Squad News

[h2]“Communications inbound. Ready to receive!”[/h2]

Thanks Squaddies for taking part in the latest Squad Q&A, where you, the players, get to ask the developers who made Squad all about the game! We were extremely excited with the number of responses to our call for questions. We have taken the time to select ten (10) questions to answer. This will be a slightly shorter Q&A document in comparison to the last one, as we have quite a few topics we are not ready to discuss, but will in the near future!

Aiding in answering the questions are three members of our development team

• CANNON - Senior Producer - Squad
  
• Ceeg - Community Manager
  
• BaronVonBoyce - Lead Game Designer - Squad
  

If your question was not answered this time around please feel free to ask it again next time.

With that we want to thank all of our Squaddies for their participation. To not delay any further let's get into these questions!

Gameplay

Question: How long does OWI intend to develop Squad? UE4 is starting to show it's age, what are the plans for continued development? Will this ever be upgraded to UE5 or another engine?

Answer: There is no end in sight for Squads development, we have lots planned and we’re excited to keep the game going with new features, content and gamemodes for as long as we can. Regarding Unreal 5, we currently have a small team dedicated to looking into this shiny new tech. They are looking at what impact it will have on the current game, what improvements or setbacks we might see and how long it might take to upgrade.

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Question: Would you consider hiring a workshop mod developer contract to reach your achievements?

Answer: We are currently in contact with a few modding teams and individual modders to help us with various areas of development. This can include anything from creating new content, to helping us set up or improve existing content. Historically we have always been open to working with modding teams, and we do not see that changing!

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Question: What is an area of the game you're looking to address next, what problem with the game flow is looking to be solved, if anything?

Answer: We’re looking at addressing pain points for new players, including closing the game loop off with more detailed feedback for players. This will allow them to see how the overall team did as a whole, where ticket losses and gains were, as well as onboarding newer players more easily into the experience. We plan on working on it iteratively over the next year, with each update hopefully including something pushing us closer to this goal.

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Question: When will thermal sights and laser rangefinders be added for MBTs and IFVs?

Answer: Thermal optics are something that we would like to add in the future, however we can’t commit to timelines due to limitations with resources and technology. We would wish for a Thermal system to not only look and feel authentic, but to work realistically, rather than be a post process effect. Laser rangefinders are already present in some IFVs and all tanks.

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Question: Can we see more tutorials in the future? I'm thinking of a basic SL guide on how to make FOBs and call command strikes, basic vehicle gunnery tutorial, dedicated AT tutorial.

Answer: Yes, we plan on completely reworking our tutorial into a set of shorter tutorials that cover a wide variety of topics, beginning with the basics and moving into more advanced areas and topics. We also plan to add more tools for players to have better visibility on information that is currently hidden or considered tribal knowledge. Our goal with this is to have players be able to search for this information more easily from within the game.

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Question: Does the Dev team have plans for any kind of player progression?

Answer: We have no plans at this time for a traditional progression system, but we do plan on adding a socially-driven progression system that allows players to recognize each other for their contributions. More on this in upcoming communications!

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Question: Any plans to bring in new commander assets?

Answer: We are in the process of adding new commander assets, and in the future, we plan to completely rework the current commander system up to a higher standard, that also leans into the asymmetric design of different factions and units within those factions.

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Question: How far along the pipeline is the TOW-launcher rework

Answer: We are in the process of reworking our missile system in-game to be more authentic, as well as more flexible with the intent to enable us to add more types of missile systems in the future. We will have more to share on this topic in the coming months.

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Question: Are you going to balancing the factions with the upcoming voting system so it doesn't become too one sided

Answer: Yes, faction balancing will be an ongoing and iterative process using data points from analytics, as well as feedback and observations. We want to make sure every faction feels fun to play, and no one gets left behind with the Voting system!

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That’s all for this month's Q&A! Thank you all for your participation. While we may not host a Q&A like this every month, expect to see some other forms of communication that you are sure to enjoy. If you missed your chance to ask a question this time around, Keep a close watch on X and Facebook, where we always announce our latest rounds of Q&A and other Blog posts!

[h2]Offworld Out.[/h2]

Squaddies, prepare yourselves for our newest update. In v7.2.2, a new force has descended. Brace yourselves for the arrival of the “Sphere”.

