Dev Blog #5 — Behind the Scenes: Building the Montenotte Map

For this dev blog, we wanted to show you something a little different. No gameplay this time - instead, a look at how one of our battlefields is actually made. Here is Montenotte, one of the first maps in the game, coming together piece by piece in the hands of our level artists and level designers, from a blank canvas to a finished battlefield.

Why rework a map you have already seen?

After our playtests, the feedback was clear. The map felt cramped. Players were squeezed between the mountains, with little room for real tactics. Reinforcements in the second phase were a problem too: they arrived too close to the Austrian flank, so a fast cavalry rush could decide the battle before it had really begun.

There is also some context worth sharing. The first version of Montenotte was built early in development, before several of our gameplay systems were ready. Fortifications, for example, did not yet exist in their current form, so much of the map was laid out without those tools in mind.

What we changed

More room to maneuver. We expanded the battlefield and opened up real distance between the key points of interest, so there is finally space to plan a tactic and commit to it.

Reinforcements as a decision. We pulled the reinforcement positions further back. Bringing them into the fight is now a choice you make as a commander, not an automatic rush.

A redoubt worth taking. The redoubt is no longer simple decoration. It is now a real objective - a position you need to fight for and hold.

A strong first impression

Montenotte is one of the first missions in the game, so it shapes how new players feel about everything that follows.

Thank you for all of your feedback, and thank you for your support. Development continues, and there is more on the way.