Last week’s patch V1035.2 released with more than a few issues, so we’re addressing as many as possible in this hotfix.
UI/UX
Restored accessibility settings for Color Blindness Mode and Replace Key Reds With (Settings › Video › Advanced › Accessibility).
Fixed front-left rails on the M110K1‘s handguard having their slots flipped, causing attachments to mount inwards.
Restored ability to edit callsign in Lone Wolf.
Removed logic for “Use Standard” callsign, which used Team Elements as reference — feature was rarely used and required Lua logic, so we opted to scrap it (at least for now).
Hooked up the F8 key shortcut to the Admin Panel again.
Updated the logic for the Hide HUD function while spectating (H key) to take into account whether the player was alive or dead and avoid an issue where the H key fails to hide HUD due to being tied to hand signals.
Various small changes to UI text, formatting and styles in Admin Panel elements (particularly Kit Restrictions and dialogs) to improve consistency and usability.
Fixed missing tooltip to Game Stats button (top Esc menu).
Added mention and tooltip for Check Watch ability in keybinds list (Settings › Controls) next to Freelook.
Gameplay and controls
Fixed issue where the Steady Aim (ADS) ability was tied to Focus Zoom (ADS). Now you can use these abilities separately again.
Fixed invalid state when picking up a shotgun shell or round that was ejected intentionally during a reload.
AI and enemies
Tweaked AI frag grenade ability: increased minimum throw range, which should reduce the frequency of grenades. (NOTE: A more complete solution is already in the works for V1036.)
Updated the smoke grenade ability to fix AI getting stuck due to an issue with the logic tree.
Updated the distance threshold for detection on bots to help with them running into players or not seeing them when they should.
Updated the US PMC voice lines to not use the radio filter.
Missions, game modes and multiplayer
Fixed issue where players would leave a match in progress on a server and it would fail to end the round if no one was playing it.
Updated all Intel Retrieval missions to ensure AI will not spawn near the player spawn points.
Updated Extraction Point to always show regardless of distance.
Updated the Ops Board (Ready Room) to allow players to click to spectate again.
Changes to Hostage Rescue requirements: now you only need 2 players on Red team and 1 player on Blue team to start the round. This should reduce the headache of starting a Hostage Rescue match if the teams suddenly change balance during a countdown or during the round start.
Removed bad spawns on City (Subway) and fixed issue with missing doors on that map.
Fixed issue where the voting timeout logic was being interpreted incorrectly, leading to timeouts upwards of an hour.
After a major refactoring that required rebuilding a massive portion of GROUND BRANCH’s systems and interfaces, Patch V1035.2 is finally here!
The big refactoring
Though this update doesn’t bring in a whole lot of shiny new features (the bulk of the work involved migrating existing features from Lua language to C++ and UE4 Blueprint) it gets us one step closer to our final goal on a more solid foundation.
💡 For a more in-depth look into the Lua refactoring, check out Intel Report #027.
Though the main advantage of the refactoring is future iteration, you might notice improved stability and performance here and there in this version.
We’ll go over the main impacts, pros and cons in the following subsections.
What does this mean for modding?
Non-Lua mods will not be affected
Once updated to V1035.2, most mods (e.g. item mods) should continue to work as before.
Lua-based game modes and missions will need to be converted to Blueprint-based ones With rounds, settings and other game mode-related classes being far more modular now, it’ll be easier than how we had it setup. The Blueprint-based games modes we’ve included can be used as a base/example.
💡 WHAT ABOUT CUSTOM MAPS?
While you can convert older custom maps using the mission actor conversion tool, we’re also developing a proper map editor for future content.
For best results — and full compatibility going forward — we recommend building new maps with proper actors and assets once the new Map SDK is available.
Streamlining mods
Modding has been simplified in V1035.2.
Gone are the days of moving and dragging mods from your available list into your loaded server mods in order to make them appear. Now, if you have a mod, it will be hosted on your listen server and your players will be able to see it.
Dedicated servers have been simplified as well. For now, you will simply load the Mod IDs into the mods.txt file for the server.
💡 We are also working on a UI solution that will replace the old setup for admins who prefer to load them via the in-game menu.
Operations mode temporarily disabled
Though the “Silent Reach” campaign mission demo (accessible via the Operations menu) succeeded in giving players an idea of what a full-fledged GROUND BRANCH mission will look like, it was put together with considerable haste using a mix of Lua and hard-coding; this meant that the Lua logic would require migrating, while the hard-coded portion needed to be redone as part of a more expandable system.
In order to avoid delaying patch V1035.2 even further, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily disable the Operations mode while we create an expandable system for future campaign missions. Rest assured that the overall concept and much of the UI will be maintained — we hope to have an improved demo mission available again soon!
No more rubberbanding — online stability has been restored!
A massive achievement in this version has been online stability: the networking feels solid once again, with the widespread rubberbanding issue (that was present for the past few releases) having been fixed. Even with high pings (+300 ms), we’ve encountered no online issues after about 6 weeks of testing.
💡 Dedicated servers no longer need to be restarted after a few hours to recover online performance — huge relief!
We’re hopeful this win will be getting online numbers back up a bit, since the rubberbanding was a massive source of frustration.
Speaking of online problems…
Removed physics from doors
Doors have been a long-standing issue when playing online, due to how difficult it is to ensure that their position/status correctly replicates across clients. Physics simulation in games is (in)famously unreliable, and when the online component is added the issue becomes even worse.
After some debate, we decided to replace the physics-based implementation with an intermediate solution that is akin to the old Rainbow Six: Raven Shield mechanic. It is more rigid, but it fixes the problem of doors desyncing while playing online.
Doors no longer have a fluid-looking opening and closing motion — this will be addressed in the future with animations.
Doors will no longer desync: an open door will stay open and a closed door will stay closed. No more guesswork when approaching a door online.
In addition, doors now have a weight we can assign per door type. While we haven’t gone through and updated every door, you will notice the gate on Compound “feels” heavier than before. This will also be updated throughout the next few patches to better represent our doors materials.
Lastly, AI have had a pass on how they navigate doors. Initial tests with squads of 4 AI going through a door are good, and we will use this same logic to improve navigation through double doors, as well as for friendly AI in the future.
