Hitman World of Assassination - 3.160 - August 2023 Patch Notes

The patch notes have been published :

https://ioi.dk/hitman/blogs?panel=https%3A%2F%2Fioi.dk%2Fhitman%2Fpatch-notes%2F2023%2Fhitman-woa-august-patch-notes


HITMAN - August Patch Notes

The World of Assassination patch for August brings improvements, tweaks and fixes that improve the gameplay experience across all modes, including Freelancer.

INTRO

The World of Assassination patch for August brings improvements, tweaks and fixes that improve the gameplay experience across all modes, including Freelancer.

This patch also prepares the game for the physical release of HITMAN World of Assassination on PS5 on August 25 and for the return of the Sarajevo Six campaign and Trinity Pack, both available as premium content on August 17.

PATCH DETAILS

HITMAN World of Assassination will be updated to version 3.160 on all platforms; PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Switch.

Maintenance: Starts at 10:00 UTC and is expected to run until at least 13:30 UTC . If maintenance is extended, updates will be posted to the official @Hitman Twitter account.

Patch Release Time: 11am UTC (This is when the download will roll out, but servers will not be available until the above Maintenance period has concluded)

Patch size: Expected to be between 2-5 GB on all platforms.

Cloud: Switch players do not need to download or install the patch. They will get access to the latest version when they launch the game after maintenance has concluded.

NEW CONTENT

Trinity Pack

The Trinity Pack is now available for all players as premium content, priced at $5 USD (or local equivalent). Previously only available to anyone who pre-ordered HITMAN 3 prior to its release in 2021, this content pack celebrates each game in the World of Assassination trilogy with a total of 9 items. The items are comprised of an ICA 19 variant, briefcase and suit in the following colours: Premiere White of HITMAN 1, the Crimson Red of HITMAN 2 and the Ultimate Black of HITMAN 3.

Note: If you pre-ordered HITMAN 3 and already own this content, you should see that ownership reflected in the store.

Sarajevo Six Campaign

The Sarajevo Six campaign returns to the World of Assassination after a long hiatus. This six-mission campaign tells a self-contained story that revolves around former members of a paramilitary unit known as CICADA, giving access to these missions:

The Director (Paris), The Enforcer (Sapienza), The Extractor (Marrakesh), The Veteran (Bangkok), The Mercenary (Colorado), The Controller (Hokkaido).

TECHNOLOGY / PC SPECIFIC

Intel XeSS
We’ve updated from version 1.0 to 1.1 and this new version fixes a small GPU memory leak.

Ray Tracing
We’ve resolved an issue where Ray Tracing settings between the Launcher and Game Options (in-game) would not always be aligned and could inadvertently overwrite each other.

DLSS Frame Generation
We’ve resolved an issue where the DLSS Frame Generation option would be greyed out in the Launcher on the Nvidia RTX 40 series.

Hantu Port
We’ve resolved a specific issue on the Hantu Port Sniper Assassin map, where certain textures would appear pixelated with many jagged edges for players that had enabled FSR 2 or XeSS.

Stability Improvements
Yes, this is always here. In addition to general stability improvements, this patch includes specific fixes for a crash on the Landslide Bonus Mission, as well as common crashes that were occurring on all platforms.

FREELANCER IMPROVEMENTS

These improvements are all directly linked to Freelancer mode. We’ve added this little paragraph so that we don’t have to put (Freelancer) after each and every one.

Perfect Run
We’ve disabled this objective in Freelancer. Like, straight up removed it from the game. For now.

We’re hopeful that it’s a temporary measure and we’re looking into a permanent fix for it. Unfortunately, we don’t have a definitive reason for why this objective is acting like it is and registering as failed despite all the criteria being completed.

We are able to see an extended delay in Perfect Run from being evaluated, to it resulting in a failed state. Even though we’re talking milliseconds, that delay is just over three times longer than other ‘complete on exit’ objectives. Until we can get a better grip on resolving this, we’re removing this objective from the game to avoid player frustration.

Alt F-14,000,606
There’s always an alternative. And we’ve reverted the removal of the Alt+F4 exploit for Freelancer. You should now expect the same behaviour from those buttons that existed at Freelancer’s launch in January.

Undercover UI
We’ve removed a rogue UI element that could show up in a Storage Room in Miami when playing Freelancer. Similar story for a UI icon that could appear on the Intel Wall in the Safehouse.

