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u/cristi93

r/SANDgame
▲ 56 r/SANDgame

Update 8 Changelog

(Not yet available - scheduled for release later this week)

Gear-based matchmaking BETA

  • Matchmaking will now consider the gear score that is combined from the trampler compartments installed and the items placed into the outfitting
  • If matchmaking fails to find enough players at the matching player level, it will widen the search range.
  • This system is in BETA, and changes to the matchmaking might be made based on your feedback and information that we’ll see on our backend
  • These changes to matchmaking might also slightly increase the time required to find a match
  • BUT Even during the least player-saturated hours you will get matched eventually because the Matchmaker will throw everyone into the general queue no matter the Gear Score at certain point, so you won't be stuck because of it

New Additions

  • 3 new [REDACTED] for the trampler
    • Can be unlocked in the Tech Tree
  • 3 new types of shells
    • 70mm [REDACTED] / Shrapnel Shell - Shot as a singular projectile. [REDACTED] and creates a burst of shrapnel on the other side
    • 80mm Subcaliber Shell - Has 100% Penetration Chance - Can penetrate multiple compartments in a row
    • 40mm Low Heat-Optimized Shells - Reduces the Overheat Buildup while shooting Autocannons by 50%
  • There are 4 types of shell hits:
    • Hit - the projectile hit, dealt damage, and was destroyed
    • Ricochet - Shell deals 20% of its damage and gets deflected into the other direction from the compartment that it hit. The deflected shell can still deal its full damage if it hits something else on its way
    • Penetrate - Shell deals 50% of its damage to a compartment and keeps flying until it hits another obstacle (Basically you can deal 150% of shell's damage in one shot)
    • Clean Through - can be seen when the shell passes through destroyed compartment. It Doesn't deal damage to it and doesn't get destroyed. It just goes cleanly through it. (This mechanic was always there, we just added a notification to make it less confusing when shell flies through the trampler.)

Trampler Reactor changes

  • Reactor now visually show their health status and boost effects
  • It reddens when it loses HP
  • All reactors now have 50% more HP
  • Shooting at the back of the reactor will deal critical damage
  • Reactor smoke VFX reacts to gear, boost, and reactor state

Anti-cheat false positive fixes:

  • Fixed when driving towards the island and grabbing the ladder during the jump
  • Fixed when driving towards the island and starting parkour during the jump
  • Fixed issue with turret shooting giving “Suspicious Activity” message

Item changes

  • “The Great Silence” is now a large item and can’t be stored in the character's inventory
  • Repair Kit can now be reloaded, so it no longer is destroyed after being fully used
    • Fuel for the Repair Kit is dropped from the ironclads
    • Empty Repair Kit can be purchased in the Storage
    • Repair kit taken to the expedition now starts with 0 fuel
    • Repair kit extracted from the expedition gets automatically unloaded, and its unloaded fuel gets extracted separately

Fixes & Improvements

  • Refactored Trampler Editor to support [REDACTED]
  • Additional VFX improvements
  • Updated model of the energy rods
  • Possibly fixed an exploit when a cheater could steal items from the box in your hands remotely
  • Fixed an exploit where an installed turret could be duplicated at the end of extraction calibration
  • Fixed an exploit where default ammo could be changed into special ammo type
  • Possibly fixed situations when a trampler can move through another trampler on collision
  • Fixed the issue where trampler legs would be in incorrect position after reentering the game
  • Fixed the issue that the weapon didn't have animation and recoil while shooting and activating the flashlight simultaneously
  • Fixed the issue when Upiors positions could be different between client and server

Known Issues

  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by reentering the trigger area
  • Item prompt in Storage has too many hotkey options
  • Blueprint can’t be deleted
  • Character can become occluded in some cases
  • Character might get broken animations on turrets and steering wheel after using Orbital Strike on Smuggler control scheme
    • Walkaround: get any tool or weapon in hands or respawn
  • 3440×1440 resolution is not available
reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 10 hours ago
▲ 19 r/SANDgame

Update and server maintenance

Server will go down for maintenance and update at 2PM CEST ( 8:00 AM EST )

Maintenance started, usually it's about 35 to 45 minutes ( no info or time given from the team about it yet )

Servers are back up and Update #7 is out now!

  • New in-game ping system
  • Improved death & respawn systems
  • VFX & map improvements
  • Turret and crafting fixes
  • Anti-cheat and Exploit fixes
  • And more…

Changelog

  • Added in-game ping system
    • You can ping with the middle mouse button
  • Refactored the system for the character's death
    • Improved the position of the killed character
    • Fixed an issue when the character would respawn outside of the trampler
  • Added SFX when interacting with the ownership device
  • Fixed that teams of 4 players couldn’t choose “Small Crews”
  • Fixed exploit where auto-cannon would shoot faster when pressing “R”
  • Fixed anticheat false positive while respawning on the moving trampler
  • Fixed the issue that crafting on islands didn’t work correctly
  • Added pulse animation when zooming on the map, so that it would be easier to find your position
  • Now turrets will be grabbed after packing them
  • VFX improvements
  • Trampler will continue moving if there’s any player on it
    • Previously, if the owner was away from the trampler, it would stop or turn off even if another player was on it. Now the trampler will not stop or turn off if another player is on it.
  • Fixed the issue that the character could clip through terrain/obstacles when interacting with a ladder
  • Fixed the issue that damaged hatches would be displayed as unharmed
  • Fixed the issue that the kick option becomes unavailable when the captain presses Ready
  • Fixed the issue that marked items become unmarked after disconnecting and reentering the Loot Division screen
  • Fixed the issue that terrain can be occluded in some cases
  • Fixed the issue when on Low and Medium settings, "seams" can be seen on the terrain
  • Fixed the issue when Repair Kit VFX is displayed in the wrong position from 3rd POV
  • Fixed the issue when some parts of the environment can be seen through broken compartments
  • Fixed the respawn timer for objects that had a 30-minute timer
  • Fixed the issue that turret ammo from the Player's Inventory cannot be loaded into the Turret if another type of Ammo is already placed in the Turret's Inventory
  • Fixed the issue that multiple players could mount the same turret
  • Tutorial will no longer start again after restarting the game
  • Additional fixes on the backend

