Alpha 9 Feature Preview news - Squad

Hi Squaddies,

As we're rushing to squash the last few bugs and tweak in some more optimisation improvements we want to get you, the player, as informed as possible on what to expect in Alpha 9.

New Vehicles

Reference sheet for existing vehicles

Insurgents

Motorbike

Seats two people and is rather expendable. This tool will allow your scouts, spotters and ambushers to get to more places, quicker. With the highly anticipated mines and IEDs right around the corner, now is the time to practice how to get to the good spots before those pesky Americans or Russians do!These will also help facilitate Insurgents coming from every direction via Rally Points. Flank! Don't let the hill campers pick you off from the same direction!

MTLB armed with PKT turret

Looted from some old Soviet-era military bases and pushed back into service, it is now possible to see insurgents driving around in this lightly armed and armored personnel carrier. Do not attempt to take on any armored vehicles with this, as the PKT will not damage them. Use it for engaging exposed infantry and un-armed vehicles such as logistics and transport. The armour on this vehicle is rather thin, so at the most it will protect the occupants from light small arms fire and shrapnel.

BRDM-2

The Insurgents have also managed to loot a few armored scout cars in form of the BRDM-2. As a scout car it only seats 3 people: a driver, co-driver and a gunner. The co-driver can see the world through a high powered 360-degree periscope to help spot targets and navigate. It features the same armament as the BTR-80, that is a 14.5mm KPVT heavy machine gun. It might even get some crafty insurgent improvements in the future.While it may look like a tank, it is not nearly as thick skinned as something like the BTR-80. Remember that it is a scout car!

Militia

Militia has always been intended to be a paramilitary faction finding a middle ground between the scrappy Insurgents and the better funded and equipped American and Russian forces. With this patch this finally becomes apparent in the vehicle department.

MTLB armed with NSV

This variant of the MTLB is very much like the one the Insurgents has access to, only this one is armed with a turret mounted 12.7mm NSVT heavy machine gun. The high rate of fire and the capability to take on lightly armored vehicles makes this quite deadly. In almost all aspects this vehicle is comparable to a HMMWV, with more passenger capability and better cross-country mobility.

MTLB armed with 30mm cannon

Militia finally got a heavy hitter. This is comparable to the 30mm cannon that the BTR-82A is armed with. While it currently only features armor-piercing ammunition, it is a very strong counter to any armoured vehicle the other factions can field. A glass cannon in the current ecosystem of Squad.

BRDM-2 and BTR-80

With Russia now having access to the BTR-82A, we could finally give Militia a few BTR-80s and still maintain the contrast in capability between the factions. The Russians will still feature BTR-80s so be sure to check your targets before you open up!Militia also have access to the BRDM-2 Scout Car. Now you don't have to feel bad when you want the firepower of the BTR-80 but want to provide fire support rather than hauling infantry around the battlefield.

Russia

BTR-82A

A heavier variant of the BTR-80, the 82A features the 2A72 30mm auto cannon and better crew survivability and blast protection. Its main gun will be loaded with 30mm Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) rounds. While not overly effective against dug in infantry, we promise you that this will make very short work of any vehicles on the battlefield. It also has the highest penetration value of any form of ammunition in the game. So if in doubt, just keep shooting those walls!We are actively working to expand the array of weapons you can use in vehicles in future versions. So expect in the future different ammunition types, coaxial machine guns and smoke launchers. The crew survivability will also be more apparent when we also work on localized damage for future versions.

As MTLB armed with NSVT or 30mm cannon

No longer a front line vehicle by any means, the MTLB can be seen on the Russian side in Squad when missions involve non front-line scenarios, as well as functioning as an intermediate set of vehicles on light maps where BTR's are too high profile.

Ural 4320

The Russian faction has had its truck fleet updated to the 4320 variant of the Ural. While nearly identical in appearance, this variant features a slightly different front end, markedly different interior and a better performing engine.

US Army

Stryker ICV

A highly protected, highly mobile troop carrier, this vehicle is highly resistant to .50 caliber and 14.5mm fire. Comes equipped with a .50cal M2a1 Browning mounted on a Remote Weapon System (CROWS). Do not attempt to take this on unless you are wielding a really big gun or are coordinating your attack with other ground forces.

Forward Operating Bases Update

Big changes has arrived to how Forward Operating Bases function. We are finally moving towards the intended vision of the FOB. The Radio is still the hub of the FOB, but no longer a spawn point.

You will have to now construct a spawn point near the radio. This spawn point offers limited protection and the ability to be put in a different place than the FOB radio.

These spawn points, "HABs" (short for HESCO Accommodation Bunkers) or "Hideouts", will be quite visible and have a large footprint. It will be substantially harder to hide a FOB in a bush, and it will need to be defended and fortified to ensure that your team can be reinforced. A FOB is now, more than ever, a legitimate objective on the map.



Even though it is more visible, a single enemy will not as easily be able to take down an entire enemy FOB as he cannot kill every new spawn while also taking down the radio, unless the defenders have really poor placement of course.

US and Russian "HABs" are 500 construction points, where the Insurgents smaller and lightly protected hideout is 350 construction points to construct. Militia's improvised bunker is 400 construction points.

Currently spawn points are limited to 1 per FOB.

Like all other "smart" deployables, the spawn point will disappear upon destroying the FOB Radio.

It will be harder to rush with an offensive FOB deployment, and we encourage you to fortify the ground you take, using FOBs as a way to secure gained land without stretching the supply lines too thin. Speaking of supply lines, they are now more vital than ever to protect, as well as ambush. Consider using some of the lighter vehicles to escort or hunt down supply trucks.

New Scoreboard

A new scoreboard has been designed and implemented for V9! Now your scores can be broken down on a more accurate level amongst a variety of different metrics (in addition to also looking much nicer overall visually). Kit roles as well as a check for whether a player is in a vehicle or not also can be seen, giving players a quick glance at the overall game in one screen.

Gorodok 4K Expansion

Gorodok has joined the ranks along side Kohat and Yehorivka as a 4k map and there are now many new areas and objectives to contend for including industrial areas and an apartment complex. With the addition of new vehicles, a lot of the forests have been cleared and hills flattened to allow for more mechanized warfare.

Yehorivka Improvements

The landscape of Yehorivka has been filled out to include more and larger villages, an airstrip, an industrial park, and many more new assets from our environment team. We also gave Yehorivka a visual refresh as well, including some new lighting and autumn foliage.

Changelog

Gameplay

• Added a Heavy Anti Tank for Insurgents and Militia. This kit features the PG7-VR Tandem HEAT warhead launched from the RPG-7. You'll find that this is the most effective anti vehicle weapon on the battlefield. It is similarly very front heavy, so be sure to take your time to line up your one shot. The kit is team limited as well as squad limited, similar to how the Marksman role operates. Unlocks 1 slot per team at every 20 players. Squad size must be 9 to claim. Kit comes with 1 Tandem HEAT round and one regular HEAT round as well as an AKS74U as a primary weapon.
• Temporarily disabled the open/close driver hatch functionality on the BTR-80. The feature will return soon! An improved version of the closed hatch is available on the MTLB series of vehicles. (Thanks Mumble!)
• Added a new feature where you can double tap the Walk key to stay locked in walking mode and you can toggle the shift manually to sprint. A simple tap of any Walk key will then disable it.
• Due to the success of the test of the HMG environment penetration, we are now rolling it out for all 5.56/5.45 and 7.62 rifle caliber weapons. This practically means any primary weapon in the game, with the exception of the PPSH-41. The penetration varies depending on the caliber of the round (bigger being better) and what you are shooting at. Both damage and effective range upon exit is modified by the material. Time to consider if you are in cover or concealment from your attacker, as well as if you want to have a weapon with better environment penetration or not. G3s and 7.62 AKs are options in this case.
• 30mm AP projectiles are similarly able to penetrate the environment, and are particularly good at it. Beware, this is the first damage type able to penetrate the afghan tightly packed mud walls material.
• Deployable SPG-9s are now limited to 2 per FOB.
• Repair stations are now limited to 2 per FOB.
• All 5 ton transport trucks now hold up to 18 players instead of 13.
• Smoothed out the overheating penalty on emplaced and vehicle mounted HMGs. The punishment period is shorter but you will overheat quickly again. More viable for sustained fire and less crippling.
• Squad Leaders are now able to set possible friendly FOB locations through the SL's map Hex Menu as a green FOB icon for the entire friendly team to see. This should help facilitate SL to SL communication when relating to FOB placement.
• SL Hex enemy spotted icons are now red to bring it more consistent with items that expand or items that are placeable.
• Due to the success of Op. First Light Conquest and at the request of the community, Conquest has now been added to Gorodok and Yehorivka.
• All layers have been updated with all new vehicle loadouts. Depending on gamemode, faction, and size will determine how many and what type of asset is used.

Systems

• Vehicle handling has been dramatically improved with the addition of N-Wheel. The ability for vehicles to climb obstacles has also been improved by having better traction on a per-wheel basis and also the ability to engage an off road mode (Default: Left-SHIFT while driving) which is useful for situations where you need maximum torque.
• The Last player to damage a Vehicle is now cached for 30 seconds. Any unknown or burn damage that is dealt to this vehicle will be attributed to the last damager until the timer expires. Any new damage will become the owner and reset the timer.
• Flipped Vehicles now attribute their damage to the driver. If there is no driver, it's attributed to the last damager. This means that any passengers that die due to a flipped vehicle will be counted as team-kills for the driver.
• Fixed an issue where dying due to bleed damage shortly after revive would incorrectly send you to wounded rather than dead.
• Fixed a bug where the driver of a logistics vehicle wasn't receiving score for resupply events.
• Fixed a bug where "Use Inventory Switch Timer" config setting didn't persist across game restarts
• Added an admin-only notification for when a developer or privileged QA member joins a server

UI

• Added direct Squad-Leader to Squad-Leader radio communication via the Number Pad. Numbers correspond to the appropriate Squad number. (ie. Numpad 1 for Squad 1)
• Added new Kit Role icons, replacing the old set.
  
  
  
  
• Ammunition UI has been updated to conform to newer design standards
• Tightening some style elements regarding font sizes
• Re-styled and reworked the backend on how Text Chat is rendered on the screen
• Added a new more realistic reticle for the BTR-80 KPVT Turret

Audio

• New vehicle engine sounds for all new vehicles and also modified the existing vehicles
• Improved some bullet-hit impact sounds and flyby bullet sounds
• Added burning vehicle sounds
• Added UI interaction sounds

Modding

• Exposed the following functions to Blueprint.
  • SQVehicle
  • bool IsValidSeat(int32 Seat) const
  • bool IsSeatHeldByClaimingSquad(int32 Seat) const
  • void EjectAllPlayers()
  • TArray<usqvehicleseatcomponent*> GetSeats() const
  • USQVehicleSeatComponent* GetDriverSeat() const;
  • void GetExitPoints(TArray& OutTransforms);
  • AController* LastDamageInstigator
  • void EjectPlayerFromSeat(int32 Seat)
  • void RequestChangeSeat(class ASQPlayerController* Player, int32 RequestedSeat)
  • SQGroundVehicle
  • void SetEngineActiveInput(bool bNewEngineActive)
  • void SetEngineBoostPressed(bool bInHasEngineBoostBeenPressed)
  • bool CanToggleEngine()
• Fixed an issue where the OnSeat Events weren't being called in SQVehicle (Thanks SgtStryker)
• Added a 4-param event in SQSoldier, OnSeatChange(Soldier, Vehicle, FromSeat, ToSeat) for when seat switching happens on the client. The client only receives this event when a seat change event happens, not why. A player has entered a vehicle when FromSeat is null and ToSeat is valid, a player has exited the vehicle when FromSeat is valid and ToSeat is null. A player has switched seats when both FromSeat and ToSeat are both valid. FromSeat and ToSeat both being null is an invalid operation, and will never happen.
• Exposed "Wound" and "Die" to Blueprint. Note: These functions may fail in certain situations and the player may not be wounded or die. Check the return value to be sure if the call succeeded!

While we all eagerly await the arrival of two highly anticipated systems; the Animation System update and Inventory/Weapon system overhaul, we hope that you enjoy this content focused patch.

Offworld Out.