Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB
Hey squaddies,

With modding back in full swing, the community has not disappointed in the slightest. There’s a whole heck of a lot of amazing work this month!

Join us on the Community Modding Discord where you can join discussions and meet the modding community. It’s a great place to share your ideas and passions with like-minded people that will happily help you create something awesome.

Gulf of Finland by Hawken



If you’re surprised to learn that Gulf of Finland is set in, well, Finland, than Hawken also has a bridge to sell you. Which might come in handy, as the fresh new map features six islands with unique points of interest spread across them.



Designed with helicopters in mind, the hope is to see some intense island hopping action as players battle for locations ranging from a small town, an aerodrome, and an abandoned bunker complex. You might even get some Skorpo vibes if you scout out some locations, like the fishing village.




Adawia Park Trailer by Johan Sundkvist
Adawia Park by Johan Sundkvist

Featuring a dense urban area inspired by a real Syrian Park, Adawia aims to bring a hint of verticality to an already dangerous battlefield. The added threat of danger from any angle should definitely keep squaddies on their toes and looking for trouble.



Both Militia and Insurgent teams will need to make liberal use of rooftops and underground shelters to navigate their way to a win. Be sure to pick your path wisely and cover your squadmates: the enemy could be lurking anywhere.





Poly Land by Miha Prezelj



Appearing almost cel-shaded at times, Miha Prezelj is taking Squad back through time to an era with only a few polygons to spare. More than just channeling some classic aesthetics, the map offers some energetic, fun gameplay to match.



You could almost imagine a squad of plastic brick soldiers hiding behind all those trees. It should be interesting to see how this aesthetic plays out in Squad!



Black Gold by Noxxid3



Noxxid3 was recently able to reach out to OG mapper VapoMan, who spent time crafted some of the finest Project Reality maps. In this case, Black Gold is coming back to life (in an era with plenty of polygons to spare).



All of your favorite layers originally in PR should be supported on the update, as well as support for Territory Control. Noxxid3 notes that he’ll be streaming progress periodically if you’d like to tune in to chat, offer feedback, or learn a little bit about modding.



Iron Dawn by SPECTR_Eternal



Always a favorite entry in the Wrench, SPECTR_Eternal’s Iron Dawn is back with the latest updates. This month, we’re being treated to some improved lighting! Easily visible from the shots, the map still feels absolutely frigid.



In addition to that, work continues apace in the mountainous regions of the map. Special attention is being paid to roads, especially among the hills, to ensure even the thicc-est armored boi will make the trek.



Hopefully, some of Squad’s aspiring videographers will pick this one up, since it looks ready for a Hollywood debut.

Peacemaker by TicklishRocket



Woot! We’ve got a newcomer. Please welcome TicklishRocket to the Wrench with the early stages of Peacemaker.



The map is a chaotic urban sprawl replete with unforgiving streets, trenches, and rooftops winding through a Middle Eastern setting. Starting strong with new assets, there’s plenty more to come and we can’t wait to see it!

Australian Faction by Aussie Mod Team



It just wouldn’t feel like a Wrench if we didn’t have the latest from our favorite team in the Upsidedown. This month, they’re bringing their top game with the introduction of the MRH-90 helicopter! Designed primarily for transporting troops on real-life battlefields, the MRH-90 should find itself right at home among Squad’s burgeoning pilots.



Back on the ground, the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle is nearly ready to roll out, providing the Aussies with a quick, lightly armored way to get the troops to the battle before getting the heck out. Wise squad leads will be sure to remember the Bushy is NOT an APC.



It will be the perfect ride to tear off across Operation Anaconda’s mountainous areas, terraced villages, and farms. Ridge to ridge fighting is going to require all the mobility you can muster, and no shortage of marksmanship either.

If you’d like to see more, including a look at their second map, Operation Anvil, join the Aussie Mod Discord server today!

29th ID Maps n’ Mods by Perez-Pantoja



The fine folks of the 29th ID are compiling and building some of their favorite mods and maps! Even better, they’re inviting you to play along. What sort of hijinks can you expect?



First, they’ve added Marine MARPAT camo to offer the same competitive edge as their Russian counterparts. In addition to that, their NVG mod is coming along nicely and, pending some testing, should be making an appearance soon. Of course, those are just features building on the success of being able to run 1-life events, allowing faster deployments, and pre-match setup as well.



Future goals include more content, the aforementioned NVG, assignable ranks, new maps, and more! The intent is to make the mod pack ready for any server owner who wants in on the action.

Be sure to follow them on the Workshop to get involved or just keep tabs on their progress, or head over to their Youtube channel.

