Onward News

It’s been awhile Onward Community,

We heard you have been missing our monthly updates. I am happy to finally be able to provide you with some long awaited updates on what we are working on. Strap in and get ready because this is going to be exciting.

I bet your first questions are “Why the silence?” and “What is taking so long?”. The answer is simply, there was A LOT of backend work and artwork that needed to be done. Additionally, there is a good amount of prep work to do when gearing up for OUR BIGGEST UPDATE to date! Especially with the expectation that it will be released in the first half of next year.

We are thrilled that we have now moved to a part of the development process where we have some of the work put together that we are able to show off to you. We won’t be divulging all the information at once, so make sure you look for our future publications.

[h2]Briefing 1 of 6[/h2]
[h3]Visual Overhaul on all Weapons, Accessories, & Utilities[/h3]
We are talking brand new, higher fidelity models, textures and interactions for 40+ Primary Weapons, 10+ Secondary Weapons, and 65+ Weapon Attachments. That amounts to over 115 objects. And that’s just what is currently in the game. We are going to show you examples of two of the updated weapons today.

You can see how big an upgrade it is in the images below of the M1014, L86A2, and MRS. The difference that has been achieved is really impressive when you compare the previous and new looks side by side. In the Devs’ Desk we go over what is required for this to be achieved.

The visual overhaul applies the same updates to both Quest & PC versions.
M1014 L86A2_LSW MRS


This visual overhaul is much more involved than some people might think. Our process is not simply adjusting some resolution settings and adding some improved lighting techniques. To give you an idea of what exactly is involved, we have listed out some of the steps it takes to complete just one item.

Modeling:
Create a new high-poly model to ensure authenticity and accuracy in scale, with enhanced attention to detail and realism.

Texturing:
Develop detailed textures and materials that respond more realistically to lighting, improving the visual quality.

Material Adjustments:
Fine-tune in-game materials to achieve optimal realism under various lighting conditions.

Art Review:
Review and adjust the artwork as needed, ensuring that it meets the visual and quality standards.

Integration:
Apply the approved art to the game and define all interactions and behaviors, with corresponding updates to the code.

Quality Assurance (QA):
Conduct thorough testing to ensure the new models function as expected and look great in-game.

Final Adjustments:
Make any necessary adjustments and corrections based on feedback from QA to ensure the best possible result.

These steps also don’t account for any time needed for bug fixes or back-end work needed on other systems these items interact with.

In order for us to keep moving forward on some of this work and other work we have in the pipeline, we will be releasing a patch for the game in the next week or so.

[h2]Patch 1.14.4[/h2]
This upcoming patch will be exactly like Patch 1.14.3, a backend update that will not affect anything that is player facing. It is additional tool(s) & foundation work for future development features to be implemented.

It can be confusing to see an update queued and not see anything new or updated to the game, please know it should not affect your gameplay in any way.

We are excited that we are far enough along to be able to provide you with a sneak peak into the hard work that has been done so far. We are looking forward to showing off even more as things continue to develop and more work is completed.



While the team is deep into development work on upcoming features, we are continuing to review and approve community Custom Map submissions. If you are interested in adding your own environmental content, join our Discord!

There you can review the custom map makers guide we have provided on how to get started in the process. You can also meet other custom map makers who are happy to help new and returning creators. There is even a group who host custom map contests, if winning the coveted purple pen is something that you want to strive for. Having your work go into the game and enjoyed by the community can also be a rewarding experience.



We will be hard at work and continuing to make progress on these and other features that we will share in the future.


Be on the lookout for more

Hello Onward Community,

Please forgive us for the radio silence lately. After we released Patch 1.14.3 we jumped right back into the trenches to work on the next update. We were happy to hear that the patch was able to resolve several issues you were experiencing. After the release of 1.14.2 the team devoted a huge effort into starting work on various areas of the game. This made it difficult to update areas of the game while that work was unfinished. We were thrilled that we were able to work around some of those things and get that patch out to you. Especially with all the work we have currently, which we will go over next in the Devs Desk.

[h2]From the Devs’ Desks:[/h2]
Simply put, we have A LOT to do. We are touching a lot of different areas of the game. Front-end, back-end, assets, mechanics, & more. With the size of our team people are wearing multiple hats, and it’s going to take quite a bit of time to get these items ready. All of these systems are connected to each other and sometimes working on them doesn’t provide us a lot to show off in the earlier stages.

We know it’s not the exact news you wanted to hear, but we wanted to provide you with a reason for why things have been so quiet. We will likely remain quiet for the next few months with our heads down trying to get as much done as possible.

We are excited to show you what’s next! As the features develop into more shareable states, we will be happy to show them off to you.




Stationed in the Mess Hall

Hello everyone!

We’ve just released a minor patch, version 1.14.3, for Onward, that brings compatibility with a small but important upcoming change to the backend systems.

