Day: March 20, 2020

⚠️ Issues starting the game since this update?

If you’re unable to launch GROUND BRANCH since updating, please download and install the latest version of Microsoft Visual Studio (x64: vc_redist.x64.exe) from here.

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How’s everyone doing? Staying inside? Fingers off face? How long has it been since you washed your hands? A while? Then go wash ’em again. We’ll wait, it’s fine. You know Covid-19 is out there and it’s everywhere. And the initial belief that it is rarely dangerous to the young and healthy is appearing less and less reliable every day. We don’t need to remind you to be safe, stay inside and take it seriously, but we will anyway: Please be safe, stay inside and take it seriously.

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Before we move on to this build’s contents, we’d like to give you all a little update on things.

A little update on things

As some of you might recall, we had originally planned for 1030 to hit sometime around February or March. But as no plan survives first contact, that simply proved impossible—our last patch, primarily intended to fix the “Requesting Rules” and other connectivity bugs, didn’t. After a lot of aggravation, Kris chased down some Steam/Steamworks plugin issues and migrated the engine and base code from 1030 (which was and remains in development) to retro-fix the 1029 problem. It seems to have eventually worked out, so that’s what we’re putting out here.

When is 1030 coming?

We know you’re probably very eager for 1030 and we truly share your frustration—we can’t wait to play it ourselves. But in addition to all the time and effort spent on the persistent 1029 bug, there’s also the issue that 1030 is set to be a massive update, which means a massive amount of work and a massive number of things that can break. With that in mind, there’s no real ETA on version 1030 of GROUND BRANCH at this time, as any forecast can be thwarted just as easily as it can be made.

Token of gratitude

Everyone’s patience and support has been greatly appreciated, and as a little “thank you” gift, we’ve compiled all the awesome upcoming apparel that the very talented Pau Peñalver has modelled so far for GROUND BRANCH right here, including a lot of process images for those interested in 3D and surface work. Pau has been working on these new assets for a while, and although we’ve shared some of these pics before, there are a few exclusives in the mix and the whole album may be fresh if you’re a newcomer.

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⚠️ Coming from a previous version of the game? Issues with controls, loadouts, assets or settings?

We strongly recommend players coming from an older version of the game to delete all files located in %LOCALAPPDATA%/GroundBranch/Saved/Config/WindowsNoEditor (paste file path onto your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter to go to folder).

For those who can afford it, we suggest a full reinstall: it may fix broken/missing features introduced in this version, as well as issues with controls, assets, settings and even performance. To ensure a clean reinstall, you need to manually delete all files located in …/steamapps/common/GroundBranch and %LOCALAPPDATA%/GroundBranch/%UserProfile%/Documents/GroundBranch/

⚠️ Update your dedicated server

All dedicated servers must be updated to work with the current version. Make sure yours is updated so players can enjoy the latest version of GROUND BRANCH!

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Build highlights

Server connectivity

Connectivity issues should hopefully have been fixed for good this time around.

[WIP] Climbing

As a result of moving some base code from 1030 into 1029, the core functionality for climbing is now available to preview. It’s really just the core functionality—there are no animations yet and it looks unsurprisingly funky, but it does open up some interesting gameplay possibilities and it should be a fun ability to try out.

To climb, press Jump (default [Spacebar]) near an object and your character will climb—or rather sorta float—onto it. Climbing is currently limited to objects that are about chest-height. That height will be tested and revised as we go, and we’ll be sure to add sensible limits to what can or not be climbed along the way.

Because it’s only a core functionality with no animations, basic collision will keep players from vaulting through smaller windows and similar openings without sufficient room for a standing character, so keep that in mind when rounds start flying!

Jumping height decreased

Now that we can (very crudely) climb and vault, jumping is no longer needed to get players out of dead-ends and is now limited to a short leap. No animation for that either—we’re working on getting those in for 1030.

[WIP] Sound occlusion

We’re slowly migrating the sound occlusion from UE4’s built-in solution onto Wwise. It’s only a first pass, but you should notice a clearer distinction between sounds that happen outdoors while you’re indoors and vice versa, for example. There is currently no distinction for windows, doors and such openings yet, however, which means that when shooting out of a window you will hear gunshots as if they were on the other side of a wall. The same applies for, say, hearing close fire through an open doorway—sound occlusion will kick in despite there being no obstacle between yourself and the shooter.

This has been Build Update #23!

The GROUND BRANCH community is on Discord, the Steam® Community Hub, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Reach out with your questions, suggestions and issues and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Also, have you checked out the official GROUND BRANCH FAQ yet? It’s got a comprehensive insight into what’s coming and what isn’t, and should answer most questions newcomers have.

We’ll leave you with a quick reminder to stay at home, keep your hands clean and hang in there.

—The BlackFoot Studios Team

Version info & change log

Game version: 1029.3

Client

Steam Build ID: 4794648
Size: 2.1 GB

Dedicated server

Steam Build ID: 4794655
Size: 214 MB

GENERAL

* updated engine 4.23 to 4.24
* changed base game code
   * jumping is now done via tap and height is much lower
   * basic climbing (no animation) is possible by pressing and holding Jump near objects
* replaced usage of third-party Steam/Steamworks plugin to in-house implementation
* updated all affect C++ and Blueprints
* rebuilt lighting on all maps due to engine update


AUDIO

* increased occlusion on spatial audio volumes via Wwise