Desert Environment (WIP) by CreativeRealms



Looking for a desert environment to work with, but don’t have the time, resources, or necessary experience to get it out the door? Enter the amazing generosity of CreativeRealms, who has set out to create a suitable level for everyone to get try their hand with. Featuring an 8130×8130 meter landscape, divided into four distinct map sections, so that all you need to do to is lay down some points of interest and flags to get rolling.



While the project is just getting started, there are plenty of big plans: live support via DIscord, documentation, and source files for anyone who wants to take their knowledge to the next level. For further updates, or a chance to get involved, hit up the Discord server or tune in to watch CreativeRealms stream!



Want to be featured here? Submit your mod now!

Squad Modding Hub Management Team Out.

Please note: Offworld Industries is not responsible for mod content. Please contact the creator for assistance.
Aug 15, 2019
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB


Hey squaddies!

This weekend is chockfull of competitive action courtesy of the Official Squad Showdown and you know your pals at Squad Ops will be holding it down like champions. Let’s see what’s going on in Squad!

August 16

11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC)
[RIP] Rusty in Places vs. The World

August 17

11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC)
Official Squad Showdown: CNL vs FFO

11:30 AM PT (1830 UTC)
Squad Ops: Operation Rising Giant

2:30 PM PT (2130 UTC)
Squad Ops: SOTT Basic

On this date in 1982, the first commercial Compact Discs were sold in Germany. They were like memory cards, but worse.

August 18

8:00 AM PT (1500 UTC)
OSS: Lance vs Rogue

11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC)
OSS: North Wolves vs SPiT

11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC)
OSS: Raven vs Iron Guard

Signoff

Always a blast to see some of the best teams in Squad face off. Who are you rooting for?

Would you like to see your event here? Let us know.

Offworld out.
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB


Hey squaddies!

Another week nearly in the books means another weekend to spend playing Squad! The community has a lot going on this weekend, including a mod test, and plenty of competitive play. Roundup time!

August 9

11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC)
[RIP] Rusty in Places vs. The World

11:30 AM PT (1830 UTC)
Official Squad Showdown: Carolean Legion vs One Tap Wonders

11:30 AM PT (1830 UTC)
OSS: Iron Guard vs Royal Battalion

5:30 PM PT (0030, 10/8 UTC)
Squad Ops: Showdown at Sundown, Part 3

6:00 PM PT (0100 10/8 UTC)
OSS: FFO vs Speaking in Tongues

August 10

11:30 AM PT (1830 UTC)
Squad Ops: Operation Knight

5:30 PM PT (0030 11/8 UTC)
Squad Ops: Operation Stalker

August 11

10:00 AM PT (1700 UTC)
OSS: Some Random Guys vs SNG

10:00 AM PT (1700 UTC)
OSS: Old Bones vs Blood Jaegers

11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC)
OSS: RvN vs Rogue

1:00 PM PT (2000 UTC)
ATHENA mod Testing

Signoff

Remember to speak up and thank your squad leader!

Would you like to see your event here? Let us know.

Offworld out.
Aug 6, 2019
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB
Hey squaddies!

We're tracking an issue that's preventing players from accessing servers.

Early reports from the team are pointing to an issue with Steam-Unreal functionality related to the FOnlineAsyncTaskSteamFindServers queue. It appears to be an issue that will impact other games using the Epic Steam OSS will be unable to display servers.

We'll keep an eye on the situation and let you know more once we do.

Hang in there, squaddies.
Aug 2, 2019
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB
Hey squaddies!

We’ve got some slightly-unusual patch notes for you today.

But first, you can say goodbye to that annoying server filter bug! (The “show full servers” checkbox functionality was inverted. Whoops!)

Additionally, we’re introducing some experimental changes to the “dead dead” mechanic, as well as the way “instadeath” works. Let’s dig in a little.

Pre-Alpha 13

Prior to Alpha 13, the mechanics worked like this:

After dying and being revived, there was a 60-second time frame during which you were extra vulnerable. This meant that if you died again during these 60 seconds, you would become unrevivable (“dead dead”) and be instantly sent to the spawn screen. There was no UI indication of this vulnerability.

Taking a large caliber headshot (such as 50cal) would instantly make you unrevivable (instadeath).

This was a mechanic was originally added to convey some consequence of death, as well as a sense of tension and vulnerability to newly revived players. The goal was (hopefully) to encourage the vulnerable player to stick back with their squadmates.

We had some questions on whether the role of this mechanic was too punishing and negatively impacting the teamwork aspect, especially for new players to an already challenging game. It could be difficult to understand why the “instadeath” black screen occurred and the 60-second timer was not well-exposed.

Alpha 13

With Alpha 13, when dying and being revived, there was no longer a period of extra “vulnerability,” allowing a player to be revived indefinitely. (Or until your medic ran out of bandages, anyway.)

