2021-11-02
1.29.0 patch notes
1.29.0 is now LIVE and available on both Android and iOS.
VOTE TO SURRENDER
Introduced the highly requested Vote To Surrender to Ranked Defuse.
A team can now agree to surrender, therefore ending the match earlier.
Feature information:
- Vote To Surrender can be accessed via the Pause Menu.
- Vote To Surrender requires a certain amount of rounds to have been played before it’s available for the first time.
- Vote To Surrender has a cooldown period between each trigger to prevent spam.
- Each team has a limited amount of times to trigger Vote To Surrender.
Voting:
- A popup will appear for all teammates to vote; this popup won’t interfere with gameplay.
- Vote “Yes” or “No”.
- If the timer runs out without a vote being cast, this counts as a “No” vote.
- Disconnected players are not counted towards the vote.
Other good to know information:
- Communication: Added several system messages in the Chat to communicate each state of the Vote To Surrender to both teams.
- Rating and XP: The team that surrendered will get no XP and lose Rating. The opposing team will earn a full XP and win Rating. This prevents players from using Vote To Surrender to farm for XP or negatively impacting the experience of others.
Developer’s comments
We are well aware that time is a valuable thing. The main goal of Vote To Surrender is to respect our players’ time, in the hope of bringing a better experience for competitive players.
Now, players can, well…uh, surrender in Ranked Defuse! If a match seems unwinnable and you prefer not to play the whole match (which can be quite lengthy), you can now decide as a team to Vote To Surrender.
NEW WEAPON: AR-15
We are excited to introduce a new way to play the game with the addition of AR-15. This is a big deal because AR-15 is our first assault rifle with the ability to aim down sights (ADS). AR-15 comes equipped with a holographic sight and a red dot.
We designed AR-15 so you can take on fights that other guns are not suited for in the medium to long-range. This unique rifle gives you lots of tools to develop new and creative playstyles in the world of Critical Ops and works as a learning platform into the game’s core mechanics.
AR-15 basic stats:
- Economy price: 2900
- Damage: 27-32
- Fire rate: 600
- Clip size: 25
- Extra clip: 4
- Movement speed reduction: 15%
- While using aim down sight (ADS): 25%
- Effective distance: 27 Units
- Armor penetration ability: Medium
- Wall penetration: Strong
- Available for both factions
Values can change before ranked introduction based on feedback in the coming months!
More details on the AR-15
Middle of the pack rifle: AR-15 will feel like a cross between an M4 and AK-47 in terms of behavior and power.
Movement inaccuracy: The movement inaccuracy of AR-15 is more significant than in other weapons, but this is counteracted by ADS that can be used to move around with accuracy while impacting movement speed.
Assault and corner control: AR-15 specializes in supporting entry fraggers, meaning it is an excellent weapon for pushing and holding positions and defending them from a medium to long range.
Recoil control: AR-15 has a strong and unique recoil pull that will take time to master.
Scoped Accuracy: There is a small benefit to using ADS over hipfire when standing. While moving, the benefit is much more significant, but you lose movement speed and side visibility.
Teaching other mechanics: We created this weapon to allow anyone to master the core mechanics of the game better and understand what it takes to learn other guns and their behavior
Recoil transfer: This is the first weapon that truly embodies the gameplay style of recoil transfer. This means constantly shooting while transferring from target to target and controlling recoil the whole time.
Not for everyone: While the gun is made to be versatile, it is not a gun for everyone’s taste. You should not expect to pick it up and master it instantly.
You lose some, you gain some: AR-15 always gives and takes from you.. the light design that gives you great movement is countered by strong recoil, high natural inaccuracy (spread) and a lot of movement inaccuracy but then again, when using ADS you gain back many of those traits but lose speed and surround visibility. Understanding these traits is the key to mastering the AR-15!
Not affected by aim assist: This weapon is the first gun that completely ignores aim assist. We felt that because of ADS and all the ways we have balanced this weapon, this was the best way to prevent the AR-15 from becoming overpowered and suit the role we want it to have in the overall meta.
Jump shot accuracy: With this weapon, you can perform ADS jump shooting to really push on enemies that are holding angles hard but be warned, it is a high-risk move that can as quickly make you a target of a skilled sniper if you get the timing or distance wrong.
IMPORTANT ROLLOUT PLAN!
We are introducing the AR-15 to the game with the 1.29 update. It will only be added to the ranked game mode when the next Ranked Season 7 begins to give everyone enough time to learn the weapon mechanics, balance, and fix potential issues before its competitive debut.
Developer’s comments
Tap here to read more
With the introduction of the AR-15, we wanted to bring a new age of gunplay to Critical Ops. The AR-15 is our first weapon with true ADS capability. It is also one of the most versatile weapons ever to be added to the game. This rifle can serve multiple playstyles and brings fresh new ways to play the game for old and new players alike.
