Heads up, everyone: GROUND BRANCH is 25% OFF on the Steam Winter Sale until January 5th!
💗 Consider buying a key from our store
If you have a PayPal account, the same discount also applies in our official GB Store using code GBWINTER22 at the checkout — a cool option if you’d like us to keep the full cut from the sale, or want to add a donation.
Remember to spread the word and get your friends on board!
V1033 Community Test branch coming soon
We are close to finishing up our V1033 update, and we are planning to open it up to public testing by the end of the year. Stay tuned!
In case you missed it…
Since August, we have posted monthly Intel Reports to keep you updated on what’s coming for V1033 and beyond, with plenty of sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes info.
Today, we’re taking a little break from working on the V1032.1 patch for a special announcement.
It is no secret that bots in GROUND BRANCH are still very bare-bones and have a long way to go, which is why AI will be one of the main focuses of our upcoming major releases. As many players are aware, developing human-like tactical AI is, to say the least, extremely tricky even for large triple-A studios — let alone a small team like BlackFoot Studios — and capable AI developers willing to take on a niche project like ours are not easy to come by.
While game development can be an infinitely deep can of worms, it is made a little bit easier today by solutions such as Epic’s Unreal Engine and the ecosystem of plugins that support it. Enter Kythera AI: a middleware toolset that greatly enhances and facilitates AI development with features like their 2D navigation system (which includes formations, contextual pathfinding and character avoidance), automatic markup (to help generate cover and vaulting points, for example), spatial query system (which will help with combat maneuvering, among other things) and advanced behavior trees.
With that introduction, and as you have probably guessed by now, we are excited to announce that the Kythera AI toolset is now fully licensed for GROUND BRANCH! We very much look forward to resume AI development from V1033 onwards, as well as start giving players a more realistic and immersive PvE experience with Kythera’s partnership as we move forward. In John’s own words:
Great AI is crucial for us, and as a smaller studio without dedicated AI engineers, Kythera AI is the perfect solution. Their toolset easily integrates with our existing work in Unreal and lets us provide comprehensive, intelligent AI that we can maintain and continually improve. We can’t wait to roll out the first of these updates in the near future!
So there you have it, folks. Our AI has gone bare-bones for long enough, and as promised, we’re picking it back up very soon — with a leading industry solution to boot. While this will not mean state-of-the-art tangos and squad AI at the press of a button, we are confident that in addition to giving us the technical support we need, Kythera will offer a better foundation for our AI and generally make our lives much easier while developing it.
We’d like to thank Kythera AI for their partnership, and we can’t wait to start putting their tools to good use. To find out more about Kythera AI, check out their website here.
Yes, it may have been a while, but fear not—we’re still here, and we’re not going anywhere.
This is an Intel Update to fill you in on what we’ve been up to, what to expect for GB’s near future and why the next update is taking longer than usual.
Let’s start with the latter. As most of you are aware, BlackFoot Studios are what is considered indie AF (that’s short for as f***, in case you’re not as down with the kids as we are). That, of course, means limited personnel and, often, limited time as well. In addition to all the regular development obstacles, availability wasn’t great for most of us for the past month or so, resulting in an even bigger delay than expected. On the flip side, the next update should be more substantial both in terms of content and fixes, so there’s that to look forward to.
Before we continue, let us just say that we’re very grateful for all the patience and support coming from everyone despite the sometimes drawn-out progress. Thank you!
New update when?
The original plan for upcoming Build Update #013 was for a big PvP-oriented update featuring a couple new game modes and overall better PvP functionality and gameplay. Due to the aforementioned setbacks, however, we’re likely to break it down into smaller updates—both because it’s been a while already and because a big update would mean an even longer time without any updates.
Another thing we’re considering is incrementally adding in the new weapon-related sounds that Mikson has been diligently developing, which were originally planned for only after the PvP update.
