itch.io

Perfectly understandable! I hope things get better soon and really hope the game takes off one day cause it deserves the attention. Even if it's incomplete at one or two chapters, it's doing something better than a lot of other games with its story. I think it's just the good mix of character writing, art style and just the huge room for speculation that keeps me going. It's still crazy how far the little details in the Solstice Legend (clothing design on the Troll), the diary and Pycatrix's Mirror can go.

Thank you for making such a great game and wish you lots of luck with it

I really really hope this isn't impolite. It's hard to ask some questions without saying "chapter 2 WHEN?????" but I am curious of the current state of the game and what's coming next since it's been a while since the last feed update.

I won't ask for anything like release dates, but...

1. Will there be a bug fix update soon for Update 4? Or are we close enough to Chapter 2 that everything might bleed together into one giant update? Or have plans shifted to something else that the game needs that we're not aware of yet?
   
2. If there is an Update 5, would it be a small or big update?
   
3. Generally, what's next for the game?

I know game development is naturally long. I'm actually waiting on a few other games, though I thought I give this one a little poke since it keeps coming back to my brain the most. Hope everything's fine. Cheers!

I'm fine with hints, plus I kinda need one more, because that's probably a very well hidden statue if it went this long without being spotted.

Also oops. It's not the icons that are missing, it's just the names. Like the white text showing "Vivian", "Elder Ulkavana", "Seraphine", etc. just won't appear. 

EDIT: In my quest, I have accidentally discovered an endless void bug. There's no collision for the skybox behind the final glacier in the ice field. You can even start from the cave. All you need to do is fly around the iceberg and past the sky without touching the water. Eira will fall forever until the game is quit and it causes a few graphical issues (glitched tail, extreme zoom, etc.).

Only found it because I was looking behind the glacier and noticed the sky looking a little distorted when I got close. Then flew into it.

...At least I can walk underwater now? (same tactic but I just try to hug along the glacier's underwater slopes until I reach "land" so I don't fall into the void).

UPDATE: Found it! It's very pretty. I guess that's one way for me to get close to it even if it's unintended. KEKEKEK Anyway, thank you.

I didn't check everything but it turns out that all NPCs and even Eira and Seraphine are missing names.

For the softlock, try flying behind the library towards the invisible wall, then fly a little to the right until Eira looks like she's flying towards the hill or map's edge, and when it looks like she's actually getting close to either one, fly back towards the secret cave while staying close to the right side hill. Turns out it wasn't from flying too low, it's just flying to the right. My bad on that one.

(Also you worry me on the "which dragon statue" maybe I didn't find everything. It's the dream one that looks pixelated from afar and up close)
EDIT: crud this was meant to be a direct reply but I misclicked. Sorry!

Lol thank you so much but no I'm not a bugtester or a professional by any means, I was just trying my best to make things clear while writing the list out. And I'm just screwing around with the game 90% of the time ("if I can do this... then can I also do this?"). Everything else was trying to be "helpful" although hopefully that post didn't slam you too hard ^_^;

As for weird things like my shortcuts, it's because I'm trying to play or "speedrun" the game quickly. I actually don't know how to speedrun but my favorite part of the game is when I'm near the end of the chapter where I can walk around across all levels during the day. The shortcuts were also learned from just trying to make sense of some glitches or find secrets during midnight, and flying too far from the main path for any reason = not activating any checks in the game correctly.

Also, sometimes I watch/listen to speedrunners or speedrunning documentaries (AverageTreyVG and Summoning Salt). So you can take a wild guess where some things in my playstyle are coming from.

On softlocks: There is unfortunately one more, this time involving the secret area at midnight. You just gotta fly under the invisible wall blocking it or very far to the right of it. Once you get in, you can't fly back out unless you quit/reload the game. Just found it over the weekend.

The only other major bug I noticed are missing names when talking to NPCs but not sure if that's an intended change or not.

Anyway, I actually really recommend contacting a speedrunner one day because they'll know how to shake the game for bugs better than I can (...leave the tutorial shortcut in if you do, they'll need it). This was also partly why I asked to make the cutscene skippable, because if you find a  streamer or speedrunner to play it, it'll help them replay the game especially if they missed anything like the dragon statue.

