Hey everyone. For the start of today's open beta, we are releasing a couple hotfix to address some of the issues from yesterday’s major update. If you're new to Sandstorm we highly recommend you check out the latest overview trailer to familiarize yourself with the game before you jump in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ZAJ6l-7s4

See the full changelog below and enjoy.

Stability Fixes

• Fixed a potential crash due to animations.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where users with non-english language operating system settings were getting a mixture of English and their operating system language in-game when set to English in Steam.
  
• Fixed an issue where ragdolls would no longer perform their ragdoll animations and always consider themselves to have been shot in the head.
  
• Fixed bots being forced out of their counter-attack vehicles.
  
• Fixed cosmetic issues with suicide bombers.
  
• Fixed missing composite LODs for the suicide bomber.
  
• Fixed missing physical assets for the suicide bomber.
  
• Fixed suicide bomber holding a knife instead of the IED detonator.
  
• Fixed an issue with suicide bombers spawning inside counter-attack vehicles.
  
• Fixed an issue with loading hints getting scaled incorrectly.

User Experience Improvements

• Pre-order and submit feedback links in the Main Menu will now open in the Steam overlay instead of an external browser.

Known Issues

• Minor hitching in some areas of ‘Precinct’ on minimum spec PCs. This will be addressed for launch.
  
• Getting killed while vaulting can cause animation issues on respawn.
  
• Doors can appear desynced for certain clients after a map change on community servers.
  
• Competitive matchmaking has been removed temporarily to improve user flow. It will return before launch.

-------


New Content

• Improved suicide bomber model.
  
• Added Summit back to the list of available matchmaking maps.

Stability Fixes

• Fixed a potential animation related crash.
  
• Fixed a potential crash caused by deploying bipods on surfaces.
  
• Fixed a potential crash when weapons are equipped.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where the suicide bomber in Checkpoint would be invisible.
  
• Fixed multiple UI elements that would overflow in languages other than English.
  
• Fixed an issue where objective letters were sometimes mis-translated in languages other than English.
  
• Fixed an issue with loading screen hint alignment.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Customize menu where clicking on a cosmetic variation made it disappear.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Gunship call in sequence in the Tutorial Level.

Map Balance & Fixes

• Hideout
  
  • Adjusted restricted area for objective F on Checkpoint Insurgents.
• Farmhouse
  
  • Removed spawning positions near Checkpoint Insurgents vehicle insertion point.
• Crossing
  
  • Moved several supply crates and objective weapon caches to fix collisions with nearby objects.
• Summit
  
  • Fixed lighting issues on foliage.

Known Issues

• Minor hitching in some areas of ‘Precinct’ on minimum spec PC’s, will be addressed for launch.
  
• Players with an operating system language other than English who also run the game in English will experience issues where only parts of the game are translated. We will be releasing another small hotfix soon to address this.
  
• Getting killed while vaulting can cause animation issues on respawn.
  
• Doors can appear desynced for certain clients after a map change on community servers.
  
• Competitive matchmaking has been removed temporarily to improve user flow. It will return before launch.
  
• The suicide bomber will occasionally spawn with multiple overlapping cosmetics.
  
• Certain loading screen hints may be scaled incorrectly.

Insurgency Sandstorm Pre-Order Beta Update Highlights - December 7th, 2018
Hello everyone. Today we’re releasing an update to address feedback we’ve heard from the Insurgency: Sandstorm community in anticipation of the start of the game’s open beta weekend (which runs from Friday, Dec 7 – 5PM CET / 8AM PST to Monday, Dec 10 – 6PM CET / 9AM PST).

The highlights below represent a small portion of the 1,000+ changes to Sandstorm from the last update, but shouldn’t be considered a full change log. We expect to release a full list of changes sometime soon. We look forward to your feedback and we hope you enjoy the beta this weekend!

We also invite you to read the latest blog by our CEO, Jeremy Blum where he discusses the future of Insurgency: Sandstorm and what you can look forward to as we continue to update the game!

New Content

• Precinct map.
  
• Added Crossing back to the list of available maps.
  
• Mercenary voice option for Insurgents.
  
• Training Level in the Tutorials section.
  
• Improved character models:
  
  • Refitted, reoriented, and further detailed gear with items like flex cuffs, duct tape, paracord, glowsticks, punch knives, etc.
    
  • Added new backpacks. Light and Heavy Carriers now have an associated backpack unique to each faction.
    
  • Added thigh holster and thigh pouches for Security depending on Carrier.
    
  • Thickened Insurgent character proportions.
    
  • Reweighted characters, resulting in more natural movement.
  
  
• Localization for all supported languages.
  
• NVIDIA Highlights support. To activate, go to Settings and it will be under the GAME tab in its own section. To open your saved NVIDIA Highlights, click the Highlights button under History from the main-menu or the dedicated button in the in-game menu (when pressing Escape). Please make sure you are using GeForce driver 417.22 or later.
  
• Credits in the Main Menu section.
  
• Temporarily removed M005 to be redesigned and added back as soon as possible post-release.

Optimization

• Pawn reuse system: Characters are no longer destroyed and recreated but instead hidden and teleported to the correct location on death and respawn. This vastly reduces any gamethread hitches on spawns and objective captures.
  
• Cosmetic pooling system: Appearance items are cached in one of two pools, one for alive characters and one for ragdolls, meaning logic for cosmetics only ever needs to be initiated twice. This creates substantially less hitching caused by cosmetic logic.

Stability Fixes

• Fixed crash related to receiving voice data while loading a map.
  
• Fixed a crash that would occur when changing resolutions while rendering the SMAA 1x anti-aliasing shader.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed melee attacks going through walls.
  
• Fixed scope pictures not taking super-sampling into account.
  
• Fixed the fade out upon death not being propagated to other players that are spectating the dying player.
  
• Fixed issue where shell ejections would not appear on suppressed weapons.
  
• Speed reloads now correctly deduct weight from the player.
  
• Disabled melee when interacting with a grenade.
  
• Fixes for potential weight and stamina desync.
  
• Fixed bipod clearance not being rechecked during a stance transition.
  
• Fixed bipod view when watching a player in spectator.
  
• Fixed issue where some menus would stay on the screen between map changes.
  
• Objective and teammate opacity settings will now be saved between sessions.
  
• Added a one second delay between chat messages to prevent chat flooding.
  
• Fixed reloading looping when spectating a player using a singly-loaded weapon (shotgun/bolt-action rifle).
  
• Fixed spectator not allowing you to move in the freecam if you were previously assigned to a team.
  
• Fixed weapon switching not correctly showing the weapon in spectator.
  
• Fixed the FOV of low quality scopes in spectator.
  
• Fixed suppression from rockets occuring after projectile had exploded.
  
• Fixed magazine not appearing on weapon when interacting with underbarrel grenade launcher.
  
• Fixed third person mesh for underbarrel grenade launchers not showing weapon upgrades.
  
• Removed in-game menu being bound to keypad plus (+) by default.
  
• Fixed crash when joining a server in the process of changing maps.
  
• Fixed disconnect that occurs when transitioning to the same map that was previously played.
  
• Fixed issue with not being able spawn after being a spectator and joining a team.

Gameplay Improvements

• Added audio cue for close passes from rocket projectiles.
  
• Reduced suppression radius of rockets.
  
• Added “Chemical Gas” spotted VO.
  
• Added “Ask Status” VO after capturing an objective with teammates.
  
• Increased Minigun Support hover time from 30 seconds to 40 seconds.
  
• Increased Gunship hover time from 15 seconds to 25 seconds.

AI Improvements

• Added shotguns to AI loadouts.
  
• Added “Path Skipping” and “Dangerous Corner” detection to AI drivers, allowing them to drive much faster without crashing.

User Experience Improvements

• All menus now have detailed explanations of settings and options.
  
• Added options for disabling View Bob and Camera Animations.
  
• Added separate sensitivity scale options for each zoom level.
  
• Added direct connect by IP option to server browser.
  
• Voice muting can now be chosen for individual players or an entire team.
  
• Muting a player will now mute their text chat.
  
• Spectating a vehicle in third person will no longer lock the rotation of the camera.

Visual Improvements

• Improved shading for sunglasses with added support for translucency.
  
• Implemented a new hair shader and added multiple hair color variations.
  
• Players that have died in vehicles can now be dismembered.
  
• Reduced ghosting artifacts caused by translucent geometry being composited into the frame before the temporal anti-aliasing algorithms have run.
  
• Updated the flash bang effect to display an after-image of the moment the player got flashed.
  
• Reduced the chances of camera clipping when viewing the world from a ragdoll’s perspective.
  
• Polished multiple weapon models and textures for M16A4, M16A2, M9, AK-74, M24, L85A2, Mk 14 EBR, M249.
  
• Added new C79 scope model.
  
• Updated textures for AK foregrips.
  
• Added belt link ejection for M249 SAW.

Map Balance & Fixes

Hideout

• Optimized assets to reduce memory usage.
  
• Reworked HLODs to reduce draw calls.
  
• Reduced particle effects to improve performance and readability.
  
• Did an interior lighting pass to improve readability and performance.
  
• Fixed numerous gameplay and visual issues.
  
• Made various visual improvements.

Farmhouse

• Optimized assets to reduce memory usage.
  
• Reduced particle effects to improve performance and readability.
  
• Reworked C objective on Push Insurgents scenario.
  
• Fixed numerous gameplay and visual issues.
  
• Made various visual improvements.

Refinery

• Optimized assets to reduce memory usage.
  
• Reworked HLODs to reduce draw calls.
  
• Reduced particle effects to improve performance and readability.
  
• Made various gameplay adjustments to improve Push Insurgents scenario.
  
• Made various visual improvements.

Known Issues

• Getting killed while vaulting can cause animation issues on respawn
  
• Trees in the Summit map have broken lighting, so we have temporarily removed the map from matchmaking. The map is still available for play on community servers and in local play. We will reintroduce the map to matchmaking as soon as this is addressed.
  
• Doors can appear desynced for certain clients after a map change on community servers
  
• The competitive Firefight matchmaking has been removed temporarily to improve user flow. It will return before launch

Insurgency: Sandstorm brings action-packed, nerve-wracking modern military combat on Friday, December 7 and running through the weekend, as an open beta period will invite everyone to try the game for free on Steam.

To get potential players ready, the new Gameplay Overview Trailer, commentated by the developers, breaks down all the ways Insurgency: Sandstorm is unique, from the high lethality gunplay, to an atmospheric minimal HUD, to Commander-Observer tagteams calling in fire support, to the extensive character and weapon customization, to the very design of maps, modes, and even sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nlqH5zReDA
New World Interactive’s lead game designer Michael Tsarouhas narrates the action, explaining every movement, explosion, and pull of the trigger. Across eight minutes of gameplay footage he explains how New World Interactive combined the best of shooter fundamentals with a realistic approach to ballistics, equipment, and other gameplay factors, creating an incredible FPS experience. Everything you see - from weapons to vehicles to maps and modes - will be available in the Open Beta for everyone.

We are currently putting the finishing touches on a massive update to deploy when the Open Beta starts, representing a big content upgrade on the current Closed Beta offering. This includes the full map pool, character improvements including new voice lines, an optimization pass, and much more.



Insurgency: Sandstorm is also available in an ongoing pre-order beta, with thousands of players already playing, testing, and providing feedback on everything from weapon balance to optimization improvements. Updates and patches have been regular, taking community feedback into account as well as providing new content for those of you who decided to jump in early.

Those who pre-order receive a 10% discount alongside their instant access to the pre-order beta, as well as an exclusive in-game tattoo cosmetic to show their veterancy in the years to come. An additional 10% loyalty discount will be given to fans that own the original Insurgency. Note that the Loyalty Discount does not stack with other promotions. This additional discount will be offered until the end of March 2019.

If you have any questions about Insurgency: Sandstorm for the team, we'll be hosting a Reddit AMA today (Dec 4th) at 12PM EDT. Join us there!

Insurgency: Sandstorm releases December 12th on PC. Steam pre-orders are available now and grant instant access to the ongoing beta testing phase.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/581320/Insurgency_Sandstorm/

Hello everyone. Today we are releasing a patch to address some issues and respond to some of the feedback from last week’s major update. We hope everyone enjoys the changes, and we look forward to joining you on the servers!

• Added potential fix for “Kicked from server: host closed the connection” issue that some players are facing related to Steam Authentication.
  
• Fixed a potential startup crash.

• Changed the default scope setting to use a traditional zoomed in scope view which has better performance. Players may still select the realistic “Picture-in-picture” scope option if they prefer.
  
• Ragdolls now enter a sleep mode when they’ve become inactive, so they will no longer simulate client-side physics when nothing is happening to them.
  
• Reduced appropriate weapon textures from 4k to 2k resolution including M45, L106A1, Tariq, MP7, Uzi and vehicle mines.
  
• Optimized texture streaming for some particle textures.

• AI
  
  • Fixed an issue with bots spawning inside vehicles during Checkpoint that were intended for the human team.
    
  • Fixed an issue where bots firing semi-automatic or bolt action weapons would not be audible.
• Characters
  
  • Fixed an issue where giant characters could occur when using the bipod.
    
  • Added various fixes for Headgear and hair for some heads.
• Weapons
  
  • Fixed an issue with the Uzi and AKS-74U iron sights being misaligned.
    
  • Fixed an issue where cycling the bolt of a weapon occured before releasing the mouse button. Firing and holding down the fire button should now properly delay the cycling of a bolt-action rifle or pump action of a shotgun.
    
  • Fixed an issue where when planting mines there was a slight delay after the animation completed before they would be planted.
    
  • Fixed duplicate compensators and flash hiders on Insurgent pistols in Coop.
• Server Admin
  
  • Fixed an issue with Rcon when submitting an incorrect password.

• Reduced horizontal recoil for assault and battle rifles by 10%.
  
• Slightly sped up normal (non-sprint) Aim Down Sights speed across all weights.
  
• Increased drivable vehicle window health slightly to make players inside less vulnerable.
  
• Reduced mine planting time from five seconds to 3.4 seconds.

• Reduced bot quota from 6/12 to 3/12 to make lower player counts easier.
  
• Bots should be less aggressive with grenades, and try to allow targets some time to flee before they explode.
  
• Bots should now properly ignore targets with spawn protection.

• Settings Menu
  
  • Added mouse smoothing option.
    
  • Added gamma option.
    
  • Updated “Scope Setting” options, which are now referred to as “Normal” and “Picture-in-picture”.
• Server Browser
  
  • Added ability to click on a column and sort the results.
    
  • Added the following filter options:
    
    • Show Full
      
    • Show Empty
• HUD
  
  • Removed the Fire Mode display for weapons that don't use bullets (e.g. grenades, knives, etc.)
• Round Victory Screen
  
  • Improved map voting screen so that longer scenario names (such as “Checkpoint Insurgents”) fit the voting buttons.
• Loadout Menu
  
  • Implemented stripper clip and scope deny text support. This indicates to the player if there are any conflicting upgrades when hovering over the upgrade.
• Server Admin
  
  • Added server admin config option bCounterAttackReinforce to Checkpoint which allows the human team to be reinforced at the start of every counter-attack. This is not on by default and is intended to be an option for custom servers.

• Animations
  
  • Updated the menu idle animation.
    
  • Updated rifle, pistol and launcher sprinting character animations.
• Customize
  
  • Improved textures for the following Insurgent items:
    
    • Polo Plain
      
    • Polo Striped
      
    • Button Rolled
      
    • Button Sleeves
      
    • Button T
• Ragdolls
  
  • Reworked head and neck constraints and added linear damping.
    
  • Improved the speed at which ragdolls will stop simulating physics if they haven’t encountered any large physical forces. This should reduce instances of jittering ragdolls.
• Weapons
  
  • Scaled down the suppressor for the AKM, AK-74 and Alpha AK.
    
  • Updated the scale of all third person flash hiders and compensators.
• FX
  
  • Fixed some scaling issues with third person muzzle flashes.

• Refinery
  
  • Revised Push Insurgents scenario and expanded it to five objectives.
    
  • Adjusted Push Security B building to make it capturable on both floors.
    
  • Improved bot navigation at Security Checkpoint B and Insurgent Checkpoint D.
    
  • Fixed being able to leave the playable area near the Insurgent starting spawn in Skirmish.
    
  • Fixed an issue where players could get stuck inside a silo near Push Security B.
    
  • Made various gameplay adjustments to improve level flow and balance.
    
  • Made various visual improvements.
• Farmhouse
  
  • Reworked a wall that affects line of sight into Insurgent B spawn on Push Security.
    
  • Improved player navigation around fences at Insurgent A spawn on Push Insurgents.
    
  • Moved Insurgent B spawn further forward on Push Security.
    
  • Removed window fence at Insurgent B spawn on Push Security.

• The weapon ready animation when spawning in doesn't finish playing.
  
• Magazine will disappear on a weapon in first person view when you switch to an under barrel grenade launcher.
  
• Gas Masks don't show on characters who have equipped them.
  
• When a player is ejected from a vehicle after being killed, their ragdoll will disappear.
  
• Party members cannot communicate through VoIP.

Hello everyone. Today we are releasing a hotfix to address some of the issues and respond to some of the initial feedback from yesterday’s major update. We plan to continue monitoring feedback through the weekend, and will likely release another patch some time next week.

We are aware of a crash some people are experiencing on startup, which has a fairly easy fix for it. If you are experiencing this crash, try the following:
First, navigate to: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Insurgency\Saved\Config\WindowsClient
Then delete the following file: GameUserSettings.ini
The file will be recreated when you next start the game.

We hope everyone enjoys playing over the weekend, and we look forward to joining you on the servers!

New Features

• Settings Menu
  
  • Added SMAA T2x Anti-aliasing option to the setting menu and re-enabled TAA sharpening.

Gameplay Improvements

• Player Movement
  
  • Adjusted the Aim Down Sights speed when coming out of a sprint so it now factors in weight instead of just being a fixed delay.

User Experience Improvements

• Server Admin
  
  • Added quality of life improvements
    
    • Admin list/map cyle setup has been simplified and placed into their own text files.
      
    • Admin kick exemption (team kills/idle).
      
    • Ability to disable idle kicks by setting the value to 0.
  • Server hostname can be up to 63 characters in length rather than 30.
• Rcon
  
  • travelscenario command should now work without having to put the full path to the scenario asset.

Visual Improvements

• Animations
  
  • Added new Main Menu idle animations.
    
  • Added new Loadout menu animations.

AI Improvements

• Reduced bot respawn pool from 100% to 60-80% of the total player count.
  
• Fixed an issue where AI vehicle insertion drivers were invisible during Checkpoint.
  
• Fixed bots always trying to utilize vehicle turrets and ignoring any AI deaths while doing so.

Stability Fixes

• Fixed a crash that could occur on map change.
  
• Fixed a crash with Rcon when sending a multipacket response.
  
• Fixed a crash caused by color bindings.

Bug Fixes

• VoIP
  
  • Fixed an issue with VoIP when playing on matchmaking servers.
  
  
• UI
  
  • Fixed an issue with the HUD chat element not automatically focusing input from the keyboard without having to be clicked on first.
    
  • Fixed a bug preventing the admin menu from being accessible in local play.
    
  • Fixed an issue where if you were a spectator while in the Loadout menu and you clicked confirm, it would not put you back into the spectating state.
    
  • Fixed an issue where chosen colour presets would not be saved between sessions.
  
  
• Characters
  
  • Fixed an issue with arm textures forcing them to be discolored under certain lighting.
    
  • Player ragdolls are no longer invisible when killed inside a vehicle.
    
  • Added mipmaps and streaming settings to certain character textures.
  
  
• Weapons
  
  • Fixed an issue where incorrect equip times were being used. This led to items such as grenades not being throwable as soon as they should be.
    
  • Fixed an issue for ammunition not showing for grenade launchers.
    
  • Fixed an issue where grenades were missing animations when inside a restricted area.
    
  • Fixed an issue with the AKM and SVD world models having some missing geometry.
    
  • Fixed and issue where the Molotov lighter was not showing and the special idle animations were not getting interrupted.
  
  
• Fire Support
  
  • Fixed an issue with Bomber Drones floating through walls.
  
  
• Cosmetics
  
  • Fixed an issue where the Covered hair cosmetic was the only female hair option shown when previewing.

Map Balance & Fixes

• Refinery
  
  • Fixed an issue with the playable area on Checkpoint, Push and Skirmish.
    
  • Fixed painted foliage and rocks from popping into view.
    
  • Added more HLODs.
    
  • Increased culling distance slightly.
    
  • Fixed light casting issues on certain meshes and terrain.
    
  • Added more protection from rockets shot over long distances in Skirmish.
    
  • Expanded the D capture zone to both floors in Skirmish.
    
  • Included the balcony at C capture zone in Push Security.
    
  • Removed broken manhole mesh.
    
  • Rebuilt navigation.
  
  
• Farmhouse
  
  • Potential fix for players spawning on top of each other in Firefight East.

Known Issues

• The weapon ready animation when spawning in doesn't finish playing.
  
• Magazine will disappear on a weapon in first person view when you switch to an under barrel grenade launcher.
  
• Gas Masks don't show on characters who have equipped them.
  
• If using super-sampling zoom scopes will be rendered black
  
• When a player is ejected from a vehicle after being killed, their ragdoll will disappear.

Hi everyone my name is Jon Higgins, and I am the Marketing and Communications Director here at New World Interactive. Today we are rolling out a major update to the ongoing pre-order beta test for Insurgency: Sandstorm.

The core of this update is a codebase upgrade from Unreal Engine 4.19 to Unreal Engine 4.20. This was a very time-consuming process, but should yield significant benefits for both now and the future by allowing us to take advantage of new features in Unreal. During the upgrade, the rest our team has been hard at work adding new content and features such as the Alpha AK assault rifle, community server tools, a new map, tattoo cosmetics, and more. We’ve also been doing a lot of optimisation, and continuing to refine the core experience based on community feedback. The full change log runs at almost 18 pages long and can be found at the bottom of this post.


The new Alpha AK is available for the Insurgent Advisor class as well as the Security Advisor in Coop.



This update features improvements to gameplay including adjustments to recoil, sway, focus, player movement, and more. We’ve made changes to the visual recoil to become more “punchy” and altered recoil values in general for many weapons, especially those with 7.62 caliber rounds. More weight will now mean your time to aim down your sights will be slower. We’ve also added “tagging”, which means a player’s speed is reduced when they take damage.

Comparison of updated recoil, between Insurgency (Left) and Insurgency: Sandstorm (Right)


As some of you may know, we intended to release a new map called Precinct with this update. Unfortunately, during testing this week we noticed several issues that were causing the map to underperform. Because of this, and because of the fact that this map is considerably more complex than the others, we’ve decided to hold off on adding it until we can optimise it further. However, we have noticed our fans’ desire for more map variety in the beta, and in particular have received a lot of community requests to re-introduce Refinery (known as Oilfield during our Closed Alpha). So we have decided to add it back into the map pool as requested to give everyone something new to enjoy.







Refinery features intense close quarters firefights in an industrial setting with a unique vertical gameplay style. Both teams must navigate a dense system of pipes, warehouses, and catwalks as they vie for control of the facility. We have done several iterations on Refinery since it was last shown to testers, and are keen to hear more player feedback.


Today's update features many changes aimed at optimising the game and improving the overall performance as we get closer to launch. The exact performance change will be unique to each player and dependant on numerous factors including the details of the person’s system and any other programs being run. However, we have made significant steps towards reducing CPU and memory requirements, and hope to announce our official minimum system requirements shortly. Performance improvements are by no means done, however this update should reduce microstutter and hitches experienced by players in previous versions of the Beta. We ask that any players who still encounter performance issues after this patch to read the following thread and post their game settings along with their DxDiag file to help our team better identify issues.


We received a lot of feedback regarding the rate at which players are able to unlock cosmetic items as they progress. In addition to the news that pre-order beta players will be able to carry over 50% of their earned Appearance Credits into the full release, we have also made changes to the overall time it takes to unlock cosmetics. Most item tiers have seen a 33% reduction in cost, and we have also made the decision that upon launch players will start the game with 1000 Appearance Credits. The combined effect of this will enable players to purchase a few base cosmetic items for each team right at the start, and obtain a unique identity in the game earlier in their experience.


For fans of our Coop game mode Checkpoint, the enemy AI has seen a number of improvements. Bots should now reach objectives faster, have better accuracy at close range, and will throw grenades into windows when they try to retake objectives during counter-attacks. The Explosive Drone fire support AI has also been improved, allowing it to enter through windows and detonate inside buildings.


Along with this update we have also released our dedicated server application so that fans can host community servers. We are in discussions with various server providers to allow players to host their own custom servers more easily. If you are interested in hosting a dedicated server, you can find a setup guide here.



The full 18 page change log featuring hundreds of changes included in this update can be viewed here. As always, player feedback during this beta test is vital to our iterative development process and enables us to continue making these changes based on your suggestions. So we encourage all players to join in discussion on our forums with constructive feedback as we start to finalise our experience leading up to launch.



There are a few known issues with the build that we’d like to communicate to players. We are actively in the process of fixing these and hope to release hotfixes for the game in the near term to address them accordingly. If you notice any other critical issues please report them on the Steam forums so we can have a strong hotfix effort in the aftermath of this major update.

• VoIP is not working correctly on matchmaking servers despite working correctly on community dedicated servers.
  
• The ready animation when spawning in doesn't fully play on weapons.
  
• Security 3P arms are pitch black when shaded.
  
• Magazine disappears on weapon when you switch to an under barrel grenade launcher in first person.
  
• Gas Masks don't show on third person character models.
  
• Insertion Truck characters are not showing online.
  
• Woman hair preview is always a hijab whatever the selected haircut is.
  
• When a player is ejected from a vehicle after being killed their ragdoll will disappear.

Insurgency: Sandstorm releases December 12th 2018 on PC and coming to PS4 and Xbox One 2019. Pre-order now to get instant access to the pre-order exclusive PC Beta from now until launch.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/581320/Insurgency_Sandstorm/

Note: This is part 1 of the full patch notes. Read part 2 here!

New Features

• Upgrade to Unreal Engine 4.20.
  
• New map: Refinery
  
• Dedicated server application for community hosted servers which can be discovered in the in-game server browser. You can find our guide here.
  
• Alpha AK weapon for the Insurgent Advisor class and Security Advisor in Coop.
  
• Improved “zoom” scopes for the Low Scope Quality setting.
  
• New five objective Push scenarios for certain maps.
  
• New vaporization feature: characters will explode into blood if they take a high amount of explosive damage.

Optimizations

• Large scale changes to item loading. Items are now bundled and will transition between bundles based on usage, increasing performance and decreasing memory usage.
  
• Cosmetic caching is now used so that cosmetic logic only runs once, reducing hitching caused by player spawns and deaths.
  
• Optimized character movement, disable per-tick floor checks, allow prediction to be skipped on the same frame as net updates.
  
• Tuned garbage collection settings, adjusted permanent object settings, enabled actor and Blueprint clustering.
  
• Optimized CPU particles with asynchronous particle tick, parallel particle collision and PhysX optimizations.
  
• Reduced CPU cost of character animations.
  
• Remove expensive pre-simulations from various particle effects.
  
• Reduced CPU overhead of various audio effects.
  
• Disabled overlap events for simulated proxy characters.
  
• Props no longer gibify on dedicated server.
  
• Optimized multiple expensive merged actors.
  
• Reduced the number of LODs used on architecture, props and third person weapons to reduce memory usage.
  
• Reduced normal map and colour texture resolution scale on many props.
  
• Reduced particle texture sizes for anything above 4k.
  
• Reduced spawn rate on ribbon particles for cache explosion.
  
• Removed LODs from any prop under 500 triangles to reduce memory usage.
  
• Added map thumbnail images so Local Game no longer loads each map’s individual 4K loading screen.
  
• Moved explosion debris to GPU instead of CPU.
  
• Resave PlayerClass assets preventing unused assets from being loaded.
  
• Lowered the Weapon LOD settings from five LODs to four.
  
• Disabled physics on a dropped weapon if it is about to disappear.
  
• Optimized multiple merged props.
  
• Adjusted LMUV resolution and LODs on all props.
  
• Halved the LMUV resolution of all foliage scatter props.
  
• Updated Fire Support particle bounding boxes.
  
• Blood sprinkle decals are now spawned less frequently to reduce decal spam.
  
• Merged all scatter prop textures into one atlas.

Gameplay Improvements

• Weapons
  
  • Recoil Changes
    
    • Increased recoil on the weapons throughout the whole game, with 7.62 caliber rifles and .45 pistols seeing a higher recoil increase than other weapon types.
      
    • Iron sight fire animations now have additional kick to them to make them more “punchy.”
      
    • Recoil while crouching has been increased slightly (now has a 40% recoil reduction instead of 50%).
      
    • Added extra recoil penalty for M249 and PKM to make them much less controllable when bipod is not deployed.
      
    • When moving, heavier weight means less recoil than lighter weight, instead of the other way around.
      
    • Max recoil when low stamina and low weight is now 140% instead of 130%, which will increase recoil slightly when tired.
      
    • Increased shotgun recoil when in Aim Down Sights by about 20% (80% of default recoil instead of 60%).
      
    • Reduced the aim punch drop after each shot on shotguns, making recoil feel a bit more emphasized and requiring more user control.
      
    • Shotgun recoil aim punch will be additive now between shots instead of resetting after each shot.
      
    • Disallowed Mosin Stripper Clip when also using the 2x Holographic, 2x Kobra and 2x Red Dot as the clip would not be able to physically fit in the weapon.
    
    
  • Sway Changes:
    
    • Increased default sway magnitude.
      
    • Decreased default sway speed.
      
    • Reduced sway when crouching.
      
    • Reduced sway speed when low stamina.
      
    • Increased sway speed when at higher movement velocity.
      
    • Reduced sway speed when suppressed.
    
    
  • Focus Changes:
    
    • No stamina requirement to use..
      
    • No stamina drain from using, however stamina recovery is paused.
      
    • Duration and cooldown are affected by stamina level.
    
    
  • Removed long barrel upgrade due to gameplay concerns. This upgrade effectively increased damage, and we would rather players spend their supply on more interesting options other than a simple damage increase.
    
  • Increased 5.56 and 5.45 caliber bullet penetration.
    
  • Machine guns and rocket launchers now have a longer Aim Down Sights time than normal weapons due to their heavier weight.
    
  • Increased damage for .45 pistols to accompany the increased recoil.
    
  • FAL and G3A3 now cost 4 supply.
    
  • Reduced Browning HP supply cost to 1 supply.
    
  • Default fire mode for Mk 14 EBR is now semi-auto.
    
  • Updated ammo round weights and magazine weights.
    
  • Launchers now have the same world FOV zoom as rifles when Aim Down Sights and using Focus for consistency, and also to make sure the RPG-7 is less penalized for not having a scope compared to the Security's M3 MAAWS.
    
  • Updated rocket launcher weights to be more consistent.
    
  • Adjusted timing of melee impact.
    
  • Allowed SMGs and LMGs to fire while meleeing if the finger is still on the trigger of the weapon.
    
  • Deployed bipod is now restricted to realistic angles.
    
  • Improved shotgun spread. The first pellet of a shotgun shell’s spread will now hit dead center with the rest in a cone of spread around it using a Halton sequence.
    
  • Updated weapons barrel lengths to avoid them clipping through walls.
  
  
• Characters and Movement
  
  • Aim Down Sights time now scales to the player’s weight. Heavier weight means increased ADS time.
    
  • Aim Down Sights time is now increased if coming out of sprinting.
    
  • Reduced acceleration while turning and sprinting so that players can’t make sharp turns at full sprint speed.
    
  • Taking damage will now force players to slow down momentarily.
    
  • Falling from non-lethal heights will now temporarily slow down the player based on the height of the fall.
    
  • Soft collisions are now enabled for teammates, with enemies still using hard collisions.
    
  • Tweaked ragdoll head capsule to avoid faces clipping through the ground in first person.
    
  • Projectile hits on body armor will now show a different particle effect.
    
  • Removed ability to fire while sliding.
    
  • Fixed some input issues with toggle sprint not always being reliable in some cases.
    
  • Pressing reload while using toggle sprint will now stop the sprint in favor of reloading.
    
  • Players receive a heavier suppression shader effect when taking damage.
    
  • Added health post process effect which appears when the player is low on health.
    
  • Adjusted suppression and stamina post process effects.
    
  • Added fade from black at the start of the round when players are seated in insertion truck.
    
  • Fixed an issue where you could vault inside geometry in some obscure cases.
    
  • Improved Charge (Sprint + Melee attack):
    
    • Charging restricts player from sprinting for 1.25 seconds.
      
    • Charging drains 20 stamina.
      
    • Charging at low stamina should feel a bit more sluggish.
      
    • Charging into a character only damages them once.
      
    • Slowed turn rate while charging.
      
    • Fixed issue where Charge could be stopped by letting go of the movement keys.
  
  
• Classes
  
  • Added underbarrel smoke launchers for Rifleman, Commander and Observer classes.
    
  • Removed underbarrel smoke launchers from Demolitions class.
    
  • Moved FAL from Insurgent Advisor to Insurgent Rifleman, Commander, Observer and Demolitions classes.
    
  • Moved SKS from Insurgent Rifleman, Commander, Observer and Demolitions to Insurgent Advisor.
    
  • Restricted the 5.56 suppressor for Insurgent Versus classes.
    
  • Added 1x Holographic and 2x Holographic to appropriate Insurgent Coop weapons.
    
  • Added missing Flash Hiders and Compensators for Insurgent Versus and Coop weapons.
    
  • Replaced the FAL with the SKS for the Security Coop Advisor.
    
  • Added Bipod to Security Rifleman Coop class.
    
  • Added 2x PK-AS to all Security Coop classes.
    
  • Added Suppressor for shotguns for Insurgent Breacher in Versus and Coop.
    
  • Security Coop classes now have access to Insurgent weapon upgrades for available Insurgent weapons.
  
  
• Gear
  
  • Light Armor protection against explosions reduced slightly.
    
  • Heavy Armor now protects more against damage from bullets with lower penetration values.
    
  • Light Carrier gives 14 extra shotgun rounds instead of 19.
  
  
• Weapon Upgrades
  
  • Reduced recoil further when using bipods.
    
  • Reduced foregrip vertical recoil reduction from 25% to 15%.
    
  • Removed foregrip horizontal recoil penalty (was 10% increased horizontal recoil).
    
  • Reduced foregrip sway radius reduction from 20% to 10%.
    
  • Reduced foregrip sway speed increase from 20% to 15%.
    
  • Reduced compensator horizontal recoil reduction from 40% to 30%.
    
  • Reduced compensator sway speed increase from 20% to 15%.
    
  • OKP-7 optic upgrade is now available for FAL, Mk 14 EBR, Mk 18 CQBR and MP7.
    
  • Reduced the maximum amount of grenade launcher rounds from 4 to 3.
  
  
• Explosives and Grenades
  
  • Can no longer throw C-4 and IEDs while in a restricted area.
    
  • Added a limit for the amount of C-4 that can be equipped.
    
  • Smoke grenades will no longer stop movement when exploding.
    
  • Set both the Molotov and Incendiary grenade flames to last 30 seconds.
  
  
• Game Modes
  
  • Push now has a maximum player limit of 28 players on official servers to provide a more tactical experience.
    
  • Versus Firefight now has a six round limit and a four round win limit, with a team switch after three rounds.
    
  • Checkpoint initial enemy spawns have been randomized and the radius extended, which will result in initial encounters much further from the objective.
  
  
• Fire Support
  
  • Renamed "IED Drone" to "Explosive Drone".
    
  • The Explosive Drone can now target windows and doorways, allowing the drone to fly inside and detonate within the building. When aiming an Explosive Drone at an applicable area, the particle indicator will snap to the window and change color.
    
  • Explosive Drones can now be shot down.
    
  • Added shrapnel feature to Explosive Drone explosion. Shrapnel will explode visible projectiles in a radius outside the normal explosion radius. These projectiles have travel time and can be dodged.
    
  • Players will no longer take damage from fire support while inside the spawn zone.
    
  • Increased speed at which artillery, mortar, and rocket rounds land on target.
    
  • Fix artillery, mortar, and rocket rounds landing incorrectly on maps with larger vertical differences.
    
  • Bomber Drones now drop impact IEDs instead of a combination of molotovs and grenades.
    
  • Helicopter hover height reduced.
    
  • Increase time it takes for helicopters to arrive.
    
  • Allowed Minigun Support helicopter to perform counter-clockwise rotations around the attack target.
    
  • Reworked Minigun Support helicopter flight pattern to enable weapons to remain on target and reduce its vulnerability when doing so.
  
  
• Vehicles
  
  • Increased speed of insertion truck in Checkpoint.
    
  • Reduce friendly rocket damage against vehicles.
  
  
• Audio and Voice Over
  
  • Reworked headshot assets and reduced their attenuation distance
    
  • Remove radio version of all Observer’s fire support requests. These are now only played in proximity of the player.
    
  • Remove radio versions of thanking Station and fire support. These are now only played in proximity of the player.
    
  • “Request Observer” radio lines are now only heard if you are an Observer.
    
  • Added a delay to pre-round lines.
    
  • "Low Ammo" lines are now only played for weapons with magazines.
    
  • When capturing an enemy objective, ensure only players on the objective announce it.
    
  • Added dialogue for helicopters when they begin attacking targets with their chain gun weapons.
    
  • Fixed artillery and mortar completion lines never playing.
    
  • Observers and Commanders can now have their Fire Support requests interrupted by being suppressed, flashbanged, or taking damage. If an Observer is requesting something and is interrupted, they will try to speak the request again.
  
  
• Doors
  
  • Molotovs and Incendiaries no longer immediately destroy doors.
    
  • Door speed is now variable over time. A door will start to open slowly and then accelerate.
  
  
• Exploit fixes
  
  • Prevent exploit of certain console variables which were allowing users to hide all foliage and trees in an environment.
    
  • Fixed view distance and foliage density settings to enforce consistent gameplay when it comes to the visibility of various foliage and tree objects.
    
  • Fixed an exploit where players using rocket launchers could perform an ammo grab on a supply crate to get one rocket more than their Carrier allowed.
    
  • Fixed a slide and jump momentum exploit.
    
  • Added chatbox limit of 250 characters.

User Experience Improvements

• Voice Over IP
  
  • Fixed VoIP not showing the name of the person speaking on the HUD.
    
  • Individual players and teams can now be muted from the scoreboard by either clicking on the speaker icon next to a player’s name or selecting the Mute All button beneath either team.
    
  • Fixed an issue where proximity VoIP was not heard. Please note there is a known issue with the attenuation over distance of proximity VoIP which will be improved in a future update.
  
  
• Character Customization
  
  • Adjusted Cosmetic Item Pricing
    
    • Uncommon cosmetics reduced from 300 to 200 credits.
      
    • Rare cosmetics reduced from 600 to 400 credits.
      
    • Very Rare cosmetics reduced from 1200 to 800 credits.
      
    • Uncommon camouflage reduced from 500 to 300 credits.
      
    • Rare camouflage reduced from 800 to 500 credits.
      
    • Very rare camouflage reduced from 1500 to 1000 credits.
    
    
  • Hovering over a cosmetic will now show a preview.
  
  
• New game settings
  
  • New SMAA 1x post process anti-aliasing shader.
    
  • The HUD color scheme can now be customized with custom colors. Presets include Default, Classic (Insurgency Source) and Day of Infamy.
    
  • Added objective and teammate indicator opacity settings.
    
  • Added option to hide objective briefing notifications.
    
  • Added option to always show fire mode selection UI.
    
  • Added option for FPS/frame time counter.
  
  
• Steam Achievements
  
  • “Wet Feet” is now obtainable.
    
  • “Exploitative” is now obtainable.
    
  • “Trauma” has been removed.

New Art Content

• Characters
  
  • Added five new heads for the Security faction.
    
  • Added new forearm tattoo appearance option and one selectable Security tattoo. More tattoos will be added for both factions.
  
  
• Weapons
  
  • Added compensator, flash hider and extended magazine models which are now shown on the weapon when selected.
  
  
• Environment
  
  • New grunge bullet hole decal variations.
    
  • New ceiling tile variations.
    
  • New marble floor variations.
    
  • New dirt mounds for the sides of structures.
    
  • Added three new multi-colored painted wall materials.
    
  • Added shader effect to shop signs and awnings allowing them to animate in response to wind.

Visual Improvements

• Animations
  
  • Updated the third person rifle sprint animation.
    
  • New third person hit reaction animations.
    
  • Updated the first person C-4 and IED cache rigging animations.
    
  • New third person C-4 throw animations.
    
  • New third person pre-round insertion animations.
    
  • Driver’s head now rotates in third person when looking around.
    
  • New third person knife slash animations.
    
  • Improved third person animation when strafing with a deployed bipod, so the character’s feet move when panning left and right.
    
  • Added third person underhand grenade primed throwing animation.
    
  • Added third person prone grenade throw animation.
    
  • Added third person ammo check animation.
    
  • Added third person prone reload animations for the MP7.
    
  • Added third person prone reload animations for the UZI.
    
  • Added third person stand and crouch reloads for the M249.
    
  • Updated Loadout menu third person animations.
    
  • Added reload animation for the M16A2 to fix alignment with the 40mm mesh.
    
  • Updated the M249 first person reloads.
    
  • Updated third person launcher sprint animation.
    
  • Updated weight shift when changing direction in third person.
    
  • New third person pistol sprint animation.
    
  • Added third person weapon down animations.
    
  • Added third person draw and holster animations.
    
  • Added new insertion truck pre-round animations.
    
  • Improved first person melee charge animation.
    
  • New first person “toss” animations for all launchers.
    
  • Updated base reloads for M16A2, M16A4, Mk 18 CQBR, and M4A1.
    
  • Added third person idle empty animation for weapons with bolt that locks back when empty.
    
  • Prevent players from switching weapons while in the insertion truck to prevent certain animation issues.
  
