Get GROUND BRANCH
Get It Now

Build Update #040: GROUND BRANCH V1033 now officially released!

7 Comments / Build Update

After a longer-than-usual public testing period to iron out major issues, GROUND BRANCH V1033 is finally hitting the main branch of the game!

Once up-to-date, players on any public branch of the game (whether stable or “beta”) will be on the same exact build of GROUND BRANCH and can play together.

For a fully comprehensive list of changes and additions since V1032, please refer to our Community Test branch patch notes:

Patch #01 • Patch #01 (Hotfix) • Patch #02 • Patch #03 • Patch #04 • Patch #05 • Patch #06 • Patch #06 (Hotfix) • Patch #07 • Patch #08 • Patch #08 (Hotfix) • Patch #09 • Patch #09 (Hotfix) • Patch #10 • Patch #11 • Patch #12 • Patch #13 • Patch #14 • Patch #15 • Patch #16 • Patch #17 • Patch #18 • Patch #19 • Patch #20 • Patch #20 (Hotfix) • Patch #21 • Patch #22

V1033 highlights

Performance, graphics and settings

The complexity of GROUND BRANCH’s systems presents challenges that demand a continuous focus on improvement and optimization.

As detailed in the series of Intel Reports done between June and November (particularly Intel Report #011), the entire audio system was reworked to drastically reduce CPU usage.

Throughout the course of public testing, areas like maps, lighting and assets have also received massive optimization passes, greatly improving performance in maps like Compound.

On top of that, V1033 is not only unleashing new graphics features to make the game look better, but also a lot of video settings to make things adjustable to your specs and preferences. Let’s go over them:

NVIDIA DLSS and Reflex

GROUND BRANCH V1033 is also officially bringing NVIDIA’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), DLAA (Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing) and Reflex technologies to the game, which offer GeForce GPU users an additional performance/fidelity bonus.

These options can be accessed in Settings › Video. Under the “Video” header, you will find:

  • NVIDIA® DLSS Super Resolution (requires GeForce RTX 2000-series or newer GPU)
    • Off — Disables DLSS.
    • Auto — Enables optimal image quality for a particular resolution. For resolutions at or under 1440p, sets it to “Quality”; 4K and above sets it to “Performance”.
    • Quality — Renders the game internally at the closest resolution possible to the target resolution, prioritizing visual quality and pixel count over framerates.
    • Performance — Prioritizes framerate over resolution, sometimes resulting in pixelated or blurred visuals but offering the best performance.
    • Balanced — A middle-ground between “Quality” and “Performance”, this mode attempts to find a sweet spot between resolution and framerate.
      Note that enabling DLSS will disable Anti-Aliasing (AA), as DLSS is in itself an AA method.
  • NVIDIA® Reflex (requires GeForce 900-series or newer GPU)
    • Off — Disables Reflex.
    • On — Reduces system latency (aka input lag) and may provide a small FPS increase.
    • On + Boost — Increases the GPU’s clock speeds, useful for CPU-intensive games (which GB tends to be).

At the very bottom of the “Advanced” column, you will also find an additional DLSS setting called NVIDIA® DLSS Sharpness. This slider will increase or reduce the visual sharpness of DLSS, and is generally a personal preference with no performance impact.

❓ As mentioned in the past, AMD's FSR (FidelityFX™ Super Resolution) technology is also slated to be added to GROUND BRANCH in a future release.
NVIDIA DLAA

A new anti-aliasing (AA) method has also been added to the “Anti-Aliasing (AA)” drop-down menu in the Graphics section in Settings › Video: DLAA.

As with DLSS, this AA mode is available only for users of the NVIDIA RTX series of GPUs (2000-series or newer).

DLAA provides a sharper, generally higher-quality anti-aliasing than TAA, although players who can use it will likely benefit more from the performance boost provided by DLSS.

TAA settings

Players using Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) can now easily access some of its settings directly in the Video menu: “TAA Current Frame Weight”, “TAA Algorithm” (Gen 4 or the experimental Gen 5), “TAA Samples”, “TAA Sharpness” and “Tonemapper Sharpening”.

These advanced TAA settings are located in the Advanced video options column, in the Anti-Aliasing section.

Screen-Space Global Illumination (SSGI)

GROUND BRANCH V1033 is introducing Screen-Space Global Illumination (SSGI), which aims to create natural-looking lighting by adding dynamic indirect lighting to objects within the screen view (click here to learn more).

While SSGI can drastically improve the quality of a scene, it can also have a considerable performance impact on some systems.

You can enable/disable it in “Screen-Space Global Illumination (SSGI)” — the last setting in the Graphics section — as well as tweak it further (when enabled) via the “SSGI Quality” and “SSGI Resolution” settings in the Advanced column, in the Post-Processing section.

⚠️ If you are playing on a lower-end PC, you may want to try disabling SSGI, using it at half-resolution and/or reducing its quality setting to maintain a usable framerate.
PiP Scope Resolution Scale

Located in the Textures section (Advanced), the PiP Scope Resolution Scale setting determines the scale of the picture-in-picture rendering when ADS with a scope (i.e. a magnified optic sight).

Setting it to 1.00 will make the scope picture preserve the same resolution as the original scene, and will have the biggest FPS hit. Lowering this value will reduce the performance impact of aiming down scopes, while also reducing the resolution of your sight picture.

Other video options

It is likely that one of these settings may give you a performance boost, depending on whether your computer is CPU-bound or GPU-bound when playing GROUND BRANCH. The downside of is that you may experience a little more latency (mostly noticeable as input lag).

