Greetings, Commanders! We have hinted at it before, but we've been working on another major update for Men of War II - and today is the day, the Firestorm Update is Live! As usual, the full change log is available at the end of this article, but the absolute highlights are the new flamethrower-based units - 13 vehicle types in total and each nation gets a new flamethrower infantry squad to boot!
That is not all, however; significant improvements have been made to flame-based visual effects to the visual (including new mechanics for burnt ground and different death animations), audio (redesigned SFX for all flame-based weapons) as well as gameplay (flamethrower-based vehicles now carry fire extinguishers, for example) aspects of Men of War II. On top of that, and keeping with the scorching heat theme, a new map from the African biome makes a debut too - Sandy Path, which is playable in the Frontline, Combat, Assault Zones, and Tanks Only modes. It features new assets, updated environment models, and completely redesigned audio for the biome! We have big news for our beloved modding community as well, a new material editor is available for them to use. We have also made mods much easier to use via lobbies. There is a lot more that's been added, improved and fixed in this update, we absolutely recommend reading the Change Log below where we go into full details of each part of the patch. But first, let's turn on the heat with a new trailer presentation of the Firestorm update! [previewyoutube=vGF8jzhDEok;full][/previewyoutube] And now, without further ado, the full Change Log:

Firestorm Update

New Battalions

• Each playable nation now has access to the 235th Flamethrower Brigade. This battalion specializes in flamethrower-equipped vehicles and incendiary weapons. It features unique units not available in other tank regiments, such as flamethrower infantry in the first echelon or combinations of vehicles and Molotov-wielding troops.
• New battalions are also available for bots. Special bot configurations can be selected in the lobby settings.
• The new battalions are accessible in Raid mode after restarting the campaign.

New Units

• FOG-2: A flame-throwing support weapon that projects pressurized streams of fire.
• 125mm Ampulomet (1941): A lightweight launcher that fires incendiary ampules.
• T-34-76 M1941 flame-throwing tank with FOG-1: A medium tank equipped with FOG flamethrowers. Includes an option to fire from individual sides or unleash all at once with a special command.
• OT-34-85: A modified T-34-85 featuring a flamethrower mounted in the hull.

• Pz.Kpfw. II Flamm Ausf. A "Flamingo": A light tank with dual flamethrowers mounted in front.
• Pz.Kpfw. III (Fl): A flamethrower tank based on the Ausf M model.
• Flammpanzer 38(t): A flamethrower tank based on the Hetzer chassis.
• StuG III Ausf. F (Flamm): A flamethrower variant of the StuG III Ausf. F.
• Flamm. Pz.Kpfw. B2 740(f): A heavy flamethrower tank with an external fuel tank for added durability.
• Riflemen with Abwehrflammenwerfer 46: Infantry equipped with disposable flamethrowers. A new UI command, Flamethrower Shot, has been added for convenience, functioning similarly to grenade launcher commands.

• M3A1 "Satan": A flamethrower version of the M3A1 light tank used by the Marine Corps.
• M4A4 "Sherman Crocodile": A medium flamethrower tank with a separate fuel trailer (non-detachable for improved realism).
• T33: A prototype flamethrower tank based on the Jumbo chassis, equipped with the long-range E12R4 flamethrower.

New Map

• A new map, Sandy Path, has been added to Frontline, Combat, Assault Zones, and Tanks Only modes.
• The map is set in an African biome featuring new assets, updated environment models, and completely redesigned audio for the biome.

Classic Men of War Features

• Stamina is back. Now, the infantry uses the stamina reserve as in the classic games of the series. In terms of controls, the hotkey or a button on the Hotbar to speed up is still available, but for fans of classical mechanics, the good old double click will work as well.
• Added mechanics of the influence of the number of crew on the effectiveness of a unit. Even though in previous games of the series, only an indicator in the interface was shown, and there were no gameplay penalties. In Men of War II we have now made it into a flexible parameter system that allows to influence the characteristics of units depending on the number and quality of the crew. Crew efficiency is shown by the average efficiency percentage on the unit's structure diagram. It now influences:
  • Movement speed (Fewer gunners push a gun more slowly);
  • Gun pointing accuracy (Lack of specialists in the crew causes a gun to fire less accurately);
  • Gun reload speed (An incomplete crew and lack of a specialist results in a slower reload speed).

New Gameplay Mechanics

• Fire Extinguishers: Flamethrower-equipped vehicles now include fire extinguishers, allowing players to extinguish fires during combat.

Audio Updates

• Redesigned sounds for flamethrowers and incendiary weapons.
• New sound effects for MG-34, MG-42, Browning M1919, and DT machine guns. [previewyoutube=p2cPN7HvWxE;full][/previewyoutube]
• New movement sounds for the Pz III vehicles family. [previewyoutube=EM-_i9Sd33o;full][/previewyoutube]
• Added sound effects for fire extinguishers.
• Overhauled environmental audio for the African biome.
• Wind sound effects added to other weather settings.

Scorched earth

• Added applying soot to the surface of the ground after fires and incendiary ammunition explosions. Now the battlefield changes even more noticeably.

