Scopey

BUILD UPDATE #001: Hotfix Patch

As promised, our first hotfix patch since Early Access release is out!

There should be enough replication/sync and quality-of-life improvements to make the game a lot more playable for everyone, especially online.

Please remember this is Early Access, so there may be times when things break and areas where performance may decrease unexpectedly.

Check out the highlights and full change log below and, as always, let us know about any issues you encounter. Thank you all for the reports and suggestions—this right here is why they’re so valued:

Highlights

  • Fixed weapons getting stuck at a high-ready/muzzle-up position.
  • Fixed (🤞) players missing body parts when no item is selected for them.
  • See who’s talking and mute annoying players via player list (Esc key).
  • Scalable AI settings now work correctly and can be adjusted via AISettings.ini. This also allows us to more easily tune the AI as we go.
  • Reduced default amount of team kills required to automatically kick an offending player.
  • Increased TK BanTime from 5 to 60 minutes.
  • Ready Room testing range now muted to those outside of the range.
  • 30-second countdown now starts after all players have selected an insertion point (it can still be skipped/cancelled).
  • Players who miss round start now have 5 seconds to make it to the Operations Room; they will be spawned at a random insertion point.
  • Quick admin commands to make it easier for admins/moderators to police servers.
  • Working SteamCMD for free dedicated servers (AppID 476400).
  • Turned off Oculus VR plugin to stop game trying to start up the headset.
  • Fixed some navmesh placement inside some Tanker Ship deck structures that allowed AI to spawn inside meshes.
  • Removed M24 SWS until proper bolt-action animations can be added.

Known issues in new features

  • Muted players cannot be unmuted until server is reset.
  • New features will be refined as we get more user feedback in the near future.

Build version: 1023
Steam ID: 3045474

Change log

FIXED
* FIXED inadvertent navmesh placement inside some deck structures in Tanker Ship
* fixed incorrect customize operator tooltip on WBP_FrontEndMenuManager
* fixed name not being set when using character editor from front end menu
* FIXED some misaligned textures and lighting LOD settings in ReadyRoom
* fixed remote obstructed alpha being converted incorrectly
* fixed incorrect sound class on several misc sounds, include metal impacts (yay!)
* fixed grenade being thrown when leaving live fire area if about to be thrown


CONTENT
* Turned off OculousVR plugin
* Removed M24 until proper animations can be created
* Added in buffer room to RR Range to reduce sound in Team Room when players shooting
* Fixed missing Splash screen
* Added UE4 splash logo movie
* Refined Scalability settings for more consistent performance across all settings
    * Noticeable framerate gains for Medium/High settings for Shadows and Effects setting  


AI
* updated AITacticalPerectionComponent to allow loading settings from an external ini formatted file and from a specific section
* Tweaked the sense sight ADSR envelope to give a slower ramp up to the sight sense, should give a slight perceptual delay.



CODE
* updated GBPlayerController()
    * init char appearance/loadout functions now attempt to load the then the default version if the last used fails to load.
    If for some reason that fails, it randomly creates one.
    * if a char loadout/appearance is added and the player has a null char appearance/loadout, one wil be created immediately.
* updated GBGameMode
    * re-enabled some stubbs/logging to track when default appearance/loadout is used
    * improved logging of when no appearance/ladout is used
    * added potential fix for default appearance/loadout not being used
* updated WBP_Settings_Video to fix variable used by AA Type setting
* created Blueprint functions to get default char appearance/loadout paths
* created Blueprint functions to apply char appearance/item assets if they are missing on character.
* added sanity check/fail safe to BP_Character using new Blueprint functions 
   to make sure some kind of appearance is set regardless.
* updated WBP_CharacterEditor and WBP_ItemEditor to fall in line with other screen layouts and work as pre-placed widgets.
* updated WBP_CharacterEditorScreen
    * like the player controller updated, will attempt to load last used, then default and finally just create a random one.
* created WBP_CustomiseOperator based off WBP_CharacterEditorScreen
     * before trying to load anything from disk, will first ask the player controller if it has an appearance/loadout.
    * replaces much of functionality that was on BP_Trigger_CustomiseOperator
* updated UGBCharAppearanceData::AddNewCharAppearanceMesh() to ensure bLightAttachmentsAsGroup was set to true.
 * revmoed GBItem::CreateCollisionProxy()
* updated AGBItem::PreSave()  to ensure bLightAttachmentsAsGroup was set to true for all items, not just ones we remember (oops).

