GROUND BRANCH News

We have just pushed live our third Community Test (CT) build for GROUND BRANCH V1035!

It's difficult to identify an overall theme for this update other than, basically, "we fixed a whole lot more stuff". We've closed the gap considerably towards a V1035 release, and are starting to accept that one or two more things will be better dealt with in a point release — so we are getting pretty dang close to V1035.0.

[h2]V1035 Mod Kit now available[/h2]
A public test version of the V1035 Mod Kit is now also available. It simply replaces the existing V1034 one, and should update automatically for you. At this stage, weapons themselves seem to work fine in V1035, but ancillary things like custom magazines, sights, attachments, pouches and so on will need a little more love — likely in a point release. For now, weapons can be made usable by switching them temporarily to use stock ammo and magazines etc. Documentation will follow, but for now you should be able to figure out quite a bit from the example mods and tooltips on gameplay tags and such.

💡 For those unfamiliar, the GROUND BRANCH Mod Kit can be downloaded at the Epic Games Store here, and documentation is available in the Wiki.

[hr][/hr]
[h3]Contents[/h3]

1. How to join the V1035 Commmunity Test
2. Dedicated servers
3. Reporting bugs
4. General notes
5. Known issues
6. Patch notes
7. Sign-off

[hr][/hr]

If you'd like to join the Community Test, follow these steps:

1. From your Steam Library, right-click GROUND BRANCH and select "Properties…"
   
2. Click Betas on the left-hand menu
   
3. Enter code GB1035LimeGreen into the text box and click "Check Code"
   

💡 Steam should begin downloading the latest build in the communitytest beta branch. (If it doesn't start automatically, manually select it from the drop-down menu.)

💡 If you wish to return to the regular branch of the game, simply select "None" from the drop-down menu in the top-right. It's a pretty big download, so keep in mind that switching back and forth between the Community Test and regular branches can be time-consuming — especially on slower connections.

[h2]Dedicated servers[/h2]
For installing V1035 CT on dedicated servers, the login details are as follows:

-beta communitytest-ds
-betapassword CommunityTestDS1035

If you stick those into your server install scripts, or ask your server provider nicely to do so for you, you should be able to get your V1035 CT dedicated server up and running. If you have any problem setting up a server, please do make yourself known in the #server-support channel in our official Discord server. We would also like to send a word of thanks to our server partners and other server providers for their prompt assistance in getting these servers running.


Please do continue to send all crash reports when you get a crash, and to use the in-game bug reporter where possible — press [Esc] while in-game, click the "Report Bug" button in the top menu, and follow the instructions. This is the best way for us to figure out those pesky bugs and to get them fixed.

For more general feedback and overall vibes, you can talk to us on our Discord server, or the Steam forums.

Originally posted by generalnotes

[h3]General notes[/h3]

• Patch notes for new CT updates will be posted directly on Steam, so stay tuned — we may release new builds fairly regularly.
  
• You will not be able to play online with people using a different branch of the game (though most active players do tend to migrate to the CT branch).
  
• Weapon mods will not work until they are updated with the V1035 Mod Kit, which is now available. Patch and mission mods should still work, but custom missions might need a review.
  
• The Depot mission demo (Main Menu › Operations) and its friendly AI are meant as a "tech demo" or "vertical slice" of the core gameplay and not necessarily representative of final quality. Friendly AI are planned to become available in more game modes in the future.
  
• Rubberbanding is unfortunately still (for now) a common issue on dedicated servers (DS), though we'll keep working to solve this. We recommend server owners to restart their servers periodically (every 3–4 hours) to mitigate this issue. Listen servers are currently the more stable option.
  
• Hostage Rescue is not available as it is still in the process of being converted to the new Gameplay Ability System (GAS).
  
• Bugs are very much expected, and this is the whole point of this test after all. A list of known bugs is provided below.
  

🪲 To report a bug, press [Esc] while in-game, click the "Report Bug" button in the top menu, and follow the instructions.

These are issues we're aware of, so please keep them in mind and avoid reporting them:

• DX12 and DLSS + overlays may cause a crash-to-desktop (CTD) during gameplay (this is on NVIDIA 40-series graphics cards — use DX11 if experiencing multiple crashes).
  
• Prone movement is currently limited to the "walk" crawl speed; fast crawling (default hold [Shift]) is currently not working.
  
• The friendly AI and its control system are not fully iterated: AI teammates are known to not always react appropriately to their surroundings, get in the way of players, bunch up and so on.
  
• Characters may be sent flying when killed, seemingly at random.
  
• Dead characters may also replicate impact animations when living characters are hit.
  
• Enemy AI flashlight/laser detection is a work-in-progress (WIP) and may have some rough edges.
  
• Modded listen servers should now be joinable in-game without any issues (fixes big V1034 bug), but it does not seem to work yet when joining from outside the game (aka a "cold start").
  
• Chemlights do not yet have the correct colors in PvP modes.
  
• Dynamic Take and Secure (DTAS) isn't fully functional in that the flag model does not spawn in the flag carrier's hand and can't be manually placed; it should be fully functional otherwise.
  
• Multiplayer bots are currently broken. They will likely return in a point release.
  
• Music will stop when the player enters the Admin Panel.
  
• As mentioned earlier: Hostage Rescue is not available as it is still in the process of being converted to the new Gameplay Ability System (GAS).
  
• As also mentioned: weapon mods will not work until they can be updated with the V1035 Mod Kit.
  

[h2]Gameplay, mechanics and code[/h2]

• Fixed weapons needing an initial reload on round start
  
• Updated Tablet to raise up if momentary aim setting is in use and right mouse button (or equivalent) is held down when equipped
  
• Lots of work under the hood on footstep handling, including:
  
  
  
  • Added support for shallow and deep water footsteps
    
  • AI now hear their own footsteps
    
• Tracer bullets rejigged internally; shouldn’t be any visible change
  
• Rejigged trace algorithm for Rangefinder — measuring should now be fixed
  
• Updated weapon position-related abilities to improve feel and responsiveness:
  
  
  
  • Shooting is blocked and cancelled at start of ability / end of aiming to prevent shooting at full High or Low Ready
    
  • Now possible to cancel out of a position transition to go to another position or get ready to fire
    
  • Now possible to fire as soon as we are close enough to the Ready position
    
• M4 SLAM charge should now equip a detonator if none is present
  
• Crashing on exit should now be fixed
  
• Fixed players and AI sometimes failing to engage with ladder after repeated uses
  
• Updated 7.62 NATO FMJ round to have a model, so it can spawn a dropped item
  
• Ejected brass produces impact sounds again when hitting surfaces
  
• Fixed inventory disappearing shortly after becoming spectator
  

[h2]Maps[/h2]

• Ranch — Turned double doors in the main house to static meshes and kept them permanently open; fixed bugs
  
• Power Station — Deleted rogue wall mesh; fixed some ugly DFAO (Distance Field Ambient Occlusion) issues
  

[h2]Inventory and art assets[/h2]

• Increased texture resolution for MK24 CAP, MK25 and both MK17 variants (CQC and DMR)
  
• Replaced MK17 DMR buttstock with aftermarket model — just for a little more variety
  
• Partial clean up for MK17 shading issues (full fix in the next build, hopefully!)
  
