A pair of previously-unseen vehicles—a pickup truck and a jet ski—have been dug out of the Playerunknown's Battlegrounds test code by a redditor named Art_7s. The dataminer also found a mode for a new weapon, the DP-28, a Soviet light machine gun that was introduced in the late 1920s.
They all look a little rough around the edges (and the jet ski looks like a clog with handlebars), but "these are just the raw assets without the UE4 PBR materials so they’re gonna look like crap as is," Art_7s said in the thread. "But when they’re in game they should look about the same quality as the rest of the vehicles."
The presence of assets in test code is no guarantee that they're going to see the light of day (although how PUBG Corp could take a pass on a jet ski, I have no idea) but it seems likely that they will: PUBG creative director Brendan Greene said in September that three new vehicles were in the works, including the VW microbus—which Art_7s also pulled out of the code.
Update: The post originally indicated that the DP-28 was from the 1950s. It was in fact first adopted by the Soviet military in 1928, and phased out of service in the 1960s.
When we heard reports that the Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds test patch adding climbing & vaulting also digs a pond in a woodland glade, we sent RPS wild swimming correspondent Alice O’Connor onto the test server to investigate.>
Bad news: The new pond is rubbish for swimming.
Good news: If you’re seeking somewhere for a nice walk, to sit and chat with a close friend, for a tense final battle, or to use as cover as you cross what was one a wide flat plain of certain death, it’s really quite nice. I hope more of Plunk Island is revisited and reworked like this. (more…)
Like a sandstorm looming on the horizon, preparing to throw sand in your eyes and fill your mouth with cacti and turn you into a tumbleweed (note: I have never been in a sandstorm so that depiction may not be strictly accurate) PUBG's new desert map is headed our way. But while the map should be here by year's end (we were recently teased with some new images), it's never too early to start getting impatient for the next next PUBG map.
What other settings would we like to see brought to the popular battle royale shooter? Here's a list of my dream locations.
The post-apocalypse
I mean, yeah, PUBG already has a post-apocalypse vibe to it: an island stripped of its population, abandoned buildings, merciless gangs of horn-honkers, and so forth. Something apocalyptic, to some degree, has definitely happened in the world of PUBG, but it can't have been all that cataclysmic. There's still a lot of organization: there must be an entire staff arranging flights and air drops and red-zone bombings, not to mention the dozens of people who stuff the island's buildings with pristine weapons and gear and pants and who carefully park cars before a match.
I'm talking about a proper post-apocalypse, like from Mad Max. Humanity on the brink of extinction. Toxic swamps and mountains of bleached bones and pillars of oily, black smoke. A world where even a sane person would be just like, "Yeah, I'll fight 99 people for the chance at a chicken dinner, it's way better than eating the remains of this inbred mutant warlord I just beat to death with the club made from my father's femur."
A frozen world
Snow is cool in games, but it's usually almost entirely cosmetic. I played the Frostpunk demo recently (speaking of the post-apocalypse), and loved that the snow felt more real than in most games, even though it's a city-builder and not an FPS.
My favorite detail was the way the snow would pile in drifts, and my collection of starving, occasionally cannibalistic workers would have to push their way through it to gather coal and wood. Their shivering bodies would leave grooves through the snow behind them, which would then fill up again as more snow fell. Imagine in PUBG being able to track enemy players through footprints in the frost (as you can in battle royale game The Darwin Project), or spotting a puff of condensation rising from a bush, indicating someone is hiding there. Snow doesn't need to just be pretty, it can actually change the world it falls on.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China
"Verticality" gets tossed around a lot when devs talk about maps, though It's not something I myself have felt a strong desire for very often. I prefer to have my enemies aiming at me from as few directions as possible, and it's rare that I find myself thinking, "You know, instead of getting shot in the back of the head, I wish I could get shot in the top of the head."
But fine, let's do it! Let's get vertical. Screw buildings, though, they're frame rate killers: let's just rely on nature. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China is vertical as fuck (don't complain to me about the f-bomb, that's the park's actual tourism slogan). Throw in some of those wobbly rope-n-plank bridges, some ziplines, hang gliders, and maybe a grappling hook, and you've got yourself a beautiful and picturesque place to get shot in the top of the head.
If you're wondering on a map without buildings where you'd find all that great PUBG gear, it's simple. Bird nests.
