Squad Update: V2.11

Say hello to V2.11 squaddies,

Here at Squad HQ, our team has been taking on feedback since our last update regarding the changes to spawn mechanics at HABs/FOBs and within this update, you should see some new changes come into effect.

Alongside these updated changes, we have a quality of life change to improve everyone’s overall experience with a new “Saveable Keybinds” function that allows you to save multiple keybind presets with all-new preset slots.

Most importantly though, with V2.11 we have a new piece of content arriving, with the map Anvil. Anvil was originally developed by Midnight Interactive for the Australian faction, and although the Australian faction isn’t ready for release quite yet, we didn’t want to hold up the release of this brand new battlefield any longer while our team gave the faction some finishing touches.

A large chunk of our development time on Anvil was spent bringing the map in line with the newer visual standard we are trying to accomplish for future Squad maps, while also increasing accessibility for infantry units moving between the plateau and the canyon basin.

As a quality of life improvement, we have also added more road access on the plateau to promote better vehicle movement, while these updated road networks also hint at future locations for possible additional POIs. We have also improved routing of infantry movement within most major POIs.

Other work has been focused on heavily increasing cover and concealment on the plateaus for infantry, while at the same time adding a handful of minor POI’s throughout the map to cover empty areas between major POI’s.

With Anvil, we have begun working with the entirely new lighting features the team has been developing to reflect future style changes across all maps in a later update. Keen eyes will also notice that the gameplay layers for Anvil have been tweaked and rebalanced since its original showcase, as well as the MEA faction being added to some map layers - as it did not exist when the map was first showcased.

We look forward to hearing your feedback, and we’ll see you on the battlefield!

System & Gameplay Updates

• Added new map - Anvil. This map is based in Afghanistan, featuring a unique canyon environment with villages and farms in the valley and rocky desert terrain above.

Note: the map was originally developed by Midnight Interactive for the Australian faction, and although the Australian faction isn’t ready for release quite yet, we didn’t want to hold up the release of this brand new battlefield any longer.

Once the Australian faction’s optimizations and standardizations are complete, they will be featured on Anvil and Lashkar Valley, adding to the variety of other maps and factions in Squad’s vast catalog.

• Anvil AAS v1 - USA vs RUS, 5 CP’s, 350/350 tickets, 1x helicopter per team, Mid Day lighting.
• Anvil AAS v2 - USA vs RUS, 6 CP’s, 350/350 tickets, Mid Day lighting.
• Anvil Invasion v1 - RUS (attacking) vs INS (defending), 6 CP’s, 200/800 tickets, Dawn lighting.
• Anvil Invasion v2 - RUS (defending) vs INS (attacking), 6 CP’s, 800/200 tickets, Night lighting.
• Anvil RAAS v1 - RUS vs MEA, 4 CP’s, 400/400 tickets, 1x helicopter & 1x mbt per team, Mid Day lighting.
• Anvil RAAS v2 - CAF vs MEA, 9 CP’s, 300/300 tickets, 1x helicopter & 1x mbt per team, Mid Day lighting.
• Anvil Skirmish v1 - USA vs RUS, 5 CP’s, 200/200 tickets, Mid Day lighting.
• Anvil TC v1 - RUS vs MEA, 56 Hexes, 400/400 tickets, Mid Day lighting.

• Added a new Saveable Keybinds Feature in the Controls menu: --You can now save your custom keybinds as a preset. --You can switch between presets instantaneously thru this new menu without restarting Squad. --Any edits done to key bindings in the Controls menu will be automatically saved to the current loaded preset.
• Updated the FOB Exclusion Radius mechanic to now have the possibility of varying exclusion distances depending on the map layer. This change gives designers the ability to lower the FOB Exclusion Radius on smaller maps and layers, allowing for more flexibility in FOB placement where maps have fewer viable placement locations, and preventing centrally placed FOBs from blocking most other viable FOB locations on more compact layers. This change also allows for the possibility in the future to increase the exclusion radius on larger maps, if desired, as well as allowing modders to potentially tweak these values in a more granular manner. --Reduced the FOB Exclusion Radius from 400m to 300m on the following map layers: All Skirmish map layers, Chora, Fools Road, Kokan, Logar, and Sumari. --Added a new Map Layer Info popup UI in the Command map, which will indicate specific information about the map layer. It currently includes the FOB Exclusion Radius in meters.

