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Hotfix 1.14.1 has releasedFeb 22, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Community, We have just released hotfix 1.14.1 to address an issue where Mercenary Mode servers weren't being filtered properly in the server browser. The hotfix is available for download now on all platforms. Change Log Fixed Mercenary Mode servers populating the server browser even when co-op modes were not selected in the filters Updated the description of the co-op filter in the server browser to clarify co-op includes Mercenary Mode Update 1.14 LIVE! Join the action in Mercenary Mode Now!Feb 20, 2024 - Community Announcements1.14 Patch Notes Future Mercenaries, Are you ready to pick up your contract? Before you head out, check out all the features and fixes that have been included in this update. In the previous Sitreps we focused a lot on providing details about Mercenary Mode. We also showed you new images of the updated bazaar on our social channels. There are more features and updates that we haven’t mentioned yet. We will be highlighting some of the major ones below. For the detailed list of changes and fixes check the Change Log. New & Updated Features Updated Map - Bazaar We continued our efforts to enhance our existing maps. Bazaar is a fan favorite for a lot of reasons. We wanted to take the things that people love about Bazaar and enhance them. Not only did the graphics get improved throughout, we also made improvements to layouts for cover and how you approach objectives. Additionally, the overall ambience has been improved. The addition of props & signage, lighting updates, and enhanced environmental audio help you feel more immersed in the environment. Comparison Shots of Bazaar from v.1.13.1 and now in v.1.14* *Images taken on Quest 3, can be found on our website (https://onwardthegame.com/devblog.html). Mercenary Mode Mercenary Mode is now available. You can access this mode in the Multiplayer or Single player section of the main menu. This mode is a completely new way to play PVE in Onward. You start in the new Hideout location, you choose the mission you will go on, you pick your rewards, then you move on to the next mission. The choices you make throughout the contract are extremely important. They will end up affecting how well you score and ultimately, if you win or fail. There are two different types of contracts, Standard or Endless. Standard = 5 Missions + Final (6 Missions Total) Endless = 5 Missions + Final + More (keep getting new missions until you fail) This new game mode also offers some new unique interactions when fulfilling objectives. For instance, if you are on a sabotage mission and you get too close to the signal jammer it will lock up your tablets and cut off radio communications. The bots also have been improved and are not to be taken lightly. You will need to have a plan, tactical approach, and consistent communication throughout the missions in order to be successful. There are two global scoreboards (one for Standard and one for Endless) that can be viewed when in The Hideout. At the end of each mission you will be given a ranking and score. Scores are based on your and your team's performance during each mission. They are determined by a combination of Survival Rating, Time, Objective completion, and Enemy Kills. Like our other global scoreboards, these will reset on Midnight (PT) Wednesday Mornings. More detailed information about Mercenary Mode can be found in our February Sitrep. Do you have what it takes to complete the contract? Are you skilled enough to make it on the scoreboard? Quality of Life Improvements AI Improve...Sitrep - Update 1.14 - Mercenary Mode is comingFeb 15, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsFebruary is the month of love and we are feeling it. The excitement and positive feedback we have received for the new game mode has been overwhelming. This month the Devs’ Desk will be focusing on explaining the details of how Mercenary Mode works and also include some before and after images of Bazaar. Our Community Center will showcase some of the great responses that we received from the community challenge we posted on our social channels and how it ties into a new detail for the game. While the main focus for this update is the new PVE mode, we have also made sure to include other features and bug fixes as well. The full details of everything that’s included with the update will be in our Patch Notes and Change Log when the update releases. Your next question is, when will that be? The wait for the update will be less than a week. Yes, you read that correctly. Update 1.14 - Mercenary Mode will go live on February 20th (PT). The exact time will be announced on our socials. Let’s start going over everything you will have to look forward to. From the Devs’ Desks: If you have been viewing our social posts, you have seen several sneak peeks and teases for the upcoming update. Now you will get to see what those posts were referencing and how it all works together. Bazaar First, let’s go over the details of what has been updated in Bazaar. One reason this map was next on the list for updates was it is a fan favorite map. This map got the most amount of graphical updates we have done to a map to date. Let’s list out of some of the major things that have been done: Updated textures throughout (including ground, walls, & assets) New Palm Trees with leaves that sway in the wind Several assets for vehicles have been replaced with higher quality ones Updated assets have been added to added throughout the map to fill the environment New skybox for Night map New signage with lighting on Night map (moths included for free) Improved lighting throughout New updated assets added throughout to provide more cover to improve gameplay tactics Updated environmental audio It’s going to be a big improvement to how immersed people will feel while in the environment. You can see in the before and afters the improvements in how the scenes look. However, these don’t do it justice for how it looks when you are there. Images can be found on our website. Mercenary Mode There is going to be a lot to go over for this, so let’s get right into it. Gamemode Summary This roguelike mode is a PVE (players versus environment) mode for either Single Player or for up to 4 players Co-Op. You have signed up as a mercenary and will go on increasingly challenging missions to fulfill your contract. You choose the mission you will go on, you pick your rewards, then you move on to the next mission. Each mission you will be given a score (we will breakdown scoring in a bit). The choices you make throughout the contract are extremely important. They will end up affecting how well you score an...January Sitrep is Now AvailableJan 18, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsHappy 2024 Everyone! We are back from our holiday break and hit the ground not just running, but sprinting. We saw a big rise in players during the month of December and we want to officially welcome all the new soldiers onto the battlefields. In our December sitrep our canary let some info slip about some things we are working on and, as promised, we will be going into more details about what’s coming. The Devs’ Desk will be going over the latest features being worked on by the development team in addition to what you can expect in the next updates. In the Community Center we will go over some updates about custom maps and the VRML season. You already waited through December, so let’s not wait any longer. From the Devs’ Desks: Before we jump into what's going to be coming out next, we wanted to give you an update about our voice chat system. Many have inquired and made reports about the voice chat system not working, voice being unable to connect, or being unable to hear teammates. Onward was designed so that communication was an important part of the gameplay experience and this is a big priority for us. We are working with our service providers and will be making improvements so the amount of disruptions are addressed. Our next update will be Update 1.14. This update will have a much tighter focus for what is included because of the amount of work it takes to get these types of features included and running in the game. Map Upgrade In 1.13 you saw some of our maps get a big visual upgrade, not just in resolution, but in the overall feel of the environments. The next map to be upgraded is..… Bazaar! The markets and hotels appear to be back in business. Make sure to check out the birds in the sky if you visit during the day or the exotic moths that will come out at night. The textures have been improved throughout the whole map. Additionally, the lighting has been improved for Day, Night, and in buildings. New Game Mode Another one?! You bet! This time it’s for PVE. Co-Op and Single Player will now have a completely new style of game mode to play that will include scoring and a global leaderboard. Get ready to see how far you can make it. You wake up and you know today is going to be different. You're not going to start your day going to the base like you normally do. No, today you got called in for a special operation, a contract. After you psych yourself up and get ready, you make your way over to “The Hideout”. Once you're there you meet up with your squad that will be joining you on this set of missions. You like these folks, for the most part. You just hope VolkH8ter16 isn’t going to try and push everyone to get RPGs like the last mission. I mean, we were able to reload but once our stash was out, PizzaGrunt ended up having to use their knife to get us access to our radios again. What a disaster that was. Everyone takes a look at the board for the available missions. You discuss all the details with them. You mark which of the missions you ...The December Sitrep is Out NowDec 14, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHappy December Community, As 2023 is wrapping up, we are going to be doing this month’s Sitrep a little differently. We want to take time to reflect on everything that has happened this year, showing a summarized view of all the major updates we have made to the game. In the Community Center we will look at some of the improvements to player interactions we have made and different community events people have participated in. Additionally, we will be showcasing some of our devs’ highlights from the year in the Devs’ Desk section. The Downpour Interactive Team will be taking time off for the holidays to spend time with family and friends. The office will be closed from 12/20 through 01/02. This includes community & support. If you are looking for support during this time, please check our FAQ or our official Discord. 2023 - Code Name: W.O.L.F W. hat will have the most impact What parts of the game can we work on for a large number of our players? O. ffer assistance How can we develop features to solve the problem(s) the players are having? L. ook for opportunities to expand Can the feature be expanded to give more to the players? F. ortify with testing Does this feel like a good solution? Some of the major features that you saw come into the game in 2023 were the result of us taking the opportunity to be a bit more flexible and stretch our creativity. We wanted to develop new things while also taking on difficult challenges. The team started to look closer at major requests the community was asking us to address. Working closely together to review these topics, having amazing discussions, and forming solid plans for how to move forward; This was the year’s result: New Features FOUR New Weapons (MP7A2, SR-2MP Veresk, M240L, & Ultimax 100 Mk3) THREE New Maps (Egress, FOB Bassett, Cargo: Night) Regional Servers Implementation New Animations & Movement system (for Player & Bot Models) New Tent Hub and Tent Interactions New Watch Design and Watch Functions Scores & Global Leaderboards (Shooting Range & FOB Bassett) New Glove Models New Game Mode (Fire Fight) New Main Menu Environment Loadout Expansions & Cloud Saving (Quest & SteamVR) NEW NVG Goggles & Filter Colors (Amber Phosphor, White Phosphor, Green Phosphor, and Digital) New Night Mode Equipment (IR Strobes, IR Lasers, Chem Lights) Added Basketball - Freeroam Mini Game Added Quest 3 Graphics & Performance Support Weekly quick play rotations for PvP and PvE modes Major System Improvements Added Ability to Simultaneously Hold Weapons in Both Hands Improvements and Re-design to Social Game Modes (Gun Game, One in the Chamber) Update to Game Engine Redesigned Gunstock Calibration Updated Tutorial & Training AI Refactor & Co-Op Adjustments Improvements to Night Mode Equipment (Flare Gun, Laser Sights) Updates to Environment Graphics & Parity That’s a lot of big features that got added! Not to mention there was a ton for quality of life improvements and bug fixes not included in this list. From the Dev...Hotfix 1.13.1 has ReleasedNov 16, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Community, Overall update 1.13 has received great reactions and feedback. From how good the updated PVE feels to fun rounds of Basketball played on FOB Bassett. However, shortly after update 1.13 was launched we started to get a small number of reports related to performance, map bugs, and PCVR load times. We quickly jumped on reviewing the information coming in and resolving these issues. This hotfix addresses a variety of things that were ultimately adding up thus resulting in performance drops and FPS stuttering. It also fixes a range of bugs for maps, including aggressive kill spots, culling/popping, and lighting