Everything Modern Warfare devs are improving ahead of next beta weekend

With the first of two weekends for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Beta now in the books, developers Infinity Ward have shared what they’re working to improve for the next session. 

With there being so much hype surrounding the upcoming release of Modern Warfare, players on PlayStation 4 were finally excited to try out the multiplayer when the Beta dropped on September 12.

However, as is usually the case with most Call of Duty Betas, the current build of the game was plagued with a variety of issues, about which the community has certainly voiced its opinion about when giving feedback.

Following the conclusion of the Beta on September 16, Infinity Ward released a post discussing the feedback they had received, and revealed what they are working on ahead of the second weekend.

• Read More: How bad is SBMM in Modern Warfare?

You can find details about those topics below, including the full list, as provided by the developers themselves.

The first Beta weekend gave players their first chance to try Modern Warfare multiplayer.

Spawning and visuals

After the mini-map, the issue with spawns was probably the most oft-talked about topic during the Beta weekend, with players constantly complaining about the inconsistent, and sometimes frustrating spawns.

The good news is that Infinity Ward are looking into this heavily, and will likely greatly benefit from all of the spawn data they accumulated throughout the weekend, giving them ample info needed to help implement improvements.

• Read More: MW Beta and pre-orders cancelled in Russia

Additionally, they are also working to improve the “lighting and exposure on various areas of the map,” so that players will be able to see better when aiming through windows and doorways into darker parts of the map.

Spawns were a huge issue during the first Beta weekend.

Mini-map

There is no doubt that the single most complained about thing during the first Beta weekend was the mini-map, or lack thereof.

After seemingly everyone demanded Infinity Ward to bring the classic CoD feature back, the developer caved in, to a point, bringing the small map on the corner of the screen, albeit only showing teammate positions and not enemies, even when firing weapons.

• Read More: Devs respond to MW mini-map controversy

While not much has changed on that front, Infinity Ward Senior Communications Manager Ashton Williams did state that the devs were monitoring gameplay and considering all options, so there could be further changes to look forward to come the second Beta.

Could we see further changes made to the minimap for the second Beta weekend?

Glitches and bugs

It would not be a CoD Beta if it wasn’t full of glitches and bugs, and the current Modern Warfare build certainly fits that criteria.

Fortunately, the devs have taken note of many of these smaller issues, including: matchmaking inconsistencies, Cruise Missile camera remaining static, clipping into tables, and through vehicles, Semtex Grenade not exploding, smoke effects on weapons, stuttering, and much more.

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Here is the full list of things that Infinity Ward are working on, as provided by the developers on Reddit. Keep in mind that some of these topics may have been added earlier during the Beta weekend, so their descriptions may be a bit outdated.

• Partying Up: After completing a match as a party, some players are unable to find a new match and are stuck in the matchmaking lobby. We’re still looking into this issue, but in the meantime, disbanding your party and joining back up is a temporary solution while we work on a fix.
• Unable to connect to online services: This is currently being investigated. If you are still running into this issue, please feel free to PM me your PSNID (if you aren’t comfortable posting it in a thread) so we can take a deeper look. This will be helpful as we work on a solution.
• Connecting your PSNID to your CallofDuty.com account/Display name in-game: Please check this link provided by Activision Support if you’re having issues with connecting accounts or would like to adjust your display name. You can learn how to do this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/moder… enemy footsteps, team footsteps, and your own: Tell us how you’re listening to the game. You can be specific by telling us some of the following information: What type of heaphones are you using? Speakers? Monitor? TV? What preset are you currently using? Are you plugged in directly to the controller? This information can help us narrow down what you’re hearing and help us look further into any issues.
• Calling Cards using wrong name and/or flag description: The description for the flag of Colombia currently says “Columbia.” The Slovakian flag is currently labeled Croatia. Both of these will be fixed during weekend two of the Beta.
• Players are able to clip into a table on Grazna Raid: A fix for this has already been completed and will be implemented as soon as possible.
• Level Cap displaying a higher level than 10: Right now, the level cap is set to 10. Some players are seeing their level cap display 11 or higher. This is a visual bug and will be fixed in weekend two.
• Graphical corruption on the matchmaking screen: Some players experienced graphical corruption errors while in matchmaking, resulting in the screen appearing black, green, or yellow. This will be fixed in weekend two of the Beta.
• Cruise Missile: The camera will remain static on the initial deployment scene and not properly display the map and enemy targets below. Once having control of the missile, it can become hard to control. This is currently being looked into.
• Spawning and Visuals: Spawning is currently inconsistent on some maps, so thank you for sharing your videos with us and sharing your feedback. We’ll continue to monitor the spawn system and we’ll update you if we deploy any changes. We will also be looking into lighting and exposure on various areas of the map, such as how you view dark rooms from the outside of a building and vice versa, for example.
• Clipping through vehicles and Deployable Cover: Character models are currently clipping through vehicles used during the infil sequence and in some cases, when using the Deployable Cover Field Upgrade. These are currently being investigated.
• Semtex Grenade: When stuck to a door, the Semtex grenade will not explode and the grenade icon will remain on screen. This will be fixed for weekend two of the Beta.
• Smoke effect on weapons: The smoke effect after firing a weapon is currently not displaying in-game. This will be fixed by launch.
• Connecting to Online Services: Some players are unable to connect to online services. If you’re still having this issue, please feel free to PM me your PSNID so we can further investigate.
• Stuttering: On occasion, a player might experience a “pull” or stutter near doors. This is being looked into.
• Players unable to move in certain locations: We’ve seen a few cases where players are getting stuck in their position and are unable to move around the map. We’re currently investigating this.
• Weapon Attachments: In some cases, weapon attachments are not unlocking after reaching the required level. This is being investigated.
• Doors: We’ve read your comments about doors; how they open, how loud they can be, and how they interact with you if they’re already open. We’ll be monitoring how you interact with them throughout the weekend and during weekend two.
• Spawning and Visuals: Spawning is currently inconsistent on some maps, so thank you for sharing your videos with us and sharing your feedback. We’ll continue to monitor the spawn system and we’ll update you if we deploy any changes. We will also be looking into lighting and exposure on various areas of the map, such as how you view dark rooms from the outside of a building and vice versa, for example.
• Semtex Grenade: When stuck to a door, the Semtex grenade will not explode and the grenade icon will remain on screen. This will be fixed for weekend two of the Beta.
• Smoke effect on weapons: The smoke effect after firing a weapon is currently not displaying in-game. This will be fixed by launch.
• Players “stuck” on the map: On random places across a map, a player might get ‘stuck’ in their current position and is unable to move. We’re taking a look at these and should have some of these locations fixed for weekend two.
• Minimap: We turned on a version of the minimap that doesn’t display enemy fire. We’ve been reading through your comments not only about the map itself, but also the compass and other UI elements on screen. Reading your feedback has brought up some very insightful conversations here at the studio, so again, thank you. Tomorrow, we’ll be turning off outlines that exist on your teammates within the world. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this combination, so please keep your suggestions and feedback rolling in throughout the weekend.
• Weapon Attachments: In some cases, weapon attachments are not unlocking after reaching the required level. This is being investigated.
• Recon Drone: There are two noted issues with this Killstreak. One: UI elements remain on the players screen after using the Drone. Second: Thermal function on the Drone causes the map below to become discolored.
• Weapons clipping through the Operator Character Model: On occasion, the AUG will clip through the arm of an Operator when viewing in the matchmaking or Operator selection screen

The second Beta weekend kicks off on September 19, with the first two days reserved for all PlayStation 4 players and those on Xbox One and PC who have early access via pre-orders.

The Beta will then be open to all players on all three platforms from September 21-23, during which crossplay will be enabled, allowing those on different platforms for party up.