Go to Steam to get the latest update of Ground Branch.
The main focus of this release is stability and performance and therefore a lot of “under the hood” non visual work has been done. While still a work in progress, the online experience has gotten some much needed love and is now much more stable and reliable. Overall performance increases have been achieved with the move to Unreal Engine 4.15.2 combined with reworking some core game systems. Still lots of work to do in these areas, but the current Ground Branch gaming experience feels much better than previous builds.
Build Version 1017
Build 231705
Engine:4.15.2-0+UE4
Approximate Update size: 2.0GB
Steam build Id: 1830587
Dedicated Server Steam build Id: 1830418
Approximate Update size: 84MB
Known Issues
- LAN and user hosted (from game main menu) MP sessions are not reliable. We need to do some work with the Steam UE4 integration still
- EVERYTHING is still a work in progress
- Some users with lower end systems may experience a crash with trying to load Tanker Ship maps. This is due to the time it takes to load certain resources for the map… The game times out while waiting. A fix is being investigated
Engine Update
We have officially moved Ground Branch to version 4.15.2 version of Unreal Engine.
Check out the full engine release notes here:
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/unreal-engine-4-15-released
As with all new engine updates we take on, we will be utilizing various new features and updates as we go and the game will see various graphics, feature and performance improvements.
GENERAL CHANGES
Stability/Performance
As mentioned, the big push for this build is stability and smoothness of online play. Lots of work has gone into making connecting/joining online sessions reliable as well as staying connected round after round.
Unreal Engine 4.15.2 brought with it various performance optimizations, but one of the main ones that offers both performance and visual enhancements is a reworking of the streaming system. Not only is it more efficient, but is much more reliable in getting textures to stream in properly when needed.
New Maps
Its actually a reworking of the existing Alleyway map and is now called Power Station. This will be a good map for both Coop as well as adversarial gametypes:
A VERY EARLY version of the Oil Rig map is also included. This is in the blocking out stage that defines the overall playable space and general flow of the map. Maps in this stage are normally not included because they are so basic and and go through many more revisions before getting close to a final layout. However we thought it would be a nice change of pace to get a look at something so early.
** Oil Rig will only work if running Single Player Training gametype
Killhouse Timerun
The Killhouse Timerun map is working again and now includes the automatic target system from Aircraft Takedown. An addition to this system has the doors resetting to closed upon hitting the ‘Apply’ button when resetting the targets.
Night Vision update
We took some time to iterate on the visuals of night vision and continue to get closer to something we are happy with.
What’s coming
As always, we will continue to optimize and make things more stable as we go but also have some exciting things coming in the near future. With this build out of the way we are starting on our character system upgrade that will bring with it full body IK allowing us to get weapon collision back in as well as numerous other character/character and character/environment interactions. On top of that we will start to introduce some of the features we have planned for the wrist device that we added a couple builds back as well as a couple more maps!
We thank you for your continued support!
FIXES
* FIXED S516 dustcover not rotating properly when opening
* FIXED ACOG4x slightly off center
* FIXED some log spam that was being created via the AI tactical perception component
* FIXED disconnected node in BP_OpticalSight_Master
* FIXED shipping compile issue by moving FDebugFloatHistoryDisplay declaration
* FIXED issue with Virtual Bone indexes in AnimNode_SubInstance.cpp & BonePose.h
* FIXED various grass pocking through objects bugs on Depot maps
* FIXED slowdown in Killhouse maps due to old and unused RenderToTexture camera setup inside Killhouse structure being active
* FIXED bad shadowing/lightmaps on some chainlink fence pieces
* FIXED BP_Small_ACUnity warnings.
* FIXED Door_Rollup and related assets warnings.
– FIXME – need to update Blueprint to use new methods similar to BP_Door_Swinging
* FIXED HandrailScalingMethod warnings.
* FIXED GBGameState::BindToPlayerState() trying to bind to invalid player state due to seam less travel not being finished!
* FIXED GBReadyRoomStreamer::BindToPlayerState() trying to bind to invalid player state due to seam less travel not being finished!
* FIXED GBFunctionLibrary::WaitForX trying to access to invalid X due to seam less travel not being finished!
* FIXED BP_RainX Blueprint warnings
* FIXED BP_NVG_Headset spawning multiple NVG devices
* FIXED BP_ANPVS_15_NVG not hiding correctly in first person mode (I hope)
* FIXED issue wtih build numbers being interpreted as octal value (who uses that anymore?)
* FIXED BP_MapEntry not updating lighting scenario if selected after the map was.
