After a longer-than-usual public testing period to iron out major issues, GROUND BRANCH V1033 is finally hitting the main branch of the game!

Once up-to-date, players on any public branch of the game (whether stable or "beta") will be on the same exact build of GROUND BRANCH and can play together.

For a fully comprehensive list of changes and additions since V1032, please refer to our Community Test branch patch notes:

Patch #01 • Patch #01 (Hotfix) • Patch #02 • Patch #03 • Patch #04 • Patch #05 • Patch #06 • Patch #06 (Hotfix) • Patch #07 • Patch #08 • Patch #08 (Hotfix) • Patch #09 • Patch #09 (Hotfix) • Patch #10 • Patch #11 • Patch #12 • Patch #13 • Patch #14 • Patch #15 • Patch #16 • Patch #17 • Patch #18 • Patch #19 • Patch #20 • Patch #20 (Hotfix) • Patch #21 • Patch #22

⛔ IMPORTANT: CLEAR YOUR OLD FILES

If you are coming from V1032 or have not downloaded a Community Test build in a while, you need to delete all contents in the following locations (copy-paste these paths into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter):

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

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

The complexity of GROUND BRANCH's systems presents challenges that demand a continuous focus on improvement and optimization.

As detailed in the series of Intel Reports done between June and November (particularly Intel Report #011), the entire audio system was reworked to drastically reduce CPU usage.

Throughout the course of public testing, areas like maps, lighting and assets have also received massive optimization passes, greatly improving performance in maps like Compound.

On top of that, V1033 is not only unleashing new graphics features to make the game look better, but also a lot of video settings to make things adjustable to your specs and preferences. Let's go over them:

GROUND BRANCH V1033 is also officially bringing NVIDIA's DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), DLAA (Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing) and Reflex technologies to the game, which offer GeForce GPU users an additional performance/fidelity bonus.

These options can be accessed in Settings › Video. Under the "Video" header, you will find:

• NVIDIA® DLSS Super Resolution (requires GeForce RTX 2000-series or newer GPU)
  
  
  • Off — Disables DLSS.
    
  • Auto — Enables optimal image quality for a particular resolution. For resolutions at or under 1440p, sets it to "Quality"; 4K and above sets it to "Performance".
    
  • Quality — Renders the game internally at the closest resolution possible to the target resolution, prioritizing visual quality and pixel count over framerates.
    
  • Performance — Prioritizes framerate over resolution, sometimes resulting in pixelated or blurred visuals but offering the best performance.
    
  • Balanced — A middle-ground between "Quality" and "Performance", this mode attempts to find a sweet spot between resolution and framerate.
    Note that enabling DLSS will disable Anti-Aliasing (AA), as DLSS is in itself an AA method.
• NVIDIA® Reflex (requires GeForce 900-series or newer GPU)
  
  
  • Off — Disables Reflex.
    
  • On — Reduces system latency (aka input lag) and may provide a small FPS increase.
    
  • On + Boost — Increases the GPU's clock speeds, useful for CPU-intensive games (which GB tends to be).

At the very bottom of the "Advanced" column, you will also find an additional DLSS setting called NVIDIA® DLSS Sharpness. This slider will increase or reduce the visual sharpness of DLSS, and is generally a personal preference with no performance impact.

❓ As mentioned in the past, AMD's FSR (FidelityFX™ Super Resolution) technology is also slated to be added to GROUND BRANCH in a future release.

A new anti-aliasing (AA) method has also been added to the "Anti-Aliasing (AA)" drop-down menu in the Graphics section in Settings › Video: DLAA.

As with DLSS, this AA mode is available only for users of the NVIDIA RTX series of GPUs (2000-series or newer).

DLAA provides a sharper, generally higher-quality anti-aliasing than TAA, although players who can use it will likely benefit more from the performance boost provided by DLSS.

Players using Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) can now easily access some of its settings directly in the Video menu: "TAA Current Frame Weight", "TAA Algorithm" (Gen 4 or the experimental Gen 5), "TAA Samples", "TAA Sharpness" and "Tonemapper Sharpening".

These advanced TAA settings are located in the Advanced video options column, in the Anti-Aliasing section.

GROUND BRANCH V1033 is introducing Screen-Space Global Illumination (SSGI), which aims to create natural-looking lighting by adding dynamic indirect lighting to objects within the screen view (click here to learn more).

While SSGI can drastically improve the quality of a scene, it can also have a considerable performance impact on some systems.

You can enable/disable it in "Screen-Space Global Illumination (SSGI)" — the last setting in the Graphics section — as well as tweak it further (when enabled) via the "SSGI Quality" and "SSGI Resolution" settings in the Advanced column, in the Post-Processing section.

