Nov 2, 2018

Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB

(The media-enabled version of this post is available at http://joinsquad.com/readArticle?articleId=317.)

Hey soldiers!

Now that the Halloween sugar rushes are wearing off, it's time to unwrap the Recap! With the periodic technical tests going on, many of you have had a chance to see some of what Alpha 12 is bringing to Squad (Spoiler: It's a lot.), but how do you get the whole overview? Well, we've compiled the list of changes and, without further ado, the full changelog!

Full Changelog

Gameplay

Rally Points (RPs) are now set to Wave Spawns. When a Rally Point is deployed, a timer will begin to count down from 60 seconds continuously. Dead squadmates can select the Rally Point, hit the spawn confirmation, and will spawn when the Wave timer hits 0. Minimum time to wait is 20 seconds. For example, if the Rally Point timer is at 15 seconds when you died, you will have to wait until the timer resets and reaches 0 again. Rally Points now have unlimited spawns
Persistent Ammunition has been implemented for infantry. Spawning at the Main Base will always spawn you with a full ammo loadout. Soldiers spawning on a FOB or Rally Point will spawn with the same amount of ammo they had when they last died. Even if a Soldier expends all ammunition, they will ALWAYS spawn with a minimum of 2 bandages and 3 rifle magazines. If a Soldier swaps kit while in Deploy screen he will spawn with the above minimum loadout. This ultimately means that players respawning at a Rally Point or FOB will need to seek resupply before going back into the fight.
Infantry Rearming now costs only as many ammo points as you used. You can see how much it will cost to rearm in your inventory sidebar. A rough guide:
- Rifle Mag: 2pts
- Bandage: 5pts
- Frag/Smoke Grenades: 10pts
- AT Rocket: 50pts
- HAT Rocket: 100pts.
All Riflemen now have ammo bags. Place them on the ground and any friendly player can rearm from them. A limit of 100 ammo points per bag exists and players can only have 1 ammo bag in the world at any time. Rifleman can have only 1 ammo bag in their inventory and pick up the ammo bag again at any time. Sandbags are the only item that cannot be rearmed from ammo bags.
Field Dressings (Bandages) are now the tool to revive incapacitated teammates. Any soldier can use a field dressing to revive a downed teammate. Equip the field dressing and left-click and HOLD on the incapacitated teammate to revive them. The Medic takes much less time to revive, while all other roles take much longer. Field Dressings are still used to stop bleeding. Revived players have very low health and cannot regenerate stamina until they have some healing from a medic, which will dramatically affect their ability to perform in combat.
FOB spawns are now disabled when 2 or more enemies are within 30 meters radius of the HAB. If the enemies leave the 30m radius, is killed, or incapacitated, the spawn point is re-enabled.
FOBs now have a max capacity of 20,000pts for Construction and Ammo each.
Random AAS map layers introduce a mode where the flag layout will differ each time with a variety of flag objective combinations. Normal AAS layers will still have the normal static flag layouts.
Suppression will affect the way you take incoming fire now. When being shot at, incoming rounds will interrupt your aiming by increasing the amount of sway you experience. The more rounds fired at you, the more suppression you will experience. Larger caliber rounds will generate more of a suppression effect on you. You will not experience suppression if the fire is coming in from less than 10m away. Friendly forces will not be able to suppress you.
Added physmat dependent rolling resistance for vehicles. Wheeled vehicles will roll much better on asphalt than on mud or snow. Wheeled vehicles are more affected by this than tracked vehicles. The lowest resistance is on asphalt, concrete, and solid wood. Gravel comes next, then dirt and grass. Sand and snow are where you're really starting to suffer. Lastly, mud has the highest resistance and is terrible to drive on. For non-off-road vehicles, this change will have a significant impact on their ability to zip across maps at insane speeds and help to promote the use of roads.
All Vehicle drivers can now use "SHIFT" (Default) key to maintain the current gear. E.g., Holding "SHIFT" while in 1st gear to drive slowly with the infantry, or to have high torque for hill climbing.

Systems

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/originrebasing.jpg

Added World Origin Rebasing. As a player moves further from the map's "origin point," there is a subtle but exponential increase in tiny deviations or "scope jitter," especially when looking through powerful optics. This gets much more dramatic as map sizes scale up and makes for frustrating gameplay when trying to fire weapons more precisely. World Origin Rebasing essentially repositions the origin of the world for each player dynamically to reduce the distance between the origin and the player, fixing the jitter that you experience in things like magnified optics, player animations, and nametags.
Implemented parts of the new system CoreState that will allow for less load on server and client CPU.
Bullet penetration system has been updated to be more reliable and allow for things like exit penetration effects and penetration through multiple objects and surfaces.
Improved accuracy on detecting when to update the soldier movement component.

