Insurgency: Sandstorm News

Update 1.6 is here with Mod Tools Public Release, a new map: Power Plant, new guns: ACE 52 and Tavor 7, full map support for Domination game mode, improvements to Insurgent fire support, improvements to gamepad support, and more!

Since our last major release, we’ve been focused on adding new content to the game. This can be seen in our new map, guns, and cosmetics. To really open the floodgates on content, we are pleased to announce that with 1.6, our mod tool support will be moving from private to public with the ability to now manage mod subscriptions in-game. In addition to this new content, we’ve spent a lot of time working to improve the new player experience as well as address concerns of the community.

See the full changelist below:

[h2]Mod Tools Public Release[/h2]


We are pleased to release our Mod Tools to the public in the 1.6 release. This includes the full Unreal Engine Editor that will allow the community to create their own levels. The Editor itself will allow you to upload and update your mod through built in tools.
With this iteration of the mod editor, it will be possible to to create levels, gamemodes, and mutators. Mods and guides will be available through Mod.io which will become the modding hub for the game. This release fully integrates Mod.io into the game allowing community servers to host modded content, and players connecting to the server will be able to automatically download required mod content. Official and community documentation will be available from the Mod.io guides

• Integrated Mod.io support into the game via Modding submenu from the Main Menu
  
  • Browse available mods
    
  • Subscribe and unsubscribe from mods
    
  • Vote on mods
• Community Server Browser now has a filter to show or hide Modded servers
  
• When joining a server running mods, the player will be prompted to download missing mod content or cancel joining

[h2]New Map: Power Plant[/h2]


We are happy to present our latest map, Power Plant. Set in a more lush and green environment than other maps, you can read more about the design and development of this map in our most recent State of Production.
Power Plant has the following scenarios available:

• Firefight East and Firefight West
  
• Push Security and Push Insurgents
  
• Domination
  
• Checkpoint Security and Checkpoint Insurgents
  
• Hardcore Checkpoint Security and Hardcore Checkpoint Insurgents
  
• Frenzy Checkpoint Security

[h2]New Weapons: Tavor 7 and ACE 52[/h2]


We’ve added two new rifles to the game: the Tavor 7 for the Security Advisor and the ACE 52 for the Insurgent Advisor. These weapons are replacing the Security Mk 14 EBR and Insurgent SVD weapon selections on the Advisor class.
For more insight into why these changes were made, please read our most recent State of Production.
[h2]New Cosmetics[/h2]

• New Security Cosmetics
  • Compression Shirt
  • Headset with various Headgear
• New Insurgent Cosmetics
  • Leather Jacket
    
  • Smooth Mask

[h2]Spectator Camera Improvements[/h2]
Spectator Cam Preview
In an effort to improve quality of life for new players, we have implemented a new camera where after death, the camera will hover over the player’s corpse and then slowly point in the direction the shot that killed them originated from. This option is intended to help new players train their eyes where to look without giving away too much information.

• Improved spectator camera after being killed to point in direction of killing shot or explosion
  • Player can either click to skip, or after a period of time will be forced into regular spectator mode
  • Players can turn this feature off for themselves under Game settings
  • Community Server Admins can turn this off for the server
    
  • Disabled in Competitive and Hardcore Checkpoint playlists
• Implemented toggleable x-ray trails from thrown projectiles and fire support and a beam indicating the direction a player is facing
  
• Implemented controller support for spectator mode

[h2]Domination Maps[/h2]
In release 1.5 we introduced Domination mode. This mode proved to be highly popular among the player base. In 1.6, we’ve given the remaining maps a Domination treatment and made some minor tweaks to the layouts of all maps based on additional community feedback.

• Outskirts
  
• Power Plant
  
• Precinct
  
• Refinery
  
• Summit

[h2]Gameplay Improvements[/h2]
We’ve worked hard to listen to the players and make improvements to various gameplay mechanics. Our intent is to directly address player feedback about shooting and aiming not being rewarding enough of skill, to improve player movement and acceleration to feel more controlled, and to add some flexibility to certain key bindings which have been popularly requested.

