Hey folks,

It is time for another Intel Report as we continue to develop V1035 of GROUND BRANCH.

As always, we have worked hard over this past month to design, code and fix all kinds of things, a lot of which we've previewed in our most recent series of dev blogs starting in August of last year (go make sure you haven't missed any!).

Our focus this month has shifted more towards polishing things up, fixing up our bulging backlogs of bugs, and getting ready for the devtest stage of V1035. We are about to commence a limited internal devtest, and we hope to soon expand that to a public devtest build in which you can all participate (more on that when we have it!).

As important as this work is, it does not make for terribly interesting screenshots, videos, recaps, or deep dives, but we have a little bit of new content to show you. Thank you again for bearing with us as we get things fully in order for the new release.

We'll then round off with a quick highlights reel from the past V1035 Intel Reports.

📌 Keep in mind this and previous reports are not an exhaustive list of V1035 features. For an overview of expected changes and additions, please refer to our {LINK FJERNET}roadmap.

In V1035, the main co-op game modes (Terrorist Hunt, Intel Retrieval and Defuse) will offer players a choice to randomize the enemy count:

The new setting will be accessible via the Ops Board in the Ready Room, as usual for game mode options

The randomization option is now a regular mission setting for the above-mentioned three co-op game modes. It can be set on the Ops Board and prior to launching a mission, like other mission settings.

Three different randomization options are available:

• No — Disables the setting, so the amount of enemies you can encounter in the mission will match exactly the number of enemies set in "Expected enemy resistance".
  
• A little — Adds a possible variance of up to ±3 enemies (i.e. your expected enemy resistance, plus or minus 3 enemies).
  
• A lot — Adds a possible variance of up to ±6 enemies (i.e. your expected enemy resistance, plus or minus 6 enemies).

The variance in enemy count scales with the amount of enemies selected, so that you will not see the maximum variation until you are at higher enemy counts. All of this is of course subject to change as we gather feedback and feel it out.

As shown in Intel Report #022[www.groundbranch.com], we have been steadily working on the UI to support campaign missions (you can see our first preview here).

We have since upgraded the looks slightly, and put further work into how the mission details will be displayed. It is all a work in progress, but we have recorded another little preview for you to check out the progress:

As the video shows, progress (both as a % and a progress bar) is tracked for each hotspot as well as each mission within. Due to missions being playable in single player (offline) or co-op (online), progress is displayed for each mode separately.

Once a hotspot is selected, a background briefing — the overall situation in the hotspot — is displayed. Hovering a mission will preview the mission briefing and objectives.

After selecting a mission, players will then be able to again read the full briefing and objectives under the Mission Details tab, as well as browse a few other tabs that contain a mix of operational info and some flavor: Environment (weather and terrain), Human Factors (enemy forces, alertness level and civilians), and Intel Assets. The latter is essentially a gallery of intel images, including an interactive "tactical overview" map marked with objectives, key locations and the source of the various intel images. Pointing at most of these markers will cause a tooltip with further information to pop up.

Once in the Ready Room, the same elements seen in the Tactical Overview map are available on the Ops Board

💡 The mission briefing screen will likely also be home to where you select and equip your team in the future. For the V1035 demo mission, your team will be pre-selected and equipped.

Once players have reviewed everything, they can launch the mission by clicking Deploy (Offline Mode) or Deploy (Online Mode). So how exactly does each mode work?

Offline Mode is recommended for those strictly interested in playing a mission like a regular single player game. You will be able to play alongside AI-controlled teammates and the game can be paused at any time. If you do not have a working internet connection, campaign missions will still be playable in this mode!

In Online Mode, players can play either with the AI-controlled teammates or with up to a certain number of players* who can join using the normal Host Game invite system. A mix of other players and AI-controlled teammates is not possible, and pausing the game will not be possible in either case.

💡 Team size in the V1035 demo mission will be capped to 4 operators: the player + 3 AI teammates, or 4 players. Future missions — though not all of them necessary — will likely allow more personnel.

As is true for all we share in our dev blogs, most of what you see is in active development and subject to change.

✒️ This month, Matt "Fatmarrow" Farrow gives us a deep dive on new features for the Mission Editor.

As hinted earlier, not all the changes we have made in V1035 will be visible or apparent to players — in fact, there has been quite a lot of work going on behind the scenes in nearly every area of the game.

One aspect we will return to is the Mission Editor, which is used to set up the spawn points, objectives, guard points, patrol routes, and more for every mission in the game (including the new campaign missions). Back in the November report[www.groundbranch.com], we looked at changes to AI spawn points and the new day/night spawn system. We also looked at some fixes to the navblock system. This month we will very briefly look at a few other changes behind the scenes.

Mission meshes have had a little do-over, and should now place flush to the ground when dropped into a map (let's definitely file this under "quality-of-life"). In place of another drop-down with a very long list to scroll through, there is now another new "picker" dialog for quickly trying out and picking mission meshes:

As you can see, the list of available meshes has been expanded again — for our purposes. The aim of mission meshes is not to be an impromptu level design tool, though of course we must salute the creativity of mission modders and the works they have created with this tool. Hang tight and we will have proper map modding through the mod kit soon.

We have also developed some new systems specifically for the new campaign missions. These are currently only functional for our in-game content, but it may be that these can be repurposed eventually for "regular" game modes and/or for modded game modes and missions.

New mission objective actor in use in our V1035 campaign mission demo

The new Campaign tab in the Mission Editor, showing details of the V1035 campaign mission demo

Here we can see the new mission image editor for the new campaign missions. We are not presently providing the facility for modders to make campaign missions (easily, at least), but at some point this might be available for more general use:

And here we can see the new map annotation tool in the Mission Editor. Yet again, this is not going to be immediately available for modders, but it may be that this system can be rolled out more widely in the future:

The combination of new mission objectives and the new campaign mission features allows for a more interactive player map. In time, the Tablet map may include more of this sort of interaction.

As a way to showcase the Power Station remake, as well as new enemy meshes and other details you might catch, we've put together a quick gameplay edit of a co-op run for your enjoyment.

Let's now take a look at some of the highlights from this past Intel Report cycle.

🔗 Quick links

• Intel Report #021 (August 2024)[www.groundbranch.com]
  
• Intel Report #022 (September 2024)[www.groundbranch.com]
  
• Intel Report #023 (October 2024)[www.groundbranch.com]
  
• Intel Report #024 (November 2024)[www.groundbranch.com]
  
• Intel Report #025 (December 2024 / January 2025)[www.groundbranch.com]

We showed off Ranch for the first time, and showcased some new gear and a range of new weapons.

We revealed some updates to Depot for the campaign mission demo, previewed new AI loadouts, gave details on the new SLAM charge, and also aincluded some samples of the new OPFOR voice lines.

We previewed the new Power Station map remake, showed you the new mag check animations, and went into more detail on various new mission objectives in the campaign mission demo.

We detailed the new day/night spawn system, fixes to the navblock system, teased some more new weapons and the chemlights, and revealed the DBAL-PL attachment for pistols.

The new item customization UI was on display, we absolutely fascinated you with details about AI patrol nodes, revealed some map lighting and color tweaks, and shared some Ranch co-op footage.

We hope you have enjoyed this rummage through the tactical memory box of past Intel Reports, and will soon join us in testing V1035 of GROUND BRANCH.

As usual, thank you so much for keeping an eye on GROUND BRANCH and reading through today's post.

See you next time!

Hey there! We hope 2025 has been treating you well so far.

Over here on the GROUND BRANCH team, we’ve been hard at work pushing towards the official release of update V1035.

As usual, we would like to thank you — our amazing community — for your patience and support while we get on with this. There are still a few gremlins stalking our code base, and a few things that turned out to be incredibly… not straightforward when we got around to implementing them, but we are working as hard as we can to get things fixed. This has taken longer than any of us would have liked but, on the plus side, it also gives us a chance to continue to stuff cool new things into V1035.

We look forward to share the update with you when it’s ready. Don’t worry — you’ll definitely be invited to join the fun before that happens, once it’s ready for public testing. In the meantime, we’ve put together a fresh batch of previews and deep dives to keep you entertained and in the loop.

💡 If you missed our Intel Report #024 for November, go read it!

💡 Keep in mind this report is not an exhaustive list of V1035 features. For an overview of expected changes and additions, refer to our {LINK FJERNET}roadmap.

One notable update we've worked on over the last couple of months is the operator customization, with a special focus on the Customize Item screen layout.

