Well what can we say… its been way to long since the last public build and we apologize. There have been numerous private testing builds with the Operator Edition owners and they have provided tons of information on fixing bugs and provided suggestions on improving the game. It also made us realize that the internals of the game have reached a point where we need to refine our process a bit to better accommodate faster/cleaner iteration that allows us to get public builds out faster and with much less work on our end. We have taken care of that, but in the mean time WE HAVE A NEW BUILD!!!!!
Things are going very well with many new features added and stability getting better with each new build. We just introduced the first pass at 3d positional/proximity VOIP that allows players to talk globally so everyone can hear if within appropriate distance as well as a radio channel that allows teams to communicate when out of hearing range. There have been lots of UI additions and fixes including the ability to change a full array of graphics settings to help fine tune performance. Networking and multiplayer has been getting a lot of work and is pretty stable at this point. Multiplayer matches now feature a full game loop (minus an after action review screen… that is coming) so players are enjoying playing Ground Branch with others and are starting to really see the potential of the game!
So when is the Early Access? Well we still have not set a firm date because we must get it right. There is only one chance for a first impression! We don’t feel it is to far off though, so we have decided to distribute Steam keys to those that have and will purchase the Pre-Order of Ground Branch. This will happen within the next 2-3 weeks and you will get an email with instructions. As mentioned, the game is not ready for Early Access and therefore still missing some key components, but we feel there is enough there to include more people in the process. Once we send these keys out then any Pre-Order purchases from that point on will automatically get a key upon purchase… no more waiting.
Those that purchased the Operator Edition have been enjoying playing Ground Branch for months now and have provided valuable feedback and bug reports. Here are a couple videos and some screenshots from a recent playtest…. thanks to Pepperbelly, WaderTheGamer, Jeza, jankovic and those playing.
Hey everyone, welcome to a new year! Lots going on with us here, especially with Ground Branch. We’ll get to that but first I would like to draw your attention to something we have partnered on with FragOut Studios named Sniper Tactical.
As some of you may know we partnered with FragOut Studios to help with the Weapons and Animation work for Ground Branch. Through that relationship we decided to lend them a hand in bringing some smaller less hard-core titles to market. The first of those titles is Sniper Tactical, a lemmings type puzzle game with sniper shooting mechanics mixed in. The gameplay revolves around bringing hostages to safe-zones which in turn is done by shooting enemies in correct order. Your job is to clear the path for your allies on the ground by taking out targets, bearing your own safety in mind. As enemies display various behavior types, it is up to you to learn how they will react and find a solution to each level. Hostages will move after you fire a shot so delivering accurate hits on the bad guys is not optional. Act quickly or slowly – depending on the situation.
Sniper Tactical is available as a Steam Early Access title on January 8th, 2016. While the experience isn’t the same as Ground Branch, the price is right for an enjoyable experience that is easy to pick up and play, but still takes skill and patience to master. Give it a try and let the developers know what you think.
Now for some Ground Branch news…… Things have been moving along quite well recently. We have closed out sales of the Operator Edition and are getting some great testing, feedback and collaboration from those who decided to make the purchase. Multiplayer connectivity is finally getting to the point where matches can be played and even in its very rough state people are enjoying the experience. Tremendous work has gone into the UI and the work needed to make our unique customization systems work as needed in both a single player and multiplayer environment.
Gameplay is still very rough and there are lots of bugs and graphics glitches, but here are a couple videos of some Operator Edition owners giving the latest build a go. Please remember you are watching a VERY early development build with LOTS of known issues and unfinished stuff. 😉
This one is played on a small developer test map that is used for various systems development/testing so the graphics are pretty basic. Its not a pretty map, but the video actually does a good job of showing off some of the fun gunplay you can have in small spaces. The players in the video seemed to have fun at least!
The latest video shows the current progress on the Ground Branch AI, specifically the basics for movement, cover and engagement. Lots to do still, but its good to finally get things to a point where they are actually working in the Ground Branch main branch. Hopefully we will be able to get a first pass of our Terrorist Hunt style mode out to the Operator Edition users soon.
So hopefully everyone has a great 2016 and we hope to see you playing Ground Branch soon!
We have been doing a lot of work on networking and AI lately and that stuff is kind of hard to show off until its done. Though Phil has been doing a good job of posting AI progress in the forums. 🙂
So why not show off some weapon work we have been doing!
The sniper rifle that will be in the Early Access is the M14 EBR and here is the current progress on the high poly version:
And for the Light Machine Gun in the Early Access we will be including a Mk46 MOD 1. Here is the in game asset rendered in engine:
The Mk46 will also make its debut in the official 1009 Operator Edition build coming soon. Thanks for all the support we have received to this point… it is GREATLY appreciated!
Join our
Receive our updates
Connect