Folks, Today's update was planned for yesterday — Valentine's Day — but ended up being delayed by a few nasty bugs. We're mentioning that because we had a nice themed intro for it and don't wanna let it go to waste. So instead of coming up with a new intro, we're simply all going to pretend it [i]did[/i] come out yesterday. Alternatively, you may pretend today is still Valentine's Day: [i]Surprise that special someone with this hand-picked special changelist of features making up a beautiful, romantic GROUND BRANCH Valentine’s Day update for the [b]Community Test[/b] beta branch! No refunds after two hours! 💖[/i] Thank you for indulging us. New to Community Test? Here's how it works: [quote][h3]❓ How to join the [b]Community Test[/b] beta branch[/h3] [list] [*]Right-click GROUND BRANCH in your Steam Library and select [b]Properties…[/b] [*]Click 'BETAS' on the left-hand list menu [*]Select '[b]communitytest - Community testing branch[/b]' from the drop-down menu [i]([u]no password required[/u])[/i] [/list]Steam will begin downloading the files for the testing branch. Patching may take a while.[/quote][quote][h3]🐞 [b]Where to report bugs[/b][/h3] You can report bugs and issues using any of these methods: [list] [*] The in-game [b]Bugs & Issues[/b] screen (press Esc once in-game and look along the top menu) [*] The Steam forums: [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/]steamcommunity.com/app/16900/discussions/[/url] [*] The [b]#bug-reports[/b] channel on the official [url=https://discord.com/channels/152529936719151104/475872902206455809]GROUND BRANCH™ Discord[/url] [/list]Your reports help us locate and fix issues faster, so keep them coming![/quote] [h1]Known issues[/h1] 🚧 [i]These issues are known to still be present:[/i] [list] [*] The Breaching Charge is currently deployed at a 90-degree angle [*] Bullets may be being blocked in odd places by a certain type of volume — please report in with the map and location if you come across it! [*] When connecting to servers, the loading screen displays the "Returning to Main Menu" text [*] Enemy AI may be unresponsive/idle/stuck in various contexts — if you see it, please make note of whether it was online (dedicated server? Listen server?) or offline, which game mode was being played, as well as map and location etc.[quote]⚠️ Bots are particularly prone to getting stuck in doorways; we're actively working on fixing/improving this issue.[/quote][*] Weapon movement, poses and animations in general are still being put back together after the prone overhaul — please bear with us [*] Walking or running with a primary weapon equipped causes the character's right foot to "hover" before it actually touches the ground [*] The prone stance does not conform to terrain angle [*] Character and weapon collision while prone is pretty finicky! Let us know how it all feels to you [*] Various combinations of hairstyles and headgear items have visible clipping or overall jankiness [*] AI bots are not functional in Deathmatch [/list] [hr][/hr] [h1]Patch notes[/h1] [h2]Maps and missions[/h2] [list] [*] Various culling, collision, navmesh and navlink fixes for [b]Depot[/b], [b]Tanker[/b], [b]City[/b], [b]Creek[/b], [b]Storage Facility[/b], [b]Rundown[/b], [b]Rig[/b] and [b]Power Station[/b] [*] Made the roof windows in Depot enterable again [*] Added a few navmesh blockers to Depot to stop AI from getting stuck [*] Fixed bank stairwell door in City not closing properly [*] Added window frames to open window holes in Creek buildings to stop people getting stuck when trying to mantle through them [*] Fixed bug where players were getting stuck on containers in Storage Facility lower area after vaulting over railing [*] Added small step to side areas of Storage Facility tunnel entrance (helps AI navigate space better and cleaner movement for player) [*] Fix for one of the Compound outside doors hitting a mesh and not fully opening [*] Fixed up some bugs in [b]DTAS[/b] game mode script [*] Fixed bug in [b]Defuse[/b] where bomb stopped going off [*] Amended error text in Lua guard macros, to cover the extra possibility that a [i]UObject[/i] became invalid and turned into a nil reference [/list] [h2]Animation[/h2] [list] [*] Fixed leaning with handgun and move forward and left or right causing hands to go all odd [*] Fixed crouched handgun ADS being offset in certain situations (e.g. leaning) [*] First pass hooking up prone poses for [b]Binoculars[/b], [b]Breaching Charge[/b] (and detonator), grenades and [b]Tablet[/b] [*] Fixed and updated hand pose for holding grenades [*] Hooked up Breaching Charge and detonator use animations[quote]⚠️ Known issue: the charge model is currently deployed at a 90-degree angle.