Scopey

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Time for another Intel Report, where we go over the latest happenings in development as the upcoming GROUND BRANCH update V1033 continues to evolve.

📅 Be sure to check out last month's Intel Report (#011) in case you missed it!

GROUND BRANCH on GeForce NOW soon

As mentioned last month, GROUND BRANCH is coming to GeForce NOW — NVIDIA’s cloud gaming service — which will make the game accessible to a whole new audience of subscribers.

NVIDIA has confirmed that this will happen sometime this month:

We’ll be sure to make a quick announcement when it goes live!

New coder in the house

Last month we announced the addition of VFX Artist Charles Schmidt and Sound Designer Zack Reagan to the team, but some of you may remember that we still had a vacant senior programmer spot. And this month we’re very happy to announce that is no longer the case, as Christoph Bockhahn joins us in a Senior Programmer capacity!

Chris’ resumé is too humiliating for us to fully cite, but it should suffice to say that he was working for Acer before and has a master’s in astrophysics. In addition to his general programming background, Chris has industry experience in UI, tech art, gameplay engineering and, of course, the mandatory Unreal Engine skills.

The biggest benefit of getting Chris on board is going to be speeding up AI development, which is of course great news for most of the GROUND BRANCH player base.

Let’s all welcome Chris to the team! We’ll take a quick look at some of his initial work next.

Some AI news

As announced in February, AI is being rebuilt using Kythera AI, a specialized middleware.

Though implementation is still very much under-the-hood at this point (meaning nothing cool to showcase, unfortunately), Chris has taken the time to start prototyping a friendly AI ordering system:

Patches and callsigns

Continuing the work on patches for headgear and shirts, we now have callsign patches in-game, for ease of identifying operators on the field.

Players can choose a three-letter callsign code, or have one generated automatically when changing name. Servers can also apply a callsign patch policy, for example to force players to have callsigns based on their chosen element (A, B, C, D), to override any selection by each player. There is no need to choose a callsign patch in the character editor — these are added automatically whenever a callsign is used.

Depot is getting a visual update

Environment artist Will has moved on to giving Depot a thematic art pass to get it more in line with Storage Facility, which is set in the same region.

Here are some preview shots:

New Storage Facility previews

The Storage Facility map overhaul is done, so why not appreciate some ultrawide shots of that beauty in a different lighting?

Audio optimization continues

This month we have further optimized the audio side of things by lowering the amount of memory usage by at least half, based on performance testing on Small Town with 30 bots.

This was done by optimizing how the weapon sounds were loaded. Now, instead of all weapon sounds being stored at all times, only the ones in use during a particular mission or round are stored.

This method will also allow for easier audio modding in the future, as you only need to edit and rebuild the sound bank for the weapon you want to mod instead of rebuilding the entire weapon sound bank for just one weapon.

Combined with the CPU optimization that we detailed last month, we’re looking at roughly a 50% gain in audio performance so far — not too shabby.

🎧 Weapon tails and other sounds are also continually being reworked and improved alongside the optimization work.

Doors: a game designer’s nightmare

Doors are having part of their logic redone to address one of its main issues: getting both players and AI stuck in them.

Some degree of physics simulation is also being added in order to once again allow cracked doors — that is, partially open ones — to be pushed by just walking into them.

We’re also hoping to get a nicer looking effect for exploding doors while we’re at it.

More VFX progress

Work on particle effects continues as Charles converts all of the existing VFX to the newer Niagara system before reworking and improving them.

He has zeroed in on bullet impacts and has recently started improving the breaching charge explosion:

Animations

Though we cannot showcase it at this time for various annoying reasons, we can confirm that some basic new manipulation animations will make it to V1033.

Players will actually start seeing their character flip magnifiers on and off, flick the Specter DR’s lever to the front and back, and pull their night vision goggles up and down.

🚪 A basic "magic hand" type of animation for door interactions may also be present as a placeholder. That still beats telekinesis, right?

Mike has also been busy with hand poses and reload sequences to fit the new and updated weapon models, which we’ll cover next.

Weapon models

Weapons and related assets continue to be created and revamped as needed by our trusted contractors, which — between brand-new items and replacements — has so far allowed us to add over a dozen new weapon models to V1033.

Let’s make a quick list, starting with the new weapons:

• MK17 CQC / DMR
• Wz.88
• AK-105
• PKM
• PMM
• M24 SWS

Speaking of which, here’s how that last one turned out:

Now for the replacements/updates:

• M1911A1
• AK-74M
• AKS-74U
• AK-105 Alpha (replacing the AK-74 MI)
• AKS-74U Alpha (replacing the AK-74 MI CQB)
• SVD
• M16A4 (currently in development; the old model has issues in both scaling and quality consistency)

And that’s not even mentioning extra parts and new/updated attachments that will make their way into the game as we go.

