Folks,

It's been a busy year, but our Intel Reports are finally back for the big V1035 update cycle. Like last time, we'll try to publish these reports monthly until community testing begins so you get an idea of how development is going, as well as a little taste of what's to come.

💡 Keep in mind this report is not an exhaustive list of V1035 features. For an overview of expected changes and additions, refer to our {LINK REMOVED}roadmap.

Quick disclaimer before we get to it:

Our publisher MicroProse is running a sale on Steam including all of its games — among which, of course, is GROUND BRANCH. This discount matches our Summer Sale offer, so if you missed that one, here's your second chance!

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

The publisher sale runs until September 2nd.

🕹️ If you're a fan of simulators and real-time strategy — including classic 1990s gems — it's worth checking out MicroProse's Steam catalog for all the discounted titles. They have other genres too!

Travis Rose, who you might know from our community moderation team as consecrated2718, has been working with us for a while in a Quality Assurance (QA) role, helping us keep the bug database in order and organizing testing sessions. He has since taken on more responsibilities within BlackFoot Studios, assisting the team in managing tasks, keeping the roadmap updated, and helping define the scope and scheduling of releases.

We are happy to announce Travis is now officially a Project Manager for GROUND BRANCH, which should no doubt be a relaxing and straightforward job. Welcome aboard, Travis!

In case you missed our last Build Update (for Patch V1034.5): Callum Coombes, one of our programmers, has moved on from GROUND BRANCH to pursue development of his own games full-time. We were lucky to have him as long as we did, as Callum has taken the GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit from a concept to a finished product, unphased by the near-total absence of documentation and official support from Epic Games.

Callum, we salute you! Good luck in your future projects.

🕹️ Are you into VR games? Then be sure to check out Callum's game Space Docker VR!

As explained earlier this month in Build Update #052, the official Mod Kit, though ready to release — at least as far as we were concerned — has found some snags in Epic's approval process. The application had to be rebuilt in a different interface, and from that point on Epic engineers became more involved in assessing further requirements.

Long story short: we're still working on checking all the boxes to get the approval for publishing, which should hopefully happen in the next few weeks. Fingers crossed!

💡 For more information on the current state of modding (including the Modding Wiki and several weapon mods you can download right now), see Build Update #052.

And now for what you're really here for: V1035 previews.

The Ranch map, first mentioned about a year ago, is one of the earliest pieces in V1035, having been taken on by environmental artists Elliot and Will. Though their part of the job — the art — has been done for a while, maps require a good amount of setup work from other members of the team whose plates were full with V1034 and subsequent patches. And while the setup is still underway, we're happy to be able to give you a sneak peek — without spoiling too much:






As some of you have guessed, Ranch is set somewhere near the Mexico–US border and will have players go up against members of a drug cartel.

💡 Elliot has since moved on to an exciting new map (provisionally called "Checkpoint"), while Will has been busy with a massive overhaul of Power Station. Both maps will launch in V1036, expected to release sometime next year.

GROUND BRANCH V1035 will be bringing a handful of new character assets to the inventory, including a new and updated field jacket, a softshell jacket, and four new balaclava styles. Let's take a look.

Our original ACU Coat was never a very popular item, having been modeled with its mandarin collar up and closed — a wearing style that is challenging to find in any reference photo from real-life deployments. The style frustrated some players looking for authenticity and those looking for a more BDU-style field shirt or jacket, which are almost exclusively worn with the collar folded down.

With that issue in mind (coupled with a few others we'll detail in a bit), we decided to order an updated model from our trusty freelance artist Pau Peñalver. Here's a comparison:


Another issue with the old model was that each variant — regular and rolled-sleeves — used its own texture set, which is sub-optimal in terms of performance as well as maintenance (for instance, when we want to tweak skins and materials on our end it's twice as much work).

Lastly, the shoulder pockets had little pull tabs that prevented velcro patches from being applied to the appropriate area: the pocket's flap. Due to the patches using a decal system, any patch applied will conform (and deform) according to the underlying geometry, meaning they need to be applied to more-or-less flat surfaces — which the pull tab did not allow. To illustrate:


While we were at it, we also asked Pau to include tucked-in variants. Here are all the versions we ended up with:


In order to reflect other clothing items using more generic names, the updated ACU Coat is being renamed Field Jacket. It will be available in the same colors and patterns as the old model.

💡 As a bonus, we've also set it up to use a system that more accurately simulates the seams of the garment by interrupting and/or changing the direction of camo patterns.

Another asset we ordered from Pau is the Softshell Jacket, based on the second generation (aka Block I) of the "Level 5" softshell jacket that is part of the seven-layer Protective Combat Uniform (PCU) system. A breathable, stretchable, water-repellant and windproof garment, the Level 5 jacket is the most widely used and versatile PCU item.


The Softshell Jacket is coming in two versions: a regular one with the hood retracted into the collar, and another one with the hood out. It also features velcro on the shoulder pockets for patches, as well as four different skins: Gray, OCP, AOR-1 and AOR-2.


The new balaclavas created by Pau last year are also confirmed for V1035. Though we do not yet have them fully set up to mask out the correct areas of the head for each style, the four variants below will be available in the same colors as the old V1034 balaclava model:


V1035 will feature a varied host of new weapons, from bullpup to specialized suppressed rifles. If you're among those who find GROUND BRANCH's arsenal too focused on AR-15 and AK platforms, V1035 should mitigate that a little. Here's what is being added:

The AUG A3 is a bullpup assault rifle chambered in 5.56 mm NATO. It is a modernized variant of the AUG featuring a top Picatinny rail (instead of the built-in optical sight), as well as a small accessory rail mounted at a 45-degree angle on the right-hand side.


Mike has a few AUG reload animation previews right here.

💡 The AUG A1 is likely to be added in a later update.

💡 The AUG will also serve as a template to facilitate the modding of other bullpup weapons into GROUND BRANCH.

Our first G36K will be a custom model featuring aftermarket parts including a low-profile top rail, a quad-rail handguard, and an adjustable stock.


For a preview of G36K reload animations straight from Mike, click here.

💡 A "factory" variant of the G36K (with the classic carry handle + optics combo) will be added in a future update.

The LVAW (Low Visibility Assault Weapon) is a specialist variant of the MCX series of rifles adopted by JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command). It was developed as a rifle-caliber substitute for the MP5SD submachine gun, with superior ergonomics, range, accuracy and lethality while being just as quiet.

For that goal, the LVAW features a large thread-on suppressor (meant to be always on) and fires a subsonic load of .300 AAC Blackout (.300 BLK), an intermediate cartridge with the same overall dimensions as 5.56 mm NATO — meaning it can use the same magazines.

The LVAW model was created by the amazing Bakr Asaad, who has also modeled our custom M1911 and a number of other assets

Reload previews right here.

Many of you have requested a modernized AK in 7.62×39 mm, and the AK-103 with Zenitco furniture will be arriving in V1035 to deliver it. Think of it as a tacticool AKM.


The MK24 CAP (Combat Assault Pistol) is a variant of the HK45CT compact pistol adopted by the US Navy. It fires .45 ACP rounds from a 10- or 12-round magazine.

Our MK24 was created by the very talented Cody Cudmore, whose models can be found throughout GROUND BRANCH's arsenal

Like most pistols in GROUND BRANCH, the MK24 features an under-barrel accessory rail and a threaded barrel for suppressors.

We're working on all relevant fronts to deliver a considerable upgrade to how AI looks, sounds and fights in V1035. While much of V1034 was spent porting the existing AI logic over to the new Kythera AI system — leaving little room for big changes — V1035 will begin more noticeably expanding and improving the feel of our AI.

And since no decent AI lives on code and logic alone, animator Mike and sound designer Zack are joining Chris' efforts to add much-needed life to our bots, with a first pass on more natural poses and movements, as well as entirely new voice lines.

AI that moves robotically will feel robotic no matter how human-like it might be under the hood. Which is why we're starting to add AI-specific animations in V1035: to better convey the different AI states, as well as visually set OPFOR factions apart from players. This will be an ongoing process, but Mike has already rendered a handful of WIP examples for us to check out:


As detailed in Intel Report #019, last year we recorded 18 voice actors in four different languages: US English, Russian, Spanish Mexican and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA).

Zack has processed and mixed all of the Russian and Spanish Mexican lines, meaning we should have enough material to start shaping up both the Russian PMC and Mexican cartel factions. We'll be sharing a preview in next month's Intel Report.

The AI in V1035 isn't getting updated on the outside only; existing behaviors are to be improved, and new behaviors added. Things like grenade-throwing (which didn't make V1034), better self-preservation (including fleeing from grenades), being blinded/stunned by flashlights, and spotting not just the source of player lights but also the projected lights themselves… are all currently planned for the big release. Go Chris!

Thank you for taking the time to read our little dev blog. Any comments, questions or suggestions? Leave them below and get the discussion going.

As always: thank you for your support, and we'll see you next time!

Happy Tuesday, folks!

Thank you for your patience as we have put together another point release for GROUND BRANCH V1034. So what do you get for your 0.1 increment? A modding extravaganza! A lot of fixes and improvements, extensive modding groundwork, and a lot of cool weapon mods. We'll explain.

[expand type=details expanded=false]

1. Wasn't the Mod Kit supposed to release this update?
   
2. Modding Wiki
   
3. Steam Workshop
   
4. In-game modding support
   
5. So long and thanks for all the mods
   
6. Patch notes
   
7. And that's a wrap for Build Update #052!

[/expand]
It was. Our plan was to release this patch alongside the official GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit — a Software Development Kit (SDK) that allows modders to create a whole new world of mods using a specially extended version of the Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) editor from Epic Games — which we're initially setting up to officially support weapon modding specifically (with other types of mods such as maps to be supported in the future as well).

Per a legal requirement from Epic, any SDK made in UE4 must be available from their store, and so we spent a good amount of time setting up a store presence for the GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit via their recent self-publishing tools, in anticipation of this release. However, a week or so after submitting it for review before publishing, Epic reached out and informed us that their self-publishing tools are not suited for publishing SDKs; as a result, the publishing will have to be done internally by their team.

Since we had already been sitting on the patch for about a week and don't have an estimate from Epic as to when it will be ready to publish, we decided we would release the patch now and push out the Mod Kit itself as soon as Epic is done setting us up. The good news is that plenty of weapon mods were created by a select few modders that helped us test the Mod Kit, and those will be made available immediately (more info on that in the next section).

Though official weapon modding is on hold, this update features a lot of modding changes and improvements, a host of bug fixes, and a few exciting new features to boot. See the full patch notes further below for more details on general changes, but read on if you're a modder, aspiring modder or modding afficionado as we'll first be taking a look at… modding.

The GROUND BRANCH Modding Wiki is now available at https://wiki.groundbranch.com/en/modding.



Though the Mod Kit is not yet available, you may want to start familiarizing yourself with the necessary information for further modding down the road. Some notable highlights for the Wiki:

• You will see that the Quick Create system, available since V1034.4, is documented in detail.
  
• The GROUND BRANCH Lua Library reference has now moved to the Wiki, at https://wiki.groundbranch.com/en/modding/lua-api. This is now the definitive version, and has already been updated for GROUND BRANCH V1034.5.
  
• The GROUND BRANCH Mission Editor guide has also moved to the Wiki, at https://wiki.groundbranch.com/en/modding/mission-editor. Again, this is now the definitive version.

Stay tuned in future GROUND BRANCH updates for an expansion of the modding system to encompass all kinds of mods eventually, via the Mod Kit and Quick Create system.

💘 We are extremely grateful to Bob/AT for his help in setting up and maintaining the Wiki (and thanks also to Callum for doing a lot of the setup).

Our Steam Workshop opened up last update, mostly for new Quick Create patch mods, but will now include weapon mods created during the testing phase for the official Mod Kit. In V1034.5, some lingering issues were ironed out with respect to modded game modes, missions, localization and AI loadouts, so you should also see a wider range of game mode and mission mods in the Workshop soon.

We are very grateful to YourComrade, ModernLancer, mr munkee and others for their help kicking the tires on the new Mod Kit stuff while making some kickass new custom weapons in the process — which you will hopefully see appear on the GROUND BRANCH Workshop shortly. We hope you enjoy trying out their creations as much as we have.