• Fixed PKM belt pouch not dropping properly
  
• Fixed M4A1 Block II and MK17 DMR not allowing AN/PEQ-15 on mid-top rail
  
• Fixed missing dump pouches
  
• Added AOR-2 skin for Helmet (HC/Cover) and Helmet (AF/Cover): chinstraps have different colors/tones as a result, and bungee cord hooks are no longer copper-colored but black; also fixed screws having camo (for camo skins) in the process
  
• Pouches for loose ammo (e.g. shotgun shells and M24 sniper rifle rounds) can now be manually selected when customizing your vest platform or belt (WIP — needs proper icons)
  
• Internal changes to Customize Operator screen to make it more mod-compliant
  
• Deleted thread socket on AUG skeleton (it persists as a mesh socket on the proper gun)
  
• Added selfie cam sockets to weapons that did not have one
  

[h2]Animation[/h2]

• General animation fixes
  
• Added fire selector animations for the AS/VSS family
  
• Hooked up new pickup animations
  
• Fixed drop animations
  
• Improvements to handling of prone animations and transitions — turning in place while prone is now (again) blocked by reloading, switching items and other transitions
  
• Fixed weapons firing montage, now set by caliber — should fix missing recoil animations
  

[h2]Audio[/h2]

• Adjusted playback settings to help prevent audio not playing correctly
  
• Adjusted tail volumes
  
• Added missing lines for BLUFOR (friendly AI) voice lines
  
• Updated the attenuation and volumes for all footsteps: running, walking and sprinting
  
• Modified the EQ for the big explosion sound in final Depot cutscene
  
• Sounds added for placing M4 SLAM charge
  
• Added sounds for anti-air vehicles being on fire
  
• Reverb changes; attenuation changes; voiceline changes
  
• Adjusted mix for experimental mix settings
  
• Adjusted SAV reverb fade rate on Depot
  
• Changes to Experimental mix (Settings › Audio › Audio Mix) to work towards an official final mix
  
• Updated game mode explosion sound to a more appropriate sound
  
• Fixed missing explosion sound for the campaign mission demo
  
• Fixed up missing audio on the charge handle animations for the AUG A3, G36K and UMP45
• Added missing dry fire sound call to GCN_Firearm_Shoot_Dry/DryLast
  

[h2]AI[/h2]

• Fixed AI getting stuck (still) at the middle of a grenade throw
  
• Friendly AI will now crouch when ordered to Hold
  
• Moonlight is now specifically de-emphasized in light level perception, so night is more consistently night-ish in terms of AI not seeing you easily
  
• Tweaked navblock on Buk AA gun to try avoid AI getting stuck on it
  
• Set visibility collision on some foliage meshes to use base LOD for more accurate AI traces
  
• Foliage modifier for AI now used correctly (AI should react better to foliage cover)
  
• Fixed a bug where AI could detect IR (infrared) lights, such as those from the AN/PEQ-15's or DBAL-PL's IR illuminators
  
• Changed how lightscale is mapped to AI visibility, to make AI perception more consistent and "fair"
  
• Fixed an issue with AI firing at perceived actor when being perceived through sound only (a line of sight check was added)
  

[h2]Graphics/VFX[/h2]

• Time of day VFX (currently only on Power Station) fixed up and tweaked — distant fire has returned to the edges of the map
  
• Fixed issues with ribbon emitter for the rocket launch trails
  
• Tweaks to LOD bias (texture quality) for various weapons and attachments
  

[h2]UI[/h2]

• UseDetonatorToBlow message now decodes correctly when placing M4 SLAM charges (might break some game messages in mods or other game modes)
  
• Updated drop-down menus to scroll selected index into view
  
• Fixed inconsistent padding in Report Bug button
  
• Added progress bar to M4 SLAM charge placement
  
• Prompt when placing M4 SLAM charge resets to "Place Charge" when planting is interrupted
  
• Fixed issue in Customize Operator lists where other things respond to the mouse wheel input when you reach the top or bottom of a nested list
  

[h2]Modding[/h2]

• Added feature where details of unlisted mods are hidden from view in Server Browser, and the Mod Sync button in the server menu ignores unlisted mods
  
• MK23 and VSS Vintorez example mods fixed up some more for V1035
  
• V1035 Mod Kit made live for public testing prior to V1035 release
  
• Now looking up gamemessage_ tokens in game mode .csv files using forced lower case (modded game modes may need .csv files updated to remove any capital letters from gamemessage_ lookups)
  
• Mission Editor: fixed incorrect mission mesh lookup for container (open) and props list is now sorted alphabetically (as well as walls list)
  
• Mod Kit subsystem rejigged internally to work better with new asset systems
  
• Created empty bullet casing particle system in GBCore/Effects folder (for modded bullet types)
  

Thank you again to everyone participating in this test! You are helping us get V1035 into your hands just that bit quicker, and just that bit better. Remember:

• You can report bugs by pressing [Esc] while in-game and clicking the Report Bug button in the top menu. Be as descriptive as you can!
  
• Please do submit any crash reports you get while playing the community test build (or indeed the main build). These reports are forwarded to us directly and provide additional information on crashes to help us zero in on issues. Reporting issues multiple times is also fine, as this gives us an idea of the biggest problems to solve.
  
• Although we have a #bug-report channel in our Discord, it is most efficient for us if you can use the in-game bug reporter mentioned above — not least because this helps us jump right to the spot where the bug happened (if it is in a particular place in a map, for example).
  
• General feedback (i.e. for things that aren't necessarily bugs) is best shared in our Discord and the Steam forums, but please feel free to send it our way however you can.
  

A new Community Test (CT) build has just gone live! Whether you're among those who are already helping us test or are interested in joining in, read on or use the shortcuts below to learn more.

[hr][/hr]
[h3]Contents[/h3]

1. How to join the V1035 Commmunity Test
2. Dedicated servers
3. Reporting bugs
4. General notes
5. Known issues
6. Patch notes
7. Sign-off

[hr][/hr]

If you'd like to join the Community Test, follow these steps:

1. From your Steam Library, right-click GROUND BRANCH and select "Properties…"
   
2. Click Betas on the left-hand menu
   
3. Enter code GB1035LimeGreen into the text box and click "Check Code"
   

💡 Steam should begin downloading the latest build in the communitytest beta branch. (If it doesn't start automatically, manually select it from the drop-down menu.)

