Gears of War 2 Patch Released (1/20)

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
Link - Sorry, I couldn't resist the subtitle given the number of fixes and updates with this patch.

Gears of War 2 Title Update 2 Detailed Release Notes

The following fixes and improvements are included in Title Update 2.

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 2 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

* A player could melee or grenade tag through certain walls.
* A player could equip a shield and a two-handed weapon simultaneously.
* A player could make their shield invisible.
* A player could become invisible.
* A player could do a "super" mantle or "kung fu flip," flying high into the air.
* A player could gain unlimited ammo with the Lancer Assault Rifle.
* A player could fire while roadie running (also known as "crabwalking").
* A player could pick up a weapon while sliding into cover.
* A player could walk forward while firing a deployed mortar.
* A player could force an opponent to be stuck in the down but not out (DBNO) position.
* A player could prevent other players from picking up a heavy weapon.
* A player could pick up a dropped meatflag without having to knock him down.
* A ragdolled player could be killed without ever going DBNO.
* A player could roadie run while firing the Scorcher Flamethrower.
* A player could get stuck while evading, though they could continue shooting in any direction.
* A player could concuss themselves under the stairs on the River map.


General Fixes

Title Update 2 fixes these other issues as well:

* An issue with client-side hit detection of the Gnasher Shotgun. The fix makes the shotgun more reliable in high-latency situations.
* An issue where players could have shotgun or Boomshot rounds fire into the ground when shooting from the hip.
* A split-screen issue where one player transitioning to the death battle camera disrupted input from the other player.
* An issue that could cause players' Look sensitivity to be changed to their Zoom sensitivity while zooming in, zooming out, and firing.
* An issue that could cause players to get stuck if they tried to pick up a heavy weapon while firing the shotgun at the same time.
* An issue where players could become stuck if they kicked over a shield while ragdolled from a smoke grenade.
* An issue where bots were unable to kick over a shield that was planted backward.
* An issue where players who quit during voting didn't show up in the end game stats, which meant other players couldn't easily provide negative feedback on them.
* An issue where players couldn't chainsaw enemy meatshields if the meatshields were already damaged.
* An issue where some players would not see the animation of a meatshield being chainsawed.
* An issue where players could not chainsaw an opposing team meatshield in a game type that doesn't allow respawns (for example, Warzone and Execution).
* An issue where a player partway through the act of raising or lowering the chainsaw did not transition into a duel when attacked from the front with a chainsaw.
* An issue where occasionally a player waiting to respawn could not respawn when repeatedly hitting the left trigger to switch cameras.
* An issue where some teammates couldn't communicate between rounds in games type that don't allow respawns, because dead team members were left in the dead radio channel until the next round started.
* An issue where a DBNO player could be seen as standing if knocked DBNO while reloading the mortar.
* An issue where a player joining a Private Xbox LIVE game in progress from another specific type of game could potentially lose HUD functionality.
* An issue on the Flood map where a player's dying from Imulsion did not trigger a death message or penalize the player as other environmental deaths did.
* An issue with Guardian games where if the leader is the last player killed on a team, the round may not end, due to the respawn timer.
* A campaign issue where the gamer picture would not be awarded when the game is completed on Insane.
* An issue where a player would continue to fire the flamethrower and damage other players if that player was knocked DBNO while firing it.
* An issue that could cause a player to get stuck while moving and quickly attempting to aim the mortar at the same time.
* An issue with Horde games where clients didn't receive the "waiting for host" message after they failed a wave.
* A Horde split-screen issue that could cause a team to get ?2 billion in score, which when posted to the leaderboards looked like +2 billion.
* An issue where dead players may not show up in the metadata for multiplayer photos.
* A system link issue where if a multiplayer match and a co-op game were hosted at the same time on the same LAN, neither could be joined.
* Additional miscellaneous bug fixes.


Balancing

Title Update 2 makes these balancing changes:

* Made planted proximity grenade mines much easier to shoot off the surface they're planted on, by giving them 50 percent less health.
* Set grenades to respawn less frequently. When a player picks up grenades from a spawned location, a new set of grenades does not respawn until the previous grenades have been used.
* Increased the penalty to rank for players who quit Public Xbox LIVE matches early.
* Buffed the flamethrower to have stopping power (to slow a charging enemy) and to cause a chainsaw interrupt (to force the opponent to lower a revved chainsaw).
* Removed the ability to instantly shoot coming out of a roadie run.
* Added additional spawn protection to prevent proximity grenade mines and chainsaws from killing a player within 5 seconds after spawning.
* Balanced grenade spawn cycling on the Hail map so that both teams have equal access to both types of grenades.

We continue to test internally and monitor online gameplay to determine what else may need adjusting.

Improvements

Title Update 2 makes these new improvements:

* Changed Annex games to use execution rules, to prevent players from leaving DBNO opponents on the ground to bleed out.
* Made Horde waves count toward the "Party Like It's 1999" achievement. Each wave is counted as one round.
* Added the ability, during Submission games, to see the flag's final destination by using Tac/Com.
* Increased the frequency of most of the toasts for in-game achievement progression.
* Added achievement progression numbers to the War Journal.
* Added 7 new DLC-based achievements worth 175 points (progress toward them starts after Title Update 2 is applied):
o "Skeletons in Your Closet" (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Flashback Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
o "Trial by, and on, Fire" (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Combustible Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
o "More Mystery, Less History" (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman).
o "The Roof! The Roof! The Roof?" (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman).
o "Bound by a Shared Past" (15 points): Win a Wingman match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps.
o "Forged in the Fire" (15 points): Win a Wingman match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps.
o "Annex: Now with Execution Rules" (75 points): Win an Annex match on each of the Flashback and Combustible Map Pack maps (Public only).
 

Kev

Lifer
Dec 17, 2001
16,367
4
81
I don't feel like reading all that... does it say anything about the ability to actually get into a frigging multiplayer game in less than 15 minutes?
 

Kabob

Lifer
Sep 5, 2004
15,248
0
76
Debating on whether I should give it another try. I swore off Gears 2 about 2 weeks after it's release, dare I give it another try?
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,664
6,547
126
too little, too late.

i think im going to trade in gears2 when i get kz2, or try to sell it elsewhere.

EDIT:

and that list of "fixes" is ridiculous. it's laughable how much crap was not tested and fixed before the game was released.
 

mesthead21

Platinum Member
Jun 5, 2004
2,378
3
0
Originally posted by: purbeast0
too little, too late.

i think im going to trade in gears2 when i get kz2, or try to sell it elsewhere.

EDIT:
and that list of "fixes" is ridiculous. it's laughable how much crap was not tested and fixed before the game was released.

Damn dude, i 100% agree with that. I love how cliffy b says he doesnt like public "demos" or "betas". Well Cliffy thats why you freaking have them in the first place, so crap like that doesnt make it into the game
 

oznerol

Platinum Member
Apr 29, 2002
2,476
0
76
www.lorenzoisawesome.com
Originally posted by: mesthead21
Originally posted by: purbeast0
too little, too late.

i think im going to trade in gears2 when i get kz2, or try to sell it elsewhere.

EDIT:
and that list of "fixes" is ridiculous. it's laughable how much crap was not tested and fixed before the game was released.

Damn dude, i 100% agree with that. I love how cliffy b says he doesnt like public "demos" or "betas". Well Cliffy thats why you freaking have them in the first place, so crap like that doesnt make it into the game

Eh, not really.

The game was so buggy because it was rushed to release. That is all. If they had another 6 months or so of development it wouldn't be an issue.
 

Kabob

Lifer
Sep 5, 2004
15,248
0
76
Originally posted by: ducci
Originally posted by: mesthead21
Originally posted by: purbeast0
too little, too late.

i think im going to trade in gears2 when i get kz2, or try to sell it elsewhere.

EDIT:
and that list of "fixes" is ridiculous. it's laughable how much crap was not tested and fixed before the game was released.

Damn dude, i 100% agree with that. I love how cliffy b says he doesnt like public "demos" or "betas". Well Cliffy thats why you freaking have them in the first place, so crap like that doesnt make it into the game

Eh, not really.

The game was so buggy because it was rushed to release. That is all. If they had another 6 months or so of development it wouldn't be an issue.

