2026.2.28.2 Live on Experimental, March is Civilian Evac Month

Developer Update This Week

Save and Load System Expansion

Continued System Coverage

This week was heavily focused on expanding Save and Load support across additional systems.

Save and Load support has now been implemented for:

• Projectiles

• Grenades

• TOW systems

• Flares

• Select airstrikes

Not all airstrikes are currently supported.

The following are not yet saving and loading correctly:

• MOAB

• Gas Attack

• Dragon

These remain excluded for now and will be addressed next. Please refer to the list at the bottom of the Save and Load tracker for full status details.

A significant portion of development time also went into fixing desync issues, multiplayer inconsistencies, and general stability problems discovered during live testing.

Multiplayer Stress Testing

We ran several gameplay balance tests sessions with up to 10 players over this week on discord publicly.

Between Day 5 and Day 10 of those sessions, we identified network degradation under sustained load. What began as balance observation turned into a deep replication and bandwidth stress test.

We collected from those present in the balance test:

• Player logs

• Save files

• Replication behavior data

Using that information, we recreated the failure points internally and identified where replication cost was ballooning. Several community suggestions were also implemented and are reflected in the patch notes.

Network Optimization Results

After restructuring key replication paths, overall network traffic cost was reduced by approximately 70 to 80 percent.

For players, this should translate into:

• Increased stability at higher player counts

• Reduced late game desync escalation

• Improved host performance under heavy load

Replication cost scales with player count. Every additional client increases outbound state replication from the host. Reducing baseline replication overhead was critical for scalability and large sessions!

Client Simulated Projectiles

Architectural Shift

Projectiles are now client simulated while remaining fully server authoritative for damage.

The flow now operates as follows:

• The server calculates and validates damage

• Clients deterministically simulate projectile visuals locally

• Authority remains strictly on the server

Clients do not determine outcomes. They only reconstruct visuals from server instructions. This significantly reduces bandwidth while maintaining security and integrity.

This is the first implementation of this system and is currently available only on Experimental.

Because this system also integrates with Save and Load, it requires live stress testing before public release. We will be monitoring for issues involving:

• Saved projectile state

• Late join synchronization

• Cross client consistency

Internal testing has not produced breakage so far.

Infrastructure and Power Rebalance

Increased Strategic Weight

This Experimental patch also introduces structural balance adjustments centered around power and logistics.

Previously, expansion could occur with minimal infrastructure consideration. Power functioned more as a soft requirement than a strategic constraint.

Changes now include:

• SOC's require active power

• Increased power costs across major structures

• Tier 2 and Tier 3 generators carry real strategic value

• Barracks, Motor Pool, and related structures require stronger planning

The intent is to increase the weight of:

• Builders

• Infrastructure

• Logistics chains

• Territorial expansion planning

Expanding into new zones now requires deliberate infrastructure rather than opportunistic placement.

We are specifically looking for feedback on pacing and pressure introduced by these adjustments.

Ongoing Stability Work

In addition to Save and Load expansion, we continued working on:

• Multiplayer desync reduction

• Replication optimization

• Save and Load bug fixes

• General performance improvements

The Save and Load system is approximately 3/4's complete. The target is to reach functional completion by Monday or Tuesday of next week. Once that milestone is reached, development focus will shift fully toward pathfinding, desync cleanup, and systemic polish.

March Roadmap and Short Term Priorities

March is about locking the rebuild foundation and finishing the remaining carryover