🐞 If you "lose" the door prompt while gradually opening/closing a door, you have to release and hold your Interact key again before resuming the action.
Return of the AI grenades (with an upgrade)
The enemy AI can throw frag grenades again, so be on the lookout!
AI grenades now have a more calculated frag grenade logic in place: they will check if the player is in cover before throwing a grenade to flush them out. They also make checks to verify that the arc of the grenade won’t hit any ceilings or blockers in its trajectory.
💡 We'll of course continue to improve the grenade ability as we go, but in the meantime this added logic makes it a more interesting mechanic to deal with in firefights.
Hostage Rescue (PvP) is back!
After being temporarily pulled due to logic issues we did not have the resources to fix at the time, the Hostage Rescue PvP game mode returns to GROUND BRANCH!
💡 We had to rebuild Hostage Rescue from the ground up for V1035.2. This means some of the systems may be a bit different than before. Please have a try and give us your feedback.
Here are the rules:
To start the mode, there must be at minimum 5 players on a server and at least 1 more player on the RED than the BLUE side. (Currently, BLUE team are always the defenders and RED team are always the attackers. This will be updated and improved in V1036.)
A random player of the attacking RED team has been taken hostage in one of the map’s buildings. The hostage player is hooded and cuffed, limiting their vision and movement — they are unable to interact with map objects such as doors or items, and are restricted to walking (no running/sprinting).
The target building is selected by the defenders BLUE team by choosing where to spawn, and defenders are restricted to within that building unless the hostage escapes it.
Defenders can lead the hostage around the building or simply hold them in place by holding the Interact key (default F). While being led, the hostage will be intimidated and unable to speak. (This represents a simplification of the previous iteration, where intimidation was a separate action done by pointing a weapon at the hostage.) Note that it takes about 1 second for the leading/freeing to begin. This is a change from the immediate grab mechanics from before.
Attackers can select any insertion point (including multiple if they decide to split the team) and will have to find the building where the hostage is being held — possibly with the assistance of the hostage making some noise with the Talk (VOIP) key (default V). Attackers must then successfully breach the building and rescue the hostage. If the hostage has their cuffs released by the attackers, they will regain a full range of movement and team communication (i.e. radio and text chat).
If a hostage picks up a weapon once released, they become a valid target for defenders, who can then win the round by killing the armed hostage.
Win conditions
ATTACKERS — To win the round, at least one attacker must escort the hostage to any of the available extraction points. Alternatively, attackers will win if the defending team is eliminated.
DEFENDERS — To win the round, the defending team must eliminate all attackers, survive the assault until the time runs out, or kill a hostage that has picked up a weapon.
With the rare exception of a released and armed hostage (mentioned above), any team that kills the hostage will instantly lose the match. Careful with those frags!
Fox Hunt is now a standalone mode
Fox Hunt was a sub-game mode for DTAS (Dynamic Take and Secure) that was previously playable when not enough players were present for a DTAS round to begin (although it could also be forced on). With the refactoring, it made sense to make it its own separate mode.
💡 Building Assault (a sub-game mode of Hostage Rescue) is gone temporarily — it will return in the future as a whole new standalone mode with unique mechanics.
Kit Restrictions are available again
Although the refactoring didn’t allow us to rebuild kit restrictions the way we wanted them just yet, you can once again apply skin restrictions per team (Red and Blue) by going into Admin Panel › Kit Restrictions.
The system is pretty straightforward:
Drag a skin from the Available Skins list onto either team to allow that skin to be used.
To remove it, simply drag it off the team.
Click Apply in the bottom-right to accept the changes.
Click Clear to revert to default restrictions.
💡 Please note that the map needs to be reloaded or changed for the new restrictions to take effect.
🐞 When first enabling or disabling skin restrictions, lighting will change to a bright, blue-ish hue. Simply changing the map in the Admin Panel fixes the issue. This will be addressed shortly in a hotfix.
💡 Kit restrictions will be far more versatile in the future, allowing categories and specific items to be restricted rather than only skins.
Miscellaneous UI changes
Due to much of the UI being rebuilt thanks to the big refactoring, we’ve taken the opportunity to give a few areas a small update.
Updated Ops Board visuals
The Ops Board in the Ready Room remains largely the same, but you may notice changes to the color scheme, iconography and container layout, among other things.
Here are the changes, as seen in the video:
The new colors should help visually group up related elements: red is used for objective-related elements, green for insertion/extraction points, and yellow is reserved for mission parameters.
Mission parameters are more tidily laid out in boxes, and we’ve added a big clock icon to the insertion time (TOD) to make that military time format a little clearer without losing the flavor.
Search locations (Intel Retrieval) will now display the name of the location when hovered. The list of locations on the left-hand side is now also a separate color from objectives, uses a separate font (the same used for the hover text on the map), and adds a little looking glass icon to each item.
The extraction point icon uses a slightly different animation and color, and now also displays text (“EXTRACTION”) when hovered.
The button to refresh locations now has a dynamic description label next to it, which updates when clicked.
Time-of-day (TOD) selection
When setting up a game you will notice a change in time-of-day (time of insertion) parameter.
Whereas previously you would pick a time from a drop-down menu with preset times (e.g. Pre-Dawn, Midday etc.), you can now alternate between that method or manually setting the time (e.g. 0000, 0600, 1200 etc.) by clicking the button next to it, as shown in the GIF above. The button’s icon alternates between showing a watch face (for manual time) or a day/night cycle (for preset times).
💡 The preset times are useful because our sky system accounts for latitude and time of the year. Since the sun angle at a given time vares considerably depending on a map's location and time of the year, the preset labels help players spawn in with the desired lighting conditions (rather than, for example, assuming 1830 is already dark in a given map).
🐞 Speaking of which, advanced time settings were also temporarily disabled due to the refactoring. This means the moon phase will be temporarily random.
Updated kill notifications (Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch)
Deathmatch-style game modes have a new kill notification that now includes an icon of the weapon and a headshot indicator.
Kill notifications have also been moved to the top-right corner of the screen.
💡 The logic to account for grenade kills has not yet been implemented. Grenade kills are currently displayed as self-kills or forfeits (withdrawal from play area), e.g.: [💀] fatmarrow
Easier-to-click checkboxes
This one is pretty minor, but we’ve updated all checkboxes to have a much more generous clickable area (which includes the text next to it, so you no longer have to click the box itself).
