Mondays, huh?

Well, at least we got Build Update #016 with everything you need to know about v1028 of GROUND BRANCH. This is a big one, so sit back and read on for all the highlights and deets. The raw change log didn't fit here on Steam, so head over to our Dev Blog if you wanna check it out.

Remember you can stay in touch with us via our Discord, the Steam® Community Hub, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!

› Coming from a previous version of the game? Issues with controls, loadouts, assets or settings since the update?

We strongly recommend players coming from an older version of the game to delete all files located in %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor. For those who can afford it, a full reinstall isn't a bad idea either and may fix missing features introduced in this version, as well as issues with controls, loadouts, assets and settings.

› Update your server!

All dedicated servers must be updated to work with the current version.

This build brings the first iteration—Phase 1, if you will—of the new damage model that generally ramps up lethality. Kris explains it better than the rest of us ever could, so let's quote him:

[Initially] We added a method that took penetration, internal organs, bleeding and such into account. Unfortunately, it was pretty horrible due to lack of feedback, i.e. it lacked decent reaction animations, bleeding effect, on-screen "messages" for the player.

Quickly replaced it with a temporary measure that bases the damage on the kinetic energy of a round, scaled by how much it penetrates and in what location.

This value is not the correct way to do damage from a bullet, but it ended up with values for the handgun that were similar—2 to 3 shots to the chest—while making everything else more powerful, e.g. one-shots with a decently placed 7.62 mm, shotguns ruining your day etc.

So while the approach we arrived at is not final by any means, the one we're aiming at for the future requires visual feedback in order to work. Nonetheless, this new stand-in damage model beats what we had before, which was essentially a 3-body-shots or 1-headshot affair with no caliber differentiation.


You can now increase and decrease the brightness of most illuminated reticles. Use [Home]/[End] respectively to increase/decrease brightness. These key binds can be changed under Settings › Controls; they're listed at the bottom of the command list, under "Other".

Known issues

• Brightness settings aren't optic-specific and are set to 10 levels that may be inconsistent across different sights.
• Depending on lighting conditions, the lowest brightness setting on some optics may display a dark dot rather than an illuminated one.

We've moved the NVG toggle from the Equipments Menu ([4[] key) to the [N[] key. You can change that bind to something else under Settings › Controls.

Now when you press Fire (default [LMB]) while in High Ready or Low Ready, your primary weapon position will be changed to Ready (shouldered, sights not engaged; aka the "point-shooting" position). This makes it easier for some players to change to Ready, as previously you had to gauge how much you scrolled up or down from an off-target weapon position. It also prevents the silly firing into the air/ground allowed by the previous control scheme. Nothing has changed otherwise: scrolling up once from Low Ready (or down from High Ready) will still bring your weapon to Ready.


Handgun obstructed while aiming down the sights? Your character will now automatically switch to the Close Ready position (pistol held close to the chest and pointed forward) so you can still fire, making sidearms more useful in very close quarters.

Incremental opening
Incremental door opening is now done by holding Use/Interact (default [F]) and scrolling up/down, so you can now change weapon positions without accidentally interacting with that stupid door you're getting ready to crack open.

Hell, let's recap that for good measure:


Pushing doors
Walking into doors that aren't fully shut will swing them open/closed.

You can now take the magazine from a dropped weapon by looking at it and holding Use/Interact (default [F]). So tap key to pick up weapon, hold key to pick up magazine. Easy. Intuitive.

When facing a Ready Room locker or training area workbench, hold Use/Interact (default [F]) to re-equip your loadout and restock your ammo and grenades.



Suppressed gunshot sound effects for the M416Ds, M4A1s, MP7s, MP5s, AK-74M and MK 14 Mod 2 EBR were updated. New suppressed weapon tails were also added for assault rifles, submachine guns/PDWs and sniper rifles/DMRs. Be sure to try them out!

Supersonic rounds now produce a characteristic "crack" sound when flying past you. Scary, but what did you expect in a firefight?



We have teased the model on Instagram way back in January, and now the Specter DR 1x/4x (the DR is for Dual Role) is finally here with variable magnification (you can switch between 1x and 4x on the fly), as well as a Picatinny rail mount on top for secondary red dots. The center reticle dot can also be illuminated and has adjustable brightness.


