Patch Notes:

Here are the patch notes for the second weekend of Tech Test. Please make sure you install the update to the Tech Test so that you can experience these updates yourself.

TIME TO KILL

Amped Weapons Boost now unlocks at 80% of the earn meter instead of 50%.

Charge Rifles now have damage falloff at cross map distances.

Slightly increased cloak visibility for other Pilots.

We think the abundance of Amped Weapons is a large contributor to lower time to kill. We’re still adjusting individual weapon balance for ship.

MOBILITY

Increased max wall-running speed.

Increased base wall-running speed and air speed.

Increased acceleration while jumping off walls.

Titans dashes recharge 2 seconds faster.

Training is unaffected by these changes, ensuring Gauntlet records will remain valid.

TITAN TIMER

Pilots now earn a small amount of Titan meter every 5 seconds.

This value may be undertuned until we can take a pass at how much meter you earn from objectives.

BOUNTY HUNT

Score Limit lowered to 5000 from 6000 to increase the amount of games won by score instead of time.

Banking phases now last 45 seconds instead of a minute.

TECHNICAL FIXES

Fixed some issues with the outer deadzone on PlayStation controllers.

We wanted to note and apologize for “Invite Friends” still being broken in this build. We needed to get the patch to certification quickly to ensure gameplay changes could make it in for this weekend, so we couldn’t get to this in time.

[original thread follows]

Given the divisive response to the tech test, I'm surprised there wasn't a thread about this already:

http://www.titanfall.com/en_us/news/tech-test-and-feedback/

Over this past weekend, we’ve heard a lot of passionate feedback from Titanfall fans. Even though the Tech Test build is a couple months old, we learned some valuable things based on your feedback. Some of these changes have already been addressed and will be updated for weekend two of the tech test, with other changes making it into the final game.

Pilot Mobility

Many players are wondering why we changed the mobility from Titanfall 1. We identified two major issues we wanted to solve in Titanfall 2. The first is that a lack of player predictability would often cause players to be shot from the back or sides. While flanking is an important part of gameplay death often felt random instead of skillful. The second issue is that close range firefights were overly chaotic due to erratic player movement. So, changes to pilot mobility stemmed from a desire to improve our gunplay, and not a desire to slow down movement.

We’ll be tuning air speed and wall-running speed to be faster.

While investigating this point, we discovered some unintended side effects that were causing players to lose momentum while wallrunning.

Players should once again accumulate and retain more speed when chaining wallruns.

Additionally, we’re testing scaling back some of the dampening factors that were limiting bunny-hopping as we don’t want these restrictions to impact normal traversal.

Titan Meter

We made some changes in Titanfall 2 with the goal of rewarding players for playing game mode objectives. However, we observed the problem that players can try to play the objective but fail, resulting in slower than intended Titan acquisition. We still want objectives to be the fastest way to get a Titan, but the goal of every player being guaranteed a Titan per match hasn’t changed.

Pilots will once again acquire a small passive amount of Titan meter every few seconds.

Titan Survivability

This is one of the more complex issues to address for several reasons.

First, we’ve changed from Titans having energy shields to a new Titan battery system which we believe improves rodeo gameplay and rewards teamwork. In Titanfall 1, rodeo was lethal to Titans, forcing pilots to disembark and engage in a 50 / 50 fight. In Titanfall 2, the rodeo pilot steals a battery and damages an enemy Titan. If they can give that battery to a friendly Titan, the Titan receives a shield and the Pilot gets Titan meter points. As players become more familiar with the system, we expect that Titans will live longer. This is an area we will continue to monitor leading up to launch.

Another factor is that the balance of Titan gameplay in the Tech Test build is heavily affected by the limited amount of content we released in the build. For example, some Titans that aren’t in the Tech Test have strong defensive abilities, certain Titan kits provide defensive upgrades, and even Pilots have a boost that can improve Titan defenses.

Lastly, there has been a lot of tuning since the Tech Test build that will tone down the amount of damage many weapons deal to Titans.

Titan Mobility

We’ve reduced the number of baseline dashes by one compared to Titanfall 1, but all Titans have access to a new Titan kit that provides an additional dash. This is to balance new mobility or defensive options available to specific Titans. The Tech Test build, however, doesn’t include our fastest Titans. Despite our confidence in our top-end speed, we have heard your feedback that Ion and Scorch feel too slow.

Titan dashes will recharge faster.

Map Design

Some of our Tech Test players have asked if the relatively flat and open design of Homestead is indicative of a new direction for Titanfall, and the answer is no. When designing maps, we strive to make them unique experiences. For example, Homestead changes things up by creating islands of Pilot gameplay where long-range weapons can be effective. This upcoming weekend a new map, Forwardbase Kodai, will be available for play. There is a wide variety of maps for the final game.

