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WINDSTONE

Survive in a land ravaged by an invasive species. You and your dragon are Windstone's last hope. · By Threshold Seven

General Feedback Sticky

A topic by Threshold Seven created Apr 06, 2018 Views: 3,399 Replies: 112
Viewing posts 1 to 37
Developer (5 edits) (+2)(-1)

This is a place for any and all feedback about WINDSTONE. Let me know what you like, dislike, what you would like to see changed and new mechanics that you would like to see implemented. Please put specific bug reports (things that are obviously broken) in the bug report topic.

Non-constructive, redundant and no-longer-relevant posts will be removed to more easily keep track of helpful feedback.

Hey Bearded man! Thanks for inviting me to the closed beta. I've only had time to have two runs so far...The first time, I found lots of plant life off the bat, realized stones and branches were near the water and got eaten by a yellow ant eater thing. I noticed, when I pick up an item, the little popup on the right is very quick to disappear and I almost miss it. I picked things up out of order than what the little helper popup was telling me (Find a stone, Find a branch, etc.) It doesn't seem to progress to the next hint even though I may have already done what it's asking me to find or craft.


My second run, I tried to find items in the order the hints were telling me but soon realized I could not find ANY hemp. I'm not sure if this was a glitch or if maybe they are supposed to be rare and only spawn in specific areas, but I ran until I perished from cold and did not find a single hemp plant to make cordage.

I also noticed, these mobs, the ant eater yellow beetle guys and occasionally the Ant looking mobs, were randomly jumping up in the air/twisting around mid air at random, more often  when I looked at them. Soon after I took the screenshot, 2 began to come straight for me from the distance shown in the image.

Not sure if this is much help, but just my thoughts so far. :)


-elizrawr

Developer

Thanks for the feedback Eli. I'm uploading a patch right now so I will address and implement these issues in the next patch.

  • add more hemp plants and have the compass direct you to a patch of hemp upon obtaining the quest. (I'll also add a tip in the journal quest log that explains that the hemp plants are often found by the large hemp trees)
  • slow down the pickup notification
  • auto complete objective if already accomplished
  • fix the jumpy AI

So i did a quick play through as i'm wanting to get a little familair with the game before i streamed it.  just at few things i've noticed.

  • There is no UI to provide information to the player.  health/stamnia/  the hotbar is nice but it would also be nice to be able to see it on screen so we know what we have in what areas.. It would also be nice to be able to drag an item to the hotbar to assign it to a specific spot to allow us to choose the order that it goes into
  • Bamboo.  I hit every tree and plant i could find and couldn't locate any bamboo, maybe it's just me being dumb or completely missing it but it made me think, a glossery would be nice with a picture of what i'm looking for to kind of match it up, just an idea.
  • I had some issues getting out of water, maybe its intended, wasn't a big issue but seemed like the the chararacter kept colliding with the water not allowing me to get out.  
  • Not certain if its intended, but there is no punch option? i play a lot of survival games, usually you can punch things straight out of the gate.  as a way of collecting or defending yourself, you can't do anything without a tool or weapon in your hand. 

Just a few ideas. Also do you have a discord set up for this yet? it would be a good idea i think for realtime feedback and to start building your playerbase. 

I'll be streaming this in the next few days.  So i'll most likely have a load of feedback after that. 

Developer (5 edits)

Thanks for the feedback.  Currently the UI health, stamina etc. are only in the inventory menu, but warning icons pop up when any meter is low. This was done intentionally to make a minimalist UI like The Long Dark which is why you can also hide the quests too if you want to play in  "screenshot" mode. I may add an option to remove the cross-hair (dot). However, I realize lots of people like to have the UI elements always on screen also, so I plan to make it a toggle. I just haven't implemented it yet :D. I will put it into the next update.

The Bamboo is in big patches around the map. You don't need a tool to get it, you just pick it up. I'll figure out a way to make this more obvious to new players.

I'm not sure why you couldn't get out of the water. Maybe the shore was too steep? I'll look into it but the swimming mechanics are very much a work in progress. One of the first things I'm going to add is the ability to stay above the surface while swimming. Currently you kind of bob up and down. Swim animation (bare handed) and an oxygen meter are coming soon too. If you could give me more info on where you were and what buttons you were pressing when you were having trouble getting out of the water that would be awesome, and see if it is reproducible when you get out of the water and go back in.

Punching is definitely being implemented sooner or later.


Setting up a Discord is a great idea. I will look into it soon. Can't wait for the stream, I hope to catch it or watch a recording. What is your twitch name or do you stream on youtube? 

Make sure to get the latest update before you stream. The first Alpha update 1.01 went live last night. I'm not sure yet if the itch.io app automatically updates the game for you or if you have to click the "check for updates" button. 


Thanks again and I hope you have fun testing Windstone and am looking forward to more feedback.

I also forgot to address the equip bar hotkeys. Currently I will have to completely remake the equip bar system from the ground up to allow custom equip bar slot dropping. I plan on doing it but it will take quite a bit of time. It will not be a priority until other more urgent things are dealt with unless there is a majority of requests from players to do so.

Developer (2 edits)

@themightychops Update 1.02 will be going live sometime today. It includes many changes that you suggested including toggling the UI/HUD, objective clarifications and punching! If you haven't streamed it yet, you might want to wait for this update. If you have streamed or recorded a video I would love to see it!

Hi. Just a very first impression. I played some, died 2 times. I like the visuals and want to continue exploring the game itself. However, one thing is holding me back. The music. It is nice and fitting to Windstone, but it is playing constantly and that is driving me completely nuts. It's not only in this game, I always turn music down in any game. So I hope you consider putting in an option to turn the music volume down and even off. That would be so nice! :-)

Developer (1 edit)

There already is :D 

You can turn down the music volume in the audio settings options menu (press P or Esc to get into it while in game) or simply toggle the N key to mute the music.

Did you get the bug where the battle music plays constantly too? I feel your pain. It should be fixed in the last update.

YES! Thank goodness! :D

I haven't encountered battle music or didn't pay attention to it. I'll have a closer look at Windstone today. Thanks for your reply!

The bow is extremely hard to use effectively. I think I only hit once when I was almost right next to a formican (which then killed me, but hey, it happens.) It would be helpful if I could see the arrows in flight so I can see if I'm shooting to high or too low without having to run over to the arrow and guess where my target was. 

Some way to lock my buildings in place would be great too, I keep grabbing the walls and floor by accident when I'm moving other things around. And sometimes it seems a bit touchy for getting things just the way I want them... Alternatively, a pre-built home option would be pretty good too. Cost a lot of resources but it has everything inside it all ready to go. Something along the lines of  the huts I found in the map, that have the fire pits and things but can't be moved or altered.

Will there be farming down the road? And do resources grow back? 

Developer (1 edit)

Hi ratgirl34,

You have to hold right click first to knock an arrow, then while still holding right click hold left click to draw the arrow. The longer you draw back the arrow the farther it will fly when you release left click. If you eat a blue cap mushroom your arrows will become illuminated when you fire them for a limited time so you can more easily judge their trajectory. You can toggle this with a hotkey found in the options.

Locking the building pieces and prebuilt huts will be added in the future.

There will also be farming. Resources do not respawn as of now.

Thanks for testing Windstone.

Edit. You also do not have to wait for the knock arrow animation to complete before drawing back. You can start pressing left click as soon as you hold right click to quickly knock and draw back the arrow. You can rapid fire very quickly at short range this way if you left go of left click as soon as you start drawing back. Takes a bit to get used to but the dynamics of the bow are supposed to have variation: Fire far at a slow rate or near at a fast rate or anywhere in between.

Oh, I figured out how to knock and fire. It's the aim that I'm having trouble with. The blue mushroom helps me find them after I've shot them, but as far as seeing them in flight it does not help even at night. I tried out the rapid fire though and it has helped me take down fornicians without having to rely on the blow darts.

Could be I'm just not a ranged person in this game, which is different from how I usually play. 

And as a side note, I was doing really well. Made the longest run so far, decided to explore the mountains... Got lost and died. Like, I swear there were pools of water and stuff every time I was starting to get worried, then somehow I found the one spot that was super far away from everything to camp. If I'd had the glider I would have been fine... I died ten times trying to find my way out. It was hilarious all the different places I found to die, and terribly frustrating that I didn't have a save outside the mountains. Eventually just gave up and started over. Live and learn. Or die and learn...

It takes a little practice with the bow. Remember to hold down the left mouse button to pull back the string and shoot further. I am hunting them in this video (go to around 11:45 if you wanna see, how I take them down): 

I am not good at seeing the trajectory of the bows/darts either...the light from eating blue mushrooms is only helpful during the night or when trying to find arrows on the ground after missing. But yeah it just takes practice to get used to it. 

Ryan will be making some changes to the building system in an upcoming update - I complained about picking up building pieces by mistake too LOL

Resources don't seem to grow back, but farming is planned for the future from what Ryan has said previously.