Other UI/UX changes
The map selection screen (Lone Wolf and Host Game) has been updated slightly: the map entries have received some font formatting changes, as well as a nicer and clearer hover effect.
Ranch and Power Station have also received new map descriptions in the aforementioned screen.
Some of the copy/wording — particularly in Mission Settings/Parameters — has been updated for better clarity or to fit the layout.
You may find other minor differences in various parts of the user interface; not all of it is intentional, so let us know if you catch anything odd!
Inventory
New weapons
The following primary weapons have been added under the Assault Rifle category:
G36K
The original (“stock”) G36K joins its aftermarket version in the armory. Instead of the top accessory rail, this carbine comes with the original 3x scope built into the carry handle.
💡 The G36K's handle includes working backup iron sights for very close range engagements, which can be switched to by scrolling your Mouse Wheel while aiming down the sights.
AUG A1
The OG AUG A1 also joins its modernized variant (AUG A3) with its original 20-inch barrel and built-in 1.5x scope.
💡 The AUG A1 also includes working backup iron sights atop its scope. Scroll your Mouse Wheel while aiming down the sights to switch to them.
F88 SA2
Another AUG variant being added to the armory is the Australian F88 SA2. This is a more modernized version, with a top accessory rail and an interesting dual-tone (tan and green) color scheme.
Galil AR
The Galil AR is essentially a stripped-down Galil ARM, thus making it a little lighter.
Galil SAR
The Galil SAR is a shorter and lighter Galil AR, replacing the wooden handguard with polymer.
New weapon attachments
A few new attachments are now available for weapon customization:
HWS 551
One of the first holo sights adopted by SOCOM in the early GWOT years, the HWS 551 holographic sight is similar in size to the more modern EXPS3.
HWS 552
Though longer, this model superseded many 551s in service due to its use of the more readily available AA batteries.
AS/VSS 30rd [9×39MM]
A 30-round magazine for the AS/VSS family of suppressed rifles, this new capacity was introduced alongside the ASM Val.
Updated models
These models have been revised, replaced or otherwise updated:
HWS 553
The HWS 553 has received a new and far more authentic model. It is still available in both black and FDE skins, with the FDE version now keeping the rear panel and inner optic housing in black — just like the real deal.
CTRW (formerly ASR)
The previously labeled ASR reflex sight has received a much needed model replacement and is now listed as CTRW under your Red Dot sight category.
AN/PVS-22 UNS
Another full model update, the new AN/PVS-22 UNS should better match the highly detailed assets it might be sitting next to during night operations.
IR Strobe (MS2000)
Our old MS2000 strobe was a holdover from the distant past and has now been replaced with a more accurate and detailed model.
The partial pouch is gone, but we’ve found that it was usually velcro’d or taped to helmets.
M110 and M110K1 revised
Both M110 series models have been revised to fix issues with receiver and magazine width (we realized they were slimmer than those of AR-15s), as well as inaccuracies in the handguards (such as making sure the rails’ recoil grooves were all aligned and accounted for).
💡 In particular, the M110K1's handguard has received some further design tweaks to better match our reference for adopted SOCOM specimens. As a result, there have been changes to attachment points in-game.
Cleaned up tan skins (and a handful of other skin tweaks)
All vest platforms, belts and pouches in tan skin have been updated to better match their real-life counterparts.
Because most of the real-life items are in fact coyote brown rather than tan, the overwhelming majority of the old tan skins are now listed as Coyote Brown.
💡 The previous skins were for the most part using a generic tan look that was neither Tan 499 (one of the more common US military tan colors) nor Coyote Brown (another very common but more red-heavy tan shade).
Other skin changes
An actual Tan skin has been added for the Plate Carrier (MPC).
Tweaked the colors of buckles, MOLLE, straps, loops, buttons, stitching and other details for various platform skins to better match the reference items.
Updated various skins to correct the direction of the camo pattern and/or to break up the camo pattern where it shouldn’t be continuous (e.g. between the main body of an item and a MOLLE strap).
A few other miscellaneous tweaks (e.g. reduced saturation on Coyote Brown Tactical Pants).
💡 The current "main mix" is now "Experimental". Please give it a try and share your feedback!
We have added the American PMC enemy voice lines for our PMCs on maps Docks, Rig and Tanker.
Fixed hearing sounds from the play area while in the Customize Operator screen.
Updated attenuation on all weapons for better spatialization.
Created audio system for optimization to allow more audio on levels.
Fixed various bugs across all levels (e.g. missing audio portals).
Replaced the old concrete footsteps sound effects with a better, more natural-sounding iteration.
Changed diffraction and occlusion curves to better represent positional audio and geo impact with sounds (e.g. standing behind a tree while being shot at).
Added audio to new animations, such as the chemlight deployment.
Fix missing audio from various animations (e.g. the SpecterDR 1x/4x‘s lever throw when changing magnification).
Removed middleware components from lights for optimization — this was part of the issue with a common audio crash that was resolved.
Updated Power Station‘s audio with new room tones and sounds for the underground areas.
And that’s it for Build Update #061!
Thanks for reading these patch notes and keeping up with GROUND BRANCH’s development.
This update took real work to get across the line, and releasing it with a few temporary downgrades wasn’t a call we made lightly. Even so, we’re confident it’s a meaningful step forward: the refactor strengthens the foundation, and that stability is what lets us move faster and build bigger from here. Our team is still lean, but it’s grown considerably (see our latest dev blog for details), and that added bandwidth is already paying off.
Most importantly, this is the kind of progress that moves us closer to V1.0; not just by adding features, but by solidifying the core systems we need to take the game across the finish line. There’s still work ahead, but the direction is clear, and the runway is getting shorter.
Thank you once again, and we’ll see you next time!
We’re back with another Build Update — this time for our first point release: patch V1035.1!
This patch introduces a few new features (such as a Check Watch function, hand signals and modded skins), as well as various bug fixes and even some small visual upgrades. Keep reading for the full scoop, and don’t forget to let us know what you think!
💡 Patch V1035.2 is also planned for the near future.