  • Finish Current Frame — When set to “Off”, this option essentially tells the GPU not to wait for the CPU to finish what it’s doing before starting to render the next frame.
  • One Frame Thread Lag — When set to “On”, this option essentially tells the CPU not to wait for the GPU to finish what it’s doing before starting to generate data for the next frame.

Try different combinations to see how your performance is affected.

Additional settings under the Advanced video options have also been exposed to players, who may benefit from disabling or toning them down to gain performance at the expense of visuals. These include Distance Field Shadows, Reflection Capture Resolution and Volumetric Fog.

Night ops, night vision, lights and infrared (IR)

A definite highlight of V1033 is night ops, which were made more satisfying and viable with a series of improvements.

First and foremost, night vision goggles have received a major overhaul consisting of more realistic visuals (which include authentic auto-gating, noise, contrasts, a new white-phosphor filter option and movement/wobble effects), an optional overlay scale feature (which can fill out your screen while retaining a realistic FOV), flip up/down animations and sound effects, and more.

💡 The NVG overlay scale can be tweaked in Settings › Gameplay › Look › Night Vision. Setting NVG Vertical Screen Extent to 1.00 makes the NVG overlay fill out your screen by the default amount. Lowering the number will make it take up a progressive smaller portion of the screen.

Due to the new sky system — which includes moon phases — nights can also have varied visibility conditions, from the complete darkness of a new moon to decent visibility with a full moon.

These make the IR Illuminator functionality of the AN/PEQ-15 more relevant, as (like in real life) NVG require some degree of lighting to work well. To demonstrate:

✨ The AN/PEQ-15 has also received an update in its lasers and illuminator effects, from the beams themselves to the newly added lens flare when looking at the emitters. It now also has a green LED to indicate when either a laser or illuminator is active.

Also very importantly, enemy AI has been upgraded to be affected by the lighting conditions, meaning they no longer have perfect vision in the dark. They will also zero in on you very fast if you flash a light at them!

Granted, AI can (and will) be improved in various ways still, but this was an important step in making night ops an enjoyable experience.

Lastly, we have added the GPNVG-18 “quad-NODs” to the inventory, which greatly amplify the player’s field of view when compared to binocular NVG. The GPNVG-18 comes in black or FDE skin, and in both filter colors (green and the new white phosphor — also available for the AN/PVS-15).

🔅 As part of the lighting optimization pass, weapon-mounted lights had their illumination range reduced to mitigate the performance impact.
Time of day (TOD) and sky system

As mentioned above, GROUND BRANCH V1033 features a new sky system with moon phases and stars, as well as latitude and season settings. This means you can now not only set the time of day but also the date of deployment, which will determine the moon phase and sun position for each mission location at the set time/date based on real life data.

Because lighting conditions will vary depending on the date and location, TOD is now selected via labels such as “Early Hours”, “Pre-Sunset” and so on. You can still manually select a TOD, however.

To access the advanced TOD/date settings, simply click the gear icon next to the “Insertion time” setting.

☁️ Unfortunately, clouds and weather had to be removed from the new sky system due to performance issues. We'll be revisiting these features down the road.

Gear, weapons and more customization

A generous amount of items and customization options has been added to the game, from weapons and a new character all the way to headgear and arm patches.

🔴 A much-requested feature — the ability to put micro red dot sights on pistols — has also been implemented for the MK25, G19 Urban and M17 which can now fit the RMR and the new Docter II sights.

Let’s take a look at the new weapons first:

  • MK17 CQC and MK17 DMR battle rifles + Suppressor (black and FDE)
  • AK-105 carbine
  • AK-105 Alpha carbine (replaced AK-74 MI)
  • AKS-74U Alpha carbine/PDW (replaced AK-74 MI CQB) + Suppressor
  • Wz.88 carbine
  • M24 sniper rifle + Suppressor
  • PKM* machine gun
  • PMM pistol

* The PKM machine gun is a partial implementation, still missing complex recoil and a proper pose.

MK17 CQC battle rifle with the new Razor HD 1–6x LPVO scope (with a piggyback Docter II), as well as the updated AN/PEQ-15 and Bipod Grip attachments — all by the incredible Cody Cudmore
AK-105 Alpha with optional “bakelite” magazine and the Russian Stubby Grip C by AK Productions

In the gear and attachments department, we have these new items:

  • AN/PVS-15 (WP) — the old dual-tube NVG, but with white phosphor filter
  • GPNVG-18 night vision goggles (black and tan skins + green or white phosphor filters)
  • Ghillie Hood headgear (bare version)
  • Ballistic Vest
  • Carry Handle Rear Sight
  • ATACR 1–8x LPVO
  • MK8 CQBSS 1.1–8x LPVO
  • Razor HD 1–6x LPVO
  • Docter II micro red dot sight (Flat, Low and High mounts)
  • MK46 Suppressor (AAC® MG-SD)
  • G3A3 Suppressor (AAC® 762-SD)
  • Handstop Grip
  • Reverse Grip
  • Stubby Grip B
  • Stubby Grip C
  • Tan/FDE variants for most foregrips
  • “Bakelite” AK-74 magazine
  • FDE PMAG magazine

But not all new weapons and attachments are new items per se — a lot of them are new models, remade from scratch. Here’s the list:

Updated weapon models
  • AK-74M
  • AKS-74U
  • M16A4
  • SVD
  • M1911A1¹ + Suppressor

¹ The new M1911A1 is also fitted with an accessory rail for lights and can use either 8- or 10-round custom magazines.

Changing magazines with the new M1911A1 by Bakr Asaad / Raider3D, fitted here with its suppressor and a tac light
Updated attachment models
  • PMII 5–25x
  • AccuPower 1–8x
  • Vudu 1–6x
  • ACOG 4x
  • ACOG 6x
  • M68 CCO
  • PRO
  • Micro T-2
  • RMR (all variants)
  • PSO-1M2 4x²
  • AN/PEQ-15
  • Bipod Grip
  • Angled Grip
  • Scope mount

² The PSO-1M2 4x has also been updated with reticle illumination.