As promised, here’s the new AK-74M, as well as the AK-105 with tactical Zenitco furniture:

More renders of the AKs on the AK Productions ArtStation right here.

We can also confirm that an “A2” carry handle is finally coming for the M16/M4 series of weapons. That’s right. We caved.

⁉️ WHY THE FOCUS ON VISUALS? WE WANT BETTER AI!
From time to time, part of the player base questions our priorities, which is understandable: why are we putting resources on models, effects or any other superficial thing when there are areas of development in more urgent need of attention?

Well, that is simply because not everyone on the team can do everything. For example, telling our art guys to shift their focus to gameplay code will only result in neither art or gameplay seeing progress.

So while progress may be slow in certain areas, others may (and should) continue to develop normally.

That said, AI has seen little progress in the last couple of updates, but is now getting worked on intensively, beginning with the integration of the new Kythera middleware. AI is one of the harder aspects of game development, and the results won't be immediate — it's an ongoing task that will be spread over the next few updates and beyond — but the key takeaway here is that we are now "all systems go", in all areas of development.

This has been Intel Report #012!

We hope you found this post informative and interesting enough to make the soul-crushing wait for V1033 a bit more bearable.

Thank you very much for reading, and we’ll see you on the next one!

Hey, everyone!

It’s been around a month since our last dev blog (#010), and because we are now aiming for monthly entries, the time has come again to showcase some more progress and talk about other recent developments.

Intel Update is now INTEL REPORT!
We are renaming our series of dev blog entries from "Intel Update" to Intel Report. The reason is that some players would simply glance over the title, spot the word "update" in it, and immediately proceed to type "did we get an update?" in the nearest text box, prompting confusion and aggravation in an otherwise incredibly peaceful and welcoming community.

New dev team members

As some of you will know from our recent job ads, we have been looking for reinforcements in a couple areas: VFX (visual effects) and programming being the main ones.

We hope to have news on the programmer role very soon, but in the meantime, we are proud to introduce new BlackFoot Studios members Charles Schmidt and Zack Regan!

Charles is our first dedicated VFX Artist. He was previously a gameplay designer and visual effects artist for Operation: Harsh Doorstop, and is now giving the particle effects in GROUND BRANCH some much-needed love. He will be working on making hit impacts, muzzle blasts, smoke, blood and all kinds of visual effects in the game look and perform better.

Zack’s joining us as an additional Sound Designer whose skillset nicely complements Mikson‘s, with valuable Wwise and Unreal Engine integration experience. Formerly a member of Code Blue Games, Zack is also a composer, so we might be seeing some new tracks in GB down the line.

Welcome to the team, guys!

💡 We'll be checking out some of their initial work in a bit, so read on!

Performance optimization

As a pre-alpha game on Early Access that also happens to have a handful of fairly unique features, GROUND BRANCH is bound to have its performance fluctuate over the course of development as we add, remove and generally change things around. And although we always keep track of the worst performance offenders, fixes are rarely straightforward and may take some time to figure out.

It’s no secret that performance in V1032 is less than stellar, with certain aspects of audio and asset modularity being some of the major culprits. Here are some of the steps we have been taking to address them so far:

M4, MK18 and HK416D asset optimization

Though beautifully modeled and textured by Bakr Asaad, the M4 and HK416 families of carbines are using around 12 texture sets per weapon as of V1032. The models were created with very granular customization in mind, with each individual part having its own texture set.

If you go online and your team is using an assortment of different M4- and HK416-based weapons — easily some of the most popular guns in the game — that could be loading upwards of 30 texture sets for those weapons alone in your GPU’s memory. Not ideal when you already have in-depth character customization, meaning a whole lot of other assets to render.

For V1033, we had those weapon models rebuilt to use only 3–4 texture sets each, while preserving as much of the quality and fidelity of the originals as possible. This change may not be as impactful as the more CPU-intensive issues such as those caused by dynamic lighting and audio, but every bit helps and it had to be done at some point.

 

Audio optimization

Zack has been working closely with Mikson to address one of the biggest performance issues in the game: audio complexity causing excessive CPU usage.

To better understand the problem, think back on all of the different sounds your character makes in GROUND BRANCH when moving around or firing a weapon. There’s the footsteps, the rustling clothes, the crackling gear… And when shooting, there’s the mechanical weapon clicks and clings, the muzzle blast, and even a dedicated sound effect for distant gunfire in case someone hears them from afar. These sounds are individual audio layers, and every time a character moves or shoots, all of these layers are “broadcast” to everyone. Needless to say, the more characters in the game, the more demanding it becomes.

To tackle the problem, the duo has rearranged the entire audio project to support first-person perspective vs. third-person perspective sounds. In practice, this means they can significantly reduce the amount of simultaneous sounds and layers that are played by determining when to play each of them.