🔧 Get moddin'

If you’d like to jump into the brave new world of modded weapons, here is a selection of some of the great mods that our test crew have come up with while helping us test the Mod Kit:

• Scorpion EVO 3 by YourComrade
  
• URGI M4 by ModernLancer
  
• P226-XFIVE Legion by mr munkee
  
• DD MK18 by ModernLancer
  
• SPAS-12 by YourComrade
  
• VSS Vintorez by BlackFoot Studios (example mod)

If you search for mods in the Workshop using the Weapon tag, you will now find these and more. Have fun, y’all.

We are also very grateful to Bob/AT and tjl9987612 for their help with the game mode and mission side of things. Many modding bugs have been squished thanks to them.

You will find the in-game Workshop search a little more functional than before, making it easier to find and explore mods in-game:



Disabled mods are now actually disabled in Lone Wolf, and there is a new option in Settings › Gameplay to control whether or not mods are automatically enabled after auto-downloading when joining servers:



The Quick Create modding menu has also had a small glow-up in V1034.5, with changelogs now being multi-line — in case you like writing changelogs as long as we do.


All good things come to an end, and so is true of Callum’s contract. We were lucky to have him as long as we did, but he leaves us now to pursue development of his own games full-time.

In the meantime, Callum has taken the Mod Kit from a concept to a finished product, unphased by the near total absence of documentation and official support from Epic.

Callum, we salute you! Good luck in your future projects.

🕹️ Are you a VR player? If so, check out Callum's game Space Docker VR and stay tuned for his upcoming projects!

🐞 Known issues

As ever, we remind you that GROUND BRANCH is an Early Access title, and bugs and incomplete features are to be expected in general. Nevertheless, we would draw your attention to some particular unresolved issues in version V1034.5:

• Dedicated servers may need to be rebooted a second time after adding mods to the mod list
  
• Intel Retrieval's "Extraction Mayhem": bots will not approach the laptop carrier as intended, but may freeze in place
  
• Note for game mode modders: AI in search mode will eventually cause the "too many UObjects" crash if no search location is specified
  
• Note for game mode and mission modders: AI set to Guard currently do not respect Guard Radius
  
• Dropped guns still float in the air
  
• City's helicopter animation does not work correctly in multiplayer
  
• Sprinting and then going prone retains sprint speed
  
• The gun shaking bug is still present (tough one to squash)

• Fixed cloth umbrella material in City so bullets properly pass through
  
• Hooked up Paintball minimap (was defaulting to Arena's)
  
• Removed a couple of folded tarps on top of Power Station area that were causing player collision issues
  
• Added a few navblockers to help AI on stairs in Power Station
  
• Added a few more navblockers to stairs in Small Town
  
• Miscellaneous fixes in response to user reports

• New velcro patch: "Mod Crew"
  
• Fixed magazine placement for AK-105 series
  
• Fixed SA58 OSW locking open on empty without magazine
  
• Fixed Wz.88 having two magwells and two ejection components
  
• Added in .300 BLK cartridge type (both for modding and in anticipation of upcoming official weapons)
  
• Small adjustments to MK14 EBR iron sights for better alignment
  
• Fixed small overlap with HK416 magazines and receiver

• Increased distance before the IR strobe effect culls out (stops rendering) from 50 meters to 800 meters
  
• Added proper 5.45×39 mm round asset and updated magazines to use it

• Updated MK14 EBR and SVD reload animation actions to make them call non-reactive reloads when bolt is forward
  
• Fixed some bad skin weighting on MK14 EBR charging handle
  
• Fixed safety lever on M9A3 not moving with slide

• Navblocks (and mission objects using navblocks) now work with Kythera AI (albeit with significant delays when switching in larger maps)
  
• Updated AI noise reporting system to use AudioSignalRadius rather than Loudness, for both noise reporting and noise listener functions — using the rule of thumb that AudioSignalRadius = 42 × Loudness (dB) — allowing removal of Loudness from all related systems
  
• Adjusted LastShotLevel calculations in GBCharacter to now use LastShotRadius (for purpose of calculating player visibility modifier for AI)

• Fixed "too many UObjects" crash in official Intel Retrieval missions (it is caused by setting AI to search mode but not specifying a search location)
  

  ⚠️ If you have created any modded game modes, please ensure they are not doing the same.

• Increased range of weapon lights and IR illuminators, and made light attenuation non-linear
  
• Tightened up Hostage Rescue volunteer selection a bit (was not properly handling selection from multiple volunteers)
  
• Updated FailSafe.kit to specify skin for pants and footwear
  
• Fixed issue where laptops may be invisible but colliding for new joiners to server
  
• Added an extra spectator state check in case other logic fails to remove the spectator camera modifier
  
• Updated kit write access logic so it will create a directory if missing, as well as attempt to clear read-only status of the directory and all kits within
  
• Updated kit conversion logic:
  
  • Now also explains the need to backup or delete old files if "Quit" option is used
    
  • Only updates and saves value of CheckedKitVersion if kits are fine or the "Convert" option is selected
    
• Temporarily disabled checking for or loading embedded AI loadouts in missions (doesn't play nice with newer mod stuff)
  
• Console key can now be rebound
  
• Fixed bug with colorblind settings not working/crashing
  
• Disabled bots in Deathmatch (not currently working anyway)
  
• Ops Board and Tablet: added extra test for whether an objective marker has team ID of 255 (otherwise would not display markers for all teams if marker team ID was set to 255)
  
• Added r.HZBOcclusion=True to DefaultEngine.ini to mitigate pop-in when turning corners and other situations where parts of the map don't render fast enough (medium- to lower-end hardware might experience a slight performance drop in some situations)
  
• Hard-coded view distance scale to 1.0 to stop the r.ViewDistanceScale hack
  
• Added logic to enable HUD when exiting spectator state if HUD is currently not shown
  
• Fixed casing impact blueprint not being destroyed after sound ends
  
• Shoothouse (The Farm):
  
  • Timer should display correct time on dedicated servers
    
  • Timer should start at 0 from the horn (no longer at the start of the initial beeps)
    

• Moved mod mounting/unmounting into the Mod Sync UI pipeline
  
• Lone Wolf, Host Game and Training mission launches now carry out a mod sync
  
• Mod mount and unmount is now carried out before syncing/installing mods, and account is now taken of disabled mods when syncing (i.e. for Lone Wolf).
  