Known Issues

  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
  • Upiors positioned may be different between client and server
    • On the client, it looks like Upior doesn't receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by reentering the trigger area
  • Item prompt in Storage has too many hotkey options
  • Blueprint can’t be deleted
  • Character can become occluded in some cases
  • Jumping and staying on the enemy character head can give you a ban
  • Character might get broken animations on turrets and steering wheel after using Orbital Strike on Smuggler control scheme
    • Walkaround: get any tool or weapon in hands or respawn

I will EDIT and update this post as we get more info about it and patch notes

reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 10 days ago
▲ 54 r/SANDgame

Update and server maintenance

Server will go down for maintenance and update at 2PM CEST ( 8:00 AM EST )

Maintenance started. Today's maintenance will be around 1 to 1.5 hours!

Update #6 is live and trampler capture is BACK 🔥

  • Anti-cheat improvements
  • False positive anti-cheat fixes
  • Added duos matchmaking queue
  • Updated crew size matchmaking
  • Trampler maneuverability balance changes And more…

Check out the full changelist: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1431300/announcements/detail/706652383055187467

Changelog

  • Additional anticheat improvements
    • Includes fixes for some of the false positives
    • We are continuing to improve the anticheat and fixing any false positives that will be found
  • Matchmaking queue changes
    • Added “Duo only” queue
    • Small Crews now teams of 3 and 4
    • Large Crews now teams of 5 and 6
  • Maneuverability changes:
    • The boost that the energy rod provides now scales with the trampler's maneuverability
      • The boost will remain 100% until 30% maneuverability. After that, it will steadily decline until 50% at 0% maneuverability.
    • Leg Stun Mechanic
      • Trampler with low maneuverability now has a stun penalty when the leg breaks
      • The lower the maneuverability, the longer the stun
      • Trampler's max speed is capped to 20% during stun
      • The penalty starts when the maneuverability is below 30%. From there it goes from 0 (at 30% maneuverability or more) to 5 sec (at 0% maneuverability)
      • Using engines to compensate for the maneuverability will also decrease stun duration and negate the rod boost penalty since the maneuverability is increased
  • Tramplers capture has been re-enabled in this patch
  • Ownership device will no longer be destroyed when the Captain's compartment is destroyed
    • This means that tramplers can be captured even if the Captain's compartment is destroyed
  • The large extraction icon will now be displayed when you enter the extraction zone, not while you remain inside it.
  • Fixed the issue where interaction animations would end earlier than the interaction
  • Fixed the issue where trampler would bounce after being destroyed
  • Fixed the issue where a large item could be displayed on the character's back in Spectator mode

Known Issues

  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
  • Upiors positioned may be different between client and server
    • On the client, it looks like Upior doesn't receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by re-entering the trigger area
  • On Low and Medium settings, "seams" can be seen on the terrain
  • Terrain can be occluded in some cases
  • Crafing on islands doesn’t work correctly
  • Item prompt in Storage has too many hotkey options
  • Blueprint can’t be deleted
  • Character can become occluded in some cases
  • Jumping and staying on the enemy character head can give you ban
u/cristi93 — 17 days ago
▲ 79 r/SANDgame

Mission Update - 31st July

Hey raiders.

We wanted to give you all some more information on our next update and why we still haven't seen the return of the Trampler Capture mechanic yet.

Read today's mission Update here:

Mission Update - 31 July (Trampler Capture)

Hey raiders,

We wanted to give you a quick update on the current status of our next update and the return of Trampler Capturing.

A few weeks ago, we disabled Trampler Capturing. This was not an active attempt to "stop cheaters from stealing tramplers," but rather a measured decision to give players time to report any cheats or cheaters they encountered and help us identify the best way to address the issue while improving our anti-cheat systems.

Trampler Capturing is a particularly vulnerable feature if we don't protect it against teleportation and no-clip exploits, and even more so with limited options to report cheaters following an expedition. The improvements made in our last anti-cheat update resulted in a noticeable improvement on this front, and with this update we're building on that even further.

However, one of the biggest challenges in fighting cheaters is that it's very easy to accidentally flag legitimate players. During our internal testing for this update, we've seen that become a much more prominent issue. Because of this, alongside a few other critical issues that have come up in this build, we've seen the planned release times slip on a few occasions.

Throughout the week, we've been testing new detection methods and refining our checks every day. While we've made significant progress, we're still concerned that the current version could result in too many false-positive bans and similar issues to those that led to the initial deactivation of Trampler Capturing.

To shed some light on the false-ban issue: to reliably determine whether a player's movement is legitimate, the anti-cheat has to account for many different situations. It needs to know whether the player is on foot or riding a Trampler, whether they've grabbed a ladder, whether the Trampler is accelerating, or whether it suddenly turned around after colliding with a rock or another Trampler. It also has to consider where a player jumped from and where they landed.

On top of all that, the system has to handle network conditions such as high ping and packet loss.

We've already solved most of these cases, but there are still a few edge cases we aren't satisfied with yet, alongside some other issues in the build that need to be ironed out before we're comfortable releasing the update. As a result, we're now expecting to release it sometime next week.

We want to make it clear that once Trampler Capturing is reactivated, we do not plan to deactivate it again. The systems we're putting in place, along with the anti-cheat improvements, should ensure that the issues which led to the feature's removal do not arise again going forward.

