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Insurgency: Sandstorm News

State of Production #20

Hello everyone, my name is Tim Perreault and I’m the Production Director at New World Interactive. We’re excited to have just released Operation: Exodus, our latest free update. Let’s dig right in!

Key Points for State of Production #20
  • Spring 2021 Player Feedback Survey
  • Operation: Exodus
  • Survival Mode
  • New Map: Citadel

[h3]Spring 2021 Player Feedback Survey[/h3]
Every so often, we send out a survey to the community to help us better understand how our community feels about the current state of the game. You can fill out the survey here. It will be open until the end of the day on June 4, 2021, so please take this opportunity to let us know what you think.

[h3]Operation: Exodus[/h3]
Our latest update is available to play now. We’ve added new guns, new cosmetics, a new map, and a new game mode available on our new map and many of our existing maps. When you win your first match of Survival Mode, you’ll be rewarded with a set of character cosmetics for both Insurgents and Security that reflect the battering you take fighting your way through to an extraction point. For full details on the update, check out the patch notes here.

[h3]Survival Mode[/h3]
I’ve invited three of the key developers of this game mode: Adriana Matic, Level Designer; David Poeung, Gameplay Programmer; and Jason Campbell, AI Programmer to talk about the experience of creating Survival Mode.

Tim Perreault: What was the biggest challenge developing AI for the new mode?

Jason Campbell: For the AI in this mode, while it’s still an objective based mode where you’re capturing objectives, unlike others, there’s not a fixed objective ahead of time where the AI will be assaulting or defending from one side. The players can approach the objective from any side and we wanted to have them feel like they’re constantly being chased in the streets, not just assaulting a fortified objective. We needed to have our AI’s approach to the objective be entirely different which led to developing a new spawning system. Instead of using fixed spawn points, either on the objective when defending it or around it when assaulting it, we wanted AI to be able to dynamically spawn anywhere in the map based on where the players were and where the current objective was. While it may sound simple to just spawn enemies nearby but out of sight, this system actually had a lot of complications. One of the big complications was performance. There are so many possible places for the AI to spawn that when we tested where they should spawn, it resulted in a lot of calculations and permutations that really slowed things down. We needed to build a way for the AI to make better assumptions about where they could go and this is where we started building out our new spatial awareness system. Right now it’s primarily used to make sure the bots don’t spawn within line-of-sight of the player, but it’s also something we plan on using in the future for enabling additional tactics. Getting a working version of that wasn’t terribly difficult, but making it fast and making it good took a lot of iteration. There were multiple times during early playtests where you’d see bots spawning on a blocking volume in the sky or on top of a billboard or who knows where. It took a lot of iteration to get the system working.
TP: Speaking of iteration, what was your process like?

JC: Yeah, it’s interesting because it felt really fun right at the beginning but it also felt really broken, like I mentioned with the AI spawning in the sky, plus we needed to spawn tons of bots to create enough pressure, and even then they would sometimes just wander away and get lost. The process basically was about looking at what was going wrong and then investigating and fixing, for example why did the bot spawn in the sky? What could cause it to do that and how do we eliminate the behaviour? How far from the players should the bots spawn? How can we hint to the AI where they should be without giving away the players’ location? A lot of the difficulty of the mode is also about how many bots are spawning and when they’re spawning so we needed to add a lot of configuration and rules around spawning to make it easy to adjust by the designers. Once those tools were in place, it was a lot of playing and tweaking and trying again, building out something new if we found another gap.

TP: When development first started on the game mode, where did you start and at what point during development did it start to feel like “Hey, this is actually really fun!”?

David Poeung: So at the beginning, the original pitch for the game mode was that we wanted something that fully utilized the entire map, which none of the other modes did, that was really difficult and made you feel like you were always in danger with constant tension and pressure. The idea for the mode was that there was an overwhelming amount of bots attacking you at all times while you were running around trying to capture objectives spread all across the map, the constant danger really encapsulating the idea of “survival”. So that was the basis that I started with. In the initial iteration there were 32 active bots at all times which was just way too oppressive. As we started playtesting, we began toning it down, trying to find a balance where it was both difficult and fun, so we dropped the number of bots and made the spawning more intelligent and added variability by randomizing objectives and removing the linearity. I would say the moment things started coming together was probably about two or three playtests in when we were having a lot of people on the team, who had never seen the mode, try it for the first time and it clicked for everyone. The feedback was extremely positive and everyone agreed that the mode was instantly fun despite being very rough. So we had a really solid foundation early on and it just took a lot of iteration and refinement over time along with many quality of life additions to strike a better balance on where we wanted the difficulty and tension to land.

JC: One of the things we needed to iterate a lot was balancing the bot pressure from after you captured a point and were trying to resupply from the weapon crates. Early on, the bots would continue attacking you right after you captured the objective so you could capture, respawn your team and, then very shortly after, get wiped by a suicide bomber that had gotten into the room. There were also points that if you were the last man standing, you just couldn’t clear out the point quickly enough because the bots would keep coming.

Adriana Matic: Interestingly enough that really impacted the objective design. A lot of the survival objectives are pretty small because of that, it was an attempt to make it a smaller area to clear so it couldn’t be contested as easily.