⚠️ If you are playing on a lower-end PC, you may want to try disabling SSGI, using it at half-resolution and/or reducing its quality setting to maintain a usable framerate.

Located in the Textures section (Advanced), the PiP Scope Resolution Scale setting determines the scale of the picture-in-picture rendering when ADS with a scope (i.e. a magnified optic sight).

Setting it to 1.00 will make the scope picture preserve the same resolution as the original scene, and will have the biggest FPS hit. Lowering this value will reduce the performance impact of aiming down scopes, while also reducing the resolution of your sight picture.

It is likely that one of these settings may give you a performance boost, depending on whether your computer is CPU-bound or GPU-bound when playing GROUND BRANCH. The downside of is that you may experience a little more latency (mostly noticeable as input lag).

• Finish Current Frame — When set to "Off", this option essentially tells the GPU not to wait for the CPU to finish what it's doing before starting to render the next frame.
  
• One Frame Thread Lag — When set to "On", this option essentially tells the CPU not to wait for the GPU to finish what it's doing before starting to generate data for the next frame.

Try different combinations to see how your performance is affected.

Additional settings under the Advanced video options have also been exposed to players, who may benefit from disabling or toning them down to gain performance at the expense of visuals. These include Distance Field Shadows, Reflection Capture Resolution and Volumetric Fog.

A definite highlight of V1033 is night ops, which were made more satisfying and viable with a series of improvements.

First and foremost, night vision goggles have received a major overhaul consisting of more realistic visuals (which include authentic auto-gating, noise, contrasts, a new white-phosphor filter option and movement/wobble effects), an optional overlay scale feature (which can fill out your screen while retaining a realistic FOV), flip up/down animations and sound effects, and more.

💡 The NVG overlay scale can be tweaked in Settings › Gameplay › Look › Night Vision. Setting NVG Vertical Screen Extent to 1.00 makes the NVG overlay fill out your screen by the default amount. Lowering the number will make it take up a progressive smaller portion of the screen.

Due to the new sky system — which includes moon phases — nights can also have varied visibility conditions, from the complete darkness of a new moon to decent visibility with a full moon.

These make the IR Illuminator functionality of the AN/PEQ-15 more relevant, as (like in real life) NVG require some degree of lighting to work well. To demonstrate:

✨ The AN/PEQ-15 has also received an update in its lasers and illuminator effects, from the beams themselves to the newly added lens flare when looking at the emitters. It now also has a green LED to indicate when either a laser or illuminator is active.

Also very importantly, enemy AI has been upgraded to be affected by the lighting conditions, meaning they no longer have perfect vision in the dark. They will also zero in on you very fast if you flash a light at them!


Granted, AI can (and will) be improved in various ways still, but this was an important step in making night ops an enjoyable experience.

Lastly, we have added the GPNVG-18 "quad-NODs" to the inventory, which greatly amplify the player's field of view when compared to binocular NVG. The GPNVG-18 comes in black or FDE skin, and in both filter colors (green and the new white phosphor — also available for the AN/PVS-15).

🔅 As part of the lighting optimization pass, weapon-mounted lights had their illumination range reduced to mitigate the performance impact.

As mentioned above, GROUND BRANCH V1033 features a new sky system with moon phases and stars, as well as latitude and season settings. This means you can now not only set the time of day but also the date of deployment, which will determine the moon phase and sun position for each mission location at the set time/date based on real life data.

Because lighting conditions will vary depending on the date and location, TOD is now selected via labels such as "Early Hours", "Pre-Sunset" and so on. You can still manually select a TOD, however.

To access the advanced TOD/date settings, simply click the gear icon next to the "Insertion time" setting.

☁️ Unfortunately, clouds and weather had to be removed from the new sky system due to performance issues. We'll be revisiting these features down the road.

A generous amount of items and customization options has been added to the game, from weapons and a new character all the way to headgear and arm patches.

🔴 A much-requested feature — the ability to put micro red dot sights on pistols — has also been implemented for the MK25, G19 Urban and M17 which can now fit the RMR and the new Docter II sights.

Let's take a look at the new weapons first:

• MK17 CQC and MK17 DMR battle rifles + Suppressor (black and FDE)
  
• AK-105 carbine
  
• AK-105 Alpha carbine (replaced AK-74 MI)
  
• AKS-74U Alpha carbine/PDW (replaced AK-74 MI CQB) + Suppressor
  
• Wz.88 carbine
  
• M24 sniper rifle + Suppressor
  
• PKM* machine gun
  
• PMM pistol

* The PKM machine gun is a partial implementation, still missing complex recoil and a proper pose.


