ZRace Central

All Things Zwifty

Zwift Update May Released 1.39

The latest Zwift update has just been released. Zwift game version 1.39 is gradually being rolled out to all platforms!

Overview

Due to the scale of last month’s release, Zwift skipped, well… 5 numbered releases, bringing us up to version 1.39. Included in this update is a whole host of features, including a re-haul of the pairing screen, changing to the power up efficiency(coming soon), Zwift’s Coffee Stop feature, the temporary closing of Repack Ridge, steering in all events, and new settings!

Note: Zwift will now be following a two-week release cadence. This increases the number of releases we get a year!

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Coffee Stop

The Coffee Stop feature has not formally been released, but it is coming on May 10th. This is likely so that riders can have time to get the update to make it so that more riders have the update when this goes live. The feature essentially allows users to take a 30 second break during their activities in the first 5 minutes of their ride, and up to 3 minutes within the first 30 minutes- this includes group rides! This makes it so that if you are Zwifting with a friend or a group, you can take a quick break to go to the bathroom without getting dropped.

Changes to Power Ups

Zwift say’s that they have made Power Ups a lot more efficient and helpful for Zwifters. There is an additional forum thread that includes all the details for this change: https://forums.zwift.com/t/powerups-balancing-may-2023/605757

Lots of the changes are minor changes, but they are changes that will likely have a pretty significant influence on how Zwifters interact with power ups—many of the changes include small details that have commonly annoyed or angered Zwifters in the past. Here are the details from the Zwift Forums along with some comments:

  • “Aero Helmet: no changes.
  • Draft Truck: increased duration from 30 to 40 seconds and the draft effect will be stronger. *Likely to make the power up still make a difference with the recent Pack Dynamics V4 changes.
  • Feather: increased duration from 15 to 30 seconds
  • Anvil: reduced duration to 15 seconds. Changed the weight addition to be a percentage of rider weight instead of a fixed 50kg in an effort to make it more useful for all riders, with an emphasis on lighter riders. The percentage of weight is not fixed, and is instead derived from a formula that will make it unique to every rider while still providing a useful benefit for riders of all weights. *Dang it! I loved flying down the descents at nearly 100KPH!
  • Burrito: increased duration from 10 to 20 seconds. Changed the behavior to only remove drafting from riders in a cone behind the rider instead of in a radius. The rider using the Burrito will still be able to draft other riders in front of them. *This solves lots of the issues that I have had with the burrito power up. Thanks Zwift!
  • Ghost: increased duration from 10 to 15 seconds. It is no longer possible to use this PowerUp when the rider is less than 400m from the finish line. *This makes the power up a bit more useful as 10 seconds always seemed like a very short duration.
  • Steam Roller: no changes.
  • XP: removed from all competitive events by default. Event Organizers can still have XP PowerUps appear in their event by request. *By far the second best change with the Power Ups, it is incredibly annoying to get an XP power up in the finishing sprint…”

Note: since not all Zwifters have this game release, Zwift will not be implementing these changes until later on – this is to avoid chaos and issues with some riders having these abilities and others not.

The Ghost Power-Up

I can see where the people in charge of power-ups and racing were going with this change, and I definitely do appreciate that the power-up lasts longer now, but the final 400 meters I think is subjective. It is honestly all about how much speed there is coming into the final sprint – meaning if you are going up a steep climb, 400 meters is far too long for the power-up to be disabled. It also depends a lot on what category you are in; Category A opens up its sprints a lot earlier than Category D. But then again, they likely felt that they needed to have the power-up disabled at some set distance because it would probably be frustrating to be sprinting, thinking that you are in the lead winning, easing off, then realizing that you just lost it to someone who has been invisible.

Settings Screen Update

Zwift has also updated the settings screen so that it fits with the rest of the home screen and pairing screen. This makes things a bit more intuitive and refines the design to make it more modern.

So where exactly might Zwift be going with this? I think that it is very possible that Zwift is trying to set up the settings screen so that riders are able to change more settings surrounding their graphics. Jon Mayfield talked about this briefly as the ultimate goal: the ability to change between the Ultra graphics profile, High, Medium, Low, etc. This would definitely be a welcome addition!

Pairing Screen Update

The pairing screen has been updated to look a lot cleaner and easier to use, so far, I am loving it! A few things to note about this:

  • The calibration for steering devices is not present on the screen, this is something that Zwift will likely fix in the near future
  • As you hoover over each of the different devices that you can pair to, it highlights the device that you are hoovering on in blue
The Usual

As usual, Zwift fixed the things that they broke in previous updates and added a few additional perks, here are the details from the forums.

  • Fixed a crash that could occur when attempting to spawn a HoloReplay on a segment as the Zwifter approached.
  • Changed the way HoloReplay names appear on the Riders Nearby List in an effort to make it more clear which HoloReplays are present.
  • Fixed a bug that would cause HoloReplay settings to not display correctly for routes and segments when the setting to show HoloReplays for routes, segments, or both was changed.
  • Fixed an issue that would cause the drops multiplier to incorrectly change when disabling the HUD during Pacer Group rides.
  • Resolved issue with ‘Completed Challenge’ banner not displaying
  • Fixed an issue with the entitlement count number displaying behind the garage icon on pause menu
  • Resolved issue with Wattbike Atom gear display not displaying
  • Resolved an issue with ‘Rode With’ lists not displaying
Bugs

Just because Zwift fixed stuff, it doesn’t mean that they didn’t also break stuff in the process! Here is the list for this month…

My Thoughts

This is one of the best updates that I have seen so far, and simply updating the pairing screen just made the experience that much better. It now fits a lot better with the “new home screen.” Zwift’s addition of the display and sound settings screen also makes me wonder if Zwift will be allowing for greater graphics configuration in the near future… Last month had a lot of code added for support of upcoming features, but for the first time in awhile, we got some pretty substantial changes that are actually available in the game, pretty exciting stuff!

Let me know your thoughts down below!

Notice anything else? Let me know in the comments!

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rwxrob
rwxrob
4 months ago

Downtown Titans and Reverse Eight routes broken, possibly others.

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Fiona Wallace
Fiona Wallace
4 months ago

What does Pair through Phone mean? I’ve not seen that before. I use a iPad for Zwift which connects to my trainer. I only use my phone for Companion app.

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Oliver@zracecentral
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Oliver@zracecentral
4 months ago
Reply to  Fiona Wallace

Pair through phone is mainly for those who use Apple TV and need to pair devices using their iPhone as a bridge.

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