Build Update #033: Patch V1032.1

Build ID: 8378834 (Client) / 8378845 (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 118 MB (Client) / 72 MB (Dedicated Server)

⛔ IMPORTANT: CLEAR YOUR OLD FILES

If you are coming from V1031 or have not updated your game since CTE, you need to delete all contents in the following locations (copy-paste the path into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter):

   1️⃣ %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor
   2️⃣ Documents\GroundBranch

⚠️ Not doing so will cause various asset and input issues in your game.

Patch V1032.1 has been released!

This patch focuses on fixing issues with the original V1032 release that came out earlier this year. But in typical BlackFoot Studio fashion, in some cases we couldn’t help ourselves and added some new content.

Some quick notes

Please note that we didn’t manage to squish every bug — and likely created some new ones — so we anticipate that there will be a much smaller and hopefully quicker V1032.2 patch in the near future.

Things we didn’t manage to get enough testing or flashes of inspiration to pin down include floating pistols and floating smoke grenades, among other things. So please continue to file bug reports (using the in-game bug reporter, if possible) and make sure to provide all relevant details, including any interesting things you did before the bug happened, as well as the game mode played, server type (self-hosted vs. dedicated server), player count, map and so on. Your reports are greatly appreciated!

Some issues we’re just leaving for now (e.g. a few AI problems) as the relevant systems are being overhauled in the next update, and it’s not a very good use of our time to fix up difficult-to-find bugs in code we’re about to throw out.

So thank you for your patience, please bear with us on the stuff we didn’t fix, and we hope you enjoy this little update!

Change list

Animations

A great deal of small and large tweaks and fixes were made to the animation work that had been put into the game in V1032.

When you fix a lot of things, you tend to break a few things in the process, and these fixes are no exception. There is going to be a further overhaul on the animations in V1033, so we’ll probably live with the small number of animation issues that remain and focus on the V1033 work now. In more detail, here’s what was done:

• Back-ported the UE5 animation warping code to improve walk/run/sprint transitions and handling
• Reworked much of the blending layer, removing superfluous logic while trying to maintain as much of the original underlying animation as possible
• Improved checks against switching items/reloading while sprinting
• Changed the default mesh space movement additive to use smoother “first person” torso additives to create smoother movement, sightline, and so on
• Improved the IK elbow pole targets to fix the “chicken wing” elbows
• Varied the magnitude of the finger pull animation when dry-firing
• Toned down the dry-fire animations on a range of weapons
• Refined fire selector animations
• Tweaked fire selector animations to have better blend and dampen when in ADS
• Improved the handling of held items while sprinting
• Fixed the head transform clamp offsetting the head when pitching up/down; or, in plain English: fixed wonky neck when aiming or looking up and down
• Removed the head transform change when aiming with a handgun
• Reduced head movement when using an offset or elevated (“piggybacked”) secondary sight
• Improved the blending of upper body montages to fix/remove jitters
• Reduced weapon shifting when crouching
• Added a tweak to prevent the “pants hiking up” issue with some recoil animations
• Tweaked sections and blend-out times of the handgun reload animation to stop the first section playing part of the second
• Fixed the flicker that happens at end of reload animations
• Fixed weapon position transitions being cut off when switched quickly
• Updated the aim and head IK code to ensure the correct item transform when using dynamic IK targets
• Rearranged the sightline bone handling in the character blending layer to detach sightline from item bone movement/rotation while moving
• Fixed the left elbow when using right-hand overlay and crouching
• Tweaked animations at low and high speeds to match up better without leg splits when going from idle to moving
• Updated idle rifle animations on the Main Menu backdrop

Character assets and customization

• New default builds have been provided for all weapons, with an emphasis on practical builds with a variety of attachments and grip placements — special thanks to Prowlaz and Trav for taking the time to make these! (In some cases, you will have to lower the weapon and use freelook (default Tab) to see the Wristwatch face)
• Fixed Chest Rig (JCR) placement in the Customize Operator screen
• M9A3 now has recoil
• SDASS sights should now line up correctly
• The NVG Head Mount is updated to asynchronously load Night Vision Goggles when the headset is attached to character and not to encode it
• Reloading will now eventually cycle through different compatible magazine types (e.g. from Primary Ammo to a 20-round STANAG or 35-round PMAG) once you run out of ammo for the current magazine type
• Fixed bug where going into locker with NVG enabled would leave lasers in NV mode after you unequipped NVG and left locker
• MK4 3.5–10x scope now has the magnification adjustment ring set up to move according to current magnification level
• Entering the Customize Operator screen (e.g. interacting with locker or workbench) will now hide the HUD, including the stance indicator

