Hello everyone!

The long awaited update 1.8.8 is here! This update features a rewrite of key game systems to make the game more stable and future-proof, so that we can build on a better foundation going forward. The rewrite includes areas of the code that control player lobbies, game modes, and many other aspects of the game. We’ve included only a selection of bugs and changes in the changelog: over a hundred bugs have been fixed in this update and some new content has made it in as well.

Night Time Shooting Range
Are you ready to prepare for night time operations with your fire team? The new night version of the Shooting Range will allow you to train your skills in the dark. When setting up for Shooting Range in single player or multiplayer, you will now be able to choose a day or night setting.




Audio Systems
The second major change to feature in this update is further improvements to the audio systems. We’ve rebalanced our audio volumes, we’ve improved the way volume decreases over distance and we’ve added new sounds for footsteps and a selection of weapons, with more to come in the future.

Video of Sound Updates

We’ve included a more detailed changelog below. Stay on the lookout for 1.8.9 in the coming weeks!

-- Changelog
Audio

• Added verification steps to check for correct settings
  
• Audio volumes rebalanced
  
• Audio attenuation distances tweaked
  
• Custom global audio can now use the indoor/outdoor ducking system
  
• Added new Custom Content audio events

Gameplay

• Fixed a bug where if players drew a lot on the whiteboard the game could crash on Oculus Quest
  
• Fixed several instances of lobbies crashing and kicking players back to the main menu
  
• Fixed an issue in Uplink where the round would sometimes not end after the Uplink was sent successfully
  
• Forgive or Punish buttons for team killing have been moved to the tent, allowing players more time to punish team killers
  
• Removed a small rogue collider around players’ necks that could unintentionally block bullets
  
• Evac choppers’ landing locations have been adjusted slightly so they are more easily accessible
  
• Bushes in Suburbia Day have been adjusted so that visibility is more consistent between the PC and Quest versions of Onward
  
• Quest players can no longer spawn on dead fire team leaders after pausing the game through the Oculus menu
  
• Collision boxes for the trucks on Shooting Range have been adjusted so players can no longer get stuck
  
• Fixed an issue where some players were returned to the menu after completing Basic Training, instead of moving them on to Intermediate Training
  
• Fixed several collision issues leading to inconsistent or incorrect results

Weapon & Utilities

• Fixed a number of issues where objects would be incorrectly blocked or visible in front of or behind smoke grenades
  
• When ejecting magazine from gun, velocity of gun is now taken into account
  
• C4 can now be deactivated by fire from a Molotov cocktail
  
• Fixed an issue where if the player had C4 and a Molotov cocktail on their vest and the Molotov was shot the C4 would float mid-air
  
• Fixed an issue with the MP5 where the bolt could not be closed after emptying a magazine
  
• Fixed an issue where grenades could do damage through solid floors
  
• Fixed an issue where the gun sight would float above the MK18 in the tent if the M203 grenade launcher was equipped to the gun
  
• Fixed RPG rocket fins sticking out on Quest
  
• Fixed an issue where players could shoot through the Riot Shield if it was in a lowered position

Custom Content
Released a new custom content sdk: v2.0.9
https://onwardthegame.com/doc/OnwardCustomContent_SDK_v2.0.9.unitypackage
Updated the Custom Content Guide
https://onwardthegame.com/doc/CustomContentGuide.pdf
Updated the Custom Content Lightmapping Guide
https://onwardthegame.com/doc/OnwardLightmapping101.pdf

Known Issues

• Players will sometimes spawn inside the table in the Shooting Range day and night maps
  
• We’ve temporarily removed support for bHaptics vests for Oculus Quest and Quest 2 users
  
• Oculus players may encounter a black screen (audio can still be heard) when loading in or out of the tent. Restarting your game will fix this issue
  
• One evac zone in Subway still needs to be adjusted to be able to complete the game mode
  
• When playing One in the Chamber, multiple players can spawn on top of each other

Hello Everyone!

As you may have guessed when we announced that we were joining Oculus Studios back in late April it’s been a crazy month of May for us. It was heartwarming to see the largely positive response to the news! We, like you, are excited for what this means and the future opportunities we will have. That's for the future, back to current events: we've been working on 1.8.8 for a long time, and we're excited to get it into your hands very soon. The release of 1.8.8 also clears the path for more frequent updates with more content and new features for you to enjoy.

