Overwatch PTR Patch Notes 1.48 with improved Communication Wheel and Match Queue

Jeff Kaplan's Developer Update has already announced most of the changes that are included in this patch, but we've had more details.

Overwatch PTR Patch Notes – May 1, 2020

BUG FIXES

General

• Fixed a bug that could cause the "While You Wait" UI to become unresponsive.
• Patch Notes Button - Fixed a bug that could cause the "New" tag to remain after patch notes have been viewed.

Heroes

Echo

• Fixed a bug where Sticky Bombs could sometimes deal damage through shields

Mei.

• Fixed interactions between friendly Mei's Cryo-Freeze and various abilities.

Overwatch PTR Patch Notes – April 28, 2020

GENERAL UPDATES

Custom Games Updates

• Custom Game Filter - Changed the custom game filter "Only Show Games with Space For Party" in 2 ways:The names have been changed to be more descriptive: "on" is now "room in game" and "include in queue" is now "room in lobby". "off" is still "off".
• The filter's default has been changed to "room in game" (previously "on") instead of "off".

BUG FIXES

General

• Fixed a crash on game startup for users with graphics cards with DirectX support up to 10.1.
• Fixed a bug that caused per-hero Friendly Outline settings to not apply properly in some cases.

Heroes

Baptiste

• Fixed a bug where people could stand on immortality field

Doomfist

• Fixed a bug where Doomfist's Seismic Slam targeting reticle was briefly visible to other players.
• Fixed a bug where Doomfist could still get slightly shoved by enemies knocked around by Seismic Slam.
• Holding secondary ability will now also trigger the ground version of Seismic Slam when it becomes valid.
• Fixed a bug where sometimes Seismic Slam would not trigger if Doomfist was on a slippery surface.

Echo

• Fixed a bug where the Hacked effect on health packs that were hacked by an Echo duplicating a Sombra would be colored wrong after her ultimate ended.

Genji

• Fixed a bug where Genji did not receive credit for kills done by a deflected Hanzo Dragonstrike.

Mei

• Fixed a bug where enemy Mei Icewalls would appear the incorrect color in FFA modes.

Mercy

• Fixed a bug where Mercy could lose ult charge in custom games with a damage scalar under 100%.

Torbjörn

• Fixed a bug allowing turrets to be teleported into i
• nvalid locations in rare instances.

Overwatch PTR Patch Notes – April 24, 2020

GENERAL UPDATES

General

• Improved Communications Wheel - We have changed how communication wheel throttling works in the game. You can use up to 3 communication wheel actions in rapid succession but there is now a delay between subsequent communications (similar to how Tracer’s blink ability works in the game).
• Play of the Game - Retuned a number of scoring factors to emphasize more active participation in fights.

HERO UPDATES

Ashe

The Viper

• Now reaches maximum zoom halfway through Ashe's aim down sights, instead of at its conclusion

Doomfist

Seismic Slam

• Can now hold down the Ability 2 button to use Seismic Slam as soon as able (and valid, if using the aerial version).
• When landing very close or on top of enemies, the enemy will be pushed in front/away from Doomfist slightly, instead of sometimes having then end up beside/behind Doomfist.
• Aerial Seismic Slam no longer has a slight acceleration time, which should make it arrive at the destination more reliably.

D.Va

• Restored functionality allowing D.Va to maintain her current aim pitch when de-meching

Mei

Cryo-Freeze

• Now behaves like Mei’s Ice Wall when it comes to interactions. Cryo-Freeze will block line of sight and collision in much the same way.

WORKSHOP UPDATES

• Added nighttime versions of the Workshop Island and Workshop Expanse maps

BUG FIXES

General

• Fixed a bug that prevented new communication voice lines from playing

Heroes

Doomfist

• Fixed a bug where McCree's roll could cause Uppercut to not lift him to the correct height.
• Fixed a bug where hitting Sombra with Rocket Punch would not put hack on cooldown if she was using it at the time.
• Fixed an animation pop when doing an aerial slam at certain range.

Echo

• Fixed a bug causing Echo to be credited with a "Double Kill" on a single kill, when playing with a damage scalar > 100%
• Fixed a bug where kills done by Duplicated heroes after Duplicate had ended were not counting towards the Duplicated Kills stat

Overwatch PTR Patch Notes – April 23, 2020

ANNOUNCEMENT

Patch 1.48 is a rebase and will require a relatively large download for all platforms.

