The 'Pokemon Go' craze hits New York City on July 25, 2016 in New York City. (Photo : Getty Images/Mike Coppola)
A recent "Pokemon Go" patch has added a few gameplay enhancements including the new daily bonuses program. Meanwhile, Niantic's testing activities for its "Nearby Pokemon" feature has been extended to some areas outside of San Francisco.
Niantic deployed a new patch that added a new "Pokemon Go" bonus program that rewards a player for completing specific tasks on a daily basis. Visiting a PokeStop, spinning the Photo Disc and capturing Pokemon monsters will award specific bonuses, according to the patch notes posted on the game's official website.
"Pokemon Go" players can get XP and Stardust rewards, as well as other additional in-game items. Repeating the same action for seven consecutive days will also result to bigger bonuses.
Aside from Pokemon captures and PokeStop visits, Niantic also adjusted the amount of Prestige that gamers can get from the mobile gaming app's Gyms. Prestige amounts were lowered when training at a friendly Gym, while successful fights at a rival gym will yield higher numbers.
The patch will also give players a short time period to place a Pokemon monster in an open Gym whenever a trainer defeats a rival Gym leader. Apart from the said gameplay changes, Niantic also addressed some minor text issues.
In other news, a message on the game's official Facebook page announced Niantic's latest update for its "Nearby Pokemon" feature. Originally deployed in the San Francisco area, the test version of the Pokemon tracker will be available in the Seattle area, as well as certain parts of Arizona.
It appears that game developers have introduced a "variation" to the said feature that they intend to test within a wider area. At this time, it is still unsure if Niantic will deploy its "Nearby Pokemon" feature to other regions.
The said testing activity is just one of the "Pokemon Go" enhancements that Niantic developers have been working on. In an interview with The Verge, game designer Dennis Hwang shared that they were also looking at improving the game's information interface for Pokemon spawns.
Hwang added, "We're always wanting a little more direct engagement with our immediate surroundings ... So those are design choices we're looking at carefully to keep improving it."
Niantic deployed its latest "Pokemon Go" patch on Nov. 6, Sunday. Learn about the game's tracking feature in the clip below:
