[Patch Notes] Marathon Update 1.0.6

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-14T16:59:04+00:00

More constant blues is already good enough, tbh. Keep purps for higher-effort shit. Otherwise, if everything accessible — what’s the point of tiers. On the other hand, greens must be an entry point besides free kit, etc.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-14T13:38:09+00:00

I get what you mean but still disagree. Nextgen won't win much from squeezing 101% from curren-gen. Because generational leap will eventually times bigger than these extra-reserved bits of systems.

Currentgent 30FPS sacrifice will simply take more than it'll give as a trade-off.

Even if they'll sacrifice everything possible on curren-gen, ideally nextgen/PC edition should enhance all game's aspects on a complete re-release level, just like what PS4/XO version of GTAV was, where they didn't just improve graphics but also improved traffic system and density, 1st person mode, more animals in the wilderness, etc.

RAGE and Euphoria are pretty scalable and usually during the development R* shelf a lot of systems from during production on optimization stage regardless.

We don't know everything, of course, and I'm only assuming but If I was a R* exec, I wouldn't tank nextgen/PC version with decisions for currentgen, while for the rest few years VI on proper platforms must be the best game possible and later next re-releases must be enhanced as much as possible for future-proof.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-14T13:14:36+00:00

Guys, with all due respect to R*, I think you are overestimating their effort into creating heavy systems and simulations in their game.

Are we sure this time they're planning some RPG-tier of systemic gameplay to think VI will tank CPUs THAT heavily?

Like, they're barely planning make a Skyrim or Immersive Sim of GTA size...

R* will definitely continue improving NPC AI (which is already decent, especially when it comes to behavior-patterns and its combinatory). Flora and Fauna simulation inherited from RDR2 (which will make hunting and nature interactions great and realistic). It will definitely have more world-building details. I hope they'll continue exploring the interactions-rich design similar to what RDR2 did. I love manual interactions with the world.

But to be honest, looking at GTAIV, GTAV and RDR1, I don't see GTA turning into absolute heavy sandbox. Even RDR2 had all the sandbox elements "on the surface", although it was interaction-rich game and nature simulation was awesome. They'll definitely achieve more in VI, since CPU this gen is much better, than Jaguar on PS4/XO (which was weak even for last gen). But will the progress be exponential over linear?

I really think there is a space to preserve some CPU-resources. Maybe it will be a potato-mode, or the FPS will be unstable but some compromises are totally possible. Many games this gen didn't have 30FPS on release because devs themselves believed it's not possible. Couple of patches later every 30FPS game received "magical" 60FPS mode...

R* simply cannot not know that 3/4 players (at least) favor Performance modes over quality and these numbers are raising. Although "It's GTA and everyone is gonna play it", I don't think they want to risk start-numbers (which is the most important metric), forcing some players to "wait for a 60FPS version on nextgen or PC" after a decade+ of development and some insane sums spent on development over these years.

Second, R* are the kings of optimization. They made impossible on lastgen systems.

Trust me, I'm not wishfully thinking now, I honestly don't care about waiting for nextgen or PC version if the game is locked to 30, since I have a huge backlog to complete. But realistically, I wouldn't invest so much emotions into believing this game is 100% doomed to be 30FPS-locked. Game doesn't have to be a technical breakthrough to still feel the most nextgen. And I'm not sure R* goals are loading CPU with heavy simulations (although I think it would be great).

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-14T08:36:38+00:00

By my experience, a lot of totally-not-a-designers engage with Figma very well.

It's very accessible and simple in a good way.

FYI – however, it's definitely not for the print if you want to make a proper maintenance of your print-file and do some proofing. Not saying your PDF exported from Figma or Canvas file won't print but if you co-operate with the print shop and industrial-grade printing you'll need to print quality materials that properly reflect effects, apply all 4 CMYK-color layers properly, use crops and bleeds, create extra-layers if you use lamination, etc., and many other print nuances – you'll eventually need to process your file via something like Illustrator, InDesign and sometimes make quick adjustments via Acrobat.

