Insurgency: Sandstorm News

Hey everyone,

Today we’re launching a preview of our upcoming 1.3 update on our Community Test Environment. We invite you to try new map, game mode, weapons, weapon optics, community server XP gain, and more. Just go to your Steam Library and download the “Insurgency: Sandstorm Community Test Environment.”

The update includes a remastered version of one of our most popular maps from the original Insurgency, ‘Ministry’. Set mostly indoors, Ministry features more tight, CQB-focused combat than any of our other maps. Ministry will be availible for Firefight, Skirmish, Team Deathmatch, Checkpoint, and Hardcore Checkpoint game modes. Right now only Versus game modes are available, but Coop game modes will be added later.





We’ve also included a brand new Arcade game mode ‘Frenzy Checkpoint,’ which we revealed in detail earlier this Spring. Teams will have to try to battle waves of faster, more aggressive AI that are armed only with melee weapons. However, we’ve thrown in some twists, with special enemies with unique abilities like the athletic Jumper, the hulking Bruiser and the explosive Flamer.

https://youtu.be/H0A5Tzf--cU

Players should also expect some new hardware to play with. The VHS-2 (for Security) and the QBZ-03 (for Insurgents) assault rifles will be available for the Rifleman, Demolitions, Commander and Observer classes. We also added new optics including the 1x Micro Red Dot for Security and the 1x MARS for the Insurgents.



Finally, we’ve implemented a method for community servers to award experience. Details are available in our Community XP Server Admin Guide.

To play, go to your Steam Library and download "Insurgency: Sandstorm Community Test Environment. Please remember that this is an early preview build, sp expect some issues. If you do notice and problems or have general feedback about the new content, we encourage you to post in the CTE subsections of the official forums or the Steam forums.

• Refinery has been removed from the matchmaking pool, due to an issue with the NavMesh for bot movement. We ask that community servers owners avoid running any coop scenarios on this map until the issue is resolved.
  
• Tutorial bug: First-time players who have never completed the tutorial before will not be unable to progress fully through the tutorial due to some recent changes. The tutorial can still be played in its entirety on the live version.
  
• Beta tattoos not showing properly in the Appearance menu.
  
• Game audio randomly cutting out. If you are experiencing this issue, please help our team by providing feedback in this thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/581320/discussions/0/1651045226222586970/
  
• SLI setups making level geometry strobe, disappear, and appear dark in general. This issue has been reported to Nvidia and they are working on a fix. In the meantime they will be disabling the SLI profile for Insurgency Sandstorm until this is resolved, we will update you when this occurs. As a temporary workaround we suggest players running the game in SLI temporarily disable SLI for Insurgency Sandstorm themselves.
  
• AI weapons may occasionally continue looping audio for some players after the AI has been killed.
  
• Class presets not be saving correctly on exit for some players.
  
• Various clipping issues with cosmetics overlapping each other.
  
• Turrets may jitter when the vehicle is moving.
  
• Binoculars may appear to be floating in front of the character in third person.
  
• Cosmetic items main slots will not apply directly on being clicked until you back out then return
  
• Equipment unlock item popups might use the incorrect background portrait.
  
• Uniform Camo may not show correctly in the Appearance menu, Loadout menu or ingame.
  
• Optic meshes may appear flattened when viewed with the weapon in the up state.
  
• New weapons have some visual bugs, mostly WIP textures, sockets etc.
  
• Post Match screen is displayed /NONE where the scenario name + gamemode are supposed to be shown. Frenzy, Ministry and Outskirts HC only
  

The following issues are fixed in the live build of Insurgency: Sandstorm but are still present in the CTE

• Equipment camo may not show correctly on ragdolls
  
• Eyewear may not show the full colour correctly
  
• Cosmetic items main slots will not apply directly on being clicked until you back out then return
  
• Equipment unlock item popups might use the incorrect background portrait.
  
• Uniform Camo may not show correctly in the Appearance menu, Loadout menu or ingame.
  
