Scopey

Build Update #037: Another Hotfix

Build ID: 8704907 (Client) / 8704918 (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 57.3 MB (Client) / 28.3 MB (Dedicated Server)

Another week, another attempt at wrapping up V1032 for good. Here’s the change list:

  • Fixed several causes of crashes — sorry about those!
  • Fixed built-in iron sights on various weapons not working or otherwise not interfacing correctly with placed iron sights
  • Fixed M17 pistol missing rear sight texture
  • Fixed apparent shifting of the firearm when crouching/leaning
  • Fixed (hopefully) zeroing issues that resulted in weird offsets, stretched necks etc.
  • General update to sight line system
  • General fixes to inventory system
  • Updated item LOD handling, fixing issue with G33 Magnifier
  • Updated kit parsing logic to fix issues with Main Menu screen characters kits, AI bot kits and others
  • Updated MK46‘s OnEmptyShot event to call parent version of event — fixes the MK46 not using the gradual dry-fire animation
  • Corrected material index used for reticle in Micro T-1
  • Updated passthrough widget material to be less washed out (hopefully)
  • Updated GBGameState to allow for easily debugging MOTD in-editor via GB.DebugServerMOTD console variable
  • Added confirmation dialogue before displaying web-based server MOTD: now recommends only allowing images from trusted websites
  • Server Info whiteboard:
    • Updated display settings to auto-scale to fit
    • Updated size and placement to prevent white border
    • Updated blueprint to fall back to displaying servername and motd URL if a web-based MOTD was denied earlier and remembered
  • Made firing and pump animation two deliberate motions by adding slight delay before calling the pump animation
  • Updated Tablet item to better handle laptop interactions (putting Tablet away and switching back) in Intel Retrieval mode
  • Fixed bug in spawn-finding algorithm for Deathmatch (was using wrong TeamID, so not finding spawns as far as possible from other players)
  • Disabled debug strings related to trigger pull failing

Build Update #036: Patch V1032.2

Build ID: 8622958 (Client) / 8622968 MB (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 82 MB (Client) / 46 MB (Dedicated Server)
IMPORTANT: CLEAR YOUR OLD FILES

We generally recommend players to delete all contents in the following locations (copy-paste the path into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter):

   1️⃣ %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor
   2️⃣ Documents\GroundBranch

⚠️ Not doing so may cause various asset and input issues in your game.

Patch V1032.2 is now available!

This is expected to be the last patch for V1032, after which — if nothing game-breaking comes up — we will be fully shifting to work on the V1033 release.

Here’s the full change list with all of the fixes and tweaks:

DevTest changes

If you have played the latest DevTest build (shared about a week ago with our Discord community), these changes will not be new for you:

  • Updated stride length calculation to fix “dip” when moving
  • Big restructuring of inventory item system (in particular replication) with the aim of fixing a wide range of online kit bugs
  • Lots of changes behind the scenes as a consequence of the above
  • Miscellaneous bug fixes identified during the course of the restructuring
  • Dragging-and-dropping attachments will now copy the skin for the attaching item from whatever you are dragging it onto, if possible
  • Updated inventory bar to equip a rifle on single press if hands are empty and there is a rifle on left/right shoulder, but not slung from chest
  • Updated platform system to make sure a single dump pouch is added to the players inventory (attaches to belt or platform, whichever is found first)
  • Made sure newly spawned mag/round for AI is added to their inventory
  • Fixed right elbow while sprinting with tablet/grenade
  • Fixed skin not being applied when selecting item without customizing it
  • Fixed magnifier having no sight picture when swapping from offset sight back to it
  • Fixed zoom in/out input staying active even when not looking down sightline with magnifier
  • Restructured night vision handling (local and spectator)
  • Tablet (map) now fills screen fully when equipped — the camera automatically adjusts and zooms in on it
  • Small update to ladder handling code so ladders should work a bit better
  • Server Browser now obscures passwords in the text input dialog
  • Fixed item not being brought up upon entering play unless it was already equipped in the Ready Room prior to leaving it
  • Tweaked position of display mag info notifier in mag check widget
  • Fixed iron sights validity check
  • Fixed issues related to the input sensitivity value not being set back to zero
  • Fixed cheap wooden doors on Compound having no collision

Post-DevTest changes

This is the list of changes made after DevTest was released, based on reports and feedback:

    • G33 Magnifier collision fixed to allow flipping up/down when in use or when not ADS
    • The magnifier is now also flipped up in the weapon customization screen to make it more intuitive to interface with other attachments
    • Updated weapon attachment placement to allow shape components to be used as well as static or skeletal meshes
    • Updated tan G33 to use the correct skin
    • Hopefully fixed issue with server details going out of scope
    • Fixed (new) issue with trigger not firing correctly and not being able to shoot when crouched
    • Updated platform to add/remove/reattach dump pouch as required
  • Changed iron sights handling to deactivate all front sight posts by default and do some general fixes
  • Corrected box collision used on some dropped mags
  • Fixed PIP scopes not having screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO) and screen space reflections (SSR)
  • Set all exterior lights in City to only be on at night (was causing slowdown at dawn/dusk due to to many lights being active)
  • Tweaked Tablet to not fully fill screen when zoomed, for a bit of peripheral vision
  • Fixed ammo check and fire selector HUD elements showing up for listen server host as well as client
📢 This has been BUILD UPDATE #036!
Thanks to all of the public DevTesters for helping us get this patch squared away!

Provided this patch holds up, development will soon fully shift to V1033, and we'll soon start gathering some very exciting previews to showcase. Stay tuned!

NOW HIRING: Senior Gameplay Engineer for GROUND BRANCH (UE4/UE5, C++)

WANTED: Senior Gameplay Engineer/Developer

CORE REQUIREMENTS
• UE4/UE5 Blueprint and C/C++ knowledge
• Great communication and teamwork
• Ability to work remotely (capable PC and internet connection)

PLUSES
+ Demonstrable (2+ years) experience in a shipped title or advanced mod
+ Experience/knowledge in AI development
+ A genuine interest in GROUND BRANCH or hardcore/old-school tactical shooters in general

THINK YOU'RE A GOOD MATCH?
Email us at jobs@blackfootstudios.com with your application and CV/portfolio!

BlackFoot Studios is seeking a Senior Gameplay Engineer to join our small, dedicated, remote team for the development of GROUND BRANCH, currently on Steam Early Access.

You will be working in areas like gameplay, AI and tools while supporting audio, animation, design and other areas as required. Core responsibilities also include engine technology and build systems.

The ideal candidate will possess good problem-solving skills, the ability to work well with others, and a passion for making unique, high-quality games.

Perks

  • Flexible hours: Availability and consistency matter, but getting things done is what’s most important to us.
  • Work from home: As a remote team from all over the globe, we all work from the comfort and safety of our homes.
  • Industry experience and visibility: The latest version of GROUND BRANCH has been singled out for acclaim in the tactical shooter world — help us make it even better.

Responsibilities

  • Create and implement new features within Unreal Engine 4/5
  • Create, iterate on, and debug gameplay systems
  • Ensure newly developed engine systems are maintained for code cleanliness, performance, and extensibility

Requirements

  • At least 2 years professional experience working on modern game engines
  • A strong passion for FPS (first-person shooter) game development
  • Proficiency in C/C++ and UE4/UE5 Blueprints
  • Good communication skills, both verbal and written
  • Ability to efficiently work remotely (capable PC and internet connection)
  • A willingness to work on a wide variety of systems and learn new things

Preferences/pluses

  • Unreal Engine 4/5 development experience
  • Worked on at least 1 shipped title
  • Previous work on multiplayer FPS games
  • Lua knowledge

Application

Please send your application to ✉️ jobs@blackfootstudios.com with your CV/portfolio and anything else we might want to know about you.

Build Update #035: Leaning vs. Running Hotfix

Build ID: 8467172 (Client) / 8467193 (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 56 MB (Client) / 27 MB (Dedicated Server)

We have just pushed out another hotfix, this time for the leaning vs. running issue introduced in the V1032.1 patch.

  • Leaning will now (once again) take priority when activated during a run, and slow your character down to a walk while maintaining the lean.
  • When leaning while stationary or walking, starting a run will still cancel the lean.
  • This issue was most noticeable for players that use the “Always Run” option, as the default movement speed in that case — running — would prevent leaning unless the Run key was pressed in order to walk first.

While we wanted to include more fixes for the big remaining issues, those will still take a while for various reasons. As a result, we thought it was better to release this specific fix now rather than sit on it.

Build Update #033: Patch V1032.1

Build ID: 8378834 (Client) / 8378845 (Dedicated Server)
Download size: 118 MB (Client) / 72 MB (Dedicated Server)
IMPORTANT: CLEAR YOUR OLD FILES

If you are coming from V1031 or have not updated your game since CTE, you need to delete all contents in the following locations (copy-paste the path into your File Explorer address bar and hit Enter):

   1️⃣ %LOCALAPPDATA%\GroundBranch\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor
   2️⃣ Documents\GroundBranch

⚠️ Not doing so will cause various asset and input issues in your game.

Patch V1032.1 has been released!

