Update 1.03 out now! [Official Patch Notes Thread]

[GungHo America]

The big update is here, and I’m happy to share a special message straight from the dev team:

We're pleased to announce Update 1.03 for Grandia II Anniversary Edition! This updates focuses on fan requested features, additional bug fixes and game stability improvements.

The biggest update is undoubtedly the unlocking of 60fps battles! It looks amazing. Please note, 60FPS battles are more taxing on your PC setup so if you run into issues please let us know or try lowering your quality settings. Unchecking 60FPS Battles in the Launcher will return battles to the previous 30FPS setting. For people with low end systems we've also added a toggle to turn off the Improved Shadows. This may help people with lower end systems run the game at a higher resolution and/or better frame rate. Results will vary. For those that live stream the game, do let's play videos, or just like to multi task we've added a toggle to allow the game to continue running when focus is lost. A number of Volume sliders have been exposed including footsteps! 0 is OFF, 100 is MAX. We've set a new default volume mix but please tune to your own liking. Lastly a number of critical issues were fixed as well as two memory leaks which we hope greatly improves the game stability. Please read below for the full patch notes.

We're hoping most of the community enjoys the changes in 1.03. Please know that we're actively reading & monitoring the forums for your feedback and comments. We are determined to make this the definitive version of Grandia II and will continue to support it. More improvements are planned and once we have further details to share we'll let you know! For now.... GAME ON!!!


Update 1.03

New Video Settings
- 60FPS Battles On/Off toggle
- Shadows On/Off toggle
- Pause App on Focus Loss On/Off toggle
- 4K & Ultra Wide resolutions added
- Custom resolution support added (type any resolution in the drop down box)

New Audio Settings
- Music Volume added
- Speech Volume added
- SFX Volume added
- Ambience Volume added
- Footsteps Volume added
- New Default Volume Mix updated

Gamepad
- Analog Camera On/Off toggle (disable for a temp fix for Xbox One controllers on Windows 10)
- Analog Movement On/Off toggle

Bug Fixes
- Fixed two memory leaks
- Fixed crash when Roan talks to NPC in Liligue City
- Fixed delayed from occurring at the end of moves/magic that play videos
- Fixed ground clipping on Millenia's Fallen Wings move
- Fixed an issue that prevented the game from loading on a fresh install do to a missing Config & ini file

Misc
- Added Version Number to Main Launcher Window

[Kite]

Messaggio originale di Beria:

Messaggio originale di Detestable Geohound:

As for whether or not their working on it, seeing that they somehow thought 60 FPS took priority over butchered broken sounds I no longer trust them to fix it.

Say thanks to whine ppl about 60fps master race.

We don't know how many developers they have working on the bugs so it may not be a priority issue. It could be setting 60fps in battles was an easy fix.

[Detestable Geohound]

Messaggio originale di Kite:

Messaggio originale di Beria:

Say thanks to whine ppl about 60fps master race.

We don't know how many developers they have working on the bugs so it may not be a priority issue. It could be setting 60fps in battles was an easy fix.

That's a fair point.

Still, it all leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[Marukoban]

I need to add, they have yet to address/acknowledge the audio bug issue until now. If they're really working on it, they should've said something about it to at least let us know it's being worked on. At the moment, it seems like they're just avoiding the topic. And to think it's one of the major bugs in this version too.
Not sure what's the point of shadow option and higher/custom resolution ...

[Artemis-kun]

Messaggio originale di Kite:

We don't know how many developers they have working on the bugs so it may not be a priority issue. It could be setting 60fps in battles was an easy fix.

There is also 100% of this going on. People are making broad and sweeping assumptions about things they can have no knowledge about. And while that particular thing drives me positively insane, and as such, I really should stop bothering to pay attention to the Steam forums in general, I feel like I'm one of the few sane ones around, and we need more of us to keep things worthwhile.

[Ahramanyu]

Hey Gungho,

i am quite happy with the changes in this patch. While issues with the sound are still present, i do see that you guys are taking comments from the community serious and that improvements are being made. Looking forward to the next and maybe final patch, that this game probably needs.

[the_randomizer1889]

Messaggio originale di artemis_kun:

Messaggio originale di the_randomizer1889:

So, what then, should we be doing to further help this issue be addressed? Be good little kiddies and subject ourselves to every whim, nod and say "yes sir"? And just assume everything's hunky-dory? Because it ain't. The sound is broken, and it need to be worked on, that's all.

