Welcome back to another Verdun Community Development Update. This week we have a great announcement and tons of content to show!
Test build live!
The test build for the upcoming content update is now available for selected testers! In the coming weeks we will trial the massive content and all its aspects (including gore, new artillery abilities, flamethrowers, 73 weapons and more) with the community.
If you are reading this and think, “I would like to join as well!”, look no further. You can sign up for the testing group here. Upon joining the test group, you will be able to give feedback and receive a key for the Verdun testing application. You will be able to keep having the regular verdun client installed side-by-side.
So what is in this update? The past months we have teased quite a lot, but there is still so much more to show:
Champagne
This week we’ll also be revealing a little more info about the upcoming map titled “Champagne”. This map is based on the champagne front. A somewhat forgotten front, it saw major fighting in both 1915 and in the final offensive of 1918 which saw a major U.S breakthrough. The frontline is situated between Reims and the Argonne and consists mainly of open farmlands and hills. Many of these hills such as the “Main de Massiges” (“The hand of Massiges”) were heavily fortified.
Combined with the fact that the front was largely static between 1916 and 1917, Champagne serves as inspiration for a totally different style of map which is entirely centered around the fighting within the complex lines of trenches. This should really contrast with the other maps where large portions of the fighting takes place in or around nomansland. Another iconic element which has been added to the game through Champagne is also that of night fighting.
Our level designer has created some of our most stunningly realistic trenches in this new map, that really should do justice to the extensive and chaotic trench networks that could be found on the western front. Take a look at these teaser images (which also incorporate some of the upcoming new squad types)
“German "Pionier" squad conducting a night raid on the champagne front using a flamethrower. Note the entrenching tools carried by the pioneers as well as their distinctive canvas-covered stahlhelm. Also in the image is a soldier wielding the artillery luger (with 32-round drum magazine) The ‘Pionier’ class officer is using a C96 pistol for this raid”
"French Night attack in the champagne sector, 1915. French troops wearing their mid-1915 transitional uniform attack the German stronghold at the "Main de Massiges" ridge. Note the french officer wielding a m1892 revolver."
"German sentries fighting off a night assault, possibly American, champagne front 1918. The iconic German "Sappenpanzer", which (while mostly impractical) saw fairly common use among German sentries."
New feature: bullet extraction
New in the upcoming update is also animated extraction of the empty cartridges.
New Gasmask: The Small Box Respirator
Last week we introduced the new first person animations for the French gasmask, the M2. This week we can show you the newly added SBR (Small Box Respirator). It has a distinctive tube and comprises of two main components, the mask and the box filter - usually carried in a bag and placed on the chest.
Note the iconic tube and a different experience from the current M17 mask
Chauchat M1918 .30-06 “The worst”
The U.S didn’t have much in the way of a lightweight machine gun come 1917, so when it entered the war, the U.S forces were issued with French Chauchat LMGs. The U.S later developed the m1918 due to a series of issues that were commonly faced by soldiers within the front lines. Primarily, the open sided magazine (which had been a major issue for French soldiers in the mud of the trenches) was replaced with a boxed magazine and a conversion to accept .30-06 rounds.
The M1918 will be used by U.S marine squad by the close combat support role. The .30-06 round gives a slightly different performance from the french m1915 chauchat. The fact that it was frequently ditched by troops in the field because of jamming will be reflected in the fire rate of the weapon.
The team personally observed these distinct magazines dug-up in the meuse argonne region
The C96 also received a great reloading animation of its stripper clip. This is just one of the many items you will be able to try in the test version.
The C96 cannot be reloaded mid-clip
Screenshots of the Week
“Gas alert in a German Trench”
That will be all for this update. We hope to see a lot of applications for the closed test build and see you on the front!