Thank you all for your patience.

Maksym
Head of Hologryph Studio

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1431300/announcements/detail/712282517277771518

u/cristi93 — 19 days ago
▲ 50 r/SANDgame

Update 24th July

We will be carrying out server maintenance at 2PM CEST ( 1hour from now )

Maintenance will last roughly 30-45 minutes.

Maintenance complete! Servers are up and Update #5 is live

  • Anti-cheat improvements
  • Smoke balancing
  • Major artifact balance changes
  • Dupe exploit fixes
  • Fixes for suspicious activity kicks
  • And more…

Check out the full changelist below

Changelog

  • Battleye anti-cheat improvements
  • Optimized rendering and streaming of the terrain
    • Loading of terrain is now smoother
  • Artifacts rebalance:
    • Sphere shield is now impenetrable from both sides
    • Increased sphere shield HP from 15k to 25k
    • Activated artifacts can be destroyed by dealing direct damage to them. They have 900HP and can take Infantry and Siege damage.
      • WOK Bomb can’t be destroyed by Infantry and Siege damage
    • Activated artifacts are now instantly destroyed if being hit by an EMP Wave
      • WOK Bomb can be destroyed by EMP
    • Artifacts now play small VFX and SFX on destruction
  • Smoke no longer attaches to the trampler
  • Fixed item duplication exploit
  • Fixed issue that trampler can go under terrain after being destroyed
    • One of the causes for the “suspicious activity” kicks
  • Fixed issue that the character may become transparent in Spectator mode in some cases
  • Fixed softlock on the extraction for teams of 2 and more
  • UI fixes

Known Issues

  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
    • This will be fixed in the upcoming updates
  • Upiors positioned may be different between client and server
    • On the client, it looks like Upior doesn't receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by re-entering the trigger area
  • On Low and Medium settings, " seams " can be seen on the terrain
  • Terrain can be occluded in some cases
  • Crafing on islands doesn’t work correctly
  • Item prompt in Storage has too many hotkey options
reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 27 days ago
▲ 67 r/SANDgame

Server Maintenance - Anti-cheat improvements

We will be carrying out server maintenance in an hour starting from now in preparation for the Anti-Cheat update!

Please make sure you wrap up your expeditions before this time to ensure you don't lose any loot or resources.

The maintenance should last about 1 hour to 1.5 hours.

(Will be edditing this post with further news or changes but below is what we know at this time)

Changelog

  • Improvements to the anti-cheat
    • This is the first part of our improvements to the anti-cheat system. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and improve our anti-cheat system.
  • Added different error messages in the lobby so it would be clearer to understand why some action can’t be performed
  • Added additional SFX’s to:
    • Friend/Crew List menu
    • Storage
    • End of the expedition menu
  • Decreased loot respawn timers from 30 min to 20 min
  • Fully loaded turrets will now drop loaded ammo on the ground under you when dismantled
  • Fixed the issue when the nickname of the player appears as 'Unknown' on the invitation pop-up
  • Broken failure point SFX no longer plays when the Reactor was turned off
  • Fixed the issue when an incorrect Ammo icon would appear on the HUD
  • Fixed the issue that the character wasn’t able to climb some of the ladders
  • Fixed the issue when the compass wouldn’t work on the map
  • Fixed the issue when the character cannot crouch while carrying the Repair Kit and Raw Aurogen Crystal
  • Fixed the issue when the first level of the trampler would look black in the Trampler Editor
  • Graphics Settings Update
    • Replaced “Off” with Very Low preset for the fog and shadows
      • Some of the players turned off fog and shadows to have an advantage against other players
      • Very Low graphical preset will be set by default for players with low-end GPUs
      • Default DLSS settings will be set based on the GPU and screen resolution

Known Issues

  • Character may become transparent in Spectator mode in some cases
  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
    • This will be fixed in the upcoming updates
  • Upiors positioned may be different between client and server
    • On the client, it looks like Upior doesn't receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance
  • Ironclads can be triggered multiple times by re-entering the trigger area
reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 83 r/SANDgame

SAND Community Q&A

Servus Allies!

Earlier this week, we asked all of you to send us your most pressing questions about SAND, whether it's about current features, future plans, ongoing issues/concerns or anything in between and today, we're back to answer them.

So let's just get straight into it.

Will you be adding Duo Queues?

If we split matchmaking into too many separate queues, then even with tens of thousands of players online, there still won't be enough people to fill matches. Just look at how long you can end up waiting for a game if you only queue for certain maps and a single game mode.

Instead, we'll try to match you onto servers where all teams are the same size whenever possible. That means you'll still occasionally run into larger teams (still within your queue limit), but it should happen much less often.

What are your plans for anti-cheat, and will players ever be compensated for gear lost to cheaters?

The reason our anti-cheat improvements are taking so long is that we need to significantly rewrite the character movement and interaction systems. This will allow us to verify whether the information sent by the client is actually valid.

Once that's finished, things should improve.

Will cheaters disappear completely? I don't think so. No game has ever eliminated them entirely. But there should be significantly fewer of them and help us identify anyone that slips through more efficiently.

As for compensating players, we technically can't identify every loss that was caused by cheaters, so I can't promise that everyone will get their gear back.

When will Trampler capture be re-enabled, and is the team tracking how the game has changed without it?

Trampler capture will return once we've made it impossible for cheaters to abuse the mechanic.

It's a great feature that creates very tense moments. We'll also rework it a bit to make those exploits much harder to pull off.

Re-implementation of this feature is a top priority for us, but we need to ensure we’ve got the cheat situation under control before we can bring it back to the game. Realistically, this will be at some point next week, likely with update #5.

Are there plans to fix server stability, including region-specific issues in EU and Asia?

