Progress update

Gameplay, Level Design, Programming, Uncategorized

We have been pretty busy since launching our Tech Preview and opening the groundbranch.com store just over a month ago so its a good time to give an update on where things are at.

The biggest news is Ground Branch is playable with a simple multi-player deathmatch game mode(more modes coming soon) using a dedicated server, direct ip connect or over a LAN! We have implemented our first pass of the Server Browser using Steam for our online connectivity and we already have plenty of current Operator Edition users hopping on 24/7 dedicated servers and having a good time. Videos of play sessions are coming soon.

If you want to join in the fun and see how Ground Branch is shaping up, all while helping to fund this awesome project, then hit the store and buy into the Operator Edition and get access right away!

www.groundbranch.com/store

Its still early and multiplayer is in its early days, but Operator Edition players are really enjoying themselves and fully embracing where Ground Branch is heading. Its a game where people find themselves just hanging out sometimes. Here are a couple forum comments that jumped out at us:

“We were just hanging in the ts, watching e3 coverage and walking on the map.
at some point we figured out we could launch each other by jumping into one another. so we worked on our technique for a while.
there were actually 8 and probably more people on the server at times.
again it was fun” ~ MissVerstanden

“….. I had a blast. It is a bit like Arma, but smoother and less clunky and controls that make sense. The lean works better and more natural than I expected. You’ll see me leaning on every corner.” ~ Psychomorph

At BlackFoot Studios we pride ourselves in our community involvement and are getting valuable feedback from those that have downloaded the Tech Preview as well as those that purchased the Operator Edition. It’s always great to see players do things in the game that weren’t specifically thought of, but yet fully support and validate the core concept of what Ground Branch is all about………..

“so… i somehow killed myself by shooting my guy in the foot” ~ chicken_slayer

Something like shooting yourself in the foot doesn’t usually happen in games, but its a realistic side effect of how Ground Branch is built. You better keep muzzle awareness and trigger discipline or something bad might happen!

Now to show the Early Access map #2 from the Trello board… Its a giant tanker ship! Lots of area to cover and a design that poses some unique tactical challenges is sure to test your skills.

It is currently in the “blocking out” stage to define the overall space and is getting some decent playtesting time by our Operator Edition users. One of my favorite quotes from the forums:

“That tanker ship! That’s exactly what we need for early access, good work. Looks wide and dense at the same time, can’t wait for the interior compartments. RS tanker ship pales in comparison to it.” ~ Psychomorph

So that’s it for now. Things are moving along nicely so why don’t you join in the Operator Edition fun!

-Team BFS

Ground Branch AI collaboration

Uncategorized

As everyone knows, good AI is essential in a tactical shooter that includes Single Player and Coop modes. We have taken a big leap forward in achieving that goal for Ground Branch with the addition of Phil Carlisle (zoombapup on the forums). BlackFoot Studios will be collaborating on developing both a friendly and enemy AI solution for Ground Branch and Unreal Engine 4 in general. Phil brings a vast work history and knowledge and we look forward to working with him to bring the world of Ground Branch alive!

Phil Carlisle has been making games for more than 20 years. Initially as programmer on the multi-million selling Worms series of games for Team17. Then as an indie developer using a variety of engine technologies. During his time as an indie, he has written chapters in books such as the AI Wisdom series, the Game AI Pro series and has written and published academic work in a number of books and conference papers. He also served as CTO for a startup AI company focussed on emotional AI characters and user-centric AI programming tools called StoryBricks. More recently Phil has been contributing to the AI knowledge base for Epic’s newly released Unreal Engine and has been finishing up his PhD work on Digital Actors. Phil’s personal goal is to empower game designers to create believable characters by creating easily usable tools that drive more dynamic characters in much the same manner as a director drives an actor’s performance.

Phil plans on charting his progress with forum posts and videos, so please check him out in the BFS forums!

Tech Preview available and Store is open!

Characters, Customization, Gameplay, Kickstarter, Level Design, Programming, Sound, Weapons

We are happy to announce that our official Tech Preview is available for free download right now. Yes, an actual playable version of Ground Branch! We also have our store open where you can financially support development of Ground Branch moving forward. In addition to the free Tech Preview we also have an Early Access pre-order, a T-Shirt and the Operator Edition….Which includes immediate access via Steam to our development builds leading up to the official Steam Early Access release. For more information check out the store:

Major credit cards and PayPal accepted

By purchasing the Operator Edition you not only help us financially, but you also have the opportunity to continuously provide feedback from playing development builds. We will use this feedback to help shape not only the Early Access release, but Ground Branch itself. We are committed to releasing development builds bi-weekly and will provide hot fixes as needed. We may also do more frequent updates if the need arises.

