Squad's Latest Developer Q&A Was Absolutely AWFUL 

Hey Moidawg! I'm the new Community Manager for Squad. There were a couple of reasons for the delay. 1. I inherited an incomplete Q&A that had been started before I joined the team, I did what I could in the space of a week to get something together! 2. We said in a couple of places in the Q&A doc, that we have some other communications planned for the near future that meant paring down the Q&A was a better option for us, to save these bigger beats to their own announcements etc. Sorry that you felt the Q&A was awful. And for anyone mentioning Optimization, I have talked about it a little bit in the official Discord, but optimization of Squad is going to be something that the team will be striving for, every update where it's possible. In hindsight, we could have included even a small bit about that in the Q&A. Anyway, nice to officially 'meet', I've been a watcher for years. ^Ceeg

They need to do a vehicle combat overhaul before even thinking of adding stuff like thermals. That just seems OP as hell.

Unless they are saying "we are focusing on extensive optimization" I don't want to hear it

The funniest thing was at the beginning of the Q&A post, it stated "We have taken the time to select ten (10) questions to answer." They emphasized the 10 and then proceeded to post 9 questions.

Squad devs are like "I got plans that I can't share with you right now because the haters will sabotage me"

before the ICO, i wanted new factions, but now I just want optimization because I can't run the game anymore... 😢

I think what the question about the laser range finder, was mostly referencing the FCS present in modern vehicles, which basically runs a laser range finder through a balistic computer to automatically adjust the gun to the range, windage, and atmospheric conditions allowing for accurate targeting at extremely long range. Although clearly this was not picked up by the devs.

No performance related questions? I find it hard to believe no one asked about that. I upgraded my PC to a 7800X3D and 7900 XTX thinking I would have a perfectly smooth experience, but the game still stutters randomly in many scenarios

Happy to hear they have no plans on ending support for the game. Would have loved to see at least a hint at what faction(s) are upcoming, perhaps a word on new features like attack helicopters, shotguns, AA roles, etc. What ever happened to the T-90 and BMP-3 they talked about being added years ago?

It took them over 5 weeks to answer 9 questions that they made up themselves (which defeats the purpose of a Q&A) and it's so sloppy that they didn't even bother to count the number of questions they answered (the post says they selected 10 questions to answer).

The lack of questions about anti air emplacements/manpads, attack helos and the Javelin launcher is telling. I really want guided HAT kits to even the odds against thermal sights on tanks and IFVs

Thermals haven't yet been done right in a game and they've been unbalanced as a result. Terrain temperature has always been cold, heat radiance has never existed, digital zoom has never been properly introduced (apart from tarkov maybe?) and the result is that you can always identify a target. Thermal is great in that you can see a target a long way away through brush or whatever, but identifying friend from foe can become difficult without context, because you can be looking at single digital pixels and dealing with contrast issues in hot areas.

After the new voting system I think I have only played turkey 1 time. So I think some tweaks are in order.

Yes, burning hot questions the whole community has been wondering like “when are we getting a TOW rework” or “when we getting player progression?”

I couldn't agree more, it barely gave us any informationa and barely adddresed performance which is one of the biggest problems

Structures like the insurgent tire fire would be very effective against vehicles equipped with thermal cameras. If more things that produced a LOT of heat and light were introduced, it would be a good way for infantry to distract or blind the thermal vehicles.

Vehicles need an overhaul, ERA working, more accurately modelled armour, so hull down positions would be viable, open tops being able to duck, commanders and open top gunners being able to get out of their hatch and use their primary weapon for close range defence, something owi, pls

I would take a guess that when it came to the thermal and laser range finder question they meant the ballistic computer that modern MBTs have that can take the info from the laser range finder and then auto adjust the gun to the set range, and even set the lead on a target. (this question was likely from a War Thunder player, as in game the ballistic computer module is just bundled with the laser range finder module)

I've got worries with the thermals, I remember what they were like in Steel Division, and while they were really cool, they were also very very powerful and I can't help but be concerned with balance.

It would be so cool if there could be a list in the end of a match to show how many vehicles and radios etc. was destroyed (and by whom).