Gameplay and mechanics

• The Rangefinder now uses a different trace channel so it will not hit blockplayer actors any more (such as the invisible walls on The Farm’s outdoor shooting range)
• Fixed the Rangefinder’s night vision mode
• Night vision spectate mode generally fixed up, but some issues remain (for example with Rangefinder NV mode)
• Physics collision handling updated

 Graphics, UI and settings

• Added icon for Shemagh (Head)
• Shemagh (Head) skins “Mint Green” and “Mint Tan” changed to “Foliage Green” and “Tan” respectively
• Added advanced effects setting to turn volumetric fog on/off
• Turned off volumetric fog in all but Epic setting
• Adjusted default TAA settings for more stable image (less flickering) and to be a little sharper
• New advanced settings added to help tune TAA and overall color/contrast of the game
• Added controller/gamepad sensitivity settings (Settings › Controls)
  • Left and right analog stick sensitivity now customizable via “Left Gamepad Sensitivity” and “Right Gamepad Sensitivity” settings
  • Changed a few setting names/tags to avoid confusion between mouse and controller inputs
• Fixed eyelashes showing through eyewear lenses
• Lighting tweaked and old fog removed from Arena and Arena II (should fix Ready Room fog issue on those maps)
• Redundant entries cleaned up in DefaultScalability.ini and DefaultEngine.ini
• The After Action Report (AAR) screen can now be closed by tapping Esc or Spacebar

Audio

• More complex audio stuff hooked up again in the Rig map, though acoustics on Rig are still overall simplified a bit to prevent excessive performance loss
• Reverb send levels of footsteps modified to improve directionality
• Distance at which gunshot tails transition to mono was lowered to improve directionality
• Increased interior ambience level on Rig
• Modified mix presets:
  • Increased gear movement sounds level when walking/running
  • Low Dynamic Range: slightly increased difference between loud and quiet sounds, reduced sprinting level, reduced difference between different weapon types
  • Medium Dynamic Range: increased difference between loud and quiet sounds
• Big pass on VOIP and Commo Rose to fix bug where everyone hears Commo Rose audio and sees it in their own name
• PhysMats added to stair actors to improve footstep sounds on metal stairs
• Max footstep sounds distance clamped to 80 meters — footsteps further from local player than that will not be posted
• Metal deck surface assigned to concrete footsteps for diversity (e.g. on Rig)
• Missing spatial volume tags added to Rig
• Addded G3A3 and MK14 charging handle sounds
• Hooked up glass shatter sounds to Wwise and temporarily removed glass impact sounds until we can set them up to work with Wwise (for performance gain)
• Miscellaneous VOIP fixes
• AI bark manager created to prevent excessive reuse of AI barks in a short space of time

Missions, maps and mission editor

Team insertion points for the Team Elimination game mode have had a bit of an overhaul, and we’ve provided some new missions to thank you for your patience as we worked on this patch and the next main release. In more detail:

• The Team Elimination game mode and validator were changed to add mutual exclusion spawn groups, and tweaked to improve the randomization of spawn points each round
• A pass was done on all current Team Elimination missions to adapt to the new system, setting up mutual exclusion spawn groups as needed
• Tentative fix for players being auto-balanced in DTAS (Dynamic Take and Secure) after spawning in with the (now) enemy team; one consequence is that late joining during PreRoundWait is disabled if auto-balance is on
• The confusingly named “747 (Plane Only)” Terrorist Hunt mission was renamed to “747 (Plane and Nearby)” and supplemented by a new “747 (Plane Interior)” TH mission which really does do what it says on the tin
• Added new “747 (Plane Interior)” Deathmatch mission for (much) lower player counts
• Added new Rig (Decks 1 and 2) DTAS mission to complement existing Decks 3 and 4 DTAS mission
• Added new “Storage Facility (Storage Cavern)” DM map
• Added new “Storage Facility (Underground)” DM map
• Added new “Storage Facility (Underground)” TH map
• Fixed an off-screen insertion point for Storage Facility TH map
• Bad laptop fixed in Depot‘s Intel Retrieval mission
• Wobbly tree on Compound fixed
• New NavmeshBlocker actor added in the mission editor as a temporary fix (until we get the new AI in the next big update) to keep AI within specific parts of the map
• 747 (Plane Interior) TH, 747 (Plane and Nearby) TH, Compound (Compound Only) TH, Small Town TH, Run Down TH and possibly 1 or 2 other missions were updated to include the new NavmeshBlocker feature to partition the map and keep AI within the mission area

Admin

• Updated Server Browser to ensure it stops refreshing the server list if you try to connect
• Added -RandomMapStart=N server command line option to start from first map (if N=0) rather than random pick (if N≠0), as was previously always done
• A basic anti-cheat function was added to stop players playing when it is detected that specific files are missing (e.g. flashbang FX) — we can’t completely prevent players from cheating, but we reserve the right to prevent the easiest/laziest methods!