Roles and Weapons

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_weapons.jpg

New Weapon: RPG-29. A Heavy Anti-Tank role for the Insurgents. This weapon complements the lighter RPG-7 system, firing a huge 105mm tandem warhead projectile with more accuracy and further ranges (500m) than the RPG-7 counterpart (150m).
New Weapon: FAL. A 20 round capacity gas-operated battle rifle from the 1950s. While it is characteristically similar to the German G3A3, aesthetically it is a different beast altogether and it can be found on the Militia Squad Leader, Militia Medic and Insurgent Fighter roles.
New Weapon: L22A2. An ultra-short carbine variant of the L85A2 series. It is designed for vehicle crewmen and sports a significantly cut down barrel and integrated foregrip.
New Weapon: SKS PU-1 3.5x Scope. A SKS with an old PU-1 optic mounted on the side. This old WW2 era sight can be ranged out to 1000m and almost turns the SKS into a low caliber designated marksman rifle. Available to Insurgent and Militia Scouts and Squad Leaders.
New Weapon: RPG7v2 PGO-7 2.8x Scope. The RPG-7V2 package adds the PGO-7 2.8x optic to the launcher, for both Russian LAT and HAT roles. This allows Russian anti-tank gunners to better acquire targets and account for distance with the built-in projectile drop compensator reticle. This reticle accounts for all ammunition types.
New Weapon: M4 Classic Handguard M68M. For the Militia Squad Leader, a M68 has been mounted on the classic iron sights carry handle for much better target acquisition in CQB.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_crewmen.jpg
New Soldier Characters: All Crewman roles have new unique soldier characters with helmets designed for operations in vehicles.
Squad Leaders and riflemen can access scoped rifles at 3 players (with another scoped rifle available at 6 players) in the squad.
Projectiles now decelerate over distance. As a consequence, optic sight reticles have been tweaked to account for this change. In general, weapons have a slightly flatter trajectory for the first few hundred meters, but dramatically drop off.
Tweaked third person weapon locations for almost all weapons.
Tweaked gunshot sounds at various ranges for the AK-74, AKM, M4, G3 series, PKM, and M240 GPMG series.
Tweaked the look of the M68 Aimpoint, giving it a proper tube-like effect when looking through it.
Widened rear sight apertures and brought the sights on the G3, AK74, AKM and RPK series closer to the screen, making it easier to acquire a target when sighting with these weapons.
Redid audio on the Field Dressings and added an additional part to the animation when reviving other players vs just stopping the bleeding.

Vehicles

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_vehicles.jpg

Damageable components have been added to all vehicles. All vehicles have now a damageable engine compartment and all applicable vehicles (typically IFVs and Tanks) have a damageable ammunition storage compartment. Damaging the engine will cause the vehicle to lose its max speed and have severely hampered mobility while destroying a vehicle's ammo storage will deal critical damage to the vehicle and typically would lead to total destruction.
Crewman kits now have a Repair Toolbox that can be used to repair Vehicle Hull and Vehicle Components. Left-click and hold on any vehicle that has been severely damaged. The Repair Toolbox will only repair vehicle Hulls back to 25% health and Vehicle engines up to 50% health. Repair Toolbox will not repair beyond that, so you will have to bring the vehicle back to Vehicle Repair Depot to get back to 100% fighting strength.
Smoke Generators are available to almost all tracked and heavy wheeled vehicles. These are available to the driver and give the ability to quickly deploy a smoke screen from the exhaust pipe that trails along with the vehicle. This can be used as a means of retreat for the vehicle or as a way to cover infantry in an advance. The engine must be turned on in order to use the smoke generator, which produces 30 seconds of continuous smoke with a full load.
Turret Stabilization has been implemented on all vehicle turrets that have them in reality. This means the M1A2 Abrams, T72B3, BTR-82A, MTLB 6MB 30mm, M1126 Stryker CROWS, MATV CROWS and Bradley IFV (with the FV510 and KPVT turreted vehicles being the exception). Players will need to turn on stabilization upon entering the gunner or commander seats of these vehicles (Default: Z). When stabilization is turned on, the gun will attempt to stabilize its orientation independent of what the base vehicle is doing as it is moving, as well as compensate for recoil.
Hunter-Killer Feature: For M1A2 Abrams, T72B3 and Bradley IFV Gunners and Commanders in stabilized turret&semi; they have the ability to designate and slew to each others' views. Pressing "Designate Target for Gunner" (Default: Spacebar) will force the other crew member to turn to what you are looking at and "Set View on Designated Target" (Default: E) will turn your own gun to what the other crew member is viewing. This system is intended to strengthen the bond between gunner and commander and for the commander to properly prioritise targets when in combat.
New Vehicle: M1A2 Abrams, a US Army Main Battle Tank. This tank has a 3-man crew (Driver, Gunner, and Vehicle Commander) and comes equipped with a turret-stabilized manually loaded 120mm smoothbore cannon capable of firing armor-piercing sabot and high explosive anti-tank rounds. The Vehicle Commander has an M2A1 Browning .50cal heavy machine gun mounted on a remote weapons system, allowing for full 360-degree traversal and zoom capability. The loader's seat (while not required to actually load the cannon) is an extra seat on the turret with its own M240 machine gun.
New Vehicle: T72-B3, a Russian Main Battle Tank. This tank has a 3-man crew (Driver, Gunner and Vehicle Commander) and features a turret-stabilized 125mm smoothbore cannon fed by an auto-loader. The cannon can fire an array of different ammunition types ranging from armor-piercing sabot rounds to high explosive anti-tank, anti-infantry fragmentation rounds and even the 9M119M Refleks anti-tank laser-guided missile. In addition to this large arsenal to its main gun, the gunner has the usual 7.62mm PKT coaxial machine gun and smoke grenade launchers. In comparison to the Abrams, the T72B3 is a much lower profile tank, almost 2/3rds the height and weight. Its autoloader is slightly slower than a human loader and also presents a vulnerability with the ammunition stored directly below the turret.
New Vehicle: FV432, a British Armored Personnel Carrier. The FV432 is a heavily armored APC that can carry up to 10 passengers, as well as the driver. The vehicle has a turret mounted .50cal M2A1 Browning manned by one of the passengers.
Commander seats have been added to the Bradley and Warrior, allowing another vehicle crewman to act as a third pair of eyes for the vehicle as well as having the ability to launch smoke grenades
The Bradley IFV gunner now has a new ballistic reticle to help aim shots over long distances.
The M2A1 Browning CROWS gunner also has a new ballistic reticle to help aim shots over long distances.
Rocket Artillery Technical has been improved with the spread of the rockets tightened significantly and the velocity increased greatly.
Desert textures have been added to all British vehicles to have them better blend into their combat environments.
Additional seats have been added to all Logistics trucks in an effort to combine the properties of the transport trucks and logistics. Supply capacity on Logistics trucks has been increased to 3000.
Decoration in the form of ammo boxes, ropes, infantry gear, and camo-netting has been added to almost every vehicle to give their look a bit more life and character.
Camera shake and blast damage have been added to large 25mm/30mm autocannons. Don't stand too close!
Recoil is now visual for all autocannons and HMGs. What the player sees as recoil is induced by camera shake from the firing action.
Driver can now see how much ammo points in total the vehicle requires to be fully rearmed with ammo point cost is displayed on the speedometer. The Gunner can also see how much ammo points in total the vehicle requires to be fully rearmed, displayed in the inventory sidebar.
Vehicle wrecks have been improved visually, allowing for the orientation of the turret and gun to be preserved at moment of death.

