***Official Squad Thread***

Xcept1 said:
Should have v13 public testing pretty soon hopefully :)

Not sure many play it on the OcUK Discord. It's a game where you need to use in game comms to get the most out of it though.
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We did have a channel made for squad but like you said not much interest on there.

I did try Blood Bound discord which seemed to have a nice bunch on there.
 
jonneymendoza said:
in game comms like the ping system in apex legends? i would have thought actual voice comms is best for this type of game
Click to expand...
The game has its own voip system so if you're using 3rd party VoIP with a few friends then you're really handicapping your squad/team. Most people only use in game VoIP.

Players are able to open the map and ping a location every few seconds however but it's certainly not like Apex Legends.
 
ALPHA 13 PUBLIC TESTING, ROUND 1

Hey squaddies!

The time has come! We’re proud to announce the very first Alpha 13 Public Test. Now, since this is a fairly complex patch, there are a few things you should know before the download completes and you visit the Custom Server tab.

First, there will be bugs, including known crashes. This is the first public testing build. We need you to make sure you use the crash reporter to send us logs. (Press “Send and Close” when it appears.)

Secondly, the test may end at any time depending on how things go. This is also the reason there are no community servers. If all goes well, we’ll expand testing to include more servers.

Thirdly, your feedback is crucial. Please share your thoughts in Discord, on the forums, on reddit, or anywhere you can get it to us!

Fourthly, the patch isn’t done. This is a work in progress that will continue to be optimized and change, especially with your help.

Those are the major points, folks — if you can handle those, it’s time to get your A13 on. If you need a little more detail, we’ve included some patch notes below.

GETTING THE TEST
1. Open up your Steam client
2. Click on LIBRARY -> Games
3. Type ‘Squad’ in the search bar.
4. Click on Squad – Public Testing and then on ‘Install’
5. After the installation is complete launch the game

Simply navigate to the Custom Servers tab after that to find a server!

Note: You may need to clear your cache if you’ve had a previous test installed.

ALPHA 13 TEST NOTES
  • This is our first public test of A-13.
  • Games will be hosted on our servers in the Custom Servers tab, no community servers (yet).
  • We’ll run this test for a limited period of time, and may shut it down abruptly if it’s not providing value.
  • The purpose of this public test is to receive early feedback from you on the gameplay in A-13. As we approach releasing A-13 this feedback is valuable in reducing the delay between public testing and release.
  • We are by no means done with optimization for A-13, but we feel the game is reasonably playable at the moment, enough to get a satisfying play session with minimal hindrances, and to experience the spirit of A-13’s changes in a meaningful way.
  • There’s a known crash during map change. We’re tracking this and additional crash reports will help us nail it. If you get the crash reporter dialog, please choose “Send and Close.”
  • VOIP issues occur when the player talking Txing is in an emplacement or vehicle, causing distortion of voice. In our internal testing we found this issue wasn’t a huge problem in general play. It’ll be fixed in 3 weeks(™).
  • Please join in, have fun, get an early look at what A-13 will deliver on. Then share your experiences with each other and with us, give us (constructive!) feedback, so we can make smart decisions on what remains to be done before we ship this mother.
  • A more in-depth list of the changes made in A-13, and the context behind them, is coming next week from Design Squad.


ALPHA 13 TEST GAMEPLAY CHANGES
PURPOSE
We hope to achieve an increased level of transparency in the development process, for those features/mechanics that will be affecting the gameplay experience in a major way.

Each new feature we want to explain clearly and answer all these questions you may have:

  1. What is the new/modified feature or mechanic is?
  2. What issue we had in the previous version, why we think a mechanic was not working?
  3. Why did we decide to add/change a mechanic in that way?
  4. How will the new/modified feature work now?
  5. What do we want to achieve with this new change? X, Y, Z.
RAAS FOG OF WAR
A Fog-of-War element has been added to all RAAS layers.

The first Capture Point is known, and the next Capture point in the lattice is revealed once your team has fully captured your current objective.

This mechanic has been added to increase variability in gameplay. (Especially at the beginning of a round.) We believe this will further help differentiate RAAS from AAS.

In A12 we noticed the RAAS was not as distinguished from normal AAS as we would like, especially regarding the initial movement period “rush”. With Fog of War we hope to increase a deeper variety of tactics, encouraging fallback positions, overwatch positions, the need for reconnaissance and the maneuvering of heavy assets.

We expect rushing to become more a tactical maneuver for gaining initial control on the territory of the map and scouting routes of enemy advancement, than a way to guarantee a victory in the fight for objective.

RAAS LANES
Random AAS now has Lanes added to all RAAS_v1 map layers.

RAAS Lanes breaks up the Capture Zones into 2 or 3 lanes per layer. Each Lane will have 5 to 8 Capture Zone groups. Each Capture Zone group still has only 1 CP selected per round, out of a potential up to 5 Capture Zones.

In A12 we have layers with Capture Zones that can be quite distant across the map, which can cause transportation problems and needlessly extend round length times. RAAS Lanes will help group up the flow of each Capture Zone to be relatively close to each other. This should prevent instances where Capture Zones are located far away from each other, which will help general flow of gameplay.

AAS/RAAS TICKET BLEED
Ticket bleed has been added back to all AAS and RAAS gameplay layers.

This should give back a little more incentive to push to the next enemy point.

Why it was removed? In past ticket bleed was too powerful, and also was triggering on the central flags, resulting in King of the Hill style of gameplay, and also incentivizing players to rush from the start to the central objective that was providing a ticket bleed bonus. In the end, it led to the repetitive gameplay experience, rounds were played in almost exactly the same way, which clearly wasn’t our goal & intention.

In addition, ticket bleed was not a very transparent mechanic, it didn’t have any UI representation.

So now we are reintroducing ticket bleed mechanics into AAS/RAAS game modes, with improvements, based on our previous experience.

