Hunt: Showdown 1896 News

Hunters,

We’ve noticed that a lot of you are interested in how the audio systems work in Hunt: Showdown 1896. With the help of our audio engineers, we have compiled the guide below to answer some of your most frequently asked questions regarding how we give you the best audio experience possible.

Some of the changes that are coming with Update 2.4 are improvements to silent/missing footsteps, a revised vertical footstep audio design, gunshot distance readability, and more! We look forward to sharing more about the new update and what it means for your audio experience soon.

[h2]FAQ: What is CrySpatial?[/h2]

CrySpatial is our 3D audio solution designed specifically for Hunt. Implemented back in 2019, it’s our recommended spatial audio solution when playing the game.

CrySpatial uses HRTF (Head-Related-Transfer-Function) for its 3D audio positioning and is directly integrated into the game, enabling players to hear if certain sounds are coming from behind, in front of, above, or below them. (Just a friendly reminder that CrySpatial or any other spatial audio solution does not handle the way sounds are attenuated over a distance or while being occluded by objects.)

While CrySpatial has been a part of Hunt since its release, we added an option for players to disable it with the launch of Hunt: Showdown 1896.

To experience CrySpatial (recommended):

• Use stereo headphones
  
• Activate CrySpatial in the Audio Settings (this can be done during a Mission or in the Main Menu) and hit the Apply button.
  
• Ensure you deactivate any additional audio enhancements
  
• Ensure any Virtual Surround/Room Correction features are deactivated on your system and headphone-specific drivers
  

for Windows 10:

• Right-click the speaker icon in your taskbar/system tray
  
• Select “Spatial sound” and set it to “Off”
  

for Windows 11:

• Open System -> Sound Settings
  
• Open your Output Device’s properties by clicking on the arrow on the side
  

for Xbox Series X|S:

• In your Xbox Series S/X settings in the General tab, select “Volume & audio output”
  
• Change the “Headset format” to “Stereo uncompressed”
  

for PlayStation 5:

• Open your consoles settings -> Open the Sound Settings
  
• In the 3D Audio (Headphones) Settings, deactivate the option “Enable 3D Audio for Headphones”
  

[h3]FAQ: If CrySpatial is so important, why can users deactivate it?[/h3]

The core function of any binaural plugin is the Head-Related-Transfer-Function (HRTF). It is a set of audio filters that emulate how sound physically interacts with your body, head, and pinnae, which is unique for every person.

CrySpatial's carefully designed filters work well for most people, but the sound might be perceived in a slightly different way by every person. Hence, CrySpatial's filtering might not fit perfectly to how certain ear shapes perceive the sounds in the world around them. If you’re interested in learning more, you can read up about HRFT and binaural audio here:

With the release of Hunt: Showdown 1896, we wanted to give players more freedom and flexibility to choose what 3D audio format they want to experience while playing Hunt.

To achieve this, we’ve updated Hunt’s audio system to support additional spatial audio solutions that can pick up Hunt’s audio output and render it using other sets of filters. This means that we can now offer support for spatial audio solutions like Dolby Atmos, Windows Sonic, DTS:X, and Sony’s own 3D audio for headphones solution on PS5.

Good to know: While CrySpatial and other spatial audio solutions help you hear from which direction a sound is coming from (above, behind, etc), they do not influence the way sound is occluded by objects or how it behaves over a distance. This part of the audio experience is handled by the game independently from the selected spatial audio solution.

[h3]FAQ: What happens if I turn off CrySpatial without activating any other spatial audio solutions on my platform?[/h3]

If CrySpatial is turned off without using any other spatial audio solutions like Dolby Atmos, Windows Sonic, etc., then you’ll hear plain stereo or surround sound depending on your speaker setup. This means that all spatial audio enhancements will be lost, and you’ll have a hard time judging if sounds are coming from above or below you, as well as if something is in front or behind you. That’s why we recommend using a spatial audio solution at all times—it is crucial to getting the best Hunt experience.


[h3]FAQ: If I play Hunt with stereo headphones, what in-game settings should I use?[/h3]

We would recommend that you set your Audio Settings to the following:
Audio Configuration: Headphones
CrySpatial: On

After turning CrySpatial on, make sure to play a few Missions in Hunt. It takes some time for your ears to get accustomed to the audio processing applied by CrySpatial, especially if you are new to Hunt and aren't used to how CrySpatial sounds. Like any other tool, it can take time to learn how it feels and how to use it.


[h3]FAQ: How does surround sound impact CrySpatial audio, and should players have 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound enabled while playing Hunt?[/h3]

While we generally recommend playing Hunt on headphones in Stereo (2.0) with CrySpatial active, there might be cases where players have a surround sound setup at home. In that case, playing the game in 5.1 or 7.1 on speakers can be a desirable scenario. If you have a setup like this, then please set your configuration to ‘Speakers’ in your game’s Audio Settings which will disable CrySpatial. This ensures that the game can make the best use of your surround sound setup.

