Legend of Grimrock - Launch Week, Patch Details

Dhruin

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Almost Human writes about the launch week for Legend of Grimrock, which has obviously been successful as they say the sales have already been so good "the development costs of the game have now been covered many times over so the future of the company seems pretty secure". They also created a DVD box sleeve, if you'd like to print it out and make your own Grimrock box for the shelf.
On to the patch, anticipated for next week:
- vsync is enabled by default
- borderless windows are no longer topmost
- pressing ESC closes character sheet
- fixed unlimited frost arrow exploit
- bug fix: topmost menu item don’t work reliably in 2560×1440 resolution
- bug fix: wall text translations are not dismissed when right-clicking
- bug fix: inanimate objects can be backstabbed
- bug fix: projectiles go through doors in some very rare cases
- improved display resolution auto-detection at first launch
- fixed a couple of typos
- removed check that disables high texture resolution setting when running low on video memory (some graphics drivers seem to report available video memory incorrectly)
More information.
 
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I'm glad its doing well. Hopefully this means a sequel will be in the works.
 
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I would have enjoyed and expected a quicksave.
 
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yeah a quicksave would definately be nice! Other than that though the game is great :)
 
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Quicksave is the #1 thing this game needs. Since it's one of those games that you need to save after killing every monster ( and later on, just dealing a bit of damage to them ) especially if you're playing it on hard.
 
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Sheesh.. some of you guys really like to make things easy. Not only do I not use quicksaves, I only save 3-4 times per level.
 
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Imagine how much better it would have been if you didn't have to open the menu to do so, maring the wonderful atmosphere ;)

Seriously though I can't understand why they failed to add something so simple... must be in an attempt to be even more old skool :D

Still, no bigee, just nice if they did :)
 
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Quicksave is an obvious oversight, and they should implement it as quickly as they can.

The main issue with manual saving is that you need 3 clicks to actually save your game. It's annoying.

The game is really good and well thought out - but there are a few minor issues, like the inability to close the character screen through an obvious shortcut - which is vital mid-fight. Also, they need to show food status in the character portraits. I'd also like more detail on the map - once you've located/interacted with stuff.

I'd really like an option to disable "glide" movement, as I find it slow and somewhat clunky.

Nitpicks, yeah - but still.

As for the overall experience, I'm truly surprised how well it plays - all things considered. It's almost a carbon copy of Dungeon Master - just with another dungeon and upgraded visuals. Just goes to show how ahead of its time that game was.

However, I do find they overdid it with the puzzles. They start out great - but after playing for 2.5 hours, I'm starting to feel like I'm playing Portal. I hope they change it up a bit later on, because I'm not a big fan of constant puzzle solving. More story and exploration would be better. The amount of combat, however, is PERFECT.
 
Sheesh.. some of you guys really like to make things easy. Not only do I not use quicksaves, I only save 3-4 times per level.
Well, I am a big fan of challenge in my games. I always play my games in the hardest difficulty settings except for very few games that are known to be brutally and unfairly difficult like Hitman: Codename 47. But I never like a challenge that is sourced from ignoring your progress and the time you spend solving problems. I like a good challenge and would retry as many times as needed to pass it, but when I pass it, I'm done with it. I don't want to repeat it again immediately and since you never know what you're expecting in a game ( especially RPGS when you play then for the first time ), I constantly save my progress.

Although I agree there are some games that would be more fun if your saving ability is limited to a number ( stealth games ) or a certain place ( survival horror games ) , but LoG is not one of them for me.
 
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Quicksave has nothing to do with challenge. It's a compromise between reducing tension (bad) and saving time (good). Wasting time is one of the most frustrating things I can think of - so I choose to live with the reduced tension.
 
Good to hear they are profitable.
I hope for a potential successor they will implement dialogs(eob2/lol1), shops (dm2) and little parts of overland levels. Maybe even a small town or something like that.
 
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I guess I'm in the minority here. I'm not too thrilled with the whack-a-mole 2x2 combat system. And I think they went too far back in time. Games that were pure dungeon-crawling evolved (and were better) when they added towns, NPCs.
And please make the spell system easier to use! Let me select spells by name, and 'bookmark' them, my mage character is a super-genius, he should be the one knowing that Ice Cream Cloud is rune 3, 6 and 8... not me!
 
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I kind of wish they would offer a turn base option for compat (ala wizardry 8). Other than that I like the engine and puzzle so adding more of a story in version 2 or patch would be good. For casting in turn base; they could make clicking each symbol be a certain number of sub ticks so for long complicated spells you might need two turns to cast.
 
