🚨 CLEAR YO FILES
We strongly recommend everyone to delete all files located in %LOCALAPPDATA%/GroundBranch/Saved/Config/WindowsNoEditor (copy-paste this into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter) to ensure your old saved files do not conflict with the latest changes and cause input and settings issues.

V1031.1 is a patch to fix some of V1031's more pressing issues, along with some general cleanup. Here are all the changes, fixes and updates:


Kris and Mikson worked together to tackle the big performance drops caused by higher bot counts running on non-dedicated server sessions, i.e. Lone Wolf and self-hosted games.

Although the difference might not be as drastic across all setups—your mileage may vary depending on your system specs, in-game settings and bot count—our playtesters saw framerate gains in the10–20 FPS range when running with 30 bots, compared to before the fix.

Keep in mind that optimizations will be an ongoing process and you'll still inevitably experience lower performance when playing against higher bot counts, especially when going beyond 30.

Here's the list of what was done to achieve the improvements straight from Mik:

• Reduced the number of sound sources per character.
  
• Sounds below -60 dB are not played or are sent to virtual voice.
  
• Limited the maximum amount of simultaneous voices to 128.
  
• Added different priority values to a few categories of sound effects to help the sound engine determine which voices should be killed or sent to virtual when the limit is reached.

If you notice sounds cutting off, let us know via the in-game bug reporter ([Esc] > Report Bug button in the top bar). It's most likely due to the limit and priorities mentioned above.

• New MK18 Mod 1 and M4A1 Block II unsuppressed gunshots and bolt movement sounds (work in progress).

🐞 Known issue: Occlusion for the Tanker's engine sound is buggy. As players move up the floors, the noise may fade out, then suddenly go loud again for a second, and then continue to fade.

• Fixed non-magnified optics allowing players to see through smoke.
  
• Fixed not being able to draw weapons on The Farm (Training map).
  
• Another update, another shot at fixing the item switch bug (the one that breaks items, makes characters hold rifles like pistols etc.) 🤞
  
• Fixed Training game mode logic attempting to send players to non-existent Ready Room.
  
• Fixed crash related to "dummy character" used for loadout validation on clients.
  
• Fixed crash related to movie player plugin and loading screens.
  
• Fixed timers firing after related game mode script is no longer in use, causing log spam.

The laptop objective present in both Intel Retrieval and Uplink has received a few updates:

• Blue battery indicator LED lights and an animated screensaver were added to make it easier to locate.
  
• In Intel Retrieval, once the correct laptop is successfully searched, it will fold down before players can deliberately pick it up.
  
• Still in Intel Retrieval: unless picked up, the folded-down laptop will now display flashing blue lights to make it easier to locate if dropped.

🐞 Known issue: If players are killed while carrying the laptop and then resurrected (using the admin command), the laptop will respawn at its original location.

• Fixed incorrect decals on the bay dividers of the indoor shooting range (The Farm).
  
• Rotated shoothouse target that was in an awkward, hard-to-hit angle when facing the nearby doorway from the adjacent room.
  
• Added collision to The Farm's aircraft shoothouse stairway to prevent players from getting into plane side.
  
• Fixed bug in Run Down where breaching charges would be placed on the wrong side of basement doors.
  
• Also made Run Down's staircase collision volumes into ramps, like it is on other maps. No more bumpy stair climbing.
  
• Cleaned up a lot of collision in Run Down: should make walking through the level much smoother for both players and AI.
  
• Moved Depot's Train Bridge insertion point from down on the road (where players spawned in exposed) up to the top of the hill.
  
• Cleaned up some landscape/navmesh issues, collisions and AI cover nodes on Depot.
  
• Fixed missing collision on the 2nd floor ceiling of City's central building.
  
• Fixed outside areas at the Tanker's rear section where lighting would change for no reason as you moved.
  
• Expanded bound for base architecture meshes on Run Down, Small Town and The Farm to decrease pop-in due to occlusion culling (seeing white when turning corners)
  
• Finally cleaned up Ready Room's wall texture UVs so the bricks are properly aligned.
  
• Added power switches to the tunnel area in Power Station.
  
• Fixed some general collision bugs on 747 and Tanker.
  
• Fixed grass coming through some of Depot's warehouse floors.

• Players can now set game mode/mission parameters straight from the Lone Wolf, Host Game, Admin and Vote screens. They can still be changed on the Ops Board inside the Ready Room, of course.
  
• Hid the Co-Op/PvP/Team filters from the Host Game screen, as they were mostly redundant.
  
• Updated Session Roster listing to sort players by name and team when appropriate.
  
• Fixed VOIP icon and name in the Session Roster pulsing even when the associated player is not talking.
  
• Removed framerate limit under Settings > Video. Be advised that higher FPS limits were known to cause rubberbanding/teleporting/lagging in the past.
  
• Added warning prompt when applying Video settings with a horizontal FOV greater than 90°. Can be set to not display again.
  
• Spectators can now use VOIP with active players if the server-side option is enabled. It is disabled by default in most game modes, with the exception of Training.
  
• Also added text to VOIP HUD to inform spectators whether active players can hear them speak in the server.
  
• The Invite Friends prompt (displayed when a self-hosted server is launched) now has a checkbox to not show again.
  
• Fixed Ops Board parameters not updating properly for some players online.
  
• Added remaining OPFOR notification for Terrorist Hunt when 10 or less enemies are remaining.
  
• Added enemy blips back to Spectator minimap based on previous setup.
  
• Updated Server Browser list to hopefully prevent entries from displaying <MISSING STRING TABLE TEXT> under columns Map and Game Mode.
  
• Fixed server details not being updated and showing wrong map, player count etc.
  
• Fixed controller icons appearing on keyboard/mouse keybinds list and vice-versa.

• Fixed game mode settings added by script not respecting those set in command line.
  
• Removed .ini setting that prevented creating and joining a dedicated server on the same computer.
  
• Simplified dedicated server command line to support launching servers without a pre-defined map list. Servers will simply load a default and allow admins to setup a map list and other options once connected.

💡 Need dedicated server help?
Kris has updated his guide with all of the recent stuff, so be sure to check it out if you're trying to set up your own dedicated server: Dedicated Server Help (Steam Community • Guides)

Still very much a work in progress:

• General cleanup of the controller binding logic.
  
• Started updating the default controller binds to be more in line with modern FPS conventions.

---

Thanks for playing V1031 and taking the time to read our release notes! We have a long way to go, but we hope this patch makes everyone's experience a little smoother. Keep the feedback coming and we'll keep fixing what we can. See you on the next one!

---

{LINK REMOVED}Discord / {LINK REMOVED}Steam Community Hub / {LINK REMOVED}Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

🚨 CLEAR YO FILES
We strongly recommend everyone to delete all files located in %LOCALAPPDATA%/GroundBranch/Saved/Config/WindowsNoEditor (copy-paste this into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter) to ensure your old saved files do not conflict with the latest changes and cause input and settings issues.

After about 20 days of testing on the GROUND BRANCH CTE app, Version 1031 is now stable enough for the main branch of the game, and our little community can reunite and enjoy all the latest content and updates together, at last.

A lot has happened since V1030—from programmer Kris being knocked out by meds to industry legend John Romero tweeting about us out of nowhere (holy sh*t, by the way)—and in this period GROUND BRANCH has become a better experience than it was in almost every way: it has better audio and visual effects, a nicer-looking and more user-friendly interface, improved controls and options, 2 new game modes, a new CQB map and a brand-new consolidated training area, and even a few updated assets.

Although V1031 isn't without issues (such is the nature of Early Access, though we'll be sure to patch those as soon as we can), we had to move on and transition the project over to V1032 so that Mike (Munk, animator, of Killing Floor and Rising Storm 2 fame) can transition from working on a separate environment to actually putting all those new animations into the game with Kris' assistance. We'll be mentioning all known left-over issues in this build in the release notes below.

💚 Before we get on with it, we'd like to thank all players who took time off their gaming to test V1031 on CTE, report the issues they found, and provide valuable feedback. We love you and we appreciate you.

Oh, and just one more thing:

As announced just a little over 4 months ago in Build Update #027, GROUND BRANCH was due a 10 USD price increase with the release of V1031. The game has come a long way since it was released on Steam® Early Access in August 2018, and with V1031 now live, we feel like it has earned the less modest price tag of 29.99 USD for all the reasons we are quoting here from the original announcement:

• GROUND BRANCH has been in Early Access for over 2 years with no price change, and it is now a lot further along than it was in the beginning. With V1031, it will be even more so.
  
• We genuinely feel that—despite the relatively slow development and current lack of polish—we are offering fans of the hardcore tactical shooter genre something unique that no other game out there is offering.
  
• The game has been sitting at a “Very Positive” user score for both recent and all-time reviews, with an approval rating of around 85% . As such, we believe that all the improvements that are planned for the next main update will more than justify the new price.

The new price of 29.99 USD will go live this Monday, March 8th, at 12pm EST (5pm GMT), with regional pricing adjusted accordingly. If you still have friends on the fence, you have a couple days to pull them over to our side!



The UI has received a considerable art, style and user experience pass. Some screens, prompts, dialogs and other smaller UI elements have yet to get a makeover, but we've gotten to most of them by now.

Here's what's new:

The first menu you'll see doesn't look a whole lot different, but you may notice a few minor style and formatting changes, along with the new stripped-down GROUND BRANCH logo, a version indicator, new tooltips and also these main changes:

• Training will now take you to the new consolidated training compound (more on that in the Content section) instead of the old list of outdated training maps.
  
• Lone Wolf replaces "Play Offline". It just has a nicer ring to it and makes it immediately clear to players that it is a solo mode.

This screen has been cleaned up considerably and now only displays relevant game modes (Terrorist Hunt and Intel Retrieval—more on the latter later) and maps, as well as a map search box.



You may also notice the new map descriptions in the bottom-left (unless you're pointing at City, 'cause we forgot to add a description to that one. Got a suggestion? Post it in the comments).

💡 Where did the AI settings go?
Short answer is they need to be put back somewhere. In the meantime, you can set them in the Ops Board in the Ready Room, and custom AI settings can be copied from DefaultAISettings.ini (…Steam/steamapps/common/Ground Branch/GroundBranch/Config) into AISettings.ini (%LOCALAPPDATA%/GroundBranch/Saved/Config/WindowsNoEditor) and edited. Simply copy and paste the [SkillLevel@Custom] section, change the values, and save.

With a similar screen layout to Lone Wolf, the new Host Game UI should make self-hosting a lot more intuitive. Here are some of the changes:

• Notices and prompts will outline listen server limitations and how to invite friends into your game.
  
• Added an in-game inviting tool, accessible via the prompt upon launching the server, or via [Esc] menu (Invite Friends option in the top menu bar).
  
• Self-hosted servers are now hard-limited to 8 players max. This is likely to be reduce further due to such servers being much more prone to poor performance than dedicated servers.

Not much change here from a functional standpoint, just a new layout and exposed filters at the bottom-left. We've also temporarily removed the server tabs that were out of order (they will be back when they work again), so we're left with Internet and LAN only. The Game Mode column should also correctly display the game modes currently being played on servers.

💡 Dedicated server capacity
Dedicated servers are now limited to 16 players max, whether on PvP or co-op. Although that was already the planned player limit for PvP, co-op is being built with 8-player teams (max) in mind, for both game design and performance reasons. We do plan on having a hard limit later, while still allowing private servers to run higher capacities—but with certain conditions we have yet to discuss, such as a separate server tab and/or enforcing password protection.

