Ground Branch - upcoming tactical shooter by Blackfoot Studios

[Curratum]

My impression is that the development has been slow but steady, otherwise it wouldn't have 91% positive reviews after 4 years in Early Access.

If you ask the Star Citizen community, it's coming along marvelously too.

 

[karoliner]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/16900/view/3632747650662815239

V1033 Community Test now open to all players!
Opt in to the Community Test beta branch to start testing V1033 before the official release
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[/u]
(copy-paste the path into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter to be taken there)
:


%LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor

Documents\GroundBranch

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!



GROUND BRANCH
TacticalRealisticMilitaryFPSShooter
Aug 14, 2018



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

• Right-click
  GROUND BRANCH
  in your Steam Library and select
  Properties…
• Click
  BETAS
  on the left-hand list
• Enter code
  CommunityTest1033
  in the text box and click
  Check Code
  button
• A blue button to "Opt into: communitytest - Community testing branch" will pop up — click it!

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. Use code
CommunityTestDS1033
to opt in.

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
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
  Bulletproof Vest
• 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
report 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!

 

[Victor1234]

I think the positive reviews are because this is one of the few 'realistic' FPS that is actually developed by Americans (as opposed to the usual Ukrainians, Finns, Bangladeshis, Russians, etc) but it's really a barebones game last time I tried it at the start of this year. They spent a ton of time implementing arguably useless but tacticool features like different carry stances and customizing tattoos on your 'operator'. Meanwhile the bots are some of the most braindead in the industry (and that's saying a lot!) and the weapons customization exists but is one of the most simplistic of anyone who actually has customization in their game.

Couldn't help but chuckle a bit at seeing that this patch includes must have features like a first version of bird flocks flying overhead!

 

[Latelistener]

They've mentioned that they'll be using some kind of middleware for the AI: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/16900/view/3127191325122977941

 

[karoliner]

Intel Report #015: First V1034 Preview
A first look at some of the upcoming additions and changes
Hey, everyone!

The Dev Blog is back with
Intel Report #015
, where we cover the first news for upcoming release V1034, as well as other dev team-related updates.

Let’s get straight to it.

New level designer
We’re officially welcoming
Elliot Burgess
— a level designer and environmental artist with credits including
Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
and more recently
Ready or Not
— into the BlackFoot Studios team!

Elliot is currently busy with early work on a new map called
Ranch
. If you have any guesses, drop it in the comments.

Female characters finally arriving in V1034
The first implementation of
female characters
, which have long been in the works, is fully confirmed to be in upcoming release V1034.

Some might recall that tactical shooter trailblazers Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon featured female operators all the way back in 1998 and 2001, respectively, and we are proud to maintain this tradition.

Because female characters are directly derived from the male counterparts, a lot of things remain to be re-fitted and may look janky, but we’re getting there.

As previously mentioned on the Steam forums and our Discord, there will be no significant gameplay benefits or drawbacks based on the sex of the character.

Hairy ops
Our female operators wouldn’t be complete without some more authentic hairstyle options than a shaved head, so we’re finally bringing in a few ‘dos that will add an extra layer of customization — as well as some much needed variety — to all characters.

Here are a few samples:

Hairstyles would be a relatively simple thing to implement if it weren’t for all the headgear options: anything that isn’t a close buzzcut can cause clipping with hats, headsets and even helmets. The clipping requires various areas of different hairstyles to be “masked out” and programmed to be hidden only when combined with certain headgear items.

All of that takes a considerable amount of time, which is why we’re unsure just how many (or which) hairstyles will make it into V1034. But rest assured that they will all be making their way into the game eventually!

More characters on the way
In addition to the existing 5 male characters and the previously showcased 5 female characters, contractor Pau Peñalver has created 2 new characters that will also be featured in V1034. Both were inspired by typically Middle Eastern and Mediterranean features:

Kicking up the kickback
Up until V1033, recoil animationwas restricted to the weapon itself kicking back and up, with some minor secondary arm movement derived only from the hands being attached to it.

