Hi Squaddies,

Welcome to your monthly update! We're kicking this one off with an eye to the future before we dig into the June goodies. As we race into the second half of 2017, we felt it was important to give the community a comprehensive update of the road ahead and the what the future holds for Squad and Offworld Industries. Spoilers: It's going to be a good year.


There's no shortage of action behind the scenes, marching ever closer toward release! As the Unreal Engine has developed in parallel with Squad, we’ve worked hard to make sure to keep the engine up-to-date and include new features as they become available. This has netted us some great improvements, but also cost us some development time when fundamental changes have to be made. As we come into the final cycle of the alpha portion of the development, we have decided to move quickly toward version 4.16 of the engine. We will absolutely continue to pull in relevant features into Squad as we go forward, but we want to dedicate more resources to performance and stability in an effort to bring everyone a better playing experience.

As a result of this, we have readjusted our near-term development plan to get the engine upgrade and the stability pass completed before finishing up our core systems. Everyone in the community should start to see the benefits of this stabilization over the course of the summer, culminating in our release of both the new animation system and core inventory.

Also, the success of Squad (thanks to you!) has allowed us to start to substantially increasing the capacity of our team. In particular, the programming team will be growing by an additional four members beginning in the next several weeks. This should dramatically increase our ability to handle a wider breadth of development and break up many of our bottlenecks. Expect to meet and greet the these talented people in future updates!


Speaking of growing, with nearly 40 full-time developers, Squad maturing, and the studio becoming more financially stable, planning for the future becomes more critical. With roots in modding, we are always on the lookout for talented individuals or teams that we can help with getting a foothold in the industry. Several members of our current team were found right here in this community.

We are pleased to give the OWI community an update on our plans to extend and strengthen this connection in the years ahead.




As part of our early commitment to a community driven project we released the Squad SDK soon after our Steam release and are continuing to plan for full mod support. In May of this year, we transitioned two developers, StrangeZak (Zak Strange) and Irontaxi (Chris Greig) into planning and implementation of the modding platform for a complete release to launch around the end of September.



Our modding platform now includes the ability to Create, Load, and Share Mods from the Squad SDK straight to the Steam Workshop with plans to add custom multiplayer maps from the Steam Workshop before the release.






From the humble days of a couple of guys working from their living rooms on Skype, the Offworld team has had a strong desire to make our FPS platform a template for future games on the Unreal 4 engine. As part of our long term plannings, we have been working on creating a stripped down feature framework that both indie teams and Offworld can use as a base for their games. This would include carrying over many of the gameplay features and teamwork oriented structures that make Squad unique, such as squads and voip, in the hope that these things start to set a new standard for Multiplayer games. This framework is known as the "Offworld Core," and we look forward to seeking out teams interested in making everything from sci-fi ship combat to zombie post-apocalyptic shooters.

As part of the first steps in this effort, Offworld Industries is proud to announce our partnership with Periscope Games who have been diligently working on "Post Scriptum," a WW2 multiplayer FPS with a focus on historical accuracy. Set in the 9 day long Operation Market Garden campaign of 1944,, Post Scriptum will depict British paratroopers fighting Tiger tanks amongst the fields, villages and towns of the Netherlands, all the way to Arnhem! In our opinion it looks fantastic, is set in a unique operation from WW2 and is well worthy of being a standalone game. Periscope plans to take their project to a complete commercial release scheduled for 2018.

We welcome them to the Offworld family, and you can find more information about their project at their website, on Twitter, or in these videos:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDcjsibzRF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kem5gbztDDo

And after all of that... Let's get on with the update!





Our team in the very last few days of the month went to the motion capture labs at Animatrik in Vancouver to do performance capture for Squad, with the intention of improving the visual fidelity of our third person animations. Look forward to a future article detailing what we did over the day as well as video!





Our animation team has been hard at work integrating core weapon features and one of them is having a smooth transition between your Rifle and Underbarrel Grenade Launcher. In addition we’ve ran a first practical iteration on Weapon Zeroing, beginning with the weapons where they’ll see the most impact, mainly UGLs and Rocket Launchers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPYOZWy3Y2I


Having been shelved for quite a while due to scheduling and technical constraints, we finally are able to put shotguns back into the production pipeline! We’ve managed to do a first pass on the M1014 shotgun and the KS-23 shotgun. Take a look at some of the Work-in-Progress:

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/shotgun9.mp4

Beautiful. So smooth and you can almost feel the "ka-chunk" during the reload.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/ks23shotgun2.mov


It took some doing, but we managed to sneak some renders out from the art team. Don't let them know we found some of the most recent renders of the TOW launcher, as well as the RPG, soon to be featured making very fine explosions on the battlefield near you.








As part of the new animation system overhaul, we’ve had to reanimate all the vehicle related animations, including turret-based guns and emplacements. It does give the animators a chance to iterate on what we did in the past, as well as a chance to experiment with a moving camera during the animated sequences. The result? Making the animated work pop even more.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/dshk_deploy.mov

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/spg9_emplaced_3preload3.mov

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/m2_reloaddry.mov



We are excited to announce that production on Fallujah is in full force. We took some time revisiting our workflow and production pipeline before jumping into this map and we really think it will pay off. As you can see we are planning to pay homage to the original map from Project Reality, created by Duckhunt.