From The Devs’ Desk
To give a quick recap and update of the roadmap we set out in the previous sitrep: Update 1.8.8 is coming out soon, and we’re currently tackling the final list of issues before we send a build over to Unit 51 for testing and ultimately release it to you. Update 1.8.8 will focus on a rewrite of key game systems to make them future-proof and increase their stability so that we can build on them going forward. On top of that, Update 1.8.8 includes a night version of the shooting range map and a lot of bug fixes, including a fix for the crash on Quest that happens when there is too much writing on the white board.

After 1.8.8 is released, we intend to release two more updates in quick succession: update 1.8.9 will feature the Abandoned map in both day and night variants, and Update 1.8.10 will see the release of the Turbine map, also in day and night variants.

As Abandoned is coming together we want to share a few teaser images with you.

Abandoned is situated in a Siberian forest close to a lake. With several Soviet-era buildings and factories, VOLK has repurposed these facilities in order to assemble weapons and vehicles. A MARSOC Chinook has been shot down and looted by VOLK militia. With months’ worth of gathered intelligence, MARSOC is well prepared for an offense to take out this facility. A recon mission was cut short when a Chinook transporting MARSOC troops was shot down over an unmapped forest. The remaining Marines have gathered near an abandoned industrial complex. Intelligence has confirmed VOLK forces in the area.






But that’s not all to look forward to: although we’re not sure yet if it’ll be ready in time for 1.8.9 or if it will be released with 1.8.10, we are working on improving our weapon systems, adding the ability to perform an HK slap and speed reloads for weapons that realistically support such specific interactions. At the same time, we will also remove bolt release buttons from weapons such as the MP5 which do not have these features in real life. A full list of what guns will be getting these features will be made in the patch notes when the feature is released.

HK-Slap
Speed-reload

Our plans for the longer term also remain unchanged: we’ll be working on Shadowmask Lighting to improve graphics on PC, all new and improved animations for characters, a friends and party system to quickly join up in a game with the people you want to play with, and a progression system to keep an eye on your battlefield performances! It’s a bit early to talk about any of these in detail, but definitely keep an eye on future Sitreps for the juicy details.

Community Center
Summer Fun is coming! We are gearing up for a Summer Community Contest so be on the lookout for more details soon.

This month we want to highlight a member of our community, SGT SCRUFF, who has been providing some fun Onward videos on his YouTube channel. Not only does he highlight some great sniper shots and gameplay, but some great moments within their community of players. This video in particular gave us a few laughs.

We have a couple new custom maps that have been added to the workshop area as well.

Offshore Platform by Tatoskok
Volk has seized a deepwater offshore drilling rig! MARSOC must take back control of the facility. Failure will result in the long term disruption to the world's energy supply.

Paradise by Koiz
MARSOC has been deployed to this South American town to remove a Volk cell and restore freedom.


That's it for May's Sitrep, and as always: stay frosty!

We have just pushed a small change for PCVR players. After the launch of 1.8.7.3 there was a bug causing some players to not load into the game or lobbies correctly. This was known in the community as "being invisible” or "ghosting". We wanted to make sure we acted quickly and got you back to playing.

This issue has been fixed. Please make sure you update to the latest version of the game. If the issue continues please reach out to the Community Managers.

We are excited to announce that Downpour Interactive is joining Oculus Studios. What was once a one-man operation and passion project has blossomed into a studio of people who work together to bring you the best VR tactical shooter. Onward will stay the studio's focus as we continue to grow and expand and continue to bring you quality gaming and experiences.

For more details please refer to the FAQ on our website which includes a message from our founder Dante.

Downpour will remain largely independent at Oculus, with Dante at the helm and all developers at their posts. In most ways it will be business as usual. Please review the FAQ for more details and Dante’s message.

https://onwardthegame.com/

Hello again everyone!

Update 1.8.7.3 for Onward has just been released: this patch adds an anti-cheat system back into Onward. Although we usually like to talk about details, the nature of the patch makes that a bit harder this time around.

This patch affects the way Onward launches on Steam: by default it will now use OnwardLauncher.exe instead of Onward.exe. To prevent the Steam client from creating an error you will have the option to launch the game in a ‘standard’ and a ‘legacy’ mode, where legacy is meant for people who cannot immediately update the game. Launching the game in legacy mode is meant to be used only if you’re on version 1.8.7.2. After you’ve updated to 1.8.7.3 launching in legacy mode will mean you won’t be able to access multiplayer games. If you use a shortcut to launch the game, you should update it accordingly after applying this patch.