Food scarcity is a real pain... I had no idea that the gourds and stuff don't respawn. The only thing I can kill without being killed is the Ostri. Forget the antelope! Their hitbox is too small and I'm 58 years old with poor eyesight ...I can't see the arrows even with the buff. The only way I could kill one was to chase him into the water and hit him with my sword. I barely had enough food for myself, mostly gourds and Chanterelles and then the dragonling wouldn't eat anything but raw meat. So, I guess he died while I was TRYING to hunt antelope.  I love this game but I hate the food scarcity! Also, I hate the "Moddeled" thing cause it makes me die for no good reason. Like needing to build a fire but being too moddeled to build it. That's just stupid. I get it! Mental health but being crazy in RL won't kill you. And then I have this coat thing that's supposed to keep me warm right? But it doesn't and I get moddeled and don't even know it  because that stat doesn't even show until you open your inventory. There I was well fed with full stamina and rested but dying because I was moddeled.  This game will be short lived because of the food scarcity. No food means you die! Hunting OP mobs means you die! Hunting antelope that won't let you get near enough to shoot them means you die! Antelope that run so fast you can never catch up to them means you die! With all this dying there is no chance to survive. With Jumping Formicans and Tardigrades there is no safe pearch from which to shoot them and ranged weapons are pointless because no matter what you die! As I said I really love this game but I hate dying without a choice. The way you have it setup we have no choice but to die. So now that my dragonling is dead [must be because he was gone when I returned.] what comes next? Do I go back up and get another egg or is it just a one time deal? Ideally, I wouldn't hatch the thing until I have a ton of meat but wait that won't work either because it will spoil... You should rename the game "Die! Die and Die again!" because in the end there are no survivors.

Developer

Hello melparrishjr,

Thanks for testing Windstone. I'm sorry you had such a hard time with all the dying. Once you learn the mechanics of the game it becomes much easier and living indefinitely in relative safety is possible. That is the current end goal and objective, to figure out how to not die, much like sandbox mode in the game The Long Dark, which is permadeath in comparison (in Windstone you can at least load your last save).

If you eat blue cap mushrooms, your arrows will glow brightly when you fire them making it much easier to judge their trajectory.

Eating most of the mushrooms will cure the "muddled state" and add to your mental fortitude. Make sure to tend to whatever is causing the muddled state (sleeping if you're tired, eating when your hungry etc)

The hide poncho slows the rate at which you get cold but is not supposed to keep you completely warm forever. You will still need a fire or at least a lit torch most nights but will not become cold as fast while wearing the poncho. The portable shelter also helps keep you warm.

If the dragon hatchling dies you have to reload a previous save to get it back as it is the last dragon on the island. This may change in the future. He will only eat meat as he is a carnivore like dragons in real life :D

The game is supposed to be very hard and I am inspired much by the mechanics and game play of The Long Dark (sandbox mode) with aspects of Ark but leaning more towards the former.

Windstone is in its early infancy in a free to play alpha state only recently released to the public. Much has changed based on feedback since release and much more will change before I set a price to it.

Thanks again for your feedback and I will definitely take it all into consideration.

thanks a lot for the info  Dev  : ).  any chance you can fix it so when i turn the music off it stays off? i turn it off then it get daylight or dark it comes back on. i have to keep going in turn it on then save the settings  then turn it off then save the settings again. your game is fun for sure . once we can grow food the trees grow back will make it even better. 

Developer

Seems like the audio level setting in the options is resetting to default during certain times. I'm looking into it. In the mean time, you should be able to use the N key to quickly toggle the music off and on. That way you don't have to keep going into settings to turn it down or off. I will fix it though as soon as I figure out what is causing the volume setting to reset to default.

using N key will help a lot thanks.

so its free but i cant dl it? 

You should be able to. Just click Download, then you can choose to leave a tip for the dev or just click "No thanks. Take me to the downloads" and then there will be a button to download it.

(2 edits)

I've seen GameEdged play The Long Dark in his YouTube LP series and I'm not a big fan of it. To me making things unecessarily hard just for the sake of making it hard is BS. This whole muddled effect is unfairly difficult to manage! The stat is hidden in the inventory when it should be visible at all times as it seems to be the most important stat that needs to be watched at all times. IRL if I get "Muddled" it won't kill me, but in this game even if I have a fire going and food to cook it won't let me cook it to save my life... literally! Muddled shouldn't be anthing but a dire warning. But you've introduced a stat that wouldn't exist at all under any other circumstances in real life or otherwise just by making it something that interferes with everday ordinary tasks and makes them deadly. One minute I'm fine and the next I'm muddled and not just a little muddled either. I love this game but I hate the muddled effect. If I understand it correctly, it's when you haven't had enough rest seeing that the opposite of muddled is Lucid [which is being able to think straight and concentrate.] but being too cold wouldn't have anything to do with that nether would being a little hungry.  Still if I get cold or hungry or thirsty I get muddled even if I am fully rested. This is BS!!

Even if I find the medicinal herbs or Chanterelles to cure my Muddled effect I can't eat if I'm not hungry! But in IRL if I'm not well I can take my medicine on a full stomache can't I?

Developer

Your suggestions will be considered. Please be patient as the game develops. Much is yet to be done and much will be altered.

A muddled warning icon will be added that is similar to the other icon warnings

You can currently purge your stomach with certain mushrooms.

Just briefly skimming through here, I didn't see my issue posted. I am trying to figure out how to use the mortar and pestal. When I click "crush herb" nothing happens.  I'm assuming I need specific ones? 

I, too, am having issues with the bow.  I am using the blue cap buff and can easily find my arrows, but I'm always just shy of the  mark.  Maybe make the hit box a bit bigger on the antelope? Or try some visual physics effects like the above poster, (ratgirl34), suggested to get the aim right? 

Anyway, I've only been playing for a few hours, and I am super impressed by how well the game runs considering you are doing this alone. I'm also happy to see you so actively engaged with your community! 

Developer

Hi shellshaffer169

You must crush the pink herb with the healing mortar and the poison herb with the poison mortar. I made then separate because cross contamination  seemed logical.

The bow takes some getting used to. Generally aim higher than you think you have to at first and pull back the bow all the way. The distance the arrow flies varies based on how far back you draw the bow and the arrow drop at distance is significant. 

The hitbox on the antelope is exactly as big as the antelope itself. Any bigger and you would injure it without even hitting it, any smaller and you could stick an arrow into it without injuring it. That said, there are some issues where this does not always work as intended and it has to do with the arrow sometimes not registering on one of the two hitboxes (the one that senses damage [collision capsule] and the one that "catches" the arrow and makes it stick [the physics body which in turn links it to the nearest skeletal bone])I'm working on making it so that if the arrow sticks into the animal it ALWAYS causes damage but that is not as easy as it may seem.

I could add a pre-fire trajectory line but I want to keep the bow and arrow mechanics a little more realistic and challenging. The glowing arrow effect after using a mushroom is somewhat equivalent to the IRL arrows that have a LED light in the knock that turns on when the arrow is fired. That's not saying that I wouldn't add a different mechanic to make aiming easier in the future, maybe a different rare mushroom that temporarily adds the trajectory line.

Thanks for your feedback

I like that the mushrooms make the arrows/darts glow, because it makes it easier to find the ones that you miss with. :D I don't find it helpful when shooting...might help if you do combat, when it's dark. I don't find it necessary though, since it just takes a little practice to figure out the right distance and way to take on the individual mob types. 

I'm liking this game so far, although I am still dying a bit :-P I think I have started to work out the mechanics of most of it... I got really stuck trying to work out how to build, so I thought I would pass that feedback on. I kept looking at the items and right clicking, but playing as many survival games as I do I was thinking "No, I don't want to drop the item, I want to place it!" I couldn't work out how to get it into a hot bar, or press E to use, or anything until I eventually just tried dropping it anyway.

I'm also curious, it feels like there is a weight mechanic in place, and encumberance, but I couldn't see where this was reflected or if it made you more fatigued quicker? I am always overloading myself (it is a bad habit, but hey I own it) so I am pretty sure I was encumbering myself in this also...

Great game so far though, I am by no means done playing it yet! <3

It says in the top right of your inventory, when it's open (if I remember correctly). Max weight is 300 or so, but once you pass 250 you get slowed down.

I really Like this game good job!

(1 edit)

Hey Threshold Seven. I love the new mechanics in the new updates but I have some ideas and suggestions-

Dragon Teleportation- If a dragon which has been told to follow you is too far away, it teleports to you.

Backpack- Increases weight limit (double?). Perhaps adds more inventory too.

Mountain steps- To get to the green dragon egg on the island there is a lot of running at a slope and spamming c+space. Perhaps also add bridges and such in the jungle mountains as It  just get plain annoying before you get a dragon (that's if you don't die from fall damage before you get it) 

Muddled- I have died way to many times because I couldn't craft life saving items when I have the materials. Way too many. Please consider changing how it works or removing the function altogether.

Fire- The fire ring and pit are a little sketchy, its hard to tell if it is inside the "extended life" hitbox and it doesn't register a lot of the time. Not a huge issue but one to look into.

Temples- It might a good idea to have wall mounted torches which could be lit with a lit handheld torch, it might just make it a little disorientating which would be better. 

Thank you for being so dedicated with improving Windstone and for listening to the fanbase! I believe this game will go very far if development continues.

I look forward to hear your thoughts on my ideas, goodbye =)

its_me_

Developer

Hey there, all your suggestions are great and most I have considered putting in the game or am already working on. The muddled mechanic is a little harsh isn't it? I've contemplated how to change it so it's less punishing but am still trying to figure out the best way. Maybe being muddled could make things take more materials to craft or take more time (even though I said I don't want to add crafting loading bars in a recent devlog) I think the idea of a muddled mechanic is good, but I know its more of a pain in the ass right now.  The idea of the muddled mechanic comes from the fact that many people IRL that die stranded in the wilderness die because they become confused from hunger/thirst/fatigue/body temp and the loss of their mental faculties winds up ending in them making a bad decision or not being able to complete simple tasks.  Maybe it's just not a fun or good idea for a game mechanic but I think I can make it work with tweaking.  My other thought on the muddled mechanic is to super nerf it for "easy" mode, make it less harsh like the above suggestions for "normal" mode" and leave it as is for "hard" mode. I've yet to implement difficulty levels yet though, so this is just a thought. All in time!Thanks for the input

Also- Dev console and commands? =)

Developer

That is planned for later. Lots of other stuff to take care of first :D I'm currently in the process of migrating the project to newer versions of UE4  and will get back into developing once I've found a stable version.  I needed to upgrade to get some mouse cursor functionality that will be implemented into the next Windstone update.

So far I love the game and everything about it, but there are a few things that I think should be changed because they may improve my play time. My main concern is that when I die, I only have the option to return to the main menu, when I feel like I should be able to just load a save or respawn. Because of the main menu and my computer is not altogether that great, it takes multiple minutes just to get back into playing and often I just quit after dying. If you could add some options that allowed for what I said above, that would be much easier. Thank you!

Developer (1 edit)

I'll get loading from the death menu into the next update.

Also there are still a lot of optimizations to do pertaining to level loading. Lots of objects that load into the main world don't need to be until you are in close proximity to them. This will continue to significantly reduce load times as I optimize more of these objects with each update.

Thank you for the feedback

Ok, thank you! I really enjoy the game and think you are doing an awesome job, excited for the next update!

Also, will there be a building system coming, where you can place cots and foundations and such where you want them instead of just dropping them and then moving them? Such as where the wall would auto connect to the foundation? This would help greatly as I am having some struggles with building. Thank you!

Developer

Yes, snapping components is being worked on. There will be a toggle to snap or "free place".  In case you didn't know, you can use (while holding a building piece with right click) WASD to move around building components, Q and E to rotate them and the mouse scroll to move them away or closer to you.

Thanks for the feedback

Oh, I didn't know that about building. I'm sure that will make things way easier for me, thanks!

Hi Threshold, I'm back =) Just wondering how XP and levels are calculated.

When you start a new save, xp is 0 and does it always increase or reset to 0 every level?

Developer

XP should work like normal. It only resets to zero if you start a brand new game. If you die there is no penalty except that you have to resume from whatever your last save point was. Each level gained will reset the XP progress bar back to empty, but the number displayed in the center should show your accumulated XP from every level and the number you have to reach to gain the next level.

I do think this Game is Amazing and So much work went into this Thank you!! Sorry i get Triggered!! <3 <3 <3

So much there is in this AGame i absolutley Love it!!! Thank you <3 <3 <3
Developer(+2)

Looking forward to all new feedback on the overhauled version. Thanks for playing!

(+2)

Hello 👋

Saw your post on reddit today and played for about an hour. I've got some feedbacks for you that I'll try to detail as best as I can since english isn't my main language.


- It is not possible to rebind keys for now, which can be annoying for non QWERTY users. Maybe not a huge priority but could be enough for some people to not bother further. (You can still switch to EN keyboard at least as a workaround)

- There is no feedback when you can loot or gather something from the ground. A simple tooltip displaying the name of the item when you're looking at it from a close distance would help a lot to understand what can be interracted with and what cannot.

- There is no confirmation box when cliking close game, not a big deal, but when you accenditaly click it, it's annoying.

- It seems the resolution parameter isn't saved when exiting and restarting the game.

- I would suggest giving the player an option to disable head bobbling as it can be a source of motion sickness for some people.

- The crouch action could use a toggle setting.

- Your character slides under water even when you do not move which makes the deplacements a bit akward, like walking on ice.

- Combat lacks a lot of feedbacks.  You don't really have a dedicated FX, animation or sound when landing a proper hit on the target which gives the impression you're poking the air. The same goes for yourself when you're hit.

- When you need a specific tool for a craft, have it displayed in the craft menu somehow instead of letting the players try to build it and then tell them it can't be done without the X or Y tool.

- You can sprint and spend stamina in water but it does not increase your speed. Either disable the key or maybe have a rapid swim movement.

- Once you're dead maybe give the option to load a previous save directly instead of going back to the main menu to do it. On this matter I think dying takes way too much time between the moment your HP reaches 0 and the moment you get the option to play again.

- You can save during loadings which can leads to softlock gameplay when abusing this. For instance, if you save when you're dead during the fade to black (At 0 HP) load this save, and save during the loading screen then load this save again, you'll end up stuck in water and you can't do anything.

- It seems you can't load a slot while in game which is not convenient.


Regarding the feel of the game I wouldn't say it's bad, far from it, but I wonder what's your take on the survival genre with Windstone ? I did not notice unique mechanic that could make me play this instead of the dozen other survival games out there. You got decent graphics, it runs fine, you seem to be a competent developer, but I fear all of this will not matter in the long run if you don't find YOUR feature. The kind of feature that will make your game truly yours and unique in the eyes of the players. Minecraft had a fully interactive wolrd, Rust had a brutal pvp and a cool sandbox, Valheim had sweet visuals and deeper RPG elements than other game in the genre, Green Hell had hardcore survival elements, The Forest had an intriguing story etc.. All these games manage to be noticed because they offer something to the players you could not necessarily find anywhere else. 

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh because that is truly not my intention, I just wanted to tell my honest opinion.

Good luck, I wish you all the best 👋😊

Developer

Thank you, that is all great feedback. You are right that Windstone doesn't have much unique to offer other than familiar mechanics in a new setting. My hopes and plans are that as the story develops around raising the dragon, finding out what happened to the first colonists and eradicating the threat to make Windstone safe to colonize again, along with adding difficulty levels and a permadeth option, Windstone will be more unique and find its niche. 

(20 edits) (+1)

Ok, I've downloaded the game yesterday after I saw your post on reddit.

If you are looking for a brutally honest but constructive feedback, here it comes.

Positive Feedback:

  • Music / Graphics are good
  • Double click crafting / eating is a nice feature
    • would like to see that also added to crafting (to make it more consistent)
  • < placeholder for later - might add some things later once I've playtested some more >

Negative Feedback (and possible solutions):

  • The controls are a nightmare
    • Problem: The controlls are inconsistent. Tab to open inv - Tab to close it - ok easy. J to open the J to close... frik where do i cose that - oh button at the top. ESC to pause the game ESC to ... why?! oh I have to click resume in the middle. E to get fire going - that was intuitive - E to close ... damn you controls... ESC? - oh another button at the bottom right...
    • Improvements:
      • Make "ESC" consistently close any menu (would help against getting stuck in a menu)
      • Make Keybinds configurable (e.g. I want to sprint with Ctrl, sneek with Shift, etc.)
      • Make scrollwheel rotate through tools in your hotbar
  • Picking up items takes some knowledge about what items are
    • Problem: Picking up items takes some knowledge about how close you have to be to them and how small the objects you can pick up can be - not obvious to everyone. It probably didn't help as the bug with the stuck twig in the crosshair made me assume i can forcefield-move objects and confuseed me to the point where I needed a fresh start by just deleting the world - but that's not my point here.
    • Improvements:
      • Add visual feedback to items you can pick up / interact with. Or call it pebble - that would make it more obvious to everyone that you are not talking about those massive and much more visible stones scattered over the beach.
  • The graphics card is at 100% usage at all times
    • Problem: I have a GeForce GTX 980M which acording to benchmarks and your system and RAM requirements should perform between your provided minimum and optimal requirements. Then why is the GPU usage at 100% at all times? Shouldn't it at least go down when I pause the game or I am in a menu? Or when I put all graphics settings to the minimum?
    • Improvements:
      • I don't know enough about 3D games to give meaningfull advice here, but the video settings provided either do nothing at all or are a simple two state switch between beatiful and horribly pixelated. None of which reduce the GPU load of 100%. That tells me that something has to be done here to improve that situation.
      • Once that problem is sored out maybe don't start the game at the highest possible video settings - roasting every pc that does not have the latest, most expencive graphics card.
  • An unskippable boring text cutscene at the start of every world? Really?!
    • Probably just a placeholder but still that thing has either to be more interesting and draw the players attention away from a loading screen or it has to go. There is nothing more annoing than an unscippable cutscene.
  • While shooting a bow your arm blocks the view - that's also why you don't hold a bow like that.
  • Add a map - sometimes a top down view of the terrain would be really useful
    • Just saw that you already included M for Map in your keybinds - just didn't implement it yet I guess
  • < placeholder for later - might add some things later once I've playtested some more >

