Hey Squaddies! 

These playtests are a chance to play and provide feedback on the upcoming changes to Squad in the v2.12 Update. We deeply appreciate everyone taking the time to jump in and test out our upcoming release. Your efforts help us improve the quality of Squad for everyone!

While the playtest and the forthcoming v2.12 Update include more changes than just those summarized below, we are focusing on these because these are what we most require player feedback on. Please pay particular attention to these listed changes while playing in the playtests and while providing feedback afterwards.

We have made several changes since the last v2.12 Playtests and would also like to hear more feedback on the following key points of focus for this playtest:

1. Performance
2. Shadows / Lighting
3. Muzzle Flashes
4. Yehorivka and Gorodok POI’s and landscape improvements
5. Capture Speed Modifiers

If you participate in v2.12 Playtest #3, please fill out our survey at (survey link) to give us your feedback. 

During this playtest please be sure that you are playing on the following maps:

• Tallil Seed v1 (with new basic seed features)
• Yehorivka RAAS v6 (with improved variability)
• Gorodok RAAS v6 (with improved variability)
• Mestia AAS v2 (includes a POI with experimental one way camo netting)
• Skorpo Invasion v1
• Fallujah RAAS v1

 

v2.12 Playtest #3 Release Notes

Previous PT#1 & PT#2 Shadows Overhaul Changes

In efforts to both increase the visual experience of playing Squad, and to level the playing field between players playing on low vs high settings, the team has spent a significant amount of time on what we refer to as the ‘Shadows Overhaul’.

• Complete rework of Squad’s approach to dynamic shadows. Standard and Far Shadows have been replaced with highly optimized Cascade Shadow Maps. Please provide feedback for this new Far Shadows system and how you find that it performs during your gameplay.
• Updated Shadows now render out to 1km on most maps at all graphics settings. In addition to improving the visual fidelity at all settings, this also ensures that Low settings no longer give a significant competitive advantage for spotting targets.

Updated Graphics Settings Menu

• Overhauled the graphics scalability settings for Shadows and Ambient Occlusion. Please note that the quality/performance tradeoffs for Shadows and Ambient occlusion at any given setting have changed substantially. You may want to raise or lower your Shadows and Ambient Occlusion graphics settings from what you used before this update.
• Added a Shader Quality graphics settings section. Currently these primarily affect the complexity of the Landscape. This is intended to give low end hardware more performance options. 
• Added a new Tessellation option. When enabled, certain landscapes and objects will get extra geometric micro detail up close, such as 3D puddles.
• Improved visibility of Muzzle Flashes
• Improved the visibility of muzzle flashes to help make spotting enemies less difficult. This was considered necessary to offset the lighting and foliage changes, which can make spotting enemies more difficult. The design intent is to allow for camouflage and cautious movement to be effective, but without excessively inhibiting the player’s situational awareness once a firefight begins.
• Added visuals for Helicopter rotor wash
• Added a new visual aesthetic effect for helicopters – the rotor wash of helicopter blades should now interact with the environment. Smoke, grass, bushes and other foliage will now be blown around when a helicopter hovers low to the ground during flyby’s / landings.