DP: One of the other things that had a huge impact on the design was how different Survival mode was compared to other modes due to the high degree of randomness. It made for a lot of new considerations when testing. With how static the other modes were, things could be handcrafted and chosen manually. But with randomness, there were a lot of considerations around the mode’s flow based on the limits of the randomization. Just the range of possible distances between objectives was its own conversation. We had a lot of discussions around how far each objective could be from the others, whether objectives with a lot of obstacles between them should be closer, if the last couple of objectives should be further apart to make the end more intense, etc. We also spent a lot of time trying to figure out which combination of weapons and attachments felt good to pick up, fiddling with the spawn rates of specific weapons and upgrades to ensure that you didn’t always get the exact same weapons every time you opened a crate or a series of bad combinations. Same with the enemy types, how often melee and bombers should spawn was very contentious for a long time and we nearly cut them from the mode entirely at several points in development.
TP: What were some of the challenges with building the layouts for Survival Mode?

AM: So there were probably three main things that were interesting challenges. First off, Survival initially had two objectives activating at once, but the distances between those objectives would be extreme. We also had a linear layout like the kind you would see in Checkpoint, and unfortunately it just wasn’t very fun to play so we ended up with clustered objectives around the map. The other challenge was that in Sandstorm, layout design is kind of based around buildings, but in Survival the actual building doesn’t matter so much as the path that players are taking through the level. It kind of forced a change in thinking about how to design these layouts. We needed to ensure the player wasn’t just going straight down the side of the map for example or off to the middle and just stuck there all the time.
Secondly, for certain maps, Survival just doesn’t jive very well. So if you have a small map like on Ministry where there’s just not a lot of paths around and it’s very laned or if you want to play on super hard mode play a map like Bab where you can’t take a step outside without getting cracked in the head immediately. So we had to weigh a lot of our maps against that and decide if they would be included or not.Finally, the weapon supply crates. There were 480 crates and they had to be moved… a lot. It was also challenging to find places to fit them once they were no longer toilets, but it was fun.
TP: Toilets… What’s the deal with toilets?

JC: We needed a prop that you could open!

DP: From what I can remember, we wanted to differentiate the weapon crates from the supply crates. We didn’t want players to open one and expect to change their loadout or get confused by the two. It needed to look distinct. The problem was we didn’t have a prop early in development and it was going to take our art team a little while to put something together so we needed a placeholder, and specifically a placeholder that was able to open and close. Aside from the supply crates which we didn’t want to use, the only object we had at the time was a toilet, so our Technical Director coded them in as toilets. It was kind of a sad day when they finally got replaced by the real models, even though the final crates ended up looking fantastic.

TP: What were some moments that stood out to you during the development process?

DP: I have one that I remember very distinctly. I think it was right after we added the MR73 and Desert Eagle but they weren’t properly implemented. They were kind of wonky in a number of ways, but specifically their physics were really off. We were messing around with them in Survival mode playtests and we found that one shot from either gun would send your target flying in the air, so we had a lot of fun just launching enemies across the map.

JC: I remember when we were playing around with objective order early on and we were testing on Outskirts. We had just made it to the penultimate objective and were heading to the extraction point but it was a five or six hundred meter run and everyone on the team died in the first two hundred meters except for our Community Manager fatherHank. He made the rest of the four hundred meter run on his own just booking it down the side of the map over mostly open terrain getting shot at left and right but he survived and made it to the point. We thought maybe he’d had God mode on but he swore it wasn’t and I’m pretty sure he died shortly after actually arriving at the extraction point. It was an epic run!

AM: When we started doing the bigger internal tests, I remember once being on a team with one of our producers, jayvereal, and we kept getting shot and couldn’t figure out where from. We turned around and finally realized that this bot was prone on top of a billboard like across the map. And like, all I see is jayvereal crawling past me prone and she managed to sneak past all the bots. What a champion. She killed the bots for me and I was like, thank you!
TP: Let's talk about the extraction sequence. I know it went through quite a bit of iteration.

DP: Yeah, the extraction sequence, despite how prominent it is now, wasn’t part of the original design for the game mode. It actually came in about halfway through the development process because we felt that the finale to the mode was a bit anticlimactic, aside from more bots and a larger variety of special bots there wasn’t anything memorable about the final objective. The mode was just going from objective to objective, the last one is a little harder and then it ends. We wanted something more exciting and cinematic at the end to pay off all that intense pressure and tension that had been building for the whole round. During one playtest, we had an epic last stand type moment happen on the final objective and we wanted to capture that feeling and reproduce it in every round of Survival. Then someone suggested “What if we added a helicopter extraction to that?” So we made this set piece where you’re pinned down by enemies on the final objective, then a helicopter flies in to assist and once you drive off the attacking bots the helicopter extracts you and your team, rescuing everyone and you survive.

AM: When I first heard the idea, it was presented to me as the helicopter is going to land and it was an interesting challenge because these maps were not built with a helicopter landing in mind. I had to find cinematic locations for a helicopter to land but in the end the helicopter doesn’t actually land! Instead, we have this cool cinematic scene play out. One funny thing that happened during early development of that scene was you’d be loaded into the helicopter and for whatever reason it would shoot you like ten thousand feet off the map. We fixed that.


Thanks to Adriana, David, and Jason for sharing that little behind the scenes look at what it took to bring this new mode together.


