Hello Onward Community,

December is bringing 2022 to a close and we are happy to look back and see all the work the team has been able to accomplish this year and how all that hard work will help us make even more improvements and open the door for new additions in 2023.

The game got a lot of much needed improvements and additions to help the longevity of development and set the game up to have new content and fixes come in next year. This month, in the Devs’ Desk, we wanted to showcase all the additions and improvements that went into Onward this year. What isn’t included in the list is the hundreds of bugs that were fixed through the year. If you are curious about all the individual details that went into the game, you can always read the details from the previous patch notes.

The community also had some great additions inside and out of the game this year. From intense competitive matches, fun custom maps, to fun videos and fan art. Check out the Community Center for some of our favorite clips and events that happened this year.

Our office will be closed from December 22nd - January 2nd (including support). The team will be taking this time to recharge so we can return and hit the ground running in 2023. Expect more info about the new 1.10 content once we return.

The major focus for the year was improving our backend systems to give us the ability to continue to expand the game and improve the game’s foundation. Some of the systems had not been worked on since the game first launched in 2016. This investment helps give us the ability to add new features and content and allows current systems to be improved on.

New Features Added

• Gunstock Calibration
  
• Friends joining matches directly via invite
  
• In-Game player reporting

Gameplay Improvements

• Loadout Points Rebalance
  
• Updates to Free Roam Gameplay
  
• Improvements to the server browser
  
• Improved player ragdoll when downed or dying

System Improvements

• Weapon Refactor
  
• New Voice Chat system including auto reconnect feature
  
• Rebuilt custom maps infrastructure for community map makers
  
• New hosting infrastructure for the game

A total of 32 new custom maps were added to the game this year! The community map makers have been hard at work offering a variety of new themes and environments for players to experience. If you are interested in learning how to make maps or connect with the people that do, make sure to check out our custom map creators section in the official Discord.

The competitive Esports organization VRML had a booming season this year. 1,527 players, making up 116 teams, competed this year. That’s 846 intense matches of PVP. Check out some of the highlights from this season on their YouTube channel. Their next season is starting soon, if you are interested in joining, make sure to check out the details here.

The VR Charity group ran two Onward charity tournaments this year raising over $7,500 for some great causes like Breast Cancer research and StackUp for Veterans. If you are interested in joining the community for future charity events check out their Discord

Thank you for all the great matches, feedback, and support you show the game and the team. We are looking forward to everything we are going to bring to you in 2023.

Happy Holidays from everyone at DPI!

Hello Onward Community!

Thank you all for your patience while we worked hard on getting hotfixes out after the release of 1.9. While settling into our new hosting service a number of issues came up that needed to be addressed based on the new backend work that was done. The bugs that emerged related to the amount of traffic and volume of games being made. These types of bugs are something our QA team couldn’t have caught or replicated before the launch. We tackled the bugs as quickly as we could and got fixes out quickly to get you back to fighting the good fight. Bugs that you may have experienced that have been fixed since the release of 1.9 are as follows:

Fixes released a few hours after release:

• Lobbies not populating in server browser
  
• Player names not showing in lobbies
  
• Multiplayer lobbies not being accessible

Fixes released in 1.9.1:

• Fixed a bug in the Workshop UI
  
• Private lobbies will now correctly open to public
  
• Corrected issues related to players receiving unexpected error messages

Fixes released in 1.9.2:

• Fixed a stability issue where users would be kicked to the main menu when selecting a custom map after another user leaves the lobby during a map vote
  
• Fixed an issue where magazines and other pick-upables were not properly destroyed leading them to accumulate over rounds, leading to client disconnects and preventing players from joining the lobby

If you are still experiencing any of the above issues, please make sure you uninstall and reinstall the game and are on the latest version of the game (1.9.2). The new server infrastructure made it much easier for the team to deploy hotfixes. Update 1.9 gave us the ability to address things quickly and this improvement will continue to help improve our development process. We continue to work to resolve issues related to the 1.9 release, such as the “Error 7” error message and players being kicked back to the main menu during gameplay. We are hoping to have these resolved soon.

Since we are now in a better place with our backend and the game stability, our focus for the next update is new content. We have some exciting new features that we are working on. Check out the Devs’ Desks for the latest on the new stuff coming to Onward.

Work continues on the Iraqi map we teased in our May sitrep, which given its unique layout has necessitated some extra time in development and will not be coming in update 1.10. Instead, expect to see a totally new and yet to be revealed map in our next update. This unannounced map has come together very nicely in recent playtesting, and we're excited to reveal more about it soon. As for the details, we don't have anything to share yet other than the fact that Volk is up to no good and you should keep your eyes peeled on our social media for more info.

Twitter: @OnwardTheGame
Instagram: @onwardthegame
Facebook: /OnwardTheGame

We are working on not just one, but TWO more weapons. More information on the weapons will be released as information becomes available.

This is the first major animation update which will be rolled out since the game launched. We’ve long wanted to address the animations and have certainly heard your wishes regarding updating our character animations for Onward. Starting off you will see big improvements visually to all the AI animations. We’ve even added new crouching and death animations, as well as smoothed out the directional movement of the NPCs .

Many people believe that Onward uses “peer to peer” networking, but this is not the case: it is server / client with one user being designated the “master client”. That is the person with the star by their name, and they get more authority in the lobby, but they are not actually hosting the lobby. Until now, all Onward lobbies have been hosted in the US East region, even if the “master client” was in another region. This means that if a player was not in the eastern United States, they would experience laggier gameplay or latency. With our new backend we now have the ability to offer regional support. You will now get to pick from a list of available lobby regions to create your lobbies in, and gameplay will feel more consistent for people in those regions. Lobbies from every region will be shown in the lobby browser together, but you can filter for specific regions. Lobbies you create or quick join into will use your “preferred region” which is set from the settings screen. On launch of the update, we will have the following regions: US East, US West, Europe, and Asia.

