What will happen to BG3?

BG3 will remain on Steam as-is. The one remaining official server (Frankfurt) will be switched over to run BG4. The website and discord server will shift focus on BG4 as well, though BG3 talk would still be welcome.

Will BG4 be free?

Yes—this is a legal requirement considering all of the game content that will be inheritied from BG3.

What engine will BG4 use and why?

We have decided to use Unreal Engine 5 instead of Source. The Source engine is going on twenty years old. What upgrades have been made to the engine (CSGO, Source 2, etc) are kept private by Valve, and even if Valve did release them, at this point we would not trust Valve to maintain and document them well.

Compared to Source, UE5 is much more well-documented, actively maintained, and it is much easier to find or train volunteer developers for it. This is the main reason; UE5’s improved graphical capabilities are only a bonus.

Does UE5 miss out on anything Source has?

Source’s only advantage is that it was made with modding in mind. That doesn’t affect us developers at all—UE5’s development tools far surpasses Source’s—but it does affect players who might want to make custom maps. As such, creating our own in-game map editor is one of the goals on our roadmap.

There are other small things Source has—an easily accessible console and cfg system, for example, and this is already being remade for BG4.

What will BG4’s focus be on?

In terms of setting, the game will still take place during the American War of Independence. However, the team and class system is already being redesigned to support more factions/settings that could be added in the future.

In terms of gameplay, the game will focus on the close-quarters skirmish gamemode that distinguishes our games from others. Other gamemodes will be at least as supported as they are in BG3, but skirmish will be the main focus and where BG3 and BG4 will be most different.

How will BG4 compare to other similar games like Holdfast?

As mentioned above, the small player count, competitive, fast-paced arcade-style action is where our game stands out among the rest. This is what we consider to be our main unique offering, and so this is what we will have in BG4.

As always, BG4’s very low price (free!) also distinguishes us (for better or worse), and we also think our map editor will help a lot.

How many BG3 assets will be reused?

A lot, but not all. When we turned BG2 into BG3, we reused a lot of assets, cut out others, and made new ones. This will happen for BG4 as well. Anything from HL2 (ex. some common props, third person player animations) will have to be removed and/or recreated. Assets that were made specifically for BG3 (ex. the swivel gun model) are more likely to be directly ported. Old high-importance models that had been from BG2 (such as the frankly outdated Haudenosaunee character model) will have to be remade. Most non-HL2 sounds are likely to be ported.

What high-level new features are being considered?

This list is in no particular order, and are in general of a lower development priority than just getting the base game working.

• In-game map-editor; the maps would be saved to JSON files that could easily be shared between players and servers. A JSON format would also make possible someone writing a VMF to JSON convertor, though there’d be a lot of limitations with that.
• Colourblind mode(s), to make team affiliation easier to identify for all players. This will be much easier to implement in UE5 than Source.
• An in-game ranked matchmaking system; if this happens and gets popular (i.e. several matches happening at once), it would require the support of clans offering their own servers for pugs.
• A ‘Valley Forge’ training mode that teaches new players how to play the game.
• An improved in-game hint system. Ex. the first time the player opens the class menu, we could give a guided tour of all the buttons and options.
• Improved in-game match mechanics; ex. not having to re-load the map to change halves, a built-in pause/timeout system.
• If the progression system makes a return, it will probably be cosmetic-only.
  

What gameplay changes are being considered?

Our plans in this regard are quite open-ended and subject to change, so don’t get offended! We’re just brainstorming here. Focusing on the skirmish gamemode specifically, we ask ourselves:

• Is there a way to make a skirmish match self-balancing? Ex. if one side has 1000 points more than the other, how do we give the losing team a reasonable chance to rebound? This could make exact team balance in pugs less important, though better players would obviously still have an advantage.
• Could we experiment with how fullcaps work? This relates to the self-balancing. Ex. we could make successive fullcaps worth fewer and fewer points?
• Could we experiment with different respawn timers for each team? This could relate to self-balancing, or allow for more unique map designs.
• Could we add a sprinting system? What would that look like?
• One difference between BG2 and BG3 was that non-infantry classes became much more unique: the officer buffs, damage resistance/weakness, the slow effect. Can we lean into this even more, in different ways (i.e. find a more popular alternative to the slow effect)? Should we?
• Another difference between BG2 and BG3 was the weapon variety. In BG2, every British infantryman used the ‘Brown Bess’ (i.e. the Short Pattern) and every American infantryman used the ‘American Brown Bess’, with other muskets only being used in linebattle. It personally does me great joy to see how much this has changed with BG3. However it could be said that BG3 has too many weapons in some cases, weapons that aren’t distinct enough from one another. How many weapon options should BG4 have? Is it the number that’s in question, or can we have the high number while making them more distinct?
• One new feature I’m strongly considering is making BG4 have a much, much more customizable weapon loadout system. I.e. Within the rules of your chosen class, choose your primary and secondary (and tertiary?) weapons separately, choose how much ammo to bring with you and what types (buck and ball?), choose ‘accoutrements’, etc. Ex. an officer could choose to bring a second pistol with a different ammo type, at the cost of more ‘weight’ slowing the player down or slowing down their melee. This could really open the door in terms of gameplay possibilities, but there could need to be a lot of caveats and restrictions in place for competitive settings.
  • For the list of chooseable ‘accoutrements’, these could include:
    • Standard bayonet
    • Longer bayonet at the cost of weight
    • Waxed waterproof ammo
    • Calibrated locks for faster lock times
    • Useable flash hole pick for faster lock times
    • Telescope (for linebattle)
    • Bandages?
    • Weapon slings
    • Different blade edges (serrated, poisoned)
    • Different grenade fuses
• Similar to the above point, but not intrinsically tied to it: we could add a ‘perk’ system. Each class would come with a built-in perk defining the unique features of that class (ex. officer having the officer buffs). Then the player could choose 1-2 additional ‘perks’ out of 3-? options to upgrade their character in unique ways, some of which could also class-unique. Ex. British Light Infantry could choose to have less stamina drain, or to move slightly faster while reloading.
  

How might shooting change?

In general, we might aim to make shooting less effective, particularly in the skirmish gamemode. The easy way to do this would be to increase hipfire inaccuracy. Increasing the standard lock time is also an option. We could also make shooting drain stamina, which would make shooting a riskier prospect against enemies near melee range.

Increasing the skill ceiling like this could have a downside, however: shooting is the great equalizer, and if it’s made less effective, then differences in players’ melee skills will have a greater impact on matches. This could relate to earlier points about self-balancing matches.

As far as new shooting features go, reload cancel is much more on the table than before. Another possible new feature is post-mortem shooting; i.e., in BG3 a player dying cancels out any shots pending from the lock time, and this could be changed.

How might melee change?

The basics of the melee system will be recreated to match BG3’s. Head stabs will still insta-kill in most cases. Weapon-specific melee stat changes are bound to occur.

What is the development timeline like?

Currently, we only have an end-of-year goal, which is:

• Working multiplayer connectivity
• 3 classes per team: infantry, officer, slasher
• Basic team and class menus
• Basic HUD
• Working skirmish gamemode with flags, score, fullcaps, map timer, etc.

This target would make the game theoretically playable, though a lot of unique player models and animations might still be missing at this point.

Beyond the end of the year—we’ll have to see! There are only 2 developers working on the project at this moment.

Old BG3 FAQ

What kind of game is Battle Grounds 3?

The Battle Grounds 3 is a multiplayer first person shooter which takes place during the American War of Independence. Much of the game focuses on close-quarters melee combat in skirmishes and sieges, while there are also long-range tactical linebattles.

What’s new in Battle Grounds 3?

So many things are new and improved. The game is now on the Source 2013 engine. Graphics have been upgraded across the board. There are new classes, new weapons, and new game mechanics. The classic decade-old maps have been recreated, and new maps added. There is a new AI, allowing for single player play against bots.

How do I get the game?

Battle Grounds 3 is available on Steam as Early Access. We do not yet have a certain release date for a final version of the game.

How much does Battle Grounds 3 cost?

Zero. Battle Grounds has always been and always will be free. There are no plans for purchasable or tradable items.

What is the history of the game?

Battle Grounds 1, released in 2001 as a mod for Half-Life, was the pioneer of musket and bayonet games. Then, Battle Grounds 2 was released in 2005 as a mod for Half-Life 2. The two games enjoyed great success, being played by thousands of players. Interest began to waiver around 2010-2012 as new musket-based games came out. Yet the development team slowly continued to release patches and features for Battle Grounds 2 until 2016.

The earliest work on Battle Grounds 3 began in 2013, when the Source 2013 engine was released. While most of the focus was on patching Battle Grounds 2, up into 2016 the maps were ported and beautified into the 2013 engine. The pace began to pick up and most of the game’s other content was completed in 2017. At this point the game was still unannounced. Beta testing with the still-active veteran players began in November 2017. Feedback has been continuously addressed and more content created, leading us to the point where we are now.

Will development continue after release?

Much of this depends on the feedback received after release. We have several ideas in mind, however these extras may instead be added to the Early Access version as we build up toward the final release.