Squad (PR:BF2 Devs)

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Interesting!

Sniperdog;2038516']Today I'd like to use this post to share a project that a number of us developers have been quietly working on the past few months. Although it had been revealed internally several months ago to the PR team' date=' it wasn't until now that we have felt comfortable opening up our project to the public eye, starting with the PR community.

The goal of our project is to produce an Unreal Engine 4 based standalone commercial game, whose central focus is promoting teamwork and communication through gameplay mechanics and features.

This game is:

First to emphasize the seriousness of the project, I would like to highlight the list of our developers, almost all of whom are either current or former PR:BF2 developers.

Myself - Project Manager, Programmer (PR:BF2 Coder)

Mosquill - Programmer (PR:BF2 Coder)

Chuc - Animator, Graphic Design (PR:BF2 Lead Animator)

Irontaxi - Mapper (PR:BF2 Lead Level Designer);

Ghostdance - 3D Artist (PR:BF2 3D Artist)

Motherdear - 3D Artist (PR:BF2 3D Artist)

Z-trooper - 3D Artist (PR:BF2 3D Artist)

Tim270 - 3D Artist (PR:BF2 3D Artist)

Spush - Texture Artist (PR:BF2 Texture Artist)

Bull - Texture Artist (BSS Texture Artist)

Anders - Sounds FX (PR:BF2 Sound FX and Effects Artist)

Bruno - Effects (PR:BF2 Effects developer)

Okita.Makito - Military Advisor (PR:BF2 Level Designer and Military Advisor)

Litoralis - Lead Tester (PR:BF2 Tester and Tech Support)

Afterdune - Media & Public Relations (PR:BF2 Lead)

The Game:

Squad will be a tactical military game built from the ground up as a cooperative shooter, where high levels of teamwork and communication are supported, encouraged, and integral to gameplay. Complementary with that focus, we are seeking to bridge the gap between arcade shooters like the Call of Duty and Battlefield series, and military simulations like ARMA.

Where we are:

Since April we have been quietly assembling the team you see above and taking the first steps towards our first public release. This will be a standalone fully functioning demo that will be free to play and fun to play, and will contain a snapshot of the all the high level features which will be the basis of the game.

To be more specific, feature wise we have already implemented the following:

-Networked Play

-Support for Teams, Squads and Rallypoints

-Basic Integrated VoIP

-Advance and Secure

-A Master Server

-An online account system

-7 Character models composing the US and Taliban factions

-Basic weapon & equipment sets including ARs, MGs, Grenades, etc.

-A HUD system for map, compass, nametags, etc.

-Distance Sounds

-Dynamic crop & foliage generation system

-Physically Based Rendering texture pipeline

-A library of Afghan statics and accessories

-Fully functioning weapon code

-A true first-person character system

Here is a look at the current map and the AAS game mode:

http://media.joinsquad.net/screens/squad_aas_announce.png (8130 kB)

The soldiers for the US Army and Taliban factions:

http://media.joinsquad.net/screens/squad_usarmy.png (8130 kB)

http://media.joinsquad.net/screens/squad_taliban.png (8130 kB)

A Wide perspective view of the working landscape on our first map Logar Valley, which is set in Afghanistan:

http://media.joinsquad.net/screens/squad_map.png (8130 kB)

Here is your whole body, as seen with with True First Person:

http://media.joinsquad.net/screens/squad_truefps.png (8130 kB)

In addition to the above, we have many features and assets that are currently being worked on, and are soon to be included in our test builds.

We also need to address the elephant in the room.

Why are we not simply all working on PR2?

The answer to that is far from simple, but if I had to sum it up I would say it all boils down to a major difference in direction.

The biggest concrete differences are:

Squad will be commercial: Our goal from the very start has been to have a commercial game studio with both full time and freelance developers who are able to make assets and be compensated for their effort. As a part of this we will encourage talented members of the community to step up and be a part of this process. By helping to support developers financially using the game's revenue, we believe we will be able to take the scope and quality of the game to a more serious level.

Squad will be released on Epic's Unreal Engine 4: We firmly believe UE4 is the best engine for the job and it's capabilities are growing rapidly. We began laying the groundwork for this project before UE4 was released, and in all honestly lucked out with how fantastic of a deal it turned out to be for indie game studios. With a ground breaking subscription model, low royalty fee, source code access, network oriented design, and a huge base of support we really feel there will be few limits on our ability to execute the vision we have for Squad.