Deployables

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_kornet.jpg

New Weapon Emplacement: 9M113 Kornet ATGM. A laser-guided anti-tank guided missile for the Russian forces. One advantage this system has over the TOW is the ability for the gunner to be behind cover and still have the ability to fire, making it a little more operator-friendly in battle.
Emplacements will start empty and unloaded upon finishing construction. This means the player upon entering will start the reload cycle if there is enough ammunition from the FOB to draw upon.
Sandbag and Razor Wire Emplacements are now more resilient to fragmentation projectiles.

Mapping

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_maps.jpg

New Map: Tallil Outskirts: This map is based on Tallil Air Base and its historic role in the South Iraqi region during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, the 1990s Gulf War, and as a joint Iraq-U.S. airfield today. The most predominant features are its massive aircraft bunkers and defensive positions surrounded by mostly open sandy desert, rocky outcrops, and villages. The map's focus is on vehicle-based combat, but infantry squads that work in conjunction with armored units will find great success on the battlefields of Tallil.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_tallil.jpg
Map Update: Yehorivka: Expanded the playable area to 5x5 km, which opens up a lot of new possibilities for new gameplay layers and completely new flag areas to fight over. The Storage Site area has been replaced with smaller profile villages and hamlets. In addition to accommodating larger vehicles, we're providing more cover for infantry with new points of interest and better forests and ditches.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_yeho.jpg
Map Update: Belaya Pass: Changes include lessening the snow coverage, adding more foliage for concealment when maneuvering between flags, and also roughening the terrain to give more opportunities for cover when crossing open ground.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_belaya.jpg
Map Update: Kohat Toi River Valley: The main base in the northeast has been moved back and reconfigured so that vehicles can't take advantage of the high vantage point and aren't subject to danger immediately upon leaving main. Also, the original scrubland trees have been replaced with a newer, more collision-friendly variety.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_kohat.jpg
Map Update: Jensen's Range has been overhauled. The most notable change is the addition of surrounding terrain as a backdrop, but also we've added a number of additional ranges to the map, including a MOUT training field with multi-story buildings, an indoor kill-house with a linear path to work those CQB skills, a new driving track, and a 1.5km open range with elevation for vehicles.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Nov/Recap/a12_jensens.jpg
New Skirmish layers have been added to a variety of maps including Tallil, Narva, Kohat and Yehorivka. Perfect for seeding servers or low population gameplay.
Operation First Light has been retired from the official map rotation.

