Believe it or not, Rocket League is now two years old. To celebrate, developer Psyonix is adding a ton of new content to the game in the Second Anniversary Update, which should be available to download right now. Along with new content, the update is also starting competitive Season 5, and also has a bunch of bug fixes and other tweaks.
Some of the highlights include the new Champions Field arena, Rick and Morty in-game items and new “goal explosions.” With a goal explosion, whenever you score, you can turn the ball into a big fireworks display or something equally pretty to watch.
The full patch notes for the Second Anniversary update are as follows:
NEW CONTENT
ARENAS
“Champions Field” is now available in all Playlists, and in Private Matches
“Starbase ARC” has been updated with new visuals and reduced brightness
Boost pads are now standardized in all standard Arenas
CRATES
“Overdrive” Crate has been added
When received, the Overdrive Crate will display as “Crate - Overdrive” in your inventory
“Champions” Crate Series has been retired
TRAILS
Trails are now available in the Car Customization menu
Trails appear behind the Wheels when your Battle-Car goes SuperSonic
Every player has the “Classic” Trail by default
More Trails are available in the Overdrive Crate
GOAL EXPLOSIONS
Goal Explosions are now available in the Car Customization menu
Every player has the “Classic” Goal Explosion by default
New Goal Explosions are available as Common drops after all online and offline matches:
“Standard Green”
“Standard Orange”
“Standard Pink”
“Standard Purple”
More Goal Explosions are available in the Overdrive Crate
ENGINE AUDIO
Engine Audio is now available in the Car Customization menu
You have access to Engine Audio for every Battle-Car you own
The Engine Audio can changed on any Battle-Car in your GA
Licensed Battle-Cars are excluded
Engine Audio for all existing Battle-Cars has been updated
Legacy Engine Audio is still available as an Engine Audio customization option
COMMUNITY FLAGS
“Gfinity” (Updated)
“X Games”
“Monstercat”
ANTENNAS
“J!NX”
DECALS
“Monstercat”
RICK AND MORTY
Rick and Morty items are now available as drops after matches
“Interdimensional GB” Boost
“Sanchez DC-137” Wheel
“Rick” Antenna
“Morty” Antenna
“Cromulon” Topper
“Mr. PBH” Topper
“Mr. Meeseeks” Topper
RLCS SEASON THREE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ATTENDEE ITEM
Players who attended the RLCS Season Three World Championship in June can now redeem their in-game item
Item: “Decennium Pro” Wheels
To redeem, go to the “Extras” menu, select “Redeem Code,” and enter your unique code
These wheels are not tradeable
BRISK
Players with a valid code can redeem their Brisk in-game items
Item: “GA-819 HB” Wheels
Item: “SWT-T” Decal
To redeem, go to the “Extras” menu, select “Redeem Code,” and enter your unique code
These items are tradeable
ACHIEVEMENTS AND TROPHIES
Storm Trooper
Equip a Very Rare Item and complete a game in an Arena with turbulent weather
Good Times
Head to Champions Field and complete an Online game
Swap Meet
Trade and receive one or more items with another player in a single transaction
Trade Secret
Trade In five items of the same quality to receive an item of the next-highest quality
Rank Up
Complete all placement matches in any Competitive Playlist
Note: If you are already placed in one or more Competitive Playlists, this achievement should unlock automatically
Coming On Strong
Score or Assist a combined 30 goals or assists in Casual or Competitive Online matches
CHANGES AND UPDATES
GENERAL
Players now have 50 Car Preset slots, up from ten
A “Change Preset” button has been added to the end of game lobby. You can now change to another Battle-Car preset without exiting a match
“Dodge Deadzone” added to Controls Options.
This setting allows you to control how far you must tilt the controller stick to activate a directional dodge move in the air instead of double jumping.
The default value of 0.5 means you must move the stick at least half of the way towards your intended direction to dodge instead of double jump.
The maximum value of 1.0 means you must move the stick all the way in a direction to trigger a dodge.