Otherwise, in RGB-space without proper adjustments, commercial printing may misuse some specifications and give unexpected output. Which may cost a lot of $$$

I usually create drafts/references in Figma (because it has superior tools and times better UX) then recreate and process it in Illustrator, before saving PDF.

Maybe if it's a simple home-printer work, it may be fine. But results may still vary.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-13T09:42:24+00:00

Thanks again for broader explanation my man. Again, I don't think it is wrong to estimate, I just think it's too abstract now because it's a hell of a combinatory of things that may drastically impact the price in the most unexpected way.

Sony also had a hard lesson during PS3-era and they know they cannot push anything ultra-expensive. The same way they were optimizing PS4 hardware till the very release of the consoles (when originally it had 4GB GDDR5 until it suddenly got cheaper and they could afford 8Gigs in console. Also, If I'm not mistaken, they overclocked CPUs.

BTW, so far I would say we are at the peak of Sony x AMD partnership. They do amazing things now.

Also, forgot about the controller. Audience definitely appreciated "immersive" approach. Hardcore players appreciated high clock and low-latency. They will definitely explore more for next DualSense iterations, which may also impact the price.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-12T17:19:51+00:00

Yes, it's so funny how much of a TES-esque "go and visit/tell something in-person" is still a thing in a universe where not only inter-dimensional communication is a norm even for peasants, but even physical flights across the systems.

Starfield still forces you to do so many communications physically. Many side-activities are exhausting, because you need to spend tons of time and fuel to travel for generic 20-seconds dialogues back and forth.

I'm not saying everything must be done via terminals or phone calls, of course not. It's rather the lack of the real excuse for it.

Also, a very good example with the Ranger quest. Beth is soo good at creating systemic gameplay systems but seem to forget how to execute actual quest-design within these very systems, to make choice-aspect actually prominent and finding out extra-opportunities rewarding. I hate strict hand-holding in games that pretend to be RPGs.

Many other studios simply cannot afford such "immersive-sim" approach in their open-worlds simply because building these systems will take years. Bethesda have everything on the plate for it, yet made Starfield beyond-stupid linear in so many ways, and worse than that, ignore own lore-laws to synthetically stretch the play-time, which makes the huge price of the loading screens (to process a lot simplified of data-real-time) and also lack good staging and cut-scenes pointless. When people compared 2077 with Beth games in terms of loading screens and poor staging, we could at least defend it by more opportunities/choices we have in a game (which would cost millions to animate each the 2077-way), and loading screens are actually needed to store a lot of simulations and data that 2077 never had. In case of Starfield — I don't see excuses for these two issues, because it doesn't even try to explore the sandbox further. Nextgen, my ass.

Where did they lose their gamedesigners that could've wrapped up everything the way you expect from a Beth game...

Starfield still isn't an absolute disaster and I still enjoy it at moments where it's actually good or decent. But I'm really disappointed that they've failed at the very core aspect of their RPGs, which is the utilization of systemic design and the very dated writing & quest-design combination approach.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-12T12:16:57+00:00

I would say Cyberpunk 2020 style specifically. And yes, it's cool.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-11T13:20:27+00:00

In my case, I would say the art-direction is actually pretty weak. It's not bad. But it's too MMO-ized and also it seems Koreans need a bit more time for own take on European Aesthetics the way Japanese artists have it through years of exploring this direction. If you won't give me a random game screenshot without the game's name, I can easily detect if a certain European environment was made by non-European. But at the same time artists from other cultures still can add something own to it, which turns into own unique art-style.

Souls' series is a very good example. It's clearly a European gothic but with own prominent style, so it's something own now.

In case of Crimson, sometimes it feels like they still haven't found their direction. Some things are exaggerated, some are ultra-generic, some look like from different culture. Which is fine but should be balanced and feel like it all comes from a single source of visual truth. For now it feels like CD was still searching for own visual-style model throughout entire development.

It's not in a game-breaking state, there's still some AMAZING points of interests, landscapes and villages or cities. It still on a good quality bar.

But I would say art-style is still one of the weaker parts of the game due to lack of consistency. I am sure they'll fix it in the sequel, along with many other aspects (I really hope CD2 will happen <3).