[h3]New Map: Citadel[/h3]
Citadel is a map long in the making, which has been worked on by many of our developers. I’ve invited our Level Design Director, Jeroen van Werkhoven to speak about the map and what it took to finally get it ready for release.

Tim Perreault: When did we first start working on Citadel?

Jeroen van Werkhoven: Citadel started very early on in the development of Sandstorm. It was part of the first batch of levels we created.

TP: What were some of the challenges you and the team ran into building this map?

JvW: One of the biggest challenges was figuring out the gameplay and linking it to an ancient city. We knew that the answer was closer to a CQB experience, but we still wanted to offer enough opportunities for longer-range weapons. We found a balance for the first part of the level by using vertical gameplay. The ground level is more shotgun or SMGs oriented, and the rooftops (high-ground) are more open, long lines of sight where rifles and snipers are a must! Also, machine guns are great to use on the rooftop to provide cover fire to the players advancing in the alleyways.

The second part of the level is more trench-warfare but uses a similar approach. The players in trenches are better off with close quarter weapons, and the players that are going for the high-ground have different spots to snipe from to protect their buddies in the trenches.

TP: Why has it taken so long to get this map to the point where we’re releasing it?

JvW: It was in production for a long time because we wanted to create something unique that feels like an ancient citadel. It went through so many iterations and hands; every level designer worked on it in some capacity. The map started more as a symmetrical layout; both sides were identical in feel and gameplay, very close to an arena type of map that you would find in the Quake or UT games.

After many playtests, we concluded that it didn't feel like a citadel and wasn't very realistic compared to an actual Citadel in the real world. We put the level in the 'freezer' for a while to focus on the other maps first that we knew we could deliver.

Once we picked it up again, we knew we wanted to capture that feel of an ancient city inside a fortress and made the map a lot less symmetrical, more organic. Later we highlighted the history of an ancient town by turning it into a museum, which also adds to the storytelling of the environment.

We also had to figure out the art direction for this level, how can we capture that ancient feel, and the answer was more or less the new survival mode. We made the atmosphere in the level more dramatic. Started fires, literally by barricading the exit routes of the level and setting the barricades on fire. We added more barricades and fires throughout the level to bring that gritty, warzone feeling more forward.

TP: How was the collaboration with the art team different from when the map was started to now?

JvW: When we started on Citadel it was very much a level design only project, figuring out the gameplay. We did an early art pass, but the art direction was very different and minimal compared to our levels today.

When we picked up the level again, we thought about the art direction much more thoroughly, and the survival feel. The level design and art team had to work closely together to avoid breaking the gameplay, while adding more atmosphere. We didn't want to make it too dark, but at the same time, it should feel different. Also, the map was initially going to be during a heavy winter. But we found it much more interesting to change the setting to late winter, early spring; the gritty look, overcast sky, audio all add to the survival feel.

TP: What is your favourite part of the map?

JvW: The amphitheater, because it's such an iconic element, both for art and gameplay. And it's the perfect location to extract with a helicopter.

TP: Are there any moments from development or testing on Citadel that stand out to you?

JvW: The first time we tested the very first blockout of Citadel many years ago. I knew we were on to something special. It just took us a long time to figure out how to make it fun.

Another moment was when we tried the first version with the ancient town in place. All the dots started to connect, which led to the idea for the final area of the level. The Excavation site and trenches as well: playing that area of the level makes it feel like you're taking part in a war movie.


Like Jeroen said, every level designer on the team has had a hand in this map, so big shoutout to all of them and our art team for bringing this map to life!

It’s been a long SOP, but they usually are around releases. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.


Update 1.10 Operation: Exodus - Hotfix #1

[h3]Resolved Issues[/h3]
  • In-game localizations have been added for the following languages:
    • Czech
    • Danish
    • Dutch
    • Finnish
    • French
    • German
    • Hungarian
    • Norwegian
    • Polish
    • Portuguese
    • Brazilian Portuguese
    • Russian
    • Swedish
    • Thai
    • Turkish


  • In-game localizations have been added for the remaining languages:
    • Chinese (Simplified)
    • Chinese (Traditional)
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Spanish


  • Fixed a number of crashes related to:
    • Toggling NVGs when the player was not holding a weapon
    • Loading screen crash when loading into Survival or a modded game mode from a server map change
    • Compass HUD element
    • Score board UI element in Co-op mode
  • Reduced the occurrence of AI spawning inside the walls in Precinct Objective F on Survival mode
  • Fixed an issue on Citadel where a terrain seam could be seen
  • Blocked off an unused path by closing a door in Domination on Citadel
  • Fixed an issue where a flashlight is not available to be equipped with the Desert Eagle
  • Adjusted the Main Menu and Customization Menu to have the character model face the camera more directly
  • Adjusted the lighting around the character in the Customization Menu
  • Fixed an issue where the Field of View setting was not applying correctly in the Settings Menu
  • Fixed an issue with the Pistol in Arms mutator which may have affected community servers and certain co-op playlists in the following regions: US East, US West and Europe
  • Fixed an issue where the Replays button was not working and improperly located on the Main Menu instead of inside the Stats Menu
  • Fixed an issue where on Citadel where players were getting partially blocked while climbing a ramp at the church
  • Fixed an issue where the key art was showing up during the game launch sequence
  • Fixed an issue where the True Grit weapon skin was not being applied on the Cheapo Suppressor, Suppressed Sniper Barrel and Sniper Barrel
  • Fixed an issue where the Bear Claw weapon skin was not being applied to the Suppressor on the Sterling
  • Fixed an issue where the AS VAL had a muzzle flash
  • Fixed an issue where an unintended weapon skin can be equipped on the AS VAL