For Steam users who are running version 1.7, the legacy mode will be available to you as well.

Stay frosty!

Hello Everyone!

We hope you’re all continuing to brush up on those tactics and improve your skills in Onward while we’ve been working on updates and patches alike. A new patch will release next week featuring anti-cheat measures, and we’ve started testing the long-in-the-making Update 1.8.8 earlier in the week. In this edition of the Devs’ Desk we will also outline our roadmap for the next couple of months.

The competitive scene is gearing up as season 11 of the VRML Onward league officially started this week! In addition, more maps have been added to the Custom Maps area of Onward. Check out the community center for the information related to this news.

From The Devs’ Desk:
First things first: recent events forced us to focus our efforts on an anti-cheat system we have been working on over the past couple of months, and we are planning to release patch 1.8.7.3 for Onward that will bring this brand-new system next week.

With one task completed we are looking to get back to the development of update 1.8.8 which remains largely unchanged from our previous Sitrep: it is centered around a large update of the game logic that controls player lobbies, game modes, and many other aspects of the game. This update has been very long overdue, and as those of you who regularly follow these Sitreps can attest to, very long in the making. Aside from these changes we are also including audio improvements and a night version of the Shooting range in this update.




Content is going to be our focus for the updates that follow 1.8.8, with Abandoned Day and Abandoned Night taking center stage for update 1.8.9 and Turbine planned to do the same for update 1.8.10. If you paid attention to the Seals in our April Fools ‘seals’ gag you may have noticed our buddy Andre who premiered the first glimpse of Abandoned.


While these maps are being released all signals are go for the programmers to work on some of the features we’ve mentioned in previous Sitreps: a party system that will allow you to quickly join up to lobbies with your friends, a ranking and progression system to keep track of your performances, and the lighting update in the form of Shadowmask. Last time around we were still waiting for a Unity update to be able to bring back Shadowmask lighting and other lighting improvements to PCVR, and we’re very happy to say that this update recently released, and work on our end can begin once Update 1.8.8 is out the door.

Although this is far from all that we’re working on, it should give you a clearer picture of what to expect from our updates in the next couple of months.

Community Center:
Season 11 for the VRML Onward league officially kicked off earlier this week! We are looking forward to watching the matches and seeing all the displays of teamwork and tactics that are sure to keep us on the edge of our seats. To watch the matches throughout the season check out the Onward section on the VRML website: https://vrmasterleague.com/Onward

The library of custom maps in Onward keeps expanding. We’ve highlighted four new releases for April:

Speedball by F.Lapinski
Speedball is a map with 4 unique fields scaled and copied from an official NXL World Series layout. Each field has its own boarders and each field can only be played depending on the Objective location. This map is best played with the preferred loadout of a Specialist Shotgun using only slug rounds and smoke grenades. This gives it a balanced chaotic feel to the game with such a small paintball field being used.


Preston Yard by KIRI
"Preston Yard is an ever changing, competitive focused map, that receives frequent quality of life changes based on player feedback. It's a map built for competitive play, by a competitive player. The map follows the traditional 3 lane system, and has a variety of interesting angles, points of interest and realistic world detail. Preston Yard has the potential to be a fan favorite map, and has received nothing but outstanding praise by everyone who has played it. I would LOVE to get this map in the VRML map pool, and work with the community to create one of the best maps Onward has ever seen!"


Apocalyptic by Nolomite
The fallout from the pandemic has led to World War III, and civil wars due to pandemic related deaths and political polarization. Two factions emerge to either cease or defend the most powerful weapon, the uplink.


Villapuma by Rubio
Marsoc is locked in Puma Village and must deactivate the uplink. The streets are patrolled by VOLK soldiers

Hello everyone!

We're very proud to announce that the Seals will make their first appearance in Onward, and are available in the game as of this announcement.

Onward has always focused on the battle between the Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) and the fictional VOLK militia. Although MARSOC will continue to play a central role in Onward's universe going forward the addition of Seals will accomodate upcoming changes in the game where forces will take up a special operations role deep inside VOLK controlled territory. We are looking forward to sharing more details about these changes soon.

It has been a long road to get this new class of warriors in the game, and we would like to thank the Seals and the Naval Special Warfare Command for working with us to clear the way during this long and complicated process. In particular we'd like to send our thanks to Andre, Gaston, Hoover, Midge and 'Popeye'.

Semper Fortis!

Hello Everyone!