[h2]The Sphere is Here[/h2]
A monumental structure now looms above the battlefield. The Sphere has materialized in the skies, casting a shadow on the land below it. Its presence is both awe-inspiring and foreboding. The Sphere's mere presence has altered our capture point system on various layers, in addition to bringing a multitude of other changes to Squad.

[h2]Map Updates[/h2]
Sphere has arrived in the following maps:

• Skorbo
  
• Sanxian Spherelands
  
• Talil Outspheres
  
• Yehorbrivka
  
• Ballaya
  
• Sumari Balla
  
• Chorba

[h2]New Game Modes[/h2]

• Globular Destruction
  
• Advance and Sphere
  
• Spherevasion
  
• Circular Control

• Grenades have received a new spherical model and texture.
  
• We have doubled the amount of grenades from their kit specific amount.
  
• All grenades now act as anti-tank grenades.

[h2]The Sphere's Shadow[/h2]
For better or for worse, the Sphere’s shadow is now a presence all Squaddies need to be aware of, as it will constantly move around the map and can impact minute to minute gameplay within a match. Squaddies must sit unsheltered within the Sphere’s presence for its effects to take place.

• The Sphere is capable of giving life to those who are incapacitated under the Sphere’s shadow. Squaddies will be resuscitated as if a bandage was used after 90 seconds. You will be healed to full over 10 seconds after resuscitation.
  
• The Sphere is capable of taking life. Friendly fire on those in the shadow will be returned to the soldier dealing damage. If a friendly takes lethal friendly fire damage you will find yourself instantly incapacitated.
  
• The Sphere is capable of providing energy. Stamina consumption is 50% lower within the Sphere’s shadow and you regain stamina 25% faster.
  
• The Sphere is capable of aiding the dispensing of freedom. Rifleman ammo bags will now refill at 1 ammo per second after 30 seconds of sitting in the Sphere’s shadow.
  
• The Sphere is capable of protection. Vehicles and their armaments cannot enter where the shadow lies. Handheld armaments however, can.
  
• The Sphere is capable of providing intel. Those who are within the shadow will be able to hear all communications regardless of team.

[h2]Emotes & Gestures[/h2]

• Added “Praise the Sphere” emote.
  
• Added “Sphere juggling” gesture.

[h2]New Vehicles[/h2]

• Added the SPHR-146 to the Canadian Armed Forces. A new circular flight model.

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

• The Sphere may occasionally deal damage and incapacitate players based on distance, dealing more damage the closer you are to it. We don’t know why but are actively investigating.

• Fixed a client crash that could occur while joining a faction or squad.
  
• Fixed a voting issue that caused the unit info popup to display the wrong amount of vehicles.
  
• Fixed an issue with the USA M1128 MGS that could cause the open-top gunner to be kicked out of their seat while driving over shallow water.
  
• Drivers and passengers on the USA/USMC Quad Bike will now be kicked out of their seats while driving through deep water, as was originally intended
  
• Fixed the QBZ95 Jungle weapon skin to apply correctly to the weapon’s carry handle.
  
• Partially fixed a voting issue that prevented modded factions from appearing as choices in the voting process. There may be some residual issues with this that are still being investigated.
  

[h2]Unit Updates & Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed a unit setup issue where the BAF air assault unit had one helicopter on delay instead of 3 available immediately.
  
• Fixed an issue where the MEA Armored unit was missing two MTLB 6MAs on the vehicle list.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the PLAAGF faction not to have access to Strategic or Tactical commander assets.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the CAF Rally Point to be missing textures when equipped.
  
• Fixed a unit setup issue where IMF mechanized units had one transport truck instead of three.
  

[h2]Map Updates & Fixes[/h2]
Al Basrah

• AAS v1 - Fixed a bug that caused the USA M1128 MGS and M1A2 MBT to spawn upside down.
  
• Invasion v1 - Fixed a bug that caused the FV4034 Main Battle Tank to spawn upside down.
  
• Skirmish v2 - Fixed a bug that caused Team 1’s Repair Station to float.
  

Goose Bay

• Invasion v1 - Fixed a bug that could cause the Leopard tank to spawn outside the operation area and explode.
  

Mutaha

• Motorcycles and quad bikes now correctly spawn in the main base on RAAS v1, RAAS v2, and TC v1.
  

