waltc

Bare minimum for me is a 40-hour RPG. I had over 300 hours in Skyrim (not counting the time with the 80 or so mods I enjoyed playing with--the mods made the crucial difference in Skyrim)--well over a 150 in Witcher 3, etc. Of course, this is assuming the game is of a quality that will keep me playing for that amount of time....which is pretty rare, admittedly. ...;) I'll be playing this one and making up my own mind as soon as I can coax the Microsoft store *cough* to actually download the game and let me play it via the xBox Game Pass for PC--oh, joy...;)

Good to know. As an aside, you'd be surprised at the number of people who think that a multiplayer game (not LAN play) connecting to a main Internet server is "DRM"....;) Holy cow, incredible....! "GOG's DRM-free claim is a lie because their multiplayer games sometimes require you to connect with a remote game server!" they scream incoherently, faces turning purple with rage. Oh, brother. It's enough to make you weep after you facepalm...;) Same folks who are confused about what the "on" button does, I guess.

Agreed. I think Sweeney is often a ridiculous blowhard and Sweeney and company dropped the PC platform (after it put him and his games and his company on the map) to go to consoles, where the money was easy and the competition light--where you could make crud games and still eat and earn a living. But now after x86 PCs have absorbed the console markets and consoles today are x86 PCs, essentially, and getting more like them with each generation (well, except for hardware expansion and specifications compatibility, of course--nothing will ever top the PC there), Sweeney now wants to come back to the x86 PC markets again. Fine...he's getting smart--took him a while...;) But now... he comes up with a gimmick allowing Epic Store to break even while he gives these year-long exclusives for a paltry 12% through the Epic Store, and a few short-sighted developers jump on it thinking to save 8% - 18% over what they are charged by much more mature services with by-comparison *huge* customer bases and decades of proven customer service that offer game customers much more than Epic store does (forums (Steam/Gog), installable game copies (GOG)--guarantees of no DRM (GOG again).) The problem is that although Epic is saving dev/publishers, supposedly, what incentives are there for the people expected to buy these games? None, that I can see. No price reductions for customers. So why should I be corralled into what is most convenient for the developer publishers but not most convenient for me? As is evident, Sweeney has not thought it through to that degree--this is a ham-fisted effort. So here's what the Epic Store needs to do to attract business: 1) Create nice game forums for your store customers for each and every game you sell (GOG and Steam) 2) Deliver customer-installable copies of every game you sell (GOG) 3) Remove/prohibit all DRM in the games you sell (GOG--Steam leaves it up to the dev/publisher, but doesn't enforce it as a policy as GOG does) 4) Discount your new "AAA" exclusive titles 10%-20% for your customers from the first day you offer them--if you don't save your customers money, why should they dance to your tune, Sweeney? Do these things well...and Epic Store just might have a future. But the way it looks now from where I'm sitting it seems like Sweeney's real goal is to get Valve to sell his games at big discount ...;) He just doesn't really seem to care what the buying customers think for some really strange reason...--without those customers, he's sunk! Unless, as I say, his real goal is to wrangle cheaper fees from the existing services for his games in the future.

Basically, it's called a 3.2% GDP growth in the past quarter, the lowest total unemployment since the 1960's, and the lowest minority unemployment since the nation was founded. Or, as a Bill Clinton fan once remarked, "It's the economy, stupid!"...;) Pretty simple to understand, imo.

Frankly, I'll be waiting a year, then, if I ever buy it. Chief objection is that whatever savings Epic is providing Obsidian/Microsoft will not be passed on to the customer--so it makes buying at the Epic Store a real yawner for me...;) I like to buy from GOG, actually, because GOG provides me with my very own installable copy of the game and guarantees it to be free of pesky DRM. So if the Epic store isn't saving *me* any money--I have no incentive to buy from them, eh? Not only that, but in a year I can buy it much cheaper as it will probably be on GOG by then. So I can wait. But by then I may not even want it. I'm simply not playing the "Help the publisher/dev but screw the customer" game. Sorry--nope--not interested. Why any *game customer* would think year-long exclusives on Epic is "good thing" beats me.