issues. Additionally, while we were packaging this hotfix we opted to include some fixes that were ready to release such as some additional adjustments to Co-Op, A Caster Mode fix, and others. The details of adjustments in this hotfix are listed in the change log below. Under the Hood During our QA testing cycles version 1.13 was operating and testing normally and went through the typical process of testing, bug reports, and bug fixes. Testers did not run into any major moments of performance drops or moments that felt like it affected the intended gameplay. Our QA team can’t cover the plethora of devices, connections, and setups that the playerbase could have, so making sure we listen and follow-up with our community is a top priority. When we started to get reports from the community about performance and map bugs, we wanted to address it right away, however, it was difficult to narrow down what the cause might be, so we worked directly with community members affected and also started going through the code to try and identify possible causes. Maps We were able to find some map issues like skyboxes for all maps being loaded, instead of just the ones that were needed. That has been fixed. We also went through and reviewed maps to find locations that needed improvements to the occlusion culling (“popping”) and lighting. Those adjustments have all been made in addition to some other fixes. Performance We also identified that memory usage in 1.13 had become significantly higher than it had been previously, we found and addressed several causes for that. An example of this is making optimizations to the code that handles the weapons that bots use, addressing performance dips some players might have been feeling in Co-Op. PCVR has much higher resolution and graphics quality throughout the game. Things such as multiple skyboxes being referenced, amount of shaders loading, and bot weapon handling will have a higher impact on the performance and memory usage for PCVR vs Quest. This caused some PCVR players' load times to increase or be unable to launch the game. As a result, we have made some improvements to launching parameters and cut down on some of the memory being used throughout the game. These adjustments should also additionally help Quest users who might be experiencing some performance issues or longer launching times...Update 1.13 has ReleasedNov 7, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Community, Update 1.13 is here and we are thrilled to give you all the details of the work that is in this update. New maps, new bots, new equipment, & much more. Many of these features were able to be completed because of the work put into the previous updates with upgrading our game engine and backend refactors. Some of the changes we made, such as the AI refactor and environment parity, this current release is not its final form. We will continue to build upon the AI behaviors and overall Co-Op experience. Additionally, for the environments, we were not able to apply upgrades to every map in this update. The maps will continue to be worked on and updated to improve the visuals and performance for both Quest and PCVR. This update is very feature focused. However, we also did take some time and address some major bugs that players have reported. Let’s start going over those major features and updates that are now available. For the list of details on everything in the update, check the Change Log located below. New & Updated Features New Map(s) FOB FOB Bassett is now available for Free Roam and Social Modes (One In The Chamber, Gun Game, & Spec Ops). This environment is a medium size map designed to be an iconic overseas military station. It includes several locations within it such as a Gym, Rec Room, Infirmary, and a Training Facility. Social Game Modes will have an opportunity to play on a large scale map with lots of twists and turns and spots to take cover. This will make Social Games more difficult and require more advanced tactics to find your opponents. This map is also an ideal location for Free Roamers to meet up with their squads and go over tactics, practice maneuvers, or just hang out and play a game of basketball. Two Basketball courts with working scoreboards and weekly leaderboards have been included on the map. One is a single hoop and the other is a full court. Both locations will keep score for 2 point and 3 point shots. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/754ff59772cf41eccf033f7c404712a44962575c.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/fbe88dd0bc011eb51a5c90c582652dca8a907640.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/94d36a12a72ffa3d8da7584884500ce65fb78b08.jpg Cargo (Night) Cargo has been a signature favorite CQC map for many years. With the new method we developed for updating and creating maps, the team decided it was a great time to introduce a night variant. Cargo Day and Cargo Night are the first maps to get an extensive graphics update for Quest and PC players. Updated textures throughout, New roof with directional lighting, and updated collision. Just to name a few. With the graphical updates, Cargo Night is now one of the darker night maps we have. It offers a more realistic feel for being in a warehouse surrounded by high stacked objects and limited lighting sources. Night vision will be a requirement. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/9198a07afc2655b98cdf2c771a2041ec9b232022.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/87cbf1bb28239cce065a3c7e74c5...The October Sitrep has UnleashedOct 17, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Players! Absolute deLIGHT doesn’t even cover the excitement you showed for the news we shared last month, especially related to the Night Vision features. We are going to be keeping up on that trend this month. You may not think it possible to be more hyped for this update, however, we have some big updates on features you have asked about for a long time. The Devs’ Desk will be going over the remaining features that will be included in Update 1.13. Make sure to read all the details because there are some things you probably are not expecting. We will also be providing some additional details for some of the features we talked about last month. Update 1.13 is shaping up to be very impactful no matter which way you play Onward. From the Hard Core Competition players to the Role players, Social Warriors to PVE hunters. This update has features for everyone. The other thrilling part is that all of this will be available before the long Thanksgiving Holiday weekend in the USA! From the Devs’ Desks: The Unity update in our last patch set the stage for a lot of the work we have done in this update. Making the changes to major tools and systems beforehand allowed us to make much more