User Interface

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/fireteams.jpg

A new Team Selection Menu has been added upon joining a server. This has information on the map, game mode, as well as the factions from which you can choose.
The Deployment Menu has been completely overhauled visually. There is a separate tab called Role Loadouts for players to choose their role, but also to preview the role inventory and character model.
Fireteam organisation has been added. Fireteams can be created dynamically by the Squad leader dragging and dropping players from the Squad list into their desired fireteam, or via right-click menu. Fireteams are hidden by default and are a totally optional feature for those wishing more control over their squad.
- Fireteam leaders do not have a special kit: they are just a designation that the Squad Leader can give to any member of their squad.
- Fireteam leaders will be able to place (and delete) their own fireteams Move, Attack, Defend, Observe, Build commands via the Command UI map screen and the 3D HUD T-menu.
- Squad Leaders have the ability to override Fireteam leaders markers with their own squad-wide order marker. (Visually distinct from FT specific order markers.)
- Squad leader can see and place all Fireteam markers, Fireteams see their own FT marker and the SL marker. Each of the four FTs is color and letter-coded, with the VOIP and nametags reflecting the appropriate FT assignment.
The Squad Leader map menu has been updated to a more sensible design with better tooltips and options to put down order markers for your Squad and Fireteams. More types of request markers (I.e., requesting ammunition, or requesting reinforcement, etc.) are also available.
Squad Leaders can now put down a team-visible Point-of-Interest marker that designates the squad that put it down, as well as its grid coordinates.
A new Command Menu has been added (Default: Capslock). Command Menu has the largest map layout. In the future, this will be used for commander functions. We want to continue building these tools to encourage Squad leaders working together, as well as encourage the use of the Command Menu.
FOBs now have the ability to show the amount of construction/ammo points they have, displayed above the FOB icon.
FOBs also can now display their buildable radius and the radius at which they exclude each other.
In addition, Squad Leaders can now place a "Request FOB" marker which will display via 2 yellow dotted circles, the build diameter and exclusion zone diameter of that potential FOB location.
"Map Filter" buttons above the map that can be turned on and off to best suit the current needs.
Players will have the option to view all player markers on the map as their appropriate role's icons.
Players who are not in command positions (I.e., not Squad Leaders or Fireteam Leaders) have the ability to ping the map by right-clicking. This ping has a cooldown of about 6 seconds and can be used to communicate map positions to anyone in the squad.
Moved the grid display of mouse position next to the actual mouse cursor on maps that allow for mouse usage.
All minimaps have been updated for better definition of roads and structures.
Roaming Map ("M" Map) now has mouse-wheel zoom functionality.
FOBs and HABs that have their spawns blocked now show that state on the map.
Added a timer countdown to next map load at the bottom of the scoreboard at the end of the round.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a performance hitch whenever certain animations were called that required a holding pose. (E.g., Holding a grenade before throwing it.)
Fixed healing and bandaging animations not playing in third-person for other players.
Fixed no Crewman kit warnings not showing sometimes.
Various fixes for Steam Inventory items.
Fixed some animation popping on the AK-74 series and the M4 series.
Fixed hand going through the scope during the PKP reload animation.

Miscellaneous

Localisation (Partial) for the following languages has been updated and added: Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Simplified & Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish and Ukrainian.
Different versions of Jensen's Range are selectable via the menu, depending on which faction you want to try out.
Added Message Of The Day (MOTD) for servers. Configurable by MOTD.cfg in ServerConfig of server installation.

Sign-off

Wow, that's a lot of changes! We'd like to offer a quick reminder that some of the above values may change during testing, so be sure to give us your feedback. As some of you know, testing is on-going with the intent to expand as soon as we can. If you've made it all the way to the end, go get yourself some R&R! You've earned it!

Offworld Out.

Oct 2, 2018

September 2018 Recap

Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB

(A media-rich version of this post can be found here)

Hey Squaddies,

Welcome to another Recap! Before we jump into the meat, a quick update on version 12: we're continuing through the internal playtesting phase and putting our new gameplay systems, UI, and engine-level changes through their paces.

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/a12trailer_teaser.gif

While we're still encountering a number of game-breaking bugs at the moment, our priority is to work through them, do further optimizations, and open up playtesting to our community playtesting group as soon as that becomes possible. Be sure to check out a list of some of the changes coming to Alpha 12 toward the bottom of the recap.

With that out of the way, let's roll!

Optimization

CoreState

Alpha 12 will see the introduction of a work-in-progress system of changes to network relevancy for various aspects of the game, ranging from players to inventory, in an effort to decrease server load and allow for us to reach our goal of having 100 player server limits, as well as increasing performance on the server end. This system allows for the passing of information about faraway soldiers and vehicles needed by user interface without fully replicating them. Expect work to continue on CoreState for awhile!

World Origin Rebasing

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/originrebasing.jpg

Jitter-haters, look no further. We are excited to reveal we have been working on a solution to the "Map Origin" problem.

This problem was something that was preventing us from achieving larger map sizes. As a player moves further from the map's "origin point," there is a subtle but exponential increase in tiny deviations or "scope jitter," especially when looking through powerful optics. This gets much more dramatic as map sizes scale up and makes for frustrating gameplay when trying to fire weapons more precisely.

We're implementing a solution called "World Origin Rebasing". It essentially repositions the origin of the world for each player dynamically, to reduce the distance between the origin and the player, fixing the jitter that you experience in things like magnified optics, player animations, and nametags.

Gameplay

Command Menu Screen

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/commandmenu.jpg

We mentioned this Menu Screen in the August Recap, and our gameplay and UI designers have spent September to really polish this screen to make it as useful and ergonomic as possible for Squad leaders. All players will have access to the new Command Menu screen, and Squad leaders will benefit from some extra features.

Command Menu's default key is Capslock for quick access (keybind is fully configurable in Control options)
Command Menu will have a listing of all squads, which can be clicked on to highlight player positions on the map. We want to continue building these tools to encourage Squad leaders working together
Squad leaders can now place a "Request FOB" marker which will display via 2 yellow dotted circles, the build diameter and exclusion zone diameter of that potential FOB location.
"Map Filter" buttons that can be turned on and off to best suit the current need
- "Show Spawn points" map filter will turn the selectable spawn points on and off
- "Show FOB Radius" map filter will show all FOBs build radius and exclusion zone radius
- "Show FOB Supply Points" map filter will show the construction and ammo supply status of all FOBs on the map.
- "Show All SL Markers" map filter is only available to SLs, and will show all the order markers placed by their SLs
- "Show player role icon" map filter will toggle all players on your team shown as their kit role icon or as a simple marker
- "Map Icon Scaling" will allow you granular control over how big or small the map widgets are displayed - useful for players to customize with 4k monitors or those that have unique display setups
- "Ticket Value Reference" is a legend for the values of all ticket loss and gain
- "Map Legend" is now showing a list of what each icon on the map represents, from infantry to vehicles to deployables.