Squad will use crowdfunding: One major component of our development strategy is the use of a Kickstarter campaign to generate a seed fund supporting the expansion of full time development. Doing so will allow us to ramp up development prior to open alpha, and support full time developers, purchase art assets, cover our server costs, and handle the business related aspects of our game studio's creation. The more successful such a campaign is, the longer we will be able to flesh out the game without the need for revenue, and thus the longer we can build the community by keeping the game free.

The above points are critical to making the game we are aiming for, and simply would not be possible without the formation of the team we have joined together to make.

Why the name change and lack of an official connection to Project Reality?

While many of our developers have worked on PR past and present, using the PR name would present a number of complications. First and most importantly, it would cause licensing issues for PR2. PR2 is currently a strictly non-commercial endeavor, and to affiliate our game with PR officially would jeopardize their licensing status, which as it stands makes such a situation unworkable.

Additionally, while PR was originally started and evolved around the idea of making the BF2 experience more realistic, the central focus of Squad will be on establishing and encouraging the culture of teamwork that made PR the game it was.

Squad will embody that ideal through the framework we create.

So where do we go from here?

As mentioned above we will be using crowdsourcing to seed the initial development over the course of the next year.

Our current plans are to release a playable stable demo around the beginning of December to coincide with the launch of our kickstarter campaign. This demo will highlight all of the core mechanics and features that we would like to build off of.

Providing we are successful, our next stage will be to bring our core team online full time and bring the level of content and features up to a point where we have a much more comprehensive beta game that we can introduce to our community, testers and supporters.

Additionally, we will need your help and are currently looking for more developers. While we can't currently promise any immediate compensation, with the structure of our cooperative studio, we will ensure that all developers (Full time, Part time and freelance) are compensated when the business gains the ability to do so.

To allow you to show your support for Squad, we have created the following user bar, which you may feel free to use as you wish:

If you wish to follow our progress, you may do so at our:

Official Forums:

Squad Forums

Facebook:

http://facebook.com/JoinSquad

Youtube:

Squad - YouTube

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/joinsquad

(@JoinSquad)

Please note that on the forum, registration emails end up in your spam filter on gmail addresses, this should be fixed shortly

Oh and almost forgot, here's some gameplay.

[YOUTUBEHD]PBdh-1MZ3ww[/YOUTUBEHD]

Finally, as a reminder:

Please be curtious and stay well within the bounds of the board's rules regarding this topic on the PR forum.

While we do appreciate people expressing their support, that is certainly not an excuse to be rude or disrespectful.

Otherwise, we greatly appreciate your time and consideration. Share the news with your friends, and we'll meet you on the battlefield soon!

Respectfully,

The Squad Development Team

---------- Post added at 19:04 ---------- Previous post was at 19:02 ----------

...if a mod could please change the title to:

Squad (PR:BF2 Devs)

...it'd be much appreciated. :bored:

[chrisb 196]

What will it offer that this series can't, if its coop team based ?

[CameronMcDonald 146]

A sort of "middle ground" from the sound of it.

[ACPL Jon 68]

Decent Frames per Second ;-)

And most probably it will be a lot better in PvP thing. ArmA3 did a lot things better, BUT it will never reach the level of epicness of BF2: Project Reality.

Many firefights in PR looked like straight outta Funker videos. As a milsim unit we sometimes got close to that kind of feeling with our ArmA2 scenarios, but it never went as far as it goes in PR. The immersion is amazing and simply like in no other game, many fights on Fallujah, Kokan or even in La Drang even after few years remain on the tongues of my teammates. Well, one thing was great for sure (apart from amazing maps and great logistic system): the way enemy behaved. Best AI in gaming? Not exactly. The enemy was always human. And when there's no simple "I can just headshot them faster" solution and both the map and the asset layout force asymetric warfare, it tends to produce some great actions & reactions (panic, retreats, bayonet charge, surrendering).

I have yet to see the game that was relying THAT much on morale, pressure and keeping the initiative. Wiping out the whole (usually entrenched) squad was NEVER an easy task (until, let's say, a HEAT round from a tank showed up inside the house full of insurgents) and was always a "big success", since there's also almost no "1 shot deaths" (not a typical BF \ CoD thing). It's because of the controversial way the PR crew handled aiming - while the "cooldown" was annoying many, many times due to the MP delay (had to play on US server often and needless to say the guys over the sea had it easier), I'm kinda sure it was solved the right way: in no other shooter people act that way. In here it's way better to outflank the enemy than to actually face him.