Rocket Trails have been renamed Rocket Boosts
Pressing Start when selecting Online Playlists now starts the matchmaking search
The Boost Meter and Rumble Powerup are now displayed when watching a player in Spectator Mode
The Boost Meter and Rumble Powerup now display during Replays
A pop-up window will appear when exiting a match when you have indicated you wanted a replay, but did not save a replay
A “Maintenance Mode” message has been added to the matchmaking ticker. You will see this only when PsyNet is undergoing maintenance
“High Contrast Nameplates” now default to ON. This can be reverted in the Options Menu
COMPETITIVE SEASON 4
Competitive Season 4 has ended. Titles and items will be awarded for your highest rank achieved during the season. Season 4 Rewards are custom, non-tradeable Trails
“Season 4 - Bronze” Trail
“Season 4 - Silver” Trail
“Season 4 - Gold” Trail
“Season 4 - Platinum” Trail
“Season 4 - Diamond” Trail
“Season 4 - Champion” Trail
“Season 4 Grand Champion” Title
Season 4 Grand Champions will also receive the “Season 4 - Champion” Trail
COMPETITIVE SEASON 5
Competitive Season 5 has begun
New for Season 5 is the “Season Reward Level,” a new type of Skill Tier progression
Your skill ratings are carried over directly from Season 4 into Season 5
You do not have to play placement games this season
Players will compete against opponents of the same skill ranking to earn wins that count towards your Season 5 Reward Level
Each level requires 12 wins against players of the same Skill Tier or higher
Ex: A Bronze player must win 12 games against Bronze Skill Tier players or higher in order to unlock Bronze-level Season Rewards
Losses do not affect your win count progression
CAR STANDARDIZATION CHANGES
Implemented a new type of car standardization that minimizes differences in handling and hitbox between cars of the same “type”. For this initial release, this affects the following cars:
“Octane” Type: Octane, Octane ZSR, Takumi, Takumi RX-T
“Dominus” Type: Dominus, Dominus GT, Hotshot
“Plank” Type: Batmobile, Mantis, Paladin, Twin Mill, Centio V17
“Breakout” Type: Breakout, Breakout, Animus GP
Note: The Breakout hitbox has been widened slightly. This affects all cars using its standard type.
“Hybrid” Type: Venom, X-Devil, Endo
Note: This is a new type that offers a middle ground between “Octane”-type and “Dominus”-type hitboxes.
USER INTERFACE
The “Find Match” window has been updated
Casual and Competitive Playlist categories are now separated by dedicated tabs
The game will remember your last chosen category
A new “Recommended” Server Region has replaced the “Select All” option
Recommended servers are any servers with good ping
Good ping is defined as 100 ms or below
A new warning pop-up message has been added to the trading screen
After you invite a player to trade, a new message will appear with several trade-related disclaimers
Players have the option to disable the message upon first viewing
AUDIO
Engine Audio for all Battle-Cars has been revised (see “Engine Audio” under “New Content” above)
The Music Playlist UI has been updated
Rocket League Radio: Players can now select specific soundtrack playlists, or choose all playlists
The “Rocket League x Monstercat” playlist has been added with 18 new songs
BUG FIXES
GENERAL
Updated Car Bumping and Demolition
Fixed a bug with Car Bumps and Demolishes that could cause them to be ignored at wider collision angles
Fixed an issue where Supersonic FX would stay active despite the car falling below the minimum speed to Demolish opponents
Fixed an issue with ball bounces off of the junctions between curved and flat wall segments. These bounces should now be more consistent than before
Changed car suspension code to reduce the likelihood of getting stuck when driving up curved surfaces
Centers, Saves, and other related stats now work correctly when the “No Goal Reset” Mutator is active
Ball should no longer get “stuck” in Free Play Training
Party members that go directly to Free Play Training from the post match screen will no longer prevent Party leaders from matchmaking
Players will no longer receive a matchmaking ban if they leave a Competitive match during the final goal replay
Fixed a bug with the “Hexed” and “Snakeskin” decals that changed their look in the v1.34 update.
Wheel effects no longer flicker when browsing or equipping other items in the Garage
Loading screen now correctly displays all information when joining a Rumble or Dropshot match
[Steam] Additional player names in Splitscreen Mode are now correctly displayed in the Party Bar
Duplicate item sound no longer plays when scrolling through items in the Garage
Nitro Crate localization has been updated for Portuguese and Turkish languages
Ball Cannon properly disappears between shots in Custom Training levels
[PS4] Cars with three painted items or more equipped will correctly appears in other Party Member’s lobbies
Adjusted the “Crazy Sandwich” Decal on the Ice Charger
An idle warning now appears when viewing the midgame menu
Appearance of the ball indicator and direction indicator on Aquadome have been adjusted
So what do you think? Are you excited for any of the new content or changes coming to Rocket League? What do you hope is included in the next update? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
