Hey everyone,
You can expect Patch 14.3 to drop today, at 2pm BST!
After PTE feedback confirmed less stuttering, we are hopeful this patch will improve performance, while we continue working on bringing optimisation updates with each new release. With this patch, you’ll be able to get hands on with the Practice Range, as well as the initial improvements to the stability of the British force’s firearms. We’re getting closer to an official timeline for the re-work of the British forces, which will include new, more accurate weapons, tanks, and uniforms - so make sure to keep an eye on future dev briefs!
There were some players confused by the time it took the last relatively small patch for Patch 14.2 to install on their PCs. Like all game updates on Steam, updates are downloaded and then patched, which depending on your hardware, may take some time while Steam readjusts the file structure.
Check out the changelog below, and we’ll see you on the 27th for the next Developer Briefing!
Patch 14.3 Changelog
Additional Logging
In this patch, we’ll also be turning on additional logging, which we hope will help prove our theory on what is causing the loadout bug. We have identified a number of potential failure points in the stats code, and the logging we have added will verify if any of these are happening. That additional info will help us determine a fix in the near future!
New Environments
- Basic Training
- Additional Content Hub
- Practice Range
Practice Range
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback on the Practice Range during the Patch 14.3 PTE, it was exceptionally useful and we are pleased that a lot of the feedback aligned with what we want to explore implementing in the future - including moving targets, the re-spawning of vehicles and helmets, renaming of garrisons, improved direction and hints, and, of course, having the ability to test each faction.
The first iteration of the Practice Range has been built within the game’s existing functionality which has meant that some of the above suggestions are not something we can introduce just yet, without risking adaptive changes inadvertently affecting live play.
The Practice Range was designed to be a way for players to test out the things they wouldn’t normally be able to do in a live game, rather than act as a tutorial environment. There is much work to be done to help onboard new players, and a tutorial is certainly something we would like to explore in the future.
For Patch 14.3, we have been able to begin actioning some of your feedback, including:
- Extending the shooting range to 500m - although you won’t be able to traverse this additional distance, the extension of the shooting range means players wanting to test out the Sniper role will have the ability to practice landing shots on targets up to 500m away.
- Additional obstacles and irregular terrain in the driving range - while there were some great ideas in the feedback from the PTE, we’ve been able to action a few of them by ensuring players have the opportunity to navigate driving past buildings, trenches, and slight inclines/declines in the terrain.
- Player-placed garrison spawning - players will now be able to build a garrison within the Building Yard, and spawn in on it.
- Added the US Half-track - which can also be used as a way to test redeploying on.
- Scarecrow target head shots - headshot SFX will now play when hitting the head, not just the helmet
Optimisation
- Performance improvements to a range of maps
- Some LOD fixes to address transition issues
General Improvements
- Improved micro-stutters
- [Increased] Commander Level Requirement from 10 to 30
- [Added] [PC] Additional ultrawide screen support
We are continuing to work on optimising ultrawide support, and are working on resolving the following issues for a future patch:
- Some UI and menus leave blank spaces on either side of the screen when playing on an ultrawide display
- Character previews in the Select Your Role menu may appear too large when playing in ultrawide
- The tank commander’s periscope overlay is scaled up in ultrawide resolutions, resulting in a significantly larger field of view
- Seams can be seen at the top and bottom of the screen when in the gunner's seat of the Stuart light tank on an ultrawide display
- Seams can be seen at the top and bottom of the screen when in the gunner's seat of the BA-10 recon vehicle on an ultrawide display
- Black bars are visible on the left and right sides of the screen in ultrawide when gunning the Panzer IV medium tank
British Forces Improvements
- [Fixed] British weapons have increased sway when ADSing While most weapons have now been tackled, the P14 and No.4 Mk1 are still in need of improvements. For more information on what new weapons will be introduced as part of the British forces rework, please click here.
- [Fixed] British recon tank will pull to the last turned direction when driving straight
- [Fixed] British Lewis Gun MG shots appear to be slightly off-centre from sights
- [Fixed] Zeroed British Weapon Sights
- [Fixed] All Lee-Enfield variants have a stuttering animation and are misaligned while reloading from a TPP
- [Fixed] Ping is off-centre when using the British binoculars
- [Fixed] Sten gun dropping off at 100m
Removed
- Legacy game analytics potentially causing performance issues
Player Locomotion
- [Fixed] Players can dive to prone by going in the prone position while jumping
This bug allowed players to essentially glitch into the prone position while jumping- and has previously been used as both a way to get out of sticky situations, as well as access normally inaccessible areas, such as rooftops and other platforms to gain an unfair advantage on the battlefield.
