A new monthly update for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will be deployed later this week, Bluehole confirmed on Tuesday, featuring a combination of bug fixes, client improvements and a smattering of new content for the two million (and counting) players enthralled by the shooter. We also got an update on some of the PUBG server issues we’ve seen in recent weeks. But it’s going to be another few weeks before most Battlegrounds fans see any big changes in server performance.
The new content in the next PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds update is pretty limited. Motorcycles without an attached sidecar will now spawn in PUBG, presumably in the same locations where players could already find the three-rider version. Bluehole has also introduced a new sniper rifle, the VSS. The latest long gun in the game’s growing armory chambers 9mm ammo and features a permanent 4x scope. It also comes equipped with a suppressor. Players will occasionally find the VSS in care packages and it will also be a “very rare” loot spawn.
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Bluehole also addressed recent server performance issues that have frustrated the community. Countless players have voiced concerns and complaints about the lag situation, even suggesting that the problem was Bluehole’s alleged unwillingness to pay for servers capable of keeping up with the game’s growing audience. The game’s creator, Brendan Green, a.k.a “PlayerUnknown,” pushed back against that assertion, assuring fans the studio has been paying for the best machines offered by Amazon Web Services. Greene revealed an ongoing investigation of the problem, which requires profiling each server individually, and confirmed that June’s monthly patch will focus on server performance and other optimizations.
Here are patch notes for the next PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds monthly update:
Client Performance
Improved CPU usage for world level streaming
Improved rendering performance of fences
Improved rendering performance of grass
Improved rendering performance for weapons and attachments seen at distance
Improved rendering performance by modifying certain weapon and vehicle effects that were unnecessarily rendered at distance
Improved character animation performance
Improved effect performance
Improved the performance of team-mate name plate, map and mini-map in teamplay
Content
Added VSS. A suppressed sniper rifle with permanent 4X scope & chambered for 9mm ammo. This new weapon can be found in carepackages & as a very rare loot spawn
Added Motorbike
Gameplay
Reduced the moving speed of the two final play zones for better engagement during the endgame
Made a balance pass on certain weapons:
Vector
Reduced bullet damage slightly
Increased deviation gain per shot
Winchester/S686/S12K
Reduced pellet damage slightly
AKM
Increased bullet damage slightly
Fixed an issue where the players alive count would reduce when a player disconnected. Now the count will only go down upon the players death.
Action & Gunplay
Now players can put stock attachments on following weapons:
SKS : Sniper rifle cheek pad
Vector : Tactical stock (for M416)
Adjusted the color of the aiming point for the basic crossbow scope.
Added new scope rendering method (parallax free) allowing for greater aiming precision
https://twitter.com/PUBATTLEGROUNDS/status/866623042922790912
Improved ADS view
Modified recoil for following weapons: AKM, SCAR, M16, M416
Fixed an issue allowing a player to zoom in with right click when waiting before throwing a grenade
Decreased the time to ADS when using the 2X scope
Vehicle
Added punctured wheel effect and sound
Added burnt markings to vehicles after being destroyed
Added the motorbike number plate image
When a vehicle explodes, the fences near the vehicle will now also be destroyed
World
Added new vegetation to the lobby
UI
Players can press ‘delete’ to remove their marker placed on the world map
Adjusted the transparency of mini-map grid and coordinates text to make the map more visible
Added a dotted line towards the next play zone on the mini-map
Modified the icon design of the First Aid Kit
Added Thai language in language options
Added new key bindings for hold breath, motorbike air control and switch to previous weapon
Sound
Improved the sound of Motorbike
Added sound for door destruction effect
Bugfixes
Fixed a bug that caused vehicles to be spawned in garages consistantly. Vehicles should be spawned at a higher rate in garages, but not at 100%
Fixed an issue that disabled bullet tracing for SKS
Fixed a bug that caused the game client to crash when a flashbang goes off
Partially fixed bug that caused a character to get stuck in terrain, buildings or objects
Partially fixed a bug that caused a vehicle to get stuck in buildings, fences or other vehicles
Partially fixed a bug that caused items to be unlootable
Fixed a bug that caused carepackages to shake when falling
Fixed a bug that caused a throwable weapon to be thrown in the freelook direction and not the direction in which a character is facing
Fixed an issue with two markers being visible when placing a marker in the airplane after placing it in the lobby
Fixed a bug that caused a player icon to be doubled up on the minimap.
Fixed a bug that caused the same color for two teammate icons
Fixed a bug that caused the final play zone to be created over water
Fixed a bug that sporadically muted the rain sound
Significantly mitigated an issue that allowed a player in a closed house to be killed by the red zone bombs
Fixed a bug that caused animation not to stop when using consumable items while reviving a teammate
Fixed a bug that caused a character experience the damage effect at random
Fixed a bug that caused all teammates to enter the REVIVE state when one teammate is hit by a bomb in Red Zone while being in a vehicle
Fixed a bug that caused the REVIVE gauge not to disappear when the character being revived is disconnected
Fixed a bug that caused the sound volume of UMP with silencer to be too low
Fixed a bug that caused throwable items not to drop when switching to other weapons
Fixed a bug that caused the trace effect to not disappear after using throwable weapons
Fixed a bug where removing the pin from a grenade was canceled by changing the throwing posture.
Fixed an issue with compass points not matching the actual direction when in the passenger seat of a vehicle
Added a character animation for when dragging an item into the inventory
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is currently available in Steam Early Access.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes and follow Scott on Twitter for more PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds coverage in 2017 and however long Bluehole supports PUBG in the years ahead.