MK17 CQC battle rifle with the new Razor HD 1–6x LPVO scope (with a piggyback Docter II), as well as the updated AN/PEQ-15 and Bipod Grip attachments — all by the incredible Cody Cudmore


AK-105 Alpha with optional "bakelite" magazine and the Russian Stubby Grip C by AK Productions

In the gear and attachments department, we have these new items:

• AN/PVS-15 (WP) — the old dual-tube NVG, but with white phosphor filter
  
• GPNVG-18 night vision goggles (black and tan skins + green or white phosphor filters)
  
• Ghillie Hood headgear (bare version)
  
• Ballistic Vest
  
• Carry Handle Rear Sight
  
• ATACR 1–8x LPVO
  
• MK8 CQBSS 1.1–8x LPVO
  
• Razor HD 1–6x LPVO
  
• Docter II micro red dot sight (Flat, Low and High mount variants)
  
• MK46 Suppressor (AAC® MG-SD)
  
• G3A3 Suppressor (AAC® 762-SD)
  
• Handstop Grip
  
• Reverse Grip
  
• Stubby Grip B
  
• Stubby Grip C
  
• Tan/FDE variants for most foregrips
  
• "Bakelite" AK-74 magazine
  
• FDE PMAG magazine

ATACR scope at 1x (left) and 8x (right) with maximum and medium reticle illumination, respectively


MK8 CQBSS at 1.1x (left) and 8x (right) with maximum and zero reticle illumination, respectively


Razor HD at 6x; because it is a SPF (second focal plane) scope, the reticle stays the same size across all zoom levels

But not all new weapons and attachments are new items per se — a lot of them are new models, remade from scratch. Here's the list:

• AK-74M
  
• AKS-74U
  
• M16A4
  
• SVD
  
• M1911A1¹ + Suppressor

¹ The new M1911A1 is also fitted with an accessory rail for lights and can use either 8- or 10-round custom magazines.


Changing magazines with the new M1911A1 by Bakr Asaad / Raider3D, fitted here with its suppressor and a tac light

• PMII 5–25x
  
• AccuPower 1–8x
  
• Vudu 1–6x
  
• ACOG 4x
  
• ACOG 6x
  
• M68 CCO
  
• PRO
  
• Micro T-2
  
• RMR (all variants)
  
• PSO-1M2 4x²
  
• AN/PEQ-15
  
• Bipod Grip
  
• Angled Grip
  
• Scope mount

² The PSO-1M2 4x has also been upgraded with reticle illumination, as well as a realistic green-yellow glass tint which was also applied to the 1P78-1 Kashtan.

Character customization has also been expanded, with the addition of a new character appearance (Male 05) and 3 new customization slots under the Profile section:

• CALLSIGN — A three-letter/number callsign that will be automatically set when a name is entered, but can also be manually set by the player. If the "Use Standard" box is checked, it will assign a Team Element-based callsign (e.g. A-01 for Alpha etc.). Callsigns display as patches on the left and right arm.
  If you don't want a callsign patch to be displayed, simply set it to --- (three hyphens) in the text box.
  
• FACIAL HAIR — Temporarily disabled in V1032, facial hair is back in V1033. At this time, we have a single beard style (Full Beard) available, but more styles are planned.
  
• PATCHES — This slot will open a more complex menu once clicked, which allows players to set up to 6 patches: 3 on the headgear (left, right and center) and 3 on the body (left arm, right arm and chest). Patches can additionally be configured to display in full color, or a tint (grayscale, green or tan). Please note that patches will only display if the gear/outfit items have slots for them.

💡 We're providing a standard set of country flag, morale, unit/role/team and blood type patches. Though modding is not officially supported yet, patches were implemented with modding in mind: you can place your own files in …\steamapps\common\Ground Branch\GroundBranch\Content\GroundBranch\Patches and any folder created in the directory will show up as its own category in the game.

Male 05 character displaying the new GPNVG-18 and shoulder patches

In the gear and outfit department, we've also added tucked-in variants of most shirts, unzipped variants of the Combat Shirt, and a lot of new and updated skins for most items. You should have better looking and much more varied loadouts now.

For V1033, maps Depot and Storage Facility have both received major overhauls, with a focus on linking them thematically (as Soviet-era facilities) for future missions. The process was covered in more detail in Intel Reports #011 through #014, but it's worth noting that the overall layouts were maintained for both maps.

💡 A version of Depot restricted to the central compound area is of course still available, and it's still a great PvP map.

In addition to the overhauls of existing maps, a new map called Docks is also available for most game modes:



Will has also given Tanker an optimization and detailing pass, remaking most textures and materials on the deck to add a more weathered look to surfaces, as well as rounding off edges, remodeling props, adding a detailed vista/backdrop (including an updated Rig visible at the distance) and some minor interior improvements.





