Winter Express - character clipped into train box + stuck, forcing stalemate
by JasonBjorrnOriginal Post
Product: Apex Legends
Platform:Steam-PC
Please specify your platform model. PC
AMD or Nvidia Model Number RTX 2070 Max-Q
Enter RAM memory size in GB 16GB
What is your gamertag/PSN ID/EA Account name? SEAAAAAAGULLLLLL
Please provide your squad mates' gamertag/PSN ID/EA Account name if possible. Soup, Unhiptube
Are you using any software with an overlay? Yes
If yes, can you list them here? Overwolf, MSI Afterburner
If you disable this software, does that have any effect? No
Which Legend were you playing (if applicable)? Caustic
Which Legends were your squad mates using (if applicable)? Crypto, Octane
Where did the issue occur? In a match
Which part of the map or menu were you in? If you don't remember the exact name, please describe the area or what you were trying to do in the menu. Winter Express mode at the new train stop (Collision? Accident?); the train was stopped and Crypto and I (Caustic) were located on the middle car.
What were you doing when the issue occurred? E.g. respawning a squad mate at a beacon, using an ability, a squad mate left the game. I was meleeing my ally Crypto while he was in drone mode, crouched against the middle car's box (he was at the side of the box closer to the front of the train). I was facing the rear of the train when I punched him, and his character model slid right through the middle car's box and got trapped inside.
Did your squad mates also experience the issue? Yes
How many matches had you played in a row before the issue occurred? 3
When did this happen? (dd.mm.yy hh:mm) 02.12.20, 17:30hrs Pacific Standard Time
How often does the bug occur? Often (50% - 99%)
How severe is your issue? Major impacts to gameplay
What happens when the bug occurs? Crypto was trapped inside the box located on the middle car of the Winter Express train. He could not hit anyone outside, could not be shot by those outside, but could still use his drone/ult, walk within the area of the box, and could see through the wall of the box perfectly (it didn't render on his screen, he told me). Most importantly, for the purposes of the Winter Express mode, he counted as always being inside the train's capture zone + overtime capture zone. Therefore even if his teammates died (which we did - a lot), the round would always end in a draw. It became impossible for other teams to win, as the train was always contested, and since myself and my Octane teammate were essentially fighting 2v3v3, we really couldn't win either. Eventually the other teams caught on (maybe they could see his barrel sticking out of the box when he stood near the edge?), and switched to Caustics or characters with thermites to try and kill him off that way. The only thing that eventually worked was an enemy Caustic used his ultimate right at the box's edge and Crypto intentionally moved as closely as possible to it. ** Normally I'd say the obvious solution is to blow himself up with grenades, but unfortunately Crypto had already used his up. The concern for this glitch is players doing it intentionally to prolong games to farm kills and/or wins **
What should be happening instead? Normally, when punched against a wall the receiving character would collide with it and halt movement without passing through the object/wall's bounds.
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? I'll try and describe this in as much detail as possible. I'll try to be specific when I explain directions actions were taken in + which way characters were facing. 1) Have a Crypto character move to the middle car and crouch on the side of the large box that is closest to the leading car of the train. 1a) If you, playing as Caustic, are standing in the threshold of the lead car's door looking towards the rear of the train, Crypto would be facing the left side of your screen with his back right up against the small lip of the train on the right side of your screen. He was also RIGHT up against the box. 2) Have a second player (Caustic) approach Crypto and stand beside (not inside) Crypto. If it were real-life, I'd call it an arms-length away. 2a) Caustic needs to stand on the leading car side of Crypto, facing the rear of the train. 3) I cannot remember if I was crouching or standing when I punched Crypto, but I would try crouching first as my best guess. 4) Punch Crypto character while facing the rear of the train, essentially with a straight line trajectory parallel with the sides of the train. 5) Crypto should slide completely through the box's boundary with little resistance, and will be unable to walk himself back out.
Below I've attached mt DxDiag and the game-ending summary screen from the Winter Express match where this bug occurred. There's two major takeaways from this image:
* Although our team eventually won (other players disconnected), we were both pronounced the Champions and listed as "Squad placed #3" for some reason. I mention this because when I shared this screencap with friends, they thought I had photoshopped it to inflate my damage done; I just want to assure you that I'm passing along info to help improve the game I love and not flex on you guys or mislead you in some way.
Most of that damage didn't result in kills because as a team of essentially 2 characters able to fight (myself and Octane; Crypto being trapped and unable to hit enemy players with anything but his ultimate), we could damage other players and even get a kill or two per round, but were unable to wipe squads consistently. I'm not an ultra high-skilled player, and that's far and away the most damage I've ever done in a game. The only reason that I got so much damage is because the game went on for so long...
* You'll notice that the survival time on myself and Soup is just over 30mins. I haven't played a ton of Winter Express, but in my experience it's a much faster-paced game than regular Trios/Ranked. This single prolonged match alone should send up some red flags, as it was truly a stalemate for almost 20 minutes since we couldn't lose a round due to a constant presence in the capture zone, others couldn't win a round for the same reason, but we ironically couldn't win a round since we were outnumbered in terms of "active characters" in a fight.
