Dec 8, 2021

GROUND BRANCH - Scopey

🆔 GROUND BRANCH CTE
Build ID: 7850759 (Client) / 7850775 (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 4.7 GB (Client) / 442 MB (Dedicated Server)

⚠️ NOTICE
These release notes are for the V1032 testing build currently available in the GROUND BRANCH CTE (Community Test Environment) Steam app — not to be confused with the actual (and upcoming) V1032 release for the main GROUND BRANCH app.

🚨 CLEAR YOUR OLD FILES
To avoid input and asset conflicts, delete all files/folders located in the following locations (copy-paste the path into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter):

1. %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor2. Documents\GroundBranch

You're not seeing things: our Community Test Environment (CTE) for version 1032 is finally live!

For anyone arriving now, GROUND BRANCH CTE is a separate Steam app (available to anyone who owns GROUND BRANCH) where we deploy test releases for broad public testing. If you are okay with major bugs and possibly unstable releases, go ahead and install it to start testing and previewing V1032, our upcoming major update.

Before we get on with the change list, let's go over some of the major known issues — also known as things that don't need reporting.

Known issues

Character assets and item skins are generally a work in progress (WIP). Things like clipping and missing/inaccurate skins are known and expected.
Similarly, animations are all WIP and subject to change. Expect bad skeleton behavior here and there (like wonky arms and necks), as well as unfinished implementations like vaulting, ladder climbing and leaning. Issues may be more pronounced in multiplayer.
Vaulting will sometimes fail to get the character over an obstacle and resemble a sliding motion.
There are still no animations for certain actions, such as jumping. Some actions also use placeholders.
Audio stuttering is expected on Run Down and new map Compound.
New map Rig is missing sound occlusion and environment-specific gunshot tail sounds and reverb. Those were disabled to temporarily prevent bad audio stuttering.
There are currently no footstep sounds for stairs.
Weapon stance transitions sound effects are out of sync with the animations.
The in-game map tablet is not fully integrated yet, so expect wonkiness.
Eyewear may be stuck in view inside the Ready Room when playing online. To make it go away, either hold F near a locker or workbench, or simply deploy to the mission area.
When playing online, players who hit the Spectate button after dying will hear a wounded grunt that should be assigned to dying enemy AI only.
For those using debug cams for pictures and videos: the "unarmed" pose (weapons slung/holstered) will currently not play the walking animation properly client-side (other players will see it normally online, however). The same applies to the subtle idle animations, which can only be seen on other players while playing online.
The Rangefinder's NV mode is currently broken.
Picking up items from the ground is fairly bugged and can result in floating and/or unusable items.
In the Customize Operator screen, clicking the Save/Load button for any kit column will cause your list of saved kits to be displayed at the bottom of any item selection menu you open later. This bug is cumulative.
Weapon attachments may be strangely rotated.

What's new

💭 The T in CTE is for TestingOur 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 and subject to change.

Gameplay and mechanics

Mag check

You can now hold the Reload button (default R) to estimate the amount of rounds you have in your magazine/belt. You will get a HUD icon that indicates one of the following:

Fairly full
About half-full/empty
Nearly empty
Empty

Icons, timings and animations are all subject to change.

Map Tablet

You can now easily figure out where you are in relation to objectives and your teammates (if you have any) by tapping M or selecting the Tablet item in the Equipment menu (4).

The tablet displays the following information:

Your location and bearing
Your teammates' location
Your team's roster
Current objectives (as well as relevant markers on the map)
The in-game time of day (local time, in the top-right corner)
The amount of time remaining to complete your objectives

You may find yourself using the tablet a lot during Intel Retrieval missions.

New watch modes

Your wristwatch has a few new functionalities:

In all game modes, a "time remaining" warning will be briefly shown on the watch at 5, 2 and 1 minute(s) remaining.
In Intel Retrieval, you can now turn on the "Proximity Alert" mission setting (on the Ops Board) to get a vibrating alert when within 5 meters of the intel device.
In the new Dynamic Take and Secure (DTAS), your watch will display DTAS-specific information:
- Approximate distance to the flag once placed (in meters). Also present in Fox Hunt mode.
- Direction of the flag once placed (yellow arrow).
- When in range of the flag as a defender, a green alert will pulse.
- When in range of the flag as an attacker, a yellow alert will pulse.
- When the flag is being captured, a red alert will pulse (defenders get no warning of flag captures).

More information about DTAS and Fox Hunt in the Game modes section.

Beefed up smoke grenades

Smoke grenades have been beefed up a bit to give more effective concealment. Performance may suffer if you spam a whole lot of these.

AI can still see through them — sorry.

Team Elements

The new Team Elements feature (akin to player squads or fireteams) allows players to assign themselves — or be assigned by a server admin — to elements within your team for the purpose of aiding in coordination.

Team Elements are displayed in various places as differently colored letters: A, B, C and D, corresponding to elements Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. To change your Team Element, press Esc and access the Session Roster tab (top menu). Click the letter next to your player name, and choose your new Element.