Character customization has also been expanded, with the addition of a new character appearance (Male 05) and 3 new customization slots under the Profile section:

  • CALLSIGN — A three-letter/number callsign that will be automatically set when a name is entered, but can also be manually set by the player. If the “Use Standard” box is checked, it will assign a Team Element-based callsign (e.g. A-01 for Alpha etc.). Callsigns display as patches on the left and right arm.
    If you don’t want a callsign patch to be displayed, simply set it to --- (three hyphens) in the text box.
  • FACIAL HAIR — Temporarily disabled in V1032, facial hair is back in V1033. At this time, we have a single beard style (Full Beard) available, but more styles are planned.
  • PATCHES — This slot will open a more complex menu once clicked, which allows players to set up to 6 patches: 3 on the headgear (left, right and center) and 3 on the body (left arm, right arm and chest). Patches can additionally be configured to display in full color, or a tint (grayscale, green or tan). Please note that patches will only display if the gear/outfit items have slots for them.
💡 We're providing a standard set of country flag, morale, unit/role/team and blood type patches. Though modding is not officially supported yet, patches were implemented with modding in mind: you can place your own files in …\steamapps\common\Ground Branch\GroundBranch\Content\GroundBranch\Patches and any folder created in the directory will show up as its own category in the game.
Male 05 character displaying the new GPNVG-18 and shoulder patches

In the gear and outfit department, we’ve also added tucked-in variants of most shirts, unzipped variants of the Combat Shirt, and a lot of new and updated skins for most items. You should have better looking and much more varied loadouts now.

New and revamped maps

For V1033, maps Depot and Storage Facility have both received major overhauls, with a focus on linking them thematically (as Soviet-era facilities) for future missions. The process was covered in more detail in Intel Reports #011 through #014, but it’s worth noting that the overall layouts were maintained for both maps.

💡 A version of Depot restricted to the central compound area is of course still available, and it's still a great PvP map.

In addition to the overhauls of existing maps, a new map called Docks is also available for most game modes:

Will has also given Tanker an optimization and detailing pass, remaking most textures and materials on the deck to add a more weathered look to surfaces, as well as rounding off edges, remodeling props, adding a detailed vista/backdrop (including an updated Rig visible at the distance) and some minor interior improvements.

City is another map that has received a considerable visual upgrade, more specifically when played at night:

The Farm has also been updated with a new Target App look, as well as the ability to choose different shoothouse layouts, which adds a lot of variety to training drills.

💡 All maps have received optimization passes and various smaller tweaks for visual and gameplay reasons, with Compound being a highlight in terms of performance increase.

VFX and particles

As detailed in the last few Intel Reports, VFX particles were migrated to the new Niagara system and entirely remade.

In addition to the new particles for nearly all visual effects in GROUND BRANCH, several new features were implemented, including bird flocks, muzzle blast shockwave on surfaces, bullet impact angles, secondary impact debris and more. Check out this playlist with all of our showcased VFX demos:

UI/UX and quality-of-life

V1033 is bringing a much-needed QOL pass to several areas, including item build management and kit restrictions, as well as UI changes and additions to support these new features. Some highlights:

  • The new loadout saving system automatically suggests build names based on attached items (the amount of detail can be changed), while reducing the amount of prompts needed for saving/overriding kits.
  • The item selection menu now allows builds to be “stacked” (i.e. group all builds of a similar base item) to reduce clutter, and can also be set to only display custom (player-created) builds.
  • Kit restrictions can now be more easily set by server admins (when in-server, press Esc › Admin › Show Admin Panel › Kit Restrictions) to restrict skins³ in either Co-Op or per PvP team. Please note that these restrictions aren’t extremely reliable at this time, especially when combined with game modes that have auto-balance (DTAS and Hostage Rescue).
  • Added a match system that can set win condition to best-of-X-rounds, first-to-X-rounds, a certain time limit etc. This includes a new board in the Ready Room where players can also vote for the next map at any time. Match information is also accessible via Esc menu.

³ Item restrictions such as “pistols only”, “no frags” etc. can done via the Mutators system, but it is still a work-in-progress and currently prone to issues. We hope to address it in a point release (V1033.1 or later).

Another addition sure to help newcomers are the Ready Room hints, which display short explanations near key areas of the Ready Room (such as lockers and the Ops Board) to guide players in their first deployments.

💡 Various areas of UI have also received varying degrees of style/consistency updates, part of an ongoing process.

Game modes and multiplayer

This release introduces the PvP Hostage Rescue mode to the game (more on it in a minute), and also brings a few updates to existing game modes.

Intel Retrieval
  • Enemy AI will now search for players once the intel (laptop) is retrieved.
  • Enemies will also attempt to intercept players at the extraction point.
Terrorist Hunt
  • Players can now enable “Enemy hot spots” — an area of the map (indicated in red on the Ops Board) where enemy concentration will be highest. These can be enabled/disabled via the Ops Board.
  • Enemies will now rush players once down to their last few men.
Hostage Rescue (PvP)

The new Hostage Rescue adversarial mode is now setup for all maps, with the exception of the small arena-like maps. Here are the rules:

  • A random player of the attacking 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 at random by the game mode, 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). They can also intimidate the hostage into silence by pointing a gun at them, but 2 defenders are required to both lead/hold and intimidate the hostage at the same time — one for each action.
  • 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 are as follows:

  • 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!
Hostage Rescue sub-mode: Building Assault

If there are not enough players to start a Hostage Rescue round, then the stripped-down Building Assault mode will start, in which the defenders are still restricted to a building, but there is no hostage and the teams must simply eliminate each other. The gloves are off in this mode!