Big bug report and sorry for the wall of text, but hopefully it covers most of the bugs. Honestly still a very good game, I'm just dumping this all at once. Thank you for fixing the "Level Complete!" bug and most of the character portraits/movement bugs I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, a few aren't entirely fixed or still kicking.

• Any/multiple levels:
  • Camera settings not saved when game is closed without hitting "Quit Game". Resets to default slider bar positions even when "OK" is clicked on.
  • Character Portrait icons still flash while inspecting items. Talk to the elder and then inspect an object like a sign.
  • Floating during chat dialogue. Caused by jumping or flying before a conversation starts, such as the festival gathering and the cliff where Eira wonders about other dragons.
  • Dialogue keeps playing when the game is paused. Specifically with automatic chat boxes that require no player input, such as Seraphine's dialogue when she's running or flying. Also happens during the cutscene when Eira wakes up. Pausing this cutscene does stop most of the visuals but not the dialogue (it works on some text boxes but not all of them).
  • Health gain inconsistency: When Eira touches a heart, she randomly restores 1-2 hearts instead of a guaranteed amount. However, if Eira has no hearts, she'll only restore 1 heart instead.
  • Splash sound effect doesn't always play when Eira falls in water.
  • If Eira tries to stand on another character, she'll float into a falling position until she's moves off the NPC.
  • Eira has a second shadow. It can be seen above her on cave ceilings or cliff overhangs.
  • Eira can still walk around while reading signs and objects.
• Tutorial level:
  • Softlock. Entering the tutorial after the cave level is complete will cause Eira to be unable to move (ALT, ESC and the menu will still work but not movement). The only fix is to close the program right away without using "quit game", which prevents the game from autosaving. However, if the game is quit/reloaded (even without saving), Eira will still be stuck permanently and force the player to start a new game.
  • Repeating cutscenes. If Eira dies in the tutorial level after visiting the beach, even after collecting the beach shard, Seraphine will appear again and restart the tutorial dialogue. Easy to encounter by simply backtracking into the area and running into the thorns repeatedly.
  • Level Skip / Missing invisible wall:  Most of the level can be skipped by flying over the central cliff/hill. Can happen in more than one place but the best way is to jump on the boulder when you start the game, then double jump and fly through the trees (fly left a little) and you'll be near the red thorns and the exit.
  • Out of bounds: When you see the final 3 snowflakes, turn around and run towards the map's corner hill. Double jump and fly towards the flat pine tree texture behind the 3D trees. This causes Eira to touch an invisible wall that allows her to fly very high, allowing the player to fly out of bounds, under the map or over most of the level.
• Beach level:
  • Shaking, jagged graphics. If Eira looks towards the ocean while standing next to the shard, all the fish and columns become very pixelated and jagged. Temporarily stops if the camera turns left or right.
  • Repeating cutscenes after collecting the shard. Occurs when the player quits the game or leaves and returns to the area. Yes, this means Seraphine and Eira will be hyped over an empty island.
  • Floating fern plants near beginning of the level. They're floating a little too high off the ground.
  • Eira falling during the shard cutscene. If she flies, dives, or falls onto the island from above, she can splash into the water due to gravity, causing the screen to turn black in the middle of the cutscene and Eira resetting to the last spawn point when the cutscene is over. A bit tricky to perform but basically Eira has to be flying low enough to trigger the event but positioned in a way where her body will naturally fall into the water.
• Tussle arena level:
  • Missing invisible wall barriers for the tree hills. They can be walked on and climbed on.
  • Black sky bug. If the player doesn't mash buttons during the struggle sequence, the sky will eventually fade to black, causing Eira and Seraphine to stare into a black void during the cutscene after winning the fight.
  • Floating fern plants in the arena.
  • Weird flash of a graphics/polygon triangle glitch in island during feather cutscene when camera is staring at feather.
  • Ice breath can still keep spewing when Seraphine is ready to tackle Eira. Try to do an ice breath right when Seraphine is at 0 hearts and you'll see the ice breath going during the miniature tackle cutscene. Hard to replicate since it requires good timing but it's there. Not as bad as previous version of the game where it'll continue spewing endlessly. It's thankfully temporary and fades away quickly.
  • Delayed Game Over / Moving while dead. If Seraphine hits Eira when she falls into water near her spawn point (the spot where Eira is supposed to respawn if she falls), it'll interrupt Eira's fainting/game over animation, allowing Eira to move around and even gain health briefly before the fight resets.
