As announced earlier this month, GROUND BRANCH was set to become available on GeForce NOW — NVIDIA's subscription-based cloud gaming service — this September.

And just as announced, players can stream GROUND BRANCH (via Steam) on GFN as of this Thursday! A pretty cool opportunity for those without a beefy PC setup to try GB out.



Let's welcome the streamers aboard!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Time for another Intel Report, where we go over the latest happenings in development as the upcoming GROUND BRANCH update V1033 continues to evolve.

📅 Be sure to check out last month's Intel Report (#011) in case you missed it!

As mentioned last month, GROUND BRANCH is coming to GeForce NOW — NVIDIA's cloud gaming service — which will make the game accessible to a whole new audience of subscribers.

NVIDIA has confirmed that this will happen sometime this month:



We'll be sure to make a quick announcement when it goes live!

Last month we announced the addition of VFX Artist Charles Schmidt and Sound Designer Zack Reagan to the team, but some of you may remember that we still had a vacant senior programmer spot. And this month we're very happy to announce that is no longer the case, as Christoph Bockhahn joins us in a Senior Programmer capacity!

Chris' resumé is too humiliating for us to fully cite, but it should suffice to say that he was working for Acer before and has a master's in astrophysics. In addition to his general programming background, Chris has industry experience in UI, tech art, gameplay engineering and, of course, the mandatory Unreal Engine skills.

The biggest benefit of getting Chris on board is going to be speeding up AI development, which is of course great news for most of the GROUND BRANCH player base.

Let's all welcome Chris to the team! We'll take a quick look at some of his initial work next.

As announced in February, AI is being rebuilt using Kythera AI, a specialized middleware.

Though implementation is still very much under-the-hood at this point (meaning nothing cool to showcase, unfortunately), Chris has taken the time to start prototyping a friendly AI ordering system:



Continuing the work on patches for headgear and shirts, we now have callsign patches in-game, for ease of identifying operators on the field.



Players can choose a three-letter callsign code, or have one generated automatically when changing name. Servers can also apply a callsign patch policy, for example to force players to have callsigns based on their chosen element (A, B, C, D), to override any selection by each player. There is no need to choose a callsign patch in the character editor — these are added automatically whenever a callsign is used.

Environment artist Will has moved on to giving Depot a thematic art pass to get it more in line with Storage Facility, which is set in the same region.

Here are some preview shots:







The Storage Facility map overhaul is done, so why not appreciate some ultrawide shots of that beauty in a different lighting?







This month we have further optimized the audio side of things by lowering the amount of memory usage by at least half, based on performance testing on Small Town with 30 bots.

This was done by optimizing how the weapon sounds were loaded. Now, instead of all weapon sounds being stored at all times, only the ones in use during a particular mission or round are stored.

This method will also allow for easier audio modding in the future, as you only need to edit and rebuild the sound bank for the weapon you want to mod instead of rebuilding the entire weapon sound bank for just one weapon.

Combined with the CPU optimization that we detailed last month, we're looking at roughly a 50% gain in audio performance so far — not too shabby.

🎧 Weapon tails and other sounds are also continually being reworked and improved alongside the optimization work.

Doors are having part of their logic redone to address one of its main issues: getting both players and AI stuck in them.

Some degree of physics simulation is also being added in order to once again allow cracked doors — that is, partially open ones — to be pushed by just walking into them.

We're also hoping to get a nicer looking effect for exploding doors while we're at it.

Work on particle effects continues as Charles converts all of the existing VFX to the newer Niagara system before reworking and improving them.

He has zeroed in on bullet impacts and has recently started improving the breaching charge explosion:





Though we cannot showcase it at this time for various annoying reasons, we can confirm that some basic new manipulation animations will make it to V1033.

Players will actually start seeing their character flip magnifiers on and off, flick the Specter DR's lever to the front and back, and pull their night vision goggles up and down.

🚪 A basic "magic hand" type of animation for door interactions may also be present as a placeholder. That still beats telekinesis, right?

Mike has also been busy with hand poses and reload sequences to fit the new and updated weapon models, which we'll cover next.