Received a big UI/UX pass, which rearranged where each option is and what they are labeled for better consistency and intuitiveness. We've also added a lot of tooltips to clarify some of the less obvious options, and changed a lot of defaults to more familiar, intuitive and usable settings.



Controls screen

• Added Clear Bind button to binding prompt.
  
• New binds: Tac Light / IR Illuminator, Laser and Toggle Laser Mode (more on these further below).
  
• Now lists previously hidden binds such as Admin Panel and Forfeit.
  
• Now features a dedicated tab for Controller binds, which can now use button combos with Left Trigger ([LT], [L2]), Left Shoulder Button ([LB], [L1]) and Right Shoulder Button ([RB], [R1]). It's a first pass, so issues are expected.

🐞 Known issue: Controller binds have been reported as displaying in the Keyboard & Mouse tab as default binds. Simply changing them to your preferred Keyboard/Mouse keybinds should make them work normally.

Gameplay screen
Now features a Sight Priorities section, which allows the player to determine sight hierarchy when multiple types are equipped. This will make sure you know which optic you will default to at mission start, as well as which order it will cycle through when switching.

Video screen
Added drop-down menu for Screen Space Reflections (SSR) settings, under Settings > Video > Graphics (right below Anti-Aliasing Method). Keep in mind that SSR is a performance-light solution known to display odd reflections in some contexts. It may also display visual artifacts unless TAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing) is used.

Audio screen
Channel now allows more options, including "Auro 11.1": a great option for headphone users due to its extra "height" channels that allow players to discern sounds that are coming from above. We've added a nice tooltip to the ? icon so you know what to choose for your audio setup.

• Getting to know your teammates has been made easier by a HUD element that displays player names. Like the VOIP HUD pop-up, they are only enabled in the Ready Room as a tool to get used to each other's voice and appearance before the action phase, as well as to make admins' lives easier.
  
• The Session Roster screen (previously "Game Info") has a new look, and will now correctly display players that are currently using VOIP.
  
• The top menu bar ([Esc] menu) has been rearranged and now offers a Main Menu shortcut (via GB icon button), as well as contextual options such as "Session Roster" (display current players in the session), "Invite Friends" (for self-hosted games), and "Admin" for server admin options. Tooltips were also added.
  
• Interaction prompts ("Use", "Pick Up" etc.) have been updated with a new look and custom key icons.
  
• First pass to improve pop-in hints.
  
• Some map names were changed: Tanker Ship is now Tanker, Training Base (previously only previewable via console) is now The Farm, and the User Arena maps are now just called Arena and Arena 2.
  
• The Bipod is now called Bipod (Non-Functional) to make players aware that they are not usable yet.
  
• Changed display name convention for scopes: Name (Magnification), e.g. ACOG (4x), Specter DR (1x/4x) etc.
  
• Added magnification value to the display name of Russian scopes 1P78 Kashtan (2.8x) and PSO-1M2 (4x).
  
• Minor tweaks to text chat appearance.

• Weapon lights can now be bound to your preferred key (default [5]). They are still accessible via the Attachments Wheel and share the keybind with the new IR Illuminator, with NVG use determining which is active. This logic is bound to be changed to use the same one as the visible vs. IR laser (see below).
  
• The new IR Illuminator function on the AN/PEQ-15 has two settings, HI (wide and dim) and LO (focused and bright). Switch between them with the Reticle Brightness keys (default [Home] and [End]).
  
• The visible and IR lasers on the AN/PEQ-15 share a single toggle key (default [6]), and another key to switch between them (default [7]). The switch logic will be carried over to visible vs. IR lights.
  
• Lasers and lights all have both a "momentary" (hold key) and a "toggle" (double-tap to turn on, tap once to turn off) activation mode.
  
• The G33 Magnifier is now togglable via the same binds used for Scope Zoom In/Out (default [Alt] + [Mouse Wheel]). It is still accessible via the Attachments Wheel as well.
  
• Variable magnification scopes now all default to the lowest magnification level.

🐞 Known issues:
• The weapon logic for the light vs. IR Illuminator switch may not always work, causing them to either not switch properly when NVG is toggled or be both on at the same time.
• When playing online, light and laser activation can be glitchy when using the toggle mode (double-tap).

The clacker/remote detonator is back: it will be equipped automatically after placing the Breaching Charge, which is no longer time-detonated. Simply press Fire to detonate the charge remotely.

• You can now throw grenades through windows once the glass has been shattered, and both glass panes and doors will now be blown up if within range of frag grenades.
  
• Adjusted M67 Frag explosion radius: the max damage radius has been increased from 4 to 6 meters, with damage scaling down from there until the minimum damage radius (10 meters). (The simple radius damage implementation currently in place will be replaced with simulated shrapnel later.)

• Will now open and close smoothly, even when gradually opened and closed. They're much more responsive to walking/running into as well once partially open.
  
• Gradually opening/closing doors once again uses an open/close logic rather than push/pull. Assuming default controls, you would now hold [F] + [Mouse Wheel Up] to gradually open and [F] + [Mouse Wheel Down] to close, regardless of which side of the door you're on. (This was changed due to the inconsistency of the push/pull mechanic.)
  
• When blown up, doors will no longer display a missing teal texture.

🐞 Known issue: Doors have been reported to occasionally prevent movement when playing online, as if the position did not sync up between server and client.

💡 A little note on doors
The current door implementation is fairly old and due a much needed overhaul. Please bear with the obvious issues until we get a better system in place, hopefully sooner rather than later.

A default item equipped on your character's left wrist, the Wristwatch is incredibly helpful, especially in multiplayer games. It currently displays in-game time and a compass that rotates in relation to the world, making call-outs, navigation and keeping track of time much easier.

In addition to its NV mode (default [N]), the Rangefinder will now actually do rangefinding. Use Aim Down Sights (default [RMB]) to look through it and Fire (default [LMB]) to scan the distance to the target. Day mode has a fixed 8x magnification, displays a mil reticle and has a cutout at the bottom to assist HUD readability. Night mode is fixed at 5x and displays a simple reticle dot at the center of the view.

The item has also received a new circular overlay, better suited for a monocular device.

🐞 Known issue: The range reading might not always be correct, as we still have to make sure it is not colliding with invisible objects, reading past objects that it should not, or having other types of issues.

Kris has spent a lot of time reworking the game mode logic completely. It is now based on Lua scripting and should allow for a lot more flexibility when creating and adjusting modes, making everyone's lives a lot easier—from Kris' to those of future modders.

In addition to rebuilding the existing game modes from the ground up in the new system, Kris has also rigged up a new objective-based PvE game mode, called Intel Retrieval, and revamped an existing PvP one (formerly Defend), now called Uplink. Let's go over them:

Intel Retrieval is the first PvE objective-based game mode in GROUND BRANCH. It currently consists of successfully locating and extracting intel from the mission area.

The player selects one of the available insertion points on the Ops Board's map (which also displays the assigned extraction point) and, upon deploying, must search the laptops in the mission area for the intel by holding Interact (default [F]) while keeping the laptop in view.


*Scoffs* These guys are still running Intel Search 7?!

If the intel is found, the laptop is taken (it currently attaches like a backpack) and the player must then successfully reach the extraction point, marked with green smoke. If the intel-carrying player is killed in a multiplayer session, the item will be dropped and can be picked up by a living member of the team.

Server admins can also choose to "Exfiltrate as a team" on the Ops Board, forcing all surviving players to be at the extraction point in order to finish the mission for extra teamwork points (currently imaginary).

Intel Retrieval can be played on Small Town, Depot, Storage Facility, Creek, Run Down, Tanker, Power Station, 747 and City.

NOTES

• We have yet to mark possible intel locations on the map. For a list of all possible locations per map, click here.
  
• Up to 2 extraction points can be assigned randomly, and up to 3 are available per map.
  
• Keep in mind that your weapon will be slung/holstered when searching the laptop. Upon finishing the search, your weapon must be manually re-equipped.
  
• If by any chance the laptop decides to disappear off the face of the map, it should respawn at its original location.

💡 As a first pass on the mode, we are still trying things out and are curious about how it plays. Should there be only one laptop you must locate instead of several you need to locate and then search? Do we want the laptop to be carried in one hand with a handgun in the other, instead of on the player's back, or should it go inside a backpack? Let your thoughts and ideas be known in the comments.

Previously known as Defend, Uplink is almost a PvP version of Intel Retrieval.

Teams take turn as either attackers or defenders:

Attackers must locate the laptop (a single one on the map) and uplink valuable intel through it.

Defenders will deploy near the laptop must prevent that from happening by either eliminating the attacking team, or running out the round time (default 10 minutes; can be set to 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 min by admins).

Uplink can be played on Small Town, Power Station, Storage Facility, Creek, Run Down, 747 and City.
NOTES

• Admins can also determine Defender Setup Time on the Ops Board. This value determines how much time (in seconds) defenders have before attackers can move.
  
• There is a spawn protection area around the attacker's insertion area to prevent defenders from spawn-killing them while they are stuck in the defenders' setup period.

💡 A very basic mission editor is in place and can be opened using the editmission console command. It lacks documentation and usability features, but those who wish to try it out as-is for whatever reason, can do so.

Visuals have received a considerable overhaul, as previewed in our video from a couple months ago:



Be on the lookout for these:

• As noted earlier, Screen Space Reflections (SSR) have been enabled again. Although not without issues, SSR can vastly improve the look of some maps and bring materials to life.
  
• New NVG depth-of-field (DOF) effect and updated overlay mask.
  
• Fixed the color of nearby objects "seeping through" when wearing NVG, as well as glare appearing white.
  
• New grenade explosion particle effects (M67 Frag and MK13 Flashbang).
  
• New flashbang stun effect: "burned image" effect and ear ringing (very WIP—does not consider distance or direction players are facing).
  
• New laser effects: Visible Laser dot and IR Laser beam and dot.
  
• Updated holo and red dot reticles to appear luminous again: will be harder to see against certain backgrounds, but look much better and realistic.
  
  • Aimpoint® sights have a slightly brighter reticle than others.
    
  • Added tint to holo and red dot sight glass to improve reticle visibility (and in the case of red dots, for authenticity as well).
    
  • Glow has been re-added to illuminated scope reticles as well.
• Tweaked the Marker Strobe effect to look a little strobier and less prone to clipping the character.
  
• Muzzle effects now originate a couple inches away from the muzzle rather than inside them.
  
• Lasers no longer go right through characters.
  
• The light on top of power switches will now turn off once the box is damaged.

• Although sleeves and gloves were slightly adjusted, some combinations will still look funky here and there. Gotta wait for that V1032.
  
• Laser dots may "dip" into walls when moving certain ways in relation to surfaces.
  
• The new red dot/holo lens tint appears to allow players to see through smoke. We'll be patching that as soon as possible, even if it means removing the tint until we figure out how to fix it properly.

All those new visuals above would not mean much without the audio to go with them. Mikson has greatly improved how GB sounds since our last major update with soundscapes for every map (no more dead silent missions!), new voice lines for AI enemies and Comms Wheel (default [G]) and new SFX to both replace old ones and add to previously quiet actions. Here's the full list:

• New placeholder AI voice lines: donated by voice actor Daeln Murphy (thanks, Daeln!), these are only meant as a temporary upgrade, as we intend to use native voice lines for the final game rather than accented English.
  
• Added grenade bounce sounds. (Still missing certain surface types.)
  
• New explosive (M67 Frag, MK13 Flashbang, Breaching Charge) SFX, with indoor and outdoor versions.
  
• New spent shell casing sounds, with different sounds for different calibers.
  
• New door opening/closing sounds.
  
• Improved footstep sounds.
  
• New gear movement sounds dependent on weight of current loadout.
  