Black Winter Mirror
We’ve resolved an issue where the Winter Suit and Black Winter Suit didn’t look too good in the Upstairs Bathroom or Gym mirrors in the Safehouse. The reason was a mismatch between the level of detail (LOD) setup on the suits and these particular mirrors.

Chloroform Ban
We’ve made dropping a chloroform flask an illegal action. This was deemed to be a little too overpowered, especially during Showdown missions.

Safehouse Hanger
We’ve resolved an issue in the Freelancer Hitmansion where the Mastery Level 24 Basement Bathroom cosmetic wasn’t displaying properly.

WORLD OF ASSASSINATION FIXES

Whilst these fixes aren’t directly related to Freelancer, many of them will have an impact on gameplay opportunities in that mode, as well as improve the other game modes.

General Texture Check
We’ve done a general sweep of textures across all locations and fixed a whole bunch (approx. 35) of different texture issues, including flickering, pop-in, lens flares, seeing oow, etc.

Over-sized Subtitles
We’ve enabled a new upper limit on the font size of our in-game subtitles (from 46 to 48).

Obtuse Gas Grenade Glow
We’ve dialled back the emissive settings of the Gas Grenade. That thing was set to an extremely high level and was outputting some extreme light, which was especially visible in darker areas of the game.

Difficult Cameras
We’ve resolved an issue where throwable items would lock-on to ‘invisible’ security cameras on Casual Difficulty. These particular cameras were the ones present on Professional difficulty.

Bathroom Break
We’ve resolved an issue where a guard in the Voltaire Suite in Paris would react to the radio in the Sheikh’s bathroom. That’s way too far, even for game logic, so we’ve prevented him from investigating in the future.

Yet Another Disappearance
We’ve resolved an issue where Dino Bosco would immediately depart the world (of assassination) by the quickest possible route (through the floor) if 47 snapped his neck in his trailer.

Escape Room
We’ve resolved an issue where Agent 47 could get stuck in a box in Colorado, after subduing an NPC from cover. There wasn’t much real estate to move things around here, but we’ve made a nearby cover slightly smaller and rotated a crate. Those two changes should give 47 a little more room to manoeuvre.

Clean View
We’ve resolved an issue where Agent 47 could get spotted through a wall in Hokkaido whilst performing agility moves next to the Sushi Restaurant.

Look at the Shine!
We’re resolved an issue where Nolan Cassidy’s jacket could look way too shiny, compared to how it was supposed to look. There’s nothing wrong with shiny jackets, but it’s not the right look for Nolan.

Even Game Makers Don’t Hate You
We’ve resolved an issue in Miami where it was possible to clip through a box and vault over the stairs near the track bridge.

More Fortuna
We’ve resolved an issue where an inaccessible door in Santa Fortuna near the Warehouse can be shot open, which causes it to clip into the environment. Now, the door is bulletproof and it has nothing to lose.

Extensive Indoor Flora
We’ve resolved an issue where branches from a nearby tree can be seen venturing through the concrete roof of the Delgado Mansion Garage in Santa Fortuna. We’ve fixed this issue in a surprisingly simple way; we’ve rotated the tree a little bit so that the angles line up and keep the branches out of the garage.

No More X-Ray
We’ve resolved an issue on the Isle of Sgail, where 47 could be spotted through the wall of the Gatehouse bathroom.

Surprise Death Wall
We’ve resolved an issue where NPC’s (not 47) would be insta-killed when they got too close to a specific wall in Isle of Sgail. Ironically enough, the death wall is located in the Morgue and would kill any NPC who was right up against it. To remedy this, we added some extra collision along the wall – but that didn’t work.

We could see that NPCs were able to step just outside of the navmesh bounds (basically the area that they are allowed to be) and although we tried a few other changes, the Death Wall kept on claiming victims.
Now, we have fixed the issue by adding a bunch of boxes and stuff right next to the wall, to keep the NPCs away. Despite the fix, DEATH WALL™ is still there and waiting to claim more lives. Stay Frosty.

Dirty Money
We’ve resolved an issue where a floating ‘dirt’ texture in the New York Bank was visible in the west corridor.

Bulldog Bedroom Balcony
We’ve resolved an issue where Agent 47 could drop down from a ledge in Dartmoor by using an agility setup from cover.

Eats, shoots and leaves
We’ve resolved an issue in Dartmoor where some leaves on the ground were not displaying properly, and instead would appear as small black squares. Also in Dartmoor, we’re resolved several instances where textures would flicker.

Cover Up
We’ve resolved a few issues in Berlin with several redundant covers being present, both near the gas station and the rooftop stairs

Glow Sticks
We’ve resolved an issue in Berlin where certain climbable pipes weren’t visible in Instinct. We’ve added the traversal glow to these now.

From Homing to Disappearing
We’ve resolved an issue in Chongqing where retrieving a large weapon from a briefcase in certain rooms could result in the briefcase disappearing into the floor. It turns out that the issue was caused by the setup a specific type of door in this location.

Dirty Laundry
We’ve tweaked the properties of the garbage can / rubbish bin in the Chongqing Laundromat so that it is no longer used by NPCs as a ‘sickspot’. Now, they will vomit / throw up outside of the building.

Electrapcity
We’ve resolved an issue where 47 could accidentally create an elaborate accident kill on himself. He’s just that good.

On Level 5 of the facility in Chongqing, it was possible for 47 to expose a wire and create a water leak, but turning on the fusebox would see 47 caught in his own trap. Whilst it was possible to turn on the fusebox before the water spread to where the fusebox was located, it was tricky. So, we’ve reduced how far the water will spread and delayed it a bit to make it more flexible. It’s still a small room and players need to be aware of where they step, but this change will make it less of an insta-kill.

Agent Parkour Seven
We’ve tweaked the agility setup near to the ICA Apartment in Chongqing to make it more reliable and less likely to get stuck or fall out of the playable game space.

Floored
We’ve resolved an issue in Ambrose Island where NPC’s could see 47 through the floor when he was standing in a hut above them.

Live Fixes
Since our last patch in May, we resolved a handful of issues in the game without the need for a patch. We’ve listed them here for posterity.

- Freelancer XP
An issue was resolved where players would not receive the expected bonus XP after reaching Prestige level 2 (or higher) and completing missions.

- ET Challenges
We resolved separate issues where the Deceivers and Appraiser Elusive Target contracts were activated without the accompanying completion challenges. When this happens, we typically release the challenges immediately to improve the experience for anyone playing the mission after that point.

We then wait until the end of the ET duration and retroactively award the challenges to players who should have got them. Even then, this fix process can only be applied to a players profile, when they are not currently playing Online, which means that some players may see their progression displayed accurately whilst others don’t. We continue to roll out the fix process until all affected players are seeing correct progression on their profile.

- Japanese Xbox Store
We’ve resolved a store-side issue for Xbox players in Japan who were unable to install some content from the World of Assassination.

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And Maintenance has started, it is 10 UTC.

As usual, you can check the status at the following site (courtesy of @Hardware)

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Well, that didn’t really mention any of the fixes I was hoping for, especially where Freelancer is concerned. But, perhaps these changes will have unintended consequences that do result in the changes I desire, since some of them seem to happen out of the blue anyway.

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No mention of the Saving icon getting stuck on screen on PS5… It’s been well over two years at this point. Come on IO…

Also, they pulled Perfect Run for being bugged and yet presumably have left the bugged “Organise a Meeting” Prestige Objective in and unfixed (last patch didn’t fix it like they claimed and its not mentioned here either)? :confused:

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image

AYYYYY, you fixed it! A thing I reported on in February actually got resolved! All the suits that had issues no longer have issues!


(Also, please just rename it the Arctic Parka…it makes so much more sense).

image
TouchĂŠ.

Yeah, this got a good laugh out of me, and I’m glad you reverted this. I would be fine with the protections if the game wasn’t so annoying sometimes, and there are genuine uses to it (such as sightcone bugs that break levels)

image
I hated this since H2’s launch. Thank you for finally fixing Nolans’ plastic suit.

As patches go, this was fairly small fixes-wise, but not insignificant.

Time for some TS6 methinks. Patrick, I’mma snipe you.

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I will be honest : the fix I’m the most excited about is Cassidy’s shiny jacket.
It was always a small uncanny detail that was easy to ignore, but nonetheless always felt.


I can also feel the bafflement at the origin of the bug in the “It turns out that the issue was caused by the setup a specific type of door in this location.”


