Ground Branch update 1033.1 is now rolling out on PC(Steam). According to the official Ground Branch patch notes, the latest update adds a long list of bug fixes and gameplay changes.
Since the last patch, players are facing a number of problems with the game. Today’s GROUND BRANCH patch will fix a few of these issues.
Check out more details below.
Ground Branch Patch Notes – March 16, 2023
Gameplay and UX
- Changed “Reticle Brightness Up/Down” actions (default Home and End keys) to only affect reticle brightness when aiming down sights (ADS), and only affect the AN/PEQ-15’s IR Illuminator mode (wide flood vs. focused beam) when that is toggled on
- Fixed votes that pass instantly (when they shouldn’t) and voting widgets that don’t disappear when the vote is done
- Hostage Rescue: fixed hostage players being able to use radio if they started using it before being assigned the hostage role
- Set it so Breaching Charges don’t damage restrained hostages (possibly temporary fix for exploit where hostages are held against doors to block them)
- Increased vaulting/climbing height from 125 cm to 140 cm (helps with some areas that previously allowed it, like the subway platforms in City)
- Changed default Bolt Action setting to “Manual” (Settings › Controls)
- Fixed up doors and ladders:
- Fixed issue where AI would abort door or ladder usage without removing themselves as a user
- Tweaked door and ladder code to remove issues with lists not being up to date or called out of order etc.
- Fixed possible crash related to occupier or user being killed between initial validation and sort
- Optimization to stop AI attempting to move onto navmesh when they are already on the navmesh
- AI will abort using doors on spotting players
- Fixed possible crash if user or their pawn somehow became invalid during the function call
- Fixed UGBKitFunctionLibrary::KitDump() thinking rejected valid .json objects and accepting invalid ones — possibly a crash fix
- Updated Character class: added validity checks, optimized and fixed log spam about client-side authoritive item
- Resurrect command:
- Added res to DefaultZooKeeper.ini as valid command and default command for admins
- Added logging and client messages that handle one or all players in one place (greatly reduces log spam)
- Changed usage of GetActorEyesViewPoint() to GetPlayerViewPoint(), to get proper viewpoint even for spectators
- Fixed death location not being used when determining nearest player
- Ignores newly spawned characters when considering them for res near (thus ignoring characters probably spawned by resurrect)
- Uses bottom of capsule when using character as res location as it is closer to the navmesh (should help reduce chances of thinking navmesh above is close then one at same level)
- Attempts 5 different distances in 6 different directions
- Does a quick collision check against _ECCWorldDynamic and _ECCWorldStatic to make sure they don’t spawn behind a wall or similar
- Fixed “First To X” and “Play Until Win X” match types behaving like “Play X” types
Maps
747
- Cleaned up some ladder and cover issues
- Added ability to get into open catering truck
City
- Updated City and City (Streets) Terrorist Hunt missions to move AI out of a van
- Updated soundscape, obstruction and occlusion settings
- Fixed light portal issue
- Fixed skylight staying on when you spawn in subway tunnels
- Cleaned up some reflection capture issues
- Fixed a few meshes culling out too early
Compound
- Set directional lights Transition Fraction to default (0.1) to remove sharp transition line
- Reduced intensity of opacity mask dithering on grass billboards
- Enabled dynamic shadows on a few crop meshes
Depot
- Fixed spawn protection zone in Hostage Rescue mission overlapping into garage ground floor
- Updated warehouse door to avoid colliding with geometry
- Slightly tweaked AI navmesh and extended it over beach area
- Added stack up locations to several doors to help AI navigate them better
- Improved the look of backdrop building windows at night
- Remade a backdrop building that was using unique textures; uses existing ones now
- Added billboard LODs to gorse bushes
Docks
- Added blocking volumes around water areas
- Added water physical material to ocean
- Fixed a few collision problems
Run Down
- Updated navmesh slightly and regenerated cover due to changes
Small Town
- Removed navblocks from Terrorist Hunt mission (was causing weird AI pathing)
- Reworked audio (WIP)
Storage Facility
- Fixed bad spawns in DTAS mission
- Navmesh cleaned up and extended over to spawn area
- Blocked areas such as the cliffs, out-of-bounds sections and on top of blocking volumes
- Added billboard LODs to gorse bushes
- Fixed bad spawn(s) in train car (Deathmatch and Last Man Standing missions)
Tanker
- New door textures
- Fixed gaps in hull
- Fixed collision issues
- Material tweaks, including tweaking roughness on exterior and interior materials to reduce how shiny they are
- Decreased contrast of DFAO as areas on deck became really dark at sunset
- Tweaked placement of seagulls
Ready Room
- Removed reflection captures to fix bad character lighting in shadows
Inventory
- Created Black and FDE MK17 CQC/DMR magazine items
- Fixed Rail Adapter being offset on the SVD
- Fixed fire selector switch not being properly skinned on the Wz.88
- Removed “invisible” iron sights from M24
UI
- Fixed being able to click on another server by accident after filling in password
- Fixed sorting servers by password or favorite
- Updated visuals for After-Action Reports (AAR) and Match Info board UI elements
- Added logic to hide “[YOUR TEAM]” tag on the AAR for PvE modes
- Changed color of “Invite Friends” button icon from yellow to GB green
- Customize Operator screen: minor update to hover/pressed appearance of various item slots and entries, highlighted “Profile” (player name) slot further, and slightly tweaked “Patches” slot paddings
- Minor style pass on Settings › Audio menu
- Cleaned up and improved various tooltip texts
- Consistency style/formatting pass on a few UI elements: vote pop-up, Match Info board and travel failure dialog
- Changed Spectator Mode’s minimap blips to use palette colors
- Updated Vote dialog: limited max height and added text clipping property to prevent massive text strings/spam breaking the design
- Quick visual pass on Match Info board widgets to hopefully look a little better
- Quick visual pass on Mission Clock widget
- UI/UX cleanup on Settings › Video to account for changes
- Changed advanced video setting “Shadow Precision” to “Shadow Quality” to better represent what it does
Settings
- Enabled r.SeparateTranslucency again as it wasn’t saving any performance
- Removed Shadow Distance Scale from settings as it was also controlled in main shadow settings
- Small tweaks to TAA settings to be more appropriate options
- Made sure Distance Field Ambient Occlusion (DFAO) is enabled for “Low” Shadow Quality
- Further tweaks to scalability settings so Shadow Quality on “Low” looks a little nicer
- Renamed advanced video setting “Light Shaft Quality” to “Light Shafts” to better reflect its on/off choice
- Added logic to ensures Screen Space Reflections (SSR) are only used with TAA or DLAA
- Ensured Screen Space Global Illumination (SSGI) advanced video settings only work when SSGI is enabled
- Updated DLSS menu to only show supported modes instead of prompting whenever a bad mode is selected
- Ensure Anti-Aliasing (AA) is disabled while DLSS is enabled
- Cleaned up console variables in DefaultEngine.ini that were also controlled in DefaultScalability.ini
- Cleaned up/removed all scalability-related settings from advanced video settings (superfluous and/or ambiguous)
VFX
- Tweaked bird flock radius: reduce its size and increased the attraction radius to keep the birds properly flocking
- Tweaked NVG effect to make pixel noise more uniform and not distributed in separate bars
- Ensured bullet impact VFX enabled for standalone and listen server (“Host Game”) hosts