We’ll be showcasing more maps over the next couple weeks on our website, including more traditional Titanfall maps.

HUD

We’ve read feedback about the HUD feeling too busy. At launch Titanfall 2 will have menu options that allow players to turn these features on or off based on their individual preferences.

Additionally, there have been concerns about enemy outlines making players too easy to see at a distance. We think this is an important feature for friend or foe identification with the substantial amount of visual customization that will be available at launch in Titanfall 2.

We’re going to bring in the fade distance for enemy outlines so they don’t reveal pilots at extreme distances.

Conclusion

Thanks again very much for participating in the first weekend of the Tech Test. We’re looking forward to hearing from more of you this weekend, as these tests are amazingly helpful in ensuring we have a successful launch. As you can see, your feedback is already being heard and impacting the final game, and we’ll be posting the updates for weekend two in our forums later this week: https://forums.titanfall.com/en-us/categories/game-updates. I also encourage you to read Jon “Slothy” Shiring’s blog on feedback we’ve received from the tech test in regards to server stability, you can check it out here http://www.titanfall.com/en_us/news/tech-test-successes/.

After working on any game behind closed doors it’s always tremendously exciting and useful to finally have players get their hands on it. We value our community, the feedback you provide us, and working with you to make our games better. We look forward to hearing what you think about the updates coming for weekend two of the tech test, and can’t wait to see you all on the Frontier this October.

Regards,

Steven DeRose

Multiplayer Game Designer

Titanfall 2

Can't wait to play this again on Friday and try out the new adjustments. I'm especially hyped about the mobility changes. I also love how they basically said "you people aren't even playing the game right yet, steal some batteries if you want Titans to last longer!" when it comes to Titan health.

They're right in that I hardly saw anyone doing that, and I never really did it myself. Hard to judge the system if people aren't properly participating in it yet, and helping other players repair their Titans.

it sounded like the only way to make the vocal minority happy was to release titanfall 1 again. i seriously had a fun time with the beta as it was and was still looking forward to it, but hopefully these changes are for the better.

The chaotic feeling of the first game is what made it exciting to play though, odd they felt that was something to "fix". I always felt when i got killed it was because of lack of skill? Will definitely give the new build a chance this weekend, don't think it will be that much different though..

@ripelivejam: Was it the vocal minority though? I don't know, all i know is I really didn't enjoy the beta at all.

@oursin_360: I think it can be different if they just show us different modes. The modes given to us were not what makes Titanfall great.

@ripelivejam:I would say the vocal minority were the people that actually played the 1st game. I don't remember that game selling that well.

I still have a problem with the grappling hook being an equipment choice. I feel like they're taking away the power that you felt you had in the first game. Did they make wall hanging a perk? I can't remember.....

@oursin_360: titanfall had a small but dedicated fanbase that is very married to the way the game plays, it seems. and i'm sure the devs feel that if they don't try to change things up this game will end up in the same place where it bleeds players very quickly. maybe there's a way to evolve the game without sacrificing what made those people like it but i'm not sure what it is. that i personally enjoyed it and didn't really notice the changes they made (at least in a negative way) just made me think that people don't like change. i guess a bunch of people will come in to prove me wrong but looking at it objectively i don't see why it was considered such a huge disappointment. also the grappling hook is rad (but i will concede it's a little odd that it's equipment).

@ripelivejam: If you didn't notice a change then whats the problem with it being changed to the way it was for the people who do? People saw the changes as a negative which means they didn't see it as an evolution of the game but rather from what I've read a stagnation or homogenisation.

I never know how to feel about stuff like this.

Normally not a fan of devs giving in to player pressure but I have to admit I was not a fan of how this game had changed since the first. Looking forward to giving it another go this weekends

These all sound like good changes.

That said after having purchased Titanfall 1 on PC and playing a match or two here and there as my new multiplayer "15 minute time filler" I hope they don't go back to the well that much as I GREATLY enjoyed playing the TF2 tech test over the original. I mean it's still fun, TF1 that is, but everything from movement to shooting to me personally felt a lot better in the sequel - a lot smoother at least.

In Titanfall 1 the amount of Titans strolling around mid match is crazy. I'm not a huge fan of the in-Titan combat or fighting against them as a pilot so to me reduced Titan meters seemed like a great idea. There was meaning in getting a Titan because you didn't "just" get one.

@colonel_pockets: The game sold well (even the DLC did according to the annual EA reports), it juist couldn't keep the player number up due to a lack of progression. Jeff for example talked about the lack of full auto assault rifles (the man just wants to hose!) and not really wanting to play anymore after the only full auto rifle got nerfed a bit. TF2 seems to have a lot more and more variety too (the slightly more strict classes actually help here).

The movement was never the problem so I don't know why they changed that other it being unbalanced with all the new stuff or, I guess like they said now, because some people couldn't keep up with it (I never had a problem with it, git gud (j/k)). I'm happy they changing TF2 movement more back to TF1. Funny though they mentioning close combat as erratic in TF1, but they added an erratic movement option in the form of dashing in TF2...

The amount of Titans in TF1 never bothered me as well since I liked the synergy and you're not helpless when you don't have one. I feel they should just add a pilot only playlist to the game if people are so bothered by it.

You could call it giving in to player pressure, but there's a reason you hold tests like this, to find out what the players like the best. It's the whole point.

The movement could be better, but I didn't have a problem with Titan acquisition in the last test, I thought that happened at an appropriate cadence.

Really enjoyed TF1 on PC and have no problem with the direction they're talking with the sequel. The few concerns I had they've addressed and I'm looking forward to trying it again this weekend.

There is a wall hanging ability--not in the same category as the grapple, thank goodness--and there's also a hover when aiming type ability in the same category. I'm definitely looking forward to a full reveal of weapons and abilities. I think the lack of that sort of thing is why people stopped playing the original game so quickly. There just weren't enough different ways to play that game, due to a shortage of weapons and perks.

Tweaking/balancing a game based on player feedback/statistics isn't a bad thing, especially not for a competitive game. It becomes a problem when changes are made to artistic elements, which can still be fine as long as the devs carefully consider the changes and conclude that the work would be better (example being the tracer controversy in overwatch). In other words, this is fine. Every mp game does stuff like this.

This. Besides, it's all number changes that could easily be reverted/modified in the future. They aren't "bending to player demands", just changing some numbers to see what happens.

Every single one of these changes puts a big smile on my face. I'm more than willing to give the new Rodeo mechanics another shot now that I actually know how it works, as well. That explanation on the battery not being in the intro video is insane.

I've been down the tracer butt pose road before, so I won't go there again, but I see a pretty large difference between making changes to your game because someone said "I'm offended" and making changes to your game because someone said "hey, this isn't as fun as your first game." Those are two pretty different things, and at least for me, it seems odd to even bring up the topic of self-censorship in a thread talking about gameplay changes.

But it's all a subjective issue. I just hope they get things ironed either before release or perhaps a month or two after. The new COD game is only a few months away, and they're STILL constantly adjusting the weapon balance in Black Ops III. I don't mean that as a good thing either. They're constantly changing how that game works, which makes it impossible to ever depend on the performance of any given weapon. It's pretty dumb.

I had a lot of fun with the tech test, may come down to the fact that I didn't play the first game, though. I saw a lot of people complaining that they just made it COD, but the only mode that feels like COD to me was Pilots v Pilots (the worst mode, imo).

@triviaman09: it's largely the same game except a bit clunkier in pretty much every respect. Titanfall 2 seems more streamlined and refined in every way. In comparison the first game felt like a test of what they wanted to accomplish while TF2 is finally realizing the vision with a broader, more robust experience.

They had a small fanbase because they launched exclusive at the start of a console generation. I think most people left because it lacked fun game modes - hardpoint was pretty much the only good one. They tried to fix that by adding a horde mode like 6 or 9 months later, but it was too late at that point. I liked the first game, definitely didn't love it, but it was a lot of fun to play. This beta wasn't that fun due to the lame maps, boring titans, and the movement felt off. The gameplay itself didn't need to get fixed - they just needed to add more titans, have more versus modes, have a better horde mode from the beginning, and have a campaign (or make it less than $60). They screwed up, so I'm glad they're addressing it already.

In Titanfall 2, the rodeo pilot steals a battery and damages an enemy Titan. If they can give that battery to a friendly Titan, the Titan receives a shield and the Pilot gets Titan meter points. As players become more familiar with the system, we expect that Titans will live longer. This is an area we will continue to monitor leading up to launch.

Ohhhh, so that's what those things were. I wasn't sure if those were spawning randomly on the map and if they were reducing my ability cooldown or wtf they did. Makes a lot of sense now.

@spaceinsomniac: I feel like the problem is that we don't know what is in the rest of the game. I feel like a lot of my problems could be fixed by having modes similar to Titanfall 1 or seeing the rest of the titans. It's hard to render a verdict with that stuff missing. I'm excited to see how the changes play this weekend.

