Welcome to 2021, commander!
Happy New Year to all! We are glad you made it. Let’s hope that 2021 will be infinitely more kick-ass than the last (rather crappy) year. At Eugen, we are damned sure to do our part in achieving that lofty goal, at least when it comes to everything related to Steel Division 2 .
How? Well, keep on reading to find out what we have in store for (early) 2021!
Coming up next
What can you expect from us this year? As a matter of fact, lots of things. From the very start, we pledged to keep working on and supporting Steel Division 2. We aim to continue to do this for the foreseeable future.
There is plenty of things in the Eugen pipeline, including one or two super secret things we are working on, not ready yet to be shown in the public light. Who knows, who knows…
What we can talk about is:
MAPS!
Yup, that’s it. We hear you (extremely loud and clear, don’t you worry), and we are going to expand the roster of maps currently featured in Steel Division 2. This means:
- We are putting the finishing touches on the previously announced urban map. Check out the deets in our previous post here. Expect some challenging house-to-house combat in this new urban map, which mixes semi- and dense urban terrain. When will it come? Soon, we promise!
- We are working on a new dedicated 10v10 map. This new map will use all the available space to its fullest extent, meaning that there will be no leftover terrain on either side. As such, it will feature the largest playing area of all maps.
- We are also working on providing a Very Small edit of existing maps. This will allow them to be played more comfortably during 1v1 or Tactical games.
Updated Game Lobby
Moving forward, we’ll introduce the possibility to create (and search) for 6v6 games. Not only that: we will also present an option for players to create their own 10v10 private servers.
Gameplay Changes
One of the gameplay elements we wanted to improve was an armored warfare overhaul (tank and anti-tank combat ranges). We are still working on this. Providing more realistic engagement ranges, including reducing some of the effective combat ranges of various tank guns, takes a bit longer than expected.
In case you’ve forgotten: this new take on armored warfare aims to reduce the amount of inconclusive engagements at extreme ranges, with armor exchanging fire without any result. Our new approach introduces a broader array of gun ranges, meaning that different tank guns will perform better (or worse) at different ranges.
Before we roll out the new combat ranges, we want to update the Effective Shot mechanic as well. In the future, players will treat this as a Rules of Engagement variable, letting them set the desired engagement range of any units, including infantry.
Army General Improvements
We are working on a bunch of Army General improvements including:
- Improved Auto Resolve mechanics. They will be more streamlined while taking better into account the type of environment (urban, woods) during a combat resolution.
- Improved tactical combat, including the possibility of bringing five battalions to a fight. This is two more than the current maximum of three battalions.
- Improved display of battalion strengths to make this information more readable.
- Improved Army General’s AI, with the latter using its armored battalions more effectively. This also includes a more cunning use of artillery by the computer to neutralize key enemy battalions.
- Improved movement. To make it more transparent and fluid when moving battalions.
A new History Expansion
Ooooh…, that’s right: we are getting very close to revealing all the juicy details concerning the new History Expansion we are working on. The excitement… it’s almost unbearable. Expect some new info very soon!
Until next week!
And that’s it for our future look into 2021. Lots of good things are coming your way - that’s for sure.
Before we forget: Nemesis: Battle of Rimini is heading your way very soon. We’ll be releasing our new Nemesis DLC on January 28th. Be sure to grab it when it launches!
Meanwhile, we are already at work on the next Nemesis DLC, Storming Toulon, with its Légion, Tirailleurs & Kriegsmarine infantry.
Read all about the Nemesis: Storming Toulon in this detailed blog post.
If you want to reach out to us, do this through our Steam forums and Eugen forums, or check our (Facebook and Twitter). Looking for an online game? Visit the kick-ass Discord server or Reddit page.
See you on the battlefield, commander!