Patch notes
Performance and stability
We have identified and fixed a number of memory leak issues which would create an increasing impact on performance (and possibly online replication) over time:
Fixed memory leaks related to inventory items that were not being unloaded on level change
Fixed some vehicle blueprints that were leaking memory after level change (they were set to replicate unnecessarily)
Fixed leak caused by regenerating navmeshes with our door-swinging logic in Kythera AI
🚧 These should hopefully improve performance degradation over time — including some of the server rubberbanding issues — but the problem is still being monitored, and we'll continue to work towards a definitive fix. Be sure to let us know how your server is handling these changes!
Gameplay
Check Watch
Gone are the days of free-looking down to your left wrist or picking a foregrip that makes it easy to see it at a glance.
You can still do those things, but now you can also simply use the new Check Watch ability to have your character raise their wristwatch in clear view of the camera while keeping your firearm (if you have one equipped) at ready.
💡 To check your watch, double-tap Freelook (default Tab).
The new Check Watch ability can be triggered in any stance, and it stays on while walking and running (but not while sprinting or crawling). Most other actions will cancel it out automatically.
🐞 When prone, the watch face may not be within the frame depending on what item you have equipped, even with a vertical FOV of 58 (default) or wider. We're looking into it.
🐞 You may have issues checking your watch after using it several times while moving around, changing stances or in combination with Freelook. To restore the ability to check your watch, simply use Freelook momentarily.
First pass on hand signals
Players can now use hand signals to silently communicate with teammates.
“Go There” hand signal
To bring up the Hand Signals menu, use default H.
💡 If a default key is not set in your game, manually bind it under Settings › Controls › Keybinds (look under the "Communication" header).
Available signals are:
Cover Me — Issued to request covering fire or overwatch from a teammate
Rally Up — Issued to tell teammates to regroup on your position
Go There — Issued to order teammates to move up to a location in front of you
Need Breacher — Issued to request a teammate to breach a door (currently limited to the water Breaching Charge)
Halt — Issued to tell teammates to stop and hold a position until told otherwise
Look There — Issued to tell teammates to visually check a position in front of you
🚧 As ever, please keep in mind this is an initial implementation — the UI and animations will be iterated on, and more hand signals will be added.
💡 Hand signals are issued via the same radial menu style as squad orders — press the key to bring up the Hand Signals menu, move your mouse to the desired option, and left-click to issue.
🐞 KNOWN ISSUE: Once used, the Hand Signals menu may require a second press of your assigned key to come up again.
Other gameplay updates
Collecting the laptop in Intel Retrieval no longer triggers enemies to rush towards the player (“extraction mayhem”), allowing players to e.g. sneak in and out with the intel
Increased the area of extraction zones to better support larger teams
Light and laser attachments now behave more naturally:
No longer automatically turned on when re-equipped
Still turn off when the item is dropped, but with a slight delay — allowing you to potentially mislead enemies with dropped weapons
Updated reload-related gameplay ability to correctly detect when a round is chambered during a mag check
This ensures the appropriate animation plays depending on bolt status (e.g. AR-15 with no bolt lock)
Updated the grenade throw ability to no longer allow sprinting or item switching to interrupt it, as well as correctly re-equip the previous item (if the option is checked in Settings › Gameplay) after the throw
AI/animation
Dead body inspection
Enemies now perform a proper body check animation upon finding a fallen comrade, kneeling at the location of the dead character’s head, reaching out and scanning around before standing back up.
Other AI changes
Updated “bum rush” AI behavior (Terrorist Hunt):
AI now runs toward distant targets and walks when nearby
AI will now draw their weapon upon entering “bum rush” mode, rather than leaving it slung until enemy contact
New in V1035.1 is the ability to create proper skin mods for items, with new colors and patterns no longer required to be “baked” directly into the meshes. Here’s the first contribution by modder ModernLancer:
💡 If you are interested in creating skin mods, see this page from our Modding Wiki for more information (though please bear in mind that it still needs to be updated).
Bolt-action and belt-fed weapon modding
The Mod Kit now provides example mods for bolt-action and belt-fed weapons.
💡 For instructions on how to create new asset mods (such as weapon mods), see this page.
Other modding changes
Improved mod filtering behavior in the Server Browser to more reliably display modded servers
Optimized mod mounting performance and reliability by skipping redundant blueprint-generated classes and using safer methods to identify primary assets
Visual updates
Upgraded first-person character textures
With the new Check Watch action, we wanted to make sure the most visible character textures in first-person (arms, gloves, sleeves) looked as good as they can, so we bumped up the resolution for their albedo (base color) and normal maps.
The difference can be subtle — especially with the gloves — but here’s a before/after with the Tactical Gloves and Softshell Jacket:
Notice the sharper textures — especially around the jacket’s shoulder pockets and seams.
Other visual fixes
Fixed lighting channel and cull distance issues in Ready Room
Potential fix for blurry textures when switching appearances with a balaclava
Kit restrictions
The Kit Restrictions system and menus are being overhauled to use the new tag system and offer more options. As a result, it will be unavailable from this version until we have the new iteration done in patch V1035.2.
💡 The new kit restrictions system is expected to return alongside the Hostage Rescue PvP mode.
Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience, everyone.
Miscellaneous changes
Updated VOIP settings in Wwise to improve Radio and Proximity Voice audio dropouts (unfortunately, crashes still occur — we are looking into redoing the VOIP system)
Fixed issue where the wrong sound was playing for the LVAW assault rifle
Fixed Ready Room no longer playing ambient music after closing menus
Updated Power Station audio mix and adjusted audio for powered equipment (e.g. radios) (WIP)
Updated and cleaned up various gameplay abilities (GAS) for more reliability
Removed excessive networking logs to improve performance and clarity
This has been Build Update #060!
Thank you for reading these release notes and keeping up with the development of GROUND BRANCH.
Stay tuned for patch V1035.2, and don’t forget to let us know how this version is running and playing for you — whether via our Discord, Steam forums or social media.
Last Thursday we officially released GROUND BRANCH V1035 (if you missed it, see the release noteshere) and today we are pushing a hotfix to address some of the more immediate issues we were able to fix already.