The fix that worked for me was: 1) Select your main character in the party so that everyone else in the party is de-selected 2) Direct your main character to walk a few steps--you will see that his walking speed is back to normal 3) Hit the "select all" button in the UI to select everyone--and then walk--should be back to normal for the entire party at that point (If you leave out 2) above--the workaround fails, so do all three steps in that order. Takes all of 3-4 seconds if you're slow...)

This may not help, but I believe that she is very hot and fatigued at this point in the game--sweaty, too--and when she saw the cool and beckoning ocean her body overrode her mind and she marched right into the water to gain some degree of relief and refreshment. However, what she really wants to do is to take a private swim in the buff, so to speak, and use that bar of Lava soap she's been carrying in her inventory for some time on her delicate skin. She is standing there, incommunicado, because--she's waiting on you and the rest of the party to *leave* the scene so that she can bathe in peace, unobserved (She also carries a box of Tide and has it in mind to wash her clothes, as well.) But she won't do any of that until you leave. She's thinking she shouldn't have to tell you that. You may find that if you select the rest of the party and leave the scene to do something else for awhile, and return, that she will rejoin the party--reinvigorated, refreshed, and with clean clothes, too. Her attitude towards you will skyrocket, if I recall correctly.

The long load times I see, too (but mine are limited to 30-45 seconds at most)--however, that only happens when starting a game/loading a saved game for the first time in the session, or loading a game from an entirely different locale from where I am in the game presently. IE, it's not every time. I have had no occasion taking "minutes" to load, though, thankfully. Other than that, PoEII seems to load far more quickly than PoE1, I was glad to see. --have not had an occasion where a save refused to load. --I run turn-based and so cannot speak to RTWP party behavior. However, I get this weird bug out of combat wherein walking is 2x to 4x faster (immediately upon the load of a saved game) and can only be remedied by deselecting the party, except for the main character, and then hitting the "select all party members" UI button--that returns all walking speeds to normal (or normal running speed, etc.) --Have not experienced a variable frame-rate within turn-based combat--don't use RTWP. (Did I see a variable frame-rate option for this game--or am I thinking of another game?) --Last bug I've seen reported here: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/108063-ultrawide-has-the-letters-rt-cut-off-on-the-left-and-a-red-banner-on-the-right/ Hope this is of some interest...

OK, thanks--sorry for thinking it was an original notion...

If you are talking about the horrendously fast "walking" speed up that happens when you load a save, that is seemingly irreversible, after much frustration I found a very simple workaround. Simply deselect everyone except your main character (note that he is returned to nomal walking speed immediately), and then hit the "select all party members" UI icon, and all party members are returned to normal walking speed immediately. It's not perfect, but at least the workaround is instantaneous, simple and seems to always work... 4.1.1.xxx.

OK, forget what I just reported--the banner is back!.... It was gone in the last beta patch--it's back in the 4.1.1.xxx patch! Also, in my case @ 3840x2160, the red banner as featured in the OP's screen shot above (and my screenshot linked in this thread) will move from side left to the right side of the screen--without apparent rhyme or reason, when scenes change as I move... And, I don't see the "RT" letters at all. But what I do see, that is always on the opposite side of the screen from the red banner, is best described as a small half circle--white/beige in color--sort of a nub that barely pokes out--always placed on the same Y coordinate as the banner on the other side of the screen. When the scene changes and the red banner migrates to the opposite side, the "nub" always migrates, too, opposite the banner. Hope this helps.

Thanks! Still don't know why they don't want my crash file uploaded. But this info is appreciated!