• Added bypass feature to Mod Sync UI, whereby UI will not pop up if (and only if) nothing is mounted, or unmounted, and no mods to sync
  
• Added option in Settings › Gameplay for whether to enable or disable mods locally if they have been auto-downloaded from servers (default is to disable)
  
• gamemode.FormatString() now localizes properly for mods (localization will likely be moved client-side in V1035), and fixed up a few other localization issues relating to mods
  
• Added support for PNG mod thumbnail files in Quick Create system, in addition to JPG (it won't complain if both are present but it will select the .png thumbnail in preference to .jpg)
  
• Changed single-line change notes field in Quick Create widget to a multi-line field
  
• Added new gamemode.GetTimeOfDay() Lua access function to let game modes know the current time
  
• Set GameMode ModID at very start of mission loading process (previously, mission objects such as AI Spawn Points were being initialized without the correct Mod ID set)
  
• Cleared up a few modding-related bugs with respect to AI loadouts and spawn points
  
• Various further bug fixes arising from lingering presence of Int32 ModIDs in old code internally (despite transition to UInt64 values for use with Steam Workshop); did not arise earlier because compiler was A-OK with implicit UInt64 › Int32 conversions 🤓

• Minor style and formatting cleanup in modding-related widgets, including improved clipping for modding-related widgets to prevent long titles running over other elements, and increased the width for mod titles in these widgets (reduced width for author and type columns)
  
• Fixed bug where submitting server mod list via Modding › Server Mods menu did not work (only worked via Admin menu)
  
• Mod lists: sorting per tab/column now works
  
• Mod selector widget: text and tag search now working (results are limited to first 50 or so)
  
• Mod Sync dialog:
  
  • Created animation for downloading status; style changes to colors, font sizes, progress bar and others
    
  • Added hide-able dialog warning for user to confirm whether to download new mods to join a server
• Added formatting (spaces between words) to Workshop mod tags in mod selector and mod viewer widgets
  
• Customize Operator screen:
  
  • New mod visibility drop-down: can be set to show all items (including mods), show mods only, or hide mods
    
  • Updated how the current item is displayed in the list when selecting for better visibility: added pulse effect (animation), changed border style to solid; also some minor copy/format edits.
    
  • Fixed background not changing from yellow to white when a custom item is cleared from the item slot
    
  • Added [MOD] label to modded attachments in the item customization screen
• Patches dialog: fixed bug with "?" persisting if a broken patch was replaced by a working one
  
• Added scroll box to Mission Parameters pop-up (Ops Board settings) to prevent too many game mode options from breaking the layout (will be renamed the Bob Broke It Scroll Box in honor of our modding community)
  
• Added new default mod thumbnail for Quick Create system
  
• Fixed manual text entry in spin box widgets (the little menu boxes you can drag left and right but also manually input a value) so that it is now clamped to min/max and updates slider position accordingly; was an issue for the NVG overlay scale setting, for example
  
• Stopped repeated lists of mission settings in Voting menu
  
• Minor cleanup and style pass on Inventory Bar
  
• Changed mod widgets to use decimal kB, MB and GB (e.g. 1 MB = 1,000 kB) rather than power-of-two (1 MB = 1,024 kB) to match Steam's usage
  
• Updated Credits screen
  
• Removed "Pre-Access" from watermark

Notwithstanding any showstoppers in today's release, the fraction of our team still working on modding support-related tasks will join the rest of the team in V1035 development — which also means our Intel Reports will be returning shortly after a long break.

Stay tuned for the Mod Kit release (hopefully soon!), and as always, thank you for your continued support. We'll see you next time!

The Summer Sale is here, and GROUND BRANCH is 30% OFF until July 11 @10am Pacific:

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

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If you have a PayPal account and would like to support us further, please consider buying your key directly from our website — that way we receive the full cut of the sale. Use code SUMMER2024 at the checkout and you'll get the same 30% discount:


Upon purchasing, you'll receive a key to redeem on Steam (if you're unsure how to do that, click here).

Please note you'll need a PayPal account, and that our store is limited to US dollar (USD) sales. If you're in a different region, you may still prefer buying from Steam as it uses regional pricing.

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GROUND BRANCH is 35% OFF on the Midweek Deal!

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

This sale runs until June 20th @ 10am PST.

Happy Friday, folks!

Patch V1034.4 is now available. As we get modding ready, more fixes and improvements piled up which make no sense holding back — so we're getting them out there. Also we can't stand receiving bug reports for the rotated MK46 suppressor anymore (that may or may not be the real reason).

While it downloads and installs, please take a moment to read the patch notes below — that should help you figure out what changed, what to be on the lookout for and what to report.

📢 IMPORTANT NOTICE to server owners re: rubber-banding

We're aware of the severe online rubber-banding issue, and although we haven't fully determined the cause yet (we have a lead!) we did notice that the issue keeps increasing in severity the longer the server is live. Restarting the server usually fixes the issue.

👉 As a temporary solution, we suggest admins/owners set up their servers to automatically restart every 4–6 hours. The default timer has been changed to 3 hours.

• We are aware of an issue where hiding your HUD while spectating will stay on-screen when you return to the game when resurrecting or returning to the Ready Room (RR); to work around this issue, go to Spectator Mode (F6) and toggle the HUD on again (default H)
  
• Another issue happens after you dive (sprint and then go prone); upon standing back up and starting to move, your character will automatically sprint

• Changed minimum number of hours for scheduled server restart to 3 (given rubber-banding issues, we recommend a low value), and values lower than this now default to 3 rather than 24

• Increased difficulty for Veteran AI: generally raised detection scale (sight and hearing), reaction speed and aiming
  
• Fixed AI being unable to reload the M24 rifle

• Fixed missing M24 suppressed sound
  
• Fixed missing sound for MK14 EBR reload
  
• Fixed call-to-prayer (Compound) not ending after leaving map
  
• Fixed various instances of bad acoustic portals in all maps

• Fixed rotated suppressor on MK46 ⭐
  
• Added non-standard reticle color feature to allow PSO-1M2 scope to use previous yellow/orange color
  