Patch notes
General bug fixes
Fixed dedicated servers not advertising mod lists properly
Possible fix for NVIDIA Ansel crash
Stopped aborting the game when finding unknown gameplay tags and started logging them instead
Adjustment to character movement action which may in some cases allow laptop interactions more easily (laptops that cannot be interacted with remains a work in progress)
Maps
Power Station: Reset the north offset so that north in-game is aligned with north on the map
Compound: Removed debug level accidentally included in-game; loading times should be significantly decreased
Inventory
Fixed bug with “Apply to Attachments” checkbox (in the item customization screen), where enabling the box for a belt would also impact the headgear and platform, and so on
Fixed risers and offset not allowing attachment of things that aren’t sights; you can once again mount lights and lasers on risers and offset rails, for instance
Updated AOR-1, Flecktarn and Tan skins to add FDE as a possible substitute
Fixed reticle brightness not working for the Kobra EKP-8 sights
Updated rate of fire for AS Val family to 900 rounds/min, and for VSS Vintorez family to 800 rounds/min
Audio
Fixed various enemy voice lines not being spatialized — they should no longer sound like they are right next to the player
Other
Quick Create mod widget now adds build number tag to Workshop metadata (e.g. “V1035”) and mod metadata for asset/modkit mods now includes a build number (set and saved during mod upload) — so, in the future, mods can be more easily filtered based on build number used to create the mod
Added checkbox to in-game mod browser to view only current game version mods (e.g. V1035), and slightly changed mod search logic
Fixed Target App screen being visible on top of smoke in various Training areas
After a few weeks in the Community Test beta branch, we’re thrilled to announce that GROUND BRANCH Version 1035 is now live on the main branch of your Steam install!
As extensively previewed and discussed over the past months, V1035 features many improvements to GB, from art upgrades and a revamped customization UI all the way to a campaign mission demo that offers a “vertical slice” of the experience we’re aiming for: a mission with a briefing and intel details, multiple objectives (including assassination and demolitions) and AI companions — all accessible via a brand-new interface from which players will be able to play many more missions in the future.
Launch Sale: GROUND BRANCH is 10% OFF!
To celebrate the launch of V1035, GROUND BRANCH will be on sale with a 10% discount for 1 week. Enjoy!
Without further ado, let’s go over the release notes for V1035.
⛔ WARNING: OUTDATED MODS
Please note that mods from V1034 may crash or otherwise cause issues on your V1035 GROUND BRANCH client, as well as V1035 servers. We recommend that you disable all mods until they are updated to V1035.
Release notes
Gameplay Ability System (GAS)
As explained in our Intel Reports on the road to this release, most of the systems in GROUND BRANCH were rebuilt with GAS — the Gameplay Ability System. While this has caused unfortunate delays, we’re now over the bump with a more flexible and performant system that offers better control over the complex interplay between characters, inventory, animation and game events.
💡 Due to virtually every system of the game having been converted to GAS, a few bugs may remain undiscovered or unfixed in areas that previously worked. We'll be listing all known issues at the end of this post. No show-stopping bugs should be present, and we aim to fix all remaining GAS-related bugs in upcoming point releases (V1035.X).
Operations menu and campaign mission demo
When you first launch V1035, you might notice the new Operations option on the main menu — right below Training. This option will take you to our new interface for viewing and selecting campaign missions (to be included and expanded in the future) via hotspots around the globe. This is also where you’ll find our first campaign mission demo — “Silent Reach” — set on map Depot.
As the video shows, the new interface features a world map for hotspot selection featuring news items, a background briefing for available hotspots, a mission-specific briefing with intel details and images, and of course the mission objectives.
💡 The menu also tracks mission progress for both single player and co-op.
This new demo represents a first pass on campaign missions — it is meant as a “vertical slice” of our projected gameplay experience, featuring AI teammates (admittedly very basic ones at this point) that can receive various types of orders, as well as multiple objectives (including demolitions, scouting/searching and high-value target assassination) and even a simple cutscene at the end (which can be skipped in single player or by the online host).
The mission demo can be played either with 3 AI teammates, or up to 3 Steam friends.
The mission demo normally acts like a session launched from the Host Game menu, and the Invite menu (Esc › top menu) can be used to invite players via Steam.
If a human player enters a round with you, no friendly AI characters will be spawned!
From that point onwards, even if all other players leave, your game will be considered a co-op game for the purpose of “scoring” and no AI teammates will ever spawn.
Single player and co-op have separate completion statistics that are tracked.
Controlling your AI team
Although the friendly AI and its control interface are still rudimentary, your teammates can be ordered to:
Fall In — Orders your team to regroup with and/or follow you. This is their default movement setting.
Hold — Crouch and hold position.
Move & Clear — Move to where you’re currently pointing and take out any threats.
Take Cover — Find nearby cover and crouch next to it.
Go Loud — Take out any hostile contacts on sight. This is their default fire discipline setting.
Go Silent — Do not engage unless spotted or shot at. The team will call out any contacts.
Breach — Not functional yet.
💡 To issue orders to your AI teammates, use Mouse Thumb Button 1 or K. These defaults can be changed in Settings › Controls › Keybinds › Other (at the bottom of the list).
New item customization UI
The user interface (UI) for item customization has received a particularly big overhaul.
Here’s the rundown:
Weapon and attachment categories are now selected via checkboxes, which now also allow filtering Headgear and Top types (more categories can be added to other slots as required!).
Right-clicking the checkboxes allows multiple categories to be selected. If no categories are selected, all items will be displayed.
Scrolling through attachments should be much faster, as sights are now grouped into subcategories (Accessory, Iron Sights, Red Dot and Scopes) and more items are shown simultaneously.
Attachments that have more than one skin are now grouped together, with skins being selected via a drop-down menu — this reduces menu clutter considerably.
Platforms and belts can now also be equipped with pouches of different skins than the parent item, selectable from similar drop-downs.
💡 Magazines and belt boxes can no longer be removed from weapons in the customization screen — only replaced with different options.
Other UI changes
The Tablet has had a small visual update, particularly in the Roster section: callsigns and player names are now both shown simultaneously, and team elements are more cleanly organized.
Spin boxes, where you can drag a slider or manually enter a value, have been updated so that arrows on either side now make sensible adjustments to the number. The slider has also been made less sensitive to small misclicks.
Combo boxes (aka drop-down menus) will now close the menu when clicked a second time, as would be expected, without having to click off of them or selecting an option.
Text chat (default T and Y) has received a small visual update for legibility, and will now only allow the character limit (128 characters) to be input. It also has a new little slide-in animation.