City is another map that has received a considerable visual upgrade, more specifically when played at night:



The Farm has also been updated with a new Target App look, as well as the ability to choose different shoothouse layouts, which adds a lot of variety to training drills.

💡 All maps have received optimization passes and various smaller tweaks for visual and gameplay reasons, with Compound being a highlight in terms of performance increase.

As detailed in the last few Intel Reports, VFX particles were migrated to the new Niagara system and entirely remade.

In addition to the new particles for nearly all visual effects in GROUND BRANCH, several new features were implemented, including bird flocks, muzzle blast shockwave on surfaces, bullet impact angles, secondary impact debris and more. Check out this playlist with all of our showcased VFX demos.

V1033 is bringing a much-needed QOL pass to several areas, including item build management and kit restrictions, as well as UI changes and additions to support these new features. Some highlights:

• The new loadout saving system automatically suggests build names based on attached items (the amount of detail can be changed), while reducing the amount of prompts needed for saving/overriding kits.
  
• The item selection menu now allows builds to be "stacked" (i.e. group all builds of a similar base item) to reduce clutter, and can also be set to only display custom (player-created) builds.
  
• Kit restrictions can now be more easily set by server admins (when in-server, press Esc › Admin › Show Admin Panel › Kit Restrictions) to restrict skins³ in either Co-Op or per PvP team. Please note that these restrictions aren't extremely reliable at this time, especially when combined with game modes that have auto-balance (DTAS and Hostage Rescue).
  
• Added a match system that can set win condition to best-of-X-rounds, first-to-X-rounds, a certain time limit etc. This includes a new board in the Ready Room where players can also vote for the next map at any time. Match information is also accessible via <code>Esc</code> menu.

³ Item restrictions such as "pistols only", "no frags" etc. can done via the Mutators system, but it is still a work-in-progress and currently prone to issues. We hope to address it in a point release (V1033.1 or later).

Another addition sure to help newcomers are the Ready Room hints, which display short explanations near key areas of the Ready Room (such as lockers and the Ops Board) to guide players in their first deployments.

💡 Various areas of UI have also received varying degrees of style/consistency updates, part of an ongoing process.

This release introduces the PvP Hostage Rescue mode to the game (more on it in a minute), and also brings a few updates to existing game modes.

• Enemy AI will now search for players once the intel (laptop) is retrieved.
  
• Enemies will also attempt to intercept players at the extraction point.

• Players can now enable "Enemy hot spots" — an area of the map (indicated in red on the Ops Board) where enemy concentration will be highest. These can be enabled/disabled via the Ops Board.
  
• Enemies will now rush players once down to their last few men.

The new Hostage Rescue adversarial mode is now setup for all maps, with the exception of the small arena-like maps. Here are the rules:

• A random player of the attacking team has been taken hostage in one of the map's buildings. The hostage player is hooded and cuffed, limiting their vision and movement — they are unable to interact with map objects such as doors or items, and are restricted to walking (no running/sprinting).
  
• The target building is selected at random by the game mode, and defenders are restricted to within that building unless the hostage escapes it.
  
• Defenders can lead the hostage around the building or simply hold them in place by holding the Interact key (default <code>F</code>). They can also intimidate the hostage into silence by pointing a gun at them, but 2 defenders are required to both lead/hold and intimidate the hostage at the same time — one for each action.
  
• Attackers can select any insertion point (including multiple if they decide to split the team) and will have to find the building where the hostage is being held — possibly with the assistance of the hostage making some noise with the Talk (VOIP) key (default <code>V</code>). Attackers must then successfully breach the building and rescue the hostage. If the hostage has their cuffs released by the attackers, they will regain a full range of movement and team communication (i.e. radio and text chat).
  
• If a hostage picks up a weapon once released, they become a valid target for defenders, who can then win the round by killing the armed hostage.

Win conditions are as follows:

• ATTACKERS — To win the round, at least one attacker must escort the hostage to any of the available extraction points. Alternatively, attackers will win if the defending team is eliminated.
  
• DEFENDERS — To win the round, the defending team must eliminate all attackers, survive the assault until the time runs out, or kill a hostage that has picked up a weapon.

💡 With the rare exception of a released and armed hostage (mentioned above), any team that kills the hostage will instantly lose the match. Careful with those frags!

If there are not enough players to start a Hostage Rescue round, then the stripped-down Building Assault mode will start, in which the defenders are still restricted to a building, but there is no hostage and the teams must simply eliminate each other. The gloves are off in this mode!

• Admins can force the Building Assault mode, similarly to how Fox Hunt can be forced in DTAS.
  
