Greetings, Commanders!

There is still a lot to talk about in Men of War II, as the developers are hard at work improving it based on all your feedback. So here we are with a weekly portion of news for you!

Most importantly, we are finalizing a game update for next week. We will have full patch notes for you in a few days, but here are the most noteworthy highlights:

• Server infrastructure is being reinforced - you might have seen the effects of this as it is an ongoing process. It should already be much rarer to see units moving in "slow motion" than before.
  
• Steam Achievements will be added.
  
• The issue preventing users from rebinding the Pause key will be fixed.
  
• Combat UI scaling will be added as an option in Settings.
  
• Infantry will be undetectable after throwing a grenade in single-player missions.
  
• Infantry will no longer automatically select a pistol if they have more powerful weapons in the inventory.

And of course, many more changes and fixes are coming in the update - stay tuned!

Modding is absolutely integral to the Men of War franchise, and we love the creative community forming around the game. Have you checked out the Workshop yet? In only a few short weeks since release, there are talented creators already posting mods like Toy Soldiers, working on converting missions from Men of War: Assault Squad or tweaking the game in various other ways, such as creating new options for visualizing waypoints, and more.

We have also previously directed your attention to the Lost Eagles mod and its author, Skilletti. We have been working with him even before the game's launch, which is why he was able to release the mod at the same time as the game - and there are other big creations coming soon, adding a lot of fan-made content to Men of War II. For example, the popular Born in the Fire: America, with many notable battles and units from the 18th and 19th centuries, is coming within a few weeks.
We want to support the modding community as much as possible, and to that end, we are working on new resources to help newcomers and veterans alike get into the creative "zone". To that end, we have partnered with Skilletti once more, to use his expertise and prepare a series of video guides for aspiring modders. We are preparing videos that will help you understand the basics of custom map creation, preparing an actual scripted mission, and uploading your mod to the Steam Workshop to share with others.

There is also official documentation for the GEM RTS Editor[bestway-1.gitbook.io] maintained by the Best Way team themselves, and last but not least, a whole section of the Men of War II Official Discord server is dedicated to modding[discord.com].

But we would like to hear from you - what mods would you like to see in Men of War II, or are you working on any yourself? What other resources or guides should we create? Let us know in the comments under this announcement, in the Steam Discussions or come to the Men of War II Official Discord server[discord.com]. And if you are enjoying the game and want to support the development team, consider writing a review here on Steam - it really makes a difference.

And as always, we will see you on the battlefield soon, Commanders!

[discord.com]

Greetings, Commanders!

We have fixed the game-crashing issues which caused us to delay the update previously announced for this Wednesday, and it is now live for everyone! The delay allowed us to slightly expand the patch; full changelog, with the new additions listed on top, can be found at the end of this article.

Men of War II is a large game, and includes many different options, modes and units. It can be intimidating for a newcomer, and even seasoned veterans of the franchise can lose out on some of the fun features simply because they don't know about them - this is especially true of the Realism Setting, which is why we have written up an in-depth explanation of how it makes the game different and how to activate it here, in the Steam Discussions. We are also working on a way to expand this variability of Realism vs. Competitive settings, and making them more accessible, as we have hinted at in our development roadmap announcement.

In terms of getting to grips with the game itself, we strongly recommend going through the in-game tutorials, which can be found in the "LEARN" tab. These are 12 short thematic missions, each explaining a part of the game's mechanics, from the very basics to more advanced and unique for Men of War II, like the "Reconaissance" or "Counter-Battery Fire" tutorials.

We have also enlisted the assistance of Helping Hans, who prepared a series of official guide videos, which show both what kind of content you can find in the game, and provide insights into how to utilize various game mechanics to your advantage on the battlefield:

• General Introduction provides a brief overview of the fundamental elements of the game, such as basic controls, types of units, combat interface, available game modes and more.
  
• Game Modes video guide provides a deep dive into the different game modes you can enjoy in Men of War II.
  
• Campaigns, Conquest and Raid Modes describes all single-player campaigns available in the game, and explores the dynamic Conquest and Raid modes thoroughly, as new features for the franchise.
  
• Game Mechanics takes a closer look at some of the game's cool features such as direct control, inventory management, ammunition/fuel resupply and last but definitely not least, the stealth mechanics.
  
• Fortifications video shows you how to build different types of defensive structures, dig trenches, lay landmines, and much more.

We are also pleased to say that there is an amazingly friendly and helpful community forming around the game, and you can find various other guides, tips and tricks by fellow Commanders posted on the Men of War II Official Discord Server[discord.com], which is also the best place to get any questions answered directly by members of both Best Way and Fulqrum Publishing teams.

We will soon bring you more information about upcoming updates, but if you are already enjoying the game and want to support the development team, consider writing a review here on Steam - it really makes a difference.

And as always, we will see you on the battlefield soon, Commanders!

• Improved stability of sound playback
  
• Fixed a crash happening for some players after selection change
  
• Fixed causes for crashes in rendering code
  
• Fixed an issue causing the 'withdraw' action to not check its conditions when activated via hotkey
  
• Fixed an issue with pause in inventory for multi-player

• AFK is no longer used in single-player mode (players will no longer be kicked out of single-player games for inactivity).
  
• Game pause and save functions now work in all game types if only one player is present.
  
• Fixed an issue causing the game to crash to the desktop when manipulating towers.
  
• Fixed an issue causing incorrect detection of unresponsive dedicated servers, leading to server crashes.

• "Test" mode: All unit limits have been removed.
  
• "Front Line" mode: For the AI defensive units, accuracy and overall health was reduced by 50%.

• Increased fragmentation damage to infantry.
  
• Increased suppression time for infantry in trenches under autocannon fire.
  
• Improved accuracy of anti-tank rifles at a range of 80-100 meters.
  
• Increased component damage for armor-piercing shells.

• "Operation Lüttich": Fixed a bug where some units were invincible. Additionally, the retreat zone has been refined.
  
• Historical campaign "Operation Overlord": Added the LVT1 amphibious vehicle to the tech tree.
  
• Fixed minor bugs in the missions “Vanguard”, “Funeral Alarm”, and “With Fire and Steel”.
  
• Fixed an issue where players might not receive rewards for completing one of the dynamic campaigns.

• Fixed an issue causing the maximum territory control numbers to be cut off in the main combat interface.
  
• Fixed an issue causing the interface to not display upon loading a game after a mission failure/victory.
  
• Disabled the "Restart" and "Load" buttons in the mod editor's game menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where long chat messages would extend off the screen.
  
• Added images/artworks for some battalions.
  
• Added a special window with useful tips.
  
• Added the ability to scroll through the list of invited players in multiplayer mode.
  
• Refined and improved the "Vacate Slot" button functionality in custom lobby.
  
• Added an animation to the bell icon to highlight incoming team invitations.

• Fixed an issue causing artillery spotters' flare not working when it hit a trench.
  
• Fixed the hatch on the KV-1 tank being always open.
  
• Added increased accuracy of each subsequent shot for sub-caliber ammunition.
  
• Disabled ammo resupply for unmanned vehicles.
  
• Fixed the sound for the GAZ-AA truck (supply).
  
• Fixed the battalion composition for a Soviet AI-controlled battalion, which could field German units instead.
  
• Fixed the armor value of the T-95 tank's command turret.
  
• The crew size for the T-34 minesweeper, Piper L-4 Grasshopper plane, and The Fieseler Fi 156 plane has been corrected.
  
• Fixed camera position after exiting first-person view.
  
• Rebuilt the shader cache for Linux/Steam Deck, fixing several crashes.

[discord.com]