Sanxian Islands

• The PLAAGF and PLANMC Amphibious Assault units are no longer options while voting on the following Sanxian layers: AAS v1, AAS v2, AAS v3, RAAS v1, RAAS v2.
  
• The USMC Amphibious Assault unit is no longer an option while voting on the following Sanxian layers: AAS v1, AAS v1, RAAS v1, RAAS v2.
  
• Invasion v2 - Fixed a bug that caused ticket numbers to be flipped, resulting in attackers getting 800 tickets and defenders getting 200 tickets.
  
• Main bases and POIs are now scaled correctly on the Interactive Layer Map Details Screen.
  

Skorpo

• Invasion v2 - When playing as the USMC faction, the UH-1Y helicopter will no longer explode or fail to spawn.
  

Yehorivka

• Skirmish v2 - Fixed a bug that caused Team 1 to have 150 tickets instead of the intended 200.
  

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

• The “change scope magnification level” keybind stopped working with v7.2, which means that the default key “F” no longer works to switch between 1x and 4x zoom on optics that support that. To fix this, go to the Settings > Controls menu in the Infantry section, and rebind the “Cycle scope magnification level” keybind at the very bottom back to “F.”
  
• The special characteristics of units are not currently visible on the voting or team selection screens. This refers to information like “this unit gets 2 HABs,” “that unit gets 2 TOWs per FOB,” or “this unit has a shorter respawn timer.” This information will be added to the voting and team selection screens in a future update.
  

1. 🎖️ Reduced and smoothed out apparent movement stutters and hitches on helicopter movement when flying close to busy areas.
   
2. 🎖️ Fixed an issue where explosion SFX, VFX, and damage could be desynced from one another or playing out of order, for example, with timed explosives
   
3. 🎖️ Fixed an issue where RPGs are sometimes not loaded following the reload animation.
   
4. 🎖️ Fixed an issue where patches equipped on the player’s character appeared with a broken texture in first-person view.
   
5. 🎖️ Fixed an issue that could lead to IEDs being detonated multiple times.
   
6. 🎖️ Fixed an issue with the vehicle passenger list where players who weren't in the vehicle were listed as passengers
   
7. 🎖️ Fixed an issue where vehicles with turrets could take double damage from projectiles penetrating the hull and turret components.
   
8. 🎖️ Fixed an issue with the server browser where Maximum Ping shows the incorrect UI value
   
9. 🎖️ Fixed an issue with the server browser where empty servers were still visible after unchecking the “Show Empty Servers” filter
   
10. 🎖️ Fixed an issue where living players could appear dead on the map, scoreboard, and squad list.
    
11. 🎖️ Mines will now despawn when an individual changes team.
    

Due to the large number of bug fixes, we have a dedicated list of them here.

[h2]Mod SDK Update[/h2]

• 🛠️ Fixed a bug that caused uploading a mod to the Steam workshop to reset the mod title and description.
  
• 🛠️ Fixed a crash that could occur for mods referencing SQRestriction_Count
  
• 🛠️ Added support to servers that load more than 10 mods
  
• 🛠️ Modders can now enable cross-team communication in local voice chat. This does not affect Vanilla Squad.
  
• 🛠️ Fixed an issue where mods would continue downloading even though the ‘cancel’ button was selected.
  
• Updated the mod SDK to v7.2.
  
• Updated mod versioning to v7.2. This means that all mods will need to be re-cooked with the v7.0 SDK to be compatible with the updated version of the game.
  
• Projectile Suppression Info now has separate controls for Passby Suppression (when a projectile enters the radius around a player) and Impact Suppression (when a projectile hits an object or explodes). The "Has Suppression" tickbox in Projectiles now functions as a simple toggle for all suppression functionality. Some Projectile Suppression Info Classes were removed, renamed, and added.
  

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

• Spawn timers on HABs and rally points can become desynced. Investigation has identified the issue, but we need more time to plan a solution.
  
• Anti-aliasing interferes with the picture in picture scopes, resulting in having to choose the ‘prioritize scope clarity’ option without AA in the scopes or the “prioritize AA in scopes” option, which can result in blurry PiP scopes. An investigation has identified the issue, but we need more time to execute a solution.
  
• Players with an Nvidia 4000 series GPU may experience crashes when using the DirectX 12 option. For the time being, switching to DirectX 11 via the game settings should stop these crashes.
  