Production is underway and we will have more to show you in an upcoming dev blog series called "The Road to Fallujah" which will give you a look into our workflow and thought process.




Fallujah isn't the only map being worked on, as you know. Good progress is being made on bringing the battle to Narva. Featuring a cityscape complete with industrial areas, railway access, and plenty of deadly choke points, Narva brings players to Eastern Europe.

Coming along nicely, we're looking forward to players getting their hands on the historic castle!








And there you have it, Squaddies. The future's so bright, we've gotta wear shades, but we're not letting that get in the way of progress. Stay tuned for more updates from us and the community.

Hi Squaddies,

Welcome to your monthly update! We're kicking this one off with an eye to the future before we dig into the June goodies. As we race into the second half of 2017, we felt it was important to give the community a comprehensive update of the road ahead and the what the future holds for Squad and Offworld Industries. Spoilers: It's going to be a good year.


There's no shortage of action behind the scenes, marching ever closer toward release! As the Unreal Engine has developed in parallel with Squad, we’ve worked hard to make sure to keep the engine up-to-date and include new features as they become available. This has netted us some great improvements, but also cost us some development time when fundamental changes have to be made. As we come into the final cycle of the alpha portion of the development, we have decided to move quickly toward version 4.16 of the engine. We will absolutely continue to pull in relevant features into Squad as we go forward, but we want to dedicate more resources to performance and stability in an effort to bring everyone a better playing experience.

As a result of this, we have readjusted our near-term development plan to get the engine upgrade and the stability pass completed before finishing up our core systems. Everyone in the community should start to see the benefits of this stabilization over the course of the summer, culminating in our release of both the new animation system and core inventory.

Also, the success of Squad (thanks to you!) has allowed us to start to substantially increasing the capacity of our team. In particular, the programming team will be growing by an additional four members beginning in the next several weeks. This should dramatically increase our ability to handle a wider breadth of development and break up many of our bottlenecks. Expect to meet and greet the these talented people in future updates!


Speaking of growing, with nearly 40 full-time developers, Squad maturing, and the studio becoming more financially stable, planning for the future becomes more critical. With roots in modding, we are always on the lookout for talented individuals or teams that we can help with getting a foothold in the industry. Several members of our current team were found right here in this community.

We are pleased to give the OWI community an update on our plans to extend and strengthen this connection in the years ahead.




As part of our early commitment to a community driven project we released the Squad SDK soon after our Steam release and are continuing to plan for full mod support. In May of this year, we transitioned two developers, StrangeZak (Zak Strange) and Irontaxi (Chris Greig) into planning and implementation of the modding platform for a complete release to launch around the end of September.



Our modding platform now includes the ability to Create, Load, and Share Mods from the Squad SDK straight to the Steam Workshop with plans to add custom multiplayer maps from the Steam Workshop before the release.






From the humble days of a couple of guys working from their living rooms on Skype, the Offworld team has had a strong desire to make our FPS platform a template for future games on the Unreal 4 engine. As part of our long term plannings, we have been working on creating a stripped down feature framework that both indie teams and Offworld can use as a base for their games. This would include carrying over many of the gameplay features and teamwork oriented structures that make Squad unique, such as squads and voip, in the hope that these things start to set a new standard for Multiplayer games. This framework is known as the "Offworld Core," and we look forward to seeking out teams interested in making everything from sci-fi ship combat to zombie post-apocalyptic shooters.

As part of the first steps in this effort, Offworld Industries is proud to announce our partnership with Periscope Games who have been diligently working on "Post Scriptum," a WW2 multiplayer FPS with a focus on historical accuracy. Set in the 9 day long Operation Market Garden campaign of 1944,, Post Scriptum will depict British paratroopers fighting Tiger tanks amongst the fields, villages and towns of the Netherlands, all the way to Arnhem! In our opinion it looks fantastic, is set in a unique operation from WW2 and is well worthy of being a standalone game. Periscope plans to take their project to a complete commercial release scheduled for 2018.

We welcome them to the Offworld family, and you can find more information about their project at their website, on Twitter, or in these videos:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDcjsibzRF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kem5gbztDDo

And after all of that... Let's get on with the update!





Our team in the very last few days of the month went to the motion capture labs at Animatrik in Vancouver to do performance capture for Squad, with the intention of improving the visual fidelity of our third person animations. Look forward to a future article detailing what we did over the day as well as video!





Our animation team has been hard at work integrating core weapon features and one of them is having a smooth transition between your Rifle and Underbarrel Grenade Launcher. In addition we’ve ran a first practical iteration on Weapon Zeroing, beginning with the weapons where they’ll see the most impact, mainly UGLs and Rocket Launchers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPYOZWy3Y2I


Having been shelved for quite a while due to scheduling and technical constraints, we finally are able to put shotguns back into the production pipeline! We’ve managed to do a first pass on the M1014 shotgun and the KS-23 shotgun. Take a look at some of the Work-in-Progress:

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/shotgun9.mp4

Beautiful. So smooth and you can almost feel the "ka-chunk" during the reload.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/ks23shotgun2.mov


It took some doing, but we managed to sneak some renders out from the art team. Don't let them know we found some of the most recent renders of the TOW launcher, as well as the RPG, soon to be featured making very fine explosions on the battlefield near you.