We have resolved the issue of the map creator's name not showing on the customs map menu. New instructions for custom map makers have been posted in our discord so the map creator can link their names to the maps in game. You should start to see the names of the map creator appear in the workshop soon.

In addition, we have a new map in the workshop for you to check out.

Chinatown Day submitted by Bluega (For PC)
“Volk have placed a bomb in central Chinatown. Civilians have been evacuated. The terrorists must be eliminated or the bomb defused.”


When 1.9 launched the rating for the custom maps were reset. If you enjoy a custom map, don’t forget to go back to the workshop and rate it. It helps the custom map creators understand what maps players enjoy and provide valuable information when new maps are being created. It also helps players see what maps other players have and when those maps are downloaded by other players, those maps are more likely to show up during map voting in matches.

We hope you are looking forward to all the new content being developed for Onward! Don’t forget to follow our social media to keep up to date on news and information between Sitreps.

Keep your head on a swivel.

Hello Onward Players!

Last week we released patch 1.9.1 to address a number of high priority issues. At the time we were aware that some issues remained, particularly related to lobby stability, which caused players to be kicked back to the main menu. Today we release hotfix 1.9.2 to address these issues. The patch is available now and should download for you automatically.

Change Log

• Fixed a stability issue where users would be kicked to the main menu when selecting a custom map after another user leaves the lobby during a map vote
  
• Fixed an issue where magazines and other pick-upables were not properly destroyed leading them to accumulate over rounds, leading to client disconnects and preventing players from joining the lobby

Known Issues

• Weapon recoil may cause the player character to let go of their weapon with their offhand if the player’s hands are already at the edge of the maximum grab distance
  
• In the Workshop, some subscribed maps always require an update to the map after refreshing the Workshop page

Hello Onward Players,

We hope you are continuing to enjoy the features like the improved audio and reporting system that came with 1.9. Given the amount of work and changes that were done to the back end of the game, we were happy with the overall stability of the update. Once players did start to report problems related to things like lobby visibility and access or player names not being visible, the change to our new host gave us the ability to quickly identify the causes and jump into action to resolve some of the issues within a matter of hours.

There are still a couple of lingering bugs that were discovered and quickly fixed, however these require a game update in order to resolve them. We are releasing hotfix 1.9.1 to address those issues reported. Below in the change log is the details of what issues were fixed.

Independent of this hotfix we are looking into lobby stability issues you’ve reported to us over the past week, some of which seem to affect the co-op lobbies in particular. Until we are able to address these issues a workaround for some of the issues is to start new lobbies regularly, and for co-op lobbies in particular, playing with a lower number of bots.

• Fixed a bug that would cause the Workshop UI to disappear unless the player scrolled the page
  
• Private lobbies will now correctly open to public using the “Set to public” button in the back of the tent
  
• Corrected issues related to players receiving unexpected error messages when creating or joining games

• Weapon recoil may cause the player character to let go of their weapon with their offhand if the player’s hands are already at the edge of the maximum grab distance
  
• Players are kicked to the main menu when selecting a custom map after another player leaves the lobby during a map vote
  
• Lobby crashes happen after a large number of magazines are discarded. To avoid this, while this is being worked on, it is advised that you regularly start fresh lobbies when playing co-op especially with high bot counts
  
• In the Workshop, some subscribed maps always require an update to the map after refreshing the Workshop page
  
• Error code 7 notifications being given as a result of the game taking too long to respond to the server

Hello Onward Community,

In our sitrep last month we stated 1.9 would come before the end of the year and today is the day! If you have kept up with our dev blog, you know that most of the work that went into 1.9 was back-end work. However, there were also a lot of bug fixes and a couple new improvements that are included as well. For the full list of the bug fixes, make sure to check out the details in the Change Log.

This latest back-end update was a big one. We moved the entirety of the game from where it was hosted to a completely rebuilt infrastructure. It doesn’t sound like a big process, but in fact it is a massive undertaking. It may feel like we should be able to just drag and drop the files over to a new location, like one does when moving an image file from one location to the other. We wish it was that simple. The best way to describe what had to be done is to imagine you are moving a house, you have to pack everything up, tear the whole house down, move it, rebuild the house, and then set everything back up exactly the way it was previously. It’s a lot of much needed work. This change has given us more stability, and will provide more opportunity to grow and continue to develop the game with new features and content.

When this update was tested by Unit 51, they asked us why this update is labeled a major update when it seems to have fewer changes than some of the previous maps we released, specifically those in the 1.8.x family. While it's true that 1.9 does not include a new map or new weapons, there is an astonishing amount of work in the changes on the backend and servers that power Onward. In effect, we have rewritten the entire multiplayer system which comprises most of the code that runs the game. If we've done our work right, you will notice very little from these changes now, and as we mentioned in the last couple of Sitreps, this is laying the foundation for more major changes down the road including new weapons and maps.

Now let's get into the details of what is included for update 1.9 that you can see.

You will now have the ability to report other players directly in the tent. Players can be reported for using hateful language, inappropriate drawing, hacking/exploiting, harassment, and team killing. You can report a player once per game session.

We heard the concerns some of you had when we first announced the feature. We want to note that there are systems in place to prevent spam reporting or abuse of the system.


