Stranger HD now on Steam!

[Varrok]

Turning GPU Sync OFF has made things even worse. There are no 5second-hangs anymore, but there are normal lags (with input lags) - a LOT of them

I don't think I can get past the first boss on Hard like that - -'

[OANST]

I don't think I could get hard like that either.

[Hulaabeo]

Well my PC is shite so I can't run SWHD very well at all, but I must say it looks so much better. despite my frame-rate issues (which are my own) the game looks very nice indeed. Well done J.A.W.!

I'm existed to see MOHD soon

I'm existed aswell.

[MeechMunchie]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/09/14/od...rath-hd-steam/

[Nate]

Played a little bit today and it sure does look pretty. Did you guys add more wildflowers?


I'm also experiencing the not-closing bug. The menu disappears, but the background picture remains until I Ctrl-Alt-Delete and close it with the task manager.

One minor bug is that in some menus (Options, Quit, and the Bounty Store), there isn't an option auto-selected so that I can just quickly press Okay and continue. I have to arrow down before any option is selected.

I'm also finding that the run-bounding is a lot more finicky than I remember. If I turn even slightly whilst running, Stranger won't switch to the bound. And if I turn whilst bounding, Stranger goes back to a run. That's really annoying, as I tended to use the bound a lot to get from place to place quickly.

Also, in the control configuration dialog, which option serves as menu 'back'?

[Varrok]

Did you guys add more wildflowers?

Yes, they did, because they couldn't (or didn't have time) change the level geometry, and the normal design didn't look alive enough

[Wil]

Played a little bit today and it sure does look pretty. Did you guys add more wildflowers?

I'd have to check with Glitcher who did all the environment updates, but I don't think much was added by way of vegetation. The existing models and textures were updated, though.

One minor bug is that in some menus (Options, Quit, and the Bounty Store), there isn't an option auto-selected so that I can just quickly press Okay and continue. I have to arrow down before any option is selected.

Not a bug. Apparently if you want to have a menu that responds to both keyboard and mouse, you can't have an auto-selected option. This may be a limitation of the middleware Stranger uses for menus. Again, you'd need to ask Glitcher to be sure.

I'm also finding that the run-bounding is a lot more finicky than I remember. If I turn even slightly whilst running, Stranger won't switch to the bound. And if I turn whilst bounding, Stranger goes back to a run. That's really annoying, as I tended to use the bound a lot to get from place to place quickly.

Known problem. It's because many, many things in the game are hard coded to run at 30 FPS. If your framerate goes much above or below this, Stranger will stop moving properly. I have no idea what we can do about this that wouldn't take weeks of extra work.

Also, in the control configuration dialog, which option serves as menu 'back'?

Without being bothered to check, I'd guess pause. Unless Esc is hard-coded.

Yes, they did, because they couldn't (or didn't have time) change the level geometry, and the normal design didn't look alive enough

Loads of geometry was changed in Stranger HD. In fact, adding decorators counts as changing geometry. You're thinking of Munch HD, where the oldness and brokeness of the tools meant we couldn't do anything except upgrade textures and repair UVs.

[Varrok]

Loads of geometry was changed in Stranger HD. In fact, adding decorators counts as changing geometry. You're thinking of Munch HD, where the oldness and brokeness of the tools meant we couldn't do anything except upgrade textures and repair UVs.

Oh, my bad

[Nate]

Not a bug. Apparently if you want to have a menu that responds to both keyboard and mouse, you can't have an auto-selected option. This may be a limitation of the middleware Stranger uses for menus. Again, you'd need to ask Glitcher to be sure.

But other menus do have auto-selected options. The main pause menu, for instance.

Known problem. It's because many, many things in the game are hard coded to run at 30 FPS. If your framerate goes much above or below this, Stranger will stop moving properly. I have no idea what we can do about this that wouldn't take weeks of extra work.

That sucks. Can you maybe give an option to restrict the game to 30 FPS?

[Varrok]

The one of SWHD purposes is to get it run at 60 FPS.

[Varrok]

And you can. It's in the advanced menu in launcher

[Nate]

The one of SWHD purposes is to get it run at 60 FPS.

If it's a choice between 60 FPS and being able to play the game how it's meant to be played, I choose the latter.

Also, please don't double post. Use the Edit button.

Without being bothered to check, I'd guess pause. Unless Esc is hard-coded.

It can't be pause. I'm trying to map my controller identically to the Xbox version, and that allowed you to use one of the letter keys (B, I think) to go back.

EDIT: That's wierd. It looks like it's controlled by the Reload button. Can anyone tell me which button that was on the Xbox?