I am going to attach a crash file here that your software created for this purpose so that you can review it. 1) It happened in a saved-game file saved in 4.1.0.0023, after the game was loaded in 4.1.1.0034. 2) Description of the save: had just made port in Nantucket(sp?--try not to laugh too hard...I simply cannot recall the exact name of the port... ), and had defeated the harbor lord's edict to leave port--by way of my spiritual proxy summoning spirits of the dead to scare them off (and quite effectively at that.) Saved the game at that point in 4.1.0.0023. Bug manifested when I loaded that game in 4.1.1.0034--game upgraded through the GOG Galaxy update mechanism. 3)Description of the bug: after loading saved game as recounted in (1) above, for some reason my entire party was moving at 2x normal speed--instead of normal walking--and when I used the non-combat speed-up option, bizarrely, the entire party was flying everywhere at 4x normal speed--resembled a horde of enraged yellow-jackets swarming!... All controls functioned--I could toggle non-combat speed-up between 2x and 4x fine--but under no circumstance would movement return to normal walking--which I assume is 1x speed. Pressed every option button known to the game and then some, all to no avail. So this is the bug. See attached crash files. 4) I have already overwritten the saved-game file, apologies. One of those "delete before you think" situations. (Actually I overwrote it with another save.) 5) However, I had other saves from the same version which I loaded, as per (1) above, at almost the same place--and none of them exhibited the same bug at all--so that's the good news, I suppose. All of the subsequent saves and reloads in 4.1.1.xx were free of the bug. 6) I have not experienced this bug since. Hopefully your crash files will be of some help! It looks like a one-off to me, but then there might be something in the code you would care to fix, etc. ALRIGHTY, then...your uploader refuses to let me upload anything, even a .rar file 44kb in size--far, far smaller than one megabyte. I have used the standard uploader and your flash uploader--to the same end--I am refused uploads on any files, regardless of file extension. 'Kay. I tried. Query: What is the point of providing instructions on bug finding that don't work? Please advise. Thanks.

Fixed, per the next update! Thanks! Just wasn't sure if it was a system problem on my end--but didn't think it was and am glad to see that it wasn't!

Notice how some enemies jump between the ships, instead of walking on planks? That doesn't happen in Turn-Based right now. I can't recall a place that would take place outside boarding. Brief comment on your sig. It seems to me that if I'm thinking something, then I don't have to wonder what I'm thinking because it is already me doing the thinking. Hence, I do not need to wonder what I am thinking as I already know what I'm thinking... Eh? (Pretty funny sig, though.. I liked it! I enjoy that kind of sig as you can tell by my own.)

Right, so you start the game in the other mode--the non turn-based mode. Problem solved. It's a real brain teaser why people construe it as an either-or situation, because it isn't. There's nothing to push you away, because you can still play it in the traditional manner. Turn-based is 100% optional.

One of the most popular mods for PoE1 was a stealth mode that did not slow you down--so that you didn't have to be creeping along at a snail's pace to find things, etc... I used it myself. Being stealthy does not automatically mean being slow as molasses, imo.

I have the same thing! @ 3840x2160... https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/108113-red-bar-graphics-glitch-with-the-41xxxx23-patch-scrnshot-incl/ Glad I saw this! No one responded to my post about this...thanks!

Valid point--it's ridiculous to hear your party memeber say "Not going to happen!" right before they take the bow shot or the sabre slash that ends the fight... I tried lowering the party selection chatter to 30% but that seems to not have affected this at all. I'm sure Obsidian will fix this because it's incongruent to the max. I was about to make the same point myself! The problem is that as we are ranging the mouse pointer on the screen as we move it to select an enemy, the engine interprets that as asking the character to move beyond the amount of spaces he has points remaining to cover--and this prompts the "no can do" chatter when an attack is 100% doable--at least, that seems like what is happening. I'm sure they have noticed this--well, I would guess, anyway...

