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[Ascheroth]

Dang i did not think to use spectecles there XD

Me neither. I'm pretty sure there is a way to tell it without them as well though. Might have to fire the game up quickly to doublecheck.

This game <3

Edit: And I was wrong, lol. Which makes it even easier in hindsight. But I'm not regretting my super awesome hand-drawn map! : p

 

[Cindered]

There is another way,

Spoiler

there are broken pillar stumps that point toward the correct exit in all but one of the rooms along the way.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

There is another way,

Spoiler

there are broken pillar stumps that point toward the correct exit in all but one of the rooms along the way.

I use this method, though I do know about using the Spectacles to find the path out. Trechier Woods's miniboss is probably the lamest part of the dungeon vs. what you get in Eternal Maze/Eaglet Mountain, but then I might as well ask for a boss at the end of Xanadu Labyrinth as well.

 

[Ascheroth]

There is another way,

Spoiler

there are broken pillar stumps that point toward the correct exit in all but one of the rooms along the way.

Ha! I was initially thinking

Spoiler

it had to do with the marks on the floor, but that turned out to be wrong.

 

[Tizoc]

Oh didn't know the bonus dungeon can be accessed BEFORE the final boss.
Should I delve into it and get the items there?
Worth Leveling down and going back up again in order to become strong enough to survive the final bosses' attacks?

Spoiler

His 2nd form is driving me wonko

 

[preta]

Oh didn't know the bonus dungeon can be accessed BEFORE the final boss.
Should I delve into it and get the items there?
Worth Leveling down and going back up again in order to become strong enough to survive the final bosses' attacks?

Spoiler

His 2nd form is driving me wonko

You should be fine for the final boss around level 18-20. The bonus dungeon is harder than the final boss and is definitely not meant to be done at that level. To get through all

Spoiler

26

floors of it (and you have to do them all in one go), you should be in the mid-upper 20s. You can use the first few floors for leveling before teleporting out, but you really should be able to handle the final boss by this point.

A tip for the final boss -

Spoiler

are you using the Dragonslayer skill?

 

[mclem]

Need some assistance with getting the last guardian:

Head down to your local friendly game store on December 6th.



I may have a slightly unusual bug report. I need to experiment some more, but when I try to stream the game remotely, sometimes it fails to start (and if I visit the streaming machine, I see it's stuck on "Failed to initialise Direct3D", IIRC.

What I *think* is happening is that it fails if my streaming machine is running the screensaver at the time. If I've just come from the streaming machine, it works fine. If I'm trying to stream after having been away from it for a while, it fails.

As I said, this may need more exploration, but the key element is that streaming seems to only work if I've used the stream machine recently.

 

[Tizoc]

You should be fine for the final boss around level 18-20. The bonus dungeon is harder than the final boss and is definitely not meant to be done at that level. To get through all

Spoiler

26

floors of it (and you have to do them all in one go), you should be in the mid-upper 20s. You can use the first few floors for leveling before teleporting out, but you really should be able to handle the final boss by this point.

A tip for the final boss -

Spoiler

are you using the Dragonslayer skill?

Of course I am

 

[Tizoc]

Right having just beat the game, what should I put points toward for the final dungeon? I've started levelin up from scratch :V
Also results!

What is this Silent Hill?
Also what is up with her hands?

 

[jb1234]

Finally finished this up today. The game claims it took a little over 9 hours, even though Steam claims 14. I guess we'll never know. The final dungeon was a beast.

 

[Ascheroth]

Finally finished this up today. The game claims it took a little over 9 hours, even though Steam claims 14. I guess we'll never know. The final dungeon was a beast.

The game doesn't count time spent in the town.

 

[jb1234]

The game doesn't count time spent in the town.

That's so bizarre. I wonder why?

 

[Ascheroth]

That's so bizarre. I wonder why?

Might be because total time gets ranked at the end and they don't want to penalize people who take their time and talk with all the NPCs every time they have to say something new.
Looking at it that way it's actually a very good idea.

 

[PixyJunket]

It's amazing to think that Falcom released this and Oath in Felghana a few months apart.

Not only are they Falcom's two best games, but they're two of the best games ever made (in my opinion, of course).

 

[Thud]

Beat the third boss yesterday.

This game.

 

[KainXVIII]

This game has some stuttering (framepacing?) problems, borderless window mode don't help =(
Also room transition effects tanks framerate from 60 to 40 sometimes, is it normal (i think not, especially for i5-3570 and gtx 970)? Even more slowdown with SGSSAA (2x sgssaa just hangs the game, 4x sgssaa works normal, but with framerate dips)
upd - i think i found the way http://steamcommunity.com/app/312560/discussions/0/208684375412585576/

 

[djtiesto]

Just made it to the time dimension or whatever... seems very combat-heavy against powerful monsters. Have the second most powerful armor at this point but have one more level before I'm able to get the stats for the most powerful one. Game has gotten MUCH harder ever since I got to the Lich (who kicked my ass the first time through).

Anyways, got a question. There's the one guardian at the end of Xanadu Dungeon where you need to fall off a platform. I cannot for the life of me seem to land on the platform (using a controller but also tried a mouse). What's the deal? I start from the middle with the winged boots unequipped, and just hold down RIGHT. Character leaps but misses the platform. I tried for 20 min but couldn't seem to get it.

