Survive in a land ravaged by an invasive species. You and your dragon are Windstone's last hope. · By
Thanks GearBunny,
unfortunately it looks like you may have to have at least 8gb ram and possibly 16gb for the game to run optimally or at all right now. The game should normally run at 4gb memory usage so that is already taxing your system and there is a spike when loading a new game that goes up to around 11-12gb for 30 seconds or so, but this doesn't effect some players who only have 8gb ram other than causing a little extra loading time. I've narrowed down the cause but it is going to take a while to fix.
Thanks GearBunnyStudios. 10-15 minute install is definitely not normal and caused by your computer being below specs. The initial load should be about 30 seconds on recommended specs and no more than a minute or two on minimum recommended specs and should not be any slower than subsequent loads. I've also noted your suggestions and will continue to work out how the first stages of the game unfolds pertaining to learning how to play. My initial plan was to have Windstone start the player with no help at all, completely blind just as The Long Dark as part of the experience, but there are already some tutorial objectives integrated.
The hold-to-attack will have an option to toggle click-to-attack. Some weapons may always require holding to attack such as drawing back the bow.
Thanks again for your input.
I've thought about that which would allow more users to test it, but I think figuring out how to best optimize a large map will be better because that will be the end goal. I wouldn't want to have a small map and then alienate a bunch of players after making it big again. The target is to make it so that if your computer can play Ark, you should be able to play Windstone. That's about where the requirements are right now, but I plan on adding a lot more stuff to the map which could cause problems.
My video settings also don't save - or at least full screen vs. windowed don't save. I have to switch to fullscreen every time I start the game, because it defaults to windowed mode on start up apparently. I haven't played around with the other graphic settings.
After update 6 I am not getting empty wild gourds back, when I eat the wild gourds. I already mentioned that to you but thought I would mention it here, in case anyone else have the same (or even the opposite experience). I tried restarting the game, but that didn't change anything.
I'll work on getting the video settings to save correctly in the next update. The gourds will definitely be fixed asap as that is a pretty major issue. The problem is I cannot reproduce the bug and nobody else seems to have the same issue so far. There may have been some issue with your update. I'll look into it and see if there is a way to validate your install files like on Steam. You may need to redownload the game, but don't be too hasty to do so as the issue might be on my end.
That's interesting. I don't think that is the issue here because I think the items were not actually missing. It looks like they were just in the extra inventory slots that you have to scroll down to get to in the inventory.
I'll keep the serialization in mind if there are any issues with items or the inventory in the future.
I believe I have found the problem. I tried everything I possibly could to reproduce this bug with a full inventory: crafting while the inventory was full, breaking down stuff and salvaging in a full inventory and harvesting with a full inventory. The extra items drop out of the inventory as expected and you just have to pick them up again when you have enough room.
However, upon watching your latest youtube video I noticed something peculiar. You seem to have missed the scroll bar on the right side of the inventory and think that your inventory is full when it is only half full. Scroll down in the inventory by dragging the scroll bar or use the mouse scroll wheel. You should find your missing items in the 4 extra rows of inventory slots that you have :D
K I'm not sure if this is a bug or intentional but when you mute the music and go into the game, the music is muted, as to be expected. However, if you hit escape and then resume the game, the music starts playing again. When it did this to me, i checked the options to find that the music was still on 0%.
Just started playing the game and I quite like it. I was doing quite well, crafting and keeping my guy alive and well.
I've come across a bit of a glitch. My guy now just shuffles rather than walks and will not run! It's actually sort of amusing looking down at his feet taking quick but very small steps! All of his hunger, health, stamina, etc. are almost full - so I can't figure out how to get him to walk properly again. Not being able to run could prove to be his undoing! lol
I tried exiting the game and then going back in, but he's still shuffles like an old man.
So, I had picked up a fence to move it. And while right clicked I opened my inventory, because my typing hand moves faster than my right clicking hand... And now I can't put down the thing I picked up. It's kind of funny because I can still pick up other things.
I saved and exited, and when I reloaded it was sitting on the ground in front of me and behaved normally.
Okay, so, I wanted to see how far away from myself I could build something, and the ground ate my hide curing rack. At least, I think that's what happened, I can't find it. I was going to plop it down by a campfire and decided to test the distance while saving running time for myself. I have not yet exited the game to see if it will return to the surface.
Thanks rat girl, I am going to add a max distance that objects can be moved away from you with the scroll wheel when holding them with the RMB. However this may not be related to your issue. It seems that the line trace to the ground made by the object you are dropping (so it can sense the ground and attach itself to it) sometimes gets blocked by objects around it. This can cause the object to end up in a nearby tree or sideways on a nearby rock. Sometimes this can cause the object to default to position 0.0,0.0 on the map if it can't find a suitable place to land. Most cases have been fixed but something is still causing problems. If you can reproduce the bug and let me know exactly how to reproduce, it will be easier to fix. Thank you.
Ah, yeah, that is an issue if you drop it below the ground. It should pop back up unless is was really far below the landscape when you dropped it. I'll figure out a way to fix it, probably an initial line trace that shoots upwards first to sense if it is below the ground or not before checking for the ground below it. Seems simple to just code "dropping" something, but it gets quite complicated based on where you drop it from and the things around it that it can collide with. Thanks again. I'll be pushing a small update soon and more frequent updates afterwards which I'll address this bug in. It is related to the bug that causes the well and firepit to freak out too :D
It was so far away I have no idea how far under it was, I could swear I could see the top of the Cureing Rack when it happened, but that's a lot taller than the cot and I assume the bottom of the object is what matters for placement.
As someone who knows nothing about coding it all sounds very complicated lol
After much effort, the dragon egg finished incubating. Checked egg with E, game tells me to hit the egg with the hammer. Ok, whack! Egg disappears... I see no dragon. I hear no dragon. I did not save after such disappointment so that I can go back and maybe correct what I did wrong, although I have no idea what it was. I only moved the egg to the base of the stone structure I found it in, set up a fire pit with campfire. Put egg next to it, wait, hit it with hammer. Did it not have room to spawn under the structure? Random glitch? I really want my baby dragon :'(
P.S. Other than that, love this game! So pretty and I enjoy the balance of open world with optional objectives. <3
Loving the new updates so far! However, the dragons are reverting to the original color (blue) after sleeping on a cot or loading the game. Doesn't interfere with gameplay, but I would love to have the beautiful colors of dragons you added to the game. The only other issue I've noticed is that if you press E on the baby dragon before it uncurls from hatching, it instantly becomes a juvenile. It's a fun bug to exploit to avoid the extended baby phases, but a bug nonetheless.
The compass was taken out temporarily when new starting points were added around the map, because no matter what starting point you were at, the compass would lead you to items in the original starting area on the South shore. Once it is configured to point to the closest item based on your location I will add it back in. Thanks for your concern and sorry for the imconvenience.
Got'cha. Need to get busy with Pythagoras.
Will there be quests as part of the final game (other than just tutorial quests like what it seems to be now)?
Wandering around this huge island looking for needles in a haystack can get tedious.
If you plan to eventually put lots of unique things scattered around, it might be ok (but even so, with the size of the island, it would be difficult to put enough of them), but otherwise I think you need quests and an easier way to find things (such as the compass).
But so far, I am enjoying the experience, and I did manage to find the green egg based on viewing a youtube vid.
There will be story quests which I will start incorporating soon. The next update has a lot more added to the map and dozens of pre existing map markers for POIs. The compass will also be added again in the future but more programming needs to be done so it works for all the different starting areas. The world is pretty big, and I plan on expanding the coast line in certain areas pretty dramatically since it is more optimized now that I've incorporated seamless level streaming. That may currently seem unnecessary or too large to some players, but once you have a flying mount, quests to give you directions, lots of NPCs and POIs, the world should seem a lot smaller. This is still just the beginning. Thanks for playing Windstone and I appreciate the feedback.
UPDATE 19
Unfortunately this update seems to have broken my save file. I hatched my first dragon before this update came out and was looking forward to progressing with my new buddy. We were hanging out in our sweet base (the green dragon tower on the island) stocked up on goodies. My game waited at the 40% mark for about five minutes before finally loading. When I got in the game, the well that I had built and the fire pit were both gone. The un-hatched egg was back on the pedestal and my baby dragon was gone! When I hit tab to open my inventory the game froze and didn't recover. Super bummed about this :(
TERRAIN
So before starting my second file (above) I had progressed quite far and was having a pretty good time. Ive seen in some lets play videos a compass feature pointing to the quest destination but my game never had one...This did make things difficult (namely the obsidian which I never ended up finding). When I had saved in a hut and reloaded my game I had fallen through the floor and was stuck. I was able to button mash myself out of a back wall of the hut after a few minutes. The last issue was the reason I had to abandon my first save file (RIP): The terrain!! I think it has already been discussed how large/barren a lot of the map is at this time.
My issue is more with the terrrain itself than its barrenness beacuse I know this is something that is being worked on. It is very hard to figure out where to go as there is no clearly defined path between locations. I would love to see a different terrain paint that more clearly shows the paths to destinations or at least which part of the terrain is meant to be walked on (like gravel). I was trying to follow what looked flat/had grass growing on it but it was very frustrating as there were many switchbacks and times when you had to go down to go up, a lot of guesswork. The terrain varied greatly in height/slope so it was all too easy to fall off or think the "path" was going one way and then find yourself miles away from where you needed to be and unable to get back due to slipping down something too steep. I saved in an area that I didn't realize was impossible to get out of and that is how I lost my first save file.
I think it would be great if the paths were more clearly defined and areas that you shouldn't be able to walk onto are actually inacessible. There were so many pockets in the terrain that you could fall in and slip down and never be able to get out of. The terrain looks cool from afar but again I think it would be more fun if it was clearer where you are actually meant to go.
I understand your concerns about the difficulty in traversing the terrain. There will be more indications of where to go and how to get there as the game develops. For now, it is more akin to a survival sandbox where you just do whatever you want with no guidance, like the game Ark. The quests are almost a distraction right now because it is very hard to finish some without lots of exploring and I realize that the size of the map and the barren parts turns Windstone into a walking simulator at times. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just letting you know I'm very aware of these issues and am working towards improving them as the game develops.