  
• Characters
  
  • Improved Security character proportions.
    
  • Improved Security weights for better deformation.
    
  • Added specular masks for Security male hair.
    
  • Improved material of Shades cosmetic.
    
  • Improved textures on One Hole, Two Hole, and Three Hole cosmetics.
    
  • Updated dirt layer on Insurgent pants and balaclavas.
    
  • Fixed a bad material swap for first person gloves which was forcing them to use the third person material.
    
  • Updated face roughness.
    
  • Modified the sub-surface profile for heads to use the default scatter radius again.
    
  • Reduced ragdoll impulse modifier for smaller caliber ammo types.
    
  • Tweaked profile character rendering in the main menu.
    
  • Updated materials on Flight cosmetic.
    
  • Updated various textures.
  
  
• Weapons and Upgrades
  
  • Improved first person meshes for Molotov, Mk 14 EBR, Uzi and L85A2.
    
  • Added new side mounted laser sights for the Alpha AK, M16A4 and L85A2.
    
  • Added new compensator for the M870.
    
  • Updated scope reticle materials for 7x Hunting Scope and 4x PU Scope.
    
  • Improved third person meshes for the M3 MAAWS, Kukri and Binoculars.
    
  • Added third person drum magazine meshes for various AK and M16 style weapons.
    
  • Added third person standard and extended magazine meshes for MP7 and Uzi.
    
  • Updated the OKP-7 for the AKS-74U to use rail version with side mounted rail.
    
  • Updated the third person AKM and AK-74 to use side mounted rails for optics.
    
  • Updated the GP-25 textures and materials.
    
  • Updated M005 textures.
  
  
• FX
  
  • Added pistol compensator muzzle flash.
    
  • Improved head dismember effect.
    
  • Improved helicopter minigun tracers.
    
  • Improved blood spray textures.
    
  • Added new scooter destructible prop vehicles that will explode when taking enough damage.
  
  
• Environment
  
  • Tweaked Hideout landscape and backdrop colors.
    
  • Added color variations for painted metal wall materials.
    
  • Edited light map UV resolution on scatter props.
    
  • Updated environment modular industrial prop LODs.

User Interface Improvements

• HUD
  
  • Added "Steam Friend Color" to HUD. Players on your friends list will be colored this both ingame and in the tactical map.
    
  • Floating objectives will now show during the pre-game and pre-round.
    
  • Ammo Information Display
    
    • Implemented icons for drum, box and extended magazines as well as rockets and grenade launcher grenade rounds.
      
    • Slightly increased overall size of display, including the sizes of the various magazine types. Box and drum mags are now noticeably larger than normal mags, with an increased magwell size as well.
      
    • Improved the spacing between the magazine icons to be more consistent.
      
    • Display now appears when you dry fire your weapon, indicating you're out of ammo.
      
    • Re-ordered fire modes with full auto at the top.
      
    • Adjusted size and spacing of fire mode icons for a bit better readability.
      
    • Removed "magwell" icon for weapon types that don’t warrant it like grenade launchers and rocket launchers.
      
    • If the fire mode is not relevant to the weapon being used (e.g. launchers), the ammo display will shift to the right to remain aligned with the weapon selection UI.
      
    • Shotguns now refer to rounds as "Shells" instead of rounds.
      
    • Current Objective reminders now pop up after an objective is captured or destroyed in Push and Checkpoint.
      
    • Improved accompanying text to be more specific to Push and Checkpoint objectives.
    
    
  • Miscellaneous
    
    • Reduced misalignment of letters inside objective markers.
      
    • Use Progress clamps to bottom of screen when it is offscreen.
      
    • Active objective indicator at the top of the screen is now hidden if it's the post-round and the Round Victory UI is up.
      
    • Changed Player Target Font from SourceSans to Oswald.
      
    • Updated icon for Bomber Drones.
      
    • Added new supply crate interaction icons.
  
  
• Map Overview
  
  • Added indication animation of your location when the tactical map is first opened.
    
  • Added new Commander and Observer player icons.
    
  • Player icons now have a Z order above other objects on the canvas (including spawn zones, objectives, vehicles, etc.)
  
  
• Loadout Menu
  
  • Added vertical and horizontal recoil attributes for firearms in the loadout menu.
    
  • Added new "Round Volume" metric for Ammo Types for determining Caliber size (by default it's the round's diameter squared multiplied by length, resulting in a millimeters cubed value).
    
  • Updated only the weapon upgrade mesh instead of recreating whole model each time a new upgrade is selected.
    
  • Added new icons for radios and laser sights.
    
  • Added key hint support to loadout menu description for items that have an associated key to toggle them.
    
  • Created new loadout menu animations for the IED and C-4.
    
  • Some weapons icons are now right aligned for better presentation on the loadout screen.
    
  • Improved texture quality/mipmap settings for all weapon icons in the loadout menu.
    
  • If you are in the loadout menu when the match is over, it will now close, since your choice is no longer relevant.
    
  • If you open the loadout menu when the round victory screen is up, make sure to hide the round victory screen so it doesn’t collide with the loadout menu.
  
  
• Scoreboard
  
  • Fixed issue where when holding Tab (default key) while the scoreboard was active, it would jump around to the next widget, making it hard to actually click whatever you wanted to click.
    
  • Fixed resolution scaling issue with scoreboard.
  
  
• Round Victory Screen
  
  • Updated to include the faction emblems next to the taglines.
    
  • Updated animation timings.
    
  • Tagline collection now grabs each player’s top three taglines, allowing the UI to display multiple taglines for one player if their team does not populate enough taglines collectively. This should result in more “filled” taglines at the end of the round.
    
  • Tagline screen now uses the proper color masked emblems.
    
  • Added more taglines to the Round Victory screen including: “Finisher”, “Thorough”, “PTFO”, “Immortal”, “On Point”, “Wiley”, “Devious”, "But my K:D", “Offensive Driving”, "Most Fire Support Requests", "Sweet Tooth", “Road Rage", “Sneaky”, “Bryant”, “Chamberlain”, “Jordan”, “Tadaima!”, “Most Kills”, “Most Headshots”, “Most Objective Captures”, “Most Defensive Kills”, “Most Fire Support Kills”, “Most Offensive Kills”, “Destroyed Cache”.
  
  
• Menus
  
  • Play
    
    • Updated Coop, Versus, and Competitive images and styling.
      
    • Match Preferences can be accessed under “Play” at the top left and within the Coop, Versus, and Competitive buttons at the top.
      
    • Added player level, competitive rank, and party functionality at the top right.
      
    • Renamed Find Game to “Find Match”.
      
    • Updated game type and game mode descriptions.
      
    • Updated the Skirmish game mode overview image to contain vehicles.
      
    • Updated the Push game mode overview image to show a weapon cache icon near the D objective marker.
      
    • Moved number of online players to main menu as a total instead of showing per game type.
    
    
  • Settings
    
    • Added 90 FPS option to the Frame Limiter advanced video setting.
      
    • Added 256x256 option to the Shadow Resolution advanced video settings.
      
    • When hovering over a combo box or a slider in the options menu, make sure those text values are darkened out (fixes weird white text on tan background issue).
      
    • Cleaned up Off and On ordering of advanced video setting options for consistency.
      
    • Made sure the Action Mappings and Axis Mappings aren't cleared when resetting the controls to defaults.
    
    
  • Customize
    
    • Character is now shown with gear.
      
    • Disabled purchase and dimmed the cost element for items for which the player does not have enough credits.
      
    • Renamed “Spec Ops (American)” voice to “Spec Ops”.
    
    
  • Loading Screen
    
    • Added outline on loading tips, to improve readability.
    
    
  • Post Match Screen
    
    • Updated assets for cosmetic unlocking process in the post-match menu.
      
    • Updated textures for unlocking credits.

AI Improvements

• Gameplay
  
  • Reworked bot grenade throw behavior, to allow them to throw more accurately.
    
  • Added new "throw grenade at windows" behavior, where bots will use any grenade they have and throw it at windows associated with the objective they are attacking. Expect molotovs and grenades through the windows during counter attacks.
    
  • Reworked bot door behavior. They should utilize them much faster.
    
  • Increased bot accuracy at close range by 25%.
    
  • Bots should sprint more when capturing an objective or investigating.
    
  • Bot will no longer fire RPGs at single enemy target, and now require a cluster of enemies.
    
  • If a player begins capturing a point, and a bot is ambushing outside of the capture zone, they will abandon the ambush and converge on the capturers.
    
  • Bots should prioritize capturing a point over investigating a target, unless they have arrived on the point.
    
  • Bots will now spread out further from the objective when getting in position to ambush.
    
