Welcome to our 95th Development Status. We have some news from development of Ponyri but not only. We hope you will enjoy reading this dev status :)
We have continued our work on the game, now spending a few weeks pushing bigger fixes (mostly - optimization of vehicle physics and infantry animators - less CPU usage) + progressing the development of the Ponyri DLC (more about it below).
Ponyri - Sector 1 - Taginski
Our biggest CPU drain was and still is - vehicle physics. The more tanks are spawned on the scene and move, the more CPU they use + all that physics is being calculated on single core of the processor.
Now after having a small talk with our friend Marco, the main dev of Easy Red 2, we want to try and implement a physics LOD (level of detail) system. If a vehicle is far away from us (or static but closer) then it’s physics will be turned off and switched to much more simple movement style.
Ponyri - Sector 1 - Taginski
The player must not notice this change but the effect can be most visible on maps with big battles and active tanks at once.
When this is ready the next step is infantry. Infantry can aim, move, take cover etc. thanks to a running animator. If that animator is disabled (for example by us to save CPU) the infantry cannot move. This required us to leave the animations on for almost all infantry, even the ones that are 2km away to let them work normally.
We are going to change this and also release big amount of CPU - with 200-300 infantry at once fighting it out and visible by player (on any distance) this was another big problem.
With the beginning of Q4 2026 and the end of our Gamescom-related work, the time has come to officially announce our plans for the game.
The Ponyri DLC will feature an entirely new map with new missions, a new campaign, and major AI improvements. It represents the culmination of what we envisioned Tank Squad to be from the very beginning.
Ponyri - Sector 2 - Senkovo
Everyone who purchases the DLC will gain access to a nonlinear campaign and a 24 × 24 km theater of operations divided into 20 sectors. Players will fight for control of these sectors against our new AI commander, who will oversee enemy armored operations.
From the new operational map, you and your friends will be able to plan attacks and defenses, with the ultimate objective of capturing or defending the Ponyri sector on the Kursk salient. You will also have two new vehicles at your disposal: the SU-152 and the Ferdinand.
Ponyri - Sector 1 - Taginski
Some of the DLC’s features were inspired directly by the feedback and experiences shared by our community. One of these is an AI commander for allied forces.
We noticed that some players simply want to enjoy the action rather than manage an entire army. To reduce the amount of battlefield micromanagement, commanding allied forces during battles will now be optional. This means that everyone will be able to experience full-scale battles without constantly issuing orders—just as we originally intended.
Other changes inspired by your feedback include:
Large, open environments designed for engagements at distances exceeding one kilometer.
The ability to command forces using markers on the tactical map.
Static repair and resupply points replaced with mobile units that move together with the front line.
…and many, many more smaller additions that will improve and expand your experience with the game.
We are also working on the DLC’s Steam store page. We will let you know as soon as it is finished and available.
The Ponyri DLC is the first—and possibly the last—conventional expansion for Tank Squad on this scale. It is larger than the base game itself and is our way of thanking you for the patience and trust you have shown throughout the bumpy journey from release to the present day. Without you and your support, DeGenerals would have ceased to exist a long time ago. We sincerely thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
If any of you are still undecided about purchasing the game, the release of the Ponyri DLC will be the perfect time to do so, as we do not currently expect to introduce any further changes of this magnitude. We want to move forward with new ideas and a fresh approach.
That does not mean the game will no longer be supported. Following Gamescom, we still have one or two ideas for additional DLC that we may be able to bring to life.
Brick Water Tower
A brick water tower will be added to the railway station sector in Ponyri as part of the new environment. Its original purpose was to supply steam locomotives with water.
During development, we discovered references containing a rather important piece of information: the brick water tower itself was built in 1949. This means that it did not exist during the fighting in 1943.
That did not discourage us, as the structure remains historically significant. However, for the sake of authenticity, we also decided to create the historically accurate structure that stood there at the time: a Shukhov water tower.
We will show you the completed model in the next Development Status update. For now you can see how current twin towers are standing in the game ;)
We are working flat out on the Ponyri expansion to make it the best it can be. In the meantime, we have reviewed and fixed several smaller issues. They may seem minor, but they still contribute to the overall feel of the game and represent another step toward making it more polished.
Avatars
We fixed an issue affecting player avatars retrieved from Steam and generated within the engine. It turned out that Steam avatars use sRGB color data, while our project operates in the Linear color space. As a result, Unity interpreted the colors incorrectly and brightened the midtones, creating a “washed-out” appearance. The source of the problem has now been identified and fixed.
Manual
The game’s manual can be accessed both from the main menu and during gameplay. We fixed the way it is displayed in-game—the panel can be opened by pressing F5, but other interface elements, such as the button used to close it, did not previously appear alongside it. The only way to close the manual was by pressing Escape.
Force Pool Creator
We have improved the panel’s functionality. When selecting a mode such as a procedural game, the player and enemy faction selection screen will now load correctly, without the previous loading error.
Clicking on formations or individual units within a formation will also display the appropriate image and description on the right-hand side. Previously, some textures did not always load or display correctly.
We have also added support for clearer game-mode descriptions in several places:
Session Browser
Session Creation
Loading Screen
Battle Map
As a result, whether you are the host or a client, the correct name will now be displayed for the type of game being loaded—whether it is a standard campaign, a procedural campaign, or a regular skirmish mission. Wherever these names appear, they will now be appropriate to the relevant context.
In the Session Browser, we have also added information showing which faction is being played in each session and improved the Game Stage descriptions. They will now display “In Battle” or “Repairs” when players are currently repairing their vehicles.
This may be a cosmetic change, but previously, when a session was in the repair scene, both the mission and the Game Stage were labeled “Repair Station,” which was unnecessarily repetitive.
We have also improved the titles and descriptions displayed when leaving or ending a session and returning to the main menu. Everything should now feel more consistent.
Before Gamescom, we brought our website back online after it had been unavailable for some time. We have also been working on adding better content to it. All of the current information is sourced from Steam.
We would like to bring back something resembling a blog or company-wide development status updates. We are also considering opening our own merchandise store. Perhaps some mugs, or limited boxed editions of Tank Squad featuring a cool display tank for your shelf? We have plenty of ideas and enthusiasm. Time will tell.
Feel free to visit—just please don’t DDoS us. ;)
You can also read our history and what we went through all these years :)
https://degenerals.com/#our-history
We will most likely release the new Patch 1.3.8 next week.
Thank you for your support, we are working. See you next time!
DeGenerals