• New item drop sounds.
  
• Weapon transition sound effects: rustling fabric, mechanical clicks and other sounds from moving a gun around while in gear.
  
• Door explosion debris SFX.

• Power Station and 747 now have environment sounds.
  
• The new maps (Run Down and The Farm) do too, so no more dead silent maps.

• Fixed the lack of occlusion in the Ready Room testing range.
  
• Improved various sound effects, as well as acoustic portals and sound occlusion.
  
• Increased audio stun effect radius from breaching charges when on the opposite side of the door.
  
• Reduced the probability of AI callouts/bark to mitigate repetitiveness and keep tangos from giving themselves away so often.

A lot of work has gone into map optimization, and players are likely to have better performance overall—particularly on map Depot. Playtesters have also reported lower FPS drops when using PiP scopes, though your mileage may vary. How is the game running for you now? Let us know and help us optimize further!

To draw from the new map descriptions: This decrepit abandoned building standing in an Eastern European industrial district appears to have hosted a school turned field hospital.




Run Down is a very atmospheric map with no shortage of very tight CQB ranges and nerve-wracking moments even when playing at daytime hours. It features a 3-level building with a courtyard in the center, a small surrounding area and a small garage building at the annexed parking lot.

The real-life Camp Peary is a military reservation in Virginia (USA) that hosts a CIA training facility known as The Farm, where clandestine officers and other personnel are trained.

In GROUND BRANCH, The Farm (built by former Hell Let Loose environment artist Will Bullen) replaces all the previous training maps with one single hub containing an indoor shoothouse, an indoor and an outdoor shooting range, and an aircraft-based shoothouse.



Aircraft shoothouse training scenario at The Farm (credits: truck.shepard [NPA])

💡 There's a lot of room for ideas and expansion in The Farm, which we hope to be able to try in the future. One of them is making the new shoothouse (whose layout was suggested by our active SOF advisor) randomized to some extent, possibly adding multiple entry points as well to keep things fresh.

Maps are a continuous effort to refine as we move forward, both aesthetically and functionally. In addition to general cleanup, some maps have received more substantial updates.

Much of the superstructure section of Tanker was reworked and upgraded, with other sections of the ship being built upon considerably as well. Make sure you also keep an eye out for all the power switches that were added to control the lighting of different parts of the vessel.




City's street level has seen major updates as well, especially noticeable inside the central square buildings:




Power Station's substation area is now a lot more interesting, offering much better cover. You may notice other smaller changes elsewhere in the map.

🐞 Known issues: Performance may be sluggish on maps Tanker and Run Down when playing Lone Wolf or self-hosting co-op games. This is likely due to high CPU usage by AI and navmesh optimization issues.

Modest updates in this department, but still pretty tight:

• Added Eye Pro glasses, selectable for the EYEWEAR slot. They're missing a dedicated icon.
  
• Added extended magazines for MK25, M9A3 and M17 pistols.
  
• Added proper NVG mount and tweaked flipped-up angle to be less obstructive. Needs work.
  
• Replaced the MP7A1 and MP7A2 with a higher-quality MP7A1 model. No extra skins yet, but we'll get there.
  
• Replaced the MP7 Suppressor with a new model.

The MP7 Suppressor was ordered to the very talented 3D artist Bakr Asaad (aka zraider), also the author of the amazing M110 and M110K1 suppressors. Check out his portfolio here.

• Replaced the old PMII 5–25x scope with a newer model. Scale has been fixed too.
  
• Replaced old generic Tac Light attachment with SureFire® M600V model, named Tac Light (M600V) in-game.
  
• Replaced the old Holster with a new model—the first of many Pau Peñalver models to make it into the game. Currently offers 4 skins to choose from.
  
• Replaced the old Rail Cover attachment with a much higher-fidelity model, now called Rail Panel (Long). Also added a shorter version: Rail Panel (Short).
  
• Attachment slots for the Plate Carrier were adjusted for a more authentic look. The top row has also lost a slot.

• The SVD no longer accepts a suppressor (it was never meant to), but still lists the Suppressor in the Attachments menu.
  
• This is not a new issue, but it might be more noticeable now in some contexts: scope sight pictures can appear either darker or brighter than the world outside of it.
  
• The old bugs that break weapon poses when switching items and sights are still out there, despite Kris' numerous attempts to fix them. If you get them, please make an in-game report if possible.
  
• Some players reported seeing up-and-down weapon shake. We're still looking into it.

Thank you for your continued support, for all the amazing response to this little passion project of ours, and for allowing us to keep pursuing it to its end. We're not going anywhere as long as you guys are out there and on board. Keep safe, enjoy this build, and we'll see you on the next update.

One last update before we push CTE to the main branch.

Fixes:
* disabled non-rendered footstep logic (double footsteps)
* updated Lua game mode logic to read Difficulty from command line

Server Player Limits changed:
Listen Server (Self hosting) max players is 8
Dedicated Server max players 16

In the future we will separate off dedicated servers set for more than 8 as custom and present them to the player separate from official and "stock" servers. Some game/game mode features may not be available to custom servers though, as there are some things coming in the future that make having 16 players in PvE difficult.

🚨 CLEAR YO FILES
We strongly recommend everyone to delete all files located in %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor (copy-paste this into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter) to ensure your old saved files do not conflict with the latest changes and cause input and settings issues.

Another Community Test Environment update is now live on the GROUND BRANCH CTE app with the latest V1031 testing build. This is the third—and hopefully final—V1031 CTE update. If nothing major pops up, we'll be moving on to the official V1031 release on the main GROUND BRANCH app.

If you're just now getting into CTE, make sure to check out the previous CTE release notes (#004 and #005) to get the full picture.

• Terrorist Hunt should now end as expected once the last tango is killed.
  
• Player/team stats in the AAR screen should display again for dead players.
  
• Increased the size of the Extraction Point collision component to make extracting multiple players easier (Intel Retrieval).
  
• Added more checks to important items (laptop) so they hopefully don't fall through floor/ground anymore.
  
• Max player count is now enforced on map/mode change from PvP to PvE. It was causing the new player limit to break.
  
• Added a few AI spawn and guard points to Depot (Intel Retrieval and Terrorist Hunt).
  
• Created new, less emissive material for Ops Board and toned down the noise on the minimap for better clarity.
  
• Hopefully fixed the weapon vertical shake some players were reporting.

• Fixed default Keyboard & Mouse keybinds for Reticle Brightness Up and Reticle Brightness Down resetting to [LAlt] + [D-Pad] Left/Right.
  
• Fixed default Lean Type being "Toggle" instead of "Hold" in Settings > Controls (when controls are reset via Reset Default button).
  
• Fixed Screen Space Reflections settings being overwritten when Effects Quality is changed.
  
• The solution for a universal console key didn't work out, so we've added alternate console keys back to DefaultInput.ini for players who do not use a US keyboard or EN-US input language in Windows. In addition to the Tilde key, these should also bring up the console:
  
  • Multiply
  • (aka the asterisk key on the NumPad)
    
  • Caret [^] and Section [§] (both commonly found where the US Tilde key is on some layouts)
    
  • Grave [`] (ditto above)
    
  • Backslash [\] (for those with tenkeyless/80% keyboards)

If these do not work for you, here's how you can set up your own custom console keys:

1️⃣ Open DefaultInput.ini (%LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor).
2️⃣ Add +ConsoleKeys=YourKeyHere to the bottom of the file, replacing the underlined part with the key you want to use. For example, to make [F5] open the console, add +ConsoleKeys=F5. 3️⃣ Save the file, and it should just work next time you launch the game.

Conversely, if you want to remove any of the existing console binds, simply remove the line.

• Changed display name convention for scopes: Name (Magnification), e.g. ACOG (4x), Specter DR (1x/4x) etc.
  
• Added magnification value to the display name of Russian scopes 1P78 Kashtan (2.8x) and PSO-1M2 (4x).
  
• Fixed the display name for Tac Light (M600V) (had an extra zero in it).
  
• Improved magnified sights clipping camera when mounted too far back on the MPX.
  
• Reduced effect of volumetric lights on flashlights to minimize ghosting effect when moving in heavy volumetric areas of maps, mostly visible in nighttime gameplay.

Art/UX pass on the Server Browser:

• Hid tabs that are temporarily out of order (only Internet and LAN still show up).
  
• Cleaned up server list: alignments, font sizes, icon proportions and general formatting.
  
• Fixed Game Mode column not displaying the proper game mode.

• Bots may be caught displaying exaggerated weapon shake.
  
• Footsteps may sound duplicated. If you come across this bug, please file a report mentioning the map and location of the issue!

---

Thanks for playing the CTE and helping us get this update in order — we really appreciate it. Stay safe and let us know of any game-breakers you come across!

---

{LINK REMOVED}Discord / {LINK REMOVED}Steam Community Hub / {LINK REMOVED}Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

⚠️ NOTICE
These release notes are for the V1031 testing build currently available in the GROUND BRANCH CTE Steam® app, not to be confused with the official (and upcoming) V1031 release for the main GROUND BRANCH app.

🚨 CLEAR YO FILES
We strongly recommend everyone to delete all files located in %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor (copy-paste this into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter) to ensure your old saved files do not conflict with the latest changes and cause input and settings issues.

A new Community Test Environment build is now available on GROUND BRANCH CTE. If you're just now getting into CTE, make sure to check out the release notes for the last update (February 13th) so you get the full story.



The last CTE has introduced an issue with larger numbers of bots (typically above 30) causing massive CPU usage, resulting in slowdowns particularly offline and when hosting listen servers. Kris is still debugging the problem, but as a result of his findings, we have:

• Cleaned up and optimized navmeshes.
  
• Stopped the skylight actor from moving through the sky "live" to make sure it was not impacting performance.
  
• Not directly related to the overall performance issue outlined above, but we've also added r.GraphicsAdapter=-1 to DefaultEngine.ini to try to get the engine to favor dedicated GPUs. This is a possible fix for laptops defaulting to the integrated graphics adapter instead of the preferred Nvidia/AMD card.

Player limits are now hardcoded to the numbers we have designed the game around. This was done for both performance and gameplay reasons:

• Self-hosted listen servers (Host Game option) can host up to 8 players, including the hosting player. This number may be reduced depending on performance.
  
• Dedicated servers can host up to 8 players on co-op (PvE) and 16 players on adversarial (PvP) game modes.

• The new objective-based PvE mode has been added to the following maps: Storage Facility, Creek, Run Down, Tanker, Power Station, 747 and City.
  
• Up to 2 extraction points can be assigned randomly, and up to 3 are available per map.
  
• The assigned extraction point will be marked with green smoke in the mission area.
  
• The laptop with the intel will now be attached to the character's back (like a backpack) instead of being carried by hand. This allows players to defend themselves when playing solo. (Once the animation overhaul has happened, we'll try the idea of carrying the laptop on one hand and a handgun on the other.)
  
• If the laptop happens to fall through the map (as has been reported to happen sometimes when dropped), its position will be reset on the map rather than be lost forever.

⚠️ AI spawn and guard points will get several passes still — we're always open to feedback on those.

⚠️ We have yet to mark possible objective locations on the Ops Board map so players have an idea of where to look. For now, look around main buildings and map landmarks, or check out the possible locations below:

Depot
Buildings inside the central compound

Small Town
Inside buildings

Power Station
• Top floor, Server Room area
• Ground floor, northwestern block
• Maintenance tunnel, ladder/hatch section

Storage Facility
• All 3 are in deeper tunnels area

Creek
• Central camp, inside one of the barns
• Cave/tunnel
• Next to one of the barns in the South

Run Down
• Basement
• Courtyard
• Top floor

Tanker
• Bridge
• Level 5, console room
• "Valley" section in the middle of the deck

747
• Cockpit
• Luggage hold
• Hangar

City
• Subway, northern area of the platform
• Travel agency, upstairs
• Cafe/pub

• Now also playable on Storage Facility, Creek, Run Down, 747 and City.
  