TICKET BLEED UI INDICATOR
The opposing team will start bleeding tickets if you will successfully capture at least one objective on the enemy side of the flag lattice. For each objective on the enemy part of the map, controlled by your team, the enemy will lose 1 ticket per minute.

On map layers with an odd number of objectives, central objectives are considered a middle ground, and therefore do not trigger ticket bleed to avoid causing King-of-the-Hill style fighting for it.

On such layers, your team will need to capture at least one more flag past the central point for the enemy to start bleeding tickets.

And for map layers with even number of objectives, your team will need to capture more than half of them, to trigger ticket bleed on the enemy team.

One more important detail, that in the case of “double-neutral” stalemate situation, all ticket bleed mechanics will be paused until stalemate will be solved.

A12 mercy bleed has not changed in A13: if one team manages to successfully capture all flags on the map, the opposing team will suffer a catastrophic ticket bleed of 60 tickets per minute, to help bring an end to the round.

SL BUDDY RALLY FEATURE
Added the ability for Squad Leaders to place rally points remotely next to other squad’s Rally Points.

This request is only available when the squad leader of the placing squad is dead.

This is intended to allow Squads to have the flexibility to reinforce friendly Squads separate to FOBs.

This is an experimental feature requiring feedback.

REMOVAL OF THE INSTA-DEATH PENALTY TIMER ON REVIVE
  • When a player is sent to the incapacitated state, they will now not enter the Insta-death if they reach 0 HP within a certain time of being revived
  • In A12, If an incapacitated Player is revived, then sent to 0 HP within 1 minute of being revived, they will be sent to Death screen with no chance of revive
  • In A13, we have removed this mechanic, so you will always be revivable regardless of the time between revives.
  • We noticed this Insta-death mechanic was a very common occurence, and distracted from the gameplay flow.
  • We decided to change this mechanic to see how it will affect the gameplay flow and if it makes it a more enjoyable experience without becoming overbearing / overpowering. We think the combination of the following will keep this change from having and adverse effect:
  • The abundance of area effect weapons, limited bandages on non medic kits, penalties and low hp on revive from incap.
  • We hope this new change has a positive effect on game flow, and proximity based teamwork within squads (and intra squad as well).
FIRETEAM LEADER MARKER RANGEFINDER REMOVAL
The FTL markers will have their Rangefinding function removed.

We felt that this range finding feature became the most prominent reason why Squad Leaders were assigning Fireteams, rather than their intended purpose which was to organize the Squad to use effective fire and maneuver tactics. Often SL would only assign one unit to a Fireteam (commonly the LAT/HAT/UGL/Marksman), and in fact, Squadmates in those roles would ask/demand for them to be assigned that role, without ever taking any leadership role responsibility.

This change will likely lessen the amount of long-range mobility kills on tracked vehicles, so armored vehicles will be encouraged to engage targets at longer ranges. Experienced LAT users with excellent eyeballing/map reading / binocular ranging skillsets will be encouraged due to this change. Teamwork within squads to triangulate positions of enemy armor with the help of recon/spotters will also be more prevalent with this change.

From our perspective, the main negative impact of removing the FTL Rangefinder will be for the Mortar operators. Mortar effectiveness increased with the FTL rangefinding feature in A12, but squad communication decreased.

For A13, mortars will still be quite deadly (even more so with the HE radius increased). Removing the FTL Rangefinder will likely increase the need for teamwork and communication in order to have effective use of the Mortars.

Most effective use of the mortar will likely come when used in a small purposeful squad with the SL placing markers the SL Marker on targets (the SL Marker still retains a Rangefinder). External Mortar Calc apps will still be used to be very effective at pinpoint target accuracy.

In a future update, we would like to implement additional functionality for the “Fire Mission: Mortar” request marker that SL can place on the map. When occupying a Mortar Tube, all friendly “Fire Mission: Mortar” icons would show their bearing and range on the Mortar players compass. We also have a few other ideas to increase Mortar useability in lieu of the FTL Marker, which could include allowing Mortar Tube operators to place their own single “Fire Mission: Mortar” map marker, so they can gauge range even without any SL’s placing Request for Mortar or any other markers.

In a future update, we would also like to add a rangefinder to a handheld binoculars item for the SL. This may be connected to other gameplay elements and may be subject to change.

MAP “PINGS” REMOVAL
Note: This feature is intended, but was not merged into the test. If you’re still seeing pings, you’re not crazy. =)

  • Removed the ‘Map Pinging’ feature that squad mates could use to send their SL a ping by right clicking on the map
  • This feature was not the intended route we wanted for player communication, we did feel this was not the right approach for squad comms.
  • We may re-evaluate this approach, and try something different such as a limited use of enemy map markers for FTL’s for example
MORTAR / 30MM / 120MM HE DAMAGE RANGE INCREASE
  • Mortar, 30mm and 120mm High Explosive area effect weapons have an increased wounding radius.
  • Insta-kill radius for these weapons remains relatively similar to A12 levels, but wounding radius has been expanded
  • In A12, we did feel the HE weapons did not produce enough area effect for them to suppress targets.
  • We will evaluate the effect this increase damage radius has on these weapon systems, and may continue to modify their ranges in the future.
VEHICLE BALANCE CHANGES
BTR-82A & BTR-80
Our observations showed that standard APC of Russian Ground Forces currently has way too low survivability rate in engagements with enemy armor. One of the reasons behind it we think is its lower level of armor and interacting with the armor penetration system functionality. Most of the time, BTRs have no chance to escape an unexpected frontal engagement due to the fact that it suffers heavy damage on the engine because high caliber weapons piercing through it’s hull like a hot knife through butter.

So now we upgraded all BTR models with engine protection plate, that should prevent it from suffering an instant mobility kill from a frontal fire.