Weapons and related assets continue to be created and revamped as needed by our trusted contractors, which — between brand-new items and replacements — has so far allowed us to add over a dozen new weapon models to V1033.

Let's make a quick list, starting with the new weapons:

• MK17 CQC / DMR
  
• Wz.88
  
• AK-105
  
• PKM
  
• PMM
  
• M24 SWS

Speaking of which, here's how that last one turned out:





Now for the replacements/updates:

• M1911A1
  
• AK-74M
  
• AKS-74U
  
• AK-105 Alpha (replacing the AK-74 MI)
  
• AKS-74U Alpha (replacing the AK-74 MI CQB)
  
• SVD
  
• M16A4 (currently in development; the old model has issues in both scaling and quality consistency)

And that's not even mentioning extra parts and new/updated attachments that will make their way into the game as we go.

As promised, here's the new AK-74M, as well as the AK-105 with tactical Zenitco furniture:





More renders of the AKs on the AK Productions ArtStation right here.

We can also confirm that an "A2" carry handle is finally coming for the M16/M4 series of weapons. That's right. We caved.

😔 Why the focus on visuals? We want better AI!

From time to time, part of the player base questions our priorities, which is understandable: why are we putting resources on models, effects or any other superficial thing when there are areas of development in more urgent need of attention?

Well, that is simply because not everyone on the team can do everything. For example, telling our art guys to shift their focus to gameplay code will only result in neither art or gameplay seeing progress.

So while progress may be slow in certain areas, others may (and should) continue to develop normally.

That said, AI has seen little progress in the last couple of updates, but is now getting worked on intensively, beginning with the integration of the new Kythera middleware. AI is one of the harder aspects of game development, and the results won't be immediate — it's an ongoing task that will be spread over the next few updates and beyond — but the key takeaway here is that we are now "all systems go", in all areas of development.

We hope you found this post informative and interesting enough to make the soul-crushing wait for V1033 a bit more bearable.

Thank you very much for reading, and we'll see you on the next one!

---

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

Hey, everyone!

It's been around a month since our last dev blog (#010), and because we are now aiming for monthly entries, the time has come again to showcase some more progress and talk about other recent developments.

Intel Update is now INTEL REPORT!
We are renaming our series of dev blog entries from "Intel Update" to Intel Report. The reason is that some players would simply glance over the title, spot the word "update" in it, and immediately proceed to type "did we get an update?" in the nearest text box, prompting confusion and aggravation in an otherwise incredibly peaceful and welcoming community.

As some of you will know from our recent job ads, we have been looking for reinforcements in a couple areas: VFX (visual effects) and programming being the main ones.

We hope to have news on the programmer role very soon, but in the meantime, we are proud to introduce new BlackFoot Studios members Charles Schmidt and Zack Regan!

Charles is our first dedicated VFX Artist. He was previously a gameplay designer and visual effects artist for Operation: Harsh Doorstop, and is now giving the particle effects in GROUND BRANCH some much-needed love. He will be working on making hit impacts, muzzle blasts, smoke, blood and all kinds of visual effects in the game look and perform better.

Zack's joining us as an additional Sound Designer whose skillset nicely complements Mikson's, with valuable Wwise and Unreal Engine integration experience. Formerly a member of Code Blue Games, Zack is also a composer, so we might be seeing some new tracks in GB down the line.

Welcome to the team, guys!

💡 We'll be checking out some of their initial work in a bit, so read on!

As a pre-alpha game on Early Access that also happens to have a handful of fairly unique features, GROUND BRANCH is bound to have its performance fluctuate over the course of development as we add, remove and generally change things around. And although we always keep track of the worst performance offenders, fixes are rarely straightforward and may take some time to figure out.

It's no secret that performance in V1032 is less than stellar, with certain aspects of audio and asset modularity being some of the major culprits. Here are some of the steps we have been taking to address them so far:

Though beautifully modeled and textured by Bakr Asaad, the M4 and HK416 families of carbines are using around 12 texture sets per weapon as of V1032. The models were created with very granular customization in mind, with each individual part having its own texture set.