As part of the new animation system overhaul, we’ve had to reanimate all the vehicle related animations, including turret-based guns and emplacements. It does give the animators a chance to iterate on what we did in the past, as well as a chance to experiment with a moving camera during the animated sequences. The result? Making the animated work pop even more.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/dshk_deploy.mov

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/spg9_emplaced_3preload3.mov

https://media.joinsquad.com/2017/June/JuneRecap/m2_reloaddry.mov



We are excited to announce that production on Fallujah is in full force. We took some time revisiting our workflow and production pipeline before jumping into this map and we really think it will pay off. As you can see we are planning to pay homage to the original map from Project Reality, created by Duckhunt.

Production is underway and we will have more to show you in an upcoming dev blog series called "The Road to Fallujah" which will give you a look into our workflow and thought process.




Fallujah isn't the only map being worked on, as you know. Good progress is being made on bringing the battle to Narva. Featuring a cityscape complete with industrial areas, railway access, and plenty of deadly choke points, Narva brings players to Eastern Europe.

Coming along nicely, we're looking forward to players getting their hands on the historic castle!








And there you have it, Squaddies. The future's so bright, we've gotta wear shades, but we're not letting that get in the way of progress. Stay tuned for more updates from us and the community.

Patchnotes:

• Pak file repackage
  Changed the way PAK files work, Squad will not need 20+ GB free on the hard drive to update any longer.
  Note: The current update will still require a large buffer, but in new updates, this will be much smaller.
  
• Admin Force team change
  Added an admin command to force switch someone to the other team.
  AdminForceTeamChange “name” and AdminForceTeamChangeById <ID>
  Permissions in Admins.cfg: forceteamchange
  
• Fixed an issue where you could not lean in certain areas of the map on Gorodok and Al Basrah. (Some cap zones most common)
  
• Added the possibility to give a user the ability to write to admins with “ChatToAdmin” but prevent them from reading it with “CantSeeAdminChat”
  
• Fixed an issue where Fools Road Fortress flag had severe map issues. Tweaked tree collisions.
  
• Admin cam now shows FOB and Rally Points.
  
• Fixed an issue where mortar HUD would get stuck if FOB was removed while players were sitting on it.
  
• Fixed BTR-82A single fire sound sounding like several shots or cutting out.
  
• Sumari Optimization Pass.
  
• Logar Optimization Pass.
  
• Fixed RCON working for Linux.
  
• Removed expiring timer for Mines and IEDs.
  
• Added speed indicator for vehicles.
  
• Improved SVD's standing accuracy substantially, also improved crouch and prone as long as the target is almost level to the player. High elevation differences in targets improved but still bugged.
  
• Corrected tickets for invaders/defenders on Yehorivka Invasion
  
• Fixed Strykers not taking damage when on fire.
  
• Fixed RKG-3 grenades not doing damage or working.
  
• Added mortar reload sound.
  
• Tweaked vehicle zooming in/out sound.
  
• Added more sound effects when sprinting.
  
• Tweaked animations for IED and Mine.
  
• Tweaked Mortar impact blast wave effect.
  
• Tweaked Mortar muzzle effect.
  
• Tweaked gun muzzle shockwave grit effect.
  
• Improved particle refinement for Mortar/IED/Mine.
  
• Added larger water explosion for Tandem RPG and Mortar.
  
• New MTLB variants minimap icon.
  
• Map grid readability improvements.
  
• Fixed an engine bug causing erratic suspension responses on certain vehicle wheel collisions. (aka do-a-barrel-role bug)
  
• Fixed a server crash related to a high number of players in the ​​​​​​​queue on map change.

Patchnotes:

• Pak file repackage
  Changed the way PAK files work, Squad will not need 20+ GB free on the hard drive to update any longer.
  Note: The current update will still require a large buffer, but in new updates, this will be much smaller.
  
• Admin Force team change
  Added an admin command to force switch someone to the other team.
  AdminForceTeamChange “name” and AdminForceTeamChangeById <ID>
  Permissions in Admins.cfg: forceteamchange
  
• Fixed an issue where you could not lean in certain areas of the map on Gorodok and Al Basrah. (Some cap zones most common)
  
• Added the possibility to give a user the ability to write to admins with “ChatToAdmin” but prevent them from reading it with “CantSeeAdminChat”
  
• Fixed an issue where Fools Road Fortress flag had severe map issues. Tweaked tree collisions.
  
• Admin cam now shows FOB and Rally Points.
  
• Fixed an issue where mortar HUD would get stuck if FOB was removed while players were sitting on it.
  
• Fixed BTR-82A single fire sound sounding like several shots or cutting out.
  
• Sumari Optimization Pass.
  
• Logar Optimization Pass.
  
• Fixed RCON working for Linux.
  
• Removed expiring timer for Mines and IEDs.
  
• Added speed indicator for vehicles.
  
• Improved SVD's standing accuracy substantially, also improved crouch and prone as long as the target is almost level to the player. High elevation differences in targets improved but still bugged.
  
• Corrected tickets for invaders/defenders on Yehorivka Invasion
  
• Fixed Strykers not taking damage when on fire.
  