• Optic meshes may appear flattened when viewed with the weapon in the up state.
  

Hi everyone, today we released a third hotfix to address some issues that have been reported since the version 1.2 update. You can view the full change list below.

As always, community feedback helps us improve the game, so we ask anyone experiencing issues after today’s patch to leave constructive feedback on the official forums or Steam forums detailing; hardware set-up, in-game settings, videos/images, and where possible, any reproduction steps.

Critical Fixes

• Improved client-side forgiveness thresholds for hit detection.
  
• Fixed an issue where pressing the Randomize button in the Appearance menu would not save your random roll on exiting.
  
• Fixed a main menu crash caused by the Message of the Day if there was no response from the web server.
  
• Fixed an issue on Outskirts Hardcore Checkpoint where Ammo Boxes were not spawning.
  
• Fixed an issue where sprinting with a grenade launcher in Hardcore Checkpoint would result in the player’s arm appearing broken in first person.
  
• Fixed an issue where helicopters sometimes rapidly lose altitude if flying over low terrain outside of the map.
  
• Fixed an issue where picking up a single shot weapon from an AI enemy would result in a continuous reload.
  
• Fixed an issue where main slots in the Appearance menu were not applying the chosen cosmetic correctly when clicked on.

Gameplay

• Players who respawn in Hardcore Checkpoint will now have the following:
  
  • An unupgraded Mosin if they are Insurgents or an unupgraded M24 if they are Security, both with two clips worth of ammunition.
    
  • Their Secondary they selected in their Loadout, but with only two magazines of ammunition.
• Increased the penetration power of M82A1 CQ and M99 anti-materiel rifle rounds.
  
• Fixed a potential exploit in Precinct where players were able to access the top of a utility pole.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Uniform Camo not showing correctly in the Appearance menu, Loadout menu or ingame.
  
• Fixed Equipment camos not showing correctly on ragdolls.
  
• Fixed Eyewear cosmetic item colors not showing correctly.
  
• Fixed the “flattening” of certain optics when a player is Aiming Down Sights and also has their weapon obstructed.
  
• Fixed an issue where the max player value in the server browser would be defaulted to zero for some players.
  
• Fixed an issue where Equipment unlock item popups were using the incorrect background portrait.

We are aware of the following issues and are still working on fixes for them. They will be addressed in upcoming hotfixes:

• Beta tattoos not showing properly in the Appearance menu.
  
• Game audio randomly cutting out. If you are experiencing this issue, please help our team by providing feedback in this thread.
  
• SLI setups making level geometry strobe, disappear, and appear dark in general. This issue has been reported to Nvidia and they are working on a fix. In the meantime they will be disabling the SLI profile for Insurgency Sandstorm until this is resolved, we will update you when this occurs. As a temporary workaround we suggest players running the game in SLI temporarily disable SLI for Insurgency Sandstorm themselves.
  
• AI weapons may occasionally continue looping audio for some players after the AI has been killed.
  
• Class presets not be saving correctly on exit for some players.
  
• Various clipping issues with cosmetics overlapping each other.
  
• Turrets may jitter when the vehicle is moving.
  
• Binoculars may appear to be floating in front of the character in third person.

Hi everyone, today we released a second hotfix to address some issues that have been reported since the version 1.2 update. You can view the full change list below.

As always, community feedback helps us improve the game, so we ask anyone experiencing issues after today’s patch to leave constructive feedback on the official forums or Steam forums detailing; hardware set-up, in-game settings, videos/images, and where possible, any reproduction steps.

• Fixed an issue where players could become stuck after spawning.
  
• Fixed an issue with hit detection where bullet delta times were not as accurate as they should have been.
  
• Fixed an issue where the first person cloth gloves were rendering inside scopes.
  
• Fixed a loading screen crash.
  

• Fixed a server-side hitch / lag spike that was occurring when a lot of bot spawning would occur simultaneously in Hardcore Checkpoint.
  