If you go online and your team is using an assortment of different M4- and HK416-based weapons — easily some of the most popular guns in the game — that could be loading upwards of 30 texture sets for those weapons alone in your GPU's memory. Not ideal when you already have in-depth character customization, meaning a whole lot of other assets to render.

For V1033, we had those weapon models rebuilt to use only 3–4 texture sets each, while preserving as much of the quality and fidelity of the originals as possible. This change may not be as impactful as the more CPU-intensive issues such as those caused by dynamic lighting and audio, but every bit helps and it had to be done at some point.


Updated HK416 with optimized texture sets

Zack has been working closely with Mikson to address one of the biggest performance issues in the game: audio complexity causing excessive CPU usage.

To better understand the problem, think back on all of the different sounds your character makes in GROUND BRANCH when moving around or firing a weapon. There's the footsteps, the rustling clothes, the crackling gear… And when shooting, there's the mechanical weapon clicks and clings, the muzzle blast, and even a dedicated sound effect for distant gunfire in case someone hears them from afar. These sounds are individual audio layers, and every time a character moves or shoots, all of these layers are "broadcast" to everyone. Needless to say, the more characters in the game, the more demanding it becomes.

To tackle the problem, the duo has rearranged the entire audio project to support first-person perspective vs. third-person perspective sounds. In practice, this means they can significantly reduce the amount of simultaneous sounds and layers that are played by determining when to play each of them.

For example: the player firing the weapon doesn't need to hear the layer for distant gunfire, so we can now tell the game to only play it as a third-person sound, i.e. for other players. Conversely, other players don't need to hear (and are unlikely to notice) the mechanical weapon layer of your shots, so they will no longer be played for them.

As another example, movement sounds can be preserved as layered audio in first-person, but for third-person playback we can now play an optimized version where all of the layers have been combined into a single sound effect. So you'll still hear a high-fidelity, multi-layered playback when you move your own character around, but the sound generated by other players will be a simplified version of that. That's far fewer sounds to play.

🎧 Audiophiles using high-fidelity equipment may notice subtle differences, but the vast majority of us will only notice the glorious gains.

After this initial optimization pass was done, Mik and Zack ran a profiler on maps Run Down, Small Town and Tanker to see how CPU usage responded to the changes.

Each map was ran three times in single player (Terrorist Hunt) with 30 AI bots, first in V1032 and then in V1033 to compare. Here are the peak averages:

Run Down

V1032: 53.38%
V1033: 36.28%
-17.10% CPU usage (~32% decrease)

Small Town

V1032: 46.34%
V1033: 37.07%
-9.27% CPU usage (~20% decrease)

Tanker

V1032: 46.17%
V1033: 22.03%
-24.14% CPU usage (~52% decrease)

The peak average for these maps in V1032 was 48.6% CPU usage, which was brought down to a 31.8% peak average in V1033 — or a 34.6% decrease. Not bad at all for a first pass.

It's worth noting that these numbers are strictly for CPU usage — not framerates — and we'll be running more tests as the optimization continues. There's more performance to be gained on the audio side of things alone, and certainly more scenarios to test on (e.g. multiplayer).

While not directly related to optimization, cloud gaming services allow players with low-end PCs to enjoy games that their machines can't natively run. And with GROUND BRANCH having an ambitious array of features that can test lower-end hardware, we have received a lot of interest in GeForce NOW support.

Well, we have mentioned before that support for GeForce NOW is planned (it's been on our {LINK REMOVED}Roadmap since around February), but we have recently discovered that we might be able to support it a lot earlier than expected! Steam has a feature that allows NVIDIA-approved games to be linked to GeForce NOW as long as Steam Cloud saves are setup and working. Which, by the way, they are now, and enabled by default — you can change that by right-clicking the game in your library and selecting "Properties":

☁️ Steam Cloud saves will only be required for GeForce NOW users.

NVIDIA has yet to greenlight the integration, but our end is all setup and could potentially lead to GeForce NOW support before V1033 is even here. Fingers crossed!

As shown in the previous dev blog, V1033 will be introducing some new weapons, which require not only new sound effects, but also animations.