• Fixed RKG-3 grenades not doing damage or working.
  
• Added mortar reload sound.
  
• Tweaked vehicle zooming in/out sound.
  
• Added more sound effects when sprinting.
  
• Tweaked animations for IED and Mine.
  
• Tweaked Mortar impact blast wave effect.
  
• Tweaked Mortar muzzle effect.
  
• Tweaked gun muzzle shockwave grit effect.
  
• Improved particle refinement for Mortar/IED/Mine.
  
• Added larger water explosion for Tandem RPG and Mortar.
  
• New MTLB variants minimap icon.
  
• Map grid readability improvements.
  
• Fixed an engine bug causing erratic suspension responses on certain vehicle wheel collisions. (aka do-a-barrel-role bug)
  
• Fixed a server crash related to a high number of players in the ​​​​​​​queue on map change.

Hi Squaddies,

I know, I know, you might be thinking "Finally, what took so long?" Well, development has been pretty crazy recently. There is a lot of work currently being done on some critical and fundamental systems that have required a significant portion of our team to focus on them.

Due to the complex nature of the work currently being done, we have decided to transition to smaller content related releases while we are all waiting on v10, including videos, Dev blogs, and articles.

One of the first steps towards this was to release a small content patch that came with some highly anticipated systems, such as mortars and IEDs in v9.4. Alpha 9.4 proceeded an experimental event along with an article relating to some research trips the team did in preparation for the future development.

Okay, so what have you been up to you might ask? Everyone has been hard at work getting new maps, art assets, animations, and a plethora of other items.So, how about we just show you some of the stuff we have been working on since we last did our recap back in January!





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbGVO_MAou4

Beginning this month, work is well underway taking the new Animation System from the prototype stage to actual implementation. Prior to this we've been experimenting and producing all new animation assets that conform to the requirements set by this new system, in order to produce a far more streamlined, dynamic system for players, artists and future modders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw_YrtfveiQ

As a consequence of such a major overhaul, all the animations relating to weapons and vehicles needed to be overhauled (in essence 're-animated'). Here's a little taste of what to expect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm64d4OBgdA

Bipods are a highly requested feature from the Community that we're working on. Our aim for this first iteration is to have a way for Light Machine Guns to deploy onto any surface dynamically, and have the player swivel around a pivot point. This will dramatically increase the number of firing positions Automatic Riflemen will be able to have, as well as enjoying faster reload times while deployed. In addition Free-Look will tie in seamlessly with this system, allowing gunners far more situational awareness than otherwise if your view was locked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4gtBbA3GhY

Another feature that has come from creative experimenting has been melee. Our approach is going to be very simple, binding the attack to a single key press. Big bonus of this is that your shovels will also double as killing implements, allowing you to have those shovel wars you've been wanting for so long!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEqCN5H5cG8

Zeroing is another feature we're working on, where the player has the ability to set the range at which their weapon's sights are aligned to. The PPSH-41 has flip sight with two range settings, and was perfect for showing off this system.We're still a ways off, but the wheels are still turning!





Work has begun in earnest on one of our first helicopters, the UH-60M Blackhawk for the US Army. With a carrying capacity of 14 passengers and 1 pilot (11 dismounts + 4 crew, depending on how you look at it), this craft has the ability to ferry troops and supplies around the battlefield extremely quickly. It is still very early days regarding helicopters, but stay tuned for more updates down the line.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Ihfqs4xMU

The standard sidearm of the British Armed Forces as of early 2013, the Glock 17 Gen 4 (official designation L131A1) is an Austrian-made sidearm known for being reliable, light and easy to carry. Firing the 9mm Parabellum round with a magazine capacity of 17 rounds, it's one of the higher capacity sidearms going into the game.




A twin-barreled fully 360 degree traversable gun platform chambered in 23mm, this weapon can put out an immense amount of damage very quickly, suitable for shooting down slower aircraft or shredding light armour. A modern take on the older ZPU family of Anti-Aircraft guns, it typically is either configured as an emplacement, mounted onto armoured vehicles, or on the back of flatbed trucks or pickups.




The RPG-29 is a Russian made and exported dumb-fire rocket propelled grenade launcher. Firing a 105mm Tandem warhead similar to RPG-7 ingame, it is designed to defeat the toughest of modern armour at short to medium ranges going out to 500m.







Our urban Eastern European map is coming along really well. The bulk of the playable area is almost complete and the hope is to have Narva Version 1 to the testers in the next few weeks. Players can expect a mix of urban residential, commercial, and industrial areas all blended into a map that should cater to a variety of play styles. As with its real world counterpart, Narva will feature a historic castle, a dense train yard, multi-story residential buildings, tree-lined streets, and the overall feel that is unmistakably Eastern European.




Al Basrah has been received unbelievably well since its release! After taking into account feedback from the community, we are making some gameplay adjustments involving relocation of the Insurgent and US Mains, as well as completely expanding the south end of the city. The US main has been relocated slightly north of its current position to extend travel time as well. With these newly expanded areas new flag layouts will follow, along with the highly anticipated Insurgency gamemode.

And this is just our first step into expanding Al Basrah!




