Work on the Community Patch has been progressing well and I'm pleased today to confirm that we're now at a point where it's in submission with first parties, so we thought it’d be a good time to update you on where we are, and where we’re going.
Due to the different platform timings for patch deployment we're currently estimating the following:
PC - End of the week commencing 19th August
Console - Within two weeks of PC release
As always, these timings are subject to change should any issues be found but this is THE PLAN.
So what about the content? It’s been put together from your feedback from playing the game since its release, so we really hope it improves everyone’s experience in the game. Let’s take a look…
Custom Playlist
Previously, when competing online via custom playlists, players would receive 50% of the XP and cash reward that would otherwise be received for a regular playlist game. This reduction is in place to help prevent players rigging up “easy to win” custom events to build XP/cash.
Following feedback from the community, the reward for competing via custom playlists has been raised.
Hardcore Playlist
We’ve had a lot of requests for this type of playlist – it removes the use of flashbacks and turns on full mechanical damage and will prioritise race events around circuits for a real test of racing.
Level Cap
Previously, online players could reach a maximum of level 30. We’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many of you guys have hit this level cap, so we are raising the maximum online level to 99.
Fastest Lap Times
The addition of fastest lap times is something that has come up a lot. We have therefore adapted the UI race results screen for online events, so it will now display the fastest lap for each player along with all the other existing information.
New Liveries
Many players have requested additional liveries to use during online play, so we’ve made the single player AI liveries available for you to select during online events.
Maximum Laps
We’ve heard a lot of feedback, especially from Clubs and Leagues, about increasing the maximum number of laps you can set for an online race. As a result we’ve raised it from 5 to 10.
Veto Weighting
Currently, when trying to veto an event type or location it can be difficult to get a passing vote. We’ve made some changes to the system, so it now only requires 51% of the lobby to vote for a change to occur.
Country Flags
We know many players enjoyed this feature in the original GRID and we’ve been made aware of how many of you guys wanted to see it return to GRID 2, so we have re-introduced this functionality. A player’s selected flag will now be displayed next to their name plate while racing and on the event results screen. Represent!
Clean Race Bonus
The amount of money rewarded for racing cleanly has been increased. Seems fair to us.
Vote to Kick
Players within a lobby will now be able to instigate a vote to kick option. This will ensure that everybody in the lobby has a say over who they race against, instead of just the host having the power to “kick” overly aggressive players.
Skip the Level up Graphic
Ok, so not everybody wants to watch the ‘level up box’ at the end of each race – it will now be possible to skip this at the press of a button.
Mod Support
We’ve made some changes to the PC version of GRID 2 that will now allow users to mod the game. We’re quite excited to be able to support the community in their endeavours here and you can find out more at the
Codies Blog.
Bug Fixes
We’ve included numerous fixes with the Community Patch – here’s a few of the notable ones:
- Fixed an issue where an invalid distance value is displayed for LiveRoutes events.
- Fixed a crash on the second Trans America Pacers event in the career mode.
- Fixed a perpetual load in the Miami New Union race in career mode.
- Fixed an issue where users saved files were becoming corrupt, this will revert corrupted saves into a usable state (note: this is already live on PC).
- Fixed a number of issues relating the upcoming Demo Derby DLC.
- Fixed an issue where the minimap was not present in power lap or test drive mode.
- Fixed a graphical issue that effected Brands hatch where some sponsor boards would rapidly change textures.
- Fixed a graphical issue that effected Chicago where some sponsor boards would rapidly change textures.
- In an online custom checkpoint event with several players, the Player Positions OSD fails to update after flashing back over the checkpoint marker whilst overtaking another player, this has been fixed.
- When the player applies a dark blue livery to their vehicle and pauses the game whilst in active gameplay, they will observe that the colour will noticeably change to a lighter blue, this has been fixed.
- When the player has a custom livery applied to all of their vehicles, any new vehicles which they win via vehicle challenges would not have the player's livery applied by default. The player would need to manually re-apply their livery. This now happens automatically.
- When racing around Yas Marina the player could "corner cut" the chicane by a fair amount and would not be flagged for cheating. They can no longer do this.
- We have fixed an issue where the replay cameras would lose track of the player if they keep to the left approaching a specific corner on Yas Marina.
- Miscellaneous: many various tracks / car geometry, stability, string and difficulty balancing fixes.
Demo Derby Update
Work on the Demo Derby DLC is making great progress and the multiplayer sessions we've been playing in the office have been great fun. We've got no solid date for this release yet but it will launch after the Community Patch and, as always, we're looking to get this out to you guys as soon as possible. For free!
It won't be long before we pay a visit to an old friend...
(usually queues are massive and people who win come across as very serious players 
)
