Update 1.12 - Live on Test Server!

major update

Hunt: Showdown 1896 (Test Server) · published 4 years ago

Hunters, the Patch Notes for Update 1.12 (Test Server) are below! Before you read through the details, there are some important topics we’d like to provide updates for:

Reload bug: We are happy to announce that the refactor of our ammo system has been completed! This means that the reload bug should be a thing of the past. This fix is included in the Test Server, so please, play around with it and give us your feedback!

Server Issues: We are aware that some people, especially in the Europe and Asia servers, are experiencing unusually high ping and packet loss. We are investigating these issues and apologize for the inconvenience. Please continue to report issues or changes.

Empty Lobbies: We noticed an unusually large number of empty matches during Devil's Moon. We were able to find the cause and make a quick adjustment to correct the issue. Since then, we have seen a decrease in empty matches, back to their previous level. Thank you for reporting your empty matches, and please do so again should they increase in frequency!

Avto Balancing: We have heard your feedback on the current state of the Avtomat and other weapons that allow players to get a large amount of extra ammo. We are working on a change to the ammunition system. This will introduce some changes to how resupplying and extra ammo capacity are handled. We hope this will alleviate the frustrations when playing against high-capacity weapons. These changes are still in progress, so they will not come with this major update yet. Thank you for your patience as we work on this.

New Tutorial

This update introduces a complete overhaul of our new player onboarding experience. Players are now introduced to the unique gameplay of Bounty Hunt through two new tutorials:

The Basic Tutorial offers a narrated sequence of sections that explain the most important core elements of Hunt, like controls, Dark Sight and Clues, gunplay, and monsters—step by step.
The Advanced Tutorial offers the possibility to explore a specially prepared compound on your own to practice what you have learned, giving you space to explore each AI type in the game and fight a full boss (the Spider) on your own.

The Advanced Tutorial can be played seamlessly after the Basic Tutorial has been completed. Both tutorials can also be accessed directly from the menu later, but the Advanced Tutorial is not accessible until the Basic Tutorial has been successfully completed first.
The previous training missions and their rewards have been removed, as well as the assistance through short pop-ups within regular Bounty Hunt or Quickplay missions.

Basic Tutorial

Players are introduced to the game's core elements through a guided mission with individual sections. John Victor, a veteran Hunter of the bayou, will guide them through this journey to become a Hunter themselves. Players are given custom objectives, supported by hints and corresponding entries in the manual alongside.
Upon completing the Basic Tutorial for the first time, players will be provided with a fresh Tier 1 Hunter that includes all the rewards they collected during that playthrough. Successive playthroughs will not yield a new Hunter—that only happens the first time.
New players will also receive three additional Hunters with predefined equipment and Traits in their Roster to help them take their first steps in the bayou.

Advanced Tutorial

After completing the Basic Tutorial, Hunters can either continue playing the advanced section or access it separately later. During the Advanced Tutorial, Hunters will find a clue to locate a Boss Target (the Spider) to fight and banish it. After retrieving their Bounty, they can leave with their prize.
Compared to the Basic Tutorial, the Advanced Tutorial offers neither a narrator nor a detailed guide. Hints will help players to understand important beats and learn about other monster types and tactical options available to them. Each type of enemy has their own space, separated from other enemies where possible to give players a chance to explore their unique behaviors without being overwhelmed.
When replaying the Advanced Tutorial from the menu, the currently active Hunter in the Roster, together with all their equipment and Traits, is used instead of a fresh Hunter. This allows Hunters to practice with new gear and refine their loadout and playstyle.
Equipment found in the Advanced Tutorial cannot be extracted, and the Hunter does not level up. However, when completing the Advanced Tutorial for the first time, the used Hunter will level up once and take along anything he finds. If playing for the very first time and continuing into the Advanced Tutorial from the Basic Tutorial, the initial Hunter will receive benefits from the experience points collected from both sections, claiming the one-time reward for both.

After the Tutorial

New players will see a new pop-up message after playing the Tutorial for the first time, informing them about other important topics and directing them to their Roster, where they can see their three starter Hunters (plus one extra if they complete the Basic Tutorial).
To help Hunters take their next steps, we have added additional safety nets:
Players will receive a warning when trying to load into the game without having essential gear on their Hunter or when their Hunter is missing a Health Chunk from a previous encounter.
Players will receive a warning when trying to load into the game without a teammate, informing them of their options to find other Hunters and the risks of going in alone.
Developer Note:
Updating the tutorial from our 1.0 release has been a major milestone for the team, and we are super excited to finally be able to offer a much richer and more detailed onboarding experience to new players to help them enter the world of Hunt: Showdown and become part of our growing family. We encourage our existing players to also look at the new Tutorial, tell us what you think, and help spread the word about these improvements. Hunt is going strong, and the new Tutorial will go a long way to bring more players into the game.

Combat Log Rework - First Iteration Beta

The revised Damage History feature offers an enhanced level of detail, allowing players to view events (both inbound and outbound) that occurred in the 90 seconds leading up to their demise. Inbound and outbound actions are clearly differentiated through different colors; inbound damage (damage received by the player) is shown in red, while outbound damage (damage done by the player) is shown in gray. Healing actions are denoted in green. The player is provided with specific information such as which body part was struck, the amount of damage inflicted, the source of the attack, distance from the player, and the type of event (e.g. deathblow or banishment).

Furthermore, players are able to access an extended view of each event which offers additional details including the weapon used, custom ammunition, any status effects that were applied, changes to the health bar (as a result of status effects), and special icons indicating actions, such as headshots and wallbangs. As this is the first iteration, please give us your Feedback!

Equipment

We have revised the equipment selection process to make it easier for players to choose Legendary Weapons. Previously, they were listed separately, but now they are incorporated into a rotating selection within the base category. Each selection made by the player modifies the weapon's cosmetic appearance and becomes the default option, ensuring that when a player selects a particular skin, it remains the default choice for that weapon, until it is changed again.

The exceptions to this new system are contraband Legendaries and Legendaries obtained as a reward for weapons that are not yet unlocked. In such specific cases, these items will still be considered as separate instances, maintaining the previous approach.
As an additional feature, players can now unequip all equipment from a hunter by pressing a newly added button.

Solo Gameplay Changes

This update adds additional solo-only conditional effects to some existing Traits to help those Hunters daring to go into the bayou on their own, taking on teams of Hunters. Not only does Necromancer’s self-revive from Devil’s Moon have a comeback, but there are also several other Traits that give benefits to Hunters when going in solo. We are also slightly increasing the bonus for extracting with Bounty as a solo player.

Necromancer

‘SOLO: You can revive your downed Hunter.’
Solo Hunters with Necromancer can revive themselves using a button on the death screen; this option will only be active 10 seconds after death.
Developer Note:
During the Devil’s Moon Event, we enabled solo self-revive as a part of the Grounded pact, gaining some great insights surrounding solo play. Therefore, as a part of the 1.12 update, we are bringing it back to regular play, and it will now be an option available for solos regardless of Pact etc. We have increased the time needed to wait to revive from 4 to 10 seconds.

Magpie

‘SOLO: Dark Sight Boost capacity and all Boost sources are doubled.’
Solo Hunters with Magpie now have an increased maximum of 10 seconds Dark Sight Boost, instead of 5. They will now gain 10 seconds of Dark Sight Boost when they pick up the Bounty and will also gain 2 seconds back from looting a Hunter or investigating a Clue, instead of 1.

Additional Effect (for all Hunters, not just Solo): Magpie will now always give all 3 effects when picking up Bounty; the duration remains unchanged.

Serpent

‘SOLO: Interaction range increased. (50m)’
Solo Hunters with Serpent can now interact with Clues, Bounty, and Banishes from up to 50m, instead of 25m.

Underdog Bonus

Increased the value of the Underdog Bonus, granted for Bounties extracted while playing against larger teams:

Solo vs Duos: increased from 250 to 300 Hunt Dollars
Solo vs Trios: increased from 500 to 600 Hunt Dollars
Duos vs Trios: increased from 125 to 150 Hunt Dollars

Wildcard Conditions

In this update, we’re testing the ability to have a second contract—a Wildcard contract—that will take players to a different mission, one that is not available in the standard rotation. This opens up an interesting alternative for those times when you don't want to play the standard rotation.

The first wildcard that we're rolling out as a part of this test, is the Night Time of Day. If you select the Wildcard Contract in Update 1.12, you will be in a separate queue that consists of players wanting to play the Night ToD. Please note though, the Standard Contract will not include the Night ToD, as long as the Wildcard Contract is active. Please give your feedback on this initial test!

Audio

General Audio Improvements

Interacting with spotlights around the maps now has a sound.
Adjusted the sound of the wooden indoor levels. Footsteps above the player in wooden buildings should now be more easily differentiated to a Hunter moving on the same level as the player.
Crouching through cans and trash piles is now audible to an enemy in very close proximity.

Gameplay

Left-side Peek Advantage

Adjustments were made to the location of the Hunter model in relation to the camera, reducing the advantage gained from peeking from the left side of cover. This adjustment focuses specifically on how much of a Hunter’s head is shown when peeking, meaning that there can, in some edge cases, still be slightly more of a Hunter’s body showing, depending on the situation.
Developer Note:
With this adjustment, we have addressed an issue that we know many in the community have been asking for. Although these changes should make it much more fair regardless of the side you peek from, it’s important to mention that due to the nature of first-person cameras, this will never be perfect. We hope these changes bring it as close as possible; however, we will continue to make any additional adjustments based on your feedback.