Additionally, you are still able to report players, with video evidence, who do not follow the community guidelines. Videos should be sent to dpisupport@fb.com.

Banned players will now receive a notification of being banned when they launch the game.


Updates have been made to the Steam client side that have changed the launching parameters. Previously the game would launch from OnwardLauncher.exe, the game now launches from Onward.exe. The best method to ensure you have the correct version of the game and no lingering legacy files is to uninstall all previous versions of the game and reinstall then restart the Steam client before launching the game.

In addition to the executable name change, the launch options have also changed. The “(Legacy)” options of the game have been removed. There are now only two options, “Launch Onward in Steam VR Mode” or “Launch Onward in Oculus VR Mode”.


If voice chat connection is lost, the server will automatically try to reconnect. There is an icon indicator on scoreboards indicating when a reconnection is being attempted.


The graphics for the ammo crate have been improved.


The “Friends Only” filter (for friends who are on the same platform as you) now takes your platform privacy settings into account. This means if in Oculus or Steam if you are not set to show your game activity online, you will no longer show in-game for your friends using this server browser filter.

In addition there has been a fix implemented so you will now again see an icon to indicate that you have a friend (friend on the same platform as you) in a lobby in the server browser.

Descriptions have been added to filters to give information for what each filter means and describes the game mode choices. This should help new players understand more about what game is being played when looking for lobbies to join.

With moving to a rebuilt infrastructure, this means all currently downloaded custom maps have been deleted. You will need to go to the Workshop and subscribe/download the maps again.

Currently, all rating and author names have been removed. We will be working with the Custom map creators over the next couple weeks to relink the maps to their authors. Ratings for maps will begin to acquire as people start voting for them starting from today.

We have also introduced additional Workshop filters. The workshop can now be sorted by additional criteria:

• If you are subscribed to a map
  
• What your own rating of each map is (In addition to average rating)
  
• Sort by Popularity is now more accurate

• Hand locomotion speed is now in line with head movement locomotion
  
• Fixed an issue where disabling "Hold to grip" will cause your primary weapons to misalign upon re-gripping with the off-hand
  
• Player can rotate weapons with Virtual Gunstock enabled
  
• Players will no longer revive as "invisible" after being downed while another players syringe is simultaneously being pushed into their body
  
• Stepping out of the Meta Quest guardian boundary while another player is speaking will no longer cause the audio to pause and then catch up after re-entering the guardian boundary
  
• Fixed an issue where you would lose some or all grab functionality after opening the Oculus menu while holding a used syringe
  
• Fixed bug where user names do not appear in the tent under either team UI when joining a Spec Ops game mode using custom maps on PC
  
• Fixed an issue where some players would fall out of bounds when the headset enters sleep mode on Quest 2
  
• Users are now able to join the same lobby on the two different platforms while using the same account
  
• Fixed an issue where sometimes, in the tent, you can hear the radio sounds from players alive in game
  
• Fixed an issue where voice chat would not function when joining a multiplayer match after the headset was in sleep mode for 5 minutes or more
  
• For PC Users, the 'Bindings' page will load as intended, allowing users to modify their controls
  
• For PC Players, clicking the "Open" button next to "Logs" now successfully opens the correct folder on the desktop
  
• For PC Players, clicking the storage button on the Workshop page will now show the correct size storage and file location
  
• Corrected a spot on the player model that could not be shot around the belt
  
• Fixed an issue with first person perspective players camera in Caster mode

• Fixed Round resets happening when only 1 player gives up during the spawn jail timer in non-competitive lobbies. Round resets will still occur in Competitive Escort, Competitive Uplink, and Competitive Assault lobbies
  
• Fixed a bug where the AK-12 would not upgrade to the M16 in Gun Game if you kill an opponent as the match starts
  
• Fixed an issue related to incorrect player model and other behaviors when changing host before a round starts and then joining the following round
  
• Fixed players receiving damage or being killed while respawning when their body is damaged
  
• Single player modes now pause when the user is in the Oculus menu
  
• On Assault, fixed an issue where typed codes on the Send & Disable screen would not remain typed in after the Uplink state changes
  
• Players can no longer click "Give Up" after death, causing double k/d/a stat changes
  
• Your health is now restored after getting a kill in Gun Game if you are injured
  
• When a player dies their corpse should no longer fly into the air
  
• The description on the button for opting in as a Fireteam Leader has changed from "Squad Leader" to "Fireteam Leader"
  
• Kill count is not correctly counted when killing multiple players with an explosive
  
• You are no longer able to hack another players tablet in 'Shooting Range' and 'Free Roam' before downing the player

• Fixed objects throughout multiple maps that did not protect players from C4 or frag grenade blasts

• The assault boundaries on custom maps now appear correctly

• Laser sight dot visibility had been improved for both PC and Quest players
  
• Ammo Crate graphics have been improved
  
• Opening the Oculus Menu while holding a Weapon/Equipment while holster/pouch is full, will no longer result in the held Weapon/Equipment falling through the ground
  
• Charging Handle on G3/G3A3 now functions properly
  
• Weapon position no longer permanently shifts after firing the weapon
  
• Rapidly gripping and releasing your off-hand while firing any weapon will no longer cause you to experience an increasingly worsening offset from your real hand position when holding the weapon
  
• Virtual Gunstock now works on the M249 in Gun Game
  
• Fixed Bolt of MK 18 and MCX Virtus not sliding forward after reloading an empty mag and pulling back the charging handle
  
• Reserve ammo is now labeled 'Reserve' when observed inside the loadout menu for the M1014
  
• Fixed an issue where when the MK18s M203 grenade launcher, when grabbed, would appear to point almost directly downwards
  
