New Details on Battlefield Hardline's First Patch

Electronic Arts has revealed further details of an upcoming patch that will soon be deployed across the PC and console versions of Battlefield Hardline.

Developer Visceral, writing on the Battlefield community blog, has listed what it considers are the top five changes that the update will deliver. Among the list is a fix to its Punkbuster anti-cheat system, which some PC players had discovered was causing a spike in CPU usage.

Though the update was first announced in late March, a release date remains unknown. "We’re still working hard every day to improve the gameplay experience to make Battlefield Hardline even more fun," said Visceral's multiplayer game designer Thaddeus Sasser.

Sasser's list, of what he considers to be the best five changes coming with the patch, can be found below.

• Punkbuster fixes: We’re addressing some of the heavy CPU usage seen by players
• Nvidia DirectX driver fixes: We’re working with our partners at Nvidia to create new drivers to prevent the most common crash issues
• Extended Conquest time: We’ve extended the length of Conquest matches by increasing the number of tickets on both Large and Small
• Fixed TDM spawns: We’ve adjusted spawn points and the spawn system for better TDM spawning
• Multiple weapon balance tweaks: We’ve addressed some common complaints with the weapon balance, there will be more coming soon

Meanwhile, Visceral is also preparing to introduce a "rent-a-server" program to all console versions, which will allow players to customize their multiplayer matches as well as invite friends to play.

Found below is a detailed list of changes that the patch will deliver:

BUG FIXES:

• Fixed a server crash in Rescue
• Increased the character limit in the MapList to support up to 150 maps in a rotation
• You can now set the time limit to 0 and it disables the time limit instead of instantly ending the round in Blood Money
• Various fixes for server crashes with rental servers (multiple issues addressed)
• Fix for the timer in Conquest freezing when the user set the time limit higher than 800
• Fix for MP squad join issue where after the squad leader gets disconnected, a new leader cannot kick members or disband
• Fix for the patch awarded in released game for reaching Rank 10 in the Beta
• Fix for Derailed Levolution where players were teleported to origin of Point B and killed in some circumstances
• Fix for crash if the UI is disabled in the .cfg file
• Fix for Bloodmoney exploit in HH where players could access the money pile through the floor/roof
• Fix on XB1 for players using invite/join on friend after Quickmatching
• Fix for the Uzi's weapon license cost, setting it to the correct value of $50,000
• Fix for X360 players being unable to invite friends while playing Rescue
• Fix for a rare crash in the Customize screen
• All platforms, miscellaneous low frequency crash fixes

GAMEPLAY CHANGES:

• Conquest tickets increased (CQL 999, CQS 600)
• Greatly decreased nearby bullet impact flinch; your aimpoint will not shift from rounds striking the environment near you
• Fixed some issues with FLIR/IRNV
• RPG reduced to 1 ammo from back of cars, with smaller explosion radius overall thus requiring more skill to use effectively
• TDM friendzones have been adjusted for better spawning
• Rescue / Crosshair exploit where players could skip the round start time by hitting START or ESC has been fixed
• Couch health reduced and repair rate decreased to a miniscule amount, making the Couch the one-off it was intended
• Player should no longer Quickmatch into servers with unsupported numbers of players
• K10: Reduce max damage to 33 and min damage to 8
• Saiga and PTR: reduce recoil to bring more in line with Cop faction DMRs
• HCAR and HK51: reduce recoil to bring more in line with SCAR-H and SA-58
• .410 Jury: Increase damage per pellet to become more effective
• FMG-9: increase damage per round to 25 and push out falloff start range to make these weapons more effective
• Battlerifle min damage increased to 25 across the board
• AKM min damage reduced to 24