Honestly need a mandatory bootcamp mode going over game modes and basic tactics and need to know shit before going into a match. Fix the dam new player/rando problems before any more bells and whistles. People not playing obj and communicating are ruining the game far more than any part/mechanic of the actual game

OWI fumbling again? couldnt be true.... not like its happening for the last few years, only good thing was ICO

I think that the bit about the laser rangefinders for the MBTs and IFVs is that when a target is laser rangefinded the gun elevation will automaticly set itself to score a hit.

This QnA reminds me of the movie scenes where the character who is shocked or frightened says "They're coming!" "They're Listening" "They're watching!" without actually clarifying who THEY are.

also yeah this Q & A was probably the worst one ive ever seen in general tbh

if vicks are getting thermals they need to buff LAT and HAT stability. It takes forever to stabilize after moving even just a little.

I think what was meant by "adding laser-rangefinder" was a real laser rangefinder that immediately sets the sight up to the range. Like in modern MBTs (T-72B3M, M1A2 Abrams, Leopard 2A4/5/6, etc.) where you lase your target, the scope automatically sets up the range and you fire.

The ATGM rework was mentioned in the last QA and its been a topic ever since the Javelin was teased since it relates to having fire and forget missiles

I think everyone missunderstood the laser rangefinder question. I think they were referring to a realistic laser rangefinder, in real life you dont center your tanks optic crosshair to measure range and adjust manually for the projectiles fall off. Im sure they meant if theres ever gonna be rangefinders like in war thunder, GHPC, etc. A for real laser rangefinder.

I kind of don't get why they even released a Q&A this month...doesn't seem like they had much to report.

UE5 programming will probably need an extensive rewrite, we have been looking into it in our sim we develop

Looking at the pervious answers on the Q&A you showed it seems like they were written by the developers and this one (especially going by the pinned comment) was written by a "Community Manager" otherwise known as the most useless job in the gaming industry.

Saying we have laser range finders without having being lazed on alerts on the tanks is kind of odd.

Is it possible for them to add a feature that requires a set amount of hours played in order to join a server or does that violate some terms of service

Are there any private servers that run the game pre ICO?

I’m very upset they have not said anything about performance or optimization. I think that making the game run the best it can should always be a priority of a developer. What’s the point of making a great game if no one can run it?

I don’t know anything about OWI or Squad, but in my experience with these PR things, it’s usually someone from marketing or sales aggregating the questions. The list is sent over to the dev team manager (usually the night before lol) who in turn farms it out to the newer engineer or intern etc.

Anyone have any idea on how much it would cost the devs to add in something like thermals? Or how long something like that will take to create?

this feels like an after thought. whoever was incharge of this QA was just not cared about or something fell through to make it a meaningful QA. UE5 squad would def would be siiick

The only progression that I would support is some character customization that's unlocked like rising storm 2 vietnam, where the progression doesn't affect anything but some cosmetics of uniforms, like having a torn to shit uniform. Plus some weapon stats so you can see how bad a shot you are.

I believe the LRF for vehicles was more oriented towards laz'ing the target and the fire control system automatically adjust the guns ballistics for it, like in real life.

when are we getting night maps and nods

I have come to see that squad is a bit tanky meaning the vehicle spam is getting top tier which can be a bit annoying when playing infantry.

If they do add thermals for vehicles, it would be cool to see it on the command seat, not on the gunner. Adds usability to a usually empty seat, adds more teamwork, and tones down the "overpoweredness" of a thermal gunner sitting miles away plonking at signatures. Adding a long range javelin or similar ones would be more than fine if vics get thermals, maybe with a large minimum range encouraging vics to close the distance.

I don't recognize any of these questions from the thread. Very disappointing

The scope of questions they chose to answer lies within the desires of the developers. If they had it all figured out, it'd be in the game already. There is no more information. Either way, 3 million times 50 = 150 million... chop chop OWI... I hope they implement a real-time overview of troop movements, like from War Of Rights. -Even the campaign system that persists throughout the rounds would be incredible. At the very least; some better maps please.

Maybe they can add thermals that only show for vehicles and not infantry?

Kinda new coming from Arma... just wondering... what's the opinion of potential AI implementation in Squad?

how about not losing 30 fps when you scope in? how about not losing your entire kit in middle of a map since Ahole squad leader decides to kick you? maybe fix these.

I'd like a thermal scope for infantry Maybe it's limited to a scout class that only has an iron site main weapon. I think it would encourage more teamwork as your squads scout can be identifying enemies for his team mates.

