GDC08: Plenty of changes coming with Call of Duty 4 feature patch
If you need evidence, you need look no further than the slew of updates and changes that are coming to the game in the coming months, which we talked with IW community relations manager Robert Bowling about today at GDC.
The first in the pipeline is a feature patch that's just been sent to Microsoft for Xbox 360 certification and will soon go to the PS3 for certification.
Arguably the most important new addition is host migration. In short, if a host leaves a game, all players stay together, a suitable replacement is chosen and the game begins anew. Though the game doesn't continue uninterrupted, it should help to keep a host departure from being so jarring.
From a gameplay perspective, the patch will improved sniper rifle accuracy, as well as the accuracy on the ACOG scope.
The sniper fix (as well as the host migration feature, for that matter) was born of direct feedback from the community, according to Bowling.
The same can be said of the other features like an expanded Kill Cam with all weapons, including claymores, airstrikes and grenades, getting the feature.
Also, expect nine new spawn points in every map, a quick mute feature and an improved spectator cam that allows a first-person view as well as being fully rotatable in 3rd person.
Though the changes are numerous, Bowling said he doesn't expect it to be the last such update, especially if fans remain vocal.
"We never assume that we're done, we never pat ourselves on the back, wipe our hands and assume that we're finished."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Visionz08 @ Feb 20th 2008 4:50PM
Cool.
Now how about pleasing the competitive scene and work on the lan patch?
SaNcTuS @ Feb 20th 2008 4:51PM
hmm. no lan fix yet. This patch is nice but still doesn't fix what i really want...
kavendano14 @ Feb 20th 2008 4:56PM
which is?
SaNcTuS @ Feb 20th 2008 4:59PM
a system link fix...
Obie @ Feb 20th 2008 4:56PM
ABOUT DAMN TIME!
Hopefully M$ certification won't drag their butts on this one.
deaftly @ Feb 20th 2008 5:45PM
You wrote MS as M$! Thats awesome, I knew you had creativity in your blood.
Flit @ Feb 20th 2008 5:53PM
Wow, They answered every complaint I had with the game, without me actually complaining. I guess I wasn't alone. Now, how about a sniper bullet actually killing someone in less than 3 shots?
Oh, and spawn ganking. I hope that is included in the "9 spawnpoints" fix, where Spawning my team in a bunker on Countdown over and over again is a Bad time.
Obie @ Feb 20th 2008 8:07PM
I'm a regular Pica$$o! :p
OMGOMG @ Feb 20th 2008 4:57PM
2 free new maps, and nobody would ever play Halo 3 again.
tim @ Feb 20th 2008 4:58PM
LAN is what we college dorm residents desire more than anything else.
LAN is srs bsns
Yuccadude @ Feb 20th 2008 10:19PM
Where did all your vowels go?
Player1 @ Feb 20th 2008 5:00PM
While new features is nice, simply fixing the game that's ranked #1 on live so it works like it's suppposed to in a timely manner would have been better. How long is has this game been out and it still takes me 30 minutes of yelling "back out" to get into a lobby with my whole party.
KingOfGods @ Feb 20th 2008 5:27PM
I don't think that has anything to do with the game but more to do with routers and NAT settings.
My ports are open for Live on my router by I still find that I have to reset my router before I sit to play so that my NAT is open.
Once my router has been reset I do not have an issue with joining the rest of my party anymore
Raheem @ Feb 20th 2008 5:01PM
I want a co-op mode :P
La li lu le lo @ Feb 20th 2008 8:28PM
I want a co-op mode 2 :p
killploki @ Feb 20th 2008 5:03PM
i dont know why one has to be better than the other all the time. i love call of duty 4, and it takes up the majority of my play time right now, but i had friends over for some system link on the weekend and played halo for the first time in months. its still an amazing multiplayer game and is very different from how call of duty plays.
if anything we should be lucky to get to have 2 online games like this that are both fun and both have tons of players online whenever you log on to find a game.
umm....hello??? @ Feb 20th 2008 5:12PM
EXACTLY. (or 3 to 5 games--GoW, BurnoutParadise and soon GoW2 in November!!!!) am looking forward to the update....until then, Halo3 has my gametime for awhile yet until I complete LostOdyssey....
Tango Charlie @ Feb 20th 2008 6:28PM
That sort of healthy, logical thinking will get you nowhere on teh inter-nets.
Brucie B @ Feb 20th 2008 5:03PM
How long is this Process, MS had the Patch in there hands for @ least a week already!
Sorry just want that Bad Boy Patch already!
Dan @ Feb 20th 2008 5:04PM
The PC version has had 4 patches already... :)
Amber @ Feb 20th 2008 5:37PM
Good for you?
No one cares.
Dan @ Feb 20th 2008 5:46PM
you cared enough to make your dumb ass reply :)
lotrfish @ Feb 20th 2008 7:12PM
Actually, it has had five patches.
Marketing Punk @ Feb 21st 2008 10:36PM
PATCHES? We don't need no stinking patches...
[.sm0ke.] @ Feb 29th 2008 9:38AM
You realize that's NOT a good thing, right? Five patches means the PC version had some issues.