This is our current crowd funding to get to a successful Early Access, so if you are able please give a little extra at the store. When making a purchase, or even just getting the free Tech Preview, just enter an amount above what the set price is… easy as that. 🙂 So please support development of Ground Branch by making a purchase, giving a little extra or just by spreading the word!

The Plan

The plan for the funding we raise from the store is to put together a solid and engaging Early Access build for Steam. This will include everything currently in the Operator Edition with the addition of more content along with examples of PvP and Coop gameplay all wrapped up in a polished presentation.

The Tech Preview will be updated as needed to continue its use as a great testing platform for compatibility and performance issues. However, we will not be keeping feature parity with Operator Edition builds for much longer as it is not a game demo. Once the Early Access is available on Steam we will release a proper Ground Branch demo.

So please, spread the word and join in the Ground Branch fun!

What others are saying

Here are just a few excellent video first looks of the Tech Preview and Operator Edition by those that have already joined in:

Patches and Tech Preview update

Uncategorized

Hello all!

I wanted to give a quick update on the Tech Preview release…. Just about there. The testers found a few issues that must be fixed before release and we are working on those. We are also trying to squeeze in a few more features that may seem small, but play a large role in defining what Ground Branch is all about. The Tech Preview is a huge step for us and one that we want to be absolutely sure that those that play it are able to come away understanding what we are going for and what Ground Branch is going to be. I am also trying to finalize some storefront issues as well. So the countdown is in days now, not weeks. 🙂

Two of those small but significant “Ground Branch” features that we’ll give a glimpse of here are user patches and control scripting.

PATCHES

We have basic support in for user created patches. At the moment, there are slots on each arm and the baseball hat to place a patch. Each slot can have its own patch as well. We haven’t worked out all the backend stuff just yet, but patches are images on disk that are loaded directly into the game either locally or from the server. Of course there will be rules that are setup and restrictions on how things work so not to create issues for people. For you old schoolers…. think back to how Rainbow Six worked in this area.

Of course, everything is work in progress here.

CONTROL SCRIPTS

This one is definitely more behind the scenes….something so simple yet so powerful. Our key binding works in the traditional way, but you can also craft a script that sets up custom actions or binding groups. Almost anything that is bindable is scriptable as well. Instead of these actions being hard coded you have complete control to setup what you want. For instance, say you don’t like the standard toggle lean setup. Simply make a script that changes it to a momentary one that requires you to hold the key to stay leaned and release the key to go back.

Here is an example of the LeanLeftToggle control script:

{ "ActionName": "LeanLeft", "Version": 2, "Name": "Lean Left (Toggle)", "Description": "Press to left left. Press again to cancel.", "ScriptData": [ { "ButtonUsage": "Pressed", "Entries": [ { "Is": "Leaning", "Parameter": "Left", "TrueEntries": [ { "Function": "StopLeaningLeft" } ], "FalseEntries": [ { "Function": "StartLeaningLeft" } ] } ] } ] }

We will provide a cheat sheet of all the necessary keywords from the code to make your own scripts as well. These scripts are loaded from disk by clicking the ‘Options’ icon for each keybind.

So there you go. Not much longer and some cool stuff. Have a great weekend!

Screenshot extravaganza!

Characters, Level Design, Weapons

There is a small group that has had access to development builds of Ground Branch for a while now. About a month ago we gave them permission to post screenshots and videos from the build(s) in the forum. Unfortunately, if you don’t frequent the forums then you may have missed them. So we thought we would gather some of the best ones and make them official. Special thanks go out to those that are posting media, but specifically to forum members Psychomorph and DetCord for the images shown here.

Some of this will be available in the Tech Preview, but all of it, and more, is in the Operator Edition dev builds. Everything is still on track and we are working hard to get the last few bits fixed up in the build as well as some logistical items for launching this thing sorted out. Enjoy!

A few shots of a player in various postures and environments.

Weapon and environment effects that actually affect gameplay. Flashbangs will leave a lingering smoke in the room that may make visibility difficult. Environment fog and smoke effects conceal players.