Squad Update v2.12 Release Notes
OWI_Wedge
Posts: 40 Admin
Greetings Squaddies,
Squad’s v2.12 Update has been in development for a considerable amount of time here at Offworld Industries and the entire development team is excited for you to get your hands on it and finally experience it in the live game! For more on the development and challenges we faced with this update see our pre-launch blog post (LINK URL). As was noted earlier today we have discovered an exploit in Squad and while we believe we have it fixed in v2.12 there is a small chance that it might slightly delay the update's release. We will keep you informed if this happens.
An Overhaul of Squad’s Visuals
V2.12’s primary focus was on bringing improvements to Squad’s visuals, making for an all around better looking game, as well as adding new gameplay and tactical opportunities for our players based only on the higher quality visuals alone. We have completely reworked the game’s handling of dynamic shadows. Standard and Far Shadows have been replaced with more optimized Cascade Shadow Maps. We have managed to make the new system up to ten times more efficient than the old Far Shadows system. This work can have a significant effect on gameplay as Tallil shadows now render out to 1km at all graphics settings which ensures that Low settings no longer give a significant competitive advantage for spotting targets.
The update also brings an overhaul of how the game handles lighting. The development team focused on creating more physically accurate parameters for outdoor lighting, achieving brighter highlights, deeper shadows, greater contrast, and providing more accurate colour.
With improved shadows and lighting also comes updates to the Graphics Settings Menu. We have overhauled the graphics scalability settings for Shadows and Ambient Occlusion. Please note that the associated quality and performance tradeoffs have similarly changed. Players may want to try adjusting their Shadows and Ambient Occlusion Graphics settings for this update. We also added a “Shaders” Graphics Settings section which currently will primarily affect the complexity of the Landscape allowing lower-end hardware more performance options.
The final graphical update to pay particular attention to in v2.12 is that the team has worked to improve the visibility of muzzle flashes which will help make spotting enemies less difficult. We felt that this was necessary to offset the lighting and foliage changes, which can make spotting enemies more difficult. Our design intent is to allow for camouflage and cautious movement to be effective, but without excessively inhibiting other players' situational awareness once a firefight begins.
Gameplay Improvements
Squad’s v2.12 update also brings a host of additions, improvements, and changes to the game’s gameplay experience.
We have updated the capture speed to scale with the number of players. Capture speed will be shortened if one team has significantly more players in the point than the other team. Here the intention is to encourage more strategic options, especially during the early stages in a round and during "Double Neutral'' scenarios.
Also updated is the "Buddy Boost" feature, with a focus on making it easier to use. Allowing a soldier to climb on top of another soldier to boost over a wall, we removed the force which previously prevented players from standing on each other's heads. The system is limited to only one player being able to stand on another at a time, to prevent giant towers of players The Squad team's focus here was to reward players who move and work together to overcome obstacles, encouraging and rewarding players who move in closer proximity and work as a squad rather than as individuals.
Another gameplay change to note is that soldier stamina will no longer regenerate while vaulting and climbing, with stamina regeneration paused during these activities.
Map Overhauls
V2.12 also features extensive overhauls to some existing maps with Yehorivka and Gorodok getting significant updates including lighting updates and new geographic features.
The full Release Notes for v2.12 are below, and we encourage that you take the time to look for them, to get the full scope of what the Squad development team has been working on.
As always please provide your feedback after playing Squad’s v2.12 Update on our forums (Link URL). If you experience any issues with the latest update please contact our Support Team (Link URL).
Please see our full changelog on the Join Squad blog. Discuss it below!
Comments
I hope all the sounds load at the start of the map instead of when a new sound is triggered. Eg someone shoots at you.
Espero que no exploten nuestras PC´s tercermundistas (o a la mia )
Subite a la Scaloneta pibe🚌
Hi guys. Beautiful work I love it so far :D Just a heads up on Gorodok H10-6-9 (south side) there's a floating rock !
Are you serious?
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
MINIMUM:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 (x64)
Processor: Intel Core i or AMD Ryzen with 4 physical cores
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Geforce GTX 770 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 with at least 4 GB of VRAM
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 55 GB available space
Additional Notes: A teamwork oriented mindset
RECOMMENDED:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 (x64)
Processor: Intel Core i or AMD Ryzen with 6 physical cores
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon 570 with at least 6GB of VRAM
DirectX: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 55 GB available space
Additional Notes: A microphone
Hello. I'm not sure if this is where I should give feedback, but this update has DESTROYED my performance. I used to play at an almost constant 60 FPS on all maps on the Epic graphics preset. The only thing I needed to do to get these 60FPS was to turn "Far Shadows" off. Now I need to play on the Low preset to get the same 60 FPS. I have a 1660 Super.
Oh my God, the game has become very beautiful! That's Great. Developers you are gods. Thank you very much. In addition to the complexity and realism, you have added beauty to the game. This is definitely a new level, a new feeling from the game, I have no words, it's perfect.
And, yes, I would also like to add that I also met players who had problems with FPS, but I didn't have any problems specifically. Players should understand that the game is not to blame for the fact that people are trying to play it on video cards 10-15 years ago.
It took some getting used to, but I love it so far. It's like a brand new game. The muzzle flash effects are great and really add depth to the fight.
I do feel bad for folks playing on older equipment, but then again, I felt bad for them before. You can't twin em' all , I guess.
Bravo, Team!