R184 Release Notes *Updated (8/8/19)

Jormagund

Not happy that there was no way to download all the assets at install on my home wifi rather than using my data while playing on the commute.

On the plus side the speed improvement on opening basics/elites and applying champ levels.  That was brilliant.

Overall thumbs up so far and as someone posted earlier in the thread the new engine is a major investment and therefore a good sign for the longevity of the game.

With regards to the blurring issue if this happens again could it be changed so the assets load before match start rather than during the match.  A couple of seconds longer before starting compared to distraction/annoyance while actionally playing would be much preferable IMHO.

jamesh

KGB said:

mags1587 said:

y4747 said:

JSP869 said:

Acemontiero said:

Immersive Mode removing the buttons at the bottom of the device that I've been using for 5 years is extremely disgruntling. It doesn't seem like there's any way to turn it off, and moving my hand up to the top of the screen to hit the app's back button instead is annoying. This particular aspect of the update is a downgrade in my opinion.

On the plus side, the app IS much snappier overall. 

Agreed. Some good, some bad.

That Immersive Mode is forced upon us with no option to turn it off is VERY bad.

I now not only have to overcome 5 years of muscle memory of hitting my phone's back button in the bottom right corner, but the game's back button is in the top left corner, this is completely counter-intuitive.

I like a lot of the changes in this update.

Immersive Mode NEEDS to be something we can turn off if we choose to.

seconded (fourthed?). please make this optional, it's driving me crazy.

Completely agree.  It wouldn't be quite so bad if there was something other than dead space there.  It would still be annoying having to retrain myself after 5 years, but the fact that there's nothing where the buttons used to be is really annoying.  Please let us turn off immersive mode.  

Add me to the list. Esp when the buttons still work (if you drag them up) so it's not like they aren't functional anymore AND there is nothing on that part of the screen. Plus the home button was handy to return to the phone desktop to switch between apps etc.

I'd pay half my current CP hoard which is 1800+ to get this fixed.

KGB

Note that the dead space at the bottom of the screen is probably specific to your device.  The game runs at a fixed aspect ratio and letterboxes the display if it doesn't match that ratio. If your device is wider that 16:9, you get bars at the top and bottom of the display. If your device is more square (like my tablet), you get bars down the sides.

Presumably the game is now displaying slightly larger on my tablet since it can use the full height of the screen, which was probably the goal of this change.  WIth that said, I'd much prefer an easily reachable back button to this marginalsize increase.

TIGERSoft

KGB said:

mags1587 said:

y4747 said:

JSP869 said:

Acemontiero said:

Immersive Mode removing the buttons at the bottom of the device that I've been using for 5 years is extremely disgruntling. It doesn't seem like there's any way to turn it off, and moving my hand up to the top of the screen to hit the app's back button instead is annoying. This particular aspect of the update is a downgrade in my opinion.

On the plus side, the app IS much snappier overall. 

Agreed. Some good, some bad.

That Immersive Mode is forced upon us with no option to turn it off is VERY bad.

I now not only have to overcome 5 years of muscle memory of hitting my phone's back button in the bottom right corner, but the game's back button is in the top left corner, this is completely counter-intuitive.

I like a lot of the changes in this update.

Immersive Mode NEEDS to be something we can turn off if we choose to.

seconded (fourthed?). please make this optional, it's driving me crazy.

Completely agree.  It wouldn't be quite so bad if there was something other than dead space there.  It would still be annoying having to retrain myself after 5 years, but the fact that there's nothing where the buttons used to be is really annoying.  Please let us turn off immersive mode.  

Add me to the list. Esp when the buttons still work (if you drag them up) so it's not like they aren't functional anymore AND there is nothing on that part of the screen. Plus the home button was handy to return to the phone desktop to switch between apps etc.

I'd pay half my current CP hoard which is 1800+ to get this fixed.

KGB

And you can add me also... Immersive mode is no good if you don't provide similar functionality within the game. Going back fast single handed is not possible anymore on larger phones. For devs, it's pretty easy to turn this off, it's 1 single flag.