• Teams should now switch sides each round.
  
• Time limit is now set to 10 minutes per round. The wristwatch should display a countdown timer accordingly.
  
• For attackers to win, the objective needs to be located and successfully taken within the time limit: simply killing off the opposition will not end the round.
  
• First pass warning! This game mode, like all others to come, will require a lot of testing and fine-tuning.

⚠️ How does Uplink play on all of these maps? How can it improve? Let us know!

❌ KNOWN GAME MODE ISSUE
The AAR (After-Action Results) screen is apparently not displaying player data on mission failure. We'll fix this for the next release.

• Fixed several keybinds not having proper defaults set, resulting in them resetting to outdated keybinds (or no keybinds at all) when players clicked the "Reset Default" button.
  
• The console should now be universally accessible via the Tilde [~] key, or whatever key your keyboard layout has to the left of [1]. As such, we have removed the secondary console key that used to be on NumPad *.
  
• Moved the default Forfeit keybind to [F10] to avoid accidental deaths when dropping items or using other binds in that area of the keyboard.
  
• Gradually opening/closing doors once again uses an open/close logic rather than push/pull. Assuming default controls, you would now hold [F] + [Mouse Wheel Up] to gradually open and [F] + [Mouse Wheel Down] to close, regardless of which side of the door you're on.
  
• By popular demand (3 players), the Magnifier can be toggled via Attachments Wheel again. The newer Scope Zoom In/Out method is still available, of course.

We've added further support for controller input. All a work in progress, but it should make the life of controller users a little easier:

• The Keybinds list (Settings > Controls) now displays a separate tab for controller binds.
  
• Left Trigger ([LT], [L2]), Left Shoulder Button ([LB], [L1]) and Right Shoulder Button ([RB], [R1]) can all be used as modifiers for button combos (similarly to [LCtrl], [LAlt] and [LShift] on the keyboard).

• You can now throw grenades through windows once the glass has been shattered!
  
• Glass now explodes if within range of frag grenades.
  
• Adjusted M67 Frag explosion radius: the max damage radius has been increased from 4 to 6 meters, with damage scaling down from there until the minimum damage radius (10 meters). (The simple radius damage implementation currently in place will be replaced with simulated shrapnel later.)
  
• Frags will now also blow up doors.
  
• Running against partially open doors should no longer stop or slow down running/sprinting players, but instead barge open in accordance to movement speed.
  
• Doors now also open up faster when using the regular Swing Door command.
  
• The Specter DR 1x/4x scope no longer has a super bright sight picture.

• Added weapon transition sound effects: rustling fabric, mechanical clicks and other sounds from moving a gun around while in gear.
  
• Added door explosion debris SFX.
  
• Increased audio stun effect radius from breaching charges when in the opposite side of door.
  
• Footstep attenuation has been tweaked to not be as audible at a distance.
  
• Reduced the probability of AI callouts/bark to mitigate repetitiveness and keep tangos from giving themselves away so often.

• The Main Menu now displays the main build version and whether or not it's the CTE right under the GROUND BRANCH logo.
  
• Made the Extraction Point on the Ops Board more visible and readable.
  
• Fixed the Customize/Re-Supply prompt not reappearing once the Customize Operator screen was closed unless players stepped away and then back.
  
• Added drop-down menu for Screen Space Reflections (SSR) settings, under Settings > Video > Graphics (right below Anti-Aliasing Method).
  
• Slightly tweaked the top-bar menu (Esc) and made sure the central buttons remained centered on ultrawide setups.
  
• More tooltips added for various buttons and options.

• Fixed Tac Light (M300C) model missing its mount.
  
• Bots in Run Down can now use doors.
  
• General map cleanup: gaps, bad materials, collision, LOD/culling etc.

• Fixed some sights and sight combinations displaying no sight picture.
  
• Fixed misalignment between G33 Magnifier and some sights.
  
• Fixed poses and items breaking when equipment is switched. (Not terribly confident about this one, but time will tell.)
  
• Fixed attachments showing up in inappropriate places. (Ditto above.)

---

Keep those bug reports and feedback coming! As always, thank you so much for your continued support and please stay safe out there.

---

{LINK REMOVED}Discord / {LINK REMOVED}Steam Community Hub / {LINK REMOVED}Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

⚠️ NOTICE ⚠️
These release notes are for the V1031 testing build currently available in the GROUND BRANCH CTE Steam® app, not to be confused with the official (and upcoming) V1031 release for the main GROUND BRANCH app.

Greetings, hardcore tactical realism friend.

If you like GROUND BRANCH and testing unfinished game features, your time has come again: GROUND BRANCH CTE (Community Test Environment) is once again open, now with a testing version of upcoming release V1031.

So those of you who got excited by this teaser from late December…



…as well as by our last Intel Update, should rejoice and get downloading that CTE app, 'cause you can now try out those new effects and a lot more.

As with our previous CTE release notes, this will be pretty stripped down in comparison to our usual Dev Blog posts, but that is all in the name of brevity and self-preservation as we've been working overtime (well, more overtime than usual) to get this update out—so please bear with a rather tired Scopey here.

💭 T is for Testing
Always keep in mind that issues are expected (and sometimes known), and our goal with the Community Test Environment is to gather valuable data and feedback from a larger group of players. Needless to say, everything is a work in progress!

The user interface is undergoing a much-needed art, style and usability overhaul, and this is the first area where you will notice changes when you launch GROUND BRANCH CTE. In addition to the obvious cosmetic update, here are the major changes:

The main container for most menu screens will now maintain a 16:9 aspect ratio regardless of how wide your viewport is.

We haven't gotten to all of them yet, so if you catch any menu content stretching out all the way to the side margins of your ultrawide setup, let us know. They're out there.

• "Training" will now take you to the new consolidated training compound (more on that in the Content section).
  
• "Lone Wolf" (formerly "Play Offline") now only displays relevant game modes (Terrorist Hunt and Intel Retrieval) and maps, as well as a map search box.
  
• New GROUND BRANCH logo and minor style tweaks.

• Shares a similar screen layout with Lone Wolf, and should make self-hosting a lot more intuitive.
  
• Added notices and prompts that highlight the difference between listen and dedicated servers, and how to invite friends into your game.
  
• Added an in-game invite tool, accessible via the prompt or the [Esc] menu (Invite Friends option in the top menu bar).

• New layout, but functionally the same—including the issues we have yet to fix.

• Received a big UI/UX pass, which rearranged where each option is and what they are labeled for better consistency and intuitiveness.
  
• Added a lot of tooltips to clarify some of the less obvious options.
  
• Controls screen:
  • Added "Clear Bind" button to binding prompt.
    
  • New binds: "Tac Light / IR Illuminator", "Laser" and "Toggle Laser Mode" (more on these in the Gameplay section).
    
  • Now lists previously hidden binds such as "Admin Panel".
• Gameplay screen:
  
  • Now has a Sight Priorities section, which allows the player to determine sight hierarchy when multiple types are equipped.
• Audio screen:
  
  • Channel now allows more options, including "Auro 11.1"—a great option for headphone users.

• Getting to know your teammates has been made easier by a HUD element that displays player names. Like the VOIP HUD elements, they are only enabled in the Ready Room as a tool to get used to each other's voice and appearance before the action phase (as well as make admins' lives easier).
  
• The Session Roster screen (previously "Game Info") has a new look, and will now correctly display players that are currently using VOIP.
  
• The top menu bar ([Esc] menu) has been rearranged and now offers a Main Menu shortcut (via GB icon button), as well as contextual options such as "Session Roster" (display current players in the session), "Invite Friends" (for self-hosted games), and "Admin" for server admin options. Tooltips were also added.
  
• Interaction prompts ("Use", "Pick Up" etc.) have been updated with a new look and custom key icons.
  
• First pass to improve pop-in hints.
  
• Some map names were changed: Tanker Ship is now Tanker, Training Base (previously only previewable via console) is now The Farm, and the User Arena maps are now just called Arena and Arena 2.
  
• The Bipod is now called Bipod (Non-Functional) to make players aware that they are not usable yet.
  
• Minor tweaks to text chat appearance.

We have yet to get to several smaller and less visible UI elements, but substantial progress was made.

Maps, most extensively Depot, have received various optimization passes to improve performance. We are far from done, so FPS drops are still expected. Please let us know when and where you perceive any performance improvements or deterioration—in addition to your PC specs and video settings— compared to previous versions so we can try and pinpoint what works and what doesn't.

⚠️ KNOWN PERFORMANCE ISSUES
Due to navmesh and CPU load issues, Tanker and Run Down have bad performance offline and on self-hosted (listen) servers with more than a few AI enemies. While playing on a dedicated server, however, the server will absorb the AI CPU strain and not impact performance.

Game modes now use Lua scripting, which will make creating and modifying them much easier and faster. Kris rigged up a quick new single player/co-op game mode, and updated an existing PvP mode that was under-utilized:

• Intel Retrieval (currently playable on Small Town and Depot) is an objective-based game mode against AI. Players must locate the laptop that contains valuable intel in the map, and then exfiltrate. Currently, the laptop carrier is unable to use other items unless they drop it. The intel can be in any of the several laptops in the map. Admins can also set the option "Exfiltrate as a team" to "Yes", in which case all remaining team members must be at the extraction point to finish the mission.
  
• Uplink (formerly "Defend", currently playable on Small Town, Power Station and Run Down) is an objetive-based PvP game mode. One team must defend the objective—a laptop—while the other team must locate it and use it to uplink valuable intel.

• PvP teams are now called Red and Blue, with matching default kits.

• New training map: The Farm, as the CIA/SOF training site in Camp Peary, Virginia (USA) is known as. This larger single map replaces the multiple training maps from before and has a workbenches (for loadout customization) and Ops Boards (for time of day changes) on every training station. You can travel to it via the Training option in Main Menu.
  
• New CQB map: Run Down, playable on Terrorist Hunt and most PvP game modes.
  
• Tanker has received several updates, particularly in the accommodation/superstructure area of the ship. A power switch has also been added.
  
• Cleaned up a lot of materials, floating meshes, missing and oversized collision volumes, spots where players could get stuck and more on all maps.

• Added the Wristwatch: a default item equipped on your character's left wrist. Displays current time and a compass that rotates in relation to the world.
  
• The Rangefinder is now functional. Use default [RMB] to look through it and LMB to scan the distance to the target. Day mode is 8x and night mode (default [N]) is 5x.
  
• Added Eye Pro glasses, selectable for the EYEWEAR slot. They're missing a dedicated icon.
  
• Added extended magazines for MK25, M9A3 and M17 pistols.
  
• Added proper NVG mount and tweaked flipped-up angle to be less obstrusive. Needs work.
  
• Replaced the MP7A1 and MP7A2 with a higher-quality MP7A1 model. No extra skins yet, but we'll get there.
  
• Replaced the MP7 Suppressor with a new model.
  
• Replaced the old PMII 5–25x scope with a newer model. Scale has been fixed too.
  
• Replaced old generic Tac Light attachment with SureFire® M600V model, named Tac Light (M600) in-game.
  
• Replaced the old Holster with a new model—the first of many Pau Peñalver models to make it into the game. Currently has 4 skins to choose from.
  
• Replaced the old Rail Cover attachment with a much higher-fidelity model, now called Rail Panel (Long). Also added a shorter version: Rail Panel (Short).
  
• Attachment slots for the Plate Carrier were adjusted for a more realistic look, and the top row has lost a slot.

• Tac Light (M300C) appears to be missing its mount. Strange.
  
• Removing a sight that has another sight "piggybacking" on top may leave the piggybacked sight floating in the air.
  
• The skybox on some maps may be faulty for certain time-of-day values. Let us know if you spot any daytime-looking nights and vice versa!

• Weapon lights can now be bound to your preferred key (default [5]). They are still accessible via the Attachments Wheel and share the keybind with the new IR Illuminator (NVG use determines which is active—bound to change).
  
• The new IR Illuminator function on the AN/PEQ-15 has two settings, HI (wide and dim) and LO (focused and bright). Switch between them with the Reticle Brightness keys (default [Home] and [End]).
  
• The visible and IR lasers on the AN/PEQ-15 share a single toggle key (default [6]), and another key to switch between them (default [7]). The switch logic will be carried over to visible vs. IR lights.
  
• Lasers and lights all have both a "momentary" (hold key) and a "toggle" (double-tap to turn on, tap once to turn off) activation mode.
  
• The G33 Magnifier is now togglable via the same binds used for Scope Zoom In/Out (default [Alt] + [Mouse Wheel]).
  
• Variable magnification scopes now all default to the lowest magnification level.

The clacker/remote detonator is back and will be equipped automatically after setting the charge.

Known gameplay issues

• When playing online, light and laser activation can be glitchy when using the toggle mode.
  
• Switching items too fast has been found to sometimes cause issues, from becoming unable to equip or use items to characters using incorrect item poses (e.g. holding a rifle like a pistol).

Visuals and effects have received a considerable overhaul. Be on the lookout for these:

• Screen Space Reflections (SSR) have been enabled again. They may not play nice with FXAA on, and are prone to a glitchy appearance at times. A checkbox will be added for them later.
  
• New NVG depth-of-field (DOF) effect and updated overlay mask.
  
• Fixed the color of nearby objects "seeping through" when wearing NVG, as well as glare appearing white.
  
• New grenade explosion particle effects (M67 Frag and MK13 Flashbang).
  
• New flashbang stun effect: "burned image" effect and ear ringing (very WIP—does not consider distance or direction players are facing).
  
• New laser effects: Visible Laser dot and IR Laser beam and dot.
  
• Updated holo and red dot reticles to appear luminous again: will be harder to see against certain backgrounds, but look much better and realistic.
  
  • Aimpoint® sights have a slightly brighter reticle.
    
  • Added tint to holo and red dot sight glass to improve reticle visibility (and in the case of red dots, for authenticity as well).
    
  • Glow has been re-added to illuminated scope reticles as well.
• Tweaked the Marker Strobe effect to look a little strobier and less prone to clipping the character.
  
• Doors now open and close smoothly, even when swung gradually.
  
• Muzzle effects now originate a couple inches away from the muzzle rather than inside them.
  
• Lasers no longer go right through characters (had you even noticed that? Smh).
  
• The light on top of power switches will now turn off once the box is damaged.
  
• Fixed breached wooden doors having no texture.

• Although sleeves and gloves were slightly adjusted, some combinations will still look funky here and there. Gotta wait for that V1032.
  
• Similarly, the new Wristwatch item won't sit nicely on the character's wrist most of the time—no biggies as it's all due to replacement.
  
• Laser dots may "dip" into walls when walking backwards.

• New placeholder AI voice lines: donated by voice actor Daeln Murphy (thanks, Daeln!), these are only meant as a temporary upgrade, as we intend to use native voice lines for the final game rather than accented English.
  
• Added grenade bounce sounds.
  
• New explosive (M67 Frag, MK13 Flashbang, Breaching Charge) SFX, with indoor and outdoor versions.
  
• New spent shell casing sounds.
  
• New door opening/closing sounds.
  
• Improved footstep sounds.
  
• New gear movement sounds dependent on weight of current loadout.
  
• New item drop sounds.

• Power Station and 747 now have environment sounds.
  
• The new maps (Run Down and The Farm) do too, so no more dead silent maps.

• Fixed the lack of occlusion in the Ready Room testing range.
  
• Improved various sound effects, as well as acoustic portals and sound occlusion.

---

We're sure there's plenty we forgot to add here, so if you have any questions or wants to point out any glaring omission, do leave a comment or reach out via our social media accounts.

As always, thank you for your continued support and we hope you enjoy this test build!

---

{LINK REMOVED}Discord / {LINK REMOVED}Steam Community Hub / {LINK REMOVED}Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

As this year comes to an end—and what a bastard of a year this has been—comes also the time for our final report of 2020. Intel Update #007 brings you all the major development details and behind-the-scenes of the last couple of months as we move towards GROUND BRANCH V1031.

Development has had its ups and downs since our last release, but we’re hanging in here and doing our best, as always. Here are some recent highlights:

Having the only programmer and UE4 wizard in your team mostly out of commission for about three weeks as engine- and logic-related tasks pile up on the checklist is never fun. Kris was on meds that left him drowzy and unable to focus (he’s feeling better now and no, not Covid-related!), but since going off of them around a week ago, he has been catching up and pumping out fixes and under-the-hood work.

This has definitely set things back considerably, but on the flip side…

As some might be aware, we were recently looking for an assistant UE4 developer/programmer to share Kris’ significant workload—and are happy to announce that we now have that person on board! Ethan Wade (aka WaderTheGamer) is a long-time GROUND BRANCH supporter and solo UE4 indie developer for his personal project.

As a guy with UE4 skills and many years of closely following the game, Wader has been able to quickly tackle a lot of minor and not-so-minor tasks (which we’ll cover in a bit), and has been immensely helpful in implementing quality-of-life improvements as well as helping the rest of the team get their work into the game.

This was originally a funny tweet (link), so we're gonna do our best to replicate it here with BB code, just for fun:

GROUND BRANCH
@GroundBranch

[RECORDING FOLEY]

AAA devs: *tens of thousands of dollars on studio time, engineers and overblown 4-minute promo video on sound design alone*

Indie devs:

3:07 PM · Nov 26, 2020 · Twitter Web App

Pretty decent, right?

Anyway, yes—our sound designer Mikson has been very busy, as we will also show in a bit. In the above pictures, you can see the legend’s setup for recording crunchy, clean magazine drop sounds. More on his work after the fold…

Normally, we’d fill this section up with written details and screenshots, but since it’s the holidays and the update isn’t here yet, we thought we’d make it up to you with something a little nicer:



That’s right—animations and character assets may have been delayed to V1032, but we’re still making GROUND BRANCH look (and sound) a little better in V1031 with a lot of new visual effects and audio improvements, from entirely new sounds all the way to directional audio.

As shown, attachment controls are getting a much needed upgrade: you will soon be able to bind lights and lasers to your preferred keys, and those will offer both a “hold” and a “toggle” functionality: hold the key to keep it on for as long as it’s pressed, or double-tap to leave it on (until you double-tap it again to turn it off).

In making attachment usage easier, we have also moved the Magnifier from the Attachments Wheel to the same keybinds used for zooming in and out with a variable power scope; the result is a much more intuitive and accessible control scheme.

Lastly, we are adding the IR Illuminator function to the AN/PEQ-15—a useful tool for nighttime ops, especially in low-contrast areas where the invisible light can help outline targets. The illuminator will offer two settings, accessible via the Reticle Brightness Up/Down commands: LOW outputs a broader-angle, dimmer IR light; whereas HIGH produces a more focused and brighter one.

The wristwatch is a standard piece of gear which displays the current time and a compass ring that rotates according to the direction the player is facing.

It should greatly improve teamwork and navigation, as players will be able to quickly figure out which way they are going, which wall is the “north wall” one of your teammates just mentioned, at which direction enemies have been spotted, and so on. We plan on adding more functionalities to the watch app in the future, such as a heartbeat counter to help estimate player stamina status and maybe more.

New movement sounds that vary according to how much gear is being carried have also been implemented, and although we were not able to record previews at this time, this genuine graph makes it all look very official:



In addition to all the new audio we have already mentioned, Mikson has been working on the pending map soundscapes for 747 and Power Station. And speaking of map soundscapes, he is currently getting some done for these…

We don’t want to give too much away, but John has been creating a pure CQB level and we got ahold of a couple of sneak peek shots for you here:


“No, you go first”


Anyone who says GB won’t spawn some mean horror mods is a damn fool

Promising, right? It’s a nice change of mood from the current map selection, and it’s sure to captivate the old R6 crowd. Needless to say, it’s all a work in progress.

The new training complex is also scheduled to hit with V1031 and replace all the old training areas with a single big map. If you haven’t checked it out yet, here are some previews:


The new Aircraft Takedown setup


The House of Pew Pew Redux

As mentioned a while ago, you can run around this map by typing travel training_base into the console ([~] or [Num *]) and hitting [Enter ↵].

We’ve also been updating the UI to be more intuitive, consistent and nicer-looking. Here’s how the Settings screens and key icons are coming along:



So these are some of the things that are on their way for our next main release.

In addition to the stuff we have just gone over, you can definitely expect a couple of updated models here and there, a new functionality or two, and general quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes all around. For one thing, game modes are having their foundation worked on by Kris, though we don’t have a lot to showcase from that department just yet.

In case you missed Build Update #027, animation and character work had to be pushed to V1032.

We haven’t shared progress on those fronts in a while, so let’s take the time to do so in this post, shall we?

Some of you may recall that entirely new character assets by freelance artist Pau Peñalver are just waiting for the new character rig and animations to be fully setup and working in the game.

Although we have posted a lot of previews of these new assets before, Pau has since uploaded a handful of albums showcasing his GROUND BRANCH models in an even better light, so be sure to check out the eye candy right here. Here are some teasers:





Pau has a few other GB albums up that you scroll through in his ArtStation page: https://www.artstation.com/pawered

🚧 WORK IN PROGRESS
Keep in mind that animations are all WIP and will likely receive multiple passes before their final iterations.

These previews are captured straight from the editor and therefore use simplified lighting, texturing and overall rendering. Camera placement and rigging are also subject to change.

Having up to four types of reload per weapon means a lot of work for Mike.

For communication and clarity purposes, we are categorizing them internally as proactive vs. reactive (whether you are reloading as precaution between engagements or because your weapon has run out of rounds, respectively) and retention vs. no retention (whether you keep the used ammo container or not). See if you can figure out which of these are which:












Not much to talk about here, other than prone is seeing some work again. Due to all of the possible issues that may arise with such a big feature (considering all the very complex implementations we have in GROUND BRANCH), we cannot 100% confirm prone will be ready for V1032—but we sure as hell will try our best.

Below are some previews for crawling in various directions. Again, all WIP:










Level artist Will continues to build Oil Rig—one behemoth of a map—for V1032. Take a look at these:


Post sponsored by SCO Petrol®


If you ever wanted to get shot from all possible directions simultaneously, this is your map


Obligatory night shot

And that is all we have for you right now.

We’re incredibly grateful for all the faith, loyalty and support that GROUND BRANCH keeps getting from so many of you in the community, in spite of what can be, at times, a frustratingly slow and difficult development.

This year may have been tough, and it certainly was for a whole lot of people all over the world. We can’t complain much ourselves: significant development strides were made, word of the game keeps spreading, people are playing and looking for sessions, new players keep arriving in our Discord and broader community every day, and the list goes on.

We hope that you’ve had as good a year—and holidays—as the circumstances allowed, and that you’re able to end it in as a positive a note as we were so fortunate to.

Please stay safe, and we’ll see you on the next cycle of increasingly tactical invention.

Here’s to a much better 2021,

—The BlackFoot Studios Team


{LINK REMOVED}Discord / {LINK REMOVED}Steam Community Hub / {LINK REMOVED}Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

Edited (Oct 30, 6:20pm UTC) — Whoops! We forgot to mention a few character clipping fixes.
Edited (Oct 30, 1:55am UTC) — Team IDs for the addbots command were incorrectly listed as 'alpha' and 'bravo' when they should be '0' and '1'.

---

Although we normally try to refrain from cramming too much into patches (or point releases, otherwise known as non-main updates), more often than not one thing leads to another and we get sucked into the bug-fixin' rabbit hole. It's a double-edged sword: takes longer to roll out, but also includes more fixes and improvements.

Patch 1030.2 certainly fits that bill, and Build Update #027 is here to list everything that has changed since the last one.

We also have a couple of important announcements at the end of this post, so stick around—or skip ahead ↓ to them.




The Server Browser should once again display the correct player number for every dedicated server in the list.

If you keep seeing empty servers after the update, then, well, they are probably actually empty. Join one and you're bound to see more people hopping on!

👥 Members of our official Discord community are frequently looking for players to team up with. Join us and get your operatin' on!

🧰 Want to setup your own dedicated server? Follow one of these guides: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1449083065 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1482579703 (tech support is also available in our Discord) or rent a professional solution from one of our partners here.

The Time of Day setting should now correctly replicate within dedicated servers no matter what, and successfully load the time displayed in the Ops Board. If you happen to find an exception, please let us know!

Dedicated server owners can now trust the DedicatedServer.bat batch file to behave nicely and allow servers to shut down and restart as expected.


Navmeshes were cleaned up to allow bots to more competently navigate maps, so expect better mobility and cover your sectors!

🚧 AI no longer attempt to use ladders. They were constantly becoming stuck, and a fix will require some tricky work that we did not have time for in this release. As a result, the ability was turned off temporarily (so that they at least won't be sitting ducks in the map) and will hopefully return in V1031 with a better and more reliable system.

Bots will now pop into view (or draw) at twice the distance they did before: you should be able to see tangos out to around 300 meters (328 yards).

You can once again gunfight your way through up to 50 tangos if you want—although we cannot really recommend it due to the possible performance impact and also the…

While testing friendly bots, Kris detected a significant issue in the AI's sight perception curve and fixed it. They should now have much better awareness of each other (for example, they will become alerted when seeing a friendly bot engaging) and be generally more responsive to sight triggers, so stay on your toes.

Detection ranges have not been increased.

☠️ This fix does increase difficulty, particularly in how fast their reaction time now appears. We recommend players turn down the Expected Resistance values if they wish to keep prancin' around the AO.

Due to the above fix making bots a lot more reactive, we have tweaked the current difficulty levels slightly in order to offset the extra challenge to a degree.

☠️ Again, we recommend even the more seasoned players to lower the Expected Resistance settings (either numbers or skill) and work their way back up. Although bots are still considerably limited, the challenge is, in a sense, more realistic now: one should not expect to be able to take on 30 enemies by themselves with ease, regardless of skill.

You may now use a console command to add bots to your team (Terrorist Hunt or PvP) or the opposing team (PvP only). When playing offline or as a server admin, simply open the console (default [~] or NumPad

• ) and use:
  
  
  addbots <number of bots> <team>
  Where:
  

  <number of bots> — The amount of bots you wish to add (currently no limit).
  <team> — Which team the bots should be added to:

  • 0 — Alpha (red)
    
  • 1 — Bravo (blue)
    
  • 255 — Auto/random, also used for non-team-based game modes (Terrorist Hunt, Deathmatch, Last Man Standing)

  The AI for these bots is exactly the same as the one in Terrorist Hunt, so do not expect very complex or game mode-specific behavior, or to be able to give them orders.
  
  Other useful commands:
  
  removebots <number of bots> <team>

  Removes the designated amount of bots from the designated team (use 255 to remove amount from both teams).

  killbots <team>

  Kills all bots within the designated team (255 for all teams).

  freezebots <team>

  Freezes all bots within the designated team (255 for all teams).

  unfreezebots <team>

  Unfreezes all bots within the designated team (255 for all teams).

  🧪 Adding bots, as mentioned in the title, is an experimental feature. It is also a foundation for the eventual development of friendly AI.

  New suppressors
  
  
  M110 & M110K1 (7.62 mm)
  The M110 and M110K1 suppressors have arrived, and each has its own dedicated model. They were modelled after the longboi KAC® M110 Suppressor and the oddball KAC® 7.62QDC-CQB—the version seen on MARSOC K1s, specifically.
  
  
  
  
  

  🔧 The M110 has also been updated to use the more authentic M110 Flash Hider by KAC®.

  AR-15 (5.56 mm)
  The AR-15-type rifles (M4A1, MK18, M416 etc.) have all received a new suppressor. It is modelled after the SureFire® SOCOM556-RC, one of the most widely used silencers among US special operations forces.
  
  
  
  It comes in both FDE (Flat Dark Earth) and Black: simply pick your favorite from the Muzzle Device drop-down menu. "Can we expect more skin choices for attachments like this in the future?" Damn right you can.
  
  

  🎨 In fact, the AN/PEQ-15 now offers the same skin choices: choose either the Black or Tan version from the Lights / Lasers attachments tab.

  
  
  Skins and other cosmetic fixes
  • Pouches should now correctly match the color of the platform/belt they are attached to, or go with the most appropriate available skin (black, tan or green).
    
  • Pouch skins have also received another color correction pass to reduce the variations in tone, so your rigs should now look a lot more uniform.
    
  • Various other items have also received a more subtle color correction pass.
    
  • Fixed several character clipping issues: beards, balaclavas and shirt sleeves.
    
  • The Headset attachment will now use the correct model when attached to ARC rail helmets. Skins have also been fixed.
    
  • Fixed some texturing issues on the MP5's fire selector and grip.
    
  • The MP5 bolt handle positioning has also been corrected.
    
  • Fixed texturing issue on the SR-25/M110 7.62 NATO magazines.
    
  • Selecting the Male 02 head should no longer occasionally display white-skinned arms.
    
  • Tweaked the blood impact effect to be a little more subtle (no more cartoonish blood drops, for one).
  
  
  User interface (UI)
  • Art pass on the Item Customization screens:
    • Edited, formatted and re-positioned the bottom message to be more general and helpful.
      
    • Changed the drag-and-drop attachment slot icons to a more subtle white circle with a drop-shadow effect for visibility.
      
    • Updated some of the attachment tab titles to be more intuitive (e.g. Lights / Lasers replaced the less obvious Accessories).
  • Updated the layout for all Ops Boards to match the style in the Terrorist Hunt one.
    
  • The header for the Ops Boards now display the current game mode (e.g. Team Deathmatch) to make it easier for players to know what they are about to play. The exception is Terrorist Hunt, which still displays a randomly generated operation name (e.g. Operation Choking Moan).
    
  • The After Action Review (AAR) screen now displays a clear mission/match result title and a little description of the outcome underneath.
    
  • We have also replaced the AAR player stat icons with clear descriptions (Kills, Accuracy, Shots, Hits etc.).
    
  • Customize Operator screen changes:
    • Changed the Profile column title to Operator, as it was leading some players to mistake it for a "global" operator/loadout save profile. (We will have that feature eventually.)
      
    • The skin selection triangle no longer displays a short version of the name; instead, longer names now break into two lines. That should make skins instantly identifiable and easier on players that are not used to acronyms and other abbreviations.
  • Minor art pass on several UI elements, most notably in-game interaction prompts.
    
  • Changed the look for the defender's objective HUD in Defend (PvP).
    
  • Updated the gear on the Main Menu operators to a more tacticool look.
  
  
  Audio
  
  
  Gunshot sound occlusion fix
  Although Mikson has been working exclusively on V1031, he has taken the time to provide a quick fix for a lot of gunshot SFX that had occlusion disabled.
  
  

  🚧 KNOWN ISSUE (PvP only)
  Spatial audio volumes in the Alpha (red) side of the Ready Room are messed up, resulting in sounds being cut off in unexpected spots. This is particularly noticeable in the Testing Range.

  
  
  New default settings
  
  Heads up:
  
  • The default Lean control now uses Hold instead of Toggle. You can change the Lean style under Settings > Controls.
    
  • Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) is now the default antialiasing method. You can change it under Settings > Video.
    
  • Standard Fire Mode has been changed back to Semi-Auto. You can select your default fire mode under Settings > Gameplay.
  
  
  Miscellaneous
  • Added a weight value for various items that did not have any defined.
    
  • Fixed/updated the weight value for several others.
    
  • Fixed some typos here and there.
    
  • Changed the display name of a few items and skins for better accuracy, consistency or comprehension.
  
  
  Some important announcements
  
  
  Animations and character update
  Provided that a game-breaking issue is not found in the current patch, V1031 is the update on which most of the team will be focused on in the next couple of months.
  
  Earlier this year, we were forced to delay the big animation and character update, and were hoping that they would be ready for V1031. Unfortunately, we have had to make another difficult decision: the new animations and character assets are now tentatively scheduled to be in V1032..
  
  Although a lot is done and Mike continues to work on new animations, implementing the new character rig is an all-or-nothing process—meaning that we simply cannot make the switch until everything is at least at the same level of functionality as we have currently with the old rig. With just one animator and one programmer (whose work is often required on every front), pushing the animations back once again is just the reality of things that we will have to deal with.
  
  
  So what will V1031 entail?
  Having determined that we were going to have to delay the animations and character work again, we also determined that GROUND BRANCH V1031 will now be a big user experience update.
  
  As awesome as smooth animations and brand-new assets are, at the end of the day there are lingering issues in GROUND BRANCH that are a lot more vital to the experience than cosmetic ones. We need more purpose in the game with objective-based game modes. We need better AI. We need a better way to use weapon attachments. We need better multiplayer round rotations. We need default team skin restrictions that make PvP games easier to setup. We need, in general, a more rounded and thought-out gameplay experience.
  
  Within our constraints, that is the kind of thing we are going to be working on for V1031… along with hot new content and updates such as map work, items, visual effects and improved sounds, of course.
  
  
  Price is going up soon!
  The intention to eventually increase the price point for GROUND BRANCH has been noted in our Store Page and FAQ since we first released on Steam. And when update V1031 is released in the upcoming months, the asking price for GROUND BRANCH will be raised to $29.99 (USD), with regional pricing adjusted accordingly.
  
  A few reasons why we are doing this now:
  
  • GROUND BRANCH has been in Early Access for over 2 years with no price change, and it is now a lot further along than it was in the beginning. With V1031, it will be even more so.
    
  • We genuinely feel that—despite the relatively slow development and current lack of polish—we are offering fans of the hardcore tactical shooter genre something unique that no other game out there is offering.
    
  • The game has been sitting at a "Very Positive" user score for both recent and all-time reviews, with an approval rating of around 85%. As such, we believe that all the improvements that are planned for the next main update will more than justify the new price.
  So if you were holding off on getting GROUND BRANCH or needed a compelling argument for your friends who are still waiting, this is it. Join in now while it's cheap!
  
  

  💵 The final (v1.0 release) USD price is subject to change, but expected to be in the $39.99 range.

  ---

  
  

  This has been Build Update #027!

  
  Thanks for taking the time to read the release notes for Patch 1030.2.
  
  Have you played it yet? How do you like it so far? Let us know in the comments or reach out in one of our communities.
  
  Whelp, time for us to get back to work now! As always, thank you so much for your continued support and we'll see you on the next update.