Also, we have increased the damage output of Russian 2A72 30mm autocannon, equipped on BTR-82A and MTLB 6MB by 20% and increased it’s overheating time up to 10 seconds. That should increase Russian Ground Forces offensive capabilities to help them to deal with better-armored enemy counterparts, like the M1126 Combat Vehicle.

But make no mistake, BTR primary role is still transporting and supporting infantry, and it generally is not supposed to be engaging superior Infantry Fighting Vehicles like US M2A3 face to face. In future updates, we plan to add a proper IFV to Russian Ground Forces, in the form of well known BMP family vehicles.

PLAYER MOVEMENT SPEED INCREASED BALANCE CHANGES
  • Increased non-ADS standing movement speeds by 10%.
  • Experimental.
PLAYER STAMINA CHANGES
  • Decreased stamina costs
  • Tweaked how ADS movement speeds work, so no matter which direction you go now you move at the same speed.
  • Shortened acceleration and deceleration speeds to make player movement a bit more responsive.
  • Increased Prone Sprint stamina cost from 16 to 24 – prone player can still quickly get into a ditch or cover, but cannot be used to quickly traverse vast areas.
WEAPON HANDLING CHANGES
  • Increased visual ‘z-axis’ recoil animation, increasing the visual kick back towards the camera.
 
Just spent a couple of hours in the playtest. The engine upgrade has meant a massive performance increase - distance shadows and ambient occlusion turned on again, and I'm still getting 70-80FPS. The update is worth it for that alone.
Movement speed increase...not sure how I feel at the moment. Makes the game feel more fluid, but I wonder if there's a danger it starts to feel too fast.
The UI also feels better - little things like icons on unbuilt structures, and reminders in the logi as to which button does what will help new players especially.
 
Yup the new 4.21 engine upgrade and on top of other optimisations are really showing it has been time well spent.

I'm not a fan of the +10% movement speed. I think 5% would be better number to test with. Also not a fan of the new incap system but thankfully this test is proving to be a step in the right direction.
 
Just played a few games had one of the best games in a long time, also like the faster sprint, seems less like there running on the moon/slow motion like it did, hope they keep the changes!
 
A13 just dropped. Big change list!:

ALPHA 13 PATCH NOTES

Hey soldiers!

It’s been a while coming, but we have the full list of changes coming to Alpha 13! This patch grew to be a mighty one, having started at upgrading our Unreal Engine from 4.16 to 4.21 — no small jump! With it comes all sorts of new tools and updates to the engine that’ll benefit Squad, but there’s plenty of content landing in this update as well. We’re introducing new vehicles (and components!), a brand new role, new and enhanced modes, and all sorts of changes to systems and mechanics — including the return of ticket bleed.

Please note, you will need to uninstall mods to prevent crashing.

ALPHA 13 CHANGELOG
SYSTEMS
DESTRUCTIBLE TRACKS AND WHEELS


Tracks and Wheels are now fully destroyable which enables players to inflict more granular damage to vehicles. For wheels, depending on the vehicle, they can be taken down by small arms fire, while tracks and APC wheels require .50 cal or greater. With each wheel that gets destroyed, more friction is applied, reducing the vehicle’s maximum top speed. The destroyed wheel’s rim still functions at reduced drive effectiveness. In addition, the vehicle will lean over as the supporting wheel is now gone. With tracks, as each gets destroyed, drive input from that track no longer functions. That means that if both tracks get destroyed, the vehicle is completely immobilized.

Combat Engineer Role

We’re introducing a new specialist role focused on demolitions, sabotage, and construction. The previous infantry deployables that were associated with some Riflemen roles to the Combat Engineer role, as well as outfitting them with anti-tank mines, and small demolition charges. The intent for this role is to perform quick demolitions on deployables and light vehicles, as well as ambushing vehicles and enforcing set no-go zones with their anti-tank mines. Combat Engineers can also build and destroy deployables faster compared to other roles.

For the Militia and Insurgents, the role that the Scout previously played will now be given to the ‘Sapper’. In addition to the normal combat engineer loadout and abilities, Sappers will be able to lay IEDs and decoy rocks. Note: Scout role will return in a future update with new inventory items.

ADDITIONAL CHANGES
  • Vehicle Wrecks are now destructible. You need to call your Combat Engineers in to demolish the wrecks with their explosive charges.
  • Added ability to rearm individual magazines, grenades, and inventory items. You’ll have the ability to rearm exactly what you need when you need it, as opposed to previously where you were completely unable to rearm if your ammo requirements exceeded what was available.


  • Added ability to request kit roles from Vehicles. APCs & IFVs will allow all roles to be requested just like FOB Ammo Crates. The ammo contained within the vehicle will be consumed when that new role is requested. Light Vehicles and Tanks will allow only crewman roles to be obtained. Note: this now enables all vehicles fast access to field repairs via the Crewman kit role’s repair tools.
  • Added visual hand signals for Squad Leader and Fireteam orders.
  • Added a hand action for when Squad Leaders are talking over command broadcast VOIP and direct SL-to-SL VOIP, allowing people to see when the Squad Leader is talking over those important channels.
  • Added head turning for vehicle passengers.
  • Added moving mouths while talking over VOIP.


  • Added more immersive animations when operating open turret and emplaced weapons.
  • Added idle and fidget animations for handheld weapons.
  • Added secondary animation on vehicles such as antenna and mud-flaps, and improved visual suspension on some vehicles.
  • Upgraded Unreal Engine version to 4.21.
GAME MODES
DESTRUCTION MODE ADDED


This the initial release of a new objective-based cache hunt game mode where Attackers have to destroy caches in multiple phases. Layers can have either 2 or 3 phases with 2 caches in each phase. There is a 3-minute delay between each phase to minimize rushing potential.

Cache locations are randomized within specified zones, requiring attacking teams to search the zone to locate the objective before destroying it.

Attackers get a 50 ticket bonus for each objective destroyed, as well as the round timer being extended. Defenders get a -10 Ticket penalty upon objective loss.