Visual Effects

• Optimized flamethrower fire and object-burning effects.
• New effects for ampulomet incendiary rounds and Molotov cocktails.

Animations

• Added death animations specific to fire-based fatalities.

Miscellaneous Improvements

• New background grass render
  • The original grass didn't interact with lighting at all and looked extremely outdated.
  • Grass casts a shadow
  • Grass now supports the SSAO effect
  • Grass now supports materials including PBR
  • Grass supports rendering distance settings.
  • The grass drawing tool has been improved. You can set the density of the grass model placement grid on the land and divide the grass into pools like with water.
  • You can now specify the density and scale spread in the grass pool property
  • Grass can now adjust to the camera position so that it is more visible
  • Background grass can now also burn.
• Render
  • Added smooth fading of grass and distant objects
  • Added burning of soldiers
• Wind
  • Added wind strength in the environment settings.
  • Added gusts of wind
  • Configured realistic grass vibrations depending on the wind strength.
  • Adjustable grass sensitivity
• Penetration marker
  • Now cumulative shells have a penetration marker similar to an armor-piercing shell.
  • For a high-explosive shell, a marker was not added, but a scatter circle was made, by which you can understand how effectively the current high-explosive shell can cope with the target. Will the damage be blocked or will the target receive all the energy of the explosion.

Infantry combat fixes

• Fixed a bug that could cause cover to be displayed on the client that was not on the server. The order to move to such cover was not carried out by the infantry.
• Added reset of the reload order by the order to move.
• Added reset of the reload order by the order to throw a grenade.

Infantry Animations

• Returned the animation of changing infantry weapons.
• Reworked and added new animations for kicks in hand-to-hand combat.
• Updated the animations of bandaging a soldier lying down.

Unit settings, balance

• Reworked the occurrence of fire erupting in flamethrower vehicles. Now, it is not a random event. The higher the caliber of the shell, the greater the chance of occurrence. Penetrations with small calibers have a cumulative effect.
• BM-13 and BM-31 received realistic horizontal guidance (angle value and axis position).
• Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. C. Command Points decreased from 5 to 4.
• Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf N. No longer unmasked when crossing the front line, as stated in the description.
• M18 recoilless rifle. Reduced the radius of anti-personnel damage of the fragmentation grenade by 33%.
• Noise level display on the icon is enabled for infantry with rifle grenade launchers.

Special Effects

• Two new "cook-off" death effects for tanks.
• Added shell casing effects for mounted machine guns.
• New mortar strike flare effects for officers.

Models & Textures

• New models for concrete walls and large fuel barrels.
• New oil pump model.
• Desert textures were added for the trenches.
• Added new asphalt decals in high resolution and PBR materials.
• Updated textures for several Soviet tanks and trucks.
• Updated textures for Ferdinand.

Sound Improvements

• Randomized pitch variation added to sound effects.
• Improved sound panning for better spatial awareness.

Modding Support

• Added a material editor that allows complete customization of material appearances and the addition of specific settings.
• New or modified materials can now be added to mods.
• Mods are now required to add their campaigns and missions by modifying offline data. See the "mod_example" as a reference.
• The package manager now allows for reordering the application sequence of mods.
• Package conflicts are no longer an issue, as they are resolved based on the order of application.
• Lobby Mod Support:
• Lobbies now support mods, and remember the mods a player uses when creating a lobby.
• Upon joining, players will be prompted to enable the required mods.
• When starting a game on a local server, mods will automatically be enabled for all players.
• A mod filter has been added to the interface.
• Full customization of the out-of-battle interface is now possible through mods.
• Mods can add unique artworks for battalions and units to the interface.
• Mods now support significantly increased particle counts.
• A new trailer suspension mechanism has been added (used for the flamethrower tank "Crocodile").
• The zone flag in the editor has been replaced with a 3D model.
• Added support for lobbies with mods and passwords simultaneously.
• You can now add labels to mods that describe their features.

Interface Improvements

• Improved the appearance of sliders in the settings menu. They are now more noticeable and cannot be mistaken for other elements.
• Removed unnecessary notifications when exiting a lobby.
• In offline mode, lobbies no longer ask for passwords or visibility settings.
• Added the ability to report another player's behavior to a moderator.
• The Code of Conduct has been added to the text of the license agreement.

Miscellaneous Fixes

• The WASD camera movement speed now uses the game settings value.
• Budget data is now included in-game save files.
• Fixed how destroyed by fire vehicles are tracked in the statistics.
• The render distance for vehicles has been increased.
• Objects at maximum render distance now fade out smoothly instead of disappearing abruptly.
• Officers and Storm Pioneer Commanders now have a special icon on the minimap.
• Bots can now effectively use officers, with the 23rd Reconnaissance Regiment bot utilizing them the most actively.
• Fixed some gaps in unit information within the battalion constructor.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to kill allies using a fuel truck with barrels.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to disembark paratroopers from an airplane via the crew panel.
• Fixed the number of crew for the M1 anti-aircraft gun.
• Added display of punishments (bans, mutes) in the game menu as a bar at the top with the type of punishment displayed.
• Fixed tracks of Sdkfz251c.
• T-34 mine trawl suspension operation has been improved.
• Minor fixes to the American campaign maps.