The Specter DR 1x/4x, seen here with the new RMR model mounted on the top rail

Here's the sight picture:


Left: 1x and no dot illumination; right: 4x and max dot brightness

With the quick zoom switch and illuminated dot that assists target acquisition—plus a top rail to boost—the Specter makes for an incredibly versatile sight. We recommend mounting it close to the eye for better reticle clarity and optimal field of view.


Our first true LPVO (Low-Power Variable Optic) is the Trijicon® AccuPower 1–8x. It offers 1x (no magnification) all the way to 8x.



While the real thing offers "fluid" zoom (i.e. you can analogically set it to any magnification between 1x and 8x), our current version offers 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x and 8x in steps—at least until we figure out a more faithful approach.

The reticle's red sections (a center cross and 4 semi-circumferences) can be illuminated with 10 brightness settings. Let's take a look at the sight picture:


Left: 1x with max brightness; right: 8x with illumination turned off

The 1–8x variable magnification makes the AccuPower more versatile and capable of longer ranges than the Specter, but all the different zoom levels you're able to cycle through also make it less agile than the DR's quick 1x/4x switch. To offset that, however, you can mount an RMR (ACOG) on the front scope ring's integrated RMR mount.


Known issues

• On first use, the AccuPower reticles may appear at a low resolution and require a second or two to load correctly. Once you have cycled through all zoom levels, they will remain at full resolution.
• At higher brightness settings, the illuminated sections of the reticle may bleed/glow through.
• The RMR (ACOG) doesn't visually touch/connect with the scope ring mount and will appear to float a few millimeters from it.

Sick of trying to shoot through a scope in a night map and having your NVG's fixed focal range blur out your entire sight picture? We got you covered with the AN/PVS-22 UNS (Universal Night Sight).


See the mystery tube in front of the PM II scope?

If mounted right in front of your preferred magnified sight, this "clip-on" night vision optic essentially turns it into a night vision scope. Pretty damn sweet, right? It is a rather large optic, however, so make sure you have the rail space for it and your magnified sight too.

Here's the PVS-22 in action:

https://youtu.be/AQAhdtgHKb8
Prowlaz quickly demos the AN/PVS-22 in co-op Terrorist Hunt (while sounding clearly aroused, which we can't blame him for)

Notes

• The PVS-22 will not work with non-magnifying optics like red dot and holo sights. This is intended and based on how the optic works in real life.
• The PVS-22 is not a standalone sight. It is only usable in conjunction with a magnifying sight.

Known issues
IR laser beams (as emitted by the AN/PEQ-15) and the Marker Strobe's IR flashing light aren't visible through the PVS-22 when they should. We'll have to figure out how to mask out the effect as it's currently a full-screen "rule" that makes it visible through NVGs.

We've replaced the old ACOG 4x32 model with a new one that can fit the new RMR (ACOG) optic on top. Sweet.



The Trijicon® MRO (Miniature Rifle Optic) is a small red dot sight with a large FOV for quick target acquisition.



The SRS (Sealed Reflex Sight) is another red dot sight by Trijicon®. Go check it out.



The Battle Belt can now be selected in the Platform slot of the Operator Customization screen. Don't worry: it will be made an add-on to the actual vest platforms in the near future, so you won't have to pick one or the other. The Battle Belt can hold up to 7 item pouches.



Because we have no functional armor yet, the Battle Belt has no real disadvantages in relation to vests other than pouch capacity. But we think it might be a helpful hostage/VIP asset to you role-players out there experimenting with custom game modes, plus everyone gets to look a little more casual on the range.

• The RMR mini red dot sight has a new model and is available in 3 versions: RMR (standard Picatinny mount), RMR (ACOG) (flat mount for mounting on the ACOG 4x32 and AccuPower 1–8x) and RMR (Raised) (raised Picatinny mount for AR-15-type rifles). At the moment, they work interchangeably. We'll hotfix it so each version only fits where it's supposed to.
• The MK 14 Mod 2 EBR has received a small accessory rail under the handguard especially for foregrips.

In addition to the loading screen tips—which we've added to—pop-ups now show hints for basic gameplay functionalities that players are often left wondering about in GB.


