Update 2.0.0 | Season 2

Written By Dusty Gustafsson
 
 
 

2024.03.14

CNS PROUDLY PRESENTS…THE FINALS | SEASON 2  

Welcome to a whole new season of the game, contestants! 

Much has changed in and out of the arena, and you can expect lots more as the Season progresses. If you want the tl;dr version: Click here!

You may encounter some strange things this season now that CNS — a rogue hacking collective — has infiltrated the game show. While the showrunners fight for control over THE FINALS, you’ll fight it out with an array of game-changing gadgets and specializations that will require all contestants to rethink their strategies! 

Here’s what to expect: 

WELCOME TO SYS$HORIZON

CNS has introduced a new map: HORIZON. It’s a glitchy, colorful cityscape that’s partially loaded with floating geometric shapes. You’ll have plenty to explore and a night-time mode that glows under a neon sun.

 
 

POWER SHIFT

Power Shift is our brand new two-team mode. It’s a casual 5v5 where you’ll compete to escort a physical platform through the arena as it rips through anything in its path. 

With short respawn times and the ability to switch contestants on respawn, you’ll be able to balance your team on the fly, as you fight to control the platform and be the first to deliver it across the finish line!

 

LEARN THE ROPES

An all-new tutorial set in the streets of Monaco lets new players learn the ropes, and provides a testing ground to try out gadgets, specializations, and weapons! Your friends who are new to the game can get onboarded quickly, and you can get a refresher if you’ve been away.  It’s well worth a visit, even for the most seasoned contestants! 

LOCK AND LOAD 

We’ve got three new weapons entering the loadout this season! 

FAMAS

The FAMAS —a burst-fire assault rifle — will go to the Medium build. The rifle retains most of its damage even at longer ranges, making it excellent for keeping enemies at bay

 

93R

The 93R — a burst-fire handgun — is the newest edition to the Light loadout. It fires in 3-round bursts and is ideal for close- to medium-range engagements. 

 

KS-23

And lastly, for the Heavy build,  the KS-23 — stripped-down slug round shotgun. It requires precision to handle effectively, but zooming in and predicting the enemy's movement will help.

 

JOIN CNS

DEMATERIALIZER

A new specialization for the Medium build that temporarily erases physical surfaces, like walls and ceilings. It allows players to see, shoot, and pass through solid surfaces. You can create new passageways and close them back up again. Each action costs a charge, and the Dematerializer can hold up to 3 charges at once.

GATEWAY

A pair of limited-range deployable portals for the Light build. When both are thrown, contestants and objects can move between the two locations. Anyone can use a portal, but can’t see or shoot through them! Thrown items and projectiles can also travel through the Gateways, but not objectives like the Cashout stations!

ANTI GRAVITY CUBE

A deployable cube for the Heavy build that manipulates gravity in its immediate area. When activated, it lifts contestants and objects up and can be used as both a traversal tool and as an obstacle for enemy teams! Be mindful that destroying the cube will remove the Reverse Gravity zone!

DATA RESHAPER

The Data Reshaper transforms objects in the arena into something else entirely. This gadget for the Medium build will transform deployed equipment from other contestants into harmless arena props. 

 

UNLOCK THE BATTLE PASS

The Season 2 Battle Pass has 12 pages and 96 rewards —  each page offers a theme that is our love letter to the early days of gaming! With each level, you’ll earn rewards from seasonal sponsors, and even some unsanctioned prizes from CNS. 

Please don’t forget to snag the Seasonal bundle first, which provides a rebate on your purchase so you can get the exclusive Season 2 items. 

 

BECOME A PROFESSIONAL

 

The Battle Pass isn’t the only way to earn rewards — we’re also introducing the new Career Circuit!

Each week, a new set of contracts will unlock in the career menu. These allow contestants cash in contracts and earn free rewards!  At the end of each weekly set will be a sponsored prize. You’ll be able to fulfill contracts at your own leisure, but you’ll need to wait for each new circuit to unlock throughout the entire length of the season. The Career Circuit can increase your skill and coax you into trying a variety of new things throughout the season!   

