[PREVIEW] Ground Branch

[RodrigoNPC]

 

[RodrigoNPC]

Intel Report #018: Dev News for September 2023


Folks,

It's been a month since our last dev blog, and we once again take a quick break from working on GROUND BRANCH V1034 to give you a generous glimpse into development over the last few weeks. This is Intel Report #018, and today we'll be jumping straight into it.

This report is notan exhaustive list of V1034 features!
For the most up-to-date list of expected V1034 and later features, see our roadmap. You may also want to check out our Intel Reports for June (#015), July (#016) and and August (#017).

AI development
One of the most anticipated areas of development in V1034, enemy AI continues to be built on by programmer Chris with more realistic and varied behaviors. Today we'll be taking a look at the new target acquisition system, as well as two new abilities: looking and shooting from windows and grenade throwing.

Nerfing the enemy aimbot
In a way, programming AI bots sometimes involves more removing than adding. As a crude example, once you program a bot to visually detect the player, the bot will do just that — it doesn't matter if it's bright or dark, if there is foliage in the way, or even if the model is looking in the right direction. You need to actively program the bot to account for things like environment brightness, different types of visual obstacles, and field of view — essentially "removing" its über-detection abilities — so that it better emulates human vision.

The first pass on the AI light detection systemcurrently in V1033 is a good example of the above.

Getting 180-no-scoped by a bot 200 meters away has a similar root cause: once you tell the bot to point and shoot at the player, it'll act like a sentry laser cannon until you add further programming to nerf it to a human level. Though the current release of GROUND BRANCH (V1033) has a configurable period where bots will intentionally miss shots as a way to give players a better chance to react (the Deliberate Miss Time, which varies with difficulty level), once that period is over they're very unlikely to miss.

The new target acquisition system aims (no pun intended) to mitigate this issue by defining an "accuracy plane" — an area where shots may randomly land — around the target player/character. Over time, as long as bots maintain contact, the accuracy plane reduces in size until any shot fired will definitely hit the player.



The system is being built with flexibility in mind, allowing for different sizes of the accuracy plane (as well as different amounts of time for it to collapse) depending on difficulty level and other conditions that will be expanded on, such as distance, movement and weapon type.

The AI guy taketh away, and then the AI guy giveth a little
If you bought GROUND BRANCH or are considering it, chances are you're looking for a challenge — it's just no fun when most of the challenge comes from superhuman accuracy. And since we're working on improving that aspect of the game, it's only fair that we also bump up areas where the AI's abilities fall short to provide a challenge that feels realistic.

In addition to better cover usage and contextual stances (such as going prone when too far from cover), bots are also being programmed to use grenades. We asked Chris to do a little dive into the detail on this, because some of you tell us you like the detail:

The targeting system for the grenade throwing works different than for bullets, since they travel more slowly and are thrown in a pronounced arc. The grenade is thrown by the AI with a specific velocity. To make sure it lands at the desired target location, we have to take into account the horizontal distance and the vertical distance, e.g. when the target is standing on a hill. To determine at which velocity the grenade needs to be thrown to hit the target, kinematic equations need to be solved. To make this problem a bit easier, we say that the grenade will always be thrown at an angle of 45 degrees.

The equations below are used to determine the necessary velocity (v) to throw a grenade at 45 degrees so as to hit the target location. Implementing this formula into the game now lets the AI throw a grenade at the player:

Yes, you're still reading the GROUND BRANCH dev blog


We know 99% of you skipped the math entirely, so here's what you're really here for (minus the animations — they still need to be hooked up!):

GB PLAYER: pls improve AI?
GB TANGO: *throws frag*
GB PLAYER: not like th--

V1034 will also give the enemy AI the ability to contextually look and shoot out of windows.

You might be thinking that enemies are already sometimes positioned by windows and will shoot out of them in V1033, and you would be right. The difference is that, in this upcoming release, any enemy that happens to be indoors can run up to a window to check outside if they hear something, and then shoot out of it if they spot a target. Whereas in V1033, window bots would be specifically positioned by windows and set to a "guard" state, while other bots would simply rush outside in search of players. Here's a quick demo:

Window usage by the AI will present a unique challenge once bullets start flying, as any window might be hosting an enemy ready to take you down.