• Players who join a Hardcore Checkpoint round in progress will now get their Loadout when they first spawn in. If they die and then try to rejoin the match to get their Loadout back, the match will remember that they were there before, and they will instead spawn with the Mosin and Makarov.
  
• Increased the number of Ammo Boxes that spawn on objectives in Hardcore Checkpoint from between 2 to 5 up to between 4 and 6.
  
• Removed the initial fire delay from the M99 and M82A1 CQ anti-materiel rifles and limited their fire rate.
  
• The Black variation of the Insurgent Hands “Cloth” item is now a “vanity” variation to have parity with other Black item variations. This means the variation is marked with a yellow marker, and its cost is slightly higher than its item’s rarity tier. This was an oversight on our part, we intended for this vanity cost to be in with the 1.2 update, so we apologize for any expectations set for the item to be as cheap as it was.
  

• Fixed an issue with the Explosive Drone being too large and handling poorly.
  
• Fixed an issue where soundscape emitters were playing multiple versions of their assigned audio. This caused two versions of the same audio playing at the same time, flanging, and increased volume.
  
• Fixed an issue where Laser Sights and Foregrips were given too often to AI enemies in Coop. They will now only be given 50% of the time.
  
• Fixed an issue where tattoos were enabled by default in first-person.
  
• Fixed an issue with the M99 and M82A1 CQ Caliber measurements not showing as being large enough in the Loadout menu.
  
• Fixed an issue with Coop servers showing the incorrect maximum number of players in the server browser if that value was greater than 8 players.
  
• Fixed an issue with the incorrect Team Deathmatch image being shown in the Arcade section of the Play menu.
  
• Fixed an issue with button icons on longer Lessons and hints being cut off.
  
• Fixed an issue with Supply Crates not resetting correctly after a round restart.
  

We are aware of the following issues and are still working on fixes for them. They will be addressed in upcoming hotfixes:

• Beta tattoos not showing properly in the Appearance menu.
  
• Game audio randomly cutting out, if you are experiencing this issue please help our
  
• team by providing feedback in this thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/581320/discussions/0/1651045226222586970/
  
• SLI set ups making level geometry strobe, disappear, and appear dark in general.
  
• Single loaded weapons picked up from AI enemies not reloading properly.
  
• AI weapon audio looping.
  
• Class presets not saving correctly on exit.
  
• Sprinting with grenade launchers in Hardcore Checkpoint causes the arm to look deformed in a “wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man” style.
  
• Various clipping issues with cosmetics.
  
• Randomize button in appearance menu not saving cosmetics correctly.
  
• Glasses and goggles not showing the correct color in the appearance and loadout menus.
  
• Helicopters sometimes lose altitude rapidly if flying over very low terrain outside of the map.
  

Today we released a small hotfix patch to help correct a problem that affected a subset of users who were experiencing issues with Steam Authentication. This issue should now be fixed in the latest version.

Our team is also aware of, and is working on several other issues associated with Friday’s version 1.2.0 update, and will be rolling out more hotfixes throughout the week.

As always, community feedback helps us improve the game, so we ask anyone experiencing issues after today’s patch to leave constructive feedback on the official forums or Steam forums detailing; hardware set-up, in-game settings, videos/images, and where possible, any reproduction steps.

Today we announce the release of update version 1.2 for Insurgency: Sandstorm. This includes many changes from last weeks CTE, including a new map, new game mode, two new weapons, plus numerous bug fixes, changes, and optimizations. You can read some of the key highlights below or view the full changelog on our website.

• New map “Outskirts” playable in Firefight, Push, Checkpoint, Team Deathmatch, and Hardcore Checkpoint.

• New official Coop game mode Hardcore Checkpoint
  • Movement speed is significantly reduced. Enemies are harder. Friendly teammate indicators only show when a teammate is nearby. Objective indicators are hidden in the HUD.
  • If you die, you will respawn with a Mosin bolt-action rifle and Makarov pistol. You must resupply at a Supply Crate to get your Loadout.
  • There are only two Supply Crates. One will spawn on a random objective, the other will always spawn on the final objective. You can only resupply once on a Supply Crate. Small Ammo Boxes will give some ammunition for the weapons you are carrying.

