PUBG PC test patch brings back dynamic weather, adds limb penetration, tons of quality-of-life changes

News by Sherif Saed Contributor

Published on Aug. 1, 2018

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' patch #19 has hit test servers on PC, and it's a big one.

PUBG Corp. continues to work on optimisations and quality-of-life changes, and today's patch, #19, is another step in that direction. The update, which hit test servers earlier, comes in at just over 9GB.

There are a few big features in patch #19. The first and most interesting is limb penetration, which is something the community has argued in favour of on many occasions. Limb penetration allows shots blocked by arms to do full damage to the chest, head, and waist.

This should remove instances where erratic enemy movement would deny a player their headshot. In other words, having an arm in front of your face will no longer protect you against headshots. Limb penetration will not work if the arm is blocking any body part outside of the three above, meaning you'll receive the correct damage to your arm so long as it's not covering up any crucial parts.

The other major addition is dynamic weather, which now returns to Miramar and Erangel. Matches on both maps are still more likely to be sunny, but in cases where they're not, you'll start seeing different weather conditions similar to Sanhok's version, where rain and fog would alternate.

There are also many quality-of-life bug fixes and changes. Splitting ammo should now be easier thanks to an updated UI, and quick shortcuts for quick 50/50 stack splitting. Something players have wanted for a while, the ability to place markers anywhere in the 3D world, is now possible.

These markers work in a similar way to the map markers players can place, but they're even more useful in the 3D space because you're able to instantly direct teammates' attention to a particular spot, like you could in Rainbow Six Siege.

Finally, attaching and detaching weapon attachments should now be less finicky - attachments will drop to the floor if you're out of inventory space, and you'll be able to remove all of a weapon's attachments by pressing alt-right click on the weapon in question.

Find the full change log below. Patch #19 does not yet have a release date on live servers.

Gameplay

Bullet penetration system is now applied to arms and hands.
When bullet hits the arm/hand of the character, it will penetrate following its ballistic curve.
When a bullet penetrates a arm/hand and strikes a more vulnerable body part behind it, the greater damage will be applied. In other words, if a player’s arm/hand takes a bullet while blocking their head, the full headshot damage will be applied. This penetration system works for the head, torso, and waist only.
If a bullet penetrates the arm/hand, but no vulnerable body part is behind it, only the arm/hand damage will be applied
Arm/hand penetration is disabled for shotguns
Bullet penetration is not applied to legs.
When exiting vehicles while pressing the sprint key, sprint now remains engaged. This way you won’t have to release and press the button again to start sprinting.
If a teammate disconnects, but is still alive in game, other teammates couldn't see the game reward (result) screen after all other teammates died. Now players can check even if there are disconnected players in their team.
If a disconnected teammate reconnects the game, and finishes the game with better result, teammates will receive any additional rewards earned by that player.
To prevent abuse, other teammates cannot see the Deathcam until all players, including the disconnected player, have died.

Lobby

Loading screen, lobby theme, and lobby music have reverted back to normal.
In-game PGI advertisements and team logo graffiti have been removed.