  • Admins can force the Building Assault mode, similarly to how Fox Hunt can be forced in DTAS.
  • An AI opponent will now be spawned as a defender if only one player is on the server and playing on the attacking team.
Hostage Rescue: players and balancing
  • We recommend 5–7 players minimum for a more satisfying Hostage Rescue experience.
  • Hostage Rescue uses quite aggressive auto-balancing to maintain fair teams, so make sure both your Red and Blue team kits are up to date.
  • Auto-balancing can be customized to be less aggressive if you don’t mind uneven teams.

Animations

On top of the animation work required for V1033’s new weapons and in addition to the NVG flip up/down showcased earlier in this post, a few preliminary animations have been created for sight interactions:

Engaging and disengaging the G33 Magnifier 3x
Actuating the magnification lever on the Specter DR 1x/4x
🚧 Due to GROUND BRANCH's true first person system and unique weapon positions, these animations will need some extra programming work to make them "fit" all weapons and situations. They currently look best on M16-/M4-pattern weapons.

Another cool addition is the new stun animation to indicate that AI enemies have been hit by a flashbang detonation.

Temporary downgrades

A couple of features have suffered temporary downgrades in V1033 — emphasis on temporary!

One such feature is the blood splatter on surfaces (VFX), which have not yet been hooked up to the new particles system (Niagara) but will be coming back in a “point release” (e.g. V1033.1) or V1034 at the latest. Due to the cosmetic nature of this feature, it was deemed not worthy of holding back the release.

While we’re talking blood, dead bodies are also temporarily missing collision to address doors being blocked by them. This results in body parts clipping and no response to post-death impacts.

Lastly, the vaulting animation is also absent from this release, as it seriously impaired functionality, though vaulting/climbing has been made more responsive. Rest assured that a more visually pleasing implementation of climbing and vaulting will make its way into the game in due time.

This has been Build Update #040!

It’s been a long road to V1033, but it’s now here and we couldn’t be more thankful for all of you in the GROUND BRANCH community — especially our Discord — that joined us in testing and reporting bugs and issues of all types in order to get us to release.

We hope you enjoy this release, and be sure to keep the feedback and reports coming.

Have a great weekend!

V1033 Community Test branch now open to all players!

17 Comments / Test Build Update

You can now opt in to the Community Test “Beta” branch of your GROUND BRANCH install and preview upcoming release GROUND BRANCH V1033 as it develops.

⚠️ ROUGH RELEASE AHEAD!
Please keep in mind this release is unfinished and prone to issues. We'll list known bugs further down this post.
⛔ IMPORTANT: CLEAR YOUR OLD FILES
Please make sure to delete all contents in the following locations (copy-paste the path into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter to be taken there):

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

Additionally, if you use Steam Cloud (on by default), you may need to disable it
Not doing so will cause various asset and input issues in your game.

Reminder: Steam Winter Sale!

Before we show you how to opt in to the test branch, a reminder: GROUND BRANCH is 25% OFF on the Steam Winter Sale until January 5th!

If you have a PayPal account, the same discount also applies in our official GB Store using code GBWINTER22 at the checkout — a cool option if you’d like us to keep the full cut from the sale, or want to add a donation.

V1033 Community Test branch

Although we were hoping to release a stable V1033 before the end of the year, various performance issues made that ETA impossible to fulfill.

As a result, we have decided to open up the testing branch “early” (in its current buggy state), so players can start trying out new features and provide feedback on issues and performance on a wider range of PC specs.

How to opt in

  1. Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select Properties…
  2. Click BETAS on the left-hand list
  3. Select communitytest – Community testing branch from the drop-down menu

Steam will download the files for the new testing branch.

💡 DEDICATED SERVER OWNERS:
To migrate your dedicated server to the Community Test branch, follow the same steps with the DS install.

How to opt out

You can go back to the stable V1032 branch at any time by simply choosing “None” in the drop-down menu. Steam will re-download the files for the stable branch.

Release notes: V1033 Community Test branch

Below is a fairly comprehensive list of additions, changes and known issues to look out for.