For V1034, our animator Mike is upgrading recoil with more secondary movements, which now include the head and upper body reacting to the kick.

This iteration simply adds secondary animations: the actual recoil and underlying system will be upgraded at a later point to both look and feel more realistic.

This first pass will add 5 types or levels of recoil that correspond to: handguns have a 9 mm and a .45 recoil, most primary weapons have a “light”, “medium” and “heavy” recoil depending on caliber, and both machine guns have unique recoils — with the PKM being closer to the “heavy” recoil, and the MK46 to the “medium” one.

Motion capture
This week, Mike is also recording
motion capture (mocap)
for prone, weapon transitions (e.g. changing from primary to secondary and vice-versa), a new sprint, and some other assorted movements that are all expected to make V1034. Fingers crossed!

New muzzle VFX
VFX artist Charles has spent the last couple of months refining the particles for muzzle effects, in special smoke and flash, while also adding some smaller details here and there. Muzzles will also generate more unique particles based on what type of weapon and muzzle device is being used.

️ Next stop for Charles is
smoke grenades
.

Armory additions
We can confirm two new weapons for V1034 so far: the Galil ARM squad automatic weapon (5.56 NATO, 35-round magazine) and the SA58 OSWbattle rifle (7.62 NATO, 20-round magazine).

Our partners have also built a new (and more typical) FAL, which will be replacing both the placeholder FAL Tactical (which was standing in for the SA58 OSW) and the FAL Vintage (a stand-in for a more old-school FAL).

New FAL model, seen here with optional top rail attachment

We also have an AUG A1in its early stages. We wanted to offer modders a template for a bullpup weapon, and though bullpups aren’t very common in modern battlefields, the AUG is one of the more common types out there.

The AUG A1 will
not
be in V1034
, as Mike's to-do list is very much packed already — meaning no time to animate it. We just thought you'd like to know it's on the way.

Small Town update
Another classic GROUND BRANCH map has received a makeover by environment artist Will Bullen: MOUT training site Small Town.

This is less of a major overhaul (à la Depot) and more of a visual update to get it more in line with newer maps. It also officially establishes the map as a training site, linking it visually with The Farm.

The layout for V1034's Small Town remains mostly unchanged.

Locking down the range
Per community request, server admins will be able to disable the Ready Room’s shooting rangein V1034. Enabling this server option will add a locked gate to the entrance:

Quick note on AI progress
Enemy AI has been moved over to the Kythera AImiddleware, with immediate upgrades in both pathfinding and cover usage. We’ll be showing more once things are less under-the-hood and more visible to the player.

 

[Hace El Oso]

They added a Galil, always good to see. Too bad it's the ARM which nobody uses.

 

[karoliner]

Expect 1.0 release in 2025.

 

[Retardo]

so, I imagine that after partnering with Micropose, the biggest investment from the publisher came in the form of some dude with a whip who is constantly forcing the lazy fuckers to actually do some work

 

[karoliner]

 

[Alienman]

Female operators

 

[antimeridian]

Female operators

Hey, Ghost Recon (2001) had 'em.

I don't have a point. That was a great game though

 

[karoliner]

https://www.groundbranch.com/2024/03/build-update-047-ground-branch-v1034-is-now-live/

Build Update #047: GROUND BRANCH V1034 is now live!​

by Scopey March 21, 2024 14:23pm (EDT)

Hey, everyone!
Thank you for your patience and support while we worked on the latest update for GROUND BRANCH V1034. Though this has been a tough testing and debugging season thanks to major system changes — particularly AI and animations — the official release is now among us!

️ For a detailed list of changes, please see our patch notes for the V1034 Community Test releases over the last few months here.
For the non-masochists among us, keep reading as we have a more readable summary of the main changes to the game since our last main release (V1033). But first:
IMPORTANT: Clearing your old files is recommended!