I hope they work on the bug and makes your game constantly stutter that everyone gets. Edit yes lazerrange finders are in the game but a BIG feature of it isn’t here. You can laze a target hit a button and it will auto range you so you don’t have to compensate for drop bc it does it for you. The sole purpose of a laser range finder, not to just see the range but to also auto adjust your aim so it hits dead on.

4:50 I think the person means acutal laser rangefinders like press a button it lases and then auto corrects for range SquadV mod has it and works perfectly fine

just an ideaa , but since they added the new faction voting and sub factions, what if sub factions had specific commander assets, like logi card could call in a 2000-2000 supply drop on a fob, or where you want to build one. Also in regard to the Q&A the questions didnt feel like real questions. felt like OW Just made the questions them self's because they couldn't give good answers to the real ones.

Oh shoot that was my question at the end

I think this q&a was alright, I think some of the vague topics you brought up specifically ue5 were a bit nit picky but for sure a vague q&a and no I didn't know they were doing a tow overhaul either. Another great vid 👍

Had no idea about the tow rework, had the same reaction haha

I can understand being vague since if you’re specific people will whine later on about “what happened to this?” when it ended up not being a good fit. But also why even do the q&a then?

I got 4090, everything top of the line. I get around 70fps with gpu and cpu both running at 25%. Tf? Squad optimalization is so bad it won't use the horsepower. When I play Darktide, full rtx, everything at max, 200-300 fps. My friends who don't have so much horsepower really struggle with squad.

Vehicles get stuck too easy ,can't they do something about that.Also a Vehicle damage overhaul would be nice too but i guess im asking too much 😞.

the "tow-launcher rework" is the ATGM rework in general (they mentioned it a few times in the past) Pretty much making some of them "smart" to a degree, allowing for stuff like javelins, stingers etc to properly work, target stuff automatically and no longer have every missle be "a projectile that follows the middle of the screen" iirc also more "realistic" stuff like the kornet flying in a proper spiral, allowing tow's for top attack etc

What squad needs is a full on replay system. Would not only close the game loop but also force multiplying content creators

Wow I'm more confused after that Q&A then before. Would also bring some legitimacy to it if the users that asked those questions were listed like previous Q&As

Optimization please. Squad44 had a recent optimization patch. Maybe yall should learn something from them.

This game has unlimited potential. I feel it can beat even BF with good optimalization and keeping the updates as they are now.

Yes, Q&A* is open! We even had someone type out an answer in advance for optimization. *We will only answer other questions if they are obscure one-offs, and we will only provide vague answers because we are scared of commitment.

Right now the only way to counter to armor is more armor. Infantry is utterly useless without an ammo box because if the hit point system for vehicles. There needs to be some kind of module/War Thunder-esque (I say esque bc WT isnt realistic lol) to balance tanks.

Glad to hear they are overhauling commander soon at least. Weve had the same 4 assets without any changes since alpha v0.17

To be fair, I don't think they have a plan They might have a lot of ideas, but no plan to make them true

All I want is the end of these goddamn stutters. They say it's a network sync issue Squad has. Also the optimization is awful, low fps+stutters make me alt-f4 instantly.

Yeah, why did they stop sharing who asked the questions and who answered them?

I though VRAM was Video Random Access Memory.. But that old answer from the devs 12:20 it says Virtual RAM (VRAM).. I mean not a great start to an answer of any kind unless i'm just unaware that people also call it virtual RAM..

Had a game that it was turkey infantry vs Canada armor on a small map. We'll we all know turkey don't have a hat kit so the game was very one sided. Canada had 3 lavs and had nothing to worry about.

It's long past time IMHO to add night vision for infantry on night maps. The conventional factions could all be reasonably well matched. Some would say the insurgents and militia would be at a disadvantage but they don't have to be. Paramilitary groups in Iraq and Syria field a combination of commercial thermal and soviet era NVGs. Perhaps for realism they could make insurgent or militia night vision less prevalent (i.e. something for an SL or a specialist class) and add flares for example to offset.

this QA felt like speaking too a brick wall lol

if vehicles get thermals, at kits need a major buff as well, javelins, more ammo for rockets, less resupply cost, higher damage

5:17 I think maybe the question was more about the lazer auto zero

Players want a live service game level of support with a game getting updates for years, but without the live service part… They cannot continue working on the game for years if they don’t have more revenue streams

I've been waiting to come back to squad due to the lack of thermal optics on the vehicles. They are a massive asset and I long for the days of Project Reality.