AI tracers and VFX
In addition to being visually updated, optional tracers will be added to enemy shots at lower difficulty levels to help identify the source of incoming fire. The system allows us to easily set the color and frequency of AI tracers.

Here's a quick WIP demo with yellow/orange tracers every 3–4 shots:

As with most AI settings, the use of tracers will be player-configurable.

Charles is also updating the bullet impact VFX for various surface types, as seen in the video below:





Callsign patches coming to headgear
Just as the title says, callsign patches will now be applied to the rear of all headgear that has an adequate spot for it. At this time, that includes all helmets and the NVG Head Mount.

This is an idea we had been mulling over, suggested a few times by players (and most recently by Discord member Otoramaru). One cool feature is that the patch will automatically apply to the NVG counterweight pouch if NVG are attached:

This addition is sure to be of great help when stacking up and regrouping, as identifying your teammates can be tricky with no HUD.

Should the rear velcro of the Ball Cap also host a callsign patch? How about the big velcro on the Ball Cap (Reverse), since it's worn backwards? Useful? Goofy? Let us know what you think in the comments or anywhere in the community.

While we're talking patches, we're happy to announce that the normal maps for the arm and chest patches are getting fixed. They're still decals, but the normals help add a little bit of depth as currently seen on the headgear.

If you're wondering about that
US/UK Friendship Flag patch
, that's one of a set of new patches that will be coming to V1034. They'll also include:

Europe

• Czech Republic
• Greece
• Estonia
• Ireland
• Lithuania
• Macedonia
• Switzerland

Americas

• Bolivia
• Chile
• Colombia
• Cuba
• Peru
• Venezuela

Africa and Middle East

• Algeria
• Egypt
• Iran
• Jordan
• Libya
• Morocco
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• Uganda

Asia

• Thailand
• Vietnam

We might also include these in-game brand patches as examples for modded patches:

• Ramjet
• SCOPETROL

Level design
Map work continues behind the scenes, with John having recently started changes and additions to City that we hope to be able to showcase soon.

As teased in earlier reports,
The Farm has received a small makeover — most notably in the outdoor range area — with a visual tie-in to Small Town. Here are a couple sneak peeks:

Tracer goes PEW

In other map-related news, Hideout has been pushed back to V1035 to be better fleshed out, while new map Ranch(also V1035) continues to be carefully crafted by Elliot.

Miscellaneous
Here are some smaller new features and bug fixes that will be coming to V1034:

• Pressing N for Night Vision in Spectator Mode will cycle through green and white phosphor modes (thanks to Special Ed Forcesfor the suggestion!)
• Fix for the quick Resurrectadmin option not working
• ResurrectAtMe and SuperKick (for kicking admins) options added to quick admin menu

This has been Intel Report #018!
Thanks for keeping up with GROUND BRANCH! We hope you enjoyed going through these news and previews, and we'll see you on the next one in about a month.

Cheers!

 

[RodrigoNPC]

 

[RodrigoNPC]

Intel Report #019: Dev News for October 2023
Oh, hey! Hi.

Welcome to another Intel Report! This month we're bringing you previews for upcoming release V1034 and beyond, as well as other development news. But first, the usual disclaimer:

This report is not an exhaustive list of V1034 features!
For the most up-to-date list of expected V1034 and later features, see our {LINK REMOVIDO}. You may also want to check out our Intel Reports for June (#015), July (#016), August (#017) and September (#018).

Due to personal lives clashing with work (such as 3 members of the team being in the process of moving places) this report might be a little thinner than previous months in the eye candy department, but we’ll try to make up for it with previews for things that won’t be in the game until V1035 and later.

Alright, let’s get going.

New voices on the way
With female characters being included in V1034, we needed at least one female voice recorded and processed for the "commo rose"-style pre-recorded messages (accessible with the G key). But because writing and recording lines is all one big intertwined process (and because we want new voices sooner rather than later) we decided to go the full length.

Hence our announcement, a couple months ago, that we were looking for talented voice actors.

And thanks to our followers and the awesome voice actor community who helped spread the word, we were able to find and cast a roster of 18 (!) voice actors, male and female, in four different languages: most of them English (US), but also Russian, Spanish (Mexican) and Arabic. In case that isn't obvious, we'll not only be replacing the current enemy voice lines; we'll be replacing them with native language voice lines for 3–4 different OPFOR factions, each with 2–3 different actors.

