Feedback after playing about 5 hours

This is where you can post about bugs and issues that are specific to the Xbox One version of Ghost of a Tale.
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RogerExplodey
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2017 11:17 pm

After stumbling upon this game on the Xbox store, I took one look at the screenshots and knew I had to give it a try. I'm glad I did because what you've achieved so far is really impressive. Below are the major issues and also some minor bugs I've run into so far:

- The main issue that really detracts from the experience in my opinion is the framerate instability. Oddly enough, I seem to be mostly running into framerate drops in dark or cramped spaces (some stairwells, a few areas in the jail) but in most of the outdoor areas the game tends to clip along at a fairly smooth rate. I'm sure you're still optimising everything but I hope it's a big focus to get all areas of the game running consistently smooth.

- I had a fairly major bug early on where the guard sleeping on the chair had moved over to the gate you come through, still in his sitting and sleeping animation. He was positioned such that trying to go through the gate would trigger him to wake up and attack. His position eventually seemed to reset to the chair when I came back later though.

- Another odd bug, which only persisted for a little while, where all the shackles hanging from chains started floating out at odd angles from the walls.

- I've only had one crash so far, shortly after starting the game up and picking up the first rose in the jail cell.

- A small bug where using a candle would not actually deplete the total number in the inventory.

I'll add any more as I notice them and once I've finished all the content in the game preview version I'll head over to suggestions to add some thoughts there.
RogerExplodey
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2017 11:17 pm

Update after a couple more hours:

- I think some of what I thought was framerate issues, might actually be camera or animation related when in tight spaces like the spiral staircases. The screen seems to jutter when running up these staircases, as if the camera isn't able to follow Tilo smoothly or something. I might grab the game on Steam and see if it happens in the same areas and if the fps is actually dropping.

- The mask from the Red Ranger costume doesn't display on Tilo's character model when equiped. It's the only bit of clothing I've noticed this happening with.
BlinxESP
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2017 7:02 am

Nice feedback. I agree everything you said.
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Seith
'Ghost of a Tale' Creator and Developer
'Ghost of a Tale' Creator and Developer
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 7:19 am

Thank you for your feedback, Roger!

Let me know if what you perceive as a framerate issue ends up being something else. But out of curiosity I would love to know where exactly you experience the worst of it.

The ranger mask not being visible is a known issue, albeit a surprisingly nagging one. But it's on my list.

I've never seen the sleeping rat issue before, nor the dangling chains one. But I suspect those must be specific to Xbox One (since nobody reported them on PC).

We're working on the crash you mentioned; it seems to happen when the game autosaves (although just at the beginning of the game). Unfortunately that gives a bad impression to new players and cost us some pretty bad reviews on the store. In that regard the free trial doesn't help us because the players who don't buy the game do not report that bug to us (they just leave scathingly bad reviews). Whereas players who actually buy the game are usually much more inclined to provide us with useful information.

The bug with the candles is fixed and the fix will be in the next release.
RogerExplodey
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2017 11:17 pm

No problem, Seith. Thanks for taking the time to address each issue. I feel like you're creating something special here, so if any of this feedback helps, I'm happy to keep providing it.

Here's a few clips of areas where I noticed the juddering (I don't know what else to call it).

The spiral staircase near the courtyard, mostly towards the upper half and the landing:

https://account.xbox.com/en-AU/gameclip ... 0000000000

https://account.xbox.com/en-AU/gameclip ... 0000000000

Also, at this window above the courtyard:

https://account.xbox.com/en-AU/gameclip ... 0000000000

I'll capture some footage if either the sleeping rat or chains bug happens again.

Crashes are never fun, but to give something that's clearly still in development a bad review because of one seems a little short-sighted. The Xbox store reviews must be region specific. Here in Australia there are only 3 reviews on the store and they're all positive.
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Seith
'Ghost of a Tale' Creator and Developer
'Ghost of a Tale' Creator and Developer
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 7:19 am

Thank you for the videos, that's very helpful!

The hiccups you see are due to toggling the visibility of locations (which is indispensable for performance reasons). But we will keep on optimizing the process as much as possible.

Again, thanks for your report! And you're right, the store reviews are region-specific.
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