* FIXED crash when running TankerShip map( to many reflection capture actors were getting updated upon load and things were timing out)
* FIXED missing material on baseboard in ready room
GENERAL
* Moved to Unreal Engine 4.15.2
* Updated PEQ15 model and textures
* Upgraded visuals of old metal walkway pieces along with adding multiple color options
* Added basic target system from AircraftTakedown map to Killhouse Timerun maps
* Optimized foliage on Killhouse_Timerun_Day map
* Tweaked night vision effect for more contrast, color differences and to be a bit brighter
* Added r.TonemapperFilm=0 to DefaultEngine.ini to revert tonemapper back to pre 4.15 version. New one looks bad and requires a lot of tweaking that I don’t have time for
* updated GB_BUILD_NUMBER usage to add leading zero.
* maintenance pass on various assets to allow packaging under 4.15.1
– deleted ABP_MaleHostage and related assets as they were non-functional anyway
– FIXED redirectors under /AI
– updated all Blueprint enumerators due to FText change and removed all localisation.
– replaced usage of old/reduntant BPML_Object macros with native or C++ versions and then deleted the macros
* Adjusted volume for M4/M16 firing sounds to be lower
* updated SceneComponent to use fix from prev GB engine version
* updated GenerateBuildNumber.bat & .uproject file to account for spaces in ProjectDirectory path.
* updated ue4_setvars.bt & DedicatedServer.bat to keep them up to date
* switching to seamless transition for testing
– Hopefulyl smooths out process of moving from RR to map and joinging MP games
* moved server travel screen handling from GBGameInstance to GBPlayerController.
* renamed BP_PreTravelScreen to BP_SeamlessTravelScreen
* changed GBGameMode seamless travel usage to ‘true’
* Added in a bunch of new concrete Substance based textures
* Moved OilRig Environment meshes into GroundBranch folder
* Moved PowerStation map environment meshes into GroundBranch folder
* updated SH_Depot
– deleted BP_Littlebird_Demo
– updated level Blueprint to reflect missing BP_Littlebird_Demo
* created AGBPlayerState::CopyProperties() to ensure ServerAccessLevel is maintained after seamless travel.
* added PreCacheAssets() to GBItem class.
* added PreCacheKit() to GBKitInfo class.
* updated GBLocalPlayer class
– removed PlayerName
– updated GetPlayerNick() to use PlayerSettings.
* resaved FrontEndMap to fix warnings
* performed general cleanup of stubbs/logging.
* Setup ShootingRange maps to use lighting scenario system
* Deleted old Depot lighting scenario files
* Setup Killhouse_Timerun to use new lighting scenario setup
* Cleaned up error in a marketplace BP due to move to 4.15
* updated transition map
– changed to simple hollow cube with single static point light
– created associated build data
* created UGBUIFunctionLibrary::GetMapThumbNails()
– finds textures located in same directory as map with TN prefix matched to lighting scenario.
– e.g. TN_Tankership_All_Day1
* created WBP_MapEntry
– use GetMapThumbNails() to hook up screen shots.
– includes map path & lighting scenario in one entry.
* updated WBP_SinglePlayer
– removed Lighting dropdown
– updated map entires to WBP_MapEntry
* updated all map thumbmails and references.
* updated GBLevelSummary to remove fixed screen shots
* updated GetLevelSummaray()
– updated affected C++ & Blueprints
* updated DefaultGame.ini to make sure map thumb nails were cooked using DirectoriesToAlwaysCook entries.
* corrected names of map thumb nails that were incorrect
* resaved Aircraft_Takedown to ensure world settings was up to date.
* Small adjustment to M1014 material roughness setup
* Added in door reset to functionality to random target seystem
– When Apply button is pushed on TargetSwitch to set targets, all doors in map will be reset as well
* updated WBP_MapEntry to include lighting scenario drop down
* updated WBP_SinglePlayer to remove need to add each lighting scenario map version.
* New cinderblock/brick props
* More work on PowerStation layout and start of texturing
* Adjusted height of chainlink fence meshes to be shorter
* Made laser end point flare smaller
* Fixed bad scaling on Movable_LightTower mesh
– Was to small
* updated DirectInputKey() implementation in PlayerInput class.
* updated GBPlayerController class
– created SpectatingInputKey().
– cleaned up InputKey().
* Work on new chainlink fence BP
– Replaced chain fences in Depot map except those along top of cement wall
* Created new chainfence gate BP
– Allows for proper collision
– Can later be updated to be operable in some way
* Replaced fence meshes with new BP based chainlink fence
– Slanted pieces are still old mesh style, but only used in training maps as perimeter fencing
* Removed fence sections along top of cement wall around depot compound
* Adding in a ini setting possible fix for continued pausing during AI firing. It is some debug stuff that Epic and nvidia added for driver testing
* Made some small adjustments to the way things are blended in the base sky material
* Deleted auto generated collision on some marketplace distant mountain meshes being used in PowerStation map
* Some work on PowerStation map
– Base materials added to exterior and above ground structure
– Some small adjustments to layout
* Simplified how WindTurbine BP works