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]
  • The remaining in-game localizations will be coming later this week in a hotfix
  • There may be issues where AI is spawning inside walls, under the floor and other unintended areas. We ask players to report cases to support.newworldinteractive.com so we can resolve these immediately
  • There is an issue where the gunship is killing friendly teammates during the survival extraction



Known issues that we are working on can be found on the Insurgency: Sandstorm Community Board.
For a full list of the 1.10 Patch Notes, visit the Update 1.10 Operation: Exodus Major Update.

For game support, visit our support desk at: https://support.newworldinteractive.com/hc/en-us

Update 1.10 Operation: Exodus is Here!

[h2]Operation: Exodus[/h2]

[h3]Check out the full changelist and see what’s new in Operation: Exodus.[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[hr][/hr]



[h2]New Map: Citadel[/h2]

Are you ready for an assault on the Citadel? Battle through a museum-turned-warzone, traversing muddy trenches, navigating sprawling tunnels, and fighting across an ancient amphitheater. Citadel is an expansive map and was built with our new game mode Survival in mind, requiring players to adapt to different combat styles as they travel the battlefield. Close-quarters can swiftly transition into open terrain before descending into narrow tunnels. Citadel has the support for the following game modes:

  • Versus
    • Push Security
    • Push Insurgents
    • Firefight
    • Domination
  • Co-op
    • Checkpoint Security
    • Checkpoint Insurgents
    • Hardcore Checkpoint Security
    • Hardcore Checkpoint Insurgents
    • Outpost
    • Survival


[h2]New Weapons: MR 73 and Desert Eagle[/h2]

There are two new secondary weapons available for all classes: The MR 73 for Security at 4 supply points, and the Desert Eagle for Insurgents at 5 supply points. Both weapons support Optic, Barrel, and other upgrades, including a speed-loader for the MR 73. These new firearms will have you ditching your primary for some hand-held stopping power.

[h3]Desert Eagle[/h3]



[h3]MR 73[/h3]



[h2]New Feature: Pistol Optics[/h2]

Pistol optics are here, adding precision and accuracy to your secondary weapons: the 1x Mini Green Dot for the Insurgents and the 1x Mini Red Dot for Security. Pistol optics are available for all secondary weapons.

[h2]New Game Mode: Survival[/h2]

We’ve added a new co-op mode called Survival. Hunt for a safe extraction zone as you’re overrun and under fire by wave after wave of relentless enemy forces. Cut off from your allies and supply lines, you’ll have to scavenge for weapons and ammo, using our new Weapon Crates to acquire randomized primary weapons and upgrades.

Survival mode is available on the maps below in both day and night scenarios. We hope to expand the mode to more maps in future updates:

  • Citadel
  • Outskirts
  • Hillside
  • Hideout
  • Summit
  • Farmhouse
  • Precinct
  • Powerplant


Your first successful extraction in this game mode will grant you both of the new unlockable cosmetic sets: Dissident and Battleworn. Details on the cosmetics can be found below.

[h2]New Cosmetics: Unlockable[/h2]

Operation: Exodus features a spectrum of characters from regular to irregular forces. Insurgents include rebel citizens who’ve donned masks to fight for their homes. Meanwhile, Security is cut off without supply, and their gear shows the wear and tear of battle.

Note: These cosmetics are exclusively unlocked by winning your first round of Survival Mode.



[h3]Dissident - A fighter going to battle with nothing but the clothes on his back.[/h3]
  • Marked (Facewear slot)
    • Red
    • Blue
    • Yellow
  • T-shirt Frayed (Torso slot)
    • Red
    • Blue
  • Sirwal (Legs slot)
    • Black
    • Light Grey
    • Peach
  • Loafers (Feet slot)
    • Black
    • Brown
    • Yellow
    • Light Grey




[h3]Battleworn - A soldier who has been isolated and stuck out in the field while struggling to survive.[/h3]
  • Damaged PASGT (Headgear slot)
    • Brown
    • Dark Brown
    • Dark Green
    • Foliage Green
    • Olive Drab
    • Ranger Green
    • Sand
    • Tan
    • Uniform Camo
  • Blouse Dirty (Torso slot)
    • Uniform Camo
  • Trouser Dirty (Legs slot)
    • Uniform Camo
  • Worn Out (Feet slot)
    • Black
    • Brown
    • Dark Brown



[h2]New Cosmetics: DLC[/h2]

We are adding new DLC cosmetics with this update that will give your characters and weapons a unique look. The cosmetic items they contain can be combined with other cosmetic items already in-game. Purchasing these is a great way to support Sandstorm’s continued post-release development. See the different sets below, along with what items they contain and apply to:



[h3]Insurgent “Upriser” Gear Set[/h3]
  • Upriser Mask
  • Upriser Top
  • Upriser Tattoo (Left)
  • Upriser Tattoo (Right)
  • Upriser Bottom




[h3]Insurgent “Bear Claw” Weapon Skin Set[/h3]
  • Desert Eagle
  • AKM
  • SKS
  • Sterling
  • TOZ-194
  • Mosin-Nagant




[h3]Security “Bad Day” Gear Set [/h3]
  • Bad Day Wrap
  • Bad Day Top
  • Bad Day Bottom
  • Bad Day Hands




[h3]Security “True Grit” Weapon Skin Set[/h3]
  • MR 73
  • G36K
  • L85A3
  • Grease Gun
  • M870
  • M24


If you want to get all four Operation: Exodus DLC sets at a reduced price, check out the link here.