Phew, that is some amazing stuff the team is working on. I hope all of you are as excited about all of the fantastic things we are currently working as we are! We cannot wait to get this done and out to the public. Expect more in the coming months because we are not done yet showing off all of the amazing things we are doing.

Hi Squaddies,

I know, I know, you might be thinking "Finally, what took so long?" Well, development has been pretty crazy recently. There is a lot of work currently being done on some critical and fundamental systems that have required a significant portion of our team to focus on them.

Due to the complex nature of the work currently being done, we have decided to transition to smaller content related releases while we are all waiting on v10, including videos, Dev blogs, and articles.

One of the first steps towards this was to release a small content patch that came with some highly anticipated systems, such as mortars and IEDs in v9.4. Alpha 9.4 proceeded an experimental event along with an article relating to some research trips the team did in preparation for the future development.

Okay, so what have you been up to you might ask? Everyone has been hard at work getting new maps, art assets, animations, and a plethora of other items.So, how about we just show you some of the stuff we have been working on since we last did our recap back in January!





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbGVO_MAou4

Beginning this month, work is well underway taking the new Animation System from the prototype stage to actual implementation. Prior to this we've been experimenting and producing all new animation assets that conform to the requirements set by this new system, in order to produce a far more streamlined, dynamic system for players, artists and future modders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw_YrtfveiQ

As a consequence of such a major overhaul, all the animations relating to weapons and vehicles needed to be overhauled (in essence 're-animated'). Here's a little taste of what to expect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm64d4OBgdA

Bipods are a highly requested feature from the Community that we're working on. Our aim for this first iteration is to have a way for Light Machine Guns to deploy onto any surface dynamically, and have the player swivel around a pivot point. This will dramatically increase the number of firing positions Automatic Riflemen will be able to have, as well as enjoying faster reload times while deployed. In addition Free-Look will tie in seamlessly with this system, allowing gunners far more situational awareness than otherwise if your view was locked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4gtBbA3GhY

Another feature that has come from creative experimenting has been melee. Our approach is going to be very simple, binding the attack to a single key press. Big bonus of this is that your shovels will also double as killing implements, allowing you to have those shovel wars you've been wanting for so long!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEqCN5H5cG8

Zeroing is another feature we're working on, where the player has the ability to set the range at which their weapon's sights are aligned to. The PPSH-41 has flip sight with two range settings, and was perfect for showing off this system.We're still a ways off, but the wheels are still turning!





Work has begun in earnest on one of our first helicopters, the UH-60M Blackhawk for the US Army. With a carrying capacity of 14 passengers and 1 pilot (11 dismounts + 4 crew, depending on how you look at it), this craft has the ability to ferry troops and supplies around the battlefield extremely quickly. It is still very early days regarding helicopters, but stay tuned for more updates down the line.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Ihfqs4xMU

The standard sidearm of the British Armed Forces as of early 2013, the Glock 17 Gen 4 (official designation L131A1) is an Austrian-made sidearm known for being reliable, light and easy to carry. Firing the 9mm Parabellum round with a magazine capacity of 17 rounds, it's one of the higher capacity sidearms going into the game.




A twin-barreled fully 360 degree traversable gun platform chambered in 23mm, this weapon can put out an immense amount of damage very quickly, suitable for shooting down slower aircraft or shredding light armour. A modern take on the older ZPU family of Anti-Aircraft guns, it typically is either configured as an emplacement, mounted onto armoured vehicles, or on the back of flatbed trucks or pickups.




The RPG-29 is a Russian made and exported dumb-fire rocket propelled grenade launcher. Firing a 105mm Tandem warhead similar to RPG-7 ingame, it is designed to defeat the toughest of modern armour at short to medium ranges going out to 500m.







Our urban Eastern European map is coming along really well. The bulk of the playable area is almost complete and the hope is to have Narva Version 1 to the testers in the next few weeks. Players can expect a mix of urban residential, commercial, and industrial areas all blended into a map that should cater to a variety of play styles. As with its real world counterpart, Narva will feature a historic castle, a dense train yard, multi-story residential buildings, tree-lined streets, and the overall feel that is unmistakably Eastern European.




Al Basrah has been received unbelievably well since its release! After taking into account feedback from the community, we are making some gameplay adjustments involving relocation of the Insurgent and US Mains, as well as completely expanding the south end of the city. The US main has been relocated slightly north of its current position to extend travel time as well. With these newly expanded areas new flag layouts will follow, along with the highly anticipated Insurgency gamemode.

And this is just our first step into expanding Al Basrah!




Phew, that is some amazing stuff the team is working on. I hope all of you are as excited about all of the fantastic things we are currently working as we are! We cannot wait to get this done and out to the public. Expect more in the coming months because we are not done yet showing off all of the amazing things we are doing.

Hi Squaddies,

In a surprise turn of events, we have yet another content release in the form of Alpha Version 9.4!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix9I5A3mivo

While we have been hard at work getting our big systems integrated for the upcoming v10 release, we just couldn't let you sit around for months and not get some cool stuff in the meantime. So some of us decided you guys need some juicy new toys for all factions including mortars, mines, IEDs and a few new vehicles to boot. Additionally, we have made some gameplay changes and balance tweaks to further improve upon what we did with v9.