There will in due course be features such as Element-specific radio channels, but for now you will see different Elements displayed in different colors on the in-game tablet.

Movement speed

Movement speed has been slightly tweaked. We're being deliberately vague here as to not sway anyone — try it out for yourself let us know how it feels to you.

Game mode updates

Intel Retrieval

Intel Retrieval has received a major overhaul. Here's what changed:

Instead of searching multiple laptops, there is now a single laptop to search and extract.
Approximate search areas are described and indicated on the new Ops Board, as well as the new map tablet item.
Typically, there will be one true location and one false location, but the number of possible locations can be changed under Mission Parameters.
The true laptop location and the extraction point will usually have additional AI guarding and/or patrolling them.
Please note that the visual search location circle is approximate, and you should treat the location text as definitive (for example: on Tanker, one search location is "Whole of Deck 3", so search the entire deck rather than just the circle mark).

Terrorist Hunt

Terrorist Hunt has not fundamentally changed, but it benefits from the new AI placement system to ensure less predictable placement and more replayability.

Dynamic Take and Secure (DTAS)

DTAS is an entirely new PvP game mode (actually a recreation of a game mode in the early 2000s UT mod Infiltration) where both teams spawn in a random spot on the map.

The Defenders then have a short amount of time to place a flag, which marks the centre of a capturable zone. The Attackers must capture the zone, by getting a minimum of 2 attackers in range. The defenders can block an attack by getting a minimum of 2 defenders in range.

The Attackers can win by wiping out all defenders; the Defenders can win by killing all but one of the attackers.

Our own Matt "Fatmarrow" Farrow — who programmed this game mode — created a short video explaining how it all works:

https://youtu.be/2kVKXO6jRyo

As with most game modes, admins can tweak several parameters to their liking.

Fox Hunt

Fox Hunt is a further new game mode hidden within DTAS (see above).

When there are insufficient numbers of players on the server to start a DTAS round (by default: 6), the Fox Hunt mode will be engaged.

In this mode, one Defender is designated The Asset, and all players will receive an approximate distance (but not bearing) to their position.
Attackers win by eliminating The Asset.
Defenders win by keeping The Asset safe until time runs out.

A reduced time limit is automatically applied when Fox Hunt mode is engaged.

Team Elimination

This mode remains unchanged, but has been extended with the possibility of player and/or team reinforcements (respawns). This is still an experimental addition. When you die, the game will try to respawn you near a teammate, but will fall back to the additional spawn if necessary (this is to try and mitigate spawn camping in the reinforcements mode).

Uplink

The core gameplay remains the same, but a visible search area is automatically computed (based on the laptop locations) and displayed on the Ops Board.

Deathmatch

This very non-tacticool but classic game mode now allows you to specify a target frag limit or time limit, to allow a winner to be decided.

You can also specify a minimum number of players: if there are fewer human players than this limit, additional AI enemies will be spawned to make up the numbers.

Training

The Camp Peary Training Facility (aka The Farm) has received a couple small updates:

The regular shoothouse's targets were repositioned, and many more possible target locations were added.
The Ops Board, light switch and Target App screen were moved around a bit for better usability.
The Ops Boards received some basic instructions on what to do on The Farm.

Maps and level design

New maps

New maps Compound and Rig are now available. Keep in mind that visuals, performance, audio and design are all an ongoing development.

Storage Facility overhaul

Storage Facility has had an overhaul to add a new industrial area at the top of the hill and a new route down into the tunnels, which have been spruced up and expanded in various ways. The docks area has also been extended.

Other significant map changes

Power Station has a new entrance west of the Substation insertion point leading into the tunnels.
City's central area was changed to add a new route to the previously "unconquerable" stairwell.
Run Down has a new ladder access route down from the roof.
New and improved props have been put into various maps, most notably Tanker.
Terrain materials have had a "de-tiling" pass.
New water has been added to multiple maps.

Missions and mission editor

Almost every single mission (i.e. objectives, spawn points, AI placement etc.) has been reworked and the AI slightly tweaked.
Certain game modes now allow you to play on sections of a certain map. For example, you can now play Team Elimination on City (Streets) or City (Subway), which are versions of the original City map restricted to the areas above the ground and underground, respectively.
The Mission Editor was reworked to be a bit more user-friendly. To access it, type editmission in the console when in a Lone Wolf level. (Please keep in mind however that there is currently a show-stopping bug with object selection and manipulation.)
New features in the Mission Editor include laptop-supporting meshes (meshes that automatically spawn with laptops when placed for Intel Retrieval or Uplink), mission meshes (additional meshes that can be placed in a specific mission, e.g. to block line of sight for spawns, or to block players from parts of the level), and mission-blocking volumes (invisible walls to block players from places where they shouldn’t be).
Also see the new (and somewhat invaluable) Validate Level command in the file menu.

Animations

Animations have received a major overhaul, most of which is still behind-the-scenes.