Now a little insight about the design of the weapon. AR-15 is made to feel like a cross between an AK-47 and M4 with a hint of SG551 at its core. It will be available for both factions, and it is also important to note that it is by no means meant to be the strongest assault rifle in the game, as it lands directly in the middle of the pack when it comes to Assault Rifles. This weapon will take time to learn its ways as it is by no means an easy weapon to master. Still, it will greatly reward those who learn its unique behavior and unlock its potential.
Our AR-15 has a relatively strong and unique recoil pull that requires lots of recoil control and muscle memory to master. It gets no benefits from aim assist so that the ADS feature does not become overpowered. This was all a balancing question and a way to enforce skill-based mastery over gunplay and gameplay mechanics, a theme we aim to push more in the future.
We also hope that this gun will shake up how various gameplay roles work by creating a more entry frag support role in many team compositions on the competitive side. This means supporting entry fraggers as well as pushing and holding hot zone areas of the map. An AR-15 combined with a flash and smoke form a vital gear set for any battle situation.
One of the highlights of this new rifle is the lightweight design that allows it to be quick to reload, equip and gives you an entirely new level of movement in battle if you can handle it.
We cant wait to see what kind of new gameplay styles this new gun unlocks. We hope that it will allow many old and new players to better understand the game’s mechanics while setting you on a path to master our core gameplay mechanics. As always, we look forward to hearing your feedback!
Other gameplay changes: Crosshair smoothing
UPDATE
We went through all the planned testing sessions on 1.29 BETA, collecting a ton of valuable data and feedback from all sides of the community, that’s new players, casual players, and competitive players.
We have concluded our testing and decided to revert the changes related to crosshair smoothing in 1.29 back to the previous 1.28 levels for now. For us, the goal was to introduce additional learning and skill requirements for the players.
We managed to identify several pain points from the community related to introducing more skill-based core mechanics to our competitive experience in the future.
We’re happy to see such high participation in BETA.
Thanks to all testers for their feedback and active conversations!
Tap here to read more about Crosshair Smoothing
Crosshair smoothing has been changed alongside the introduction of the AR-15 as part of our continued efforts to improve long-term skill-based gameplay.
The crosshair will no longer instantly jump and follow bullets; instead, gun recoil and bullet spread will guide shots above and around the crosshair allowing players to see gun recoil impact on accuracy.
Recoil decay and spray patterns are accurately represented for each weapon. They will encourage more recoil control, spray pattern learning and recoil decay to master the accuracy of your shots.
Previously, the dynamic crosshair optional setting was the only way for players to see each weapon’s natural inaccuracy or the spread increase on extended burst firing.
We hope that this change will allow you to see and predict where the next shot will land better than before, so you can master the patterns and muscle memory more effectively.
Recoil transfer is now a bit easier to perform; the best weapon to practice this will be the newly added AR-15 Scoped Rifle.
Important note
We have not changed the gun values at all. This change relates to how the crosshair behaves and how we showcase recoil decay. It will surely take some time to adjust your focus visually. However, things have not changed from a weapon power or muscle memory point of view.
This change will provide us with many new gameplay opportunities and improve how you can learn the core gameplay mechanics of shooting. With this change, we hope for a more skill-based learning path for all our players, so your time and effort rewards you with real skill as you progress over time while playing Critical Ops.
Here are a few examples to showcase the new change in action and a few quick tips:
- To counter-recoil, one must learn the spray pattern of each gun and use the crosshair to draw the opposite pattern for a tight grouping of bullets
- If the bullets go up, pull down. If the bullets go right, pull to the left, and so on.
- Spending time mastering this is key for hitting your shots. You can also find great tutorials created by the community about how to control recoil and master your aim.
1.28
1.29
1.28
1.29
NEW STANDARD CASE CONTENT
The Standard Case and its variations (such as Premium case, Tier cases, etc.) have been a staple of the Critical Ops meta and cosmetics since the game’s launch. Lately, the Art Team has had their hands full with our unique in-game events and Critical Passes and all the incredible content that goes into them. Therefore any new Standard Case content had unfortunately been prioritized lower due to limited resourcing and production bandwidth.
We are happy to announce that the Standard Case is getting some love again! We decided to spice up the basic skin pool with completely new Glove and Knife pairs! These American Muscle Car themed pairs should give the chills to all you car enthusiasts out there. The pairs of gloves and knives are specifically designed to complement each other, so be sure to collect both pieces of each pair. This is the first time we’re bringing glove skins to the Standard Case, and it definitely won’t be the last!
Do you remember the old Close Quarters case? It was released with the launch of MPX to allow players to start building their MPX loadout right from the get-go.
