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[GinoFelino]

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2016/02/19/new-patch-solves-most-of-firewatchs-ps4-problems

The team also says that the full list of changes to is too long and granular to share but the big changes are these:

- Draw distance and shadow render distance have been improved, which should remove significant texture popping.
- Streaming loading and unloading has been significantly adjusted with extra safeties so you should no longer see loading happen right in front of you.
- We got Unity to fix a very rare hang that could occur when loading and unloading scenes.
- Many instances of unstable frame rate have been improved.
- Auto-saves are now far less frequent, as they were causing the worst frame rate hitches we have been seeing.
- Several places where people were escaping the world or getting stuck in collision have been refined. Also, if you are stuck in an endlessly falling state, the game will attempt to put you back, either through loading the last save or respawning Henry above ground.
- Various cases where you were able to interrupt or break your current quest have been safeguarded.

 

[Cjdamon042]

That's great to hear.

On a side note, did they remove the camera acceleration or make it optional in this patch?

I don't know if it's still as annoying without the framerate dips, but I'd like to see it gone regardless.

Yeah the horrid horizontal acceleration for the camera is gone, mostly. I think it still does it a tiny amount but nothing too noticeable. It's far smoother and doesn't make me want to pull my eyes out.

30fps cap seems to be in place.

 

[Black Hat]

30 fps now? Dang I'm gonna get the PC version I guess.

What is wrong with 30fps for a game like Firewatch? Is your post meant to be bait... I don't get it.

 

[Kyonashi]

Can we get a mod to add [Update: Patch out] to the title? Wouldn't want to mislead people when it's a really great little game.

 

[cyberheater]

I've never had a smooth running Unity game yet.

Yep. I avoid all Unity games.

 

[GinoFelino]

Yeah the horrid horizontal acceleration for the camera is gone, mostly. I think it still does it a tiny amount but nothing too noticeable. It's far smoother and doesn't make me want to pull my eyes out.

30fps cap seems to be in place.

 

[ItachiSWE]

So a patch is out finally?

Been really wanting to get this for my PS4 but have been holding of due to all the stuttering etc people have been reporting.

This could help with the wait until Division release

 

[Ambitious]

I'm still wary. Gonna wait for a few more opinions.

 

[GlamFM]

So did the patch make this game playable on PS4 or not?

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Went ahead and bought the bundle with the game + theme. I ended up starting SOMA though, so it'll be a bit before I get to Firewatch. Really glad they were able to address a lot of the game's issues and I look forward to playing it soon.

So did the patch make this game playable on PS4 or not?

The OP of this thread says the game is now in a state that he finds acceptable enough to play through and others have chimed in as well saying performance is much improved, so I would say yes.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

The fuck .

Was he expecting the guy to have his hand up or something?

 

[dark10x]

I've never had a smooth running Unity game yet.

They do exist but are rare. Ori and the Blind Forest is pretty damn fluid, for instance.

 

[GinoFelino]

Went ahead and bought the bundle with the game + theme. I ended up starting SOMA though, so it'll be a bit before I get to Firewatch. Really glad they were able to address a lot of the game's issues and I look forward to playing it soon.


The OP of this thread says the game is now in a state that he finds acceptable and others have chimed in as well saying performance is much improved, so I would say yes.

That's Unity too, right? How is performance?

 

[dark10x]

That's Unity too, right? How is performance?

No, it uses Frictional Games' own HPL Engine 3.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

That's Unity too, right? How is performance?

It's not Unity but I find it to be acceptable. I can see why it might not be for others, though.

It's a great game so far (around two hours in).

 

[caleb1915]

Can we get a mod to add [Update: Patch out] to the title? Wouldn't want to mislead people when it's a really great little game.

Might want to be a lil more specific like [PS4 Performance Patch Out], considering the only problems with the PC version were collision bugs, being able to break or interrupt specific quests when in certain locations, and CTD's that could be attributed to a million different things they did in a specific order on their PC's overhead during the game before that happened.

Not according to Eurogamer:

Originally Posted by http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...tch-1-02-improves-framerate-and-draw-distance

There's still no way to lock the framerate at 30fps, however, so it's unclear exactly how smooth this update makes the game.

I'm confused did Campo Santo specifically mention a menu option to lock the framerate at 30? Because it doesn't seem like the update mentions it, and they could easily make it clear by playing the game with the update if they wanted to inform viewers about the possible improved performance lol. A lot of console games don't have the option to lock the framerate in the first place; so it's strange to me how that makes the improvements to performance unclear. Play the game! Don't put the onus on readers to expect a 30 fps lock option that was never going to be in the patch (to my knowledge), and don't make it seem like the patch notes released about the update aren't reliable as to the issues they are aware of, and the issues they tried to correct.

 

[Summer Haze]

Locked isn't the same as capped.

 

[GinoFelino]

Might want to be a lil more specific like [PS4 Performance Patch Out], considering the only problems with the PC version were collision bugs, being able to break or interrupt specific quests when in certain locations, and CTD's that could be attributed to a million different things they did in a specific order on their PC's overhead during the game before that happened.

The thread is specifically about PS4 performance, so that's hardly necessary

It's not Unity but I find it to be acceptable. I can see why it might not be for others, though.

It's a great game so far (around two hours in).

Awesome, it's very much my thing from what I've seen. I feel like it could go on sale any day now, though. I'll wait a while longer.

 

[caleb1915]

The thread is specifically about PS4 performance, so that's hardly necessary

D'oh, you're right, ignore my suggestion in hilarious retrospect!

Locked isn't the same as capped.

Yeah, I know? I don't think I said capped in any part of my post, but correct me if I'm wrong. The patch notes don't mention either, except improvements to stabilize performance.

 

[Jaeyden]

Yep. I avoid all Unity games.

It's a shame that people pile on Unity when it's quite simply not Unity that makes a game have issues. Unity is perfectly capable of supporting high quality games and in the end it's 99% the Developers fault if a game has problems.

Why is there a misconception about Unity? Because it's pretty much free and therefore becomes the tool of choice for amateurs and hacks. The free version also has the Unity splash screen when you run the executable. If you upgrade to unity Pro, which is what most Dev's do because it supports source control (plus a few other things) you can remove the Unity splash screen. I think you'd be surprised how many games out there were done in Unity and no one will ever know because Unity does not require developers to acknowledge that they used the Unity engine.

That being said, it's generally not big titles using Unity because there are better choices of engine to support large teams and projects.

 

[GinoFelino]

D'oh, you're right, ignore my suggestion in hilarious retrospect!

No problem, I will hilariously ignore it!

It's a shame that people pile on Unity when it's quite simply not Unity that makes a game have issues. Unity is perfectly capable of supporting high quality games and in the end it's 99% the Developers fault if a game has problems.

Right?

Of course one could say the engine sucks for whatever reason they please, but to avoid all Unity games regardless of the game in question is as silly as saying 'I avoid all indiegames'.

 

[caleb1915]

It's a shame that people pile on Unity when it's quite simply not Unity that makes a game have issues. Unity is perfectly capable of supporting high quality games and in the end it's 99% the Developers fault if a game has problems.

Why is there a misconception about Unity? Because it's pretty much free and therefore becomes the tool of choice for amateurs and hacks. The free version also has the Unity splash screen when you run the executable. If you upgrade to unity Pro, which is what most Dev's do because it supports source control (plus a few other things) you can remove the Unity splash screen. I think you'd be surprised how many games out there were done in Unity and no one will ever know because Unity does not require developers to acknowledge that they used the Unity engine.

A lot of hyperbole there. A game's issues has more to do with time, team, and money. Unity is notoriously bad at large open environments like this, it took middleware streaming technology specifically developed, and designed for this game to make asset streaming possible the way they wanted to keep the vision they had for the game.

I have no doubts that the developer's worked really hard on this game. With how small of a studio they are (11 people), the art that Olly Moss created from inspiration at Yellowstone National Park, the same art that Jason Ng turned into 3D assets in the Unity Pro engine, the work that went into the voice direction, casting, and recording sessions, the music composed by Chris Remo, the Unity community add-ons that were designed, and pulled together so they could make the game they wanted, the way they wanted it to look, the way they wanted it to play, while still creating an indie title with reasonably high production values, and at a cost reasonable for a new indie developer and publisher's first release.

So yeah, 99% percent of the issues were due to them making a game in the first place, but if you're trying to insinuate that the game has problems because "oh lazy developers working with Unity" there is no basis for it in this case, and I have no clue what your point about Unity Pro and splash screens is all about. Unless you think people have a stigma against Unity because people use the free version to make bad games. Name one other Unity Pro engine game using SECTR complete, and NGUI playmaker. Both are Unity based community made middleware that is extremely affordable.


Edit: After spending off and on typing this post and watching giant bomb videos, I re-read your post and realized that you probably aren't talking about Campo Santo , oh well, my apologies, im going to leave this here because I spent like 20 minutes typing it.

 

[Vashetti]

If the upcoming update to Unity 5.4 (which allows multi-threading) improves performance, Sony should request that other games with Unity get patched.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Glad to hear the patch improved things. Maybe I will finally start it this weekend.

 

[GinoFelino]

A lot of hyperbole there. A game's issues has more to do with time, team, and money. Unity is notoriously bad at large open environments like this, it took middleware streaming technology specifically developed, and designed for this game to make asset streaming possible the way they wanted to keep the vision they had for the game.

I have no doubts that the developer's worked really hard on this game. With how small of a studio they are (11 people), the art that Olly Moss created from inspiration at Yellowstone National Park, the same art that Jason Ng turned into 3D assets in the Unity Pro engine, the work that went into the voice direction, casting, and recording sessions, the music composed by Chris Remo, the Unity community add-ons that were designed, and pulled together so they could make the game they wanted, the way they wanted it to look, the way they wanted it to play, while still creating an indie title with reasonably high production values, and at a cost reasonable for a new indie developer and publisher's first release.

So yeah, 99% percent of the issues were due to them making a game in the first place, but if you're trying to insinuate that the game has problems because "oh lazy developers working with Unity" there is no basis for it in this case, and I have no clue what your point about Unity Pro and splash screens is all about. Unless you think people have a stigma against Unity because people use the free version to make bad games. Name one other Unity Pro engine game using SECTR complete, and NGUI playmaker. Both are Unity based community made middleware that is extremely affordable.


Edit: After spending off and on typing this post and watching giant bomb videos, I re-read your post and realized that you probably aren't talking about Campo Santo , oh well, my apologies, im going to leave this here because I spent like 20 minutes typing it.

Hahaha. Ahww. Maybe this thread just isn't for you

 

[caleb1915]

I'm just tired, and really like Firewatch :3

 

[Freeman76]

Damn. Wish this thread was around this morning before I bought it.

Have you even bothered to read the thread?

 

[StereoVsn]

It's a shame that people pile on Unity when it's quite simply not Unity that makes a game have issues. Unity is perfectly capable of supporting high quality games and in the end it's 99% the Developers fault if a game has problems.

Why is there a misconception about Unity? Because it's pretty much free and therefore becomes the tool of choice for amateurs and hacks. The free version also has the Unity splash screen when you run the executable. If you upgrade to unity Pro, which is what most Dev's do because it supports source control (plus a few other things) you can remove the Unity splash screen. I think you'd be surprised how many games out there were done in Unity and no one will ever know because Unity does not require developers to acknowledge that they used the Unity engine.

That being said, it's generally not big titles using Unity because there are better choices of engine to support large teams and projects.