Some things that just take some getting used to:

  • The hands you can only see if you walk
  • Gravity being low as if you were on a moon
  • An incredibly low walking speed (sprinting is ok though)
  • Maybe make the background of the items transparent, so it looks less like the inventory is bugged, when you try to move them for the first time
  • < placeholder for later - might add some things later once I've playtested some more >

Bugs:

  • The first time - idk how - I got a twig stuck in my crosshair and carried it around with me over the whole map. It fell off eventually
  • If you chop down a tree and during that action open the menu, you will chop forever - eventually by pressing enough buttons it will go away, but still.
  • Viewing two armor pieces in a row can result to a graphical 'overlay bug' (see pic 1)
  • Video settings reset every time you start the game
  • Re-entering a saved game spawns you way under the save position, meaning also under the surface - you have to phase up to the surface by jumping a lot (see pic 2)
  • Somehow items in a chest didn't load propperly - after making them all switch place with a new item they came back (see pic 3 and 4)
  • You cant drink the water high up in the mautain lakes - neither can you drown in them

pic 1:

pic 2:

pic 3:

pic 4:


Developer(+1)

Thank you! These are exactly the kind of bugs I'm looking for. 

added even more...

Developer

You're doing God's work

Developer

That inventory bug though... that's definitely game breaking and will be my first priority. Can you reproduce it consistently?

(3 edits)

idk if I can, i just put some items in the cubbord at the place with the two bridges, went a little bit venturing along the hill side in the direction of the starter base, looted the chest behind the waterfall (not 100% sure if that was before or after), came back and all the items were blank with the line at the bottom.


Then I just put a mushroom in the cubbord and started swapping positions with each and every one of the item, thinking they just needed an update and they all came back one by one.


Here are some more pictures before and after i fixed everything if it helps:

after the first swap (mushroom uncovers stone):

after the last swap:

the place the cubbord was at:


Developer(+1)

Thanks, I'll see if I can reproduce it. 

(1 edit)

just added the cubbord location last second

and maybe there was also a save and load event somewhere in this...

That's all I wish for you and your game, keep us posted on future updates 🤗

(4 edits) (+1)

Hi, it's me again

Good news first:

Positive Feedback:

  • Good work on the bow. It's way more fun now that you can see where you aim. You can even use the knuckles as an indicator where you are shooting
  • Help text interaction indicators are nice
    • maybe you could add one for cooking as well? (It's broken btw - more about that later)
    • also show what you need to repair an item?

Bugs:

  • open basket with E and close with ESC to get a walk-around inventory - you can even open and access it where ever you go with tab
    (simmilar wierd stuff with m > tab > m)
  • Why do you need a firestarter to add wood to an already burning fire? (ok this might be a tiny thing that's just not implemented, yet)
  • somehow I got locked in the Drag menu without a cursor (could have been the Alt + Tab-ing out that many games don't like)
  • Cooking broke for some reason. Meat does neither snap into place nor show any coocking progress.

Comments:

  • I really want to sit in this chair...

Developer(+2)

Thanks again for playtesting and feedback.  I uploaded a quick hotfix without any patch notes a few days ago that I thought addressed some of what you listed, but perhaps not. The tool you need to create other tools and weapons should be in the crafting description now. (Still have to add it to the other 3 crafting tabs)

I probably broke the inventory menus by trying to make esc close multiple different windows. I may have to revert things back to simply closing with a button or the same key that the menu was opened with temporarily. 

The fire shouldn't need any tools or Firestarter to craft any more, just light. I'll look into why it still needs Firestarter to stoke if it's already lit and fix that. 

No idea why cooking broke. I'll look into that too. I'm guessing it has something to do with saving and loading its state. Can you confirm if it only breaks after saving and loading? 

There is a short description of how to cook in the survival menu when crafting a campfire. I'll add more instructive indicators to the actual cooking menu in the future. 

I also removed the ability to craft baskets for storage for now. That is part of the most recent update. This is until I can figure out why storage items disappear from crafted baskets. Am I correct that only happened to you with crafted baskets and not baskets that are already in the world?

I'm glad you like the new positioning of the arms when aiming the bow. 

Sitting in the chair is in the works.

I might be updating very soon (which will include the notes from the stealth hotfix also) because I think I fixed the video settings not persisting after restarting the game along with a handful of other changes. The engine is packaging the export right now. 

I'll work on everything you mentioned for the update after that. 

Thanks again!

(1 edit)

> No idea why cooking broke. Can you confirm if it only breaks after saving and loading?

After saving and loading the fire and doors reset (as before the update). I just simply can't cook at all now... or did you change the mechanic? Is it still "droping on ground and moving with right-click", isn't it?

> I also removed the ability to craft baskets for storage for now. That is part of the most recent update. This is until I can figure out why storage items disappear from crafted baskets. Am I correct that only happened to you with crafted baskets and not baskets that are already in the world?

Oh, we might have talk past each other here: I never crafted any storage containers! Not even baskets! I only ever used containers already present in houses or caves. The only furniture I crafted so far is a bedroll and a few campfires.

> Sitting in the chair is in the works.

yay :)

Also: thx for adding a skip button to the intro.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

I was able to experience the bug with the crafted storage, but I haven't been able to reproduce or fix it yet so I'll leave those out of the game for now. I will focus on fixing the in-game storage, but I can't reproduce that bug either. Any info on how to reproduce that bug would be greatly helpful. I suspect it only happens after loading a save. 

When it happened to you at the cabin by the waterfall, you said that you left and then when you came back the storage items were missing. Do you remember if you saved and loaded within the time you were away from the cabin, or was it a continuous play through? 

For the fire, does it only break after loading a save? After it breaks, does a new crafted or different in-game fire still work? I'm having trouble reproducing this bug too.

Thanks again.

Good news is that I figured out how to get the video settings to persist after restarting. New update is up now and I'm currently writing the patch notes that include other fixes.

(2 edits)

the one with the fire is simply that it goes out when you load the game - same with the doors. Nothing really breaks here, it's just that the lit (for doors the open) state isn't saved and therefore doesn't get loaded once you load a saved state. That's all.

The thing that does break (again in the sence of resetting a variable) is the timeoput for a dragon egg in front of that fire.

The bug with the default textured slots felt like a loading bug as well. As if the items weren't in the cache anymore and had to be loaded in from the save file once more. Replacing the bugged / unloaded slots with a not bugged item apparently did the trick by triggering that loading mechanic.

Developer(+1)

Thank you. I'm looking into it now. 

(+1)

About update 4 and 5:

> Fixed an issue that may cause the player to become stuck inside a Tardigrade corpse.

I got stuck under a Werewolf corpse when I killed it exactly in the moment it was above me and I was in crouch position.
Do you think that got fixed with it? When I look at the install date and the last played date... I don't know if I experienced it before or after the last update...

>Wildlife should no longer pursue you if you are inside a cabin. Instead of clipping halfway through the wall while trying to get to you, they should run away.

Nice one. I completly forgot to tell you that one - it was really wierd the first time I played. Good to hear that this is fixed now.

Developer (2 edits) (+2)

I'll have to take a look at the Wolf. The chance to get stuck in the Tardigrade could still happen, it should be much less of a chance. If you do get stuck, harvesting the corpse will get you unstuck, but I'm trying to find a way to keep getting stuck from ever happening. I have a few different ideas in going to test. 

The way wildlife acts around a cabin is a work in progress too. I plan to have the Formican eventually be able to break in through the door or window unless they are barricaded, as well as add a bear-type creature that can do the same, but that's a ways away. 

I spent a few hours last night just playing and trying to recreate the inventory bug.  I cannot replicate it.  Either I inadvertently fixed it without knowing, or it's very rare or circumstantial. If it happens again to you, knowing when and where your character saved and loaded, where you slept (as that causes an auto save), and which items were in the storage may help to find the bug. The are basically 4 categories of items: items that spawn in storage at the beginning of the game, items that you pick up in the world, items that you harvest and items that you craft. 