  • Missing water texture? The beach level has a white water ripple effect but it's absent in the arena. Gaze into the pink and blue void.
  • Seraphine's force field won't always push Eira back. Best done by right-clicking frequently before/during the force field attack.
• Candlelight Cliffs:
  • Candlelights resetting. Quitting or closing the game (the corner "X" on program window) after the legend cutscene will reset Candlelights entirely, meaning Eira has to go back to festival gathering and rewatch the cutscene. This can even cause a reset before Eira talks to Seraphine during midnight. Also please make the cutscene skippable, it's helpful when dealing with this bug and also helpful for replays.
  • If Eira falls in water, she faces the exit instead of the village when she respawns.
  • Secret Area shadows: Gryphon shadows can be seen through the floor and ceiling in the secret area during the day.
  • Moving wooden texture on logs and hut interior. Basically, the texture moves with the camera. Log stairs can turn white if you turn camera too far to the left or right, and hut interior can be disorienting due to how badly the texture can stretch, warp and distort if the camera moves too much if Eira stands too close.
  • Music stopping during legend cutscene. Pausing the game during this cutscene will continue playing the music but not the cinematic. If given enough time, the song will end early and cause the cutscene to be silent until it's over.
  • Gryphon heads moving while game is paused. Pausing the game near NPCs like Odette and Cireth causes their heads to "T pose" until the game is unpaused . 
  • "Level complete!" appears twice. First after the shard is collected, then a second time when the elder says "let the festival begin!" after her cutscene is over.
  • Orianna's pose. Sometimes she's sitting, sometimes she's standing. Girlie can't decide. It's random per playthrough and closing/opening the game. The pose changes both for festival gathering circle and when she's at the docks.
  • Orianna talking to air. Basically it's possible to talk to Orianna before Seraphine reaches her if the player flies and dives fast enough.
  • Gaps in the cliffs from missing polygons. Fly under the dock and you'll see two gaps. One on the left and one on the right. Flying into both allows the player to fly inside the land, especially during midnight when Eira can fly upward and get herself stuck underneath the terrain.
    • Some icebergs also have visible seams or missing polygon gaps, best seen during the day.
  • Eira can reach cave level entrance by flying behind the wooden hut until she gains enough height to fly up the mountain. She won't be able to enter the level though.
  • Eira falling and getting stuck. To the left of the beach sign, there is a gap between the tree and snow that Eira can fall into. It's easy to jump out but it's an awkward area to be in and easily slip in while running/charging.
  • Quitting or closing the game during Candlelight resets to beginning of the level when Seraphine leads Eira to the hut. Doesn't matter if it's midnight flying section or during festival.
  • MORNING only: "I shouldn't leave until the festival is over..." text appears if Eira is flying too far to the left/right of cave and forest level exits.
• Midnight Flying:
  • "Press enter" text appears over Seraphine instead of the flying test machine when you look at it.
  • Weird shadow near dock during midnight. Occurs whenever Eira jumps off the wooden platform and turns around before entering the first ring. Very hard to trigger intentionally and will take several tries.
  • Completing the rings without triggering certain dialogue will prevent Eira from progressing into the dream level. Basically, she'll still automatically fall after the final ring but the level will reset instead. Exact cause is unknown but basically it's from the player straying away from the main path and/or taking shortcuts around icebergs.
    • White moon shortcut bug. Also caused by shortcuts. If you fly to the left after the 9th ring, you can access the 10th ring  early. Since it takes a few seconds for Seraphine to catch up, it's easy for the player to miss the conversation area that triggers the moon to turn purple. Causes both a white moon and maybe also a level reset when she's supposed to enter the dream level.
    • Sparkleless shortcut: After the 11th ring is activated, if the player knows exactly where to fly, they can reach the 12th ring (second last ring) without following Seraphine or entering sparkle area. This also causes the level rese..
    • The level reset is a bit inconsistent and doesn't always activate but it's definitely related to one or both shortcuts.
  • Iceberg collision helps Eira fly upward. Can cause player to get lost if they accidentally fly up any of the icebergs, but more importantly, it allows Eira to temporarily save herself from the automatic falling that happens after the final ring.
• An ice level... somewhere... in snowhere... :
  • Typo: "furture" instead of "future" in the diary.