Main features

New weapons
  • MK17 CQC
  • MK17 DMR
  • AK-105
  • Wz.88
  • M24
  • PKM
  • PMM
Updated/replaced weapon models
  • AK-74M
  • AKS-74U
  • AK-105 Alpha (replaced AK-74 MI)
  • AKS-74U Alpha (replaced AK-74 MI CQB)
  • M16A4
  • SVD
  • M1911A1
New weapon attachments
  • Carry Handle Rear Sight
  • ATACR 1–8x (currently using Vudu reticle as placeholder)
  • MK8 CQBSS 1.1–8x (currently using AccuPower reticle as placeholder)
  • Docter II (Flat, Low and High mounts)
  • MK46 Suppressor (AAC® MG-SD)
  • Handstop Grip
  • Reverse Grip
  • Stubby Grip B
  • Tan variants for all foregrips
Updated/replaced weapon attachment models
  • AccuPower 1–8x
  • Vudu 1–6x
  • ACOG 4x
  • M68 CCO
  • PRO
  • Micro T-2
  • RMR
  • PSO-1M2 4x
  • AN/PEQ-15
  • Bipod Grip
  • Angled Grip
  • LPVO scope mount
Character customization
  • New character: Male 05
  • New customization option: Callsign
  • New customization option: Facial Hair (Full Beard)
  • New customization option: Patches for headgear (right, left and center) and shoulders (left and right). Patches can use full-color, grayscale, tan or green versions
  • New night vision goggles: GPNVG-18
  • New night vision filter option: White Phosphor; to use, select AN/PVS-15 (White) or GPNVG-18 (White) from the helmet attachments
  • Tucked-in shirts and unzipped Combat Shirts
  • Various tweaks and additions to skins for Gear and Outfit items
  • A few changes in item display names
🚧 Skins are a work in progress (and so is everything else)
For V1033, we'll be prioritizing making the existing skins consistent, but we'll still be adding a few new ones here and there for the actual release. Needless to say, we'll keep adding and tweaking them throughout development.
Visuals & graphics
  • Screen Space Global Illumination (SSGI) and Dynamic Field Ambient Occlusion (DFAO) both provide an upgrade to lighting, with toggle and performance options located in Settings › Video (some in the Advanced tab)
  • GeForce RTX graphics cards can now use NVIDIA DLSS and NVIDIA Reflex to boost performance
  • NVG effects (including IR lasers) have been overhauled. The overlay has also been reworked to adapt the FOV to take up as much vertical screen space as desired by the player (this can be adjusted in Settings › Gameplay)
  • Clothing materials were updated to be less dark and difficult to tell apart in the shadows — which, in turn, should also be less harsh
VFX
  • Particles were remade for virtually every effect in the game
  • Added muzzle blast effect (on nearby surfaces)
  • A first pass of the bird flocks was added to several maps
Optimization
  • As detailed in Intel Reports #011 and #012, audio has been optimized to reduce CPU usage considerably
  • Lighting has also been optimized in various maps
Maps
  • New map: Docks (feedback especially appreciated on overall layout for this one!)
  • Overhauled map: Depot
  • Overhauled map: Storage Facility
  • Tweaked maps Creek and Small Town for flow/playability
  • Too many minor tweaks to list
Animation
  • First pass on these item interaction motions (may not match up with certain weapons, positions and poses):
    • Switching Night Vision Goggles up/down
    • Flipping the G33 Magnifier on/off
    • Throwing the magnification switch lever on the Specter DR 1–4x
  • Enemy AI will now play a “stunned” animation when under the effect of flashbangs
UI/UX
  • Added new elements and menus to support new features (most are heavily WIP)
  • New loadout saving system:
    • Automatically suggests build name based on attached items (verbose level can be changed)
    • Fewer prompts
  • New build display options:
    • Menu now allows stacking builds (i.e. group all builds of a similar base item) to reduce clutter
    • Players can also choose to display only their custom builds
    • Custom (player-created) builds are now better highlighted
  • New sky/weather system
    • Time of Day (TOD) is now set using presets (e.g. “Midnight”, Early Afternoon” etc.) due to the sun position matching real-world locations
    • Time can be further tweaked for season/time of the year (weather is currently disabled due to performance issues)
  • Upgraded Target App (The Farm’s shoothouse)
    • Now allows changing the shoothouse layout
    • Updated the screen UI style
  • Updated several smaller elements for style and readability
Game modes and multiplayer
  • Updated Intel Retrieval:
    • Enemies will now search players once the intel (laptop) is retrieved
    • They will also attempt to intercept players at the extraction point
  • Updated Terrorist Hunt:
    • Players can now enable “hot spots” — an area of the map where enemy concentration will be highest
    • Enemies will now (well, again) rush players once down to their last few individuals
  • Added in-game kit restriction system (via Admin panel)
  • Rounds can now be 120 minutes (2 hours) long
  • Added match system (PvP): can set win condition to best-of-X-rounds, first-to-X-rounds, a certain time limit etc.
  • Added voting for next map
AI
  • Enemy AI now has a basic light detection system to prevent them from spotting players if hidden in the shadows, improving nighttime gameplay substantially
  • Enemy AI should now be able to mount ladders and bunch up at doors less frequently

Known issues and further notices

As a general rule, the new systems have not received extensive testing — so please report in what you find!

Some other major things to look out for:

  • Doors may not reset between rounds when played online, and may become stuck once a new round is started
  • Some weapon sounds are missing (e.g. M24 reloads)
  • Due to the audio performance overhaul, mixing may require tuning in several areas (things being too quiet or too loud)
  • Enemy AI produces no “barks” (voice callouts, groans etc.)
  • Enemy AI may display poor sound detection
  • Some of the new/updated weapons are not properly setup to receive attachments, even if they may display a customization menu
  • New weapons may also not be properly setup in terms of rate of fire, recoil and animations
  • Icons are missing for the SCAR Front Sight and Ballistic Vest
  • Patches applied to arms/shoulders appear brighter and flatter than ones applied to headgear; this is due to them not displaying normal maps correctly
  • Reminder that a lot of the new UI is placeholder/WIP!

Where should I report bugs, crashes and other issues?

Using the in-game Bugs & Issues reporting screen (along the top menu when you press Esc), or sounding off in the #bug-reports channel of our Discord community.

We highly appreciate the reports and all feedback!

Happy New Year from BlackFoot Studios!

The year is almost over, so we might as well take this opportunity to wish all of our player base — as well as our partners, contractors and friends in the GROUND BRANCH community — a fantastic new year. Thanks for sticking with us through another one, and we’ll see you in 2023. Cheers! 🥂

GROUND BRANCH is 25% OFF on the Steam Winter Sale!

1 Comment / News Update

Heads up, everyone: GROUND BRANCH is 25% OFF on the Steam Winter Sale until January 5th!

💗 Consider buying a key from our store

If you have a PayPal account, the same discount also applies in our official GB Store using code GBWINTER22 at the checkout — a cool option if you’d like us to keep the full cut from the sale, or want to add a donation.

