List of (potential) bugs and improvement suggestions

[Euphoniac]

Now that I've completed the game, I want to provide a list with (potential) bugs and a few improvement suggestions, though I'll mostly limit myself to "mandatory" fixes, because I respect the developer's creative vision and freedom of design. So apart from the first entry, this list will only address minor problems and continuity errors:

At first, it isn't possible to leave the Dominion Fortress, but after beating the boss (when the party is supposed to take the portal), it suddenly becomes possible. Leaving the dungeon, though, leads to a world map with no place to go, forcing the player to restart the game. If this was meant to be the player's chance to backtrack (why else should the Dominion Fortress boss drop an item that prevents random encounters?), this should be the first bug to fix.

There are still a few spelling errors here and there, but this is something I criticize every game for (which might be presumptuous, since I'm not a native English speaker and thus bound to make mistakes). Lotia is definitely among the most polished ones in this regard.

Is it intended that Monique can use her buffs outside of battle, giving her the chance to buff the party up before a battle occurs? The same applies to Reef's skills - he can even waste TP to steal nothing outside of battle.

Bestiary:
- When encountering the Echowing (51) at Vagary Lodge, the corresponding bestiary entry isn’t unlocked. It’s unlocked, though, after having encountered the Echowings that inhabit the maps on the way to the Rude Bastion (or the treasure chest on the map “The Sunken Lagoon”). In contrast to this, the entry for Night Terror XIV (89) (Dominion Fortress) is only added after encountering him randomly, not after beating the "treasure chest version" of him.
- Are the entries for Captain Kezz and Captain Qosh unlocked without having to fight them? I don't remember, because my playthrough wasn't as near-continuous as it had been with regard to other RPGs.

The Minor Tonin is supposed to heal 25% (of the maximum) DS/HP, but it seems to be more around 40%. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar applied to the Minor Elemen (heals definitely more than 25% EP/MP).

Battle system: Sometimes when encountering two monsters, one of them can't be selected as a target for attacks or skills/magic for a certain amount of time.

Battle Screen: When Mattathias casts "Challenge", the symbol that is shown is that of "Shield Bash".

Does Reef's skill "Blend" only cost 15 TP instead of 20 TP?

Planning Room: The "Minor Elemen" (barrel in northeast corner) can be obtained any number of times. Obtaining and selling 99 of them (24750 Ahn) grants the party a significant financial head-start. This procedure can be repeated before the party heads out for Nassa. Even though it isn't quite as lucrative (but, as a counterpoint, always accessible from a certain point on), the Minor Tonin that can be found in Mei's Loft (Tellin) can also be farmed any number of times.

Nimbus: When asking the Physical Combat Instructor in the Constabulary and Training Facility Dominion VI Outpost about TP, the second dialogue panel shows a slightly different avatar (without the red stripes).

Arianna is part of the party from the beginning and participates in every battle (except the combat tutorial against the first mate) even before the party reaches Nimbus. Why does she join "officially" or again when the party accepts the first job from Valinor in Nimbus?

After having retrieved the Chakram Crate from the Encampment, the now empty tile is still solid.

When picking up H-001 About Dreams (Gnehx Garden), it's mistakenly labeled as H-003 About Dreams in the notification panel.

When picking up T-013 Dreamshard Travel (Weeping Woods), it's mistakenly labeled as T-013 Reaching Others in the notification panel.

Dream Walker Temple: When examining certain bodies, the respective sprite's hair style changes temporarily. Sometimes this only happens when examining them from a certain direction or from certain directions. In the latter case, examining them from different directions often times causes different changes.

Dream Walker Temple: When examining certain bodies, the respective sprite "does a 180" (sometimes only when examining them from a certain direction or from certain directions).

After having chosen the "neutral route" and returning to the Triade of the Stars, Asterias is still present (in contrast to the other routes), but can't be talked to.

When examining the candelabra below the Dominion Sergeant in the Cerith Constabulary Dominion Outpost II, the candelabra's sprite changes. The same applies to the ones in other Constabulary Dominion Outposts (Junonia, Tellin, Nordfonna). The second candelabra in the Nordfonna Constabulary Dominion Outpost VIII (lower left corner) even disappears temporarily upon examination (only from above).

Cerith Constabulary Dominion Outpost II: While the player isn't capable of doing this, it seems to be possible for the Dominion Soldier (the one that can't be fought) to move behind the cabinets on the left side.

When saving while the party stays at Xenn Overlook, the location on the save file screen is labeled as Xenn Summit. There are probably further cases of mislabeled save file screen locations - or those with typos (e.g. Expedition Security/Securtiy Station).

The treasure chest on the southern edge of the map Runaway Slide Cavern is rotated to the left side after opening (and leaving/reentering the map).

Tellin: When picking up T-001 Miscellany & Disclaimer, it seems to be mislabeled as T-011 Miscellany & Disclaimer in the notification panel.

Nordfonna item shop (Fireside Inn and Snowglobes and Fascinations by Dianna-Rey, left side of the map): While it's completely normal to receive an Elemen when examining the right side of the cabinet in the lower right corner, this shouldn't trigger a treasure chest to open within the cabinet.

