Update on Build Status for Xbox, PS4 & Patching Process

[The Wanderer]

Patch 2 is currently downloading for me in Toronto, Ontario. Went to update section of games and apps, waited a moment to cycle and there it was. Xbone

[Jigsawn]

I'm on PS4 EU and have been getting many crashes when exiting or entering areas in wintermute episode 1. However patch 1.09 is downloading now which hopefully fixes the big crashes. I popped on here to find more info about the patch, nothing I can see but assume it fixes some of the issues. Having worked in console game dev myself I entirely sympathise with you Raphael and the team. It's heart breaking to find last minute major issues and the backlash that you'll get. But, you've done the right thing, apologised, been open about the problems and the process and pushing out fixes asap. Given the circumstances don't feel too bad. You learn from your mistakes!

To lessen the blow a bit, know that as a newcomer to the game I'd read good things about it so was eagerly waiting for the console release, and picked it up right away. My crap Pc won't run it. I got sucked in quickly by diving into wintermute as I'd heard although its not as good as sandbox it does a good job of teaching you the mechanics. And I've been loving it. Knowing little about the game aside from watching a streamer play wintermute for half an hour, I didn't know if I'd find it too boring. On the contrary its tense, relaxing and absorbing in equal measure. I love the art style and natural beauty, and it has fantastic atmosphere. I played it most of today, reloading whenever a crash occured, thankfully the auto saves aren't too far apart. They didn't deter me as I was hooked. I got to Milton and found the fetching for the lady a bit annoying (by the end her fridge was full whilst I was starving to death) but loved the challenge and planning of having to survive almost a week in and around the town. I did most of the side quests and my life was made very difficult by my hatchet breaking, destroying my chances of chopping wood and using frozen deer corpses. I would suggest explaining the whetstone and item degradation a bit earlier and more clearly to help people avoid my fate.

However I somehow persevered. I had a eureka moment when I suddenly thought to build a fire next to the deer corpses to thaw them out... and it worked! It was still tough but I made it through the lady's questlines and I've just made the climb out, surviving a terrible blizzard day on the mountain before resting for a day to give me the strength to climb further on. I just made it with my food, wood and water almost out, and half an hour ago crawled through the cave to victory! Overall I loved it and I appreciate the direction, teaching and focus that wintermute provides. I am sure sandbox is the more compelling experience but I'm looking forward to diving into episode 2 now as I want to experience the mechanics as they are introduced by you in layers, and have more adventures as its never the same for each player. So there you go, crashes or no, bugs didn't stop me loving the game and I can't wait to play more. Keep up the good work guys. Alan Stock Uk

[NLGrinder]

I'm on xbox one and something has started downloading for me.  It's a 3.54 GB update.  Will post again when I know more.  

[Raphael van Lierop]

3 hours ago, Strategizer said:

@Raphael van Lierop I purposely waited to buy this game on the X1.  My reasoning was that I wanted to experience a solid polished game.  The Sandbox is fantastic, you and your team did excellent work truly AAA quality.  Of course I'm underwhelmed by the story mode due to bugs and a few other things.  So I've put it aside for now which is unfortunate for new players as it also acts like a bit of a tutorial.  

Your post and apology above is only the second time in gaming* that I have no shadow of a doubt about you commitment to both resolve the issues and create excellent content going forward.  It is incredibly rare to see this type of post directly from developers, and the amount a good will this garners is unmeasurable.  Based on what I have seen here, and playing the game for a week I can easily recomend TLD to anyone.  Never stop interacting with the community.   

*(and I have been gaming on and off since the Sears Pong Console)

 

Thanks for sharing those thoughts!

[Raphael van Lierop]

Good news! After all that explanation, our Xbox One Patch 2, and all the PS4 versions were both updated today. Just in time for the weekend.

PS4 Version 1.08/1.09 Patch Notes: 

Xbox Patch 2 Notes:

Hope that helps all of you out.

[Thrasador]

18 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Good news! After all that explanation, our Xbox One Patch 2, and all the PS4 versions were both updated today. Just in time for the weekend.

PS4 Version 1.08/1.09 Patch Notes: 

Xbox Patch 2 Notes:

Hope that helps all of you out.

Great work @Raphael van Lierop! Now we just need to make sure we patch items disappearing when placed on the floor in certain buildings in Milton and the Trapper's Cabin in the story, and in the Pleasant Valley farmhouse the Sandbox. I don’t know specifically which buildings in Milton, I have been using the floor in Grey Mother's house because I heard it was safe....and it has been so far. I am just passing on the information I have been reading in various threads about items disappearing when placed on the floor....

[Thrasador]

@Raphael van Lieropare these various patches retroactive i.e. do they affect already started games? Or do we have to constantly start over to benefit from them?

Like in Steam patch 6 it says you "retuned Grey Mothers wood and food requirements" for her quests. Will I see those adjustments on my current run, or do I have to keep starting over?

I am getting REALLY tired of starting over.....

[JAFO]

I'd guess some are compatible with already running games, and some are not. (retroactively fixing some things in a running game would require editing the save file to correct) It's just the nature of the beast.

[Thrasador]

1 hour ago, JAFO said:

I'd guess some are compatible with already running games, and some are not. (retroactively fixing some things in a running game would require editing the save file to correct) It's just the nature of the beast.

Okay, well I guess someday I'll finish Episode 1 and get to Episode 2 but I guess that day is not today, as I am trapped in the first car before the bridge again 

 

Edited August 12, 2017 by Thrasador

[Raphael van Lierop]

3 hours ago, Thrasador said:

@Raphael van Lieropare these various patches retroactive i.e. do they affect already started games? Or do we have to constantly start over to benefit from them?

Like in Steam patch 6 it says you "retuned Grey Mothers wood and food requirements" for her quests. Will I see those adjustments on my current run, or do I have to keep starting over?

I am getting REALLY tired of starting over.....

The vast majority of the fixes should apply to existing games, although you won't benefit from fixes that happen earlier on in the episodes than your current save, for example. Unfortunately, there are some fixes that will only apply to new games, but we try to call those out when we can.

[Raphael van Lierop]

12 minutes ago, Thrasador said:

Okay, well I guess someday I'll finish Episode 1 and get to Episode 2 but I guess that day is not today, as I am trapped in the first car before the bridge again 

Literally trapped in the car?

[Thrasador]

54 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Literally trapped in the car?

Lol, no I mean by the wolf by the first bridge. Every time you start a new game you typically spend x number of hours trapped in one of the cars after the first cave you walk through. At least I do, maybe I'm doing it wrong. I typically steal the meat off the deer the very first wolf is eating. BTW @Raphael van Lierop now that I started over AGAIN (for about the 4th time) I really wish you didn't mess with the amount of meat on each deer. I am really hurting for food this time compared to other runs. The deer before the first cave only had 0.6 kilos, and the deer after the cave that the wolf was guarding only had 1.6 kilos. At least one of those two had 4.0 kilos. Actually on the original release almost every deer had 4.0 kilos, lol. Every time I start over I end up with less and less food....

I really hope by "retuned Grey Mothers quests" you mean you lowered the amount of wood and food she wants.....if it's more now I am going to be FUBAR....

BTW I am now up to the blue trailer....I need to double back for the dead deer by all the cattails....Hopefully that one has some meat on it still...

Also, am I getting hungry faster....and did you make the tutorial blizzard damage clothes more? My pants and green shirt both started at 22 condition and at the first cave I noticed they were down to 15 already....and I didn't get in any wolf fights....they are getting wrecked FAST...

 

Edited August 12, 2017 by Thrasador

[NLGrinder]

That first wolf is best avoided.  Just get to the church.

[Thrasador]

8 minutes ago, NLGrinder said:

That first wolf is best avoided.  Just get to the church.

Oh, I'm not going to the church without looting every car, cattail, and deer I see man....this is the way of the OCD gamer....

And you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going back to pry open those 4 locked trunks after I go to Milton....there could be ANYTHING in there....!!!

Edited August 12, 2017 by Thrasador

[Titusmamet]

11 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Good news! After all that explanation, our Xbox One Patch 2, and all the PS4 versions were both updated today. Just in time for the weekend.

PS4 Version 1.08/1.09 Patch Notes: 

Xbox Patch 2 Notes:

Hope that helps all of you out.

"  * Fixes for Save system to help prevent loss of save files.  "

Thats what I was hoping for!  I'll try for pacifist troph as a test before tackling Storymode again. Many and much " Thank you!" s to you guys!!   Your passion shines through your art. 

[thekillergreece]

Enjoying the game so far. However, there are many scripted points but they do not break the immersion of the game thankfully!

[Tenasi Vol]

@Raphael van Lierop

I wanted to update and say that I played for several hours last night after seeing that a new patch had been release for the Xbox version.

I encountered no crashing, or any issues, whatsoever.

 

Thank you and your team for the continuing hard work.

Stay warm, and may you never experience the pang of hunger.

 

[henroe32]

Two other video game companies:

1) Bethesda. If you feel bad about the number of bugs in your game and letting down the community just remember that what you're doing is a lot more dedicated than some other game developers who leave game breaking bugs and stupid glitches in their games which can really break the inmersion games like Skyrim can give you (if it weren't for all the mind twisting bugs!)

