Celebrating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, we are releasing the largest update the game has ever seen! We are introducing new weapons, map changes, new gameplay elements, balance tweaks and the much anticipated progression system. Without much further ado:

Weapons

TEN new weapons:

• Light Model Charleville /w Bayonet
  • A musket with average melee range and a quicker than average melee refire time
• Pattern 1756 “Common” Artillery Carbine /w Bayonet
  • A shorter version of the sea service, with higher accuracy.
• Pattern 1770 Serjeant’s Fewzee
  • An accurate musket with a short lock time, yet has no bayonet and has lower damage
• Pattern 1718 “Old Pattern” Long Land Musket
  • Longer melee range and higher damage than the long pattern, yet more unwieldly
• M1777 French Cavalry Carbine
  • A more accurate officer’s carbine with less damage
• Blunderbuss
  • Deadly at point blank range
• Dagger
  • A weak melee weapon that requires 2 headshots to kill
• French Rapier
  • A longer range sword with smaller melee sweep and damage
• Trade Musket
  • An unwieldly, yet powerful weapon. At shorter ranges 1 hit kills.
• Broken Bottle Meme Weapon
  • Humiliate your opponents by smashing them in with a broken bottle

Miscellaneous Weapon Changes

• All weapon slings are now jiggly.
• Long pattern weapon model has been redone.
• “Brown Bess Carbine” renamed to “Royal Forester’s Carbine” and the model has also been redone.
• French Grenadier’s M1777 model has been improved.
• Spanish Mosquete lock time nerfed.

Historical Weapon Mode

• New mp_year and mp_year_accuracy server variables control which weapons are available.
  • On by default.
  • mp_year is the historical accuracy setting to use, while mp_year_accuracy controls whether or not to use mp_year at all. Set mp_year_accuracy to 0 to disable this system.
  • Ex. no Pattern 1776 rifles before 1776

Maps

sg_siege

• Rebalanced tickets for both teams; defenders now have fewer tickets.
• Updated graphics in certain places.
• Attackers must traverse spiked barricades in order to assault front gate.
• Swivel damage greatly increased.
• Secondary containment zone built behind front gate to slow down attackers.
• Tunnel door can now be locked by defenders to halt the flow of attackers.
• Locked door can be blown open by capturing the tunnel flag.
• Fire trap now lasts much longer and covers the flag, allowing defenders to respawn.

bg_townguard

• Redesigned town center inn and swivel gun house.
• Replaced brazier brush with 3D model.
• Added ropes with turnbuckles for roof traversal to a few buildings.
• Both teams have sniper spawns: Americans – church tower and roof, British – inn near Street flag.
• Opened up church graveyard a bit for easier movement, can also get onto church roof via scaffolding.
• Other small additions for more detail throughout map.
• All lights with gentle pulse have been switched to normal appearance for performance improvements.
• Grenadiers can now climb the ladders.

bg_wrecked

• Added “fun” spawns to rowboats in ocean.
• Fixed displacement texture blend bug.
• Replaced Half Life: 2 sand texture.
• Swivel gun and ammo refill area added to cliff near ship bow.

lb_battleofconcord

• Fixed missing models.
• Retextured farmhouse near American spawn and added planks going to door.
• Added few more props near bridge.
• Updated ground and water textures.

sg_boston

• Crashes have been fixed.
• Boston has been re-added to the default map rotation.
• Balcony flag gives attackers extra tickets.
• Bomb cart is faster, and on detonation drains all of defenders tickets.

Progression System

Overview

• New uniforms and most of new weapons locked behind EXP-based progression system.
• Earn EXP by killing enemies, completing objectives, and winning rounds and matches.
• Play the game to earn EXP to level up, and then trade in earned rum rations for the items.
• No “Pay to Win”
• All new weapons are unlocked in private matches.
• Players who participated in the beta receive a loyalty bonus of 25 Rum Rations.