Yes. We plan to continue improving server stability.

Right now, though, we're working on what we call an "emergency parachute." If a server crashes for any reason, players will receive the loot that was stored on their Trampler.

The game won't save every second, but we think we'll be able to save your expedition's progress roughly every 10 minutes.

When will gear-based or Trampler-based matchmaking (GBMM) be implemented?

Unfortunately, we need to focus on addressing the most prevalent issues we’ve seen reported since launch before we can focus on GBMM.

Hopefully, we'll release an update with it sometime this summer.

Are there plans for periodic wipes, prestiging, or seasons to reset player progression?

We'd rather avoid doing forced wipes.

Prestige (optional wipes) seems like a much more elegant solution for letting players start their journey over. We already have a few ideas for how that could work, but I don't know when we'll be able to start working on it.

Will a quest, contract, or mission system be added?

Yes. We want to add both quests and contracts.

Our goal is for players to have different objectives during a match-sometimes encouraging conflict, and other times encouraging cooperation.

We expect to start working on that around autumn.

Will Voyage and Storm Dive be changed to stop new players from getting steamrolled by fully geared crews?

GBMM should resolve the steamrolling issue.

First, we'll separate new players to give them room to learn the game. Second, we'll match players with others of similar progression, so even experienced crews will have to stay alert because they might run into an even bigger fish.

Are there plans to further improve hit registration and movement validation?

Absolutely.

With every update, we try to improve shooting in some way. These will be gradual improvements over many months, rather than one big update that says, "We fixed shooting, everything's perfect now."

Will there be a player trading system?

Not at the moment, balancing a global player economy is extremely difficult and time consuming.

If you want to trade with someone, you'll have to risk those items by taking them into an expedition.

Can we get small vehicles such as bikes or motorcycles for getting around on foot sections faster?

We'll think about what we can do in that direction.

It could definitely be interesting.

Will smaller Tramplers ever be faster than larger ones? If not, why?

Right now, we've balanced them around a maneuverability stat.

Maneuverability determines how quickly a Trampler turns and accelerates. On flat terrain, all Tramplers have the same top speed. However, on rough terrain, more maneuverable Tramplers can navigate more easily and pull away from larger ones.

Over the next few months, we'll add the final piece of this system: rods (the propulsion mechanic) will also provide acceleration based on maneuverability.

After that, we'll evaluate whether the system works as intended.

Are there plans to add more Trampler shapes and specialized leg/mobility types?

I can't say much about new leg types, that's a very complicated task.

As for Trampler shapes, we're already working on specialized compartments that will both have significant gameplay effects and dramatically change the appearance of Tramplers.

We'll announce more once we're ready.

When is console coming, and will there be crossplay?

We aren't planning any crossplay at this time between PC and Console

As for consoles however, bear with us, we hope to have news on this front soon!

Will there be another optimization/performance pass?

We're slowly rewriting the lighting system whenever we have free time which will improve general performance.

Later on, there will probably be an update focused on improving performance, alongside other small improvements over the course of Early Access.

Will we get female character models and general character customization?

We're working on it.

To add character customization, we first need to significantly redesign the character model and the animation system.

Female characters are dependent on those changes.

This has already been a major task for several months, and it'll likely take at least a couple more months.

What's being done about extraction camping? Any chance we can have more visual indicators that enemies are near extraction points?

We've heard the feedback.

We'll try to add a visual indicator that warns players when enemies are near extraction towers.

It may not make the next update, but it's definitely something we want to add soon.

Is there lore, and will it be added to the game?

We have a solid understanding of the story that's unfolding in the Sands of Sofia.

Unfortunately, traditional storytelling doesn't fit very well with the pace the game ended up having.

Instead, we'll sprinkle hints and pieces of lore throughout the world whenever we get the opportunity.

Will more weapons and Trampler cannons be added?

Yes, we're already working on a new turret and a new turret mounting system.

We also have ideas for additional handheld weapons.

Those will come as part of a future content update, after we've stabilized the game.

Can the Captain's Quarters get an alarm or camera so players know when their Trampler is being boarded or hijacked?

Yes.

We're exploring solutions to make capturing a Trampler more difficult, and hope to implement this in an upcoming update.

Will there be a PvE mode, or world/raid bosses?

There won't be a dedicated PvE mode.

We're already thinking about bosses, though. We have some good ideas, and we'll probably start working on them closer to autumn.

Will there be a way for Tramplers to communicate with each other in the world (radio, CB, ping system)?

There are no plans for that at this time, prozximity chat will remain the primary form of communication in the game and we will continue expanding the functionality of the Flare Gun instead.

Can we get more cosmetic customization for Tramplers like paint, emblems, or achievement-based skins?

Absolutely!

That's definitely planned, unfortunately, we can't give any specific timeframe right now.

Thank you all for taking the time to share your questions with us, if there is anything we didn't cover, don't hesitate to leave your questions in the thread and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please don't hesitate to report any issues you encounter or share any feedback you might have following this update on our Steam Forums and Discord! 

Catch you on the dunes, Scavengers!

- Hologryph / tinyBuild Games

-----------------------------------------------------------

Check out the SAND Q&A here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1431300/announcements/detail/697644549761140079

u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 59 r/SANDgame

Anti-Cheat Update Delayed - Aiming for Tomorrow

https://preview.redd.it/jtmg9zpkvsdh1.png?width=579&format=png&auto=webp&s=c704d518422aae8311114ff37059982526a0503e

Unfortunately we won't be able to release the anti-cheat update planned for today due to some issues identified during testing. The team are working to resolve these issues and hope to release the update tomorrow if all goes smoothly.