We understand that some players have provided feedback regarding the removal of this unintended bug, both during the Patch 14.3 PTE and since, as well as understand that while prone jumping can give players an unfair advantage, it could also be used to traverse the vaulting system when it fails, and add a degree of verticality into their playstyle.
However, with it’s removal in Patch 14.3, we have started the process of laying the ground work that, together with your feedback, will support bringing back a revised version of the Dive to Prone functionality. As part of that work, we have fixed prone jumping - to prevent certain conflicts with the actions, ensuring there are no unintended exploits or behaviours when using it.
We’re still making some final tuning adjustments to the new version, and have had to make sure that Dive to Prone couldn’t be used in mid-air, and have also made adjustments to the cooldown for changing stance too soon after diving, added more friction to reduce the slide distance, as well as limited direction change mid-dive, plus introduced a floor-impact shake. We’ll bring you all the details about these changes in a future developer briefing!
Improvements to the vaulting system are also underway to make it more responsive, which includes ensuring vaulting and climbing operate consistently in accordance with height and distance parameters.
This should mean that vault will be used only for vaulting over things, and climb will only be used to climb onto things, and the system should no longer play the wrong animations causing players to glitch and get stuck, particularly when vaulting through windows.
We’re also carrying out work to make sure vaulting won’t trigger in error for any obstacle below a certain height. Improvements to the third-person vaulting animations has also been carried out across both code and animation to address certain issues.
We hear your feedback, and are making progress with these locomotion improvements, but first want to make sure we remove any issues that can cause conflicts with Dive to Prone.
You’ll soon be able to get hands on with the new Dive to Prone, plus improved vaulting, in a PTE session, so please keep an eye out on future dev briefs and in the #telegrams channel on Discord!
General Bug Fixes
[Fixed] FOV issues in tanks for players with ultrawide monitors
[Fixed] The Panther heavy tank has a faster reload time
[Fixed] Doubled up explosion VFX
[Fixed] Animation issue for Nagant M1895 when reloading
[Fixed] MGs clip through the player model when shooting while being prone and while looking up
[Fixed] Player's left hand becomes unattached from two handed weapons when sprinting in TPP
[Fixed] [PC] Many servers are not appearing in the "All Servers" tab of the Enlist Screen
[Fixed] Player's hand appears offset from their equipped weapon or tool, becoming increasingly offset as FoV is increased
[Fixed] Bullet impact VFX will remain stationary while factory machinery is moving
[Fixed] Broken animation can be observed when going prone while ADS-ing the M97 Trench Gun
[Fixed] There is no mention of the Kharkov map in the Field Manual
[Fixed] MG42 shooting SFX is quieter when single firing
[Fixed] Stone PFX and SFX are present when shooting a German Outpost
[Fixed] US Smoke grenade SFX are delayed and do not match VFX
[Fixed] Flashlight attached to M1941 Summer Field Jacket does not move realistically with body
[Fixed] Pistols are misaligned from characters hand on the Front End and Change Role Menu
[Fixed] No SFX is heard when equipping the Anti-Tank wrench
[Fixed] Weapon displacement appears when stood leaning left and aiming down sights with certain weapons across all factions
[Fixed] Field Manual entry for Driel is incorrect
[Fixed] 'Panther' tank has misspelled name when showing the end game score
[Fixed] Destroyed Cromwell tank is awarded as 'Sherman Destroyed'
[Fixed] Shotguns play bullet drop SFX
[Fixed] Flare guns play bullet drop SFX
[Fixed] All Lee-Enfield variants have a stuttering animation and will be misaligned while reloading from a TPP
[Fixed] British weapons have increased sway when ADSing
[Fixed] No ejecting empty cartridge cases animation when reloading Rifle No.4 Mk1
[Fixed] Kharkov map is missing in the Field Manual
[Fixed] British recon tank will pull to the last turned direction when driving straight
Remagen
[Fixed] Supply boxes cannot be placed (almost) anywhere on the Ludendorff bridge
[Fixed] Canvas covered assets use canvas bullet penetration values, allowing all types of bullets to shoot through them
[Fixed] [F9] Sheds present wooden PFX and SFX
[Fixed] Grey canvas covered boxes display stone PFX, SFX and bullet mark decals
[Fixed] [E3] Sandbags around an artillery gun have improper bullet FX
Kharkov
[Fixed] [F6] Large Rubble pile has improper collision which allows the player to enter it in some areas
[Fixed] [F5] Player can hide inside a column in the St Mary’s Church
[Fixed] [F3] Half-Track wreck presents the incorrect PFX and SFX
[Fixed] [F1] The pillars of a brick building display metal PFX and SFX
[Fixed] Bridge supports have stone PFX
[Fixed] Wooden planks display stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] A pile of planks presents stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] [F5] Stone Stairs in Church Entryway Have Wood PFX
[Fixed] Yellow brick house model has metal SFX and PFX
[Fixed] Wooden assets have stone SFX and PFX
[Fixed] [F4] Stone fence inside of St Mary's Church has no bullet collision
[Fixed] A well asset presents stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] Bullet decals are not present on train wagons
[Fixed] An interior lantern presents laser beam instead of flame
[Fixed] Metal pot has wood PFX
[Fixed] Destroyed Recon vehicle has Stone PFX/SFX
[Fixed] Snowdrifts present dirt SFX and PFX
[Fixed] [E9] A metal pot hanging from a tree branch present in sector E9, presents wood PFX and SFX instead of metal when shot
[Fixed] [F3] Half-Track wreck presents the incorrect PFX and SFX.