  • Nearby gunshots/sprinting/voice noises will make the AI "aware" of the source as an enemy. This will allow them to breach rooms with players inside without requiring line of sight first. Previously they knew of a target inside, but weren't aware it was an enemy, so would approach with curiosity instead of with aggression.
    
  • Security bots no longer call in the Autocannon Strafe fire support option.
  
  
• Bug Fixes
  
  • Fixed a Checkpoint bug where bots were spawning two objectives away after finishing a counter-attack, causing there to be little initial resistance.
    
  • Ensured bots don't call fire support on solo targets, instead requiring a cluster of enemies.
    
  • Prevented bots calling in fire support when the enemy is closeby.
    
  • Fixed bots trying to request fire support that had zero remaining uses.
    
  • Fixed inconsistent vehicle arrival times and instances of stray vehicles in Checkpoint counter-attacks.
    
  • Fixed a bug where bots were ignoring fire while chasing targets.
    
  • Fixed a bug where the final counter-attack in Checkpoint had less enemies than expected.
    
  • Fixed an issue where bots could potentially get stuck in a leaning state.
    
  • Fixed bots hearing sound created by their own teammates and responding to it as the sound of an enemy.

Stability Fixes

• Fixed a crash when you destroy a destructible objective with C-4 or an RPG-7.
  
• Fixed a rare bot fire support crash.

Art Fixes

• Characters
  
  • Fixed scatter maps on all character heads for correct sub surface scattering.
    
  • Re-enabled hair masks for Security males.
  
  
• Environment
  
  • Updated “Open Ambulance” collision mesh. Added a box collision for the bench part so players can't clip through that anymore.
    
  • Fixed “coffee pot” prop having the wrong physical material.
    
  • Set rubble physical material type to gravel for better footstep audio.
  
  
• Weapons
  
  • Fixed weapon bone location on the third person RPG-7.
    
  • Fixed weighting on the third person L85A2 bolt.
    
  • Fixed weighting on the third person SVD bolt.
    
  • Fixed socket locations on the M16A4 for the rail covers.
    
  • Updated the M4A1, M16A4, M16A2 and G36K loadout menu selection animations so that the 40mm round is exposed.
    
  • Updated the smoke round texture from blue to white.
    
  • Fixed the OKP-7 on the Mk 18 CQBR.
    
  • Fixed for floating rounds on machine guns in loadout menu.
    
  • Fixed ejection socket scale on the PKM.
    
  • Fixed missing animations on the Insurgent Binoculars.
    
  • Fixed some shell casing LOD zero settings set to zero triangles.
    
  • Update LODs on planted explosive static meshes.
    
  • Fixed alignment issues with the 2x PK-AS reticle.
    
  • Fixed TOZ foregrip reloads.
    
  • Fixed LODs on some of the GAU19 components.
    
  • Fixed M203 mesh LOD.
    
  • Fixed the FAL fire selector starting in the wrong position when switching from Automatic to Semi-Automatic.
    
  • Fixed missing vaulting and kicking first person animations for grenades.
    
  • Moved the laser socket to the right side rail on the Mk 17 Mod 0 to prevent it from obscuring low powered optics when attached.
    
  • Fixed a material on the 2x Kobra optic.
    
  • Fix muzzle socket location on the Security .45 suppressor.
    
  • Adjusted the Suppressor socket on the first person Makarov.
    
  • Fixed missing reticles on the SU230 and black 2x Holographic optics.
    
  • Fixed the third person grip being removed when using a GP-25 smoke on the AK-74
  
  
• Fire Support
  
  • Updated and fixed LODs on the drones and destroyed Gunship static meshes.
    
  • Fixed Fire Support projectile LODs.
  
  
• FX
  
  • Updated impact and explosion particle LODs.

Read Part 2 of the patch notes here!

Note: This is part 2 of the full patch notes. Read part 1 here!

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where mounted weapon audio could become desynced from the vehicle's position.
  
• Fixed screen flickering when walking through smoke grenade particles.
  
• Fixed inconsistent scope scaling across all scopes, rendering modes and aspect ratios.
  
• Fixed underhand grenade throws not being cookable. Press left click by default to cook, and right click to cook when readying a normal throw.
  
• Ensure ragdolls are not created if they have already been created after being killed in a vehicle, to prevent cases of floating T-posed characters after a vehicle is destroyed.
  
• Fixed issue where opening the comms menu would call in fire support if binoculars were equipped.
  
• Fixed issue where Gas Masks would not always show in third person.
  
• Fixed an issue where character meshes could become oversized while performing certain animations.
  
• Fixed an issue where the explosive charge on the suicide bomber would occasionally disappear.
  
• Fixed an issue with the seat camera in the transport truck.
  
• Fixed the drivers hands not always aligning properly on the steering wheel of vehicles.
  
• Fixed an issue where fire support projectiles were oriented at incorrect angles.
  
• Fixed an issue where the incendiary grenade would drop out of the air if it detonated before it landed on the ground.
  
• Fixed an issue where the player was forced to the escape menu on team switch.
  
• Fixed the Security Heavy Armor’s groin plate not acting as armor.
  
• Fixed explosive gas canister props being unable to kill you.
  
• The quick draw holster now only speeds up the draw of the holstered weapon and no longer influences the unequip speed or next and previous weapon cycle speed.
  
• Fixed an issue where you couldn't join a passworded server.
  
• Fixed an issue where audio was not properly positioned when in the back of the insertion truck or when in the gunner position of a pickup.
  
• Fixed reliability of playing incoming artillery and mortar audio.
  
• Fixed a case where last one standing would trigger when someone was pending a spawn.
  
• Fixed DShK mounted weapon detaching from a vehicle and floating in the world.
  
• Fixed an issue where voice over which has both a radio and non-radio line would play two different random lines even though both should be identical.
  
• Fixed missing first person cache rigging animations.
  
• Fixed an issue with the main menu quit confirmation dialogue not receiving focus.
  
• Fixed an issue where lighting rigs were casting shadows at the wrong angle on walls.
  
• Take into account the screen percentage when scaling the scope render target.
  
• Fixed a bug where restricted area dialogue was being queued up in the insertion truck, messing with the dialogue queueing system.
  
• Fixed some bugs with the audio queuing system; speak delays were not being applied correctly and the oldest sound was not being prioritized.
  
• Prevent smoke based projectiles from causing shellshock to players.
  
• Queued dialogue is now cleared on round reset, which should fix delayed fire support messages playing in a new round.
  
• Fixed bug where equip/unequip modifiers from the quick draw holster weren't being applied on the server. This was the causing the reload on switch bug.
  
• Fixed binocular audio Aim Down Sights entries.
  
• Fixed an issue where players who were not being rendered did not create footstep audio.
  
• Fix for shaking arms.
  
• Improved blending with idle specials.
  
• Fixed an issue where multiple sounds were created when charging into a door.
  
• Prevent mines from potentially getting stuck on wall geometry when thrown.
  
• Fixed an issue where sprint breathing and physical exertion voice over was not being passed to the aux busses.
  
• Fixed an issue where ragdolls weren't spawning outside seats under certain conditions.
  
• Fixed an issue with auto-bipod where animation would play twice when drawing a weapon.
  
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to kick while leaning.
  
• Fixed bug that caused characters to never splatter blood onto surfaces while they were alive.
  
• Fixed an issue when dropping a weapon where the weapon would suddenly appear instead of dropping naturally from its current location.
  
• Fixed tesselation not working on some props.
  
• Fixed an issue where audio for rigging would continue playing if the player tapped the use key continuously on a cache.
  
• Fixed multiple instances of broken static meshes.
  
• Fixed an issue where melee audio and particle events would not properly time with the impact during the animation.
  
• Fixed fire support voice over interruption lines not playing correctly.
  
• Fixed an issue with the blood and burn macro function that caused blood and burn marks to be visible on undamaged surfaces.
  
• Fixed an issue where players could see more of the leg mesh than intended when performing a door breach.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to vault on supply crates.
  
• Fixed an issue with bipods that allowed the camera to clip through walls when mounted.
  
• Fixed pears becoming oranges when shot. We are now eSports ready.
  
• Fixed some issues with player collisions on woodpile meshes.
  
• Fixed some issues with player collisions on the metal chairs.
  
• Fixed an issue where the weapon cache UI icon could disappear in Skirmish after being destroyed.
  
• Fixed an obscure issue where you sometimes couldn’t reload when you entered a vehicle.
  
• Fixed an issue where the detonator would not always be created for the player when rigging a cache.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Minigun Support helicopter dropping altitude rapidly when exiting the map.
  
• Fixed an issue where the fire support indicator HUD element would not always disappear if you change class from Commander to another class.
  
• Fixed a bug where grenade launchers would drop as separate weapons instead of remaining attached to the weapon they were equipped on.
  
• Raised the adaptive tessellation amount for the higher graphics settings to reduce vertex swimming issues.
  
• Fixed an issue where releasing the use key very quickly after throwing a grenade wouldn't always trigger the rethrow.
  
• Fixed resuming drum magazine reloads as a part of the staged reload system. The correct animation will now be played.
  
• Fixed an issue with the melee flinch animation.
  
• Fixed an issue where Molotovs would break down doors.
  
• Fixed an issue where the M3 MAAWS would spawn an empty round casing on fire instead of on reload.
  
• Fixed an issue where when a spectator saw a character pick up a weapon, it would show the third person mesh instead of the first person mesh.
  
• Fixed an issue where broken vehicles or other physics props would collide with invisible walls.
  
• Fixed certain instances of fire in the world not causing pain to players walking through.
  
• Fixed an issue where players could vault past invisible walls.
  
• Fixed an issue where grenade throw timings were not being cached properly.
  
• Fixed an issue where dropped weapons would sometimes not show attachments or magazines.
  
• Fixed an issue where the greased bolt upgrade was not applying any effect when selected.
  
• Fixed an issue where chained grenade explosions would cause an incorrect number of explosions.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain weapons would be offset in the loadout selection menu.

Map Balance & Fixes

• Hideout
  
  • Optimized buildings to reduce draw calls.
    
  • Improved HLODs.
    
  • Reduced memory footprint by optimizing props and materials.
    
  • Revised Push Security Scenario expanded to five objectives.
    
  • Revised restricted zones across all scenarios.
    
  • Revised Skirmish Scenario.
    
  • Replaced Skirmish truck objectives with caches.
    
  • Improved playable area to make it more accurate to level borders.
    
  • Added additional cover for Security on Push Security A objective.
    
  • Various gameplay tweaks for Firefight scenarios.
    
  • Tweaked global lighting to reduce brightness.
    
  • Additional visual pass.
    
  • Fixed various exploits.
    
  • Improved AI navigation.
    
  • Improved AI cover positions
    
  • Improved blocking volumes.
    
  • Fixed various LOD issues.
    
  • Fixed able to see through rocks in certain locations.
    
  • Fixed various stuck issues.
    
  • Fixed landscape and road bugs.
    
  • Fixed decal bugs.
    
  • Fixed various dynamic prop bugs.
    
  • Prop lightmap resolution improvements.
    
  • Added pain causing volumes on fire particles in reach of player.
    
  • Made various optimization improvements.
  
  
• Farmhouse
  
  • Optimized buildings to reduce draw calls.
    
  • Improved HLODs.
    
  • Reduced memory footprint by optimizing props and materials
    
  • Revised Push Security scenario expanded to five objectives.
    
  • Revised Push Insurgents scenario expanded to five objectives.
    
  • Revised Skirmish scenario.
    
  • Replaced Skirmish truck objectives with caches.
    
  • Minor level design tweaks to improve level flow.
    
  • Fixed landscape and road bugs.
    
  • Fixed decal bugs.
    
  • Fixed various dynamic prop bugs.
    
  • Polish interior lighting values.
    
  • Additional visual pass.
    
  • Fixed various exploits.
    
  • Improved AI navigation.
    
  • Improved AI cover positions
    
  • Improved blocking volumes.
    
  • Prop lightmap resolution improvements.
    
  • Fixed various LOD issues.
    
  • Added pain causing volumes on fire particles in reach of player.
    
  • Made various optimization improvements.
  
  
• Refinery
  
  • Optimized buildings to reduce draw calls.
    
  • Improved HLODs.
    
  • Reduced memory footprint by optimizing props and materials
    
  • Revised Push Security scenario expanded to five objectives.
    
  • Replaced Skirmish truck objectives with caches.
    
  • Additional visual pass.
    
  • Fixed a playable area issue on Checkpoint Security.
    
  • Level flow improvements.
    
  • Fixed various exploits.
    
  • Fixed various LOD issues.
    
  • Fixed landscape and road bugs.
    
  • Fixed decal bugs.
    
  • Fixed various dynamic prop bugs.
    
  • Improved blocking volumes.
    
  • Fire particles will now cause minor damage to players in reach of them.
    
  • Made various optimization improvements.

As we've announced a few days ago, Insurgency: Sandstorm’s major update on November 8 will bring many much-requested changes as we prepare for launch on December 12. This update includes a brand new map, Precinct, a new Insurgent weapon, as well as various options, tweaks, and fixes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSYxwZiF9W4
The new update teaser trailer showcases Precinct, a large scale urban map set within the fictional, contemporary conflict of Insurgency: Sandstorm. Tight corners, broken barricades, destroyed streets of burnt-out cars and makeshift roadblocks epitomize this map, bringing the frenetic action and tactical squad-based play of Insurgency to a brand new, urban locale. This new map will feel very nostalgic for Insurgency fans as it encompasses two classic Insurgency maps, District and Contact, in a single, massive urban environment - offering unique gameplay not experienced before in the Beta.



Other improvements include graphical options, anti-aliasing, animation and character models, plus related optimization improvements to help the game run better on more systems, along with additional cosmetics. These, plus additional server browser improvements, will continue to see changes in the run up to release.

Finally, gameplay changes will target everything from hundreds of improvements and bug fixes to the specifics of movement speeds, weapon statistics, map layouts, an Unreal Engine update to version 4.20, and more. A full changelist will be available upon release.



Insurgency: Sandstorm releases on December 12 for PC. Steam pre-orders are available now and give instant access to the ongoing beta testing phase.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/581320/Insurgency_Sandstorm/

Hi everyone my name is Jon Higgins, and I am the Marketing and Communications Director here at New World Interactive.

In an earlier blog post, we went over some of the new features that our team have been working on since the last major update, including upgrading to Unreal Engine 4.20, working on our new urban map ‘Precinct’, further optimisation, improving the quality of character models, polishing animations, refining gameplay, fixing experience-breaking bugs, adding overall polish and working on community features such as third party dedicated server support.

This is a very large update and should bring around many improvements to the game. However, due to the enormity of changes the update is taking a little longer than we hoped. We are in final testing, but with engine upgrade we want to put in some extra quality assurance and polish. While we had aimed for the end of October, the new release date will now be Thursday, November 8th.

While we appreciate many of you are waiting patiently for the next update, we assure you the additional development time will be worth it, and after we complete this engine update, we will be releasing more frequent patches and updates in the run-up to release.

Below is an updated list of what you can expect in the November 8th update and a preview of some of the items.

• Migration to Unreal Engine 4.20
• A series of new optimizations to push frame rates higher and reduce micro-stuttering.
• A new urban map ‘Precinct’
• Alpha AK assault rifle weapon for the Insurgent Advisor class (and Security Advisor in Coop)
• Community dedicated servers and server browser.
• Improvements to the low-quality scope option.
• New functionality for the Explosive Drone, which can now enter buildings through windows to be utilized as a unique interior-clearing fire support option for the Insurgents.
• A new tattoo cosmetic option, with more varieties to come.
• Additional Anti-Aliasing and graphics options.
• Improved character models and animations, including caching of cosmetic items to increase performance, higher quality textures, and proportion adjustments. We will be making further improvements to characters after this update as well.
• Numerous gameplay tweaks to movement speed, weapon mechanics, armour, fire support, map layouts, and hundreds of bug fixes and improvements.

Precinct - A new map which will feel very nostalgic for Insurgency fans. This map encompasses two classic Insurgency maps, District and Contact, in a single, massive urban environment - offering unique gameplay not experienced before in the Beta.

 


The Alpha AK, a brand new weapon for the Insurgent Advisor class (and Security Advisor in Coop).

 

We are also able to add more clarity on how we plan to reward players who pre-ordered the game and have helped provide crucial feedback during this extended beta testing period.

Although player profiles will be reset before launch, as previously announced, we decided that Beta testers will be rewarded with an exclusive tattoo cosmetic along with additional cosmetic appearance credits at launch. We can now clarify that the additional Day 1 credit boost for beta testers will be equivalent to 50% of the appearance credits you earned during the beta, rather than a flat amount. Essentially, the more you play the beta, the larger your carry over into release will be.

As always, your feedback and support are invaluable to our team. We’d like to thank each and every one of you who have joined the incredible number of players participating in this pre-order period and we look forward to seeing you in the servers during the next update on November 8th!

New World Interactive