Indie Passageway of the Ancients - Baldur's Gate-Like RPG with Dual-Persona Character Development

[d1nolore]

Started playing a Mage on strategic difficulty, I like Mage better than Melee classes so far, and got to experience death a few times solo until I got the hang of it. Though it further highlights the issue with sheathing/unsheathing and breaking barrels. Also noticed that when you equip any item it unsheathes, which is not good for Mages.

And a very minor placing issue, cannot click on this side table in the Gatehouse as its behind the bed and you can only click on the bed. You could just move it to the other side of the bed. https://ibb.co/9bRp0vL

 

[JonG]

Its the chanting background music vs the videos. I cant hear the video voice acting properly over the chanting background music and the slider adjusts both.

There isn't any voice overs for the Tazvoxx video

 

[d1nolore]

Its the chanting background music vs the videos. I cant hear the video voice acting properly over the chanting background music and the slider adjusts both.

There isn't any voice overs for the Tazvoxx video

Unless someone has been slipping LSD into my tea there is I can hear 50% of the words. Maybe another team member added it?

Maybe not voice over but a feature of whatever video animation software

 

[mediocrepoet]

Its the chanting background music vs the videos. I cant hear the video voice acting properly over the chanting background music and the slider adjusts both.

There isn't any voice overs for the Tazvoxx video

Unless someone has been slipping LSD into my tea there is I can hear 50% of the words. Maybe another team member added it?

Maybe not voice over but a feature of whatever video animation software

Maybe you're running another window? Maybe someone's watching tv in the other room?

 

[d1nolore]

Its the chanting background music vs the videos. I cant hear the video voice acting properly over the chanting background music and the slider adjusts both.

There isn't any voice overs for the Tazvoxx video

Unless someone has been slipping LSD into my tea there is I can hear 50% of the words. Maybe another team member added it?

Maybe not voice over but a feature of whatever video animation software

Maybe you're running another window? Maybe someone's watching tv in the other room?

If someone can prove there’s no voice I’ll talk to the doctor about changing my meds

 

[JonG]

Hi d1nolore
So sorry somehow the voice overs for the Tazvoxx videos were left in their respective videos! These were supposed to have been removed. We will remedy this soon.

 

[d1nolore]

Hi d1nolore
So sorry somehow the voice overs for the Tazvoxx videos were left in their respective videos! These were supposed to have been removed. We will remedy this soon.

Why remove them? I thought it was really good. That’s why I suggest fixing the music issue.

 

[JonG]

Hi d1nolore
Actually I agree with you. We initially decided to have voice overs in the game, but ultimately determined that we didn't have the bandwidth to do voice overs throughout the game and do themright. Therefore, we reluctantly made the decision to remove the voice overs from the game rather than only have a few voice overs and/or having voice overs that didn't meet our quality standards. Somehow, we overlooked the removal of the voice over you referenced, but it will be dropped in the next demo build.

On another subject, I want to thank you again so much for your contributions to our game, especially the performance problem. We are working on that right now. Finding its cause is proving to be a very subtle challenge.

 

[d1nolore]

Hi d1nolore
Actually I agree with you. We initially decided to have voice overs in the game, but ultimately determined that we didn't have the bandwidth to do voice overs throughout the game and do themright. Therefore, we reluctantly made the decision to remove the voice overs from the game rather than only have a few voice overs and/or having voice overs that didn't meet our quality standards. Somehow, we overlooked the removal of the voice over you referenced, but it will be dropped in the next demo build.

On another subject, I want to thank you again so much for your contributions to our game, especially the performance problem. We are working on that right now. Finding its cause is proving to be a very subtle challenge.

Makes sense, I did wonder why those 3 had voice overs and the intros didn’t. Those voice overs were good quality I thought. But I do understand the design decision.

On the same note I wonder now if Ballen Mortis the merchant is meant to have that cutscene video since he was the only one?

 

[JonG]

Hi d1nolore
Originally we palned on doing cut scenes for all the shops but later discovered we didn't have the manpower to complete this task. However by the time we figured this out we already had the scene with Balin Mortis and no one had the heart to do away with Movadar so we kept him.