Defenders win the round if the Attackers do not complete all phases within the time limit, or run out of tickets.

Expect continued balancing and tweaks for future Destruction-layers based on gameplay feedback.

INVASION MODE UPDATED
  • Each flag capture now gives +100 for attackers.
  • Starting tickets tweaked on several layers, expect continued ticket balancing for Invasion layers based on gameplay feedback.
  • Reduced the max number of Capture Points on Invasion layers to 6.
  • Added a variant of Invasion where the flag path is randomized, dubbed “Random Invasion” to some Invasion layers.
INSURGENCY MODE UPDATED
  • Objective Cache destruction gets 50 tickets for the attacking side, -10 for the defending side.
  • Attacking team starts with 200 tickets, and 600 for the Defending team.
  • Caches now also can be destroyed by Combat Engineer’s explosives.
  • Spawning on Caches is now disabled after 5 minutes since Cache spawn.
AAS/RAAS TICKET BLEED UPDATED
Ticket bleed has been added back to all AAS and RAAS gameplay layers. This should give back a little more incentive to push to the next enemy point.

Why it was removed?

In past ticket bleed was too powerful, and also was triggering on the central flags, resulting in King of the Hill style of gameplay, and also incentivizing players to rush from the start to the central objective that was providing a ticket bleed bonus. In the end, it led to the repetitive gameplay experience, rounds were played in almost exactly the same way, which clearly wasn’t our goal & intention.

In addition, ticket bleed was not a very transparent mechanic, as it didn’t have any UI representation. We are reintroducing ticket bleed mechanics into AAS/RAAS game modes, with improvements, based on our previous experience:



  • Ticket bleed indication was added into UI.
  • The enemy team will start bleeding tickets if you will successfully capture at least one objective on the enemy side of the flag lattice. For each objective on the enemy part of the map, controlled by your team, the enemy will lose 1 ticket per minute.
  • On map layers with an odd number of objectives, central objectives are considered a middle ground, and therefore do not trigger ticket bleed, to avoid causing King of the Hill fight for it. On such layers, your team will need to capture at least one more flag past central, for the enemy to start bleeding tickets.
  • For map layers with even number of objectives, your team will need to capture more than half of them to trigger ticket bleed on the enemy team.
  • In the case of “double-neutral” stalemate situation, all ticket bleed mechanics will be paused until the stalemate is resolved.
  • A12 mercy bleed has not changed in A13: if one team manages to successfully capture all flags on the map, the opposing team will suffer a catastrophic ticket bleed of 60 tickets per minute to bring about the end of the round more quickly.
RAAS (RANDOM AAS) UPDATED
The Fog of War has been added to all RAAS layers. Under the Fog of War, the first Capture Point is known and the next point is revealed once your team has fully captured the current objective. We believe this should help mechanically increase variability in gameplay, especially at the beginning of a round, as well as help differentiate between Random AAS and standard AAS.

Additionally, Random AAS now has Lanes added to all RAAS_V1 Map Layers. RAAS Lanes break up the Capture Zones into 2 or 3 lanes per layer. Each Lane will have 5 to 8 Capture Zone groups. Each Capture Zone group still has only 1 CP selected per round out of a potential up to 5 Capture Zones.

In A12 we have layers with Capture Zones that can be quite distant across the map, which can cause transportation problems and extended round times. RAAS Lanes will help group up the flow of each Capture Zone to be relatively close to each other, allowing a more natural flow to gameplay.

SKIRMISH MODE UPDATED
  • Capture Zones capture tickets changed to +20 / -20 ticket gain/loss. (+10 tickets for the first-time capture.)
  • Added new Skirmish layers for Belaya, Basrah & Mestia.
INFANTRY GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS
SQUAD LEADER BUDDY RALLY POINT
Added the ability for Squad Leaders to place rally points remotely next to other Squad’s Rally Points. This request is only available when the Squad Leader is dead. This is intended to allow Squads to have the flexibility to reinforce friendly Squads separate to FOBs. This is experimental.

REMOVAL OF THE REVIVE INSTA-DEATH PENALTY TIMER
When a player is sent to incapacitated state, they will now not be put into the Insta-death state if they reach 0 HP within a certain time of being revived. Previously (Alpha 12), if an incapacitated player was revived, then sent to 0 HP within one minute of being revived, they were sent to the Death screen with no chance of reviving. In Alpha 13, players can now be revived regardless of the duration since the last revival.

We noticed this Insta-death mechanic was a very common occurrence and distracted players from the gameplay flow. As a result, we have decided to change the mechanic with the goal of creating a more enjoyable experience that is not overpowering. We believe the abundance of area effect weapons, limiting bandages from non-Medic kits, as well as the penalties and low health resulting from reviving from an incapacitated state will prevent the changes from having an adverse effect.

We hope this new change has a positive effect on game flow and proximity-based teamwork within squads, as well as the team at large.