As I stated, constructive criticism is a good way to go. Was that last sentence you wrote really so hard on you? Why do people feel the need to fly off the handle when something doesn't meet 100% of their expectations? Where did this attitude and culture even come from? Do you fly off the handle when a date doesn't meet 100% of your expectations? Calm, rationalized discussion and constructive criticism is key. As soon as I saw reports that the looping was not fixed, I stated my dissatisfaction about that in a rational manner, and restated that it needs to be fixed.

The thing that angers me most about this patch, is the fact that 60 fps battles was request more so than fixing the looped audio files. I do have a few ways I can capture as well as upload samples to anyone willing to listen, i.e the company. Yes, I was irrational, and I jumped the gun when I didn't need to. Nevertheless, this is a serious issue that needs resolving, I know it's their first foray into porting games to PC, and I want this to be on par with the Dreamcast version, I see its potential, I just want to know if audio can even be fixed.

[Artemis-kun]

One thing I can say from my attempts at investigating the issue, as someone who actually works in software QA, is that it does actually seem like it'll be a significantly more complicated problem to solve. the problem being that the audio engine the game appears to use does not observe the meta data looping tags in .ogg files period. So, the only way they can fix this is to either painstakingly rebuild -all- the loopable sound files so that they loop seamlessly into each other and then fix the coding surrounding the fade outs, or replace the audio engine entirely with one that works properly with the existing audio files. Both options would require a significant amount of effort, and replacing the engine may even run into some form of licensing issues, depending on what engine would be best to substitute in.

So, I'd be willing to bet my job on the fact that the looping bug, as seemingly simple on the surface as it is, is not so simple to solve, at all. That is why I'm remaining optimistic about Gung Ho getting it fixed despite it not being included in this patch, since this patch as it stands does address a broad swathe of the angered comments that have been garnered from this release.

[the_randomizer1889]

Messaggio originale di artemis_kun:

One thing I can say from my attempts at investigating the issue, as someone who actually works in software QA, is that it does actually seem like it'll be a significantly more complicated problem to solve. the problem being that the audio engine the game appears to use does not observe the meta data looping tags in .ogg files period. So, the only way they can fix this is to either painstakingly rebuild -all- the loopable sound files so that they loop seamlessly into each other and then fix the coding surrounding the fade outs, or replace the audio engine entirely with one that works properly with the existing audio files. Both options would require a significant amount of effort, and replacing the engine may even run into some form of licensing issues, depending on what engine would be best to substitute in.

So, I'd be willing to bet my job on the fact that the looping bug, as seemingly simple on the surface as it is, is not so simple to solve, at all. That is why I'm remaining optimistic about Gung Ho getting it fixed despite it not being included in this patch, since this patch as it stands does address a broad swathe of the angered comments that have been garnered from this release.

That...effing blows, I didn't know it was that deep of an issue, but it would explain a lot and very well could take quite a long time to either manually (and perfectly) loop them, which I think what you mean by rebuilding them, or fixing the actual engine that handles the audio itself, either way...it's not gonna be pretty. I know the game used the ADX codec back in 2000, I don't know why they can't just ask Sega to use the rights for it.

[Vashe]

Yeah now it's 60 fps so people can shut the F up about it. What will they find now to spit their hate ? Sound bugs ? Minor glitches ? "Game is too easy" ?...

[Questionable player]

the only way to fix the looping issues would be to use the .adx file format. but I'm guessing that the licence is very expensive, so it's up to gung ho whether or not it's worth it. Not to mention that the "looping issues" are just fading to black for 2 seconds, I wouldn't call that "game breaking", if it is, just get your damn refund and stfu.

[the_randomizer1889]

Messaggio originale di Questionable player:

the only way to fix the looping issues would be to use the .adx file format. but I'm guessing that the licence is very expensive, so it's up to gung ho whether or not it's worth it. Not to mention that the "looping issues" are just fading to black for 2 seconds, I wouldn't call that "game breaking", if it is, just get your damn refund and stfu.

Why don't you stfu and not tell me what to do? You're not my mother. Sound effects are broken in battle too.