Whereas in V1034 and earlier we had the rather unwieldy nested categories, the new layout looks something like this:

As you can see, attachments are now displayed in a larger size and organized into category checkboxes that are always in view. Multiple categories can be checked with a right-click, in case you'd like to (for example) see all sight options. There's also a search bar, which will be especially useful for the Steam Workshop fans out there who like to stock up on mods.

💡 This new layout integrates with the new tag system (briefly mentioned in our last dev blog), wherein items can fit into multiple UI categories. This applies particularly to main items, as shown in the Primary Weapon selection. Note that the "Suppressed" category, which groups weapons that are integrally suppressed, includes weapons from various other categories. Similarly, some weapons fit both the "Precision Rifle" and "Battle Rifle" category, and so on.

When customizing weapons, attachments are laid horizontally in the bottom of the screen in up to 2 rows of 8 attachments each. That is so longer weapons can take up more of the screen without being as obscured by menus. However, when customizing headgear, platforms, and belts — which tend to be taller or do not require as much horizontal space — attachments are laid vertically in the right corner of the screen.

Vest platform and belt customization will now also display your loadout summary in the bottom-left, reducing guesswork and back-and-forth. (Please note that there's a little bug in the video wherein the loadout summary displays the name of the pouches rather than their content!)

One very welcome change for weapon attachments is that sights have finally been broken down into multiple categories, reducing clutter and making everyone's life much easier:

• Iron Sights (non-optical sights)
  
• Red Dot (reflex and holographic 1x optics)
  
• Scopes (magnified optics)
  
• Accessory (magnifiers, image intensifiers and whatever else may fit in the future)

Attachments will also finally support skin selection, removing the need for duplicate items with different skins — such as "Suppressor (Black)" and "Suppressor (FDE)" — being listed as separate items. As the video shows, we stuck a few new FDE skins in there for you. Lastly, you may have noticed a little more of an atmosphere going on, thanks to some lighting tweaks and the addition of some particle effects.

💡 One major element still missing from the customization UI is detailed information about each item — some kind of infobox so players don't have to guess what every item is and does. Rest assured that will be coming in due time!

💡 An update to the click-and-drag mechanic is not planned for this update due to other priorities, but we're aware it needs a revision too.

Everything is subject to change (and your feedback), but it already feels much easier to use and navigate.

This month, programmer and frequent dev blog contributor Matt "Fatmarrow" Farrow takes a deep dive on how AI patrols work in missions. One reason is that V1035 will improve on this system — which we'll explain in detail below — to provide more wide-ranging and unpredictable AI patrols. Mission modders may find this of particular interest.

⚠️ NERD ALERT

This deep dive is for the nerds. If you're not a nerd, what are you even doing here? you may want to skip this section (and go watch sports or whatever).

Figure 1 shows a collection of patrol nodes, which are placed and linked together in the Mission Editor (see section 2.6.3 of the Mission Editor page of the GROUND BRANCH Modding Wiki[wiki.groundbranch.com] for more details on how to set those up). These define arbitrary paths for patrol AI to follow, and may contain junctions, loops and dead ends. During a round, patrol AI initially go to the nearest patrol node, and then pick a new destination patrol node every time they reach their current target.

Figure 2 shows the historic method of picking an exit link from a patrol node for junction patrol nodes (that is, a node having more than 2 links). The link which is the most "forward"-facing (that is, requires the minimum deviation from the current path) is always chosen. This prioritizes avoiding sharp turns and possibly unnatural route choices when patrol AI is navigating a mesh of patrol nodes.

Figure 3 shows how, in practice, the historic link selection method can result in undesirable patrol paths. In this case, patrol AI who are on either Path A or Path B in Figure 1 will continue to follow that path indefinitely, because the most "forward" link at junctions will always be within the same path (in this example at least). It could be that the patrol AI will start on Path C in Figure 1, but after the first junction, they will get into an infinite loop as before.

Figure 4 shows a new method that we are adopting in V1035 for selecting onward links at patrol node junctions. Links are divided into "good" (anything that is remotely in a forward direction, e.g. up to a 90-degree turn) and "bad", and also "used" and "unused". Each patrol node keeps a record of which links are recently used; when all the links are used, the list is reset. A link is deemed used if it has been used either to enter or to exit a node. When a patrol AI enters a junction node, the entry link is removed from consideration, and the remaining links are categorized into "good unused", "bad unused", "good used" and "bad used". The first non-empty group in that descending order of priority is selected, and a random link is picked from that group. In Figure 4, there are shown two "good unused" links, so that group would be picked and the exit link selected randomly from it.