Stalker Beetle

Increased Stalker Beetle explosion damage to 25.

Quickplay

Interacting with a Rift now shows the rewarded Trait on the right side of the screen for better readability.

Lootable Saddles

In this update, we are adding a new loot option. Lootable saddles are new additions that can be found on hitching posts or strapped to the dying horse sound trap. These saddles can have a weapon holster and/or saddle bag attached to them. The weapon holster will contain weapons frequently carried by horse riders. The saddle bag will either contain consumables or Hunt Dollars when looted. Lootable saddles spawn in both Bounty Hunt and Quickplay. In Quickplay, the Hunt Dollar reward for the saddle bags is replaced by an ammo replenishment.

Gunplay

New Weapon Variant: Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty

The growing popularity of the Winfield M1876 Centennial throughout the country brought a wide range of users who desired more flexible versions of the rifle. Some thought an increased recoil to be a worthwhile trade-off for this flexibility.
Ammo types

Basic - Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
Poison - Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
FMJ - Medium Ammo – 5+1/12

New Weapon Variant: Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty Silencer

Once the rifle is reduced in size, a suppressor attachment makes the Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty Silencer both dynamic and quiet. It’s well suited for hunting multiple monsters in a small area with speed and subtlety but requires some deft handling.
Ammo types

Basic - Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
Poison - Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
FMJ - Medium Ammo – 5+1/12

Developer Note:
With the addition of the Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty Silencer, we are adding a medium slot silenced firearm. This variant has been on our list for quite a while and will make a fine addition to Quartermaster loadouts.

New Weapon Variant: Springfield M1892 Krag Bayonet

The Springfield M1892 Krag is a repeating bolt-action rifle with a side-loading magazine. To combine the modern magazine with a classical bayonet was an obvious but exceptionally effective evolution, as it made for a fast-loading rifle that could easily fend off nearby attackers.
Ammo types

Basic - Long Ammo – 5+1/6
FMJ - Long Ammo – 5+1/6
Incendiary - Long Ammo – 5+1/6

New Weapon Variant: Springfield M1892 Krag Sniper

Thanks to its side-loading magazine, the effectiveness of the original Springfield M1892 Krag was unquestionable and was only enhanced with the addition of a sniper scope attached to its barrel. The fast reloading combined with long-range efficiency made this rifle a great choice for those who prefer to stay out of sight and range of their prey.
Ammo types

Basic - Long Ammo – 5+1/6
FMJ - Long Ammo – 5+1/6
Incendiary - Long Ammo – 5+1/6

Weapon Changes

LeMat Carbine: There has seen a couple of tweaks based on the community's feedback. Its rate of fire has been increased a bit to make it put up more of a fight. Its iron sights have been realigned so it will feel more accurate. Last but not the least, its recoil has been decreased to allow for easier follow up shots.

Hand Crossbow Choke Bolts

Slightly increased the size of the choke cloud.
Choke Bolts now have the same slightly bigger initial area effect, compared to the lasting cloud of the regular Choke Bomb.

Hand Crossbow Poison Bolts

Slightly increased the size of the poison cloud.

UI

Bounty Hunt UI

There are some updated UI icons in the Lobby of Bounty Hunt, including a new toggle to switch the selection of enemy team sizes. To increase the readability, we deleted the following elements: MMR Ranges, Event Information and Duration (if applicable), and the Redeem Code button (can now be found in the options).

Contextual Popups / Matchmaking Reminders

To help new players become familiar with important actions before starting matchmaking, we've added reminder pop-ups. These pop-ups provide information such as joining matchmaking alone, competing against teams of three, and the status and equipment of the player's Hunter. Pop-ups can be disabled by the player and will not appear again.

Weapon Charms

Weapon Charms are now displayed with different rarity levels: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary.

World

Stillwater Bayou:

Slightly reduced the number of bushes to make it a bit easier to spot enemy Hunters in the forest between Darrow Livestock and Port Reeker.

DeSalle:

A new water entrance/exit has been added to the Boss Target lair in Weeping Stone Mill.
Removed roots from vegetation near the bridge north of Upper DeSalle to improve player movement.
Reworked and cleaned up vegetation on the east side of Pearl Plantation for better readability and player movement.
Reworked and cleaned up vegetation between Ash Creek Lumber and Upper DeSalle for better readability and player movement.
Reworked and cleaned up vegetation on the west side of Upper DeSalle for better readability and player movement.
Reworked and cleaned up vegetation on the north side of First Testimonial Church.
Cleaned up hidden vegetation for performance improvement.

AI

Fixed an issue that caused Hellhounds to sometimes keep repeating their last movement behavior until a Hunter approached close enough to be attacked.
Fixed an issue that caused the Assassin to sometimes not launch its ranged attack on Hunters that had just entered or left the lair.