💡 If you wish to return to the regular branch of the game, simply select "None" from the drop-down menu in the top-right. It's a pretty big download, so keep in mind that switching back and forth between the Community Test and regular branches can be time-consuming — especially on slower connections.

Overall, we have been working hard to squish the biggest bugs in the first build that we unveiled last week. We have made improvements to picking up, dropping and using all manner of things. The team radios should now be usable without killing your audio, so PvP modes will be a little easier to test now. A whole host of inventory items and weapon attachments have had tweaks to skins, collisions, and more. Besides that, there are a myriad of little bug fixes.

[h2]Dedicated servers[/h2]
What we failed to originally mention in our last announcement were the details for installing V1035 CT on dedicated servers. The login details are as follows:

-beta communitytest-ds
-password CommunityTestDS1035

If you stick those into your server install scripts, or ask your server provider nicely to do so for you, you should be able to get your V1035 CT dedicated server up and running. If you have any problem setting up a server, please do make yourself known in the #server-support channel in our official Discord server. We would also like to send a word of thanks to our server partners and other server providers for their prompt assistance in getting these servers running.


Please do continue to send all crash reports when you get a crash, and to use the in-game bug reporter where possible — press [Esc] while in-game, click the "Report Bug" button in the top menu, and follow the instructions. This is the best way for us to figure out those pesky bugs and to get them fixed.

For more general feedback and overall vibes, you can talk to us on our Discord server, or the Steam forums.

Originally posted by generalnotes

[h3]General notes[/h3]

• Patch notes for new CT updates will be posted directly on Steam, so stay tuned — we may release new builds fairly regularly.
  
• You will not be able to play online with people using a different branch of the game (though most active players do tend to jump on the CT branch).
  
• Weapon mods will not work until they can be updated with the V1035 Mod Kit, which will be available as soon as possible. Patch and mission mods should still work, but custom missions might need a review.
  
• The Depot mission demo (Main Menu › Operations) and its friendly AI are meant as a "tech demo" or "vertical slice" of the core gameplay and not necessarily representative of final quality. Friendly AI are planned to become available in more game modes in the future.
  
• Rubberbanding is unfortunately still (for now) a common issue on dedicated servers (DS), though we'll keep working to solve this. We recommend server owners to restart their servers periodically (every 3–4 hours) to mitigate this issue. Listen servers are currently the more stable option.
  
• Hostage Rescue is not available as it is still in the process of being converted to the new Gameplay Ability System (GAS).
  
• Bugs are very much expected, and this is the whole point of this test after all. A list of known bugs is provided below.
  

🪲 To report a bug, press [Esc] while in-game, click the "Report Bug" button in the top menu, and follow the instructions.

These are issues we're aware of, so please keep them in mind and avoid reporting them:

• [NEW] The first magazine for some weapons may fail to store in dump pouch on a retention reload.
  
• DX12 and DLSS + overlays may cause a crash-to-desktop (CTD) during gameplay (this is on NVIDIA 40-series graphics cards — use DX11 if experiencing multiple crashes).
  
• Prone movement is currently limited to the "walk" crawl speed; fast crawling (default hold [Shift]) is currently not working.
  
• The Rangefinder's measuring function may not work as expected.
  
• The friendly AI and its control system are not fully iterated: AI teammates are known to not always react appropriately to their surroundings, get in the way of players, bunch up and so on.
  
• Characters may be sent flying when killed, seemingly at random. We could not figure out why yet, so let us know if you find a pattern!
  
• Dead characters may also replicate impact animations when living characters are hit.
  
• Enemy AI flashlight/laser detection is a work-in-progress (WIP) and may have some rough edges.
  
• You cannot currently save full kits — the function of saving kits is not hooked up yet.
  
• The mission demo does not allow you to use a detonator with the M4 SLAM charge without a Breaching Charge equipped.
  
• Modded listen servers should now be joinable in-game without any issues (fixes big V1034 bug), but it does not seem to work yet when joining from outside the game (aka a "cold start").
  
• Chemlights do not yet have the correct colors in PvP modes.
  
• Dynamic Take and Secure (DTAS) isn't fully functional in that the flag model does not spawn in the flag carrier's hand and can't be manually placed; it should be fully functional otherwise.
  
• Multiplayer bots are probably broken and will likely remain so while we switch focus to actual friendly AI.
  
• Music will stop when the player enters the Admin Panel.
  
• As mentioned earlier: Hostage Rescue is not available as it is still in the process of being converted to the new Gameplay Ability System (GAS).
  
• As also mentioned: weapon mods will not work until they can be updated with the V1035 Mod Kit, which is not yet deployed. We hope to get this out shortly before the proper V1035 release.
  

[h2]Gameplay/mechanics[/h2]

• Fixed being unable to drop items
  
• Fixed bugs relating to picking up items, including firearm being picked up when trying to pick up magazine
  
• Fixed dead bodies not working properly
  
• Fixed weapons hanging around (literally) when players or AI die
  
• Fixed players occasionally getting stuck while prone
  
• Bug-fixing relating to ladders (and their use by both players and AI)
  
• Fixed Wristwatch showing incorrect bearing on maps with an east–west minimap orientation (including Ranch)
  
• Fixed not being able to move when becoming a spectator outside of Ready Room (e.g. in Deathmatch)
  
• Creating AI in game modes once again applies the specified controller tag to the AI controller (and also the character)
  
• Improved handling of switching to Detonator
• Fix for missing teammate blips in in-game map (on Tablet)
  
• Large number of rapidly dropped inventory items prevented from overwhelming the system (by telling those marked for death to die faster if there are too many)
  
• Increased projectile damage for 7.62 NATO rounds:
  
  • Torso hits should again kill in one shot in most occasions
    
  • Hits to limbs and extremities should kill in 1–3 shots (1 or 2 shots being most common)
    
• Updated internal handling for Laptop and Big Bomb to fix preventing players from locking up while using them, among other things
  
• Fix for Tablet causing player hands to disappear online as well as occasionally not equipping when expected
  

[h2]AI[/h2]

• Added several navblockers to Depot, based on locations where AI got stuck
  
• Updated behavior tree nodes for flashbang, smoke and frag grenade throw to use new GameplayTag for switching (so AI grenades work again) and generally to fix issues with AI freezing when throwing grenades and such
  
• Improvements relating to AI interactions with ladders
  
• Fixed friendly AI respawning at boats after death in campaign mission
  

[h2]Inventory[/h2]