For example: the player firing the weapon doesn’t need to hear the layer for distant gunfire, so we can now tell the game to only play it as a third-person sound, i.e. for other players. Conversely, other players don’t need to hear (and are unlikely to notice) the mechanical weapon layer of your shots, so they will no longer be played for them.

As another example, movement sounds can be preserved as layered audio in first-person, but for third-person playback we can now play an optimized version where all of the layers have been combined into a single sound effect. So you’ll still hear a high-fidelity, multi-layered playback when you move your own character around, but the sound generated by other players will be a simplified version of that. That’s far fewer sounds to play.

🎧 Audiophiles using high-fidelity equipment may notice subtle differences, but the vast majority of us will only notice the glorious gains.

First pass results

After this initial optimization pass was done, Mik and Zack ran a profiler on maps Run Down, Small Town and Tanker to see how CPU usage responded to the changes.

Each map was ran three times in single player (Terrorist Hunt) with 30 AI bots, first in V1032 and then in V1033 to compare. Here are the average peaks:

MAP: RUN DOWN
V1032: 53.38%
V1033: 36.28%
-17.10% CPU usage (~32% decrease)

MAP: SMALL TOWN
V1032: 46.34%
V1033: 37.07%
-9.27% CPU usage (~20% decrease)

MAP: TANKER
V1032: 46.17%
V1033: 22.03%
-24.14% CPU usage (~52% decrease)

The peak average for these maps in V1032 was 48.6% CPU usage, which was brought down to a 31.8% peak average in V1033 — or a 34.6% decrease. Not bad at all for a first pass.

It’s worth noting that these numbers are strictly for CPU usage — not framerates — and we’ll be running more tests as the optimization continues. There’s more performance to be gained on the audio side of things alone, and certainly more scenarios to test on (e.g. multiplayer).

NVIDIA GeForce NOW

While not directly related to optimization, cloud gaming services allow players with low-end PCs to enjoy games that their machines can’t natively run. And with GROUND BRANCH having an ambitious array of features that can test lower-end hardware, we have received a lot of interest in GeForce NOW support.

Well, we have mentioned before that support for GeForce NOW is planned (it’s been on our Roadmap since around February), but we have recently discovered that we might be able to support it a lot earlier than expected! Steam has a feature that allows NVIDIA-approved games to be linked to GeForce NOW as long as Steam Cloud saves are setup and working. Which, by the way, they are now, and enabled by default — you can change that by right-clicking the game in your library and selecting “Properties”:

☁️ Steam Cloud saves will only be required for GeForce NOW users.

NVIDIA has yet to greenlight the integration, but our end is all setup and could potentially lead to GeForce NOW support before V1033 is even here. Fingers crossed!

What’s up, everyone?

It’s been a hot minute since our last Intel Update, and although we have been patching V1032 for a while now, work on upcoming release V1033 has been ongoing for several months behind the curtains. Before we start teasing the goods, however, we need to talk about a couple things:

🔥 Summer Sale: GROUND BRANCH is 40% OFF until July 7th!

That’s right! GROUND BRANCH is currently a whole 40% OFF, which we think is a pretty dang good deal and our highest discount yet.

You can grab your discount copy directly on Steam, or you can…

❤️ CONSIDER BUYING DIRECTLY FROM OUR STORE

Buying the game from our Store ensures that we get the full cut of the purchase, as opposed to Valve taking 30%.

💰 Use code  GBSUMMER  at the checkout to apply the 40% discount.

Please note the GB Store has no regional pricing — it can only use the base USD price tag!

You have exactly 2 weeks (until July 7th) to think about it or get that one friend (you know the one) to pull the trigger on this fantastic opportunity. Let’s get the word out and make sure to welcome the new players in!

We’re hiring: VFX Artist wanted for particle effects

This one is for any industry pros that might be lurking: BlackFoot Studios is looking for a VFX Artist to create awesome, realistic particle effects in GROUND BRANCH. For more details, click here.

Also, the Senior Gameplay Engineer/Developer position is still open. So if you know any Unreal Engine & C++ wizards out there (or happen to be one yourself), get in touch! Full job details right here.

So how’s V1033 coming along?

That’s what most of you are here for, so let’s move on to those sneak peeks we promised. Here are some of the exciting things currently under development.

New sky and weather system

GROUND BRANCH V1033 is being setup with a new system that allows for dynamic sky and weather effects, which means clouds, the moon and stars will be making a return.

We’re still assessing performance, but if it proves to work well, we may soon also be able to choose not just the time of day, but also whether the sky is clear, cloudy or overcast; whether there’s a moon out at night or not; and even if it’s rainy or foggy. The whole system is also being rigged up to inform the player of lighting and visibility conditions, as well as to allow a specific mission date to be set in order to emulate the real-life weather conditions of a certain area (where the map is set) at a given time.