Overall, a small patch, but I think that the objective of the game update was less to be a patch, and more to be a content update for the DLCs and (hopefully) the Fall Roadmap.

(even though this opens me to potential disappointment next month if I’m wrong)


Finally : still no news about the Coin in Freelancer. I honestly really want to know what is happening about it. Or at least if it’s normal, and future content/reward.

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Nice patch notes - credit is given where it is due so thank you IOI for providing us with a good patch and reverting the ALT-F4 thing. I want my fellow PC players to have the same freedom so thanks for the reversion. Give the players the freedom to decide how they wish to broach their game - embrace the sandbox of HITMAN and Freelancer! :smiley:

Hopefully the November patch addresses our pesky missing coin issue and perhaps adds in the Freelancer-specific location exits!

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Good fixes, although that’s not why I was looking forward to this :wink:
Two things in the patch notes stick out to me.

Perfect Run
We’ve disabled this objective in Freelancer. Like, straight up removed it from the game. For now.

reveal more

We’re hopeful that it’s a temporary measure and we’re looking into a permanent fix for it. Unfortunately, we don’t have a definitive reason for why this objective is acting like it is and registering as failed despite all the criteria being completed.

We are able to see an extended delay in Perfect Run from being evaluated, to it resulting in a failed state. Even though we’re talking milliseconds, that delay is just over three times longer than other ‘complete on exit’ objectives. Until we can get a better grip on resolving this, we’re removing this objective from the game to avoid player frustration.

It honestly surprises me that IOI couldn’t fix this one and had to resort to removing the prestige objective alltogether. It’s particularly strange that this objective wasn’t even part of the original release of Freelancer, but came with the last patch. Were there other issues with the objective, so that it couldn’t ship in January?

I hope that IOI are aware that there are also problems with the objective registering even though it shouldn’t. Might give a new perspective for fixing the bug (cc: @Travis_IOI).
https://www.hitmanforum.com/t/freelancer-general-discussion/17691/3759?u=jan342
 

Alt F-14,000,606
There’s always an alternative. And we’ve reverted the removal of the Alt+F4 exploit for Freelancer. You should now expect the same behaviour from those buttons that existed at Freelancer’s launch in January.

I wonder where that 14 million comes from. Number of instances of Alt+F4 being used before the nerf? Number of instances of force quitting the game using other methods since the nerf?

Anyway, since the removal of Alt+F4 was fairly useless and I do like to use Alt+F4 occassionally, I think it’s great that it’s back.

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It surprises me that it was an issue at all. I’d never had any problems with it and didn’t know anyone else was.

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It seemed to only be an issue in Hardcore mode where even though it was marked off as completed it would consider the campaign failed if you had objectives that didn’t complete until after you leave the mission.

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TBH it makes you wonder what kind of mess / races there are if they couldn’t (officially) - for 3 months - fix the evaluation order of that condition.

Well, at least the slot will be free for some other prestige objective.

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I believe it is a reference to Avengers and the 14.000,605 failed timelines looked at by Dr Strange. Only one was a victory, the 14,000,606th.

Because this is basically what we do by altf4 in Freelancer.

(@Travis_IOI is this it ?)

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That’s not right, because the one where he saw them win was part of the 14,000,605. He didn’t say he saw that many where they lose and one where they win, he saw that many, and of them, only one where they won. So IO is adding an additional timeline to it, presumably one where we can win the Freelancer mission at hand, probably representing us creating an additional one by using the Alt+F4 method to restart rather than accepting whether we were already in the 1 out of 14,000,605 where we would win without using it.

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True, he looked at 14,000,605, the winning one was part of it.
Making the one he actually lived (ie the sequel) the 14,000,606th. I think, I just googled it.

But the point is still that I think this is what Travis was referencing in the title, for his amusement.

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I think you’ve got it :slight_smile:
While I’ve never seen the movie, that number is too specific to be a coincidence.

I guess I should have waited with my hardcore run.

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THEY’VE FIXED THE HAVEN SWIMSUIT.

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Ok, this white half reference is awesome!

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Anyone else experiencing some lighting pop-in on PS5?

In the garden on the top floor of Bangkok, the glass has a wierd glass L0D pop in. As thought it’s changing states

For real??? After 2,5 years, this should´ve been a highlight of the patch notes!!! Wonder if they fixed any other clipping issues…

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