We'll keep you updated on our progress and appreciate your patience while we work to get this out!

reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 49 r/SANDgame

Update #4

https://preview.redd.it/n08uqm3ip7dh1.jpg?width=1027&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2156d7e685f1aa0810404d9828b4e3dc19505ea

Quick status update before jumping in to the Update Notes:

First off, we're still working on strengthening our anti-cheat system and implementing new protections against cheaters. We hope to have these implemented this week, if all goes to plan and this work should go a long way toward improving everyone's experience in SAND by addressing the prevalence of cheats and cheaters in the game.

Once this work is finished and implemented, we'll reactivate the ability to capture enemy Tramplers.

We are taking this issue very seriously, and will continue to combat cheats and cheat distributors in every way we can.

Secondly, server issues in West US and Central US should now be resolved, however OCE continues to experience some issues as a result of server outages. The dev team are working with our providers to get these resolved as quickly as possible and to ensure that similar situations are avoided in the future.

Apologies for the inconvenience here!

---------------------------------------------------

We will be carrying out server maintenance in an hour in preparation for Update #4!

Please make sure you wrap up your expeditions before this time to ensure you don't lose any loot or resources.

The maintenance should last about 30-45 minutes max.

---------------------------------------------------

EDIT 16:00 CEST: Maintenance is taking a little longer than expected, looking at another 20-30 minutes roughly

EDIT 17:15 CEST: Game and servers should be up now, restart steam to update client
We apologize for the longer then planned maintenance.

--------------------------------------------------

Patch Notes:

Changelog

  • Additional round of improvements to the hit registration and position of the tramplers and players on the server
    • Killed characters are put in the correct position on moving tramplers
    • Dropping items on moving tramplers now works better
    • Occlusion now works correctly on moving tramplers
    • Interactions will now work better on fast tramplers
    • Parkour will register actions better on moving tramplers
    • Shooting on moving tramplers should register better
      • We'll continue improving hit registration; Don't hesitate to leave feedback or bugs that you might encounter
  • Update smoke of the destroyed trampler so it's no longer possible to see players' silhouettes inside the smoke
  • Added SFX for the EMP explosions and shooting at upiors helmets
  • Crows Nest now requires support. Hope you had fun while it lasted
    • If you have a trampler with Crows Nest that violates rules, the trampler will be automatically sold, and resources will be granted back to you
  • Fixed a newly reported duplication method
  • Fixed issue when at the last Storm Dive sequence the player didn't receive damage
  • Fixed colliders of some compartments in the Trampler Editor:
    • It should be easier to interact with them
  • Fixed issue when other player models might look in idle pose

Known Issues

  • Character may become transparent in Spectator mode in some cases
  • Character cannot crouch while carrying the Repair Kit
  • The character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character’s body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
    • This will be fixed in the upcoming updates
  • Upiors positioned may be different between client and server
    • On the client, it looks like Upior doesn't receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them
  • First level of the trampler looks black in the Trampler Editor
  • Shotgun might not deal damage at close range distance

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1431300/announcements/detail/680755598889846697

reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 4 r/SANDgame

Server Status Update: US West Investigating • OCE Partially Restored

We're aware of issues players are experiencing on US West servers currently and are investigating. We hope to have this fixed shortly and will announce when they are back up and running.

OCE servers are now running, but not at full capacity, so some players may still experience server issues or longer queue times in this region. We are working to get this completely resolved quickly.

u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 119 r/SANDgame

Update from development team

In 15-20 minutes, we will launch the update.

There is only one change in it - you can't capture tramplers.

This is a forced measure until we make reliable protection against no clip and teleportation.

I hope that by the end of next week we will make an update with protection against the most painful cheats.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

https://preview.redd.it/m4asdwp9hvch1.png?width=519&format=png&auto=webp&s=62fe385a4494730dd4c9fce5e8b8e83d4e2e7c76

reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 54 r/SANDgame

Update #3

https://preview.redd.it/n3p440xhcech1.jpg?width=1027&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e33df07fbc3446efb015c7914ebe5664faf1574

Servers are up and Update #3 is now live!

  • New island & Crow's Nest compartment
  • Movement & hitreg improvements
  • Visual upgrades, performance optimizations & graphics settings improvements
  • Gameplay, UI and stability fixes
  • And more…

Please make sure you exit the game and download the update, or you will be unable to proceed past the start menu. You can force an update by validating your files

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We'll be starting server maintenance in 1 hour from this post in preparation for Update #3!

Please make sure you wrap up your expeditions before this time to ensure you don't lose any loot or resources.

The maintenance should last about 30-45 minutes and below are the patch notes.

Changelog

  • Fixed issues and made improvements to melee and shooting at close distances
  • Character movement changes:
    • Movement speed is lower when characters have items in their hands (weapons, grenades, artifacts, tools)
    • Strafing and moving backward are now slower
    • Added movement penalty for consecutive jumps/bunnyhop
  • Graphical improvements and VFX fixes
    • Improved performance of the small scatter
    • Terrain Detail graphics settings — Low / Med / High. Controls the range and density of grass and bushes
    • Small pebbles and grass appear gradually with distance — without suddenly “popping in”
    • Added wind effect to props with fabric material
    • Fixed that Light from the flashlight would be displayed with artifacts when casting in motion at a surface at nighttime
    • Fixed incorrect VFX for the Crystal with Handles
    • Fixed incorrectly baked shadows in some of the compartments
    • Fixed that Revolver muzzle flash was positioned incorrectly
    • Fixed that the bottom of the Wok Bomb emitted light too brightly while moving it above certain light source objects
    • Fixed repair Kit VFX was displayed in the wrong position from 3rd POV
  • New Island: Halbmond
  • New compartment: Crow’s Nest
  • Improvements to the failure points
    • Failure and trampler module points will now emit particles once, after being fully repaired
    • Fixed visual artifacts on the smoke from smoking metal patches, turret slot, and door circuit boxes
  • Improvements for the orbital strike and binoculars
    • Shows the distance now
    • You're no longer able to shoot at great distances with orbital strike
      • Previously, you would waste the Orbital Strike
  • Fixed the issue where disconnection from the lobby would cause certain characters to lose their customizations
  • Fixed an issue where, on some regional settings in Windows, players would get stuck in the air/sky at the start of the expedition
    • Thanks to D0n15 for helping us with finding the cause of this issue
  • Fixed the issue that DLSS was unavailable for players with NVIDIA GPUs (forgot to mention it in the last patch)
  • Fixed an issue that unlockable items in the Tech Tree couldn’t be scrolled
  • Fixed an issue where lootboxes could be looted more than once
  • Fixed an issue where the character could get stuck on top of the ladder
  • Fixed an issue with parts of terrain on Schwalbenberg that caused issues with tesselation
  • Fixed softlock on the Connecting screen when trying to connect to the unavailable server
    • You’ll be redirected to the server selection screen with a disconnect message