Fireteam Functionality

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/fireteams.jpg

Fireteams will be fully functional in A12, our UI designers have been adding some really nice features that will be of major use for veteran players:

Fireteams can be created dynamically by the Squad leader with a menu option as well as a drag and drop feature. SL can use the new Command UI Map screen to click and drag a squad member and place them into Alpha Bravo Charlie or Delta
Fireteams are hidden by default and are a totally optional feature for those wishing more control over their squad
This same drag and drop feature can be used for internal Squad or Fireteam promotions.
Fireteam leaders do not have a special kit, they are just a designation that the Squad Leader can give to any member of their squad
Fireteam leaders will be able to place (and delete) their own fireteams Move, Attack, Defend, Observe, Build commands, both via the Command UI map screen and the 3D HUD T-menu.
Squad leader can see and place all Fireteam markers, Fireteams see their own FT marker and the SL marker.
Each of the four FTs is color and letter-coded, with the VOIP and nametags reflecting the appropriate FT assignment.

Physmat Dependent Vehicle Rolling Resistance
]We have recently incorporated [url]physmat dependent rolling resistance for vehicles. Vehicles will roll much better on asphalt than on mud or snow. Wheeled vehicles are more affected by this than tracked vehicles.

The lowest resistance is on asphalt, concrete, and solid wood. Gravel comes next, then dirt and grass. Sand and snow are where you're really starting to suffer. And last, but not least, mud has the highest resistance and is terrible to drive on. It's used, for example, in the riverbed in Gorodok, so this will help prevent unintentional river features from being used as a highway.

For non-off-road vehicles, this change will have a significant impact on their ability to zip across maps at insane speeds and help to promote the use of roads.

Vehicle Manual Override for Gearbox

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/enginethrottle.jpg

We wanted to have a more granular way for players to control how fast their vehicle is moving, and we achieved this by being able to manually hold the current gear a vehicle is in. For example, if an APC wanted to travel slowly at the pace of their infantry to provide a screen, they could do this by staying in the 1st gear.

All vehicles will now have this ability to keep their engine in the current gear by pressing and holding the SHIFT key (the key is rebindable). So by pressing SHIFT while in 1st gear, the vehicle will always stay in that low gear and drive slowly. It can also help vehicles climb slopes better as you'll be able to manually stay in 1st gear.

Art and Environment

FV432 APC

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/bulldog_1.jpg

We teased this vehicle in an earlier recap, but the British FV432 APC is in-game and undergoing testing to be released in tandem with all the other goodies coming in version 12. A large, armoured transport vehicle, it carries up to 9 passengers, not including the driver (crewman), and a M2a1 .50cal turret gunner (regular infantry).

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/bulldog_2.jpg

While an older vehicle dating back to the 1960s, its recent up-armoured modifications have upgraded its armour to almost the level of the FV510, making it a true "battle taxi." (Not to be confused with IronTaxi, of course.)

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/bulldog_3.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/bulldog_4.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/bulldog_oos_1.jpg
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https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/bulldog_oos_3.jpg

FAL

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/fal_1.jpg

One weapon we're also adding to the Militia faction is the ubiquitous FAL. While it is characteristically similar to the German G3A3, aesthetically it is a different beast altogether and we have plans to further expand this family of weapons for unconventional factions.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/fal_reload.gif
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/fal_2.jpg

Tallil Outskirts

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_trees.gif

While we're racing to the release, the team is applying lots of polish on the new large-scale desert map, Tallil Outskirts. The map will feature two different weather schemes, one normal daytime, and the other in the midst of a thick sandstorm.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_1.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_2.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_4.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_5.jpg

The battle-beaten landscape has remnants of occupying forces from a previous era, as well as more recent installations.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_6.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_7.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_8.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_9.jpg

The addition of the standstorm changes the feel of the level significantly and should provide some unique challenges for players on top increasing the immersion of the environment.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_sandstorm_1.jpg
https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/tallil_sandstorm_4.jpg

As battered as Tallil has been, it's ready to take on a brand new deployment of armored warfare. We can't wait to see you folks like it up!

Squad Alpha 12 Brief Summary

Going back through previous monthly recaps and from the way development has unfolded, we present to you a bullet-point summary of what to expect when Alpha 12 comes around. This is by no means a full changelog, so expect much fuller release notes when the time comes, but it should whet your appetite.