• Fixed AK-105 and AK-74M not being able to take a suppressor
  
• Fixed missing suppressor for M110K1
  
• Fixed Galil ARM not ejecting shells
  
• Tweaked old corrugated metal sheet model to look a bit less dark

• Slightly reduced bloom (WIP)
  
• Considerable update to Compound to improve AI navigation:
  
  
  • Adjustments to main house interior
    
  • Increased overall size of stairwell
    
  • Removed a few small rooms that didn't contribute to gameplay much
    
  • Reduced size of bathrooms
    
  • Adjustments to size of most rooms to accommodate larger stairwell
    
  • Collision updates
    
  • Tidied up placement of small props to improve navigation
    
  • Fixed up audio volumes
    
  • Increased max yaw of most doors
• Collision and miscellaneous pass on 747 and Compound missions (after Compound main building remodelled by Will)
  
• More navmesh cleanup in Power Station, Run Down and Storage Facility
  
• Fixed player collision issue on Depot rocks near helipad area
  
• Fixed some mesh culling on Depot
  
• Removed debug AI movement test actor from Storage Facility (red sphere)
  
• Changed default climate to use default weather (and not fully clear/cloudless weather)
  
• Fixed some bugs with the mission tag validator
  
• Updated Ready Room (RR) signage: font, text size, padding and copy
  
• Fixed one of the name plates going missing from one of the RR lockers

• Fixed hostage bag not being removed when the hostage is released in Hostage Rescue (HR)
  
• Tentative fix for tap-leading causing hostage to keep being led in HR

• Fixed mods (especially Quick Create mods) being given wrong file size
  
• Updated Quick Create mod menu to offer to convert missions
  
• Fixed up Quick Create mod menu a bit: changing staged mod now updates mod contents section, and GetModPath now uses current settings rather than defaults
  
• A lot of under-the-hood work to support modding officially (soon!)
  
• Fixed mod-based game mode validators not running

• Fixed up validation widget to work with modded game modes and validators
  
• Mission editor script picker causes script name in editor to update when changed
  
• Changed behavior of Save and Save As… to no longer save to game directory — no build will overwrite modded missions; users are now prompted to use Save As…, which now saves to StagedMod folder by default

• Fixed bad camera mode in Spectator Mode
  
• Changed default Lean Roll setting to 5 (from 0)
  
• Re-enabled NVG Overlay Scale option (Settings › Video)
  
• Possible fix for the ol' shaky weapon bug
  
• Reduced impact of leaning on stamina and arm strength (should allow leaning for 2–3 minutes before depleting either)
  
• Changed lean, run and sprint spam thresholds (now harder to spam)
  
• Various changes to ensure that stamina and weapon sway values are correctly applied and reset under various circumstances
  
• Breaching Charge updated to more reliably cause injury to AI and players behind the door when breached
  
• Rebalanced autoexposure for NVG and naked eye (will make things look darker at night and will make moon phase and appearance more definitive for illumination levels for NVG and naked eye at night)
  
• Spectator camera now remembers the last camera style, so it won't keep resetting to headcam when switching through players and starting/stopping spectator mode
  
• Raised texture size on scope render target to slightly mitigate blocky sights

• Updated rail slots to fix issues where dots that are further away appear over the top of dots that are closer
  
• Added Censored Patch feature: individual mod patches can now be hidden entirely from your game by clicking the 🚫 icon in the top-right of an entry
  
• Fixed Randomize Objectives button not being selectable
  
• Updated HUD widget to ensure player names do not linger when leaving/entering Ready Room
  
• Improved Ops Board's insertion points to be more responsive to clicks and more accurately play animations, as well as prevent sound effect spam when hovering
  
• Updated insertion point widget nodes to give some of its visuals back (much softer shadow)
  
• Updated appearance and copy of pop-up hints, and cleaned up the slide-/fade-out animation
  
• Reduce pop-up hint on-screen duration from 20 to 10 seconds
  
• Added key shortcut icons to dialog buttons (Enter = OK/Yes; Esc = Cancel/No) — the shortcuts themselves already worked before, so this is only a visual indication!
  
• Fixed first person camera not being available in Spectator Mode
  
• It should now also be possible to toggle between headcam and regular first person camera using C key when fixed to first person
  
• Changed UK spelling in Color Blindness setting labels (Settings › Video) to US spelling
  
• Updated text in various tooltips for consistency, spelling and clarity
  
• Updated various Modding and Admin Panel menus to use consistent button and scrollbar visuals
  
• Made patch detail/button gray out if patch visibility setting prevents modded patch being viewed
  
• Added "?" icon for the case where a patch is set but doesn't load (so it doesn't look like an unset patch)
  
• Updated DLSS 3 (Frame Generation) tooltip to include notice about FPS counters not reporting the "correct" framerate (NVIDIA Overlay will report the final framerate)
  
• Other general cleanup

• Fixed crash related to ToggleDebugCamera command
  
• The usual massive amount of under-the-hood changes and fixes

Edited May 24th @ 5:42pm UTC to correct the omission of the new Lean Roll (POV) feature — now listed under the Gameplay and animations section.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Patch V1034.3 is now available. While it downloads and installs, please take a moment to read the patch notes below — that should help you figure out what changed, what to be on the lookout for and what to report.

📢 IMPORTANT NOTICE to server owners re: rubber-banding

We're aware of the severe online rubber-banding issue, and although we haven't fully determined the cause yet (we have a lead!) we did notice that the issue keeps increasing in severity the longer the server is live. Restarting the server usually fixes the issue.

👉 As a temporary solution, we suggest admins/owners set up their servers to automatically restart every 4–6 hours.

In preparation for the official release of modding via Steam Workshop and the GROUND BRANCH SDK in the near future, we undertook a major reorganization of game assets and code. This has taken a lot of time and work, and though we have put most of it back together, there are still a few unresolved bugs out there — most noticeably visual issues (e.g. ghosting) relating to rendering and overlays.

We also had a lot of important fixes (and a lot of AI changes) that we couldn't wait any longer to tackle. Of course, any big change to the code base always has knock-on effects, so please bear with us while we hunt down and squish any remaining issues relating to the code rework.