[Hazz-JB]

It's great to finally play this, good work JAW!

Does Max or anyone else know what some of these graphics options are? I'm not sure how to set them to get better performance:

Instance Rendering
GPU Sync
Mip Map Bias

So far I don't have any huge problems, but I get quite a lot of frame drops with this game. I read that other people with ATI cards have had this problem as well and there isn't much that can be done about it unless ATI change something

I can turn off AA which makes everything smooth but sometimes makes a big difference in visual quality. The other option is to experiment switching the other settings on and off until I find the best solution which could take a while...

[Bodd T.W.]

EDIT: That's wierd. It looks like it's controlled by the Reload button. Can anyone tell me which button that was on the Xbox?

Reloading was B on the Xbox.

[Nate]

It's great to finally play this, good work JAW!

Does Max or anyone else know what some of these graphics options are? I'm not sure how to set them to get better performance:

Instance Rendering
GPU Sync
Mip Map Bias

So far I don't have any huge problems, but I get quite a lot of frame drops with this game. I read that other people with ATI cards have had this problem as well and there isn't much that can be done about it unless ATI change something

I can turn off AA which makes everything smooth but sometimes makes a big difference in visual quality. The other option is to experiment switching the other settings on and off until I find the best solution which could take a while...

I believe the ATI issues were only with the non-HD version of the game. I may be wrong, though. It was a bit choppy on my ATI card, but plays fine since I turned anti-aliasing down to 4X.

Reloading was B on the Xbox.

Ah, gotcha. Thanks.

[Oddey]

I've just played some of the game. It looks absolutely beautiful, even if the level geometry occasionally makes me feel a little put out. Problematically, my computer is not quite the toughest of the bunch, and so the game runs somewhat slowly at most resolutions, aside from the lowest ones available.

Even at those resolutions, the changes are very noticeable. Well done indeed!

[Nate]

And you can. It's in the advanced menu in launcher

Thanks, it's much better now.


I've got a suggestion for the next update. You should specify in the Controls Configuration dialog which of the options are used in FPS mode, which in 3rd person mode, and which in both. 'Punch', for instance, was vague enough that I couldn't work out what it meant.

Also, you might want to consider not highlighting keys/buttons that are used in different modes. For instance, the A button is highlighted bright read because I have it set for Jump and Menu Select. Ditto for Ammo Up/Down/etc and Menu Up/Down/etc.

[Varrok]

I believe the ATI issues were only with the non-HD version of the game. I may be wrong, though. It was a bit choppy on my ATI card, but plays fine since I turned anti-aliasing down to 4X.

I believe (and it's true, because I have an ATI card) that the problems with non-HD version wasn't perfomance, but bugged water and transparency. Now these two are gone but I have problems with framerate. Still they make it impossible to beat that first boss. I've tried enabling/disabling everything :/

[TheMooseLord]

Several problem that im experiencing.

The menu is unresponsive and takes ages to detect what im doing.
Vegetation seems messed up for me, with plants going through terrain and.
Performance issues, im judging it via black mesa, where I can run on almost everything high and get a solid 40-50 fps.

[Nate]

Vegetation seems messed up for me, with plants going through terrain

Are they going through the terrain, or appearing/disappearing in the distance? Because the draw-distance issue was in the original Xbox version.

[Wil]

But other menus do have auto-selected options. The main pause menu, for instance.

The main pause menu definitely doesn't have an auto-select, and if any menu does it's an oversight that we'd ideally fix.

Does Max or anyone else know what some of these graphics options are? I'm not sure how to set them to get better performance:

Instance Rendering
GPU Sync
Mip Map Bias

Instance rendering makes all decorators of the same type load simultaneously instead of separately. It can be a bit buggy on some people's systems, hence the ability to turn it off, but turning it off will require additional resources to go into rendering.

GPU sync I don't even understand. It's meant to be for if your CPU is more powerful than your GPU, or maybe the other way around? It can reduce choppiness of frame rates.

Mipmap bias describes the distance at which mipping kicks in. Mipping replaces textures with lower quality versions so that a) there's a less to load into memory, and b) there's less noise in distant textures. The default is -1; making it more negative will push out the mipping radius and make high-quality textures to be used further from the camera. Making the number bigger (it can go positive) will bring the mipping radius down so that textures become blurry closer to the camera, improving performance. Don't ask me what units it uses.

I can turn off AA which makes everything smooth but sometimes makes a big difference in visual quality. The other option is to experiment switching the other settings on and off until I find the best solution which could take a while...