While you may not notice any changes in-game, this patch will ensure a smooth experience as we continue to develop the game.

Stay sharp!

Hello Onward Community,

We have just released patch 1.14.2 to address a number of issues that have been affecting gameplay for many of you. This includes fixes for various exploits, gameplay states, and maps. Details can be found in the change log.

The hotfix is available for download now on all platforms.

Change Log

• Fixed an issue that allowed two players to assume the Corpsman role in the same fireteam, leaving another fireteam without Corpsmen.
  
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to become effectively invisible after using the syringe.
  
• Fixed two exploits that allowed players to clip through assets and reach out-of-bounds areas.
  
• Fixed an issue on Cargo that would prevent players from extracting with the helicopter in Mercenary Mode
  
• Fixed an issue in Gun Game where a random player would progress in the game when another player uses the “give up” button
  
• Fixed an issue on Quarantine where players would suddenly die as they hit a kill box when extracting with the helicopter
  
• Fixed an issue in Assault where the “Return to Battle” message would remain visible after a player was killed due to being out of bounds, and then respawned
  
• Fixed colliders and LOD issues on Bazaar
  
• Fixed several instances where a player could get themselves stuck on various maps

Hello Onward Community,

We hope everyone is continuing to enjoy Mercenary Mode. We were very excited for everyone to try it out and see the reactions to the new style of gameplay. However excited we were, our original intention was not to have the game mode fill every filter on the server browser. Thank you for reaching out to us quickly to let us know this was happening. We worked hard to address it quickly and released Hotfix 1.14.1 to resolve this.

Shortly after the release of 1.14 we were informed of some major bugs, such as a new invisibility glitch, that were being used by players to exploit and disrupt games. We tried very hard to get a hotfix out to address this, however, when looking more into it we decided that we wanted to fix some additional bugs and issues that the community has been encountering. In the meantime, you are encouraged to use the in-game functionalities to report players if they are using exploits like these and we also encourage you to use the vote kick player system so they don’t continue to disrupt your games. In the Community Center we go over best practices for reporting players and steps for how to deal with unwanted players.

This month in the Dev’s Desk we’ll be revealing the information about what will be included for the next patch.


After the launch of Update 1.14 we were made aware of some critical issues that we wanted to address quickly. As we started to look into the exploits, we decided that there were a few more things we wanted to make improvements on and additional fixes for as well. Based on the amount of things to include and the time it would take to complete some of the items, this will not be considered a hotfix and will be released as Patch 1.14.2.

Typically before an update launches a portion of the team is already working on the next things for Onward. Due to how much work is needed for the next update, it took a bit more time for some team members to shift tasks and start to work on some of the fixes that we wanted to include in this patch. We understand that the community has been asking frequently for some of these fixes and we are happy to be getting this out to them.

Patch 1.14.2 will include these featured fixes:

• Fix for “Invisibility” exploit
  
• Fixed various locations throughout maps where players were exploiting to get into unintended areas
  
• Fix for issues players are experiencing when reaching out of bounds areas
  
• Fix on Cargo in Mercenary Mode where players were unable to extract
  
• Added some Server Filter improvements
  
• Fix for issue in Firefight where two players were assigned as the Medic
  
• Various Collision & LOD fixes on maps
  

We are working on wrapping up the final parts of the patch and hope to have it out to you soon.


Onward can be played in a variety of different ways. Players range from hard core PVP players, jumping in with a buddy for some rounds of Co-Op, to spending time practicing skills on the shooting range. Players have also developed other ways to enjoy the mechanics that Onward has developed in areas like Free Roam. We want to ensure that people are able to play in these modes and enjoy their time in the game.

Sometimes people don’t play the same way or may join and not understand the rules of the mode. We want to encourage players to resort to communication first rather than retaliation. If efforts are made to communicate to a player about their behavior and they go unchanged, please report the player using the in-game reporting tool and then start the vote kick process to have them removed from the lobby.

[h3]Additional Reporting of a Player[/h3]
For major offenses that do not follow our community guidelines or break the terms of services (such as racist/hateful language, hacking/exploiting, pattern of harassment) submit a report to our support team.

• Capture a video or image of the violation that includes the player name
  
• Email the video to customer support - [email protected]
  

If video files are too large you can send a link to a google drive location or upload it to YouTube as “unlisted” and send the video link in your email.

[h3]Using The Vote Kick System[/h3]
For a player to be removed from the lobby someone needs to start the vote kick process and at least half the lobby needs to agree to have them removed by also clicking on the “Kick” button. To start the process, click on the player's name on the scoreboard and choose “Kick” from the options. This will bring up a kick button that is visible to other players in the lobby. Communicate to the other players in the lobby that you have started a vote kick and why you want the player removed to encourage a quicker response from other players in the lobby.

We want to ensure everyone is able to enjoy their time in Onward and get the most out of their play sessions.


Locked and Loaded