[h2]New Mutators[/h2]

Six new mutators are now available. The details on each new mutator can be found below:
  • Budget Antiquing: This mutator only allows only old, cheap weapons along with normal equipment and explosives
  • No Drops: Weapons, explosives, and equipment are not dropped by dead players or enemy AI
  • Makarovs Only: Makarov pistols only
  • Poor: Players start with only 2 supply points
  • Fully Loaded: All weapons, equipment, and explosives in the game are available in the Loadout Menu
  • Gunslingers: Players are equipped with the MR 73 revolver, normal equipment, and explosives


[h2]Outpost Mode[/h2]

We’ve added Outpost to some new maps, and improved some of the existing layouts with better objective placement and enemy AI spawn areas.

[h3]New Outpost Maps[/h3]
  • Citadel
  • Summit
  • Precinct
  • Refinery


[h2]Frontline Mode[/h2]

We’ve made some adjustments to improve player experience in Frontline matches.
  • Decreased starting wave count from 20 to 15
  • Decreased round timer from 20 seconds to 15 seconds
  • One vehicle spawns after the weapon cache is exposed for each team
  • Updated the appearance of the wave increment and decrement icons

[h3]Frontline Improvements[/h3]

Previously, when the final weapon cache objective was exposed to the enemy team, your team would lose all remaining waves. We found that this was too punishing and could potentially end a round very quickly. To combat this, a new wave drain mechanic was added to allow the losing team a chance to fight back. Once the weapon cache is vulnerable, the waves will begin to drain at a rate of one wave per 20 seconds.

[h2]Firing Range[/h2]

New weapons have been added to the Firing Range:
  • Honey Badger
  • AS Val
  • Sterling
  • Grease Gun
  • Welrod
  • M110 SASS
  • M1 Garand
  • QBZ-97
  • QTS-11
  • MR 73
  • Desert Eagle

We’ve also updated all the existing weapons on the Firing Range to ensure proper seating and placement.

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]
  • Reduced the range to detect enemy proximity voice indicators
  • The color of character materials have been adjusted to subtly increase the overall brightness of characters
  • NVGs no longer automatically equip onto the player’s face after interacting with a supply crate
  • Bipod deploy and retract animations now blend with sprint animation
  • Improved the animation when holding a primed explosive while moving in 1P



[h2]User Experience[/h2]
  • The teammate indicator has been made more visible by increasing thickness and opacity
  • The ammo carrier icons have been updated to indicate how many additional magazines and explosives are added
  • Adjusted the font size, table height and spacing in the Settings Menu
  • The row color changes and is highlighted when it is focused in the Settings Menu
  • Added a tooltip for server browser icons
  • Updated the style and location of the scroll bar in the Customization > Inventory Menu
  • Scroll boxes have been improved in the Loadout Menu and Inventory Menu
  • Changed the icon of the matchmaking regions to a globe icon
  • Created a new icon for language selection
  • Moved the placement of the Client Version element to the right-hand side to avoid overlapping other elements


[h2]Enemy AI[/h2]

The shooting accuracy of AI is based on time. As time passes, the more accurate the shots become. This gives players time to react when they are attacked. We found there were three issues with this system that caused the increased snap shooting behavior.

Here are three situations, what should happen, what has been happening, and how we’ve fixed the problems:

The fixes are outlined below:

  1. Each target the AI is aware of has an associated threat level, due to a number of factors. The AI is told to shoot at the target which has the highest threat. Here is a theoretical situation:

    • Here is a theoretical situation: The AI is targeting it’s highest threat target, shooting, and it’s accuracy is increasing. A new target comes into view for the AI, and this target is physically closer. This new target has a higher associated threat level due to its proximity.

    • What should happen now: The AI swaps it’s target, the accuracy is reset, accuracy increases, new target kills the AI or the AI kills the new target.

    • What has been happening: The AI swaps targets while still firing at the initial target, the accuracy system is bypassed, and the initial target is immediately shot (and usually killed).

    • The fix: When the primary target changes, the AI’s ‘focus target’ also changes at the exact same time, the accuracy system is not bypassed, and the initial target is not murdered in cold blood.


  2. The AI is sometimes aware of players but not in a ‘combat’ state for various reasons, i.e. the target is outside the AI’s maximum firing range or the AI can hear but not see the player. At this stage, the accuracy system is irrelevant as the AI is not in combat yet.

    • Here is a theoretical situation: The AI has seen a player, but that player is outside of the AI’s maximum firing range. This target then moves within the AI’s firing range.

    • What should happen now: The accuracy system tells the AI where it should aim near the player (a near miss to alert the player). The AI checks if they are aiming where they are supposed to be aiming before pulling the trigger. If not it, waits until it has switched it's aim from directly looking at the player, to the desired ‘near miss’ point.