New Uniforms

• British Officer now has a new and improved model (for everyone, this doesn’t have to be unlocked)
• De Lancy’s Brigade uniform for British Light Infantry.
• “Queen’s Rangers” uniform for British Light Infantry.
• Régiment de Soissonnais uniform for French Grenadier.
• British 52nd Regiment of Foot Grenadier uniform.
• French Officer conversion for Continental Officer.
• Feathered “Macaroni” Caps.
• Derandomized American Frontiersman Uniforms.
• Derandomized American Militia Uniforms.
• “Easter Egg” Accoutrements, ex. Baguettes in French Grenadier uniform, Emergency tea kit for British Infantry.
• Beta Reward uniform for those who participated in the beta: a Green-and-White American Infantry uniform.

Gameplay Changes

UI Changes

• Fixed respawn timer not appearing on lower resolutions, and realigned nearby HUD elements to remove overlaps and provide cleaner look.
• When spectating a player, that player’s name now always appears on the bottom-left.
• Added a “Damage Over Range Graph” tab to the classmenu for comparing weapon damages over different ranges.
• Added background crosshair texture options in BG3 options.
• Added live crosshair preview to BG3 options.
• Added “Hide Weapon Viewmodel” option to BG3 options.
• Fixed swivel gun and Grenade killfeed icons.
• Added automatic on-screen notifications for when ticket amounts are adjusted by mp_ticket_x_adjust commands.

System Improvements

• Added more sophisticated LOD versions of player models and weapon models, which should improve performance.
• Added more per-player console commands, ex. “heal”, “health”, “shrooms”, “freeze”.
• Official game servers are now 128-tick.

Miscellaneous Gameplay Changes

• Maps can now be both CTF and Skirmish: ex. play CTF on Townguard. Controlled by new mp_flagmode server variable. Can be randomized with mp_flagmode_randomize.
• mp_friendlyfire_swivel now controls whether or not swivel guns deal friendly fire.
• New “fun” spawns are optional; use mp_competitive to turn them off.

Hello friends!

As many of you have heard, rumors have been swirling around that the big update would be released this weekend. While we are working full steam ahead to get those blunderbusses and trade muskets into your hands, we also need to make sure that everything is working as intended. Updates and bugs are hand in hand, and with no dedicated QA team, we need to switch gears to make sure that we catch game breaking bugs before they get thrown in there with all of the shiny new progression system gear. The Anniversary Update is no doubt the biggest update in BG3 history and rivals the biggest BG2 updates, so we need to take a bit of time to make sure that everything gets deployed smoothly. We thank you for your patience and we are just excited as you are about this update.

The Blunderbuss

Find some cover; the blunderbuss is coming! The blunderbuss unleashes a mighty blast that packs a devastating blow at close range. Be advised: Enemies that are unfortunate enough to be close enough to your intended victims upon firing may very well become victims themselves. Those who managed to survive the initial blast will find themselves on the wrong end of a knife (or bottle)!

The Trade Musket

For those who think hiding behind their teammates (to avoid the aforementioned blunderbuss) is a good idea, they better watch out for the trade musket. The large caliber ensures a kill on a hit anywhere on the body, and the bullets pass through their intended victim to strike anything that happens to be behind the primary target.

Cavalry

Last year we announced the first ever deployment of cavalry to the Battle Grounds franchise. Today, we are thrilled to give you a sneak peek at how far we’ve come in realizing that dream. Historical Adviser and Native class voice actor Nathan Hale has once again stepped up to lend his voice to the horse. We are also currently looking for a voice actor for the French version of the horse. If interested, please contact us on discord.

Left Handed Infantry

For those who have honed their skills with musket and bayonet on the battlefield and are searching for something more, look no more! The community of Battle Grounds III has a thriving skirmish and linebattle community with teams of all skill levels.

5v5 League

The 5v5 league is for players who are interested in showcasing their skill on the battlefield. Teams primarily from North America and Europe battle for the title each season. Each match consists of two 20 minute halves. The 5v5 league is played on smaller BG3 maps such as bg_trenton, bg_winterisle, bg_canal and bg_wrecked. Seasons run for round 6-8 weeks, and a match is played each weekend.

Pick Up Games

For those who would like to practice their melee and shooting skills in a semi competitive environment and understand the gameplay of the 5v5 format, pick up games are an excellent choice. Team captains are chosen, and each take turns picking from a pool of players until teams are formed, then they play a 30 minute match on a map of their choice.