• Under-the-hood changes and bug fixes relating to item skins
  
• Fixed headgear items duplicating when editing another headgear item while wearing a different one
  
• Reimported VSS and VSSM Vintorez rifles to fix bad normal maps
  
• Tweaked patch slot positioning on NVG Head Mount to fix "embedded" look
  
• Fixed LVAW mag check reload
  
• PMM eject mag notifies moved a little to better represent the animation
  
• Rail attachments and rail attachment rules updated to stop sight stacking shenanigans
  
• Updated collisions on a ton of attachments to reduce unnecessary collision warnings when fitting attachments to weapons
  
• Updated AUG A3 to split up the top rail into sight and non-sight segments to allow mounting accessories in front of an optic
  
• Updated MK14 EBR, SDASS shotgun, MK17 CQC and MK17 DMR to ensure rails supported their specific rail attachments
  
• Added .45 ACP to magazine for default build for M1911A1
• Tweaked magwell component in MK25 for more accurate magazine fit
  
• Improved rail slot placement, angle and count for AUG A3, MK17 CQC, MK17 DMR and UMP45 to fix inconsistencies and "floating" attachments
  
• Updated Laser Sight to better fit on rails visually
  
• New patches: Portugal (Country Flags) and Microprose (Morale)
  

[h2]Visuals[/h2]

• Fixed several vehicles not using masks correctly in their vehicle glass
  
• Fixed lower hemisphere desaturation happening the wrong way around with skylight override volumes (where the desaturation got smaller, the less skylight there was)
  
• Fixed up tile bullet impact system (changed lifetime and size)
  
• Updated MK25 pistol material for better rendering
  
• Updated textures for MK17 FDE magazine for more accurate representation (it was using the same normal and ORM maps as the black version, which did not account for the partial paint layer)
  

[h2]Levels[/h2]

• City — Tweaked skylight overrides in the bank; dirtied/light-polluted the night sky a little
  
• Ranch — Added blocking volume on top of the auxiliary building roofs; added damaged ranch sign
  

[h2]Audio[/h2]

• Fixed team radio causing audio crashes and loss of all audio
  
• Optimized Wwise middleware by setting up playback limits and priorities for sounds
  
• Improvement to City audio (WIP) — should at least reduce instances of freezing, crashing and breaking
  
• Replaced the jet sound for the campaign mission cinematic
  

[h2]UI[/h2]

• Fixed dialog box OK button being squished; OK button now takes up the entire width again
  
• Reworked Interaction widgets internally so that doors, ladders and item pick-ups use the same system
  

[h2]Animation[/h2]

• Added new "magic hands" animations for left and right hands for various interactions
  
• Fixed animation for bringing Binoculars and Rangefinder to face
  

Thank you again to everyone participating in this test! You are helping us get V1035 into your hands just that bit quicker, and just that bit better. Remember:

• You can report bugs by pressing [Esc] while in-game and clicking the Report Bug button in the top menu. Be as descriptive as you can!
  
• Please do submit any crash reports you get while playing the community test build (or indeed the main build). These reports are forwarded to us directly and provide additional information on crashes to help us zero in on issues. Reporting issues multiple times is also fine, as this gives us an idea of the biggest problems to solve.
  
• Although we have a #bug-report channel in our Discord, it is most efficient for us if you can use the in-game bug reporter mentioned above — not least because this helps us jump right to the spot where the bug happened (if it is in a particular place in a map, for example).
  
• General feedback (i.e. for things that aren't necessarily bugs) is best shared in our Discord and the Steam forums, but please feel free to send it our way however you can.
  

Heads up, everyone: the Community Test (CT) for GROUND BRANCH V1035 is finally available!

To hop on and start testing, follow the instructions below:

1. From your Steam Library, right-click GROUND BRANCH and select "Properties…"
   
2. Click Betas on the left-hand menu
   
3. Enter code GB1035LimeGreen into the text box and click "Check Code"
   

Steam will begin downloading the latest build in the communitytest beta branch.

👉 For dedicated servers (DS), use code CommunityTestDS1035 (beta branch communitytest-ds).

💡 If you wish to return to the regular branch of the game, simply select "None" from the drop-down menu in the top-right. It's a pretty big download, so keep in mind that switching back and forth between the Community Test and regular branches can be time-consuming — especially on slower connections.

• Patch notes for new CT updates will be posted directly on Steam, so stay tuned — we may release new builds fairly regularly.
  
• You will not be able to play online with people using a different branch of the game (though most active players do tend to jump on the CT branch).
  
• Weapon mods will not work until they can be updated with the V1035 Mod Kit, which will be available as soon as possible. Patch and mission mods should still work, but custom missions might need a review.
  
• The Depot mission demo (Main Menu › Operations) and its friendly AI are meant as a "tech demo" or "vertical slice" of the core gameplay and not necessarily representative of final quality. Friendly AI are planned to become available in more game modes in the future.
  
• Rubberbanding is unfortunately still (for now) a common issue on dedicated servers (DS), though we'll keep working to solve this. We recommend server owners to restart their servers periodically (every 3–4 hours) to mitigate this issue. Listen servers are currently the more stable option.
  
• Hostage Rescue is not available as it is still in the process of being converted to the new Gameplay Ability System (GAS).
  
• Bugs are very much expected, and this is the whole point of this test after all. A list of known bugs is provided below.
  

🪲 To report a bug, press [Esc] while in-game, click the "Report Bug" button in the top menu, and follow the instructions.

These are issues we're aware of, so please keep them in mind and avoid reporting them:

• DX12 and DLSS + overlays may cause a crash-to-desktop (CTD) during gameplay (this is on NVIDIA 40-series graphics cards — use DX11 if experiencing multiple crashes).
  
• Prone movement is currently limited to the "walk" crawl speed; fast crawling (default hold [Shift]) is currently not working.
  
• The Rangefinder and Binoculars have animation issues; the Rangefinder's measuring function may not work as expected.
  
• The friendly AI and its control system are not fully iterated: AI teammates are known to not always react appropriately to their surroundings, get in the way of players, bunch up and so on.
  
• Characters may be sent flying when killed, seemingly at random. We could not figure out why yet, so let us know if you find a pattern!
  
• Dead characters may also replicate impact animations when living characters are hit.
  
• Enemy AI flashlight/laser detection is a work-in-progress (WIP) and may have some rough edges.
  
• Weapons will remain in the map between rounds (they may fall down or settle in the air).
  
• You cannot currently save full kits — the function of saving kits is not hooked up yet.
  
• The demo mission does not allow you to use a detonator with the M4 SLAM charge without a Breaching Charge equipped.
  