• The carry handle on the M16A4 no longer has a one-way visual mount, no longer allowing the player to see through the inner side of the mounts
  
• Fixed the pistol's magazines falling from belt 3 times without being touched after each new section of the tutorial
  
• Fixed an issue where you would need to select Ballistic Shield twice in order to become the chosen primary weapon in the Tent
  
• Fixed a bug where if multiple people loaded into a lobby with shotguns, at least two players would get kicked to main menu
  
• If a player wins a round of One in the Chamber, and then does not ready up for the following round, they will no longer be counted as a player for that round
  
• You can no longer put STANAG magazines in the FAMAS
  
• A bullet no longer appears when grabbing near the top opening of an empty mag box after opening the receiver on the PKM and M249
  
• The sights for the M203 Frag now plays correct clicking sound when toggled
  
• The very last bullet in a box-mag's belt is now visible once it is the last bullet remaining
  
• C4 now clackers now only work with their original bricks
  
• Fixed an issue where if a player joins an Assault lobby mid-round that player cannot disarm any C-4 that was placed by any player that has already been in the round
  
• MP5 bolt lock audio now correctly follows your position as you move around and initiate the bolt lock
  
• Fixed issue on G3A3 Bolt Lock when performed too fast would messes up the charging handle
  
• Bullet jingling audio is no longer audible after grabbing where the ammo belt was on an empty MG ammo box
  
• Evac extraction flare now displays correctly on Quest 1 and 2
  
• Molotov fire is now viewed correctly when viewed from within (or partially within) a smoke grenade
  
• RPG ammos no longer jitters when in the ammo box
  
• Shaking the MP5/G3A3 can no longer accidently trigger the the HK Slap
  
• Empty magazines for the M249 no longer appear to have bullets
  
• Fixed a bug where players could become invincible in Assault lobbies
  
• Fixed an issue where weapons could be be yeeted into the stratosphere
  
• Fixed an issue where your hand could get stuck to your tablet
  
• Your in-application hands and real-world counterparts now line up when still gripping onto another players tablet as they are holding it

• Voice chat will look like it is attempting to reconnect when you are quiet for too long in the tent
  
• Players are not able to see the Vote kick menu if you join a lobby that has an active round going on. Once round ends, they can see vote/kick menu as normal
  
• If a host players headset goes idle before other players join, players will not be able to equip a helmet
  
• When in the workshop menu, map selection may not be present or will disappear when you refresh the list. Map options will reappear once you scroll up or down

Happy Fall, Onward Community!

The leaves are dropping from the trees and so is the news from our dev team! We have several major updates for you this month including a status update on the next update release, some changes on the store front, and information regarding accessing previous versions of the game.

As we stated in the previous sitrep, the team has been focused on the final batch of major backend updates. We are happy to announce that the work is wrapping up and the next update (1.9) will be released before the end of the year. We will be going over some of the details of what will be included in the 1.9 update in the Devs’ Desk section of this sitrep.

Before we dive into the upcoming updates we need to talk about Onward 1.7. Over the past two years since our release on Quest the hardcore PC players among you sometimes went back to play this version of the game. We wanted to facilitate that option for as long as we could, in recognition of the PC community who supported us when the game was originally launched and continued throughout the early years of development. However, with all the fundamental changes we’re making to our backend it is no longer feasible to keep running the legacy systems that version 1.7 relies on. We’ve made the choice to remove access to it starting October 27th, 2022. We remain committed to Onward on PC, and we are focused on the future of the game as we continue development.

On to more exciting news! We have long believed we should build Onward so that you can play on any platform you want, and with the success of Airlink and an increased interest in playing Onward on PC, in November, Onward will be available as a cross-buy title on the Meta Quest platform. This means that if you own Onward on the Meta Quest store, you will get access to the Oculus App for PC for free and vice versa. Please note: The Steam version of Onward is separate (not covered by Meta Quest cross-buy) and will still require a separate purchase of the game. Stay tuned for updates and exact launch day as time gets closer.

We are currently focused on finalizing update 1.9 for release. While the bulk of the work is focused on infrastructure and backend, we are also working on a new feature and also a number of bug fixes the community has been asking for.

Coming in 1.9 is an all new in-game player reporting system. Players will now have the ability to report other players directly in the tent. Players can be reported for using hateful language, inappropriate drawing, hacking/exploiting, harassment, and team killing. The goal is to provide an in-game solution to make it easier to report toxic players, cutting down on overall toxicity in the game, resulting in more enjoyable game sessions.


With this new feature, we expect to be able to more effectively identify disruptive players. If a player is banned they will now receive a notification that they are banned. When a ban is issued it is permanent and the banned player will need to go through the appeals process in order to try and have the ban removed. If you have any questions about what are considered bannable offenses or behaviors not accepted in the game, please read our community guidelines.

We also wanted to take this time to highlight some bugs the community has been inquiring about that will be getting fixed in the upcoming update:

• A fix has been added for the syringe invisibility exploit.
  
• Voice chat has been adjusted to automatically reconnect if your voice chat connection is lost
  
• We fixed weapons not rotating when using the virtual gunstock option.
  
• When a player dies their corpse should no longer fly into the air.

For the full list of features and bug fixes, make sure to check out the patch notes when update 1.9 is released.

With 10 total teams participating, the VR Charity Tournaments raised $1,400 USD for StackUp. The money will go towards helping veterans who suffer from PTSD, depression, anxiety, and more. The VR Charity group is still accepting donations year round with their link here.