Of course, filling in your weekly career page will get you a free gift a week, but it also counts toward your Battle Pass progress so players can grind for completion, even late to the game! 

 

BETTER MATCHES

We’ve given League ranking a major overhaul for Season 2!

The goal is to provide a much better quality experience when playing in the ranked tournament. You’ll get your starting rank based on your first eight rounds and from there, you’ll move up and down based on your performance. Contestants can expect to land between bronze and gold at first, and climb the ranks from there.

As you may know, we need a lot of people and time to test a system like this, so you should expect more tweaks and changes throughout the season, as we see it in action! 

PRIVATE MATCHES 

We’re also introducing our first version of Private Matches. In this early, barebones version, you’ll be able to organize matches with a minimum of six friends to play Bank It or QuickCash. We plan to expand this tool throughout the season with more features, so stay tuned! As with everything, we’ll rely on your experiences and your feedback. So don’t forget to give it a try! 


All of this and more comes in Season 2 – RIGHT NOW! 

Check out the details below: 

NEW ABILITIES & EQUIPMENT

NEW MAP

  • Added the standard issue of the new SYS$HORIZON map 

NEW GAME SHOW  EVENT

  • Added the Retro Invasion 82 event to every map

NEW SPECIALIZATION

  • Dematerializer

    • Enables the user to create temporary holes in the arena construction

NEW GADGETS

  • Gateway

    • Throw out two Gateways to create a spatial link between them, enabling quick traversing through the arena

  • Data Reshaper

    • A “prop-swap” executable that lets players transform objects and deployed equipment from other contestants into canisters or decor 

  • Reverse Gravity Cube 

    • A throwable Cube that creates a limited-area gravity field where anything not nailed to the ground will elevate toward the sky

NEW WEAPONS

  • FAMAS - Burst Rifle - Medium

  • 93R - Burst Pistol - Light

  • KS-23 - Slug Shotgun - Heavy

BALANCE CHANGES

  • Throwables, Explosives & “Nukes”

    • Added diminishing returns on damage from ‘nukes’ i.e. throwable objects that carry C4s, Breach Charges, or mines

      • For each source of explosive damage, including the throwable and starting with the highest, a damage modifier is applied to each instance in the sequence of 60% / 40% / 30% / 20%

    • Gas Canisters now immediately start to steer off their direct trajectory (aka “wobble”) when they have attachments

    • When picking up throwable objects with explosive gadgets attached (i.e. ‘nukes’ and ‘snukes’), said explosives will become un-armed

      • When the player lets go of the carried object, a re-arming timer for the explosives starts

    • The explosions from C4, Breaching Charges, and all mines that detonate while unprimed now deal 20% of their original damage

    • Decreased the health value of Propane Gas Tanks from 250 to 120

    • Fixed a bug with Fuel Barrels where they sometimes wouldn’t ignite when taking damage, for example from explosions or bullets

      • Dev Comment: Nukes were a hot-button issue in Season 1. The previous tuning made nukes exceed the intended time to kill by a large margin. Since our initial changes weren’t substantial enough to alter this tactic, we’ve added more ways to balance nukes moving forward.

  • Toxic Gas

    • Added a delay to the application of damage. Damage will now start to tick 0.5s  after the player enters the gas cloud

    • Added new functionality that causes damage to ramp up gradually over time, from 30hp/s to 60 hp/s over 2s. 

    • Increased damage tick interval from 0.1s per tick to 0.3s per tick

      • Dev Comment: We’ve always intended for Toxic Gas to act as an area denial tool. However, because of its immediate high damage and quick dispersal, it has been too potent. We’ve made changes to make Toxic Gas better fit the original intention.  