Previous PT#1 & PT#2 Gameplay Updates

•  Updated point capture speed to scale by the number of players, capture speed will be shortened if one team has significantly more players in the point, relative to the other team. Scaling starts when one team has an advantage of at least 4 players, which will provide a 1.1x speed multiplier. This increases to 1.2x with 5 and 1.3x with 6, up to a maximum of 1.5x. 
• Overhauled the way Fall Damage is calculated, falls from great heights are no longer survivable. The maximum survivable fall height is approximately 2 stories. Fall damage is now applied as a percentage of remaining health.
• Updated the “Buddy Boost” feature to be easier to use, which allows a soldier to climb on top of another soldier to boost over a wall. 
• Updated Yehorivka and Gorodok to use new landscape textures and shaders, and many new mini POI’s have been added throughout both maps. The revised landscape should appear more natural, with a minor increase in micro terrain.
• Updated the MEA G3 Rifle series firing sounds. Reduced the “hollow tube” effect.
• Updated the Fireteam notifications to include more detailed info such as:
  • Clarity on what Fireteam you are now in.
  • Who your FTL is.
  • Mention the promotion if you are the FTL.
  • Mention the demotion if you are no longer the FTL.
• Updated HUD notifications to cap the max number of notifications to 4. The oldest notifications will be removed to make room for new ones.
• Updated 3D markers placed through the T menu or by hotkeys to be on a 1.2s cooldown. Cooldown does not affect markers placed through the map.
• Updated Fireteam HUD notification icons to now match the colour associated with the relevant Fireteam (Note Fireteam colors are as follows: Fireteam A = Light Green, Fireteam B = Purple, Fireteam C = Cyan).

Previous PT#1 & PT#2 Bug Fixes

• Note: All 3 of the following critical issues are linked to a common root problem within UE4 regarding exported NetGUIDs and Seamless Travel. This fix will now force the server to re-acknowledge the data, which means there will be increased bandwidth usage after a seamless travel (map change). This has been a difficult fix for us to track down, so far with the fix in place we have yet to reproduce this bug. However if you experience any of these 3 bugs still in v2.12, please report on the Discord/Forums. 
  • Fix attempt for the critical issue of players occasionally not seeing Logistic Vehicle’s construction supplies (“Logi Bug”).
  • Fix attempt for the critical issue of players occasionally suddenly getting sent to the spawn menu screen when entering certain vehicle passenger seats (“Passenger Seat Bug”).
  • Fix attempt for the critical issue of vehicles occasionally missing their turrets at the round start. When a player attempts to enter the vehicle’s turret seat, it will cause a game-breaking state (“Missing Turrets Bug”).
• Fix attempt for the “Double teleport bug”. This was a semi rare issue where a two-step teleport sometimes occurred, from seemingly out of nowhere. This usually resulted in putting a soldier up in the air, followed by a fall to their death. This is linked to the moment a FOB starts getting de-shoveled / HAB deactivated. This is a long time legacy bug that has been difficult to reproduce reliably. The fix attempt involved removing some problematic system that attempted to move a player before they became trapped within a deployable, which is suspected to be the cause of this issue. If you encounter this issue after this fix, we appreciate all player reports through discord, forums, etc. We have not been able to reproduce this issue since the fix was implemented.
• Fix attempt for a client crash related to audio and gun sounds. This crash is currently not reproducible.
• Fixed a client crash related to attempting to apply suppression effects due to an invalid projectile type, likely crashing most if not all clients on the server. It should no longer crash, but we will be monitoring for client logs containing the line “Cannot apply suppression from weapon:”.
• Fix attempt for a client crash related to network messages when joining a squad.
• Fixed the issue with modded custom factions causing an infinite loading screen. This should hopefully remove an annoying issue that some users have with our in-game mod browser.