meaningful updates to features you have been asking for. Overall, Update 1.13 isn’t everything we are working on, we still have work to do for some bigger features for the game. We have a lot of exciting stuff in development. Being able to release such impactful features to the players and seeing your joyful reactions the past couple months has brought us immense happiness. Quest 3 As the Quest 3 ships out to people the first thing we are getting asked is “What is the difference in Onward for the Quest 3 vs the Quest 2?” Some improvements can already be seen when using the Quest 3 based on the improvements in the hardware. In Update 1.13 We've increased the LOD bias for Quest 3 so you will see less LOD popping, and we increased the resolution of both the game but more importantly for scopes, so scopes will be sharper and higher resolution. More improvements are coming down the road as well, so that is just the first batch. Updated Tutorial & Player Instructions With the launch of the Quest 3 there are going to be a lot of new VR users and new Onward players. In order to help these new users and also current users become better familiar with Onward’s gameplay and mechanics we have updated our in-game tutorial. The first big change is now the tutorial is located in the FOB Bassett training room. We made several changes to how training is done. We have included improved text and visual representations to help new players understand more complex functions. The new tutorial instructions and updates to AI in training mode should help players feel better prepared for battles when they join PVE and PVP games. In addition to the tutorial improvements, we have added objective details and instructions to the whiteboard in most game modes. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/5df02...Hotfix 1.12.2 is Now AvailableSep 20, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward community, We have just released another hotfix to address additional issues when Update 1.12 was released. This will fix a variety of bugs happening throughout different game modes and fix some errors that were happening in the settings. Speculative fixes are due to the limited amount of testing we can do on various devices and setups in our QA cycle. If any of the below issues continue to happen, please use our Discord to report the bug(s) you are experiencing. Changelog Fix for hard drive spawn locations that allowed it to spawn outside of accessible map locations Fix for multiple Uplinks showing up during Uplink matches Fix for attempting to join Competitive Fire Fight through quick join freezing the game Speculative fix for players floating in the sky Potential fix for game settings not saving Speculative fix for Pimax and Windows Mixed Reality users game not launching Fix for heartbeat audio staying on when healing yourself Fixed and bug that would show “Arsonide” and not the default corpsman Speculative fix for defibrillators not spawning Adjustment made to prevent more than 3 people joining a fireteam in Fire Fight Speculative fix for player states not behaving correctly. (Players having the wrong uniform, being invisible, ect.) The September Sitrep is Out NowSep 19, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Players! Fire Fight is a hit! When Update 1.12 released, Fire Fight quickly became and continues to be a top played game mode. We are thrilled to see that you are enjoying this new addition. Some bugs did come with Update 1.12 due to some unpredictable behavior that happened due to the Unity update that was done. We are trying to get hotfixes out more quickly to get you back to playing and minimize the impact to your gameplay. This month we have an update for additional fixes coming, some of the next features that are coming to Onward in the Devs’ Desk and an update on our custom maps in the Community Center. From the Devs’ Desks: We are continuing to work on some lingering bugs and should have Patch 1.12.2 coming out tomorrow (9/20). This will include several fixes for bugs in Fire Fight, multiple Uplink spawns, heartbeat audio staying on, and more. The full list of fixes will be published when the patch is released. Patch 1.12.2 will also include a speculative fix for Pimax and Windows Mixed Reality users not launching correctly. The reason this is a speculative fix is due to the limited amount of testing we can do on various devices and setups in our QA cycle. Additionally, this also means that with all the different variables that come with PC gaming, we need to spend more time looking into other PCVR bugs that came as a result of the Unity update. Next, we wanted to shed some light on some of the features coming to the game. For the next update (1.13) we are not going to leave you in the dark about our goals to improve some aspects of the gameplay. Our vision for this is to help encourage you to be better equipped for anytime a battle may take place. If you haven’t picked up on the subtle hints yet, we are going to be making updates to how you play at night! Night Mode Improvements New and Updated Night Vision Goggles We will be adding updates to Night Vision Goggles for you to choose when making a loadout. There will now be two different versions of NVGs. The current NVGs will be automatically included for free in your loadout by default on night maps. There are also now Ground Panoramic NVGs that can be picked from the loadout options menu for 3 points, greatly increasing your field of vision. Both NVGs will include new customizable filters to choose from: Amber Phosphor, White Phosphor, Green Phosphor, and Digital (Multi-Color). The single color phosphates will be 0 cost for your loadout, unless you want to use the Digital filter. The Digital filter option will require you to spend 3 points to include in your loadout. These new color options and different goggle types should be a huge change to how you view night gameplay. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/8c0e644bb2b9e447341348f878682e0be615b3da.gif IR Strobes IR strobes are blinking infrared lights used in real world combat for friend or foe identification. They are being included on the character models on night maps. This will make identifying and locating your teammates easier...Hotfix 1.12.1 is now available!Aug 31, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello everyone! We have just released a hotfix to address some issues that came up since we released update 1.12 earlier this week. Most notably, we have added lateral translation to gunstock calibration, and fixed a number of issues related to Fire Fight, gunstock calibration, and map voting. The hotfix is available for download now. Changelog Added lateral translation to gunstock calibration. Set up a customizable far clip plane for custom content authors. Fixed gunstock calibration not taking the movement of your front hand into account. Fixed gun "jumping" when you grabbed it when using gunstock calibration. Fixed scopes and drones occasionally getting stuck with a fisheye effect. Fixed an issue where players in Fire Fight could get revived but be stuck in the tent. Fixed player not getting an objective point when retrieving the intel in Fire Fight. Fixed watch not beeping 30 seconds before the round ends in Fire Fight. Fixed a spawn point where the intel could spawn outside of the map on Turbine in Fire Fight. Fixed weapon loadout menus getting stuck with the wrong weapon highlighted. Fixed map vote refreshing needlessly when players join or leave, or the host changes. Known issues Freehanding your weapon with the physical gunstock option enabled may result in unstable gun rotation at extreme angles. Update 1.12 is LIVEAug 29, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Community, As mentioned earlier this month, you didn’t have to wait long for this update to become available to you. We felt your excitement and couldn't wait to get you access to the new game mode, Fire Fire. The team pushed hard to get all the features wrapped up and also did some important additional bug fixing. Let’s go over the new additions, major features, and quality of life improvements included in this update. For the detailed list of all changes, including bug fixes, make sure to read through the Change Log located at the end of the patch notes. New & Updated Features Unity Update We updated the version of our game engine, Unity. This update gives us more opportunities going forward to improve the quality of the game. An example of this is we are now able to use Vulkan, which improves performance considerably over the rendering API we were using. It also gives us access to a working version of the SRP batcher, which will help us with optimizing draw calls. The short version of all of that means that in this version performance will be better, and we have a lot of performance headroom that we will be using in the future to improve things like graphical fidelity. New Main Menu Environment With the major focus of the development team being on the Unity update, we also wanted to find a way to showcase the graphics improvements that are now possible for the game. The new Main Menu environment should give you a fresh new level of immersion when you log into the game. The level of details and graphic quality is something Quest users have never seen before. This is our first environment that is exactly the same on both PC and Quest. Make sure to do a full 360 view of the area when you log in to get the full experience of the new location. We are not going to be providing photos here because we think it will be more impactful for you to see it in the headset. New Gloves Models Everyone has at least once needed to remind themselves what faction they were on when on the battlefield. The easiest way to do that was to quickly look at your gloves. The gloves have always been a signature piece of identifying equipment that is important to the gameplay. It’s one of the reasons we chose them as an additional piece to demonstrate the quality upgrade we are striving to roll out. It might take some getting used to, since some people have been relying on those glove visuals for over 7 years. However, we think they will be a welcomed visual upgrade during gameplay. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/7af26bb3dc63faf4885f1b1a13268756fb6a931a.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/f37449cd0d0c680d499a1e31835d6fe8d71fe845.jpg New Game Mode - Fire Fight Teams This new game mode introduces a completely different dynamic playstyle for PVP. Your team is split into two fire teams (player distribution can vary 4 & 2, 5 & 1, 3 & 3). Each fire team will be deployed to different parts of the map. One player on each fire team will be assigned as the Corpsman. The Corpsman...The August Sitrep is Now OutAug 16, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHappy August Onward Players! This month we have lots of information to provide you about the development progress for Update 1.12. We will be revealing new features being added to the game and updates to some features we discussed last month. We will also be going over a topic that has been on everyone’s mind: Fire Fight! We are giving you some developer insights into its creation and a detailed description of the new core game mode and what players can expect from it. In the Community Center we will discuss some development changes to the previously announced Reporting System update roll out as well as upcoming league events you can join. Let’s jump right into the Devs’ Desks to start talking about the stuff you really want to hear about. From the Devs’ Desks: Before we get into all the information related to Update 1.12, we want to make an official update to a previously announced feature from several months back. We have paused development on the Iraq map, Intercept, for the foreseeable future. We understand you were really looking forward to it, and we felt it best to be upfront and notify you about this change as soon as the final decision was made. Now, let’s start discussing the things we are working on. Update 1.12 continues to move forward and quickly. We are excited to announce that we have some game additions that have been highly requested by the community going into it. With the back-end changes that we made earlier in the year, it gave us the opportunity to finally develop these features and make them available to you. Gunstock Calibration Even though gunstock calibration was already in the game, we made some major changes to how it operates. One of the first things that was requested the day it came out, was the ability to calibrate vertically. We not only made that update, but several others to how it operates overall. Let’s start at the beginning. Gunstock Calibration will no longer be done in the tent, but after you load into a map. This ensures that calibrations you set are exactly what you will be using during gameplay. After you load into the map, you will grab your tablet and you will see a “Calibrate Gunstock” button. (Make sure you have the “Physical Gunstock” setting applied in your settings menu before loading into the map.) {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/2d9ba3850ede07925a934912c81081c82b2c05e3.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/dc9aeb7510d67d2e3392ad55cca5a7fa9c7d850c.