- Pinstripe
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Unknown to the enemy, our troops have been receiving a major overhaul in design behind the scenes. Along with cleaning up our existing animation rig, each individual pig class and their subsequent ranks now have their own unique headwear, gear and accessories!
To start with, we've taken on the Community's suggestion of fattening up our Hogs a little, with the Grunt appearing as the chunkiest of all! After all, it only makes sense that new recruits would be a little out of shape, no?
Promote into the Heavy Weapons Class however and you'll find plenty of pigs that need to be in shape to perform their critical tasks on the battlefield. Our inspiration for the updated Gunner and Bombardier designs stem from the beefy WW1 chaps that manned the Artillery units and Machine Gun posts in No-Mans-Land, with the Gunner carrying an ammo belt and the Bombardier with several shells on his back. There's a clear upgrade in both headwear and attire here too, with the early war hats being upgraded to more solid helmet protection, while the lighter breaches are replaced with the heavier 'Lobster' armour. As is common throughout Hogs - the influence from WW2 is not missed either, as the newer helmets, depending on the team used, are modelled around that time period.
The final Heavy rank of Pyrotechnic differs substantially from the other two, as his designs helps establish him into the fire wielding expert role. His protective suit and gloves, along with the canister on his back, allow him to bring the flamethrower heat to any who stand in his way, while the mask adds a touch of mystery, hiding the crazed hog within!
We've showcased the majority of the Espionage pig designs previously, as the only big changes here come in the form of the Spy. Once again, we've taken the Community's suggestions onboard and gone with what made him iconic in the first place, so for Singleplayer you'll see him without a hat, but he'll be maintaining the suave trenchcoat and shades. As you'll be seeing in future, we'll be repurposing some of the unused cosmetics from Singleplayer into Multiplayer!
So what about the most explosive of the base classes? Well, the Engineering pig designs stem from a more civilian background. During the First World War, miners were instrumental in getting underneath enemy positions and blowing them sky high. They weren't out to impress with any kind of fancy uniform, nor did they have the time to haul around any heavy protective equipment or attire, so this is something we've been keen to encapsulate in that link to civilian life. The civvy breaches, basic cap and shovel of the Sapper show his intention right off the bat, while the more upper class Engineer and Saboteur see a visual upgrade to both their accessories and cleanliness!
And finally we come to perhaps the most important role of all - The Medical Class. What's most apparent here, especially when compared to the original game's medical hog, is the heavier use of white/off white clothing alongside the usual team coloured uniform.
This has been an area our team debated for some time, given the need for ALL pigs types to be easily readable from a distance. Sure, white is easy to spot from far away, but one thing we've always had in the back of our minds has been - what about those player's who suffer from some form colour vision deficiency? How would having a class that uses such a neutral colour affect their ability to read and tell which team they belong to? Because of this, we've carefully ensured that each accessory, whether it be a hot water bottle, medical pouch or pack, is clearly shown in the necessary team colour, furthering the player's ability to identify them successfully while paired with the existing HUD text colouring.
But we're not done yet soldier! Stay tuned for our next devlog video that'll be showcasing our elite singleplayer classes of the Commando, Hero and Legend, not to mention the brand new Ace Class and the multiplayer pigs in future too. Exciting times ahead, but do remember not to tell the enemy this time, loose lips sinks ships!
- Pinstripe
- May 25
- 2 min read
The Latest Patch for all Hogs of War League ISOs is out now. Changes for Season 7 Include:
Pitch Invasion
Map has received an overhaul in design:
four corner platforms on the Pitch are now interconnected with large bridges, allowing for more diverse methods of play in this new high ground. Existing crates remain, attempts were made to drop crates in up top over time, however the way collision works for bridges would always see crates falling through the bridge so this idea was scrapped. Bridge HP set to indestructible, except for corner pieces that instead have very high HP
Minefield has been extended across full length of map, however the quantity of mines diminishes the further away from the centre you go. It can be traversed across quite easily by classes that can see the mines
Additional Jetpack and Rocket crates added either side
x2 high platforms added on either side in each corner with spawns added on top
Chill Hill
F-Rain Airstrike crate changed to Rocket. Temporary 'mini ban' of first turn use of Fire weapons will be in place this season as a means to resolve insta-kills via Artilleries
Pigin' Hell
x4 Jetpack crates added, 2 each dropping on even & odd turns at different points during game to allow for more navigation across the map (are you tough enough to make it across the giant minefield?)