Global text chat now includes a visual indicator for when the author of the message is a server admin or game host.
The Roster screen (Esc) also now includes indicators for admins or hosts, as applicable.
The Modding menus (mod lists in particular) have had a UI pass and should be a little nicer to use.
A lot of the pre-existing UI has had another design pass, as is customary: icons were added and updated, and various elements were tweaked for better contrast, alignments, legibility, flavor, and consistency across menus.
Gameplay changes
Mag check
Mag checks have been overhauled — the days of re-inserting a magazine that you know is empty are gone.
Hold the Reload key to keep the mag out as long as desired. While holding the Reload key, tap it once for a retention reload or double-tap to dump the old magazine.
High and Low Ready
Changing weapon positions can now be interrupted before the transition is complete. Players can also start firing before the weapon is fully in the Ready position (it only needs to be close enough).
Ladders
Ladders now require an interaction press (default F) to exit the ladder, to prevent accidentally presenting yourself as a target at the top (by triggering the climbing animation before you’re ready).
Ladders also have a bigger interaction radius now, so you don’t have to be as close before being able to start a climb.
Enemy AI options
Enemy counts can now be randomized “a little” or “a lot” in the quick mission modes (Terrorist Hunt, Defuse and Intel Retrieval) using a new mission setting on the Ops Board. Higher enemy counts will be randomized more than smaller counts, hence the non-numerically specific options. The 50 AI limit won’t be exceeded.
Day vs. night spawns for the enemy AI should also create further gameplay variation depending on the time of day.
Ballistics
Ballistics have received a moderate update: while most of it was under-the-hood, you should notice a bigger difference in bullet drop and travel time between different rounds at medium/long ranges.
Damage was also slightly modified in the process, but should be largely unchanged.
💡 Please note this is not our health and armor update yet!
Water and movement
Water volumes now impact player movement depending on how deep you are in the water.
Object interaction
Interactions with laptops (for Intel Retrieval and Uplink) have been improved, and a “magic hand” animation was added for such interactions.
New inventory items
The following items and skins have been added to GROUND BRANCH:
Primary weapons
New assault rifle: AK-103 Alpha
A modernized AKM with plenty of aftermarket accessory rails.
Ammunition: 7.62×39MM
Feed system: 30-round magazines
Fire modes: Semi / Full
New assault rifle: G36K Custom
A modified G36K carbine with accessory rails and a custom stock.
Ammunition: 5.56 NATO
Feed system: 30-round magazines
Fire modes: Semi / Full
New assault rifle: AUG A3
A modernized version of the classic bullpup assault rifle. The built-in scope is replaced with a “flat-top” accessory rail, and a small offset rail is also present on the right side.
Ammunition: 5.56 NATO
Feed system: 30-round magazines
Fire modes: Semi / Full
New assault rifle: LVAW
An AR-15-pattern carbine with an integrated suppressor firing subsonic .300 BLK rounds, this weapon was designed to take over the MP5SD‘s role. Its name is an acronym for Low Visibility Assault Weapon.
Ammunition: .300 BLK
Feed system: 30-round magazines
Fire modes: Semi / Full
New assault rifles: AS Val and ASM Val
These are integrally suppressed Soviet assault rifles firing subsonic rounds. In addition to the classic AS, the modernized ASM version (pictured) is available with accessory rails on top of the receiver and around the suppressor.
Ammunition: 9×39MM
Feed system: 10- or 20-round magazines
Fire modes: Semi / Full
New sniper rifle: VSS Vintorez and VSSM Vintorez
These are “sniper rifle” versions of the AS assault rifles (above) fitted with fixed, precision-oriented buttstocks. Similarly, the “M” version (pictured) is modernized with a new stock and accessory rails.
Ammunition: 9×39MM
Feed system: 10- or 20-round magazines
Fire modes: Semi / Full
Secondary weapons
New pistol: MK24 CAP
Seen here with the DBAL-PL, suppressor and 12-round magazine
This compact semi-automatic pistol firing .45 ACP rounds from 10- or 12-round magazines has been added to the armory.
Accessories and equipment
New pistol attachment: DBAL-PL
The DBAL-PL provides a combined spotlight and laser beam for pistols, both visible and infrared (IR); in accordance with the design of the real-life device, the laser and light can only be toggled in unison.
New scope: PSO-1M2-1
The PSO-1M2-1 is a version of the PSO-1M2 available only for the AS/VSS series of weapons with a specifically designed reticle.
New red dot sight: OKP-7
The original OKP-7 sight, which is mounted via side dovetail rail, is now available for AK platforms.
New red dot sight: Kobra EKP-8-02
A side-mounted version of the Kobra sight is now also available for AK platforms.
New red dot sight: MRO (Raised)
A version of the MRO with a raised mount is now available.
New IR strobe: MS2000
The MS2000 IR strobe makes a return (a new model for it is also on our list). It is functionally identical to the Manta model. Available in 3 pouch colors: Black, Tan and OD.
New equipment: M4 SLAM
The M4 SLAM explosive charge makes its first appearance in v1035, but for now only as a set-piece in the campaign mission demo (Main Menu › Operations). The charge is automatically carried into the mission, so there’s no need to add it to your loadout. Likewise, there is no need to equip a detonator.
To place the charge, find a suitable spot on either mission target — indicated by a glowing red mesh — and follow the prompts.
💡 If you choose manual detonation, make sure to trigger the explosion from a safe distance or spot!
💡 The M4 SLAM may eventually be made available as a motion-detecting vehicle mine or manually-detonated explosive.
New equipment: Chemlight
Chemlights are now available. They’re useful for marking positions and providing limited illumination.
To drop a chemlight on the ground, select it from Equipment (default 4) and press Fire/Throw (default Left Mouse Button).
💡 Your character will automatically spawn with 10 chemlights — there's no need to add them to your loadout.
💡 Chemlights will match the color of your current team element (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie or Delta).
Clothing and gear
New top: Softshell Jacket and Softshell Jacket (Hood)
The Softshell Jacket can now be selected for your Top slot. It comes in two versions — one regular and one with the hood exposed — and 4 different skins: Gray, OCP, AOR-1 and AOR-2.