* increased TK BanTime from 5min to 60min
* added mute support
    * hit escape to see player list
    * talking players have throbbing names and VOIP icon
    * to mute, hit VOIP icon
* added quick admin commands
     * hit escape to see player list
     * if you have admin powers, an admin menu will be next to each players name
     * quick admin powers include kick, ban, kill, resurrect, toplayarea, toreadyroom & mute
* added new sound class to allow more control of sound while in ready room
      * players in RR, but not in live fire area will hear sound at 1/10th the volume.
      * players in RR and in live fire area will hear sound at full volume.
* when in live fire area, get warning if not pointing down range
* TerroristHunt change
      * 30 second countdown starts when insertion point is selected
      * anyone inside the operations room at end of count down will spawn in play area
      * anyone who hasn't selected an insertion point will have one selected for them.
      * anyone entering the operations room within the pre-freeze delay will also be sent to play area
      * if everyone leaves operations room before timer expires, timer is cleared.
      * if everyone selects an insertion point, round starts immediately.
      * ops rooms board will show if game is in progress and display spectate option
* TeamElimination change
      * 30 second countdown starts when someone on both teams selects an insertion point 
      * anyone inside the operations room at end of count down will spawn in play area
      * anyone who hasn't selected an insertion point will have one selected for them.
      * if everyone leaves operations room before timer expires, timer is cleared.
      * if everyone selects an insertion point, round starts immediately.
      * ops rooms board will show if game is in progress and display spectate option
* set DefaultAISettings based on those that were hard coded in previous builds
* disabled Advanced Settings in WBP_TerroristHunt_Settings until support for new ini is created.

INTEL UPDATE #001: Launch Recap

Our Early Access launch certainly had its share of suspense and drama, but we are happy to announce that it’s been a pretty good success so far! We’re really enjoying watching and listening to people have a lot of fun with GROUND BRANCH, and can’t wait to see more players jump in as we move forward.

It’s awesome that most of the new players understand and appreciate where the game is headed towards, despite all the rough edges that are to be expected from its current pre-alpha stage. Reaching and maintaining a positive rating for an Early Access title is not easy, and we consider it a big achievement.
So we wanted to take this time to outline a couple things you can expect as we transition from launch to continued production:

  • A quick hot-fix release this weekend will address some of the main issues with the Ready Room, customization menu and visual glitches some players are experiencing. We have gained a lot of feedback that could only happen with a larger scale release into Early Access, so thanks for all the reports!
  • Moving forward past this initial launch week, we would like to get into a bi-weekly update schedule with at least one major new feature or upgrade a month. Of course, there may be times when we are able to deliver more in shorter periods, too!
From the entire BlackFoot Studios team: Thank you so much for your continued support. Stick around, ’cause it’s gonna be a fun ride!

GROUND BRANCH pre-alpha is on Steam Early Access!

We’re thrilled to announce that GROUND BRANCH has finally arrived on Steam Early Access and is now available for everyone to play, get in on development, and help us make it the game we all want it to be.

So if you are among those who have not yet had a taste of GB, go ahead and grab it straight from Steam or—if you would also like to donate or buy multiple keys to gift friends—from our STORE, where you can purchase with PayPal via a secure SendOwl gateway.

We would like to say a huge thanks to all our existing community for all the support and feedback over the years, and to those who are about to join in: Welcome to GROUND BRANCH. We hope you enjoy your stay!

GIVEAWAY WEEKEND!

We’re running a quick giveaway contest for 4 GROUND BRANCH Steam® Early Access keys on social media. Here are the rules:

  1. TWITTER ENTRY:
    • Follow our Twitter account (@groundbranch).
    • Like and retweet the contest tweet.
    • Mention @groundbranch in your retweet. (Requirement dropped for Round 2.)
  2. FACEBOOK ENTRY:
    • Like and comment on the contest post.
  3. THE CONTEST
    • A total of 4 (four) GROUND BRANCH Steam® Early Access key will be given away over the weekend to entrants who comply with the rules.
    • On this Saturday, August 11, at 10 p.m. EDT (2 a.m. UTC), 2 (two) winners will be drawn at random: 1 (one) from Twitter and 1 (one) from Facebook.
    • On Sunday, August 12, at 5 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. UTC), another 2 (two) winners will be drawn at random: 1 (one) from Twitter and 1 (one) from Facebook.
    • You are required to enter once per day of contest to be eligible for that day’s draw.
    • Winners will be announced publicly on the respective social media page shortly after each draw.
    • Once a winner is drawn, they are no longer eligible to a new draw.
  4. ADDITIONAL RULES (applicable for Facebook and Twitter):
    • Anyone found to use multiple accounts to enter will be ineligible.
    • Multiple entries by a single user on the same day will not be accepted.