• An AI opponent will now be spawned as a defender if only one player is on the server and playing on the attacking team.

• We recommend 5–7 players minimum for a more satisfying Hostage Rescue experience.
  
• Hostage Rescue uses quite aggressive auto-balancing to maintain fair teams, so make sure both your Red and Blue team kits are up to date.
  
• Auto-balancing can be customized to be less aggressive if you don't mind uneven teams.

On top of the animation work required for V1033's new weapons and in addition to the NVG flip up/down showcased earlier in this post, a few preliminary animations have been created for sight interactions:


Engaging and disengaging the G33 Magnifier 3x


Actuating the magnification lever on the Specter DR 1x/4x

🚧 Due to GROUND BRANCH's true first person system and unique weapon positions, these animations will need some extra programming work to make them "fit" all weapons and situations. They currently look best on M16-/M4-pattern weapons.

Another cool addition is the new stun animation to indicate that AI enemies have been hit by a flashbang detonation.

A couple of features have suffered temporary downgrades in V1033 — emphasis on temporary!

One such feature is the blood splatter on surfaces (VFX), which have not yet been hooked up to the new particles system (Niagara) but will be coming back in a "point release" (e.g. V1033.1) or V1034 at the latest. Due to the cosmetic nature of this feature, it was deemed not worthy of holding back the release.

While we're talking blood, dead bodies are also temporarily missing collision to address doors being blocked by them. This results in body parts clipping and no response to post-death impacts.

Lastly, the vaulting animation is also absent from this release, as it seriously impaired functionality, though vaulting/climbing has been made far more responsive in the process. Rest assured that a more visually pleasing implementation of climbing and vaulting will make its way into the game in due time.

It's been a long road to V1033, but it's now here and we couldn't be more thankful for all of you in the GROUND BRANCH community — especially our Discord — that joined us in testing and reporting bugs and issues of all types in order to get us to release.

We hope you enjoy this release, and be sure to keep the feedback and reports coming.

Have a great weekend!

---

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

Patch #22 is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click BETAS on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu
  (no password required)

Steam will begin downloading the files for the testing branch.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press [Esc] once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

• Tanker: lots of optimization and reworking of materials, textures and assets, and optimized collision on some meshes
  
• Fixed slight offset in MK8 CQBSS scope mount
  
• More work on vaulting/mantling, restoring ability to climb certain objects (e.g. rooftop walls in Depot)
  
• Also in Depot, added navmesh modifiers to warehouse roof glass (prevents AI assuming area is walkable when glass is broken), and added additional nav mesh modifiers on some of the ducts
  
• Added some more logging to Hostage Rescue game mode to try to figure out hostage spawn issues, and stopped round setup being called if mission settings change during the round itself
  
• Cleaned up collision on Run Down and Docks
  
• Optimized collision on a few general assets
  
• Fixed bad pivot placement on pallet stacks
  
• Fixed sizes of Docks, Depot and Storage Facility thumbnails
  
• Fixed G33 Magnifier (3x) sound effects being out of sync with the animation

Patch #21 is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click BETAS on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu
  (no password required)

Steam will begin downloading the files for the testing branch.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press [Esc] once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

• Fixed offset in MK17 front sight post
  
• Hopefully fixed/improved other small iron sight offsets
  
• Some light optimization in Power Station
  
• Extended collision on 747 cargo loading ramp to help smooth out vaulting
  
• Fixed collision issues with Ural truck when flatbed and cover are not used
  
• Added open space to fence in 747 near construction area (was previously there, but filled in by accident)
  
• Added ability to choose Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) algorithm — Gen 4 or Gen 5 — in Settings › Video (Advanced tab)
  
• Another big door update to improve AI usage and general performance
  
• Reset navlink locations for doors on all maps, fixed AI use locations as required, and cleaned up navmesh in nearly all maps
  
• Compound: adjusted geometry and collision on residential building to fix nav mesh, and moved an audio volume
  
• Updated Compound door use locations
  
• Set Niagara FX system to "attached" in the M9A3
  
• Cleaned up an entry in DefaultEngine.ini that was already being set in DefaultScalability.ini
  
• Updated thumbnails for Depot and Storage Facility
  
• Minor UI style tweaks
  
• Updated mantling/vaulting system to remove crouched collision shape checking, reduce number of traces required, and to no longer force player into obstacle before moving up; this makes the move more "floaty", but is quicker and more robust
  
• Reworked collision on vehicle mesh
  
• Added breakable glass to sedan in Run Down

Patch #20 Hotfix is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

This is mainly a small hotfix for the door changes that didn't work out so well in the Patch #20. Doors should now sync and reset properly, however, you may still see a small amount of "catch up" movement in the door as it finishes it's closing motion with high ping users. This will continue to be worked on but shouldn't be that noticeable to most or effect overall gameplay.