It's sort of a mix between the two methinks. Yes, they defintely rushed to get it out, but there does need to be SOME sort of testing before releasing a game of this scale. It was just shoddy when first released...
 

R Nilla

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2006
3,835
1
0
Originally posted by: kabob983
Originally posted by: ducci
The game was so buggy because it was rushed to release. That is all. If they had another 6 months or so of development it wouldn't be an issue.

It's sort of a mix between the two methinks. Yes, they defintely rushed to get it out, but there does need to be SOME sort of testing before releasing a game of this scale. It was just shoddy when first released...

Obviously there was SOME sort of testing, otherwise the game would have been completely unplayable on all fronts. There's not much anyone can do when there's a hard release date and the game just isn't ready.

All software has bugs, it's just a question of "it is good enough?" Perhaps they misjudged this time around, or maybe they didn't since they knew it was still "good enough" to sell millions of copies, which it did.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,664
6,547
126
Originally posted by: R Nilla
Originally posted by: kabob983
Originally posted by: ducci
The game was so buggy because it was rushed to release. That is all. If they had another 6 months or so of development it wouldn't be an issue.

It's sort of a mix between the two methinks. Yes, they defintely rushed to get it out, but there does need to be SOME sort of testing before releasing a game of this scale. It was just shoddy when first released...

Obviously there was SOME sort of testing, otherwise the game would have been completely unplayable on all fronts. There's not much anyone can do when there's a hard release date and the game just isn't ready.

All software has bugs, it's just a question of "it is good enough?" Perhaps they misjudged this time around, or maybe they didn't since they knew it was still "good enough" to sell millions of copies, which it did.

they coulda put a pile of dogshit (literally) in the GoW2 packaging and it would have sold millions of copies.

people bought it because they loved the first one, not because of what people were saying about it after it released.
 

R Nilla

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2006
3,835
1
0
Originally posted by: purbeast0
people bought it because they loved the first one, not because of what people were saying about it after it released.

I don't disagree, but it definitely would not sell as well, especially after the first few days. The multiplayer may have significant issues, but Gears of War 2 is still in the top 5 of games played on Xbox Live (this would be impossible if it was dog shit instead of a physical disc). Obviously there are plenty of people who still find that it is "good enough" and worth playing.
 

bucwylde23

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2005
4,180
0
71
Meh, I kind of liked the SP but the MP makes me regret buying Gears instead of renting. I really should sell my copy soon.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,664
6,547
126
Originally posted by: R Nilla
Originally posted by: purbeast0
people bought it because they loved the first one, not because of what people were saying about it after it released.

I don't disagree, but it definitely would not sell as well, especially after the first few days. The multiplayer may have significant issues, but Gears of War 2 is still in the top 5 of games played on Xbox Live (this would be impossible if it was dog shit instead of a physical disc). Obviously there are plenty of people who still find that it is "good enough" and worth playing.

that is very true, granted I would still say the bulk of the sales were w/in 24 hours of launch.

i would like to see a breakdown of the % of gametypes that are played on GoW.

if i had to guess, I would bet more than 50% of the online games are Horde mode, which most of these glitches have very little effect on, or are beneficial because they help you win.
 

R Nilla

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2006
3,835
1
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Originally posted by: purbeast0
i would like to see a breakdown of the % of gametypes that are played on GoW.

if i had to guess, I would bet more than 50% of the online games are Horde mode, which most of these glitches have very little effect on, or are beneficial because they help you win.

I'd be curious to see this breakdown as well. I've never really even played non-Horde MP other than a few bot matches. I would be even more curious to see how things panned out if the game did not have a Horde mode but everything else was still the same (buggy MP). Maybe it was the game's saving grace in terms of MP mode.
 

Stuxnet

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2005
8,392
1
0
Too late. Sold my Gears 2 CE last week to score a couple Wii games for the kids.
 

Xed

Golden Member
Nov 15, 2003
1,452
0
71
While the patch fixes a lot, standby is out of control now because you're punished if you leave. Why they haven't brought the gears1 connection error box back I have no idea.
 

bl4ckfl4g

Diamond Member
Feb 13, 2007
3,669
0
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I think I might try to play it online now. The glitches kept me from ever trying it. Well as awesome as I think the sp is, I haven't even finished that yet...playing too many different games.