Devblog: Update 64 and Roadmap

In this devblog we will be going over what's coming in Update 64 and what the roadmap ahead looks like. The current goal for development is to iterate rapidly on the features introduced in Airborne, improve balance across the game, and focus on quality of life over content. To reach these goals, we will be operating a bit differently in the coming months. We will be iterating faster, collecting feedback sooner, and communicating more frequently. The roadmap below represents the plan for how we intend to do this.

Roadmap

Update 64

This month, we will be releasing Update 64, which will be focused on providing more options for ground forces to counter air, factional balance, and quality of life. This update will be going into dev branch next week and will launch in the last week of May. The release notes will be coming alongside dev branch, but further below in this blog is a preview of what to expect.

Six Week Updates

After Update 64, the plan is to release the next few minor updates much faster than in prior years. The intention is to deliver these updates 6 weeks apart. This will give us the chance to run a live war, collect feedback from the participating players, and implement changes based on the immediate data. Smaller changes can be implemented for the next update, while other larger requested changes could be started sooner. To facilitate this process, wars must complete within 6 weeks with a possibility of a draw if neither side has claimed sufficient territory.

Future

After these six-week updates, the longer term roadmap is to continue to expand Foxhole with new systems, features, and content. The possibilities may include new ventures into armoured warfare, an expanded naval arsenal, special infantry armaments, and more. There is obviously a lot of iterative work to be done first, but in the further future we believe that with land, naval, and air gameplay working cohesively, the possibilities for Foxhole will be more exciting than ever before.

Update 64 Preview

Anti-Aircraft Features

One of the big goals of Update 64 is to provide better options for players on the ground to counter aircraft. We want to create more opportunities for individual players to deter enemy aircraft from loitering over active battlefields.

Mobile Anti-Aircraft

Each faction is receiving a new Light Tank with dedicated AA mounts, available in the early war. Their twin flak cannons fire a new magazine-based light AA shell that deals moderate damage at mid to high elevations. Their main advantage is providing mobile AA coverage capable of protecting a moving frontline.

These new tanks are buildable from a Garage, making them as accessible as possible. They can also be used in direct-fire mode to eliminate large clumps of exposed infantry.

Machine Gun AA Mode

Any mounted Machine Gun can now enter Anti-Aircraft mode to attack targets in the sky. This will work with any mount, including Tripods, Half-Tracks, Gunboats, and Train Cars. This provides players with an item that can be produced both at the Mass Production Factory and Facilities that can act as an immediate deterrent for aircraft directly on the frontline. Machine Guns mounted on vehicles can fill the role of countering low-flying aircraft when the new AA Light Tank isn't available.

Smoother Aircraft Movement

A significant amount of time was spent optimizing the networking code for aircraft to make their movement more smooth, especially for players observing them from the ground. This will make it easier for ground based players to track and hit planes more precisely, giving them improved agency to counter aircraft. These improvements will also benefit the air-to-air combat experience.

Quality of Life Features

One of the big pieces of feedback we've received post-Airborne is that quality of life changes have been in short supply. These are changes to improve the moment to moment experience of playing Foxhole. On that note, we would like to give a shout-out to the "Intern Devstream" from the community that served as inspiration for several of these features. Squad Leaders Map Icons Squad leaders are now visible on the map to squad members when they’re in the same region, improving squad cohesion and positioning.

Map Tooltips Pins & Deltas View

Map tooltips can now be pinned across play sessions and display stockpile deltas. Pinning a map tooltip will keep it open without the need to hover over a structure's icon, and stockpile deltas show logistics players what supplies have been added and removed from a stockpile since the structure was pinned. Logistics players can utilize this to get a better sense of stockpile usage over time. There's also a new button for copying Stockpile data to the clipboard as CSV (Comma-Separated Values).

Refinery and Assembly Station Status on Tooltip Refinery and Assembly Stations' map tooltips now display their on-going production status. This allows logistics players to monitor progress remotely, allowing them to plan and operate more efficiently.

Stockpile Expiration Alert

A new alert is sent to warn users when their reserved stockpile is about to be released to public.

Vehicle Anchoring

Certain valuable vehicles now have a new parking mechanic. Similar to anchoring a Large Ship at a safe location, Battle Tanks, Super Tanks, Locomotives, and Tempest Cannons can now be anchored in place for safe storage. When a vehicle is reserved and anchored by a Squad, it is immobilized and its inventory cannot be accessed. This will lessen the need for “crane parking".

Vehicle Squad Reservation UI

A vehicle's remaining Squad reservation time is now shown in its UI. This removes the guesswork out of knowing when the claim needs to be refreshed.

MPF Vehicles can be Re-Crated

Another notable change is that vehicles produced in an MPF can now be re-crated in stockpiles, allowing for a more streamlined method of equipment retrieval.

Player Context Menu in Map Posts The player context menu of commenters in map posts can now be opened, allowing for better coordination and communication with your team members.

Repairs QoL

When repairing a vehicle or structure, the on-screen notifier shows the name of what is being targeted for repair.

RPG Aiming Improvements

Several issues that contributed to the RPG aim line being difficult to use have been resolved, making the interface more predictable and consistent.