Usage prompts and highlights have a new look, and both elements can be toggled on/off. Usage highlights can be edited for size and color as well. Usage UI customization settings are under Settings › Gameplay › Other.


The HUD arc showing the grenade's trajectory has been altered and can now be customized under Settings › Gameplay › Firearm. You can pick individual color and alpha (transparency) values for both the arc itself and the predicted impact point marker.


Editing your current weapon, vest or headgear build should be a little easier with this update. Once you click your current selection, the list should automatically open the relevant category and scroll down to the correct section of your item on the list. Much better.



Some attachments have received limitations in order to prevent issues with animations, performance and other underlying systems:

Foregrip placement
Foregrips can now only be placed down to a certain position on bottom accessory rails. This was done to prevent the wobbly "spaghetti arm" effect that resulted from the character's support arm being stretched out too far, as well as the issue where he would grip an invisible foregrip placed out of reach. The restriction ensures your character will always grip properly. We may adjust or remove this limitation in the future as we improve character poses and animations.

Sight placement
We have limited how far back you are allowed to mount certain sights on certain weapons' top accessory rails. This restriction should prevent sights from clipping through the character's eyes/camera. As with foregrips, this may be changed as new poses, animations and systems make their way into the game.

No more offset scopes
You can no longer mount a magnified optic onto an offset rail. A lot of players were reporting sight pictures being tilted when aiming through offset scopes and, because scopes aren't meant to be mounted offset (and wouldn't function correctly in such a configuration), we simply got rid of the ability to do that. See, you ain't gotta fix it if you throw it away. *wink*

• Multiple crash and server issues were purged.
• Mouse sensitivity can now have a separate value for each magnification level from 2x to 8x.
• First pass on Terrorist Hunt mode for the User Generated Arena map.
• Fixed flashbangs double-dipping local player. Looking away should also reduce the effect by up to 25%.
• Red dots have generally been increased in size and adjusted for better visibility.
• The MK 4 10x40 scope has been removed due to its model being too old. An updated version will be added at some point.
• Fixed burst fire mode getting "stuck" when clicking rapidly.
• 747 gate insertion has been reworked to reduce bottleneck.
• Some general map cleanup—especially on Tanker Ship and 747.
• Tanker Ship's bridge now has glass on the windows. Yeah, they're breakable.
• AKs should now have the fire selector in the correct position.
• … and a whole lot more you can check out in the raw change log below.

· · ·

We hope you enjoy this update! Make sure to let us know what you think in the comments below or in any of our official channels (links at the beginning of this post!). Feedback is very appreciated.

As always, thank you all so, so much for your continued support of this passion project. It means a lot to us.

See you on the next one!

· · ·



Build version: 1028

Steam Build ID: 4098294
Size: 1.7 GB

Steam Build ID: 4098305
Size: 68 MB

Raw change log in our Dev Blog post

• Radar menu has been completely remade
  
• Remade projectile visuals
  
• Some skills were re-balanced
  
• Added game object - energy batteries
  
• Added brief controls help (F1)
  
• Added random encounter - rabbit holes
  
• Added automatic recovery feature (on low HP)
  
• Energy bars recovers faster now, if skill are not being used
  
• Active effects added to UI screen
  
• More level variety
  
• Added global difficulty (lowers on death, increases on various successful actions)
  
• Minor fixes and improvements

Hello everybody. The Front Lines 2.3 Update has been released! Fight on the fronts of France and Persia! A new type of fighter has been added and new campaign missions are here!

New Content:

• Battle of Thermopylae added
  
• Battle of Waterloo added
  
• Musketman Added

Thanks for all the support Front Lines has gotten! We can't wait for all the new content that's still to come!

Known Issue: Sometimes there's no sunlight in the main menu, when in Basic Sky & Vegetation mode. For now, fix it by switching to Enhanced, then back to Basic.

Fixes:
* Game won't load after doing certain add/remove actions with Emote Favorites.
* Can't wake up or stand up after sleeping.
* Wolf urine is invisible.
* Game soft-locks after marking territory.
* Stranger wolves are frozen.
* Elk are frozen and hovering in air.
* NPC animals take big leaps off cliffs.
* Grass is floating above cliff rock.
* Gap below bottom of sky and distant landscape.
* Several glitches with NPC animals.
* Wolf frozen after howling while sitting.
* Grizzly bears won't stop fighting.
* Can run through trees in Basic graphics mode.
* Various minor issues with terrain, rivers, and fog

Changes:
* Added a confirmation popup when deleting a saved game.