The caliber required to make you unrevivable was increased, meaning you could be revivable after a 50cal headshot, but not after a 30mm headshot.

After 3 months of evaluation with these new changes, including lots of feedback from our community, we’re introducing a new iteration of these mechanics.

As with the previous ones, the effects will be monitored and tweaked. Keep us updated with your feedback!

Alpha 15.4

As of this patch (Alpha 15.4), when you are incapacitated, you have a revive window (5 minutes by default). This revives window will be shortened based on the amount of damage you took as part of your death.

For example, if you got downed by minimal damage from a pistol, your revive timer will be very close to 5 minutes. If you got downed by a rifle headshot, your revive timer will be slightly less than 2 and a half minutes. A 50 caliber headshot will give you a short 30-second revive window. Lastly, anything from a close proximity IED blast to a 30mm headshot and beyond will cause your revive window to be 5 seconds – too short to get revived in, so you’re effectively dead.

On top of this mechanic, the revive window persists through revives until you have been healed by a medic. This means that if you get headshot by a rifle, revived without getting healed, and then headshot again, the remaining revive window will be too short for another revive.

If not getting healed, this “persistent revive window” will automatically slowly increase back to the full 5 minutes as long as you remain alive. If you died, were revived, and managed to stay alive for a few minutes, you would be nearing the five-minute timer again.

Anything that previously sent you instantly sent to spawn screen (“instadeath”) will now instead give you a 5-second revive timer, too short to be revived in. The hope is to give the player more feedback about what happened when he died, instead of instantly disappearing from the map and into the spawn screen.

In the future, we hope to include a 1-2 second ragdoll moment before entering the incapacitated state to provide better feedback about what just occurred in a more intuitive and immersive way.

Please note: there can and will be further tweaks and/or additions to this system. All in all, we hope it is a more flexible way to tune players’ revivability, as well as increase information available to the player.

Our goal is to balance between the game being too forgiving and too unforgiving. In this version, revive trains should be harder to maintain and most catastrophic damage (e.g., headshots, IED explosions) should be more effective as well. However, players will still get a second chance in most cases. We will keep tracking revive statistics as well as your feedback.

Buddy Rally

Finally, we would like to give you some information on our intended gameplay ideas in the future concerning the Buddy Rally system. For the time being, lacking a system to reclaim or reset abandoned vehicles in the field, we will be keeping the buddy rally mechanic.

In the future, we would like to see this replaced with a mechanic that deals with abandoned vehicles in the field, so that respawning at main is a more viable option. The buddy rally mechanic might still become a limited option available to the Commander, giving squads an extra option for situational redeployment. Another option is to make it available only to the Insurgents faction. Please keep your feedback coming on this as well.

Enjoy the patch! Let us know what you think!

Offworld out.
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB


Hey squaddies!

After a crazy weekend or two, the Roundup is back! A big ol’ welcome to all the new squaddies joining us after the free weekend. We’ve got some great weekend highlights to keep your Squad fix flowing!

August 1

5:30 PM PT (0030, 2/8 UTC)
Squad Ops: SOTT Basic

August 2

11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC)
[RIP] Rusty in Places vs. The World

12:00 PM PT (1900 UTC)
Official Squad Showdown: Legio X vs Oneshot-Theory (Russian stream)

August 3

11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC)
OSS: Royal Battalion vs Lance

11:30 AM PT (1830 UTC)
Squad Ops: Operation Tarantula Hawk

11:30 AM PT (1830 UTC)
OSS: Polish Hungarian Coalition vs 100%

2:30 PM PT (2130 UTC)
Squad Ops: SOTT Basic

5:30 PM PT (0030, 4/8 UTC)
Squad Ops: Derailment

Last Weekend

By the way, just in case you missed it, we’ve archived the stream from last Friday right here.

Shout outs to Matsimus, Space Crew, the CAF team, and the actual, factual Canadian Armed Forces members for joining us!

Signoff

Enjoy your weekend and thank you for playing Squad!

Would you like to see your event here? Let us know.

Offworld out.
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB
Hey squaddies!

We’ve got some fresh reinforcements incoming: The Canadian Armed Forces are now fully deployed! That’s right, there’s a brand new faction in Squad and it’s already yours, completely free.

Canadian Armed Forces Trailer

Originally known as CAFMOD, the team behind the new faction is straight from our modding community. We’re honored to be able to include them as official content for all players. What content is that, you ask?



So, what are you waiting for, soldier? Do it for The Great White North!

Offworld out.
Jul 26, 2019
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB
Hey squaddies!