One such new weapon is the Russian PMM pistol, which has a fairly unorthodox reload due to the magazine release being located at the bottom of the grip. Here's the non-retention version (sorry, no audio on these videos):


Next is the MK17 (SCAR-H), which was using the AR reload in last update's Gunshot Audio Preview video. Notice the charging handle on the right side — this was done to reduce the likelihood of clipping with the supporting hand, as well as provide a more unique reload style:


Shotgun shoot and reload sequences are also being updated, with slight changes: you will be able to load 1–2 shells at a time (depending on how full the internal magazine is) while keeping it pointed downrange and ready to fire — so you can more effectively keep your weapon full while still being in the fight — or take the time to break the weapon down into your workspace to more efficiently load shells into the magazine until full. These two reload types will be done using the two different Reload inputs (tap vs. double-tap), just like in V1032, with their speed increased slightly.



Mike has also started working on basic door handling animations, which we'll begin showcasing next month.

Our new VFX artist Charles has also kept busy in his first couple of weeks, having put in some work on bullet impact and explosion particles.

Here's a quick demo of the concrete hit effects that he's put together so far. Notice how the angle of the shots affects the direction of the impact debris — shots will produce impact effects at a similar but opposite angle, rather than always fly out of surfaces at a perpendicular (90°) angle:


As the video shows, impacts will also produce larger secondary debris.

📈 These effects also have lower shader complexity than the previous ones, which could have a positive impact on performance in more intensive situations.

Charles has also started prototyping collision logic, with the preliminary goal of making explosion particles react appropriately to their surroundings and not go through walls etc. Here's a quick demo:



Storage Facility has been receiving a makeover by Will since its layout redesign in V1032. This art pass adds some welcome character to the facility, with the concept of a repurposed Soviet-era mine, and adds a lot of background detail suggestive of its location.

Here are some shots of the map at around 90% completion:


A view from the dock area showcasing the distant backdrop art pass


The open area right in front of the tunnel's main entrance; notice the abandoned elevated conveyor belt structures


High ground section (warehouse)

John has also been working on a new map idea — working title "Docks" — that may or may not make its way into V1033 as well:





We showcased the new M1911A1 in the last dev blog, and you can see some new angles of that on artist Bakr Asaad's portfolio here.

In the meantime, we have also ordered a new .45 suppressor from Cody to go with it: a legacy Ti-RANT 45S from Advanced Armament Corp. (AAC):



Other weapons are also getting some love in V1033, with the AK-74 family and SVD having received remakes by AK Productions. Be sure to check out their portfolio here for the full galleries and other work they have made.

Here are some previews of the AKS-74U (with both factory and Zenitco parts), as well as the SVD (with both wooden and polymer furniture):

📷 We'll be showcasing the new AK-74M, AK-105 and other assets by AK Productions in a future update.

As is the case with the upcoming MK17 (SCAR-H), these weapons will be added as individual pre-built configurations at first, though you will be able to swap out parts like stocks and handguards down the line when we set things up to support that level of modularity.

The new M24 is also in the make. Here's the latest progress shot, just before entering the low-poly stage:


The M24 will be fitted with the MIRS (Modular Integrated Rail System) and a threaded barrel for suppressor mounting

We're investigating how to address one of the most frustrating aspects of the enemy AI: their perfect eyesight at night, making stealthy gameplay nearly impossible.

Initial prototyping is being done using some logic to read pixels and check them for brightness. That is then hooked up to a render capture component attached to the AI, which will be taking snapshots of all the lighting currently affecting players.

The idea is that if you're caught in one of these snapshots and the brightness reading is determined to be high enough for detection, then you get spotted and the AI reacts. Otherwise, it is told to ignore your presence. Remember that once you give bots basic abilities — like "when you see a player, shoot" — it's a subtractive process of telling them not to based on a set of conditions, whether it's because they shouldn't be able to see through walls, or because they shouldn't be able to see you in pitch darkness.

Unfortunately, we have nothing palpable to show at this time, but should hopefully have some kind of demo in the next Intel Report.

Modding in V1033 is still very much a work in progress, but there are two main developments we can talk about at this time.

