Inspired by the Project Reality modification for Battlefield 2, the game will place its players in a realistic environment and encourage them to work together. Doing so tends to be an excellent way to build an immersive and visceral combat atmosphere. To those familiar with PC shooters, the best way to describe this would be as a middle ground between the Battlefield and Arma series.

Built from the ground up in the Unreal Engine 4, Squad pits teams of up to 50 players against each other in white knuckle modern day combined-arms combat scenarios, with both conventional and unconventional forces. The players dictate how the scenarios unfold with base-building and interactive environments, intuitive squad command and management tools and large-scale warfare where strategy and leadership are just as important as a quick trigger finger.

The battlefield of Squad is built around organized teams using both the environment and the assets available within the ga6me to wage a tactical battle against an opposing team. From role organization to base building to vehicle mechanics, teamwork amplifies the effectiveness of the tools at your disposal. Supported by intuitive positional VOIP and navigation systems players will be able to maintain situational awareness and seamlessly interact with others. Dedicated chain of command channels and localized voice will be an effective tool for communication and organization.

It' s Offworld, bringing to you a frightfully packed update on the next Closed Alpha build (Version 2), set to come out at the end of the week, Thursday 11pm PST/Friday 6AM GMT. We 've been hard at work not only adding in new features, game modes and weapons, but also making the current experience smoother and much more enjoyable. All the good stuff!

The Closed Alpha version 2 will be available through the Pre-Alpha portal for download to all Founders.

New Game Mode - Insurgency

The Project Reality classic is back!

Two Insurgent Weapons Caches spawn at the start of each round. The US Army forces must take out insurgents to gain Intelligence and get hints to where the caches are located. As each Cache is overrun and destroyed, another one spawns in a random location on the map.

US Army Squad Leaders have an Incendiary grenade to destroy the Caches, the US team needs to destroy a total of 5 Caches to win. The Insurgents must drain the US Army team' s tickets or wait out the clock to win.

New Game Mode - Territory Control

A New Gamemode focusing on pure defence & offence depending on the side. Insurgents have a number of territories at the start that they have to defend. The points are not meant to be captured in any particular order. If the US capture a territory, it cannot be recaptured. US has a time limit to capture all the territories. Some territories have a spawn point that can be captured.

New Scope and Attachment System

All the scopes have been redone, improving their sight picture and alignment. New attachment system allows us to attach several accessories and optics at the same time. Some variants of the M4 now have a foregrip.

• ACOG reticle is now fully usable with ranging and bullet drop.
• The SVD has its PSO-1 scope back. Reticle is not 1:1 with real life yet.
• Known Issue: There is a small jitter when viewing through the scope while standing on the edges of the map.

Improved Inventory

• Added an Inventory element to the HUD, showing which item you have selected and what is selected in each item group.
• Multiple items per slot. Pressing the slot button multiple times cycles through the items in that slot (For example, Smoke Grenade Colors can be cycled through)
• Re-grouped items into more logical groupings. The player can now find items in the same spot in the inventory across classes

Improved weapon handling

• Weapon sway now behaves differently depending on stance (Bipod weapons have reduced sway when prone)
• Weapon recoil can now be affected by stance (Bipod weapons now have considerably less recoil when prone)
• Focus sway reduction is now dependent on weapon and stance
• Weapons now have proper working ballistic flight mechanics
• Weapons now have MOA deviation depending on weapon and bullet quality
• Weapon sway is now different when not aiming down sights
• Full recoil overhaul on all weapons. Weapon config and load out now affects the weapon s recoil behavior.
• Slight damage and falloff tweaks on existing and new weapons.
• Fixed a bug where weapons would have no bullet drop under 500 meters.
• Shovels now stop shoveling when deployable is at 100%
• Medic bag and field dressings no longer stops healing when the player that is getting healed moves
• When entering ADS mode your sights now stay aligned.

New HUD Items

• Added a small information blurb at the start of each gamemode, explaining the rules and how to win
• Added an Inventory widget, showing which item you have selected
• Improved the Ammo widget with a better design to improve its readability
• Added a game timer
• Updated the chat boxes with some display features
• Added a medic icon to medics on the map
• Improved the Flag and FOB capture widgets
• Player icons are now smaller, making the map more readable
• Insurgent flag has been redesigned
• Compass has been scaled up and modified for easier readability

New Kit Role Items

• Added 5 new AK variants to playable kits: AKM, AKMS, AKS-74U, AMD-65 and PM md. 63. (All with placeholder textures).
• Remade existing RPK model. (Has placeholder texture)
• Incendiary grenades for US Squad Leaders on insurgency maps. (Note that you drop this grenade for greater precision - you can only throw it a few meters)
• M249 now has an CompM4 Aimpoint.
• Added RDG-2 smoke grenade, replacing the M18 smoke grenade on the Insurgents.

Kit Role changes

• All Insurgent kits now have pistols. The US side remains unchanged to reflect a more realistic load-out. Insurgent Fighter kits now have the AKM/AKMS instead of the AK-74 as standard. The AK-74 is still available as a limited kit in squads. Limited to 3.
• AKM or AKMS will be randomly chosen to give aesthetic diversity. They are functionally the same at this point in time.
• Insurgent Cell leader and Medic kits now have unique AK s so you can more easily identify the roles in the squad. Cell leader has PM md. 63 and the medic has AMD-65.
• RPG Gunner now has the AKS-74U.
• US Squad Leader kit now has the Aimpoint CompM4 on his M4 again, as well as a front grip to help identify him.
• US Medic now has a foregrip on his M4 to help identify him
• Grenadiers for both factions now have UGL launched smoke grenades in both white, blue and red colors.
• All insurgent kits now has the RDG-2 smoke grenade instead of the M18.
• The Rifleman ACOG kit is temporarily limited to 2 per squad.
• Insurgent Marksman kit now has the SVD with the PSO-1, additionally he also has a set of binoculars.
• All kits can now resupply fragmentation grenades from an ammo crate. Still limited to one frag grenade per kit role.