INFANTRY GAMEPLAY
  • Increased non-ADS standing movement speeds by 10%.
  • Adjusted 3P animation for movement speed.
  • Tweaked how ADS movement speeds work, so no matter which direction you go now you move at the same speed.
  • Shortened acceleration and deceleration speeds to make player movement a bit more responsive.
  • Increased visual ‘z-axis’ recoil animation, increasing the visual kick back towards the camera.
  • Increased Prone Sprint stamina cost from 16 to 24 – prone player can still quickly get into a ditch or cover, but cannot be used to quickly traverse vast areas.
  • Decreased Player Bleed Rate from 0.5 HP per second to 0.3 HP per second. This will Increase the time to bleed out so the player has more time before death prior to bandaging
INFANTRY ROLE LOADOUT CHANGES
  • Medic and Light Anti-Tank roles now have an optics variant available.
  • Grenadier role now has an optic.
  • Medic role now receives 9 bandages, increased from 8.
  • Non-Optics Riflemen, Medics & Light Anti Tank now have Binoculars.
HAT KIT LOADOUT CHANGES
  • US HAT Primary – M4 M68, 1x M136-AT4, 1x M72A7, 1x M67-Frag
  • US HAT Alternate – M4A1 Foregrip Irons, 1x AT4, 1x M72A7
  • GB HAT Primary – L85 Irons, 1x ILAW-AT4, 1x M72A7, 1x L109-Frag
  • GB HAT Alternate – L85 SUSAT, 1x ILAW-AT4, 1x M72A7
  • RU HAT Primary – AK74M Iron, 1x RPG7v2-Tandem, 1x RPG7v2-HEAT, 2x RPG7v2-Frag
  • RU HAT Alternate – AK74M 1P78, 1x RPG7v2-Tandem, 1x RPG7v2-HEAT
  • MIL HAT Primary – SKS, 1x RPG7-Tandem, 1x RPG7-HEAT, 2x RPG7-Frag
  • MIL HAT Alternate – SKS, 2x RPG29-PG29V
  • INS HAT Primary – SKS, 1x RPG7-Tandem, 1x RPG7-HEAT, 2x RPG7-Frag
  • INS HAT Alternate – SKS, 2x RPG29-PG29V
RIFLEMAN LAT LOADOUT CHANGES
  • US LAT Primary: M4 M150, 1x M72, 1x M18-Smoke
  • US LAT Secondary: M4 M68, 1x M72, 2x M67-Frag, 2x M18-Smoke, Binoculars
  • RU LAT Primary: AK-74M 1P78, 1x RPG-26, 1x RDG2-Smoke
  • RU LAT Secondary: AK-74M, 1x RPG7-HEAT, 2x RPG7-Frag, 2x RDG2-Smoke
  • GB LAT Primary: L85A2 ACOG, 1x M72, 1x L132-Smoke
  • GB LAT Secondary: L85A2 SUSAT, 1x M72, 1x L109-Frag, 2x L132-Smoke
  • Militia LAT Primary: AKS-74 1P29, 1x RPG-7 HEAT, 2x RPG-7 Frag, 1x RDG2-Smoke
  • Militia LAT Secondary: AK-74, 1x RPG-7 HEAT, 3x RPG-7 Frag, 2x RDG2-Smoke, Binoculars
  • Insurgent LAT Primary: SKS Optic, 1x RPG-7 HEAT, 2x RPG-7 Frag, 1x RDG2-Smoke
  • Insurgent LAT Secondary: Vz61, 2x RPG-7 HEAT, 2x RPG-7 Frag, 1x RDG2-Smoke, Binoculars
INFANTRY ROLE LIMIT CHANGES
Specialist Roles

  • Heavy Anti-Tank (Iron Sights): max 1 per team. (Unlock @ 15 players.)
  • Heavy Anti-Tank (Optics): max 1 per team. (Unlock @ 20 players.)
  • Heavy Anti-Tank (Iron Sights) & Heavy AT (Optics) requires a squad of 3. (Max 1 per squad.)
  • Combat Engineer & Machine Gunner: max 2 per team. (1st unlock @ 15 players, 2nd unlock @ 20 players.)
  • Combat Engineer & Machine Gunner requires a squad of 3. (Max 2 per squad.)
Fire Support Roles

  • Marksman & Grenadier: max 4 per team. (1st unlock @ 5 players, 2nd unlock @ 15 players, 3rd unlock @ 25 players, 4th unlock @ 35 players.)
  • Light AT (Iron Sights): max 4 per team. (1st unlock @ 3 players, 2nd unlock @ 6 players, 3rd unlock @ 9 players, 4th unlock @ 12 players.)
  • Light AT (Optics): max 4 per team. (1st unlock @ 6 players, 2nd unlock @ 12 players, 3rd unlock @ 18 players, 4th unlock @ 24 players.)
  • Light AT (Iron Sights), Grenadier requires a squad of 3. (Max 1 per squad.)
  • Marksman requires a squad of 5. (Max 1 per squad.)
  • AR (Optics) & Light AT (Optics) requires a squad of 6. (Max 1 per squad.)
  • GB Marksman (L86) requires a squad of 6. (Max 1 per squad.)
  • GB Marksman (L129A1) requires a squad of 8. (Max 1 per squad / 2 per team – 1st unlock @ 20 players, 2nd unlock @ 30 players.)
Command Support Roles

  • Squad Leader (Optics) requires a squad of 2. (Max 1 per squad.)
Direct Combat Roles

  • Rifleman (Optics) requires a squad of 2. (Max 3 Rifleman Optics per squad.)
  • AR (Iron Sights) requires a squad of 3. (Max 1 per squad.)
WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT


  • Added the Vz61. Škorpion Machine Pistol. The Škorpion is a select-fire, straight blowback weapon that operates from a closed bolt for additional accuracy, while still maintaining a very high rate of fire. Its extremely compact nature (even with the extended wire stock) makes this machine pistol a favorite as a personal defense weapon for vehicle crews. This weapon will be issued to Militia and Insurgent crewmen, as well as the Insurgent LAT kit.
  • Added the M15 Anti-Tank Mine. The M-15 Anti-Tank blast mine is an American design originating in World War 2 and is activated via a mechanical pressure switch. When sufficient downward pressure is applied, it will activate the fuze and trigger detonation. Containing about 10.3kg of Composition B explosive, the M15 is capable inflicting mobility kills on heavy armor or dealing critical damage to lighter vehicles. This will be available to the US Army and British Combat Engineers.


  • Tweaked Anti-Tank mine damage. It now requires 1 Anti-Tank mine to destroy light vehicles outright like technicals and bikes. MATV and Logistics Trucks will be heavily damaged and have their wheels destroyed. APCs will take severe damage and have their wheels/tracks blown, while Tanks will have their tracks destroyed and moderate damage taken.
  • Increased Land Mines max deployed in world limit at one time to 10 (previously 3) per role.
  • Added an audible “trigger” sound and a slight detonation delay when a vehicle drives over the mine to provide better mine feedback to players. (Knowing is half the battle.)
  • Added the SA80 Bayonet for all British roles, replacing the placeholder M9 Bayonet.
  • Added varied set of Timed Explosives. Set with a 30-second fuse, these explosives are designed to destroy emplacements, deployables, and tech structures like HABs and FOB Radios. These explosives can also be used to sabotage vehicles by destroying tracks and wheels, destroy vehicle wrecks, as well as other planted explosives like Mines and IEDs. Explosives can be defused by your shovel before they explode. These explosives are available to Combat Engineers and Sappers.
  • Increased IED max deployed in world limit at one time to 5 (previously 3) per role.
  • Updated IEDs to now play a very audible chiptune ringtone before exploding.
  • Updated Phone detonators so they can no longer be triggered if there is no active IED in the field.
  • Increased random delay duration for IEDs from 2-4 to 3-6 seconds.
  • Land mines, explosives, and IEDs are no longer blocked from being deployed on other deployables.
  • Decoy rocks now cover a much larger area and no longer collide with mines and IEDs. You can use multiple rocks now to form a relatively inconspicuous rock pile hiding any IED or mines under it.
  • Tightened the deviation on the RPG-7 and RPG-7V2 rockets, making them more accurate at longer ranges.
  • Tweaked the 1p78 Optic reticle so the reticle is more usable against distant targets up to 400m.
  • Added a “Surrender” role-play kit that has no weapons, that can be requested via Ammo Crates and Vehicles. They have the ability to put their hands up with Right Mouse Button.
  • Added a unique animation and sound for when shovels are destroying a deployable or defusing explosives vs. building them.
  • Tweaked shovel destroy damage to be less effective than building
  • Shifted L85A2 iron-sights ADS position slightly further away from the camera.
  • Reduced minimum arming time on the 40mm UGL smoke grenades dramatically.
  • Increased smoke size of the 40mm UGL smoke grenades.
  • Reduced time to switch between primary weapon and loaded HE 40mm UGL by excluding the UGL loading & unloading animations from the process.


VEHICLE ADDITIONS AND UPDATES
T-62 MAIN BATTLE TANK


  • 3-man crew and carrying capacity for 4 riders for Militia and Insurgents.
  • T-62 fires armor penetrating sabot, high explosive anti-tank and fragmentation rounds, in addition to its coaxial 7.62x54mmR PKT machine gun. While this armament might not perform as well as its more modern counterparts, still do not underestimate its ability to deal death at range. The commander seat has access to a simple cupola mounted periscope with high magnification optics.
BRDM-2 SPANDREL


  • Anti-tank guided missile variant of the BRDM-2 scout car for Russian, Insurgent, and Militia forces.
  • Armed with five wire-guided ‘Konkurs’ missiles which can be fired in relatively quick succession, dealing a devastating amount of damage against heavy armor at range.
  • Vehicles strengths are mobility combined with its anti-tank firepower, making it a potent battlefield tool, weaknesses are its light armor, so it won’t fare well in head-on engagements against enemy Armor or AT Infantry.
MATV TOW VARIANT
  • Basically a TOW with wheels for US Forces.
  • The same level of mobility and armor as a conventional MATV.
  • Carries 5 spare TOW missiles.
  • Definitely packs a punch, but light on protection.
TECHNICAL UB32 (ROCKET ARTILLERY) UPDATED
  • Changed the location of the Gunner camera to be on the rocket pod.
  • Added an angle indicator.
  • Added a very small amount of yaw adjustment.
  • Updated the gunner seat to always preserve the angle orientation of the rocket pod even if the gunner leaves the seat.
  • Reduced the minimum arming distance on the S5 rockets a very close range.
BTR-82A & BTR-80 UPDATED
Our observations showed that standard APC of Russian Ground Forces currently had too low of a survivability rate in engagements with enemy armor. One reason we suspect is the lower level of armor and how that interacts armor penetration system works. Most of the time BTR have no chance to escape unexpected frontal engagement due to the fact that it suffers heavy damage on the engine due to the penetration of high caliber rounds to the engine.