Fast Action Response won the SPINOSAURUS tier
Unicorn Sparkles won the TREX tier

Congratulations to the winning teams and thank you to everyone who donated to this great cause!


Contrast Night submitted by Virus
A clean Freeroam oriented map made up of 3 floors. Have Fun!


Speedball (COD) submitted by Whitefang
Inspired by Speedball from COD, designed for balanced 1v1 combat.


We’re excited for the upcoming releases and getting back to bringing new content to the game.

Stay Frosty!

Hello Onward Community,

We hope you are enjoying all the new features that came with update 1.8.11. Before we reply to some of your feedback, we want to first take a moment and talk at a higher level about the Onward project and introduce some of the new people who are working on it. For over a year now you have seen us introduce not only new content, like maps, weapons, and weapon features, but you’ve also heard about the backend improvements to systems throughout the game, such as the refactor for our lobbies and the latest one for our weapons. We want to be clear and transparent that as we continue to develop the game, we still have more of this type of work to do. Dante, who as many of you know is the creator of the game, wanted to personally take a moment to let you all in on some of the things that are happening behind the curtains and what it will mean for the game and for the team.

“Hey everyone,

Dante here - It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me, but I wanted to let you know that I’m still alive and kicking and have been working with the team and Meta on building the future of Onward.

Another important thing I want to acknowledge to our players, is that your feedback on lack of game updates has not fallen on deaf ears, and you deserve some transparency on why things have been slow.

In short, the two big reasons why updates have been slow are -
A large portion of our team has been focused on rebuilding our game’s core infrastructure to future-proof our development and make Onward more stable for all players. This has been ongoing for a while now and will be the focus for us for the remainder of the year. This is critical work that we must complete in order to produce more of the amazing content and features you've been asking for.


Our development process has been evolving over the past year into a more refined and organized manner but needs some time for the entire studio to adapt to. Once this has been fully implemented, updates will be released more reliably and with more accurate timelines. Onward was initially a passion project I created and shipped by myself back in 2016, and being a first time solo developer meant there were definitely some things that needed improving with our workflows and codebase as the team scaled.

Since joining Meta we have gotten access to more senior developers and producers, who have begun to improve our development process. In fact, I’d like to introduce 2 recent Downpour hires that are helping us achieve these goals: Mike and Mike.

Michael (Mikee) Tsarouhas. Mikee was the lead game designer on Insurgency Sandstorm and has joined us to help take Onward’s gameplay to another level. You will see a lot of Mikee’s design impact in 2023 after we finish our infrastructure work for 2022.

Michael (Mike) Syrnyk. Mike has worked on and produced major AAA titles such as Bioshock Infinite, COD Advanced Warfare, COD WW2, and COD Vanguard. He brings a seasoned perspective and wisdom to our development process that will help propel Downpour Interactive forward. Don’t worry by the way, we are not turning Onward into COD. Mike will be focused on production and planning and I will be focused on creative direction and gameplay.

I appreciate your continued support of Downpour and Onward. We are in this for the long haul and sometimes you have to move slow so you can move fast. We remain committed to delivering you the best modern military tactical shooter in VR, and we’re not finished yet.

Best,

Dante”

We hope you understand the direction the studio needs to take right now. You’ve been incredibly patient with us as we go through this process, and we hope you are looking forward to getting back to content updates as much as we are! Over the next couple of months we don’t expect to have many written updates for you, but rest assured we have a lot of new content and features that are being evaluated and worked on for the future. The first step, however, is getting that foundation work completed.


We have been receiving a lot of community feedback on Update 1.8.11. We want to address a couple specific points we have been hearing and discuss how we will be moving forward.

Weapons
You have told us that the hand alignments for the weapons in 1.8.11 feel off. We'll be making changes here to get them closer to how they felt before the update, while also trying to retain the benefits of the weapon systems refactor that will make it easier for us to add new weapons in the future.

Gunstock Calibration
We have heard your requests for the ability to vertically adjust the placement of the weapon, and reports of a few general bugs. We are evaluating fixes for these bugs and continuing to look into further development of the feature.

Voice Chat
Some players have reported issues, such as connection loss, when it comes to the voice chat stability while in game. We are looking into what is causing these issues and hope to get them fixed as communication is one of Onward’s core design pillars.

In regards to some players that are reporting not being able to get communications to work at all, that is possibly due to some countries' regulations to block VoIP chats systems. If you are continuing to have issues where voice chat is not working, please check the list of countries below and/or your countries regulations regarding VOIP services.
Belize, Bahrain, Caribbean, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Mexico, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore

Removal of Player IDs
A change that was not noted in the 1.8.11 change log was the removal of player IDs from being visible in the tent. If you need to report a player, you can follow the same instructions as before. The User ID is no longer necessary or required.

We are continuing to evaluate feedback, work on improvements to address these concerns from 1.8.11 and others, however it will likely come after we finish up the larger tasks of foundation work in the upcoming update. We will continue to keep you updated and communicate with you as development progresses.


VRML announced its Season 12 winners. Congratulations to Rome for their victory! Season 13 is already underway. If you would like to join the VRML in their current season or are interested in getting more information about playing in the competitive league for Onward. Join their Discord https://discord.gg/XmhFuHRCRu


New community custom maps have been added to the game. All of these maps are available now on both PC and Quest.

Engagement Practice submitted by BlackAvarice
“A midrange map designed around the idea of engagement and suppression practice, with a viewing deck providing officers a place to view from a safe angle.”


Poligonal submitted by Rubio
“Cover small map ,faster uplink Polygonal a small symmetrical map with operations modes, both defense and attack have the same coverage .”