New Changes and Updates from v2.12 Playtest #2 to Playtest #3

New General Updates / Adjustments in v2.12 PT#3

• Implemented infantry player and infantry weapon Capsule shadows to reduce the draw overhead of player skin weights. This is enabled when setting Shadows to Low/Medium.
• Added new splash damage to infantry upon vehicle destruction explosion. All vehicles will now deal damage to infantry who are within a close proximity to a vehicle when it explodes (~10m or less). Minsk motorbikes will deal a smaller damage to nearby infantry when they explode (~5m or less).
• Updated soldier ragdolls with several quality of life improvements and to fix some long-standing issues:
  • Updated ragdoll collisions to create less spasms and to allow ragdolls to settle into place more easily/smoothly.
  • Updated ragdoll motors to create a more realistic death with the pose being maintained.
  • Updated ragdoll ankles to be more stiff, to create a more realistic death but also to prevent soldier feet from twisting up into weird unrealistic ways.
  • Fixed an issue with ragdoll momentum, where previously the ragdoll would not maintain its forward momentum, this momentum should now be maintained.
• Updated the Anti-Tank rocket backblast visual effects to be longer lasting. These new effects should be more visible at distances and will linger with the wind for ~12 seconds. Also added more opacity at further LOD’s.
• Updated the way armor meshes react to damage traces from explosions. Now they should block traces with the “visibility” channel. This should ensure that soldiers in open-top turrets could receive damage from explosions only when these explosions happen above the turret.
• Updated most vehicles with open/unprotected gunner positions so the gunner will now receive direct radial splash. This means for example the gunner on the Simir will now take damage if a grenade lands close to the vehicle.
• Adjusted the MEA MTLB 6MA APC & MEA BRDM2 to now have collision on the UB32 rocket pod.
• Updated the GB FV107 to now usea new Recon Support Vehicle map/vehicle card icon.
• Updated most Open Top/RWS vehicle turrets to no longer pass damage to the vehicles hull. This means it will no longer be possible to destroy this vehicle by hitting only the gun.
• Updated several map layers that were displaying vehicles bundled in groups in the vehicle card list info. Now many of these faction setup’s will be displayed on individual lines, except for when a team has many of several vehicle types: IE Invasion layers with many Minsk bikes or Logi’s.
• Updated the LandMine / IED explosions / Demo Charge sounds to include new falling debris sounds while inside heavy and light vehicles. Also modified the close up explosion sound.
• Updated Character footstep SFX with new sounds for moving over different surfaces: rock, gritty concrete, forest, gravel & dirt.
• Updated the RUS/INS/MIL BRDM Spandrel to use a new firing sound.
• Updated most vehicles with open/unprotected gunner positions so the gunner will now receive direct radial splash. This means for example the gunner on the Simir will now take damage if a grenade lands close to the vehicle.
• Updated Seed Map layer’s to now show the game mode in the server browser, as well as a new game mode description for the team select menu.
• Updated the USA/GB/CAF M136 AT4 & CAF Carl G HEAT damage value. Reduced the damage from 1248 down to 960 to be in line with other LAT weapons. Advantages retained with the M136 AT4 are its higher muzzle velocity and higher penetration value (420mm vs 320mm on M72A7).
• Adjusted rearm cost for the M136 AT4 & the Carl G HEAT from 50 down to 35 ammo points.
• Adjusted USA LAT 01 (M4 with Aimpoint and the M136 AT4) kit role to now have 2 frag grenades, similar to other LAT kit roles that have non magnified scopes.
• Adjusted GB FV107’s HAT damage modifier. HAT weapons will now do reduced damage to this vehicle, allowing a full hp FV107 to withstand 1 handheld HAT shot, bringing it down to 10% HP (start of burning damage).
  Adjusted the volume of the tire sliding sound for all wheeled vehicles to reduce the annoying skidding audio.
• Adjusted the volume for the vehicle “engine disabled” explosion sound, should now be decreased in volume/intensity.
• Adjusted GB teams ‘Squad Leader’ to now display as ‘Section Leader’ for GB SL 01, SL 02,  SL 03.
• Adjusted the CAF C9A2 & MIL Minimi Classic rearm costs to 30 ammo points per boxmag, instead of 25. These are the 200 round box mags.
• Adjusted the INS RPD ammo cost per box mag to 15 ammo points, instead of 11. These are 100 round box mags.
• Adjusted all SL Rifles to now show “+ Tracer” on their HUD names.
• Adjusted the USA M17 MHS Pistol texture to now have a tan slide and magazine plate.
• Adjusted the CAF C9A2 LMG front sight to a more accurate model.
• Adjusted the deployable TOW and Kornet to now have a more precise collision on the tripod to match the visual mesh.
• Adjusted all Technical SPG9 vehicle spawn times to now be 10min (some map layers previously had 5 or 6 minute spawn times).
• Optimized the backend of the server queue system.

