PS3: Call of Duty: Black Ops Patch Detailed

Activision Blizzard has outlined the next PS3 patch for Call of Duty: Black Ops. Developer Treyarch detailed what to expect from the patch, due in a few weeks time, on the game's official forum.

IN PROGRESS
Patch 1.04 is nearing the end of Phase 2 testing. Going into Phase 3 submissions on 12/6.
Patching process: http://www.callofduty.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=346952

Issues Addressed:
• Resolved several issues with parties getting disbanded unexpectedly.
• Additional measures to prevent the "Transmission error" and other disconnects. This was most likely to occur with large parties where party members had mixed NAT types.
• Updated handling for UPnP-enabled routers to improve matchmaking conditions where users had strict or moderate NAT types. Also added in-game communications so that all players are aware of their NAT type in the Player Match party lobby.
• Addressed an issue with VOIP icons not appearing when USB headsets were plugged in prior to game launch.
• Prevention of exploit that allowed players to keep custom classes and killstreaks after prestige.
• Addressed an issue where Flak Jacket Pro would not always protect against ground fires left by Napalm Strikes.
• Prevention of users losing their killstreak reward when switching classes at the start of a new round in round-based game modes.
• Addressed an issue where the incorrect perks would appear when spectating another player under certain circumstances.
• Added round start explosive delay to China Lake grenade launcher to give it the same round start limitations as other explosives.
• Contracts will now reset when the player Prestiges.
• Prevention of Valkyrie rocket exploding upon release under rare conditions.
• Prevention of Gunship failing to give player full control under rare conditions.
• Prevention of an issue where a player will get teleported outside the map boundaries under very specific circumstances.
• Additional security measures to enhance detection and banning capabilities.

Gameplay Tuning:
• Limit the ability to re-roll supply drops using Hardline Pro to Care Packages only, no other killstreak drops.
• Added a negative influencer to all spawn points to decrease the chances of spawning near an enemy. This will further improve spawning protection on top of previous updates.
• Additional sound mix tuning for Ninja Pro users – increased ranges and volume of enemy footsteps, and removed player footstep sounds on concrete material types.
• Increased headshot multipliers for sniper rifles. Sniper rifles with suppressors equipped will now always be ensured one-shot kill headshots.
• Subtle increase in sniper rifle accuracy when scoping in.
• Added a render delay to the red diamond player indicators that appear when controlling the Gunship, Valkyrie Rocket and Chopper Gunner. When a player first spawns, this will not appear for a period of time.
• Additional minor reductions in knife lunge.

LIVE FIXES
11/23
· Addition of Hardcore HQ & Hardcore CTF game modes to the playlists
· Prevention of the ability to earn XP in Private Matches

11/18
· Improvements to the spawn system to resolve an issue where negative spawn influencers from specific game events were not always being deleted after the danger had cleared – in some matches, this was causing good spawns to be erroneously flagged by the game as bad spawns, which in turn forced actual bad spawns to get selected later in the match
· Experimental slight reduction in knife lunge range – this is a trial change
· Prevention of Prestige glitching – trying to prestige from Combat Training will reset your stats but not give you prestige

11/17 (full patch)
· Improved matchmaking to find matches significantly faster
· Improved matchmaking to ensure that players are more effectively matched to games with the best networking conditions
· Improved host selection to ensure that the best host is always selected in the pre-game lobby
· Improved party system to ensure that parties don’t get broken apart
· Disable ability to join Private Match, Combat Training and Theater lobbies when searching for Player Match games
· Server-side and game-side changes to decrease the amount of failed Film uploads
· Weekly and Monthly leaderboards will now track all kills, deaths and assists properly (All Time leaderboards were not affected by this)
· Prevention of Combat Training stats getting crossed with Player Match stats under rare conditions
· Prevention of temporary loss of functionality when a button was being held down at the point of a disconnect
· Additional fine-tuning of audio levels and ranges for footsteps and gunfire
· Additional fine-tuning of audio levels for bomb plants/defuses
· Additional online security enhancements
· Optimization to prevent friends list from spamming user while in game – will improve game performance for users with large numbers of friends

11/16
· Prevention of killstreak selection getting disabled in Combat Training under rare conditions
· Array: Added collision to prevent players from partially clipping into a tree
· Launch: Added collision to prevent players from strafe jumping onto an invisible ledge at the base of the rocket near B3
· Summit: Added collision to prevent players from jumping to a location outside of the map boundary when in Custom Games where player speed is maxed out
· Havana: Added collision to prevent players from jumping onto an invisible ledge above a doorway at C2
· Nuketown: Adjusted a spawn point that would spawn players on top of a mannequin’s head when that mannequin was randomly spawned in that location

11/12
- Launch: User could access a small platform outside of the intended play space below the rocket gantry by jumping to a very specific location; now blocked from access
- Launch: User could access a small area inside geometry at vents near Dom flag A by going prone and moving around in a very specific location; now blocked from access
- Some users reported that weapon attachment challenges were not resetting after prestige; now all are guaranteed to clear as soon as selecting the prestige option

11/11
- Online number counts were not updating properly; these are now reporting exact online numbers
- Parties getting disbanded when host did not find a match quickly

11/10
- Users’ rank and stats can get wiped under very specific conditions

11/9
- Radar sweep when there are only 2 players left in One in the Chamber will stop functioning if the 2 players have multiple lives when the sweep starts
- Crash when viewing content (films, clips, etc) in the Community & Recent Games menu

11/5
- Villa: User can clip into rock at west edge of grid zone B2 and see through to the other side
- Crisis: User can clip into LVT between grid zone A3 and B3 and see through to the other side
- User can get an infinite number of 'Sam Turret', 'Care Package' and 'Sentry Gun' killstreaks (commonly referred to as the "care package glitch")

Full details at the Official Forum.