To me this was just acknowledging that these things aren't forgotten so people would stop pestering them about it. No real news, but sometimes that is the most honest answer?

hehe the Tow launcher rework. Of course. Yeah idk its weird that its such a short list and all of the questions feel very... handpicked.. but I mean in any community you have those people that ask the same questions that were already answered or some silly pot dream questions like the Unity 5 one.

It’s crazy how far this game has fallen.

All I know is that they would rather add three Chinese factions rather than update the existing factions; the British Armed Forces faction is stuck using unstabalized warriors IFVs and slow FV432 APCs even though they've been replaced with AJAX and BOXER platforms, on top of giving the british the 330 Puma helicopter was a stupid idea considering its the oldest of all the in-service UK helicopters and also has its replacement, even in the old Project Reality game they gave the BAF the Lynx helicopter which was a much smarter choice.

Squad has a lot of potential to be better and we’re here for their support but they need to be up front with the community

"Wow this is absolutely worthless" meme in this Q&A. Holy shit

gameplay is good but the game runs like such hot garbage, its clunky , its rubber bandy-- just feels awful.

HAB/FOB rework is needed. Below is something I have been championing for along time. The dumb proxy mechanic is just dumb. The Q+A was a was of time reading it. ---- below is something i'm constantly saying. PCAT, a long time Squad player told me his idea for proxy mechanic that beat my own idea of reworking proxy mechanic. PCAT said proxy should depend on the number of allies vs number of enemies within a certain range (I'll add here should be a closer to HAB range than it currently is). For example I'd there are 3 allies nearby and 2 enemies nearby, HAB should NOT deactivate. If there are 2 allies nearby and 3 enemies nearby the HAB should deactivate. I believe his thought was that this could potentially allow for on cap or very very close to cap HABs the ability to be successful without being overpowered. This would lead to better back and forth game play and chances for OUT PLAYING the enemies. My idea wasn't as well thought out. I propose removing proxy all together but making the HABs easier to knock the roofs off as the balance. Example combat engineers should have the easier time taking the roof of themselves with explosives or AT hitting it with rocket. Armor should have the easiest time like an MBT should be able to 1 shot HABs to stakes. 50Cal for a certain amount should also remove the roof. Both ideas at the heart of it gives more power to HABs, which will lead to less building and replacing of lost HABs. There is a better balance of game play to them as well. Especially now that we move much slower. Other community members should think of other ideas as well. Also combat engineers explosives could also be able to one shot radios, but give longer bleed out timers.(This last idea I just thought of and haven't let it cook in my head enough so don't get hung up on this).

Thermals is what killed inf vs vehicle balance on BF4, it made killing inf extremely easy with no real counter except for flares that nobody used.

by the time squad updates to ue5, ue6 will be out, mark my words

10:38 this is my problem with the Squad development, the devs flip flop between Realism and not. They say they want to make the game as realistic as possible with TOW mechanics and thermals but when it comes to my fully trained soldier being unable to hold a gun correctly after walking a few steps they say “oh its NOT supposed to be realistic, thats just for immersion”

Optimize the damn game. Random fps stutter for no reason only in sqad.

Commendations should be player lead. End of match voting for awards

What we need is a vehicle rework

These were really awful. Right now the vehicles need a rework, PLA Marines need some kind of an identity, and the ICO needs some more tweaking especially with some of the ARs, and most importantly we need optimisation. For Tanks, a warthunder system is the logical step forward, the PLA Marines feel like the PLA but blue, and I just learned that there is a PLA Amphibious faction? Like what was the point? For the ARs, I understand they don't want people doing full auto run and gun. However these guns are designed so that they can deliver multiple rounds down range in full auto while being easier to transport and more accurate.

Need to be able to dig trenches with the shovel.

Player count took a dip this weekend, see if that continues up to June for 1 year anniversary of ICO.

Reload Bug are still happening even it already said Fixed by Dev.

Where are the attack helicopters?

I think they just used chat GPT to answer those questions.

optimisation first

I know squad is more complicated but warthunders armor has fully finctioning systems, squad has been out forever now