GENERAL UPDATES

Feature Update: Improved Communications Wheel

We have added many more communication options so you can customize your interactions in Overwatch! To help you pick your favorites, go to Options -> Controls and scroll down to the Communication Wheel section. From here, you can choose from one of 26 different options for each sector of the wheel. You can change out your choices and swap around their positions within the wheel. Now, you can still tell your team “I Need Healing,” but you can also tell them you are “On My Way” so they should “Press the Attack!”.

• New options are now available to customize the Communications Wheel.
• Shortcuts are now customizable; pick from a set of 26 different communication options.
• Additional keybindings are now available to support more voiceover lines.

Feature Update: Patch Notes in Client

Players are now be able to read about the latest changes to Overwatch from within the game. We wanted to players across all platforms to have convenient access to this information, and it’s now easier than ever to stay up-to-date.

• Selecting the Patch Notes button on the main menu will display the patch notes in the client, and no longer requires a separate web browser.
• Patch Notes will show as “new” whenever a game update is available.

General

• Added buttons to Control map dropships to allow players to reset basketballs.

HERO UPDATES

Echo

• Reduced the height of Echo's head hit volume.

Reinhardt

• Reduced the height of Reinhardt's head hit volume, making it harder to hit him in the head from behind.

CUSTOM GAMES UPDATES

New Features

• Existing Share Codes can now be re-uploaded with new Custom Game Settings (requires same original owner).
• Skirmish can now override which Control Points are valid on Control Maps.

Developer Comments: This should make it easier for content creators to update existing modes, even if the codes have already been shared. Note: One may also re-upload settings to a code that has expired (assuming the owner is the same), and the share code will become valid again.
 

WORKSHOP UPDATES

New Features

• Allow strings to be stored as variables.
• Allow no string reevaluation in Create HUD Text, Create In-World Text, and Set Objective Description.
• Added Player Dealt Knockback and Player Received Knockback Events.
• Conditions and actions are now displayed using C-style syntax. This new syntax is used when copying to text, and both new and old syntaxes are supported when pasting from text.
• Nulls at the end of a String or Custom String value are no longer displayed (or required when pasting from text).
• Adjusted syntax coloring for conditions and actions to make it more consistent.
• Relaxed type restrictions, allowing boolean values (such as Compare) to be used where numbers are expected, and vice versa.
• Added support for the new communication types to related actions and values.

New Actions

• Break
• Continue
• Set Crouch Enabled
• Set Melee Enabled
• Set Jump Enabled
• Declare Round Draw
• Set Ability Cooldown
• Cancel Primary Action

New Values

• Is Meleeing
• Is Jumping
• Event Direction
• Button
• Event Ability
• Ability Cooldown
• Ability Icon String
• Array
• If-Then-Else

BUG FIXES

General

• Fixed a bug that could allow voice lines from opposing teams to be heard at Hero Select screens on certain maps.
• Fixed a bug where some arcade game modes were not storing or displaying stats correctly.

Maps

Busan

• MEKA Base: Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to traslocate to an unintended location near the capture point.
• Downtown: Fixed a bug that allowed Sombra to place her translocator in several unintended locations.

Havana

• Fixed a bug that prevented Genji and Hanzo from consistently being able to wall climb in several locations near point A.

King's Row

• Fixed a bug that caused Orisa's Protective Barrier to fall through the floor when deployed at a specific spot close to Point B.

Heroes

Doomfist

• Fixed a visual issue with Doomfist's primary fire animation while in a Graviton Surge.

D.Va

• Fixed a bug that caused D.Va to not gain full health when spawning into her mech in Total Mayhem.

Echo

• Fixed a bug where some effects caused by Duplicated heroes were not always removing themselves after 3 seconds.
• Fixed a bug where an Amplification Matrix wouldn't boost damage during the 3 second linger window after duplicate ended.
• Fixed a bug that caused a Graviton Surge created by clone Echo to stop displaying visual effects when Duplicate ends.

Genji

• When Genji reflects Reinhardt's firestrike, it will now swap team coloration from Reinhardt's POV.

Mercy

• Fixed a bug that caused player nameplates to be invisible, when Mercy's beam target is afflicted by Ana's Biotic Grenade and ally colorblind colors is enabled.

Zarya

• Fixed a bug where Zarya's bubble doesn't purge the visual effects of someone hit by a Venom Mine.

Zenyatta

• Fixed a bug that could cause a pink object to appear at the top of the screen for Zenyatta while wearing his Zen-nakji skin.

Workshop

• Fixed a bug where values were often being counted multiple times towards a script's total element count.