Facing Worlds Remake submitted by Shelderino
“Ode to the Unreal Tournament Classic! This is a sniper's paradise.”


Contrast submitted by Virus
“A clean FreeRoam oriented map made up of 3 floors.”


That's it for this month.
Stay Frosty!

This latest update includes the addition of two new features to the game, some major gameplay updates, and bug fixes throughout. With the addition of new features and these updated systems to the game, it took a lot of quality time to make sure things were implemented correctly and tested thoroughly on multiple platforms.

Big improvements include friends being able to join matches directly via invite, gunstock calibration, and rebalancing equipment point costs. These changes should help improve your experience throughout the game. From the moment you start a lobby, get your friends in, calibrate your weapons, make your loadouts, and get on the battlefield, you will feel the difference.

Let’s start by going over the details of the new features and changes. For a detailed list of additional adjustments and bug fixes make sure to read through the change log.

Using a gunstock adds to the immersive feeling while in game. The snap you experience when drawing your weapon to fire, the feel of the stock pressed into your shoulder, and the balance of both controllers in the gunstock makes the experience all the more engaging. Many of you hardcore players use a physical gunstock to help provide more control and accuracy in game. In this update we've added "Gunstock Calibration" for players with these accessories. Accessible in the Loadout screen, Gunstock Calibration lets you tweak the positioning of every Primary weapon to match your gunstock shape. This means you'll have a much easier time lining up your eyes with optics at any height, as well as experience better weapon feel in general.

Instructions for how to set up and use gunstock calibration can be found on our FAQ page.
Playing with your friends, competitive teammates, or a really cool person you met in a lobby is a great experience in Onward. To help connect more easily with the people you want to play with, we have added a way to help you send direct invites to your friends, who play on the same platform, when in a lobby. Steam and Meta Quest users can open up the platform UI from inside the game and send an invite directly to a person on your friends list and your friend will be able to accept and directly join into your lobby. Players can accept invites both while playing in Onward and outside of it before they’ve started the game.

Detailed instructions for how to invite friends per platform can be found on our FAQ page.

After several years of gameplay, it was clear that one thing that needed to be updated was the equipment points. With the increased growth in players and evolution of the game this felt like a much needed update to the game.

In the updated system there are now more points overall and the system is more granular, allowing us to better balance and distinguish item costs. The goal is to bring new options for players to explore, while addressing existing issues in the balance that have led to the “meta” loadouts that have developed over the years.

When we started the process to redesign the equipment points, we looked at it from a lot of different angles. For example, just in the weapons category we took a detailed look at the following when determining the cost per weapon:

Feeding
Caliber
Fire Rate
Mag Capacity
Damage Points
Charging Mode
Mag Location
Mag Release
Fire Modes

We hope to promote more strategic choices when you compose your loadouts, as well as encourage team tactics when you jump on the battlefield. Since they are so numerous and affect almost every single item in the game, we will not be listing the exact point by point value changes in the patch notes. We encourage you to check out the changes in the tent.

To make it easier to create new weapons, fix pre-existing issues, and make changes with weapons we have rebuilt the system on which the weapons run. Currently you should not notice a difference, but will start to see the benefits of this work in future patches.

One of the features that took a bit of the team's time during this update was changing our voice chat system. It felt like having a bunch of audio wires all knotted up together and having to pull each one apart one by one to detangle it all and then reconnect all the devices together with new wires. It was a lot of work! You shouldn’t hear too much difference from the previous version, however it did bring some improvements to select players during game launch and this change will also give us a long term solution with improved support.

• Quest App version numbers will now match the patch release number
  
• Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause a menu option to become unresponsive when rapidly changing between menus in the Main Menu
  
• Fixed issue where a server can become unjoinable if the host disconnects during the map loading process after a map vote
  
• Fixed Workshop failing to reconnect to the server when launching the app if the internet disconnected and then reconnected
  
• Fixed issue where passing host to a player on a sleeping Quest can cause the objective location to cycle and differ between the whiteboard, in-game, and change with new players joining
  
• Fixed bug where if Quest 1 host idles their headset while loading into a new map from a map selection then some players will be rendered stuck in an unready state once the host puts their headset back on
  
• Fixed instances of seemingly duplicate players if a player repeatedly takes off their helmet while there’s multiple people in the tent
  
• Fixed issue where the loading screen would freeze when launching Operations or Shooting Range while disconnected from the internet.
  
• The Dominant Eye setting's description now correctly states that it affects the First Person Spectator

• Fixed issue where sending the code on Uplink while a PCVR host loses internet and disconnects from the lobby would cause the round to not end
  
• Changed loadout point limits for all game modes
  
• Increased loadout point limit in Free Roam to 99 to allow more flexibility in loadout building
  
• Fixed issue where kicking the last living MARSOC reinforcement in Assault via Vote Kick or punishing friendly fire would not end the round
  
• Scoreboard kills and deaths columns in Gun Game no longer increment twice when reducing another player to critical health
  
• You are no longer able to briefly see your killer's position when respawning in Gun Game
  
• Fixed issue that would cause the spectator goggles to disappear from the controller or table at round end upon returning to the tent
  
• Quest players will no longer be able to hear MARSOC team chat upon joining the lobby
  
• Fixed the red 'Out of Bounds' lines to flash briefly in-game for players currently playing in the match
  
• Players who spawn in with night vision goggles will now have night vision in the spectator goggles
  
• Fixed issue where some players respawning would hear persistent radio static after being downed before they are killed
  
• Users will no longer stay ignited when refreshing their loadout after catching fire in Free Roam and Shooting Range modes