Improved Main Menu

• Server Browser now shows Map, Gamemode, and whether or not the server is out of date.
• Improved feedback when you are kicked from a server, or if the master server goes down.
• Renamed 'Deploy Now' to 'Start Local' to better describe what it does.
• Added a FOV Slider.
• Added Toggle ADS/Lean
• Added Credits, Founders will soon be added
• Added two new main menu music tracks from Scott Tobin

Improved Maps

• Kohat Performance and Visual Improvements
• Logar Valley Performance and Visual Improvements
• Added Police Station static object
• Added Mosque static object

Misc Changes

• Added support for special events
• Added in Founders Skins for the AK, M4, and RPG-7. These will be tied to your Steam
• Inventory in the future, but for now they are assigned randomly each time you get a new kit (spawning or ammo box)
• Prevented the game from launching if certain settings were turned off, fixing ini options abuse like no shadows, no smoke particles, etc.
• Added "Kick from Squad" ability and "Give Squad Leader" ability for the Squad Leader, right click on the "My Squad" list on the player and follow the right click menu buttons.
• Added right click on the "My Squad" list on the player and follow the right click menu buttons.
• New weapon fire sound improvements for AK series, SVD and new distant fire sounds.
• New projectile flyby sounds.
• Added injury sounds like death screams.
• Added more construction sounds for deployables.
• Added explosion debris sounds for grenades and rockets.
• Improvements to footstep sounds.
• Added support for multiple permission levels for server admin access
• FOB Capture radius reduced to 75 meters, from 150 meters
• FOB spawning is no longer disabled when 2 enemies enter the radius. Instead the respawn time scales up 15 seconds per enemy in the radius.
• Changed the black Dead screen to a grayscale blurred out image of the map from the map camera location.
• Improved spawn points so that spawns have multiple positions to check for a valid spawn. This should prevent issues where you can t spawn on an otherwise valid spawn point.
• Improved the Admin Observer Cam s controls and features, and removed a number of hud widgets when in camera mode.
• Reduced the bleed out rate when incapacitated and bandaged.
• Added per-state sounds and effects for Deployable construction
• Fixed the Go-Pro camera position in filming mode
• Added reverb effects to almost every static building
• Fixed an issue where the loading screen would go away too early, leading to issues where you would spawn in on the map without the terrain loaded
• Fixed an issue where multiple servers on the same IP would not be listed on the server list
• Improved performance of stamina calculations
• Weapons now drop and have physics when the player dies
• Fixed the Insurgent Shovel being held incorrectly
• Added Credits in the main menu, Founders will soon be added
• Added the ability for admins to assign squad leaders and kick squad members from a squad
• Shoveling a radio now adds or removes capture progress on the FOB.
• Shovels can now destroy deployables with right-click
• Fixed the radio tower so that you can no longer climb up the sloped bars
• Fixed server heartbeat timeouts
• Added ability to deshovel FOBs to help with the capture tickets

Squad seeks to establish a culture of camaraderie that is unparalleled in competitive multiplayer shooters. This is a game where you can work together and coordinate with your team: players from around the world, often that you just met.

Squad will support up to 100 players in competitive multiplayer. This broad scope serves to immerse the player into a rich battle environment filled with challenges and opportunities. With teams of sufficient size, some players can perform supporting roles while leaving enough front-line combatants to provide fun and challenging gameplay across the full expanse of the battlefield.

A wide variety of support vehicles and aircraft will be included. Tanks and close support helicopters will spearhead a team’s assault into enemy lines while transport helicopters and APCs will provide much needed logistics and transportation support.

Commanders and squad leaders will be given the ability to shape the battlefield through construction of defensive and offensive fortifications as well as control of battlefield planning and supplemental combined arms assets. Coupled with this, spawn dynamics will be affected by occupation of territories and level of supply each objective is receiving. Organized control of the battlefield will ensure a properly supported supply structure and pave the way for a strategic victory.

It’s all about teamwork.

Key Features:

• Massive Online 50 vs 50 Squad-Based Combined Arms Warfare
• Large scale maps up to 8km^2. (currently working with 2km and 4km maps)
• Organic and Emergent Gameplay, this won’t be a linear shooter
• Maps based on Geographic Information System satellite data of real world locales
• True First Person (aka ‘body awareness’) character models, there won’t be walking gunheads here. High quality models and complex animations systems.
• Built in Voice Over IP using the best codecs available, with attenuated localized, intra-squad radio, and inter-squad command radio communications.
• Simulated damage models and simulated ballistics
• NO grinding rewards system and no dress up dolls
• Showcase Deployables and Base Building which no other military FPS has.
• Real world current time period armaments using highly accurate modelling
• Teamwork oriented gameplay that doesn't require a clan or private server to fully realize the potential of the gameplay.
• The creation, defense, destruction and resupply of chained spawn positions in an overlapping and always fluid emergent chessboard designed in our maps.
• A very open development team with excellent community communication, and preparations in progress for mod support near retail release.
• Essentially an "everything" game. Infantry/Logistics/Air Combat/CAS/Armor Warfare