I don't think I have seen anyone being upset that Obsidian has added this option (few bitter posts about priorities, or doubts if it was a worthy investment, but nothing outrageus), those some people do seem to be worried that if PoE3 happened they might choose to go turn-based, which wouldn't appeal to them personally. Fair enough. Well summarized, @Wormerine. Thank you. Let's be honest: if tomorrow Larian were to announce that they're going to be making D:OS3 as a RTwP game, there would literally be rioting in the streets from the TB fans. And I would sympathize with those fans. For me, the singular most important positive characteristic of the PoE series is that they are RTwP games. Everything else about these games is secondary with respect to why I love these games. I think it is eminently reasonable for me to want one damn old-school classic RPG series made by a proven quality developer to be RTwP. Adding in yet another way to play the game is absolutely nothing to get upset about... If the turn-based play is unchanged, what on Earth would there be for Larian customers to get upset about? Your mistake is to think it's an either-or situation--it's not--never has been. Obsidian is simply adding another mode in which to play the game! So, your argument is defeated before it starts, actually. Why take the time and trouble just to falsely describe the situation? Deadfire RTwP hasn't gone anywhere that I can see... I am really loving this Deadfire turn-based play--whereas I but "liked" the RTwP AI-generated combat. My biggest gripe about the RT is that fights were over in a flash and I could barely keep up with who did what to whom... This Turnbased approach demands I take a bit of time and I find each fight infinitely more fun as a result--infinitely better than "press the spacebar pause", but as I understand it that mode of play in Deadfire has also been preserved. Obsidian is well on the way to making a very good game a truly great game, imo. Whereas I "liked" PoE1 and in lieu of turn-based I used the "spacebar pause mode" approach as a poor substitute, I also "liked" the RTwP mode as well. If you will remember, RTwP was added in after PoE1 was originally released! I remember the integration well. In PoE1, pseudo turn-based (Spacebar pause, select attack, space bar pause again, rinse and repeat) came before RTwP was actually made useful enough to use, IIRC. But I "love" (more or less) this turn-based mode--I'm thinking I actually prefer it to Larian's D:OS1/2 turn-based! What's with the nutty idea that "PoE3 is going strictly turn-based" simply because they've added a turn-based mode for PoE2? Come on--that's not logical, is it? As they are honing and refining the PoE2 engine to support *both* it of course would be ridiculous to suddenly hobble PoE3 by making it strictly turn based. Let's give Obsidian a bit more credit for brains, eh?

So no one has any idea? I don't know if these red bars are supposed to be there to denote "danger" in the direction of the red bar, or not!... I'll see if I can grab a screen shot... Screenshot added to original post!

When playing the game after a few minutes--it varies from ~10-20 minutes--suddenly there appears a red bar about a screen-inch wide (vertically) which emerges from the middle of the left side of the screen, and runs horizontally towards the center for about three screen inches, then fades away to invisibility, as if intended to do so. At times this bar shifts to the right side, too, and runs towards the center horizontally from the right for the same ~3 inches, then fades away into invisibility. It *looks* like some kind of deliberate UI effect in the game which has somehow been misplaced--as I didn't see this with the 4.01....xx.19 patch at all. That's why I feel it's likely a bug. I double-checked the options to see if I had inadvertently selected something that might cause this--no luck there. OK, additionally, when the red bar extends horizontally from the left side of the screen as described above, on the far right side of the screen can be seen a white half-circle (nub--for lack of a better word) about an inch thick (vertically). When I exit the game to the desktop and restart, then the above described effect is absent--until I've played for 10-20 minutes. I am running @ 3840x2160; my monitor size is 32", to give you some scale for the above "inch" descriptions. Running Windows 10x64, build 18317, RX-590/480 8GB Crossfire, with the following command-line options: -force-d3d11 -fullscreen-mode exclusive *I have tried the default, which is not using a command-line option at all, to no effect. Suggestions? In this screenshot the red bar is coming from the left side of the screen.