As promised, we have spent a lot of time in V1034.3 giving the AI behavior a new iteration. Most of this is Chris bug-fixing and evolving AI behavior to be more plausible and consistent with player expectation, as well as more noticeable variations between difficulty levels.

However, we have also spent some time going over the existing maps to AI-proof staircases and other trouble areas, and otherwise to improve the interface between AI and level geometry. Some AI audio issues have been fixed, but some remain. In more detail, AI has had the following changes:

• AI difficulty settings have been updated
  
  
  • Adjusted Untrained and Trained to compensate for better hearing
    
  • Untrained AI are generally easier to fight
    
  • Changed aiming bone for Untrained AI so they are less likely to headshot the player
    
  • Adjusted difficulty settings and reaction time for Veteran AI
    
  • Veteran AI are now more reactive to footsteps than other difficulties and are more likely to engage faster
• Updated doors to allow for Kythera navlink override position, which removes the need for some of the old door bits and bobs
  
• Adjusted auto-firing timings (duration and firing pause) for full auto when the AI is very close, to accommodate recent balancing changes
  
• Updated behavior for Guard AI when investigating noises: they will now walk a short distance (guard radius), multiple times, then return to their current guard point
  
• Distance and target point varies based on noise loudness and distance
  
  
  • Loud noise up to 10 m away: will walk directly to the noise
    
  • Up to 25 m away: will walk a short distance towards target
    
  • Above 25 m: will just look in the direction (distances are subject to change upon further testing)
• Prevented AI from crouching when engaging up close (minimum distance of 25 m is required)
  
• AI logic has been updated in relation to aiming and tracking targets; AI will no longer fire into the direction where footsteps are coming from
  
• Adjusted how the AI reacts to losing sight of targets; this is now different for Veteran AI than for others
  
• Added new variable AddedMissDeviation to AI settings which prevents Untrained and Trained AI reaching 100% shot accuracy even after a long period of time
  
• Exposed skill level to behavior tree to enable different behavior patterns based on skill level
  
• Added more switches between High and Low Ready weapon positions, especially when following GoTo command, to reduce issues with getting stuck on edges
  
• Adjusted how AI approaches near targets (e.g. gunshots close by):
  
• Will approach more deliberately
  
• Veteran AI will approach faster (more likely to sprint) than other difficulties
  
• Adjusted searching for previously known targets:
  
• Patrol AI are now more likely to approach faster
  
• Guard AI will still hold back and not engage very far
  
• Added MissTarget threshold (for first shot to miss) to AI settings, adjusted settings for different AI difficulties
  
• Reduced angle which AI scans when they hear a gunshot, will now look more closely towards the source of the noise
  
• Updated parameters for advance towards target (NoCoverAdvance) to always have a minimum distance of 2 m, so that the AI doesn't get too close
  
• Updated fallback spatial query for NoCoverAdvance to move away from target (in case we are too close) and enforce a minimum distance; prefers greater distances now
  
• Updated .bot files: removed bad magwell names; removed country patch flags, missing or otherwise; removed bad pouch attach point names

• Fixed reaction time variable being ignored in close proximity when AI would move towards the player
  
• Fixed prone and crouch not resetting on AI when it loses sight of target for a brief period of time
  
• Fixed AI shooting each other, now doing a check whether another AI is in front of them before firing
  
• Fixed incorrect rotation for AI after engaging an enemy at a different height level
  
• Fixed an issue where aim miss deviation was calculated incorrectly for Untrained AI
  
• Fixed an issue where aim values were not being applied properly based on skill level
  
• Fixed AI characters being rotated in weird angles

• New Video setting: Lean Roll (POV)
  
  
  • Allows tweaking how much to roll the camera when leaning left/right (0 = no roll; 10 = camera fully rolls along with character animation)
    
  • Currently available under Settings › Video › Camera
• New anti-cheat measures:
  
  
  • Disabled some cheaty console variables
    
  • Metadata for stamina and sway variables removed from config files
    
  • Night vision overlay is one and the same with the post-process effect now, making it harder to remove
• Another attempt to fix the “gun shake” bug (commonly appeared after sprinting)
  
• Re-enabled collision between dead bodies

• The Main Menu has received a beauty pass
  
• Cleaned up and did a minor style pass on all pop-up hints
  
• Created new pop-up hints:
  
  
  • No NVG equipped — for when players try to activate NVG without having any equipped on their character
    
  • NVG proximity blur — to alert players that the NVG’s fixed focal range make them difficult to use with most sights
    
  • Fallback patches — to instruct players that any custom (modded) patches equipped require a fallback stock patch selection to display to players that choose not to see modded patches
• Cleaned up teamkill warning: added support for handling multiple teamkill victims at a time; resets names if detects a player a second time
  
• Updated Customize Patches dialog:
  
  
  • Style consistency and update pass
    
  • Added hint for custom (modded) patch visibility
    
  • Added [MOD] tag and tooltip to specify custom patches
• Created Patch Visibility setting under Settings › Gameplay: this allows players to determine the visibility of other players’ custom patches online
  
• Minor visual update to radial menus (partial, WIP)
  
• Various small visual and text tweaks to a lot of UI elements for better appearance and consistency

💡 When using the new Patch Visibility settings, please bear in mind that your preferences will not be updated on other players until you restart the level, leave or enter the ready room, or reconnect. There may be a few other quirks with this system that we will hopefully iron out in V1034.4.

• Modding menu now opens on the first tab by default
  
• [PREVIEW] New tab under Modding: the Quick Create menu allows simple (non-asset) mod types to be easily created and uploaded to the Steam Workshop

Fatmarrow has taken the time to record a quick tutorial for this new feature:

🛑 Although the Workshop is not yet public, mods can already be uploaded to it via the Quick Create menu, and installed via Local Mods and Server Mods (as long as the Mod ID is known).

💡 There may also be some unresolved kinks in the mod sync system, especially if you cancel a download mid-update or spam subscribe and unsubscribe requests, and so on. We are not kink-shamers, but we will nevertheless look to eradicate these issues in V1034.4. Usually the game needs to be restarted after a brief pause to make sure your modding settings are up to date regarding Steam Workshop downloads and housekeeping.