Additional Quality of Life

There are many other quality of life improvements included in this update, here are just a few:

Ranks Capitalization	Open/Close Gate Keybind	Damaged Vehicles can be submitted to Stockpiles
Crane placement override with Shift	Increased Retrieve Custom max amount	New map filter for Ships
AA Mode UI Prompt	Tracks on Roads no longer slow down Vehicles	Faster Freighter Deploy/Undeploy

Balance Changes

Update 64 will include many neutral and factional balance changes. We have been monitoring the wars closely and have been making careful balance adjustments, a process that will continue into dev branch as we work with the community to find the optimal set of changes. Here are some examples of the neutral changes:

• Concrete bunkers settle time has been reduced

• All vehicle trailers are now produced at the Garage

• New recipe for gravel from Salvage

• Melee weapons buffed

• Armour uniforms buffed

• Trenches are even more resistant to high explosives

• Many more to come in the release notes next week

Aircraft Gameplay

We have been assessing Aircraft gameplay since launch and focusing on several key issues: Aircraft balance against land, factional balance, and user experience. Our approach has been to balance between resolving what can be done in a hotfix, what can be done in Update 64, and what can be done in the in the roadmap ahead. The changes below are just one stepping stone in the process and the intention is to continue to improve Aircraft gameplay in the coming months.

Small Aircraft Parts QoL Aircraft assembling and disassembling is another topic we have tackled in this update. Small Aircraft Parts can now be submitted to and retrieved from Aircraft by hand. Wearing an Engineer Uniform reduces the time needed for assembly and disassembly.

Weather Impacts Aircraft Lift Weather now has a greater impact on an Aircraft's flight performance; flying into high intensity storms will reduce its lift and maximum speed, making flying more difficult and dangerous. The higher the intensity of the storm, the more an aircraft will be negatively impacted. The hope with this change is to introduce areas of the world that will see decreased aircraft activity as a benefit for players on the ground.

New Visual Indicators for Pilots A height indicator has been added to aircraft elevation lines: Players can now quickly tell whether another plane is above or below them by looking at the elevation circle: if only the bottom half of the circle is visible, the aircraft is above; if only the top half is visible, it’s below.

Aircraft Hit Detection Improvements

Hit detection has been improved for Aircraft. The same network rewind approach used to improve infantry combat has been adapted to Aircraft. This means hit-scan weapons should be able to hit these aircraft without needing to lead the target as much as before.

This will also have a noticeable impact across the whole game for shooting at aircraft. Players will find it easier to target individual aircraft parts. Aircraft defensive gunner mounts will be more effective, and ground-based AA can more easily score hits on aircraft doing flybys.

Tech Tree & Rocket Changes

The position of the Heavy Bombers and Rocket Site on the tech tree have been adjusted, with Bombers coming later and Rockets coming sooner. Additionally, Rocket fuelling and launch times have been reduced. This provides a window of time where rockets can be constructed, armed, and fired before Bombers arrive to counter them.

Aircraft vs Ground/Naval Balance Changes

The intended role of aircraft is for them to be launched in large but infrequent strategic sorties. A sortie should consist of many aircraft flying together with a specific objective in mind, such as disabling an advancing tank line ahead of a counter push, or countering a naval bombardment. After the sortie, the aircraft should need time to rearm and repair, giving a period of reprieve to the frontline.

Many of these changes are geared toward reducing the amount of independent loitering over a frontline region. It should be considered a risk to take just one aircraft into a hot combat zone.

• Scout Planes are being reigned in. Many changes including: health, cost, maximum range, reduced ammo capacity, as well as associated changes like Aircraft Hit Rewinding and the additional early game AA options should hopefully relegate these vehicles to niche roles.

• Torpedo Bombers now fire a new Medium Torpedo which only has a 20% chance to cause large holes (or else will cause small holes)

• The threshold for many aircraft parts to become wrecked has generally been increased. This should encourage players to try to spread out their damage across more parts of an enemy target to induce a crash landing, rather than focus a single part to destruction.

• All Bombers and Scout Planes now require ammo to be loaded using a Wrench

  • This encourages ground crew gameplay and increases the turnaround time for aircraft to return to a frontline.

• Bombers fire rate has been decreased so bombs are more spread out

New Scout Planes & Balance

Many new players discover and learn about aircraft by flying the more available scout planes, so it is important that both factions are getting an equal chance to train their new pilots on equipment that is comparable to each other.

Each faction will be getting a second scout plane that is designed to be a close match to the mirrored equivalent on the opposing faction. These aircraft should bring symmetrical balance for attributes such as maneuverability, turn rate, climb speed, and more. Note that while two new scout planes are being added to the game, the intent is for scout planes to have a less significant impact than before, especially with the other aircraft changes outlined above.

The new Colonial Scout Plane will launch miniature Torpedoes and be very maneuverable for air-to-air engagements. Its low profile and narrow tail will make it a difficult target to hit. The new Warden Scout Plane will be able to drop surface mines directly on enemy ships, into the water to create obstacles for small ships, or block vital water-based logistics routes.

World Improvements

As part of the continued effort to improve the fidelity of the world of Foxhole, a detailing and refinement pass on the new north-western hexes have been made, including Palantine Berm, Pari Peak, Olavis Wake, The Gutter and Kuura Strand.

New points of interest have been added, foliage has been polished and balance passes have been made to help these maps better reflect their original vision.