Remember to spread the word and get your friends on board!

V1033 Community Test branch coming soon

We are close to finishing up our V1033 update, and we are planning to open it up to public testing by the end of the year. Stay tuned!

In case you missed it…

Since August, we have posted monthly Intel Reports to keep you updated on what’s coming for V1033 and beyond, with plenty of sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes info.

Check them out if you haven’t yet:

Intel Report #014: November News

19 Comments / Uncategorized

Another month, another Intel Report!

Have you been keeping up with our monthly Intel Reports, by the way? Make sure to check out the news and previews for the last few months:

🚀 We're quickly approaching our release target for V1033 — the end of the year. As a result, this Intel Report (#014) will be the last one until the release, so that we can fully focus on the update itself.

Before we lock into release mode, let’s get on with the dev news and showcases for this month.

One welcome, one farewell

Yet another programmer has just been welcomed on board the GROUND BRANCH team: Callum Coombes, who has previously worked on Rising Storm 2: Vietnam alongside environmental artist Will Bullen, is now among the ranks of BlackFoot Studios.

That doubles the amount of code guys from what we had just a couple months ago to a total of four, which should allow us to tackle more areas of development more efficiently.

Happy to have you, Cal!

A bittersweet “goodbye” to Mikson

We’re sad to announce that long-time contributor Mikson is leaving our team this November, after a 4-year tenure. But his departure has a silver lining, as he’s leaving BlackFoot Studios to join none other than major studio Infinity Ward — a massive career move for Mikson, who became an intern for GROUND BRANCH while still in university.

In these 4 years, Mikson has personally recorded and processed dozens of firearm and foley sound effects, mixed countless library recordings, created and implemented soundscapes and ambient effects for all maps, directed voice acting, composed our main menu theme, and had an active voice in various areas of development. Hell, he even put together the V1032 launch trailer!

We couldn’t be happier about his work in GROUND BRANCH — some of you may remember the pre-Mikson days and how much his sounds added to the game — and we’re very proud to have had some kind of role in giving him a little exposure boost into the triple-A industry.

Thank you for all the passion and talent you put into the project, Mik. We wish you the best of luck out there!

👥 Audio goes on: Zack Regan, introduced in Intel Report #011, is taking up Mik's sound designer/engineer mantle.

Birds and blasts

Particles and other visual effects continue to get improved by Charles, with assistance from our programmers and the audio team.

A small but cool detail is the seagull/bird flock, which will add some more life to certain maps:

It’s a simple yet robust system that allows us to create bird flocks of various sizes and have them react to gunfire.

Speaking of gunfire, muzzle effects are also getting a lot of love. In this video, Charles showcases his system for muzzle flash to display different sets of sprites depending on the camera angle. Take a look:

What does that mean? Well, for those who don’t know: particle effects are typically composed of 2D textures — like flat pictures painted on a cardboard cutout — that are always facing the camera. By always facing the camera, you never get to see these flat textures from a different angle — which would give away the fact that they have no actual depth.

With the system showcased in the video, the side-facing muzzle flashes (that look longer) automatically transition to front-facing muzzle flashes (that look rounder) based on the camera angle to give the illusion of a real-world tridimensional effect.

💥 The muzzle flash effects are being created in various sizes and shapes to both offer visual diversity and fit the various weapons in the game.

Charles has also setup an initial implementation for muzzle blast effects — more specifically, the dust raised from certain surfaces when hit by the shockwave created by the proximity with a shooting gun:

Lastly for today’s VFX showcase, the old, funky-looking door chunks created after a door breach are being replaced with an updated particle-based effect. This effect is likely transitional — as in, it will make way for a better one later on — but quite a bit nicer than the silly door chunks currently in V1032:

Quality-of-life updates

We have already shown you some quality-of-life improvements on the server/online side (see Intel Report #013), but we’re eager to streamline and improve the player experience in other areas too.

🥒 This section is largely brought to you by the same guy making all of this cool stuff: Matt "Fatmarrow" Farrow. He would probably say "pretend the emoji is a marrow."

The handling of custom item builds in the Customize Operator screen has been given some love. We know you love your custom builds, but browsing them can quickly become quite unwieldy. So we made a change whereby when you open the item browser, custom builds are initially “stacked” under the default item. Click on the stack, and it will expand to display all your custom builds:

How big will your build stacks get?

We are also aware of the number of times you get pop-up dialogs and are asked to fill in item build names when editing your loadout. We don’t want this to get in the way of your Tactical Barbie™ activities, so we put in a new feature using the new mutators system: your item builds are now given default names based on what you have put together.

So your MK17 CQC with a suppressor and a Specter DR scope is now given a default build name of, say, “MK17CQC SD SpctrDR” (see some examples of automatic build names in the GIF above). If you change the build enough that it gets a new name, it gets saved with that new name. If you don’t change the build that much, it just silently overwrites the old build when you click SAVE.

If you want to use your own name, you can still do that, and you can use the new SAVE AS NEW… button if you want to pick a name. If you want to have more granular item build definitions, you can choose one from a drop-down menu. There are currently 5 options for default build naming, all subject to change:

  • Disabled — Does not provide a default save name for your build (requires manual text input from the player).
  • Just item name — Suggests only the base item as build name.
  • Item name + key features — For weapons, this includes the name of the base item, sights, and whether it has a suppressor. For vest platforms, it lists all pouch types.
  • More verbose — For weapons, this lists all of the above + lights and lasers. For vest platforms, this specifies the amount of each pouch carried (e.g. “JPC 3xPri 2xFrag”).
  • Unique build name for all changes — Adds a unique build designator at the end of the “more verbose” suggestion in case you prefer every change to be saved as its own build.

