Test Server Update: Select Your Spawn, Vehicle Exit, and More

What’s up everyone!

We’re excited for this build to land on the Test Server today as it’s packed with some pretty awesome features and much-needed fixes. As we mentioned on the Community Outbreak yesterday this build is coming in pretty hot, so bear with us as we continue to work on and polish it. As always, feedback is going to be key in making this a successful update, so please let us know what you do like and what you don’t so we can work on this together to make sure this patch is as solid as possible.

See you in the pit,

Carto

Air Drop Revamp:

• The airdrop bomber has been updated and replaced with a jet. This was done so the bomber has unique audio in an effort to increase player feedback and clarity.
• Bombs will no longer drop passed the 3rd gas phase regardless or when there are only 20 people remaining, whichever comes first.

Player Spawn Selection:

• Players can now select the quadrant of the map they’d like to spawn in while in the box of destiny
• The first gas ring will be shown on the map to select your spawn
  • The ring has been set to randomly show for some matches, but not for others. This is to allow us to do A/B testing on player behavior based on whether the ring shows so we can make an informed decision on how we’d like to move forward with this element of the feature

• There is a supporting heat map so players will understand where other players have selected to spawn
• In team games the team leader will select the spawn point for the team and team mates will be notified which quadrant was selected
• If a user does not select a quadrant one will be selected by default that is somewhere near the safe zone

New Scoring model:

We are moving away from a high kill top 10 scoring model and we have implemented one that focuses on 3 different segments:

• A users top 10 games will give them their base score
• A users average placement will then have a modifier value that is applied to the top 10 score
• A users average kills per match will then have a modifier value that is applied to the top 10 score

Once the modifiers have been applied a user will be given their ranking. This new system will challenge the player to play more conservative and be more consistent in their play but will still require them to see kills just not as aggressively as the current live scoring model. In the new system, players can de-rank, however rewards will be earned based on the highest rank achieved for a season.

High-Speed Vehicle Exit:

• Users will now execute a “combat roll” when exiting a vehicle at high speeds in an effort to reduce/remove COD rushing
• The user will not be able to shoot while executing the roll
• The delay and animation timing will always be consistent in order to allow other players the ability to read and react to someone rushing them
• There is an animation that will play from every seat in a vehicle

Weapon Adjustments:

Based on feedback we’ve received since our last update, we’ve fine-tuned some of the most used weapons in the game to make them feel a bit smoother, however none of these changes will impact timing or muscle memory.  Reset timing for tap shooting has been preserved.

AR-15:

• Reset delay has been slightly reduced
• Recoil acceleration rate has been slightly adjusted
• The end result is similar reset time that feels much “smoother” and less “clunky” and was made in response to community feedback
• Recoil growth was reduced in order to allow the weapon to be slightly sprayable at close range

AK-47:

• Semi Auto fire mode recoil growth was increased slightly
• Full Auto fire mode recoil growth was reduced slightly so sprayability is in line with the AR-15

Shotgun:

• Damage fall off distance has been slightly reduced
• Headshot multiplier has been slightly reduced
• Both of these changes were made to reduce the effective range of the shotgun while still keeping it potent in close quarters combat

Armor / Bleeding Mechanics

• Breaking a helmet no longer causes a bleed, only the intended damage
• Breaking armor no longer causes bleed or damage as the armor soaks up the shot completely. The sniper rifle and shotgun are the only exceptions to this rule.

Healing Adjustments

• Bandages now heal for 2HP up front and then an additional 8HP over time.
• Medkits now heal for 8HP up from and an additional 52HP over time.

Gameplay & UI Updates:

• In-game user interface has been updated to be much cleaner and require less screen area.
• Added a Mini-Map on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
• You can now move normally with the map open, similar to having the Inventory open.
• Footstep sound effects have received another tuning pass so that they are lower volume generally but still loud enough to make sure you can hear enemies coming.
• Updated the split-stack UI element for ease of use.
  • Keystrokes now immediately input to the numerical field (no longer have to click first).
  • Number keys (keypad and keyboard), backspace, delete are all accepted, and left and right arrow keys will move the cursor.
  • Clicking off or pressing escape closes the pop-up.

• Settings menus have been restructured and re-ordered to make more sense.
  • Settings are ordered by usage and importance and are generally grouped with similar options.
  • Added options for Team Voice Chat and Proximity Voice Chat.
  • Added headphone and panning options to the audio menu.
  • Mute Fort Destiny Proximity Voice option updated so that off means off.
  • Changed default Interact key to “E” (was “F”).

• Running over other players with a vehicle now shows the vehicle and skin used in the Kill Feed.
• The Hosted Games Spectate HUD is being updated to reflect the new in-game HUD.
• Default look, scoped, and aiming mouse sensitivity is now set to 10%.  
• Removed the glare from vehicle windows and windshields.
• Vehicles no longer lose turbo or torque until the condition is less than 20%.
• Drop shotting has been re-enabled
• You can now roll and shoot
• Seat swapping has been re-enabled
  • We will monitor this closely to see how this impacts COD rushing and will disable or make adjustments if required

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed numerous areas with inappropriate loot distribution, such as the supermarket in Pleasant Valley.
• Missed shots will no longer occasionally register as hits with blood spurts, despite it actually being a miss and the player taking no damage.
• Tree Quality and Flora Quality settings now correctly set the quality level in-game and persist when restarting the game client.
• Other players no longer occasionally appear on the wrong side of a tree when playing on low settings.
• Recoil no longer resets below its expected position after firing while aiming high while prone.
• First person camera angle now resets properly after releasing the free-look key while running.
• Vehicles take more consistent damage over time when flipped, regardless of whether they are flipped onto the hood or roof.
• Adjusted player animations when using a crossbow to keep the elbows more tucked in similar to other weapons.
• Players can no longer shoot through ceilings that can be reached by jumping and shooting.
• The size of thrown weapons (grenades, etc.) is no longer larger than intended.
• Map now scales properly when switching screen resolutions.
• Speedometer needle no longer overturns when driving at high speeds downhill.
• POI icons no longer overlap text in the compass.
• Certain skins no longer prevent kills from counting towards Hellfire SMG challenges.
• End screens now always show completed challenges.
• Added a prompt warning the user when they are scrapping an ultra-rare vehicle skin.
• Rapidly scrapping skins no longer bypasses the confirmation when scrapping the last skin.

Coming Soon – Just Not In This Build:

• Skull Store items - You can see these in the customization menu, just not in the Skull Store right now
• Match Rewards

Known Issues:

• Some of the end-screen windows overlap with each other.
• The camera for high-speed vehicle exit is not final.
• Backpack animations can get into a state where they move or fold incorrectly on the player.
• There are several instances of placeholder art in the Main Menu.
• The magnum is still spawning in the Combat Zone
• The “Respawn” button in Combat Zone says “Play Again”
• The “Respawn” screen in Combat Zone has a “Next” button that doesn’t function
• Players are parachuting in from lower than intended altitude
• Vehicle icons in the kill feed are rotated incorrectly