We’re still figuring out exactly how we’re gonna roll, but read on for an overview of what to expect of future updates…
Unreal Engine 4.22(.1)
Engine updates always take some time, but this one was relatively painless—there’s always some tedious cleanup to do, but compared to the last time we did it, it went mostly swiftly. The jump to version 4.22 means a lot of editor-side bug and crash fixes, as well as some rendering improvements you may or may not notice depending on PC specs, video settings etc. Nothing major, but the quality-of-life bonus alone for us should mean less frustration going forward, and that’s always a good thing™. Version 4.22.1, which is what we’re on now, was a hotfix patch.
Sound design development
Almost all firearm sound assets are done, as Mikson and Kris work out the integration of said assets into the game via Wwise—the middleware also used in Insurgency: Sandstorm‘s excellent sound design. In case you’ve missed it, we posted a new little sound demo on YouTube a couple weeks ago:
Mikson has since tweaked these slightly based on valuable feedback, as he’ll continue to do with all effects as we get a better idea of how they sound within actual gameplay
We’re over the hump when it comes to implementation of the new weapon sounds, but it’s important to note that they might still be a couple updates away. Other sounds (like environmental) will be incrementally worked in as we go and added in subsequent updates.
New character assets and swatch system in the works
All of our character assets are being redone from scratch, with several new pieces of apparel planned for inclusion as well. Currently on the job is the very talented freelance contractor Pau Peñalver, who has so far put together the beauties showcased below:
Tactical-slash-cargo pants, anyone?
Yes, we know you’re so gonna mod a Hawaiian pattern onto this one
“What about them skins, though?”, you ask, but with even less regard for grammar. Well, check this out:
These skins aren’t final (don’t worry, we’ll have most of these and more); point is, we’re going be able to make the colors/patterns whatever we want (and so will you, in the future)
For the majority out there unfamiliar with UE4, the lovely schematic above lays out a UE4 Blueprint for a swatch system. A swatch system will not only purge skin inconsistency for assets, but also allow us to easily make any color or pattern we want into a selectable skin. Once modding is out, you’ll be able to create your own as well. Hooray!
Some basic color variations on that sweet dad plaid
These are only the first couple new assets, but we already have new assault gloves and an ACU-style jacket in the oven. You can look forward to redone (and brand-new) shirts and pants, as well as a fleece jacket, tactical gloves and a variety of footwear, with more apparel to be added as we go.
Map updates
City and 747 have both received extensive updates. 747 now supports Terrorist Hunt, and City will hopefully support it as well by the time the next update rolls out. Here are some previews of what’s new:
The central square of City is now home to a multi-story building that is being modeled after a bar/pub
Underground, the metro station now features a cozy, family-friendly restroom (credits: Jeza)
On 747, the aircraft received an exclusive Ram Airways paint job …
… and some buildings were added as backdrop, among other updates (credits: Rangda)
PvP game modes
A couple new objective-based adversarial game modes are being developed and tested out by the team and a small test group. We’d like to have at least one solid new game mode in the next update, with iterations and new modes to follow. More news as it happens!
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That’s all for Intel Update #004. Don’t forget to hop into our Discord server if you’re looking for pick-up games, support or just some GB talk. We’re also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and a soon-to-be-official subreddit. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
Intel Update #003 is here with a little SITREP to keep you busy while the next Build Update is in the oven. Here are some of the main highlights to look forward to—whether in the next update or in the ones to follow:
Work on lag compensation and hit registration systems
Kris has been working on fixing one of the biggest issues with online play: the perceived “inaccuracy” when playing with higher pings. In reality, it’s a networking issue due to the lack of a proper system to compensate for lag and ensure hit registration. Here’s Kris’ explanation for his current approach:
Client-side hit registration works by creating a client-side bullet for the local player. If the client-side bullet hits another player, information about the impact is sent to the server for verification. For the server to be able to verify the impact, it keeps a short history of previous player positions and other relevant data.
Once the impact info makes it to the server, it is checked against this history based on the delay between server and client. If the info received is found to match up, damage from the impact is applied. If not, the impact is ignored. In the case of co-op vs. AI, we have chosen to skip this test and simply “believe” the client. In the case of PvP [adversarial], it will always verify.
So there you have it! You can expect a first implementation of this system in the next Build Update.
