Hyper Scapes open beta arrived over the weekend and Ubisoft put out a fresh patch for the games public debut. The patch added a few gameplay changes and balance tweaks, but it also has a new solo mode for players who want to jump into the 100-player battle royale on their own, instead of with a squad.
The biggest addition to the closed beta is Hyper Scapes new Crown Rush Solo mode. The mode has all the same features as the Crown Rush Squad mode like random loot and the shrinking map but it removes the three-player squads and pits all 100 players against each other. Solo modes are always a popular choice for battle royale players, so its no surprise that this new mode is now a permanent addition to the game.
As for gameplay changes, the biggest update is the new Harpy weapon. The Harpy is a submachine gun thats designed for high damage and very limited range. According to the patch notes, the Harpy is a force to be reckoned with up close, but if youre facing off with an enemy at a distance, youll probably want to pick another gun.
This patch also brings a few changes to Hyper Scapes in-game events like Low Gravity, which will now last for 35 seconds instead of 50 seconds. Theres also a brand new event called Haste, which can only be triggered by a viewer vote. The Haste event speeds up every player in a match for a brief time.
For a look at all the changes Ubisoft made to Hyper Scape for the open beta you can check out the full patch notes.
Hyper Scape open beta patch notes
Weapons
Harpy
Many of you asked when we would release new weapons, heres the first one: The Harpy is an SMG capable of doing large damage at short range. It has a limited magazine at low fusion level but a fast reload speed. Like for other full-auto weapons it gains ammo capacity with each fusion and an extra damage at full fusion.
The Harpy is intended to be a fast, mobile weapon, with no extra spread penalty for sprint/jump.
Salvo
- Proximity detonation radius reduced to 0.7R, down from 0.9R
The change on damage from patch 0.2 (released during our Tech Test) showed positive effects but the Salvo is still too dominant in close combat/indoor situations. Although the intention for this weapon was always to be easy to use, we believe it is currently overused in random carpet-bombing techniques.
The proximity detonation radius will be reduced to make the projectiles more avoidable in close quarter combat. We will monitor this change closely in the first days of the Open Beta.
Hacks
Shockwave (New)
With this patch, we also introduce a new Hack: The Shockwave. This versatile Hack allows you to trigger a ranged AoE shockwave that will propel players in all directions.
The Shockwave does a bit of damage, less than Slam, but the ranged aspect opens new possibilities. It also offers a traversal ability if you aim at your feet, youll be sent flying into the air. Fusion will lower its cooldown and full fusion will also add extra damage.
Shockwave is the fastest Hack currently, with a minimum Cooldown of 4s at full fusion.
Game Events
Haste (New)
A new Game Event has been added for Twitch Viewers through the Crowncast Extension: The Haste Event. Once chosen by viewers it will boost the navigation speed of all Contenders for a while. It is cumulative with any other speed boost given by Melee or any other ability and will affect Echoed Players as well.
Haste is Viewers-exclusive: It can only be chosen by Viewers that are watching the match with the Crowncast extension.
Low Gravity
- Low Gravity Game Event duration reduced to 35s, down from 50s
Low Gravity has been quite popular among Viewers (perhaps less so for Streamers) and created many unexpectedly epic in-air combat moments. However, as with all good things, moderation is key. As we add new Game Events to the game rotation (like we are doing with Haste), Low Gravity will naturally come up less frequently. Still, we think its current duration is a bit long and weve decided to reduce it for now, until more Game Events are added.
Keep in mind however that this Game Event is Viewers-exclusive: Low Gravity can only occur when one or more Streamers are present in your match (or youre a Streamer yourself and your viewers like to see you fly.)
Game mode and systems
Crown Rush Solo mode
Many of you enjoyed playing Solo Neo Arcadia during the Dark Haze limited event of the Technical Test. Here now is Crown Rush Solo, the 100-player Solo version of our Crown Rush Battle Royale! Crown Rush Solo now joins Crown Rush Squad as one of Hyper Scapes standard game modes.
The rules are unchanged, including the Crown. If you decide to go for it, youll have to defend yourself alone!
Showdown and Crown
- Collapsed Sector damage is now x5 during Showdown.
- Crown bearer now has a global Hack Cooldown Time increase of +33%.
Weve read many comments about possible exploits or repetitive/annoying (cheesing) winning strategies during the Showdown, when players run away with the Crown. We intended Showdown to be a tactical & intense moment, but we want to make sure chasing the Crown bearer is not a frustrating experience. We also want to make sure that picking up the Crown still offers a chance to win, if you play well and/or are well supported by your squad.