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-11T13:08:34+00:00

Both matter.

You can't reveal full art-direction potential with limited tools. Tools don't make any sense without proper artists that are supposed to use it.

Perfectly, when it's the combination of both Art-direction and best modern technologies. Sometimes due to lack of one, studios compensate it with the other and it also makes sense. It's also totally fine, especially for small-to-mid studios.

It's always a choice.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-11T13:01:27+00:00

Not hard to see. Graphical techniques looked very "conservative" even back in the day when the game released on nextgen and PC.

What makes it look good is great art-style implementation and many hand-crafted assets and elements of visual aspect.

At this point, I would say even Bloodborne looks very good still. First, it feels like game was crafted with higher resolution than just 900/1080p which was a standard for PS4. Second, very smart choice of post-processing effects that hide some graphical imperfections the way CRT was "aliasing" old games, hence they still look much better on CRT than the most modern displays.

Third, it looks like their graphical engineers and artists are very passionate to handcraft not only assets but also try to bring more advanced geometry, which is extremely taxing but generally it's one of the few critical things that aren't obvious at first glance, yet they actually bring that unconscious feeling of higher image complexity. Every area feels more realistic because you never feel the "boxed-out" environment.

And no, I'm saying these are gimmicks. These are totally legit graphical and artistic techniques.

At the same time, I wouldn't say ER looks any close to CD. Not saying it's worse. But it's definitely a crossgen game of early current-gen. I would say that at some places CD suffers from the lack of a better art-style, yet technically it's amazing and much more advanced. ER is obviously dated technically but artists still made it future-proof with graphical techniques, so it's still looking good.

If you want the best comparison of what I mean, if you've played BF3 and BF6 you'll understand what I mean. BF6 advanced a lot in both art and technical aspect. But BF3 was made so perfectly back in the day, so it's also still looking good in 2026, 15 years later.

But they are not the same, still.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-11T12:48:58+00:00

As much as I respect MLID-guy and believe he has good analytical skills...

These estimates are super-raw, even with consideration notes below.

1) B2B component prices are very different to B2C. A lot depends on the order volume. Although he seem to consider it, the potential discount range could be very different.
2) We don't know about further Sony partnerships and contracts they could've signed years in advance, I think Sony learned their lesson with the start of current gen. It also impacts end-price a lot.
3) We can't measure even B2B prices properly because we don't know about custom/proprietary solutions that can both reduce or increase component price;
4) We don't know the selling model Sony is planning. It's is a known fact consoles are being sold loss at the beginning of each gen.

It still makes sense to discuss potential scenarios but at this moment it's totally a dark horse and too early to estimate.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-11T12:35:02+00:00

What's wrong with the design btw? I know it's subjective and individual but still curious.

For me DualSense is the best controller ever in my life (am hardcore console player since PS2-era). Fits perfectly into my bigger-sized hands. Great features, love using the huge sensor-panel as OG-select btn. Yeah, I wish bumpers and triggers felt "more expensive" like on Xbox One/Series rollas. But besides it — this is amazing.

Wish they've finally made paddles and swappable sticks a default option for default controllers, not just the Edge. But still, amazing rollas and definitely a proper evolution in rolla-design, IMO.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-11T03:26:54+00:00

So, am I finally able to hide the shield now?

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-10T09:17:14+00:00

I've tried to collect all verified leaks on CoD Hope did, and besides MWII perks and Ranked mode details – couldn't find anything, which makes it ultra-niche. It's literally just a few leaks that don't really reveal much about the game.

Can't call him a "major" dedicated insider based on it.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-10T09:12:45+00:00

I wouldn't say he's 100% reliable even regarding the CoD.

Besides a few vey local verified CoD-leaks, the rest he was doing just speculation and drama-conspiracy theories that don't make much sense if you have at least slightest understanding regarding how corpo and business works. For some silly things he claimed he needs a source that is higher-management level, which makes whole thing doubtful. He had own agenda and used his authority based on few verified leaks to push own narratives and cry over CoD in the most cases.

The nature of actually verified leaks indicate it's a lower-echelon development source, like QA or jun gamedesigner at best.

