FIFA 20 1.03 Pitch Notes: Everything You Need to Know
By Max Mallow
FIFA 20 1.03 pitch notes released Sept. 30 including updates for multiple features of the game.
FIFA 20 has been criticized for its career mode on launch with the amount of bugs that's affected it. This set of pitch notes have also been criticized for not including any major changes to the mode that's been plagued since launch.
Here's a full list of changes to Ultimate Team, Volta, career mode, gameplay, Pro Clubs and more in the FIFA 20 1.03 pitch notes.
FIFA 20 1.03 Pitch Notes: Everything You Need to Know
Gameplay (General):
Made the following changes:
- Goalkeepers will be more likely to push the ball further away from the net when they make a save that would result in a rebound.
- Improved the responsiveness of dribbling, when not using any dribbling modifiers or skill moves, for players that have an average rating of 80 or higher between the Attributes of Dribbling, Agility and Balance.
- In a penalty kick situation we have Increased the range that a goalkeeper will react to the ball, and attempt to make a save, when they are standing still in the middle of the net.
- Reduced the effectiveness of Contain and Secondary Contain, by making the following changes:
- Reduced the effectiveness of Lofted Ground Passes and Lofted Through Passes by increasing the amount of error present when making these passes.
Addressed the following issues:
- Players were sometimes being knocked back unrealistically when being hit by the ball.
- Low Driven Shots were being impacted by more error than other types of shots when being taken in easy shooting situations, such as when there is low defensive pressure or where the player is well balanced and in control of the ball.
- Sometimes the goalkeeper was punching the ball in a situation where they should have easily caught it.
- Sometimes the goalkeeper would not correctly control the ball at their feet after making a knock down save.
- When dropping the ball as the goalkeeper, it was always being dropped in the same direction regardless of where the player was aiming.
- At kick-off, passing the ball without aiming the pass was resulting in the ball being passed to a spot where it was often being intercepted by the opponent.
- Offside was sometimes not being called correctly in situations where the ball was received by the offside player directly from a deflected shot or poor shot.
- Offside was sometimes being incorrectly called after an in-game cinematic scene following a stoppage in play.
Gameplay (VOLTA FOOTBALL):
Made the following changes:
- Goalkeepers reflexes have been reduced.
- Long distance shots taken from the shooter’s side of the pitch will now be impacted by more error.
- Reduced the likelihood that dribbling near a wall would negatively impact a player’s dribble.
- Removed some blocking animations that were inaccurate for certain situations.
Addressed the following issues:
- When playing in the Y Formation, players will now provide better passing options for the goalkeeper when they are in possession of the ball.
- Players that have the Set Play Specialist Trait will now be able to properly aim their corners in all directions.
FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT):
Made the following changes:
- Improved the discoverability of, and added new functionality to, Multi-Swap in the Squad Screen and Squad Building Challenge Screen.
- Adjustments to Player Item swapping functionality on the Club tab.
- Backing out of Player Search while on the Club tab of the Squad screen will no longer take players to the Squad tab and will instead keep them on the Club tab.
- Updated the 2D Portraits for 20 FUT Player Items.
- Adjusted the color of the dots tracking the completion of Squad Building Challenges requirements to help make them easier to see.
Addressed the following issues:
- Stability issue related to selecting certain reward options in FUT Rivals.
- The Season Objectives widget had overlapping numbers when a player had a high Season Objective XP total.
- Manager names were appearing incorrectly on the comparison panel when viewing the Transfer Market tab from the Squad Screen.
- The Create New Squad option was briefly showing at the top of the list, before populating with the available squads, when loading the Squad Selection screen.
- Visual issue when comparing a goalkeeper to another player on the SUB bench while on the Squad screen.
VOLTA FOOTBALL:
Made the following changes:
- All VOLTA FOOTBALL Skill Games have had the scoring values tuned due to player feedback.
Addressed the following issues:
- The new item indicator was not properly updating after a player viewed or equipped a recently obtained item.
- Golden Goal rules were not working correctly in futsal matches in VOLTA FOOTBALL.
- Items earned by completing Skills Training Legend Challenges were not appearing in a player’s inventory until they exited and re-entered VOLTA FOOTBALL.
- Reaching the required Avatar OVR rating to unlock a VOLTA TOUR location was requiring the player to exit and re-enter VOLTA FOOTBALL before they could access the location.
- Adding a guest to a VOLTA LEAGUE match, and then going into the Squad Management screen, would result in that guest being removed from the match.
- Player clipping was present in some post goal celebrations.
- There were invisible walls present in the Skills Training drills in Amsterdam.
- The ball was going through the net in the Gauntlet Skills Training in Buenos Aires.
- If you had set your weather option to snow for a match in FIFA Kick-Off, and then went into VOLTA FOOTBALL, it could snow during an indoor match.
- A placeholder image was present when a player was promoted to Division 8 in VOLTA LEAGUE.
- Equipped Tattoos were not displaying correctly when playing matches in some locations.
- Recruiting a player that was equipped with a non-standard hairstyle would prevent any changes to that player’s hairstyle from taking effect until exiting and re-entering VOLTA FOOTBALL.
- Visual issue when swapping between certain hairstyles in the Customize Player screen.
- Sometimes an item would not appear as equipped on the Customize Player screen despite one of your players having the item equipped.
- Being unable to progress through the updating team information flow if you select a team logo before selecting a team name.
- Multiple issues impacting the Play Of The Match scene:
- Multiple stability issues:
Career Mode:
Addressed the following issues:
- A schedule congestion issue impacting Calcio B teams.
Pro Clubs:
Addressed the following issues:
- Setting your Virtual Pro as a Winger was still displaying them as a Left or Right Midfielder in the Pro Clubs HUB.
- Situation where players were able to extend the duration of the post goal celebration.
- Stability issue entering Pro Clubs HUB after losing connection in a VOLTA LEAGUE match.
Skill Games:
Made the following changes:
- All Skill Games, including those in VOLTA FOOTBALL, have had their difficulty tuned due to player feedback.
Audio:
Made the following changes:
- Minor adjustments to the music in VOLTA FOOTBALL to prevent repetition.
Addressed the following issue:
- Ensured that both English commentary teams were available for use in FUT Rivals matches.
- The audio of the ball hitting the net in VOLTA FOOTBALL Skills Training was not loud enough.
- Audio in the UEFA Champions League trophy presentation scene was sometimes referring to the incorrect year.
Visual/Presentation:
Made the following changes:
- Updates to the FIFA 20 intro cinematic.
- Updated the Starheads for Eden Hazard and Raheem Sterling.
Addressed the following issue:
- Visual issues impacting some animations when playing Mystery Ball.
- Sometimes, just before a celebration scene, after a goal was scored, some players would warp to different places on the pitch.
- The shadows and lighting were not correctly updating to align with the Time Of Day setting.
- Goalkeepers were sometimes getting visually distorted during Goal Decision System scenes.
- Visual issue with the lighting around player’s eyes and mouth.
Photo courtesy of EA Sports