  • Upgraded all BTR models with an engine protection plate, that should prevent it from suffering an instant mobility kill from frontal fire.
  • Reduced BTR-82A Spawn time from 12 minutes to 10 minutes.
  • Increased Autocannon HE Splash damage & blast radius
  • Increased 30mm splash radius to 7.5 meters (from 5.5 meters).
  • Increased BTR82A / MTLB 30mm AP cannon damage output by 20%.
  • Increased the damage output of Russian 2A72 30mm autocannon, equipped on BTR-82A and MTLB 6MA by 20%. (250 to 300)
  • Increased the BTR82A/MTLB 30mm autocannon overheating time, which will allow a continuous fire to be outputted for up to 10 seconds. (Previously 5 seconds.)
  • These changes should increase the Russian Ground Forces offensive capabilities to help them to deal with the better-armored enemy counterparts like M1126s. But make no mistake, the BTR80 & BTR82A primary role is still transporting and supporting infantry and should only be engaging superior Infantry Fighting Vehicles like the US M2A3 as a last resort.
  • In a future update, we plan to add the proper IFV for the Russian Ground Forces, in the form of well known BMP family of vehicles.
VEHICLE GAMEPLAY
  • Removed all main cannon overheating on the FV510.
  • Increased 120mm HEAT splash radius to 25 meters from 21 meters.
  • Increased 125mm HEAT splash radius to 21 meters from 17 meters.
  • Increased 125mm FRAG splash radius to 35 meters from 30 meters.
  • Decreased rate of fire of the FV510 coaxial machine gun.
  • Tweaked Insurgent Technical skins to use less conspicuous paint jobs. (No more “Shoot Me! Red”.)
  • Increased hull strength for Armored Technicals and Ural 375 ZSU by 25%.
  • Increased armor thickness by 33% on all open turret shields (including DshK shield) and Armored Technical armor making them more resistant to 7.62mm fire.
  • Added armored glass material to MATV, BRDM-2, BTR-80 and all open top turret windows making them resistant up to 7.62mm rounds.
  • Added turret turning sounds to all open top and closed armored turrets.
  • Updated Glass Material on all Trucks and Technicals to respond to gun-fire with the proper glass effect.
  • Added a camera-spring effect to the driver to help increase immersion.
  • Reverted back to the proper model of CROWS turret on the M1126 APCs
  • Added open-top turret and CROW MATV variants equipped with M240B.
  • Added M1126 APC variant equipped with CROW M240B.
  • Removed majority of post-processing color effects on all turret optics.
  • Added a no-penetration protection panel to the far side of all APC, IFV, and Tank engine components. This means you won’t be able to disable the engine in the rear by shooting the vehicle from the front and vice versa.
  • Increased the percentage which vehicle repair tools can repair engines from 50% to 100% for Light Vehicles, up to 80% for APCs or higher.
  • Updated all vehicle engines to absorb a large amount of damage after a projectile has penetrated through it.
  • Adjusted Environment Physmats for vehicle tires and tracks – sand, snow, dirt, grass, wet asphalt all have a less severe penalty for impeding driving
DEPLOYABLES GAMEPLAY
  • Updated HAB deployment rules specific to the Insurgent Faction. The Insurgent team can now build 2 separate HABs at each FOB Radio. This change gives the advantage of more plentiful spawn locations for Insurgents.
  • Increased mortar HE splash damage & range from 15m to 22m.
  • Improved mortar explosion effects on sand and snow.
  • Added ability to rotate deployables while in placement mode by holding the lean keys or the left and right arrow keys.
  • Updated deployables to have looser placement bounds, allowing items like razor wire can more easily connect without gaps.
  • Increased width of razor wire deployable to match that of the sandbags.
  • Tweaked visuals and look of the deployable Ladder, adding a metal variant for the US Army, British, and Russians.
  • Reworked the look of the Vehicle Repair Depot to provide a unique look for the Russians and Militia/Insurgents.
  • Added a running generator with audio to the Vehicle Repair Depot to lightly discourage players from camping.
  • Updated tracking on the Russian-style ATGMs (Kornet, Konkurs, Refleks) to be tighter.
  • Decreased deviation on the SPG-9 HEAT and Frag rockets.
  • Tightened the spiral trajectory on the Kornet ATGMs, making them easier to handle.
  • Increased the number of rounds you can fire from the ZU-23 before it overheats.
  • Increased interactable radius on emplacements to make them easier to enter.
  • Increased penetration power of TOW & Kornet ATGMs, to increase the effectiveness of those weapons against highly armored targets at certain angles of attack.
USER INTERFACE SYSTEMS
MAP “PINGS” REMOVAL
We have removed the Map Pinging feature that squadmates could use to send their Squad Leader a ping by right-clicking on the map. This feature was not the intended route we wanted for player communication and we did feel this was not the right approach for squad comms. We may re-evaluate this and try something different, such as limited use of enemy map markers for FTLs, for example.

FIRETEAM LEADER MARKER RANGEFINDER REMOVAL
The FTL markers will have their rangefinding function removed. We felt that this rangefinding feature became the most prominent reason why Squad Leaders were assigning Fireteams rather than their intended purpose. (To organize the squad to use effective fire and maneuver tactics.) Often the squad leader would only assign one unit to a Fireteam (commonly the LAT/HAT/UGL/Marksman), and in fact, squadmates in those roles would ask/demand for them to be assigned that role without ever taking any leadership role responsibility.

This change will likely lessen the amount of long-range mobility kills on tracked vehicles, so armored vehicles will be encouraged to engage targets at longer ranges. Experienced LAT users with excellent eyeballing/map reading/binocular ranging skillsets will be encouraged due to this change. Teamwork within squads to triangulate positions of enemy armor with the help of recon/spotters should also become more prevalent with this change.

From our perspective, the main negative impact of removing the FTL rangefinder will be for the mortar operators. Mortar effectiveness increased with the FTL rangefinding feature in A12, but squad communication decreased. Mortars will still be quite deadly, however, even more so with the HE radius increased.

More effective use of the mortar will likely come when used in a small purposeful squad with the squad leader placing markers the SL Marker on targets. (The SL Marker still retains a rangefinder.) External Mortar Calc apps may still be used to be very effective at pinpoint target accuracy.

In a future update, we would like to implement additional functionality for the “Fire Mission: Mortar” request marker that a Squad Leader can place on the map. When occupying a Mortar Tube, all friendly “Fire Mission: Mortar” icons would show their bearing and range on the Mortar players compass. We also have a few other ideas to increase Mortar useability in lieu of the FTL Marker, which could include allowing Mortar Tube operators to place their own single “Fire Mission: Mortar” map marker, allowing them to gauge range even without requiring a marker from their squad leader.

Additionally, we would also like to add a rangefinder to a handheld binoculars item for the Squad Leader kit. This may be connected to other gameplay elements and may be subject to change.