Unlike in most and even in the best tactical shooters. It the only game in which I've seen people do feint attack and movements, actual recon (long range recon patrols playing hide'n'seek) or support jobs (like the guy driving the transport truck the whole game). Few times I've had a insurgent team pass few meters from our hidden squad. And we just let'em go, because killing them won't grant us success - unlike blowing the cache we search for. In no other game You could walk around the house full of enemies, throw a rope hook onto the balcony on the other side, and then climb to just PUMP some sense into them ;-)

PR was also pretty much excellent because of one other thing - it was simply complete. Every aspect - gameplay, artwork, sounds, atmosphere, the overall feeling - all that "clicked" together. Many people still feel A3 is somewhat "off" with it's setting and lack of content here and there - and I can totally understand them, because that's basically the opposite of what You felt playing PR. Guys did great job noone ever before did for free, so give'em a chance :)

The assets look cool, but what looks even better (and is IMO the most important thing for gameplay) is the map layout.

See for Yourself:

From the looks of it (in the video), the gameplay is still not yet quite there (auto-fire less recoil than single shots... WHY DO PPL DO THAT?).

Can't wait for "Squad", yet does anyone know what happened to standalone, commercial "Project Reality" project that was supposed to be on CryEngine 4?

Edited October 12, 2014 by JonPL

[roberthammer 582]

Their commercial "PR" is now the Squad , as from the OP - they would have alot of license issues if the PR2 was commercial

[PuFu 4591]

although i am looking forward to it, i really really don't like the 3d assets (from character, weapons to environment - vegetation and buildings alike)

[papanowel 120]

Very interesting project, the map from the video looks big enough.

Are they going to add vehicle, like in PR BF2?

[roberthammer 582]

although i am looking forward to it, i really really don't like the 3d assets (from character, weapons to environment - vegetation and buildings alike)

Yeah true , the PBR can handle much more detail than that but its pre-alpha so i think it will get better in the future

Very interesting project, the map from the video looks big enough.

Are they going to add vehicle, like in PR BF2?

Probably yes , map looks almost twice big than in BF2 so i expect some army cars and some old civ cars

maybe helicopters for US ? dunno

[chrisb 196]

I would say first of all, you can't sell someone a group of likeminded players.

Everyone can have likeminded players in a group and then have the best immersive, tactical, game-play you can get, in whichever game you play in this genre.

PvP is never a problem, provided you have likeminded players. PR2 is simply likeminded players. I already have that, not PR2, but better game-play in my view, in the group I play, but I'm biased. ;)

But its not about that. Its about what the game 'Squad' can offer, that is different to other games in this genre.

It seems to me, but its only from what is in the OP, that they are trying to sell a playing format i.e. group game-play with likeminded people. That's not a game really, is it...

However..

I really wish them luck, I'm all for competition and we need it in this genre. I hope its more than just PR2 '+1', it will have to be a game, not simply a terrain and a few assets. The competition here in this series, is way too great to try and compete. Better to make it different, especially to what we've seen in that video, which just looks like every other video of BF2 or this series, with team game-play at the forefront.

I will keep an eye out for it though, hope it turns into something worth supporting. :)

Edit: did I mention 'likeminded players'.. just checking..:p

Edited October 12, 2014 by ChrisB

[roberthammer 582]

Another video about Squad

[Smurf 12]

Decent Frames per Second ;-)

-snip-

While I agree, all that boils down to one thing: people.

You can do everything better in Arma (or Tactical Battlefield or A2:PR) but isn't the same thing.

The PR community have a different mindset and it shows; You can have a decent game session in pratically any PUBLIC server.

[fabio_chavez 103]

What will it offer that this series can't, if its coop team based ?

"coop team based" doesnt mean you shoot bots while adressing each other by ranks in teamspeak in the PR world XD

---------- Post added at 14:11 ---------- Previous post was at 14:06 ----------

While I agree, all that boils down to one thing: people.

You can do everything better in Arma (or Tactical Battlefield or A2:PR) but isn't the same thing.

The PR community have a different mindset and it shows; You can have a decent game session in pratically any PUBLIC server.

the problem is people dont even know what they dont know and arma people are simply clueless when it comes to that in comparion to bf2: pr players... i speak from my personal experience when i tried to adress the lack of teamplay and communication on a3 public servers (if you find one that runs pvp (eventhough they still have absurd money systems)), people where offended or adviced me to join a organized group that uses teamspeak *facepalm*

Edited October 12, 2014 by Fabio_Chavez

[chrisb 196]

"coop team based" doesnt mean you shoot bots while adressing each other by ranks in teamspeak in the PR world XD[*

I wasn't aware I said that, in-fact I didn't say that.

So not sure what your talking about. :rolleyes:

If you think that's what sensible players, playing tactical games in decent war gaming groups do, then you've been watching too much YT.