I'm sorry about the save file. I'm not sure why update 19 broke it if update 18 didn't, because 18 had all the major changes to the saving system. I fear that the UE4 game engine update from 4.11 to 4.19 in Update 19 is the culprit. If so, this is the first update that I think has broken game saves and requires a new game and I apologize.
Thank you for confirming that there is an issue with loading locking up at 40%. This is a priority and I am going to focus solely on this issue and push another update as soon as I think it is fixed.
The recent addition of the level streaming system in Update 18 and the UE4 upgrade to 4.19 in Update 19 are massive changes that took a ton of work but sadly that took a lot of time away from world building and game mechanics development quite a bit. It will all be worth it in the end and once the kinks are worked out I'll be able to get back into working on gameplay more and updates should be more stable.
Thank you for your patience and your feedback.
Just want to confirm that when I loaded my save game from the previous version, it hung at 40% for several minutes and once loaded, I was missing my two full-grown dragons as well as two other unhatched dragon eggs that were sitting on my "bed" inside my portable shelter I was also missing my portable shelter which should have been sitting on the beach. When I started fighting a creature (twice, two different ones) the screen froze up. I could still hear sounds of foot steps and the creatures, but the game was frozen. I had to kill the process.
Also, the pointer on the home screen is very laggy compared to what it was. My male character appears to have changed to female (on the inventory screen). Single-clicking on any item in my inventory does nothing.
I assume some of these are due to the save game not loading properly, but others seem to be related to something else.
I started a new game...
Pointer lag still exists on the main screen as well as in-game.
I fought a Formican, antelope, and the bird-like creature (forget the name) and did not experience the hang/crash, whereas with the saved game from the previous version, when I fought two different creatures, both resulted in a freeze.
Single clicking on an inventory item still does nothing, and I also noticed that hover over each inventory item does nothing unless the pointer is right on the edge of the inventory square of an item. When you put the pointer on the edge/border of the inventory square, it pops up info on that item. I am not sure if clicking on an item is supposed to do anything, it may just be that the hover pop-up came up when you were on the square long enough to click on it. Note that drag and drop still works, but single clicking on it does nothing.
Hmm, it sounds like either the entire update got bugged in the push or your particular download is bugged. I will look into it, but the inventory pop ups should work on the entire slot. The way you are explaining it is how it was broken when I updated UE4 to 4.19. I may have to do a full re-upload of the game to itch.io because the update may have resulted in files from UE4 4.11 and 4.19 being mixed up together and that is no good.
A single left click shouldn't do anything anymore. Only double left click to "use" and a single right click to open the drop down action menu.
How laggy is the mouse cursor? I notice a tiny bit of frame lag, but it "keeps up" with movement on my end if you know what I mean. Does yours actually lag behind where it should be or is it just "choppy" like it isn't drawing every frame?
Thanks again!
I redownloaded and unpacked in to an empty folder and still had the problem with the hover pop-up.
The pointer feels like it is lagging slightly behind on the title screen. Like if I move it, it takes longer than it should for the pointer to go to the new position. While in-game (inventory screen , etc.) the lag is much less noticeable but is still not the same as the hardware pointer.
I am testing it on my laptop from work, which may not have the latest graphic drivers, so I suppose it is possible that the drivers are contributing to the problems. nVidia Quadro M1000M driver version 377.61. I can't update drivers since that is controlled by the IT dept.
Thank you for your continued feedback. I found the issue with the hover pop up and it should be fixed in the next update. I've also fixed the issue with getting stuck in foundations. The buildings now load in before the character. I"m not sure what's up with the cursor but I'll continue to look into that. The main problem is the savegame stalling while loading and that is still my main focus. Thanks again.
Hello! I have never done a bug report before, so I'm sorry if this is not actually a bug :)
I downloaded and played the game tonight and found that I can put a bunch of very heavy stuff into a basket, then pick up said basket (holding right-click) and run around with it at normal speed even though the contents of the basket weigh far more than my character can carry. I made use of it by creating a whole camp, chucking it into the basket, and then sprinting around the map with the basket in front of my face, haha. But it may be a little immersion breaking!
it's a magic basket like Merlins bag! Honestly, it's an exploit I'm aware of that is a consequence of not dealing with how the storage mechanics and "moving stuff" mechanics affect each other. I may add weight to the basket, so the stuff in it affects your carry weight while moving it. If it's too heavy you wouldn't be able to move, but you could still move the basket around your immediate vicinity. It would still be exploitable like moving heavy things in The Long Dark by "leap frogging", which is inconvenient enough that I don't consider it an unreasonable exploit. It's kind of like slowly pulling something inch by inch that is too heavy to carry. In the mean time, enjoy being able to haul tons of crap across the map with ease! You can't attack or pick up other items while holding the basket, which also obstructs your view, so there is a little drawback. What do you think would be a good way to improve the mechanic?
Thanks for playing and giving feedback.
