Field report 26: Drill Camp
09/03 - 2016
Hello and welcome to our twenty-sixth field report!
Today, we have some exciting news as well as quite a lot of new content to show you all! Let's begin with an announcement.
Technical Alpha "Drill Camp" available soon!
We're pleased to announce the existence of our technical alpha "Drill Camp."
This early version of the drill camp - which was reached as a stretch goal during our crowdfunding campaign -
will be available for our captain tiered backers and upwards on Steam soon! Lower tiered backers will get access to the
Drill Camp whenever they get access to the game: Skirmishes phase 2, early access or release depending on their pledge tier.
The Drill Camp will feature a complete Civil War era army camp in a Maryland-esque setting,
full of forested areas as well as rolling countryside hills and fields for the players to explore together.
Other features include a firing range for the players to practice their aiming techniques as well as
bayonet training grounds where the players can wage an all out war against the mighty sandbags.
The technical alpha marks the very first and earliest point of planned test phases for War of Rights,
and as such, will be highly limited and rough in its current form.
It is our plan to keep on updating the Drill Camp as development continues throughout the coming months.
Here's a short announcement video created from the last playtest session we had featuring a couple of developers and our Historian pledge tier backer.
You'll also notice a section of a new music track in the video – the first piece created by Markus Schmidt as part of the War of Rights Soundtrack. Enjoy!
Access given to the Drill Camp is going to be given in waves to ease the serverload,
making us able to set up more servers and allow us to do a bit of controlled stress testing before we let everyone in from the Captain tier and up.
Your pledge amount will determine which round of invites you'll be in.
Below are a few in-game screenshots of the Drill Camp. We look forward to be training with you soon!
Union Officer Corps
Another exciting update we wish to share is our first inclusion of officers!
Officers could range from having previously been members of the aristocracy or government,
or perhaps were proud alumni of one of the various military academies throughout the country.
Regardless of their background, officers are important parts of the military structure,
and will continue to be so in War of Rights. Here is the second part in the cinematic series “The Fighting Men of War of Rights” created by Hinkel,
our community manager as well as primary media creator. Take a look!
Just as with the lower ranks, we will be supporting officer clothing and equipment variations to allow each player to play as an individual.
Of similar and important note, we will also seek to use cloth simulations. While this might have been known for flags,
it is even more exciting to see that this technique is also available for the clothes your character wears!
Weapons spotlight
M1850 Foot Officers Sword
Another important part of an officer's equipment was his sword. Since medieval times, swords have had a connotation of power and authority,
and the 1850 Foot Officers Sword was designed to be an ultimate representation of that.
Take a look at the work of our wonderful artist Stuart who has been hard at work at it!
M1858 Remington Revolver
Another important update and juicy new toy that will be featured in the game is the Remington 1858 New Army Model Revolver.
The main contender to the gargantuan powerhouse that was the Colt Patent Arms Company.
Many on both sides preferred its structure and ease of reloading,
and you too can now get a chance at finding your own preference with this beautiful digital recreation.
M1840 NCO Sword
Just as the officers had swords as a symbol of their authority, so too did the non-commissioned officers,
in the form of the M1840 NCO sword. The design was originally copied from the French,
but it remained a weapon used by the US army even today. Now see it for your own eyes.
3-Inch Ordinance Rifle
As a final teaser of what will be included in the game, we thought we might also include the work of the person known as A.P. Hill on the forum,
who has been a monumental help as a co-historian with a vast wealth of knowledge and source material,
as well as a modeler for our artillery and wagons and Frederik, 3D and 2D artist as well as a founding member of Campfire Games.
Here we showcase the beautiful and plentifully-seen 3-Inch Ordinance Rifle, one of the most common artillery pieces to be seen during the Civil War.
At Antietam alone there were around 140 of them between both sides, and for good reason! They were well liked for their reliability,
as well as their incredibly accurate range of 1 ½ miles! Take a look at the excellent work below.
Closing updates
Game credits opt-out option available at our website
It is now possible to opt out of the game credits should you want to in the “Change reward options” on the website.
That's about it this time. We hope you liked what you saw and we cannot wait to start drilling with you, our loyal backers,
who have made this project a reality. As we get closer to the release of the initial version of the drill camp,
we'll be sure to let you all know the date of which it's going live and detail how the pledge tiers have been distributed throughout the different invitational waves.
Until next time, have a good one!