Reprocessed all character locomotion animations for new skeleton.
All weapons have completely remade animations for shooting and weapon manipulation (reloads, fire selector, mag checks etc.).
Added camera recoil animations.
Reworked weapon positions and transitions.
Body part-specific hit and death animations, including extended death animations.
First pass on basic ladder climbing (still missing mounting and unmounting).
Vaulting now has an associated animation (which is pretty bugged, per the Known issues section).

Ready Room and UI

New Ready Room look.
The Ops Board has a new layout and map images that emulate drone/satellite imagery.
The UI has received a general art pass, and most text is now in a slightly larger font size.
Customize Operator screen: new icons and improved item selection menus. Custom item builds are now also colored differently.
Mission settings now have an advanced settings category, which is hidden by default on the Lone Wolf and Host Game menus. A brief description of the game mode type is now given on those screens, and the mission selection tiles at the right-hand side now provide a description of the map.
Advanced AI Settings are now customizable (again) from the Lone Wolf and Host Game screens, allowing you to edit the various properties of the custom AI difficulty level.
If you try to select an OPFOR count over 30 (the recommended maximum), you will get a warning message and the OPFOR count itself will be displayed in red as a performance warning.
The After Action Report (AAR) has been overhauled and expanded. Extra tabs with extra info are added when appropriate. For the full set of AAR tabs with custom player and team scoring, check out the DTAS game mode. This may be extended in the future.

Character and inventory

New MK14 EBR model based on the Mod 1 variant, replacing the old Mod 2.
The new MK46 (Mod 1) light machine gun in 5.56 NATO replaces the old MK48 Mod 0. Suppressor not yet implemented, but on the way.
New M4-series and HK416-series models:
- M4A1 SOPMOD
- M4A1 Block II
- M4A1 Block II (FSP)
- HK416D
- HK416D CQB
All-new character assets:
- Character heads
- Outfit and gear items
- Beard selection currently disabled (still in development)

Basic AI behavior remains the same, but some essentially cosmetic changes have been made to their loadouts and callouts (mainly reduced frequency). A more fundamental pass on AI is, of course, still planned.
The placement of AI on maps has been overhauled to make it more random, yet still plausible. In Intel Retrieval, AI is now spawned conditionally in some places, so that laptops and extraction zones are more heavily guarded than other areas of the map (which can give you a clue as to the laptop location if you observe carefully).

Audio

New reload sounds for all weapons.
Audio mix overhaul: adjusted levels of all sounds to make sure gunshots and explosions sound more powerful.
Dynamic Range presets (Settings › Audio):
- Full: Gunshots and explosions significantly louder than other sounds. Recommended for headphone users.
- Medium: Recommended for speaker users.
- Low: Gunshots and explosions aren’t much louder than other sounds. Recommended for speaker users playing at night and for players with impaired hearing.
New channels setting: Binaural. Recommended for headphone users for more accurate sound navigation (not recommended for speaker users!).
Added water footstep sounds.
Pain and death sounds for AI (placeholders, consistent with current voice lines by Daeln Murphy).

Admin

New command admin motd will broadcast the server MOTD (message of the day) to all players on the server.
The admin resurrect command has been altered to respawn players at their death location always (rather than where they might be spectating, if their body has disappeared). A new admin resurrect all version is available, which does what it says on the tin.
New command admin resurrectnear (also accessible as admin resnear) will respawn players in the vicinity of a teammate rather than where they died. You can also add 'all' to the end of either command (e.g. admin resnear all) to resurrect all players in the vicinity a teammate.

This has been CTE UPDATE #007!

We're sure there's plenty we forgot to add here, so if you have any questions or would like to point out any glaring omissions, leave us a comment or reach out via social media with the links below. As always, thank you for your continued support and we hope you enjoy this test build!

Stay connected

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Aug 31, 2021

Intel Update #009: Road to V1032

GROUND BRANCH - Scopey

Alright, everyone, it’s time for another Intel Update!

These last few months have seen no shortage of setbacks—big and small, both inside the development and outside—but we’re chugging along like we always do. Humans are not built for waiting, and believe us when we say we absolutely hate how long this is taking, but we’re hoping this dev blog will give everyone another good taste of what’s coming.

➕ For those who missed it, our last blog post is available here: Intel Update #008: Reinforcements

Some will argue that the succulent previews you are about to see actually make the wait worse. To those, we say: scroll no further, for this shall be painful.

This is going to be media-heavy, so double-check you’re not on mobile data and let’s move on.

Optimization

In our last Intel Update, we introduced you to Bad Rhino Studios, a company that has been helping us with (mostly) under-the-hood development.

As part of our partnership, they have ran a thorough performance profiling on GROUND BRANCH and found that the biggest offender was indeed audio- and AI-related. More specifically, AI audio event calls causing big spikes in CPU usage.

Another performance issue we had was related to navmeshes (the areas of maps that bots are allowed to navigate on), and determined to be caused by how the AI interacts with doors within the navmeshes—hence maps Run Down and Tanker having the worst PvE performance, as they have the most doors.

