DOOM: The Dark Ages gets enlightened with its first update

ID Software have announced the details for the first patch for DOOM: The Dark Ages, which is rolling out now for all platforms and focuses on some big things, including readjusting the audio balance.

The below are adjustments to gameplay for a few areas:

• Improvements and Adjustments

  • Adjusted audio mix so music and sound effects are more balanced at Default levels (For best results we recommend you reset audio settings to Default) 

  • Reduced the amount of time health drops remain active during Atlan missions 

  • Sprint VFX are now disabled for auto-sprint 

• Atlan

  • Reduced how long health drops linger in the world when in the Atlan

  • Updated the Atlan combo system so that after using a Finisher, the player can still use the previous one

    • Players were paying too much to use a Finisher, which led to holding on for the most powerful attacks and then cashing out. This creates a more dynamic combat experience that rewards building up multiple Finishers for extended combos and more strategic decision-making

• Dragon

  • Dragon combat experience has been updated to allow players to move more swiftly through the experience

    • Most enemies faced when on the Dragon will now only fire Hell Surge projectiles, allowing for more opportunities to empower the Autocannon

    • The Empowered state for the Dragon’s Autocannon now lasts longer

    • Empowered shots from the Dragon’s Autocannon after a perfect dodge will go through projectile shields

The below list is the bug fixes that have included in the update:

• Achievements

  • Resolved an issue in which some users could not unlock the Berserker Achievement/Trophy upon obtaining the necessary upgrades. This should resolve retroactively for affected users 

• Audio

  • Fixed an issue with music potentially pausing when transitioning between levels

  • Addressed an issue in which VO was getting cut off during ending cinematic for The Holy City of Aratum

• Ultra-Nightmare

  • Difficulty Settings - adjusted the modified (M*) tag to persist after reverting to Default Settings in Ultra-Nightmare

  • Fixed an issue in which the Death Marker did not display the correct enemy name when killed by an armored Leader or Enforcer

  • Addressed the Death Marker so it no longer displays "???" when the player is killed by the ground spike AoE attack from any Cyberdemon variant

  • Updated the Death Marker so the Mancubus (who fires acid hazards) name now displays correctly 

• Cinematics

  • Fixed an issue in which the sound effects were not consistently playing during the interstitial sequences in The Old One boss fight

  • Fixed an issue with music potentially dropping out during cinematics

  • Addressed issues with subtitle timings for multiple languages

• Crashes

  • Fixed rare crash after destroying the gore portal in Siege - Part 1

• Gameplay

  • Resolved an issue in which the Shredder could lose functionality after performing an execute move

  • Addressed a bug where the Shield Saw could lose functionality after being caught, then melee attacking a dazed enemy

  • Fixed an issue with upgrade functionality not working when re-equipping a shield rune after maxing out the upgrades

• New Item

  Item description

• Menus

  • Fixed an issue in which some players were unable to select and enter The Holy City of Aratum via the level select menu

  • The Battle Knight codex is now obtainable and will appear in the Codex menu

  • Addressed issues in which the Chapter Selection text and the Command Bar UI element would flicker

  • Fixed an issue encountered by some players where Campaign map completion was reset to 25% after the previous update

  • Resolved an issue in which players could skip to future levels by highlighting them in the Level Selection menu

  • The Arachnotron Codex page now appears consistently within the Dossier

  • Addressed an issue in which the "Field Of View" menu slider could lose functionality after cutscenes or Shield bashing through a wall

  • Resolved issues in which opening/closing the Dossier and reloading Checkpoints could cause the Shredder Barbed upgrade to unequip itself and the Pincushion and Ricochet upgrades would be equipped simultaneously

  • Menus – the (M*) marker is now present on Campaign Save Files that have been modified

• Rendering

  • Added an additional control to customize image contrast when using HDR to fix issues where the image appeared washed out for some users