• Updated Ready Room signage to static lightboxes
  
• Re-enabled volumetric fog in Small Town, Compound, Rig and Storage Facility
  
• General cleanup and addition of blockers to navmeshes for better AI navigation
  
• Rebuilt navmesh on all maps
  
• Fixed tree coming through wall in Run Down
  
• Removed glass shards with bad material from Run Down
  
• Replaced foliage in Run Down due to poor collision setup with existing meshes
  
• Fixed "double pane" glass in City that was showing incorrect bullet holes when shot out
  
• Fixed floating sign on generator in 747
  
• Fixed some navigation and collision issues in 747 (stairs in main building and in lower level of aircraft)

• Fixed bad laptop under stairs in City (Intel Retrieval)

• Fixed NVG Head Mount not having any NVG mounted by default

• Attachment points are sometimes incorrectly highlighted in the Customize Operator screen (e.g. visible attachment point is gray, and attachment point on opposite side of the rail is white); only happens when accessing the customization screen via Main Meu
  
• Ability to equip anything while on the ladder (players can draw their primary, secondary, and items like grenades)
  
• Toggling NVG on/off while prone may require multiple attempts
  
• [Spectator Mode] Headcam feed text will appear in other camera modes (fixed next update)

🐞 Hostage Rescue remains in a provisional state. Technically it is more fixed up now in terms of functionality, but there are some lingering issues with the sacks persisting on the hostage after they are released (but the hostage can see OK) and some lingering/broken UI prompts afterwards. Please bear with us, and hopefully it will be back to full fighting fitness in V1034.4.

This hotfix addresses some issues with yesterday's V1034.2 patch that slipped through testing.

• Fixed bug that prevented re-equipping primary weapons in certain circumstances (e.g. when picking up laptop in Intel Retrieval)
  
• Fixed issues related to front sight post on M17 pistol
  
• Fixed various bugs with zeroing sights and some more iron sights not being handled properly
  
• Fixed missing weapon reload audio on The Farm
  
• Fixed audio diffraction and occlusion not working in some contexts

Hey, everyone!

Patch V1034.2 is now available. Though we have not yet been able to work out the online rubber-banding issue, we had a lot of changes and fixes that were not worth holding back any longer.

Thanks for your patience and reports so far! We hope to have a fix for the rubber-banding soon, along with the official modding implementation.

📢 IMPORTANT NOTICE to server owners re: rubber-banding

We're aware of the severe online rubber-banding issue, and although we haven't fully determined the cause yet (we have a lead!) we did notice that the issue keeps increasing in severity the longer the server is live. Restarting the server usually fixes the issue.

👉 As a temporary solution, we suggest admins/owners set up their servers to automatically restart every 4–6 hours.

❗ KNOWN ISSUE: Ready Room aiming bug

Due to complex fixes to weapon zeros, aiming down sights may cause the camera to align with the top rail rather than the sight. This is limited to the Ready Room only.

👉 To fix it, simply re-equip your kit (via locker or workbench) or deploy to the play area.

• Made suppressed weapons less audible for AI (range reduction by 40% — WIP, testing things out)
  
• Increased influence of light scale to the overall character visibility: AI should no longer easily spot players in the dark
  
• Big AI update:
  
  
  • Added AI coordinator system — the basis for exchange of information between AI bots
    
  • Added target handling to GBKytController to register with the AICoordinator
    
  • Enabled new hearing system for gunshots (now uses same system as footsteps)
    
  • Gunshot range is treated differently for suppressed and unsuppressed weapons
    
  • Fixed AI going prone when close to enemy, now require distance > 40 m
    
  • Fixed a bug where AI wouldn't shoot when advancing towards the target
    
  • Added new separation between cover behaviors for crouching and when leaning out of cover
    
  • Reworked engagement rules for AI taking into account the current enemies that are engaging the player through the AI coordinator system
    
  • Fixed an issue where Guard AI would follow noise but Patrol AI would not (reversed)
    
  • Adding new behavior sub-trees for firing from cover
    
  • Updated spatial queries for cover generation
    
  • Slightly increased hearing distance for AI on 747, Compound and Depot
    

• Major audio overhaul to improve and fix ambient sounds:
  
  
  • Improved audio quality conversion — more details in the soundscape should now be hearable, and levels should now generally sound better and more "alive"
    
  • Ensured ambient sounds update correctly when time of day (TOD) is changed
    
• Fixed audio-related crash
  
• Updated attenuation for third-person footsteps (should no longer be loud and just cut off)
  
• Fixed third-person prone movement sounds
  
• Added further logic to prevent Ready Room sounds being hearable from play area (and vice versa)
  
• Fixed power boxes not emitting the electric buzz on first play

• Ongoing rework to improve/fix animation for NVG being lowered/raised in different stances and with different items being equipped
  
• Fixed animations to follow the new finger outside of trigger guard
  
• Fixed Specter DR 1x/4x lever animation being offset

• Updated keybinds list in Settings > Controls to improve the names of a few actions and to ensure consistency between Keyboard/Mouse and Controller keybinds
  
• Added tooltip hint to "Night Vision Goggles" keybind to reinforce that goggles must be equipped on the character for the bind to be functional
  
• Hopefully fixed wibbly-wobbly VOIP indicator issue
  
• Attempted fix for reticles not keeping their color and different laser dot effects occurring when using colorblind filters
  
• Changed colorblind filter notice text at top-right to be smaller and less obtrusive
  
• Made Headcam the default spectator camera, by popular request
  
• Returning to Settings menu (from play area) no longer re-selects the Controls screen (now leaves it on whichever settings screen was open previously)
  
• Hiding the HUD in Headcam spectator view (default H) now hides the minimap and displays basic player info
  
• Tablet now shows player names for everyone, if in Training mode
  
• Updated City minimap so as to encompass the bank vault area
  
• Fixed bug where clearing an inventory item in character editor did not clear the [CUSTOM] tag and color scheme
  
• Cleaned up radial menus:
  
  
  • Style consistency pass (background, hover, font, formatting etc.)
    