Fixes have been applied to both issues, and appear to have yielded positive results in testing so far. Hell yeah, Bad Rhino Studios.

Further reinforcements

We cannot get into detail just yet, but we’ve recently gotten a tech artist on board. To put it simply, tech artists bridge the gap between programmers and artists (a job that Kris has so far been solely responsible for, on top of his regular coding duties), so we’re talking a very valuable acquisition for the team here.

There are a couple other positions that may be filled soon, but it’s a little too early to confirm. Bottom line is, we’re putting those sales to good use and will continue to build up the team.

Art assets

Character customization

One of V1032’s biggest attractions is, of course, the brand-new character assets. Even the heads are all getting replaced with much better ones, with more models to come later:

➥ We have yet to figure out how we’re going to use the dirt/wound layers; whatever we go with, we promise these heads are going to have eyes

And here’s a little selection of loadouts you will be able make with the new gear, showcased with a dedicated pose that Mike created specifically for the Customize Operator screen:

➥ We didn’t have any extra skins setup for the vests and carriers at the time of these screenshots, but rest assured they will be added (See? They do have eyes)

Although not 100% of the assets are new (we’re still missing a few items, like the Ball Cap and Headsets), they are all set to be updated within the next few releases.

In fact, here’s some upcoming eyewear—in various stages of development—that will be in V1032:

➥ Goggles (ESS® Profile NVG), high-poly model

➥ Sunglasses (ESS® Rollbar), high-poly model

➥ Eyeshields (ESS® Crossbow Suppressor), low-poly models (render tools)

➥ Another view of the eyeshields, low-poly models (render tools)

💡 Always keep in mind that these pretty renders (for the eyeshields, specifically) are created by the modeler with complex rendering tools, and will not look as good in-game due to real-time dynamic lighting, resolutions, graphics settings and other engine realities.

And just as a little demo of how much complexity full customization adds to development, here’s a study sent to us by our trusty character asset artist Pau Peñalver as we try to figure out how to deal with goggle headbands vs. helmets vs. helmet accessories (e.g. ear pro/comms):

➥ how goggles ?

Decisions, decisions. Anyway, more shots to gawk at:

Swatch system

As mentioned in a previous Intel Update many moons ago, most of the new character assets are setup to essentially take any color or pattern we want. As a result, the days of mismatched camos and inconsistent pouches will be over as soon as V1032 hits, and you’ll be able to MultiCam OCP the sh*t out of your kit:

➥ Never Always go full MultiCam OCP…?

In keeping with the authenticity that GROUND BRANCH is going for, we are for the most part creating skins that exist for the real-life counterparts of our assets. We may get more flexible as we go (OCP Black?!?!), but one thing we know for sure is that you’ll never see neon or brightly-colored skins in this game — not by us, anyway.

Y’all got any more of them new models?

New MK14 EBR (WIP)

We have a new MK14 EBR model under development by Cody Cudmore to replace our old Mod 2 variant currently in the game.

We know, you may not be exactly excited about a new EBR, but we figure these renders might help:

Here it is again, a little further along:

This new EBR is based on the US Navy’s Mod 1 variant (photo) — a better fit for the game overall, as it is fitted with a shorter 18″ barrel and an adjustable-length stock (which you will be able to switch out for other models in the future).

➕ Click here for a preview of another upcoming GROUND BRANCH weapon (that's for a later update, though!) at Cody's ArtStation page.

➕ For a list of all known upcoming weapons and more, see our Early Access Roadmap. Yes… a SCAR-H is coming. *sigh*

MK46 (WIP)

We’re also getting a MK46 Mod 1 light machine gun made to replace the old MK48, a model that is just as old as the current MK14 Mod 2 EBR. We aren’t 100% sure that it will make it to V1032, but here are some progress shots anyway:

➥ High-poly model; clockwise from top-left: tray cover, belt pouch, view of the open tray, and a view of the full model

➥ Low-poly model with suppressor

Much like the updated EBR, the MK46 is a better fit for the game for a few reasons: it is lighter, shorter, and more likely to be seen in a small, high-speed unit. The 5.56 mm caliber, however, means a firepower downgrade when compared to the MK48’s 7.62 mm round.

We’d like to get at least one additional stock made for this LMG, so drop your suggestion in the comments!

🔫 We have a new M1911 in the making, but that isn't far along enough to showcase just yet. It may or may not make it to V1032.

Updated accessories

The SpecterDR 1x/4x scope has been updated with a new, highly-detailed model by Cody:

➥ Yep, that’s an FDE skin too

… and so has the EXPS3 holo sight, by the same author:

➥ Also in FDE!

Other V1032 weapon accessory changes will include an updated AK suppressor, new/updated backup iron sights (BUIS), and a new MK4 3.5–10x scope to replace the old generic 12x.