Figure 5 shows a more complex version of the method shown in Figure 4, in which 30% of the time, "good used" links are prioritized over "good unused" links, but otherwise the priorities are the same, with "bad unused" links taking precedence over "good used" and "bad used" links, respectively. The effect of this is just to muddy up the probabilities a little and to avoid the patrol AI getting stuck in different and exciting new infinite loops based on the new algorithm. The 70% chance of picking a "good unused" link is shared between the two links in question, leading to a 35% probability in following either. There is a 30% chance of picking the sole "good used" link.

Figure 6 shows the same setup as Figure 5, but with all of the forward links being marked as "good used". This means that the next group in the list is "bad unused", with the method normally prioritizing "unused" over "good". The single "bad unused" link therefore has a 70% chance of being selected. The "good used" links collectively have a 30% chance of being selected, as explained above. The precise probabilities are not important, but what is important is how the probability of links changes as the AI moves through the patrol node network.

Figure 7 shows the new method of selecting patrol node links in practice. The AI may follow loops, sometimes more than once, but what is now prioritized is travelling over the full extent of the patrol node network. After the first couple of junctions, the location of the patrol AI should be relatively unpredictable, at least compared to the old version. Also, the patrol node junctions are rarely as complicated as those shown in Figures 5 to 7; normally, junctions have only 3 links.

Various parameters of this method can be varied, and it is quite likely that we will be refining those during testing, so take the figures shown here with a pinch of salt. We hope that mission makers have not been too frustrated by the patrol logic in previous versions, and will benefit from this rejig of the system. We are making one or two further changes to the AI patrols that you may notice when you start playing V1035, but we will let you discover those for yourself.

💡 Pro tip: if you want to vary your patrol AI behavior from the method described here, one way is to incorporate "one-way" links into or out of junction nodes (manually delete links in the patrol node actors in the Mission Editor). Proceed with extreme caution!

And that completes our deep dive into patrol nodes!

Enemy AI continues to be worked on by Chris, and although a lot of it is happening under-the-hood or is otherwise difficult to showcase, we're happy to report enemies react to grenades much more appropriately in V1035, as shown in this clip:

And here's a little co-op footage to show off a little more of new map Ranch and its audio ambiance, as well as the G36K in action:

 
Environmental artist Will has taken a break from the 747 remake to do an optimization and visual pass on maps.
Although subtle in some ways, this iteration greatly improves the look and atmosphere of the maps by carefully tweaking the lighting, color-grading materials and textures, and adjusting the fog intensity and color. Vistas (the distant parts of maps that are not accessible) were also upgraded here and there.

Let's take a look at some before (left) vs. after (right) shots:

[i.imgur.com][i.imgur.com][i.imgur.com][i.imgur.com]As you can see, colors are more consistent (with fewer instances of bright colors standing out), and the fog adds a greater sense of depth — making it easier to judge different planes of the scene (near vs. far) and "softening" the more distant parts of the map which are naturally rendered in less detail.

💡 Fog color allows maps to have more unique atmospheres, especially with the sun at lower angles. Our lighting and weather systems allows different settings to be used at night, dawn, dusk and daytime. The fog color in the examples above is one of the factors for the "colder" tone during the day, but at dawn and dusk there is a very warm fog effect.

Will has also given Small Town a little facelift, improving the texturing and adding details and props. Here are some more comparison shots:

[i.imgur.com][i.imgur.com][i.imgur.com]

💡 Will continues to work on the new version of 747, as part of the big push to update all of GROUND BRANCH maps to the same visual standards as Depot, Small Town and others.

For your appreciation, media wizard Rangda has put together a few gifs of the LVAW, G36K and AUG A3 being fired and reloaded. That's it — just a little eye candy:

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And that's all we have for you today.

As mentioned earlier, there is more going on in V1035 than we're showing here. Some of the other stuff we've already shown you in past intel reports (be sure to check them out if you haven't already), and there are a few other things that we're choosing to not reveal before the actual release, because we feel it's important to keep a sense of mystery in our relationship.

Stay tuned, and we’ll see you again soon!