Sound design is on its way
One of our newest team members—Mikołaj Ławiński, a.k.a. Mikson—got in the talks about taking care of the sound design in GROUND BRANCH a few months ago, not long before Early Access launched. Now on board, he’s doing exactly that. Mik is a young sound engineering student (and self-professed tacticool maniac) from Poland who, like many of us, fell in love with Rainbow Six—one of his first games—way back in the day and is now thrilled to be working on what some have called a spiritual successor to the influential tactical shooter.
He’s reworking sound effects and will also be taking care of the soundtrack. One of our goals for the sound design is getting as close as possible to the excellent atmosphere and punch present in Insurgency: Sandstorm. Mik will do his best to provide a “powerful, satisfying and realistic feel of the weapons, an immersive soundscape and tension coming from silence that suddenly turns to momentary chaos.” He also says:
The sound design rework will be pushed to the game in phases. Right now, my main priority is weapon sound effects. I’m focusing on making them aggressive, loud and punchy while keeping them as realistic as possible at the same time.
Sounds good to us, Mik. Welcome aboard!
We’re still unsure whether any sound updates will be available in the next patch, but rest assured that the importance of sound design is not being underestimated in the development of GROUND BRANCH.
New content
Zee has been busy reworking a few models and adding sweet new assets to the armory. While there isn’t much to show yet in terms of a modernized AK platform (currently in early production) and the T-1 red dot sight (next in line), here are a couple gems currently being implemented and tested:
G33 Magnifier: a tacticool favorite, it offers toggleable 3x magnification when placed behind a holographic or red dot sight.
In addition to the existing MP7A2, the MP7A1 (earlier variant with a standard folding vertical foregrip) will soon be available. Both versions can receive the dedicated Rotex-II suppressor and 4 skins—black and tan (both pictured), as well as green and AOR-1.
We’ll also be adding a new mount for the Mk 14 EBR that goes over the ejection port and should provide better sight attachment and usability—particularly for scopes.
General fixes and updates
As usual, expect lots of other smaller/under-the-hood fixes and updates that will be listed and detailed when the time comes.
Stay tuned via our social media channels, and thank you so much for your continued support and patience!
Update (September 9): Due to technical issues with the migration to Unreal Engine 4.20.2, the next Build Updated was delayed to early this week.
It’s time for another Intel Update, where we let you all know what we’ve been up to since you last heard from us. Cut to the chase, you say? A new Build Update is scheduled for this upcoming week, and we’re spilling some of the highlights below:
Unreal Engine 4.20.2
We’ve upgraded from Unreal Engine 4.18.2 to 4.20.2. Along with the numerous bug fixes and underlying improvements, this gives us access to a new networking feature that will help with online play.
Scope glitch fix
We’ve finally pinpointed what was causing the scope glitch, which seemed restricted to nVidia 10xx series GPU users. No more weird squares popping into view when aiming down magnified sights!
AI suppression
Our resident bot master Phil “zoombapup” Carlisle has worked some new suppression code into the AI programming that makes enemies capable of sensing incoming fire from distances and locations where they can’t see the attacking player: They will now take cover and return fire in more contexts, and their reaction is partly mitigated by how much suppression players put on them. These new suppression settings will also be accessible and editable via the AISettings.ini file.
Controls and key bindings
The Controls screen has been reworked to be more intuitive and accessible: More bindings are now exposed and editable, some were given their own independent key, and others were rearranged for future features. For instance, tapping Reload will now result in a tactical/retention reload, while double-tapping will perform a speed reload; holding Reload is being reserved for an upcoming menu that will allow the player to do a mag check, among other related actions. We’ll keep updating control schemes and making them increasingly more configurable as we go.
Earlier this week: AI squad commands
Those who follow our Twitter (or @zoombapup) got a sneak peek of Phil’s work on squad AI commands—door stacking and room clearing, anyone? Phil will be making a little demo video for those interested in the tech side of AI programming, and that will be posted in our social media channels sometime in the upcoming week. Follow us and don’t miss it!
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