Based on the second generation (aka Block I) of the “Level 5” softshell jacket that is part of the seven-layer Protective Combat Uniform (PCU) system, this item is a breathable, stretchable, water-repellant and windproof garment.
New masks: Balaclava A/B/C/D
The regular Balaclava (eyes exposed only) was remade and renamed Balaclava A.
We’ve also added variants Balaclava B (eyes and nose exposed) and Balaclava C (eyes, nose and mouth exposed), which are essentially different ways of wearing the same balaclava, as well as a separate “three-hole” model called Balaclava D.
💡 Balaclavas will hide your Facial Hair selection even if the mouth area is exposed. This will be addressed in a later update.
New pouches: 12x 12ga 00 Buck and 7.62 NATO (FMJ)
Pouches for loose cartridges — currently shotgun shells (12-gauge 00 buckshot) and M24 sniper rifle rounds (7.62 NATO) — can now be manually placed on your platform and belt.
This essentially fixes an issue in V1034 and earlier where ammo for these weapons could only be carried with the modular “Primary Ammo” pouch.
Skins
Various attachments have received a new FDE skin.
Vertical Grip B has a new Olive Drab skin (in addition to FDE).
The T-Shirt has a new GROUND BRANCH logo skin.
AOR-2 was added for Helmet (HC/Cover) and Helmet (AF/Cover).
New AOR-2 helmet skin and individual pouch skins
Enemy AI and assets
Hostile AI (and in relevant respects, also friendly AI) have had a number of tune-ups and other improvements and changes:
New AI behaviors and systems
AI may now throw frag grenades at players in some cases.
AI that feel under pressure may throw a smoke grenade to cover a retreat.
AI will now see and investigate flashlight beams and laser pointers (WIP).
AI can be blinded temporarily by flashlights pointed at their faces at close range (WIP).
AI have new idle animations, which can be explicitly selected for idle AI by a mission designer if desired. It is intended to expand the range of idle animations over time.
AI movement overall has had various tweaks and changes.
A widespread AI rout/flee will be initiated by certain game events, like covering fire from a helicopter during the campaign mission exfil sequence.
The AI patrol route system has had an overhaul, so patrolling AI should be more unpredictable and cover their routes more thoroughly.
Enemy AI spawn points now have optional day and night states, so some missions will have different distributions of enemy AI depending on the time of day.
A number of single player missions (including Compound, Depot and others) have been updated to incorporate these new day and night spawns. In Compound, for example, you are much less likely to see enemy AI patrolling fields during the night, and more likely to see idle enemy AI in houses. (There is a new “Sleep AI” state available, but it is not currently implemented. In the future, we envisage having AI sleeping in beds. At least until you start making some noise…)
The HVT (high-value target) in the mission demo is the first of a series of new AI archetypes — a type of AI with its own set of rules — which will populate missions for more variety and specialized behaviors from V1036 onwards.
New AI visuals and audio
Some existing factions (e.g. Russian PMC) have been adjusted and expanded with more kit variety, and whole new factions have been added, including Western PMC, Insurgent and Cartel. Some original factions (such as Riot) have been retained and tweaked for now, but may in due course be retired or replaced.
Idle animations were added to enemy AI, conferring a generally more natural feel before bullets start flying.
New enemy faction voice lines have been brought into the game. Currently we have a whole new set of lines for the new Cartel faction, and a new set of lines for the Russian PMC faction. These are in Mexican Spanish and in Russian, respectively, adding a little more authenticity and flavor to the game. (Other factions will receive their new voice lines in V1036.)
New and updated maps
V1035 features one entirely new map, one full map remake and a couple of significant map updates.
Ranch
Ranch makes its debut in V1035. The map is situated near the US border in Mexico, and is home to a notorious cartel leader.
The expansive estate includes a garage, stables and various other outbuildings, in addition to a sprawling house complex. It is a fairly large and open map, so move carefully!
💡 A whole new set of quick missions has been created for Ranch. PvP missions covering the whole map are tailored more towards full server loads (8v8). The map is a good fit for DTAS, since spawns should be relatively random, and most areas are well-covered from most other areas of the map.
Power Station
Power Station was remade from the ground up for V1035. Though the overall layout is fairly similar, it has been expanded considerably and offers more complexity.
The map is now set in the Libyan desert, with a ferocious civil war taking place in the distance. There are new outbuildings, lots more cover around the place, and a whole new cafeteria complex to explore and get sniped from.
💡 Power Station quick missions have been entirely redone for the updated map. Some new variants have been created.
Depot
Depot has had some changes in lots of places to make it fit in better with the narrative and gameplay of the new campaign mission, and also just to look nicer. You will now find military and camping equipment in various parts of the map — with a focus on the village and compound areas.
Small Town
Small Town has had a little face lift to add a little more character and variety to buildings. Foliage was also updated to offer a little less coverage and look more properly scaled.
It should otherwise play similarly, with the exception of a few new points of cover and concealment.
Art and visual updates
V1035 features a number of updates to art and visuals, from individual models to environments.
Updates to lighting, fog and other map-related changes
An art and optimization pass was done in several maps. Here are the main changes:
The “time span” system has had an update, whereby dawn and dusk extend much longer into the day, providing more satisfactory transitions into and out of night.
Fog in-scattering color and other properties have been added to the palette of environmental customizations for our level designers to use, leading to more characterful lighting. Depot, for example, has had a big lighting tweak.
Lots of assets and foliage have been updated with new models and materials.
New use of HLOD (hierarchical level of detail) optimizations in various maps to improve graphical performance.
Grass blades have been upgraded with more natural wind movement on Depot, Storage Facility, Ranch, Small Town and The Farm.
Updated inventory assets
A number of inventory items have been updated with new models, textures and/or art fixes.
Field Jacket — This new model replaces the old ACU Coat and its very unpopular popped collar with a more conventional style and upgraded texturing. It is available in all the same skins and styles as the previous model, with the addition of tucked-in variants.
AN/PVS-31A — The old dual-tube night vision goggles have been replaced with the more appropriate AN/PVS-31A. Functionality and versions (GP for green phosphor and WP for white phosphor) remain unchanged.
M110 and M110K1 — Both sniper rifles have received entirely new models and textures.
MK25 — This pistol has received a brand-new model and fresh high-res textures by Cody Cudmore (aka ParallaxGameStudios).