Known Issues

  • Character may become transparent in Spectator mode in some cases
  • Character cannot crouch while carrying the Repair Kit
  • The Character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside the character's body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Bullets can pass through the character on speed-boosted trampler
    • This will be fixed in the upcoming updates
  • Upiors positioned may be different between client and server
    • On the client, it looks like Upior doesn’t receive damage, but you might see their “shimmering/blink” body near them.
  • Other player models might look in idle pose
reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 43 r/SANDgame

Patch notes for upcoming update

We heard your feedback on weapon degradation, and we're dropping the feature.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, this is exactly why we're sharing our patch notes ahead of the update release and we massively appreciate your feedback!

We'll roll out the rest of the update tomorrow (potentially with the Hitreg fix - TBC)

Thanks for being so vocal folks, you rock.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We will be carrying out server maintenance in an hour in preparation for Update #3!

Please make sure you wrap up your expeditions before this time to ensure you don't lose any loot or resources. The maintenance should last about 30-45 minutes.

EDIT: These patch notes are being left up for historical/reference purposes so everyone can see what was originally planned for today's update. The Cannon Downgrade mechanic has been removed following community feedback.

The final patch notes will be updated tomorrow when the update goes live. Thank you all for your honest feedback, it’s greatly appreciated!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Changelog

  • New Mechanic: Cannon Downgrade on Destruction
  • There’s a chance that the turret will drop down one tier after being destroyed
    • T1 can’t be downgraded and destroyed beyond repair
    • Experimental cannons are fully destroyed into unusable debris instead of being downgraded
    • Destroyed experimental cannons will drop Experimental Parts
    • Experimental Parts can be used to craft experimental cannons
    • Experimental cannons can be crafted on Rauchwolke
      • Conveyors for the experimental cannons are only present in the Storm Dive
      • You might need to wait for sand to disappear to interact with the conveyor
      • There are three conveyors for each experimental cannon
      • If the cannon is downgraded, you will hear specific SFX, and a pop-up about the downgrade will appear
      • Pop-up will appear if you’re within ~15 m of the cannon
      • Downgrade Chances:
      • All T2 Cannons have a 15% chance to downgrade to T1
      • All T3 Cannons have a 25% chance to downgrade to T2
      • Experimental 80 mm Railgun has a 40% chance to be destroyed
      • Experimental 40 mm Autocannon has a 35% chance to be destroyed
      • Experimental 2х70 mm Twin Shotgun Cannon has a 30% chance to be destroyed
  • Fixed the issue where the character could get stuck on top of the ladder
  • Graphical improvements and VFX fixes
  • Improved performance of the small scatter
    • Terrain Detail graphics settings — Low / Med / High. Controls the range and density of grass and bushes
    • Small pebbles and grass appear gradually with distance — without suddenly “popping in”
    • Fixed that Light from the flashlight would be displayed with artifacts when casting in motion at a surface at nighttime
    • Fixed incorrect VFX for the Crystal with Handles
    • Fixed incorrectly baked shadows in some of the compartments
    • Fixed that Revolver muzzle flash was positioned incorrectly
    • Fixed that the bottom of the Wok Bomb emitted light too brightly while moving it above certain light source objects
    • Fixed repair Kit VFX was displayed in the wrong position from 3Rd POV
  • New Island: Halbmond
  • Improvements to the failure points
  • Failure and trampler module points will now emit particles once, after being fully repaired
    • Fixed visual artifacts on the smoke from smoking metal patches, turret slot, and door circuit boxes
  • Improvements for the orbital strike and binoculars
  • Shows the distance now
    • You're no longer able to shoot at great distances with orbital strike
    • Previously, you would waste the Orbital Strike
  • Fixed the issue where disconnection from the lobby would cause certain characters to lose their customizations
  • Fixed issue when on some regional settings in Windows, players would get stuck in the air/sky at the start of the expedition - shoutout to D0n15 on Discord who helped us reproduce and fix this bug
  • Fixed the issue that DLSS was unavailable for players with NVIDIA GPUs

Known Issues

  • Character may become transparent in Spectator mode in some cases
  • Character cannot crouch while carrying the Repair Kit
  • The Character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside of the character's body in some cases
  • Large items may float around the character
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 175 r/SANDgame

Update regarding hit registration issues

Just a heads-up for everyone following the hit registration discussions.

The tinyBuild CEO posted on X that the team believes they've identified what may be the causes of the hit registration issues. They're planning to include a fix in tomorrow's patch, but it's not guaranteed to make it in yet.

It's also important to keep expectations in check.

In short:

  • The team believes they've found a possible cause.
  • They're aiming to include a fix in tomorrow's patch alongside a big patch.
  • Nothing is confirmed yet, and the fix may not make the patch.
  • Even if it does, it may only address part of the issue.