Okay, there’s quite a lot of stuff to unpack there, but overall this should streamline the process of putting together a loadout, as well as give the lazier of us a better set of custom build names to work with.

🔣 Don't like the build names or abbreviations the game gives you? Write your own mutator to provide your own naming scheme!

Longer mission timer and new Intel Retrieval feature

If you want your quality of life to be arguably reduced, then we also have that covered for you.

Congratulations to the person who asked for this: you spoke, and we listened. Now you can have your two-hour mission timer (up from the previous maximum of one hour). No, we will not raise that higher, because you are already about as hardcore a GROUND BRANCH player as we can frankly handle.

And if you liked the new Terrorist Hunt “bum rush” feature, you will love the new Intel Retrieval “extraction mayhem” feature (final name TBD). Mindful that the extraction phase of Intel Retrieval missions can sometimes be an anti-climax (usually due to eradicating all traces of tangos in your path), you will now have to be careful what you wished for.

Upon successfully hacking the laptop, you will trigger a security alert that will send the enemy AI to either hunt you down, or to boost the presence at the extraction. We may have to tweak this a bit to be more sane, but in the meantime: prepare for EXTRACTION MAYHEM.

Match system

As part of our server quality-of-life update, we have now implemented a match system, where specific criteria can be defined for the end of a match, such as “Best of 3” for PvP, or “Play until win 2 rounds” for PvE. This can be set on servers in the usual sort of way, and also selected in the Host Game menu for your listen server.

When the match criteria are met, the server will automatically advance to the next map in the map list. Match type and round/time limits can be specified in map lists per mission, so you can have custom match setups for different missions in the map list. Otherwise, servers have predefined settings for PvE/Co-Op modes, PvP modes, and the new game mode type of PvP FFA (free-for-all), which now includes the Deathmatch mode.

But there’s more! The match details can be viewed in the Ready Room on a new screen, along with an interface for all players to vote on what the next map is going to be. Here’s a prototype:

Voting takes place during the round, whenever you want, so there’s no delay at the end of a round to hold a vote. The runner-up map will be offered one more time in the next vote. If no one votes, the maps just advanced one by one as before.

Depot overhaul nears completion

Will’s overhaul of Depot is nearly done, with interiors being now almost complete.

Audio and game modes continue to be tweaked for the new structures, and we’re very excited about getting this one out there for you all to playtest.

AI

As mentioned a few reports ago, AI is being hooked up with a new light detection system that should make night operations a lot more satisfying.

Things were not far along to showcase back then, but they are now — so here’s a short clip to demo some level of sneaking in the dark (with the new white phosphor GPNVG-18 on, as well as the AN/PEQ-15’s IR Illuminator), and then quickly flashing a visible white light at the patrolling AI to showcase the light detection:

And while we’re talking AI, here’s a quick little door breach test that our new programmer Chris put together:

To make it perfectly clear: the video above is not V1033 material, nor is any of it necessarily representative of final features. We just want to show that friendly AI is indeed being actively prototyped and worked on.

🧭 Kris has also been at work with V1033 AI to improve door and ladder navigation, to prevent (or at least reduce) instances of bots grouping up and getting stuck in them.

Ongoing asset updates

In parallel with the more technical and player experience-oriented improvements, older 3D assets continue to be updated to conform to newer models. One such example is the MPX, which is receiving a full remake and currently sits at the low-poly stage, right before texturing:

And that is a wrap for today’s Intel Report!

As always, thanks for staying in touch with development for GROUND BRANCH!

Don’t forget this is the last Intel Report before V1033 — don’t expect more dev blogs until we get the update out of the door.

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you soon!

Intel Report #013: October News

3 Comments / Intel Report

What’s going on, everybody?

We got another Intel Update for you, and this month we have news and showcases for both V1033 — our next major update — as well as a little preview of something that will be coming later on (V1034 or later). Don’t forget you can always get an overview of what’s on the way via our Roadmap.

Recap: GROUND BRANCH on GeForce NOW

As announced in late September, GROUND BRANCH is now available on NVIDIA’s cloud gaming service GeForce NOW (GFN).

Earlier this month, we also fixed an issue with GFN players losing keybinds, game/video options and listen server configurations upon ending a play session. These settings were all set to save to the Steam Cloud, so everything is now kept safe.

News for V1033

Here’s what we have this month for our upcoming major release V1033.

Pistol red dots, new models and stuff

V1033 will finally allow you to mount a mini red dot sight (such as the RMR) to pistols that are fit for it. At this time, that includes both G19 models, the MK25 and the M17.

MK25 equipped with the RMR mini red dot sight, as teased on our Twitter

We have also added a new mini red dot sight, the Docter II, commissioned to Cody Cudmore:

As mentioned in the last update, we have also ordered an A2-style AR carry handle, as well as a brand-new M16A4 model that better matches up with the other AR-15 models both in quality and scale. The Bipod Grip is also receiving a new model. Here’s a screenie with all of that stuff put together:

While we’re talking popular demand, we’ve made the SMG/PDW pouches into doubles so you can carry as much ammo for them as you can for rifles:

Selectable shoothouse layouts

Running the shoothouse (sometimes killhouse) on The Farm is always fun, but it can get stale with the fixed floorplan/layout.

In V1033, players will be able to choose between a number of different layouts (5 at the time of counting) — including the old layout last seen in V1030’s “Killhouse” training level — via the Target App display, right next to the shoothouse’s entrance:

Prototype of the upgraded Target App display: now has a dropdown menu to select different layouts, which are previewed on the right

Main room for one of the new shoothouse layouts

💡 We'll continue to expand on shoothouse layouts and functionality as we progress.