[Fixed] [F1] The pillars of a brick building display metal PFX and SFX
[Fixed] Wooden planks display stone PFX and SFX.
[Fixed] [F5] Stone Stairs in Church Entryway Have Wood PFX
[Fixed] A pile of planks presents stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] An interior lantern presents laser beam instead of flame
[Fixed] [F1] The pillars of a brick building display metal PFX and SFX
[Fixed] [F3] Half-Track wreck presents the incorrect PFX and SFX.
[Fixed] [F5] Player can hide inside a column in the St Mary Church
El Alamein
[Fixed] Tessellation issues are present in multiple sectors while ADSing
The LOD on the landscape changes based on the amount of screen space it takes up, and when we ADS, the weapon takes up a big part of the screen space meaning the landscape takes up less. This can sometimes trigger the LOD to change and create a landscape-warping effect.
To fix this, we need to tune the minimum screen value to a point where we can ADS without triggering the LOD. Unfortunately, a side effect of this change involves adding more triangles to the landscape.
Sometimes, we may need to do this manually, rather than let Unreal choose where we tessellate, and set it up on the landscape shader where we only tessellate within a set distance from the player.
This can then be used to gradually reduce the amount of tessellation, and are able to only add this detail where it is needed around the player.
[Fixed] The terrain surrounding the trenches were misaligned with the environment
[Fixed] Destroyed trucks have stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] Palm Trees present LoD transition issues
[Fixed] [B4] Corner Sandbag asset appears discoloured
[Fixed] [J5] Multiple mudbanks are misaligned near an artillery
[Fixed] [I5] Stone well sand presents tessellation issues
[Fixed] [G5] Sandbags are misaligned in sector G5 on El Alamein
[Fixed] [D5] Village has multiple instances of misalignment with terrain and z-fighting
[Fixed] Incorrect penetration value in the front area of a preplaced covered truck
[Fixed] Pre-placed destroyed artillery asset has the incorrect bullet penetration value
[Fixed] Pre-placed artillery covered with camouflage net has the incorrect bullet penetration value
[Fixed] Palm Tree asset has incorrect bullet penetration value
[Fixed] The terrain surrounding the trenches is misaligned with the environment
[Fixed] [A7] Misaligned mudbanks are present near a trench in sector A7.