Thanks again

(1 edit) (+1)

I just came to the point where I saw the waypoint thingy for the first time... I really like your effords, but I think it's irretating :/ Maybe a simple marker on the map or a small waypoint when you look at the location on the screen - in form of a beacon if you want - would be better



r/HypixelSkyblock - Can Imove this? This is crazy. It's like a Ferris wheel going.

Good work on the cooking though - it works again.

As a sidenote: Sleeping is kinda different now - it just freezes the screen for a while and the cursor can be moved... could also just be different grafics settings though...

Developer(+2)

You can remove the compass by simply clicking on a different quest to make that one active. If the dragon quest is the only one you have, you can hide quests in the journal. Not sure if that removes the compass. I'll look into it. Perhaps can just toggle the compass by clicking on the circle next to the dragon quest. It's been a while since I made the quest system so I don't remember, but I'll add it if it doesn't do that currently. 

That's weird about the sleeping glitch. 

Window and door position should now save and the fire state and dragon egg timer should also now work with saving and loading in the current live version. 

I've added sitting in the chair which also increases health and stamina passive regen. This will be in the next update along with a couple dozen other changes including salvaging a crafted fire.

(1 edit) (+1)

> You can remove the compass by simply clicking on a different quest to make that one active. If the dragon quest is the only one you have, you can hide quests in the journal


Thx for the tip. The first one with the switching takes a while to figure out, but works. The second one with the hiding sadly doesn't include the compass, but it's good enough for now.

Congrats on the fire - just saw that it loads now. Gotta try it with a drag egg some time...

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

When sleeping, does the screen still fade to black for you if you set all the video settings to max? I think the issue is with the camera fade and it may be linked to a certain combination of video settings, possibly just post processing. I may have to make a UI blackscreen overlay fade instead of using the camera fade. That may be better anyway because it would also fade the UI elements instead of having the vitals and quests pop in and show up before the camera fade in like at the start of a new game or load. 

(1 edit) (+1)

You're right. Put all my video settings (except for the frame rate - kept that on 30 Hz) from minimum back up two steps and the fading is back - and quickly put them back down after, because I don't want my laptop to turn into a barbecue grill...

Developer (1 edit) (+2)

Thanks, I've confirmed the missing fade to black when sleeping only happens when post processing is set to the lowest setting. I've fixed it so that won't happen in the next update. 

Also, much of the overall performance issues is that I still need to add LOD to the trees and consolidate mountain meshes, which should greatly help your laptop to not be a BBQ grill. 

I've found that the view distance has the greatest affect on performance for me because it greatly reduces the amount of trees and mountains that render.

Developer

Have you came across the inventory bug since last time you posted screen shots of it? I still cannot reproduce it and no one else has mentioned it, but from your last post about it, it seems that it may still be possible.

I'm thinking it must rely on a specific combination of items taken out and put in and save loads that is rare.

(2 edits)

No, i haven't. It must be exceedingly rare. (And yes I've been up there and tried getting out of the loaded chunk and quickly back in - if something like chunks exists in this game - saving and loading the game, opening the near chest under the waterfall. But it didn't happen again)

If I were you, I'd just put that bug in a box with all the screenshots provided and stop looking at it until someone else stubles apon it again and provides more information. (In a github project I'd create an 'issue', but something like that doesn't exist here, does it?)

Right now performance (with saving video settings) and controls (with adjustable keybinds) should be priority.

Once you have those two you might be able to get more players and therefore more testers that don't give up on it after the first few seconds because of those two and maybe then someone else stubles apon more info about that tiny, item texture, loading issue.

But as I don't know much about unreal engine or the current state of your codebase, that is just my opinion.

Developer (2 edits) (+2)

I just uploaded a major patch with about 30 changes. You can sit in the chair now! :)

I haven't spent an excessive time looking for the inventory bug. I just keep an eye out for it when I play test other things and I naturally use the inventory while playing, so I'm hoping to run into it and notice a reason for why it may be happening. Nevertheless, it's a pretty major bug that needs fixing, but I get your point. 

There are 4 chunks in the playable area, called streaming levels in UE4.  I thought that might have something to do with it, but I don't think so as I've tested saving and loading in all of them. 

Concerning your mention of the video settings; They should save and load properly now. Are you referring to the overall performance and that the game needs overall optimization of the highest video settings?

As for the key binds, I plan to add customizable key binds soon, but I thought it was a low priority at this stage. You have me second guessing my assumption that there wouldn't be many players that wouldn't play just because of that. I just didn't think it was really an issue but you may be right. I should prioritize that as it's an expected feature. 

Other than optimization and key binds (and the dreaded inventory bug of doom) what else would you consider a high priority? I don't expect a super detailed response or any response at all, but since you seem genuinely interested in playing and helping to improve the game, I have no other person to ask other than myself and the dark void of the internet that rarely responds. 

Edit: Also I don't use anything else like github for feedback. There is a "known issues" thread, but I haven't added anything to it for quite a while and most stuff on there is fixed or outdated. Following replies and keeping my own list works for now but I will update and add the inventory bug to the issues thread if it persists.

You have been a great help and I appreciate your play testing and feedback very much. Can't really say that enough. Thank you. 

(9 edits) (+1)

> You can sit in the chair now!

YES! - I get sea sick from the slow animation while at 30 fps, but - WOHOOO! :)

> video settings should save and load properly now

Oh, they are in the save file of a game state... I always adjust them in the main menu and wondered why they are always at max...

The main menu needs to remember the graphics settings as well as it is quite demanding...



On the priorities part I think I need to clarify some things as they didn't come across the way I wanted to...

1) lower default graphics settings at first startup and main screen performance

  • If someone wants to roast their pc they can crank up the settings later, but someone on a low end pc can also play it without crashing right the moment they start the game
  • also comes together with what i mentioned above with the demanding main screen - idk, maybe replace it by a pre-rendered video? Would that decrease the demand of recources while maintaining quality?

2) gameplay performance (already discussed)

  • (add LOD to the trees and consolidate mountain meshes, etc.)

3) controls

  • I differentiate between controlls and keybinds. Controls is how you control the game using the preset keybinds. Things like closing any menu, getting into the pause screen and back using one key -> ESC. If controls don't work properly, players get stuck in menus and get frustrated. To prevent that, make sure that every element type has it's propper logic, you'd expect from a first person parspective game:
    • Menu - Enter by <KEY>, exit by <KEY> or ESC
      • E for opening a chest inventory, but only half way closing it with the same key is an inconsistency for example
      • "This is an ongoing process as making the ESC key close all menus as well as using the same button used to open menus is complex but a priority for user friendliness." - This basically.
    • Hud - Enable by <KEY>, Disable by <KEY>
    • Movement - Start by pressing <KEY>, stop by releasing <KEY>
    • ...
    • Add map movement using mouse? zoom? etc.
    • ...

Keybinds are - as you mentioned - a lower priority. I just thought you might want to add them to the settings file while you are at it. That's why i put them in brackets. Same with saving video settings.


Once performance and controls are solid, you can start expanding the content. Here are some ideas:

  • add more details to the item description once an item has been fully explored aka eaten or used. How much hunger it restores takes, how much base damage it deals, etc.
  • improve map by adding waypoints (and remove spinny compass thing) / fast-tavel
  • split the regions into animal spawn zones
    • increasing difficulty away from spawn
    • themes: beach = shrimp, forest = wolf & antilope & peacock, hills = tardigrades (and add them to the map on discovery)
  • add more items, mobs, locations, story, etc. - but i can see from the game files you are on that already...
Developer(+2)

Thank you.   VIdeo for the main screen is a great idea as are the others. I'll look into them all. 

(+1)

Me reading the title page of this game after playtesting for weeks and collecting over 18 ingame hours of play testing:

"The insect-like Formicans are your primary enemy.  Your main mission is to exterminate them and their queen."

Oh, so that's what this is all about!

The main reason I started play testing this game were the beautiful screenshots on your main page and that I just wanted to explore this beautiful landscape you created with a baby dragon on my side - and so far I gotta say it did not disappoint :) . Going forward I wanted to share my personal opinion on the future of this game: A main enemy might give direction, but don't let it dominate the game to the point where you are just stabbing Formicans for hours straight. Discovering new items, mobs and areas is way more fun. And maybe even implement a peaceful solution to whatever made Formicans your primary enemy in the first place.

Developer (1 edit) (+2)

Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, the Formican invasion of the colony planet is the main theme driving the story, but that's basically all in my head right now. There will be various Formican bosses to defeat until you finally find the Formican Queen, but the main focus will always be on exploration and survival.   It will be open ended with major enemies that you can defeat whenever you feel like you are ready, but with focus on exploration and survival. Combining the feel of the games the Long Dark and Ark is my vision.  I never considered a peaceful alternative ending, but I will now. Maybe the player could drive the Formicans off the planet instead of eradicate them. 