The Stranger engine was just never built with proper AA in mind. We use FSAA, which renders everything [square number] as many times and squashes it down into your requested resolution. With FSAA, 8×AA is technically 9×AA, and disabling AA would logically be 1×AA.

I've got a suggestion for the next update. You should specify in the Controls Configuration dialog which of the options are used in FPS mode, which in 3rd person mode, and which in both. 'Punch', for instance, was vague enough that I couldn't work out what it meant.

You... couldn't work out what 'punch' meant?

It's a nice idea for clarity, but it's not going to happen in the launcher. It's just too fiddly and going to take up the time of programmer Steve when he could (and should) be working on more important things. I'll put it in the manual (which I'm working on in my own free time).

Also, you might want to consider not highlighting keys/buttons that are used in different modes. For instance, the A button is highlighted bright read because I have it set for Jump and Menu Select. Ditto for Ammo Up/Down/etc and Menu Up/Down/etc.

I'm sure we could disable it for gamepad setups, where duplicate bindings are innevitable. Anything more is, again, fiddly and time consuming, especially for something that's only a guide to raise your awareness of something.

The menu is unresponsive and takes ages to detect what im doing.

Which menu? All menus?

Vegetation seems messed up for me, with plants going through terrain and.

Try disabling instance rendering and anisotropic filtering: first one, then the other, then both.

[TheMooseLord]

Which menu? All menus?

All menu's apart from pause act as if they are running at 2-3 fps.
Pressing 'exit' can take 4-5 seconds before the game closes.

Try disabling instance rendering and anisotropic filtering: first one, then the other, then both.

The problem
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...s/?id=96804915 (I have no idea how to screenshots from the new steam)

Disabling anisotropic filtering does nothing, but disabling instance rendering fixes the problem. While also tanking my framerate

[Wil]

Yeah, it will. Instance rendering was one of the first things we added to the game to improve performance. Why it creates such weird graphical bugs for some people but not others with exactly the same system is anyone's guess.

For the sake of trying anyway, I'll PM you so you can send my your system spec and the launcher logfile.

[Havoc]

What was/is being fixed in that first patch you guys put out and will it influence my save games?

[Wil]

From the readme:

Fixes v1.4
==========

Added missing achievement "Slakker Clakker".
Fixed issues with some achievements not getting triggered correctly.
Fixed in launcher audio language selection problem.
Fixed in launcher joypad configuration issues when using dpad controls.
Added into launcher new advanced options. Shadows, Vegetation & Water Reflections can be disabled to improve frame rate. Mip Map Bias can be adjusted. Max frames per second can be set.

Since there are no changes to in-game data (levels, characters, inventory), your saves will still work.

[Nate]

The main pause menu definitely doesn't have an auto-select, and if any menu does it's an oversight that we'd ideally fix.

Are you sure about that? As far as I can see, more menus have auto-selected options than not. I just went through and made a list of all the menus and which items are highlighted. I can post screenshots if you need them.

• Main menu - 'New Game'
• Load - the most recent savegame
• Options - None
• Options - Controls - None
• Options - Sound - 'Back'
• Extras - 'Movies'
• Extras - Movies - 'Credits'
• Extras - Art - the one at the top of the list
• Quit from main menu - None
• Pause movie - None
• Pause Game - 'Resume'
• Save Game - 'Empty Game'
• Quit from in-game pause menu - None

You... couldn't work out what 'punch' meant?

I couldn't work out when it was meant to be used. I got confused by the spin-punch and headbutt used in third person (which I now realise are controlled by the crossbow triggers) and didn't remember that there was a punch in first person mode.

[Wil]

• Main menu - 'New Game'
• Load - the most recent savegame
• Options - None
• Options - Controls - None
• Options - Sound - 'Back'
• Extras - 'Movies'
• Extras - Movies - 'Credits'
• Extras - Art - the one at the top of the list
• Quit from main menu - None
• Pause movie - None
• Pause Game - 'Resume'
• Save Game - 'Empty Game'
• Quit from in-game pause menu - None

The ones I've emboldened have no auto-highlight as per my testing just now. I suspect they appear auto-highlighted because your mouse cursor is over them when the menu opens.

[looney-bin]

Doesn't work for me. Everytime I get past the OWI logo it says the game application won't work.

[Nate]

The ones I've emboldened have no auto-highlight as per my testing just now. I suspect they appear auto-highlighted because your mouse cursor is over them when the menu opens.

I use a controller.

[K100]

Where is the Scuba Toad ? I have finished the game but I haven't seen him.