The Lake
Central spawn moved off the island
Hedge Maze
Port 1 pigs swapped corners to ensure P1 doesn't always have easy first turn tranquiliser, given Port 2 tends to be bottlenecked on first turn
Graveyard Shift
All spawns are now mixed, should hopefully feel a little more evenly matched between port 1 & 2. This includes moving P2 off the highest grave mound
Square Off
Both centre island spawns ports mixed (previously there was a chance two pigs of the same team would spawn on one island, making for easy double kills)
Ice-Flow
Single spawn ports switched, overall there are more spawns on the low ground than high (7 high, 13 low)
- Pinstripe
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
Our troops have been making headway, on the Moon! Rejoice as Hogs of War Lardcore ventures deeper down the lunar rabbit hole!
Pigs in Space is where we make our first landing. New types of set dressing (including those that might make you question whether the whole 'space' thing has really just been hoaxed together by the enemy all along...) have been plotted around the map. The painted outer edges now have a much clearer terrain type distinction, to ensure your squad don't go wandering off and falling into deep craters!
Duck vehicles will also be making a timely appearance here, given this is the only space map to contain water - we felt it only fair for each team to receive one within their starting spawn area. It'll certainly make for quick and easy traversal around the map, because don't forget, bumping into a friendly hog while driving will automatically cause them to jump in with you, plus you can drop them off wherever you like via the 'eject' button in the inventory, amazing!
The biggest development challenge so far has been trying to attain the right feel per setting, as after all, we want each multiplayer map to have three available visual options in Day/Night/Special, but how do you differentiate from that when the core environment is encapsulated in darkness and shiny stars? That's where the dynamic use of colour comes in.
Take Moon Buttes for instance. If Pigs in Space provides a more traditional approach to the types of deep blues and flat white hues you find on a lunar surface - then Buttes is where we really begin to experiment a little more outside of orbit! Greens, Purples, Reds, even Yellow tinges have been played around with, all to try and create an entirely new space feel that is unique, while acting entirely independently from the rest. The 'Night' setting has tended to be the easiest to replicate, because that's where we know the exposure intensity can be cracked up just that little bit more, maybe with some fog to help simulate moon dust, but what about the 'Special' setting?
Such a setting is one that will offer a complete visual curveball for the chosen map. For example, the Special setting for Play Pen sees angry clouds and a torrential downpour of rain, something that is the opposite of what many players are both used to and expecting for such a bright and colourful environment. So for our space maps, why not make them appear as though they are on earth? The inspiration for such an idea actually stems from a time when I first got into Hogs of War modding and managed to get a lunar map running with daytime lighting. It looked horrendous, given that the texture was never meant to be observed under such bright conditions, but it's always been something I've carried into Lardcore.
Cratermass is the main map where an earth-like visual setting seems to make the most sense. At a first glance, it gives the appearance of a trench like system of dugout holes across a sandbag and barbed wire infested battlefield. It's only as you look a little closer and spot the crashed rocket, lunar modules and Swill wells that you realise you are in fact a long way from home. Although, certain other gameplay elements that you find in the sky above also removes you a little from the space theme, like how did birds and a Blimp get into space? Rest assured, we have a few model-switch ideas floating around that we'll be sure to share with the community in due course!
For now though, our focus is on getting the rest of the pig classes put together, which means new hats, helmets and accessories are on the horizon for a future showcase across our social media pages. On top of the new GUI creation, online networking, localisation and testing that goes alongside all that - there's plenty to be cracking on with soldier! Until next time, cheerio!