On a side note, I finally figured out how to make all menus toggle with the hotkey to open them, except storage which opens with E and closes with Tab, i or Esc and fires and beds, which open with E, but close with ESC. Closing them with E doesn't feel right because it is the main interact/open button, but I could try it out. The main thing is that every menu now closes with ESC, even the pause menu. 

The overhead map can also be moved now. With WSAD. These changes will be in the next update. 

Customizable hotkeys assignment is a whole different thing and I discovered that I need to upgrade to a more recent version of UE4 to implement them properly, so that may be delayed quite a while. 

My next focus is on optimization of trees and mountain meshes.

Also considering implementing a permadeth option and increasing difficulty all around (less pre crafted supplies laid out and higher damage from enemies). 

Thanks again for all your feedback and I'm really glad you have enjoyed playing. 

(2 edits) (+1)

Comments on version 8:

  • Graphics on minimum (except for 30FPS and 1920x1080) now again are at 100% GPU usage - I think that was down to 50% before the update (Gotten worse now?). My guess would be, that the fps cap got destroyed in the process.
  • Pressing E on a campfire multiple times, now opens multiple menus that are hard to close once you closed the fron one using the button. Only opening and closing the inventory using tab, gets rid of the floating-stuck menu.
  • E opens the basket, but does not close it, because the opened basket then becomes the inventory (it just resets the pointer, when it should also close the inventory)
  • Is it just me, or does the rain sound like water falling on a sheet metal plate or "Plexiglass" (the sound in the back not the 'splishing' in the front) [low priority]
  • Sometimes there are still scenes where I don't see a damn thing... (well I do see something if I crank my backlight up all the way, but then the rest is so bright I can't to look at it anymore)
  • Can I have doubleclick crafting from the crafting menu? I really like the quick-action doubleclick mechanic.
    Maybe even add it to the nutrish of the baby-drag on raw meat doubleclick. [low priority]
  • Sitting in the chair a little bit of looking around would be nice... [low priority]
  • Oh, I almost hard-locked my carried pet on save and load (because it drops on load)...

Positive Feedback:

  • Wave noise is really nice. (Either I did not notice it before or it's new - either way its great)
  • Speed increment on the sitting nausea problem worked!
  • Changing the peakock ai to being less agressive is nice!
  • Bigger stones look good.
  • Nice fix on the "Stuck in ground on load" issue

EDIT: and just when I was done with this post, version #9 dropped ...

Developer(+1)

You'll have to load a new game to fix the video settings and fps cap. 

Your gpu usage will drastically change in real time depending on where you are looking; at a clear sea or into a dense forest. 

E isn't currently used to close menus as it's the main interact button. Only the other hotkeys that open menus can be used to close them respectively. ESC and TAB  close everything though. I'll look into making E close menus that it opens also. 

The stuck-in-ground issue was fixed 4 or 5 updates ago as was the raptor/peacock ai. I suspect that you still experienced it because you were using an old save. 

It should get very dark at dusk and dawn, right before the moon and sun rise respectively. If that happens at other times, something is wrong. 

I've heard that "rain on a tin roof" sound also. I plan to fix it and will soon. Thanks again for the feedback. 

(2 edits)

> The stuck-in-ground issue was fixed 4 or 5 updates ago as was the raptor/peacock ai. I suspect that you still experienced it because you were using an old save.

You missunderstood: It is under the Positive feedback category. I noticed the change and wanted to say good job - furthermore it is an old save and it works there as well.

Developer(+1)

I misunderstood,  but I see now. I'm glad that bug is fixed. Thanks.

(1 edit)

I just had an idea about the inventory bug from a while ago, when I looked at these bugged graphics settings:

As it is obviously stored outdated data from an earlier version that causes it, it might have been the same problem back then. Did you change the item storing system or maybe add / remove / rename item attributes around the time it occured?

Maybe I've played, stored items, saved, exited, updated and stared again? Outdated data is the exact cinda thing that causes such loading issues. And updating the slots by swapping new and old items around could have been the trigger to update those old ones to a new standard...

Developer(+2)

Make sure to start a new game any time a new version is updated. You can sometimes continue from an old save with no issue, but starting a new game will rule out any issues, which I think may be the the cause of some of the issues from your previous post. 

The last update 9 was just a quick fix for the camp fire and some other small issues. The fire was not casting light.

Addressing your performance issues.  FPS is of most concern. You should be getting higher fps with the optimization update. Real-time sun lighting and shadows for the day night cycle, and a relatively high polycount and model count in a large seamless world are going to be rough on an older laptop. 

What fps are you getting on average in different situations? It should be highest standing at the shore looking out to sea or the sky and lowest looking towards the forest, especially with a lit campfire. 

I will look into the other issues. 

Thanks again for your feedback. 

(5 edits)

> Addressing your performance issues.  FPS is of most concern. You should be getting higher fps with the optimization update. Real-time sun lighting and shadows for the day night cycle, and a relatively high polycount and model count in a large seamless world are going to be rough on an older laptop.  What fps are you getting on average in different situations? It should be highest standing at the shore looking out to sea or the sky and lowest looking towards the forest, especially with a lit campfire.

Here is more data on it (notice the NVIDIA Performance overlay in the top right corner):

You were right. Looking at the ocean did reduce the load on the GPU. Looks like the main factor for the high GPU usage is all that foliage (leaves and grass).

Toying around with the graphics settings and looking at the performance, the only option that changed a lot seems to be the FPS setting (logically). The others don't seem to do much (they are something, so keep them in, but the effect is small performance wise).

Maybe a setting for the foliage would be the key to make this game available to more players. One for the amount of leaves / grass, one for the texture detail of them and the third one for disabling the wind animation, might do the trick. A setting to disable the wind animation might also solve another problem I had when the shadows got to twitchy or for people who might experience some sort of nausea because of all the movement.

Also, about the "GTX 550" in the minimum requirements on the title page. Did you mean the "GTX 550-Ti?" If you did, my GPU should well exceed that minimum you set there https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-980M-vs-Nvidia-GTX-550-Ti/m1559...
and almost meet the highest requirements with the GTX 1060 https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-980M-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1060-3GB/m15.... As the GPU is at 100% when I set the game to Lowest Settings and 60 FPS (1080p), I ask myself: Are those requirements still up to date, is this the goal for the final version, or is the plan to push the requirements even further?

You also might wanna define "lower end" in that "Video Settings within the game will allow Windstone to run on computers with lower end processors and graphics cards" statement.

Developer (2 edits)

It's tricky make a recommended Minimum and maximum requirement as it is a  subjective and the game changes with updates. The current requirements are an estimate based on my old and computers and an old version of the game and play testers systems from about 3 years ago. The low is around where the game should at least load and run but still have lowish fps even on low settings. It's the minimum to at least be able to play at an acceptable, albeit low fps, and that's where it becomes subjective. The high is recommended for the game to run at least 60 fps average on high settings, but that became even more unclear with the big overhaul update a month ago. Anything under the highest recommended specs shouldn't be expected to run 60 fps at maximum settings. I'll look into a more relevant min max requirement.

How does Windstone run for you compared to other games such as Ark or any other game that is large and a seamless open world? Ark is a good comparison because it is built similarly and on the same engine. 

Thank you for testing the performance with overlays and the screen shots.

You may have noticed that I removed the 4 variations of settings for most settings and not there is just low and maximum. The maximum is the original maximum and the low is a modified medium/high. I did this because there was not much of a difference between medium and high and low looked absolutely horrendous. 

I don't see much difference in performance between low and maximum either but there is some. The main reason was to preserve visual quality and to adhere to a certain visual standard. 

View Distance setting was left untouched and has the biggest affect on fps for me and may for other users. Could you try running the performance overlay test again and record the difference between view distance settings when looking into the trees? If you do this, make sure it is at an angle where there are many trees far in the background also. 

I also changed the way that the view distance settings are changed in the engine and I need to confirm that it is actuality culling all objects like trees, rocks and mountains in the distance and not just grass. I can do this myself, but it just occurred to me that it might not be working properly after the change. 

The trees definitely have a big impact on performance and I'll continue to optimize in the future. There is also a significant performance connection with certain scripts that run constantly to check various variables that I can make run more efficiently as well as AI and the dynamic day night cycle which both also affect fps. I'll be working on those also.

Thanks again for the feedback. 

EDIT: I confirmed that the view distance setting is working as intended. Setting this lower should significantly affect your fps if it is struggling at max settings

(1 edit)

> How does Windstone run for you compared to other games such as Ark or any other game that is large and a seamless open world? Ark is a good comparison because it is built similarly and on the same engine.