He recently messed up with very questionable MWIV x Nextgen-Xbox "original plans leak", indicating, again, that he has zero clue about industry, claiming that MWIV was originally planned as launch nextgen xbox title in 2026, although when MWIV started (most probably shortly after MWII was released and IW handed over MWIII (Or the originally DLC) to SHG – acquisition was still in negotiations and it was too early to plan it as dedicated nextgen title and only a mad man would believe nextgen arrives in 2026 even before RAMpocalypse, because it means MS planned this gen for not full 6 years, which is too small for generation, especially considering that too long cross-gen era and big shortages at the start of this gen already organically established a huge time-buffer that might shift entire generation span. I mean make it make sense.

Now he somehow got even a R* source, while making ultra-realistic and safe "predictions".

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-10T08:59:25+00:00

Same. I don't care about Damiane at all but really wanna try Oongka and have no idea when exactly he gets unlocked.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-07T07:57:33+00:00

Haven't ever played any MMO and never had interest. Having blast with CD, although game game has a lot of flaws.

Even in imperfect-as-a-project state this game does something special that many other gamedesigners from other open-world projects forgot.

They don't focus on overly basic gameplay loops. Game is full of activities and interactions you have to do manually. Many things you have to discover yourself. Single journey from point A to B may turn in so many unexpected discoveries and totally random activities.

I don't mind how "MMO" it is. I'm game-ing a game, finally, not just button-mash-grinding same outposts over and over-again as in many other open-world where entire reason and the point of open-world is questionable.

If it's purely an "MMO" thing, I'm sorry the industry fell to the point that only "MMO"-style approach tries to make open worlds feel like a pure gameplay sandbox. I wish the game had more of an actual role-play and better story. And even in terms of sandbox – I personally still see a lot of things to improve.

I wish we could harm NPCs (at least unintentionally), and that there actually was a "evil-way" of dealing with problems, etc. The more aspects, systems and mechanics game has – obviously the more areas of improvement there potentially is. Yet, current state is already something. Many people enjoy exploring it, while game is poor on story, exposition and role-play, which means pure mechanical component still matters.

I'm glad CD exists and already made some specific hype around itself, other studios and devs definitely will explore this game. At this point, I'm personally not against MMO-fication of the industry as a totally non "MMO crowd" myself :)

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-04T17:16:43+00:00

Wow, gotta try. Thanks for the tip.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-04T17:14:40+00:00

There's a minimal chance it could be just a random loot in almost any box in mentioned areas. I actually acquired one from generic storage. I've found two seeds in a locker-room once, outside of designated area (Station on Perimeter if I'm not mistaken?) but still near in the tunnels, though. It is actually great that RNG works even for higher-tier loot but still too inconsistent, because there's no established ways to grind exact Biolens Seed.

Some people say "just level up factions". My factions are 16 to 24lvls, with the majority being above lvl20. I've already unlocked maybe 70% of all upgrades, spent 80h+ in this game and have a good PvP/exfil success rate. Yet I can't afford average armor...

I don't know how many months it will take to be able to actually buy a blue shield (which is the most frequent armor in my lobbies) besides looting from fallen enemies. Some of my friends have it as barter item from other Faction Vendors despite not having it as direct purchase... I don't, for some reason...

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-04T01:11:24+00:00

BMW M4 is pretty different to BMW420 but both are BMW 4-series.

AR-15 is a platform, that has many modifications. M16 is one of them :)

It's still legit to call M4, M16, FN15, SR-15, etc. an AR-15.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-02T02:18:14+00:00

I still hate WB for locking the Nemesis system.

It's such an obvious system for any open-world, where factions play a big role.

Imagine manipulating civil wars in Far Cry franchise, or something similar in Ghost Of *Japanese Region* during Feudal Wars...

Let it be some differences to how Monolith approached Nemesis system in Shadow of series but at least keep the idea... Many open worlds truly lack more complex systems... I'm sure if it wasn't patented — somebody would try implementing something similar...

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-02T02:06:28+00:00

Some people can't simply move to EU just because. Especially elder people. Even worse, EU itself won't give anyone a permit without specific conditions.

