Trains, flares, the commendation system and more! news

The launch of the combat prototype took more of our time than we expected. We were caught off guard with how many people downloaded the game (which was great!), so we had to spend additional time updating and supporting the it. We are now on track for launching the combat prototype on Steam next week. Stay tuned!

Now that things have settled down a bit, we're back to working on features and content for the future and wanted to share a few things. Keep in mind that any feature or piece of content shown here is a work in progress and subject to change in the future.

Grenades and Flares

We want to introduce flares into the game eventually. This will allow players to mark a location on the battlefield, which will allow for improved geographical coordination with others. We envision this being used in a variety of situations. For example, a player that is behind enemy lines can use this to mark an area as a target for bombardment, while a remote player controlling an artillery battery fires away.

We are also testing out smoke grenades as a means to provide visual cover for close quarters engagements.

Experience & Commendations

Since the beginning of the project, we've always wanted Foxhole to be about collaboration and organic player progression. While we feel that player progression is vital to the game, we don't want that progression to feel artificial or to impact the game in an unfair manner. There are two features we are currently experimenting with.

We're playing around with the idea of having XP in the game, earned by performing various actions that help your team such as combat, building, healing, etc. Earning XP allows you to level up, giving you a symbolic sense of accomplishment without giving you any special abilities or advantages.

We also plan on testing out another feature called Commendations. This will you to "commend" other players in battle that you are impressed by. When a player receives enough commendations, they will receive a new rank. We are interested in this idea because it allows ranks to come organically from the player community.

So in summary, earning XP allows you to level up and receiving commendations allows you to gain a higher rank. Below is an early screenshot of the new player profile screen, where both of these systems will be used.

Trains

We've been fascinated by trains since the start of the project. We believe that trains will eventually play a role in the game. For example, they might be used to transport infantry, weapons, or supplies across the open world. They could be a vital part of an army's supply line. We have also thought it would be cool if players could mount an artillery battery on top of a railway wagon.

Character Concepts

For the combat prototype, we included one character model. It was our first attempt at putting a character into the game.

We are now in the process of concepting new characters for each faction. We eventually want to support a variety of character visuals so that players can differentiate themselves on the battlefield and feel more like a unique soldier in the world.

While Foxhole is inspired by early 20th century warfare, it actually takes place in a fictitious universe where two factions have been at war with each other for a very long time. Our early character designs have been influenced by military garments from a variety of nations from both the world wars. Our goal is to take these designs and add layers of wear and tear to them, to reflect the idea that the world has been at war for decades.