• Modded listen servers should now be joinable in-game without any issues (fixes big V1034 bug), but it does not seem to work yet when joining from outside the game (aka a "cold start").
  
• Chemlights do not yet have the correct colors in PvP modes.
  
• Dynamic Take and Secure (DTAS) isn't fully functional in that the flag model does not spawn in the flag carrier's hand and can't be manually placed; it should be fully functional otherwise.
  
• City map: there are known (considerable) audio/crash issues with this map at the moment. We recommend avoiding missions on it for now.
  
• The Tablet may fail to load when equipping it online and require multiple key presses. It will also not be "engaged" (framed on the screen) when selected via Equipment menu ([4]), requiring a right-click to view.
  
• When killed online, players may become "stuck" in the game world and unable to return to the Ready Room or use admin commands. You may need to reconnect to the server to clear this issue.
  
• Multiplayer bots are probably broken and will likely remain so while we switch focus to actual friendly AI.
  
• Weapons and items cannot currently be dropped (but they can still be picked up).
  
• Music will stop when the player enters the Admin Panel.
  
• As mentioned earlier: Hostage Rescue is not available as it is still in the process of being converted to the new Gameplay Ability System (GAS).
  
• As also mentioned: weapon mods will not work until they can be updated with the V1035 Mod Kit, which is not yet deployed. We hope to get this out shortly before the proper V1035 release.
  

[h2]Backend[/h2]
In V1035, we made a big switch to GAS (Gameplay Ability System), which can provide better control over the complex interplay between characters, inventory, animation and game events. It has, however, required a rewrite of a lot of code and many other related changes. We may have quite a few gremlins to catch during testing relating to things that stopped working like they used to, so keep an eye out for them.
[h2]User interface (UI)[/h2]

• A whole new area of UI has been created in the new Operations menu, for launching the new campaign missions via "hotspots". In later versions of GROUND BRANCH, the map will be populated with more hotspots, and each hotspot will feature up to three sequential missions to complete in turn.
  
• The Customize Operator screens have had a big under-the-hood rework, tying in with a lot of the backend changes relating to GAS.
  
• The item customization, in particular, has had a very large overhaul: weapon and attachment categories are now selected via checkboxes, which now also allow filtering Headgear and Top types (more can be added to other slots as required!). Right-clicking the checkboxes allows multiple categories to be selected. If no categories are checked, all items will be displayed.
  
• The Modding menus (mod lists in particular) have had a UI pass and should be a little nicer to use.
  
• Spin boxes, where you can drag a slider or manually enter a value, have been updated so that arrows on either side now make sensible adjustments to the number. The slider has also been made less sensitive to small misclicks.
  
• Combo boxes (aka drop-down menus) will now close the menu when clicked a second time, as would be expected, without having to click off of them or selecting an option.
  
• Text chat (default [T] and [Y]) has received a small visual update for legibility, and will now only allow the character limit (128 characters) to be input. It also has a new little slide-in animation.
  
• Global text chat now includes a visual indicator for when the author of the message is a server admin or game host.
  
• The Roster screen ([Esc]) also now includes indicators for admins or hosts, as applicable.
  
• The Tablet has had a small visual update, particularly in the Roster section: callsigns and player names are now both shown simultaneously, and team elements are more cleanly organized.
  
• A lot of the pre-existing UI has had another design pass, as is customary: icons were added and updated, and various elements were tweaked for better contrast, alignments, legibility, flavor, and consistency across menus. This is an ongoing process.
  

[h2]Inventory and customization[/h2]
[h3]New primary weapons[/h3]

• LVAW (.300 BLK) – An AR-15-pattern carbine with an integrated suppressor firing subsonic .300 BLK rounds
  
• AUG A3 (5.56 NATO) – A modernized version of the classic bullpup assault rifle
  
• G36K Custom (5.56 NATO) – A modified G36K carbine with accessory rails and a custom stock
  
• AK-103 Alpha (7.62x39mm) – Essentially a modernized AKM with plenty of aftermarket accessory rails and furniture
  
• AS Val (9x39mm) – Integrally suppressed Soviet assault rifle firing subsonic rounds from 10- or 20-round magazines
  
• ASM Val (9x39mm) – Modernized version of the AS with accessory rails
  
• VSS Vintorez (9x39mm) – Integrally suppressed Soviet select-fire sniper rifle firing subsonic rounds from 10- or 20-round magazines
  
• VSSM Vintorez (9x39mm) – Modernized version of the VSS with accessory rails and a modular stock
  

[h3]New secondary weapon[/h3]

• MK24 CAP (.45 ACP) – A compact .45 ACP pistol with both 10- and 12-round magazines available
  

[h3]New attachments and other kit[/h3]

• The DBAL-PL provides a combined spotlight and laser beam for pistols, both visible and infrared (IR); in accordance with the design of the real-life device, the laser and light can only be toggled in unison
  
• The PSO-1M2-1 is a version of the PSO-1M2 available only for the AS/VSS series of weapons with a specifically designed reticle
  
• Added side-mounted versions of the OKP-7 and Kobra (EKP-8-02) red dot sights, available for various AK platforms
  
• Added raised version of the MRO red dot sight
  
• The MS2000 IR strobe makes a return (a new model for it is also on our list). Available in 3 pouch colors: Black, Tan and OD
  
• The M4 SLAM explosive charge makes its first appearance in v1035, but for now only as a set-piece in the campaign mission demo; it may eventually be made available as a motion-detecting vehicle mine or manually-detonated explosive
  

[h3]New clothing/gear options[/h3]

• New Top: Softshell Jacket (available in Gray, OCP, AOR-1 and AOR-2)
  
• New Mask options: Balaclava A (regular eyes-out), Balaclava B (nose out), Balaclava C ("face hole") and Balaclava D (three-hole)
  
• Individual pouches and helmet attachments can have an independent skin from the base platform (WIP)
  

[h3]Updated assets[/h3]

• New model for Field Jacket (formerly ACU Coat)
  
• New model for UMP45
  
• Upgraded MK17 CQC/DMR textures
  
• New AN/PVS-31A model to replace the old dual-tube NVG
  
• New model for OKP-7 — now named OKP-7 (Rail) to distinguish it from the standard OKP-7 (which is an AK side-mounted optic)
  
• New model for 1P78 Kashtan
  
• New model for EKP-18-1
  
• New model for MRO

[h3]New skins[/h3]

• Various attachments have received a new FDE skin
  
• Vertical Grip B also has a new Olive Drab skin
  
• The T-Shirt has a new Ground Branch logo skin
  

[h2]Maps and environment art[/h2]

• Ranch makes its debut in v1035. The map is situated near the US border in Mexico, and is home to a notorious cartel leader. The expansive estate includes a garage, stables and various other outbuildings in addition to a sprawling house complex.
  