USER INTERFACE
  • Updated Squad Leader Order Marker so it can now be placed through windows and other tight spots using the T-Menu. If you have line-of-sight, you can place the marker. Previously, many static objects would block you from placing down the marker.
  • Added contextual interactable tooltips for interacting with deployables, vehicles, and emplacements. This is to promote identification of interactable objects in the game world.
  • Added a more detailed Vehicle Status widget to show which components are taking damage viewable by the driver.
  • Added a line that draws from yourself to the Squad Leader Order Marker on your map to better orientate yourself to the direction of the marker.
  • Added the ability to drop a “direction” line + arrow marker. This is intended to have many uses, such as illustrating movements of friendly or enemy forces, showing directions of approach for orders, etc.
  • Cleaned up a lot of server-side messaging so the normal player doesn’t see them as often.
  • Improved the look and functionality of the Vehicle Seat indicator to allow you to see the squad assignment and role of the player in that seat.
  • Tweaked the spawn select flow requiring fewer button presses and confirmations.
  • Updated all the map option/filter buttons into a consolidated drop-down menu to declutter the Deployment and Command Menus.
  • Added a notification for Players that attempt to spawn in with a role that has already been claimed – “Your previously selected role has become locked.”
  • Tweaked the look of the on-screen HUD chat.
  • Updated Team Select by removing the live soldier and replaced them with a high-resolution posed team image for each faction.
  • Added vehicle occupancy [+1] to name tags for players in vehicles.
  • Increased Point of Interest marker limit from 4 to 6.
  • Reverted Squad VOIP Text (in the bottom left) to be always green regardless of Fireteam.
  • Updated artwork of the magazine counter to look like banana magazines.
  • Added a tooltip to help players know what the controls are for loading and unloading supplies.
MAP CHANGES


  • Updated Tallil Outskirts to v2. Changes mostly focused on increasing infantry survivability and the ability to move between flags. These changes include: adding more detail microvariations to terrain in open areas, adding villages along the river, adding fighting positions and tunnels at the Iraqi Destroyed Hangars, including more rocks and wadis, and adding a new air traffic control complex between the runways.
  • Added several “Medium”-sized RAAS, AAS, and Invasion layers. These layers to assist with populating servers (seeding) or to increase variety in map rotations.
  • Tweaked some flag names to make them more distinct.
  • Fixed flipped vehicles in Main Bases on Kokan.
  • Fixed some sharp landscape edges on the Lakay Ridge bypass road on Kohat.
  • Fixed foliage growing in places it shouldn’t be on all maps. (Compost will be used to grow tomatoes.)
  • Improved landscape blending, so rocks and roads should no longer appear black.
  • Updated Logar, Mestia, and Sumari to remove static Technical vehicle props and replaced them with different static props, to prevent confusion between actual drivable Technicals and static props.
  • Updated Gorodok tree trunks and some Kohat trees to prevent undesirable collisions. (Don’t you dare desire them again.)
  • Fixed bushes and crops from preventing player lean and ability to dig emplacements
BUG FIXES AND MISCELLANEOUS
  • Fixed exploit where all Open Turret Vehicles being able to rearm from FOBs and have infinite mags
  • Fixed Anti-Tank projectile not dealing damage if the shooting player dies before the projectile hits its target. In certain circumstances (when an AT player fully dies before the AT projectile hits its target), the AT projectile did no damage. This has been fixed and will now do damage even if the player was killed.
  • Fixed Mortar Bug. In certain circumstances (when a player leaves a mortar before the projectile lands), the mortar did no damage.
  • Fixed hidden Flag Capture UI while inside a Vehicle – this now correctly displays the Flag status
  • Fixed unable to vault temporarily after packing up your ammo bag.
  • Fixed pressing number 5 key results in changing your primary weapon fire mode instead of switching to your field dressing.
  • Fixed a bug where the SPG-9 needed to be ‘reloaded’ twice before it would be ready to fire.
  • Fixed the double mesh bug on the SPG-9.
  • Fixed zeroing on the SPG-9 fragmentation rocket.
  • Fixed US Crewmen soldiers having incorrect bullet impact effects.
  • Fixed mines being able to be placed so deep into some bridge statics that they disappear completely.
  • Fixed zeroing on the RPG7v2 Tandem and the RPG-29.
  • Fixed effect impacts on flesh and sandbags to make them more visible.
  • Optimized large smoke column effects on Tallil and Jensen’s Range.
  • Fixed grenade spoon ejections not being properly visible when you throw grenades.
  • Fixed Soviet Binoculars having sway while the other binoculars do not.
  • Fixed markers being set offset to the crosshair on all Binoculars.
  • Fixed Insurgent MTLB having green colored turret/wreck.
  • Fixed missing turning animations when using the phone detonator and vehicle repair tools.
  • Fixed “Kit Role Selected No Longer Available” notification spam when changing teams. When a selected kit role is unavailable, the kit will now default back to Rifleman Iron Sights and give that player the appropriate notification message.
  • Fixed clipping that occurs when using the Music Player.
  • Fixed open-top turrets not returning to origin during a reload.
  • Fixed rigging on the L85A2 AG36 ACOG rifle.
  • Fixed vehicle components like Engines and Ammo racks being damaged by melee or small caliber weapons.
  • Fixed Fireteam markers being seen from enemy Squad.
  • Fixed Emplaced Kornet having larger than normal bullet collisions, causing players to be very hard to shoot off.
  • Fixed Insurgent SL Crewman having wrong first person mesh.
  • Fixed vehicle occupants being counted towards HAB blocking mechanic.
LOCALIZATION
Unfortunately, the Unreal Engine 4.21 upgrade changed the way localization is managed. As a consequence, a lot of the translations have been broken going into Alpha 13. Our plan to address this is to actually push a full localization pass to a later date in the year when we are much closer to full release and are locking down all the text that will need to be translated for the game.

LINUX SERVER RCON
RCON functionality for Linux server is temporarily non-functional in Alpha 13. This is a known issue and we’ll continue to work to resolve this. We apologize for any inconvenience.

MODDING
Due to significant updates to our Unreal Engine implementation (4.16 -> 4.21) and modding framework, existing mods will need to be uninstalled. Mods will need to be recooked to ensure compatibility with Modding 2.0 — more information will be made available soon.
 
I wish id software was as good as a developer as this game for Quake Champions. The thorough hunt for bug fixes, changes and updates on the start of this month is one mighty fine impressive update log.
 
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