Firstly, all current kinds of mods (such as game modes and missions) will now be packaged and uploaded to an online repository (details to be finalized), and this should greatly simplify the delivery of mods to users, and propagating updates to mods. Server owners should be able to select mods to be active on the server, and these should automatically be distributed to players joining the server. The days of players having to drop .csv files into their game installation should be over!

Secondly, there will be some new kinds of modding — most notably custom patches, as well as mutators. These mutators are Lua scripts (like game modes) that are intended to extend and/or replace basic game functionality, without requiring a more complicated solution using the SDK (which is still on the way). The full feature set is yet to be confirmed and is likely to be extended over time, but provisionally mutators will allow server owners to customize match structures, map changes, default/allowable player names, custom callsigns, and other server behaviors. They may also be able to do things like pistol-only modifications to any game mode, and so on. Much is possible, but not everything may make it to V1033.

We'll share more details of the modding system at an appropriate time. But we know the community is clamoring for more modding possibilities, and we are doing our best to get this in-game at the earliest appropriate opportunity.

We appreciate you taking the time to read this post, and hope to keep a steady stream of previews and progress showcases going. Thanks for your continued support, and we'll see you next month!

Hey everyone,

This is just a quick announcement to let everyone know that we will be shutting down the CTE (Community Test Environment) app in the next 48 hours.

Although it has helped us with broader playtesting in the past, the concept of a separate app generates too much player confusion that can't really be worked around. As an example, it is impossible to simply shut down the CTE app when not in use (prompting many new players to ask which app they should play), and something as simple as putting up any kind of notice (e.g. to let players know if CTE is in use or not) requires Valve personnel to do it.

In addition, we noticed that the vast majority of players would immediately migrate to CTE once a new test version was released, leaving the main install mostly deserted — which rendered the benefit of having two separate apps that players could alternate between null. Many players also had issues with app visibility, and so on.

As a result, future playtesting will be done using the (relatively) new Steam Playtest (which works much like a separate app, but without the issues we were having with CTE) or simply via a separate Beta branch of the main app, usually accessed via password. We will be looking into both of these options before making a decision, and possibly trying them both out.

So if you notice GROUND BRANCH CTE dropping from your library, don't panic! We're just trying to make playtesting more straightforward in the future.

Thanks for reading!

If you have been experiencing suspiciously low framerates in GROUND BRANCH, these findings might help you.

A lot of players have been reporting massive FPS drops after a recent Razer Cortex update. If you use that application, try disabling it — more specifically the CPU booster, as it may be forcing GB to use a single core.

You can also disable it specifically for some games. Instructions here: How to turn off for specific games

The Steam Overlay is another common FPS offender, so try turning it off (default shortcut: Shift + Tab) to possibly get a small boost.

You can also turn off the overlay per game — more information here: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/3978-072C-18DF-FBF9

If these fixes don't apply to you and/or you're unhappy with performance, keep in mind GROUND BRANCH will be receiving optimizations in the future, as well as NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR options.

🆘 Need help with either of these fixes? Get support from our community in the forums or our Discord!

💡 Have you experienced performance gains in GB by taking any actions not listed here? Share them in the comments!

What's up, everyone?

It's been a hot minute since our last Intel Update, and although we have been patching V1032 for a while now, work on upcoming release V1033 has been ongoing for several months behind the curtains. Before we start teasing the goods, however, we need to talk about a couple things:


That's right! GROUND BRANCH is currently a whole 40% OFF, which we think is a pretty dang good deal and our highest discount yet.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/16900/GROUND_BRANCH/

You can grab your discount copy directly on Steam, or you can…

❤️ CONSIDER BUYING DIRECTLY FROM OUR STORE

Buying the game from our Store ensures that we get the full cut of the purchase, as opposed to Valve taking 30%.

💰 Use code GBSUMMER at the checkout to apply the 40% discount.

Please note the GB Store has no regional pricing — it can only use the base USD price tag!

You have exactly 2 weeks (until July 7th) to think about it or get that one friend (you know the one) to pull the trigger on this fantastic opportunity. Let's get the word out and make sure to welcome the new players in!