• Adjusted AI so they will no longer attack players in spawn areas in standard and Hardcore Checkpoint scenarios (they will attack in Frenzy)
  
• Removed insertion and drivable vehicles from all Checkpoint levels to improve level flow and performance
  
• Insurgent Fire Support Improvements
  • Doubled the number of rockets in the Rocket Barrage and added a delay between each volley
    
  • Doubled the duration of the Chemical Mortar fire support’s smoke clouds to remain after exploding
    
  • Doubled the duration of the Smoke Mortar fire support’s smoke clouds to remain after exploding
    
  • Increased the duration of Explosive Mortar fire support by 50%

[h2]General Improvements[/h2]

• Replay Improvements
  • Improved reliability of replay recording
    
  • Improved replay control reliability
• Improved Gamepad Support
  
  • Implemented multiple sensitivity curves which can be selected from the settings menu
    
  • Implemented Per-Axis Controller Sensitivity
    
  • Updated Controller Button Mapping
    
  • Adjusted Gamepad Weapon Recoil and Sway Modifiers
    
  • Improved aim dampening implementation
    
  • Improved Default UE4 Deadzones
    
  • Added gamepad support to most menus
    
  • Implemented Dual Shock 4 controller support
• Main Menu Improvements
  • Updated the Review pane of the Main Menu to accept and display dynamic messages
    
  • Added a banner message area for displaying short text messages
• Community Feedback Improvements
  
  • XP Boosts will be listed on playlists when active
    
  • Selecting Random during a map vote will no longer result in replaying the current scenario
    
  • Players cannot be autobalanced during the last two minutes of a match or during the Last Stand in Push/Frontline
    
  • Added some spawn protection in Versus modes to prevent the Attacking team from being wiped when they are spawned in on final waves
• Improved logging
  • Added specific logging events to assist with debugging possible crash issues

[h2]User Experience[/h2]

• Moved Steam notification to stop blocking important UI elements
  
• Added clock icon to indicate that fire support is on cool down to binocular view for Commander
  
• Made Preview Selection of Items and Cosmetics consistent between Appearance Screen and Loadout Screen
  
• Improved visibility of HUD markers and provided multiple preconfigured color schemes
  
• Improved how HUD markers are anchored to the screen they represent objects outside your field of view (Objectives, Supply Crates, Friendly Players)
  
• Improved UI hint when close to doors that can be kicked open
  
• Improved tutorial hints for the ADS Focus ability
  
• Updated icons for scoreboard to indicate columns are hidden while player is alive
  
• Added a consistent Apply button to all Settings screens
  
• Improved the visibility of the Find Match button and added a sound for when it is clicked
  
• Improved the visibility of damage indicators
  
• Added a contextual hint to the screen when players are in the spawn or close to resupply crates to indicate they can Change Class or Change Loadout
  
• Added contextual hints for players who have toggleable weapon attachments

[h2]Visual Improvements[/h2]

• Updated EAC Launcher artwork
  
• Updated the lighting in the Main Menu
  
• Updated the look of magazines for the Mk 18 CQBR and the pistol grip on the Alpha AK
  
• Visual optimization pass on Hideout
  • Increased performance in troubled areas of the map
• Improved the flashbang effect to reduce the performance cost when used

[h2]Levels[/h2]

• Outskirts
  • Fixed an exploit that let you vault through a wall
    
  • Fixed an issue where terrain wasn't properly connected to a wall
    
  • Removed access to an unintended rooftop
• Crossing
  • Fixed an issue where you were able to capture or defend from an unintended location in Domination
    
  • Removed access to a few unintended locations
• Summit
  • Added a blocking volume to prevent deploying the objective A cache from far away
    
  • Fixed a gap in the ground
    
  • Fixed a gap that would allow you to leave the map in Firefight East
    
  • Fixed a small gap in the floor
    
  • Fixed an area where players could get stuck on an invisible prop
    
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to walk on a picture frame
    
  • Fixed an issue where some debris from a destroyed wall appeared to be hovering
    
  • Fixed an issue where some ground props were overlapping incorrectly
    
  • Fixed an issue where the tactical map appeared blurry
    
  • Fixed an issue where you were able to capture or defend a point from an unintended location
    