• Integrated the CAF faction assets into the main game. This creates an internal workflow improvement, which means the CAF faction will no longer require separate building/installation. This will also benefit modders, who will now have access to CAF content in the modding SDK.
• Updated the “Soft-Dead-Dead” system, which will no longer impact the Incapacitated revive times from most infantry small arms. Any damage taken that is less than 260, (which is a headshot with 7.62mm) will no longer decrease Incapacitated revive times. Designer’s Note: The original design intention with this mechanic was to help reduce mass revive spam, which is no longer necessary due to the implementation of the post revive recovery state. Getting hit by high caliber rounds will still reduce Incap times, this is unchanged. This is intended to emphasize the threat that these larger vehicle/emplaced weapon systems pose to infantry. --.338 Lapua & .50cal headshot = 30sec revive time. --30mm AP bodyshot = 120sec. --30mm AP headshot = Instadeath. --All 120mm headshot/bodyshot = Instadeath. --Close proximity to IED = Instadeath --These higher caliber values may change in the future.
• Updated the Admin command ‘ListSquads’ to now include which player created the squad.
• Updated the HAB map icon to no longer have borders while it is NOT in an active & spawnable state.
• Updated the HAT Ammo Rack damage modifier, so now the RUS T72B3 MBT’s ammo rack can be cooked off with a single ATGM from the side, instead of two ATGM in v2.10.
• Adjusted the burnout rate for helicopters when in a flipped/unrecoverable state. Helicopters are considered to be in a flipped/unrecoverable state whenever the tail or main rotors are blocked by a collision with world objects. When in this state, a helicopter will begin to take burnout damage after 90 seconds. After entering burnout, the helicopter will slowly take damage and will be destroyed after ~60 seconds (was previously 300 seconds).
• Adjusted the ticket loss for all light and medium class APC's from 10 tickets to 5 tickets. This includes the following APC’s: USA M1126 M240, GB FV432 M2, GB FV432 RWS GPMG, RUS/MIL/INS BTR80, RUS/MEA/MIL MTLB VMK, INS MTLB PKT, RUS MTLB 6MA, CAF LAV3 C6.
• Adjusted the INS/MIL T62 MBT ammo rack component size. The T62 has two separate ammo racks, as per real world spec. Previously, the T62’s forward ammo rack component was mistakenly emulating the shape of the T62’s fuel tank, which envelopes the ammo compartment - while the shells themselves should only extend about half-way forward. The size of this forward ammo rack has been reduced; the rear ammo rack compartment was also excessively large, so it too has been reduced in size. These changes should make it more difficult to destroy the T62 ammo rack, and also more closely reflect the real world dimensions of these components.
• Optimized the Post FX shader for improved performance.
• Minor optimization for ground vehicle base class to apply best code practices. The SQGroundVehicle initialization of VehicleMovement component initialization, and the subsequent children of said class, has been updated.
• Added the BugItGo command to non-editor builds - this command allows people in admin cam to move to predefined locations instantly, while maintaining a specific viewing angle using precise coordinates. To get these coordinates, you can use the command SqBugit in-game, which will output a screenshot and a text file to C:\Users\\AppData\Local\SquadGame\Saved\BugIt\WindowsNoEditor. In the text file, you will find a section stating BugItGo, followed by a line of coordinates. When reporting map bugs, you can attach that info. to a report to help us find the location of these bugs quicker.