If you are coming from V1033 or have not downloaded a Community Test build in a while, you need to delete all contents in the following locations (copy-paste these paths into your File Explorer address bar):

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

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

Highlights​

DX12 mode and DLSS 3 Frame Generation​

Once you’ve updated to V1034 and launched GROUND BRANCH, you’ll be greeted with a new pop-up dialog that lets you choose between running the game in either DX11 (the default option we’ve always had) or DX12 mode (previously available only via the -dx12 launch parameter).

DX12 (DirectX 12) mode is required to use the new NVIDIA DLSS 3 Frame Generation video setting, which users of GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs will benefit from in terms of framerates. If you’re one such user, here’s how to enable it:

• Launch GROUND BRANCH in DX12 mode
• Go to Settings ► Video
• Under the “Video” section, look for NVIDIA DLSS 3 Frame Generation and select “On” from the dropdown menu
• Apply the new settings

Users of different graphics cards may experience improved performance from running GROUND BRANCH in DX12 mode, regardless of the DLSS 3 Frame Generation setting. We recommend everyone to try it out and see how their system reacts.

UI, UX, settings and accessibility​

The user interface and general user experience have received a number of updates in V1034, with multiple new options introduced. Here are some of the main changes to look out for:

• Pressing Esc during single player sessions will now pause the game
• Added a headcam-style camera to Spectator Mode, also accessible as a debug camera (Ctrl+↑)
• The portion of the Gameplay settings dedicated to on-screen elements has been split into the new HUD menu
• Colorblindness settings have been added to Settings ► Video (Advanced)
• The Server Browser now features an expanded info box (listing players per team, as well as active mods) when a server is clicked
• The Ops Board in the Ready Room now has a ↻ button to re-randomize objectives and insertion points
• Players can now volunteer for game mode-specific roles — such as the hostage (Hostage Rescue) or flag carrier (DTAS) — by clicking the Volunteer button next to their name in the Session Roster
• Servers can now allow friendly name tags in-game: these only appear when the player is pointing at a teammate from within a certain range; you can disable this feature for yourself in Settings ► HUD
• Callsign patches will now be displayed on the back of Headgear items
• The Mission Editor was updated, and validators now check for collision and navmesh issues
• Skin selection now features standardized swatch-like icons, especially useful for previewing camo patterns

Server administration​

• More comprehensive server admin options/settings, including the option to restart a server in-game and to schedule server restarts for particular times of day
• Server admins can now lock (disable) the Ready Room test shooting range

General fixes and improvements​

• A plethora of optimizations to various maps and game systems
• Cleaned up various UI elements to improve readability, formatting and consistency
• A load of bug fixes, including not being able to change the enemy count via Ops Board

AI​

We have now made the switch to the Kythera AI middleware, replacing the stock Unreal Engine 4 AI system. We had paused AI development in a less-than-ideal state for a few updates in anticipation of this change, but luckily nobody noticed or brought it up ever.
Kythera is not a complete AI solution, but a tool that allows us to implement AI in more flexible and effective ways. We still had to do a whole ton of work behind the scenes to get everything working properly, and a lot of work remains as we’ll explain further.
Thanks in particular to Chris, who has cemented his reputation as our official AI guy, and to Kythera for working closely with us and helping iron out the odd AI wrinkle.
You will notice a wide variety of changes in how the AI behaves. Overall, the AI should now be more “life-like” and more challenging in some aspects, but without having as much of an aimbot feel to them. AI senses (sight and hearing) have been continually tweaked, and benefit from improved pathing and more sophisticated actions: AI will return fire and take cover as before, but they may now crouch and go prone in certain contexts (e.g. lack of nearby cover), use suppressive fire to keep players pinned down, form spontaneous squads, hold close to guard points (as close as mission designers specify), react to dead bodies, and use a few more call-outs.
At lower difficulty levels, AI will now also fire tracers — with higher frequency at lower skill levels — and have more frequent muzzle flash effects to help less hardcore players figure out where they’re being shot from.

