Horizon Zero Dawn update 1.12, patch notes reveal 3D audio support, improved performance

Horizon Zero Dawn update 1.12 is rolling out today and there's a host of big changes and improvement, including the introduction of 3D audio support.

[DeadSilence]

Now this is supporting your fucking game!

[DMZ_P]

best thing is I never had any of the issues they've been patching since launch. The game never even crashed once. That was one polished game to begin with !

[UnSelf]

so far this is my favorite game of 2017, but why is it no one besides me, seems to have an issue with the day night transitions?

or is it just the way the game was designed? idk why, but the day/night transtitions could be a lot smoother. I swear it goes from day to night without any notice sometimes. I keep thinking these patches will address it but I'm starting to believe thats just how the game was designed.

if u need a reference,, compare the D/N transitions in this game to a game like GTAV.

all that being said, i cant put the goddamn game down

[frostypants]

@UnSelf, I agree, the weird sun behavior (kinda hangs in the sky, then sets super-fast) messed with me. It makes a bit more sense when you consider their design goals though. They went for "hyper-reality", where they wanted the environment to almost always look like the best version of said environment in terms of weather and lighting. So they targeted specific points of day and night to focus on, put a lot of focus on the density of precipitation, etc. More on this:

http://kotaku.com/horizon-z...

[Kornholic]

@UnSelf

I thought about that today. The day and night cycle seems somewhat off. It's one of the few flaws in the game.

[UnSelf]

@above

ahh that explains it. Okay then all is well then. For the longest i thought it was just a quirky glitch but I can see how they would think such a choice would benefit the experience. Now i can appreciate it with a new set of eyes.

thanks

[gbsrnctaln]

@unself

It was jarring for me at first as well but I quickly learned to love how it transformed an area completely in the blink of an eye. The moonlit look always amazes me.

[bouzebbal]

Glad they finally corrected those recurrent drops in performance, the game was unplayable /s

[nyctophilia13]

Over 50 hours and a platinum and I had only one crash. Never had a problem finishing any quests either. Considering what a technical marvel the game is, I'm impressed.

[Ceaser9857361]

DMZ_P
Likewise, Amazing that GG is supporting HZD.. and hats of to the team for putting up an incredible game for us gamers.. THANK YOU GG..

[desertpunk86]

what?like replaying the game with 3d audio!?lol we moved on and is all about persona 5 and horizon wont be relevant until they add a story expansion now let me get back to persona 5 you peasant.

[mogwaii]

Douchebag supreme!

[itBourne]

They need to freaking patch being able to drop boxes, I got 43 damn boxes with bundles of rocks right now.... It would literally take me like 3 hours to get rid of that many rocks as the game is....

[MorpheusX]

And I must say, didn't think much of this game initially......until I actually gave it a chance and watched some videos. I must say its a REAL AAA game, I mean that is how its done, even though it has a familiar Lore , it REALLY IS a fresh, new experience.

There is so much polish and detail, I am a BIG CRITIC of this Gen's offerings so far, ...I dismissed this game initially, but Im happy to see that I was wrong about Horizon Zero Dawn.

PS4's owners have a great game to appreciate In Horizon Zero Dawn, and the support its receiving is also a good sign.

P.S.- On a side note,....there are ideological things in the game I disagree with, but I will keep these things to myself, outside of this, I would score it @ least a 9.0 - to a 9.5, yes its that good.

Zelda who? lol. sorry Nintendo Fanboys, but its the Truth.

Graphically its superior to any other console game so far, i'm serious, it is . Game of the Year 2017, so far.

[Mr Marvel]

It's definitely the best looking game I've seen.

[MegaMohsi]

yes 3d audio support!

[UltraNova]

I really wish 3D audio was combatible with my 7.1 headset...

[TankCrossing]

It probably is. Most 7.1 headsets have an option to disable the on-board virtual surround processing so you can play a 2.1 source directly.

[G20WLY]

This makes a big difference for me. More games need to support 3D audio! You just seem to get a better sense of distance and hearing things from above/below helps immersion for me.

The platinum headset is great for 3D sound so far.

[mark_parch]

I have a platinum headset on its way so this is good news but they still need to support more games, its still only 2 lol

[Lighter9]

"Improved Performance" I didn't think it was possible.

