Experience WW1 like in the movie reels made in those times, or try your hand at producing your own First World War film! Partly inspired by Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old, where historical footage of the Great War was colorized, we're excited to introduce the reverse: a black and white movie reel like experience as a visual filter in both Tannenberg and Verdun. Film Memoir will be available for all players until April 26, and after the event ends it will still be available for everyone who owns a Supporter Edition.
Film Memoir
Don't worry, you haven't gone back in time to April 1st - today Film Memoir mode became part of the game for real!
War photography came of age during the First World War, and we often think of it as a dark, bland conflict because the photos and film we see are in black and white. However, a recent trend for colorizing WW1 photos (for instance in They Shall Not Grow Old) has shown more people what you could already know from playing Tannenberg or Verdun - WW1 was grim for many reasons, but it was not bland and colorless. Now you can see how scenes and landscapes you're familiar with in the games would appear to cinema audiences of the time. With Film Memoir mode, gameplay is represented in high contrast black and white, with an old movie filter on top and subtle audio details. In addition to the authentic old movie experience this provides. it will give players quite a new and unique challenge to fight without color cues on the battlefield.
Show off your journalistic skills and win prizes!
We will be giving away prizes for creating impressive content with Film Memoir mode - merch and a Supporter Edition!
TIP: Don't forget to turn off the UI with the F8 key before making your films or photos!
We will pick one winner for each of these three categories:
- Best short film
- Best image
- Best story
To enter, post your creations on Twitter using the #WW1Memoir hashtag and @ww1gameseries, OR upload content to the Steam Hub with 'Film Memoir' as part of the description text. Feel free to work together or capture footage on the West or East fronts.
Verdun and Tannenberg are both currently 55% off on Steam!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/242860
Photography on the Eastern Front
Compared to many other countries in the war, Russia had a very limited official photography organization. The Tsar had court photographers, but other photos taken on the Eastern Front were generally done by private professionals attached to army units, or soldiers or nurses who happened to own personal cameras. There was less encouragement by Russian media for soldiers to provide photographs, because the state controlled media were highly limited in what they were allowed to publish. Finally, the military collapse in 1917 and the revolution of the same year put paid to whatever official structure was present.
This photograph of an artillery position was taken by an Austro-Hungarian photographer.
The situation was different in Germany and Austria-Hungary, but the sheer scale of the war and the limited technology of the time means that it was never going to be fully documented in every possible way. We can still be grateful for the images we do have, and all the photographers - amateur or professional - who took them.
Try your hand at WW1 film making with Film Memoir mode! We look forward to seeing what you come up with.