Gameplay

Added RAAS game mode (Randomized Advance and Secure)
Added new Suppression system
Added Rifleman Ammo bags
Added Persistent Ammo system
Added Granular Rearming system for Infantry
Added Fireteams which are dynamically created by Squad Leaders
Added localized vehicle damage with 2 components (for now): Engine & Ammo storage
Added Turret Stabilisation to appropriate vehicles
Added Driver deployed Smoke generator for most vehicles
Added Crewman Repair tool
Added physmat dependent vehicle rolling resistance
Added Vehicle Manual Override for Gearbox
Overhauled Spawn system including Rallypoint Wave Spawn & HAB Spawn Over-run
Overhauled Revive system - bandage revive for all soldiers

User Interface

Added Team Selection screen on server join
Added Command map for improved squad leader functions
Added many QoL improvements on the map and UI
Added Infantry/Vehicle ammo point rearm cost indicator
Updated Deployment screen, role selection and weapon selection UI
Replaced right-click hex Command Grid with a more user-friendly horizontal based Command Grid

Vehicles

Added US Army M1A2 MBT
Added Russian T72B3 MBT
Added British FV432 APC
Updated FV510 APC to have an Up-Armored variant
Updated M2A2 sights/reticle
Updated M2A2 to include a Commander position with independant optic

Weapons

Added 9M133 Kornet ATGM for Russian Faction
Added RPG-29 for Insurgent Faction
Added FAL for Militia/Insurgent Faction
Added SKS variant that includes a PU-1 3.5x Optic
Updated Russian RPG-7 to include PGO-7 2.8x Optic

Mapping

Added Tallil Outskirts
Overhauled Jensen's Training Range and added the ability to load instances of the map with different factions
Overhauled Yehorivka - added more points of interest, revamped storage area flag, increased map size to 5 by 5km
Overhauled Belaya - reworked terrain, now less snow and more ground cover
Updated Kohat - added new main bases, new & improved foliage
Updated Gorodok - updated some points of interest, improved foliage
Updated Fools Road - ground textures have less tiling
Updated lighting on various map layers
Updated all maps with a greatly improved water shader
Updated all maps with a greatly optimized grass shader

Sign-off

Zoinks! Hopefully, you found a little somethin' somethin' in there for you, since it was a large one. Hang in there just a little longer - we're almost done smashing the bugs! Oh, and one last thing:

OWI's Company Holiday

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Oct/recap/dinnergroup1.jpg

We mentioned it in the last Recap and we know some of you wanted to see all our smiling faces -- something many of us got to do for the first time as well! The whole team survived despite Google incompatible bus drivers, ancient roof collapses, evil staircases, swordfights, and one downhill biking accident (Don't worry -- we always deploy with medics!) and we're back, hard at work. A huge thank you to everyone that made the trip possible and got us home safely.

Offworld Out.

Aug 2, 2018

July 2018 Recap

Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB

(For the media rich version of this post, follow this link: http://joinsquad.com/readArticle?articleId=303 )

Hey Squaddies,

Callooh! Callay! O frabjous Recap day! It's time for another dose of what's been happening behind the scenes in Squad. From mechanics to user experience, the team has been full steam ahead as we make the push towards Alpha 12 -- let's grab a looking glass and see what they've been working on!

SquadChat with Drav, Fuzzhead, and Merlin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/viuyqLK6SOs

What are SquadChats? Glad you asked! They're a more casual opportunity to sit down with the developers behind Squad, learn about who they are, what they do, and how they do it. In this edition, we have our Drav, our Lead Producer, Fuzzhead, beloved game designer, and last, but not least, Merlin, CEO of Offworld Industries.

Over the course of an hour and a half, we talked about the current status of Squad, our plans to get to launch, and how we're going to support Squad into the future. Heck, they even worked in some answers to community questions. Worth a watch, eh? Don't forget to check out the rest of the SquadChat archive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP_EhxCqa0k&list=PLL7yuIe6OBXzCMljpeMjmiuXJ2y1LeGvF

Systems

User Interface

https://streamable.com/s/fa4eb/rfmizh

The new user interface is continuing to receive a facelift as we work through each element, one at a time. The updated team screen allows you to get a feel for the map, read up on the game mode and lore, as well as seeing which factions are in play.

The Deploy screen allows you to see your squad, as well as the entire team, organize your squad into fireteams, select your role via a quick select panel, and, most importantly, set your spawn point options. The map here has been expanded slightly given the new dimensions.

The new Role Loadout screen is an optional page that allows you to access more information on what roles are available to you, as well as get in-depth information on what each weapon and piece of equipment does. Knowledge is power!

Persistent Ammo

The Infantry Rearm System will be undergoing some significant changes. As per the June Recap, Squads will now have access to the Infantry-deployed Ammunition Bags carried by the Non-Scope Rifleman role. The following changes are working in conjunction with the Ammo Bags to create a more teamwork focused Rearm system.

We are implementing the concept of "Persistent Ammunition". It is designed to further place importance on logistics and to make ammunition scarcity a real consideration on the battlefield. Squad Leaders will need to factor in their Logistics and Ammo Sources when deciding where and when to assault.

Additionally, we're experimenting with the concept of having player spawns on Rally Points and FOBs spawn with the same amount of ammunition that they had when they died. Players will always spawn with a minimum of at least 2 magazines for their primary weapon and will always spawn with 2 field dressings.

Players changing roles after being killed will respawn with the minimum kit loadout (2 primary magazines and 2 field dressings) and will need to seek out resupply.

Deploying at the Main Base will always give a player a fully-loaded kit.

Ammunition Resupply Granularity

Another change to the Infantry Rearm System is adding a level of granularity to the way players rearm. Rather than a role costing a fixed ammo point value to rearm, each magazine and/or consumable inventory item will have its own associated ammunition cost. This provides a much more accurate representation of how much ammunition resources you are using when it comes to rearming and will make it easier to balance one weapon over another.