Going back to this, I think I agree. I really hate the feeling in bounty when you're killed and lose half your money, and I really hate not being able to make it back to your bank on time, and I really hate getting killed by someone camping a bank. I really hate doing really well, only to get screwed over and then none of it counts for my team. There's a lot about bounty that I really hate, but everything else is fantastic.

I think the other game modes are going to save this game for me. I'm enjoying the second weekend a lot more, thanks in part due to understanding how the battery system works now. That's a really enjoyable part of the game, and does a great job of encouraging team work. Also, just hopping on a friendly titan and team-shooting with your anti-titan weapon is great fun. You can really make short work of an enemy that way, if both players are skilled enough, and even more so if you've just delivered a fresh battery to a teammate.

I also really like the new map.

Too bad they can't fix awful map design.

yeah, it feels a ton better now but i still feel like i'm just randomly jumping up and down rather than pulling off cull wall run chains like the first game. I only played one game, but i thought they were bringing in new maps this weekend?

There's one new map right now - it's not that great either, but closer to the first game. I'd like a new mode, these 3 modes aren't that great.

i personally liked the one open map i cant quite recall the name of right now. im guessing if youre a better player than i am it wasnt that great strategically speaking.

I still think there should be some grunts on Hardpoint but overall I'm positive on the changes.

I am really liking the changes. Having tons more fun now.

Even managed to hook a guy.

@assumedkilla: ah ok i thought they were bringing in all new maps, i only played one game so far

the new default game mode is really bad imo. reminds me of that battlefield hardline mode where both sides had parallel objectives... that werent that close to each other. so it just kinda turns into a dumb race rather than some kinda fight.

@spaceinsomniac: Has Respawn said anything about new game modes for the weekend? If these are the modes that they think will carry this game, then they're in trouble.

@mister_v: oh yah? I really liked the first test and I can hardly tell anything changed apart from the Titan meter filling in by itself in the background. What changed your mind?

@dijon: yea, bounty is awful. It's a poor replacement for Attrition

@mems1224: have they specifically said that that game mode is replacing attrition. Wasn't that just basically team death match with bots? They cannot possibly launch this game WITHOUT a team death match equivalent.

Every single mode is team deathmatch. Attrition was never pure team deathmatch as you wanted to mow down as many grunts and AI as possible to rack up points. The closest thing you get to pure deathmatch in this test at least is pilot VS pilots at the expense of not having titans.

Bounty is a fun mode. It's not quite the simulated battlefield that attrition was with all the AI creeps running around, but it does let you shoot some mindless grunts while on the lookout for enemy pilots. If anything I think the classic attrition was maybe too chaotic where finding actual human beings to shoot became a weird game of Find Waldo, while Bounty Hunt is a bit too timid making the maps feel empty and lifeless.

At this point I would be really surprised if they changed the drop pod mechanic for introducing creeps onto the map, just like they probably won't change the awkward 3rd person entering Titan transitions. They made it a faster and more direct engagement sort of game, for better and worse, and you're either on-board or Respawn has an alternative Titanfall solution for you: it's called Titanfall 1.

I loved the chaos in Attrition. It felt like you were being dropped in a real battlefield and I never had issues finding enemy pilots. It was incredibly easy to tell them apart because of how they moved. Bounty mode is just soulless and forces people to camp areas. I had the most fun with that mode when I straight up ignored the objective and just played. I've won most of my matches without having to ever deposit any money.

The 3rd person animations are awful. They're incredibly jarring and you can't even see them half the time. Every time I get in a Titan I get a little dizzy which games never do to me.

Once you realize that--as long as you didn't double jump already--you can jump as you're reeling in with the grappling hook, it opens up a whole world of map traversal options. It's also probably the reason why the developers didn't feel the need to have wall-run billboards everywhere this time around.

They really didn't change all that much between this and last weekend, but now that I'm getting to know the maps and how everything works, I'm also enjoying this game a lot more. Unless something disastrous happens with the retail version at launch, this has become a definite day one purchase.

After playing more, I've had games of all three that I enjoyed quite a bit. But no, there aren't any new modes this weekend. We don't even have a list of modes for the retail version yet.

While I can see the complaints of people camping the banks in Bounty, or the lack of Titans in a game called Titanfall with Pilot vs Pilot, I don't think there's a lot to complain about with Hardpoint. Unlike Bounty, camping a point is kind of the idea, and you're given plenty of notification if someone is on the point you're about to attempt to take. It works quite nicely, and I really like how some points can only be taken by pilots, while others are best taken with Titans.