Stance and movement should also have a greater impact on detection, so be sure to move slowly and keep a low profile if you’re trying to be sneaky.
Missions have also been given a once-over to check specifically for collision and navmesh issues, so the AI should now flow around maps more easily in existing missions.
One important aspect of AI presentation still missing is more varied animations, as the lack of specific motions to convey all the different AI behaviors makes bots retain a lot of their "roboticness". The lack of natural "idle" animations also contributes to this.

We'll of course continue to iterate on that an other aspects of AI as things progress, including providing friendly AI support (that is, AI teammates) as well as more sophisticated and natural-looking enemy AI.

New voice lines are also recorded and waiting to be implemented in a future update cycle.

Prone and animation overhaul​

Prone (a.k.a. lying on the ground) has been on our to-do list for a while, but we didn’t want to do it until we could do it right™. After another extensive and necessary under-the-hood overhaul to support the new stance, it is now in and working thanks to the combined efforts of Kris and Mike.
There are still some kinks to work out, but even so, we think we have created a solid base to build upon. Here’s how it currently works:

• To toggle between your current stance and prone, hit the Prone key (default Z)
• Going prone while sprinting will perform a dive
• Pressing Jump while prone will immediately switch to standing, regardless of your stance before going prone
• Once prone, you will not be able to aim beyond a limited horizontal arc, while vertical aiming will be limited by the ground at the bottom and a fairly modest upwards angle
• Pressing any movement key while looking/aiming off to either side will rotate your character in place to align their lower body with their upper body
• You can crawl in all directions by using your movement keys. You can crawl faster by holding the Run key (default Shift)

While prone, the limited aiming angles require rotating your character to cover different areas
By assigning keys to the new Stance Up and Stance Down keybinds, you may also use an alternative control scheme that sequences between Standing ↔ Crouched ↔ Prone instead of transitioning directly to/from prone.
Keep in mind!

Going prone will interrupt certain actions, such as reloading — if you hit the dirt while reloading, make sure you have a magazine in the well and a round in the chamber!

Most actions (shooting, reloading, changing items etc.) will interrupt movement while prone, and you cannot start crawling while these actions are being performed.

While prone, you're also unable to perform most world interactions, such as opening doors, deploying breaching charges or interacting with mission objectives.

You will not be able to go prone if there's not enough room for your character's full body length.

Other changes in animations​

• Characters now react to weapon recoil against their upper body when firing
• Death animations have been created for crouched and prone stances
• Death animations from the standing position received some polish as well
• Leaning now uses actual poses that look more natural
• The Breaching Charge now has an animation for setting up the charge on doors, as well as for triggering the detonator
• Switching weapons got a polish pass
• Improved animations and hand poses for AK-type rifles
• Hand poses in general — such as how your character holds grenades — were also slightly updated
• Lastly, animations and poses were created for the new and updated weapons (we’ll get to those!)

Your character's support (left) arm will bend in unnatural ways when moving while holding various primary weapons with no foregrip equipped. This is due to the animation rework and will be fixed in a point release.

Focus Zoom​

Another notable addition to gameplay is the Focus Zoom ability. As the name suggests, it allows you to zoom in on your sight picture, giving reticles and targets more pixels to work with on your screen and making ranged shots a better experience.
Focus Zoom is bound to Hold Ctrl by default (same key as Steady Aim) but can be changed in Settings ► Controls.
Keep in mind that the Focus Zoom function will disengage if you move, or if you move your weapon too fast.

Customization and inventory updates​

We are very pleased to welcome playable female characters to the Ready Room, in the spirit of the classic Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six games that inspired GROUND BRANCH.

The addition also encouraged us to finally get some hairstyles implemented, and so we did. Here’s what’s new:

• 7 new characters (Females 01–06 and Male 06), selectable under the APPEARANCE tab
• 4 male hairstyles (Crew Cut A, Crew Cut B, Caesar Cut and Long Cut) under the new HAIR tab
• 4 female hairstyles (Straight Bun, Textured Bun and Buzzcut) under the new HAIR tab
• 1 new beard style (Short Beard) under the FACIAL HAIR tab

Additional hairstyles and customization options (such as hair color) will follow in future updates.