Nordfonna Fireside Inn and Snowglobes and Fascinations by Dianna-Rey: The vendors position themselves as usual according to the player's position, but since this location consists of two buildings within one map, completely separated by walls in between, the vendor of the building in which the player doesn't sojourn shouldn't react to the player's movements.

Dungeon (Dominion Fortress): The treasure chest that contains an Elemen can also be opened from behind the bars.

To my mind, it isn't a good "loot system" when treasure chests contain equipment pieces the player could already buy in shops, since I always buy the best equipment as soon as possible.

Level 50 as level cap is ridiculous(ly low), considering the encounter rate for a game of this length.

[Crayon Ponyfish, LLC]

Thank you very much for the feedback. We will surely put many of these in the list of fixes we will be pushing out shortly. As a side note, when fighting and you can't select a unit or enemy, it is typically because your mouse was left over one of them (even though it vanishes when the game starts). This is an issue we are trying to track down and disable in combat, as we have done in other places of the game.

I hope you enjoyed the story, even though you have quite a list of bugs you have found! Thank you again for all the time and effort you have put into making this journey with us!

[Euphoniac]

I'm glad to hear you'll fix the aforementioned issues. While I never thought my mouse (cursor) could cause any problems with the game, it sounds like a reasonable explanation in hindsight.

Still wondering, though: Am I the only one who wasn't able to leave the Dominion Fortress in order to backtrack? If not, that would mean there wasn't any player who could complete the extra content you mentioned in another thread during the last months - which would be a shame. I will definitely return one last time to Lotia after the announced fixes have been implemented.

[piyesis555]

I think I recall that after winning the big battle, I exited the fortress by returning to the main foyer with the double doors, and then heading south directly toward a black space at the bottom of the map where there were no evident doors. Something like that. It was in fact possible to leave the fortress after the battle and explore the landscape without limitation, and later return back to the fortress to see the final Courtyard and end the game.

[Euphoniac]

Thanks for your input, piyesis555. When I exit the Dominion Fortress via the entrance hall (Keep Foyer), I still get stuck on an empty world map. Maybe this bug was introduced by one of the fixes implemented after the game had been released. I hope there are some exciting optional boss battles awaiting me after the next batch of fixes when I can freely explore Lotia once again, because it would be futile just to fill the remaining bestiary entries.

[Crayon Ponyfish, LLC]

Unfortunately, I don't believe there will be any new boss battles out there for you. Plisken's box was mainly built to allow you to find missing tomes or bestiary information (which you would have to turn it off in the area you wanted to fight). We certainly have tons of content that we wanted to share, but we had to keep the scope in check, especially with such a small team in place.

If there was a big enough want, we could look into adding new content to Lotia, however; I want to make sure we can get these bug fixes in place and have that cleaned up first.

[Crayon Ponyfish, LLC]

Just as an update to some of the bugs listed, I wanted to give some additional information on a few:

- Are the entries for Captain Kezz and Captain Qosh unlocked without having to fight them? I don't remember, because my playthrough wasn't as near-continuous as it had been with regard to other RPGs.

The entires for Captain Kezz and Captain Qosh are automatically given when you open the door to the Vagary Lodge. During the conversation between the Wordsmith and the rest of the crew, he goes over the three Pirate Lords and it is really one of the few areas they are discussed.
Originally there was a lot more to the characters, but due to time constraints much of that had to be cut.

The Minor Tonin is supposed to heal 25% (of the maximum) DS/HP, but it seems to be more around 40%. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar applied to the Minor Elemen (heals definitely more than 25% EP/MP).

The Wordsmith has a passive bonus that he gives to items which increases their potency. If he is out of the party, this is likely the reason that you are experiencing increased numbers with "items".

Battle system: Sometimes when encountering two monsters, one of them can't be selected as a target for attacks or skills/magic for a certain amount of time.

This appears to be a bug with the mouse. We built Lotia to ignore the mouse, but it appears that it still interacts with the UI in combat. If you experience this issue, try moving the mouse and see if it causes you to not be able to select a different enemy and or party member. You can also manually place the mouse over a party member, during combat, and see the same thing. We will be fixing this issue.

To my mind, it isn't a good "loot system" when treasure chests contain equipment pieces the player could already buy in shops, since I always buy the best equipment as soon as possible.

This is certainly noted and something we will carry forward with us. We had a lot of feedback that players thought money was an issue, and perhaps if the other bugs were fixed where you couldn't sell as many Elemens, it may have been harder to have enough money to purchase everything at once. You also may be a player that also managed to simply kill a lot of things and earn enough money to purchase the best gear right out of the gate. So as I said, point is taken!

Level 50 as level cap is ridiculous(ly low), considering the encounter rate for a game of this length.

Originally the idea was to have the level cap to 99. Due to some technical issues and balancing, level 50 ended up being the best spot to mark it. It is one of the things that I would certainly like to revisit.

Many of the other bugs listed are things that I am addressing this week. Almost of them are minor changes that just require some cleanup. Thank you very much for taking the time to list all of these, I hope you enjoyed Lotia even with them present. This was our first release and we certainly learned a lot of lessons from it.