Bounty isn't awful, but it is awful that they took probably the most casual friendly mode in the original Titanfall, and replaced it with a mode that severely punishes you for dying. That's not cool, and it's a large part of why I hope Attrition is still in the final game.

I think that's kind of an unfair assessment. You can stay back and kill the AI, but you can also hunt down and flank opponents who are trying to kill the AI. Once you have a Titan, you can either play defensively and go after the AI in relative safety, or be aggressive and go after opponents in Titans who've accumulated large amounts of money and are also trying to play it safe by attacking the AI.

It's a fun game mode, and can be quite rewarding when you've made a lot of kills and end up depositing a huge sum of money for your team, but it can also feel very punishing to lose that sum before you make it back to the bank. The worst is when you have a ton of money, and are spotted by two or three players at once. You never had a chance, you're dead, you lose half your money, and by the time you respawn and finally make it to the bank, some bastard is camping it and takes another half of your money. So you respawn yet again, and just as you're about to make it back to one of the banks, they close.

That's not a very nice mode to replace the "hey, even crappy players can kill the AI, get a Titan, and still have a fun time!" mode from the first game.

Again, hopefully Attrition will be in the final list of modes. Even if it's not, I can definitely see them adding it later. They've already announced that maps and modes will be free for all players, which must mean they have some sort of loot package system cooked up. Still, if it results in free maps and game modes, I say bring it on.

@humanity: @spaceinsomniac: Maybe it's just a mental thing, but knowing that my titan timer is always ticking up now makes me feel like I can be way more carefree in the way I play. It sounds weird but it just feels way better knowing that thing is always ticking up, even if it's pretty slow. I also think the moment feels better now. Though I did go into the control settings and change the aim stick to "classic" mode.

I am actually really coming round to the bounty game mode now. I normally stick to hard point but the removal of the AI in the version of it that's in the test has killed all interest to me. I like the risk reward aspect of bounty a lot. I would still like to see a version of hard point that was like the first game though, Why they thought taking the AI out was a good idea ill never know.

Oh and pro tip. Pick scorch, It seems shit when you first play it compared to ion. But god damn I just got 24 kills in my last match using scorch. That main gun just destroys infantry.

Bounty is pretty lame to me too. It feels like they wanted to do Kill Confirmed from COD and add their own twist to it. The devs are focusing on the wrong things. They screwed up the movement/gameplay last week, their level design has gone downhill, and these modes aren't that great. Titanfall 1 just needed more modes - not change the existing ones - a campaign, a better horde mode out of the box, and a few other things. They're trying to fix stuff that wasn't broken. Really, at this point the devs should've said what's in the game and what's not. The same goes for Gears 4 not showing horde mode yet. These devs have the cards so close to their chest that they're going to lose out on money.

I didn't want to make a new thread for this, but all six Titans have now been revealed in a new trailer:

Now if they'd only reveal the game modes, weapons, and abilities.

@spaceinsomniac: I think they will. It's probably all part of the marketing cycle. Those Titans look awesome though. Loved Scorch in the test and Legion looks cool AF. Looking forward to release.

Attrition is officially back in Titanfall 2.

In addition to that announcement, there is also a new pilot trailer, and the first video of PC multiplayer.

Pilots trailer:

Attrition:

Movement:

@spaceinsomniac: That mobility looks a hell of a lot better and that map also looks a lot more interesting and fun. Shame they never let me try the PC version myself so I won't be picking the game up.

Also that music in the Pilots trailer was real bad.

@spaceinsomniac: Glad to see that Respawn is taking the feedback. I think the most important things that made Titanfall unique was having the grunts and spectres running around. They helped feed you to your titan, while still be able to help the team. They also just filled the maps, so there would less empty areas. There were very few times in Titanfall where it felt like you were away from the action because of this.

The Come Together trailer music was SO much worse. I don't know what's wrong with these ad people and their terrible cover songs of timeless music.

As for the movement, I have to wonder if it will be that fast on console. I hope it's at least close to that. Wasn't the original Titanfall PC version much faster than the Xbox One version?

Yeah, I'm glad they're bringing back Attrition as well.

Pretty much the full list of weapons, gear, titans, boosts and abilities has been revealed now, btw. For anyone interested in the seeing how much content there is, I would suggest this video:

For those wondering, the smart pistol is back, but it's a boost rather than a primary weapon. That means that it takes the place of your amped weapons or your tickers, and you only can use it once you've reached a certain percentage of your Titan charge.

It does look like your ability will dictate which player model you have, though, which I still don't like.

@spaceinsomniac: I'm not sure, I didn't get fully into the first game, but I would say they were probably the same but the PC version just seemed faster because you had a lot better control.