With this patch, we are introducing new mechanics designed to rebalance the Crown. We will monitor closely their effects on the game and adjust rapidly if necessary, to ensure Showdown stays a fun & creative moment.
The damage of collapsed sectors will be drastically increased during Showdown. You will still be able to play in it but only for a short time. Were also applying a debuff to the Crown: As a Crown bearer you will still be able to use your Hacks freely, but their cooldowns will be increased, giving your opponents more opportunities to catch up with you.
Ammo
- Only 4 Ammo pickups are now necessary to reach max ammo capacity, down from 6 pickups.
Weve made the ammo pickup more generous in the game. The fast pace combat often leaves players with little ammo and we think reaching full ammo capacity was a bit slow. We are still working on solving the lack of ammo with the initial weapon pickup at match start, but its a first step.
Players max ammo capacity is unchanged, but they will now need less pickups to reach it.
Weapon Swap
- The Weapon Swap hold timer has been reduced to 0.5s, down from 0.8s.
The Weapon Swap (the action of swapping one of your two weapons with another on the ground) felt too slow for several players (including Graeme, our producer, who happens to be a very persuasive person). We agree that the overall pace of the game requires more reactivity for players trying to adjust their loadout. While the weapon swap is still a HOLD interaction (to avoid involuntary swaps) its duration has been reduced.
Please note that we are only reducing the HOLD interaction duration. The weapon swap animation is unchanged, but keep in mind it is interruptible: If you shoot or go in ADS you will interrupt it instantly.
Also, several of you suggested using for weapons the same swap menu used for hacks. We will continue to monitor this aspect of the game in the future.
Crowncast Twitch Extension
Battle Pass progression on Twitch (New)
Viewers on Twitch will now be able to progress their Battle Pass simply by watching their favorite streamers! If youre watching Hyper Scape streams that have activated the Crowncast extension and you have linked your Uplay account, you will be able to claim Battle Points at the end of each match. Thanks to the Crowncast version of our in-game scoring system, the more you watch & interact with the game, the more points youll get. Battle Points and all items unlocked will be available as soon as you return to Hyper Scape.
We have set a daily cap to the maximum amount of Battle Points you can get by watching on Twitch, to ensure playing the game remains the best way of leveling up. However, we will closely monitor this cap & the points gained to make sure it feels rewarding to watch Hyper Scape on Twitch.
Important Note for Console Players: While Open Beta is only available on PC, you can make use of the Crowncast Battle Pass progression to unlock all the items contained in the OB Battle Pass, which will be available on your account when we release on Console, thanks to our cross-progression system. So, go watch streamers on Twitch and unlock all the exclusive Open beta rewards!
Streamer Squad Invitations
Thanks to the Crowncast extension, streamers can now invite viewers directly into their 3-player squad with a few easy clicks. If youre watching a Hyper Scape stream, the streamer can send you an invite. If youre logged into the game, you can accept that invitation and if confirmed by streamer you will join their squad instantly! No need to use the Uplay friend interface at all!
Progression
New Content to Unlock
- New free Battle Pass with 30 tiers, including cosmetic only and exclusive items that players will keep after the Open Beta.
- This BP includes Twitch Prime rewards – you need to be a Twitch Prime member to unlock these.
- Daily Shop is now open! Any content purchased during Open Beta will of course remain in your inventory at full launch.
A new Free Battle Pass with 30 tiers is available for you to unlock Open Beta exclusive items. All items are new compared to Technical Test. You can level up the Battle Pass by playing matches & completing challenges, but dont forget you can now also level up on Twitch by watching streamers with the Crowncast extension.
Console players: Remember Twitch Battle Pass progression works for you too!
Anti-Cheat
Hardware ID ban
Starting with this Open Beta, any user BattlEye detects to be using game hacks or cheat programs will have their Ubisoft account automatically banned from the game, and their PC will also receive a Hardware ID Ban to prevent them returning to the Hyper Scape with another account.
Other Improvements
Revive Bug
Technical Test players likely observed an issue trying to revive teammates where the action does not complete. Its in fact a two-part issue, one related to specific geometric positioning of the Restore Point, and the other with the action itself getting interrupted. This patch addresses the positioning bug, with the other to be addressed in a future update.
Texture Streaming
Enabled texture streaming on Weapons & Characters to prevent out of memory issues.
Adjusted global texture streaming memory pools to prevent out of memory issues.
Optimization
Reduced loading wait time from 90 sec to 60 sec (players should spend less time in the Lobby now).
Other Fixes
Fixed an issue where players would receive an invalid orchid-C015 issue when entering Matchmaking.
Fixed multiple client & server crashes observed during Tech Test.