I don't have Ark. All I got is

  • "Minecraft" Forge with OptiFine, 57 fps, 1920x1017 (windowed mode) => around 30 % GPU usage
  • "Rising Worlds" 80 fps, 1920x1080 => around 80 % GPU usage
  • "Assassin's Creed Origins" 56 fps, 1920x1080 => around 80 % GPU usage
    • I had this one on 1600x900, which lowered the GPU usage to 40%. Maybe I should try that with your game as well... EDIT: That res seems to be non-existent in your game as well as lowering it to the lowest 16:9 res still doesn't allow for a below 99% GPU usage 60 fps...
  • "Just Cause 3" (deleted for disc space reasons, but it ran smoothly)
  • "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" 59 fps, 1920x1080 => around 90 % GPU usage

that have a comparable large open world.

Rising Worlds is quite simmilar to your game - not from an lore standpoint, but viewing it from a graphics and gameplay perspective. Harvestable recources (trees even fall when choped down), foliage moving in the wind, etc. Here is a screenshot with performance overlay:


> Could you try running the performance overlay test again and record the difference between view distance settings when looking into the trees? If you do this, make sure it is at an angle where there are many trees far in the background also.

I tried, but there is not much to see, because 1) OBS doesn't like fullscreen apps and I don't know how to record that overlay and 2) the usage at 15 FPS just jumps around the 60% a bit and what you see is more the base randomness of the performance than actual results and at 30 or 60 fps it always stays at 99% and you cant see the usage rising from there...

Developer(+1)

Sorry, I didn't mean record a video. I just meant record the data; take a screen shot as a record. Leave the fps setting at 60 and only change the view distance setting. View Distance has 4 stages which greatly reduces the number of mountain rocks, trees, boulders and foliage in the distance, which should increase your fps. 

(2 edits)

... and I ment it doesn't make much of a difference:

Direction I look:


Nearest:


Near:


Far:


Maximum:

Other Settings:


Interesting. So the map is lightweight - nicely done :)  [only 55% GPU usage]

On another note a "do you want to save" menu would be nice before closing or switching to the main menu. Because if you accedently forget about saving (or don't know yet, that it is a thing), you loose all your progress on close. I expected autosave like any other game like this has and was annoyed when I had to start all over the first few times. And when you die you think it is hardcore all the way the first few times untill you figure out that you can save manually. A "do you want to save" screen would probably guide you towards the idea that you can save manually from the pause menu.

Developer (6 edits) (+1)

Thank you

Something is up if it's set to 60 fps but only getting 30, especially on the map screen. 

The gpu usage and overall performance is lower on the map screen because most objects are beyond the view distance at that height, which is why the view distance setting has such a large effect on fps when the map is closed. 

Is your gpu software capping your global framerate at 30?  

I must also reiterate that if you are holding a relatively steady fps while gpu usage fluctuates, that's great. High gpu usage isn't necessarily a bad thing if the framerate stays steady. It just means there's a lot of things to draw on the screen. Fps is the primary concern.

It would also be good to set everything to maximum and then check how view distance effects fps.

You should get better fps with everything set to maximum with the lowest view distance than everything set to low with the highest view distance. Although something else is capping your fps at 30 and the lowest it dropped is 29 so not much can be gleaned unless we figure out why your fps is capped.

(1 edit)

> Is your gpu software capping your global framerate at 30?

Im getting up to 85 fps on "Rising Worlds" so defnitly not.

> High gpu usage isn't necessarily a bad thing if the framerate stays steady. It just means there's a lot of things to draw on the screen. Fps is the primary concern.

Well it concerns me. I want to be able to touch my laptop without burning my fingers off, even though I dont have to as I use external input devices and a laptop cooler below it so neither i nor the table need to touch it most of the time. The next point would be the long term health of my laptop. The cooler it is the longer all the components stay in good condition.

> not much can be gleaned unless we figure out why your fps is capped

Maybe another bottleneck? hdd, memory, cpu? I'll look into it later.

(5 edits) (+1)

So... Update 11.

First of all, nice job on the 'E' closes all feature. I really appreciate that.

Now what else....

  • [3D Models / Textures] Something is wrong with the characters face. I think it's things like the right eye (her left one) looking in the wrong direction and the spotlight glare making her skin, hair and eye color look a little wierd or something like that - the later could be on purpose or just the color representation of my monitor or graphic settings though, because it looks a little bit better when on maximum graphic settings - the glare still seems to much though aka the lighting to bright.
  • [3D Models / Textures] I liked the shrimp formician better than the ant one. Especially for this early game area. The ant one could be a good fit for the higer level ones though. Compared to the ant one the shrimp one also looks cuter and facing it you feel more like hunting for sea food rather than attacking an intelligent otherworldly enemy - if that makes sence.
  • [Video Settings] A 1600x900 option would be nice as it might strike the right balance between performance and video quality (as it did for me on 'AC Origins')
  • [Controls] 'Esc' should also close the pause menu again
  • [QOL] Maybe increace the arrow's 'click box' size a tiny bit. They are quite hard to pick up sometimes
  • [Acheivements] Why does a crafting task still show up and tell me to craft something I just picked up and now need create a duplicate to finish that task. Maybe chage it to 'craft or find' or 'craft or collect.'
  • [QOL] Add small indecators on some bars. E.g. the 'sleep' bar could do with small seperators each hour so you can easily see how much you have to sleep to fully fill it. Same with the fireplace. There a transparent overlay on how much the number of fuel souces you are about to add, adds to the fires duration.
  • [Bug] Quickly switching between the activation of two tasks that still need time to finish, overlaps the 'days remaining' texts and makes them hard to read:
Developer(+2)

Thanks doej.  Did you ever figure out why you're capped at 30fps? There's a possibility that your laptop just can't pull a higher frame rate, but if you can on other games as you stated, you definitely should be able to at least on the main title screen and in map view. 

Possibly you inadvertently set an fps cap in the nvidia settings for Windstone?

Developer(+2)

Also confirm that Esc closes the pause menu, as it works for me.  You may need to start a new save.

(2 edits) (+1)

> confirm that Esc closes the pause menu

New save, new game. Still doesn't work (maybe I need to delete all save files manually... Nope, still not working)

> Did you ever figure out why you're capped at 30fps? There's a possibility that your laptop just can't pull a higher frame rate, but if you can on other games as you stated, you definitely should be able to at least on the main title screen and in map view.

I get 60 fps if I look at the sky..



Developer(+2)

Thanks, I should have another update coming this week and have addressed some things from your latest feedback, as well as some major additions

(+1)

Some feedback, I've played two versions ago.

-The repair info is behind the item image, I can't see it unless I go to inventory and get out quickly

-I took some time to realize what's the intersection button

-Sometimes I have to use two clicks to open Journal

-Sometimes item description blocks item options

-It doesn't tell what I can use as feedback for the campfire

-The door hutbox for clicking stay in the same position even if the door is open.

-Doesn't the first house make it too easy to get the initial itens, since it gives you almost all of then?

-I the Esc menu, Esc doesn't make me back to the game

-Woukd go like stealth to hunt be a thing in the future? Like crunch and go behind?

-Icons in HUD are pixelated

-The sound for stairs are strange

-Inventory space was almost never a problem

-The campfire is displayed instantly, but the world skin gives the option to choose where to drop. Also, didn't know this is necessary to make it become wolf leather

- Bug: The bridge in the first waterfall doesn't show in the map

-It doesn't says that you have to rest to save the game passively

-What does EXP do?

-Bug: I runners out of the brain stat, I sleep than it was full, but it was still treating like it was zero. I couldn't start a fire even with everything full

-It it's only dark in sunsets and sunrises cause moon lights everything, is light a problem for the player?

------------------------------------------------------

I liked the game, it's astonishing you did all of this by yourself. You have a great map but because of the first house, I already had almost all content in the delta. Couldn't test the dragon because of the bug up here. I had fun playing, was very confused in the beginning cause of the controls and the names for plants and things were new to me. I hope you have success with the game.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out all the things you listed. The items in the first cabin are there for play testing so you can discover bugs more quickly.  Difficulty levels are going to be added soon. 

(+1)

Hallo, just found out your game and i played for a couple of hourse.

It was difficoult to found the dragon egg but in the end i made it.

Unfortunately there are no more quest after u unlock the dragon, and btw is vere OP, it oneshot every enemis.. and i like :D

Now i saw a recent update, and i decided to take a look, i saw the improvement with bow, and i found out the 2 "spaceship" i guess, but i cannot enter or interact with them,

What i have shoul do? 

Do you think you will work on this project?

Have a nice day..

bye bye

Developer(+2)

Thanks for your feedback. You cannot enter the mother ship yet, but I'm currently modeling the interior of sections that will be accessible. 

I'll fix the quest soon also. 

I am working on Windstone everyday and have much more planned.

Thank you.