Groups using rank structures are trying to be soldiers, war-gaming groups are trying to beat the game (AI), or each other. Using the best tactics you can come up with at the time. That’s team play, friends you’ve had for years playing a casual but very tactical game.

Possibly you haven’t experienced that, yet..

These war-gaming groups are not easy to get into, so finding a spot is hard, once your in, players tend to stay for years. I've been in a war-gaming group since, well the early 80's, hex games. Playing tactical game-play tends to be nothing like you see on YT, you know..;)

[fabio_chavez 103]

I wasn't aware I said that, in-fact I didn't say that.

So not sure what your talking about. :rolleyes:

If you think that's what sensible players, playing tactical games in decent war gaming groups do, then you've been watching too much YT.

Groups using rank structures are trying to be soldiers, war-gaming groups are trying to beat the game (AI), or each other. Using the best tactics you can come up with at the time. That’s team play, friends you’ve had for years playing a casual but very tactical game.

Possibly you haven’t experienced that, yet..

These war-gaming groups are not easy to get into, so finding a spot is hard, once your in, players tend to stay for years. I've been in a war-gaming group since, well the early 80's, hex games. Playing tactical game-play tends to be nothing like you see on YT, you know..;)

the crucial point is if you want to shoot at bots or players, if you want to play vs AI PR has nothing much to offer, if you want to play vs players arma has nothing much to offer. :/

PR has tons of brillant maps and a huge spectrum of factions, the content is polished to perfection (eventhough technically outdated but at least in PR you have decent fps even with 200 players... in arma? roflmao)

[chrisb 196]

the crucial point is if you want to shoot at bots or players, if you want to play vs AI PR has nothing much to offer, if you want to play vs players arma has nothing much to offer. :/

PR has tons of brillant maps and a huge spectrum of factions, the content is polished to perfection (eventhough technically outdated but at least in PR you have decent fps even with 200 players... in arma? roflmao)

You really know very little if PR gameplay is all you can compare to, its not the best game-play out there, that's for sure. Regards the terrains, I have a little over 300 arma terrains, covers every scenario plus some.. Arma is way ahead of BF2 where pvp is concerned, always has been. Regards polished content, no win for anything other than this series, really. With around 2500 mod/addons on my HDD's, there are plenty of the best quality assets you'll find in mil/sim style gaming, all come from this series. I've played BF2, that's why I play the Arma series..:rolleyes:

Really get yourself into a decent war-gaming group, you won't look back, possibly open your eye's some.

That's if you can A/ get into one, then B/ find a really good one, they don't advertise much, its not PR or Ace, long way away from that type of game-play..;)

FPS, never had any problems with this or any other game regards frame rates. If your playing PR or anything else with poor frame rates, then you have a problem. PR use Arma series too, don't they, how do you get on with that, or is it all BF2..

PS, I'm only referencing BF2, mainly because that's what this 'Squad' looks like.

Anyway, back on topic, who are all these Iconic people they mention in the second video. That isn't a great way to advertise, would have been better saying talented devs rather than iconic..

Edited October 12, 2014 by ChrisB

[Smurf 12]

Arma is way ahead of BF2 where pvp is concerned

Really get yourself into a decent war-gaming group, you won't look back, possibly open your eye's some.

That's the thing.

You can ONLY enjoy Arma by doing that, otherwise you end up with a bunch of clueless people roaming around doing not many interesting things don't matter the gamemode (PvP, Wasteland, Evo\Domi, Coop), either because the people are really clueless, get bored or because the mode\mission is not so well designed, explained or "focused" on anything.

In PR tactical gameplay is spontaneous and you find it almost anywhere.

Gazillion of mods? GREAT! Now how do you sync that with other 60+ people? Preparation for playing in Arma take as many if more time than actual gameplay if you are not on somekind of group.

IMO, technical aspects like framerate aside, those are the reasons why Arma don't have a breakthrough and become a MP thing.

[chrisb 196]

Gazillion of mods? GREAT! Now how do you sync that with other 60+ people? Preparation for playing in Arma take as many if more time than actual gameplay if you are not on somekind of group.

Private server..:D

Actually we don't use that many mods, depends on the game setup, but its nice to have them to choose from.. Arma MP is great, can't beat it really, just got to find those likeminded players. However, that will probably mean a private server & group. But isn't that the only way to really enjoy the game in MP.

Public servers are a non starter for me, don't bother with them at all.

So perhaps, with me not using public servers, I will have to bow out. But never think Arma can't be played MP at the highest quality of teamwork, it can, just depends who your playing the game with. Same goes for any game really.