Updated M4/MK18 assets

You have probably noticed by now that our M4/MK18 platforms have all been updated with entirely new models — including an FSP M4 Block II rail option — but here’s a close-up just to really get the point across:

The classic M4A1 SOPMOD is also being updated, but since the previous model wasn’t as old, the different isn’t quite as jarring. Still, it’s nice to have art consistency, the potential for cross-modability and, well, the correct barrel length:

Although these will be setup as standalone weapon platforms in V1032, we’ll eventually have a basic “gunsmith” feature where you’ll be able to (for example) select a base M4 platform and swap out the stock, handguard and possibly barrel; that will make customization more flexible and the UI cleaner.

Animations

New weapon positions and stance transitions

As teased a couple weeks ago on our Discord and Twitter, we have new animations and poses for the weapon positions. Although nothing is set in stone and this is all one big work in progress, we’ll be trying this style out and update as the feedback comes.

One thing we at BlackFoot Studios agree on is that they look and feel a lot better, especially with the smooth transitions.

Notice the trigger discipline finally adapting to the stance.

⏳ More natural, full-body character movements will all come in due time.

We’re sure there will be justified concerns about flagging—and again, these are not final—but we’re looking into having collision act as the “safety trigger”, so to speak: if you get close enough to a friendly unit, your character will automatically point the muzzle lower (if you’re at Low Ready) or higher (if you’re at High Ready).

It’s also worth noting for these previews that things like animation timing and camera/head movement are TBD.

As we progress, Mike will also be creating variants of the new ready positions/transitions that account for weapon length and weight. As an example, bringing a machine gun to ADS will be slightly slower than a carbine, while longer weapons may use a more “tucked in” High Ready position to mitigate environment collision and clipping.

⏳ V1032 will be merely our first big animations update. It will lay the foundations for animations and features to be added and improved all the way to the v1.0 release.

IK foot placement

The magic of IK, or inverse kinematics, will allow characters' feet to conform to the angle and height of the environment, as displayed by this silly screengrab from 3 weeks ago. We don’t have a more recent shot because something broke the IK since, but don’t let anybody tell you game development isn’t endless fun:

This initial implementation is guaranteed to create plenty of wonky moments, but that’s what iterations are for.

Reloads

All-new reload animations also mean all-new reload sounds. Sound designer Mikson has also been busy making sure the audio is in sync with the new motions, as well as improving effects all around as he went along.

Make sure you’ve also checked out the STANAG vs. PMAG (metal vs. polymer) reload audio comparison from the last Intel Update here

Death animations

Another part of the animations update will be a first pass on death sequences. While the current method — a mix of ragdoll and hand-made animations — does not allow for the animations themselves to be as accurate as fully rendered ones, it lets the ragdoll physics maintain full effect, so bodies still react to falling against the environment or off platforms while the animation plays.

Here’s a little demo:

As the video hopefully conveys, enemies no longer drop like a sack of potatoes: they have animations for being hit in different parts of the body, and even the direction they’re shot from has an effect on how they drop.

There’s more to these animations than just that, but we’re not spoiling it all just yet. Not bad for a first pass, huh?

Maps

In addition to upcoming maps Compound (working title) and Rig, already showcased previously, Storage Facility is getting a revamp consisting of a considerable expansion of the outside play area, a new way into the tunnels, and a huge makeover of the tunnels themselves.

If all goes well, the updated Storage Facility will have also received an extra art pass by the time you get to explore it.

Game modes

GROUND BRANCH V1031 brought us Lua-based game modes, which semi-officially opened up game mode modding to the community. Although development isn’t streamlined at this point, a few community-made modes have already been created:

Dynamic Take and Secure (DTAS)

Those who follow our Roadmap know about DTAS – Dynamic Take and Secure, a PvP game mode we added to the board a while ago. As it turns out, DTAS has been under development over the past several months by our friend and occasional collaborator fatmarrow, also known for his community maps (you can find his progress and tutorial videos here).

In DTAS, teams alternate as attackers and defenders. Once defenders set up the flag, attackers are free to start tracking it down. To win the round, attackers need to have more players inside the flag’s capture radius than defenders. If attackers are down to only one player or fail to capture within the time limit, defenders win. All parameters — time limit, capture radius, team balance — are customizable by admins.

It is currently in advanced testing, and will be available once the first V1032 CTE is released.

💡 DTAS was originally a game mode for Infiltration (aka INF), an old tactical realism mod for Unreal Tournament (1999).

Rendezvous

Fatmarrow has also helped create Rendezvous, a game mode by community regular V2. The description and rules for this scavenge/escape game mode can be found in this Discord link, and the download is in this one.

Kill Confirmed / Breakout

GB community member eelSkillz has created an additional 2 solo/co-op game modes, dubbed Kill Confirmed (a VIP assassination mode) and Break Out (another take on a scavenge/exfiltrate mode).

You can download the game modes from eelSkillz’s GitHub here and discuss them on the Steam thread here.

For a few demo runs of both modes (also featuring V2 and his Rendezvous mode), check out eel’s YouTube channel.