This one is for any industry pros that might be lurking: BlackFoot Studios is looking for a VFX Artist to create awesome, realistic particle effects in GROUND BRANCH. For more details, {LINK REMOVED}click here.

Also, the Senior Gameplay Engineer/Developer position is still open. So if you know any Unreal Engine & C++ wizards out there (or happen to be one yourself), get in touch! Full job details {LINK REMOVED}right here.


That's what most of you are here for, so let's move on to those sneak peeks we promised. Here are some of the exciting things currently under development.

GROUND BRANCH V1033 is being setup with a new system that allows for dynamic sky and weather effects, which means clouds, the moon and stars will be making a return.




You like this sky? Kinda makes you feel like operating. I kinda feel like operating right now *tears away civilian clothes*

We're still assessing performance, but if it proves to work well, we may soon also be able to choose not just the time of day, but also whether the sky is clear, cloudy or overcast; whether there's a moon out at night or not; and even if it's rainy or foggy. The whole system is also being rigged up to inform the player of lighting and visibility conditions, as well as to allow a specific mission date to be set in order to emulate the real-life weather conditions of a certain area (where the map is set) at a given time.

This early prototype for the more advanced settings should give you an idea of the depth of the new system:



Although we are not yet sure how many of these options will be available to players (at least initially) nor exactly how it will all be displayed, the back-end to support it is already in place. Just keep in mind that it's early days, and if the plugin's performance hit during regular gameplay is too big, then we might need to pull it until we can make it all play nice.

One of the most requested items in GROUND BRANCH history — the famous (and sometimes infamous, particularly if you ask a GB dev) GPNVG-18 "quad NODs" panoramic night vision goggles — is finally making its way into the game, along with a number of enhancements to the overall night vision and IR laser effects.



Among the improvements, you may notice how the goggles take up a larger portion of the screen. Instead of simply expanding the NVG overlay mask, which would grant players an unrealistically wide field of view, this was done by switching the FOV (that is, by "zooming in") in order to make the realistic field of view display at a larger size. This effect will likely be made optional as it might disorient some players.

Have a quick demo video (remember it's all WIP!) from Fatmarrow to see it in action:


As you may be able to spot in the video: the noise speckle effect has being reworked; mask movement and lens shading have been added to give the camera a more natural feel; and the goggles now appear to bounce when running/sprinting (this will definitely be tweaked/toned down). The goggles are also using a white phosphor overlay, which will be available on the dual-tube NVG too (as will green be available on the GPNVG-18), and the IR laser has also received an update.

What do you think of these updates so far? Let us know in the comments!

We're talking velcro patches that you can place on your character's shoulders, headgear and (eventually) vests. Like so:


Full-color US flag patch on ball cap

Patches will be making a comeback from the pre-Early Access days, and they should not only make customization more fun and authentic, but also start making IFF a little easier.

Another cool feature of patches will be a tint selection: in addition to the full-color version of each patch, 3 types of subdued tints — tan, green and grayscale — will also be available for those who don't want no flashy colors spoiling their drip. Or their camo, sure.


Patches may not be the only new stuff in this image; note the subdued (grayscale) US flag patch on the helmet and left shoulder

You have probably already spotted the MK17 SCAR-H in one of the screenshots above, so that cat is out of the bag. Modeled by the talented Cody Cudmore (aka ParallaxGameStudios), the MK17 will initially come in two versions: "CQC" (with the shorter 13-inch barrel) and "DMR" (with the standard 16-inch barrel and Midwest Industries handguard rail extension).



Cody has modelled several extra parts, however, that will be available when the ability to swap stocks, handguards and barrels is implemented. You can see most of the parts (along with some beautiful renders of the new MK17) in his ArtStation page.

Several of Cody's models are being continually upgraded, so expect remasters of various attachments (including the AN/PEQ-15 and optics like the PRO, RMR, AccuPower and more) to have made their way into the game by the time V1033 hits.

Another new asset you may have spotted earlier is the new M1911A1 by Bakr Asaad aka Raider3D:



This modernized M1911A1 features a Picatinny rail for lights and lasers and a threaded barrel for suppressors, as well as 8-round and 10-round magazines. Aesthetically, it combines elements of various iconic 1911-style pistols used by American SOF over the last couple decades, retaining much of its classic look.