This patch focuses on fixing issues with the original V1032 release that came out earlier this year. But in typical BlackFoot Studio fashion, in some cases we couldn’t help ourselves and added some new content.

Some quick notes

Please note that we didn’t manage to squish every bug — and likely created some new ones — so we anticipate that there will be a much smaller and hopefully quicker V1032.2 patch in the near future.

Things we didn’t manage to get enough testing or flashes of inspiration to pin down include floating pistols and floating smoke grenades, among other things. So please continue to file bug reports (using the in-game bug reporter, if possible) and make sure to provide all relevant details, including any interesting things you did before the bug happened, as well as the game mode played, server type (self-hosted vs. dedicated server), player count, map and so on. Your reports are greatly appreciated!

Some issues we’re just leaving for now (e.g. a few AI problems) as the relevant systems are being overhauled in the next update, and it’s not a very good use of our time to fix up difficult-to-find bugs in code we’re about to throw out.

So thank you for your patience, please bear with us on the stuff we didn’t fix, and we hope you enjoy this little update!

Change list

Animations

A great deal of small and large tweaks and fixes were made to the animation work that had been put into the game in V1032.

When you fix a lot of things, you tend to break a few things in the process, and these fixes are no exception. There is going to be a further overhaul on the animations in V1033, so we’ll probably live with the small number of animation issues that remain and focus on the V1033 work now. In more detail, here’s what was done:

  • Back-ported the UE5 animation warping code to improve walk/run/sprint transitions and handling
  • Reworked much of the blending layer, removing superfluous logic while trying to maintain as much of the original underlying animation as possible
  • Improved checks against switching items/reloading while sprinting
  • Changed the default mesh space movement additive to use smoother “first person” torso additives to create smoother movement, sightline, and so on
  • Improved the IK elbow pole targets to fix the “chicken wing” elbows
  • Varied the magnitude of the finger pull animation when dry-firing
  • Toned down the dry-fire animations on a range of weapons
  • Refined fire selector animations
  • Tweaked fire selector animations to have better blend and dampen when in ADS
  • Improved the handling of held items while sprinting
  • Fixed the head transform clamp offsetting the head when pitching up/down; or, in plain English: fixed wonky neck when aiming or looking up and down
  • Removed the head transform change when aiming with a handgun
  • Reduced head movement when using an offset or elevated (“piggybacked”) secondary sight
  • Improved the blending of upper body montages to fix/remove jitters
  • Reduced weapon shifting when crouching
  • Added a tweak to prevent the “pants hiking up” issue with some recoil animations
  • Tweaked sections and blend-out times of the handgun reload animation to stop the first section playing part of the second
  • Fixed the flicker that happens at end of reload animations
  • Fixed weapon position transitions being cut off when switched quickly
  • Updated the aim and head IK code to ensure the correct item transform when using dynamic IK targets
  • Rearranged the sightline bone handling in the character blending layer to detach sightline from item bone movement/rotation while moving
  • Fixed the left elbow when using right-hand overlay and crouching
  • Tweaked animations at low and high speeds to match up better without leg splits when going from idle to moving
  • Updated idle rifle animations on the Main Menu backdrop

Character assets and customization

  • New default builds have been provided for all weapons, with an emphasis on practical builds with a variety of attachments and grip placements — special thanks to Prowlaz and Trav for taking the time to make these! (In some cases, you will have to lower the weapon and use freelook (default Tab) to see the Wristwatch face)
  • Fixed Chest Rig (JCR) placement in the Customize Operator screen
  • M9A3 now has recoil
  • SDASS sights should now line up correctly
  • The NVG Head Mount is updated to asynchronously load Night Vision Goggles when the headset is attached to character and not to encode it
  • Reloading will now eventually cycle through different compatible magazine types (e.g. from Primary Ammo to a 20-round STANAG or 35-round PMAG) once you run out of ammo for the current magazine type
  • Fixed bug where going into locker with NVG enabled would leave lasers in NV mode after you unequipped NVG and left locker
  • MK4 3.5–10x scope now has the magnification adjustment ring set up to move according to current magnification level
  • Entering the Customize Operator screen (e.g. interacting with locker or workbench) will now hide the HUD, including the stance indicator

Gameplay and mechanics

  • The Rangefinder now uses a different trace channel so it will not hit blockplayer actors any more (such as the invisible walls on The Farm’s outdoor shooting range)
  • Fixed the Rangefinder’s night vision mode
  • Night vision spectate mode generally fixed up, but some issues remain (for example with Rangefinder NV mode)
  • Physics collision handling updated