'Squad' can't guarantee you a good game, its going to be a commercial release, I think. Anyone and everyone can buy into it, so your going to need likeminded players anyway, to enjoy that.

Its all about getting a group, spending some money on a decent server and setup, choosing your mod/addons, then saying goodbye to the rest of the MP crowd.

Sad but true.

[Kerc Kasha 102]

comparing ARMA to PR is stupid. PR is more for public 'jump in and play' while it's possible to do that in ARMA it doesn't work as well nor is there any popular scenarios that are worth the effort. Most ARMA PVP is just king of the hill, wasteland and battle royale servers and none of those fill the niche that PR public play does

[fabio_chavez 103]

Arma is way ahead of BF2 where pvp is concerned, always has been.

you mean pvp in the sense of players vs bots? (plus we are not comparing BF2 lol, the topic is still PR please no strawmans)

---------- Post added at 11:45 ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 ----------

Private server..:D

the problem is people dont even know what they dont know and arma people are simply clueless when it comes to that in comparion to pr... i speak from my personal experience when i tried to adress the [it] people where offended or adviced me to join a organized group that uses teamspeak *facepalm*

or adviced me to join a organized group that uses teamspeak *facepalm*

organized group [...] *facepalm*

i cant argue religious believes sorry.

[chrisb 196]

To begin with this subject is getting high jacked by us all, also I’m not arguing about anything, it’s a discussion not an argument, well certainly from my point of view.

When I say pvp = player v player, tvt = team v team etc.

Bots, in arma, when using the right mods are exceptional. They are really needed in my view, if only to help fill out a large scenario. We use AI heavily in our game-play, but others don’t. I think this is either because they don’t either know what mods to use, or what mix of mods, to make the AI really good. Or, don’t have access to mods that do, which is unfortunate.

However, yes I concede, it sounds like you have had problems with public servers for Arma.

O.k. I don’t use public servers so can’t really comment, however, you found PR :confused: which is a group that uses Arma (plus, we know BF2). There is a contradiction from yourselves, if Arma is so bad for MP, why does PR use it ?

I would think (and its only my view), it is mainly because Arma offers a better solution than BF, more assets wider range etc.

But I’m not arguing that some players prefer BF in PR than Arma, but PR is a group using a modified game-play, so you found your group.. no..

Anyway.. Enough said for me on that subject, we could argue all year about groups, mp, etc. If you can't find what you need for your game-play, then unfortunately, its never going to change for you..

_

Anyway back on topic.

Squad, will be a whole game built more or less around the PR concept. That being the case, how will they make the game any different to PR using Arma or BF ?

The video looks a lot to me like PR/BF2. So what will be the pull for players that have used PR/BF or Arma, towards ‘Squad’ ?

So back to my original question, what does Squad offer that is different, to what is already available. Or. Is it just more of the same, the difference really being the use of a format i.e. PR (modded game), simply being made into a stand-alone game. In which case its simply a copy of what exists now.. yes/no ?

The graphics don't look terribly advanced, but its early days yet. The game-play, or what it offers, as said exists now, if you look for it. The only difference is at the moment, what is on offer now, has hugely more assets than Squad will be able to offer for some time, I would imagine.

I want Squad to be different, offer something that pushes forward the genre. I would like to see it succeed, but it has to be offering something, for me, that is not already here and freely available.

Squad can't guarantee PR game-play, if that is what players think. Because it will be freely available to the public as a 'game'. So all will be invited to play it, then you come full circle back to your issues now. Finding a server that fills your needs, what will that be 'Squad Project Reality'..

Edited October 13, 2014 by ChrisB

[minimalaco 30]

Looking really good!

[mistyronin 1181]

To me it feels a lot like Arma. So it'll be really interesting to see what they come up with.

But I also distrust it as Bluedrake is promoting it ( you know, the eccentric and histrionic guy that always talk shit about good games and that can't differentiate between a BTR and a BMP ). .

[eduzumaki 12]

i watched the videos and its look very promissory,one thing that i hope to see is gore not dismemberment but blood is great and it make it more immersive .

[andersson 285]

It looks good but at the same time it looks like a lesser copy of arma, but I understand why they go their own way. Difficult to make money as a mod (BF2 or Arma) and it will be easier for players as they dont have to go through the hazzle downloading anything. Install and play is the best.

The strength of PR is team play and it's easy to join. I guess a mission concept like that would fail in arma as we have no control over voip-channels? A "PR mission" would be easy to make, but as long as anyone can shout profanities over the global channel it will not work. Btw, I never understood why they put so much efforts in addons when they did the PR mod for A2, it's all about the mission isn't it?

[kavoven 4]

Looks like ArmA 2 to me.