• Power Station has had a big visual and structural overhaul in v1035. The layout is fairly similar, although it may take a little while for old hands to figure out how. The map is now set in the Libyan desert, with a ferocious civil war taking place in the distance. There are new outbuildings, lots more cover around the place, and a whole new cafeteria complex to explore and get sniped from.
  
• Depot has had some changes in lots of places to make it fit in better with the narrative and gameplay of the new campaign mission, and also just to look nicer.
  
• Small Town has had a minor face lift, to add a little more character and diversity to the buildings. Otherwise it should play the same.
  

[h3]Technical environmental changes[/h3]

• The "time span" system has had an update, whereby dawn and dusk extend much longer into the day, providing more satisfactory transitions into and out of night.
  
• Fog in-scattering color and other properties have been added to the palette of environmental customizations for our level designers to use, leading to more characterful lighting. Depot, for example, has had a big lighting tweak.
  
• Lots of assets and foliage have been updated with new models and materials.
  
• New use of HLOD (hierarchical level of detail) optimizations in various maps to improve graphical performance.
  
• Grass blades have been upgraded with more natural wind movement on Depot, Storage Facility, Ranch, Small Town and The Farm.
  

[h2]Missions / game modes[/h2]

• The new "vertical slice" mission demo Silent Reach on the Depot map represents a first pass on campaign missions, and can be selected from the new Operations menu available from the main menu. A lot of accompanying flavor and lore, and our first custom friendly AI characters have been added with it.
  
• Campaign missions can only be launched from the Operations menu, and can be played either with 3 friendly AI teammates, or up to 3 Steam friends. The mission normally acts like a Host Game mission, and the Invite menu can be used. If a human player enters a round with you, no friendly AI characters will be spawned. From that point onwards, even if all other players leave, your game will be considered a co-op game for the purpose of 'scoring' and no AI characters will ever spawn. Each type of game has separate completion statistics that are tracked.
  
• GROUND BRANCH now has some cutscenes appearing at the end of the campaign mission demo. These are skippable in single player and (only) by the host of an online game.
  
• An entirely new mission objective system has been worked up for the campaign mission(s). It may be that this will at some point be back-ported to "regular" game modes.
  
• The campaign mission features several new kinds of objectives, including: kill HVT (high-value target); destroy asset (anti-air vehicles); scout location; search for intel; and exfil.
  
• Enemy AI spawn points now have optional day and night states, so some missions will have different distributions of enemy AI depending on the time of day.
  
• A number of single player missions (including Compound, Depot and others) have been updated to incorporate these new day and night spawns. In Compound, for example, you are much less likely to see enemy AI patrolling fields during the night, and more likely to see idle enemy AI in houses. (There is a new “Sleep AI” state available, but it is not currently implemented. In the future, we envisage having AI sleeping in beds. At least until you start making some noise…)
  
• Some existing factions (e.g. Russian PMC) have been adjusted and expanded, and whole new factions have been added, including Western PMC, Insurgent and Cartel. Some original factions (such as Riot) have been retained and tweaked for now, but may in due course be retired or replaced.
  
• The Deathmatch (Docks) mission for Storage Facility has been updated to move the edge of the playable area to the tunnel side of the waterway.
  
• The Power Station missions have been entirely redone for the updated map. Some new variants have been created.
  
• A whole new set of missions has been created for the new Ranch map. PvP missions covering the whole map are tailored more towards full server loads (8v8). The map is a good fit for DTAS, since spawns should be relatively random, and most areas are well covered from most other areas of the map.
  
• A number of mission bugs and exploits have been fixed up, including a couple on Docks.
  

[h2]Animation[/h2]
Various animations have been updated and some new ones have been hooked up. Main changes include:
[h3]Updated animations[/h3]

• MP7
  
• MP5
  
• G3A3
  
• UMP45
  
• M110 / M110K1
  
• PMM
  
• AR-15-pattern rifles (M16, M4, MK18, HK416 etc.)
  

[h3]New weapon and item animations[/h3]

• AUG A3
  
• G36K
  
• LVAW
  
• AS/VSS family
  
• M4 SLAM
  
• Chemlight

[h3]Miscellaneous animation[/h3]

• New mo-cap and other animations done — and some existing animations cleaned up — for enemy AI
  
• Mag-check-into-reload animations for all magazine-fed weapons
  
• Completed and/or polished ragdoll death animations for stand, crouch and prone
  
• Added missing shotgun animations
  

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]

• Mag checks have been completely overhauled. Hold the Reload key to keep the mag out as long as desired. While holding the Reload key, you can tap it once for a retention reload or double-tap to dump the old magazine.
  
• Chemlights can now be deployed (via the Equipments menu, default [4]). The color of your chemlights will be selected based on your team element (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie or Delta) in PvE, or your PvP team (Blue or Red), as applicable — though see Known Issues regarding the latter. A separate hotkey may be added for quick-deploying chemlights.
  
• Enemy counts can now be randomized "a little" or "a lot" in the main single player game modes (Terrorist Hunt, Defuse and Intel Retrieval) using a new mission setting. Higher enemy counts will be randomized more than smaller counts, hence the non-numerically specific options. The 50 AI limit won’t be exceeded.
  
• Day vs. night spawns for the enemy AI should create further gameplay variation depending on the time of day.
  
• Ladders now require an interaction press (default [F]) to exit the ladder. This prevents accidentally presenting yourself as a target at the top by triggering the climbing animation before you're ready.
  
• Ladders can now be interacted with from farther away.
  
• Water volumes now impact player movement depending on how deep you are in the water.
  
• Ballistics have had an overhaul. While most of it was under-the-hood, you should notice a bigger difference in bullet drop and travel time between different rounds at medium/long ranges. Damage was also slightly modified in the process (please note this is not our health and damage update yet).
  
• Interactions with laptops (for Intel Retrieval and Uplink) have been improved, and a "magic hands" animation was added.
  

[h2]AI[/h2]
[h3]Friendly AI[/h3]

• Friendly AI makes a first appearance in the game. For now, they will join you by default in campaign missions launched via the new Operations menu.
  
• Press your mouse thumb button (if you have it) to select actions for friendly AI to take during the mission. If you don’t have one, or otherwise, you may want to bind this to K. More control options and more refined control schemes are envisaged, but this should get you started in the 1035 preview campaign mission. The control can be rebound in the normal way. It is under “Other” key binds.
  

[h3]Enemy AI[/h3]
Hostile AI (and in relevant respects, also friendly AI) have had a number of tune-ups and other improvements and changes:

• AI will now throw frag grenades at players in some cases.
  