[AcidDvl]

I don't think either. The performance is beyond excellent...

[CP_Company]

i wanted to wrote that too.performance is excellent even on resolution mode,so i don't understand where it is coming from :D
and i see those fixes also in every patch,and i did't see them anywhere,game is running bug free and glitches free,had no problem in any missions too :)

[kneon]

I can only recall one instance where there was a noticeable drop in frame rate, and it lasted all of a few seconds. Other than that there is only the very occasional pop-in that I've seen.

[G20WLY]

^kneon, hopefully even that will be quashed now!

[CyrusLemont]

Most likely to address the frame drops in Meridian and that house you need to investigate in the main quest.

There are frame-rate drops in the game but they're so rare, I'm impressed that GG is fixing any performance issues at all. Perfectionists they are! Awesome.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Yes, I noticed that too during that mission.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Lol

Well because games are Dynamic and they are not absolute , they could always be improved upon.

[thekhurg]

There is a house in Meridian where all of the lost frames in the game go. Perhaps they've fixed that oddity.

[Sunny_D]

Ha.I Like that. The house where all the frames go to die or something like that.

[UCForce]

Nice work,GG !

[Themba76]

uh oh platinum headset here i come

[MatrixxGT]

I'm going to check it out today. Love my golds but I really want to see the platinums in person. If they still feel cheaply made I'll just stick with what I have.

[pyroxxx]

They feel quite premium,.. only thing I really did not like (but I got used to it ,..kinda),.. is instead of that foam on top of your head, there is this flexible rubbery part,.. and it bothered me at the beginning,.. but damn they sound good

[Dizzy11523]

Maybe loading will be faster.

[frostypants]

Only time I noticed slow loading was when my save game was in Meridian.

[TL24SS]

Ubisoft should take some notes here on how to support their own f-ing games.

Superb game and superb support from GG!

[Yukonsbud]

I used to somewhat like Ubisoft until For Honor (fun game when it works)

[uth11]

Theres been an awful lot of patches for a game that ran pretty well to begin with!

[Silly gameAr]

Some companies like to support their games I guess.

[SweetLeafSmoker]

Awesome news! I love my platinum headset... I still haven't tried out the 3D audio on Uncharted 4 because at the time I got the Platinum headset I was hooked on BF1 mp, playing that non-stop. This reminds me I need to start playing UC4 and finish up on the platinum trophy.

I'm finished with HZD and got the platinum trophy but it's definitely still in the rotation. So I'll definitely fire this up and check out the 3D audio when I farm for some purple mods on thunderjaws and stormbirds in preparation for a new game + announcement and future dlc's and/or survival mode. (can't wait to see what Guerrilla does DLC wise, something tells me they are going to treat their fanbase good like CDPR did with TW3)

This also reminds me do check the Headset Companion App and see if it has a new update and/or custom setting for HZD

[Themba76]

hows the platunum headset on bf1 very curious?

[SweetLeafSmoker]

I really like it. I also have the Gold headset and was using that before and I thought it was good.

I'm not any audiophile by any means.. My ears aren't the best. But imo it was like night and day switching over to the platinum from the Gold and that's just using them on games standard that don't have 3D audio support.

On the headset app I have slot 1 equipped with the "Shooter" game preset and slot 2 I have the "Uncharted 4" preset... I just haven't gotten around to messing around on UC4 and checking out the 3D because I was so caught up with BF1 and other new games coming out.

Sorry for typing so much but yeah.. I really like them and think that the upgrade in sound technology/overall build and quality is worth it.

[pyroxxx]

Actually Like it on BF1 the most,.. damn it ,.. Never even noticed how good the sound in BF1 really is, damn do guns blast.

[jznrpg]

The game played amazing day 1. Never had a glitch or bug of any kind

[ILostMyMind]

I noticed more poppin now. (PSPro)

[Dragonscale]

Horizon is awesome. Love the emergent gameplay and different ways you can approach situations. Last night I was going to a mission and there were about 10 bandits milling about on the road including a heavy. Now I could've taken them on but I spied some watchers nearby. So I snuck up on em and overrode 2 of them. They proceded to attack the bandits and killed most of them and I then finished them off. The surprised cries and panic from the bandits was priceless lol. Stunning game.