  • Fixed multiple exploitable areas of the map
    
  • Fixed multiple seams in props and walls near objective C that allowed light to shine through
    
  • Removed ability to access an unintended area
    
  • Removed ability to walk on an unintended ledge
    
  • Removed access to an unintended location
• Refinery
  • Fixed an issue where an invisible volume was blocking a door
    
  • Fixed multiple exploitable areas of the map
    
  • Fixed the alignment of the tactical map

• Farmhouse
  
  • Fixed an exploit allowing players to leave the map and flank enemies
    
  • Fixed an exploit where you were able to go prone and clip inside a rock
    
  • Fixed an issue where players would have difficulty deploying a Bipod on some ramps near the B objective in Checkpoint Security
    
  • Fixed multiple exploitable areas of the map
    
  • Fixed the location of the first resupply crate in Security Checkpoint on the tactical map
    
  • Removed ability to climb into unintended locations
    
  • Removed an exploit that allowed spawn killing in Push Security when the B objective is active
• Hillside
  • Fixed an issue where vehicles were able to be driven onto some rooftops
• Hideout
  • Fixed a collision issue with a small ground prop
    
  • Fixed an area where players could get stuck between two props
    
  • Fixed an issue where players would get stuck vaulting over a prop near objective C in Firefight East, D in Push Insurgents, D in Skirmish, and near the Security spawn in Frontline
    
  • Fixed an issue where you were able to capture or defend objective D from an unintended location in Frontline
• Precinct
  • Fixed a small gap in the floor
    
  • Fixed an exploit in the map that allowed players to reach unintended locations
    
  • Fixed an unintended occurrence of the out of bounds zone
    
  • Removed ability to walk on an unintended ledge
    
  • Removed access to an unintended location
    
  • Removed the ability to destroy the objective B cache from long distance in Checkpoint Security

[h2]Competitive Improvements[/h2]
Based on feedback from the competitive community, we have updated the default map rotation on the Competitive playlist to utilize the most balanced maps.

• Updated default competitive map rotation. The following is the new map rotation:
  
  • Precinct East
    
  • Hideout West
    
  • Summit East
    
  • Refinery
    
  • Outskirts West
    
  • Ministry

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue that could cause the game to hitch briefly after shooting down a helicopter
  
• Fixed a frame animation transition issue in the third person reload animations for the M24
  
• Fixed ability to accelerate in vehicles using a gamepad
  
• Fixed ability to access color customization using a gamepad
  
• Fixed ability to interact with Tutorials, Local Play, and Play submenu using a gamepad
  
• Fixed ability to interact with the Lessons tab in-game using a gamepad
  
• Fixed access to the Settings submenu when using a gamepad
  
• Fixed an issue on the Loadout screen where the wrong button prompt would be shown with a gamepad connected
  
• Fixed an issue in the Loadout menu with gamepads where locked slots wouldn't correctly show they were selected
  
• Fixed an issue in the Loadout menu with gamepads where you could not properly wrap around from the top of the list to the bottom
  
• Fixed an issue in the Loadout menu with gamepads where you couldn't navigate between the Loadout list and the save list
  
• Fixed an issue in the tutorial where AI team members might get stuck behind a wall
  
• Fixed an issue on gamepads where you wouldn't be able to select your melee weapon if you didn't have a gun in your equipment Loadout
  
• Fixed an issue where bullets were not visible in the stripper clip of the Mosin-Nagant in third person while reloading
  
• Fixed an issue where changing audio settings in-game would leave a save prompt flickering on your screen
  
• Fixed an issue where deploying a Bipod using a gamepad would drop your character into the ground
  
• Fixed an issue where Player Reports would be miscatergorized in the reporting database.
  