Now with the 1.29.0 update, we are happy to bring previously exclusive Close Quarters skins to the Standard Case as well! We’re happy to reintroduce the fan-favorites such as Gnathos and Horus for the MPX!
This is your chance to enjoy the skins that have been unavailable for such a long time!
MPX - Tier 5 - Gnathos
MPX - Tier 5 - Horus
We hope you enjoy these new additions to our Standard case offerings! Let us know what you think so that we can improve in the future and bring you the best possible content you’d love to see!
UTILITY REBALANCE AND NEW SMOKE!
After a lot of feedback from our competitive players related to utilities, we decided to take a deeper look into how we can make them better for gameplay and that’s what this rebalance is all about.
We have completely reimagined the smoke and tweaked the values of the frag and flashbang.
New sphere-shaped smoke:
- Smoke is now shaped like a sphere instead of a 2D plane
- Smoke will no longer have multiple 2D sprites spawning randomly. This means it cant be visually manipulated and will now be more balanced from all sides
- You can no longer see explosions or muzzle flashes through the smoke
- Smoke effect now hides your hands entirely if you go inside the smoke
- Smoke effect changes from light to dark depending on how close to the center you are when walking inside the smoke. This helps maintain a sense of direction inside the smoke effect.
- Visibility inside the smoke is completely blocked after and until a certain point where transparency is applied again, this is where you become visible to the enemy.
- Smoke effect fades based on your movement speed when exiting a smoke
- Smoke shape changes constantly, so getting too close to the edge of the smoke can expose you before you can see the enemy. Understanding the area effect of the smoke is key to mastering its use.
- Smoke no longer explodes after 2s from being thrown!
- Smoke will only explode after it completely stops moving!
Rebalanced frag:
- New frag deals max 80 damage
- Explosion damage area has been made smaller
- Explosion effect matches the explosion area more accurate
- Frag can be thrown in a way that makes it stop completely to make it explode faster
- Frag will still explode after 2s from being thrown
Rebalanced flashbang:
- Distance and strength of the flashbang effect was adjusted heavily
- The closer to the explosion you are the stronger the flash effect and its length
- Optimally executed flash will last about 5-6s if the explosion happens close to the player
- Flashing yourself for extended periods will be less likely unless the explosion happens close to you
- Turning away from the flash is now more accurate, but you must turn at least 90 degrees away from the flash to gain benefits from avoiding the explosion
- You will still see a quick effect when a flash explodes to signal it exploded even when turning away before the explosion
- Flashbang can be thrown in a way that makes it stop completely, so it explodes faster
- Flashbang will still explode after 2s from being thrown
1.28
1.29
1.28
1.29
Important new functions for all throwable utilities:
All utilities have the same throw velocity, bounce, and stickiness values as before, so usual behavior is the same as before. As a new feature, players can now better manipulate the throwing velocity by running and throwing utilities; this has new functional benefits if you master your throws.
- Frag, smoke, and flashbang can all be thrown in a way that makes them explode instantly on a direct hit to the enemy player. Suppose you run and throw a utility and it hits an enemy player directly. In that case, it will explode due to increased throw velocity. There can be no wall hits or bounces.
- You can also throw utility in a way that makes it stop moving to make it explode instantly.
- These new changes open up a ton of new ways to use utility and you can discover tons of new lineups all around the map that were never possible before.
RANKED SEASON 6 REWARDS
Explore these eight exclusive artisan weapons awarded to the most undefeatable operatives in Season 6. Each weapon is forged in fire to honor your achievements.
Hand-crafted seals for every rank, imprinted to make your mark on the world, carefully wrapped in unique illustrations that you will find nowhere else in the game but in Critical Ops Ranked.
Load, equip, and march to the battle with the evil predator’s stunning collection.
UPDATE
Due to an unexpected issue regarding Ranked Season 6 Rewards, we decided to decrease win requirements down to 0.
Once you reach the target rank, you can claim your Ranked Reward instantly.
We will release the planned win requirements during Ranked Season 7.
| RANK | TOTAL WINS REQUIRED | SEASON 6 REWARD |
|---|---|---|
| Iron | 10 | Smoke Grenade |
| Bronze | 10 | P250 Pistol |
| Silver | 10 | Super90 Shotgun |
| Gold | 15 | P90 SMG |
| Platinum | 15 | M4 Rifle |
| Diamond | 15 | HK417 Rifle |
| Master | 20 | Deagle Pistol |
| SpecOPS | 20 | SG551 Rifle |
Note: Each win contributes towards your current rank.
Developer’s comments
Each season, you can expect unique and exclusive skins for different weapons, providing recognition and acknowledgment on each rank.
We intended to create these skins with the same high quality across the ranks. All players should be proud to equip them, from Iron to Elite Ops and showcase that you are a skilled operative.
We hope you love the current selection as much as we do.