Squad Prepares the World for Pre-Alpha with Boot Camp Article Series

Squad is preparing the release of the Closed Pre-Alpha to both the world and Early Backers. But how do they prepare? By releasing a Boot Camp article series that dig into upcoming gamplay concepts, such as the HUD, map UI, and the 15 player kits.

Using Unreal 4, Squad aims to return large scale tactical realistic shooters to the PC gaming market, featuring a core group that have been working together for over 35 years combined. This series of Boot Camp articles will introduce the design philosophies that "have evolved from countless thousands of hours of gameplay, coding and testing over the last decade within the Dev team's prior mod Project Reality."

Here's a quick rundown of each Boot Camp Article:

1 - The Basics

“ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL. The base unit of Squad is not the individual, but the 9-man squad. Gameplay systems honed over years of experience with the Project Reality series draw the focus away from the lone-wolf player and much more on the cooperation with other members of your squad.”

2 - Voice Over IP

“INTEGRATED POSITIONAL VOIP COMMUNICATION, no need for third party programs, we're using the most effective codecs in-game. Speaking to other squad leaders across the map, or even the man next to you couldn't be easier. ALL THE TOOLS NEEDED FOR INTRA-SQUAD AND INTER-SQUAD COMMUNICATION built into the game. In the last ten years, the industry has moved away from providing proper command and communication features available out of the box. Squad will fix this.”

3 - Strategy & Level Design

“OPEN, EXPANSIVE LEVELS. Most of our maps will come directly or be heavily inspired from real world locations through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) satellite data, where authenticity and total tactical freedom to roam will always be part of the game.”

4 - Base Building & Deployables

“PLAYER-DRIVEN SPAWN-POINT AND BASE-BUILDING, which makes the front-lines of every match a unique experience. Players who prefer to construct rather than destruct have the capability to build fortifications and strong points for the team, and often play as important if not greater role than the ones doing the shooting.”

5 - Medical System

“A MEDICAL SYSTEM REFINED through 10 years of gameplay history. A revival system balanced to make medics and casualty evacuation an extremely critical part of the game, and with features like dragging coming to Squad, saving your buddy in the midst of battle is an experience like no other.”

While waiting for the Pre-Alpha, due for release mid-July, you can always check out the official Kickstarter page here, which runs until June 26.

At the time of this writing, there are 3,310 backers who have pledged $260,461, surpassing the goal of $149.718.