MX vs ATV Legends continues its journey with significant physics changes

It’s fair to say we were somewhat nonplussed with MX vs ATV Legends when it was released back in June 2022. It felt unpolished, and the way the bikes, quads and UTVs rode and drove was neither realistic nor satisfying.

But, since disappointing initial sales, developer Rainbow Studios has committed this to becoming a live-service title, and the updates have poured in of late quicker than an Eli Tomac whip.

A version 1.17 update is now available for PC, PlayStation and Xbox and delivers a slew of small changes and bug fixes. The full list is below, but the highlights are further physics changes.

In our opinion, things still feel a bit too wooden for our liking, but there are definitely steps forward.

This time, the rider’s body is said to be ‘looser’ for more naturalistic shapes, there’s more grip during slippy mid-corner conditions, take-off and landing crashes are supposedly reduced and, conversely, the slip angle limit has increased.

In other words, you should be able to push harder before the rear steps out of line. In addition, how the game handles sliding over berms has been altered.

Elsewhere, laps not being counted and online timing issues should now be resolved, the recent Axell Hodges Slayground DLC had enhanced lighting and atmospheric effects plus the Kawasaki KX450F’s rear tire no longer goes through the fender.

MX vs ATV Legends 1.17 update changelog

• Gameplay: Resolved issues resulting in laps not being counted when crossing the finish line
• Gameplay: Fixed reset logic to prevent the rider being reset behind the finish line (and immediately completing another lap) in some rare conditions
• Gameplay: Resolved an issue preventing “Gonna Need a Bigger Garage” from being unlocked under common conditions; additional fixes in next patch for players who have already unlocked all vehicles
• Gameplay: Fixed issue resulting in Best Lap time and icons for Holeshot, Podium, and Hot Lap from being recorded and displayed to the Event Selection menu
• Gameplay: Fixed issue causing near-wreck penalty states to persist after resetting
• Gameplay: Added the possibility to wreck when failing to recover from a near-wreck incident
• Online: Remove a player’s custom reset marker when that player leaves an Freeride server online
• Online: Fixed rare occurrence where the player loads the Compound Farm when attempting to join a Playlist server online
• Environment: Minor performance increase in some 2022 Pro Motocross tracks
• Environment: Fixed water foam particle behind rear tire that was offset to the left of the tire instead of being centered to it.
• Environment: Adjusted lighting and atmospheric effects in Slayground
• Environment: Clamped auto-exposure to prevent it from blowing out when paused during gameplay in Slayground
• Environment: Minor performance improvement on Slayground
• Animation: Significantly improved idle animations; hand and finger animation and placement, hip and back position and orientation, leg positions
• Animation: Improved cornering and leaning animations, especially when past 50 degrees on MX bikes
• Animation: Loosened up the rider body, allowing for more natural movements on MX bikes, while on ground and in air.
• Animation: Added foot offset to ensure the feet match the foot-pegs on all MX bikes
• Animation: Prevent Kawasaki KX450F rear tire going through the fender
• Physics: Significantly reduced instances where wrecks occur during take-off and landing for seemingly no reason
• Physics: Increased side slip angle limit across all bikes to lower chances of wrecking when landing or sliding sideways
• Physics: Improved sliding behaviors for the Slip Tires across all bike classes
• Physics: Increased traction across all bikes when landing a bit sideways to prevent sliding over berms
• Physics: Increased wheelie angle thresholds on all bike classes to reduce wrecking in when performing wheelies
• Physics: Slightly increased overall grip on ATVs and ATV Tire tuning parts to bring them in line with MX bikes
• Physics: Tweaked ATV power to be more competitive with MX 450F
• Physics: Updated ATV Grip tires to make wrecking when landing sideways a lot harder
• Physics: Updated ATV Slip tires to make wrecking when landing sideways a bit easier
• Physics: Added correct friction values to concrete slabs

Source: THQ Nordic