New weather system for Company of Heroes 2

ColdTech System promises to bring an external factor to the battlefield

Posted by Alex 'SpectralShock' V on Jul 24, 2012 - 12:48pm EST (330 days ago)

THQ has announced that its upcoming strategy game Company of Heroes 2 will feature a weather condition simulating technology.

Any historian will attest to the huge role the brutal Soviet winter played in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II and this is now realistically simulated in-game thanks to Relic Entertainment’s new Essence Engine 3.0 and its ColdTech system.

ColdTech includes an ‘extreme cold’ mechanic which accurately encapsulates the Soviet winter which reached extremes of -40 degrees F in 1941. At those temperatures human skin will freeze in a matter of minutes, something that is portrayed in the game. On winter maps, Infantry units exposed to the bitter cold will gradually freeze to death unless the player keeps them warm by building fires and garrisoning them in buildings. Dynamic blizzards will increase the effects of extreme cold making it even more hazardous to leave infantry in the open.

The new ColdTech system also allows the Essence Engine to dynamically paint on and remove snow, meaning that not only does it accumulate on buildings and vehicles, but it can also be melted or removed from objects by the player. Snow also has realistic depth which actually impacts troop movement and will retain persistent infantry and vehicle tracks throughout the match unless covered by fresh snow fall.

The engine also allows ice to become a weapon. Not only does it have a unique texture, affecting vehicle and troop movement, but it can collapse or be destroyed from underneath troops and vehicles, plunging them into the hypothermic Russian waters. Over time destroyed ice will re-form due to the winter conditions in the game.

Company of Heroes 2 is scheduled to be available for PC in early 2013.