• Fixed an issue where the incorrect bind hint was showing in the Loadout screen for Gas Masks
  
• Fixed an issue where the keybinding on the Fire lesson popup wasn't always showing
  
• Fixed an issue where the resume reload animation doesn't transition correctly when a weapon is equipped with a Foregrip
  
• Fixed and issue where Security pants didn't have correct level of detail assigned to them
  
• Fixed issues with the third person reload animation of the RPG-7 and M3 MAAWS
  
• Fixed key conflicts in controller when selecting primary while equipped with binoculars
  
• Fixed Lesson popups to display the correct keybinds when using a gamepad
  
• Fixed the layering of the Neck Gaiter High to put it above hair
  
• Fixed the location of the stripper clip on the Mosin-Nagant in the Loadout menu
  
• Fixed the potential to crash the game when attempting to quit while driving a vehicle

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

• If the male Security model is selected with no Headgear slot, only the None hairstyle will display regardless of which is selected
  
• Domination maps are showing the scenario string name instead of the mode in the tactical map

[h2]Hotfix 1, March 17[/h2]

• Resolved an issue that would prevent some players from queuing into a playlist if they hadn't previously entered the tutorial

[h2]Hotfix 2, March 23[/h2]

• Fixed issues when starting servers with mods enabled and joining servers with mods
  
• Fixed various cosmetic costs, refunded players the difference if they bought the cosmetics at the higher prices

Costs that went up:
• Baseball Headset - now costs 800 (was: 400)
  
• Watch Cap Headset - Black - now costs 600 (was: 400)
  
• Baseball Headset - Dark Red - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Baseball Headset - Red - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Baseball Headset - Black - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Too Cool Headset - Black - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Too Cool Headset - Dark Red - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Too Cool Headset - Red - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Leather Blue - Blue/White - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Leather Gray - White/Black - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Leather Red - Red/Black - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
• Leather Black - Black/White - now costs 1000 (was: 800)
  
  Costs that went down:
• Watch Cap Headset - Rarity is now very rare (was: rare)
  
• Headset - now costs 200 (was: 800), Rarity is now Uncommon (was: very rare) (Refund players 600)
  
• Leather Gray - White/Purple - now costs 800 (was: 1000) (Refund players 200)
  
• Leather Black - Black/Peach - now costs 800 (was: 1000) (Refund players 200)
  
• Leather Black - Black/Purple - now costs 800 (was: 1000) (Refund players 200)
  
• Leather Black - Black/Indigo - now costs 800 (was: 1000) (Refund players 200)

Greetings!

My name is Derek, and I am the Head of Production at New World Interactive. I hope that the winter season has not been too unbearable for everyone! As we get ready to enter the Spring, it’s time for this month’s SoP! With the 1.6 update around the corner, I can now more concretely detail what to expect in this update.

[h2]Key Points of State of Production #6[/h2]

• New Map: Power Plant
  
• New Guns: Tavor 7 + ACE 52
  
• New Cosmetic Items
  
• CTE Feedback
  
• Evolving our Communication Strategy: Community Blog Revival!
  
• Regarding stability issues, crashes, and “ghost bullets”
  
• Replay and Spectator Improvements
  
• Dynamic Main Menu + Alert Improvements

[h2]New Map: Power Plant[/h2]
I’ve invited our Level Design Director, Jeroen van Werkhoven, to provide some commentary on how we chose the setting for this map, as well to discuss some detailed aspects related to Power Plant.

"Hello! I'm Jeroen van Werkhoven, the level design director at New World Interactive." I want to share some more info about our new upcoming map. Power Plant is a fast, action-paced map, designed around CQB principles. There may be an enemy around every corner, which makes this map a lot more intense to play than any of our previous levels. Always have someone watching your back!



For the theme of this map, we wanted to try something different. Early in development, we came up with the idea to try a more green environment. We used reference material from Northern Iraq and Chernobyl, as well as other locations, and turned Power Plant into an abandoned, overgrown industrial site with a giant dam looming over the map, making it visible from almost anywhere. We believe it adds more visual appeal, and the player can use the dam as a beacon to navigate through the map. I'm very proud of everyone on the team who was involved in the creation of Power Plant. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did creating it!”


[h2]New Guns: Tavor 7 + ACE 52[/h2]
We’re adding two new weapons to the game in update 1.6. I thought the community might appreciate hearing more about how we selected the weapons, so I’ve invited Mikee to provide some color commentary on the decision-making process.