I very much appreciate the fact that the Obsidian crew knows how to use the GOG update features really well for Deadfire--including the developer update and beta channels. I give you massive Kudos and thanks for that! And I was wondering...since both Obsidian and InXile have been picked up by Microsoft now, if maybe some learned person in Obsidian could step over to InXile (or email or call the appropriate person) and offer to help them learn how to properly use the GOG developer tools for updating and patching their games, and how to use the GOG developer update and beta channels, too? I mean, you are still competitors, but also friends and colleagues, I'm sure. Don't mean to embarrass them, but the fact is they seem to have no clue as how to use GOG's developer channels, or how to do partial patches for their games--and the pity of it is they don't seem to think it's worthwhile to learn how to do it properly. Every game patch--even for relatively small issues, is 25GB for BTIV. They don't use the GOG developer channels to post the patches and releases themselves--they just shoot the entire game install to GOG and tell them to do it. Yet they seem to have no problem in using Steam's developer channels--even though the principles behind both are similar, I am sure. GOG has developed a front end for its customers and developers alike, Galaxy, that offers the same developer flexibility that Steamworks offers, yet is not DRM as all Galaxy-installed games can be run from their own native executables, bypassing Galaxy completely--it's up to the customer. I use Galaxy to install and update these days, and run all 326 games from their native exe's. It's a sound system. Then later, when the game is finalized as to developer patching, I'll download my back-up copy of the game to a separate drive and store it. I can see by how well Obsidian is handling this GOG release (Deadfire) how much more learned and skilled the Obsidian staff is concerning this sort of thing... People--many of us--have been asking InXile to please address these shortcomings for months, and in every case the response is a wall of complete silence. Evidently someone at InXile believes that Steam customers are the only ones who count, and acts inappropriately when it comes to their GOG customers--I mean, it was difficult to have them actually post update GOG.com readme's for their BTIV 25GB download updates, at one point--and betas were for Steam customers, but not for GOG customers. I think that maybe you guys could actually teach them something if you can get them to listen. It may be just me--but if you are going to release a game through GOG distribution, it only stands to reason that you would learn how to update and patch your games properly through GOG, eh? Talk about self-fulfilling prophecies, the sloppier you are with GOG customer support, the fewer copies you can expect to move through GOG, eh? ( Filler/background: I prefer GOG because of their position on DRM. It's very insulting to paying customers. Always bought my games, always will. I also like the fact that GOG provides me with a stand-alone installable copy for all of my games--started buying software in the 80's, on the Amiga, actually. Always got an installable copy--my installable copy... When I moved to Windows in 1995, I always received an installable copy, too, of course. Always will buy my software. I have some 326 titles on GOG--and some 61 on Steam, about 28 on Origin and about 10 on Uplay--mainly because of my preference for the absence of DRM and for the receipt of an *installable* copy of my own. I did, however, purchase PoE1 on Steam--but only because it was not simultaneously released on GOG, for some reason. Yes, I am prejudiced--I have a favorite software distribution outlet--and I can tell you why--as I just did... Last--Steam also extends its DRM to its *forums* if a developer asks for that--such that you cannot post before you buy the game on Steam! Steam says that its DRM (having to run Steam to play the game and/or a forum lock) is only done at the request of the developer, and that is true--PoE1 did not require that Steam be running in order to launch the game from its executable--and of course did not lock its forums (rare, but I have seen this, too, on Steam.) Still, had I a choice, I would have purchased the game through GOG. Valve leaves it up to the developer, but if Valve took a stance similar to GOG's, then no Steam games would require that Steam be running in order to play the game, etc. And it would be nice to see Steam provide installable copies of my games, too. I have hard drives and partitions lettered from C:\ to M:\ consecutively--right now I cannot even get Steamworks to install a game or move a game to L:\ or M:\--just won't do it. Additionally, Steam has worked it so that some games must be installed installed on a particular drive--even if the customer prefers not. But all of this is no issue with GOG, I'm happy to say. Don't even have to think about it. ) Anyway, suffice it to say that I am very pleased to see the difference with Obsidian and their GOG customers! It is night and day! Fargo should know better, imo. Please offer them a helping hand if you can.

Thanks! I spoke too soon--it's coming through on the GOG beta-channel right now!... Actually, I have GOG set up to always apply the latest patch, beta or regular, and so the full patch is coming through now.

Why is .23 not on the GOG beta channel? You know, GOG has a beta channel just like Steam. It works fine as far as I can see. I'd love to test the beta (since I have finished D: OS and D: OS 2) and could possibly supply some useful information. Never mind! Coming through on the GOG beta channel now! Thanks! (Actually, I have GOG setup to deliver the latest patch, whether beta or normal release.)