Due to some technical issues yesterday, many Fortnite fans encountered frustrations when they attempted to play the game, which has led to Epic Games promising players certain compensation for the server downtime. Following this, the company has now released the patch notes for the title's next update, Version 2.4.0, and has confirmed the addition of Miniguns to the game's Battle Royale mode.

As seen in the full patch notes at the end of the article, the new Minigun weapon won't be the only thing being brought forth in tomorrow's update to Fortnite Battle Royale, as Epic Games also intends on using Version 2.4.0 to fix some lingering bugs found in the game. However, the company has acknowledged that the forthcoming patch won't address any of the building issues some players have been experiencing, with Epic currently working on a solution to these problems.

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For those who haven't dived off the Battle Bus in a while, the inclusion of the Minigun in Fortnite's Battle Royale is only the latest item to make its way into the game, with a previous update including the Chug Jug – that is, a healing item which gives maximum health and full shields. Prior to this, the development team also decided to revamp the entire map for Battle Royale, giving players new towns and cities, as well as refreshed "biomes."

Bearing all of this in mind, it will be interesting to see the directions in which Epic Games and People Can Fly take Fortnite Battle Royale's updates in the future, especially when one considers just how much has been added to the standalone mode since it went free-to-play in September 2017. Epic Games has said that it currently has no new maps or vehicles in the works, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of these and other features being developed at some point down the line.

Fortnite Battle Royale Update 2.4.0 Patch Notes

Weapons

  • MiniGun
    • Found in Chests and Supply drops
    • Fires almost as quickly as SMG
    • Uses Light ammo
  • Suppressed Pistol
    • Reduced drop chances of Epic variant by 20%.
    • Reduced drop chances of Legendary variant by 33%.

Gameplay

  • Added “Controller Auto Run” option.
    • This enables/disables the auto run feature on controllers.
    • Auto run, which was introduced in v2.3.0, is enabled by double clicking the left thumb stick on controllers.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a few landscape areas that were barely below floor height before.
    • This sometimes caused the majority of a structure to appear underground.
  • Players can now shoot through the Soccer goal.

General

  • Added “3D Resolution” slider to Video options on PC and Mac.
    • This new preference allows you to set the resolution of the 3D world, without affecting the user interface.
    • The range goes between 640x360 and your selected Display Resolution. Using a lower 3D Resolution may greatly improve frame rate.
    • When selecting an overall Quality option, an appropriate 3D Resolution will be chosen automatically.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a client crash that would get triggered by an audio cue.
  • Fixed an issue preventing players from unmuting other players in the lobby screen.
  • Fixed an issue causing an incorrect character model to display on the lobby screen.
  • Fixed an issue causing entire walls to highlight when looking at a door.

Performance

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed client hitching which could occur when the Chug Jug was found in game.
  • Made engine performance improvements to how we process collision overlap events.
  • Reduced network bandwidth usage when players are walking, and when they are standing still

UI

Spectating

  • Added spectator count UI to the HUD. This appears in game as a small eye in the lower left corner when there are active spectators. Better off not knowing? There is also an option to disable the feature under game options labeled “Show Spectator Count”.

Bug Fixes

  • Removed an unnecessary button prompt on the left side of the news widget.
  • Added a border highlight around item shop tiles when selecting them on consoles.
  • Fixed an issue allowing the old trap picker radial menu to open. This radial menu is no longer used for selecting traps.
  • Fixed an issue causing weapon icons to not display properly on the hotbar in some cases.
  • Fixed a few spots on the map and minimap that were rendered as black spots.
  • Fixed the floor under the hero not showing up when previewing emotes in the locker or item shop
  • Fixed emotes being offset if they were viewed in succession.

Art/Animation

  • Optimized the colored rarity effect on weapons and items to improve overall performance.
    • Colors may appear to look slightly different.

Bug Fixes

  • Corrected the drinking speed animation for the 15-second Chug Jug item.

Audio

Bug Fixes

  • Improved spatialization of loot chest audio by increasing the audio volume if you’re aiming at them.
  • Removed the static audio from living room televisions.
  • Fixed a directional audio issue when another player switches to a shotgun.
  • Removed footstep audio from dance emotes.

World

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed the missing collision on a window asset in Tilted Towers.
  • Fixed the landscape appearing jagged at medium-range distances.
  • Fixed flickering artifacts that are sometimes seen on the rivers while riding the Battle Bus.
  • Fixed an issue causing two items to spawn in the same location near Lonely Lodge.
  • Fixed some seams in the terrain south of Anarchy Acres.
  • Disabled the collision on the vines in Moisty Mire.

Known Issues

  • Problems building on consoles.
  • Visual building selector issue that sometimes makes the wrong structure type appear in the UI.

Fortnite Battle Royale is free to play now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Epic Games