awesome!

Reposting because I found another issue in same area and need to rewrite some things. Basically in the secret area:

• Difficult to hear seashell whispers over music without moving the game's camera. Could you move the seashell to an open table and make the whispers louder? Or at least add a sound slider so we can increase the volume of sound effects without affecting music volume? Currently, the best way to hear them is to angle the camera either close to Eira's face (often her forehead) or next to the bookshelf, but the game makes moving the camera around objects awkward whenever it thinks the object is blocking the player's view. Therefore, a flat table would be better for it.
• The shard near the mirror can be collected twice. If Eira grabs it during the festival, it'll appear again in the morning.
• "Level complete!" only counts snowflakes but never shards. It's kind of a fun challenge trying to find shards but I keep bracing for some sort of "All Shards Found!" message every time I collect one.

I've managed to find 5 shards and 106 snowflakes but I'm not sure if the game is supposed to give me a 100% indicator or not. You don't need to reveal spoilers or the exact number of collectibles. I just wanna know if the game is supposed to tell the player "you got everything!" in any way or if there just isn't one fully programmed in yet.

np!

Bug 1: Eira can move or attack during chat dialogue and cutscenes. 3 situations where it's confirmed to occur:

• The Intro. Left-clicking during the intro cutscene will let the player hear Eira's ice breath activate.
• Crystal Shard cutscene (when Seraphine is about give the shard, not when she's behind thorns): Visually, Eira won't move on the screen, but she can still move around and collect snowflakes even while Seraphine is talking. The counter will even go up before the dialogue ends.
• Tutorial: Button mashing WASD keys in between the intro narration and tutorial will result in Eira moving briefly before becoming stuck at the start of the game until Seraphine stops talking. Eira can move after it ends and the rest of tutorial is normal.

Bug 2: Character Portraits appearing when inspecting items (wooden sign posts, etc.). Basically if you talk to an NPC before talking to an item like a sign post or library books, their portrait will briefly appear before the normal game text loads. This can also happen if Eira is the last character to speak.

Bug 3: Actually entering the castle (Volume Warning, static will become loud). Might be intended but I'm not sure. Anyway, if Eira runs too far to the left (towards the moon), she can bypass the "exit" area where she's supposed to wake up and walk into the castle. My directions are terrible but the best way is to run very far towards the moon until Eira is next to it, then run to the right of the moon (north or northeast?) until the castle is to her right. Then run into the castle. Be warned. The static will get loud even before you enter the castle. Plus, it becomes hard to find the exact place you need to go in order to trigger the next part of the game. The best I could do is retrace my steps and use the position of the moon and castle to figure out where "south" is until I reached the area to leave.

Bug 4: Triggered crucial dialogue twice during night training course. Because it's easy to fly out of the obstacle course and return to the village (I can see the actual flight test machine near the dock even at a distance), I managed to trigger the "!! Did you see that?" conversation between Eira and Seraphine a second time. Don't ask me how I was able to locate the exact spot, I was blindly flying around looking for secrets and trying to find Seraphine again until I flew right in the spot where Eira asks if Seraphine saw the purple sparkles. I guess their conversations are locked to specific areas of the map?

And... that's all I found so far. All bugs are found on the PC version of the game. I only have Windows 11 and I'm using keyboard controls (EDIT: and wireless mouse!)