Nvidia DLSS & GeForce NOW

Just to make it official: GROUND BRANCH will support both GeForce NOW and Nvidia DLSS in the near-future!

GeForce NOW is the better-known Nvidia subscription-based cloud gaming platform where, instead of running on the player’s PC, games are run on powerful PCs somewhere else in the world and streamed to the player.

Nvidia DLSS (Deep Learning Super-Sampling) takes advantage of GeForce RTX technology to generate high-resolution, sharp, detailed images from low-resolution native samples via AI. This video offers a good demonstration of how it all works and looks:

This has been Intel Update #009!

We've just started internal testing, and although a lot of the game still needs to be put back together, dev builds have been stable and performing well. When we're done with the major fixes, we'll start rolling builds out to the CTE so you can all have a look and help us make sure we have a solid release.

As a final reminder, V1032 won't be the ultimate animations update, but it will help us get there in a lot of ways. It's all about paving the way for new features and a game that looks and feels better as development progresses.

Lastly, the only reason GROUND BRANCH has made it this far is our community's continued support over the years, months, days or however long you've known about our game and talked about it with your friends, bought a copy, started a discussion thread, streamed it, hung around the Discord or even just followed us on social media.

And so as always, thank you for keeping us going, and we'll see you on the next update!

Stay connected

{LINK REMOVED} / {LINK REMOVED} / {LINK REMOVED} / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

Jun 11, 2021

Intel Update #008: Reinforcements

GROUND BRANCH - Scopey

As underscored by last month’s publisher announcement, development for upcoming release V1032 is still chugging along, and as we work on putting the game back together with the new character rig, assets and animations, another Intel Update is coming at you with everything that’s happening behind the scenes.

Reinforcements are here

It is no secret that the development of GROUND BRANCH has been rocky, and in many ways too ambitious for its own good. Nevertheless, it has endured, and thanks in no small part to our community’s continued trust and support, we have finally reached a point where we can more comfortably go after professionals that can help us stay on track and take this project where it needs to be.

Tech backup

One such example is Bad Rhino Studios, an independent studio from Kansas City that we just partnered with as a means to get more eyes and hands on the game’s overall performance, code, online networking (netcode), and general implementation. As we progress, the studio will also be helping us fix major lingering issues and improve other areas of development.

The fine developers at Bad Rhino have previously lent their expertise to the likes of Epic Games (Unreal Engine, Fortnite), Bohemia Interactive (Arma, DayZ standalone) and even Facebook, so they are more than capable of helping us take GROUND BRANCH to the next level from a more technical standpoint.

➥ Some of the companies Bad Rhino Studios has worked with

It goes without saying that we’re very excited for this partnership’s future, and we’ll hopefully be seeing its repercussions soon enough!

For anyone interested, you can learn more about Bad Rhino Studios and what they do in their website right here.

Art backup

We have also gotten dedicated vegetation artist Paul Brousse on board in a contractor capacity. For starters, Mr. Brousse will be building assets for 4 different biomes (i.e. trees, bushes and ground cover): Eastern Europe, Horn of Africa, Middle East, and Mexico–United States border.

➥ Just a sample of Paul’s work in UE4, from his ArtStation portfolio (link)

In addition to granting environments an extra layer of authenticity, these new custom biomes will generally make maps look better and more consistent. If we’re lucky, they might even improve performance too.

Further backup

We are also looking for a dedicated VFX artist and a producer/project manager type, in addition to a few other roles we may disclose later. At this time, we are only considering close recommendations, but we’ll be sure to let everyone know if we end up expanding our search.

Other areas of assistance

GPU manufacturers

In order to improve performance in the future, we have submitted GROUND BRANCH builds to Nvidia and AMD for profiling. This may lead to potential assistance in optimizing the game, as well as GPU driver enhancements for better compatibility with it.

Localization

Our new publishing partner MicroProse has been helping us localize (that is, translate) the content of our Steam store page to several languages, so that non-English speakers can make better informed purchases and potentially have a minor positive impact on the player base.

Localization of the game itself will also begin as soon as we have a large enough portion of the UI locked down.

Some V1032 sneak peeks

Now for what you’re actually here for—taking a look at how V1032 is coming along and getting eyes on some sweet sneak peeks. We get it, and we got you covered.

Here’s some media, starting with this quick audio and animation preview:

➥ Mmm, crunchy

In addition to all these new reloads, our animator Mike has also put together this satisfying recoil animation that adds a lot of immersion to shooting:

➥ Notice the more natural “bounce” to the recoil when compared to the basic back-and-forth motion currently in the game. Weapon stances are a work in progress and subject to change.

On the modeling front, trusty contractor and 3D artist extraordinaire Pau Peñalver continues to bang out amazing models to get our character art up to date, and to make sure we don’t have brand-new assets mixed up with really old ones.