    • What has been happening: This check is happening, however, a check using only an angle was being used. If you’re far enough away, the angle check would not be sufficient - the distance between 2 points at a certain angle when you’re 10 feet away is significantly larger than the distance between 2 points at that same angle when you’re 50 feet away. So, although it’s been checking to see if the angle was sufficient to not snapshot, when the distance reached a certain threshold that angle was actually not enough.

    • The fix: An extra check has been added that includes the distance in the calculation between where the AI is looking and the location of the targets body - with this extra check, the AI will properly hesitate before firing at a target.


  3. The AI ramps up its accuracy the longer it is in combat with a target.

    • Here is a theoretical situation: A bot enters combat with a player target and begins to fire.

    • What should happen now: The bot fires once, missing the target by a distance of x. The bot then fires again, missing again, but this shot is closer to the target. This continues with the miss distance decreasing until the target is hit.

    • What has been happening: The bot is correctly identifying two points around the target where it will miss, with the second shot being closer than the first. The issue is that those points are occasionally on each side of the player, i.e., the first shot going over the target’s right shoulder, and the second going over the left shoulder. While the AI is moving it’s aim to the second point - and still firing - the player happens to exist in the space in the middle of these two points, causing indiscriminate death.

    • The fix: Any time the first missed shot on a player is to the left of the player, all subsequent misses will also be on the left side of the player. Same goes for if the first missed shot is to the right of the player; all subsequent misses will be on the right side of the player


Our team also improved the spatial awareness of the Enemy AI with the introduction of the new Survival Mode. The built-out spatial awareness infrastructure which is currently used only on Survival will enable future improvements to all game modes in the future.


[h2]Modding[/h2]
  • The new Mod Editor is updated with the 1.10 content
  • A new Survival Mode Setup guide will be coming soon on mod.io
  • The checkbox to toggle “Allow Derived Game Modes” has been removed. Instead, the setting is set to enabled in all scenarios



[h2]Level Design[/h2]

Bab
  • Fixed an issue where the fire and explosion visual effects were not visible when a vehicle caught on fire or exploded
  • Fixed an issue where players could capture Objective B without being inside the building
  • Fixed an issue with the sandbags being too difficult to climb
  • Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a staircase when attempting to vault
  • Fixed an issue where there was an invisible collision that was partially blocking a pathway near Objective B
  • Fixed an issue where props would appear or disappear at a certain distance
Crossing
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to access unintended areas
  • Fixed an issue where the fire and explosion visual effects were not visible when a vehicle caught on fire or exploded
  • Fixed an issue where a staircase was exposing a gap between walls
  • Fixed an issue where the restricted area was incorrectly displayed in Push Security
  • Fixed an issue where props would appear or disappear at a certain distance
Farmhouse
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to access unintended areas
  • Fixed an issue where props were clipping through each other
  • Fixed multiple issues on the map where objects or props would flicker
  • Fixed a lighting issue that caused props to appear black
  • Fixed an issue where an invisible collision was partly blocking a pathway
  • Fixed issues where seams could be seen on walls at multiple locations
  • Added a new bridge to the map
Hideout
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to access unintended areas
  • Fixed an issue where a seam on the floor could be seen
Hillside
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to access unintended areas
  • Fixed an issue where the fire and explosion visual effects were not visible when a vehicle caught on fire or exploded
  • Fixed multiple issues on the map where objects or props would flicker
  • Added new props to the map
Ministry
  • Fixed an issue where the fire and explosion visual effects were not visible when a vehicle caught on fire or exploded
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to access unintended areas
  • Fixed an issue where players could easily get stuck while walking around in the underground parkade around the concrete blocks
Outskirts
  • Fixed several issues where players were able to access unintended areas
  • Fixed a visual issue where a prop had an incorrect reflective material
  • Fixed a visual issue on the wall found inside a building next to Objective A, B, and D on Checkpoint Insurgents
Precinct
  • Firefight spawns were moved to disallow a spawn killing lane
  • Fixed several issues where players were able to access unintended areas
  • Fixed an issue where the fire and explosion visual effects were not visible when a vehicle caught on fire or exploded
  • Fixed an issue where low poly assets in the environment could be seen from the playable area
  • Fixed an issue where assets were clipping through the floor and could be seen from underneath
  • Fixed an issue where players could see into the second floor unintentionally
  • Fixed shadow issues on miscellaneous terrain parts
  • Fixed multiple issues on the map where objects or props would flicker
  • Fixed issues where seams could be seen on walls at multiple locations
Powerplant
  • Fixed multiple lighting issues that would cause textures to lighten when located near a wall
Refinery
  • Fixed multiple issues on the map where objects or props would flicker
Summit
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to access the unintended areas
  • Fixed a lighting issue where the piping around the map appeared very dark
Tell
  • Fixed several issues where players were able to access unintended areas
  • Fixed an issue on Domination where players would be able to enter an unintended room
  • Fixed multiple issues on the map where objects or props would flicker
  • Fixed multiple lighting issues would cause textures to lighten when located near a wall
  • Fixed an issue where a seam was visible in the walls
  • Fixed lighting issues at multiple locations on the map
  • Fixed an issue where the material of a pillar was stretched
  • Fixed an issue where a bush prop could be seen through another object
Tideway
  • Fixed an issue where lighting could be seen behind around the edges of a basement
  • Fixed an issue where AI was spawning inside the floor of a second story building
  • Fixed multiple issues on the map where objects or props would flicker