New Map Updates / Fixes in v2.12 PT#3

• Added new Yehorivka, Gorodok and Narva RAAS layers which are more randomized, these layers will now use a regular RAAS flag lattice instead of the RAAS Lanes flag lattice., but should be far less predictable / more variable.
• Updated Seed Map layer’s to now show the game mode in the server browser, as well as a new game mode description for the team select menu.
• Updated the Gorodok minimap, the intent is to have a more readable height, which also features trees now.
• Adjusted Sumari Seed v1 map layer – increased tickets to 300/300 (was 100/100), increased round timer to 4 hours (was 2 hours), decreased startup timer to 30sec (was 60sec), increased forward spawn expiration to 15min (was 10min), removed ticket gain from capturing a flag (was +20 tickets), increased the mercy bleed rate.
• Adjusted the corn and wheat fields to remove the short grass.
• Adjusted Sumari AAS v2 vehicle layout to not include APC’s.

New Bug Fixes in v2.12 PT#3

• Fixed an issue with large jitters happening in the Vehicle Commander Seats of IFVs and Tanks. This occurred when the stabilizer was enabled and the gunner would move the turret while the vehicle commander would move their periscope/HMG.
• Fixed a gameplay issue where in some circumstances, projectiles were dealing double damage to vehicles. This was a legacy issue that has been happening for a long time but has been tough to isolate. This issue was occuring when a projectile damage trace would hit both the vehicle turret and hull, applying damage to both of them, and when the turret was set to transfer received damage to hull, it resulted in dealing double damage to the hull, which was not intended. GB FV510 IFV was particularly susceptible to this issue. The root cause of this issue was addressed, with the removal of multiple same actors being damaged. Also added a helper multi-line trace function with lambda interrupt to detect & prevent any similar issues in the future.
• Fixed an issue with projectiles like hand grenades not showing VFX or audio debris sounds.
• Fixed an issue with different projectiles having non-muffled vehicle impact sounds while inside the vehicle. It should be much easier to tell when getting hit by projectiles now when inside a vehicle. Also adjusted the volume of 50cal hit sounds against Minsk.
• Fixed a gameplay issue with single-use vehicle spawns not working as intended in certain circumstances and spawning vehicles when they should not.
• Fixed a gameplay issue with vehicle spawns not respecting spawner allocation rules after their first spawn and then stealing spawners from other vehicles. This was related to the v2.0 layer overhaul vehicle spawners vehicle type authorizations. If you encounter any map layers with this issue after this fix, we appreciate detailed player reports thru discord, forums, etc.
• Fixed an issue with vehicles sometimes floating when they first spawn.
• Fixed a gameplay issue with the MIL T62 MBT turret component, which had 500 less hp than intended. Increased the turret health to match the INS T62.
• Fixed an issue with Kornet Emplacement, which was not taking HAT damage properly.
• Fixed an issue with RUS Tigr and GB LPPV where the open turret hatches were transmitting damage to the vehicle hull, this will no longer happen.
• Fixed an issue with back blast VFX, where the bounding boxes were making these effects flicker off at certain angles.
• Fixed an issue with Turret Armor Meshes – Armor meshes on multiple turrets were not synchronized with the actual gun and shield movement.
• Fixed a gameplay issue with the ACOG Scope stadia line widths not corresponding to the soldiers shoulder widths at range. This affects the following scopes: USA M150 ACOG Rifle Scope, GB L129A1 6x Rifle Scope, GB/USA/CAF M2 Browning HMG Scope.  Also adjusted the reticles to be more readable with higher Anti Aliasing settings.
• Fixed a gameplay issue related to static map object UAZ van, the bullet collision was not working as intended.
•  Fixed a minor error in text with CAF Grenadier C7 using C8’s item description.
• Fixed a minor issue with the GB FV107 Reconnaissance vehicle using inconsistent icon on map screen versus vehicle info card menu. Both locations will now use the IFV icon.

Offworld out.