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/4f47351b0a0427e967574f7ab01ea4d5baef31a0.png Additional updates that have been made are that the front hand's rotation is no longer taken into account. Only the back hand's (pistol grip) rotation is used. We also included a Universal calibration setting. A weapon can be set as the universal calibration and will be applied to any weapon without its own calibration. We know this will be a big improvement to gunstocks and help improve your overall accuracy while using them. Now that we have these really nice gunstock calibration set...The July Sitrep has just landedJul 25, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings Onward Players! We have received a lot of positive feedback about the slower paced movement speed when playing. We know that it will take a lot of getting used to and we are confident that this will bring some improved tactical strategies to your gameplay. We also understand that it has not been well received by everyone, especially for game modes like Assault, and we are reviewing this feedback. Hotfix 1.11.1 helped resolve a large portion of the issues people were reporting when 1.11 released. However, we know it didn’t fix all of them. One of the features that unfortunately was not able to be fixed was the gunstock calibration. We understand a lot of you use this feature and we are on track to have this fixed in the next update. We will be providing updated details about that feature in the Dev’s Desk. Also included in the Devs’ Desk are replies to some of the top feedback we received about Update 1.11 and details about our major focus(s) for the next update. The next update, 1.12 is already in the works and we know you are excited to hear about it, especially since you have been anticipating what might be coming after the Quest 1 drop. We won’t be able to talk about everything this month, but we hope what we do provide will give you an idea of what is in the works. Important Reminder: We will no longer support Quest 1 devices as of July 31st, 2023. For more details about this please see our FAQ page. From the Devs’ Desks: What we have planned for Update 1.12 is going to be for the long haul of the game. It will not be a full graphics overhaul for the game that some people might have been hoping for with the support drop of Quest 1. What it will be is the starting point to make a major needed and required update that will lead us towards the direction of being able to update graphics and features. What exactly does that mean? For Update 1.12 a major undertaking for us will be updating Unity by several major versions. But before we get to that we wanted to give you an update about some feedback and reports that have been sent to us about Update 1.11. Maps Thank you to everyone who took the time and sent us videos of different locations where maps are not behaving as they should. There are different reasons this can be happening in the environments, one of which includes the feature we included to fix exploits in the last update. We are looking into each of these reports and addressing them. Please feel free to continue to report any locations you find with images or video in our Discord. We are additionally making sure to closely review our maps and fix as many of these types of issues as soon as possible. Connecting to Friends Connecting to friends easily is a very important feature. After the launch of Update 1.11 we started receiving reports of the “Find Friends Only” lobby filter as well as the direct invites not working. We quickly looked into this and a fix has been set for Update 1.12. In the meantime, please continue to use th...Hotfix 1.11.1 has been released!Jul 6, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Community, We are happy to hear so many of you are enjoying all the new features that have come with Update 1.11. We also understand that when Update 1.11 launched there were some unintended behaviors that happened as well. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit reports and provided images/videos to help give us details to quickly understand some of the bugs you were experiencing. We were able to quickly look into some of these and got to work right away on some high priority fixes. Details about all bugs fixed are in the change log. Additionally, we wanted to also go over some game settings that might help with some of the newer changes that have been added to the game. Height Setting & Movement Player height setting plays an important role in how your character moves. We have improved our system settings to more accurately gauge your real life height. A warning will be issued and the screen will go black if your height setting does not match your actual height. You will not be able to play with modified/inaccurate height settings. If you feel like your character is unable to sprint please try the following troubleshooting methods: Check your Playspace Guardian to make sure accurate floor height is set Make sure your height is set correctly Verify your correct/preferred method for sprinting is set (Single click or Outer Edge might be a better setting for some players) Take note of if your weapon is pointing up/down fully or if it is slightly drawn when moving Gunstock Calibration At the moment, Gunstock Calibration does not correctly support the "Lowered" pivot setting. We will resolve this in the future, but for now we have added an in-game warning when players try to use it. Currently, you should set your Weapon Pivot Setting to the default and this should help with being able to use this feature again. Change Log: Increased maximum player height from 6"4 to 6"8 Further improvements made to watch design, including new watch textures Improved height exploit checks Fixed issue with players being able to sprint while in stances other than standing Weapons now line up properly with your eyes when aiming down sights for other players Fixed an exploit that allowed players to become invincible to one other player Fixed an issue with the refresh button getting stuck on in map votes Fixed One in the Chamber always choosing iron sights for the random weapon setting The tent countdown is now canceled in the event of a host transfer Fixed a possible source of player models freezing in place Fixed issue with drawing board not dragging properly with some controllers when playing on SteamVR Fixes for various collision issues in Suburbia, Snowpeak, Turbine, and Subway that allowed players to exploit Fixed an area in Subway that allowed you to see through walls Added an in-game warning for using the "Lowered" pivot setting in the settings menu in combination with gunstock calibration Known Issues: Gunstock Calibration "Lowered" pivot se...Update 1.11 is now LIVE!Jun 27, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Community, The day has arrived! Update 1.11 has been released. This is a large update. Please note on most platforms it reinstalls the whole game when updating, so make sure your headsets are charged. Due to the large amount of features and updates in this patch we will not be repeating as many details about the features we previously communicated in the May & June Sitreps. Otherwise these patch notes would get even longer, very quickly. Let’s get right into it and take a look at everything included in the update. You can also find the detailed itemized list of all changes and bug fixes in the Change Log. New & Updated Features New Weapons Two new high capacity Light Machine Guns have been added. The M240L for MARSOC Support Class and Ultimax 100 Mk3 for Volk Support Class. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/dc511efaba0b8d325e9850abe3cac34738253fcf.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/0e6bed3b3e33e961ddb991cb35995b6b25bb54a3.png New Tent Design & Interactions The tent environment has been updated to a new design throughout the game. The new tent also includes updates to improve accessibility and movement for the whiteboard. Additionally, you can now access the full settings menu inside the tent. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/79e1c9e3654521ad4d769685fe74ec6bbe7800f5.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/87e354bdcd0bc650e2f6d4495e51329d77e30df1.png Player Exploit Fix has been Added Players will be killed when trying to forcibly enter geometry such as walls, rocks, vehicles, or other various items they're not supposed to. Player Animations and Movement have been Overhauled We’ve added brand new animations for player characters. In addition, the overall player movement has been slowed down. Along with the overall slow slowdown, gun weight* has been added and will affect movement speed. *Gun weight is based on the heaviest weapon on your person, whether it is held or holstered, or whether it is primary or secondary, and is indicated by the “Movement Speed” stat in the Primary Stats menu. There are currently five weights for weapons - Very Light, Light, Medium, Heavy, Very Heavy, each weight class progressively slowing you down compared to the previous one. For example: If you are dual wielding SMGs and you have an LMG holstered, the LMG is used to determine your movement speed. This is indicated by "Movement Speed" in the weapon stats menu {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/7c93a085fa5e39fd12fc412c60362432ed447b56.png Ability to Simultaneously Hold Weapons in Both Hands You will now be able to use both your hands to hold weapons at the same time. Revamped Shooting Range & Improved Killhouse The shooting range map has been extended to 600 meters. We’ve added multiple new rows of further range targets and a new shot display on the Shooting Range that scores your target shots. The Killhouse has been upgraded to be more interactive and will provide stats and a score for each run through. A scoreboard has been added outside that will break down the scoring of your last ...June’s SitrepJun 13, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsGreetings Onward Players! Did you catch our trailer in the Meta Gaming Showcase? In case you didn’t, you can check it out below. This month the Devs’ Desk will be going over the features that were shown off in the video as well as some other additions coming to Update 1.11. Exciting stuff right? Some of these updates have been in the works for a long time and we are excited to get them to you. Did you also catch in the video that you won’t have to wait long for them? We are working hard on wrapping up some bug fixes and getting ready to release Update 1.11 on June 27th! While you wait for the release, read on for additional details about the items that were showcased and other additional items coming with Update 1.11. From the Devs’ Desks: There are so many features we are excited to talk about that we didn’t know where to start! We decided to go with the order you see them in the video and add details along the way. Also included, towards the end, are new updates on things that weren't shown in the trailer. New Weapons The two new weapons that will be added to the game are the M240L (for MARSOC) and Ultimax 100 Mk 3 (for Volk). M240L- Belt fed heavy machine gun. High caliber 7.62. Punchy, aggressive, & heavy. The M240L is a medium machine gun that is found throughout the US military including Special Operations Forces. Firing from a disintegrating 75 round belt that is stored in the magazine pouch, the M240 series of machine guns have a reputation for stopping power and reliability. The M240L can be used in sustained-fire mode and used as an indirect fire area weapon. Ultimax 100 Mk3 - Drum fed with mag release button. Intermediate 5.56 cartridge. Sleek, accurate, & mobile. It has a drop free 100 rounds drum, allowing for fast reloads. Has the charging handle on the left side of the receiver allowing for fast cycling of the bolt after inserting a fresh magazine, allowing for one of the fastest LMG reloads in the game. You will be able to find these weapons under the Support class. Yes you read that right. These are the first new weapon additions for the support class since the game became available on PC in 2016. The support role provides sustained covering fire to keep enemy combatants pinned down as their squad advances and flanks. These weapons can be used to suppress the enemy’s ability to return accurate fire, or to hamper the maneuver of the enemy’s assault element. They fix the enemy in position and isolate them by cutting off their avenues of reinforcement. Having more bullets allows them to provide cover while the rest of the team can flank a target and destroy it. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/dc511efaba0b8d325e9850abe3cac34738253fcf.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/0e6bed3b3e33e961ddb991cb35995b6b25bb54a3.png New Animations This is a major feature you have been asking for, and we’ve been working on, for a long time. Getting leg movement working correctly in a VR game has taken a lot of work and iteration. When we were working on the anim...May SitrepMay 16, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Community, Your kind words after our last communication meant a lot to us and we were happy to hear that you are excited to see what is coming next for Onward. This month in the Devs’ Desk we will be going over some of the changes that will be going into Update 1.11. The features that are coming soon will address community feedback in addition to offering better quality of life details into the game. In addition to the changes we are discussing this month, we have some other major updates that are also included in 1.11. However, writing about these features just doesn’t feel like it would do them justice. We are working on some alternative ways to showcase these to you. Be on the lookout for more details soon. From the Devs’ Desks: The focus for update 1.11 is to bring features that will help your overall experience. Some of these have