Skip to content

I have 2 words for Overhaul:

"BETA TESTERS!!!!!"

Ok, but in all seriousness. I'm close to the end of the game now with a solo run and I really need to say that the amount of bugs I've encountered are breathtaking to say the least. I'm not a hater, I applaud their effort, but there are so many bugs (even after patch 3) that I cannot for the life of me believe that most, if not ALL of them could not have been fixed prior to release. I'm not talking about bugs related to specific systems or O/S or graphic cards as I am fully aware that even the biggest gaming companies in the world cannot program a game with the millions of potentially differently configured PC's. I'm only talking about bugs as they relate to game mechanics, scripting, functionality, encounters, etc.

On the first day of play, I came on the boards and mentioned 6 game bugs. Since then, I have just played and worked around them as I could not imagine the time i would have to take each time to come back and post. I just can't believe that their primary objective was to fix all that was wrong with the finally patched BG/TotSC from Bioware to still have so many issues.

Just for reference sakes, my last playthrough before BG:EE was announced was with the Big World mod which is VERY ambitious in what it does and adds so many more elements that can (and to be fair sometimes does) cause problems and bugs. But I was able to do so many more things and also play as a Cavalier in the BG2 portion and follow a different path other than siding with the Shadow Thieves or Bodhi.

I was actually just looking forward to play the original vanilla BG (with the much needed improvements of BG2) with a bugless game. The 30 mins of extra material per new party member (so I've read) is not what got my $20. I bought this game to support Overhaul in refreshing my favorite titles of all time. I was so looking forward to PST and BG2, but this experience has left me with a sour taste.

Finally, and I hope someone at Overhaul reads this, next time please, I will PAY you the $20 to play the game as a beta tester and report everything back to you! At least then I'll know what my role is and I would enjoy being part of the beta testing community. It's a win/win. You don't lose a sale and you have another beta tester. PST!

modernyodaThe_New_Romancebdeonovic
«1

Comments

  • marfigmarfig Member Posts: 208
    It's unavoidable that some bugs simply are allowed to go through for the released version because budget just doesn't allow for any more development time. I've learned to accept this for modern application lifecycle management. You'd be amazed at the number of day-1 bugs on software in general; from business programs, to government software, freeware, open source, scientific applications, etc. The game industry isn't immune to budget or any other timeline considerations.

    Just learn to live with it or you'll get an heart attack.

    That said, I do think we (as consumers) should start demanding a Known Issues list from day 1. It's always better to know what bugs to expect and that are already known by the developers.
    ZinodinRavel
  • KirkorKirkor Member Posts: 700
    That's more than 2 words!

    Yeah, that's really weird, that there were so many bugs at the realase, which can be spotted after 2 minutes of playing (like map marker CTD). But hey - they are repairing all reported stuff. So let's just report bugs and wait for repair team :)

    Even though there are plenty of bugs, I had no problem with finishing game the way I wanted...
  • MinscandBooMinscandBoo Member Posts: 77
    @marfig whilst I can appreciate what your saying, I will have to disagree with you in this case. A slew of bugs have already been fixed in the first week which would only lead me to believe that they didn't catch them. Had they caught them, they surely could have fixed them promptly as the current situation would dictate they can do. And let's not forget, this is a non-ground breaking 14 year old game that has already been originally patched by Bioware and subsequently several times by the modding community. Launching a brand new MMORP like Blizzard did with WoW; That I can accept a lot of teething problems and would be (was) very patient. This is a different story imo.
    The_New_Romance
  • MinscandBooMinscandBoo Member Posts: 77
    @Kirkor That's exactly what I'm saying. I believe that if they had the right amount of quality beta testers, we would not have had to be the De Facto beta testers. They made everybody wait an extra 2.5 months. Look what has been discovered in 1 week!
  • NukeninNukenin Member Posts: 327
    My two words for Overhaul:

    "Defenestrate"
    "Fenestrate"

    I don't get out much.
    Lemernis
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • OurQuestIsVainOurQuestIsVain Member Posts: 201
    I support beamdog as well just for reviving my favorite games but yeah...to be fair they did advertise this enhanced edition as having over 400 bug fixes...I guess they forgot to mention they would be adding 400 new bugs. I'm not hating but I really do hope they go through and fix every single one of these bugs. I gotta agree with the op here too, so many of these things really should have been fixed in the beta testing stage. Some of these bugs are so obvious they would be impossible to miss by anybody who played the game for a few minutes.
    But, you can't change what happened so here we are dealing with it and it isn't all bad. I just look at this stage in the enhanced editions life as a big open beta. Beamdog is getting way more feedback than they ever would with just a few beta testers, if they stick with it and try to fix all the bugs we will have a perfect game in no time.
  • bigdogchrisbigdogchris Member Posts: 1,336
    The game has bugs but the focus right now is crashing/performance/iPad. Once that's done then they will probably move to focusing on the game mechanic bugs.
  • marfigmarfig Member Posts: 208
    I agree @MinscandBoo.