We hope everyone is enjoying the 1.8.7.2 patch! 1.8.7.2 was a community driven patch and we wanted to really take time to focus on areas where we could improve your gameplay the most. The feedback you have given us has been overwhelmingly positive and a lot of you have reported issues have been fixed. If you still encounter any major issues then please use the official Onward Discord or website support form to reach out.

We know hopping in and playing with other like minded players is what a lot of you are looking for. While you are waiting for the Friends and Party system we discussed in earlier Sitreps, we are providing some tools/guides to help better connect and play with people. Please check out the Community Center below for more info.

From The Devs’ Desk:
Now that 1.8.7.2 has been released we will be moving our focus to update 1.8.8 and security improvements. Those of you who have been keeping up with our Sitreps may recall 1.8.8’s main feature is a coding refactor, so while it will not contain a lot of new content the update will fix a lot of outstanding issues with the game, especially when it comes to lobbies and game mode specific problems.

We will have new content for you as well. Included in 1.8.8 will be a nighttime version of the Shooting Range. In addition, testing will soon be underway for another map: the redesigned version of Abandoned which will be released in both a day and a night setting. After Abandoned we will be releasing more maps to keep the content coming. You might even see some teasers of the maps coming soon: be on the lookout!

The ranking and friends/party systems are also in the works. These are much bigger projects that will be worked on over a longer period of time. We are setting a higher standard for new features we develop to make sure they meet your expectations while making sure that the increased amount of features in Onward will not impact the game’s future development where possible.

Community Center:
We often get asked how the Friends Filter works in multiplayer and how to best find your friends and their lobbies. Below we have laid out instructions for how/when to use the filter and how to more easily find your friends’ lobby.

A guide to find and play with your friends in Onward Multiplayer

If you and your friends are on the same platform

SteamVR
Make sure both you and your friend are friends on Steam
One person will need to start a Multiplayer Game
Choose “Show Friends Only” from the filter options in Onward Multiplayer Lobby listings, press apply
You should now see just your friends game in the lobby list

Oculus Home
Make sure you and your friend are both friends/on friends list in Oculus Home
One person will need to start a game and put a helmet on in the tent
Choose “Show Friends Only” from the filter options in Onward Multiplayer Lobby listings, press apply
You should now see just your friends game in the lobby list

Oculus Quest
Make sure you are both friends/on friends list through the Oculus app.
One person will need to start a game and put a helmet on in the tent
Choose “Show Friends Only” from the filter options in Onward Multiplayer Lobby listings, press apply
You should now see just your friends game in the lobby list

If you and your friends are NOT on the same platform
Make sure you DO NOT have “Show Friends Only” selected in the filters
One person will need to start a match and put a helmet on in the tent
Ask your friends what game mode they are going to be playing
Filter by that game mode and search through remaining lobbies for your friends game

Now that you can more easily find your friends, you can now jump in together and really start building those skills together and develop some team tactics. To assist you with this we will soon be providing you with aerial/top-down maps in the Media area on our website. Use these to formulate your best plan of attack, and use them wisely!

The map makers in the community have been working hard and have developed some new maps for you to play on. Show them some love and give them a test run. For more information about joining the custom maps community, join our Discord server Discord.gg/Onward.

From user KIRI : "Weapons Factory" is my first successful attempt at making a map. It has a nice mixture of close quarters and long range engagements, and is tailored to competitive play, receiving frequent map updates based on player feedback. I hope to see this map become popular with the league community, as I feel it has potential to be an extremely fun and balanced map.

From user MOTYSHIZ: A procedurally-generated map? In Onward? sb_procedural tries to offer a unique CQB experience that trains players' moment to moment adaptability. This map will have its layout re-shuffled on a semi-weekly basis. Even without the weekly re-shuffle, the spawns rotate between rounds to keep the layout feeling fairly random. New pieces will be added from time to time, and some weeks may feature some very experimental modifications.
Motyshiz (sb_procedural creator) would like to credit LeonMail for the initial idea.

From Doomblade187: Backstreets is an urban map with three long, interconnected lanes and plenty of places to hide. Evade your enemies in the hotel, or watch the streets from your rooftop perch. Just keep an eye out for the VIP. This map is inspired by the America's Army 3 map, Alley.

That wraps it up March here at DPI. Make sure to keep an eye out on social media for some Onward Easter eggs beginning in April.

Spring has sprung, but Stay Frosty!

Hello again everyone!

Today we launch a patch for Onward: version 1.8.7.2. This patch is a bit more beefy than the last one and it includes a long list of fixes for issues that affect all of you: from audio and AI graphic issues, to walls that you could walk through on maps. Overall, the patch addresses some of the bigger issues affecting the gameplay and overall experience in Onward. Your experience is important to us and we value the feedback you the players provide us.

Among the key fixes included in this patch are bot visibility at long range, and smoke grenades correctly blocking visibility of objects behind them. Fixes for most lingering audio issues are also included. In addition, we have added changes/updates to some maps. See the list below for an overview of the fixes that are included in this patch.

1.8.7.2 is now live and should automatically prompt you for an update the next time you go to jump on the battlefield.

For all the details check out our blog post.
https://www.onwardthegame.com/devblog/

Hello Everyone!

February came, and now that February is pretty much gone it’s time for our monthly sitrep. The Developers continue to work hard on some much needed improvements, redesigned features and bug fixes.

Stay Frosty!

Kidding...

From The Dev Desk:
In our last sitrep we mentioned that 1.8.8 would come out quicker than our usual patches, but unfortunately that turned out to not be the case. We hit some speed bumps and are making sure it’s in the best condition for you. 1.8.8 will significantly reduce the occurrence of broken lobbies, which often cause problems such as voice chat issues, lobby lockups, and rounds not assigning points correctly. The update rewrites the code that is the foundation of Onward’s game modes. This part of the code interacts with a lot of areas in the game, and we’ve run into a lot of specific and unforeseen issues as a result. We appreciate the patience you’ve all shown over the past month, and we are working to get the update out as soon as possible.

Because of the delay with 1.8.8 we’re working to release a couple of patches to address the most urgent issues with 1.8.7, the first of which (1.8.7.1) has already been released. Next up will be patch 1.8.7.2. The 1.8.7.2 patch will focus on fixing issues that affect a lot of you, and issues affecting competitive play.
- Connection issues for PCVR players, where a registry reset was needed.
- A number of Voice/Audio fixes and adjustments while inside the tent, along with a design change to the team chat function.
- AI adjustments such as footsteps and visibility from a distance.
- Some Map adjustments, such as broken walls and railings are likely to be included.
- We are pushing to try and get improvements to tablets and smokes in as well.
A detailed breakdown of the fixes and adjustments will be given when 1.8.7.2 is released.

In addition to the focus we’re putting on the 1.8.7.2 patch and the 1.8.8 update we are making strides with future features: as Onward continues to grow the player base has increased exponentially. Having this many players (and lobbies) in the game means we have to rethink some of Onward’s features. For example we need to make it easier to find and play with your friends, and we want to make sure you have as much fun playing the game as possible. To get to that point we are working on implementing a party system to find and more easily group up with your Onward crew to get games going. With any multiplayer game, there are different play styles and different mindsets. We are also working on the features to help with toxic players, for example allowing you to mute them, and adding measures to prevent sustained team killing.

Also being looked into is an implementation of a ranking system. A place where you can get statistics on kills, deaths, revives, and more. Once we get closer to the final design we’ll share more details with you! Another addition will be a revamped version of Abandoned. The map is set in an old abandoned soviet factory located next to a lake in the harsh Siberian landscape. Also high on our list is improving graphics for PCVR users with the use of Shadowmask lighting. We don’t have an estimate on the Shadowmask update quite yet however, as we are waiting for a Unity update to start this implementation.

Community Center:
This month we have made a major update to our official Onward Discord channel. We have always shared a home with the VR Master league, whose roots lie in the Onward Discord. However, with the growth of both Onward and the Master League, the VRML has spread their wings and opened up their own server to give the Onward Discord community a chance to make some adjustments. Explore new channels and new ways to interact with fellow Onward players. If you’re not in the Discord, what are you waiting for? https://discord.gg/fYHHJFkwTr

Our Twitter campaign for finding out the fan favorite map is coming to a close! We are in the Semifinals and the Finals will wrap up at the end of the month. Make sure you check out our Twitter account (@OnwardTheGame) to see the progress and get your final votes in!

Starting in March we want to Highlight you, yes you, our community! We want to showcase our players and show off your Onward fandom. Send us your photos in a DM of you being an Onward fan for a chance to be featured on our social media Community Spotlight.

If you’d like to get to know a little more about the people who work at Downpour you can also follow our company accounts on Twitter (@DownpourInt) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DownpourInteractive) , this month we are featuring our QA Lead, Kaysaun.

Stay Frosty!
(for real this time)