been in development for a while and will be completed and ready for update 1.11 and others were specifically picked to address community feedback. Custom Maps A major update is coming to Custom Maps: Custom maps can be set to populate in lobbies without needing to be downloaded prior to playing. Currently, if you want to play on a custom map you have to make sure everyone you are playing with has the map prior to starting or it won’t show up in the map vote. After update 1.11, while in the tent players will automatically download the custom map during the map transition after the vote occurs if they don’t have it installed yet. When you set up a lobby you will have four options for how custom maps can populate in the map vote. Options that can be set will be: (By default) include all maps available on the Workshop Only custom maps that the host has installed Only maps that any one person in the lobby has Disable custom maps entirely. When joining servers you will also have a filter to search for lobbies that are Downpour only, custom only, or anything in between. Our hope is that these changes dramatically improve the visibility of custom content in Onward, and allow for more players to check out the awesome environments our custom content authors are producing. Evolutions to Current Social Modes To enhance our social game modes we have made expansions to Gun Game and One in the Chamber. These new options can vastly change your experience in these game modes. Gun Game will have randomly generated loadouts that include random guns, attachments, and equipment. The host can choose four different progression options: Linear (the original non-procedural progression), Increasing Power, Decreasing Power, or completely Randomized Power. Every loadout progression ends in a finale stage, like the current shield and knife. However, there are now different finales you can possibly end on. The host can also determine how many stages are in the progression as well as if stages include hand grenades. One in the Chamber will include options for weapon types and weapon sights. These will allow you to play the mode with...Hotfix 1.10.1 has been releasedApr 12, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Onward Players, We were thrilled to hear how many of you are enjoying all the new content and updates that came with 1.10. When update 1.10 released, the team was continuing to work on the issues with the lobby stability, which is the major focus for this hotfix. In addition, we were also able to fix some small bugs that came with 1.10. However, we know this hotfix doesn’t include all of them. We have reviewed the feedback and are continuing to work on bugs that you have reported. Please see the list of fixes included in this hotfix and the list of known issues. Change Log: Updated and improved our networking. This should help bring more stability to lobby connections and reduce players getting kicked to the main menu Fixed players not getting notifications when vote kicked from lobbies Fixed visibility of the regional server information in the settings menu on Quest Fixed issues causing poor performance on Suburbia (Day and Night) for PCVR users Known Issues: When a Quest player lets there headset go idle in the tent, it will cause a bug that causes them to load in as gray character model and not be able to play correctly When you grip a weapon with both hands Gunstock calibrations are not applied. This issue is temporarily fixed once the player re-grips the weapon with their dominant hand Quest Black Screen and hanging on loading for Quest users Hand disconnection on weapons Audio issues related to using flares March Sitrep is now outMar 30, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHappy March Onward Community, Did you draw a battle plan for Egress? Is the MP7 everything you dreamed it would be? We hope you are continuing to enjoy all the new content that came with update 1.10. We were thrilled to see all your positive reactions and feedback. Some of the items that made it into the game we understand you are less thrilled with. Some of the major community reports being the performance issues on Suburbia for PC players and the weapons unintentionally releasing from your hands. Based on the amount of feedback we received we understand these major pain points so we're prioritizing looking into these issues. Additional bugs that you have reported we are actively working on addressing as well. There will be a hotfix coming soon and more details about what will be included in it can be found in the Devs’ Desk. Another topic we want to address is the departure of Downpour Interactive founder Dante Buckley, who has resigned from Meta. It’s not hyperbole to say that without Dante, Onward and Downpour Interactive would not exist. Dante’s vision for Onward and approach to VR game development was the foundation for our work and how we make games together here at Downpour. We want to thank him for his many contributions, and wish him the best in all his future endeavors while we carry on his passion for Onward. As a studio, we will miss Dante but are as committed as ever to continuing to deliver great gaming experiences for you all. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25603247/fc9969396a298c3f02dee903120626f9fbb33b30.png From the Devs’ Desks: A major focus since 1.9 has been to address the outstanding issues related to networking. This includes issues where players are experiencing getting kicked from lobbies or whole lobbies are being dissolved. We have been working hard on identifying and properly fixing the issues. Network and server related work can be very delicate and takes a lot of development time and testing. We are in the process of testing a fix that is set to be released as Hotfix 1.10.1. We don’t have an exact date to share yet, once the hotfix is fully tested it will be released. In addition to the hotfix, we are also working on our next update: 1.11. This update will include some major quality of life improvements, new content, and of course bug fixes. We will release more details about what is coming into the update soon. Stay tuned for more information. Community Center: Do you know every tactic and mechanic there is in Onward? Over the next couple weeks we will be releasing a series of social media posts with videos and images showing off some of the more nuanced and obscure things possible in Onward. If you are looking to broaden your skill set, be sure to watch our social pages. Instagram: Onwardthegame Twitter: @Onwardthegame Facebook: OnwardTheGame The custom map makers continue to make some fun new environments. The following new custom maps have made their way to the workshop: Extradition created by Bluega (PC & Quest) “Terrorist...
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