New and updated skins​

In addition to a big revision of gear and outfit skins to look more authentic and consistent, a handful of new skins were also created for the following items:

• Tactical Pants
  
  
  Coyote Brown
• Ball Cap / Ball Cap (Reverse)
  
  
  DCP
  
  AOR-1
  
  M81
• Boonie Hat / Boonie Hat (Folded)
  
  
  UCP
• Helmet (HC)
  
  
  OCP
  
  AOR-1
  
  AOR-2
• Headset
  
  
  Foliage Green

A new version of the Flannel Shirt with the popular “Buffalo plaid” pattern was also added in 8 different colors.
The old pattern shirt is still available — we renamed it Light Flannel Shirt.
️ In case you missed the Intel Report and discussion: most country flag patches have been removed. More details in this post.

New weapons​

SA58 OSW (top) and Galil ARM(bottom)
As is tradition in our main releases, V1034 introduces a few new blasters to the armory:

• SA58 OSW battle rifle (Battle Rifle / DMR / Sniper Rifle category)
  This modernized, highly compact version of the FAL battle rifle features multiple accessory rails. Magazine capacity is 20 rounds of 7.62 mm NATO ammunition. Can be fitted with a suppressor.
• Galil ARM automatic rifle (Machine Gun category)
  A 5.56 mm NATO rifle created for the squad automatic weapon role, the Galil ARM can fit either 35- or 50-round magazines.
• FAL battle rifle (Battle Rifle / DMR / Sniper Rifle category)
  The FAL with wooden furniture (based on the very rare FAL G-series) last seen in V1033 as the FAL (Vintage) is now replaced with a more appropriate and far more common variant fitted with a polymer stock and handguard. It still fires 7.62 mm NATO ammunition from a 20-round magazine.

The MPX 9 mm submachine gun has also been updated with a new model.

Radio (cosmetic)​

A radio pouch and PTT (push-to-talk) module are now a fixed part of most Platform items in the game, with the exception of the Ballistic Vest. While mostly a cosmetic addition that helps build up the characters visually and get players more immersed, the radio pouch has taken the place of a customizable pouch slot in some platforms — so keep that in mind when re-creating your builds. The presence of the radio system on your character has otherwise no gameplay effect.

Modding​

Official GROUND BRANCH modding is… coming. Callum has put in a lot of work to create an SDK (Software Development Kit) for the game, and a lot of the internals of the game have been rejigged to facilitate the use of third-party mods via Steam Workshop.
We still have some hoops to jump through before we can officially release the SDK, but that should be sorted soon and allow the release in a V1034 point release (patch).
Initial SDK release will include the ability to add new weapons, with further modding coming later.

Map and mission updates​

• The classic Small Town map has been extensively overhauled by Will, who returns to the team after a brief hiatus
• The Farm has had cosmetic updates to bring it into consistency with (and indeed proximity to) Small Town — canonically establishing both maps as part of the same training complex in Camp Peary
• City was extended with a fun new bank area and a few other new enterable buildings
• Lots of other maps have had touch-ups and plenty of bug fixes here and there

We are also laying the groundwork for more interactive and interesting maps and missions. For example, Compound now has a call to prayer at (approximately) correct astronomically-based times of day. City is now overseen by a nosey news helicopter that can be scared away with sprays of gunfire. And now that players can crawl underwater in prone, Creek and various other maps have been outfitted with brand new underwater effects.
The animation for City's helicopter bailing out may not be playing correct. We're looking into it.
Missions have also been tweaked, bug-fixed, and in some cases new missions have been added. Rig now sports a new Hostage Rescue mission set in the accommodation block, for example, and new mission variants for Hostage Rescue and Terrorist Hunt have been created for City.
With the new AI and prone capability, even existing missions may play quite differently from V1033 — give them a try!