• JensensRange layers are incompatible with the voting system. Setting them up for voting can lock up the voting flow. Please use AdminRestartMatch to escape the locked state.
  

This update introduces two new vehicles, a map voting system, proper support for manual bolt-action rifles, quality-of-life improvements to gunplay, some UI improvements, and a new pack of weapon skins.

[h2]New USA Units[/h2]
M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS): This wheeled vehicle boasts a 105mm cannon, capable of inflicting pain on enemy armor, but still maintains mobility on an M1126 chassis. It complements other wheeled vehicles and infantry operations and will appear on the USA Faction’s 2nd Cavalry Stryker Brigade Motorized unit.



Quad Bike: The quad bike presents a highly agile and stealthy way to quickly traverse and flank enemy positions, albeit with high vulnerability if spotted. These new vehicles are available for the US Army and USMC Light Infantry units.



[h2]Voting[/h2]
We have implemented a voting system to give you more control over your experience. At the end of a round of gameplay, players will be prompted to vote on the following layer and faction that their team would like to play:



The voting step is concluded when the voting time is up or when all the players have voted. When the layer and faction voting steps are completed, the next gameplay layer will be loaded based on the results.



Server owners can configure many options within the voting system, including how much time players have to vote, how many options for voting appear, which layers and units can appear for voting options, and how many rounds of gameplay must pass before the same layer, map, game mode, faction, or unit type will show up in the voting options again. They can also disable the voting system entirely and choose to continue using a set layer rotation.



[h2]Gameplay & System Updates[/h2]

• With the addition of the voting system, factions have been broken down into units with their own specialties. These specialties are represented by a unique vehicle lineup and FOB emplacements. In the future, this may be expanded to include unique weapons, roles, and commander abilities. These different units can appear in the voting options for which team to play. Unit types currently represented are combined arms (similar to how factions were set up before voting), air assault, armored, light infantry, mechanized, motorized, support, and amphibious assault. Only some factions have access to all unit types. More details can be found here.
  
• With the addition of the voting system, the amount of gameplay layers has been consolidated. New layers are no longer required for different faction match-ups (down from 453 to 203). Additional unique layers will be introduced in future updates.
  
• Added support for manual bolting: When using Bolt Action Rifles, firing will no longer automatically cycle the bolt. Players must press the fire button again to manually cycle the bolt and load a new round into the chamber. This allows you to defer cycling the bolt until after seeing where your last shot impacts, especially when using scopes.
  
• Aim sensitivity is reduced when using Steady Aim (holding shift while aiming down sights). The sensitivity multiplier can be adjusted or disabled in the Game Settings menu.
  
• Reduced scope bobbing from weapon sway. This makes keeping the target in view through the scope easier and can help prevent motion sickness in some players. This change is visual only and does not reduce weapon sway, and it is still possible to trigger the scope shadow effect. Scopes should now be more enjoyable, with no impact on game balance.
  
• The "clear sights" iron sights perspective offset now only occurs when higher sway levels have been reached, typically after sprinting or using stamina. This is intended to make the perspective shift feel more intentional and predictable while keeping the iron sights ADS view usable when the sway is high. Stop and take a knee to make the sights return to normal much quicker. Further iterations to iron sight weapons are coming in the future.
  
• Adjusted recoil on the SV-98, Mosin, and C14 rifles to ensure players can see the point of impact of their round at the highest magnification setting to support the manual bolting feature.
  
• Completely reworked sway on G3, FAL, SKS, and Mosin rifles.
  
• Completely reworked sway on Minimi and RPD squad automatic weapons.
  
• Reduced hip fire recoil on SKS.
  
• Improved the view through the M4/M16 carry handle Ironsights for easier spotting.
  
• Reduced the DOF blur on QBZ95 iron sights for easier spotting.
  
• Increased the suppression power and radius of the BM-21 rocket.
  
• Increased suppression from 40mm AGL, UGL, and FAL rifle grenade projectiles.
  
• Shoulder-fired and gun-launched smoke rounds now cause a small amount of suppression at the impact point.
  
• Helicopter respawn time has been increased from 6 minutes to 10 minutes.
  
• The starting tickets for AAS and RAAS have been unified (reduced in most cases) to 250.
  
• The starting tickets for Invasion have been unified to 200 for attackers and 800 for defenders.
  
