Round two of PUBG's Savage testing brings big changes to the new tropical map
Still "a few more months" away from full release.
Developer Bluehole's second round of testing for Codename Savage, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' new tropical-themed map, is about to get underway, and it brings a number of notable changes to the experience.
Savage, of course, is Battlegrounds' smallest map yet, measuring just 4km by 4km - that's a quarter of the size of the game's currently released Erangel and Miramar maps. Savage already offers a faster, more brutal form of Battle Royale compared to its more established counterparts, but Bluehole's new changes are designed improve things still further.
Arguably the most exciting additions in this latest iteration of Savage come in the form of three new areas. There's Banyan Grove and Abandoned Quarry, both in the centre of the island, and the Dock, which can be found to the south east.
Less showy, but still significant, are a number of terrain tweaks intended to enhance the flow of play. Object placement has been improved around bridges to "better facilitate movement", for instance, and the surrounding terrain has been updated to make it easier to reach land from the river. Additionally, some hard-to-see doors have been lightened for increased visibility.
Elsewhere, this new version of Savage sees a reduction in the redzone's size and duration, and deploys a new feature which enables the bluezone "to calculate and adjust its waiting time based on the number of players left alive".
It also introduces a new dynamic weather system which alters throughout play, replacing the previous system which was hardwired to change once per match.
These tweaks are joined by a variety of spawn balances and bug fixes, as well as numerous audio and visual changes, designed to improve the map both functionally and aesthetically. A full list of these can be found in Bluehole's latest Steam post.
Bluehole notes that Savage won't be ready for full release "for a few more months", but says that it will continue on with its "super short" testing phases in order to improve development. "We believe that working with players in an 'open development' process is the best way to make a map that players love," it explains, "So please keep the feedback coming!"
Round two of Codename Savage testing takes place on Bluehole's Closed Experimental Server and begins at 2am on April 17th in the UK. Things come to a close 48 hours later on April 19th, and there's still time to sign up if you want to get in on the action.