TheXMan

FYI - hitting the pause button allows you to retreat.  However, that does not help for swapping apps like going to check Line. That still requires an extra swipe

bluewolf

I find it pretty disconcerting the way that when you open the token, you see the store just before you get the cover but after the initial flash telling you what rarity level you got, or after the animation of the vault opening/beam of light moving down the screen.

Sometimes I think for a second that I'm getting something better than I got (like if the vault is behind the token, you'll probably see some 4's).

Other times I see the, say, Standard store and think I have less/more pulls than I do as it's shows me the token count.

HoundofShadow

Just saw the second hint and The Ancient One is coming! 

As Vast As Stars = Astral Dimension 
Peace of Mind = Kamar-Taj

ShakaLakaBum

chamber44 said:

ThaRoadWarrior said:

As Vast As Stars

Gain some Peace of Mind when you add this character to your roster!

Who has the mind stone? is that Vision? 

Legion?

Considering the Legion tv show ends this Monday, we could get either Legion (his mind is vast, containing all of his personalites like stars in the sky) or Shadow King (he's the creature born in astral plane, he puts his victim's minds into "peace" when takes them over)  

DAZ0273

Anybody else getting repeat blur on Nick Fury and Spidey on the loading screen still? It is hardly a big deal but those art assets have now loaded plenty of times and just seems strange they are still blurring. Oh well.

Blackstone

Regarding the Android back and apps buttons that do not display in immersive mode:

It literally takes a quick tap at the bottom to bring up the buttons, then it operates as normal.

Yes, it takes doing it a few times to get used to the difference between the previous single tap and the current double tap, but it really shouldn't be that much of an inconvenience.

Was it easier? Yes. Would it be nice to have the option to opt out of immersive mode? Certainly.  But calling it impossible to back single handedly or some of the other claims that seem meant to exaggerate the issue in order to get a change, seem called for.

KGB

Blackstone said:

Regarding the Android back and apps buttons that do not display in immersive mode:

It literally takes a quick tap at the bottom to bring up the buttons, then it operates as normal.

Yes, it takes doing it a few times to get used to the difference between the previous single tap and the current double tap, but it really shouldn't be that much of an inconvenience.

Not for me it doesn't. On a Samsung Galaxy S10+, the only way I can get out of immersive mode is to 'swipe down' from the top of the screen or 'swipe up' from the bottom. The back/home buttons then appear. But as soon as you touch anything in MPQ it goes right back to immersive mode.

So it 100% does not operate as normal / the way it used to. I must now use 2 hands at all times (since the back button in the game itself is in the upper left corner) and swipe to exit MPQ to my Android desktop.

It's a simple trivial fix in the code to turn on the flag to allow users to manually select whether or not they want immersive mode for an application. There is zero reason not to do it.

KGB

Kojubat

It's a simple trivial fix in the code

Presumably, this was done for a purpose outside of malice. Which means, it is not trivial to "fix". Even performing a roll back to a previous code version ("put it back the way it was") would be non-trivial.

This is a personal pet peeve of mine. Unless you have actually seen the code, you're theorizing and implying the code writers and interface designers are either idiots or evil.

-----

As for the overall complaint for Android users, as noted above, this functionality never existed on other platforms. The players on those platforms have successfully played, competed, and won without using this shortcut interface for years.

I would also point to the Steam players who had to adapt to a major change in the entire UI a little while back and continue to play, compete and win despite their complaints on interface change.

I'm not saying not to voice dissatisfaction or trying to defend the decision to change (I have no idea "why" they did it, other than some reasonable guesses).

I will say, though, that the people complaining of constant crashing have a bigger concern that is being obfuscated by an interface change.

jamesh

Blackstone said:

Regarding the Android back and apps buttons that do not display in immersive mode:

It literally takes a quick tap at the bottom to bring up the buttons, then it operates as normal.

Yes, it takes doing it a few times to get used to the difference between the previous single tap and the current double tap, but it really shouldn't be that much of an inconvenience.