  • Gadgets

    • C4

      • Decreased ammo count from 2 to 1 

      • Decreased cooldown from 45s to 30s 

      • Decreased minimum damage at the edge of the explosion from 93 to 75

    • Defibrillator

      • Added functionality that causes revived players to gradually re-materialize into the level over a period of 3s before fully loading back into the arena

      • Increased charge-up time from 0.6s to 0.8s

      • Increased starting health from a defibrillator revive from 40% to 50%

    • Dome Shield

      • Decreased maximum duration from 20s to 12s

    • Jump Pad

      • Increased cooldown from 25s to 30s

    • Motion Sensor

      • Moved from the Light archetype to the Heavy

    • RPG

      • Fixed an issue that made dispersion almost identical regardless of what state the player was in

      • Increased projectile dispersion in all non-aiming states

      • Reduced projectile dispersion when aiming down sights 

      • Increased zoom-in time from 0.2s to 0.4s

      • Increased equip time from 0.45s to 0.5s 

      • Increased unequip time from 0.35s to 0.4s

    • Sonar Grenade

      • Moved from the Medium archetype to the Light

    • Tracking dart

      • Moved from the Medium archetype to the Light

      • Decreased dispersion in most movement states by 50%

      • Increased accuracy by decreasing dart dispersion while aiming down sights from 30% to 10%

      • Added force feedback for controllers

    • Vanishing Bomb

      • Increased grace period on teammates from 0.75s to 1.25s

      • Increased total cloaked duration on teammates from 6s to 7.5s

      • Increased total cloaked duration on the user from 5s to 6s

  • Specializations

    • Recon Senses

      • Removed for assessment

        • Dev Note: we’ve concluded that Recon Senses have been detrimental to the game at large, and have decided to put it out of play for now. The specialization may return in some new form down the line, but only after a major rework. 

    • Mesh Shield

      • Increased cooldown on a fully depleted shield from 12s to 15s 

      • Increased starting health after full depletion from 200 to 250 

  • Weapons

    • AKM

      • Decreased damage falloff minimum range from 35m to 30m

      • Decreased damage falloff max range from 40m to 37.5m

      • Decreased damage falloff modifier at max range from 67% to 55%

    • FCAR

      • Decreased damage falloff modifier at max range from 67% to 55%

    • Lewis Gun

      • Updated weapon recoil pattern to be slightly less accurate over time during sustained firing

    • M11

      • Increased accuracy by decreasing bullet dispersion when firing from the hip

    • M60

      • Updated weapon recoil pattern to be slightly more accurate over time during sustained firing

      • Increased accuracy by decreasing bullet dispersion while moving when firing from the hip

      • Increased accuracy by decreasing bullet dispersion while moving when firing while aiming down sights 

      • Decreased accuracy slightly by increasing bullet dispersion while standing still when firing while aiming down sights

    • R .357

      • Increased damage falloff modifier at max range from 33% to 45%

    • Throwing Knives

      • Increased projectile speed from 120m/s to 138m/s

    • XP-54

      • Decreased accuracy by increasing bullet dispersion when firing from the hip in most movement states

EQUIPMENT MASTERY

Added new levels with rewards to the following equipment items:

  • WEAPONS

    • M11

    • SR-84

    • V9S

    • XP-54

    • DAGGER

    • LH1

    • SH1900

    • SWORD

    • 93R

    • AKM

    • R.357

    • CL-40

    • FCAR

    • MODEL 1887

    • RIOT SHIELD

    • FAMAS

    • FLAMETHROWER

    • LEWIS GUN

    • M60

    • SLEDGEHAMMER

    • MGL32

    • SA1216

  • GADGETS:

    • FRAG GRENADE

    • FLASHBANG

    • GAS GRENADE

    • GOO GRENADE

    • PYRO GRENADE

    • GLITCH GRENADE

    • SONAR GRENADE

    • SMOKE GRENADE

    • VANISHING BOMB

    • BREACH CHARGE

    • STUN GUN

    • TRACKING DART

    • DEFIBRILLATOR

    • EXPLOSIVE MINE

    • PYRO MINE

    • GAS MINE

    • GLITCH TRAP

    • JUMP PAD

    • APS TURRET

    • ZIPLINE

    • BARRICADE

    • C4

    • DOME SHIELD

    • MOTION SENSOR

    • RPG-7

  • SPECIALIZATIONS

    • GOO GUN

    • HEALING BEAM

    • GUARDIAN TURRET


GAMEPLAY

  • Added an option for auto-sprint in the gameplay section in settings

    • Dev comment: You can turn on auto-sprint in the settings menu and select the time it takes for your contestant to begin sprinting. THE FINALS has a unique “omnidirectional sprinting system,” which means characters can sprint in all directions instead of the more common forward-only sprint. As such, we’d love to get your feedback on auto-sprint, and what additional settings would help you better customize your sprinting experience!

