“Hello, Runners!

As the holiday season starts and the joyful spirits are high, we want to provide you with a neatly wrapped update. Bundled in it is a well-requested social feature, a new Animal, a new Powerup, and improvements to gameplay! In addition to these, we have some balancing and bug fixes.

Have fun running!"

Join the discussion on our Fun Run 4 Subreddit!”

Updates

[NEW] Clans

“Create a Clan and gather your friends - or join one and meet new ones! Challenge each other, collaborate, or just hang around to socialize!”

A banner can be created with a wide array of customization options
Tags can be set to attract (or find) like-minded Runners
A persistent chat for clan-mates is now available. Keep the conversation going between play sessions!

UI

Friends and Chat have been separated
- Chat is now its own button in the Top Bar, dedicated to making sure that you can always talk with your Party or Clan Members
- Friends have been moved to above the Play button
Friends and Chat has gotten updated layouts and looks
Made the Inspect Runner the hub for all Runner actions
Added the Runner number in the Runner Profile button to make it easier for you to know what Name Number you have
Made the friends list not update the list order when your friends do new things when you are watching it, to make it easier to interact with
Made Quests that you have not progressed on show up in the Post-Race Rewards when you haven’t progressed on Quests in a race, to make it easier for you to set goals on what to do next
Updated the end of the Runner Pass, if not upgraded, to accurately show how many Coins you have accumulated and what you will be able to Claim if you upgrade
Improved the Party invite so that when you and your friend both try to invite each other, you automatically get into a Party without having to accept any invites
Updated the Chat to keep messages even after the Party has been disbanded so you can see what has been written

Gameplay Improvements

“We have hit various areas of the game with improvements. There is updated Auto-Aiming, visualized Special hit areas, In-Game Names, balancing to Powerup drops, Duos, and more.”

Improved Auto-Aiming

“The Baseball Bat has been acting a bit off with how it prioritizes its targets, so we’re improving this to make it a bit more reliable.”

It should now properly prioritize its targets depending on who/what/where they are: Opponents, Friendlies, Powerups / In front, Behind
It will now ignore targets Runners who are: Dead, finished, or in stealth

Special Visualization

“To make Specials more intuitive to use, we have introduced a way to see where they will hit before you release them. But keep in mind; all Specials have different wind-up times, so plan accordingly!”

When holding down the Special button it now shows the hit area of the Special that you are using

In-Game Names

“To make it a bit easier to know which Runners you are playing against and which Runner is entering your screen at any given moment, we have added names of Runners to appear above them while playing in races.”

There’s now a toggle in the Settings to turn on or off names in races
They are visible during certain conditions: On the start line, when crossing the finish line, and as they enter your screen

Race balancing

“We have heard your feedback and are adjusting the way Powerups are dropped in a race. After the fix to the Equalizer drops, we all have noticed an increase in drops of Globals to take its place. We have adjusted this to make it less punishing for Runners who manage to take the lead and also added in something extra to make sure the races stay fun for everyone.”

There should now be a reduced amount of drops of Globals in races
We don’t want to punish Runners who take the lead, but we also want you to have a chance to catch up if you make a mistake and fall behind early. So we’re adding in a Catch-Up Powerup that can drop when you are very far behind in last place. This Powerup gives you a speed boost when used.
We’re hoping these changes will result in more fair races, that will be the most fun they can be!

Duos Balancing

“In addition to the general race-balancing, we have made updates to Duos as well.”

Duos have gotten updated Powerup drops that should give more proper Duos gameplay

Visuals

Firecracker has gotten a new look!
- It works exactly as it did before, but now has visuals that more accurately represent what it does; Being a device that explodes on impact
- It has gotten a new name: Impact Grenade
Slow Grenade has gotten a new look!
- It functions like it did before, but has now gotten a new 3D model to theme it a bit better toward what it does

Animals

[NEW] Hyena

“Hyenas dart across the open plains of the tropical south, their wild laughter echoing as they sprint, creating an air of chaos and unpredictability.”

Ability - Madness Rush

“Hyena rushes forward and unleashes a maddening laughter at the end of her sprint, slowing everyone around her in a frantic haze.”

Speed Boost: 50m/s
Speed Boost duration: 1.0s
Slow: 75%
Slow duration: 1.0s

Ability - Adaptive Running

“Hyena is an adaptable creature, using everything to her advantage. As a result, she gains an increased speed burst on Speed Pads.”

Speed Burst: +1m/s

Robin

“The invulnerability that Robin got from his Ability was way too forgiving and he has had it too easy to avoid harmful actions, so we’re nerfing it accordingly not to be so easy to use but still very rewarding if used right.”

Ability - Phase Dash

Reduced the amount of time Robin stays invulnerable, to closer match the visuals and to make it not so forgiving

Powerups

[NEW] Equalizer: Meteorite

“A rock from a mysterious planet comes crashing through the atmosphere. Beware if you're trailing the leading Runner, as this bouldering rock will not stop until it encounters an immovable object.”

Warning time: 2.0s
Death timer: 1.5s

Slow Grenade

“We have seen that many Runners are getting hit by the Slow Area themselves when throwing it in front of them, while also seeing that when it’s being thrown behind it is very powerful because of that fact. We’re adjusting it to combat this.”

Slow Area Duration: 0.66s → 0.33s

Movement

Slide / Slide Jump

“We're thrilled to see "pro-gamer" moves that you discover, and want to keep as many as possible because they are fun and rewarding. However, we need to maintain game balance, and this particular move greatly disrupts it. Keeping it in the game would make Mobility-based Animals obsolete, as all Animals would be able to easily traverse vertical terrain. To keep the gameplay fair and enjoyable for everyone, we've decided to adjust this.”

Fixed a bug where you could tap the Down-button twice to get a higher than expected Slide Jump

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug where Vortex Grasp would not push a Runner behind the user forwards
Fixed a bug where Runners would sometimes appear like respawned immediately after dying
Fixed a bug where holding the Up-button when landing on a wall would lead to the Animal vaulting and losing its grip
Fixed an issue where the Cat would not be visible to its teammate in Stealth
Fixed a bug where it would show the wrong position for Elites at the end of the season when getting the rewards
Fixed an issue where you would not get Runner or Animal XP in Elites races
Favorite friends should now both get Push Notifications when they are online
Fixed issues where the Post-Race would show the incorrect Game Mode if your teammate would finish the race before you
Fixed a bug where the Elites Hub wouldn’t show the correct Tickets
Minimizing the game while searching for Elites races will now properly cancel the matchmaking so you don’t end up in a race when the game is minimized
Fixed some performance issues with Cloudy maps

Patch Notes