A lavishly furnished underground missile silo
Prepping for the end of the world is a popular pastime, and no one preps more lavishly than the super rich. Forget backyard bunkers and a few crates of canned meals, the hot ticket for people with gobs of cash is buying decommissioned missile silos that have been transformed into multi-million dollar condominiums.
This is, like, a real thing, apparently. For it to work with PUBG it would need to be a really massive silo, like something from Hugh Howey's Silo books. Instead of a circle closing from the sides, it would close from the top and bottom, forcing players onto a final, specific floor of the silo. Where will this match end? The movie theater? The gym? The nightclub? The golf course? (I assume there will be a golf course down there somewhere.)
A space station—let me finish!—in space
Games have a storied history of worlds built inside rings, from Halo to Planescape to, well, Ringworld. I think some sort of space-station ringworld would be a killer place for PUBG. It being in space and all, I don't see why you couldn't walk off the edge of the ring (while wearing a space suit) and then onto to underside of it and run around down there, too. Space lets you do stuff like that.
Plus, imagine the sniping! Shooting from your location, through outer space, to hit some dude running around on another part of the ring. It also would give you a nice view of the earth during your long minutes spent hiding in a bush and waiting for everyone else to kill each other (this is how I play).
A rat map
When I was a kid there was a company that made oversized items, like a giant pencils. You could buy them and put them in your house. I'm currently struggling to understand why I wanted a giant pencil in my room so much as a kid, but I definitely, definitely did. More than anything, I wanted a giant pencil. I think there's maybe some weird appeal in feeling like you've been hit by a shrink ray and all the tiny things are now huge?
It could explain rat maps. There are lots of them for CS:GO and I recall playing a few in TF2. Why not PUBG? Players would start spread all over the map of the house, fight their way through garages and bathrooms and those areas behind the wall accessed through mouse holes, for a climactic showdown on top of the bureau or under the fridge or among magazines and beer bottles on the coffee table. Winner winner simply enormous chicken dinner.
Skyrim
This is my dream list, so why not Skyrim? Players are dropped (from dragons) onto the map, and must loot weapons and gear (marked in red when it's considered stealing) and then are pursued by a shrinking circle of mudcrabs (or even worse, a shrinking circle of NPCs talking about mudcrabs).
Okay, maybe not actually Skyrim, but a fantasy setting would be a fun place for battle royale. Ruins are more interesting than ruined buildings. Castles are more interesting to loot than warehouses and airplane hangars. Runes carved into stone walls are better than the typical end-of-days graffiti we're used to seeing. And riding horses or wargs is better than driving cars. You can't do sick flips onto houses, but they also don't explode.
Update: The developers have extended the test for another day and added support for squad play.>
The long-promised climbing & vaulting system coming to Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds will debut on the test servers in a few short hours, developers PUBG Corp. announced today. For us in the UK it’ll be at 2am on Tuesday, or it’s tonight in America. The test period will be brief, giving only 24 hours to check it out – and only in solo mode. We’ll also get to play with Plunkbat’s updated ballistics, which will change a fair bit about how different guns work at different ranges. I am excited for a day of Plunkbat where I understand how neither movement nor shooting work. (more…)
Today, we would like to give you an update about the test servers. Many players were disappointed that the first test server schedule was delayed last time. Right before opening the test servers, we concluded that the test build was not stable enough and decided to postpone the test. Although the current test build is not completely stable as of now, we still would like to open the test servers this week even for a short period of time and allow players to test the long-awaited feature - vaulting & climbing. We were planning to run test servers for about three days but this week’s test will be shorter because of the build’s current state.
Please note that you may experience client crashes on the test servers. This is normal as the build we are using for this test is not completely stable. This may not be the best condition to test all the features. At this time we ask for your understanding as we continue to fix the issue.
The test will begin tomorrow and last for about a day. If we decide to extend the test schedule, we will make an announcement on our official social media channels.
Test schedule
PST: November 13th 06:00 PM – November 14th 06:00 PM
CET: November 14th 03:00 AM – November 15th 03:00 AM
KST: November 14th 11:00 AM – November 15th 11:00 AM
Region & Modes
NA SOLO First-person / Third-person
ASIA SOLO First-person / Third-person
Two major changes were made this time. We added vaulting & climbing and overhauled the ballistics system. To read more about vaulting & climbing, please read our previous blog post.
Regarding ballistics, we made changes to bullet drag effect, accuracy and hit areas to give them a more realistic touch as well as improve the balance of weapons. We have described the changes in detail below. We will be using a more advanced equation to calculate damage which will be shared in detail after this test.