The update will also include plenty of AK-74 and AK-105 platforms (both with and without Zenitco parts), new SVDs, a PMM pistol, the suppressor for the MK46 machine gun… But hang in there, we'll be unveiling more of these in the future.

As those spoilery screenshots earlier showed, character assets will be getting some new additions as well. Namely, we'll be adding a new character head, and beards will finally make their comeback. That's not all, but since we're not sure at this time just how much will make it to V1033, we kindly request that all readers exercise caution with their hype levels.

Let's take a look:


Male 05 render, with and without beard


Hairstyles fit for each character, including headwear versions of the longer styles (to reduce clipping)

Hair color selection may not make it to V1033, but the assets have all been created to allow it once we get the functionality in.

Lastly for the character art department, another commonly requested item since V1032 has been tucked-in tops. Pau Peñalver is making the adjustments, and we'll see how they end up in the game as far as selection goes.


Some shirts just look a little off when untucked, so we're working on tucked-in versions

Among other things that we'll be discussing in a later update, Mikson and Mike have been busy getting the new weapons to sound and move nicely, respectively.

Mik has also been working on environment-specific "tails", which refers to how the gunshot sounds reverberate differently depending on the type of environment. So in addition to sounding different depending on whether you're outdoors, in a small room or a larger room, shots in V1033 will have distinctive tails for urban, marine and generic outdoors, with the possibility of a woodland-area tail in the future too. Here's a little demo:


New unsuppressed gunshot SFX for the MPX, 5.45 mm AK platforms and other weapons will also be in the update.

This is it for today's Intel Update, but before we sign off: we are also working on AI features, modding, map updates, a new map and game modes for V1033 that we'll be showcasing at a later date.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!

Build ID: 8801352 (Client) / 8801378 (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 68 MB (Client) / 35 MB (Dedicated Server)

Another small patch for V1032 is out — and unless a game-breaking issue comes up, we're officially moving on to work exclusively on future release V1033, which we hope to start showcasing soon!

Here's the list of fixes and changes:

• Fixed a couple of potential crashes
  
• Fixed untextured door debris (from grenades and breaching charges)
  
• Fixed issues relating to item pick-ups between multiple clients[
  
• Fixed Rangefinder crash due to it getting into a weird back/forth infinite loop when aimed at characters
  
• Several under-the-hood changes to better support the fixes above

We have released another hotfix for the main install of Ground Branch as we try to take care of some annoying and game breaking issues.

Main items being attempts to squash the looping firing sound bug and various issues with attachments and iron sights. There will be no blog post, so here are the details...

Build ID: 8704907 (Client) / 8704918 (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 57.3 MB (Client) / 28.3 MB (Dedicated Server)

Another week, another attempt at wrapping up V1032 for good. Here's the change list:

• Fixed several causes of crashes — sorry about those!
  
• Fixed built-in iron sights on various weapons not working or otherwise not interfacing correctly with placed iron sights
  
• Fixed M17 pistol missing rear sight texture
  
• Fixed apparent shifting of the firearm when crouching/leaning
  
• Fixed (hopefully) zeroing issues that resulted in weird offsets, stretched necks etc.
  
• General update to sight line system
  
• General fixes to inventory system
  
• Updated item LOD handling, fixing issue with G33 Magnifier
  
• Updated kit parsing logic to fix issues with Main Menu screen characters kits, AI bot kits and others
  
• Updated MK46's OnEmptyShot event to call parent version of event — fixes the MK46 not using the gradual dry-fire animation
  
• Corrected material index used for reticle in Micro T-1
  
• Updated passthrough widget material to be less washed out (hopefully)
  
• Updated GBGameState to allow for easily debugging MOTD in-editor via GB.DebugServerMOTD console variable
  
• Added confirmation dialogue before displaying web-based server MOTD: now recommends only allowing images from trusted websites
  
• Server Info whiteboard:
  