    It's hard to draw a line and I may be drawing it too far. It's just... I don't know mate... for such a small business like Overhaul/Beamdog and such a big risk like BGEE, I'm personally willing to be more permissive than I would for other game development studios.
    Marricmoopy
  • MinscandBooMinscandBoo Member Posts: 77
    edited December 2012
    @OurQuestlsVain I hear you mate, but the thing is, after playing this game since 1998, I have only so many playthoughs I can stomach. I pretty much know the story by heart so there is no sense of "discovery" if you will. I might have 1 more playthrough in me (BG:EE) with the new characters but that's it, which is why I was hoping that it would all be good at launch. I guess I wish I was only informed about this game maybe 3 weeks from now ;)
    Post edited by MinscandBoo on
  • ElofElof Member Posts: 42
    I used to have that react to buggy games/applications too.

    "Didn't they test this?!" "Do they even HAVE testers?!" etc.

    Now that I've been working on software products for a while I have come to realise that actually there are probably plenty of testers and they've probably found a hundred more bugs than you realise... and that the developers simply aren't given enough time to fix them all.

    Believe me, I know! ;)
    mch202DiscoCat[Deleted User]
  • GilgalahadGilgalahad Member Posts: 237
    This was explained more than once by the devs and as a budding programmer myself i can understand and sympathize with the Overhaul team. Because of the nature of what they are doing, fixing bugs often times leads to new ones that require fixing and then in turn create new bugs that need to be fixed etc, et al, so on and so forth.
    What i liked about the devs is that they did not release the game until it was at least in a playable state and have since done nothing but patch and patch some more so the support is there and is a continuing work in progress.
    I like to use my personal story to show what they're going through if you don't mind. Using a freeware copy of an old Havoc engine, i started building my 1st town and some of my personal ideas on what a good crafting system should be. Took me over 6 months to get the town into working shape with all pathing issues from my npc's done etc etc. Just as i was close to finishing, i made a change that introduced a whole slew of new bugs(insert growl here). Took me 2 more months to iron out all the new bugs and though i still had a few minor ones, my town is playable now. Just saying a project like this needs time and as many players have finished it despite the bugs, obviously there's nothing overly game breaking and many of the bugs i see in the bug section are minor twaddles(a few big ones though as well but not game breaking).

    Sorry for the length.
    GodKaiserHellDiscoCat
  • YosharianYosharian Member Posts: 67
    What kind of bugs are you talking about? The only bugs I've seen mentioned have been fixed by the two updates...
  • marfigmarfig Member Posts: 208
    @Gilgalahad, but it doesn't explain all.

    The Help tooltip wouldn't lead to a bug cascade. Same can be said about the Journal. And et cetera.

    I prefer to just be permissive instead of lumping into "it's not the poor developers fault". I'm a software developer myself and I'm not poor nor innocent.
  • SpaceInvaderSpaceInvader Member Posts: 2,125
    More or less we all think it the same way.
    At this point we can just help them and ourselves by spotting and reporting bugs.
    After that, it will be time for a reward: new GUI, DLC, etc, etc.
  • MinscandBooMinscandBoo Member Posts: 77
    @Gilgalahad I guess that's what's troubling me the most. It's not the bugs that have been fixed from the original game, it's the slew of new bugs that were never there. I understand your explanation of how they got there, but I guess just like any business you are driven by promised dates, revenue, budget restraints, etc. I don't know... You may have softened my stance, but just a touch. Because this is a very old game and not "new technology" is the reason I'm irritated on the quality status of this release.
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    edited December 2012
    I'd just like to share my internal monologue when I saw this thread:

    I have two words for Beamdog:

    *raises #banhammer...*

    "BETA TESTERS!!"

    *falls over laughing*

    and then, inwardly, "Thank goodness."

    We're doing the best we can. But that first line made me laugh. And I needed that. Thanks!
    mch202SpaceInvaderEleutherosBelgarathMTH
  • LiamEslerLiamEsler Member Posts: 1,859
    Definitely what @Elof said.
  • triclops41triclops41 Member Posts: 207
    Were I superstitious, I would say this with my fingers crossed, but I have to say, I have only had the tiniest of problems, like the occasional click not registering, or alt-tabbing causing my dialogue window to resize.
  • MinscandBooMinscandBoo Member Posts: 77
    @Aosaw Yes, I could only imagine what you were thinking (evil grin), but at 43 years of age, I am beyond those childish tactics/rants...

    /rollplay emo 17 year old: what I really meant to say WAS >>>>>> "____ ___"

    Can you fit "Merry Christmas" in those lines?? :)
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    No, but you can fit "Tank Top".

    That's what you meant, right?

    Anyway, I didn't mean to interrupt or derail the thread. Carry on. ;)
  • GloktaGlokta Member Posts: 97
    This AGAIN? how many threads like this do we need?
    Zinodin
  • MinscandBooMinscandBoo Member Posts: 77
    @Glokta what other kind of posts would you prefer to see? the "meme" thread? The "you know you've played too much when" thread? I assumed a post explaining a customers thoughts on the final product was quite in line with what a forum thread in "General" should consist of... Sorry.
    Rush_that_speaksmarfigThe_New_Romance
  • SylonceSylonce Member Posts: 65
    Even with a few beta testers they had, I was rather surprised that a lot of the more obvious bugs made it through.

    Nonetheless, it's kind of good that they are addressing the issues so promptly. We have had what, 2 patches in the past 2 days? That's pretty good by all accounts, and in a way, it makes me hopeful that there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

    Think they might have benefited from an open beta, perhaps from pre-order customers (maybe something to keep in mind for BG2:EE?). Right now, it seems that it's the customer doing a lot of the "beta testing," and there has been a lot of feedback going through. With BG being such an old game, it might be beneficial to open the doors to at least some customers prior to release to squash all those bugs.
    MinscandBooThe_New_Romance
  • TheSwamperTheSwamper Member Posts: 21
    Elof said:

    I used to have that react to buggy games/applications too.

    "Didn't they test this?!" "Do they even HAVE testers?!" etc.

    Now that I've been working on software products for a while I have come to realise that actually there are probably plenty of testers and they've probably found a hundred more bugs than you realise... and that the developers simply aren't given enough time to fix them all.

    Believe me, I know! ;)

    This.

    No disrespect to the OP, but I can't believe how few bugs I've found. Honestly, I'm on my second playthrough and have found ONE bug, which was my mouse cursor disappearing.

    I played this game when it originally came out and this is the first time I've played it since (never modded, never will). I have had so much fun for my 20 bucks that I want to slap current developers and tell them "THAT is how you make a game."



    EleutherosWiggles
  • SpaceInvaderSpaceInvader Member Posts: 2,125


    No disrespect to the OP, but I can't believe how few bugs I've found. Honestly, I'm on my second playthrough and have found ONE bug, which was my mouse cursor disappearing.

    I played this game when it originally came out and this is the first time I've played it since (never modded, never will). I have had so much fun for my 20 bucks that I want to slap current developers and tell them "THAT is how you make a game."

    Look, I'm really happy if at least some of us could have a great bug-free experience.
    But how can you say "THAT is how you make a game" when there are PAGES of reported bugs?
  • CorianderCoriander Member Posts: 1,667
    Nukenin said:


    "Fenestrate"

    Well that's a mildly creepy word that I was unaware of.

  • AnduinAnduin Member Posts: 5,745
    Two words... Damn just used my quota right there...

    :)

  • NukeninNukenin Member Posts: 327

    @Aosaw Yes, I could only imagine what you were thinking (evil grin), but at 43 years of age, I am beyond those childish tactics/rants...

    /rollplay emo 17 year old: what I really meant to say WAS >>>>>> "____ ___"

    Can you fit "Merry Christmas" in those lines?? :)

    X M A S   Y A Y
    Coriander said:

    Nukenin said:


    "Fenestrate"

    Well that's a mildly creepy word that I was unaware of.

    It means "windowed". It should be the new option under "Graphics", replacing "Full Screen" or whatever's there now.

    Of course, by asking them to defenestrate fenestrate, I was telling them to throw windowed out the window, I suppose. I've no rhyme nor reason, I just wanted to claim two good words for Overhaul.
  • MinscandBooMinscandBoo Member Posts: 77
    @TheSwamper No disrespect to you either but it's one of 2 things that is happening in your case. 1: You are very lucky compared to some of us, or 2: You may not have even realized there was a bug right in front of you. I'm only guessing here, but I assume some of my bugs are related to the order of when I do things (I generally don't play in a linear fashion, but the game allows it so....). meaning, the 'If that, then this' gets messed up. For example, one that comes to mind since it just happened: I'm finishing off the Isle of Balduran after killing Karoug and handing in my quests. One thing I noticed that I have never noticed before in my other playthroughs is, some of the commoners are hostile towards me when I get back to town before I even speak to Kaishas. I'm being thanked by everyone for being their hero, yet some are walking around with a red hostile circle around them and haven't morphed to a werewolf yet. Bug or not I don't know... but right then and there I hand in cloak to Durlyle and he thanks me and asks me for some flowers (which I already have in my inventory) but before I can give them to him he bolts off the screen and disappears and he's not acknowledging me clicking him to try and hand him the flowers.

    This is just one scenario of many that have been happening. FULL disclosure however, I do have a bag of holding for my solo playthrough which I added via console. I'm not sure what bugs if any that may have caused but I can't believe it's responsible for most, if any.

Sign In or Register to comment.