As I mentioned before, Ghost Song's development was completely rebooted in early 2018 using a new engine. The new engine I was alluding to is Unity. The reason for the change wasn't mere impulse -- Unity does have powerful features, but I wouldn't have restarted everything just because the grass was greener. I was facing serious technical issues and I realized the game would never be stable or bug free as it was.

With this reboot came the opportunity to re-evaluate everything, and incorporate some new design ideas that weren't possible before.

(Note: Here's a direct link to an imgur album containing all of the gifs from this post in a compressed web video format. If you are having trouble loading the animations, try this)

Generational change


From the new version of the game

Before we look at a couple of direct comparisons, there are many mechanics and features in the new game that just didn't exist at all in the old. The combat in the current game is truly a hybrid system - A hybrid of shooting and melee. You can use various melee weapons you may find along the way, or just club enemies with your gun barrel!

Your gun barrel has its own heat level, and it becomes more red as it fires. This causes some weapons to underperform, but in certain situations it can actually be useful -- As one example, meleeing while unarmed - using the barrel to club the enemy - If it's red hot, you get added heat damage. Heat level rises and falls based on what you're doing with the gun and the context of your surroundings.

Shooting as a system has also been enhanced, though, and while you can still run and gun as you would expect in this type of game, you can also lock yourself into an aim mode and aim freely with the analog stick.


From the new version of the game



New and Old

One thing I want to preface with is I understand that aesthetics and enjoyment of features are subjective, and I understand there may be people who enjoy particular aspects of one version or the other more. That's inevitable, and -- in my opinion -- It's also hard to appreciate just how much more smooth and responsive the new game feels compared to the old until you just play it for yourself. It's also noteworthy that the character is larger on screen compared to before, which I feel makes the experience a bit more immersive.

So -- regardless of your preferences, the versions do look different, so here's a few new vs. old comparisons.

Running:

NEW:

OLD:


Dashing:

NEW:

OLD:


Air flipping:

NEW:

OLD:


-

Again, if you like certain aspects of the old version, I do understand, because there was a slight stylistic departure that was intentional and it's something I enjoy very much.

What's less subjective, though, is what the new technology allows that wasn't possible before. In the previous version of the game, the character was rendered and animated in a completely traditional way. The character was animated from individually drawn frames of animation, played in sequence, just like old school SNES games. With the new game, we're actually rendering the character in real time using 2D skeletal rigs. This is not unlike something you'd see from Vanillaware.

The advantages of using this system are numerous, and they actually allow for game mechanics that either weren't possible or simply weren't practical the old way. For example, free aiming -- You can aim in any direction. This is highly impractical with traditional animation.

We can also make real time changes to the model in-game. Examples of this are visor colors, accessories, clothes -- All things that can change in the game, and to some extent the player has the ability to make choices about these things. We can also make other changes to the character in real time, such as when we make the character get splashed in an enemy's blood or slime on its boots (which are things that happen).

-

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this sneak peek at the game, and I really hope you like the direction I've taken it in. There is a demo coming in 2019 that members of the public will have the opportunity to play, but I don't have a final release window yet.

Matt

15% OFF :goldenbit:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/957906/

Tomorrow morning we're starting the 3.8.0 press tour, where we'll show the new league and other upcoming changes to many news outlets in preparation for its announcement next week. While we can't reveal the details of the expansion to our community yet, we are ready to announce that the announcement will go live at 2pm on Tuesday, August 20th PDT!

Our September expansion follows the usual formula of Path of Exile releases, with a new challenge league, improvements to existing content, some QoL improvements and new items, crafting methods, archetypes, skill gems, support gems and more! As always, we can't wait to show you what we've been working on.

This post is a Community Spotlight (CS), where we're bringing attention to cool community-driven projects for StarMade. We'll be posting some more of these in the near future.