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And I think they went too far back in time. Games that were pure dungeon-crawling evolved (and were better) when they added towns, NPCs.

Its more an early 90's than late 70's thing - think Dungeon Crawler or Ultima Underworld.

also, the Quicksave thing is topic 11 in their FAQ

11. Is there a quick save function?
Not at this time, but it might be added at some point.

seems to be one of their most requested features for patch 1.14
 
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Great to see its doing well. Really enjoying it and i like how the gameplay is. I feel its perfect.

Hope there will be another one like this!
 
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However, I do find they overdid it with the puzzles. They start out great - but after playing for 2.5 hours, I'm starting to feel like I'm playing Portal. I hope they change it up a bit later on, because I'm not a big fan of constant puzzle solving. More story and exploration would be better. The amount of combat, however, is PERFECT.

Actually I want moar puzzles. But I wouldn't mind more exploration tucked in between
(I am actually asking for a larger game here. Above ground maps please :) )

I like a good challenge and would retry as many times as needed to pass it, but when I pass it, I'm done with it. I don't want to repeat it again immediately and since you never know what you're expecting in a game ( especially RPGS when you play then for the first time ), I constantly save my progress.

Couldn't agree more with that. If a game is not killing me a few times per hour it is not doing it right and I lose interest (or play it once and forget it). I also replay my favorite games to death. But force me to constantly replay a long section of a game just because you will not let me save and I am starting to be seriously annoyed(*)… I believe that disabling save during combat though is something every RPG should do.

Allow me to save everywhere else please.

A good example of both worlds was the Witcher 2. It disabled saving in combat (good) but also did not allow you to save in some largish sections i.e the start of Chapter 2 on the Iorveth path. I must have died 6-7 times almost at the end of that section and mostly due to a bug on the controls that made Geralt focus on an enemy 30 meters away and jumping there with an unlucky click (and hence going outside the protective circle) forcing you to replay the whole section consisting of several separate combat set pieces… not good :-/

(* I guess I should stay away from Dark Souls eh? :) pity because I recall enjoying Blade of Darkness pretty much back in the day)
 
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I guess I'm in the minority here. I'm not too thrilled with the whack-a-mole 2x2 combat system. And I think they went too far back in time. Games that were pure dungeon-crawling evolved (and were better) when they added towns, NPCs.
And please make the spell system easier to use! Let me select spells by name, and 'bookmark' them, my mage character is a super-genius, he should be the one knowing that Ice Cream Cloud is rune 3, 6 and 8… not me!

Yeah I even prefer the diablo model of town+dungeon (not the click-fest combat over exploration and hand-crafted puzzles etc. though) to the more one-note dungeon-only game worlds. Though, in terms of maintaining cohesive atmosphere, I think the Ultima Underworld model of small bastions of town-like encampments within the dungeon-world is probaby the best thing to contrast this with.

Still, for 15 bucks or less this has been a great buy for me and very enjoyable overall. Also, it is probably the appropriate level of ambition for a small debut title as it is. I would however like to see them perhaps try something that harkens back to Ultima Underworld more so in their next title.

A good example of both worlds was the Witcher 2. It disabled saving in combat (good) but also did not allow you to save in some largish sections i.e the start of Chapter 2 on the Iorveth path. I must have died 6-7 times almost at the end of that section and mostly due to a bug on the controls that made Geralt focus on an enemy 30 meters away and jumping there with an unlucky click (and hence going outside the protective circle) forcing you to replay the whole section consisting of several separate combat set pieces… not good :-/

I had some weird bugs in that game that cropped up in chapter 2 - mostly to do with not letting me save for extended periods of time. The first time it happened I ended up having to replay about 4 hours of game-play because it persisted in blocking my ability to save as though I were in combat and this extended all the way back to the start of the chapter. It would pretend to quick save and would actually auto-save, but I found the quick-save was not actually succeeding, manual save was blocked, and when I loaded an auto-save it the problem would persist. I'm pretty sure that's been fixed but man having to re-watch Geralt (being the oblivious albino that he is) making the dumb decisions he does in-between chapters and replay large sections almost made me quit playing when it cropped up.
 
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From here the biggest thing will come down to what kind of release pace the patching takes on and just how meaty they can be alongside progress on the editor----surely at this rate the franchise will continue and some industrious folk are bound to knock out some serious legwork in terms of adding sensible depth, perhaps like how some of the nifty player reckoned stuff made it into the latest update of Dungeons of Dredmor proper.
 
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