Rocket League Update 1.78 Brings New Bumps & Demolitions

June 17, 2020

If you’ve been gaming today you may have noticed Rocket League Update 1.78 downloading in the background. This new update from Psyonix prepares the game for future updates including the next season of content, but more importantly for now it changes the way players will bump and explode their enemies forever.

The new system is based on player feedback and has been tested with eight of the most prominent Rocket League community members and esports players. As always with Rocket League, it’s all about precision, angles and rocket power, so you might need to wear your rocket scientist cap to understand the following changes after the drop.

Rocket League Update 1.78

The rules to trigger a Demolition are now as follows:

  • Supersonic Check [UNCHANGED]

    • You are in the Supersonic State (trails visible/active on wheels)

      • Supersonic State activates at 2200 speed (max speed is 2300)

      • Going below 2100 speed instantly exits the Supersonic State

      • Going below 2200 speed, but above 2100, remains Supersonic for one second before exiting unless you accelerate back above 2200

  • Speed Check [UNCHANGED]

    • Your speed in your forward direction is at least 2100 at the time of impact

  • Forward Hit Check [NEW]

    • The line connecting your Center of Mass to the Impact Location is within 40 degrees of your forward direction

  • Victim Hit Check [NEW]

    • The line connecting the Impact Location to the Victim’s Center of Mass is within [55-90] degrees of your forward direction

    • This angle scales based on the Forward Hit Check result

      • For all impacts within 35 degrees of your forward direction, this check uses a 90 degree angle

      • For impacts between 35 and 40 degrees of your forward direction, this check scales linearly from 90 degrees down to 55. This reduces “sideswipe” demos and other undesirable use cases

  • Bumps use the same set of requirements minus the speed / supersonic checks.

Several bug fixes are also included in the update, such as corner Boost Pills not giving players boost when driven over, and the Switch version not allowing players to join local matches where non-Roman characters are in the match name or host player name. You can read the full Rocket League Update 1.78 patch notes at the official website.

Rocket League is available on Windows PC via Steam, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.