  
  
  Stay connected
  {LINK REMOVED}Discord / {LINK REMOVED}Steam Community Hub / {LINK REMOVED}Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

This Build Update details the first patch for GROUND BRANCH V1030, now live under your regular (non-CTE) game install.

ℹ️ What about CTE?
In case you are wondering: GROUND BRANCH CTE will not be used for a while, so if you need to free up some disk space, go ahead and uninstall it.

Patch 1030.1 is primarily a server/networking fix, but has several other smaller fixes and improvements. There are known/reported issues we have yet to get to, so expect another patch in a few weeks' time and keep the reports coming.

We're adding the full changelist at the end of the post for those curious about all the inner workings and under-the-hood changes. Here are the highlights:


In order to fix an issue with dedicated servers behaving erratically after being constantly on for some time, they will now shut down automatically after a set period:

• If empty, servers will shut down at 6+ hours. Otherwise, they will shut down at 8 hours—but will wait between rounds/time limits.
  
• Added a server message to display when the time limit is up or the server is about to be restarted.

🔄 RESTART
Most hosting companies will take care of monitoring and restarting the server automatically once it has shut down. If your hosting server does not provide that capability or you are hosting a server on your own hardware, we include a simple script (DedicatedServer.bat) that does the same. it is located in the root directory of your dedicated server installation.

Fixed log spam for various blueprints, mainly relating to acoustic portals being opened/closed (details in the Changelist section).

• Fixed various instances of collision volumes either missing or being where they shouldn't be, as well as portions of the map where players were getting stuck. Maps that got a collision cleanup were Creek, 747, Power Station and City.
  
• A section of the hills on Storage Facility was going dark when players walked past it. That was caused by a trigger volume (used to dim the skylight inside the tunnel) extending past its intended area. It's now fixed.

🐞 Map cleanup is very reliant on user feedback. Thanks for all the reports!

• Lights have received a minor optimization pass. Performance gains may be slightly noticeable on lower-end specs in some conditions.
  
• Creek at nighttime has been brightened up a little.

When using the "Medium" setting, shadows would be rendered out of view way too close to the player; that should now be fixed.

• The extended PMAG magazine is back in business with 35 rounds for you to go to town with. Look for PMAG 5.56 NATO (Ext) (30) in the magazines/ammunition attachment tabs.
  
• Cleaned up materials and textures for the PM II 5–25x scope.
  
• Replaced the suppressor for non-SD MP5s with the 9 mm pistol model. Temporary fix just to get rid of the AR suppressor that it was using.
  
• Fixed off-center alignment for the suppressor on the M17 pistol.
  
• Reduced how far back you can mount scopes on the M416, M416 CQB, FAL Tactical, M110 and M110K1 rifles to avoid clipping through the camera.

• You can now use the Radio (default B) to masterfully sh*t-talk taunt your opponents in free-for-all game modes like Deathmatch.
  
• Added a game mode option (UseTeamRestrictions) to enable/disable kit restrictions defined in the team profile (…/GroundBranch/Content/GroundBranch/TeamProfiles/<teamname>.mlp).

---

This has been Build Update #026!

Thanks for taking the time to read the release notes for Patch 1030.1. We'll keep tackling bugs and issues in version 1030 for a couple more patches still, so we'll see you on the next update!

{LINK REMOVED}Discord / {LINK REMOVED}Steam Community Hub / {LINK REMOVED}Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

GROUND BRANCH version 1030

Build ID: 5514975 (client) / 5515031 (dedicated server)
Download size: 5.6 GB (client) / 398 MB (dedicated server)

⚠️ NOTICE ⚠️
This update will completely wipe your saved game settings, but not your item builds – although we strongly recommend manually deleting all folders in …/Documents/GroundBranch.
That is necessary to ensure certain updates and items do not conflict with old files. Sorry for the inconvenience!

It's been a long time since version 1029, and if you haven't been up to date with the CTE version of the game, this update might get overwhelming—but mostly in a good way. The last few months have seen a lot of work in a lot of areas, and more improvements and fixes than we can reliably count.

Feedback from those who ventured into GROUND BRANCH CTE has been very positive and, having finally landed on something that we feel confident to push to the main game, it's finally time to officially release GROUND BRANCH version 1030. If this is your first time with 1030, we hope you like it as much as we all do.

There's months of work to cover and a lot to describe, so let's jump right into it.


As mentioned in the opening notice, all your game settings will be reset when you first launch this update.

It's a good chance to reconsider your custom key bindings and keep the following default controls changes in mind:

• Climbing is now accomplished by holding [Space]. That allows players to cancel the action and avoids accidental climbs.
  
• Zoom In/Out (aka Scope Magnification) is now accomplished via [Alt] + [Mouse Wheel Up/Down].

The Default Controls/Press Any Key to Continue screen has been updated accordingly and received a fresh coat of paint.
If you would like to skip it next time you launch the game, go to Settings > Gameplay and selected "Yes" in the Skip Startup "Press Any Key" Prompting dropdown.

Remember you can change nearly all key bindings under Settings > Controls and Settings > Gameplay.

The last few months have seen the first pass of the UI overhaul, an ongoing process to improve all areas of the user interface in GROUND BRANCH.

Since version 1029, many small elements—from interaction prompts to transition screens—have received minor art updates, while a few others were more significantly changed. Here are the more prominent ones:

The first official iteration of the new Customize Operator screen layout is here, and it is guaranteed to make your Tactical Barbie® experience a lot better.


　Ah… that's better

Although it should be fairly intuitive, some of the features are worth explaining further:

You can now edit items straight from the loadout overview screen by clicking the ⚙️ icon in the bottom-right corner of each item slot. No more looking for your favorite MK18 build in a drop-down menu just to add a suppressor!

Once you're happy creating or editing a build, click SAVE, choose a build name and you're done.

Saving a version of an existing build with the same name will trigger an "Overwrite?" prompt. Accept to overwrite the previous version, or choose a different name to save as a new build.

Your operator customization screen is now split into four main sections that we're calling presets or kits. Although the rationale is similar to what we had before, these sections—kits—can now be saved/loaded individually. They currently are:

Profile
This section is very likely to receive more options in the future, but offers nothing new

• Name – Your player/character name.
  
• Appearance – One of the (currently) four options of heads. Better heads and more choices are on the way!
  
• Facial Hair – Whether or not your operator has a tactical beard.

Weapons Kit
Your selection of firearms – but we're now teasing an upcoming slot.

• Primary – Your primary weapon.
  
• Secondary – Your secondary weapon; previously Sidearm.
  
• [NEW] Special Purpose – Not yet available; this is where things like breaching shotguns and other specialized weapons will go.

Gear Kit
This is where the more functional, load-oriented part of your customization goes.

• Headgear – Your choice of helmet or soft cover.
  
• Platform – Vests, rigs and plate carriers go in here.
  
• [NEW] Belt – A new slot, belts were previously selected under Platform. You can now run both of them and that means a lot more real estate to attach pouches to. Nice.
  
• Holster – This slot is likely going away once we get things more in order. There's currently only one holster option (in three different colors), though you can choose to not carry one at all now.

Outfit
A mostly cosmetic, apparel-focused section:

• Eyewear
  
• Mask (previously Facewear)
  
• Top (previously Shirt)
  
• Pants
  
• Gloves
  
• Footwear

💡 SAVING AND LOADINGTo save a preset/kit, click anywhere along the [Save/Load] area at the top of its column, and select SAVE in the menu. Previously saved kits will be listed for loading in the same menu.

The Loadout summary is the old list of all ammunition, ordnance and equipment you're carrying on your Platform and/or Belt. It is now located below the Weapons Kit.

Now that the Encumbrance System is in place (we'll get into full detail on that later), we need something to convey how much you're carrying.

The Encumbrance meter gives players a rough idea of whether the loadout is “Light”, “Medium” or “Heavy” in terms of encumbrance on a scale of 5 to 55 kg. Each of the three weight categories is currently only a simple abstraction, and there’s no actual upper limit on how much the player can carry.

Most – if not all – non-cosmetic items have a weight value now, So keep an eye on that meter for how much you're carrying (and please let us know if we missed something!).

In-game UI and HUD elements work largely the same as before, but they look nicer. Here are some of the main areas of interest:

The Stance Indicator has been updated with brand new icons. In addition to the character stances, they now also convey the weapon position your character is currently using.

Wondering if you have your rifle at Low Ready, your pistol at Close Ready, or even have anything equipped at all? Turn the Stance Indicator on:

Settings > Gameplay
• Show Stance: Crouched
• Show Stance: Standing

Some notes:

• Leaning is no longer displayed. It is unnecessary at this point and at odds with the much more useful weapon position indicators.
  
• Gameplay settings have yet to be updated to allow the player to control which icons to display (for example, only show icons for when your weapon isn't immediately visible on screen).

The Spectator Mode ([F6]) now features a minimap that tracks the position of friendly players. Additionally, all the little shortcuts are now listed in a bottom bar.

If you press [Middle Mouse Button] while in Spectator Mode, you will see extra options. They include minimap display options such as zoom level controls, showing terrorist positions and player names, and more.

After 2 minutes of complete inactivity, players will receive a prompt. Failure to respond to it will result in them being removed from the mission area and sent back to the Ready Room.

When playing online, you can now select the Mute All, Mute Talking and Unmute All shortcuts at the bottom of the screen.

The entire HUD has received a basic art pass, from the Inventory top bar all the way to text chat formatting. New VOIP icons, adjusted interaction prompts and updated pop-up hints are also part of the package.


　Top: framerate counter and net info; bottom-left: new Radio icon; bottom-center: new door usage interaction prompt; bottom-right: new Stance Indicator

You may now also display your framerate (Settings > Video > Show Framerate) and net info (Settings > Gameplay > Show Net Info) in the top-left corner of the screen. (Note: Show Framerate might cause your resolution to be reset.)

We have gone over all item skins to fix mismatching skin names and make sure they were consistent across items. It's a lot of skins, so there could still be a rogue label or two out there—ring us if you find any.

Little known issue: the abbreviated name for the Snakeskin (Desert) skin for the M4A1 Block II and MK18 Mod 1 carbines displays with a lower case 'd' (desert). It displays correctly internally and we have no idea why.


One of the most eagerly awaited features in the game, the Encumbrance System is finally here. Although it still has a way to go, it is a solid foundation sure to make loadout choices and play style even more important.

The main components of the Encumbrance System are stamina and arm strength:

Your stamina level will drop the more you run, sprint, jump and climb around. The more weight you carry on your character, the greater the impact of your movement on your stamina level. Lower stamina will increase weapon sway when aiming by adding a visible breathing (up and down) pattern to it. When your stamina level drops to zero, you are currently still able to perform all actions—except for jumping.

To recover stamina, simply go a little while without repeatedly performing more draining actions such as running, sprinting, jumping and climbing.

Your arm strength is affected by how long you stay in the Ready (muzzle forward) and Engaged (aiming down sights) positions. Like stamina, the rate by which your arm strength drops is affected by the weight of your weapon build—the heavier it is, the faster your arm strength will drop. Lower arm strength levels will increase aim jitter/shake over time.

To start recovering arm strength, change to a less exerting weapon position such as Low Ready, High Ready or Close Ready (pistols). Putting your weapon away ([1] for Primary and [2] for Secondary) will also recover arm strength.

As seen above, your aiming stability is now adversely affected by your movement, weapon position and loadout/weapon weight.

To momentarily stabilize your aim and counter these negative effects to a considerable extent, you can use the new Steady Aim feature: simply hold your Sprint key (default [Ctrl]) while stationary and your character will exhale and stabilize your aiming (represented by the corner vignette effect) for a few seconds, allowing you to take more accurate shots.