“Hey everyone, Michael Tsarouhas (or Mikee) here. I’m the lead game designer on Sandstorm, and want to talk a little bit about the new guns we’re adding in update 1.6: the Tavor 7 for the Security Advisor class and the ACE 52 for the Insurgent Advisor class. These weapons were chosen for a few reasons. For one, both these weapons (or ones very much like them) have popped up in various forum posts and social media alongside other weapon requests. This makes sense, because our community surveys have indicated that our players have a high interest in modern weapons, specifically assault rifles. So in this update, we decided to go with newer weapons that look more cutting edge, ones that feel appropriate for a well funded or well experienced Advisor to carry. This is especially true with the Tavor 7, which is a relatively new weapon system that is essentially a TAR-21 chambered in those big ass 7.62x51mm NATO rounds. Both the Tavor 7 and ACE 52 fire fast and fire hard, serving as perfect assault weapons for CQB and firing through thick materials. While both these weapons are technically battle rifles, aesthetically and design-wise they are much like ARs. They serve an important and similar gameplay function as high caliber full-auto rifles.

Additionally, we have gotten a lot of feedback about the Security Mk 14 EBR and the Insurgent SVD being too common and too powerful as battle rifles. This makes sense since they’re the only two weapons that are shared between the specialized classes of Advisor and Marksman. Rather than just nerfing them and risk making them less useful for both or either of those two classes, the Tavor 7 and ACE 52 will replace them for Advisors and lean a little more in the assault weapon function. And now, every specialized class (Breacher, Gunner, Advisor, Marksman) has a unique primary selection.”
[h2]New Cosmetic Items[/h2]
Security:



Insurgents:



[h2]Evolving our Communication Strategy: Community Blog Revival![/h2]
When I first started the “State of Production” blog, it was in an effort to be more transparent in regard to what we are working on and towards as a company. I ultimately would consider it to have been a tremendous success; it inspired engagement, generated feedback, and helped to shed light on what was happening behind the scenes within New World Interactive. I largely took this on because I felt it was necessary for the company to expand our front-facing communication efforts.

Over the past 9 months, I’ve been fortunate enough to ramp and recruit numerous talented individuals (many of whom I’ve referenced in previous SoP’s). With the evolution of our Community and Communications team, I believe that the time has arrived for me to hand off the vast majority of our front-facing communication responsibilities to the face, heart, and soul of our game; our Community Manager, DaraDef! While I’ll still draft a SoP near major releases, there will be substantially more updates relating to the game in the Community blog.

Dara has been instrumental in driving the growth and evolution of the way our company interfaces with our community. She is presently conducting live streams alongside Mikee, and playing with the community regularly. She is drafting and creating community sentiment reports, and now she has also opted to initialize our Community Blog. The first edition can be viewed here.
[h2]Regarding Stability Issues, Crashes, and “Ghost Bullets”[/h2]
The last 30 days have been pretty challenging for us on a technical level. We had noticed an increase in reported issues pertaining to gameplay stability. Freezes that were taking place after a match starts, people were firing bullets that didn’t appear to be registering/doing damage as expected, random client crashes. We know this was an incredibly infuriating problem being faced by some of our users, and our team worked rapidly to replicate and resolve these problems. Between the utilization of our Support Desk via Nick Ward, and the curated and organized sentiment report drafted by DaraDef, we’re getting better at gathering, organizing, and acting upon community feedback as a whole. This is not always the easiest process; during sprint planning, we do our best to incorporate actionable feedback when and where we can to improve everyone’s quality of life.

However, we cannot create effective solutions without the proper data and details. While we are seeing an uptick in reports related to performance and stability problems, we are also experiencing dismal feedback and participation rates when we reach out seeking more detailed information.

In an effort to help make the community’s feedback more effective, I sat with our Technical Director, Support Manager, and Community Manager, and we’ve structured some documentation on how to best ensure we are able to act upon your feedback. You can view this document here.
Our Player Support Manager, Community Manager, and one of our community moderators create bi-weekly "community sentiment" reports to give to our team. We comb through our Steam forums (including the CTE Sub-forum), as well as our CTE surveys, and collect community feedback from players regarding things like desired gameplay changes/suggestions as well as bug reports - especially things requested/reported by more than just a couple of players.

