Respawn's next Apex Legends patch focuses on audio, Intel CPU crashes, and hit registration (again)
It's patched out Gibraltar's shield glitch, too. Sad times.
Apex Legends' next patch will focus on improving the game's audio, as well as address on-going issues about hit registration. It also - sadly, some might say - fixes the bug that lets us stick crap to Gibraltar's shield.
In a new update on the game's subreddit, community manager Jay "Jayfresh_Respawn" Frechette outlined what's next for the free-to-play battle royale. "One of our biggest issues to tackle was improving the audio performance to address issues reported of sounds dropping out, sounds missing for extended time, or distortion for a period of time," Frechette said (thanks, PCGN). "We have made improvements both in our code and with our content that will hopefully fix these issues for many players, and for others, at least lower the amount and length of time they encounter audio issues.
"We have also addressed some of the other mix issues with the game, including increasing the volume of close proximity enemy footsteps and lowering the overall volume of the game from the character select screen to the end of the drop sequence. We will continue to monitor mix issues and address them as necessary."
Frechette goes on to add that the work done to the game makes the audio CPU 30 per cent more efficient, which should reduce the frequency of "sound distortion and dropout".
Along with other tweaks to audio and volume, the patch should fix incorrect hit registration as well as some "behind-the-scenes tracking of bullet damage logic". "We expect there will still be some remaining hit registration problems, but with these fixes and diagnostic information, we are better equipped to track them down," Frechette said.
Interestingly, the team thinks one potential cause of hit registration bugs may simply be tied to internet connection problems. To find out for sure, the developer has "put some time into refining the functionality behind our network problem indicator icons in the upper right of the screen". These icons are now "pickier about your connection quality", so it's possible you'll see them more often going forward, but hopefully it'll help Respawn narrow down the cause of these bugs.
There's some good news for PC players with Intel CPUs who've been experiencing crashing, too. Described as "the most commonly reported PC crash", Respawn has discovered that lowering the clock speed "always fixed the crashes, even if the CPU wasn't overclocked or overheating". A workaround is in the works, and Intel's been notified of the issue.
As for the Gibraltar shield glitch? "Admittedly it's been fun to see the results of this but the behavior is not intended by design and could get out of control," Frechette said. "Items will no longer stick to Gibraltar's Gun Shield, however, it will now deflect Arc Stars."
The patch is expected to roll out across all platforms next week.
Last week, Respawn revealed plans to ban Apex Legends players who intentionally don't participate in matches, but instead "piggyback" onto the efforts of their teammates just to farm rewards and XP.