• Fixed an issue where AI could walk through container doors
  
• Fixed some rooftop edges where players could use an air drone to see through them

• Fixed an issue that would cause the map Tanker to appear very bright and washed out for Quest players when map changing from Arctic (Custom Map)

• Fixed a bug on Turbine that would cause players to teleport under the map

• Night vision goggles can no longer be used to see through red or green smoke surrounding them
  
• Fixed issue where grenades did not explode after pressing thumbstick (releasing the spoon) if dropped while the player’s hand was inside a wall
  
• Fixed issue that was causing all scopes on both factions to be black at certain angles with night vision on
  
• Players can now see the Molotov rag flame while holding it inside of a popped smoke

• AKM sometimes will not accept a magazine after having a player grab it repeatedly as it was being put into the weapon
  
• Invisible ammo belt appears when reattaching an empty box to the M249
  
• Stepping out of the Quest Guardian Boundary while another player is speaking will cause the audio to pause and then replay to catch up after re-entering the guardian boundary
  
• Any loadouts created in Free Roam mode are carried over to the all core game modes.
  
• If you let go and regrip your weapon during recoil it can cause your hands to be offset from the weapon. Refreshing your loadout or starting a new round will reset this issue.
  
• AI enemies on Tanker can sometimes walk through container doors

Hello Everyone,

As we finish wrapping up the final changes and go through testing, we are pleased to announce that in just a few weeks we will be releasing an update to the game. The update will include some new features we have discussed in previous sitreps as well as a couple that have not yet been announced. We really pushed to make sure we address some long-standing community concerns and include features players have been looking forward to. Here are some the features that are expected to be released with patch 1.8.11:

Equipment points rebalance - We announced this last month and the majority of the community responded positively and are looking forward to the new dynamic this will bring. After several design reviews and testing with our Unit 51, we think this will bring some much needed rebalance to the game.

Gunstock Calibration - For the hardcore amongst you, gunstocks can provide better control and accuracy. Soon you’ll build on that accuracy with the ability to calibrate gunstocks to the weapons in the game.

Direct game invites to friends on the same platform - We know finding your friends amongst the many pages of lobbies in the server browser can be difficult at times. We have implemented a direct invite feature to give you the option to send invites to your friends that are on the same platform as you. As a cross-platform game, we understand it is important to connect to people on other platforms as well. Rest assured, this is just the first step to a bigger plan to help make connecting to any of your friends easier.

Movement speed exploit (jiggling) mitigation - Throughout lobbies, especially in the competitive scene, people have been finding ways to exploit how the network interprets players movement. In order to address this quickly, we have added a mitigation to help cut down use of this exploit. To avoid making major changes to our movement system and how player movement works over the network we will be continuing to work on developing a further fix for this issue. What is included in this patch is by no means the final fix.

Changed voice chat system - We are changing our voice chat system. This should bring some more stability and fix some minor bugs that were happening with the previous voice chat system.

More details will be given in the patch notes when the patch is released.

As we focus on wrapping up this patch, we continue to work on the other features we have previously talked about as well. Continue reading From the Dev’s Desks for details on other updates that are still being worked on. Also make sure to check out the Community Center for the news related to community content and events.

We continue to work on a number of features that the community has been asking about, and want to keep you in the loop on our progress. This work takes time, but we want to make sure you know where we are at with it.

Animations - We continue to make improvements in the design and functionality of these new animations. However, there has been some delay with getting the animations and IK systems to work exactly how we want them to. We want to make sure this is done correctly and fully functions well with the equipment and with the movement design for the game. Each day we get our models a little bit closer to moving in a more natural way.

Shadowmask lighting - The Shadowmask feature remains a priority for us, but other projects must be completed before we can effectively move this forward. Once some of the other major projects are wrapped up, we will be able to get this update back on track and bring focus to improving the lighting for the PC version of the game.

Intercept map - We heard your excitement over the upcoming Intercept Map loud and clear! Your passion for this map resonated so much with us that we just had to share more. As an end to the Dev’s Desk, we wanted to provide you with the first ever teaser image of the map.

*Map is still currently in development and is subject to change

Congratulations to the IVRL Season 1 Winning team Raptors! They won the North American bracket against Dark Matter, and went on to fight the European bracket winner, Vikings. After some intense battles they pulled through and were the IVRLs first official season winners. An additional congratulations to the IVRL for hosting their first season in Onward Esports.

Both IVRL and VRML league seasons are currently wrapped up, and new seasons are looking to start up soon. If you are interested in playing Onward on a competitive level in the Esports leagues, check out our discord and head to the League Lounge channel.


Our community custom map makers are staying hard at work and providing more new maps for you to play on. The following new custom maps are available:

Missile Silo submitted by Gargarbot
“MARSOC must infiltrate an active Volk missile silo and deactivate the systems.”


Dyno submitted by Sheldorino
“Welcome to the Dyno Climbing Gym! CQB & Verticality-focused.”


Point Exodus submitted by Gridder
“After MARSOC cleared out the surface of the snowy peaks of the Ural mountains they descended down using elevators to underground facilities uncovering something else. Once they are down there they are on their own…”


We hope everyone will enjoy all the features that the new patch has to offer and continue to look forward to the updates that come in the coming months.

Stay Frosty!

Hey everyone!

We understand you have been waiting for a Sitrep, and we’re excited to share some updates with you. We recently released hotfix 1.8.10.3, which addressed an issue with our custom maps. We are now back to working on some major game updates that will include both new and redesigned features, in addition to back-end work for game stability.