Ballistics overhaul
We are constantly looking into improving the balance of the weapons while adding a little bit of more realistic, albeit reasonably balanced touch. As a consequence, we are now working on a ballistics balance pass. We have been announcing upcoming changes to the way the projectiles and weapons behave for some time and now the first iteration is finalized.
The overhaul consists of multiple elements. The most essential one is the addition of a bullet drag effect that affects the trajectory curve of a projectile. Due to this effect the bullet now loses its velocity over time - similar to what happens to it in real life. As a result, with gravity still acting on the projectile, at the same distance as before the bullet drop will be bigger. For most assault rifles the change will be hardly noticeable at short range. It will become increasingly obvious above the range of 300 meters.
Secondly, we’ve tweaked the MOA (accuracy) of the weapons basing the new numbers on their IRL counterparts. While some weapons may experience slight accuracy nerf, others will become more accurate than before.
Following the changes to the trajectory of the bullet, we have looked into the usability of iron sights and sight attachments. To accommodate the new ballistics, we have changed the way zeroing works to be slightly more realistic. As a result, each weapon will have unique set of zeroing ranges while using the iron sights. Red dot and holographic sites will allow for zeroing in on short ranges. You will now also be able to adjust the intensity of the reticle (by default using the Mouse Wheel). 4x's tip of the chevron is zeroed in on respectively 50 and 100 m for submachine guns and other weapons. Bigger scopes will additionally allow you to change the zoom level (by default using the Mouse Wheel). * Zeroing for 4x is the same as before in the 1st test servers and will be updated in the next test build.
Finally we have introduced changes to the hit areas of the characters. We felt that the initial system was a little bit too simplistic and punishing to the players. With the new system, the problematic neck area will be protected by the helmet. Shooting hands and feet is now also less effective than it was before. On top of regular bonuses and penalties to the hit areas, the damage will be also modified by weapon class.
These changes allow us to further balance the use and functionality of different types of weapon classes. Please bear in mind that the changes are not final, many are, in fact, experimental, and we are still working on more features to be included in the game.
Client Optimization
Optimized terrain data to reduce memory usage
Reduced the lag issue when terrain is loading
Reduced the lag issue when multiple players are in sight
Server Optimization
Optimized server performance by adjusting network throughput
Action
Added vaulting & climbing action
Game Play
Vehicle driving balance is modified * We are adjusting driving sounds to be more realistic. Sources of vehicle sounds will be improved.
Vehicle driving is adjusted to be more realistic *This is an early stage of balancing. We need your feedback to improve driving.
Improved the vehicle and passenger animations
Ballistics overhaul
Projectiles fired from firearms are now affected by air drag. This means that projectiles will now lose velocity over time leading to greater bullet drop and longer travel time
Large scopes (8x, 15x) now have variable zoom that can be adjusted using the Mouse Wheel (by default)
Red dot, holo and 2x sights can now have their reticle's brightness adjusted using Mouse Wheel
Hit areas have been modified - Neck is now protected by the helmet - Damage to the chest area is increased
Base damage is now modified by weapon class - The actual damage is now taking into account following multipliers -- Base damage stat of the weapon -- Distance traveled by the projectile (damage decreases over distance) -- Hit area damage multiplier -- Weapon class multiplier
Fixed the excessive aim-punch while leaning in ADS mode
Removed the blurring effect of the weapon and objects close to camera that appeared in non-ADS mode
Vehicles
Unified the sizes of all UAZ models, the number of seats decreased to 4
UI/UX
Improved the backpack capacity UI in the inventory screen
When we prepared to release the first Early Access version of PUBG earlier this year, we were not fully prepared to respond to the issue of cheating. Since then, our traffic grew exponentially and it became an even bigger issue.
Earlier this month, we noted that we have been adding new measures and detection methods to address the cheat issue more effectively. To provide a healthy environment to our players, addressing this issue is now our top priority. We are constantly improving our anti-cheat measures and adding new ones.
With our recent efforts to strengthen the measures, the volume of players who use cheats has been reduced by 25% overall, and the volume of malicious, extreme cheaters has been reduced by 50%.
However, we know that this is not enough, which is why we are approaching this in multiple ways - monitoring 24 hours a day, strengthening security systems and applying additional anti-cheat solutions. Regarding other measures that our players have suggested, we are looking into a few that may be quite effective.
