Be warned, the game is designed to softlock you.

[Biggles]

So this has now happened to me on two separate saves, and the developers didn't give any help and just told me that I'm wrong when I reported the problem before.

I found out that a number of the "Main Missions" have timers that will fail the quest and that unless you get specific upgrades or stockpile the required items before starting the quest then your game just gets softlocked. If you fail one of these missions, then your game will not be able to progress to the next step in the story and you will be unable to progress.

I've tried just about everything I can think of, but I have now lost two saves and 6+ hours of play to a mission that I had no possible way to complete.

For reference, the biggest quest that I'm having issues with is "Cover my Glass" where the train needs the windows repaired and the timer is one day. I'm not able to get the upgraded furnace before then, so smelting the glass takes longer than a full day, and I end up failing it from the timer and now can't progress. This has happened on two saves now, and I will have to start the entire game for a third time.

I reported the problem and the developers told me that "It is a side quest" and that "Mi-an will carry it for you" If that is the case then the mission is labeled incorrectly.
I am now over a full week of in-game time and that's not happened, however. I'm not getting ANY side missions pop up and the only thing I can really do anymore is expand my yard and complete commissions. Because of the response (or lack thereof) from the developers, I can only assume this is working as intended, and is intended to force you to full restart your game if you don't have quests done before you accept them.

[Dex]

they've labelled some optional quests as main story quests for some reason, but you can ignore them. The sandrunner opening day is marked as a main story quest, but i just ignored it and got a letter about no one showing up or something, it was the same as if i had ignored a fireside meeting.

[Biggles]

I'm genuinely surprised at the number of people still saying this quest either doesn't exist or that it's a side quest. I posted a screenshot of it from in-game. I cannot find anywhere outside of this forum that says otherwise. I don't know what to say other than the game most certainly has that quest and that it is listed as a main quest, and that failing said quest immediately and noticeably stopped all other quests from happening.

[JVC]

Originally posted by Biggles:

I'm genuinely surprised at the number of people still saying this quest either doesn't exist or that it's a side quest. I posted a screenshot of it from in-game. I cannot find anywhere outside of this forum that says otherwise. I don't know what to say other than the game most certainly has that quest and that it is listed as a main quest, and that failing said quest immediately and noticeably stopped all other quests from happening.

It's a main quest sure. But it isn't a frequently occurring issue. I've seen the kickstarters' bug reports on discord through more than a year and haven't seen that issue reported before. And the bug reporting forum is quite active.

Uninstall the game and install it again. There might be a download error and the "verify files" thing doesn't catch everything. Unfortunately. Your save files shouldn't be affected by doing so.

[palingenesis]

I kind of know what you're talking about. I failed repairing the train glass because I thought I would have more time to do it because it was a gold objective. However, it wasn't clear to me if it was a timed mission, a quality I thought the gold missions did not have. But, when I failed it, it didn't seem to have an overall effect on the progression of other events, as I am still playing since the failure and have encountered newer missions and story arcs since then. I wouldn't say softlock is the right thing to classify this as because you can keep playing and I don't think there was any real story consequence for not completing the mission in question. However, I do think it could be better communicated when/if story-related missions and sidequests are due to avoid failure.

[Dex]

Originally posted by Biggles:

I'm genuinely surprised at the number of people still saying this quest either doesn't exist or that it's a side quest. I posted a screenshot of it from in-game. I cannot find anywhere outside of this forum that says otherwise. I don't know what to say other than the game most certainly has that quest and that it is listed as a main quest, and that failing said quest immediately and noticeably stopped all other quests from happening.

how many days did you wait after the quest failed?

[Zeesha]

2 things:

1) Send your save file to the devs. There's an email address in the stickies how to send it in.

2) Run out onto the bridge to try to trigger Justice and starting the next quest stuff. The Bridge is the one past the water tower. Not the one past Coopers farm and your house.

[Brutakan]

A way to avoid things like this is always make sure your machines are doing something, atleast thats what i do. Build a surplus.

[sunwalker0347]

I'm not sure there's any point in going back and forth further to help the OP. It's very clearly a case of something abnormal happening and I'm sure you've sent a bug report to the dev with all the info you have. Outside of them having a fix for this corner case bug, and being it doesn't seem to affect the vast majority of players, I don't know that we can do further to help you. Luckily you should be able to just load a previous save/auto save, have the glass ready, and continue the game with the rest of the community thanks to the devs forethought on save system in early access.

[AlmightySeaPig]

I finished it same day glass isnt that hard to make if your like me and have played portia alot it becomes habbit to have everything you can craft in a chest.

[JdogthaCowboy]

1 its a main quest
2 Dev basically told the guy straight that his was a idiot and that it was side quest and was miss able.
3 Game is good but there are times where ur progress is locked behind having to drop everything to get upgraded machines
4 Actually dealing with a similar issue where i need steel bars for the track but cant get iron ore due to not being to access to a new mining area and dropping everything to get an upgraded recycle-er to scrap iron scrap.
5 Portia was the exact same way.

[Tenoshii]

Originally posted by JdogthaCowboy:

3 Game is good but there are times where ur progress is locked behind having to drop everything to get upgraded machines
4 Actually dealing with a similar issue where i need steel bars for the track but cant get iron ore due to not being to access to a new mining area and dropping everything to get an upgraded recycle-er to scrap iron scrap.

Is this not how progression works in the majority of games in the first place? If you don't acquire the appropriate tools and resources to pass whatever obstacle the game presents, just about any game ends up requiring you to go farm said things and then move on.

A player's progress being gated by a progression mechanic is completely different than the behavior the OP described.

[Professional_The]

Agreed. At this point further discussion is merely us just spinning as wheels as the devs are aware of the issue and tons of great advice and workarounds have been offered.

Hopefully anyone reading this thread in the future will understand to plan ahead... be patient... save staggered.... bug report... and remember...the game is in alpha. Just breathe.

[DanSilverhound]

Sounds like youre still playing the demo version of the game. The quest you described is the last story quest in the demo. Nothing else will start after you complete or fail that comission.

[JVC]

Originally posted by JdogthaCowboy:

1 its a main quest
2 Dev basically told the guy straight that his was a idiot and that it was side quest and was miss able.

It's an unimportant mission and if you don't do it on time, Mi-an does it for you. It doesn't end the game.

Unless it's in last Summer's "story demo". Then the "repair the train window" mission ends the demo. That's by design.

[Nishi Kinuyo]

Originally posted by JVC:

The "Cover My Glass" mission used to have a timer of one day - which was annoying, it's now been increased to 2 days and since you can buy Dinas it shouldn't be an issue. You already have at lease 1 furnace at this point in the story.

Haven't heard before that it should softlock people.

Just like in Portia, you can fail some main missions. In Portia Higgins did the work for you. Mi-an is supposed to do the same here. But of course you don't get the juicy rewards if you don't do the missions.

The tag for "Main mission" simply means that it carries the storyline forward. Blue missions (side missions) don't carry the main story forward, they're just side shows.

The next main mission after "Cover My Glass" is the Geeglers polluting the oasis. They always do that Summer 16th. It's hard coded into the game.

"Hard Coded"
They did that for me on the 12th.
Then again, this is my second playthrough and I'm powergaming it a little.
Already up at 781 rep after turning in the day's commissions.
I'm trying to see if I can beat Yan to the number one spot for the first month.

Unfortunately, I forgot to check how much time I got for the window fix mission since I already prepared 10 glass in advance.