Bug Fixes

• Second Fix attempt at a long standing Client Crash when switching maps, determined to be related to the vehicle tire configs. Further investigation determined the cause was more likely a slightly different threading issue where a TireConfig could report as being destroyed before destruction has actually completed causing a desynchronisation, which is resolved by improving the check to make sure the object is fully destroyed.
• Second Fix attempt for a problematic and difficult to reproduce Client Crash that is related to the Particle System at the end of a round when switching maps. The Particle System was reusing a Particle Emitter Instance from a pool, which is tied to the FX System in the current map world, which was persisting to the new map world after a map change, and then re-using one of these instances from the pool, but the FX System it was created with was no longer valid. This fix ensures emitter instances are always reset as the map is changing which should hopefully catch all occurrences of this issue.
• Fixed an issue with desynced vehicle components occurring when the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop. Vehicle components such as logi truck supplies, camo netting, exterior bags, exterior ammo cans, etc, as well as the driver/passenger camera would become offset/desynced, resulting in visual oddities.
• Fixed an issue with the HAB map icon staying red after the spawn point activation sequence completed.
• Fixed an issue with the radial menu where kit roles would show up with SL icons for every kit when rearming at ammo crates.
• Fixed an issue with vehicles floating in the air or sinking in the ground when they naturally spawned on a map layer. Most commonly experienced with GB HX60 Trucks, RUS Kamaz 5350 Trucks, and Modern Technicals with BMP1 Turret.
• Fixed an issue with backblast and muzzle overpressure components not working on certain emplaced weapons/vehicle turrets. This component’s line trace was sometimes hitting the owning actor and not dealing damage to soldiers in the effect cone, as well as some effect cones not being positioned correctly. Affected vehicles/emplacements: All Kornet & TOW launchers (emplacement + vehicle mounted), BTR82A autocannon, BMP1 cannon and BMP2 autocannon.
• Fixed an issue where an infantry player’s reload would unintentionally complete even if the player got into an emplacement or vehicle. Now, if a player initiates a reload and enters an emplacement or vehicle, the reload will be cancelled upon entering the emplacement/vehicle.
• Fixed an issue with the ranging on the CAF grenadier rifle (C7A2 w/ M203A1 w/ C79A2). The base ranging of the rifle was set at ~300m (rather than 200m, as intended/in line with the other CAF kits); the offset persisted at higher ranges.
• Fixed an issue with the RUS Kamaz 5350 Truck, which had excessively tinted glass windshield/door windows, as seen from the inside of the vehicle cabin.
• Fixed an issue with the CAF TAPV Armoured Car, where the RWS gunner seat was incorrectly receiving radial damage with frag rounds.
• Fixed an issue with the CAF TAPV armor collision mesh, which had an opening in the back where the hatch is located.
• Fixed an issue with the controls where being crouched or prone, and holding down forward while ADS, then tapping the Sprint key would cause the soldier to focus zoom, rather than initiating a sprint, as intended. Hitting the Sprint key while aiming down sights and moving forward while being crouched/prone will now initiate a sprint.
• Fixed an issue with the INS Alternative Technical DShK (M1151 Technical DShK), where a redundant shield component in the turret was colliding with the vehicle mesh, affecting the vehicle’s ability to climb hills in a straight line while transitioning from the 2nd to 3rd gear.
• Fixed a minor issue with the MIL/INS Emplaced DShK Emplacement, where the shield armor mesh had a duplicated component.
• Fixed the in-game name of the Tigr-M RWS Armored Car to include “Kord” in the name.
• Fixed the in-game name of the CAF LAV III APC to include the gun variant (C6 or M2).
• Fixed a client log spam issue where there was a divide by zero error in the Map Horizontal/Vertical Bar widget.

