Feedback (Steam build)

For PC (Windows) specific help with technical issues running the game.
Post Reply
Fluke
Original backer
Original backer
Posts: 171
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:21 am
Location: UK

Steam Build 1.04 (is this not as current as the GOG version - wondering due to v1.30 being mentioned).

First off, wow! I absolutely love the feel of this. I don't think I'd grasped before how much of an adventure/rpg feel there would be to it. The conversation with the Pirate Frog gave me a genuine early Monkey Island vibe - great stuff!

Anyway, general observations and feedback - these have been written down raw and as they occured to me, so forgive me if they are blunt or lack subtlety.

No ability to lock VSync. I seem to be getting 80 - 100fps in general, but I can't lock the framerate to the 60hz of my monitor to give a smoother consistant feel. VSync should always be an option (and and expected on for PC gamers), and even forcing it in the nVidia drivers didn't work. I really want to see this locked to a vsynced 60hz.

No antialiasing options - for performance reasons, this really should be selectable by the user and again is an fairly standard and expected option.

No anisotropic filter options - not as much as a big deal as not being able to set antialiasing levels, but is still an expected option for PC gamers, and can reduce memory overhead on lower systems.

I didn't realise you could jump for a while. I didn't even notice it on the contoller layout the first time I gave it a glance. I was actually going to submit a bug about not being able to get out of the pool of water in the Pirate Frogs cell. I even reloaded the game to try again to verify that, when I finally just mashed all of the buttons and got out of the water. There probably needs to be a press B to jump prompt at that point (the first time you fall in that water).

You can glitch the camera through the wall in the Pirate Frogs cell. Stand in the water next to the wall and rotate the camera.

There have been several occasion where I could glitch the camera into Tilos head.

There is a tiny piece of missing geometry in the wall of the spiral staircase near the beginning. You can see it on the right hand side as you walk back up the stairs.

I managed to bug out the first rat guard. I threw a bottle at him and knocked him out. I was trying to get the key, but you don't seem able to if he's knocked out which didn't seem to make much sense. When he stood back up, he was facing the wall and was stuck in place with the alert icon above his head and not animated (I couldn't steel his key though). I wandered off and came back after running around for a while, and he was animating again, but was still stuck facing the wall.

I had problems getting the key from the rat guard. Given the very early nature of this, I'd possibly consider swapping sides that the key is on so that you can see it while he's sleeping. I'd tried all sorts of stuff like knocking him out, distracting him (why couldn't I basically pick-pocket him while he was distracted?), and trying to steal it while he was attacking me (though I kept on grabbing his handerchief). Saying this, I like how things are atm, so don't dumb anything down!

The debug console was enabled as default despite the warning not to enable it unless asked.

The following message popped up after I died once in the development console:
---
Trackable CustomID=1000000043 is already known. Both are Persistent. Please fix!
Trackable CustomID=1000000044 is already known. Both are Persistent. Please fix!
Trackable CustomID=1000000042 is already known. Both are Persistent. Please fix!
KeyNotFoundException. The given key was not present in the dictionary.
KeyNotFoundException. The given key was not present in the dictionary.
[49117] This iten was NOT part of the inventory! {"bottle_prefab(Clone)"}
KeyNotFoundException. The given key was not present in the dictionary.
---

The first time I found a brazier I jumped into it and was set on fire. I died, but upon reloading my game Tilos tail was still on fire and I could continue playing without taking any damage. Given that my favorite game character of all time is Red XIII from Final Fantasy VII, this was actuall rather cool (and, you know, if you wanted to included this as a hidden easter egg!..). It also popped up a debug error (the Trackable CustomID=1000000043 one as above). I'm also fairly sure that this debug error appeared after I'd noticed the debug console was enabled and had disabled it.

At the steps next to Gusto and Fatales cell, the guard patrolling there got stuck in a walking animation at the top of the steps facing the courtyard. I triggered his awareness of me and ran to the bottom of the steps. The guard turned to face down the steps but was still stuck walking in place. He then did a ranged attack which hit me, then "teleported" to the bottom of the steps and attacked and killed me.

With the same guard as above, I stole his handkerchief while he was trying to attack me (as asked for by Gusto and Fatale), but died. The game reloaded the autosave in the cell (before I stole the handkerchief), but the guard no longer had a handkerchief to steal.

The depth of field effects can be a bit too much at times. I'd noticed it before when hiding, but it was really apparent while hiding in the barrel directly outside of Gusto and Fateles cell. Looking towards the guard at the bottom of the steps with that really narrow view it gives, everything just looked like a blurry mess. Maybe when hiding, the center of the screen/where you're directly looking should be in focus, with the blur/depth of field spreading out from there (in other words, please let me clearly see what I'm directly looking towards).

Taking about depth of field, it would be a nice to have option to set it's strength. Maybe default (as it is now), low, and off. Another thought, but wondered if it would be possible to include a quality slider for the DOF effect?

That's as far as I've got atm. Will update with any further observations.
Attachments
DxDiag.rar
Attached as rar, wouldn't allow a .txt attachment.
(12.53 KiB) Downloaded 810 times
cosmogonies
'Ghost of a Tale' Programming
'Ghost of a Tale' Programming
Posts: 303
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 8:27 am

Hi Fluke,
I'm so sorry you played a very early version of the game.
As a Backer, you can play before its release, but you have to right click on the game in steam,
select Properties, and in the beta tab, choose "beta"
That way you will have the latest updates of the game (both GOG and Steam are synchronuous)

Thanks for your reports, some of these bugs are already fixed, so please have a look to the latest beta^^ !
But we will totally consider your feedback on the remaining points.

Important, you will need to delete your saves in the folder :
C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\My Games\Ghost of a Tale
to be able to play with the latest build unfortunately.
Fluke
Original backer
Original backer
Posts: 171
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:21 am
Location: UK

Ah, didn't know about having to opt into the beta. Will take a look :)
LuckyMouse
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:23 am

Please, please please make the mouse cursor visible on the game over screen and save game screen. Otherwise it becomes really difficult to make a selection.

Also, while attempting to save over a game file the "are you sure" prompt appeared and because I couldn't see the cursor I was unable to make a selection either way, so when I exited out of the menu with the Esc key the "are you sure prompt" remained overlaid on the game screen even as gameplay resumed and I couldn't get rid of it.
cosmogonies
'Ghost of a Tale' Programming
'Ghost of a Tale' Programming
Posts: 303
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 8:27 am

Thanks for your feedback.
Next version will focus a lot on mouse/keyboard control !
Fluke
Original backer
Original backer
Posts: 171
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:21 am
Location: UK

Before I forget, I was wandering around waiting for the time to change to daytime, and once it did I went back to Gustos cell. Gusto disappeared, though Fatele was still there and conversations carried on as normal. Now, I've just gone back again after deciding whether to take the spyglass back, and it seems I can't continue that quest due to Gusto not showing up.
cosmogonies
'Ghost of a Tale' Programming
'Ghost of a Tale' Programming
Posts: 303
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 8:27 am

This is fixed in 1.49 now ^^
Post Reply