There are inherent issues with Unity and they can be seen in quite a few recent CRPGs like Shadowrun trilogy, PoE, Wasteland 2, etc... These were done by experienced devs and not by hacks, new programmers, etc...

That said, avoiding Unity games completely is silly as one would miss out on some truly excellent games and the bugs can be worked around.

 

[dark10x]

I'm confused did Campo Santo specifically mention a menu option to lock the framerate at 30? Because it doesn't seem like the update mentions it, and they could easily make it clear by playing the game with the update if they wanted to inform viewers about the possible improved performance lol. A lot of console games don't have the option to lock the framerate in the first place; so it's strange to me how that makes the improvements to performance unclear. Play the game! Don't put the onus on readers to expect a 30 fps lock option that was never going to be in the patch (to my knowledge), and don't make it seem like the patch notes released about the update aren't reliable as to the issues they are aware of, and the issues they tried to correct.

It is now capped at 30. As it should have been from day 1.

 

[Jaeyden]

So yeah, 99% percent of the issues were due to them making a game in the first place, but if you're trying to insinuate that the game has problems because "oh lazy developers working with Unity" there is no basis for it in this case, and I have no clue what your point about Unity Pro and splash screens is all about. Unless you think people have a stigma against Unity because people use the free version to make bad games. Name one other Unity Pro engine game using SECTR complete, and NGUI playmaker. Both are Unity based community made middleware that is extremely affordable.


Edit: After spending off and on typing this post and watching giant bomb videos, I re-read your post and realized that you probably aren't talking about Campo Santo , oh well, my apologies, im going to leave this here because I spent like 20 minutes typing it.

Yes, you're right. And I am not insinuating lazy dev or talking shit about Campo Santo. I'm simply stating that if you chose to use Unity for a game and the scope of that game is something that Unity isn't particularly tailored to, then the honus is on you for not taking that into consideration before you go into full production. It's not because Unity is inherently a terrible engine that only powers shoddy games, which is what a lot of people seem to think.

 

[Ricker]

Started last night so I cant compare to pre-patch but all looks good to me,except the left analog stick for movement on my controller is slow on certain games,not sure what it is,it does that in RE Revelations 2,and now Firewatch,its like the feeling that its hard to press upward for the character to move,its like something is restraining movemement and I have to press harder or something,really hard to explain and pressing down to sprint,(R3)in most games,is hard also...probably my original DS4 starting to crap out.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Have you even bothered to read the thread?

Read when the comment was posted....the game had terrible issues at launch. Not sure why you are jumping on that person's case.

 

[GinoFelino]

Have you even bothered to read the thread?

Judging from this comment, I think you're the one who didn't

Started last night so I cant compare to pre-patch but all looks good to me,except the left analog stick for movement on my controller is slow on certain games,not sure what it is,it does that in RE Revelations 2,and now Firewatch,its like the feeling that its hard to press upward for the character to move,its like something is restraining movemement and I have to press harder or something,really hard to explain and pressing down to sprint,(R3)in most games,is hard also...probably my original DS4 starting to crap out.

There was someone earlier in the thread that had issues with sudden slow movement, too. But seeing as how RER2 is affected too, it might just be your DS4!

 

[_h8bit]

So pumped to dig in this weekend. Been holding off due to performance issues which has been tough because I've been looking forward to it for so long.

 

[blastprocessor]

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2016/02/19/new-patch-solves-most-of-firewatchs-ps4-problems

What a mess.

The team isn't done with the game, yet.

Maybe get this shit done before you even release the game.

 

[Ricker]

Judging from this comment, I think you're the one who didn't



There was someone earlier in the thread that had issues with sudden slow movement, too. But seeing as how RER2 is affected too, it might just be your DS4!

But I am playing Dying Light and it doesn't do that(it does the R3 thing though)...

 

[FallenGrace]

Just started it a couple of hours ago (PS4), didn't play it pre patch but it largely plays fine. Some hiccups when it saves or when I go to run but it's perfectly playable.