A lot of this feedback is taken into consideration, but there are a number of reasons why you may not see changes made: Production and QA need to decide on the priority level, how much time and resources would have to be put into it - can it realistically fit into the timeline along with current planned changes and features currently being worked? Additionally, we have to look into if it fits into the vision and identity of what Sandstorm is. It typically takes the studio 2+ weeks to slot in feedback into our production cycle as it stands; this should improve over time, as we continue to grow and ramp.
[h2]Camera, Replay, and Spectator Improvements[/h2]
In order to improve the quality of life experience for new players, we have made some improvements to the Spectator camera. When a player dies, the camera will hover over their body and turn to face the direction of the killing shot or explosion that killed them. This will help new players gain a better understanding of dangerous areas of a map and curtail camping. Additionally, this should help new players to better “train” their eyes, with where to look when engaging various chokepoints. This feature is not available in Hardcore Checkpoint or Competitive. Community server admins will also be able to disable this feature on their servers and all players will have the option to turn this feature off in their game settings. When in this special mode, players can click to skip the camera or after a brief period they will be forced into regular spectator. To hear a detailed explanation of how it works from our lead game designer Michael Tsarouhas, see our last livestream here.

While in regular spectator, players will have the ability to toggle X-Ray to show x-ray trails from thrown projectiles and fire support as well as a beam indicating which direction a player on screen is facing. This feature will show friendly players for someone in spectator because they are waiting for a spawn wave, but will show all players for anyone on the spectator team. X-ray can also be used in replays.

The replay system itself has been prone to errors, having controls that didn’t always work consistently, and problems with recordings that either only recorded a portion of a match or failed altogether. We’ve taken steps to improve the replay system’s reliability both in terms of recording and controls. We will continue to examine the stability of the system and improve it as required.

Feedback from the CTE event regarding changes to the spectator camera after death indicated that we should slightly reduce the time before the camera is forced into regular spectator mode. Feedback did indicate alignment with our plans of having this feature disabled in Hardcore Checkpoint and Competitive along with options for server admins to disable the feature.
[h2]Dynamic Main Menu + Alert Improvements[/h2]
In an effort to improve our ability to communicate with players we have added some additional communication options to the game’s main menu. There is a new banner message location that will allow us to place small text messages for a short duration of time. This will allow us to acknowledge known issues and provide communication in the game to players about what’s going on. Banner messages are intended for short-term messaging of limited duration issues such as Steam maintenance impacts, impending patches, or similar issues.

We have also updated the panel above the MOTD so we can change it dynamically. This panel would allow us to place communication to all of the players in the game that is meant to last over a period of time, such as when we were investigating the recent “ghost bullet” issue without having to replace the MOTD where we traditionally link to the latest patch notes or State of Production.

These are the first changes in a list of communication options we want to implement in future releases to expand our options for communicating with the community without having to rely on external platforms.
[h2]Mod Tools[/h2]
I’ve invited our Technical Director, Stephen Swires, to provide some commentary on the public release of our mod tools, which are due out in the 1.6 update. We know this is a feature that the community has been looking forward to for a while, and are excited to unveil this to the public.

“In the 1.6 update, we will be rolling out mod tools to the public. This will include the full Unreal Engine Editor that we use to create our own levels. The editor has built-in tools for uploading your mod and updating it.

In the initial roll-out, it will be possible to make levels, gamemodes, and mutators. Mods and guides will be available through Mod.io which will become the modding hub for the game. Mod.io is fully integrated into the game and allows community servers to host modded content and players connecting to their server will automatically be able to download the mods the server is running. Official and community documentation will be available from the Mod.io guides section.

Over the course of the year, we hope to expand the modding offering and expose more functionality to modders. In addition to this, we plan on distributing more official mod examples and guides.”

Our Play with the Devs event is happening NOW from 11:00 AM MST - 1:00 PM MST on the Community Test Environment in anticipation of our Spring update coming soon!