[h2]Resolved Issues[/h2]
  • Fixed an issue where loadouts were not being stored and saved
  • Greatly reduced occurrences of snap shooting by AI (see Enemy AI section above)
  • Fixed an issue where AI would not retreat when they depleted all their ammo for their primary weapon
  • Fixed an issue where the silhouettes of players would show if they were surrounded by smoke effects from two different sources
  • Fixed an issue where the interaction hint on the HUD did not always appear depending on what the player was holding
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to see the enemy team’s proximity UI icons appear on the HUD
  • Fixed an issue where the overtime element remained on the screen even after the round had ended
  • Fixed an issue where the spectator overlays would not appear when the player did not select a class and pressed ESC after a map change
  • Fixed an issue in the Customization > Appearance Menu where the Preview Amor and Preview Ammo Carrier buttons were not centered on the screen
  • Fixed an issue where classes appeared block when the player slots were not full on the Class Selection screen
  • Fixed an issue where the menus would not appear in the Loadout screen
  • Fixed an issue where the extended magazine appeared too long on the QTS-11
  • Fixed an issue where the 6x-3x Red Ring Scope appeared tan instead of black
  • Fixed an issue where the bipod was misaligned in 3P on the ACE52
  • Fixed an issue where optics would jitter in the Loadout screen in the Firing Range
  • Fixed an issue where the character was not centered in the scene in the Loadout screen
  • Fixed an issue where the menu button would not open and close the menu during a match when using a gamepad
  • Fixed an issue where players were unable to vault using a gamepad
  • Fixed an issue where the loading icon persisted after clicking Next and Previous consecutively in the Mods Menu
  • Fixed an issue where the page number in the Mods Menu appeared as zero
  • Fixed an issue where the page number was not locked to an upper or lower limit
  • Fixed an issue where the poncho was clipping into the armor vest
  • Fixed an issue where reporting a player did not work on the CTE
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to vault into and through objects
  • Fixed an issue where planting a C4 or IED and moving your camera would cause the player’s arms to disappear and cause the player to stop planting
  • Fixed an issue where players were unable to interact or pick up dropped objects while holding an explosive or knife
  • Fixed an issue where the M1 Garand 2.5x M1C scope was set to a higher magnification
  • Fixed an issue where the weapon that is equipped with the 2x-1x Holographic would disappear while ADSing
  • Fixed an issue where the tanker trucks had larger collision volumes than what was visible to the player
  • Fixed an issue where the Menu button was not opening the Menu on the controller
  • Fixed an issue where the controller layout in the Settings Menu had the “Speed Reload (Double Tap)” button showing as “Quick Reload (Double Tap)”
  • Fixed an issue where UI elements in the Loadout Menu would not always appear
  • Fixed an issue in the Settings Menu where the sensitivity values were not capped to the same decimal place
  • Fixed an issue where the SlowMovement mutator was not being carried over through map changes
  • Fixed an issue where the password widget appeared to be out of focus when attempting to connect to a password-protected server
  • Fixed an issue where the binds in the leaning hint #108 were showing as UNBOUND
  • Fixed an issue where the Wet Feet achievement was not obtainable after completing Basic Training under Tutorials
  • Fixed an issue where there were two interaction prompts on the computer at the Range
  • Fixed an issue where the toilet props appeared as if it was low resolution

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]
  • In-game localization will be coming later this week in a hotfix
  • There may be an issue where the objective icons are missing on the HUD and tactical map when playing on community servers when restarting the same scenario
  • There is an issue where a flashlight is not available to be equipped with the Desert Eagle
  • There is an issue where the Replays button does not work on the Main Menu. To access Replays, go into the Stats Menu instead.
  • There may be an issue where the camera switches to a view inside the helicopter during the end of round screen
  • There is an issue where the 2x configuration will automatically activate when switching to the underbarrel upgrade when using a 2x-1x toggleable optic
  • There is an issue where the bipod deploy animation will not play when using a MG3 or M240B
  • There is an issue when using the AUG A3 equipped with a 6x-3x Red Ring Scope will cause a portion of the weapon to disappear
  • There is an issue where the bipod is displayed incorrectly in 3rd person during the bolting animation with the Mosin-Nagant equipped
  • There is an issue where the Desert Hex weapon skin does not apply to the correct attachments
  • There is an issue where the Urban Digital and Whiteout weapon skins do not apply to the Recoil Grip attachment on the AK-74
  • There is an issue where the weapon details do not update when selected in the Loadout Menu
  • There is an issue where the Submit a Bug or Feedback form with new lines will fail
  • There is an issue where the reload animation will cause the player’s hand to warp when the Loading Grip attachment is equipped onto the primary weapon
  • There is an issue where the Objective indicator opacity is inconsistent
  • There is an issue where some of the UI elements overlap in Spectator mode
  • There is an error on the controller layout in the Setting Menus, where the Left Bumper should be “Comms Menu (Hold)” instead of “Weapon Select Menu (Hold)” in the Settings Menu
  • There are instances where the weapon and optic will jitter during ADS
  • There is an issue when the SVD with the Aiming Grip and 7x Sniper Scope is equipped causing the player’s thumb to obstruct the sight picture
  • There is an issue when using switching to a weapon with an Underbarrel attachment combined with a 2x-1x toggleable optic will cause the scope to appear to be toggled to 2x instead of 1x
  • There are multiple issues that are known regarding the gamepad:
    • Players are unable to interact with the Overview Screen during a match
    • The refresh button does not work in the Community Servers Menu
  • There is an issue when viewing a replay with a controller; the playback control buttons are too small to read
  • The left arm is bending unnaturally when aiming down the sights on the AS VAL with the Aiming Grip upgrade and NVG Point Shooting mode
  • The Mosin-Nagant Stripper Clip weapon upgrade does not push in properly when reloading in third person
  • AI vehicles can get stuck in the Range level under Tutorials
  • Switching to or from the Smoke Launcher upgrade with no ammo plays the incorrect animation when using the M1 Garand
  • There is an issue with weapon and knife hitboxes which may block players that jump into the weapon being held by other players

