Squad News

Hey squaddies!

As we mentioned on Friday, the time has become to test Alpha 16! Please note: Choppers are in their first release and will continue to be developed with the help of your feedback! Expect some bugs, rough edges, and some antics, to be sure.

Head to your test client (Squad - Public Testing) in Steam to get started!

• Added Helicopters. Helicopters are an exciting new system of transport that brings about a new dimension to the battlefield, literally. Each conventional faction will get access to medium-lift helicopters capable of transporting troops and supplies. Helicopters are piloted by special Pilot roles much like how heavy vehicles require dedicated Crewmen.
  
• Added Helicopter Tutorial. Helicopters require a degree of skill and practice in order to operate effectively, so we’ve provided a tutorial that takes you through the basics of piloting, the interface, and even a special time trial challenge course! (Complete with rings!)
  
• Added a Soft-Boundary system for all layers that feature helicopters. This new boundary system is improved in that it gives the player a warning to turn back to the battle area before they are killed by the system. Different tolerances are set depending on whether the player is on foot, in a ground vehicle, or in a helicopter, making helicopter travel far less punishing than if they were to immediately crash into an invisible wall.
  

• Added the MI-8 “Hip” to the Russian Ground Forces. This is a medium-lift helicopter capable of carrying up to 9 passengers, not including the pilot, copilot, and 2 crew-chiefs (door gunners). It is armed with 2 door mounted PKP machine guns for self-defense and can carry up to 1500 points of supplies.
  
• Added the UH-60M “Grouse” for the US Army and British Army. This medium-lift helicopter can carry up to 9 passengers, not including pilot, copilot, and 2 crew-chiefs. It is armed with 2 window-mounted M240H machine guns, suitable for some light degree of protection. It carries up to 1000 points of supplies.
  
• Disabled all vehicle engines being able to be turned on during the staging phase.
  
• Fixed FV432 APC being stuck in 1st Gear at all times.
  

• Shoveling down friendly radios no longer cost tickets.
  
• Fixed Radio health not blocking spawning when damaged by anything except destruction by shovel.
  

• New map: Mutaha. Although this region seems idyllic and pastoral at first glance, it has become a contested area between Syria and Iraq due to its highway access and naturally irrigated farmland. The locals have long abandoned their houses and shops, but the war-town streets are anything but quiet as ground forces push to secure this crossroads in the desert. Initial map layers include AAS, Invasion, RAAS, Territory Control, and Skirmish.
  
• Added Helicopters to Gorodok, Kohat Toi, Tallil Outskirts and Yehorivka map layers.
• All map layers that have helicopters now include main bases with helipads that can repair and resupply helicopters.
  
• Narva optimizations.
  

There are a few known issues with the helicopter flight model right now. They will be fixed as development proceeds. They include:

• Gunner view occasionally flipping upside down. (Presumably, these gunners have gazed into the Sphere too long.)
  
• Possible to see through fog in some occasions.
  
• Vehicle engine sound delayed after getting out of the vehicle and the engine shutdown playing upon ignition.
  
• Collective is maintained when the tail rotor is disabled. (Cartwheels!)
  
• Some textures may fail to render or appear black.
  

We’ll be holding an AMA on the JoinSquad subreddit THIS Friday (September 27), starting at 1 pm PDT. Want to know more about dead-dead? Curious about what it takes to lead an indie game to release? Want to know how Fuzzhead keeps his hair looking so awesome? Be sure to drop in and get the answers!

Head over to the r/JoinSquad subreddit to get subscribed.





Are you headed to TwitchCon on September 27th? Come visit the Offworld Industries crew at Booth #1963! We’ll have folks there all weekend to answer your questions, as well as discuss Squad and OWI technologies in general. Be sure to check your swag bags too. =) You can always join us in Discord in the meantime as well!

Hey squaddies!

We’re extremely excited to announce that we’ll be launching the Alpha 16 Public Test on Monday, September 23rd at 10:30 AM PDT!

There’s plenty to look forward to, but let’s cut straight to the chase: we want your feedback on the first iteration of choppers! As a first release, you can expect some bugs, but we want you involved in shaping the future of choppers Be sure to let us know what you think!



The playtest will be available using your Squad – Public Testing app in the Steam Library — this is a completely separate, full install of Squad, in addition to your retail copy that will remain available. Which is great, because we’ve got a tournament beginning this weekend! (See below for more details.) Standby for further announcement once the test goes live and is available for download!


In addition to the start of A16 public testing next week, we have the first rounds of the Offworld Industries Squad Championship kicking off this Sunday, September 22nd! We announced the official tournament a few weeks ago and now our teams lined up ready to fight the first round of the group stages. To make sure our tournament gets off to the best start possible we have brought the heat with livestreams hosted by some of our creative partners!



Catch the Sunday schedule below, or check the tournament page for full information, rules, and team roster! And be sure to enable notifications on the JoinSquad Twitch page to see when we go live.

See you on the helipad, Squaddies! Fly safe!

Hey squaddies,

With modding back in full swing, the community has not disappointed in the slightest. There’s a whole heck of a lot of amazing work this month!

Join us on the Community Modding Discord where you can join discussions and meet the modding community. It’s a great place to share your ideas and passions with like-minded people that will happily help you create something awesome.





Previously known as SWCMod, the Squad ProMod Team has been hard at work taking the mod to new levels. ProMod adds support for TC, including new caster features, update to default logos, UI color schemes, and tons of new layers!