• AI that feel under pressure may throw a smoke grenade to cover a retreat.
  
• AI will now see and investigate flashlight beams and laser pointers (WIP).
  
• AI can be blinded temporarily by flashlights pointed at their faces at close range (WIP).
  
• AI have new idle animations, which can be explicitly selected for idle AI by a mission designer if desired. It is intended to expand the range of idle animations over time.
  
• AI movement overall has had various tweaks and changes.
  
• A widespread AI rout/flee will be initiated by certain game events, like covering fire from a helicopter during the campaign mission exfil sequence.
  
• The AI patrol route system has had an overhaul, so patrolling AI should be more unpredictable and cover their routes more thoroughly.
  

[h2]Audio[/h2]
There has been some backend work on the audio, for example to upgrade to a version of the Wwise middleware that no longer requires the manual pre-loading of sound banks. Otherwise more significant changes include:

• New enemy faction voice lines have been brought into the game. Currently we have a whole new set of lines for the new Cartel faction, and a new set of lines for the Russian PMC faction. These are in Mexican Spanish and in Russian, respectively, adding a little more authenticity and flavor to the game. (Other factions will receive their new voice lines in V1036.)
  
• The new Ranch map has had a lot of work put in to set up environmental sound effects. This level of attention to detail will be rolled out across other maps in due course.
  
• Depot has had an environmental sound overhaul, and new sound effects for the new cutscenes.
  

[h2]VFX[/h2]
The various new items of kit mentioned above have all had relevant bits of VFX made and attached. In other developments:

• The NVG system has had another tweak, and now IR lasers are finally visible through the AN/PVS-22 UNS night vision scope. IR floodlights are a work in progress — unfortunately they can’t be realized with the same method.
  
• There are new effects for grenade explosions and smoke grenade activations underwater.
  
• The new campaign mission cutscenes also feature a variety of new special effects.
  
• The Power Station overhaul includes a lot of new VFX assets for the distance effects.
  

[h2]Modding[/h2]

• There are no new modding "types" planned per se for V1035, as we will need to focus on getting the existing systems back up and running as they should. However, some groundwork has been laid in V1035 for more flexible systems for modding weapons and kit, and so on.
  
• V1034 weapon mods will not work in V1035. We are working to get the mod kit updated for V1035 so modders can fix things up before the release of v1035 proper. Documentation will also follow on what you need to know to fix up your stuff.
  
• It is not intended that campaign missions will be moddable — not just yet, anyway. However, you can explore some of the new tools in the Mission Editor for campaigns. Click the Campaign tab at the top-right after starting the editor to view. The new mission objective system is relatively open-ended, and new objective types can be added using a single Lua script (and any in-game assets that may be needed).
  
• New controls have been added to the server mod list menu to facilitate bulk operations such as adding all active local mods to the server list, and clearing a whole list. A new gameplay setting (in Modding) allows the local mod list to be used automatically as the server mod list in a listen server (the Host Game option).
  
• The selection of AI loadouts and mission meshes have been overhauled with quicker picker dialogs. The range of mission meshes has been increased.
  
• Modding menus have had a quality-of-life pass. There is, for example, a new gameplay setting to use local mod lists for listen servers, instead of having to make a separate server list (although that process is also streamlined).
  

[h2]General bug fixes and other new things[/h2]

• The mod sync bug in listen servers should now be fixed — for in-game joins at least. Previously, any more than 46 or so mods would cause failed connections. The limit on numbers of mods active on listen servers is now around 670. Please regard this number as a harder limit.
  
• Navblocks are working again (as mission actors in their own right, and also as components of other mission actors). AI should be able to navigate properly around mission meshes, laptops, bombs, and so on, as they once did.
  
• The City helicopter should now behave correctly in multiplayer games (replication method changed).
  
• There is a new limited bad word filter for player names and text chat. Certain bad words (of the prejudicial variety) are conservatively filtered out so as to minimize the chance of false positives. Bad player names are replaced by generic "OperatorXYZ" names, and censored chat is reported as such to the local player and not forwarded to anyone else on the server.
  
• Swearing in general (including the c- and f-words) is not affected. We can’t possibly catch all permutations of prejudicial words, but we can at least stop the most egregious bad words. This feature can, if desired, be extended via a mutator mod — perhaps server owners who want to extend the filter can band together and reach out to Matt (Fatmarrow) for help?
  
• There are new server settings to set a number of bad words and a timeout for counting them, after which a player will get kicked from the server. By default this is not enabled.
  

Take your time to mess around with the new features, but please remember to report bugs and provide feedback so we can get this release ready! To recap:

• You can report bugs by pressing [Esc] while in-game and clicking the Report Bug button in the top menu. Be as descriptive as you can!
  
• Please do submit any crash reports you get while playing the community test build (or indeed the main build). These reports are forwarded to us directly and provide additional information on crashes to help us zero in on issues. Reporting issues multiple times is also fine, as this gives us an idea of the biggest problems to solve.
  
• Although we have a #bug-report channel in our Discord, it is most efficient for us if you can use the in-game bug reporter mentioned above — not least because this helps us jump right to the spot where the bug happened (if it is in a particular place in a map, for example).
  
• General feedback (i.e. for things that aren't necessarily bugs) is best shared in our Discord and the Steam forums, but please feel free to send it our way however you can.
  

[h3]GROUND BRANCH is 30% OFF on the Steam Spring Sale![/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/16900/GROUND_BRANCH/

The Spring Sale runs for one week — until March 20th @ 10am Pacific (6pm UTC).

Don't miss out and happy sale, folks!

Hey folks,

It is time for another Intel Report as we continue to develop V1035 of GROUND BRANCH.

As always, we have worked hard over this past month to design, code and fix all kinds of things, a lot of which we've previewed in our most recent series of dev blogs starting in August of last year (go make sure you haven't missed any!).

Our focus this month has shifted more towards polishing things up, fixing up our bulging backlogs of bugs, and getting ready for the devtest stage of V1035. We are about to commence a limited internal devtest, and we hope to soon expand that to a public devtest build in which you can all participate (more on that when we have it!).

As important as this work is, it does not make for terribly interesting screenshots, videos, recaps, or deep dives, but we have a little bit of new content to show you. Thank you again for bearing with us as we get things fully in order for the new release.

We'll then round off with a quick highlights reel from the past V1035 Intel Reports.

📌 Keep in mind this and previous reports are not an exhaustive list of V1035 features. For an overview of expected changes and additions, please refer to our roadmap.

[h2]Randomize enemy count[/h2]
In V1035, the main co-op game modes (Terrorist Hunt, Intel Retrieval and Defuse) will offer players a choice to randomize the enemy count:

The new setting will be accessible via the Ops Board in the Ready Room, as usual for game mode options

The randomization option is now a regular mission setting for the above-mentioned three co-op game modes. It can be set on the Ops Board and prior to launching a mission, like other mission settings.