In case you’re wondering, the existing layout (currently in V1032) remains as the first option.

Server quality of life

One of our tasks this update is server quality of life. This mostly means a lot of little fixes and features to try and make server admins’ lives easier, but there are also some improvements to the online experience for regular players.

Let’s look at a first example, the Kit Restrictions menu in the Admin Panel:

This is being wrapped up now, and should allow server admins more easily to set up restrictions for the skins that different teams can use on their kit, for ease of friendly vs. enemy identification.

Another feature that has long been requested is the favorite servers feature. The UI has been there for a while, but finally it has been rigged up:

This feature is tied into Steam directly, so you can view and manage your favorite servers offline within Steam as well:

Another change that has been made is to allow server admins to specify a “message of the day” text that can be displayed as usual with the admin motd console command, while simultaneously displaying an image on the server info board (via the new <text> tag). Changes made by admins to the message of the day or server name will also propagate immediately to all users. It’s the little things.

Callsigns

As mentioned last month, V1033 will be bringing callsigns: short IDs by which players may be more easily identified.

Callsigns are displayed as their own arm patches (though only on tops that have a velcro patch) and are limited to three alphanumeric characters (A–Z and 0–9) which can be entirely custom — within limits — or use an automatically assigned Team Element-based value (e.g. “A-01” if you’re first man on element Alpha); the latter can be forced for all players by server admins.

Grayscale US flag and callsign patches applied on compatible top (Fleece Hoodie). Notice that the active checkbox overrides the player-defined callsign (“SCO”) with an automatically assigned callsign (“B-05” or Bravo Five) based on the player’s current Team Element.

Various UI elements have now been updated to include the new callsign system, and as part of the server quality-of-life upgrade, server admins can do whatever player name and callsign validation they wish via a new server management mutator packaged into a mod.

The specific format of these callsigns can also be chosen by the server owner.

Maps and game modes

Docks missions

All game modes are now made for the new Docks map, including the most complex Intel Retrieval setup so far. Some more limited Deathmatch areas have been created, and DTAS (Dynamic Take and Secure) should be a very interesting tactical proposition on this map.

Uplink should be a challenge for defenders and attackers alike, and both Terrorist Hunt and Team Elimination will of course also be present.

Depot overhaul

The Depot overhaul continues, and as the teasers below show, it’s proving to be a pretty massive one. Can you tell which areas of the V1032 version these angles correspond to?

The updated Depot will also require a game modes and acoustics update in order to account for the design changes.

Ready Room hints

Though not directly related to level design, we have also made some updates aimed at new players, with revamped hints in more prominent places, as well as “in-world” Ready Room hints to make things as clear as possible about where to go and what to do to start your first GROUND BRANCH game.

All hints are temporary and disappear after the first few sessions, though they can be reset under Settings › Gameplay to start appearing like at first launch.

Hostage Rescue (PvP) and Terrorist Hunt improvements

While we are working on a PvP Hostage Rescue game mode, we are not ignoring the PvE modes.

Besides the AI improvements discussed in Intel Report #011, the Terrorist Hunt mode is being refined with two new features that we’re currently testing:

  • On some larger maps, a new “AI hotspot” feature will be available where certain areas of the map spawn a larger-than-usual number of enemies, providing more of a focus and a challenge
  • The return of the “bum rush” feature, in which the last few enemies on a map just can’t take it any more, and attempt to charge down the remaining players — hopefully reducing the incidence of “where’s that last damn bot?”

Audio

As the long process of audio optimization continues, Mikson has put a little time aside to record a short preview of the new gunshot tails for large interior spaces, which you can check out below:

Beyond V1033

Some features are an ongoing development that might see their beginnings well before they’re ready for the public.

Such is the case of friendly AI, whose first steps were teased last month even though it’s at least a couple of updates away from an initial playable iteration. Gotta let you all know it’s being worked on, right?

So this month we’re showcasing some of the upcoming female characters and related assets that we’ve been working with Pau Peñalver to have ready for V1034 (tentatively!). Let’s take a look:

As ever, keep in mind that although these renders are made with “game-ready” geometry and textures (as opposed to high-poly and super resolutions), they do not reflect the final in-game look due to the lighting.

That’s all for today’s Intel Report!

Thanks for keeping up with GROUND BRANCH’s development, and have an awesome rest of the week.

See you on the next one!

Developed with

Unreal® Engine 4

Distributed on

Steam®

Powered By

Kythera AI logo

Published by

MicroProse logo

Join the
Ground Branch

GROUND BRANCH is in active pre-alpha development for PC and available through Steam® Early Access. Support it and get instant access:
To the
Ground Branch Store

Join the Ground Branch

GROUND BRANCH is in active pre-alpha development for PC and is available now
on Steam® Early Access. Support it and get instant access:
Get GROUND BRANCH Now

Join our

Receive our updates

Connect

Twitter Facebook-f Reddit Instagram Youtube Steam Discord

Copyright © MicroProse Software Pty Ltd · Privacy Policy

Facebook-f Twitter Youtube Envelope
MicroProse logo
Steam® Early Access

This Steam Early Access game is currently not a finished game and may or may not change significantly over the course of development. To learn more about Steam Early Access, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/earlyaccessfaq/

GROUND BRANCH and the GROUND BRANCH logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of MicroProse Software Pty Ltd.
GROUND BRANCH uses Unreal Engine 4 © Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Unreal is a trademark or registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere.
GROUND BRANCH is distributed via Steam © Valve Corporation. Steam and the Steam logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Valve Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
GROUND BRANCH is published by MicroProse. MicroProse and the MICROPROSE logo are trademarks of MicroProse Software Pty Ltd in Australia and elsewhere.