It definitely isn't just a tap here: it needs to be a swipe from the bottom of the screen on my tablet. And even then it will sometimes activate one of the in-game buttons while performing the gesture, since the back button pops up right over the "recruit heroes" button.

Judging from the documentation, this is because they chose the "sticky immersive mode", which means that the swipe gesture isn't captured by the OS:

https://developer.android.com/training/system-ui/immersive#sticky-immersive

If it was just plain immersive mode, the system UI wouldn't show up translucent, and the app wouldn't process the swipe gesture.

KGB said:

It's a simple trivial fix in the code to turn on the flag to allow users to manually select whether or not they want immersive mode for an application. There is zero reason not to do it.

Adding options always has a cost. As well as coding up the toggle, it is a new configuration to test when the game is updated.  So I think there is a case for just disabling it outright.

Alternatively, they could redesign the UI so the in-game back button is in a more ergonomic position.  It never really occurred to me that iOS users have been making do without a convenient back button all this time...

maguirenumber6

I hope a better character select screen is coming now that the new engine is being used. It's about time we didn't have to scroll through all our characters every single time any more.

DAZ0273

I get the "Vast as stars" clue now after seeing this latest bundle - it refers to what your wallet needs to be to afford it. 

JSP869

maguirenumber6 said:

I hope a better character select screen is coming now that the new engine is being used. It's about time we didn't have to scroll through all our characters every single time any more.

Being able to select characters as favorites so they appear front & center ahead of everyone else when selecting our team before battle. I currently have a 227-deep roster, and it's 17 taps to get to 3* Thanos from my first screen.

I also have a dupe 4* baby Deadpool (who is even further down the list than my 3* Thanos) because it's annoying when XFDP is boosted for an event, and his teammates are getting repeatedly punched in the face, and my Champion XFDP doesn't lift a finger a help them until its far too late because his X-Enforcer threshold is so high.

Although now that I think about it. Yes, yes, I know, that one wasn't really Deadpool's fault. They don't make phoneboxes like they used to.

TPF Alexis

I have to say, as far as the stated goal of making everything run faster and more smoothly, this has been a hard fail from my PoV. I have never seen the game run this slowly or completely freeze up before, and it's now even easier to tap the wrong point on the screen for some reason.

JSP869

TPF Alexis said:

I have to say, as far as the stated goal of making everything run faster and more smoothly, this has been a hard fail from my PoV. I have never seen the game run this slowly or completely freeze up before, and it's now even easier to tap the wrong point on the screen for some reason.

I am dreading playing Strange Sights under the new engine. Strange Sights and other events with terrible node placement were already difficult enough to navigate under the old engine, in spite of our multiple and repeated requests to fix the bloody maps so the nodes and their hit boxes are not on top of each other. 

At least Brigby has said they intend to roll back Immersive Mode with the next patch so we'll get our virtual buttons back.

Can you imagine the frustration of trying to play Strange Sight in Immersive Mode when the game constantly sends you into the wrong node, and instead of just being able to make a single tap (in the same place you've been tapping for the past 5+ years to go Back) now you would have to swipe up and then tap to go back.
And then the game sends you into the wrong node again.

I forget which event it is, but there is one event where the hit boxes are so horribly misplaced that I have to tap off to the side of the node in order to select it because tapping directly on that particular node selects the adjacent node.

KGB

TPF Alexis said:

and it's now even easier to tap the wrong point on the screen for some reason.

I'm hoping this is because of immersive mode. What has happened is the game has stretched to fit your screen and I *think* that means the touch points have moved. I'm seeing the exact same thing esp when trying to fire power and I always seem to hit the middle power instead of the left/right one that I've never missed before.

KGB

JSP869

When you're trying to change your targeted opponent by tapping halfway back on the AI team, and instead of rotating through your opponents it just brings up the character/power description for your first opponent.

jackstar0

If it's already been brought up, let me bring it up again: what's up with vaults not letting you tap through to see pulls right away... except sometimes it does work?

Please make it work and work fast if that's possible at all.