Three different randomization options are available:

• No — Disables the setting, so the amount of enemies you can encounter in the mission will match exactly the number of enemies set in "Expected enemy resistance".
  
• A little — Adds a possible variance of up to ±3 enemies (i.e. your expected enemy resistance, plus or minus 3 enemies).
  
• A lot — Adds a possible variance of up to ±6 enemies (i.e. your expected enemy resistance, plus or minus 6 enemies).
  

The variance in enemy count scales with the amount of enemies selected, so that you will not see the maximum variation until you are at higher enemy counts. All of this is of course subject to change as we gather feedback and feel it out.

[h2]Campaign/mission UI progress[/h2]
As shown in Intel Report #022, we have been steadily working on the UI to support campaign missions (you can see our first preview here).

We have since upgraded the looks slightly, and put further work into how the mission details will be displayed. It is all a work in progress, but we have recorded another little preview for you to check out the progress:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
As the video shows, progress (both as a % and a progress bar) is tracked for each hotspot as well as each mission within. Due to missions being playable in single player (offline) or co-op (online), progress is displayed for each mode separately.

Once a hotspot is selected, a background briefing — the overall situation in the hotspot — is displayed. Hovering a mission will preview the mission briefing and objectives.

After selecting a mission, players will then be able to again read the full briefing and objectives under the Mission Details tab, as well as browse a few other tabs that contain a mix of operational info and some flavor: Environment (weather and terrain), Human Factors (enemy forces, alertness level and civilians), and Intel Assets. The latter is essentially a gallery of intel images, including an interactive "tactical overview" map marked with objectives, key locations and the source of the various intel images. Pointing at most of these markers will cause a tooltip with further information to pop up.

Once in the Ready Room, the same elements seen in the Tactical Overview map are available on the Ops Board

💡 The mission briefing screen will likely also be home to where you select and equip your team in the future. For the V1035 demo mission, your team will be pre-selected and equipped.

Once players have reviewed everything, they can launch the mission by clicking Deploy (Offline Mode) or Deploy (Online Mode). So how exactly does each mode work?

Offline Mode is recommended for those strictly interested in playing a mission like a regular single player game. You will be able to play alongside AI-controlled teammates and the game can be paused at any time. If you do not have a working internet connection, campaign missions will still be playable in this mode!

In Online Mode, players can play either with the AI-controlled teammates or with up to a certain number of players* who can join using the normal Host Game invite system. A mix of other players and AI-controlled teammates is not possible, and pausing the game will not be possible in either case.

💡 Team size in the V1035 demo mission will be capped to 4 operators: the player + 3 AI teammates, or 4 players. Future missions — though not all of them necessary — will likely allow more personnel.

As is true for all we share in our dev blogs, most of what you see is in active development and subject to change.

[h2]Mission Editor updates[/h2]

✒️ This month, Matt "Fatmarrow" Farrow gives us a deep dive on new features for the Mission Editor.

As hinted earlier, not all the changes we have made in V1035 will be visible or apparent to players — in fact, there has been quite a lot of work going on behind the scenes in nearly every area of the game.

One aspect we will return to is the Mission Editor, which is used to set up the spawn points, objectives, guard points, patrol routes, and more for every mission in the game (including the new campaign missions). Back in the November report, we looked at changes to AI spawn points and the new day/night spawn system. We also looked at some fixes to the navblock system. This month we will very briefly look at a few other changes behind the scenes.

[h3]Mission meshes[/h3]




Mission meshes have had a little do-over, and should now place flush to the ground when dropped into a map (let's definitely file this under "quality-of-life"). In place of another drop-down with a very long list to scroll through, there is now another new "picker" dialog for quickly trying out and picking mission meshes:



As you can see, the list of available meshes has been expanded again — for our purposes. The aim of mission meshes is not to be an impromptu level design tool, though of course we must salute the creativity of mission modders and the works they have created with this tool. Hang tight and we will have proper map modding through the mod kit soon.

[h3]Campaign missions[/h3]
We have also developed some new systems specifically for the new campaign missions. These are currently only functional for our in-game content, but it may be that these can be repurposed eventually for "regular" game modes and/or for modded game modes and missions.

New mission objective actor in use in our V1035 campaign mission demo

The new Campaign tab in the Mission Editor, showing details of the V1035 campaign mission demo

Here we can see the new mission image editor for the new campaign missions. We are not presently providing the facility for modders to make campaign missions (easily, at least), but at some point this might be available for more general use:



And here we can see the new map annotation tool in the Mission Editor. Yet again, this is not going to be immediately available for modders, but it may be that this system can be rolled out more widely in the future:



The combination of new mission objectives and the new campaign mission features allows for a more interactive player map. In time, the Tablet map may include more of this sort of interaction.

[h2]Quick demo run on the new Power Station[/h2]
As a way to showcase the Power Station remake, as well as new enemy meshes and other details you might catch, we've put together a quick gameplay edit of a co-op run for your enjoyment.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Let's now take a look at some of the highlights from this past Intel Report cycle.

[h3]🔗 Quick links[/h3]

• Intel Report #021 (August 2024)
• Intel Report #022 (September 2024)
  
• Intel Report #023 (October 2024)
  
• Intel Report #024 (November 2024)
  
• Intel Report #025 (December 2024 / January 2025)

[h2]Intel Report #021 (August 2024) [link][/h2]
We showed off Ranch for the first time, and showcased some new gear and a range of new weapons.



[h2]Intel Report #022 (September 2024) [link][/h2]
We revealed some updates to Depot for the campaign mission demo, previewed new AI loadouts, gave details on the new SLAM charge, and also aincluded some samples of the new OPFOR voice lines.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Intel Report #023 (October 2024) [link][/h2]
We previewed the new Power Station map remake, showed you the new mag check animations, and went into more detail on various new mission objectives in the campaign mission demo.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Intel Report #024 (November 2024) [link][/h2]
We detailed the new day/night spawn system, fixes to the navblock system, teased some more new weapons and the chemlights, and revealed the DBAL-PL attachment for pistols.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Intel Report #025 (December 2024 / January 2025) [link][/h2]
The new item customization UI was on display, we absolutely fascinated you with details about AI patrol nodes, revealed some map lighting and color tweaks, and shared some Ranch co-op footage.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We hope you have enjoyed this rummage through the tactical memory box of past Intel Reports, and will soon join us in testing V1035 of GROUND BRANCH.

As usual, thank you so much for keeping an eye on GROUND BRANCH and reading through today's post.

See you next time!