Crouching (default [C]) will further reduce weapon sway.

In addition to the aspects above, you will also notice the following effects taking place:

• Weapon inertia will cause your weapon to "overshoot" a few degrees beyond the point where you stop moving it, and then bounce back to that point. The heavier your overall weapon build, the more pronounced that effect will be.
  
• Movement is no longer as linear or instant. Starting to move takes a little while, and so does stopping; this is particularly noticeable while sprinting, where the momentum will make your character take a few steps before coming to a full stop once you release the movement key. To counter momentum, you may press a movement key in the opposite direction—for example, pressing Move Backwards (default [S]) after sprinting forward).

💡 WORK IN PROGRESS
It's always worth remembering that this is all a work in progress and will get refined over time. Keep hitting us with that feedback.

One of the major reworks since v1029, dynamic lighting was (and remains) a huge hurdle to implement.

Originally only present in Depot, it is now working in every map—including training. Although dynamic lighting was initially a big performance hog, it has gone through numerous optimization passes that have improved framerates for most systems.

It is still generally more demanding than the old static lighting and some maps will invariably run better than others, but the advantages outweigh the performance impact and have allowed us to implement a few neat features:


All artificial lights are now interactive. They can be shot out and switched off via the power switch boxes around the map.


　A power switch box in Small Town

Each power switch box is either linked to a particular building or area. If you cause enough damage to one of these boxes, it will be disabled and shut down the power.


You can now select the precise time of day you want to deploy at in the Ops Board with both hourly and 15-minute increments. In multiplayer, this function is reserved to server admins.

Time is displayed in the 24-hour clock military format.
For example: 4:30 PM is displayed as 1630; midnight is 0000, noon is 1200 and so on.

🌙 GOING TO NIGHT VISION
AI enemies can still see normally in the dark, so play nighttime Terrorist Hunt at your own tacticool masochistic risk.

• Lighting may seem off for some times of the day, namely for around 0400 hours.
  
• Dynamic lighting causes all areas of the map to be uniformly lit, which often causes indoor areas to be excessively bright. To work around that issue, the lighting is dimmed when the player enters such indoor areas. This may cause excessively dark indoors at times, as well as darkened outdoors when looking out windows or doorways.
  
• Another visual glitch is surfaces brightening and darkening as you move along the map. We'll be working on toning these effects down.
  
• Because the sun angle is now dynamic, some light leaks may occur on certain structures and landscape bits that weren't originally made with dynamic lighting in mind. Be sure to report those!

In addition to a lot of cleanup on the existing maps, here's what's new:

Set in a woodland area with plenty of structures—ruins, cabins, shacks—scattered around the perimeter, with the eponymous creek serpentines from one end of the map to the other.


　Creek screenshots by the talented Rangda


　Creek is playable on Terrorist Hunt, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Team Elimination and Last Man Standing


John took the old speedball-like Paintball map and made it cooler.


　Paintball is currently playable only on Team Elimination. Screenshot by Rangda

❌ The Paintball map shows the old version in the preview image.

• Depot Compound is now playable in Terrorist Hunt.
  
• Depot has a makeshift bridge joining the warehouse rooftops together. It's called the Love It or Hate It Bridge.
  
• Among other updates, 747 has a new ladder behind the small hangar that leads to a maintenance rooftop platform.
  
• Power switch boxes have been added to all training maps.
  
• They're also present in Small Town, Power Station and the aforementioned Depot and 747.

Temporal antialiasing (TAA, Temporal AA) now uses new default parameters to create a sharper image that vastly improves on the blurriness of the regular effect, although it may also negate the smoothing where it may be desired.

You can tweak the sharpening parameters via the following lines in your Engine.ini file (located in %LOCALAPPDATA%/GroundBranch/Saved/Config/WindowsNoEditor):

We encourage everyone to try different values and let us know how it looks and performs.

New blood effects have been added for an extra layer of immersion: entry/exit wounds, surface splatter and impact mist. It's only a first implementation, but already quite satisfying.


　"Gnarly, bro."

Tac lights use a new, more authentic effect. The brightness output, color temperature and spread is also slightly different between each model and based on real-life values. These will also get updated somewhere down the line.


　We should've labeled these so we'd remember which is which, but as you can see… they're different. For reference, the X300U (top-left) has the widest angle and is one of the brightest lights at 1,000 lumens. Notice the subtle differences in angle, color temperature and brightness

There should be less instances of red dot/holo reticles not being visible against backgrounds. Some sights also have less brightness steps—subject to change.

❌ Reticle brightness changes may not be noticeable on some lighting conditions and sights.

All maps—with the exception of 747 and Power Station—have gone from completely silent spaces to having full ambient sounds for both day and nighttime, Ready Room and training levels included.

❌ City and Tanker Ship are still unfinished, but on their way.

Mikson has also added/updated gunshot sound effects for the M4A1/Block II, M416D/CQB, MK18 Mod 1 (WIP), MK25, G19 Patrol/Urban, M1911A1, AK-74M/MI/MI CQB, AKM, FAL, M110/K1, MK48 Mod 0, SVD, MK14 Mod 2 (WIP), MP5, M9A3 and M17.

Another audio aspect that has received a lot of attention was acoustics. Gunshots and VOIP are now occluded by walls, sound different depending on whether they're fired indoors or outdoors (but will "propagate" through open doors and windows) and will reverb as appropriate.

❌ Occlusion for footsteps and AI voice lines is still messed up; they should hopefully be fixed by the next update.

Mikson has revised a lot of sound effects—mainly gunshots—to ensure better quality and consistency.


Remember when listen servers broke down and resulted in a butt load of negative reviews? That sucked, and also forced us to pull the functionality from the game until a fix was available.

Well, all is good now because listen servers are back—and well-tested.

Here's how to host you own game lobby without the need to setup a dedicated server:

• In the main menu, click Host Game and setup your lobby as you prefer (make sure to set player limit to accommodate all the players you want to host!).
  
• To invite friends into your lobby, press [Shift] + [Tab] to bring up the Steam Community Overlay.
  
• Select a friend from your Friends list and select Invite to Play/Game. If they accept, they will be brought into your lobby.
  
• To change maps or use any admin functionalities, open the console ([~] or NumPad [ * ]), type admin and press [Enter].

💡 WHY CAN'T PEOPLE SEE MY SERVER?
Because they are intended for private sessions among friends, listen servers do not show up in the Server Browser currently. We may add a filter or tab in the future for those who want it displayed publicly.

These semi-auto rifles are variants of the venerable SR-25 rifle from Knight's Armament Co.® (KAC). Serving in either the sniper rifle or DMR (designated marksman rifle) roles, they fire 7.62x51 mm NATO (7.62 NATO) rounds from a 20-round magazine.


　Top: M110K1 with an AccuPower 1–8x scope (and RMR red dot on top), foregrip and AN/PEQ-15 laser aiming module; bottom: M110 with PM II 5–25x scope, bipod, offset iron sights and rail covers

The M110 is fitted with a full quad-rail handguard and a fixed stock, as well as a 20" barrel, and has served in regular US military units as the M110 SASS, or Semi-Automatic Sniper System.

The M110K1 is a shorter and lighter version fitted with a lighter handguard with less rail space, a collapsible Magpul® ACS-L stock, and a shorter 16" barrel. It is known to be used by SOCOM units, most famously the Marines Special Operations Command (MARSOC).

❌ The M110 and M110K1 cannot attach a suppressor… yet.

Likely the most ubiquitous assault rifle in the world, the AKM is the AK-47's mass production-friendly cousin and has been long overdue for inclusion in GROUND BRANCH.


　AKM with 1P78 Kashtan. Screenshot by Rangda



It fires the 7.62x39 mm (7.62 Soviet) round from a 30-round magazine, in either semi- or fully automatic modes. It currently can only fit a sound suppressor, the 1P78 Kashtan scope or the rail adapter for rail-mounted optics.

A FAL with a top accessory rail and full quad-rail handguard, it fires 7.62 NATO rounds from a 20-round magazine and also has selective fire capability: semi-auto and full auto.


　 Operator Frank models the FAL Tactical and looks good doing it too. Screenshot by Rangda



The Rangefinder (Safran Vectronix® Moskito) is a compact day and night observation device.

In-game, it currently works identically to the regular Binoculars, except it has a night vision mode that can be toggled on by pressing [N] while looking through it.



This is a basic, first-pass, WIP implementation.



The entire MP5 series of submachine guns has received shiny new models, with a few notable additions:

• The rear sight diopter is now of the "V-notch" type. Although not entirely authentic, it makes for a better shooting experience with iron sights.
  
• In addition to the built-in flashlight handguard, you can also swap out the regular MP5 handguard for a tri-rail handguard. Both are available under the Accessories attachments tab.

　"Scopey, wouldn't it be better to show the new MP5 in a literally brighter light?"


　"V-notch" rear sight shown here at a low FOV for better detail

The M4A1 has a new model with a 16" barrel, standard M4 stock and the KAC® RAS handguard from the original SOPMOD version.

New model to replace the really old night vision goggles we had. Still need to replace the mount/arm.

A newer and nicer model for the Magpul® 30-round PMAG (previously POLYMAG). We still need to hook it up to the Taran Tactical® Extended Base Pad, however, so the 35-round AR magazine is temporarily unavailable.

Added some quick new skin options, 'cause why not?

• Indigo and Black (Jeans)
  
• Tan (Headset)
  
• Coyote Brown (T-Shirt)

• Color-corrected the skin/texture for a lot of weapons and apparel.
  
• Offset rails should now only accept appropriate sights: backup iron sights and low-mount mini red dots (e.g. RMR, Micro T-1).
  
• Scope rails (for “piggybacking” optics) should similarly only accept low-mount mini red dot sights.
  
• Added new suppressor models for AKs and 9 mm pistols.
  
• The MK18 Mod 1 now uses the more authentic FDE (flat dark earth) handguard color regardless of the skin selection. (Known issue: AN/PEQ-15 units mounted on them no longer switch to the tan version.)
  
• The MK25 pistol now has a threaded barrel.

• Pouches for the Plate Carrier are not switching to their tan skin variation when that would be the best match for the vest.
  
• A similar issue may be experienced with the green Chest Rig.
  
• The Headset attachment is similarly not matching the selected skin of the Watch Cap.
  
• Helmets that use the ARC rail version of the Headset attachment are using the regular version instead.

Animator Mike Munk is still working diligently on new animations for the new character rig, which is now fully setup and awaiting for the switch to v1031. Mike has been working closely with our active-duty SOF consultant to ensure maximum authenticity. Trust us: we cannot wait to see all of that in action either.

Another addition to the team, environment artist and level designer Will Bullen is taking care of a little something we hope to be able to reveal soon, as well as in charge of giving all maps a fresh coat of paint in the future. Will is also assisting as an all-around hard surface artist, and was responsible for finishing the M110/K1 rifles started by Dan Conroy (who has since moved on to a different project).

Like Mike, Mr. Bullen has previously worked with our project lead John Sonedecker on Antimatter Games' Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. He also has several Hell Let Loose levels in his portfolio, which is a definite plus. Welcome aboard, Will!

And if you've made it this far in this very long post, here's a little reward: open up the console in GROUND BRANCH, type travel training_base, hit [Enter] and get a sneak peek on something that Will has been working on.

---

We hope you enjoy this update, and we cannot thank you enough for all your support, feedback, loyalty and patience over all of these months. Thanks for sticking with us, and we hope to have more news for you soon.

---

{LINK REMOVED}Discord / {LINK REMOVED}Steam Community Hub / {LINK REMOVED}Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook