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New Brink PC Update Released

A new update for the PC version of Brink is now available, bringing with it a stack of fixes and improvements. Among the big ticket items in this update are a reworked server browser, a fix for the font corruption issue, better server performance, and the recently announced balance tweaks.

As before, all you have to do to download the update is sign into your Steam account (and ensure it's not in offline mode). A new version of the standalone dedicated server is available, as well - we recommend updating your server at the earliest convenience if you haven't already.

The full list of improvements and fixes in this update is available after the break.

General

  • Fixed font corruption issue
  • Removed look-at code when throwing items to team mates
  • Fixed players getting stuck if they attempted to deploy mid-mantle
  • Fixed multiple clicks being played when player jumps in multiplayer
  • Mines are now visible to spectators
  • Added support for minimizing the game when running in windowed mode
  • net_clientMaxRate can now be set on a client to tweak its own bandwidth requirements
  • Cheat-protected several potentially exploitable cvars
  • Removed some old, unused cvars
  • Added unsupported auto-save backup system for advanced users
  • Can read backup saves by setting "save_readFile" to the desired save
  • Setting "save_enableBackups" to 0 will disable the auto-save backups

User Interface

  • Revamped the server browser
  • Server browser filters are now remembered between sessions
  • Server browser now auto-refreshes the currently selected server
  • Ping is now displayed numerically on the scoreboard
  • Map loading screen now displays server name and IP
  • Tweaked UI flow when joining a match via Steam
  • Fixed exploit that allowed players to use locked customization items
  • Fixed issue when listening to one audio log but highlighting another
  • Fixed connecting to servers with '-' in their names

Balance

  • Tweaked objective times on several maps
  • Increased the time it takes Engineers to remove a Hackbox
  • Increased XP given for completing Primary Objectives
  • Reduced the duration of Adrenaline buff

Dedicated Servers

  • Fixed several dedicated server crashes
  • Improved messaging for unexpected server shutdowns
  • Reduced warning spam in dedicated server console
  • Increased default net_serverSnapshotDelay to 3 (from 1)
  • Lowers bandwidth and CPU usage by sending fewer snapshots each seconds; can be changed by server admins

We're back with new details on Brink DLC and the upcoming title updates for the game.

The game's first DLC, Agents of Change, will be FREE for two weeks on Xbox LIVE, PSN, and Steam! The content is currently in submission at Microsoft and Sony, and we expect it to release in early July. As previously mentioned, the DLC features two all-new environments, five new player abilities, two new outfits, and two new weapon attachments. You can find more details in this post, and be sure to check out the screenshots above.

In tandem with the DLC, the teams at Splash Damage and Bethesda have been hard at work on the next major title update for Brink. The update is highlighted by online optimizations, AI enhancements, and weapon balance tweaks based on player feedback. As noted yesterday, a separate, incremental update is now available on PC, while players of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of Brink can expect the full title update alongside the release of Agents of Change.

On behalf of everyone at Bethesda and Splash Damage, we want to thank all of you for your continued support of Brink. We'll be sharing more information as soon as possible.

I take this to mean that we are getting it for free and you have 2 weeks to claim it. So for those that don't claim it within the two weeks they have to buy it so it's not just a trial or rental or anything. That would be the biggest slap in the face joke ever.

Also here are the notes for the patch yesterday:

A brand-new update is now available for the PC version of Brink, containing a huge stack of improvements and fixes. End game chat, a new Stopwatch results screen, VoIP sliders, a fix for invisible players, networking optimizations, and a massive amount of weapon tweaks are all among the things you'll be getting in this one, and we've assembled the complete changelog for your perusal below. All you need to do to get the update is sign into Steam.

For the dedicated server admins among you, there's a new server available, too, and it's freshly optimized to cut the filesize down to a third. If you haven't already, we recommend updating your server as soon as possible - as before, players with the new update will not be able to connect to servers running the old version of Brink.

With all that out of the way, here's the full changelog for this update:

General

Fixed invisible players sometimes (dis)appearing

Combat Intuition no longer gets triggered by disguised players

Flash Bangs no longer affect spectators

Fixed being able to collide with grenades as a spectator

Fixed drag-to still applying when enemies respawned

Enabling cheats now disables character saving and stats reporting for that session

Team switch delays now get reset on map restart

Vsync is now enabled by default

Fixed 3rd person animation when hacking as an Operative

Fixed server/client aim issues

Fixed dark shadow-band on narrow FOVs

Fixed potential crash during map load on client if heavily lagged right before a map change

Fixed potential crash if disguising on a dedicated server

Fixed odd line appearing during some cinematics

Levels

Fixed overtime when repairing the crane on Shipyard

Fixed overtime not ending when Hackbox is removed on Reactor

Fixed Container City lab door sometimes appearing closed for clients

User Interface

Added better chat support for match results and during midtro/outros

Added improved Stopwatch mode end-game review screen

Added options for VOIP volume in settings menu

Fixed navigation issues on menus with password fields

Disabled chatting when in solo mode

Added support for up to 4 deployable icons

Fixed being able to click invisible filter buttons when the filters panel is collapsed

Balance

Tweaked several weapons (full details here)

Added body type health to Netvars for future tweaking

Added map spawn timers to Netvars for future tweaking

Optimizations

Optimized networking to reduce snapshot sizes

Optimised light-rendering

Minor performance improvement to static AO rendering

Added conditional to sun-rendering to speed it up slightly in case of all shadow

Fixed sunlight when indoors in Security Tower

Added support for dummy files to improve loading times

Dedicated Servers

No longer disconnect server if Steam connection is lost and grace period ends

Added listClients server command

Disabled missing mesh/sound/image warnings on servers

Disabled character compositing on servers to reduce server size

Alongside today's game update, the PC version of Brink also received a big bundle of weapon tweaks put together by our balancing council. Among other things, heavy weapons and grenade launchers are getting a boost, while SMGs are dialled back a bit. Very nearly everything else gets tickled with the balancing stick, as well, so there's literally something for everyone.

We are still working to bring these tweaks over to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Brink and will have more news on that soon.

Keep reading for the full list of adjustments.

Pistols

All pistols: Knockdown accuracy increased

Tokmak spread reduced to be more even

Tokmak recoil reduced

Tokmak pistol reload time slightly reduced

Kalt spread is tighter

Kalt recoil increased

Kalt pistol reload time slightly reduced

Sea Eagle slightly less accurate

Sea Eagle spread made more even instead of being tight

Sea Eagle pistol reload time slightly increased

Sub Machineguns

Kross max spread slightly increased

Tampa max spread slightly decreased

Tampa slightly more jittery when fired

Tampa SMG damage slightly increased

Carb-9 SMG damage slightly reduced

Carb-9 has even spread, instead of clustering towards the centre

Carb-9 recoil slightly increased

Carb-9 slightly less accurate

Assault Rifles

AR base ammo + 1 magazine, except Rockstedi

Gerund recoils more quickly under sustained fire

Rhett recoil now more manageable under sustained fire

Frkn3k damage increased

Frkn3k refire rate increased

Frkn3k triple burst recoil changed to make the weapon behave better

Frkn3k accuracy changed to act similarly to that of the other ARs when moving/not in ironsights

Euston max spread increased for some stances (crouch, standing, walking)

Euston spread rate slightly reduced overall

Rokstedi slightly more accurate in ironsights

Shotguns

Hjammerdeim heavy shotgun heavy shotgun damage increased

Hammerdjeim heavy shotgun magazine increased from 8 to 12, where the modulo is 3. Ammo count changed to reflect new magazine size

Hammerdjeim recoil reduced

Hjammerdeim reload time slightly reduced

Hjammerdeim refire rate increased

Mossington spread is now more even, along with the Hammerdjeim (used to be almost ring shaped)

Mossington initial spread is increased but doesn't grow as much per shot

Mossington has slightly more recoil

Grenade Launchers

EZ-Nade splash damage radius significantly increased Lobster grenade punt damage significantly increased

Lobster reload time increased

Lobster splash damage radius increased

Lobster running accuracy reduced to be the same as walking/crouch/ironsight

Heavy Machineguns

All HMGs: Minimum spread while running reduced to be the same as that for walking

Chinzor HMG damage slightly increased

Chinzor HMG recoil slightly reduced

Maximus HMG damage slightly increased

Maximus HMG recoil slightly reduced

Gotlung minigun damage significantly increased

Gotlung minigun reload time slightly increased

Gotlung Minigun minimum spread increased to work in line with its damage increase

Impressive patch notes I guess. I should really try playing this game but I've just been so burnt out on shooters lately.

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

So is Brink still a bust?

Reason I ask is Amazon has all 3 versions, PC, PS3, and XBox 360, on sale for $19.99 today as they Gold Box deal or whatever they call it.

I am thinking of picking it up for the PC at that price, but if they never sorted out all of the issues, then I will not bother.

So is Brink still a bust?

Reason I ask is Amazon has all 3 versions, PC, PS3, and XBox 360, on sale for $19.99 today as they Gold Box deal or whatever they call it.

I am thinking of picking it up for the PC at that price, but if they never sorted out all of the issues, then I will not bother.

the game is dead. don't do it. i don't even have it installed anymore.

the game is dead. don't do it. i don't even have it installed anymore.