MK17 CQC and MK17 DMR — Another Cody creation, both rifles were upgraded with improved and higher-res texturing. Various shading issues and incorrect materials for the FDE magazine were fixed, and the DMR variant has also received a new aftermarket buttstock for variety.
UMP45 — New model and textures.
MPX SBR — New model and textures.
MP7A1 — New model and textures.
1P78 Kashtan — New model and textures.
OKP-7 (Rail) — New model and textures. We’ve added (Rail) to the name suffix to differentiate it from the new (AK-only) side-mounted OKP-7.
Kobra EKP-18-1 — New model and textures. See Inventory additions for new Kobra sight (EKP-8-02).
MRO — New model and textures.
Tac Light (X300) — New model and textures. Now also available in FDE skin.
Tech and VFX
The various new items of kit mentioned above have all had relevant particle effects created and implemented. In other developments:
The NVG system has had another tweak, and now IR lasers are finally visible through the AN/PVS-22 UNS night vision scope. IR illuminators are a work in progress — unfortunately they cannot be realized with the same method.
There are new effects for underwater grenade explosions and smoke.
The new campaign mission demo cutscenes also feature a variety of new special effects — no spoilers!
The Power Station remake includes a lot of new VFX assets for the distance effects.
Animations
Various animations have been updated and some new ones have been hooked up. Main changes include updated animations for the MP7A1,MP5 series, G3A3, UMP45, M110 / M110K1, PMM and AR-15-pattern rifles (M16A4, M4A1, MK18, HK416D and variants).
All new weapons and items (listed earlier) have of course also received new animations.
Miscellaneous animation updates
New mo-cap and other animations done — and some existing animations cleaned up — for enemy AI.
Mag-check-into-reload animations for all magazine-fed weapons.
Completed and/or polished ragdoll death animations for stand, crouch and prone positions.
Added missing shotgun animations.
Audio
The more significant changes in audio — not listed elsewhere — include:
Ranch has had a lot of work put in to set up environmental sound effects. This level of attention to detail will be rolled out across other maps in due course.
Depot has had an environmental sound overhaul, and new sound effects for the new cutscenes.
Walk footsteps should now be properly audible — previously the clothing rustle was the only sound playing.
Attenuation changes on all surface types for walk/run/sprint footsteps. This should make other enemies footsteps more present in the mix and fade out naturally instead of cutting off.
First person player footsteps have been lowered in the mix.
💡 There has been some backend work on the audio — for instance, to upgrade to a version of the Wwise middleware that no longer requires the manual pre-loading of sound banks.
Modding
The GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit has been updated for V1035 and is now in the hands of modders for testing, but there are some remaining issues that will need to be fixed in a point release.
In particular, things like custom magazines and custom ammo may not be fully functional at this point, but otherwise mods from V1034 should be good to go to be recreated in the new Mod Kit.
There are some new details that need to be handled to update mods and we do not have the documentation ready just yet, but we’ll be working on that shortly.
Some more modding and Mission Editor information for the enthusiasts:
There are no new modding types planned per se for V1035, as we will need to focus on getting the existing systems back up and running as they should. However, some groundwork has been laid in V1035 for more flexible systems for modding weapons and kit, and so on.
It is not intended that campaign missions will be moddable — not just yet, anyway. However, you can explore some of the new tools in the Mission Editor for campaigns. Click the Campaign tab at the top-right after starting the editor to view. The new mission objective system is relatively open-ended, and new objective types can be added using a single Lua script (and any in-game assets that may be needed).
New controls have been added to the server mod list menu to facilitate bulk operations such as adding all active local mods to the server list, and clearing a whole list. A new gameplay setting (in Modding) allows the local mod list to be used automatically as the server mod list in a listen server (the Host Game option).
The selection of AI loadouts and mission meshes have been overhauled with quicker picker dialogs. The range of mission meshes has been increased.
Modding menus have had a quality-of-life pass. There is, for example, a new gameplay setting to use local mod lists for listen servers, instead of having to make a separate server list (although that process is also streamlined).
Known issues
These are issues we were not able to fix yet, but that we considered not worth holding off the release for. They will hopefully be fixed in a point release relatively soon:
DX12 and DLSS + overlays may cause a crash-to-desktop (CTD) during gameplay (this is on NVIDIA 40-series graphics cards — use DX11 if experiencing multiple crashes).
Prone movement is currently limited to the “walk” crawl speed; fast crawling (default hold Shift) is currently not working.
The friendly AI and its control system are not fully iterated: AI teammates are known to not always react appropriately to their surroundings, get in the way of players, bunch up and so on.
Characters may be sent flying when killed, seemingly at random.
Dead characters may also replicate impact animations when living characters are hit.
The enemy AI’s detection of player lasers is a work-in-progress (WIP) and may have some rough edges.
Modded listen servers should now be joinable in-game without any issues (fixes big V1034 bug), but it may not work yet when joining from outside the game (aka a “cold start”).
Dynamic Take and Secure (DTAS) isn’t fully functional in that the flag model does not spawn in the flag carrier’s hand and can’t be manually placed; it should be fully functional otherwise.
Clicking the gear icon ⚙️ to customize a different item than your currently equipped one may apply the former item’s textures onto the new item.
Chemlights do not yet have the correct colors in PvP modes — the desired effect is blue and red (depending on the team).
Music will stop when the player enters the Admin Panel.
Multiplayer bots are currently broken.
Hostage Rescue is not available as it is still in the process of being converted to the new Gameplay Ability System (GAS).
Weapon mods and other asset mods made with the V1034 Mod Kit will likely not work until they can be updated with the V1035 Mod Kit. Missions, game modes and other non-asset mods may also need updating for V1035. In the future we might filter by build version, but in the meantime you can search for “V1035” tags in the Steam Workshop, or “1035” in the mod title/text.
The hammer of some pistols have an incorrect rotation applied, which may cause clipping with the body.
This has been Build Update #054!
Thank you for reading the release notes for V1035. And if you participated in the Community Test, have an extra “thank you” for your help getting this release out!
We hope you enjoy this release, and stay tuned for our point releases to wrap it all up nicely.
With the rare exception of a released and armed hostage (mentioned above), any team that kills the hostage will instantly lose the match. Careful with those frags!
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