Version 9.4 is now available via Steam. Please always reset your appdata in the game settings on every new build!

• All vehicles in the game have had a ticket reduction, some more than others. Check out this reference sheet for details.
  
  
  
  
• All Recruit kits now have an entrenchment tool so they have a better chance of getting a kit back after a squad kick/leave.
• When a Heavy Anti Tank (HAT) directly hits an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC; Stryker, MTLB, BTR variants) it will no longer instantly blow up. The vehicle will burn up and be destroyed, but now the crew and passengers has a chance to get out and fight through the ambush.
• Heavy Anti Tank kit moved to the Fire Support category so that the squad must think a little harder on which kits they want in the squad and what they will have to be without.
• Heavy Anti Tank kit is now limited to max of 1 per team, it still unlocks at 20 players on your team.
• All medics now have one fragmentation grenade.
• Reduced fragmentation grenades from 2 to 1 for the Scout kit.
• Limited the Scout kit to a maximum of 6 per team.
• Increased the limit on the Scout kit from 3 to 4 squad members before it is available.
• Added 1 TM-62 anti tank mine, one large IED, an IED phone detonator and 5 decoy rocks to the Scout kit.
  
  
  
  
• Added Deployable rocks and covers to the scout class for mine concealment
• A Scout can have up to 3 anti tank mines deployed at any time, up to 5 decoys deployed at any time and only 1 large IED on the map at a time. Placing a new one will remove the oldest from the world. When you have placed a mine or IED you can dig it further into the ground to help conceal it, or leave it in plain sight to attempt to spook and funnel enemies into your other explosives or ambushes. This also means that your enemies can dig them up and thus neutralize them.
• Added M1937 82mm Mortar for Insurgents and Militia, 2B14 Podnos 82mm Mortar for Russia and M252 81mm Mortar for the US army. Costs 300 construction points and are limited to 2 per FOB.Mortars come with a 'magazine' of 3 rounds at the ready, reloading this magazine costs 90 ammo points from the FOB.
• The current set of mortars in Squad has about 1230m effective range on a level surface, you will have to migrate your fire support battery to a closer FOB if you cannot reach your target. All mortars fires standard High Explosive rounds - more options will be available in the future. Tip: using the arrow keys on your keyboard will add/subtract 1 mil from your current angle.
  
  
  
  
• Added M-ATV MRAP Heavy Jeep for US, comes both with and without CROWS.
  
  
  
  
• Added MT-LBM 6MA variant (armed with a KPVT 14.5mm turret) for Russia.
• All main bases now have a no deployable zone.
• Decreased volume of engine sounds when inside a vehicle
• Changed the way RPG-7 and SPG-9 rockets behave. Previously they all had too high muzzle velocity, now they have an accurate and lower muzzle velocity and a rocket assisted boost after leaving the barrel. There is greater differentiation between the different round types. Fragmentation rockets fly the straightest, HEATs drop a bit more and the heavy Tandem Round finally feels as fat as it looks.
• Reduced the rearming time on 30mm cannons to be more in line with the other vehicles
• Added randomized deflection for penetrating projectiles. Upon exiting a material a bullet will deflect depending on the material and the caliber of the weapon. A good rule of thumb is that the bigger the caliber the straighter it will continue to fly through objects because of its momentum.
  
  

• Created a no deployables zone that stops deployables from being used near main bases and caches.
• Added better benchmarking that now runs on your first run of the game, or when manually triggered, instead of defaulting all players to epic settings.
• Sorted all deployables into subcategories to allow for more options.
• Added rocket acceleration to rocket projectiles.
• Added Invasion gamemode and ruleset.
• Made team score not scroll on the scoreboard
• Added turret sounds to the BTR

• Updated the map grid system to be dynamic and more consistent for all map layers, there is now Major (300m), Minor (100m), Sub (33m) grids.
• Added dynamic map scale legend.
• Added grid reading to the map, the map will now show your current location player location or the location of your mouse on the map if in the spawn screen.
• Added a green 'Request Fire mission' marker for Squad Leaders to use when communicating with mortar squad. Easier to differentiate than calling out which MG marker you want to fire at.
• Added Enemy Mortar Spotted marker for marking enemy artillery positions.
• Added a Vehicle Health Bar for when you're inside a vehicle.

• Ambient Audio overhaul on maps Kokan and Al Basrah
• Modified 3p pistol fire sounds and added new Makarov fire sounds
• Modified M2 HMG close up fire sounds
• New .50cal bullet snaps
• Added Mortar sounds; fire and explosion sounds. New incoming projectile sound system with sound triggers at certain heights.
• Added Mine explosion sounds

• Gorodok AASv1 and AASv2 layers have been adjusted to increase frequency of combat.
• New Lighting has been done for all Al Basrah layers.
• Relight on Yehorivka AASv2 as it was too dark
• Replaced trees on fools road with more 'old growth' feel. Quite different!
• Jensen's Range has been dramatically upgraded functionally, as well as to include signage intended to help new players
• New game mode has been added called 'Invasion'. This game mode bears resemblance to Kohat AASv2 Radio Tower. One 'underpowered' side starts with all but the first flag and the attacking team needs to capture all flags in order to reach the last objective to win.
• Maps containing Invasion game mode: Al Basrah, Chora AASv2 Night has been converted to Invasion, Kohat AASv2 Radio Tower renamed to Invasion, Gorodok, and Yeho.
  