You’ve been asking for it for some time and we’re happy to oblige: the Merch Store is back and better than ever!



Shop Now!

After a long and harrowing search, we narrowed the choice down to one amazing vendor that can handle all your merch needs. Shirts? You bet. Posters? Absolutely. Stylish black mug to pledge your undying loyalty to the Sphere? You better believe it. There’s plenty more, including some bags to haul all your swag, so have at it!

Offworld out.
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB
Hey squaddies!

We’re pretty excited by the release of Modding 2.0 and we wanted to share a little more about what that means.

First and foremost, it means that the Canadian Armed Forces mod is going to be released in the near future as free, official Squad DLC. That’s right: you will be getting a new faction soon, completely free of charge, no action required. O, Canada!

Canadian Armed Forces

Canadian Armed Forces Trailer

The arrival of CAF marks our first step towards including community-created content into Squad. This free expansion adds additional weapons, vehicles, and more, giving one of the world’s most well-known armies some well-deserved spotlight. Additionally, the update includes two Canadian maps, Quebec and Nanisivik, featuring snowy environments built for intense combined-arms combat.



Be sure to join us later today at 1 PM PDT on our Twitch channel for more information, featuring special guest host Matsimus: https://www.twitch.tv/joinsquad

Introducing Space Crew

To show off what Modding 2.0 can do, we’ll be showcasing a total conversion mod inspired by classic sci-fi thrillers: Space Crew. Players take the role of a Survivor who must work carefully with their team to solve puzzles and survive. Make a wrong move and they’ll become prey to a menacing creature known only as the Raptor. Space Crew is available to play later today by subscribing on the Steam Workshop or joining a server running the mod.

Space Crew Trailer

Modding 2.0 Features

We’ve added a variety of upgrades to our modding support to make building, finding, and playing mods a better experience.

  • In-game downloads. Just connect to your favorite modded server!
  • Whitelisted mods included in the official server list. (More information coming soon.)
  • User interface improvements, including filtering for modded servers.
  • Priority listing for whitelisted mods during the weekend. ("Stickied" servers.)



Offworld out.
Squad - Black Lives Matter | ACAB
Hey squaddies!

We’re happy to announce an upcoming free weekend to celebrate the release of Modding 2.0! From July 25th, 10 AM PDT through July 28th, 1 PM PDT.

Squad will be 50% off, so those of you that have been telling us that you missed the Steam sale have another shot at a bargain too.

Modding Weekend Trailer



As part of the festivities, we’ll be highlighting these top-notch examples of what Squad modders can do. Look for them in the server browser with the rest of the licensed servers:

The Mods

Canadian Armed Forces MOD
by The CAFMOD Team

Defend the Dome
by Headshot13Vegas
and Archangel from
~!THUNDERDOME!~

Elvedalen
by Hangrath

Harju
by wunda

Helicopter Mod
by Heedicalking

Panjshir
by PuffDragon

Squad Ops
by The Squad Ops Mod Team

SquadZ
by Smed

Troopers
by Loki

We’ll also have some surprises along the way!

For Players

Alpha 15 Video Patch Notes

The above patch notes cover some of the most recent changes in Squad that are handy for new players and veterans alike!

One big part of Modding 2.0 is the ability to download mods while in-game. If you’re not sure if your favorite server is running a specific mod, go ahead and join — if they are, you’ll be prompted to install that mod by the game.

You can subscribe to mods through the Steam Workshop as usual, of course.

Should you want to uninstall a mod, you’ll want to visit the Workshop and “Unsubscribe” from that mod.

Helpful Resources

What is Squad? Video

We’ve also got some basics to help start you off right!

With the launch of Alpha 15, we’ve included the first set of Squad tutorials! Be sure to access those via the main menu, unless you prefer a true trial by fire.

Questions about gameplay, vehicles, and how to play Squad can often be answered by the Squad Wiki.

If it’s not there, someone in the Official Community Discord server will surely know!

If you’re a Redditor, you’ll want to join the subreddit: r/JoinSquad.

Feel free to browse our forums for discussions, tips, and squadmates.

Be sure to see what our creative partners are up to as well. They’ve each been selected because they put a unique, entertaining spin on the world of Squad and you might even learn some tips!

Common issues can usually be addressed through the Squad support website, but we have a dedicated support team standing by to answer your emails: http://support@joinsquad.com

For Server Owners

Yup! You can run mods on your licensed server! If you use any of the above mods, you will appear as part of the default server list. (i.e., not a Custom Server.) There will also be an icon next to the server name to denote that it’s running modifications.

Naturally, this won’t impact the part of your agreement about running mods on a licensed server.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach us in the OWI Hosting Discord or email us at http://support@joinsquad.com
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