[pody]

It's so awesome all the ways you can approach a situation.

[Der_Kommandant]

Improved performance?, how's that even possible?

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

Are Sony's platinum headset 3D compatible?

[Liqu1d]

Yes, that's why support is being added. Horizon & Uncharted 4 are the only games that support it currently I believe.

[G20WLY]

I thought Battlefield 1 did too?

[MADGameR]

Getting a Samsung 4k 55'' KS8000 HDR tv tomorrow! Perfect time to play the game! I've been holding off playing Horizon Zero Dawn til I get the 4K tv and tomorrow, my patience WILL be rewarded! n__n

[SkippyPaccino]

Definitely makes the game pop on my 4k TV. Truly impressive (you're going to have to grind the first 6 hours since it's pretty tutorial story frontloaded) after that the game truly opens up

[Cryptcuzz]

That is a fine 4K HDR (best bang for your buck imho) I got the same one, so I know you're going to be blown away.

Make sure to update the TV right away, as a lot of improvements has been implemented on the TV that a boxed firmware may not have. Current firmware in US is 1168.

Set PS4 Pro resolution to RGB (will be change automatically to YUV-422 for HDR games) as that will provide you with the best image quality.

Make sure to go into settings, picture, special viewing mode -enable game mode. Then press back, go into expert setting and turn on UHD color for the HDMI port the Pro is connected to or else you won't get an HDR image. Don't confuse HDR+ mode under special viewing mode, that is an artificial enhancement for non-HDR content and input lag goes way up when using that.

If you make sure to enable UHD color for the HDMI port the Pro is connected to, upon playing an HDR game, the TV will change to proper HDR mode automatically with a banner popping up that says "HDR video is playing"

All other settings are mainly preference for color, sharpness, contrast, etc. I highly recommend for HDR games to use dynamic contrast on medium or high and smart LED on high.

Enjoy!

[SkippyPaccino]

I haven't really noticed any issues since day for me on my Pro... Platinum it today.... Now I guess time to move on to Zelda...

[covcha]

GOTY 2017

[Kombatologist]

'Fixed an issue where Patch 1.10 did not offer a retroactive solution for some players who encountered an issue with a Tallneck’s datapoint that did not unlock when they had fast-traveled away while on top of the Tallneck instead of rappelling down. Players who encountered this, should revisit the Tallneck again and leave the area to unlock the datapoint.'

Hallelujah! I sent Guerrilla a direct message on Twitter shortly after 1.10 because it didn't include a retroactive fix for those of us still missing Tallneck datapoints (having put 74 hours into the game, I wasn't about to start over just for a couple of useless datapoints). I realize these Tallneck datapoints contain no story elements, but I love the game enough to want to collect them all, and the two I was missing from Tallnecks were really messing with my OCD.

[PiperMCFierceson]

Damn ... I already platinumed it though..

[super_cuddles]

Most excellent , time to get some robot dinosaurs !! Oh wait... That was last week, I've moved on

[mogwaii]

Nice! Just ordered a platinum headset a few days ago, cant wait.
One thing i wish theyd fix is the speed and transition of the day/night cycle, its way too fast!

[JMyers]

This game ran perfectly for me!... Given the size, scale,enemy types, combat and overall mechanics, you'd think it would have some bugs or that there would be more issues... considering games today that is. Guerrilla Games outdid themselves here. Even still they have continued to support this game, making the experience even better.

[Mr Marvel]

The game is a masterpiece, yet they still aren't content with leaving it at that. I platinumed the game and never encountered a single crash or bug on PS4 Pro... which is almost unheard of in an open world game.

Guerilla have entered Naughty Dog territory imo. Now they just need to back it up with a sequel.

[C-H-E-F]

I loved the game so much, i'm battling myself with playing through the game and getting the platinum from the AFTER beating the game point, OR restarting the whole game and just take it all in. See my first play through, I was kind of pressed for time, so i kind of ran through it (didn't level everything up). Actually I have no idea how I was able to beat the game on the hardest difficulty because I was like a level 24 I believe... that ish was soooooo painful :( anyways. yeah... 1st world problems i suppose.