Help test upcoming content for our Spring update on the Community Test Environment:

• New map: Power Plant
  
• 4 New Domination layouts
  
• 2 New weapons
  
• Improved replays and spectator cam
  
• Improved controller support
  
• And much more

To play with us, go to your Steam Library and download “Insurgency: Sandstorm Community Test Environment." Boot up the CTE, and please set matchmaking regions to US East
Click Play, select Co-op, and Find Match. All of the devs won’t necessarily be in one game, but you’ll see us floating around your matches!

During the CTE, we will be restricting the playlists to focus solely on the new content. On Co-op there will be one playlist called New Map: Power Plant and on Versus there will be two options, New Map: Power Plant and New Domination Maps.

To learn more about the new content coming in Update 1.6 please go here. After playing, please fill out this survey. The only other place the team will be funneling feedback is on our Steam CTE Sub-Forum. Please ensure to use the search function in the Sub Forum to see if your feedback/question has already been posted, and stick to ONE topic per thread.

See you soon!

Our Play with the Devs event is happening NOW from 11:00 AM MST - 1:00 PM MST on the Community Test Environment in anticipation of our Spring update coming soon!

Help test upcoming content for our Spring update on the Community Test Environment:

• New map: Power Plant
  
• 4 New Domination layouts
  
• 2 New weapons
  
• Improved replays and spectator cam
  
• Improved controller support
  
• And much more

To play with us, go to your Steam Library and download “Insurgency: Sandstorm Community Test Environment." Boot up the CTE, and please set matchmaking regions to US East
Click Play, select Versus, and Find Match. All of the devs won’t necessarily be in one game, but you’ll see us floating around your matches!

During the CTE, we will be restricting the playlists to focus solely on the new content. On Co-op there will be one playlist called New Map: Power Plant and on Versus there will be two options, New Map: Power Plant and New Domination Maps.

To learn more about the new content coming in Update 1.6 please go here. After playing, please fill out this survey. The only other place the team will be funneling feedback is on our Steam CTE Sub-Forum. Please ensure to use the search function in the Sub Forum to see if your feedback/question has already been posted, and stick to ONE topic per thread.

See you soon!

Today we are launching a preview of our upcoming version 1.6 update. This includes a new map ‘Power Plant’, two new weapons (the Tavor 7 and ACE 52), ingame mod support, new cosmetic options, and more!

This content is now playable on the Community Test Environment. However please remember this is a preview build, so some issues are expected (see ‘Known Issues’). If you encounter any problems or have feedback for the development team please respond in the CTE sub-section of the Steam forums or use our 1.6 CTE Feedback Survey.Our team will be monitoring feedback during the CTE and aim to push this update to players on the live version of Insurgency: Sandstorm soon.

You can find some of the key new features and known issues below:

[h2]New Features[/h2]

• New map “Power Plant”
  • Playable in Firefight, Push, Domination, Checkpoint, Hardcore Checkpoint, and Frenzy Checkpoint.
  Tavor 7 battle rifle for the Security Advisor class.
  • Replaces the Mk 14 EBR
• ACE 52 battle rifle for the Insurgents Advisor class.
  • Replaces the SVD
• Mod support for community created content on community servers
  • Mod submenu on the main menu will allow you to browse and subscribe to download mods
  • Joining a modded community server will prompt you to download required modded content or cancel joining
  • Community Server Browser will allow filtering modded servers
• Improved Spectator Camera
  • Improved spectator camera after being killed to point in direction of killing shot or explosion
    • Player can either click to skip or after a period of time will be forced into regular spectator mode
    • Players can turn this feature off for themselves under Game settings
    • Community Server Admins can turn this off for the server
    • Disabled in Competitive and Hardcore Checkpoint playlists
  • Implemented toggleable x-ray trails from thrown projectiles and fire support and a beam indicating the direction a player is facing
  • Implemented controller support for spectator mode
• New Security Cosmetics
  • Compression Shirt
  • Headset with various Headgear
• New Insurgent Cosmetics
  • Leather Jacket
  • Smooth Mask
• Community Feedback Improvements
  • XP Boosts will be listed on playlists
  • Selecting Random during a map vote will no longer result in replaying the current scenario
  • Players cannot be autobalanced during the last two minutes of a match or during the Last Stand in Push/Frontline
  • Added some spawn protection in Versus modes to prevent the Attacking team from being wiped when they are spawned in on final waves
• Main Menu Improvements
  • Updated the Review pane of the main menu to accept and display dynamic messages
  • Added a banner message area for displaying short text messages
• Insurgent Fire Support Improvements
  • Doubled the number of rockets in the Rocket Barrage and added a delay between each volley
  • Doubled the duration of the Chemical Mortar fire support’s smoke clouds to remain after exploding
  • Doubled the duration of the Smoke Mortar fire support’s smoke clouds to remain after exploding
  • Increased the duration of Explosive Mortar fire support by 50%