New game mode: Defuse (Lone Wolf / Online Co-Op)​

V1034 launches with the return of the Defuse game mode, now also available in co-op.
In Defuse, you’ll race against the clock to defuse a number of explosives around the mission area, guarded of course by AI enemies.

• The default amount of explosives to defuse is 2, with the default timer at 15 minutes and a default defuse time of 10 seconds per bomb. These can all be customized via Ops Board before deploying.
• To defuse a bomb, look at the LED display and hold Use/Interact (default F) when the prompt appears. You should see a progress bar filling up in LED display.
• Throw a careless grenade or shoot wildly at the bombs and you may find yourself making a lot of new friends.

The Extraction game mode — essentially a PvE version of Hostage Rescue — is slated for a V1034 point release (a small update or patch), building on the new AI and animation work. Stay tuned for updates on this as well.

A small change to Intel Retrieval​

While we’re talking game modes, the laptop in Intel Retrieval is now automatically grabbed and put away after finishing the search — just a little streamlining to make things less redundant and frustrating.
Due to changes in underlying systems, Hostage Rescue is in a work-in-progress (WIP) state, with some bugs remaining in relation to leading and restrained behaviors. However, the core gameplay should still work (including the new Volunteer function).

Audio updates​

In addition to all of the sound work done to support prone movement, the new weapons and female voice lines (via Comms Menu), audio was also updated in these areas:

Soundtrack​

As announced in Intel Report #017, we have partnered up with composer and sound designer Venus Theory, who is authoring the soundtrack for GROUND BRANCH. This release already features a few of his tracks in the main menu, transition screens, and the Ready Room. We’re excited to hear your thoughts on them!

Environmental audio​

• Optimized audio occlusion and diffraction when inside buildings
• Indoor audio now reacts to whether a door is open or closed (this can now be expanded to account for the material of the room/building)
• Fixed missing ambient sounds for all maps
• Updated attenuation for various distances to provide more spatial awareness and distance for varying sounds

When playing online, The Farm does not play audio for various actions. We have been unable to fix this so far, but are working on it.

Event SFX​

• Power boxes now have a distinctive electric “hum” when active, and will also play a sound when switching the lever on/off

In some cases, the hum will not play at the start of an online round.

• Added localized beeping and explosion SFX for Defuse’s bombs, as well as sound effects for closing and putting away Intel Retrieval’s laptop
• Implemented and fine-tuned news helicopter audio and attenuation (City)

Mixing​

Updated overall mix for gunshots, reloads, character foley and environment:

• Character movement (e.g. footsteps) now sounds quieter and more balanced in the mix
• Reloads are less sharp and overpowering compared to other sounds
• Gunshots are slightly less loud in general, with suppressed gunshots now also being slightly quieter than their unsuppressed counterparts
• Weapon sounds now have more room reverb compared to the environmental audio and character movement

VFX​

Visual effects have been generally reworked in V1034:

• Blood splatter on surfaces has been re-introduced, with new decals created
• Grenade effects and bullet impacts
  • New particles for smokescreen and frag explosions were created
  • New material-based bullet impacts were added
  • Various props and materials not displaying correct bullet impacts were fixed
• Muzzle and weapon effects
  • Muzzle flash and smoke have all been updated, and a shockwave effect was added
  • Ejection ports now also generate smoke when shooting
• Light fixture effects
  • Outdoor light fixtures now attract bugs at night
  • Shooting out lights now generates sparkle particles
  • Most light fixtures now have a proper “destroyed” version when shot out

Frag explosionLight bugsLight destruction

This has been Build Update #047!​

By the time you’re done reading this, we’re already fixing pending issues and on the lookout for reports like a pack of airport security dogs.
We’ll most likely push the first patch (V1034.1) in about a week, so give this build a good kick in the tires and let us know if you find any bugs we haven’t mentioned.
As always, thank you for reading and continuing to play, follow and support GROUND BRANCH. See you on the next one!