A few other small bug fixes as well:

• Merged a few spline meshes in Power Station that were causing replication problems into StaticMeshes
  
• Fixed Surefire 7.62 suppressor not showing muzzle effect properly
  
• Permanantly opened troublesome doors (spinning) in City map
  
• Players and AI can no longer operate them
  
• Added ability to set offset to rollup door switches to fix some being placed inside a wall
  
• Added more light blocker meshes in Storage Facility to help fix full bright characters when lights are out and at certain times of day
  
• Fixed a few light portal issues in Run Down

Patch #20 is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click BETAS on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu
  (no password required)

Steam will begin downloading the files for the testing branch.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press [Esc] once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

• First pass on revised door system (server-side door physics) for testing
  

  ⚠️ This change should fix the jittery/de-synced doors when playing online, with the side effect of reduced responsiveness in door interactions subject to ping.

• Cleaned up/removed non-functioning and non-useful entries in Advanced Video settings
  
• Added new settings in Settings › Video (under the new "Rendering" header):
  
  
  • Finish Current Frame: When set to "Off", this option essentially tells the GPU not to wait for the CPU to finish what it's doing before starting to render the next frame.
    
  • One Frame Thread Lag: When set to "On", this option essentially tells the CPU not to wait for the GPU to finish what it's doing before starting to generate data for the next frame.

  ⚠️ It is likely that one of these settings may give you a performance boost, depending on whether your computer is CPU-bound or GPU-bound when playing GROUND BRANCH. The downside of these settings is that you may experience a little more latency (mostly noticeable as input lag).
  
  Try different combinations to see how your performance is affected — and please let us know your results if you can, along with your GPU and CPU specs!

• Added "Requires Restart" for a few newer config settings
  
• NVG overlay bounce when firing should now work for both spectators and local player
  
• Improved support for built-in flippable front sight posts (including for MK17); this change also removes the standalone SCAR Iron Sight (Front) attachment
  
• Fixed MK17 front sight being slightly offset (problems remain with front sight offsets — still being worked on)
  
• Updated Power Station Intel Retrieval mission to ensure at least 16 spawns are available (because extraction points wipe out one set of spawns); added 4 more spawns at main gate, renamed main gate to "North-West", and increased original insertion points to 12 spawns
  
• Hooked up new muzzle flash effects to weapons that were still using the old VFX system
  
• Time of Day (TOD) UI dialog fixes:
  
  
  • Advanced time of day dialog should now work on dedicated servers
    
  • TOD presets (e.g. "Early Afternoon) now display correctly (with spaces) on dedicated servers, both on the Ops Board and in the drop-down menus
    
  • Updated drop-down menu visuals
    
  • Removed filtered/suggested TOD presets in "Simple" tab (all presets are now shown and selectable)
• Other minor UI tweaks, including changing the Insertion Point arrow color from blue to yellow (subject to change)
  
• Game mode names should now display on Ops Board properly on dedicated servers
  
• Tentative fix for reported bad spawn in 747 Hostage Rescue mission
  
• Fixed wall mesh Z-fighting on interior Tanker Ship wall
  
• Fixed bullets colliding with foliage in Compound
  
• Fixed minor bugs and ocean sounds on Docks bleeding into the Ready Room
  
• Set default for TemporalAACurrentFrameWeight in DefaultEngine.ini to a valid value (should get rid of the "---" entry in settings if the value was never changed by user)

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Patch #19 is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click BETAS on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu
  (no password required)

Steam will begin downloading the files for the testing branch.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press [Esc] once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

• New LPVO scope: Razor HD 1–6x
  
• Added suppressor attachment (AAC® 762-SD) to G3A3 battle rifle
  
• Implemented sound effects for the G33 Magnifier 3x
  
• Fixed chest area showing when Balaclava and the unzipped variant of the Combat Shirt are equipped
  
• Minor performance optimization on Rig
  
• Removed WIP assets from Tanker (that accidentally made it into the last patch)
  
• Replaced a few ladders in Run Down and Small Town with stairs for better map flow and to mitigate AI issues with climbing
  
• Small Town: opened area behind building D a bit for better pathing after staircase addition, and added railing around rear door area of Building D
  
• Updated various missions to accommodate geo changes in Run Down and Small Town
  
• Fixed scoring for killing/being killed as armed hostage in Hostage Rescue game mode
  
• Fixed over bright glass on vending machine asset
  
• Fixed up latecomer stuff in Hostage Rescue and generally (valid insertion points were being ignored for late joiners, so spawning failed)
  