The devs’ desks will go over some new features and fixes that are in the works. But first we want to take a moment to be more transparent with you and discuss our upcoming redesigned development processes.

Communication to you is a top priority for us and a commitment we will continue to honor. We understand that as our development projects have grown our feature details and timelines have become a bit more vague than what you have seen in the past. As the needs to best support the game and you, the players, continue to fluctuate, we want to make sure we are communicating realistic expectations that we can deliver on.

The Onward player base has grown at an exponential rate and the game now runs on multiple platforms across several different devices. As a live crossplay multiplayer title, this requires a lot of work and testing to make sure we continue to raise the quality bar we strive to clear. We are constantly working to keep up with the demands while also improving the quality of the game and creating new content. This can sometimes mean more work and time has to be spent on building out and enhancing back-end systems to prepare for new features or fixing issues on a larger scale rather than individual bugs.

To help prioritize all the ongoing necessary requirements and upcoming features, we are reviewing the design of features currently in the game as well as those we’re developing for future releases. We are putting careful thought into each upcoming release as we work on balancing player needs, long term infrastructure support, and new features for Onward. This will help us build a solid foundation to provide you the best Onward experience possible.

Let’s get to the exciting new features we are working on located in the Devs’ Desk section of this Sitrep! In the Community Center, you can also find details regarding some upcoming community events and new custom maps.

We are developing three exciting new features to help strengthen gameplay, correct a current exploit, and provide new content to you! We have prioritized these, alongside some of our other current projects, in order to better balance and enhance the game.

When we started reviewing the overall game design, one system that stuck out was Equipment Points and its impact on gameplay. After several discussions and design iterations we decided to update this system. We are not just changing the values of some weapons, but the whole structure. Let’s dive into the why and how:

The loadout point structure was introduced many years ago and has had very few changes after its first iteration, despite the game having changed significantly around it. With the rapid expansion of the player base, updates to areas throughout the game, and the addition of weapons and equipment, we think a redesign of the structure will bring a new balance to Onward’s gameplay. In addition, we aim to bring new options for players to explore, while addressing existing issues in the balance that have led to the “meta” loadouts that have developed over the years.

Onward’s focus on tactics and team communication remain unchanged. One of the major considerations for the points rebalance is to force players to make more strategic decisions when building their loadouts. The intention is to help facilitate players' need to communicate with their team and develop a more tactical approach to combat opposing forces.

When we reviewed the loadout points system we took a lot of things into consideration. For weapons we looked at damage output, tactical advantages and disadvantages, and other details including feeding, caliber, fire rate, mag capacity, damage points, charging mode, mag location, mag release, and fire modes. In addition, we looked at the accessories that can be added to the weapons and how those pieces change the player's role on the battlefield.

The redesigned point systems should help players focus their builds - such as a long ranged sniper or breacher role rather than an all-in-one soldier. We are looking forward to seeing the dynamic roles and tactics people create with this redesign!

There has been an ongoing issue with some players being able to manipulate their playspace and navigate into locations they are not supposed to be able to be in. We understand it is a very frustrating issue many of you have been experiencing and reporting to us. It is a complex issue that has taken us time to fix, but a fix has been developed and will be introduced soon.

A new map has been in the works with our level design team. We don’t have any images of the new map yet, but we can provide a few details:
Name: Intercept
Location: Western region of Iraq

Stay tuned for more info on this map soon!

The Onward Charity Community held its finals this past weekend and we want to give a big shout out to the Tournament winners and to everyone who participated and donated!

Congratulations to the members of Bossfight on the win in the Hero Bracket and to Astro for the win in the Rise Up Bracket.

The Onward Charity Community was able to collect over $6,000 in donations to help the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Thank you to everyone who continues to be a part of this organization and play Onward to help support great causes. If you would like to be a part of future tournaments please check out their Discord: https://discord.gg/6uYjfQD4Qm

IVRL Season 1 Playoffs start April 23.
To watch the intense show downs leading up to the IVRL Finals, check out their Twitch channel: Twitch.tv/IVRLEAGUE


New custom maps have been added. Head over to the workshop area to download and give them a try.

Omega Fun Center - (PC) & Omega Fun Center - Lights Out (PC) submitted by Sheldorino
“After a totally rad birthday, it was time for the afterparty to get started.”


Skyfall (PC, Quest) submitted by Glitch0320
“MI6 Marsoc Agents have been sent to eliminate a group of Volk arms dealers in the heart of enemy territory.”


The Complex (PC, Quest) submitted by Linkster
“Volk are taking over an industrial complex in search of supplies. Eliminate them!”


Valley (Day & Night) (PC, Quest) submitted by Gargarbot
“In an attempt to expand control of the surrounding region, MARSOC needs to capture a Volk base protecting a critical transportation route. Fog renders night vision less useful.”


Backrooms (PC, Quest) submitted by Shelderino
“How did we end up here?”


Dead Forest (PC, Quest) submitted by Whitefang
“Volk have invaded a campground in middle America. MARSOC must clear them out. But be warned - local legend warns of something worse than Volk that occupies these woods.”


Garage (PC, Quest) submitted by Gargarbot
“MARSOC must infiltrate an abandoned parking structure that is being used by the VOLK as a communication hub. Night vision is discouraged for competitive play.”


Retro Factory (Quest) submitted by Ho11ow
“A fun reconstruction of a classic FPS multiplayer level. Great for Gun Game and One in the Chamber.”


Desert Compound (PC, Quest) submitted by BassSlappa
“Volk has taken over this site and it's time to take it back. Fight it out within the compound for intense CQB action, or head to the mountains with your trusty 12x to get some sniper practice.”