Map Updates & Bug Fixes

• Added an experimental map layer for server seeding: Sumari Seed v1. This layer has the same capture point configuration as Sumari Skirmish v1, but includes some helpers for seeding a server: --2 pre-captured flags for each team (the middle flag is still neutral). --Temporary Forward spawn points and ammo crate close to the middle flag; these expire after 10 minutes. --Single use forward spawned Logi Truck. --No Staging Phase.
• Updated the Infantry Tutorial to include Community Playtesters’ names in text on the foot lockers. You may recognize a few of the names next time you're in the Infantry Tutorial. Thanks go to all of our Community Play Testers, Wiki editors, and all other dedicated testers that have helped report and reproduce bugs. These dedicated community members have been consistently turning up to report bugs and help us test!
• Adjusted the defenders initial forward spawns on the following Invasion layers: --Removed the defender’s initial forward spawn on the following Invasion map layers: Chora Invasion v1, Chora Invasion v2, Fools Road Invasion v1, Mestia Invasion v1, Mestia Invasion v2, Skorpo Invasion v2, Sumari Invasion v1. --Belaya Invasion v1 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawn from Gabukay to Nikola. --Belaya Invasion v3 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawn from Depot to Gabukay. --Fallujah Invasion v1 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawn from Bus Terminal to Muallimin. --Fallujah Invasion v3 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawn from Police Station to Warehouse. --Gorodok Invasion v2 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawn from Gain Processing to Mechanic's Homestead. --Kamdesh Invasion v2 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawns from Paprok to Manyal and from Kushtoz to north-east of Kushtoz. --Kamdesh Invasion v3 - moved the defender’s initial spawn from Parun to Manyal. --Kohat Invasion v2 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawn from Suni Khel to Ali Abad (left some hidden bikes on Ali Abad and Malak Abad). --Lashkar Invasion v1 - moved defender’s initial forward spawns from Derapet to Lashkar and from Nangalam to Gulestan. --Yehorivka Invasion v1 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawn from West Novo to Scrapyard. --CAF Goose Bay Invasion v2 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawns from Drilling Site to Churchill. --CAF Lashkar Invasion v1 - moved defender’s initial forward spawns from Derapet to Watapur and from Nangalam to Lashkar. --CAF Manic-5 Invasion v1 - moved defender’s initial forward spawns from Patrol Base to Cannabis Farm. --CAF Manic-5 Invasion v2 - moved defender’s initial forward spawns from Firebase Mississauga to Penstocks. --CAF Yehorivka Invasion v1 - moved the defender’s initial forward spawn from West Novo to Lower Stepne.
• Adjusted Fools Road Destruction v1 and Gorodok Destruction v1 to remove the forward spawned vehicles for defenders.
• Adjusted CAF Manic-5 Invasion v2 defenders LAV6 IFV initial spawn time to 10 minutes (was 5 minutes).
• Adjusted CAF Al Basrah Invasion v3, added an initial delay on both CAF LAV6 IFV’s and replaced the North VCP Ruins CP with River crossing CP. Also replaced Island Suburbs CP with Canal CP.
• Fixed an issue on CAF Yehorivka RAAS v2 where the RUS helipad supply zones were offset.
• Fixed an issue with some Skirmish layers having the incorrect setting for minimum # soldiers to capture a flag (was 3, now 2) and incorrect flag capture time (was 120sec, now 90sec). Affected layers were: Belaya Skirmish v1, Mutaha Skirmish v1, Tallil Skirmish v3.
• Fixed an issue with Fools Road Skirmish v1 not having enough vehicle spawners to spawn the RUS Tigr during Staging Phase.
• Fixed an issue with Sumari TC v1 where MEA started with 100 less tickets than USA.
• Fixed CAF Narva Invasion v1 not using fog of war.
• Fixed CAF Manic-5 RAAS v1 minimap being offset by 10m.
• Fixed a minor issue with a European shed asset which had missing player collision on the small portion of the roof ledge.
• Fixed a minor formatting issue with the following map layer data assets that were missing "v" in the name: Belaya RAAS v1, Belaya RAAS v2, Belaya RAAS v3, Logar v1, Sumari Insurgency v1. Fixed a minor issue with Kohat RAAS v1 and Kohat RAAS v2 where 2 CP's were named Sarozai Highlands.
• Fixed a minor issue with Mutaha Invasion v2 where it had night time ambient sounds playing instead of the day time ambient sounds.
• Fixed an issue on CAF Goose Bay where stairs were missing at the Train Derailment POI.
• Fixed a minor visual issue on 2 Narva house statics and the large industrial garages at BluFor Main.

SDK Updates

• Added CAF faction maps and assets to the SDK.
• Updated the editor tool TraceViewToggle to have an offset between the lines of output, so the text does not overlap, making it a lot easier to read.
• Updated all Single Use Faction setups to use standardized naming.
• Updated all Single Use Faction naming.
• Updated SquadGame.uproject to enable python plugin, this is an editor only stock plugin from Epic.
• Added an editor debug tool for toggling infinite ammo.
• Added an initial Foliage LOD Generator tool.
• Added a new variant of the Train Car Flat, that does not include the metal poles.
• Added a new European rock set.
• Cleaned up the deprecated role data assets in the Gameplay folder.
• Layer Data Assets now have a FOBRadius Data Table Row Handle near the top, which is used to select preset sizes for FOB Exclusion and Construction radii. --This lets you control them on a per-layer basis. --It is possible to use a custom data table to implement your own custom radius scales specific to your mod. --Note that this DTRowHandle overrules the Range value set in SQRestrictionFOBInRange (see Settings/Deployables/Other_Restrictions folder), as long as FOBRadiusTableColumnName is set to a column which exists in the Data Table.

Clear Cache to resolve residual issues

If you are experiencing issues, be sure to go to Settings -> “CLEAR CACHE” after updating.