• Removed microphone selection option from Settings › Audio (users should set microphone/input device on Steam, via Friends List Settings › Voice)
  
• Admin management UI ("Admin List") fixed up generally, and now removes duplicate admins in list
  
• Current local host is grayed out in list of admins if also in normal admin list (prevents various bad things happening)
  
• Simplified AI movement logic so AI should stop jumping off ladders
  
• Fixed game mode display on Ops Board on dedicated servers
  
• Added variable to mitigate DFAO artifacts (mainly in foliage) when using DLSS or TAA
  
• Fixed tac light lens flare VFX clipping through doors

Patch #18 is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click BETAS on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu
  (no password required)

Steam will begin downloading the files for the testing branch.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press [Esc] once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

• Changed vote kick to not include player calling the vote
  
• Compound: potential fix for shimmering grass, and stopped poplar trees being weird
  
• Tanker: initial art consistency and improvement pass
  
• Removed Volumetric Scattering from several interior lights in Power Station, Rig, Run Down, Small Town and The Farm for performance reasons
  
• Fixed overly dark truck material in Run Down
  
• Fixed certain wooden fences not colliding with weapons in Depot
  
• Removed debug AI cover points in The Farm
  
• Reduced tac light illumination range to minimize performance impact
  
• Fixed bug that caused late joiners to be assigned the least populated insertion points rather than the most populated ones
  
• Added Lua script call OnWeaponAddedToInventory() so that game modes or mutators can detect when a particular player has picked up a weapon (or been assigned it in a loadout)
  
• Added a call to assign team element numbers when player teams are changed, so that standard callsigns (based on element number) will hopefully update when players are switched teams
  
• Fixed bug in WeaponRestriction mutator that wouldn't update the loadout if Breaching Charges were disabled
  
• Updated Hostage Rescue:
  
  
  • If the hostage player picks up a weapon, they become fair game for the Defenders (to prevent exploit where hostage becomes an unkillable terminator)
    
  • Added post-spawn check in Hostage Rescue to teleport hostage to hostage spawn if for some reason the spawn failed
    
  • Removed close proximity intimidation for hostages (should stop intimidation of hostages pinned behind a defender)
• Updated scopes (magnified sights) to stop dynamically scaling the render texture size if DLSS is enabled, and disabled PIP resolution scaling based on FOV
  
• Added "requires restart" dialog to Bloom Quality settings
  
• Made advanced Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) settings accessible again in Settings › Video
  
• Ongoing UI style and consistency pass on several menus, buttons, prompts and dialogs (still WIP)
  
• Fixed up the match system and match info board a bit, and made match info visible again on listen servers (servers created via Host Game option)
  
• Fixed team wins being counted double in game modes with team scoring (DTAS and Hostage Rescue)
  
• Initialized ZooKeeper and map voting when a listen server is started (for the map voting to work properly on the match info board the first time the server is run)
  
• Added game mode localization/lookup to the match info board vote buttons
  
• Changed the localization/lookup for game mode names on the match info board to use a different system that should work better on dedicated servers

Patch #17 is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

A lot of work has been done on AI using ladders and doors, but please bear with us because it's a work in progress and the ladders in particular are not quite there yet.

Compound has received an optimization pass including foliage. Please keep in mind that the foliage may look off when anti-aliasing is disabled or set to FXAA. A fix is being worked on.

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click BETAS on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu
  (no password required)

Steam will begin downloading the files for the new testing branch.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press [Esc] once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

• Fixed City Hostage Rescue mission being incorrectly listed as co-op
  
• Compound: significant performance optimization pass:
  
  
  • Improved appearance and efficiency of all foliage (WIP; will not work well with FXAA or no anti-aliasing)
    
  • Improved visuals and efficiency of the vista/backdrop
    
  • Sharpened up lots of textures
    
  • Improved the appearance of foliage and grass using custom normal maps — stops dark faces when grass is shadowed, removes need for subsurface lighting
    
  • Improved look of grass when looking down or high sun angle
    
  • Switched to a better looking simple wind material function, less glittery, looks more natural
    
  • Deleted lots of unused assets, foliage types, textures etc. relating to Compound
• Fix for glass in City being overly bright in night vision
  
• Updated doors and ladders to fix bugs, tweak settings and add new features improving AI usage (WIP)
  
• Stopped the player being able to run/jog if "Always Run" is set while playing as hostage
  
• Added missing collision to hookah model
  
• Updated double doors to use mirror opening, so both doors open at once
  
• Updated 747, Creek and City doors and ladders
  
• Cleaned up doors/ladders/navmesh for better AI usage on Depot, Docks, Power Station, Rig, Small Town, Storage Facility, Tanker and The Farm (also added navmesh to The Farm so AI should work better if you place it there in a custom mission)
  