We'll keep everyone updated if there's any official confirmation or additional information.

u/cristi93 — 1 month ago
▲ 54 r/SANDgame

Update #2 Feedback Thread

Hey everyone,

First off, thank you for all the support. SAND has now passed 300k sales and hit a new peak of 40k+ concurrent players, which is honestly awesome to see.

Now that Update #2 has been out for a bit and we're heading into a busy weekend, how's everyone feeling about the game?

What's better? What's still frustrating? Any new bugs, balance concerns, QoL requests, or things you'd like to see next?

Drop your thoughts below. I'll be keeping an eye on the feedback over the weekend.

Have a great weekend out there in the dunes, Scavengers!

reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 2 months ago
▲ 9 r/SANDgame

Patch notes | Update #2

https://preview.redd.it/fe7gpnmbvtah1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=cd0fd4bed4093507ce3233e4bdff7e2d8ee7cf33

Servus Allies!

First off, massive shoutout to the over 250,000 of you that have joined us on Sophie over the last week and continue to submit a ton of feedback and reports to help us improve the game.

We are continuing to monitor and review all of these reports and feedback, and have today released an update addressing a number of the most common issues reported to us over the last week.

Check out what's new below:

General Fixes:

  • Another round of improvements to the character controller. Including but not limited to:
    • Fixed issue with getting stuck on difficult terrain
    • Fixed several issues with parkour
    • Fixed different issues with movement
    • Fixed issue with flickering names on the landing cutscene
    • Improvements to the hit registration
  • Improved occlusion for the compartments on the trampler
    • There are still some cases where compartments might occlude, and we'll fix them in the upcoming updates
  • Grenade pin no longer gets pulled automatically in Outlaw controls
  • Improved upiors' behavior
    • Now has collision with player
    • Their movement is now less twitchy
    • The overall behavior is more responsive and more natural
    • Upiors can now use cannons (except shotguns)
    • They will leave the cannon when the player gets close to them
  • Added a gas giant next to the Sophie
  • Improved design for some of the pop-ups
  • Fixed issue for some of the crew compartments where character would respawn outside of the compartment
  • Fixed exploits where items could be duplicated:
    • When put into the fridge in the captain's compartments
    • When picked during the trampler extraction
  • Fixed the issue when some doors may be restored improperly after fixing the Compartment with a Repair kit
  • Fixed the issue where, visually, the door is displayed as broken after being fixed with a repair kit
  • Fixed the issue where the expedition will end for the player even though their teammates are still alive. This would also cause issues with receiving the loot after the expedition
  • Fixed the issue where players could get into the compartments by sliding on the entrance group ladder
  • Fixed the issues where Toggle and Combine Sprint settings didn't work as intended
  • Fixed the issue where matchmaking preferences were not saved between Expeditions
  • Fixed the issue where incorrect crew sizes were shown during loading

Possible Fix:

  • We have implemented a potential fix for groups appearing in solo Storm Dive. We will need player confirmation to confirm that this has been resolved, but the issue is no longer present in our internal tests.
    • If this issue has not been resolved, please let us know so that we can continue to investigate.

Balance changes:

  • Increased Recoil for 80mm Cannons
  • Increased T3 80mm cannon reload time from 2.5 to 3 sec
  • Base and low recoil 40mm ammo now have slightly better range (150m/s -> 200m/s and 100m/s -> 150m/s)
  • Added 20% more projectiles for regular 70mm Ammo (42 -> 52)
  • Decreased siege damage of regular 70mm Ammo by 20% (30 per pellet -> 25 per pellet)
  • Added 5 more meters before the damage starts decaying for regular 70mm Ammo (35m -> 40m)
  • Decreased fire rate of Triple Barrel shotgun by 30%
  • Projectile amplifier radius decreased from 15m to 5m
  • Manually loading turret from the container now transfers shells from the container into the turret's inventory instead of actually loading it (thank you for the tip Peanut) This is now called "Transfer Content" instead of "Load Turret" to avoid confusion
  • Loot containers will spawn slightly less pneumatic parts
  • Increased Canned Sea Deer XL sell price from 100 to 500
  • Decreased MedKit sell price from 50 to 20
  • Increased Sell price of Small Valuables and Valuables by 1 crown (3 -> 4, 6 -> 7)
  • Ironclad Crate slot changes (12M -> 1L and 11M)
  • High-tier resources orbital stack size increase (50 -> 75)

Known issues:

  • Character can get stuck at the top of the ladder
  • Character may become transparent in Spectator mode in some cases
  • Character cannot crouch while carrying the Repair Kit
  • The Character cannot enter the Expedition if the Invite has been accepted at the Tutorial pop-up background
  • Items may be displayed inside of the character's body in some cases
  • Character may become invulnerable to melee damage while interacting with turrets or the steering wheel
  • Boxes in the lobby are oversaturated

Please don't hesitate to report any issues you encounter or share any feedback you might have following this update on our Steam Forums and Discord! 

Catch you on the dunes, Scavengers!

- Hologryph / tinyBuild Games

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1431300/view/697642648593240050?l=english

reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 2 months ago
▲ 68 r/SANDgame

Mission Update - Wed July 1

Hey All,

A "Quick" mission update for you all to address some outstanding questions, following a massive week for SAND.

First of all, we're in the process of testing the next update, things are looking good and we're on track to release this week.

Here's some of the bigger things that will be addressed in the update:

  • Duplication bug fix
  • Server stability improvements
  • Movement/terrain fixes (being stuck on ladders, rocks, etc...)
  • Fix for invisible doors\railings after repair
  • Balance changes and fixes
  • UI QoL improvements
  • And more

Once again, this update has largely been built around the most commonly reported issues and concerns from players over the last week or so and doesn't cover everything.