Known Issues

• Occasional Player (Client) crashes in various circumstances. Detailed crash reports help us fix things faster, and we truly appreciate those that have filled out and sent in crash reports.
• Various Kit icon issues - Occasionally the kit and weapon in the deploy screen squad list will show up as a white square instead of the kit.
• The deploy screen squad list will sometimes display incorrect players that are not actually in the squad.
• SL icons sometimes incorrectly show up for player kits in the spawn screen squad list (and outside of the squad list).
• Player kit role icons are sometimes not being displayed on certain menu screens.
• “Extremely Low Res Textures” - Some players may be experiencing very low-res textures after the v2.0 release. If you are experiencing this issue,you are likely under the minimum recommended specs for VRAM (4gb). This may be mitigated by ticking the “unlock pool size” box in the settings menu under the textures tab, but it may come with more performance stutter.
• "Logi bug" - Occasionally, vehicles with construction resources will have these resources be unavailable for interaction to certain players when they interact with Logi Trucks and Helicopters. This issue may be linked to the “Missing vehicle turret bug” and the “Glitched vehicle passenger seat bug”. There is a fix attempt pending for a future update.
• “Missing vehicle turret bug” - Occasionally, vehicles have their turrets missing from the round start. This issue may be linked to the “Logi bug” and “Glitched vehicle passenger seat bug”. There is a fix attempt pending for a future update.
• “Glitched vehicle passenger seat bug” - Occasionally, when entering a vehicle’s passenger seat, the player will be permanently stuck in that seat with a fixed camera position. The player is then unable to leave the seat until the vehicle is destroyed. This issue may be linked the the “Logi bug” and “Missing vehicle turret bug”. There is a fix attempt pending for a future update.
• “Ghost player in vehicle bug” - Occasionally, entering a vehicle makes a player permanently take up a seat in that vehicle. This issue is a high priority to fix.
• "Mass EAC disconnect issue" - Occasionally upon the end of a round and when a map switch occurs, the majority of a server population will be disconnected with a “Server Closed Connection” message. Hopefully this issue should be resolved now.
• "FOB teleport bug" - Occasionally upon digging a FOB down, players within a certain radius of the FOB will be teleported outside of the FOB radius in a random direction.
• “Commander UAV VOIP bug” - When the commander changes to the UAV camera, he cannot hear local audio anymore, even though he still sees local audio transmissions in the bottom left corner. Others can still hear him when he talks. Additionally, when leaving the UAV camera, he hears all of the local audio broadcasts at the same time, originating from the point where they were initially transmitted from – even if the person doing the transmission has moved afterward. Will be addressed in a future update.
• Vehicle Reset Feature does not currently work with Helicopters. This will be addressed in a future update.
• Vehicle Reset Feature can freeze a vehicle in the air if used too close to a tree.
• Occasionally a player does not spawn at a Rally Point. This often happens when numerous players are spawning in at the same time — This will be addressed in a future update.
• Server performance may periodically dip when a server has a high population and high load. We are continuously working to improve server performance and optimization.
• ATGM projectiles desync for other players that are not the gunner, however, what the gunner sees should be the actual synced projectile. This is an inherent problem, and the solution is currently in long-term development.
• “Alt-tabbing” out of Squad during a loading screen freezes the Player (client). The recommended solution, for now, is to run Squad in the “Borderless” mode. This can be changed in Settings -> Graphics.
• The audio module for Squad is initialized at the game start. If a player does not have a microphone plugged in at launch, or accidentally unplug their microphone and then plug it back in, Squad needs to be restarted to get the microphone to work again — This issue will likely require an engine upgrade to UE4.25 to be fixed.
• SFX bug while Firing in full auto. If the player presses the fire button for a short period, the sound effect gives the impression that you fired more rounds than you did — This will be addressed in a future update.
• Localization for most language translations is currently out of date. We plan to push a full localization pass in a future release as we lock down the text that needs to be translated for the game.

Local/Offline Issues & Bugs (these currently have a lower priority):

• Local/Offline Bug with Commander – Insurgent / Militia Handheld Drone does not move in local. Local/Offline issues currently have a lower priority.
• Local/Offline Bug with Commander – UAV hovers in one position instead of moving along the flight path in local.
• Local/Offline Bug with Commander – CAS does not do damage in local.
• Local/Offline Bug with Vehicles: When playing offline on Jensen’s Range, Tracks, Wheels, and other components are not destructible while on the Jensen’s Range in Local play.
• Local/Offline Bug with Weapon damages: When playing offline on Jensen’s Range, Weapon damages with both Infantry and Vehicle weapons are not accurately replicated.
• Local/Offline Bug with Scoped Emplacements: When playing offline on Jensen’s Range, if a player exits an Emplacement while looking through the scope, the Scope remains on the Player’s HUD until they get back in the Emplacement and then Scope out.