  • Updated display settings to auto-scale to fit
    
  • Updated size and placement to prevent white border
    
  • Updated blueprint to fall back to displaying servername and motd URL if a web-based MOTD was denied earlier and remembered
• Made firing and pump animation two deliberate motions by adding slight delay before calling the pump animation
  
• Updated Tablet item to better handle laptop interactions (putting Tablet away and switching back) in Intel Retrieval mode
  
• Fixed bug in spawn-finding algorithm for Deathmatch (was using wrong TeamID, so not finding spawns as far as possible from other players)
  
• Disabled debug strings related to trigger pull failing

Build ID: 8622958 (Client) / 8622968 (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 82 MB (Client) / 46 MB (Dedicated Server)

⛔ IMPORTANT: CLEAR YOUR OLD FILES

We generally recommend players to delete all contents in the following locations (copy-paste these into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter):

1. %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor
   
2. Documents\GroundBranch

⚠️ Not doing so may cause various asset and input issues in your game.

Patch V1032.2 is now available!

This is expected to be the last patch for V1032, after which — if nothing game-breaking comes up — we will be fully shifting to work on the V1033 release.

Here's the full change list with all of the fixes and tweaks:


If you have played the latest DevTest build (shared about a week ago with our {LINK REMOVED}Discord community), these changes will not be new for you:

• Updated stride length calculation to fix "dip" when moving
  
• Big restructuring of inventory item system (in particular replication) with the aim of fixing a wide range of online kit bugs
  
• Lots of changes behind the scenes as a consequence of the above
  
• Miscellaneous bug fixes identified during the course of the restructuring
  
• Dragging-and-dropping attachments will now copy the skin for the attaching item from whatever you are dragging it onto, if possible
  
• Updated inventory bar to equip a rifle on single press if hands are empty and there is a rifle on left/right shoulder, but not slung from chest
  
• Updated platform system to make sure a single dump pouch is added to the players inventory (attaches to belt or platform, whichever is found first)
  
• Made sure newly spawned mag/round for AI is added to their inventory
  
• Fixed right elbow while sprinting with tablet/grenade
  
• Fixed skin not being applied when selecting item without customizing it
  
• Fixed magnifier having no sight picture when swapping from offset sight back to it
  
• Fixed zoom in/out input staying active even when not looking down sightline with magnifier
  
• Restructured night vision handling (local and spectator)
  
• Tablet (map) now fills screen fully when equipped — the camera automatically adjusts and zooms in on it
  
• Small update to ladder handling code so ladders should work a bit better
  
• Server Browser now obscures passwords in the text input dialog
  
• Fixed item not being brought up upon entering play unless it was already equipped in the Ready Room prior to leaving it
  
• Tweaked position of display mag info notifier in mag check widget
  
• Fixed iron sights validity check
  
• Fixed issues related to the input sensitivity value not being set back to zero
  
• Fixed cheap wooden doors on Compound having no collision

This is the list of changes made after DevTest was released, based on reports and feedback:

• G33 Magnifier collision fixed to allow flipping up/down when in use or when not ADS
  
• The magnifier is now also flipped up in the weapon customization screen to make it more intuitive to interface with other attachments
  
• Updated weapon attachment placement to allow shape components to be used as well as static or skeletal meshes
  
• Updated tan G33 to use the correct skin
  
• Hopefully fixed issue with server details going out of scope
  
• Fixed (new) issue with trigger not firing correctly and not being able to shoot when crouched
  
• Updated platform to add/remove/reattach dump pouch as required
  
• Changed iron sights handling to deactivate all front sight posts by default and do some general fixes
  
• Corrected box collision used on some dropped mags
  
• Fixed PIP scopes not having screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO) and screen space reflections (SSR)
  
• Set all exterior lights in City to only be on at night (was causing slowdown at dawn/dusk due to to many lights being active)
  
• Tweaked Tablet to not fully fill screen when zoomed, for a bit of peripheral vision
  
• Fixed ammo check and fire selector HUD elements showing up for listen server host as well as client

Thanks to all of the public DevTesters for helping us get this patch squared away!

Provided this patch holds up, development will soon fully shift to V1033, and we'll soon start gathering some very exciting previews to showcase. Stay tuned!

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