 

[d1nolore]

Hi d1nolore
Originally we palned on doing cut scenes for all the shops but later discovered we didn't have the manpower to complete this task. However by the time we figured this out we already had the scene with Balin Mortis and no one had the heart to do away with Movadar so we kept him.

Does the demo differ mechanic/balance wise to the full game or is it the same? If it’s the same you might want to look at item pricing in the merchants; specifically +1 items are heavily discounted. So a regular/mundane item costs x silver and the +1 version in the same shop will cost like 20 copper. I can take a screenshot if you need.

 

[JonG]

Does the demo differ mechanic/balance wise to the full game or is it the same? If it’s the same you might want to look at item pricing in the merchants; specifically +1 items are heavily discounted. So a regular/mundane item costs x silver and the +1 version in the same shop will cost like 20 copper. I can take a screenshot if you need.

I like where you are headed with this! Will try to work this in shouldn't take much. By the way we are getting close to release on your performance issue! Once again I love all of your help! I wish you were a permanent member of the team!

 

[d1nolore]

Does the demo differ mechanic/balance wise to the full game or is it the same? If it’s the same you might want to look at item pricing in the merchants; specifically +1 items are heavily discounted. So a regular/mundane item costs x silver and the +1 version in the same shop will cost like 20 copper. I can take a screenshot if you need.

I like where you are headed with this! Will try to work this in shouldn't take much. By the way we are getting close to release on your performance issue! Once again I love all of your help! I wish you were a permanent member of the team!

Let me know when you release the performance issue fix and I can test it.

 

[JonG]

Let me know when you release the performance issue fix and I can test it.

Will do

 

[JonG]

hi d1nolore
We are planning on releasing a new version of the demo soon with a fix for your performance issue. I will let you know when it is actually available. To access this new functionality you will go to the main menu. Once there select Options and then select the graphics tab. The slider at the bottom in this area is what you want. It is labeled Movement Performance. Move the slider to the right (towards moderate CPU). As you move the slider rightwards you will begin to see movement performance gains and eventually some very faint fuzziness will be introduced into the player characters as they move about on the screen. From this point on further moves towards Moderate CPU will continue to improve movement but will introduce more fuzziness into player character(s). It's your call from here where to place the slider. Also, if you use the view where the camera follows the party as it moves about on screen all fuzziness will be minimized. I will post here again when the new demo with the fix is on Steam

 

[JonG]

Let me know when you release the performance issue fix and I can test it.

The new version of the demo with smoother mouse movement on moderate machines is now available. Please refer to an earlier post of mine which explains where to find the new tweaker and how to use it.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

JonG What's the ETA on the full game?

 

[JonG]

JonG What's the ETA on the full game?

We plan to launch the game no later than the end of this year and hopefully sooner. Our overriding goal is to release a high quality game, which is far more important than meeting an artificial deadline.

 

[d1nolore]

Let me know when you release the performance issue fix and I can test it.

The new version of the demo with smoother mouse movement on moderate machines is now available. Please refer to an earlier post of mine which explains where to find the new tweaker and how to use it.

I gave it a try but couldn’t notice any difference with the slider. I did then fiddle with the graphics settings which improved the performance. It was hard to see if the settings were persisting or if I needed to restart the game.

The status effect bar was a welcome addition.

 

[JonG]

I gave it a try but couldn’t notice any difference with the slider. I did then fiddle with the graphics settings which improved the performance. It was hard to see if the settings were persisting or if I needed to restart the game.

The status effect bar was a welcome addition.

On the version of the demo you were using we actually have two sliders; one called "Movement performance" under the graphics tab and another slider called "Movement smoothing (keyboard)" under the interface tab. The latter slider is for the WASD keys only. Were you using the slider under the graphics tab when you noticed no performance change? When you state "I fiddled with the graphics settings" are you referring to settings for your video card found in window's control panel or settings modifications we provide in the game software? I am not sure what you mean by It was hard to see if the settings were persisting or if I needed to restart the game. please explain. Thanks for taking the time to give us feedback.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Watching the trailer there is one burning question: will there be an "always run" option?

 

[JonG]

Watching the trailer there is one burning question: will there be an "always run" option?

you can set the movement speed to either run or sprint but if you choose the latter watch your stamina!