[h3]FAQ: What's the problem with having all possible sound enhancements enabled?[/h3]

This heavily depends on the ‘sound enhancement.’ Additional sound virtualization (e.g. 3D audio effects, surround sound effects from headphone drivers, etc.) should be prevented as much as possible while using CrySpatial, as these effects can apply similar audio processing on top of CrySpatial, resulting in broken audio.

Applying additional effects (like EQs) can also lead to other unforeseen consequences, and should be applied with caution.



If you have any further questions regarding the audio of Hunt, please don’t hesitate to message us on socials. We will be monitoring your questions and comments with the intention to write another guide in the future if there is enough interest.

Keep an ear out,
Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 Audio Team

Hunters,

Another clash with Corruption comes to and end and Garden of the Witch will conclude tomorrow, May 5th. Live servers will be taken offline at 10:00 CEST to wrap up the event.

Estimated downtime is ~2 hours.

We’ll let you know once the servers are back online.

Thanks for your patience.

Hunters,

As part of our commitment to keeping you informed about our Fair Play Task Force and our actions against cheaters we would like to share with you an update. Since January we have banned a total of 4929 cheaters. In this blog you’ll find a breakdown of these bans by MMR levels along with some insights into how we categorize different cheaters.

Banned Players by MMR distribution



The chart above shows the distribution of MMR levels among players who were banned in recent months. As indicated, cheaters are significantly more likely to be found at higher MMR levels, as their performance improves drastically once they gain the advantage of cheating software. However, bans also occur at lower MMR levels. This can be attributed to players intentionally dying to maintain a low MMR, or more commonly, players being banned when they launch the game with cheats for the first time—before they had the opportunity to use them in a match, or shortly after starting to. We have methods in place to detect when a banned player creates a new account and continues cheating. In such cases, we enforce a zero-tolerance policy: repeat offenders are instantly banned upon account creation.

Types of cheaters

In general, we tend to see two main types of cheaters: “rage cheaters” and “togglers.”

Rage cheaters are the most obvious group. They typically use blatant cheating methods and make little to no effort to hide their behavior. Their goal is often to disrupt the game as much as possible before getting banned, using less sophisticated tools or behaving in ways that are easy to detect. As a result, they are usually caught and banned very quickly.

Togglers, on the other hand, use more subtle and sophisticated methods. They don’t cheat throughout the entire match—instead, they enable cheats only during specific moments where it can provide a critical advantage. From our perspective, these players often appear to be playing normally most of the time, but in certain situations, their performance improves in an unnatural and statistically abnormal way. Because of this selective behavior, our systems need to collect more data over a longer period before it can confirm a ban. This is why some bans take longer and why togglers are often found in higher MMR brackets.

There are also cases where rage cheaters climb the MMR ladder rapidly due to the extreme advantage provided by their cheats. In such instances, they may end up getting banned when they reach higher skill brackets.

One common toggler tactic involves only one player in a group actively using cheats, while sharing information—such as enemy positions—with their teammates through voice chat. This makes detection more challenging, as it’s difficult to determine who is actually cheating and who is simply receiving relayed information. We take extra care in these situations to avoid banning innocent players who may be unaware of their teammates’ actions.

We are actively developing advanced systems focused on identifying and banning cheaters at higher MMR levels. These tools are designed to distinguish genuinely skilled players from those using subtle forms of cheating. While we cannot share specific details about how these systems work—for security reasons—we want to emphasize that this is a top priority for us.

How To Report Suspected Cheaters

If you encounter someone who you think is cheating, who was not picked up by the automatic ban system then please follow the below steps:

While on the death screen you can click “Show killer profile” or press “R” (for PC), RT (for Xbox)/R2 (for PS5) and then select “Report”. You can then fill in the reasons and add any additional information.

Another way to report people is after the Mission is over you can go onto the “Last Mission – Team Details” menu and click on the profile you would like to report and then click on “Actions Menu” or press “F” (PC)/ press X (Xbox)/ press square (PS5) and then “Report”.

Additionally, you can report via our website if you have any additional context you would like to share. You can do this by going to www.huntshowdown.com. In the bottom right corner of the screen, you'll see "Please log in for support". After logging in, open a new ticket, select your language and platform as well as "I'd like to report another player" and the bot will guide you through the process.

We hope this sheds light on what we are doing to combat cheaters; we can’t give away all our methods, but we endeavor to give you as much transparent information as possible! Watch this space for more updates as the year unfolds.

Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 team

Hunters,

It's no secret that Hunt wants to challenge you and push players to their limits, and we often see members of the community looking for hints, tips, and tricks for how to improve their game. So today, we wanted to explore a new style of Developer Insight, sharing insider tips from our developers, mods, and Hunt Partners!

First up—a subject that comes around all the time—what are our favorite ways to earn and save Hunt Dollars?

Let's start with the basics from one of our resident Community Managers, Gustavo:

• Soul Survival is a great mode if you want to make some extra dollars. You can get Hunters and equipment for free, and even if you die then you still earn some Hunt Dollars.
  
• You can always recruit Free Hunters in Bounty Hunt. Every free Hunter comes with a contraband First Aid Kit and Melee weapon, so no need to buy them twice. Even if you don't plan to use the Hunter, you can still take their equipment and use it on other Hunters.
  
• If you are feeling more exploratory and want to play it safe, then you can jump into Missions fully silenced. Kill monsters, get the Clues, rummage for Cash Registers, and then extract. There's no need to fight anyone if you're stealthy enough!
  

We got some of our mods to help out with their tips too—check out some of our favorites below:
Dizzmaux:

• Something that I made use of when I used to prestige was always going for Clues. I would rush three Clues. Since early prestige weapons were the Frontier 73C, the three Clues would pay for my weapons and some Tools (50 Hunt Dollars per Clue), even if I died.

Heathen15:

• Go to Weapon/Tool/Consumable Progression and type "owned" in the search bar. Sell everything you don't need. Periodically check back, as you accumulate more from rewards than you notice.
  
• Substitute a Dynamite Stick for the Frag Bombs. It's not as deadly, but you can throw 5 or 6 of them for the cost of one Frag.
  

Of course it's useful to know how to earn Hunt Dollars, but how about the best way to save them? Our other Community Manager, Ari, has some top tips for those of you who want to be more frugal!

• When playing Bounty Hunt, invest four of your starting Upgrade Points into the Packmule Trait. Afterwards, only equip your Hunter with 2 Consumables instead of the max of 4. Once the Mission starts, plan to hit a Supply Point or Toolbox quickly. The random Consumables from these sources will save you money in the long run and could help you try out new Consumables you may not have considered in the past! (Bonus tip: Be sure to keep an eye out towards the base of larger trees for Beetle cocoons, as these can be another source of free Consumables)
• After killing an enemy, double check if their weapon might be worth more than what you brought in with you. Even if you aren't able to sell your Contraband after the Mission, upgrading your Frontier 73C to the enemy's Krag could be seen as saving 409 Hunt Dollars!
  
• Instead of taking both a Heavy Knife for close quarters and a set of Throwing Knives to take out that pesky Hive at a distance, consider only taking the Throwing Axes and buffing their melee performance with the Assailant Trait (1 Upgrade Point). This tip will save you Hunt Dollars and give you an additional Tool Slot to use. Careful though! It can be quite treacherous if you lose your Throwing Axes and get caught without a Melee. Consider taking the Blade Seer Trait (also 1 Upgrade Point) to help find those pesky Throwables.
  

Got any tips yourselves? Share them with your fellow Hunters via our Reddit post found here

Whether you're a beginner or veteran, we hope some of these tips can help you in future Missions, and we look forward to sharing more insights in the future!

Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 team

Hunters,

Today we wanted to share an update around the high ping separation for matchmaking that we began trialing back in March. This system was always intended to develop over time as we observed the impact of our changes and worked to refine them, and recently you may have noticed there have been some issues with recent iterations. We wanted to share some insights into what changes we have made so far, as well as what the future looks like for matchmaking.

We can confirm that we have made the decision to temporarily disable the current ping limit system within matchmaking. We are looking to restore an updated version as soon as possible. While we cannot give an exact timeframe at the moment, we are investigating fixes for this issue as a priority.

We found that the ping separation system in place inadvertently created an issue where players who would normally have high ping were still able to enter into matchmaking with a lower ping than their actual value. Therefore, the ping calculation requires reworking for more accurate reporting.

The changes we have been exploring with matchmaking must be tested in a live environment in order to properly evaluate their success, and we have been monitoring the data and feedback closely as we tweak the system. While the need to temporarily take the system down is not ideal, it does give us the opportunity to take action based on our learnings and bring you a better version of matchmaking in the near future.

This remains a priority for us, and when we have a solid solution in place that works for the majority of players, we will continue the rollout of the new system. Once again, your feedback has been instrumental in the improvement of our systems, and we’re thankful to all of you that have taken part in our surveys and shared feedback in our channels. A recent example of this has been an issue where accidental cross play happened between PC & Console players, we can confirm that this has happened a handful of times with a 0.02% incidence, and this has now been fixed.

We thank you in advance for your understanding and patience—watch this space for more info soon!

Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 team