  • The preview arc for grenades now shows where they will detonate in their trajectory

  • Improved an issue where controller players would unintentionally drop carried objects when trying to interact. Now carried objects won’t be dropped when pressing the “Interact and Equip Weapon” button if the weapon is already equipped.

BUGFIXES

General

  • Fixed an issue where the scoreboard would not show the potential score for transfers in progress

  • Fixed an issue with flamethrower kills sometimes being attributed as self-elimination due to the flamethrower user being eliminated

  • Fixed dome and mesh shield not blocking projectiles and explosions correctly

  • Fixed broken interactions on the crane

  • Fixed an issue that allowed players to steal objectives through floors and walls

  • Fixed an issue where flashbang effects were not shown for a spectating player

  • Fixed an issue where explosive objects attached to another object would fall off if the primary object was destroyed. The explosive object attached will now also take appropriate damage in this situation

  • Fixed an issue where melee swings could damage occluded structures, for example: destroying the outside walls from inside an elevator

  • Fixed an issue on controllers where you would drop your held item if you pressed the primary weapon button while the primary weapon was equipped

  • Fixed an issue where minor props like chairs and tables sometimes did not get affected by explosives

  • Fixed a bug where the Mesh Shield regen would fail to start correctly

  • Fixed bug where radial damage falloff was incorrectly calculated for carriables and props

  • Fixed a bug where Oil barrels would not start burning from specific damage events

Animation 

  • Fixed an issue where melee animations would look wrong when affected by status effects

  • Fixed an issue where dagger animations wouldn’t play correctly

  • Added new frontend idle animation for squad members equipped with LH1

  • Fixed the T-pose bug when players would use the sword lunge and swap items at the same time

  • Fixed a bug for the 1887 Dough Wrangler skin where the left hand would pop up on the screen when shooting while crouching

  • Fixed a bug that caused floating items to appear when riding ziplines

  • Fixed a bug where melee swings happening at the end of mantling would skip the animation

  • Fixed a bug where the character's arms would clip each other when wielding throwing knives

  • Fixed bug where ADS-specific weapon handling would play outside of ADS

Gamemodes

  • Improved spawn selection around active objectives

  • Fixed issue where players could push opposing teams to spawn unfavorable by not inserting the Cashbox

  • Fix for case where two squads spawning at the same frame could use the same spawn point

Levels

  • New & improved algorithm for map selection to ensure you rarely see the same map multiple times in a row — leaving matches will not affect the outcome of the selection  

  • Improved lighting on nighttime Monaco 

  • Reduced wind movement on vegetation in Las Vegas

  • Fixed issue where multiple level objects were overlapping each other

  • Fixed issue with some materials in the End of Round Celebration being drawn behind the team logo

  • Improved debris handling, letting it settle before being removed.

  • Improved lighting on Seoul Fog and Storm settings

Art

  • Fixed bug with Glint Tint skin not looking correct

Audio

  • Added voice lines for reloading

  • Improved footstep audio for players using pistols

  • Fixed a bug where objective pings would not play the correct audio

  • Fixed bug where match commentary would play in the practice range

  • Added sounds for squadmate down and the last player standing

UI/UX

  • Player cards are introduced in THE FINALS, these will be generated from your character customization and your chosen intro animation.

  • Added THE FINALS spinner to previously black screens when loading

  • Added new item gadget tutorial videos

  • Improved camera placement and framing for charms 

  • Fixed so that your squad is centered in the tournament lineup intros and outros

  • Improved respawn timer feedback on teammate icons

  • Improved feedback on the “Press Start” respawn mechanic

 
Dusty Gustafsson
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