Update 1.9.2 Hotfix 2

[h3]We've released a hotfix for update 1.9.2 that addresses the following issues:[/h3]

Fixes:
  • Fixed an issue where players were not given the Sasquatch DLC after purchase and it still showed as if it was still available to purchase
  • Fixed an issue where if a teammate died while using proximity chat they could be heard in the 'world proximity channel' until they respawn


To see the current known issues list, please see the bottom of the full 1.9.2 changelist here.

April 2021 Community Update Blog



Hello Gamers™,

Another month is gone already, and with it we saw some pretty major announcements and releases.

We announced 1.10, had our 1.10 CTE, Update 1.9.2 was released, and we are under three weeks away from the full release of 1.10!



Here at NWI we are chugging along, reading through thousands of points of feedback from our Update 1.10 Community Test Environment. We appreciate everyone taking the time to fill out the survey (available here if you haven’t yet), post on Reddit, and/or filling out an in-game bug report.

The new mode, Survival, seems to be a hit, and it plays just perfectly with our new weapons. What’d you think? Let me know in the comments below - we are still taking feedback and iterating. I can say one thing we’ve been looking into is the quantity of suicide bombers in the mode.

What about the new sidearms? The pistol optics? The new map; Citadel? We want to know. I promise to read every comment. Even the mean ones.

The CTE is integral in our development cycle, so thanks again to everyone who partook. If you missed out, don’t worry, we will have another one before the release of 1.11.

[hr][/hr]
The DAY after our CTE for 1.10 ended we launched our newest minor update - 1.9.2.

The meat of this update is our HD Texture Pack. I’ve seen a lot of screenshots being taken with these higher resolution textures, and they are looking _clean_. Some noticed there was an issue with the texture pack upon release, but we have since pushed a hotfix and we are back to melting GPUs! If you have any great shots, send them my way.

The rest of the update (patch notes available here) was largely focused on small quality of life improvements (looking at you, server browser) and bug fixes.

While these minor updates aren’t super flashy, they go a long way in improving the day-to-day life of our game, and often contain initiatives driven by you as a community.

If there’s something specific you all want, keep posting, and I will see it. That’s not to say it’s guaranteed, but I guarantee I will at least pass on your ideas and we will discuss as a team.

[hr][/hr]
Eighteen (!!) days until 1.10.

This will be our first major release since December and I am very excited. Like we said in the past we are giving ourselves more time between releases to allow us to focus on polish. While some people are frustrated that they aren’t getting content as often, I think most of us would agree that improving the quality of our releases is an area that needed some improvement.

If you’d like to see what’s coming in 1.10, you can watch our reveal stream here, follow along with our social pages (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter), or call me at home. I won’t give out my number, but if you have it, feel free to call me.

We will also be updating our Operation: Exodus website as things are revealed on social media, so if you prefer to avoid social platforms, just check back regularly to that site.

Our next stream will take place on 1.10 release day, May 18th, at 2:00pm MST on www.twitch.tv/NewWorld. I will be playing some games with the community, so stop by, hang out, and play some games with us.

[hr][/hr]
The new Community Associate starts Monday, so you’ll likely see them in the Discord or on the subreddit in the coming weeks.

I really hope their online name can not be as easily changed to daddy as mine. Right before I started this job, I knew it was my last chance to change it from fatherHank… we all make mistakes.

We will be creating a community survey in the coming weeks that should be coming out near the end of May.

[hr][/hr]


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]We are leading off this month with a super in-depth guide to the weapon upgrades available in Insurgency: Sandstorm (sacrilicious__ on YouTube).


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]Did you do that? Yes you did. You really did it (mestari_tikku on Reddit)


Although it's (sadly) been fixed, I have to shout out the dude who set the entire first act of Shrek as his in-game name.


I just love this shot. Shout out to Electrical-Dealer-74 on Reddit (and ISMC for that matter).


Also, shoutout to Gat for the image we used for this post 📸

Next time we chat you’ll be rocking an MR 73, fighting past an ancient amphitheatre, and frantically grabbing random weapons from crates. Honestly, that sounds like a good month to me.

See you all for stream on the 18th
fatherHank