Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville is about to get in the holiday spirit. On December 2, the Feastivus update will go live, bringing snow to Giddy Park along with a new month of themed rewards to earn on the Prize Map. Feastivus will also introduce a new map to the mix: Oozevoir. Rux’s Emporium will be open for players to use Rainbow Stars (premium currency that can also be earned in-game) to purchase various costumes and other cosmetics. And of course it wouldn’t be a big update without some balancing, fixes, and quality of life improvements, including adding Grandmaster Ranks to each character so they can level up to 50 instead of the previous max rank of 20.
Though Feastivus (a pun on Seinfeld’s parody “Festivus” holiday) is just getting underway, the patch will also prepare for January’s festival event, Snowday, which will include three new activities in the Giddy Park social area. Numerous other small control updates and balance changes round out the update, which should help address some of the feedback the community has been giving about the game.
Battle for Neighborville Feastivus Update Patch Notes
General:
- Added an all-new Map: Oozevoir
- Updated Giddy Park’s loading screen to a winter-themed version
- Added new Grandmaster Ranks to the game so character levels now go up to 50 (current top rank is 20)
- Updated the Social Tab to show the Grandmaster Ranks of all players in Giddy Park
- Updated the Player Rank plates to make them easier to read
- Moved completed Free-Roam Region Medals to the bottom of the screen
- Updated the last Weekly Challenges so they now give Rainbow Stars instead of coins
- Added a Vanquish/Vanquished Ratio to the end-of-round scoreboard for multiplayer games
- Added new UI icons for Character Perks, including attack, defend, speed, and character-specific perks
Turf Takeover:
- Decreased capture time for certain objectives
- Made it easier to hit targets on the final objective in Goopy Gully
Free-Roam Regions:
- Added new ‘Casual’ setting, reducing the amount of damage players will take when at low health
- Added a cooldown timer to region Bounty Hunts and Gnome activities
Giddy Park:
- Added two new Festivals – Feastivus and Snowday
- New set dressing for each festival with “snow” terrain and visual effects
- Added three new activities in Giddy Park for Snowday Festival in January – Treasure hunt, Bounty, and Coin capture
Battle Arena:
- Updated so that the last player standing will now get a spotting and 10% speed increase buff to help them fight the enemy team
Rux’s Emporium:
- Included the ability for players to now purchase Costumes, Gestures, Emotes, and much more
- Included the ability for players to purchase Rainbow Stars for use in Rux’s Emporium
Major Bug Fixes:
- Fixed the Scoreboard so that it can now be viewed when the player is vanquished
- Adjusted mouse sensitivity options to have a wider range, allowing the user to adjust them to a much finer extent
- Fixed the heal beam so that it’s no longer canceled when its target sprints
- Fixed the issue where players could get a completed challenge after re-rolling
Controller Settings:
- Increased max aim acceleration
- Reduced scale factor (ramp up) for aim acceleration
Options:
- Extended our max value for controller sensitivity
- Extended our max value for controller aiming sensitivity
- Extended our max value for controller aim acceleration
Aim Assist:
- Adjusted assist settings when set to low
- Adjusted acceleration thresholds
- Reduced multiplier when facing aim assist targets
- Reduced aim assist when pushing sticks to extremes
- Reduced base aim assist area when aiming at a target
PC Controls:
- Adjusted ranges and step values for mouse sensitivity
- Adjusted min mouse sensitivity value
Game Modes:
- Increased disarm time in Gnome Bomb
- Reduced max time to be revived in Team Vanquish
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville launched fairly under the radar, first as an early “founder’s” edition in September, and then a full launch in October after multiple updates. It’s the follow up to the popular Garden Warfare series, and we loved it after six weeks with the Founder’s Edition and exploring the full version after launch. The upcoming Feastivus update just gives one more reason to jump back in for the holidays.
[Source: PopCap]
