Hey, everyone!
Today we’re releasing Patch V1034.6 with a few important fixes, and at the same time we’re also officially releasing the long-anticipated GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit: a Software Development Kit (SDK) that allows modders to create a whole new world of mods using a specially extended version of the Unreal Engine 4 editor.
Read on for more information on the Mod Kit and modding in general, or scroll further down for the patch notes.
(If some of the information in this post looks familiar, that is because it is partly drawn from our last Build Update. We felt that it would be useful to have it all in the same place now that the Mod Kit is out, so here it is again!)
GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit now available!
The GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit is finally released! We are very grateful to Epic for providing support to get the Mod Kit up and running on their Epic Games Launcher.
Ready to start modding GROUND BRANCH? First step is to fire up your Epic Games Launcher (https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/download) and search for GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit in the store. When you find something like this, add and install it:
This will take a bit of time to install, but the SDK is not as large as others that you may be familiar with, as we have created a super-lean installation containing only what you need to make your mods.
💡 In V1034.6, we are focusing on weapon mods only, including magazines and suppressors. These are the only types of mods you can make in the SDK — or at least the only types that we are officially supporting for now. This is because we want to make sure that we get everything right before expanding support to other mod types.
When you launch the Mod Kit, you will be presented by a default editor view much like this:
This is where the magic happens, mainly via these four new buttons:
Now, it should be said that the SDK is intended for experienced modders who are already familiar with the Unreal Engine 4 editor. There are a plethora of tutorials and courses available online and for free if you wish to get up to speed on Unreal Engine 4.
👾 A good place to get help while modding is our Discord — more specifically, the #gb-modding channel.
Your fellow modders may also be able to assist you, but please bear in mind that we are not able to provide official support for general use of the Unreal Engine editor — though we will do our best to help people grapple with interfacing with specific GROUND BRANCH systems.
To this end, we have now provided…
The GROUND BRANCH Modding Wiki
Either click the Open Wiki button in the Mod Kit, or navigate to https://wiki.groundbranch.com/en/modding to view the GROUND BRANCH Modding Wiki. Here we have attempted to document the information that you will need on the GROUND BRANCH side to be able to create your new weapon mods.
(However, as noted above, a working knowledge of the Unreal Engine 4 and editor is an essential prerequisite to using the Mod Kit.)
You will see that the Quick Create system, available since V1034.4, is documented in detail here.
The GROUND BRANCH Lua Library reference has now moved to the Wiki, at https://wiki.groundbranch.com/en/modding/lua-api. This is now the definitive version, and has already been updated for GROUND BRANCH V1034.5.
The GROUND BRANCH Mission Editor guide has also moved to the Wiki, at https://wiki.groundbranch.com/en/modding/mission-editor. Again, this is now the definitive version.
Stay tuned in future GROUND BRANCH updates for an expansion of the modding system to encompass all kinds of mods eventually, via the Mod Kit and Quick Create system
💘 We are extremely grateful to Bob/AT for his help in setting up and maintaining the Wiki (and thanks also to Callum for doing a lot of the setup).
The GROUND BRANCH Steam Workshop
Our Steam Workshop opened up a couple updates ago, mostly for new Quick Create patch mods, but have also included weapon mods since V1034.5, when some lingering issues with respect to modded game modes, missions, localization and AI loadouts were also ironed out.
We are very grateful to YourComrade, ModernLancer, mr munkee and others for their help kicking the tires on the new Mod Kit stuff while making some kickass new custom weapons in the process. We hope you enjoy trying out their creations as much as we have.
🔧 Get moddin’
If you’d like to jump into the brave new world of modded weapons, here is a selection of some of the great mods that our test crew have come up with while helping us test the Mod Kit:
-
Scorpion EVO 3 by YourComrade
-
URGI M4 by ModernLancer
-
P226-XFIVE Legion by mr munkee
-
DD MK18 by ModernLancer
-
SPAS-12 by YourComrade
If you search for mods in the workshop using the Weapon tag, you will now find these and many more (including hopefully many more still to come). Have fun, y’all.
🥇 We are also very grateful to Bob/AT and tjl9987612 for their help with the game mode and mission side of things. Many modding bugs have been squished thanks to them.
Patch notes
And now for details of the V1034.6 patch, which fixes a few lingering issues:
- We have a fix for mods not syncing properly when joining a listen server (the Host Game option). If accepting a game invite from outside GROUND BRANCH, you should now get the normal Mod Sync window before proceeding to join the game. If anything goes wrong and you are stuck in limbo, try accepting another invite or else press
Escto return to the main menu. Do let us know if you continue to experience difficulty with joining hosted games. - Updated NVIDIA DLSS plugin to version 3.7. This new version should reduce ghosting artifacts when using DLSS (Settings › Video › NVIDIA® DLSS Super Resolution) and possibly fix crashes in older GPUs.
- Fixed pistol holster not automatically being re-equipped when a pistol is equipped in the Customize Operator screen. This issue prevented pistols from being holstered.
- As mentioned, the official GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit is now available via Epic Games Launcher with appropriate integrations into the game.
And that’s a wrap on Build Update #053 and V1034!
Barring any big issues, we do not expect to release any further updates for GROUND BRANCH V1034. Turning to the next big update, V1035, we will continue our series of Intel Reports to keep you up to date on progress, and at some point (hopefully not too far into the future) the Community Test branch will open back up, with the main V1035 release in due course.
As always, thank you for your continued support and feedback. Enjoy modding and stay frosty!
