A new patch for the Xbox One version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is currently being put through the paces on test servers over at Bluehole, and it introduces several major new upgrades which, if the test does well, will be incorporated into the game as well.
The test version of the patch, which also includes the new maps of the game – Erangel and Miramar – introduces changes big and small. Firstly, the most obvious bit, which is that several bugs are being fixed. Importantly though, the patch in its test phase also brings with it graphical improvements and a few notable additions, such as a new colourblindness setting, and new crosshair settings.
There are also several other new improvements in the patch, such as expanding the FoV of all scopes in the game, improvements made to the UI, the addition of emotes, the addition of a new animation and effects for grenade hits, and some quality of life improvements.
You can view the full notes for the test version of the patch below.
PATCH CHANGES:
Settings menu changes:
- Game settings are now grouped up by category.
- Colorblind settings have been added
- Crosshair settings have been added
- Added a new slider interface
- Added an option to adjust strength of game controller vibration.
- Added an option to set deadzone for the left analog stick.
- Aim acceleration can now be completely disabled if set to 0.
- Those of you who previously set it to “0” may want to set it to “1” to preserve the feel from previous patches.
- The game controller function guide has been updated.
Scopes have been changed to be more realistic:
- Expanded all scopes’ field of view
- Added a parallax effect when moving weapons quickly
- Added vignetting (darker edges), chromatic aberration (color difference caused by light refraction), and a distortion effect on the edge of scopes
Out-of-game menus and UX improvements:
- The “cancel matchmaking” UI has been improved. You can now cancel matchmaking by holding the X button on any screen except the SETTINGS menu
- We improved the UI that indicates that matchmaking is in progress. Progress time is now displayed. When a match is found, a countdown will appear
- Transition speed between menus has been increased
- Two new menu items have been added: CUSTOMIZATION and STORE.
- To get a box, go to STORE > CRATES
- To open the box you’ve received, go to MY ITEMS in STORE
- On test servers, the number of boxes that can be purchased per week has been increased significantly (up to 100)
- After launching the game, a single, simplified loading screen pops up before the lobby appears (instead of many different screens)
A few more miscellaneous changes:
- Emotes have been added. Emote UI will show up if you press the LB+RB buttons at the same time. Choose an emote with the right analog stick and press down with the R stick to use the selected emote.
- We added some contextual on-screen popups that explain button functions.
- Added new grenade hit effects and animations
- We’ve removed the grenade’s knockback effect for player characters when dealing non-lethal damage (if players are killed by a grenade, they’ll still be knocked back)
Bug fixes
- There was a bug causing players to sometimes get stuck in a leaning position (caused by going prone while leaning). This is now fixed.
- Fixed an issue causing punching to slow down movement while sprinting
- Player can no longer see through walls by going prone near houses with stone steps in Miramar
- In spectator mode, water sounds sometimes inappropriately continued after changing perspective. This has now been fixed
- When preparing to throw grenades, the projection visualization no longer inappropriately penetrates through objects