Night City's Autodrive Goes Full Anarchy: CDPR Patches Out Patience, Adds Pedal-to-the-Metal Mayhem
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
CD Projekt RED has released Cyberpunk 2077 patch 2.31, dramatically overhauling the game's autodrive to ignore traffic lights and smoothly navigate Night City (potentially creating glorious chaos), alongside fixes for photo mode, quests, and PC-specific issues, proving they just can't quit tweaking their magnum opus.
Right, so you know that feeling when you've finally tamed a particularly stubborn bit of arcane code, only to realise it’s decided to achieve true sentience and start doing whatever the hell it wants? Well, that’s kinda what’s happening in Night City, apparently. CD Projekt RED, bless their obsessive little hearts, just dropped patch 2.31 for Cyberpunk 2077, and it looks like they’ve finally taken the shackles off the game’s autodrive system. And by "shackles," I mean "basic traffic laws and a healthy dose of self-preservation."
Now, if you’ve been living under a rock (or, more likely, just haven’t touched Night City in a while), you might recall update 2.3 back in July was meant to be the *final* new content drop for the original Cyberpunk. Fair dinkum, CDPR have been like a particularly attached parent who just can't quite let their kid leave the nest, constantly tweaking and polishing despite having a sequel, Project Orion, bubbling away in the background. It's almost sweet, really – a testament to their dedication, or perhaps just a compulsive need to keep tinkering. Whatever it is, I'm not complaining. More fixes mean a better ride, right?
But back to the star of this particular show: autodrive. Remember how it used to be? It was like having a designated driver who’d had a few too many synth-beers. Constantly slamming on the brakes for no discernible reason, getting hopelessly stuck behind a rogue rubbish bin, or occasionally giving some poor citizen’s tiny Makigai MaiMai an unscheduled chassis inspection with your bumper. It got you there, eventually, but it often felt less like a smooth ride and more like an existential crisis on wheels.
Well, buckle up, chooms, because those days are apparently over. The patch notes for 2.31 are a glorious symphony of vehicular anarchy: "When driving to a selected point, the vehicle now drives smoothly, overtakes blocking vehicles, and no longer stops at traffic lights."
No longer stops at traffic lights. Read that again. NO. LONGER. STOPS. AT. TRAFFIC. LIGHTS.
Bloody hell! My first thought was, "Right, so Night City is officially just one giant, chaotic demolition derby now?" I mean, unless CDPR secretly patched in some kind of omniscient traffic AI that automatically clears the junctions for you, I’m picturing a whole lot of Thortons getting T-boned by rogue Quadras. I’m genuinely curious (and a little bit terrified) to see how this plays out in practice. Is this a step towards a more immersive, free-flowing Night City, or simply a license for your virtual car to embrace its inner road rage? The "Free Roam mode has also been upgraded to follow traffic rules and navigate the city more reliably," which is a nice counterpoint, but let's be honest, who’s taking the scenic route when they can just *not stop* at a red light? This sounds like the kind of chaotic fun that could either elevate the traversal experience or turn every trip into a hilarious, physics-defying incident report. I'm optimistically chaotic about it, mate.
Beyond the vehicular mayhem, there are a few other bits and bobs worth noting. For instance, those quests tied to update 2.3 vehicles like the Semimaru and Muramasa have had some kinks ironed out. And remember how Johnny Silverhand always seemed to prefer the passenger seat in Delamain Cabs, even when you explicitly told him to get in the back? Turns out that was a bug! Who knew the digital ghost of a rockstar could be so particular about seating arrangements? Now he’ll stay put. A small fix, but sometimes it’s the little things that make Night City feel just a tad more… normal. Or as normal as a city filled with chrome-plated punks and sentient taxis can get.
Photo Mode also got some love, which is ace for all you virtual photographers out there. Most of the character poses from 2.3 now work across all genders – a nice inclusivity touch that lets everyone express themselves a bit more freely. And get this: they’ve disabled NPC collision in Photo Mode. What does that mean? Well, now you can finally perch Rogue or Kerry on the bonnet of your car without them phasing through it like a ghost. Think of the artistic possibilities! Imagine the shenanigans! It’s all about giving players more tools to tell their own stories, even if those stories involve V's crew doing ridiculous poses atop a stolen Mizutani Shion.
And for my fellow PC brethren, there were a couple of specific fixes that sound both utterly baffling and deeply worrying. One tackled an issue where NVIDIA Reflex could mysteriously disable itself when DLSS Frame Generation was active, leading to... wait for it... the screen turning *pink*. A pink screen of digital death! Sounds like something straight out of a cursed arcade cabinet. Glad they sorted that out, because nobody wants their Night City looking like an unholy Barbie dreamscape. Also, path tracing wasn’t activating properly in "certain scenarios," which is good to see addressed for those chasing peak graphical fidelity.
Finally, a quick shout-out to all you modders and mod-users: as always, new patches are the enemy of carefully curated load orders. So if you're running any fantastic community-made additions – like that story-driven rent system I've heard whispers about – make sure to check for compatibility updates before diving in. You don't want your landlord selfies getting borked, do you?
All in all, this patch, while seemingly minor on the surface, speaks volumes. It's a reminder that even when a game is technically "finished," the developers can't quite let go. It shows an ongoing commitment to refining the player experience, even if that refinement involves giving your car a licence to become Night City's most feared road menace. I reckon it’s a good thing, a sign that the heart of Cyberpunk 2077 still beats strong, even as the eyes look towards its future. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see how many red lights my ride can blow through before V ends up in a full-blown wanted level. Wish me luck, chooms!
Tags: Cyberpunk 2077, Game Patch, CD Projekt Red, Open World, Driving Mechanics
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun