No worries mate.

For my own reference, were there any other spots in the game which had a framerate dive like that? or was it just Act IV? (from your initial post it seems like the rest of the game is performing pretty decently)

Hey,

Thanks for the report, sorry to hear you've ran into this,

New Port in Act IV is pretty heavy and has a lot of geometry going on - I've tried my best to optimise it but it's still the heaviest scene by far due to having a lot of city meshes going on in the city, or props on the sites, or trains moving around, along with the terrains themselves.

In the settings menu there are options to reduce the draw-distance of the camera OR you can look at reducing the graphics quality, can you try reducing one of those down and seeing if it helps? Part of why I ask that is I've only tested / had friends test with GPUs present, and don't have anything without a GPU to hand

- Peter

Noted, thank you for the report.

Right now my focus is on patches for Day of Maintenance, but when I get time for it I'll look into a patch for Forgetful Loop.

https://bighandinsky.itch.io/maintenance-day

Oh! Oh man ok so I fixed this literally the day after uploading the new demo build (...but didn't think to refresh those)

I'll push a new version shortly.

Hey 👋

Hmm. It's been a long minute since I looked at the code for Forgetful Loop, and I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks. But from running into a similar issue with MDay's settings code, I think this is my settings menu code displaying the resolution/fps incorrectly.

Essentially I think you can ignore it - Unity defaults to the highest refresh rate regardless of what you pick - it's my code rendering the lowest refresh rate (Sadly I'm unsure why Unity/my code does this 😐)

Let me know if you do run into issues with the refresh rate being weird 🙂 Sorry that I can't be more helpful right now.

Update: From trying this out in an empty private project, the channel names do appear to work like this.

Hello,

I'm looking to prepare my project to have demos and full-release versions of the game ahead of a release, and wanted to clarify how channels names work.

At the moment, I'm using windows-x64, osx, and linux-x64 for my demo builds.

Where I'd like to add new channels for my "release" builds, essentially full-windows-x64, full-osx, and full-linux-x64 or another naming scheme like that.

From checking the documentation, that will work, right? I won't run into an error with butler?

Additionally, is there a way to rename a previously used channel? As in the best-case scenario I would like to rename my previous channels to demo-<OS> (if not then no worries, I think I might delete the channels and 'reset' my projects builds to get everything sorted)

Thanks in advance for any help!

👋 hey, thanks for noting this.

Yes that sounds like a bug. iirc a Switch only considers "unfixed" nodes; but that should be a valid switch-back.

I'll try finding some time in the coming weeks to fix it, but it's unlikely to be soon as I concentrate on Day of Maintenance.

Please let me know if you find other odd interactions 🙂 (Hope you're enjoying the game!)

https://bighandinsky.itch.io/forgetful-loop

I'm glad you liked it! It was fun to re-read my writing again actually (hadn't seen it since I originally wrote them). And thanks for the note, I'll have a look later in the week.

Yeah a screenshot is what I was thinking of 🙂

😭 ahh shucks. Sorry about that.

That looks like an Ink scripting error to me, I'll try to look into it this week and patch it.

I had a look and found it! Was another silly little thing I didn't check for, but will be patched today 🙂

Btw, as thanks for reporting these & replaying the game a bunch of times, I'd like to give you a download key for a Forgetful Loop, so if you wanna shoot off an email to bighandinsky@gmail.com with proof of your itch.io account, feel free 😊

(It should available now - version b6😁)

Hey, thanks for the kind words! (and oh no!)

Thanks for the bug report, turns out I missed a key tag in that dream script (and now I feel so bad about not testing for this at all the past couple months), and fixed that odd UI bug, new patch incoming!

Hey, just letting you know there's a bug with replaying where: if you've failed the 2nd round, then slam into the wall of "big spikes", replay will drop you right back after failing the round into the losing state.