Multiclan Linebattle

The multiclan linebattle is a huge linebattle event in which most of the linebattle clans participate in. Player numbers can range anywhere from 60-100 players. The match is played on linebattle maps, such as lb_alpinepass, lb_autumn and lb_princeton. Teams are organized and each team plays 5 rounds on American and British. The best out of 10 wins.

How do I join?!?!

All of the clans listed in the clans page participate in the 5v5 format or the linebattle event, feel free to hop into one of their discords and inquire about joining or participating in the events. The Battle Grounds III Tournaments discord is a great way to join pick up games, get information about the 5v5 league and multiclan events, and participate in various tournaments (with cash prizes!).

Hello Friends!

We are steadily chugging away on new maps, models and gameplay features, and since it’s been a while since our last content update we wanted to give you guys a sneak peek of what we’re working on. Lead Developer “Awesome” has been hard at work coding in the progression system, crafting the UI and modeling the new skins, weapons and cosmetics! During this sneak peek we will be taking a look at the new weapons that will be coming. Here they are, from left to right according to the image above:

Continue reading “2/15 Sneak Peek” →

Hello friends!

After a bit of hibernation during the winter holidays, the dev team has awoken and getting back into the swing of things. To finish off January, we are releasing a few things that we have been working on in the background, and have made some long demanded balance changes.

Weapon Changes

• Reverted hipfire accuracy changes made in the previous shooting update.
• Moving hipfire accuracy has been decreased slightly.
• Decreased Spanish Mosquettes lock time from .03s to .05s (still the fastest locktime)
• Spanish Mosquette is now the default starting weapon for Americans.
• Improved the 1-shot kill range of the Pattern 1776 Rifle.

Discord RPC

• You can now see the server and session details of BG3 players in the BG3 Official Discord.

Bug Fixes

• Grenadier T pose on grenade drop fixed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We’d like to give you a juicy BG3 update to put alongside your thanksgiving spread.

Gameplay Updates

• Grenadiers wielding grenades will now drop them when their throwing arm is injured.

In an effort to move away from point blank hipfiring for easy kills, the following experimental shooting changes were applied:

• Hipfire accuracy cone is now 1.5 times as big as before
• Hipfire accuracy takes slightly longer to reach it’s peak after coming to a standstill
• Bringing up ironsights (ADS time) now takes 25% longer, to reduce unrealistic quick-scoping
• The ‘slow debuff’ applied by shotguns and grenades now only lasts for 4 seconds instead of 5

Map Changes

bg_canal

• Removed first flags, modified other flags into 2/1/2 split
• Opened up the city hall area a bit more
• Flag behavior streamlined with other 5v5 maps

bg_wrecked

• Graphical enhancements, including waves (thanks Taxpayer!)

sg_siege

• Front gate has more health
• Moved tunnel flag further back in favor of defenders
• Main tunnel room made slightly bigger
• Added a room in American spawn to serve as a ‘final stand’ room when tickets run out
• Respawn time lengthened from 7s to 9s to give defenders more time to recover
• British spawn barricade now breaks a second slower to give defenders more time at round start
• Added class limits for grenadiers

Bug Fixes

• Fixed broken ground texture on wrecked
• Fixed glass texture reflection, multiple maps
• Fixed hole in british spawn on siege that allowed for an early exit
• Fixed missing texture on canal

Mapping contest maps released!

At long last, the maps from the contest will be officially released! We know you all have been chomping at the bit to play them, and we have been hard at work bringing the maps and new assets into the game.

Revamp: sg_siege

Lead mapper meat has been taking the bg2 classic sg_siege and bringing it up to par with other bg3 maps such as bg_winterisle and ctf_stonefort! Some of the changes include a reorganized interior with a swivel gun, brand new palisade models, a redone mine and cellar, and smoother overall gameplay. These are welcome changes on an already loved map.

Gameplay tweaks

All 5v5 maps have had flag capture times standardized. The old flag cap time on some maps was 5 seconds, and this has been shifted to 3.5 seconds. This should allow for faster back and fourth gameplay.

Miscellaneous additions and fixes

• New models have been added for mappers and level designers to play with
• Weapon models recompiled by Awesome to fix lighting bugs
• Broken physmeshes on certain props fixed by meat
• Townguard has received another round of graphical updates
• Respawn time on townguard has been reduced by 1 second to account for shorter cap times
• Added 5v5.cfg and pug15.cfg