Fixing the solos being placed with teams issue is proving more complicated than anticipated, despite being one of our highest priorities. We're hoping to have this resolved in this update, but it is possible it may slip to a subsequent update or hotfix.

We understand how impactful and frustrating this is, but we have to make sure that this is fixed properly and permanently. We'll keep you all updated on our progress with this.

On another note, we wanted to address something that's been a contentious topic since we announced it in the roadmap; Gear Based Matchmaking.

We fully understand the collective effort of the community to preserve the fun and the core concept of extraction shooters.

This is exactly what we are also trying to do.

Because of this, we want to introduce this system as carefully and as non-invasively as possible for regular players. We are familiar with the most common mistakes players have faced in other games of this genre, and we are carefully studying them so we don't repeat the same mistakes. Let's address all concerns one by one.

1) "What is the point of progressing if you will be matched against the exact same opponents? There will be no feeling of getting stronger, and gear will have no meaning whatsoever."

The answer is this: feeling your progression, or pulling off a crazy run that significantly boosts your progress while being the underdog, is one of the most cherished and memorable experiences in the extraction genre. And we want to support that as much as possible.

However, there are two edge cases that have always been a huge pain point for this genre.

When you first start playing an extraction game, it is extremely hostile and difficult to learn because new players are thrown into the meat grinder against seasoned veterans. Gear-based matchmaking will give them a few matches of breathing room to learn the basics in less extreme conditions and become more confident before facing average players or veterans.

On the other hand, there are veteran players who have reached the top of the progression and are simply looking for fun and a good challenge. And the best kind of challenge is facing someone who is at least partially capable of fighting back. At that point, it becomes less about progression and more about creating cool moments by putting that progression to the test.

So, to sum it up: newbies will get a bit more breathing room, around 95% of the community will still play in the same queue, and players running insanely expensive builds will be nudged (not forced) toward opponents of similar power.

Which brings us to the second concern.

2) "It will make lobbies empty while searching for suitable opponents."

The answer is simple: GBMM is not forced.

Since most of the community will still be matched into the same pool, regular players should not experience longer queue times.

If you are one of the edge cases (a newbie or someone running an extremely powerful build), the matchmaking will first spend a few seconds trying to find the most suitable opponents. If it can't, it will simply proceed to fill the lobby from the shared player pool.

We will listen to your feedback and continue tuning the balance between GBMM priority and queue times to keep matchmaking as comfortable as possible.

3) "Why make gear-based matchmaking? Make it Trampler-based instead."

Actually, that's exactly what it is. Our earlier communication was slightly misleading, and we apologize for that.

We see this system as a combination of both. Your Trampler configuration and the gear you bring with you will together determine your "power level" for matchmaking.

Why is this necessary? Because it is possible to build a spacious Trampler that can house a large crew but has very limited combat capability. On the other hand, you can have the smallest Trampler possible while equipping it with experimental cannons and powerful artifacts.

4) "People will try to abuse the system and squeeze into another power level."

Yes, they probably will, and unfortunately there is no perfect remedy for that.

Because of this, we will not display any information about your power level or the type of lobby you are being matched into. You'll have to trust our judgment here.

Everything will run entirely behind the scenes on the backend, making it much harder to min-max your way into weaker or stronger lobbies.

5) "I'm a veteran player. Does this mean I'm permanently locked out from the main player base?"

No, absolutely not. We didn't forget about you.

This system is not a permanent rule. First of all, it does not judge your playtime, skill, or experience. The only thing it cares about is what you bring into the match. If you are running a reasonably powered Trampler, you will still be matched with the general player base.

And that's not all. Even if you are driving an incredibly powerful killing machine, the system will only try to find similarly equipped opponents for a few seconds. If it can't, it won't lock you into an empty lobby by yourself. You will still be matched with the general crowd and have the chance to wreak some havoc and feel like a raid boss.

TL;DR

  • The system is designed to give newbies some breathing room while learning the game and to provide veterans with a better challenge.
  • The system is not permanent or invasive. It will not lock you out of the general player pool if you reach a certain threshold. It will simply try to provide more suitable opponents first without making you wait several minutes.
  • It will be difficult to game the system since we won't expose any information about it on the frontend.
  • Most importantly, it will still preserve those exciting moments of progression and lucky runs, since the vast majority of the community will still end up playing in the same matchmaking pool.

Once again, your feedback is extremely important to us. Please tell us what you think and point out any edge cases or concerns that you think we may have missed.

Please don't hesitate to report any issues you encounter or share any feedback you might have following this update on our Steam Forums and Discord! 

Catch you on the dunes, Scavengers!

- Hologryph / tinyBuild Games

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1431300/view/697642648593239593?l=english

u/cristi93 — 2 months ago
▲ 26 r/SANDgame

Update #1 is out now!

https://preview.redd.it/drj8n47u0n9h1.jpg?width=965&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f923b3622f5d3f95b323f786ab2d2e4b70d49f9

We've been closely monitoring your feedback and reports since launch, and a huge thanks to everyone who has been active in helping us identify some key issues. Thanks to your contributions, we've now release our first update, which has been designed around addressing the most prevalent issues we've had brought to our attention over the last couple of days.

You can find the full list of update notes here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1431300/view/697642648593236673

FYI: We are continuing to address server issues and outages and have implemented a number of DDOS protections and are still working to get to the bottom of some other common issues (such as groups/teams appearing in solo matches), but we've made a lot of progress and we hope to have the majority of these resolved in our next update. Bear with us, we'll keep you updated.

And we also want to express our gratitude to the 100,000+ scavengers who have joined us on Sophie in just 4 days! We're incredibly grateful for your support and thrilled to have you along for the ride with us as we trample towards a 1.0 release in the future!

reddit.com
u/cristi93 — 2 months ago