Below are some of Pau’s latest creations:

➥ The new Helmet (AF) …

➥ … and here with the camo cover (patterns pending, but they will be there)

➥ Four new types of footwear

➥ The new Combat Boots

➥ New NVG arm mount on helmet shroud

➥ Detail of the new NVG arm mount

Keep in mind that although these previews are already of the game-ready models (yep, no joke), they are generated from rendering tools that have lighting capabilities far beyond UE4’s real-time lighting. You know we like being transparent, so here’s what we really mean by that: they will not look necessarily this amazing in-game, but they will still look pretty good and certainly better than the assets they will be replacing.

In the level design department, Will has put some work on the night lighting and skybox for the still untitled compound map:

➥ Really makes it seem alive, doesn’t it?

In case you missed it, there are a bunch of pretty previews of the upcoming compound map on MicroProse’s GROUND BRANCH product page (click). We know what you’re thinking and yes, it’s going to be totally sick, lit and dare we say, based.

And that's it for today's Intel Update!

We know—waiting for V1032 sucks. But hopefully this helps ease the wait a little, and reassures everyone that we’re still here, working hard, and expanding the team so that we’re able to improve GROUND BRANCH’s experience at a faster pace.

We’ll have more details and previews for you in a few weeks, so stay tuned and don’t forget to let us know what your thoughts are on today’s intel.

See you on the next one!

May 8, 2021

Build Update #030: Patch V1031.2

GROUND BRANCH - KrisRedbeard

🆔 GROUND BRANCH V1031.2 Build ID: 6669244 (Client) / 6669250 (Dedicated Server) Download size: 119.8 MB (Client) / 60.2 MB (Dedicated Server)

🚨 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.

Patch V1031.2 is now live on the regular GROUND BRANCH Steam® app!

The second patch for release V1031 includes UI/UX and quality-of-life updates, general bug fixes, and a lot of under-the-hood work to better support game modes in the future. Let's break it down:

Quality of life

Mission Settings (Ops Board)

The Ops Board (the old LED screen where players can change mission parameters and select insertion points in the Ready Room) has been changed from an in-world UI to a pop-up window with the same functionality—except a little easier to use.

Server admins (or any local player in Lone Wolf) now can simply click the right-hand half of the Ops Board to change mission settings in a UI overlay, and then submit all changes in one go:

The mission setting values will continue to be listed on the in-world board until they are replaced with a system that integrates them into the objective descriptions.

Show Remaining Threats

The HUD counter for remaining enemies (in Terrorist Hunt) was moved away from the center of the screen and back to the top-left corner, as well as made optional once again.

Use the Show Remaining Threats mission setting to change how it behaves:

The number set in this option represents how many enemies are left before the counter starts displaying (e.g. when set to 8, the counter will start displaying when there are 8 enemies left).
Setting it to 0 disables the counter entirely.

Dedicated server spectators

It is now possible to join a server as a spectator without it affecting the max player count.

The maximum amount of spectators is controlled by a MaxSpectators option and is currently capped at 16. While this does mean you could have up to 32 people on one server—16 players, 16 spectators—remember to talk with your server provider first to get more slots.

Improved spectator experience

First-person view should use correct sight lines and look smoother.
Better handling of toggle HUD command.
Show Player Names and Show Enemy Blips selections are now saved to config files.
Minimap rotation should now be correct on all maps.

New watch face

The wristwatch has been updated with improved readability:

➥ The new fonts and adjusted sizes should make the watch face cleaner and easier to read. We've also temporarily removed the heartrate (BPM) display until that functionality is actually in place.

Gunfire loop fixed

The dreaded gunfire loop has breathed its last, with Mikson coming to the rescue with the insight Kris needed to find and kill it once and for all… hopefully. Fingers are crossed.

Net cull distance increased

We doubled the net cull distance from 150 to 300 meters to ensure that, while playing online, characters are visible at a distance to clients. This is particularly relevant on maps with longer sightlines, like 747.

This is a stop-gap method until we get the chance to start using the replication graph system.

Weapon kit validation system

Due to the large number of bugs related to improperly placed sights and firearm attachments in general, a lot of work went into improving the kit validation logic related to them.

⚠️ Oops! All your stuff is gone :(
As a result of the kit validation system, the kit version number has been changed to help prevent the use of existing kits that would no longer be considered valid. This means all existing kits and builds will no longer be loaded, so make sure to rebuild your go-to kits in-game before hopping online! We're very sorry for the inconvenience.

The validation process includes making sure that:

Magnifiers (i.e. G33 Magnifier) are placed behind non-magnified optics.
Night vision scopes (i.e. AN/PVS-22) are placed in front of magnified optics.
Rear (iron) sights have a matching front sight post.
A sight is not blocked by another attachment.
Only one type of optic can be placed on a sight line (i.e. no optic "conga lines").
Only one iron sight or front sight post can be on a sight line.
All attachment mounting points are in contact with a rail.
A riser is placed directly on a rail or adapter and not another riser.
Attachments are not overlapping each other.

Trying to save a weapon build that fails any of the above will prompt players with what needs fixing, as well as prevent the loadout from applying:

🐞 The system will need fine-tuning to not be overly restrictive with certain combinations. Please let us know if you come across any such configurations that should be both possible and usable, but are not.