Damn really? I did go ahead and do it since I did not hear anything, I thought $20 was to good of a deal and I did like the idea of the game in premise, and thought maybe with time it would have gotten better.

I can return it, so no problem.

I still may give it a shot actually. Not a large community is not necessarily a bad thing, it means those that are playing are about playing the game it is meant to be played. How welcoming they are to noobs is the real question. But I checked some server stats, on the PC there is about 67 people playing it right now. :laugh:

So yeah, I may just return it to Amazon. :unsure:

I have to say I fell into the trap too. The story looked different and fresh, but the game just sucked terribad. My brother is the one who actually convinced me to buy it, then when he saw me try it he decided not to get it ... so I was stuck with a dud, lol.

Save your money.

Yeah, I will send it back to Amazon then. Oh well, even for $20, not worth it. :rofl:

Really wanted this game to be good to. I know it had a very rocky start, but thought perhaps they could have gotten it to a playable state by now. I guess history does not always repeat itself, as I had high hopes based on Enemy Territory, just like everyone else I am sure.

I'm pretty sure with all the patches it is 10x better, probably a really good game now :laugh: Sad thing is though the crowds have left and once that happens for whatever reason even with the premise of a better game people can't be bothered returning.

Damn really? I did go ahead and do it since I did not hear anything, I thought $20 was to good of a deal and I did like the idea of the game in premise, and thought maybe with time it would have gotten better.

I can return it, so no problem.

return it dude. their facebook page is hilarious. whenever they update anything they just get bombarded.

So is Brink still a bust?

Reason I ask is Amazon has all 3 versions, PC, PS3, and XBox 360, on sale for $19.99 today as they Gold Box deal or whatever they call it. I am thinking of picking it up for the PC at that price, but if they never sorted out all of the issues, then I will not bother.

It's dead in the water. The only thing keeping it alive is the ESL comps. And once they are over, that's it. I too feel conned - me and all my friends. It was promised as the "spiritual" successor to ET. Such a slap in the face. I've gone back to playing BC2. The "free" DLC is too little, too late. They didn't deliver on ANYTHING they promised. It's a complete and utter console port. Too bad because I was really pumped for this game. I was hoping that SD would fix and patch it. But we seen no real support from them at all.

It's dead in the water. The only thing keeping it alive is the ESL comps. And once they are over, that's it. I too feel conned - me and all my friends. It was promised as the "spiritual" successor to ET. Such a slap in the face. I've gone back to playing BC2. The "free" DLC is too little, too late. They didn't deliver on ANYTHING they promised. It's a complete and utter console port. Too bad because I was really pumped for this game. I was hoping that SD would fix and patch it. But we seen no real support from them at all.

That truly sucks.

Oh well, just got the email it shipped, so as soon as it arrives, I will send it back.

Was hoping for a few weeks distraction until Dues Ex came out, but it seems as it is not even worth that for $20. Shame really, but obviously they are to blame.

That truly sucks.

Oh well, just got the email it shipped, so as soon as it arrives, I will send it back.

Was hoping for a few weeks distraction until Dues Ex came out, but it seems as it is not even worth that for $20. Shame really, but obviously they are to blame.

Yes, defo send it back. Spend the twenty on something else, anything else. I doubt every thing free to play could redeem this game. 86 of my friends bought this game. In the week of release of were all playing it, and none of us play it regularly now. And that speaks volumes to me.

In a way, I'm glad I didn't buy it. I came close a couple of times but decided to wait for the price to go down. It's such a shame too because I was under the impression that this game would be really good. I watched all the trailers and dev diaries more times than I should have. And I thought it would be a nice PC game. After playing the PC version, I immediately realized it was a console port disguised as a "built for PC" game.

It's dead in the water. The only thing keeping it alive is the ESL comps. And once they are over, that's it. I too feel conned - me and all my friends. It was promised as the "spiritual" successor to ET. Such a slap in the face. I've gone back to playing BC2. The "free" DLC is too little, too late. They didn't deliver on ANYTHING they promised. It's a complete and utter console port. Too bad because I was really pumped for this game. I was hoping that SD would fix and patch it. But we seen no real support from them at all.

I know you're a huge fan of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (and Splash Damage) so this means a lot coming from you. I hope Splash Damage learns from the mistakes that were made with this game. Next time, they should use an engine newer than id Tech 4.

Ding 20, now what? no new maps, no custom maps, no new weps, no challenges. Very few patches and updates which only fixed glaring bugs from the outset. Brink failed and Im sad to say that as if it hadnt been for the crummy support this could have been my new fix :(

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