(3 edits) (+1)

About Update 13:

  • The First Drag-Click / Scroll Action directly after a storage is openened does not work
  • Raindrops are visible under water
  • Raindrops tripple up on the border of the screen (left side in this pic) when moving the camera using the mouse
  • Waypointer is shown on top of the craft button in the inventory menu
  • I can't tell what it is, but something doesn't look right about the spaceship... Too clean? Too less detail? Stayed too much in one piece and still broke? I can't really tell what it is, but something is wrong...
  • Wanting to drop multiple items while having the crafting menu open results in the following
  • Killing the Broodmother you get stuck beneath her (until you mine it all)
  • Killing the Broodmother is kinda disapointing right now as there are no acheivements or special drops (those are probably planned already, aren't they?)

Those were the bugs I found so far.

All in all a great update!

Developer(+3)

I'll fix the layer order of the drop menu next update so it shows on top of the craft menu as well as the compass position as priorities.

The ring of the space ship is a work in progress as well as the main central cylindrical fuselage. I'm in the process of modeling a part of the interior of a ring section that will be explorable and the placement and size of all sections around the map will most likely change. 

The Broodmother battle will have a better reward. Currently it's a bunch of meat, carapace and XP.  

The rain is a tricky thing and not really a priority right now, but I'll spend time tweaking it in the future. 

Finding and fixing bugs is the biggest concern right now like what is listed in the latest Update 14 patch notes. Thanks again for the feedback.

(+1)

Update Patch 15: wow ... MANY changes - GREAT!!

Especially marking the Cabins and Caves was really missing - but before finding them they should not be on the map (exploring is fun)

Max carry weight limit: this is maybe a little too much, fully equipped you can carry nearly nothing AND you always need to collect wood and more. AND: why carry weight limit can not raise with level - you get also stronger in combat

Water container & arrow stashing:  stashed items from v14 disappeared ... that's not nice

Developer(+1)

Carry weight limit increase will come soon with an ability/skill tree and point system with leveling planned for the next update.  I'm trying to keep a balance also so you have to decide whether to wear everything and have less carry weight  or dress lighter and have more carry weight.

Sorry about the water containers and arrows disappearing. It was a result of making them non stackable. Good news is that the new canteens are better than the water gourds. Also added some extra arrows to the map, but I don't want to spoil where to find them. 

I'm deciding whether or not to have the cabins and caves marked instantly. I decided to mark them because it makes sense that the surveillance drone would see them and I noticed people streaming the game having no idea what they were walking right past, but I also understand your point of the joy of exploring. 

Maybe I'll make POI surveillance drone location a part of the level point system so you can spend a point to reveal POIs on the map. 

Thanks for your feedback. 

(5 edits) (+1)

UPDATE 15:

Positive Feedback (Those changes I like a lot):
+ Cabins and Caves are now indicated on the map drone screen.
+ Cabin and Cave indicators change color when discovered.

Negative Feedback (Those changes I did not like):
- Max carry weight and inventory space has been reduced.
- The toolbelt UI has been reverted to only show when the inventory is open (I want that back, please)

Suggestions:
= Blue eye icon after eating a blue cap mushroom should show correctly
    +maybe add a blink animation once only 5 seconds are left?
+ broken ecsape pod sfx sounds horibble
    - it's more like a spider attack from minecraft than an electrical malfunction...
+ "close journal" and "guide / task toggle" should swap positions
+ custom map marker (add a custom marker using the cursor)
+ where is the suspension bridge? (I kinda liked it and it would still fit even with the new cave)

Bug Reports:
+ overfed display randomly shows for no reason
+ when crafting an item the slots where the consumed materials were are not used (they should be)
+ finding tools should count as crafting them for the journal quests (it is pain to do that every time)
+ menu controls got better but they are still a mess: e.g.

+ what happened here? (terrain is messed up?)
+ It rains inside of caves
+ The quest compass should no longer overlap other UI elements. Um... yea about that... it still does:

Developer (1 edit) (+2)

Hotfix is coming soon to fix a few of those issues. Some other things like carry weight are in preparation for a skill tree, which will grant abilities including carry weight increase. 

Developer(+2)

I just uploaded a hotfix to address the rain, quest compass and landscape error.

Developer(+2)

To address some of your other feedback, I'm glad you like the cabin and cave indicators, although some have already stated that they don't because it takes an aspect of exploration and discovery away. It's impossible to please everyone because some people like some things that other's do not and also, many things are still evolving and half-implemented.  The cabin and cave indicators may not always be shown from the start and could require a point in a skill tree to activate for instance.

Similarly, the carry weight will be able to be increased with a skill point, and/or passively gaining strength over time and also with an upgraded backpack that the player can find or craft. The main reason I lowered carry weight in advance is because the only feedback I received about carry weight and inventory space is that it was too high/too big to even make a real difference anyway, which I agree with, but most things were intentionally made to make the game easier as the current main focus is to find bugs, not gameplay balance. This is also why there are so many starter tools and weapons just laid out to easily grab and test in the starter area. Picking them up does complete the crafting quest they are related to, but that quest has to be active for picking up the item to complete. I could change it, but the main point of the quest is to learn the crafting steps and those items won't all be there in the future to pick up anyway.

Windstone is very stable right now so I'm starting to evolve mechanics to be closer to the difficult challenging level of gameplay that has always been planned, similar to the difficulty of the The Long Dark, rather than a testing ground for bugs. That is why I recently made swimming and rain cause cold among other things that have increased the difficulty of surviving. Making the game more challenging may slow down the discovery of bugs, but the transition has to happen sometime and now seems like a good time.


The Overfed warning:

This pops up if your hunger meter has been over about 90% for too long, in which case stamina-draining actions drain more stamina. Conversely, if you are too hungry for too long, about 10% or lower for a handful of minutes, you will get the Malnourished affect, which has the same effects as Overfed with the addition of reduced carry weight.  Both of these effects are intentionally added to prevent two different exploits. Being Overfed keeps the player from gorging themselves on food that also grants health, while being Malnourished keeps the player from starving themselves to save food for too long. I believe these are a better way to address the issues than the "well-fed" bonus in The Long Dark, which promotes overeating and doesn't have any mitigating affect on starvation other than missing out on a debatably trivial well-fed bonus. Food in Windstone should be managed, not wasted or hoarded. Finding that balance during development will be difficult and will be greatly affected by how easy it is to acquire as much as the effects and rate of consumption.

In addition to adding a skill tree in the next update, I'm working on making water need to be purified before drinking safely, except from certain sources, making the ocean water non potable until desalinated, and adding permadeath, meaning that if you die, that's it, start over. If you don't like that, don't blame me, blame The Long Dark for being my favorite survival  game and inspiration, or just blame me, because I'm sadistic.

In all seriousness though, if there is enough public outcry, (wishfully assuming Windstone will someday gain a player base capable of what could even be called a public outcry) I will add a casual easier mode, but until then and especially now, Windstone is going to get a lot more difficult, purposely ridiculously difficult at times in this testing phase to push the limits and find a good balance and a difficult challenge. 

This ended up being a bit of a road map and long explanation, but I wanted to let you know my deep thoughts on these details especially because you take the time to play test so much and give lots of feedback. 

What is it about the settings menu that you don't like right now? I know it's simple, but it should be working properly or is something bugged that I'm not aware of?

And hey, I like that spider attack electrical malfunction sound! That one got me right in the feels. Cut me real deep Shrek.

(3 edits) (+1)

What is it about the settings menu that you don't like right now?
I was talking about the overlaping of multiple menus. e.g. "loading a save" menu and then graphics menu and switching between all of those submenus.
Those two should be seperate menus. One completely gone when switching to the next.
Not one active and the other one overlaps and the third smirs in there as well and parts of it again getting replaced once the 4th menu button gets clicked and so on... it make not feel like a clean final game...

Developer(+1)

Windstone isn't a final game. I didn't realize there was over lap in the settings menu, or do you just mean multiple elements on different parts of the screen at the same time?

(1 edit) (+1)

I didn't realize there was over lap in the settings menu, or do you just mean multiple elements on different parts of the screen at the same time?

I ment the fact that the menu elements of both "New Game" and "Video Settings" are visible in one and the same screenshot (this is only one example as there are multiple combinations of this)

(+1)

Really like what I'm seeing so far. Two small notes an hour into playing;

When moving items from a chest to your inventory the craft requirements aren't always updated
Requirements seem to update for all items in your inventory except the item that was moved.

I'd move 'quit to main menu' to the bottom of the menu. At least to me that's where it would feel most obvious. Only seen the tip of the iceberg so far, but I will be playing more soon!

Developer(+1)

Thank you. I wasn't aware of the craft requirement issue. To make sure I understand correctly; if the craft menu says you need 4 items but only have 3 in your inventory, it will still say 3 ever after pulling another item from a chest?  Once I figure out how to reproduce this I will fix it for the next update.

Very late response by me, sorry haha. But yes. That's exactly what I mean. The 'item in inventory' value is not updated correctly.

(+1)

Will the glider ever be back? It was one of my favorite parts of the old version. So much fun. 

Developer(+1)

I hope to reimplement the glider someday. I'm glad you liked it.