News / The MercServer Update

The MercServer Update

Welcome to MercSERV

We’ve been working behind the scenes on a entirely new user experience; encompassing a new introductory video, a brand new tutorial and a handful of videos that help to explain some of the features of Dirty Bomb. We’re going to be testing both versions of the tutorial in the run up to release to see which version you guys prefer.

We’ve put all the videos in game, but also as a playlist on YouTube for you to check out here. The new Introduction video will go live with the update, at which point we’ll update the playlist.

 

Community Servers

Community Servers are almost here! Last week we announced that you could pre-order servers for the update, and they’ll be going live in just a couple of days! We wanted to make sure that this update goes off without a hitch before turning them on, but rest assured that you don’t have long to wait.

Community servers will allow you to have your own place to play; set a password (if you like), set a few rules and build your own community. This is just the first implementation, so let us know what features you would like to enable in your servers and we’ll see what we can do!

If you want to rent your own server head over to this page to get your hands on one.

 

Steam Trading

Last week we detailed our initial implementation for Steam trading (then amended it after we got some of the information wrong – sorry!), but that implementation goes live with this update! We’ll be adding more items in the future (including Special Edition Weapon skins!), but let us know what you think of the first rollout.

Edit: Steam Trading will be coming online shortly, we’re currently waiting for it to be enabled.

 

Progression Updates

With the addition of a refined new user experience, we’ve also taken the time to examine the way players progress in Dirty Bomb. Last week we went into detail about some of the changes coming in this update (which you can read here).

Missions are now Contracts

Missions in Dirty Bomb sometimes forced players to use Mercs that they weren’t comfortable with, or that they simply didn’t enjoy playing. Contracts will change the way these work, allowing players to earn XP freely to complete them. They will still encourage players to earn Support, Objective and Combat XP, but not as specific Mercs. They’ll take a little longer to complete, but award more Credits and you get bonus rewards for doing all three. And if you complete them (or don’t like them) you can re-roll them whenever you like for the cost of a Token. For more information check out this news post.

Since we first announced Contracts we’ve seen a lot of feedback, so we’ve made some amends to the design – granting more Credits for completing each Contract! We’ll also be keeping a close eye on the new system to see how you all interact with it, making adjustments if we see anything unusual.

 

Bushwhacker is now free

When players start Dirty Bomb they play through the Tutorial and learn the ropes as Skyhammer. After completing the Tutorial Aura becomes available, meaning they have a Medic ready to jump into the game. New players only having these 2 Mercs meant that they couldn’t offer as much in joining the game, especially without an Engineer. With this update, new players will also unlock Bushwhacker after successfully completing the Tutorial – meaning that they will also have an Engineer ready to take to the field. This will also allow us to refresh the Merc Rotation, as we always had to have an Engineer available.

Players who already own Bushwhacker will be granted a C72 Obsidian Out For Blood Loadout Card.

 

Account Level Rework

We’re updating the way players level up! Previously it took far too long for the average player over level 7 to level up, so we’ve addressed that issue. Now most people will level up in a few hours and get their hands on the reworked Advancement Crates. For existing players, when you log in your account level will have been retooled to reflect the changes, so don’t be surprised if you’re suddenly a higher level than you were before.

If you have any existing Advancement Crates in your inventory their contents will also be updated.

Minimum and Maximum level servers will also be relabelled to reflect these changes.

Note: We will also be hiding player levels in-game with this update

 

Credit Booster changes and Credit Earning increase

Credit Boosters are also seeing changes – moving from Hours to Days – and ticking down on a real world clock as soon as they are activated. They will also now add 50% to the base earn rate, rather than 100%. Have a look at the new types here.

We’ve also re-examined how many Credits players earn in general – boosting the earn rate from 12/min to 19/min. These changes together will see players earning more Credits overall, without forcing people to buy Credit Boosters to earn good money.

Any Credit Boosters you have in your inventory will be converted into the new type, but active boosters will be stopped, granting you roughly 83 Credits per 5 minutes remaining.

 

Cheaper Mercs

We’re also making some Mercs cheaper! Kira, Vassili, Turtle, Sparks and Fragger are all dropping down a pricing tier. Check out the news post for more details.

 

New Weapon Skins

We’ve added two brand new Weapon Cases with this update, both containing Pristine Melee skins.

Aquila

 

Alice

We’ve also gone back and added Pristine Melee skins to the KMA, CoreSEC and Royal Force cases (which you can see on all of our social channels).