2) VALVe. This company is a legen in the gaming world because of the precision and quality of their games (they've made some of my favourites) and their games are pretty bug free on most accounts (bar TF2 wall glitches) mostly due to their extensive Source Engine (Source 2 now). Remember though that if you wanted the game to be as clean as theirs are you would have needed to delay it even further than you already had. I don't mind that. Personally I prefer that to game developers being rushed to produce games which they know are not all they wanted them to be (EA, please don't join them). The original Half Life was delayed by a year during which they completely rebuilt the entire game because they thought it wasn't good enough. 

You need to find a balance between the two. Preferably I think we would all like a brilliant game over a poorly running game but you have to remember that there is a point at which you must draw a line and push the boat out. Next time just push it out a little later; get your survivor more prepared before he heads out into that quiet apocalypse.

henroe32

[Sashamorning]

I think it's fair to say that those of us in the forums, for the most part, are the ones who care deeply about this game.  I bought the Game Preview early in that cycle, and the first thing I thought to myself was, "drat, why aren't there achievements with this?"  (Yes, I'm part of that subset that has a hard time playing games without the *bing!* every once in a while.  Microsoft has conditioned me well.)  And yet even I am finding myself pouring hours and days into TLD far beyond what I would normally spend on a game.

It's that good.  I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe it.

Aside from a few hiccups at launch (mostly fixed already), vanishing save files (I found a workaround, and haven't had a problem since the last Xbox patch), and two currently broken achievements (which I have absolute faith will be patched), the game has lived up to my expectations.  I feel that this is the best survival-themed game I've ever played, and I've played quite a few.  And you know as well as I do that there are widely lauded titles out there in the genre.  None of them has yanked me in and held my attention as much as The Long Dark has.  

It's gotten so bad that I'm having nightmares about green wolves.  My family thanks you for that, by the way.

Raph, you and your team have done an absolutely amazing job with this.  I really hope you're proud of the work you and your team have done with The Long Dark.  You certainly should be.

Okay, I'm gushing a bit.  But whatever.  I appreciate the updates because it demonstrates how much the community means to you, and I think it's safe to say it's mutual.

Cheers! 

~Sasha

Edited August 13, 2017 by Sashamorning

[Sashamorning]

20 hours ago, henroe32 said:

Personally I prefer that to game developers being rushed to produce games which they know are not all they wanted them to be (EA, please don't join them). The original Half Life was delayed by a year during which they completely rebuilt the entire game because they thought it wasn't good enough. 

Valve's biggest problem is that it can't count to three.  (And still we wait...)

IMHO, Valve and Rockstar are the gold standard of polish and gaming perfection.  Rockstar even made an awesome table tennis game.  (Think about that.  They made an smooth, nuanced table tennis game.  And it's incredible.)  The difference is that Valve and Rockstar are behemoths with deep wallets, an army of programmers and Q/A testers, and plenty of time to endlessly polish what they have.  If only we all were so lucky.

Hopefully, someday Hinterland will be that large, and hopefully they will remember us.  ()  I think it's well-polished as it is, especially as an indie game (which is not meant as any slight).  I'm really impressed with the speed in which they've responded to launch issues.  Think about such issues with other companies and the speed with which those problems are addressed.

[JAFO]

1 hour ago, Sashamorning said:

It's gotten so bad that I'm having nightmares about green wolves.  My family thanks you for that, by the way.

Now that made me laugh! 

[Warrie]

Hi First of all, my compliments for the great community support and bringing out the patches so fast. I bought TLD last week on PS4, started with Wintermute first, finished Episode 2 yesterday. My daughter couldn't stop watching Although the patch lessened the amount of crashes a bit, the game still crashed maybe 1 out of 5 times when entering a building. I think during both episodes I had about 30 crashed in total.

I was hoping this would only be the case in Wintermude mode, but after finishing the story I started survivor mode. I started near a trailer, entered it.. and the game crashed.

I really, really hope you guys will be able to fix this. I will wait playing further until new patches have been released, it's too frustrating losing so much time and having to do the same parts over and over again. TLD is something special, it deserves to be played crash-free

 

[henroe32]

Would like to say I've started playing through episode 1 to the point where I've met the Grey Mother on the Xbox One and so far I've encountered no bugs whatsoever (I think). Ddfinitely non that break the game as I have had no stability issues other than a slight character flicker (briefly) during one of the cutscenes.

[henroe32]

Good job with all the patches Hinterland.

[def1ance]

Hi all!

Just came here to express my gratitude to Hinterland and for @Raphael van Lierop for creating this topic to admit that the launch had issues and to explain what went wrong and why, and how, things are being dealt with by the team.

I'm a Steam player and I was able to get through the 2 episodes without a single bug and that was all due to the hard work put into the game since the very beggining and also in the past weeks in all the patches which were released.

The only complaint I have is that the story mode was too easy for veteran players but other from that I loved both episodes.

Thank you for opening up with the community.

Regards.