• New Weapons
  • M82A1 CQ anti-materiel sniper rifle for Security Marksman class.
  • M99 anti-materiel sniper rifle for Insurgent Marksman class.
  • M2HB .50 Cal mounted machine gun for Security vehicles.

• New Cosmetics
  • Balaclava and neck gaiter Facewear cosmetics for Security faction.
  • New skull pattern for Insurgent balaclavas.
  • M90F camouflage for Security.
  • Cloth gloves for Insurgents.

• Class Loadouts can now be customized on the main menu through the Customize button.
• Enabled voting to kick players on official matchmaking servers.
• Overhauled community server browser to support favorites, showing empty and full servers, passworded servers, minimum and maximum player filtering, filter reset, search box and better sorting options.
• Bots will now randomly select all of their loadouts, including weapon attachments.
• Updates to the helicopter damage models:
  • The top and tail rotor can be destroyed with anti-materiel rifles.
  • Pilots, co-pilots and door gunners can be killed via normal weaponry or an anti-materiel rifle if behind a windscreen or metal plating.
• Ammo Carrier vests and backpacks can now be customized with different colors and camouflages. See the “Equipment” slot in Appearance under the Customize menu.
• Dust kickup particles now play when weapons are fired while prone on appropriate surfaces.
• Added support for storing key bindings and various other settings that are system-agnostic in the Steam Cloud.
• Local Play is now accessible if you’re offline and unable to sign into New World services.
• Appearance menu improvements:
  • Different Ammo Carrier and Armor Loadout options can now be previewed on your character.
  • Your character can now be rotated.
• Upgrade to Unreal Engine 4.22:
  • Upgrading to the latest version of Unreal Engine was a large task, however it was a necessary part of optimizing the console versions, and will enable greater performance and development possibilities in the future for all versions of Insurgency: Sandstorm including PC.

• Implemented skeletal mesh merging to reduce CPU overhead of character animation.
• Implemented UE4 4.22 animation budget allocator to reduce CPU overhead of character animation.
• Disabled tessellation by default due to a higher than intended GPU cost, it may still be manually enabled.
• Optimized particle overdraw by implementing particle cutout textures.
• Fixed certain UI elements incorrectly performing tick logic after being closed.
• Optimized update frequency of world soundscape actors.
• Optimized logic, physics, and animation performance impact of helicopter air support.
• Reduced concurrent particle impact effect limits.

• Character movement interpolation improvements; characters will no longer jitter when moving in third person close to the camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3hFFjSBHk

• Fixed broken terrain shadows on low settings.
• Facial hair improvements on low quality settings.
• Holographic sights reticle has been improved for better target acquisition and clarity.
• Tweaked reticle brightness values for the 1x Red Dot, 1.5x PK-AS and 1x OKP-7 sights.
• Weapons with extended magazines and belts will now display correctly in the Loadout menu.
• New special animations for performing an Ammo Check while deployed.
• New first person deployed crawl animations.
• New third person prone deployed reload animations for MGs.
• Adjusted first person sprint animation speeds to better match footstep sounds.
• Reduced the playrate of first person rifle sprint animations to improve their look.
• Improve the synchronization between first and third person leaning animation.
• Improved melee and knife animations.
• Cosmetic visual improvements:
  • Updated Very Dark skin tone to be more visually different than the Dark skin tone.
  • Updated long sleeve button down dirt mix.
  • Update on roughness of most gloves.
• User Interface
  • Reduced size profile of team score element on spectator UI.
  • Improved the alignment of the create party icon.
• Added a black variant of the 4x SU230 which shows on darker weapons.

You can view the full changelog on our official website: http://newworldinteractive.com/insurgency-sandstorm-version-1-2-patch-notes/