• Updated "Advanced AI Settings" menu: fixed elements running over/into each other and improved overall layout
  
• Minor UI style and consistency pass on various dialogs and buttons
  
• Started UI pass on Time/Weather Settings menu
  
• Restored minimap to Compound (map was missing on Ops Board and Tablet)
  
• Fixed some light portal and mesh culling issues in Run Down
  
• Fixed missing rust normal map in oil rig material when puddles are disabled
  
• Restrained players (Hostage Rescue) can no longer pick up items
  
• Fixed voting timeouts for passed and failed votes not being taken into account (defaults of 60 and 180 seconds used regardless), and greatly reduced minimum timeouts (for ease of testing and to give people what they want)
  
• Rebuilt cover points in all maps
  
• Hide vote widgets after votes ended (hopefully to fix votes hanging around when done)
  
• Changed default reticle brightness setting to change range (is now 0–4 rather than 0–5, so removed "None" as option) and added "Automatic" setting (corresponding to most recent change where brightness is determined based on time of day)

Patch #16 is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click BETAS on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu

Steam will begin downloading the files for the new testing branch.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press [Esc] once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

• Fixed DLAA not enabling
  
• Fixed IsDLAAEnabled in AA widget (causing it to not enable it through console)
  
• Hostage Rescue (PvP) mode now available on Compound, Docks, Power Station, 747 (Plane Interior), Creek, City, City (Subway) and Tanker
  
• Fixed bug where spectate option was not shown on Ops Board for DTAS and Hostage Rescue game modes
  
• Miscellaneous tweaks and bug fixes to Hostage Rescue game mode and validation script
  
• Replaced pallet stacks in Docks with merged assets and rebuilt AI paths/cover
• Lighting optimizations on Power Station
  
• Turned off cover point debugging accidentally left enabled in City map
  
• Spectator Mode overlay hopefully fixed now
  
• Updated mount for PMII 5–25x scope: replaced railed scope ring caps with non-railed caps (this is still a temporary mount)

Patch #15 is now live on the Community Test beta branch!

❓ How to join the Community Test beta branch

• Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  
• Click BETAS on the left-hand list menu
  
• Select 'communitytest - Community testing branch' from the drop-down menu

Steam will begin downloading the files for the new testing branch.

🐞 Where to report bugs

You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods:

• The in-game Bugs & Issues screen (press [Esc] once in-game and look along the top menu)
  
• The Steam forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/
  
• The #bug-reports channel on the official GROUND BRANCH™ Discord

Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming!

• Fixed door in Small Town's building A opening too far
  
• Fixed glowing foliage piece used mainly in Small Town
  
• Some small lighting optimizations on Small Town
  
• Fixed a few meshes in Storage Facility culling out too early
  
• Reduced specular value on IR Strobe clear plastic section to make it less visible in the dark
  
• Updated default character appearance/loadout to look better and be more rounded in terms of equipment
  
• Updated PMII 5–25x scope model (will temporarily use the same Burris mount as LPVOs)
  
• Updated DLSS/DLAA/AA settings:
  
  
  • DLAA is now under "Anti-Aliasing (AA)" in Settings › Video
    
  • Using DLSS will now correctly disable other AA methods
    
  • Removed "Ultra Quality" DLSS option
• UI/art pass on Customize Patches dialog (WIP)
  
• Hostage Rescue tweaking/fixing:
  
  
  • Added Restrict Defenders option to hostage rescue game mode: if set to "Yes", then defenders are blocked from leaving spawn building during setup time. Otherwise, they can move to other buildings from the start (albeit with spawn protection effects during the transition)
    
  • Improved handling of switch between Building Assault and Hostage Rescue
    
  • Hostage Rescue won't kick in until there are 5 players now (or 3 if "Force Hostage Rescue" is enabled)
    
  • Added basic AI to Building Assault for when there is a single player on the server
    
  • Added validation script for Hostage Rescue missions
    
  • Hostage Rescue now available on Run Down and Depot (Compound)
    
  • Set default for "Force Hostage Rescue" to "No"
    
  • Changed defender setup time in Building Assault from 5 seconds to 10
    
  • Added location markers in Hostage Rescue to show possible hostage starting locations
    
  • Tweaked scoring
• Some small lighting optimizations on Rig
  
• Fixed some glowing glass materials
  
• Cleaned up some pallet stacks in Docks for better collision (and merged for performance as well)
  
• Added 6 more skins for both Boonie Hat styles: M81, DCU, AOR-1, AOR-2, Tiger Stripe and Desert Tiger
  
• Slight tweak to Helmet (HC) velcro color