[Detestable Geohound]

Messaggio originale di artemis_kun:

One thing I can say from my attempts at investigating the issue, as someone who actually works in software QA, is that it does actually seem like it'll be a significantly more complicated problem to solve. the problem being that the audio engine the game appears to use does not observe the meta data looping tags in .ogg files period. So, the only way they can fix this is to either painstakingly rebuild -all- the loopable sound files so that they loop seamlessly into each other and then fix the coding surrounding the fade outs, or replace the audio engine entirely with one that works properly with the existing audio files. Both options would require a significant amount of effort, and replacing the engine may even run into some form of licensing issues, depending on what engine would be best to substitute in.

So, I'd be willing to bet my job on the fact that the looping bug, as seemingly simple on the surface as it is, is not so simple to solve, at all. That is why I'm remaining optimistic about Gung Ho getting it fixed despite it not being included in this patch, since this patch as it stands does address a broad swathe of the angered comments that have been garnered from this release.

If all of this is true (and I'm not saying it isn't), Gung Ho themselves need to stand up and say it; we the players shouldn't be speculating it.

There's no point in avoiding the topic when the issue at hand is staring everyone in the face. If it takes a long time to fix, I'm fine with that. I understand things take time to fix and that it cannot be rushed.

What is currently happening is a serious issue is either not being addressed at all or is and we aren't being told about it. When people have to speculate the problems on their own they can come up with all sorts of different reasons as to why something is the way it is; that's what leads to the anger.

If Gung Ho can come out and say "Hey guys, we sort of messed up. Here's what we're doing to fix it and here is how long we think it might take." then the anger that I and others like me throw at them would go away; because we'd know our problem is being addressed and that they admitted to making a mistake. Gung Ho may be on top of their patches and fixes (though right now we simply don't know that), but they are not on top of handling the community.

[Artemis-kun]

Messaggio originale di the_randomizer1889:

That...effing blows, I didn't know it was that deep of an issue, but it would explain a lot and very well could take quite a long time to either manually (and perfectly) loop them, which I think what you mean by rebuilding them, or fixing the actual engine that handles the audio itself, either way...it's not gonna be pretty. I know the game used the ADX codec back in 2000, I don't know why they can't just ask Sega to use the rights for it.

Yep, exactly. It's a messy situation no matter how you try to tackle it. As for why they're not using ADX, I didn't research it myself personally, but a quick look while my lunch break is ending shows it's held be a company called CRI Middleware, and it could be that they want too much money to use it. It could also be due to core incompatibilities, as ADX is advertised specifically as being a console audio format. But, there does seem to be a lot of proprietary stuff to the format, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was just too costly to license.

[the_randomizer1889]

So..our feedback, our reports for this are in vain?

[Artemis-kun]

Messaggio originale di Detestable Geohound:

If all of this is true (and I'm not saying it isn't), Gung Ho themselves need to stand up and say it; we the players shouldn't be speculating it.

There's no point in avoiding the topic when the issue at hand is staring everyone in the face. If it takes a long time to fix, I'm fine with that. I understand things take time to fix and that it cannot be rushed.

What is currently happening is a serious issue is either not being addressed at all or is and we aren't being told about it. When people have to speculate the problems on their own they can come up with all sorts of different reasons as to why something is the way it is; that's what leads to the anger.

If Gung Ho can come out and say "Hey guys, we sort of messed up. Here's what we're doing to fix it and here is how long we think it might take." then the anger that I and others like me throw at them would go away; because we'd know our problem is being addressed and that they admitted to making a mistake. Gung Ho may be on top of their patches and fixes (though right now we simply don't know that), but they are not on top of handling the community.

I'll agree with you on the point that they have been avoiding saying one thing or another about the looping issue, and I'll also agree it would help a lot with mellowing people out if they at least said something without us needing to speculate.

That said though, I can't agree on the level of involvement and handling. Out of all the recent releases I've taken to the forums over, Gung Ho has been the most active and interactive with the community than any other developer I've seen. I can't even think of anyone else, XSEED aside (being that rare unicorn that it is), who has even engaged with the community as much as they have thus far.

Given how much of a reaction this has now caused though, I'm fully expecting to see a post within the next day explaining something about this looping bug. If they don't though... then even I would be willing to agree with the anger. It doesn't take a lot of discussion to come up with something like what you said. But, discussion, there must be, and who knows what time zone this particular team is in, as well.

Hell, I'd even be satisfied if they said 'ADX licensing is beyond all cost evaluations to make the game reasonably priced, so our hands are tied on this fact'. *coughcoughhinthintmrcommunitymanagercough*