Ammunition point values will be tweaked to reflect these new changes, especially as testing and feedback continue to develop.

Art

Smoke Generators

https://streamable.com/s/p7h03/kvymld

One upgrade that will be coming to all our APC, IFV, and (future) Tank drivers is the ability to deploy a smokescreen from the exhaust ports. The smoke generator is a continuously channeling effect that deploys an extremely large screen that can be used to cover a retreat, advancing infantry in an assault, or enjoy a break from the Tallil sunshine. In addition to the turret mounted smoke grenade launchers, vehicles will now have a multitude of screening options available to them.

https://streamable.com/s/8347b/dlzlpd

Repair Tools

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/repairtools.jpg

Over the course of battle, your vehicles will take damage to its components (for this first iteration it will primarily be your engine), so in order to get back to a minimum level of usability we've given all crewman roles a toolkit used to repair these components, as well as bring up hull health above a minimum threshold. We're still balancing this mechanic, but this should give another level to the meta gameplay of vehicle combat.

https://streamable.com/s/gwz8s/jejnzq

RPG-7V2

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/rpg7v2.jpg

Coming soon to all Russian rocket launcher, the RPG-7V2 package adds the PGO-7 2.8x optic to the launcher. This allows Russian anti-tank gunners to better acquire targets and account for distance with the built-in projectile drop compensator reticle. This reticle accounts for all ammunition types.

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/rpg7v2_2.jpg[

Kornet

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/kornet_1.jpg

The finishing touches on the 9M113 Kornet have been added and it's flying high in testing now. One advantage this system has over the TOW is the ability for the gunner to be behind cover and still have the ability to fire, making it a little more operator-friendly.

https://streamable.com/s/2zlhv/dmkhgr

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/kornet_2.jpg

Mapping

Tallil Outskirts

https://streamable.com/s/bz37j/jkbcbw

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/tallil_1.jpg

The whole team is working hard on finishing up Tallil Outskirts. Not only will the map be a new location to fight over but it will showcase some new mapping technology. The terrain will be the most realistic we've seen in Squad up to this point, and with the advent of new structures, foliage and visual effects, we hope to ramp up the immersiveness to a whole new level.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/tallil_2.jpg

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/tallil_3.jpg

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/tallil_4.jpg

As stated in last month's recap, Tallil Outskirts' predominant feature will be an airfield with a long history of conflict. From the Russian influence in the 1980s to the U.S. bombing of the Iraqi hangars at the start of the Gulf War, to its more recent use as a U.S. Air Force airbase and Army barracks, the history will be visible no matter what corner you're fighting over.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/tallil_5.jpg

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/tallil_6.jpg

And let's not forget about tanks! Tallil will be our first armor-focused map, so we're as excited as you are to see columns of tanks duking it out across the open desert!

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/tallil_7.jpg

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/tallil_8.jpg

Jensens Range Overhaul

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/jensens_1.jpg

We've managed to give Jensens Range another big facelift, this time taking advantage of the desert biome work we've been doing on Tallil and bringing it into the training range, giving it a very distinct feel now.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/jensens_2.jpg

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/jensens_3.jpg

The most notable change is the addition of surrounding terrain as a backdrop, but also we've added a number of additional ranges to the map, including a MOUT training field with multi-story buildings, an indoor kill-house with a linear path to work those CQB skills, a new driving track and a 1.5km open range with elevation for vehicles.

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/jensens_4.jpg

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/jensens_5.jpg

https://media.joinsquad.com/2018/Aug/Recap/jensens_0.jpg

Outro

And there you have it! Some big changes coming up, so we'd like to remind you to shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, ever cut a deal with a dra... ah, well, maybe just the first two. Thanks for joining us for another Recap! We'll see you next month.

Offworld Out.

Jul 3, 2018

June 2018 Recap

Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB

(For the media rich version of this post, please visit http://joinsquad.com/readArticle?articleId=299)

Hey Squaddies,

Welcome to the first official Recap of Summer! Up in the Northern hemisphere, things are more than a little toasty, so high command has issued the following advice: stay inside in the air conditioning and play video games, if you can! Otherwise, crank the logi fan to high and let’s settle in for the goods.

Systems

Armor Components

http://media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/vehicle_component1.jpg

Since the last Recap, we've been hard at work on the vehicle components system, finally integrating it into our armored vehicles This addition effectively gives them special target points that can potentially cripple a vehicle. The most common examples of internal components are ammunition storage and the engine compartment. If you achieve penetration of the armor on the outside and score a hit on the ammunition storage compartment, depending on how much damage you do to it, it could trigger the complete destruction of the vehicle. Hitting the engine will severely handicap the vehicle's ability to move, and so forth. We'll continue to expand on this system in future iterations.

Suppression

A system that is known to be controversial among FPS games is suppression. We do feel that Squad’s current suppression system is too lightweight and does not present a heavy enough penalty on players that are taking a large volume of fire, particularly from large caliber weapons. We want the new system to lower the ability for suppressed players to effectively engage targets, but also to not be overbearing or annoying and not easily exploitable. Over the past month we have been continuously play testing and refining the new suppression system.

https://streamable.com/s/wmw6x/kwpdv

We have been play testing and tweaking an aim-punch style mechanic that pushes your aim off target slightly when being fired upon, as well as a temporary increase in sway depending on how suppressed you are. Of course bear in mind that this system subject to a lot of tweaking and further play-testing.