The battle against cheats may be endless. But we will do our best to create a healthier, better environment for everyone and take strong actions against distributors and sellers of cheats as well as those who use them.
Lastly, we would like to again ask for your understanding regarding client crashes you may experience during this test. We’d like to also thank the players who have been patiently waiting for an update. Although we may not leave comments on every piece of feedback we see, we are always monitoring and reflecting on it. We appreciate it very much. In one of the subsequent dev blogs, we will be addressing the issues that are being discussed in the community, bugs that are not fixed in this test build and issues that were not mentioned in today’s dev blog. We are also preparing to share more about the damage equation later as we noted above.
We are looking forward to getting your feedback on our first PC 1.0 test build.
Thank you. The PUBG Development and Community Team
Today, we would like to give you an update about the test servers. Many players were disappointed that the first test server schedule was delayed last time. Right before opening the test servers, we concluded that the test build was not stable enough and decided to postpone the test. Although the current test build is not completely stable as of now, we still would like to open the test servers this week even for a short period of time and allow players to test the long-awaited feature - vaulting & climbing. We were planning to run test servers for about three days but this week’s test will be shorter because of the build’s current state.
Please note that you may experience client crashes on the test servers. This is normal as the build we are using for this test is not completely stable. This may not be the best condition to test all the features. At this time we ask for your understanding as we continue to fix the issue.
The test will begin tomorrow and last for about a day. If we decide to extend the test schedule, we will make an announcement on our official social media channels.
Test schedule
PST: November 13th 06:00 PM – November 14th 06:00 PM
CET: November 14th 03:00 AM – November 15th 03:00 AM
KST: November 14th 11:00 AM – November 15th 11:00 AM
Region & Modes
NA SOLO First-person / Third-person
ASIA SOLO First-person / Third-person
Two major changes were made this time. We added vaulting & climbing and overhauled the ballistics system. To read more about vaulting & climbing, please read our previous blog post.
Regarding ballistics, we made changes to bullet drag effect, accuracy and hit areas to give them a more realistic touch as well as improve the balance of weapons. We have described the changes in detail below. We will be using a more advanced equation to calculate damage which will be shared in detail after this test.
Ballistics overhaul
We are constantly looking into improving the balance of the weapons while adding a little bit of more realistic, albeit reasonably balanced touch. As a consequence, we are now working on a ballistics balance pass. We have been announcing upcoming changes to the way the projectiles and weapons behave for some time and now the first iteration is finalized.
The overhaul consists of multiple elements. The most essential one is the addition of a bullet drag effect that affects the trajectory curve of a projectile. Due to this effect the bullet now loses its velocity over time - similar to what happens to it in real life. As a result, with gravity still acting on the projectile, at the same distance as before the bullet drop will be bigger. For most assault rifles the change will be hardly noticeable at short range. It will become increasingly obvious above the range of 300 meters.
Secondly, we’ve tweaked the MOA (accuracy) of the weapons basing the new numbers on their IRL counterparts. While some weapons may experience slight accuracy nerf, others will become more accurate than before.
Following the changes to the trajectory of the bullet, we have looked into the usability of iron sights and sight attachments. To accommodate the new ballistics, we have changed the way zeroing works to be slightly more realistic. As a result, each weapon will have unique set of zeroing ranges while using the iron sights. Red dot and holographic sites will allow for zeroing in on short ranges. You will now also be able to adjust the intensity of the reticle (by default using the Mouse Wheel). 4x's tip of the chevron is zeroed in on respectively 50 and 100 m for submachine guns and other weapons. Bigger scopes will additionally allow you to change the zoom level (by default using the Mouse Wheel). * Zeroing for 4x is the same as before in the 1st test servers and will be updated in the next test build.
Finally we have introduced changes to the hit areas of the characters. We felt that the initial system was a little bit too simplistic and punishing to the players. With the new system, the problematic neck area will be protected by the helmet. Shooting hands and feet is now also less effective than it was before. On top of regular bonuses and penalties to the hit areas, the damage will be also modified by weapon class.
These changes allow us to further balance the use and functionality of different types of weapon classes. Please bear in mind that the changes are not final, many are, in fact, experimental, and we are still working on more features to be included in the game.
Client Optimization
Optimized terrain data to reduce memory usage
Reduced the lag issue when terrain is loading
Reduced the lag issue when multiple players are in sight
Server Optimization
Optimized server performance by adjusting network throughput
Action
Added vaulting & climbing action
Game Play
Vehicle driving balance is modified * We are adjusting driving sounds to be more realistic. Sources of vehicle sounds will be improved.