 Graphics, UI and settings

  • Added icon for Shemagh (Head)
  • Shemagh (Head) skins “Mint Green” and “Mint Tan” changed to “Foliage Green” and “Tan” respectively
  • Added advanced effects setting to turn volumetric fog on/off
  • Turned off volumetric fog in all but Epic setting
  • Adjusted default TAA settings for more stable image (less flickering) and to be a little sharper
  • New advanced settings added to help tune TAA and overall color/contrast of the game
  • Added controller/gamepad sensitivity settings (Settings › Controls)
    • Left and right analog stick sensitivity now customizable via “Left Gamepad Sensitivity” and “Right Gamepad Sensitivity” settings
    • Changed a few setting names/tags to avoid confusion between mouse and controller inputs
  • Fixed eyelashes showing through eyewear lenses
  • Lighting tweaked and old fog removed from Arena and Arena II (should fix Ready Room fog issue on those maps)
  • Redundant entries cleaned up in DefaultScalability.ini and DefaultEngine.ini
  • The After Action Report (AAR) screen can now be closed by tapping Esc or Spacebar

Audio

  • More complex audio stuff hooked up again in the Rig map, though acoustics on Rig are still overall simplified a bit to prevent excessive performance loss
  • Reverb send levels of footsteps modified to improve directionality
  • Distance at which gunshot tails transition to mono was lowered to improve directionality
  • Increased interior ambience level on Rig
  • Modified mix presets:
    • Increased gear movement sounds level when walking/running
    • Low Dynamic Range: slightly increased difference between loud and quiet sounds, reduced sprinting level, reduced difference between different weapon types
    • Medium Dynamic Range: increased difference between loud and quiet sounds
  • Big pass on VOIP and Commo Rose to fix bug where everyone hears Commo Rose audio and sees it in their own name
  • PhysMats added to stair actors to improve footstep sounds on metal stairs
  • Max footstep sounds distance clamped to 80 meters — footsteps further from local player than that will not be posted
  • Metal deck surface assigned to concrete footsteps for diversity (e.g. on Rig)
  • Missing spatial volume tags added to Rig
  • Addded G3A3 and MK14 charging handle sounds
  • Hooked up glass shatter sounds to Wwise and temporarily removed glass impact sounds until we can set them up to work with Wwise (for performance gain)
  • Miscellaneous VOIP fixes
  • AI bark manager created to prevent excessive reuse of AI barks in a short space of time

Missions, maps and mission editor

Team insertion points for the Team Elimination game mode have had a bit of an overhaul, and we’ve provided some new missions to thank you for your patience as we worked on this patch and the next main release. In more detail:

  • The Team Elimination game mode and validator were changed to add mutual exclusion spawn groups, and tweaked to improve the randomization of spawn points each round
  • A pass was done on all current Team Elimination missions to adapt to the new system, setting up mutual exclusion spawn groups as needed
  • Tentative fix for players being auto-balanced in DTAS (Dynamic Take and Secure) after spawning in with the (now) enemy team; one consequence is that late joining during PreRoundWait is disabled if auto-balance is on
  • The confusingly named “747 (Plane Only)” Terrorist Hunt mission was renamed to “747 (Plane and Nearby)” and supplemented by a new “747 (Plane Interior)” TH mission which really does do what it says on the tin
  • Added new “747 (Plane Interior)” Deathmatch mission for (much) lower player counts
  • Added new Rig (Decks 1 and 2) DTAS mission to complement existing Decks 3 and 4 DTAS mission
  • Added new “Storage Facility (Storage Cavern)” DM map
  • Added new “Storage Facility (Underground)” DM map
  • Added new “Storage Facility (Underground)” TH map
  • Fixed an off-screen insertion point for Storage Facility TH map
  • Bad laptop fixed in Depot‘s Intel Retrieval mission
  • Wobbly tree on Compound fixed
  • New NavmeshBlocker actor added in the mission editor as a temporary fix (until we get the new AI in the next big update) to keep AI within specific parts of the map
  • 747 (Plane Interior) TH, 747 (Plane and Nearby) TH, Compound (Compound Only) TH, Small Town TH, Run Down TH and possibly 1 or 2 other missions were updated to include the new NavmeshBlocker feature to partition the map and keep AI within the mission area

Admin

  • Updated Server Browser to ensure it stops refreshing the server list if you try to connect
  • Added -RandomMapStart=N server command line option to start from first map (if N=0) rather than random pick (if N≠0), as was previously always done
  • A basic anti-cheat function was added to stop players playing when it is detected that specific files are missing (e.g. flashbang FX) — we can’t completely prevent players from cheating, but we reserve the right to prevent the easiest/laziest methods!