Here are some samples:




Lines for the player and the team will consist of 3 different voices for male operators, another 3 voices for female operators, and one for the team handler — a CIA lady back at the TOC (tactical operations center) keeping tabs on the mission and communicating with the ground unit in real time.

Should we expect new voices in V1034?
The main goal for V1034 — as far as voice lines go — is implementing the female counterpart for the existing pre-recorded voice messages. As a stretch goal, Zack will process one of the new male voices to replace the existing ones.

As of this writing, about a third of the actors have been recorded. It's a lot of work ahead, but we're super excited about the results so far! We look forward to hearing them in-game and sharing the footage with you as soon as we have it.

What Chris-with-a-C has been up to
Due to other tasks that required his attention, programmer Chris (not to be confused with Kris) has been bashing a variety of things into shape this month, but has still found time to keep working on the AI. He's back on that full-time this week.

Over the last few weeks, Chris has implemented what he's calling world events: stuff that is happening in the game world that should arouse the AI's suspicion and trigger certain reactions. For now, he has created two event types: one is dead bodies, which the AI should eventually check on and take appropriate measures, such as alerting other AI actors; the other is power switches being shut off, which will eventually trigger enemies to go check the relevant switches and turn them back on if uninterrupted.

Though these world events only add the underlying logic and basic behavior so far (as in, bots will simply move to the appropriate actors), they represent the foundation for the fleshed-out behavior, which will of course be accompanied by appropriate animations and voice lines.

Among the other things Chris has been busy with are: compiling a list of build steps for mod kit distribution alongside Callum, keeping the development builds up and running as John moves the server around Ohio, tackling some graphic setting requirements from Nvidia, and adding motion vectors to various UI elements. Don't worry: most of us don't know what any of that means either. But the point stands — man's been busy.

More info on modding!
Section by Matt "Fatmarrow" Farrow

So far we haven't said much about the new modding features coming in v1034, but this month we'll take a deepish dive into the new modding system helmed by programmer Callum.

Up to now, modding in GROUND BRANCH has been a rather unofficial affair, requiring players to manually place (and in some cases replace) files inside the game directory. Some kinds of mods, like missions and game modes, are essentially server-side only, but other kinds of mods like patches and asset replacements have required manual installation of the mod in both the server and clients. This has been quite a hassle. But soon, all this will change!

In V1034, we will start using the Steam Workshop as a repository and delivery system for mods. This is a tried and tested system, popular with modders, and the automatic background updating of mods is a key feature that should greatly enhance user experience. Getting content set up in GROUND BRANCH is rather complicated — not least because we are still developing some core systems — so we are going to introduce different kinds of modded content in subsequent updates. That way, we can hopefully get everything right before unleashing a modding free-for-all.

We'll be kicking it off with one or two weapon mods to show you how it's done. In the first example, behold! The VSS Vintorez.

What you see in the following screenshot from the Customize Operator screen is the modded VSS appearing seamlessly in the list of rifles, janky icon and all. To get this rifle in-game, you go to the Workshop, find the mod, and click the Subscribe button. And that's it. The mod will be downloaded in the background, and the next time you run the game, the gun will be there.

So how will you make weapon mods? The answer is the GROUND BRANCH SDK (Software Development Kit), which is effectively a customized version of the Unreal Editor including some basic GROUND BRANCH bits and pieces.

We will in due course be providing tutorials and so on to explain the process in detail, but essentially you import your gun model into the editor, create a weapon blueprint, set it up with various properties (such as magazine type, display name, and so on), and then use the in-editor modding tools to create a mod and upload it to your personal Workshop account.

Since handguns are setup fairly differently from long guns, we'll also include a mystery pistol as a mod example.

Prone and animation
Kris and Mike continue to implement the new prone stance, which we have started previewing in the last couple months.

Since then, they have added item switching and reloading while prone, transitions between prone and other stances, as well as a proper rotating-in-place motion (instead of characters spinning on their pelvises). There's still plenty of jank to clean up, but it's almost fully functional from a gameplay perspective.

Here's how the more presentable actions are looking at the moment:




In the video, you may notice how aiming from side-to-side while in the prone position has a limited angle. Once the threshold is reached on either side, moving the mouse will free-look a little further to the sides until that limit is also reached.

If you need to aim or look beyond those thresholds, you must reposition your character by holding one of the movement keys. In a previous iteration, the rotation would kick in automatically once the threshold was reached, which we realized felt dodgy as you were never sure at what point you would stop aiming/looking and get locked into the repositioning motion.

The amount of rotation applied to each repositioning is currently only about 30 degrees, which is likely to be increased to a wider angle somewhere in the 45- to 90-degree range — or whatever testing determines to be best.

Animations and control schemes are all subject to change, so let us know how you feel about all of the above. You'll get to try it out yourself soon enough.

Animation optimization
Section by Kris

As of V1033, animation updates are performed on multiple threads, but much of the logic relating to animations was still on the game thread. This is being addressed in V1034, with as much logic as possible being moved to a custom animation proxy, allowing it to be run outside of the game thread.

At the same time, we're ensuring that the animation graph conforms to what the engine calls the Animation Fast Path. (For those of you familiar with UE4 — or just morbidly curious — you can read more here[docs.unrealengine.com].)

Both of these changes should lead to improved multiplayer performance, especially for listen servers (the ones hosted locally via the Host Game option).

More quality-of-life updates for servers
Section by Matt "Fatmarrow" Farrow

Servers will get another boost in V1034, with a few more options added to the Admin Panel to make things easier for admins and players alike:

• A server setting has been added for the default ready countdown time, which is used unless overridden by the MapList.ini parameters. Up to V1033, if you wanted to vary the default countdown time, you had to add a parameter to every entry in the map list. We know you have better things to do with your time.
• If a dedicated server is started up without a defined MapList.ini file, a basic one is generated and the server continues from there. Previously, dedicated servers would hang on startup until a MapList.ini was manually added to the ServerConfig folder.
• There's been a big pass on server restart options: you can now set a dedicated server to restart at (or at least near) a particular time of day, and it is now possible to configure the shutdown configuration via the Server Preferences menu.
• We have added a big red button and a console command to allow admins to reboot server from within the game. Sorry that took so long, admin folks.
• The majority of voting settings, previously editable only via the Vote.ini configuration file, have now been added to the server settings admin menu.
• There is a new AllowVotesWhenAdminPresent voting setting; if it is "false" then no votes can be started (except by admins) when an admin is online on the server.
• There is a new DelayVoteFromRoundStart voting setting; if "true", then the server will not allow votes to be called during the round until this many minutes have elapsed.

Updated Server Preferences screen

Clicking a server on the Server Browser will reveal additional information like a list of players and active mods

We may be able to squeeze a few more server quality of life features into V1034 (we are looking to improve the kick/ban process, for example), but we hope that whatever features do make it into the update will help to bring calm and relaxation to overworked server admins. Namaste.

Bug fix corner
Press F to pay respects to these V1033 bugs (which will be gone in V1034):

• The debug camera (ToggleDebugCamera in console) will no longer spawn a mysterious stranger in the player list, also preventing new rounds from launching properly afterwards.
• Eyewear will apply the appropriate skin that has been selected inside the character customization. In V1033, eyewear defaults to black once you leave the customization screen.
• This isn't a bug as such, but we have changed the mid-round spawning process to spawn you in without any freeze, and with your weapon already positioned at the Ready position (pointed forward). Hopefully this will reduce the number of "bullshit spawns" in Deathmatch and other respawn modes, where you get insta-killed before you can shoot back. OK, that will still happen, but it's going to be more your fault now.
• In fact, we're removing the janky, synchronized weapon drawing from round/mission starts altogether.

Post-V1034 cosmetics
Regular contractor Pau Peñalver has been working on a lot of small tweaks and upgrades to assets.

Although the new items won't be available until after V1034 due to time constraints, we thought it would be cool to give you a little preview of some of them:

Friendly reminder: these are special artist renders; they do not represent how assets will look in-game with dynamic lighting and other real-time restrictions.

As you can see, we'll be expanding the face-wear selection with a neck gaiter/face scarf, 3 variants of the single-hole balaclava, and a three-hole balaclava.

Female operators will also be able to wear a traditional head cover, which can be had either with or without the pattern seen above.

---

This has been Intel Report #019!
We hope you’ve enjoyed these previews — we’ll probably have another batch for you next month — and as always, thank you for keeping up with the development of GROUND BRANCH! Your support, feedback and patience are greatly appreciated.

Take it easy, everyone!

--------------------------------------------------------------------​

Algumas screens da comunidade

 

[Smurf]

Originalmente eu iria só colocar uns vídeos da versão que está em teste, dizendo que o jogo evolui lentamente, a IA não parece ter melhorado (nem sei se essa versao de teste já tem algo implementado) e que, com o lançamento do RoN, a batata deles passa a assar ainda mais, mas o vídeo abaixo me fez questionar as coisas....



____

 

[marcelocruz]

Originalmente eu iria só colocar uns vídeos da versão que está em teste, dizendo que o jogo evolui lentamente, a IA não parece ter melhorado (nem sei se essa versao de teste já tem algo implementado) e que, com o lançamento do RoN, a batata deles passa a assar ainda mais, mas o vídeo abaixo me fez questionar as coisas....



____

Essa câmera ficou muito irada.

 

[dAniILo Timao]

Originalmente eu iria só colocar uns vídeos da versão que está em teste, dizendo que o jogo evolui lentamente, a IA não parece ter melhorado (nem sei se essa versao de teste já tem algo implementado) e que, com o lançamento do RoN, a batata deles passa a assar ainda mais, mas o vídeo abaixo me fez questionar as coisas....



____

01:56m do vídeo é o que me afasta desses jogos com bots , o vídeo todo não tem uma reação se que da IA ai no minuto 01:56 o meliante esta olhando para a parede srsrsrsr

 

[marcelocruz]

Essa câmera nova já tá disponível? Abri o jogo e não encontrei.

 

[Smurf]

Test branch

 

[marcelocruz]

Já estou

 

[LeoshevBR]

Como ta o jogo por agora? Ta valendo pegar?

 

[marcelocruz]

01:56m do vídeo é o que me afasta desses jogos com bots , o vídeo todo não tem uma reação se que da IA ai no minuto 01:56 o meliante esta olhando para a parede srsrsrsr

Mas aqui estamos a falar do pior jogo da história em relação ao comportamento dos bots.

--- Post duplo é unido automaticamente: 28/12/2023 ---

Como ta o jogo por agora? Ta valendo pegar?

Não. Ainda é um simulador de arminha e roupinha. Passe longe desse lixo.

 

[LeoshevBR]

Mas aqui estamos a falar do pior jogo da história em relação ao comportamento dos bots.

--- Post duplo é unido automaticamente: 28/12/2023 ---

Não. Ainda é um simulador de arminha e roupinha. Passe longe desse lixo.

Agora não sei se tu foi ironico ou não, visto que o jogo tem analise mto positiva na steam. Rs

 

[Smurf]

Agora não sei se tu foi ironico ou não, visto que o jogo tem analise mto positiva na steam. Rs

Nem foi. O jogo é bem legal, muito bem feito nos detalhes mas é extremamente CRU: o PvE é patético e o PvP .... Pode se tornar o vídeo que postei ali em cima.

 

[marcelocruz]

Agora não sei se tu foi ironico ou não, visto que o jogo tem analise mto positiva na steam. Rs

Zero irônico. O jogo tem potência IMENSO, mas por enquanto o jogo simplesmente não chega a ser um jogo. A IA é muito ruim (muito mesmo) e pouquíssimo conteúdo. E desenvolveu praticamente nada nos últimos anos. Tá com cara imensa de que pode ser largado a qualquer instante. O jogo simplesmente não avança.

 

[leftzera]

Querendo comprar o game, vou esperar até semana que vem (promoção da steam), não sei se o jogo vai entrar.
Alguém ai do tópico jogando recentemente? O tal do "comportamento" da IA melhorou?

 

[Smurf]

Toda vez que sobe o tópico acende a esperança de um update milagroso, mas não.

Pra quem sabe do projeto desde o Raven Shield e Operation Flashpoint (o original de 2001) Ground Branch é quase uma lenda que espreita por trás de milhares de cronogramas furados.

 

[leftzera]

Toda vez que sobe o tópico acende a esperança de um update milagroso, mas não.

Pra quem sabe do projeto desde o Raven Shield e Operation Flashpoint (o original de 2001) Ground Branch é quase uma lenda que espreita por trás de milhares de cronogramas furados.

Não sabia que a promessa era antiga, fui olhar no steamdb e foi lançado em 14/08/2018, bastante tempo mesmo.
Smurf, ao que você se refere como update milagroso? Tem algo de tão ruim assim no game? Curiosidade de quem quer comprar

 

[Smurf]

C

Não sabia que a promessa era antiga, fui olhar no steamdb e foi lançado em 14/08/2018, bastante tempo mesmo.
Smurf, ao que você se refere como update milagroso? Tem algo de tão ruim assim no game? Curiosidade de quem quer comprar

2018 ele entrou no Steam, o projeto mesmo deve ser lá de 2008....

Então, o jogo oferece só uma estrutura bem básica de PvP e o PvE até agora se mostrou bem fraco pela IA limitada e a falta de cenários.
Depende muito de roleplay pra brincar.

Mas a jogabilidade é bem boa e bem "pura", customização dos bonecos e armas é bem legal, e eles tem evoluído na parte técnica no geral, mas tudo MUITO lentamente.
Um dia quando as peças todas se encaixarem, deve sair um baita jogo.

Pra jogar agora RoN ou o Zero Hour são experiências mais completas.

 

[leftzera]

C

2018 ele entrou no Steam, o projeto mesmo deve ser lá de 2008....

Então, o jogo oferece só uma estrutura bem básica de PvP e o PvE até agora se mostrou bem fraco pela IA limitada e a falta de cenários.
Depende muito de roleplay pra brincar.

Mas a jogabilidade é bem boa e bem "pura", customização dos bonecos e armas é bem legal, e eles tem evoluído na parte técnica no geral, mas tudo MUITO lentamente.
Um dia quando as peças todas se encaixarem, deve sair um baita jogo.

Pra jogar agora RoN ou o Zero Hour são experiências mais completas.

Valeu pelo relato, realmente bastante tempo.
RoN comprei mês passado, tenho jogado com mais 2 amigos. E esses mesmos 2 compraram agora o GB, vou comprar também.

 

[Jackbauer86]

Valeu pelo relato, realmente bastante tempo.
RoN comprei mês passado, tenho jogado com mais 2 amigos. E esses mesmos 2 compraram agora o GB, vou comprar também.

Cara o GB tem uma jogabilidade muito top.. não se explicar, mas é muito bom a gameplay dele.. o problema mesmo hoje fica por conta da AI que é ou muito burra ou muito apelona (dependendo do nível de dificuldade escolhida)... ja me diverti mto jogando com amigos, mesmo a AI sendo apelona, tornou até desafiador (e frustrante em alguns momentos)... A promessa de melhora na AI se não me engano surgiu somente ano passado e o planejamento deles é lançar nessa prox atualização grande(versão 1034), não sei se foi postergada para a 1035 ou se vão realmente implementar nessa 1034... o que resta é aguardar. E claro, após isso, os devs focarem em um jogo com mais opções de mapas e modos de jogo.

 

[Smurf]

Engraçado os inimigos tendo "treco" ao morrerem.

 

[leftzera]

Engraçado os inimigos tendo "treco" ao morrerem.

Gostei do teaser.
Já garanti o jogo na promoção de hoje.

 

[leftzera]

Joguei 4 horas ontem com um grupo de amigos, que jogo sensacional senhores.
O modo de recuperar a inteligência é bem bacana, acho mais divertido que o caçada terrorista.

Tem algum mod essencial que vocês utilizam ou vanilla já está bom?

 

[Jackbauer86]

Joguei 4 horas ontem com um grupo de amigos, que jogo sensacional senhores.
O modo de recuperar a inteligência é bem bacana, acho mais divertido que o caçada terrorista.

Tem algum mod essencial que vocês utilizam ou vanilla já está bom?

esse jogo é muito bom, só o que peca ainda é a AI que prometeram reformular a partir dessa 1034. Joguei bastente no começo com amigos e era muito bom mesmo o Coop.. mas com o tempo o povo deixou de lado (os devs tbm tinham sumido) .. mas estão dando o ar das graças novamente.. tomara que impulsione as jogatinas novamente pq a jogabilidade é muito boa mesmo!

obs: nem sabia que tinha mods pro GB