  • Renamed attachment functions for better clarity
    
• Minor art/style pass on Rangefinder overlay to be closer to reference (increased text size and made it all-caps, tweaked HUD color and position)
  
• Updated Patches menu/dialog (Customize Operator screen) to allow hitting Esc to close it

• Prone is no longer affected by stamina and arm strength (WIP, temporary)
  
• Removed ability to re-pin grenades
  
• Water: fixed bodies of water blocking projectiles, grenades colliding with water surfaces, and clean water blocking lasers (should still block if dirty water)
  
• Dying underwater and/or resurfacing should also correctly clear the underwater effect
  
• Fixed retention reloads dropping the first magazine with certain weapons (e.g. M110, MK46)
  
• Big cleanup of iron sights and optics zeros — let us know if you catch any bad ones still!
  
• Fixed some scopes seeing through walls (may require new weapon builds to be created)

• Art pass on Roster whiteboard (Ready Room):
  
  
  • Replaced font with more readable alternative
    
  • Replaced status icons with text (OK = alive, KIA = dead, Prep = in Ready Room, Spec = in Spectator Mode)
    
  • Minor alignment and formatting changes
    
  • Updated text for Team Element selection instructions
    
• Changed font for Ready Room locker name plates
  
• Fixed Male 04's Short Beard using the wrong mesh (model geometry)
  
• Moved FAL rear sight mesh back to 200 m setting (issues with gun zeroing to 600 m)
  
• Updated various iron sight meshes to fix zeroing issues
  
• Removed suppressor socket from Wz88 as it should not accept one
  
• Changed SA58 OSW's suppressor (now uses SureFire FA762K, same as the MK14 EBR's)
  
• Created Black skin for the SureFire FA762K (available as an alternate skin for the MK14 EBR and SA58 OSW)
  
• Removed socket from AccuPower 1–8x that allowed RMR (Flat Mount) to be attached

• Miscellaneous mission fixes:
  
  
  • Fixed random barrels in deck in Rig (Defuse)
    
  • Fixed up some floating laptops in Small Town (Intel Retrieval)
    
  • Tweaked laptop position in building D basement in Small Town Uplink
    
  • Minor cleanup on 747 intel retrieval mission (moved laptop off Cessna struct even though placement was FINE really)
    
  • Tweaked 747 PVE missions to remove AI from the avionics room (collision, clipping into ceiling and pathing seemed a bit tricksy overall)
    
  • Adjusted OnHit logic in Defuse mission object so as to only run on server and ignore any hits except from bullets (so players can jump on bombs without consequences)
    
• Fixed a few light portal bugs in City
  
• Turned a few lights on in the City bank for all times of day
  
• Fixed a few LOD/mesh culling issues in City and Run Down
  
• Fixed a few mesh-culling issues in Rig
  
• Overhaul of Mission Editor and mission structure to add version control and fallback AI loadouts:
  
  
  • Missions with out of date version number won’t show in mission selection screens
    
  • Old missions (V1033, V1034.0, V1034.1) need to be loaded and resaved in editor
    
  • If saved AI kits don’t load, mission loadouts will be used. If they don’t load, AI won’t spawn
    
  • All standard missions updated via script
    
  • Lots more changed under the hood, including in kit validation systems
    
  • Ran script to remove AI spawn points from Deathmatch missions
    
  • Ran script to convert Deathmatch missions to Last Man Standing versions
    
• Optimized and cleaned up collision on some Rig and Docks assets
  
• Small tweak to ladders on Small Town to make it less likely that AI gets stuck here
  
• Fixed LOD and culling issues on City and Power Station
  
• Fixed nasty LOD on building in Compound
  
• Added UV offset to conifer LOD materials to fix a strip of ground that would appear on the tree when playing on lower graphical settings

• Fixed problems with ResAtMe and ResNear commands
  
• Fixed up player names not appearing on Tablet: slightly changed behavior so names appear whether in play or in Ready Room, but not if not assigned to a team (e.g. when in a free-for-all mode, or in Ready Room reception lobby)
  
• Fixed spectator-only players getting stuck at loading screen, not seeing the correct sky, and being shown respawn option
  
• Many, many under-the-hood changes and fixes

Yesterday's Patch V1034.1 had a couple of issues that caused AI to rush towards players, have perfect night vision and possibly other unintended behaviors.

We've worked overnight to diagnose and fix these issues, and things should now be back to the intended AI changes and behavior described in yesterday's patch notes.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Happy Thursday, folks!

This initial patch for V1034 fixes various crashes some art-related bugs, and does a little back-end cleanup. It also tweaks audio and AI slightly.

📢 IMPORTANT NOTICE to server owners re: rubber-banding

We're aware of the severe online rubber-banding issue, and although we haven't fully determined the cause yet (we have a lead!) we did notice that the issue keeps increasing in severity the longer the server is live. Restarting the server usually fixes the issue.

👉 As a temporary solution, we suggest admins/owners set up their servers to automatically restart every 4–6 hours.

We're currently compiling a list of needs for patch V1034.2, to be released in a few weeks and hopefully fixing the rubber-banding and other major issues.

• Hostage Rescue: fixed restraints and hood not being removed after the hostage was released
  
• Fixed issues with kit being applied on top of existing kit in Training mode (such as when in The Farm online)
  
• Various crash fixes
  
• Cleaned up a lot of under-the-hood logic and log spam

• Changed how gunshots are processed by the AI: now uses the same system as footsteps, which should make bots more reactive to gunfire (especially when nearby)
  
• Tweaked "Untrained" AI difficulty to make it a bit easier

• Docks: fixed ramp/boat connections causing bots to get stuck
  
• Docks: fixed getting stuck in spools
  
• Small Town: fixed visible hole in rocks (southwest spawn area)
  
• The Farm: fixed small light above the exit door that wouldn’t turn off when the power box was disabled)
  
• Fixed issue in Storage Facility with the landscape LOD covering part of the main tunnel entrance when viewing at distance
  
• Cleaned up some collision issues in City subway area

• Fixed bad normal map on the MPX submachine gun

• Possible fix for gunshots and explosions on the map being audible from the Ready Room (NOTE: frags might still be audible)
  
• Updated player footsteps: slight attenuation change and volume increase
  
• Fixed MK14 EBR reload audio being out of sync with animation
  
• Added female voice line for "Covering" comms (G)

• Added footstep particles to the forest floor surface type