This early prototype for the more advanced settings should give you an idea of the depth of the new system:

Although we are not yet sure how many of these options will be available to players (at least initially) nor exactly how it will all be displayed, the back-end to support it is already in place. Just keep in mind that it’s early days, and if the plugin’s performance hit during regular gameplay is too big, then we might need to pull it until we can make it all play nice.

Updated night vision effects + incoming GPNVG-18

One of the most requested items in GROUND BRANCH history — the famous (and sometimes infamous, particularly if you ask a GB dev) GPNVG-18 “quad NODs” panoramic night vision goggles — is finally making its way into the game, along with a number of enhancements to the overall night vision and IR laser effects.

Among the improvements, you may notice how the goggles take up a larger portion of the screen. Instead of simply expanding the NVG overlay mask, which would grant players an unrealistically wide field of view, this was done by switching the FOV (that is, by “zooming in”) in order to make the realistic field of view display at a larger size. This effect will likely be made optional as it might disorient some players.

Have a quick demo video (remember it’s all WIP!) from Fatmarrow to see it in action:

As you may be able to spot in the video: the noise speckle effect has being reworked; mask movement and lens shading have been added to give the camera a more natural feel; and the goggles now appear to bounce when running/sprinting (this will definitely be tweaked/toned down). The goggles are also using a white phosphor overlay, which will be available on the dual-tube NVG too (as will green be available on the GPNVG-18), and the IR laser has also received an update.

What do you think of these updates so far? Let us know in the comments!

Patches, but not the kind we had a bunch of for V1032

We’re talking velcro patches that you can place on your character’s shoulders, headgear and (eventually) vests. Like so:

Patches will be making a comeback from the pre-Early Access days, and they should not only make customization more fun and authentic, but also start making IFF a little easier.

Another cool feature of patches will be a tint selection: in addition to the full-color version of each patch, 3 types of subdued tints — tan, green and grayscale — will also be available for those who don’t want no flashy colors spoiling their drip. Or their camo, sure.

Weapons

You have probably already spotted the MK17 SCAR-H in one of the screenshots above, so that cat is out of the bag. Modeled by the talented Cody Cudmore (aka ParallaxGameStudios), the MK17 will initially come in two versions: “CQC” (with the shorter 13-inch barrel) and “DMR” (with the standard 16-inch barrel and Midwest Industries handguard rail extension).

Cody has modelled several extra parts, however, that will be available when the ability to swap stocks, handguards and barrels is implemented. You can see most of the parts (along with some beautiful renders of the new MK17) in his ArtStation page.

Other upcoming weapon updates

Several of Cody’s models are being continually upgraded, so expect remasters of various attachments (including the AN/PEQ-15 and optics like the PRO, RMR, AccuPower and more) to have made their way into the game by the time V1033 hits.

Another new asset you may have spotted earlier is the new M1911A1 by Bakr Asaad aka Raider3D:

This modernized M1911A1 features a Picatinny rail for lights and lasers and a threaded barrel for suppressors, as well as 8-round and 10-round magazines. Aesthetically, it combines elements of various iconic 1911-style pistols used by American SOF over the last couple decades, retaining much of its classic look.

The update will also include plenty of AK-74 and AK-105 platforms (both with and without Zenitco parts), new SVDs, a PMM pistol, the suppressor for the MK46 machine gun… But hang in there, we’ll be unveiling more of these in the future.

Characters

As those spoilery screenshots earlier showed, character assets will be getting some new additions as well. Namely, we’ll be adding a new character head, and beards will finally make their comeback. That’s not all, but since we’re not sure at this time just how much will make it to V1033, we kindly request that all readers exercise caution with their hype levels.

Let’s take a look:

Hair color selection may not make it to V1033, but the assets have all been created to allow it once we get the functionality in.

Lastly for the character art department, another commonly requested item since V1032 has been tucked-in tops. Pau Peñalver is making the adjustments, and we’ll see how they end up in the game as far as selection goes.

Audio and animations

Among other things that we’ll be discussing in a later update, Mikson and Mike have been busy getting the new weapons to sound and move nicely, respectively.

Mik has also been working on environment-specific “tails”, which refers to how the gunshot sounds reverberate differently depending on the type of environment. So in addition to sounding different depending on whether you’re outdoors, in a small room or a larger room, shots in V1033 will have distinctive tails for urban, marine and generic outdoors, with the possibility of a woodland-area tail in the future too. Here’s a little demo:

New unsuppressed gunshot SFX for the MPX, 5.45 mm AK platforms and other weapons will also be in the update.

Other developments

This is it for today’s Intel Update, but before we sign off: we are also working on AI features, modding, map updates, a new map and game modes for V1033 that we’ll be showcasing at a later date.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!