I'd say it'd be better if you're dropped before the 2nd round begins/the last question, to retry from there rather than the beginning of the game 🙂

(Fun game though! Nice idea & well executed)

Awh thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

And thanks for the feedback too;

1 - Yes! I'm not using a VN framework (nor have much experience with them dev-wise), so no saving. Will add a popup.

2 - Ahh, so that's actually a visual bug! They're supposed to render clear and sharp at all times, but it looks like Unity's depth-of-field effect is blurring them (??? will have a look)

3 - Ok, that's a reasonable idea, I can do that (maybe as a warmer/colder visual, lending itself to the moment) - I was hoping that they would be stand-out enough that players would try to remember them, but fair enough!

Ok, thanks for the feedback on that - yeah it's in my notes to revisit that quiz to make it less of a sudden demand on you after so much driving.

And no, don't quite have the time for a discord atm. Feel free to chat in this itch community! 🙂

Hey,

So I think you've stumbled into an edge-case with the persistence code:

• The distress call is technically the end of Act 1, where you "should" have finished it, then seen the Act Complete screen afterwards
• Because of this, behind-the-scenes I set Act 1 as complete in the game's save file
• From that, any completed Act cleans up such that when you select it again, it's from scratch (It'll undo saved choices too, so I think I need to add a dialog warning box for this; something like from other episodic story games)

With the build as-it-is, I'm afraid you'll need to start over, sorry ☹

When you say "played to the distress call", do you mean when the Operator calls you after chatting with Orby?

Hey,

Sorry to say but I don't really have any idea with how to fix this - as it'll be a problem with the Unity Input System registering the controller, which is out of my hands.

Can you try connecting the controller to your Macbook with a cable?

Alternatively, can you go to gamepad-tester to check that your controller is registering there?

- Peter

Ah no! Hmm, so ok: can you go to the game's save folder (see the FAQ) and send both .log files to bighandinsky@gmail.com? (Title "Tutorial bug" please)

After that, try playing it again, but take it super slow - don't move the node tree at all until the relevant panel shows (I think the bug is due to a very specific timing when moving the map. I thought I managed to address it in a patch, but sounds like I didn't 😬)

Please read through in case your issue is present here, if not, then post in the bugs thread.

"What content, if any, should I be aware of before playing?" - The game contains discussion of strong language, assigned & developed gender, forced mind erasure, interrogation/ torture, and death (of a sort). None of these topics are presented graphically, but if you find these topics stressful or triggering, please be aware that later Acts discuss them in detail.

Driving

"The truck physics are a bit... weird at times. The wheels [jump onto roofs/clip through the walls/...]" - Yeah, the truck is a bit of an unusual beast with how I've set it up, and with Unity's Vehicle physics being a black box with how it works. I've made my peace with it being one of those rough edges for a small game, as after trying a few solutions, none are particularly neat or easily doable with the time I have. So enjoy the wacky truck 🚒

"If I drive the truck into a wall or around some props, sometimes it reacts badly and launches into the air???" - this is another oddity of Unity's Vehicle physics (or my lack of understanding), and is just a weird thing I've made peace with. Only real tip I can give is to be more aware of how far the wheels jut out from the truck and not drive into stuff - you can use the CCTV cameras to get an outside view of the truck to help with this if you're still having trouble.

Chatting

"Why can't I End Call with Orby's chats?" - Orby's 'big screen' chats are a critical part to the story of the game, so you can't skip them.

"I accidentally skipped through a chat and want to replay it" - sadly there isn't a replay function in the game. I do have an idea for how I can implement it as a thing from the main menu, but that's a strong maybe, not a promise.

Other

"Why can't I rebind controls?" - I've never implemented this kind of feature before, and for me this is something that'll require a major refactor of how a lot of the game & UI works, so I won't be implementing this unless absolutely critical.

"I'm having difficulty playing, and would like <accessibility option> to help" - Please make a new post requesting it! I'll read and try to implement what I can, but some features may be too difficult for me to add.

"I'm replaying the game and want to remind myself of the story" - in the main menu, next to the Act I-IV buttons is a "Recap" button, in there is a summary of each Act.

"I'm replaying the game and want to skip to <feature>" - in the settings menu is a Persistence tab, in there is a button to unlock the whole game (note this will disable trophies until you Reset progress.

"I've played the whole game but haven't unlocked the 'Worth every second' or 'How do they get anything done' achievements?" - there are a few more elusive chats that can be triggered across the game. I'll try to write-up an achievements guide at some point, but at a high level, there are:

• 8 Orby chats, and 7 Truck gang chats in Act 1 (note: one of the Orby chats requires a radio message to trigger - "Update! Sale Sharks take the lead! [...]")
• 3 Orby chats, and 9 gang chats in Act 2
• 1 Orby chat, and no gang chats in Act 2
• And just the 5 Orby chats in Act 3

This is a general reporting thread for issues. Before you post, double check that your issue isn't already explained in the FAQ post.

Please keep posts concise & on-topic.

For issues on Mac/Linux, I can't promise that I'll be able to fix them, as I don't have a Mac/Linux machine for testing with. In that case, I may ask to contact you for trying patch builds.

~

For your post, please use the following format:

System: Windows/Mac/Linux

What went wrong? <replace>

Where were you when this happened? <Act X>, <general location>

What were you doing before this issue? <step-by-step breakdown of what you did if possible>

~

Doing it in the format will help me a lot with figuring out your problem!

Thanks,
Peter

Thanks for the kind words!

There were a couple main factors with the game not doing so well on release, namely that it didn't have any real marketing push other than "I tweeted a couple times a week". It also came together really quickly so didn't have as much time to build up steam as it were.

I'm pretty sure if it had some more outreach it could've found some folks, but atm I'm just happy people are downloading and playing it from the bundle :)

Hopefully Day of Maintenance doesn't disappoint!

Gotcha. Will look at the logs over the weekend.

With level 1, it's intended that the first few loops are "empty", as back in the Gamejam I used the popups to do some dialogue with. Just to clarify - level 1 just plain doesn't ever show nodes after a couple loops? or anything?

Oh - and which platform are you playing on btw? As I only have the ability to test Windows builds I'm afraid.

Uh oh! Yeah that sounds like something isn't loading or setup correctly. Those levels are copies of the original gamejam levels, so yes it's bonus content, but should work fine.

When you have a moment, can you send me the player.log & player-prev.log files to bighandinsky@gmail.com?

Windows: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\BigHandInSky\ForgetfulLoop\Player.log
macOS: ~/Library/Logs/BigHandInSky\ForgetfulLoop/Player.log
Linux: ~/.config/unity3d/BigHandInSky\ForgetfulLoop/Player.log

Otherwise, try closing the app, launching it & try playing one of the levels again? Could be some game state that isn't being cleaned up.

(Edit: and thanks for the kind words 😁, sorry you ran into this bug)

Nope! It doesn't affect the ending.

Hey, & thanks! Please feel free to let me know of any levels that are too hard or whatever.

And no, I've purposefully chosen to not allow pausing - the machine is always ticking, always tocking 😱

I'll add this as a note on the FAQ.

Ok! Thanks for figuring that out, I'll look into the "level 3 doesn't run" bug today as well.

Ok great - yeah I wrote the tutorial to be pretty slow-paced, I didn't think of people managing to pan during the "Level XX" title. I'll look into it now & attempt to patch it.

For your screenshot, I vaguely remember that bug, but can't remember how it triggers. Can you navigate to <username>\AppData\LocalLow\BigHandInSky\ForgetfulLoop\...


And send the Player.log & Player-prev.log to bighandinsky@gmail.com please?

Hey, thanks for trying the game & reporting this issue;

First thing - what platform are you playing on? Windows/Mac/Linux

For Level 2, it should be what you're expecting: scroll up, put a token onto the node, then fill in the nodes to the final triangle node (When you drop your first token in that level it starts the countdown clock)

How did you scroll around the map? Arrow keys, mouse, something else?

This may be a tedious note, but can you give Level 2 another try using the arrow keys to navigate up to the top node? You want to have it close to the centre of the screen to trigger the next step.

Level 3 should just tick along fine, the only thing I can think of is maybe you were hovering your mouse over one of the tutorial panels? (They pause the game timer to let you read them)

(And yes, N skips ahead one second, but that's intended as a helpful button during gameplay, not the only way to make progress)

https://bighandinsky.itch.io/forgetful-loop

A good thought-provoking essay - I didn't gel with Nier:Automata, but was surprised at it having a corpse-run mechanic a'la Dark Souls, didn't realise later in the game it plays with the idea further.

If you played it - what did you think of Hotline Miami? With the instant-replay nature of it's loop, thinking back to it with this POV of the games you've picked out; it's like death is reduced to just a speedbump, but still has some impact & edge with the sound & visceral blood splatter.

Thanks! Shame you didn't have your controller handy. I've updated the game's page to mention it nearer the top. I'll try to make the full version be nicer about showing keyboard inputs 🙂

Please read through in case your issue is present here, if not, then post in the bugs thread.

Issues

Log Files can be found here:

Windows: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\BigHandInSky\ForgetfulLoop\Player.log

macOS: ~/Library/Logs/BigHandInSky\ForgetfulLoop/Player.log

Linux: ~/.config/unity3d/BigHandInSky\ForgetfulLoop/Player.log

"I see [error] in the top left of the screen & around the game UI" - Try unplugging any connected gamepads or peripherals other than keyboard & mouse (this is an issue with the version of InputSystem I'm using, it will detect certain peripherals as invalid)

"I've tried changing settings and now the game window is maximised, but isn't full-screen?" - Try pressing Alt+Enter to actually maximise the window (sorry dunno why this is happening)

"I've tried changing some settings, but they don't seem to have changed anything?"

1. Close & reopen the game
2. Try resetting settings to defaults then close & reopen the game, then you should be able to change them

Other

"Why can't I pause the game?" - I've chosen to not include it as a design decision, and to get some of that juicy gameplay-narrative sync going on: the time machine is always on, always ticking, always tocking; you need to take in the level & figure it out the same way the scientists are.

(If you find you're really struggling with a later level, there's an accessibility option to extend the duration between ticks to give you more time to interact)

"Why can't I rebind controls?" - I'm using a version of the unity InputSystem which doesn't support it. And I'm unlikely to revisit this project to update it with this feature neither.

"I'm having difficulty playing, and would like <accessibility option> to help" - Please make a new post requesting it! I'll read and try to implement what I can, but some features may be too difficult for me to add.

"Does the number of loops affect the story/ending?" - nope! It's moreso a record of your progress, along with other stats in the game (which you can find under Settings > Stats)

"Can I skip the game to get to all the story?" - Yes! If you go into the settings screen, and navigate to the Persistence tab, you can press "Unlock All" to completely unlock the game. Note! This will prevent you from getting trophies until you press "Reset All".

"The first level just loops, shows a timer, but nothing happens?" - The very first level of the game takes a few loops before showing any nodes or UI, this is to help slowly introduce you to the gameplay. Wait until the nodes appear.

"huh" is how I'd describe this game, in the best possible way.

Hey, this is a thread for reporting issues with the game, such as:

• Bugs
• Difficult/Impossible Levels
• Typos
• etc.

Please keep posts concise and on-topic please.

Build 38

• (someone forgot to fill these notes out for the previous builds, so just imagine rows & rows of fixes/changes)

Build 39

• Fix leaving halfway through Level 2 soft-locking other levels
• Fix Level 3 being selectable if you haven't completed Level 2
• Fix Level 2 not checking whether you're looking at the top-most node when it changes state

(Thanks to strangeglyph for finding these)

👋 hey, since you really liked it, just letting you know I'm close to releasing the full game! Page is here, will be out Sept 4th! 

👋 hey, since you really liked it, just letting you know I'm close to releasing the full game! Page is here, will be out Sept 4th!