UI/UX

Dropping items in stacks has been improved.
Quantity can now be adjusted using a slider.
Alt key + left mouse button immediately drops the full stack.
Alt key + right mouse button now drops half the stack.
Weapon attachment management when replacing items has been improved.
Removed or replaced attachments will now drop onto the floor if there is no room in your inventory.
When attaching directly from loot, the replaced attachment will be dropped on the floor if there is no room in your inventory.
When replacing an extended magazine with a quickdraw magazine, the extended magazine and overflow ammunition will be dropped on the floor.
When detaching an attachment by right-clicking, the attachment will be dropped on the floor if there is no room in your inventory.
Pressing Alt while right-clicking a weapon now detaches all attachments on that weapon.
Attachments will be sent to the inventory or dropped on the floor if inventory is full.
Players may now mute individual teammates.(ESC > Options > Team Management Tab)
Colorblind settings have been improved.
The following colours now change according to the selected colourblind type: scope and reticle colours, blood, supply crate smoke
Markers placed on maps are now numbered, so color is not the only way to distinguish them.
You can now place map markers without opening the map.
Right-clicking while pressing the Alt key places a marker on the map at the aimed spot.
Key bindings for this may be customized in the Options menu.
Eliminated teammates can now place markers on the map.
Equipped weapons HUD now shows slot numbers for improved readability.
Kill feed now displays personal knock-outs.
Sharpening option has been added to graphics settings.
You may now enhance sharpness independently of post-processing options.
Added an option to set a maximum frame rate
Maximum lobby FPS: 30 / 60 / Unlimited
Maximum in-game FPS: Unlimited + Smooth Off / Unlimited + Smooth On / Display Based / Custom
Now you can move your mouse cursor to another monitor when the system menu, world map, or inventory is opened, if you use multi-monitors

World

Dynamic weather has been added to Erangel and Miramar.
Erangel: Overcast
Miramar: Overcast, Sunset
Overcast setting includes dynamic weather, and includes rain, fog, etc. during the game.
Erangel has received some improvements.
Small clusters of houses have been added to some areas of Erangel.
More tactical landscapes have been added near the river in Erangel.
Added trees in the open area surrounding the Sosnovka Military Base.
Miramar now has more dirt roads for better vehicle effectiveness.
Certain high-slope sections of roads have been lowered to enhance vehicle effectiveness on Miramar.

Custom match

Additional Custom Match presets have been added.
1 Normal Mode Setting: Early Access Setting
Lvl 3 Helmets and clothing spawns in world.
Item spawns are more scarce.
Blue Zone damage is weaker.
Jet skis do not spawn.
1 Esports Mode: Gamescom Invitational 2017 Setting
Same as the Early Access Setting, but without the Red Zone and 1.5x AR spawn.
When Overcast weather is selected when hosting a Custom Match, the following dynamic weather settings may be adjusted in the Advanced options: WeatherChange StartTime Min, WeatherChange StartTime Max, WeatherChange Duration Min, WeatherChange Duration Max, No Change Weight, Change to Rain Weight, Change to Fog Weight
Custom Match sessions are now listed in order of the number of players joined, instead of time created.
When creating eSports mode, redzone option is fixed to ‘off’
When you create a custom match, you must fill in the game title to proceed further

Performance

Improved frame rate by optimizing weapons not currently held in hand.
Level streaming has been enhanced to increase performance.
Smoke and flames from vehicles have been optimized to improve frame rate.
Fixed an issue where frame rate hitches would occur when environment effects were created.
Server performance has been improved by adjusting the replication rate.
Previously, replication for all visible characters in sight was refreshed every frame. Now, replication rate differs according to distance from the player.
Network code has been adjusted to slightly increase server performance.
Lessened the discrepancy between the aim of the spectated player and the moving target being shot at.

Replay

Fixed an issue where War Mode/esports mode replays were not saved successfully
The replay system has now been updated to a newer version and past replay files cannot be played anymore

Sound

Decreased the volume of vehicle sounds for players inside vehicles in FPP mode

Bug fixes

Fixed an issue where destroying doors with grenades or Molotovs did not display debris.
Fixed an issue where some free-falling characters appeared to be locked in default free-fall animation.
Fixed an issue where pausing in replay did not pause the sounds.
Fixed an issue where a frying pan and a firearm could be held at the same time.
Fixed an issue where the breath gauge did not appear in killer spectating, death cam, or replay.
Fixed an issue where spectating in FPP showed inaccurate character locations.
Fixed an issue where a player that had been disconnected and reconnected could voice chat with the player he/she is spectating through killer spectating, if his/her team was eliminated while the player was disconnected.
Fixed an issue where leaning was possible while in an emote animation.
Fixed an issue where two players moving in a small space could sometimes get stuck.
Fixed an issue where the reporting screen message in spectator mode was displayed in English only