Welcome back!
As you know, the next upcoming milestone for WARNO will be MASSENA. In this update, we feature two new territorial command divisions: the West German Territorialkommando Süd and the East German K.d.A. Bezirk Erfurt.
That’s not all. As we previously explained, we are also hard at work producing new maps for WARNO. Expect to play two new battlefields when MASSENA drops: Cyrus and Volcano!
Your feedback counts
As we mentioned in our previous DevBlogs, we find it very important to keep you informed on the progress of WARNO’s map production. The Early Access launch of WARNO has been an opportunity for us to change our maps and environments depending on your feedback. Once more, thank you very much for your many (and at times very passionate) comments! We salute you.
One of our most recent maps was Vertigo, which integrates a host of player-based changes and remarks. It was great to see the positive feedbacks this new map received! A few weeks ago, we teased two additional maps, currently in the production pipeline: Cyrus and Volcano. Both new battlefields feature our updated level build strategy; it’s high time we present them to you.
But before we do this, some notes on the improvements requested by our players.
An updated battlefield
Several of you have pointed out two major aspects you would like to see changed in our environments. First: too many “choke points.” And second, forest areas being too big and challenging to cross.
With our new Cyrus and Volcano battlefields, we aim to improve these aspects. This means that both environments will have a significant decrease in choke points:
As well as featuring roads in big zones of forests and mountains:
Besides this change in strategy, we have also reduced the extent woodlands and forests dominate the gameplay parts of the topology. Keep in mind that it is important for us not to degrade the visual aspect of the map; trees add variety, and forests can break up the monotony of an environment.
A secondary point raised by some was that several players asked for maps with fewer corridors. We have also tried to implement this change in our new maps.
With that out of the way, let’s look at our two new battlefields!
Welcome to Cyrus
Cyrus is a new map dedicated to 3vs3 player battles. We produced this battlefield in partnership with some of WARNO’s most active players. In particular, we’d like to thank Cyrus Jackson for his involvement in the production.
With a surface area of 82km², Cyrus offers a larger playing range than our other maps. With fewer forests, the strategic points on the battlefield are particularly identifiable. We made the road network in such a way as to have it look natural. Similarly, Cyrus has no prominent game corridors. This means there should be less one-on-one action on this 3vs3 map and more of a team fight.
We would love to hear what you think of Cyrus. Your continued feedback will be important in the production of our new maps. Don’t hesitate to drop us a line!
A mighty Volcano
The new Volcano also clocks in at 82km², and benefits from the same new design ethos as Cyrus. This 3vs3 battlefield revolves around a central plateau with evidence of ancient volcanic activities.
While less open than the previous map, many sections of Volcano feature good sight lines. Once again, we designed the roads in such a way to avoid corridors that would encourage players to get stuck in slogging 1v1 battles. We placed the command zones to form a more circular game zone.
Volcano is a good example of a compromise between a flat map with clear lines and something more uneven and organic.
See you on the battlefield
Cyrus or Volcano? What do you think? We look forward to your comments on the new maps coming soon to WARNO. We hope you'll have as much fun playing these battlefields as we had making them!
Join the passionate WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get to together with other players on either the excellent Discord server, Reddit page, or our Instagram.
See you on the battlefield, commander.