User Interface

One area we’ve been hitting hard for the next release is a complete overhaul of the in-game deployment menu. We’ve streamlined the process to such a point where new players will be directed from one point to another (joining a team > joining a squad > selecting a role > selecting a spawn point) in a logical manner.

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/ui_1.jpg

We’ve also integrated a system that allows you to see what is in each individual role as well as get detailed descriptions of each of the weapons and items contained within. (and as a bonus, what your character will even look like!)

Fireteams

We’re also implementing the first iteration of Fireteams, basically a way for Squad Leaders to optionally subdivide their squad and assign Fireteam leaders, with their own order markers to facilitate on-screen communication (however no specific special role exists for FTLs).

Fireteams have been designed to be extremely flexible in their employment, so it ultimately will be down to the individual Squad Leader how they want to run their squad, and also to give players a chance to learn leadership positions just short of the big Squad Leader role.

Spawn System Overhaul

The player spawn system is being given an overhaul - this includes Firebases, Rallypoints and Revives. We will have a more detailed update with the changes coming, but here are some of the changes that we have been working on:

Firebase Overrun Mechanic: when enemies are close to a HAB, players cannot spawn at the HAB until enemies are killed or leave - aiming to dramatically cut down on the “meat grinder style” gameplay that can be seen in V11.
Rallypoint wave spawn: squad members will now much more likely spawn in together rather than one by one.
Revive System: Bandage is the revive tool now, not the Medic Bag. Any Player can use one of their bandages to revive an incapacitated friendly player. Non-Medic bandage revives take alot longer than medic revives. Revived Players do not regenerate stamina until healed by medic with their medic bag.

Lots of other changes are planned for the Spawn system, and we will give a full run down of them in a few weeks time. The goal and intention of these changes is to allow for squads to collaborate in closer proximity more often, shifting the pacing of the combat.

Art

M1A2 Abrams, Tanks and Gunnery

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/abrams_1.jpg
media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/abrams_2.jpg

We’ve put in a lot of work into the newest vehicle type to go into the game, that is Main Battle Tanks. The M1A2 Abrams while shown off last recap in stills, is now finally moving around and properly dressed up for battle.

The gunnery we have modelled does not include modern fire control systems yet, so we’ve opted for the use of the gunner's auxiliary sights to allow for manual adjustments at range.

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/abrams_3.jpg

The Abrams also has a vehicle commander and loader’s seat, both with their own cupola machine guns. The vehicle commander has a M2A1 Browning .50cal heavy machine gun mounted on a remote weapons system, allowing for full 360 traverse and zoom capability. The loader’s seat (while not required to actually load the cannon) is an extra seat on the turret with its own M240 machine gun.

https://streamable.com/s/ninla/htaxsm

The Bradley has also undergone some changes, with the inclusion of a ballistic reticle for the gunner, as well as a seat for the commander, with access to a camera with powerful day optics.

https://streamable.com/s/powgy/tdesdt

https://streamable.com/s/rbyjk/gnurqr

Infantry deployed Ammobags

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/ammobags.jpg

Another item we have in the works is ammunition bags that can be deployed by the Riflemen role, in order to quickly resupply his other squad mates in the field.

These bags will have a limited supply of ammunition in them, and will need to be restocked from Main Base, FOB or vehicle-based ammunition sources.

https://streamable.com/s/cxwpy/ztprgk

RPG-29

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/rpg29_1.jpg

The giant RPG-29 will make an appearance as a handheld Insurgent Heavy Anti-Tank weapon, complimenting the lighter RPG-7 system. It fires a huge 105mm Tandem warhead projectile with more accuracy and out to further ranges (500m) than its RPG7 counterpart (150m).

https://streamable.com/s/ahh78/vjjroq

Mapping

Tallil Outskirts

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/tallil_1.jpg
media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/tallil_minimap.jpg

One exciting new map in development is called Tallil Outskirts. It is a 4x4km map based in southern Iraq and features a massive airbase with large enterable concrete bunkers and defensive positions.

Most of the terrain is open sandy desert, and while a few villages dot the region, the map will showcase vehicle-based combat. Infantry squads that work in conjunction with armored units will find success on the battlefields of Tallil.

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/tallil_2.jpg
media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/tallil_3.jpg
media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/tallil_4.jpg
media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/tallil_5.jpg

Yehorivka Update

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/new_yeho_1.jpg

Yehorivka is undergoing a massive facelift, starting with expanding the playable area to 5x5 km, which will open up a lot of new possibilities for new layers and more variation in gameplay. We have also changed out the grass foliage to a new rendering method which will improve performance, as well as removed the Storage Site area and replaced it with smaller profile villages and hamlets instead.

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/new_yeho_2.jpg
media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/new_yeho_3.jpg
media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/new_yeho_4.jpg
media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/new_yeho_5.jpg

In addition to accommodating larger vehicles, we’re providing more cover for infantry with new points of interest and better forests and ditches. We’re also implementing a new water shader that should also vastly improve the look of our water.

media.joinsquad.com/2018/July/Recap/new_yeho_6.jpg

Sign Off

We don’t know about you, but the world always feels better with a few inches of Abrams armor around you. A big thank you to everyone that responded to the call for assistance from real world tankers -- you’ve all gone above and beyond!

Offworld Out.