• The number of starting tickets for the attacking team on amphibious assault invasion layers has increased from 200 to 250.
  
• The number of starting tickets for Skirmish has increased from 100 to 200.
  
• Tank SABOT projectiles now correctly apply suppression as they pass by players, and we have increased the level of suppression they apply at the area of impact.
  
• Increased traverse range for emplaced M2 and Kord heavy machine guns to 170 degrees for tripod mounts and 130 degrees for bunker mounts.
  
• Increased Helicopter, Simir, and RHIB-mounted machine gun traverse range.
  
• Reworked binocular sway to be more forgiving.
  
• The side armor of the USMC AAVP7 APC now acts as add-on armor, reducing the damage done by rounds that pass through it.
  
• Adjusted the armor of the BTR80 & BTR82 chassis to no longer take damage from fragmentation rounds and adjusted the rear armor to no longer be vulnerable to HE rounds.
  
• Slightly increased the max land speed, water speed, and acceleration of the USMC AAVP7 APC.
  
• Made improvements to the reticle of the CAF Leopard 2A6M MBT that focus on a better user experience.
  
• The TLF faction now uses iron sight variants of the M2HB heavy machinegun emplacements.
  
• Added the M2HB variant of the Browning M2 machine gun that's more appropriate for Turkish, Insurgent, and Militia forces.
  
• Updated the Chinese text on the PLA Air Assault Unit patch.
  
• Made improvements to the third-person animations of characters using vehicle weapons, including helicopter turrets.
  
• If a player has audio input issues, they will see an alert icon when attempting to use VOIP.
  
• Several improvements were made to the Server Browser search bar.
  
• A splash screen was added to describe the game’s key characteristics. After seeing it once, it will not appear again.
  
• Reduced the volume of the Offworld splash screen audio.
  
• Made improvements to the Store and Customize menus.
  
• Server owners and admins can now rename squads.
  

[h2]Weapon Skins[/h2]
Jungle Pack ($3.99 USD)

This new pack contains two weapon skins for use while playing as the PLA faction on Woodland maps:




The pack can be applied to the QJB95-1, QBZ95B-1 Carbine, and PF98 skins. Check it out in the store!

Update to Existing Skins

After releasing our initial pack of weapon skins, we continued to think hard about how to make more skins that our community would love. While creating the new skins for this release, we also wanted to create some exciting alternate styles for our existing skins that better represent the creative direction we’re taking with our cosmetics.



Owners of the QBZ-95, AK74M, and M4A1 skins will now have access to “worn” variants of those skins. Check them out and let us know what you think!

[h3]Offworld out![/h3]

[h2]Eyes up, Squaddies![/h2]

It's been a while since I've connected with many of you, and I miss our conversations. I want to reintroduce myself to all of you and the community.

I'm SgtRoss, one of the Founders of Offworld, and I worked as a Game Designer for the first five years on the project. Eventually, my time at Offworld led me to become more community-focused. Even though many of us were acting as community managers, I officially became Community Lead after v14 was released. In early 2021, a tragic personal event knocked me out for a few months.

Having recovered, I returned to Offworld and took on a Production role. I was the Project Lead of Squad for much of 2022, eventually handing the reigns over to Howitzer as I moved to Starship Troopers: Extermination (ST:E) as their Project Lead, helping launch the game into Early Access.

After hiring my backfill for ST:E, I returned to the Community Team as Director of Community. Since taking on this role, I have been actively working to build the CM Team back up. We want to be more community-focused, but we have yet to be. Transparency or "Keep(ing) the group in the loop" is a core value at Offworld that extends to our community.

So, here are areas that we intend to improve throughout this year:

• Improved moderation programs. There has been a slight improvement over the years, and we must do more.
  
• We need dedicated feedback engines to hold ourselves accountable for community feedback.
  
• Discord overhaul. We need to utilize one of our best communication channels properly.
  
• Increased presence across all social channels.
  
• Increased and varied organic content beyond simply supporting releases. We'll work with Marketing to add more value to our players regarding content.
  
• Adding more capacity to the CM Team. We are hiring for several roles, including Senior CM, CM, and Server Licensing Support Representative.
  

Squad is about comradery and teamwork. We need to get back to those principles as a community. We thank you for being with us through the good and the bad.

Now get your butts back out there and enjoy your libo', Squaddie!

[h2]Offworld, out.[/h2]