Hello, everyone!
Thanks so much for your feedback! Me and the testers have been hard at work improving the game: Addressing bugs, making the text parser a bit friendlier, and more! These updates are for Windows AND Mac machines!
Further in this update there will be an itemized list of bugs that have been fixed, but I'll list the priority stuff here:
1) This update shouldn't affect your savegames. Though my testers have noticed that sometimes when loading an older savegame, some of the fixes listed below don't appear "fixed". This won't affect gameplay.
2) Some players were experiencing audio issues that were causing the game to crash. This update will display applicable error messages and instructions on how to correct these issues!
3) There were some issues involving opening and closing doors in certain areas outside that were causing the game to freeze. These have been fixed (see below for details).
4) "g" is now a text parser shortcut for get/take. Example: "g hat".
5) The link to the hintbook in the main menu is now available in the Mac version of the game! Though older savegame files might not see the link in the main menu (it seems to be an issue with how Adventure Game Studio handles assets). I'm sorry for the inconvenience. The hintbook can be found here, too. Mac achievements on other than Intel machines is also currently being investigated.
6) There is no longer a "steak plate" in the game!
Below you will find the full list of bug fixes (WARNING: SPOILERS!). If you don't see your bug listed, it is likely still in the queue and will be addressed in a future update. Thanks so much for taking the time to report!
I will be taking some time off after this update. Pre-launch, launch, and post-launch has been a lot work! But please do continue to report issues and give feedback. If there's anything critical I will investigate as soon as I can. The best place to send reports is [email protected]. Thank you to everyone who's given the game a chance! If you enjoyed it, please leave a review!
Big thanks once again to my amazing testers.
--JM
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Bug fixes (WARNING: SPOILERS):
- Chapter 5. I assumed the satchel would be locked and started looking for a key. I searched the entire room and even received a message in my notebook that I thoroughly searched the room. However, upon leaving both times, Nancy said I didn't search enough. After a restore, I made sure to search the satchel first which toldme it was locked. Then, after searching through five locations, I received a message from Nancy that Corvus must have the key on him.
- We noticed that when Nancy is behind the smokehouse to where the building is see-through, if you type “open door”, Nancy opens the door and then the game freezes.
- "close door" when behind the boathouse does nothing.
- added responses for when players try to "powder cookie" or "powder raw cookie" and "lift fingerprint from cookie" to indicate these are not the required actions.
- "g" is now a parser shortcut for "get"
- "pour wax into [raw] cookie" and fill [raw] cookie with [candle] wax" now work IN ROOMS OTHER THAN THE KITCHEN
- "cool cookie in icebox, chill cookie in icebox, put/place cookie in icebox" now work
- I entered Nessa's room, used Look and it told me there was a jewellry box on the table. So, naturally, i type "Look jewellry", upon which point nancy says "Nessa's jewellry box is gone... Has she left the lodge?".
- when trying to rub the samples against the plate, I tried to enter "rub river sample against plate" which didn't seem to work. Which is a bit odd, since that's the language used in the hints.
- "steak plate" has been corrected to "streak plate"
- "Murdoch" should be a synonym for "ranger"
- Chapter 2 start save, talked to Margot, listened to the 2 hallway conversations, then went on the balcony. Walk to the left to next screen, get "nothing seems to be going on outside", Suddenly I was in the parlour. The leaving cutscene started after leaving the room. I couldn't recreate this but I added additional checks to prevent it from happening.
- Added autosaves to after the explosive is prepped and once the player has entered the mine.
- This occurs after the call to supper: When snooping in Albert's room because he's finally gone, his "Kindly stay out of my way" message appears on-screen when trying to close the drawers on the wardrobe and nightstand, and they can't be closed. (Hopefully, Albert won't notice.)
- this happened in Chapter 1 when snooping in the kitchen after Jack left when it was time to head to the dining room. Opened the cupboard on the left side in the right-hand corner to get a drinking glass, looked at the glasses, received a message there weren't any.
- After I removed the large crystal from the stone by the support pillar, I went back to the machinery to examine it and noticed the crystal came back. I walked up and down a few times just to confirm it, and I've attached screenshots below to show the issue.
- chapter 5, when you're in the smokehouse, investigating after Nathan left, and you use the "listen" command from inside, Nancy will go outside to listen with her glass and she'll hear Nathan in the house, despite him not being there anymore. It doesn't break the forced investigation state, but doesn't make sense.
- After saving Nessa from the ledge in the Garnet Mine and before standing up, typing "examine footprint" will cause Nancy to walk off the ledge into no man's land and remain unable to move. Typing "stand" at that point gives the prompt that Nancy is already standing.
- The inventory can be opened by pressing tab while in the menu, save, and load menus. The attached video shows only the save and load as in the other menu, it is completely hidden behind it and the effect can only be noticed with input display as you have to press escape twice to exit the menu. You can also look at and examine objects in your inventory when using the text format. The top of the video is slightly cut off due to me compressing it poorly, but I figured it was not enough to matter.
- After dinner in chapter one, when Evan and Nathan are meeting in the study, I first knock on the door and get Evan's response that he is busy. I go into the Conservatory and see Evan sitting on the sofa like he was before dinner. Once I leave I go back to the study and this time open the door. On entering the room, Evan is still in his sitting position from the Conservatory and slides across the floor like that instead of normally walking away.
- if Nancy is seated going into the end of chapter 3, she remains seated going into the cutscenes in capter 4. I was sitting down in the spare room upstairs to compare my prints, triggering the cutscene in Evan's bedroom. Nancy was sitting on Margot's nightstand for the scene. I assume she's normally standing, but it looked correct in the moment. In the next scene in the cellar, Nancy appears standing. When I move, she appears seated in Evan's office chair and slides across the screen instead of walking. Nancy couldn't do any commands that sitting would prevent, until I told her to stand up.
- "ask about shoes" should work for respective sizes
- "x stuff with loupe" should work
- at the jewelry box in Ch 3, you can type the following: x box, get print. You don't have to dust the print to get it.
- "throw anyword rol" should do something in the confrontation room.
- "take rock" after Corvus is crushed does something incorrect
- Chapter 5 issue where the scuffs outside the smokehouse needed to be re-examined to trigger the note to enter the smokehouse.
- issue with smokehouse where standing on a specific area outside the smokehouse would cause Nancy to try closing the smokehouse door from the inside, resulting in the game freezing.
- issue with shed where standing on a specific area outside the shed would cause Nancy to try closing the shed door from the inside, resulting in the game freezing.
- issue with boathouse where standing on a specific area outside the boathouse would cause Nancy to try closing the boathouse door from the inside, resulting in the game freezing.
- mudroom bug where exiting to the outside and re-entering the mudroom caused the next parser command to leave the room back outside again.
- Added error messages for when the game is missing the audio.vox file or the null pointer error. Error messages include instructions on how to correct this.
- Can no longer fill the blue mug with water if it's already filled with wax (either melted or unmelted)
- Can no longer search the hats in the walk-in closet after spilling the water on Corvus but BEFORE Corvus and Nessa flee the lodge.
- You can type "o box" from outside the boathouse and the game hardlocks
- Look coat / examine coat and hat doesn't work (after obtaining these items)
- "Dump glass into sink" and its variations should now work in the kitchen
- Death music doesn't loop any more
- "Are you hungy brother" in Confrontation cave
- in the garden shed, the 'LOOK' command always tells there's an hanging rope, even after it has been taken.
- In end cinematic, Nancy's speech portrait at the train station doesn't have her hat on.
- "brush soot" doesn't work on Kimi's mug
- my character says "but what does hallongrotta mean?" as I'm leaving the smokehouse after dusting the almond prints, and "Ask lodge inhabitants about 'hallongrotta' populates in my notebook, despite me not actually encountering that word while in the smokehouse.
- Added "waistcoat" as a synonym for "vest"
- Edited the text so it's made clearer that Nancy can't borrow Albert's picks from his kit
- Added text for if players try dusting the salt shaker for prints
- Added text for if players try to take the salt shaker to use as a powder dispenser
- Added text for if players try to tie Nessa with wire in the cave after saving her
- Fixed the issue of the ending newspaper being incorrect -- if Nessa gets away, the newspaper now will say "WANTED" in the close-up when Nancy is in her bed.
- After eavesdropping on Nessa and Corvus in the walk-in closet, player will no longer receive a prompt to eavesdrop again.
- Bedtime quiz now accepts "birdwatching" or "bird watching" as a correct answer.
- "soot cue ball" and take print without having soot in tin (you need to get Jack's print first to get Evan in position, since that one doesn't require soot)
- if I give Albert one (unsalted) cookie, I cannot take another one and I'm stuck! "take baked cookie" says I already have taken one (and you can't use "take cookie" any more)
- When you have taken the padlock from the blue trunk at end of ch5 and then "examine padlock" while still standing at the blue trunk, Nancy still bends down at the blue trunk to examine it.
- When you try "insert wire in plunger" after blowing open the mine entrance, the game will react as if you missed the dynamite at the lodge, simply because I already used it and it's no longer in my inventory.
- I cannot rub the glacial/erractic/granite sample on the brooch/ruby/cabochon at this point, after having already scratched the ruby by obtaining diamonds and noticing that the ruby was scratched, and then rubbing all the other samples on it.
- after helping with the dishes visiting Coruvs' and Nessa's rooms upstairs makes them disappear from the bar; but "listen" from dining room still works (there is no prompt to do so however) . NOW the eavesdropping won't work, but visiting their bedrooms does move them out of the bar.
- you can "soot papers" while Al's still in the room and you automatically pick them up. Also the papers will disappear from the trash can now
- "substance" is now a synonym of "symbol"
- dialog says I should try opening the satchel in case it isn't locked; if I examine it, it tells me it's locked, but this dialog doesn't go away until I actually try to open it.
- Asking Nessa about Margot after she's died now gives an appropriately horrible response.
- the "you don't need your inventory" when Nessa's hanging off the cliff doesn't apply to text inventory
- Ch 4 - "a ab nathan" yields no response. This is before going to dinner:
- Jewellry box now disappears after Nessa and Corvus have left the lodge in Chapter 5
- Ch 6 - "x coarse garnets" whether inside the first part of the cave or the cavern results in not being able to examine it:
- Newspaper says that Nessa hasn't been apprehended and is a fugitive, while Murdoch one point during his questioning that she's been detained. NOW it says she's wanted.
- if you "ask nathan about will" - Nessa & Corvus disappear from closet but all their items are still there; only once you "talk to Nathan" everything disappears. NOW, "ask nat about will" will cause the satchel, corvus' luggage, and the jewellry box to disappear.
- when I tried to save mid-bedtime quiz, shows the save name in the answer sheet while I type the name of the save file:
- after I witness Nessa & Corvus sleeping, I can still eavesdrop with glass on the bar from the hallway (but not from dining room, that's fixed; also does not work if I open door and try that way, only glass is still possible)
- Ch 1 after dinner: doing the first bar eavesdrop from hallway, there's a dialog box saying I can't hear any voices, but eavesdrop still happens ok (separate from the disappearing Nessa & Corvus issues, didn't go upstairs or anything like that in this instance)
- hat in Nancy's portrait still doesn't show, but then it also doesn't show when she's on the train of thought either.
- Ch 3, "soot curio" - no response, no action; "dust curio" works. same with "soot box", no response, no action; "dust box" works
- Ch 3: after taking Kimi's mug, looking from parser just says mug half-full etc., looking from inventory also says "I should lift the print" (haven't dusted it yet); not sure if the latter should be showing yet
- Ch 3, lastly "soot cue ball" also no response, "put soon on cue ball" also doesn't work; "dust cue ball" works
- did dousing using glass with salt water in it; afterwards salt was still left in glass; "empty glass" no response/action in Nancy's room, but in other rooms it emptied the glass fine; (still got the sample ok when dousing)
- Chapter 5: no response/action to "soot brooch"
- Chapter 6: "soot wire", "soot plunger" aren't working
- when Nessa escapes after you save her from the edge, Nancy wasn't tied up but Evan was, but then he suddenly stands up with rope gone when Ranger Murdoch enters the scene.
- Ch 2: just after witnessing Nessa in front of curio, "talk nessa" back in her room no response/no action
- Ch 2 - I've put salt and water in the glass. When I try to empty it in Evan and Margot's room, it only empties the salt and puts it back in Nancy's inventory, dry:
- "empty glass" while Jacks is using the kitchen sink yields no response.