Check out the "Discuss with the Devs" that happened in our official Discord last month here: https://starmadedock.net/threads/discuss-with-the-devs-july-18-2019-sis-shortform.31343/

---

Quickfire Team:

Quickfire is a community-run project to modify the game’s configuration files for a more balanced, fun, and interesting game experience. The QF team consists of members from every part of the StarMade community, including several veteran PvP specialists, creative builders with technical knowledge, and a long-time administrator of one of the most historically popular StarMade servers, as well as several other veteran StarMade players.


While the mechanical changes that can be made within configs are somewhat limited, we have done our best to correct the issues the community has been having with the current game and enhance combat gameplay. The Quickfire Initiative has also worked with Schine on refining certain game mechanics (e.g. armor stacking). We have, at the same time, made an effort to avoid undermining key design elements of the power and weapons updates (e.g. the chamber system and arrangement) when not absolutely necessary.

We have also played a key role in testing, tracking down, and confirming several critical bugs with weapons and systems, which were fixed in the most recent patches.


Quickfire has created a config package that includes everything from fine-tuned missile guidance to rebalanced chamber costs. Every system in the game has been looked over and re-tuned to address various balance issues brought up by the community and/or our team members.

We have also adjusted or modified all of the weapon combos, with the goal of creating greater diversity, viability, and utility for each where possible. Weapon changes include eliminating the troublesome cursor recoil mechanic from cannons, significantly improving acid damage application from beams (reducing the need for output spam), adjusting missile guidance, flight speed, and turn rate, and eliminating the extremely exploitable Death Beam.


Currently, we have addressed most of the issues and features that we intend to (aside from some minor tweaks), and have a configuration set available for testing. We are now in the phase of refinement and testing, and for this, we need the community! Feedback, suggestions, and thoughts on our settings for weapons, systems, and chambers are welcome, and will help us improve and refine the Quickfire Initiative’s configs and make StarMade a better experience for everyone. Our in-progress configuration set is available on a public Github (updated often), and we also have a public creative/test server running our configs, at QuickfireSM.com:4242.


You can find an overview of Quickfire’s changes in this document. A longer, more complete list of changes and the explanations behind them is available here.


If you have feedback, suggestions, questions, issues, or other comments about our config set, please post them in the project thread. You can also join the Quickfire Initiative Discord server.


---

Schine:

We'll be adding the Quickfire config changes in a dev build in the next week or so. Please make sure to try these changes out and give your feedback. This will help us (and the Quickfire team) to decide what changes we should or shouldn't adopt into the default configs. The purpose of the dev build and news post is to draw attention to the QF project to help us receive feedback. We will not officially adopt any changes into release until we feel a good solution for our community has been reached.

At the same time, we'll also begin to start making efforts to lower the barrier for modding. We've been working with modders from our own community as well as others to come up with a plan to make modding StarMade much easier, without taking a big chunk of dev time from the universe update. If you're interested in modding StarMade, head over to our official Discord (Join the StarMade Discord Server!) in the #modders-dev channel.

If you don't get a chance to test QF configs out before then, we'll be taking feedback with the Quickfire project when we officially adopt their changes and continue to address balance concerns.

Thanks for playing StarMade,

- The Schine Team

Hello All, 0.263 is a small update in which I've added Cave Bee Swarms and fixed enemy speed bug when resuming a game.

-Cave Bee Swarms added as a possible mini boss wave.
-Mini boss waves now occur more frequently

-Enemy speed is now correctly calculated after loading a saved game.

As always please let me know of any issues or feedback you have.

Miner Lou Discord.

*** ROLLED BACK !!!***
This update introduced a serious loading glitch for certain players. It has been rolled back for now. It will be re-released once the glitch is solved.

Spell Items can be found and clicked on in the dungeon now.
Added some new spell items that are only found in the dungeon
Resetting the entry hall when the vampire is poofing no longer leaves the poof up.
Completing the Entry Hall will now unlock invisible upgrades
Added 5 New Invisible Upgrades
Fixed Book Income per second display so that it can’t overlap yellow diamonds
Added New graphical unlocks at 2000 of each thing in the Entry Hall
Entry Hall can now be upgraded to use green gems
Safeguards were added to prevent save games from being lost;
Games will no longer save before the tutorial is completed, protecting any save files from being overwritten (in the case of a reset).
New games will repeatedly check the online server and attempt an auto-restore from a possible existing save.