[h2]Gameplay Improvements[/h2]

• Adjusted AI so they will no longer attack players in spawn areas in standard and Hardcore Checkpoint scenarios (they will attack in Frenzy
• Removed insertion and drivable vehicles from all Checkpoint levels to improve level flow and performance

[h2]General Improvements[/h2]

• Replay Improvements
  • Improved reliability of replay recording
  • Improved replay control reliability
• Improved Gamepad Support
  • Implemented multiple sensitivity curves which can be selected from the settings menu
    
  • Implemented Per-Axis Controller Sensitivity
    
  • Updated Controller Button Mapping
    
  • Adjusted Gamepad Weapon Recoil and Sway Modifiers
    
  • Improved aim dampening implementation
    
  • Improved Default UE4 Deadzones
    
  • Added gamepad support most menus
    
  • Implemented Dual Shock 4 controller support

[h2]Visual Changes[/h2]

• Updated the lighting in the main menu
• Updated the look of magazines for the Mk. 18 CQBR and Alpha AK
• Visual optimization pass on Hideout
  • Increased performance in troubled areas of the map
• Improved the flashbang effect to reduce the performance cost when used

[h2]User Experience[/h2]

• Moved Steam notification to stop blocking important UI elements
• Added clock icon to indicate that fire support is on cool down to binocular view for Commander
• Made Preview Selection of Items and Cosmetics consistent between Appearance Screen and Loadout Screen
• Improved visibility of HUD markers and provided multiple preconfigured color schemes
• Improved how HUD markers are anchored to the screen they represent objects outside your field of view (Objectives, Supply Crates, Friendly Players)
• Improved UI hint when close to doors that can be kicked open
  
• Improved tutorial hints for the ADS Focus ability
  
• Updated icons for scoreboard to indicate columns are hidden while player is alive
  
• Added a consistent Apply button to all Settings screens
  
• Improved the visibility of the Find Match button and added a sound for when it is clicked
  
• Improved the visibility of damage indicators
  
• Added a contextual hint to the screen when players are in the spawn or close to resupply crates to indicate they can Change Class or Change Loadout

[h2]Noteable Fixes[/h2]

• Removed unintended exploitable rooftop access from various maps
  
• Fixed exploitable capture zones in some Domination layouts
  
• Fixed Farmhouse Checkpoint map to correctly display the supply crate location
  
• Fixed bullets not showing up in the 3rd person reload animations on rifles with stripper clips
  
• Fixed crouched and prone reload animations in 3rd person for some rocket launchers
  
• Improved consistency of Lesson popups

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

• [Tavor 7] Textures for the Tavor 7 are not final
  
• [Tavor 7] Some animations may clip through player models
  
• [Tavor 7] In the Loadout menu, the magazine is in the incorrect position
  
• Some menus are not accessible using a gamepad
  
• X-ray trails from projectiles and fire support will not display in Replays
  
• Summit Domination still has a placeholder tactical map
  
• The extraction vehicle in the tutorial level will get stuck shortly after you enter it
  
• Spawning a vehicle in the Shooting Range will not work correctly
  
• The new cosmetics are not yet available in the Appearance menu
  
• Localization of new content has not yet been implemented
  
• Power Plant image is missing for map vote screen
  
• Some scenario name strings are being shown instead of game mode in various maps
  
• In the Coop New Map: Power Plant playlist, scenarios are not being properly labeled with Frenzy and Hardcore