[/quote][/list] [h2]Inventory and customization[/h2] [list] [*] Fixed incorrect female belt variations being used with [b]Tactical Shirt[/b] items [*] Fixed [b]Helmet (MICH)[/b] chin strap not working correctly for Male 06 [*] Fixed up issues with [b]Headset[/b] asset [*] Created a version of the Headset mesh for use with [b]Fleece Beanie[/b] [*] Adjusted Fleece Beanie to fit better with [b]Balaclava[/b] [*] Fixed mesh splitting on female [b]Jeans[/b] [*] Added female untucked short versions of belts [*] Cleaned up various clipping issues with female clothing [*] Fixed Male 03 helmet chin straps not set properly [*] Fixed issue with rounds not showing in [b]Galil ARM[/b] magazines when mag-checking [/list] [h2]UI[/h2] [list] [*] Updated splash screen (Default Controls) with newer version of the controls scheme graphic [*] Updated some dialog boxes with an optional "Dot not show again" checkbox [*] Added option to reset opted-out dialogs in Settings › HUD [*] Small visual update to [b]After Action Review[/b] (AAR) screen [*] Swapped order of Combat Stats and Mission Summary tabs in AAR [*] Visual pass on Server Browser: mod column (column icon and [MOD] tag) and expanded server info tab [*] Server Browser now carried out mandatory mod sync when joining dedicated server [*] Visual pass on bind overlays [*] Cleaned up dialog box widget [*] [i]NoTimer[/i] round stage (Training modes) no longer displays time text at top of screen (also does not show time remaining on Tablet) [*] Updated [b]Invite Friends[/b] menu (is now styled similar to a dialog box) [*] Fixed mission list duplicating when revisiting mission selection screen [*] Added new icon (wrench) for Modding button in [b]Admin Panel[/b] menu [*] Updated Credits screen [/list] [h3]Customize Operator screen[/h3] [list] [*] Added "loading" message before the character and assets are all loaded [*] Fixed padding and did a small visual pass on skin icon selection [*] Related work to reduce hitching and improve handling of default item builds [*] Added yellow custom build display for item slots in overall screen (was previously limited to inside menus) [*] Added [MOD] tag to item slots/selections [*] Updated [b]MK25[/b] pistol icon to make grip panel area less dark [*] Fixed hidden hair casting shadow on UI character view [/list] [h3]Mission Editor[/h3] [list] [*] Added Time of Day (TOD) widget [*] Made double-click outline window use the standard focus (F) routine rather than a second custom bit of code [*] Reworking to change pawn type and fix right-drag related error [*] Made a few dialogs hidable (e.g. select script, load mission file, save mission file) [/list] [h2]VFX[/h2] [list] [*] Optimization pass on VFX for the bullet impacts [*] Fixed the respawning particle issue [*] Continuing pass over the bullet impact scalability settings and culling settings [*] Fix for the smoke flickering when viewed through PIP scopes [*] Making a pass on scalability settings for bullet impacts (lots to improve) [*] Reparented emitters with missing parents to sync culling settings [/list] [h2]AI[/h2] [list] [*] Upgraded [b]Kythera AI[/b] middleware to new version (1.3.3) (may fix some bugs, but WIP) [*] Fixed the AI aim bug, where enemy bots could not see the head of player characters — this caused situations such as leaning out of cover and not being spotted [/list] [h2]Bug fixes and miscellaneous[/h2] [list] [*] Added tentative fix for [i]IsValidLowLevel[/i] crash on game exit [*] Lots of work on mods under the hood (especially with regard to dedicated servers) [*] Reduction in log spam overall (and added some more for good luck) [*] Reworked a lot of under-the-hood stuff, including inventory and asset handling, validators, overlays and more [*] Tentative fix for stuttering and "Maximum number of [i]UObjects[/i] exceeded" crash on dedicated servers 🥳 [*] Rejigged base character class and item class in terms of how they handle inventory (in particular removed some limitations on skin inheritance, and streamlined asset loading) [*] Fixed up occasional disconnects between TOD set in mission launch screens and TOD set in the [b]Ready Room[/b] [*] Updated [b]Debug[/b] menu to add new commands [*] Opting out with F4 now increases Deaths stat [*] Updated HUD to support adding non-chat messages to center, upper and lower message managers (allowed changing Ready Room and Spectator messages from engine messages to far more visible center-screen, preventing the mistake of trying to hit F4 or F6 again) [/list] [hr][/hr] [h3][i]As always, thank you for testing and providing feedback![/i][/h3] See you next time! 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