Vehicle driving is adjusted to be more realistic *This is an early stage of balancing. We need your feedback to improve driving.
Improved the vehicle and passenger animations
Ballistics overhaul
Projectiles fired from firearms are now affected by air drag. This means that projectiles will now lose velocity over time leading to greater bullet drop and longer travel time
Large scopes (8x, 15x) now have variable zoom that can be adjusted using the Mouse Wheel (by default)
Red dot, holo and 2x sights can now have their reticle's brightness adjusted using Mouse Wheel
Hit areas have been modified - Neck is now protected by the helmet - Damage to the chest area is increased
Base damage is now modified by weapon class - The actual damage is now taking into account following multipliers -- Base damage stat of the weapon -- Distance traveled by the projectile (damage decreases over distance) -- Hit area damage multiplier -- Weapon class multiplier
Fixed the excessive aim-punch while leaning in ADS mode
Removed the blurring effect of the weapon and objects close to camera that appeared in non-ADS mode
Vehicles
Unified the sizes of all UAZ models, the number of seats decreased to 4
UI/UX
Improved the backpack capacity UI in the inventory screen
When we prepared to release the first Early Access version of PUBG earlier this year, we were not fully prepared to respond to the issue of cheating. Since then, our traffic grew exponentially and it became an even bigger issue.
Earlier this month, we noted that we have been adding new measures and detection methods to address the cheat issue more effectively. To provide a healthy environment to our players, addressing this issue is now our top priority. We are constantly improving our anti-cheat measures and adding new ones.
With our recent efforts to strengthen the measures, the volume of players who use cheats has been reduced by 25% overall, and the volume of malicious, extreme cheaters has been reduced by 50%.
However, we know that this is not enough, which is why we are approaching this in multiple ways - monitoring 24 hours a day, strengthening security systems and applying additional anti-cheat solutions. Regarding other measures that our players have suggested, we are looking into a few that may be quite effective.
The battle against cheats may be endless. But we will do our best to create a healthier, better environment for everyone and take strong actions against distributors and sellers of cheats as well as those who use them.
Lastly, we would like to again ask for your understanding regarding client crashes you may experience during this test. We’d like to also thank the players who have been patiently waiting for an update. Although we may not leave comments on every piece of feedback we see, we are always monitoring and reflecting on it. We appreciate it very much. In one of the subsequent dev blogs, we will be addressing the issues that are being discussed in the community, bugs that are not fixed in this test build and issues that were not mentioned in today’s dev blog. We are also preparing to share more about the damage equation later as we noted above.
We are looking forward to getting your feedback on our first PC 1.0 test build.
Thank you. The PUBG Development and Community Team
The continued clotting amalgamation of the Steam Charts, with CODWARs and AssCreed Oranges mysteriously occupying multiple spaces, is having frankly dangerous effects on the column. No The Witcher 3! No GTA V! And H1Z1 seems to have been entirely forgotten by the ages! What is a running joke to do? (more…)
If you’ve got enough Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds appetite for desert, you might be interested to know that Brendan ‘Playerunknown’ Greene has released four new screenshots of the upcoming desert map. Personally, I’m already planning my sand-based shenanigans.
Brendan 'PlayerUnknown' Greene has offered another look at Battlegrounds' upcoming desert map. And it's not just a bunch of sand!
Battlegrounds' desert map was first revealed earlier this year, when Greene confirmed that two new maps were currently in development. The other, set in the Adriatic, is a mountainous island with a snowy peak and an old cosmodrome in the centre.
Battlegrounds' desert map will be the first of the two to arrive, although no firm (or indeed vague) release date has yet been offered.
Brendan Greene, the "PlayerUnknown" who gives PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds its catchy, easy-off-the-tongue title, has shared a fresh batch of work-in-progress images of the new desert map revealed back in July.
The new images showcase a landscape that's quite a bit more built-up than what we've seen previously, with multiple multi-storey buildings in various states of construction and disrepair, a low-slung shopping plaza, and a crumbling main street running through it. There's also what is very clearly a prison—always a fun place in post-apoc scenarios—and a more wide-open desert area, featuring a run-down single-storey house.
The new screens promise a good mix of environments, and I'm especially excited by the prospect of a proper urban area to blast away in. Still, there's only so much you can get from screenshots; fortunately, we got some hands-on time with the new map last month that you can dive into right here.
