Two bugs: random pillar activations, graphical artifacts on Steam Deck

[Jesbus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA6cizSbhGk

[Spider]

I'm not one of the developers associated with the game but wanted to reply with some quick answers. For the Steam Deck visual artifacts, try switching it to the Proton / Steam Play compatibility layer and they should go away (last I tested it out).

Though you will want to backup and transfer your save files because they go in a different place for the Windows(proton) vs Linux(native) version. If you are unsure about how to do that then let me know and I can try to provide detailed instructions for the Steam Deck. I can't at the moment as I'm not near the Deck and am in the middle of other things, but I'm glad to provide details later if needed. (edit:This is a partly relevant example regarding save files but it is not exact set of simple command and is not specific to the Steam Deck locations; but I can adapt that based on a Steam Deck later.)

For the visual artifacts on Steam Deck

This seemed to affect other linux distros as well, regardless of nvidia/amd/intel gpu hardware; but wasn't a problem in past years (got introduced upstream or in steam runtime changes more recently).

• Try switching to the SteamPlay(proton) version.
  • Example report that includes some steps
    
  • Two other reports here.
• Last I checked (not recently) this got introduced somewhere in updates on linux platforms as it was working previously; and it has occurred on Intel/AMD/Nvidia hardware I've tested with updated OS/steam.

Originally posted by Spider:

Using the Proton version on the Deck will eliminate the glitches for now. Force Compatibility mode to Proton Experimental for Filament, let it update, then launch. If you were able to play some and need to keep your save file progress then you'll need to manually copy it over if switching between Proton and native version. I've not covered that step below (based on your initial comment) but can provide steps if it needs to be transferred.

Originally posted by Spider:

If it's ok for now to enable the Proton version, you can try this:

1. Right-click on Filament in the Library game list and choose "Properties".
   • (for SteamDeck non-desktop mode, select the game and click the gear icon on the right to find "Properties...")
2. Select the "Compatibility" tab and then choose "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool"
   • (this will likely show "Proton Experimental" as the default, which might be ok but if there are any other issues then selecting an older version may end up closer to the time when Filament was released)
3. Exit the settings/properties dialog/menu ("back" on SteamDeck).
   • "Play"/"Launch" choice for the game now may say "Update"
4. Update the game and launch it to see if that helps.

Sorry to recommend using the non-native version but in quick testing a fast workaround this seems to avoid the glitching on the SteamDeck and Fedora at the moment. I'm not certain if it will miss any videos or other features, but it may work without issues and likely is worth trying to avoid the glitching.

(for reference - today I tested experimental, 8, and 7, versions; very quickly and all were still ok to avoid those glitches, then went back to native to confirm native still has the issue noted on my deck. did not test another distro today unlike the other thread further back)

I'm no t one of the devs but the above worked when I tested it a few weeks ago

I haven't had time to go bisect mesa or other supporting bits to see if I can narrow it down more to something "expected" or not that can be fixed upstream or via proton etc; though I have an old pile of notes from some initial tests and lots of renderdoc etc.

I apologize as I don't have another workaround at the moment to suggest other than switching to the Proton version. If using Steam Play (Proton) helps then it will help the developers and others if you confirm that also fixes the artifacts for you.

For the pillar activations in the video

For that video, it looks like it's an inconsistency in when/if the filament line grips to the dark pillar (which is intended to disable the line if touched), though maybe it's in the order of solving for the filament line.

• It's hard to see in that case as the dark pillar is below the camera view for that resolution while repeating the touch of the top pillar. Though I can probably reproduce that on my Steam Deck or a PC version.
  
• I'd suspect in general that that route/path is not intended to be allowed/work, though that inconsistency is troublesome.
  
• Note that the line can get pulled against a pillar when close to it. Like a Magnet. That may be happening to the line near the dark/black/purple pillar some of the times when the line gets close to it when touching the pillar closest to the robot/player.

In the past sometimes the developers would adjust the level to make that dark/negative/purple pillar either stick out further so it's not inconsistent (always fails and causes the filament line to go dark), or retract it some (move it to the right) so that the pillar can't accidentally be touched (if they want to allow the player to go down that specific path).

It does not look like this issue with long chains of pillars and retouching a past pillar that causes an earlier segment of a chain to be invalid and then valid again (but overall the game still thinks the chain is invalid after that point), but I will mention that one here in case it helps later or becomes relevant. This is a spoiler for a later type of puzzle I believe this is a different problem, but it shows a problem with recalculating an earlier part of a longer chain for a different type of puzzle. I'm noting it here so that if it is somehow related (though I think it is not) that there is a reference for the developers if they return to this.

[Jesbus]

Thanks for the detailed response!
Good to know that there is a solution, but I think I'm just going to suffer the artifacts, don't want to mess with save files.
Unfortunately I had to say 'No' when my steam deck asked if the 'Verified' rating matches my experience.
I already did the 'counting pillars' and fortunately didn't get that bug
Would be awesome if the devs spent a bit of time on this otherwise great game again

[Spider]

No problem!

Originally posted by Jesbus:

Unfortunately I had to say 'No' when my steam deck asked if the 'Verified' rating matches my experience.

I can respect that position even if my being just another player doesn't make that mean too much. It may eventually help others decide too. Thanks for taking the time to bring it up; it usually helps having more info about it to judge for sure how many players/platforms would be affected. So it's good to have confirmation that it continues to be an issue.

Glad your're otherwise enjoying it. I've gotten a lot of fun out of it too. :)