 

Bug Fixes And Changes

Known Issues

  • All filters in the item menu are unticked by default

Gameplay

  • Fixed an issue where the “Press Space to Respawn” text is not displayed
  • Fixed an issue where Fletcher’s Sticky Bombs could not be reclaimed if they have hit the EV
  • Fixed an issue where voting to restart the map could break the EV interaction functionality
  • Fixed an issue where restarting a match could cause the EV repair progress bar to disappear
  • Fixed an issue where Hunter’s Standard and EMP Bolts do not damage friendly players with Friendly fire enabled
  • Fixed an issue where Hunter’s Crossbow icon would not appear on the kill notification
  • Fixed an issue on Underground where placing a Health Station in the lift causes the healing radius indicator to travel up and down
  • Fixed an issue where insufficient Micro XP was being awarded by Refractive Suit when enemies are within stalking range
  • Fixed an issue where the ‘Cointoss’ and ‘Roll’ commands did not work while in a lobby
  • Fixed an issue where Ammo Stations, Health Stations or Shield Generators would be missing their mesh for any players that joins a match while those deployables are on the ground
  • Fixed an issue where the ‘Instant Respawn’ time (triggered after capturing an objective) would remain indefinitely if the level was restarted during that phase

Level Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where players could call in an Airstrike or Orbital Laser on either side of the restaurant staircase wall in Chapel
  • Fixed an issue where arming C4 on a secondary objective would show a progress bar on the primary objective
  • Fixed an issue where there was a snag around the second objective on Underground
  • Fixed an issue on Castle where a large part of the ceiling on the third objective had no bullet collision
  • Fixed an issue on Terminal Redux where there were players could clip into a desk around the second objective
  • Fixed an issue on Terminal Redux where there was tape clipping into a wall 
  • Fixed an issue where the EV gate has incorrect impact effects on Castle’s first objective
  • Fixed an issue on the Assault Course where part of the fencing is removed on low settings
  • Fixed a number of stitching issues on Dome’s second objective
  • Fixed a lighting issue near attacker’s last spawn on Dome

Tech Art and Animation

  • Fixed an issue where bullet impact VFX could be visible through certain metal objects
  • Fixed an issue where Hunter’s EMP idle VFX was too intense in 3rd person view
  • Fixed an issue where depth of field was not functioning as intended on DX11
  • Fixed an issue where the Kukri’s light attack animation felt too weak
  • Fixed an issue on the Assault Course where part of the fencing is removed on low settings
  • Fixed an issue where the Bronze and Gold Beckhill Melee Mayhem skins look identical on the blade
  • Fixed an issue where cinematics would run in 60 fps in DX11
  • Fixed an issue where Mountable machine guns could become cream coloured when Phantom decloaks on the turret
  • Fixed an issue where dirt pile assets flicker on low and minimal graphics settings on DX11
  • Fixed an issue where fog could render incorrectly on low and minimal graphics settings on DX11
  • Fixed an issue where match intro cinematic objective markers and borders flicker on low graphics settings on DX11

Text / Localisation

  • Updated and improved several localisation strings
  • Updated and improved several text strings

Audio

  • Fixed an issue where an incorrect VO played at the end of a match on Underground
  • Fixed an issue where the incorrect Commander VO played on Vault’s second objective

UI Design and Functionality

  • Fixed an issue where voting text was cut off in several languages
  • Fixed an issue where the CoreSec Weapon Case text clips out of the box
  • Fixed an issue where there were too many transition screens moving between game states
  • Fixed an issue where rapidly pressing the ‘Apply’ button in the settings menu could open multiple confirmation dialogue boxes
  • Fixed an issue where the Armory Filter is reset to “Date” after refreshing tabs
  • Fixed an issue where the Privacy option is not selected when navigating into Account Settings
  • Fixed an issue where there “New Slot” purchase pop up does not display currency options
  • Fixed an issue where equipped Loadout Cards aren’t indicated when recycling
  • Fixed an issue where editing a Merc Deck from the Barracks, augment tooltips would only appear intermittently when hovering over the Loadout Card
  • Fixed an issue where the current objective is displayed in oversized boxes in both match view and spectator mode
  • Fixed an issue where reverted graphics settings could get reapplied after restarting
  • Fixed an issue where Advancement Crates did not play the correct sounds
  • Fixed an issue where the Armory background is not consistent with other screens
  • Fixed an issue where no cost of RADs would be displayed when Crafting a Loadout Card with a specific weapon
  • Fixed an issue where some Weapon Card images look stretched when switching Loadout to a different weapon
  • Fixed an issue where players on Ultra Wide resolutions would not be able to progress to the main menu
  • Fixed an issue where unintended regions were being displayed in the Server Browser filters
  • Fixed an issue where the ‘enable console’ setting would default to off after update
  • Fixed an issue where the game would force the user to restart after changing data consent
  • Fixed an issue where levels of 3 or 4 digits would get cut off on the post match screen
  • Fixed an issue where the players were unable to sort Merc Decks by deck name