  
  
• INS and MIL have had their base global tickets increased by 50-75 tickets on primary AAS layers to account for their unconventional nature.
• Expanded storage site on Yeho AASv1 to incorporate the entire area.
• Conquest layers have had their tickets increased for both teams from 500 to 800.
• Logistical trucks have been added to all INF layers for future proofing and general gameplay.

• Fixed game mode rules often not being shown or being showed incorrectly
• Fixed map legend not working
• Fixed radial menu tooltips not working
• Fixed the stamina widget showing when dead or in vehicles
• Fixed shovels not finding the collision of deployables properly, it is now much easier to use the shovel.
• Fixed insurgency cache spawning
• Fixed many causes of soldiers getting offset in vehicles after getting ragdolled
• Fixed movement code multipliers sometimes not applying correctly
• Fixed movement code bugging out when trying to sprint backwards (we now allow slow movement backwards in this case instead of the old bug)
• Fixed alignment issues in the grid system when zoomed in, you now get the correct grid at all times.
• Fixed various physmat assignments
• Fixed Flag loss component not awarding tickets when capturing a flag

See you all in the battlefield!

Hi Squaddies,

In a surprise turn of events, we have yet another content release in the form of Alpha Version 9.4!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix9I5A3mivo

While we have been hard at work getting our big systems integrated for the upcoming v10 release, we just couldn't let you sit around for months and not get some cool stuff in the meantime. So some of us decided you guys need some juicy new toys for all factions including mortars, mines, IEDs and a few new vehicles to boot. Additionally, we have made some gameplay changes and balance tweaks to further improve upon what we did with v9.

Version 9.4 is now available via Steam. Please always reset your appdata in the game settings on every new build!

• All vehicles in the game have had a ticket reduction, some more than others. Check out this reference sheet for details.
  
  
  
  
• All Recruit kits now have an entrenchment tool so they have a better chance of getting a kit back after a squad kick/leave.
• When a Heavy Anti Tank (HAT) directly hits an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC; Stryker, MTLB, BTR variants) it will no longer instantly blow up. The vehicle will burn up and be destroyed, but now the crew and passengers has a chance to get out and fight through the ambush.
• Heavy Anti Tank kit moved to the Fire Support category so that the squad must think a little harder on which kits they want in the squad and what they will have to be without.
• Heavy Anti Tank kit is now limited to max of 1 per team, it still unlocks at 20 players on your team.
• All medics now have one fragmentation grenade.
• Reduced fragmentation grenades from 2 to 1 for the Scout kit.
• Limited the Scout kit to a maximum of 6 per team.
• Increased the limit on the Scout kit from 3 to 4 squad members before it is available.
• Added 1 TM-62 anti tank mine, one large IED, an IED phone detonator and 5 decoy rocks to the Scout kit.
  
  
  
  
• Added Deployable rocks and covers to the scout class for mine concealment
• A Scout can have up to 3 anti tank mines deployed at any time, up to 5 decoys deployed at any time and only 1 large IED on the map at a time. Placing a new one will remove the oldest from the world. When you have placed a mine or IED you can dig it further into the ground to help conceal it, or leave it in plain sight to attempt to spook and funnel enemies into your other explosives or ambushes. This also means that your enemies can dig them up and thus neutralize them.
• Added M1937 82mm Mortar for Insurgents and Militia, 2B14 Podnos 82mm Mortar for Russia and M252 81mm Mortar for the US army. Costs 300 construction points and are limited to 2 per FOB.Mortars come with a 'magazine' of 3 rounds at the ready, reloading this magazine costs 90 ammo points from the FOB.
• The current set of mortars in Squad has about 1230m effective range on a level surface, you will have to migrate your fire support battery to a closer FOB if you cannot reach your target. All mortars fires standard High Explosive rounds - more options will be available in the future. Tip: using the arrow keys on your keyboard will add/subtract 1 mil from your current angle.
  
  
  
  
• Added M-ATV MRAP Heavy Jeep for US, comes both with and without CROWS.
  
  
  
  
• Added MT-LBM 6MA variant (armed with a KPVT 14.5mm turret) for Russia.
• All main bases now have a no deployable zone.
• Decreased volume of engine sounds when inside a vehicle
• Changed the way RPG-7 and SPG-9 rockets behave. Previously they all had too high muzzle velocity, now they have an accurate and lower muzzle velocity and a rocket assisted boost after leaving the barrel. There is greater differentiation between the different round types. Fragmentation rockets fly the straightest, HEATs drop a bit more and the heavy Tandem Round finally feels as fat as it looks.
• Reduced the rearming time on 30mm cannons to be more in line with the other vehicles
• Added randomized deflection for penetrating projectiles. Upon exiting a material a bullet will deflect depending on the material and the caliber of the weapon. A good rule of thumb is that the bigger the caliber the straighter it will continue to fly through objects because of its momentum.
  