 

[d1nolore]

I gave it a try but couldn’t notice any difference with the slider. I did then fiddle with the graphics settings which improved the performance. It was hard to see if the settings were persisting or if I needed to restart the game.

The status effect bar was a welcome addition.

On the version of the demo you were using we actually have two sliders; one called "Movement performance" under the graphics tab and another slider called "Movement smoothing (keyboard)" under the interface tab. The latter slider is for the WASD keys only. Were you using the slider under the graphics tab when you noticed no performance change? When you state "I fiddled with the graphics settings" are you referring to settings for your video card found in window's control panel or settings modifications we provide in the game software? I am not sure what you mean by It was hard to see if the settings were persisting or if I needed to restart the game. please explain. Thanks for taking the time to give us feedback.

I tried both but primarily the Movement Performance under graphics tab.

I had another fiddle with it, there might be a issue with it saving state. When I restart the game the slider defaults to High Performance CPU, even though the last session it was on Moderate Performance CPU. This time I tried setting the slider in the menu before loading the game and seemed to have a performance boost?. However if you check the menu in the loaded game the slider is back at High performance. Again if you quit the game and reload or quit to menu its all back to default(High performance). I guess this is creating confusing of when/if its actually applying the setting. Along with that there is no Ok/Apply/Accept button in the menu so you just assume when you click the x button it has applied.

 

[JonG]

I gave it a try but couldn’t notice any difference with the slider. I did then fiddle with the graphics settings which improved the performance. It was hard to see if the settings were persisting or if I needed to restart the game.

The status effect bar was a welcome addition.

On the version of the demo you were using we actually have two sliders; one called "Movement performance" under the graphics tab and another slider called "Movement smoothing (keyboard)" under the interface tab. The latter slider is for the WASD keys only. Were you using the slider under the graphics tab when you noticed no performance change? When you state "I fiddled with the graphics settings" are you referring to settings for your video card found in window's control panel or settings modifications we provide in the game software? I am not sure what you mean by It was hard to see if the settings were persisting or if I needed to restart the game. please explain. Thanks for taking the time to give us feedback.

I tried both but primarily the Movement Performance under graphics tab.

I had another fiddle with it, there might be a issue with it saving state. When I restart the game the slider defaults to High Performance CPU, even though the last session it was on Moderate Performance CPU. This time I tried setting the slider in the menu before loading the game and seemed to have a performance boost?. However if you check the menu in the loaded game the slider is back at High performance. Again if you quit the game and reload or quit to menu its all back to default(High performance). I guess this is creating confusing of when/if its actually applying the setting. Along with that there is no Ok/Apply/Accept button in the menu so you just assume when you click the x button it has applied.

First of all I really can't thank you enough for all your help. The settings for this slider (Movement Performance) are saved as you move the slider. This setting is global and won't change even when loading different saved games. For example if you set this slider to Moderate CPU then exit the game completely and restart the game and navigate to this slider it should be set to Moderate CPU and will not change no matter how many times you start the game over or load various saves and will only change when you navigate to the slider and change it at which point it will now store the new value and keep it until changed again.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.passagewaygames.com/passageway-of-the-ancients-behind-the-curtain-3/

Passageway of the Ancients: Behind the Curtain #3​

Hi Everyone!

Here’s another development update on Passageway of the Ancients.

As you may recall, our previous post announced completion on enhancements such as the game’s real-time special/particle effects, the comparative inventory feature, and various UI updates. These have all been added to the Steam demo and we hope you’ve had a chance to check them out!

Since then, we have moved on to address quality control issues. Our marketing and PR partner, Novy Unlimited, has provided feedback on all aspects of the game and we are working diligently to incorporate their suggested changes.

These quality control efforts are time consuming and at times frustrating when fixing one bug breaks something else, but it’s worth the effort! Regardless, we have made excellent progress and are confident that we will soon close everything out.

We’re emphasizing quality control because we know that you have many choices – and we’re determined to reward those who choose Passageway of the Ancients with a high-quality game at a fair price. Along those lines, we estimate that the average playthrough ranges from 35 – 40 hours, taking considerably longer at harder difficulty levels.

We greatly appreciate your interest in the world of Aieryon and will continue to update you on our progress towards launch

– The Team at Passageway Games