Not only do those layers include over 30 new ones for Skirmish, AAS, TC, and TC-Invasion, but they’ve also applied their Standard Lighting to bring a more natural and realistic feel, while maintaining consistency for competitive play. ProMod continues to bring great solutions to enhance every aspect of competitive play.



Lastly, this update includes their versions of Fools Road and Operation First Light, featuring a full retexture and foliage update. Check ’em out for some really elevated visuals!





Hey, Alac is back! It’s been a while, but as you can see, the time has been well spent on Sinvesund.



Set in a key route between Sweden and Oslo, the snow-covered area is of utmost strategic importance. Alac is striving to make sure that the balance remains just right so that infantry and vehicles can be effective forces, especially with the difficulty added by the snow.



While still a work in progress, it’s becoming evident that the goal is to make a realistic map that still prioritizes fun and playability. Oh, and don’t worry: snow camo will be coming, with lots of testing.



Squad Jam Trailer

Now that you’ve seen the trailer, let’s hear what Squad Jam is about directly from Loki himself:

"Squad Jam is a Squad versus Squad competition where squads of 1-6 players group up and fight until the last squad standing. Rounds last 20 minutes, competitors select inventory at the start of the round, and can loot enemy backpacks, winners keep their inventory, and dead players become scout drones that can help spot and suppress enemies!

Will you be the Victor?"





The Aussie Mod Team is back at it and banging out some high quality work again! They’ve included some screenshots of their second map, Operation Anvil.



Offering a variety of terrain from the arid canyon top down to the lush basin populate by villages, squaddies will have to adapt to changing conditions as the fighting advances. The verticality of the canyon should present some unique opportunities for overwatch support as well. As an added bonus, they’ve passed along a screenshot of one of their hot new outfits for all this season’s fashion-forward battlemans.





Gulf of Finland Trailer

A big welcome back to the only Hawken we like more than giant robots! This month, he’s showing off the latest and greatest work on the Gulf of Finland. The Gulf features seven islands that will absolutely require teamwork to assault.



Sure to bring about all sorts of airborne assaults (and maybe even some air-to-air door gunner fun), Gulf of Finland will two with two AAS layers, as well as a Territory Control layer. There’s also options for day, evening, and night layers with some varied battle damage.



As soon as helicopters are available, expect the nearly-done map to go into full testing. Don’t miss out!





They may have missed out on the last Wrench, but boy howdy, have they been productive in the meantime. They’ve been getting a little, ah, unconventional over there.





Insurgent and Militia Forces will be receiving all sorts of new technical variants, featuring armaments like ATGM launchers, anti-aircraft guns, and more!



Lest they are accused of bias, they’ve even got a little sumtin’ sumtin’ for the Americans as well. Got feedback, questions, or comments? Head over to their brand new Discord server.





SPECTR_Eternal keeps marching on through the warzone that is Iron Dawn! In this update, we’re treated to work on a new industrial area featuring a water purification facility, as well as a battle-scarred complex wide enough for vehicle combat, but just small enough to turn every chokepoint into a potential ambush.



While he doesn’t have a date yet, we’ll likely be seeing Iron Dawn in the Squad Jam, featured above.





Would you like to see your mod featured in The Wrench? Let us know by submitting it here!

Please note: Offworld Industries is not responsible for mod content. Please contact the creator for assistance.

Hey squaddies!

Oh hey, we’re into a new month! You won’t need to be woken up when September is, ’cause you’ll be wide awake with all the Squad going on! Let’s check out the round-up:



11:00 AM PT (1800 UTC) [RIP] Rusty in Places vs. The World

3:00 PM PT (2200 UTC) The Lost Company Gaming Presents: Troopers!

5:30 PM PT (0030, 7/9 UTC) Squad Ops: Gameplay Mod Testing



10:30 AM PT (1730 UTC) OSS: FFO vs North Wolves

11:30 AM PT (1830 UTC) Squad Ops: Operation Halberd

5:30 PM PT (0030, 1/9 UTC) Squad Ops: Operation Zulu Dawn



Squad Community Cup action begins again on Monday, September 10! Be sure to check the calendar for more events.



Whether you’re playing along or simply watching, we wish you the best weekend. Take care out there, squaddies!

Would you like to see your event here? Let us know.

Hey squaddies!

With Track Attack in the bag, we’re ready to announce the Offworld Industries Squad Championship! What makes this one different?





Well, for one, it’s official! Not only does it have the official Offworld Industries stamp of approval, but we’ll also be running the show too.

Next up: we wanted to make sure it was the right tournament for Squad, so we started by consulting members of the community to see what sort of rules they wanted.

After much deliberation, we’ve come up with a format we think you’ll like: head over to the official rules page for a complete breakdown.

• Who: 36-player teams ready to take on some of the best players in Squad!
  
• When: Season 1 will take place from September 20, 2019 through November 16, 2019, with the grand finale of both Division 1 and 2 on 21.00 UTC November 16, 2019.
  
• Where: Catch live OISC action presented by our creative partners at http://twitch.tv/JoinSquad (Or at their individual streams, or community casters, which will be announced on the community discord)
  
• How: Sign up at the official tournament page!
  

Official Tournament Rules

Be sure to join us in Discord to stay up to date on the latest tournament news, or leave us a comment in the forums!



Referees Wanted

The referee will be the admin on the game server, make sure the game starts on time, handle game start and map switches, make sure no disconnected players end up on the wrong side, as well as make sure everyone follows championship rules. You’ll need to be proficient with server commands, so server admin experience is required.


Apply to Referee

Streamers Wanted

We’ll be inviting community streamers as well as Offworld’s official creator parters to cast all the action! If that sounds like something you’d enjoy:

Apply as Streamer