 

[OdysseusVA]

Is the Day 77 bug still there?

Would be nice to see an FOV slider and vertical sensitivity options

 

[GinoFelino]

But I am playing Dying Light and it doesn't do that(it does the R3 thing though)...

Hm. As far as I'm aware, RER2 and Firewatch don't have anything in common on a technical level. I'm guessing you don't have a second DS4, so maybe get another if you have the funds. Then you can determine the problem by switching controllers, and send it off for repairs if it's faulty.

 

[madmackem]

Yes glad I held the off playing it.

 

[Ricker]

Hm. As far as I'm aware, RER2 and Firewatch don't have anything in common on a technical level. I'm guessing you don't have a second DS4, so maybe get another if you have the funds. Then you can determine the problem by switching controllers, and send it off for repairs if it's faulty.

Yea...the rubber on the top of the left stick is getting worn off also,which I know is a common problem...

 

[GinoFelino]

Yea...the rubber on the top of the left stick is getting worn off also,which I know is a common problem...

In my experience, they've repaired these well-known problems outside of the warranty period without any hassle. That probably differs from country to country, however.

Give it a go, regardless.

 

[mileS]

Held off until the patch and got into the game last night. Performance seems fine now. Especially if you turn off auto save and remember to save once in a while yourself. Only one area of my 2-3 hours of playing had some slight dips, and that was over once I finished walking up a hill. Every now and then there can be slight hitches when loading a new big area. It's almost so minor I didn't want to mention it. If you leave auto save on it can add directly on top of that problem and make it seem more hitchy then it really is. Highly suggest turning it off.

Besides that the game runs smooth and I can hardly notice pop in like I could with those pre-release videos. I am very sensitive to performance issues so take these impressions with that in mind. The game is such an amazing experience. Cannot wait to get home and finish it tonight.

If you waited for it to fixed now is the perfect time to jump in!

 

[acevans2]

I waited on playing it until some of the issues got addressed. Turned off autosave, just because I can easily save manually if it helps performance in any given moment. Still ran into hitches (really short freezes), but didn't notice much in terms of framerate drops- though it's not the kind of game where that happening would jump out at me.

If you demand perfection, I suppose you should still wait- but if you're hearing "unplayable" or "broken" etc, I'd say you can ignore that nonsense and play the game with the patch.

 

[mckmas8808]

Held off until the patch and got into the game last night. Performance seems fine now. Especially if you turn off auto save and remember to save once in a while yourself. Only one area of my 2-3 hours of playing had some slight dips, and that was over once I finished walking up a hill. Every now and then there can be slight hitches when loading a new big area. It's almost so minor I didn't want to mention it. If you leave auto save on it can add directly on top of that problem and make it seem more hitchy then it really is. Highly suggest turning it off.

Besides that the game runs smooth and I can hardly notice pop in like I could with those pre-release videos. I am very sensitive to performance issues so take these impressions with that in mind. The game is such an amazing experience. Cannot wait to get home and finish it tonight.

If you waited for it to fixed now is the perfect time to jump in!

Thank you PlayStation and Camp Santos GODs! I'm buying this weekend.

 

[hughesta]

Alright, finally time to pick this up.

 

[mckmas8808]

Alright, finally time to pick this up.

Yeah I had no idea that the patch would come this fast to fix this game's issues. I thought it would take them at least another 3-4 weeks.

 

[Oneself]

It is perfectly playable now, capped at 30fps with better streaming. Big fps drops seem to have been reduced to a minimum, there are still stuttering quite often but it's not enough to kill the enjoyment.

Strangely, the title screen isn't capped at 30fps... I guess we see how much Eurogamer tested the game post-patch

 

[sujay]

definitely feels much better for me. maybe not perfect just yet but night and day from what it was before

 

[ktroopa]

How does this run in comparison to SOMA on PS4? I thought that ran well at 30fps? If its the same im ready to pull the trigger on this if anyone can comment.