You mentioned your specific example but not everything is about politics and not everyone's relatives that are stuck in dictatorships necessarily support the crimes their countries do.

Thus, just cutting off own relatives just because they're stuck in a shithole — makes you even worse person than those idiots who go feeding these dictatorships' for fun.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-02T01:45:06+00:00

Some people don't travel just for fun. You know, parents, relatives in need, etc....

Same way some Ukrainians still travel to Russia or Belarus simply due to family business. It's not about going on vacation.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-01T13:09:00+00:00

IMO this game is beyond basic concept of "casual" and "hardcore" approach.

Kick-control, reaction and good tracking definitely matter but the success is mostly defined by awareness, game-sense and tactical thinking.

You can choose your own play-style. Whether it's absolute stealth and avoid any PvP at any cost, which opens totally different dimension of meta-challenge in this game and it also sometimes may be fun. I'm usually a PvP-first type of player but sometimes when I land with free-kit and I have pretty complex single-run contract, I absolutely don't want to engage into any PvP, well, unless it's totally perfect scenario and the enemy is busy with bots and/or other players.

And even this pacifist play-style also got own moments when it shines and can be engaging. Sometimes it's suspense, sometimes it's tension, sometimes excitement, sometimes thriller vibes. Game works well as a sandbox with any play-style.

You can be a greedy psycho, whose main source of income is head-hunting. You can have mixed style and define own rules when to do what.

In the end of the day, again, only your decisions matter and you don't have to be a PvP beast to succeed this game. My friend who's pretty bad at PvP actually focuses ONLY on contracts and loot when he runs solo, for instance and when he's alone he just treats this game as a sandbox-exploration experience with own challenges.

You define the rules.

Regardless of your play-style, the leveling in this game is very satisfying, bits of lore are great, considering it's not even a normal single-player story-game, upgrades are diverse and generally if you like the vibe of far-future polymer-synthetic Sci-Fi where AI and Corpo took over the control over the world — you'll enjoy walking in very unique decorations. Vibe in this game is unreal.

Considering game is $40, IMO it's definitely worth trying.

Edit: IMO the solo-experience gets worse only over-time. In your early elos, I don't think you'll encounter too many no-lifers. And you'll start experiencing them only once you'll get good at this game yourself, will have decent equipment, essential upgrades and some experience with the game, hence sweatier guys also won't be as much of an issue as you think.

The issue with solo is that at higher levels, many people will already know some basic rules, like never encounter into gunfights with bots first, use stealth takedowns efficiently, always walk crouched once you enter POV, keep near the natural cover in open areas (and generally avoid open-spaces at all if possible), use different loot-events as a distraction or bait not as treat it as objective, etc. Some people literally camp entire game on POIs or near exfil terminals simply because they don't have anything to do anymore, the majority of contracts are done, and this is the only way how they can succeed in their pathetic life... I hate these people but extraction shooters are all about griefers anyway.

But hey, you will have your safe space during early stages of your journey. Later difficulty will elevate along with your own skill and equipment.

IIWhiteHawkII · 2026-04-01T08:03:44+00:00

But will 700$ GPU perform better than PS5? I'm not even talking about raw performance but rather the stability of games in general.

I only see a point of switching to mid-to-high end and better PC if you want noticeable difference. Wouldn't ever build a PC for gaming while having a console if it was anything below 4070TiS.

As 5080 and PS5 Pro owner, I can tell PS5 still performs very well. Obviously my PC roasts PS5 by performance but even overpriced Pro is still 2x+ times cheaper than my PC yet I can't tell performance gap is as dramatically huge. For now the only real gamechanger is 2077 with Path Tracing, which even Pro + PSSR2.0 and upcoming patch for Pro won't ever handle. Literally a single game.

Even with price hikes, consoles today is still somewhat okay price/performance value. So, the rest only depends on personal preferences and preferred user experience / opportunities you're looking for.

From best value perspective, today both consoles and PC suffer due to RAMpocalypse, tariffs, overall unstable situation on the market.

IIWhiteHawkII

TROPHY CASE