NukeAssault @ Feb 20th 2008 5:08PM
Still want a fix to well... fix the intel bugs. But i am very excited for this.
paragraph @ Feb 20th 2008 5:13PM
Fix: Get an AMD...
srly phenom ftw...
-_-
I feel your pain
NukeAssault @ Feb 20th 2008 5:33PM
Talkin bout the 360 ver. And Phenom hasnet won me over yet anyways. =P
[.sm0ke.] @ Feb 29th 2008 9:33AM
Phenom costs more and performs worse. Core 2 Quad ftw.
Stef Geiger @ Feb 20th 2008 5:14PM
I wish they could say more than "will soon go to the PS3 for certification". Though if I'm not mistaken Sony's certification process can be rather speedy compared to Microsoft's. (not flamebait)
FidliousWong @ Feb 20th 2008 5:15PM
One of these days... I will play this game...
Seattle Yonkers @ Feb 20th 2008 5:17PM
Took the words out of my mouth.
Philpott @ Feb 20th 2008 5:17PM
fix the helicopter from being flawless. It tracks and kills like a computer - oh.
Killer @ Feb 20th 2008 5:23PM
Can we give it a rest with the M$, for today at least? I mean Microsoft did do something nice today. XNA, you know.
FoxHoundADAM @ Feb 20th 2008 5:28PM
What!?!? More acurate snipers? Its easy enough as it is.
Guess I get to look forward to getting killed by even more camping snipers.
Amber @ Feb 20th 2008 5:38PM
Not really. Have you actually ever TRIED sniping? The only ones that can do it are the ones who have trained themselves to get past the inaccuracies (which, oddly enough, they'll have to RETRAIN themselves when the patch comes out)
JangoGod @ Feb 20th 2008 5:47PM
Don't let the poor sniper get to you. I never had problems with sniping. I always thought that sniping could be over-powering at times.
gRasole @ Feb 20th 2008 5:51PM
Snipers don't camp, they snipe. Camping and holding your position are two very different things and I really wish people would learn the difference. Anyone who has played online games for longer than 5 years should know what I'm talking about.
Raikage (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 20th 2008 6:06PM
WHAT?! The sniping is horrible, it's so random where you will hit! There is no consistent gravity or speed of bullets, I can't wait for this update:D
Shadowborne @ Feb 21st 2008 9:37AM
Actually sniping (holding Ground) and sniping (camping) depends on the game mode you are playing. Team Deathmatch isn't the place to work on your sniping skills unless you move, snipe, move snipe. I will agree with all the objective based ones such as headquarters, domination, etc. because it makes sense. Team Deathmatch, and anyone who says snipers are "holding ground" in it do not know what they are talking about.
Kodros @ Feb 20th 2008 5:32PM
I want an update that will auto mute anybody who's voice is above a certain pitch and anybody that curses more then 5 times in a match.
Would also kill for a "Push To Talk" button. Not sure if IW is aware, but not all of us play this game in an isolated, sound proof box. God forbid my wife walks in the room and asks me a question without having 12 asshats hear her.
Amber @ Feb 20th 2008 5:39PM
Considering I'm a female playing the game and I'm not at all annoying (but my voice is high pitched, OH THE WOES OF LACKING BALLS) I think this wouldn't be very fair.
Amber @ Feb 20th 2008 5:40PM
Also for the push to talk, that would be more of a hassle on everyone else just to give you the advantage of not hearing your wife talk. There's a mute button on the mic for a reason.
Billy @ Feb 20th 2008 5:48PM
Duh isn't that what the switch on the mic is for? On/off? :P
Kodros @ Feb 20th 2008 5:57PM
Ok, we'll exclude the females somehow =) Also, I play CoD4 on the PS3 so theres no On/Off switch (well maybe on some headsets).
Kodros @ Feb 20th 2008 6:01PM
Also, it could be a user option. Adding the button press wouldn't have to affect anybody else.
James @ Feb 20th 2008 7:39PM
Yes, anybody using the PSEye as a mic is almost forced to annoy everybody else by default. A push to talk option would cut down the annoyance significantly.... as it stands there is very little I can do to avoid having my mic register random sounds. But in other games where I push to talk the PSEye is wonderful.
Kodros @ Feb 20th 2008 7:47PM
Heh yeah, I'm using the PS Eye also. I have it sitting inside my TV Stand away from the speakers, yet it still picks up on the TV's sound. It seems to pick up more sound on CoD4 then it does on Burnout Paradise.
James @ Feb 21st 2008 10:00AM
Don't see anything wrong with push to talk. I haven't played this on xbox but I play it on pc and it's not too tough to hit a button to talk. I played Gears on Xbox and I'd have to say that's a biggie with me. I pretty much just had the headset on mute the whole time cause I had friends in the room with me. There should always be an option for push to talk.
j13 @ Feb 20th 2008 5:32PM
I was hoping they'd improve the matchmaking interface and get rid of that BS perk where every chicken who dies drops a grenade and gets a garbage kill. I really like this game except for those two points.