[Fixed] [A7] Hedgehog is misaligned with ground compared to alternate Hedghehog
[Fixed] [J5] A metal barrel is clipping with a vehicle wheel
[Fixed] [J8] Snow Material is present on a number of barrels in this sector
[Fixed] [F4] - The terrain near a trench in sector F4 is misaligned
[Fixed] [C8] The corner of the building found in sector C8 is misaligned
[Fixed] Climbing on a specific tank asset will set the player on fire
[Fixed] [B3][D8] The outpost can be placed inside the water well in multiple sectors on El Alamein
[Fixed] [I5] Multiple misaligned rubble piles present in sector I5
[Fixed] [F8] Misaligned sand border from a trench is present in sector F8
[Fixed] [F8] Floating building structure is present in sector F8
[Fixed] [H7] Plane is clipping into floor
[Fixed] [C4] Floating rock pile located in sector C4
[Fixed] Loading into El Alamein displays multiple locations while the map renders
[Fixed] Boxes cannot be placed anywhere on the metal platforms of the military watchtower
[Fixed] [H6] Planes switch to a grey texture when viewed from 60m away
[Fixed] Boxes cannot be placed anywhere on the metal platforms of the military watchtower
[Fixed] Destroyed trucks have stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] El Alamein's loading screen dates are incorrect
[Fixed] Incorrect penetration value in the front area of a preplaced covered truck
[Fixed] Palm Trees present LoD transition issues
[Fixed] Tessellation issues are present in multiple sectors while ADSing
[Fixed] [I5] Stone well sand presents tessellation issues
[Fixed] Palm Tree asset has incorrect bullet penetration value
[Fixed] Pre-placed artillery covered with camouflage net has the incorrect bullet penetration value
[Fixed] Pre-placed destroyed artillery asset has the incorrect bullet penetration value
Carentan
[Fixed] [C6] Player will fly into the air when vaulting over a specific wall
[Fixed] [J6] Concrete Pipe and Wall have missing textures
Hurtgen
[Fixed] When bullets penetrate the Guard House asset, bullet entry and exit location decals are not observed.
[Fixed] Fire particles on trees have LOD issues on Hurtgen Map
[Fixed] Sandbags show metal SFX and PFX when part of ruined AT gun trench asset.
[Fixed] [I8] Multiple haystacks and hay bales present stone SFX and PFX
[Fixed] [B6] Trees in the middle of the trench block player's path
[Fixed] [F4] Wooden board is not aligned with the terrain
Sainte-Marie-du-Mont
[Fixed]
Feathers VFX are visible when shooting the buckets [Fixed] There is a low quality tree asset which can be observed throughout the map [Fixed] [E8] The floor of a building asset presents dirt PFX and SFX
Purple Heart Lane
[Fixed] [C3] LOD transition issue present on a Tree Trunk asset
[Fixed] [E7] Multiple branch assets in sector E7 exhibits abrupt LOD change
[Fixed] [C3] Wooden fence asset presents stone PFX and SFX in Sector C3
[Fixed] Wooden floor of multiple house assets has incorrect bullet penetration value
[Fixed] [F2] Potted plants asset has no bullet penetration
[Fixed] Three canvas covered boxes present the incorrect PFX
[Fixed] Stone house asset with wood PFX/SFX
Kursk
[Fixed] There is an LoD transition issue with the crop field at about 70 meters
[Fixed] Certain bush asset changes size on different video settings
[Fixed] Wooden poles present stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] [F8] Invisible player collision present in trench
[Fixed] Certain bush asset changes size on different video settings
[Fixed] Wooden poles present stone PFX and SFX
[Fixed] Invisible player collision present in trench
Foy
[Fixed] [D3] There is a LoD transition issue with a destroyed artillery asset when viewed from a distance of 33m.
Driel
[Fixed] Flowers from wooden pots have bullet penetration
[Fixed] [D6] Bullets decals remain stationary on the moving gear wheel found in the factory in D6
[Fixed] [H9] [Console] FPS drops below 50 FPS in H9 sector on Driel map
[Fixed] Plant pot besides well asset has metal PFX/SFX
[Fixed] The level of water decreases whenever the player approaches
[Fixed] Brick pile beside well asset has incorrect & unusual PFX / VFX
[Fixed] Driel's loading screen dates are incorrect
[Fixed] Tree asset appears to be missing leaf textures
[Fixed] Trees will enter a low LOD Level when viewed from a distance, but then increase when ADSing
Utah
[Fixed] Multiple boat assets present metal PFX
Stalingrad
[Fixed] [B6] A pile of rubble is floating above the ground
[Fixed] [E3] A pillar is clipping through a building
[Fixed] [F8] A water pump asset is misaligned from the terrain
[Fixed] [F8] A locker asset is misaligned with the ground
[Fixed] [F8] A rock pile is misaligned with the ground
[Fixed] [G5] A pile of concrete slabs is misaligned with the ground
[Fixed] [I8] Misaligned rubble texture located in sector I8
[Fixed] [I7] Misaligned rubble texture located in sector I7
[Fixed] [D7] Misaligned tree trunks can be seen along the road
[Fixed] [C7] Misaligned debris pile
Sainte-Mère-Église
[Fixed] [B8] Cart wheel clipping through terrain in sector B8
[Fixed] [C8] Players can get stuck in between a house and a large bush
Hill 400
[Fixed] Bullet impact VFX will remain stationary while factory machinery is moving
Omaha
[Fixed] Kill volume for 'turn back' warning is too small and can be bypassed