New Admin Panel

Due to changes related to mission settings and game rule handling, the Admin Panel (F8) has been updated and received a first pass of the new UI style:

Yes, you can finally unban people and see a list of team-killers!

Whitelist support

To keep a server private, servers admins can now choose to use a whitelist instead of a password.

The system checks the whitelist file periodically, allowing updates to happen just by replacing or updating the file. The file itself in standard CVS format, making it possible to use a common spreadsheet program and export the results.

As with most admin task, it is also possible to update this via Admin Panel while connected as an admin.

Game rules are now stored next to other server options

Along with the mission setting changes, this change removes the need to remember the associated command line, while still allowing them to be changed on the fly or overridden by a map list entry.

Audio

Fixed Tanker's engine sound occlusion stuttering when moving to upper decks.
Replaced outdated tire bullet impact SFX.
Fixed ground power unit interaction sounds on 747.
Minor under-the-hood optimizaton changes.

Maps

City

Removed leftover ladder from subway car that allowed players to mount it.
Added glass to alleyway building fronts.
Added doors to central square buildings.
Added power switches to central square buildings, alleyway buildings and underground station.
Added AI cover nodes to cars: bots will now use them for cover.

Paintball

Replaced the old texts saying "RED TEAM" and "BLUE TEAM" on each side's entrance with flags on poles of the respective team's color.
Changed the color of the lights on each side to reflect the teams as well.

General map cleanup

John has also done some minor miscellaneous cleanup (LODs, landscapes, collision, lighting etc.) on most maps.

Miscellaneous

Fixed a whole bunch of crashes.
Fixed MP5SD burst mode having no sound.
Fixed NVG effect being inconsistency across maps.
Made drop-down menus stand out better against other menus and text when opened.
Mouse sensitivity settings now allow decimal digit values for fine-tuning. You can still click and type a specific value instead of clicking and dragging.
New icons for Settings screen and Ready Room player status.

Under-the-hood game mode work

What originally started as changes to ensure mission settings and game mode rules were being read from the command line properly soon expanded to include a lot more.

This culminated in working closely with community member (and GB proto-modder) fatmarrow to fix, update or outright rewrite existing game mode logic. Many of these changes are mentioned in the raw changelog here, and more can be gleamed by looking through the existing .lua files for those interested.

A number of these changes will make it into various community guides in time, and a new game mode by fatmarrow—Dynamic Take and Secure (DTAS)—is currently being implemented and tested (with tentative release in V1032) thanks to them.

Known issues

Sound occlusion in the Ready Room appears to be broken again. We'll get that patched up as soon as we can.
The NVG effect has been reported to be missing the green tint on The Farm (Training map), but not consistently. Please report a bug if you experience this issue on a map!
When playing Uplink, the round start dialog may disappear too fast to read.

This has been BUILD UPDATE #030!

We appreciate you taking the time to read our release notes! Quick remindeer that you can read the raw change log here, and don't forget to let us know about any issues you find that are not listed here. Til the next update!

Stay connected

{LINK REMOVED} / {LINK REMOVED} / {LINK REMOVED} / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

Mar 18, 2021

Build Update #029: Patch 1031.1

GROUND BRANCH - Scopey

🆔 GROUND BRANCH V1031.1 Build ID: 6402952 (Client) / 6402972 (Dedicated Server) Download size: ≈340 MB (Client) / 32 MB (Dedicated Server)

🚨 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:

Performance and audio

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.

Other audio changes

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.

General

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.

Game modes and laptops

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.

Level art/design

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.

UI and settings

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.

Admin and servers

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)

Controller input

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.

This has been BUILD UPDATE #029!

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!

Stay connected

{LINK REMOVED} / {LINK REMOVED} / {LINK REMOVED} / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

Mar 6, 2021

BUILD UPDATE #028: V1031 now live! Price going up soon!

GROUND BRANCH - Scopey

🆔 GROUND BRANCH V1031 Build ID: 6338489 (Client) / 6330198 (Dedicated Server) Download size: 3 GB (Client) / 447 MB (Dedicated Server)

🚨 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:

Price is going up this Monday (March 8th) at 12pm EST!

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!

Build highlights

New user interface

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:

Main Menu

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.

Lone Wolf

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.

Host Game

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.

Server Browser

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.

Settings

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.

Other UI/UX changes

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.

Gameplay and controls

Attachments

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).

Breaching Charge

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.

Grenades

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.)

Doors

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.

Wristwatch

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.

Rangefinder

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.

New game modes

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 (PvE)

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.

Uplink (PvP)

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.

Visual effects (VFX)

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.

Known visual issues

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.

Audio

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:

Sound effects (SFX)

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.

Soundscapes/ambiences

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

Other audio changes

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.

Content

Maps and performance

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!

New map: Run Down

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.

New map: The Farm

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.

Other map updates

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.

Gear

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.

Known issues (general)

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.

This has been BUILD UPDATE #028!

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.