units. We could improvise it now but we’d rather do it in a proper manner later. It should not just change the gun's characteristics, but also third person behaviour, and AI should be able to change it too depending on range of engagement.

Sounds

Our Gates of Hell soundscape is reaching the final stages of completion, and recently all small arms sounds were upgraded to the release quality. We took the opportunity to take in some of the feedback about sounds which you guys posted in our Discord server and added other improvements of our own which we decided to add for the immersion factor. For example, in third person you will now hear the bolts sliding, casings being dropped and it will feel like a more engulfing experience.

Subscribers of the open beta will also have noticed additional improvements since the latest update, including matching explosion sounds to the length and feel of the actual effect, added built-in sounds to the human animations (crouching, drinking, etc) and there are more details planned in this regard.

We hope to deliver a project of extraordinary audio quality and consistency. We raise the bar every day, so there will also be sound improvements after the release as we see fit.

Assorted work

We keep updating the game with new and improved models; we’re working on optimization, we’re improving missions and much, much more.

Here is a good example: our new Panther D in the works.


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We also included the 122 mm M1931/37 (A-19) cannon. This Soviet cannon, which although a howitzer-type artillery, had very good anti-tank ballistics and will certainly become a worthy contender to the Tiger’s armour from long range:


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PvP Footage

In preparation for the upcoming multiplayer test, we’ve recorded a PvP match with some of the testers. Remember, bots will also be available for everyone during the test and you can host PvE battles as well.

Did you know?

• We recommend subscribing to the youtube channels we display on our own channel for the near future
• Before release, we will start a “meta game” mini-game using our Discord server
• After release, we will start a “mod of the month” competition

That’s it for now, thanks for stopping by and good luck in the open beta!