  

• Created a no deployables zone that stops deployables from being used near main bases and caches.
• Added better benchmarking that now runs on your first run of the game, or when manually triggered, instead of defaulting all players to epic settings.
• Sorted all deployables into subcategories to allow for more options.
• Added rocket acceleration to rocket projectiles.
• Added Invasion gamemode and ruleset.
• Made team score not scroll on the scoreboard
• Added turret sounds to the BTR

• Updated the map grid system to be dynamic and more consistent for all map layers, there is now Major (300m), Minor (100m), Sub (33m) grids.
• Added dynamic map scale legend.
• Added grid reading to the map, the map will now show your current location player location or the location of your mouse on the map if in the spawn screen.
• Added a green 'Request Fire mission' marker for Squad Leaders to use when communicating with mortar squad. Easier to differentiate than calling out which MG marker you want to fire at.
• Added Enemy Mortar Spotted marker for marking enemy artillery positions.
• Added a Vehicle Health Bar for when you're inside a vehicle.

• Ambient Audio overhaul on maps Kokan and Al Basrah
• Modified 3p pistol fire sounds and added new Makarov fire sounds
• Modified M2 HMG close up fire sounds
• New .50cal bullet snaps
• Added Mortar sounds; fire and explosion sounds. New incoming projectile sound system with sound triggers at certain heights.
• Added Mine explosion sounds

• Gorodok AASv1 and AASv2 layers have been adjusted to increase frequency of combat.
• New Lighting has been done for all Al Basrah layers.
• Relight on Yehorivka AASv2 as it was too dark
• Replaced trees on fools road with more 'old growth' feel. Quite different!
• Jensen's Range has been dramatically upgraded functionally, as well as to include signage intended to help new players
• New game mode has been added called 'Invasion'. This game mode bears resemblance to Kohat AASv2 Radio Tower. One 'underpowered' side starts with all but the first flag and the attacking team needs to capture all flags in order to reach the last objective to win.
• Maps containing Invasion game mode: Al Basrah, Chora AASv2 Night has been converted to Invasion, Kohat AASv2 Radio Tower renamed to Invasion, Gorodok, and Yeho.
  
  
  
• INS and MIL have had their base global tickets increased by 50-75 tickets on primary AAS layers to account for their unconventional nature.
• Expanded storage site on Yeho AASv1 to incorporate the entire area.
• Conquest layers have had their tickets increased for both teams from 500 to 800.
• Logistical trucks have been added to all INF layers for future proofing and general gameplay.

• Fixed game mode rules often not being shown or being showed incorrectly
• Fixed map legend not working
• Fixed radial menu tooltips not working
• Fixed the stamina widget showing when dead or in vehicles
• Fixed shovels not finding the collision of deployables properly, it is now much easier to use the shovel.
• Fixed insurgency cache spawning
• Fixed many causes of soldiers getting offset in vehicles after getting ragdolled
• Fixed movement code multipliers sometimes not applying correctly
• Fixed movement code bugging out when trying to sprint backwards (we now allow slow movement backwards in this case instead of the old bug)
• Fixed alignment issues in the grid system when zoomed in, you now get the correct grid at all times.
• Fixed various physmat assignments
• Fixed Flag loss component not awarding tickets when capturing a flag

See you all in the battlefield!

Hi Squaddies!

It's time for another Squad update and special event announcement!

In conjunction with several of our community partners we are excited to announce a special game mode testing event this coming Sunday, April 30th at 2 PM PST.

Our community partners came up with some ideas that we've crafted into two very simple gameplay layers, so on Sunday we're all about stretching the boundaries of everyday Squad play to test an experimental map and game mode!








Designed by our very own DesmoLocke, this layer consists of enough vehicles to mount an entire team in extended vehicular warfare. With 50 vehicles, 1000 tickets, and 3 very large control zones, we are certain to get into some wild adventures!








Combining ideas from a few of our partners, this game mode will consist of 7 conquest flags occupying hilltops. Each team will be allowed 10 minutes to pre-build bases on their two round start control points, after which a global combat barrier will drop and teams will be free to attack each other.

We're looking forward to hearing what you think of the new game modes, so don't be shy if you've got feedback after it all goes down. Whether you're playing or watching, we hope everyone enjoys the experiments we'll be streaming on Twitch this Sunday, April 30th!

Hi Squaddies!

It's time for another Squad update and special event announcement!

In conjunction with several of our community partners we are excited to announce a special game mode testing event this coming Sunday, April 30th at 2 PM PST.

Our community partners came up with some ideas that we've crafted into two very simple gameplay layers, so on Sunday we're all about stretching the boundaries of everyday Squad play to test an experimental map and game mode!








Designed by our very own DesmoLocke, this layer consists of enough vehicles to mount an entire team in extended vehicular warfare. With 50 vehicles, 1000 tickets, and 3 very large control zones, we are certain to get into some wild adventures!








Combining ideas from a few of our partners, this game mode will consist of 7 conquest flags occupying hilltops. Each team will be allowed 10 minutes to pre-build bases on their two round start control points, after which a global combat barrier will drop and teams will be free to attack each other.

We're looking forward to hearing what you think of the new game modes, so don't be shy if you've got feedback after it all goes down. Whether you're playing or watching, we hope everyone enjoys the experiments we'll be streaming on Twitch this Sunday, April 30th!