 

[itschris]

This game has some stuttering (framepacing?) problems, borderless window mode don't help =(
Also room transition effects tanks framerate from 60 to 40 sometimes, is it normal (i think not, especially for i5-3570 and gtx 970)? Even more slowdown with SGSSAA (2x sgssaa just hangs the game, 4x sgssaa works normal, but with framerate dips)
upd - i think i found the way http://steamcommunity.com/app/312560/discussions/0/208684375412585576/

Cool, thanks for posting that link! Once I enabled "Force vSync" in the DirectX section of the Setup exe, the stuttering was eliminated.

EDIT: Also, disable Borderless Windowed mode in the game's options, or else the load times will be longer than normal.

EDIT2: Oh, I didn't notice, you're the same person who created the thread on Steam! I thought you just found the Steam thread and posted it here, hehe.

I got this game thanks to the generosity of Absol. I've only played a few hours, but it's been great fun so far! I would have played more by now, but I was focused on finishing Dragon Quest Builders first. Also, I was a little frustrated that I couldn't manage to get rid of the stuttering in this game, but now it's perfectly smooth!

 

[Technoweirdo]

Just made it to the time dimension or whatever... seems very combat-heavy against powerful monsters. Have the second most powerful armor at this point but have one more level before I'm able to get the stats for the most powerful one. Game has gotten MUCH harder ever since I got to the Lich (who kicked my ass the first time through).

Anyways, got a question. There's the one guardian at the end of Xanadu Dungeon where you need to fall off a platform. I cannot for the life of me seem to land on the platform (using a controller but also tried a mouse). What's the deal? I start from the middle with the winged boots unequipped, and just hold down RIGHT. Character leaps but misses the platform. I tried for 20 min but couldn't seem to get it.

Try hugging the fence a little more as you attempt the jump. Shortened the distance juuust enough for me to make it.

 

[GoldandBlue]

Anyways, got a question. There's the one guardian at the end of Xanadu Dungeon where you need to fall off a platform. I cannot for the life of me seem to land on the platform (using a controller but also tried a mouse). What's the deal? I start from the middle with the winged boots unequipped, and just hold down RIGHT. Character leaps but misses the platform. I tried for 20 min but couldn't seem to get it.

I had this problem too, eventually figured it out. Drag your mouse off screen as much as you can and then move your character to do the jump.

 

[djtiesto]

Thank you, Technoweirdo and Goldnblue... will try those this weekend!

 

[Thud]

I have reached Castle Strangerock!

The whole sequence in getting there was pretty intense.

 

[Nabs]

This game has some stuttering (framepacing?) problems, borderless window mode don't help =(
Also room transition effects tanks framerate from 60 to 40 sometimes, is it normal (i think not, especially for i5-3570 and gtx 970)? Even more slowdown with SGSSAA (2x sgssaa just hangs the game, 4x sgssaa works normal, but with framerate dips)
upd - i think i found the way http://steamcommunity.com/app/312560/discussions/0/208684375412585576/

Of course this gets figured out after I put in 20 hrs and beat it. This is perfect. I just had to disable the system cursor in settings and everything is super smooth.

 

[hans_castorp]

Man, Castle Strangerock is amazing. My favourite part by far.

Btw, do I need to Level Down with

Spoiler

Bella Freude

in order to beat the final boss and extra dungeon?. Or will the standard bonus points suffice?

 

[Ascheroth]

Man, Castle Strangerock is amazing. My favourite part by far.

Btw, do I need to Level Down with

Spoiler

Bella Freude

in order to beat the final boss and extra dungeon?. Or will the standard bonus points suffice?

Final Boss no, extra dungeon yes.

 

[KainXVIII]

Cool, thanks for posting that link! Once I enabled "Force vSync" in the DirectX section of the Setup exe, the stuttering was eliminated.

EDIT: Also, disable Borderless Windowed mode in the game's options, or else the load times will be longer than normal.

EDIT2: Oh, I didn't notice, you're the same person who created the thread on Steam! I thought you just found the Steam thread and posted it here, hehe.

I got this game thanks to the generosity of Absol. I've only played a few hours, but it's been great fun so far! I would have played more by now, but I was focused on finishing Dragon Quest Builders first. Also, I was a little frustrated that I couldn't manage to get rid of the stuttering in this game, but now it's perfectly smooth!

Heh, yeah, its me. And i also got this game from steam giveaways (from Tizoc), great game indeed!

 

[mclem]

A random thing struck me from the OP. (I guess this is a mild spoiler, but it's more just a discussion about these places):

A motley bestiary awaits you in walled fields, abandoned caves, a forest and mountain far apart, and the dread Castle itself.

Spoiler

...but they're right next to each other! Is there something that's meant to suggest that the bridge you cross to get from one to the other is really long?

(It is a bit weird that the forest is a long way north from the village, and the mountain is just to the west of it, yet taking the forest exit to the mountain is really brief, which does make me wonder if the physical layout in the game wasn't actually what what meant to be represented!)

 

[mclem]

RPGSite's published a preview:

When using a gamepad, as you might expect - you can move with the analog stick and assign buttons for attack and skill use. You can remap most actions to most buttons, but a cursor is still needed to navigate the player inventory. On a gamepad, this is done by holding down a button, which toggles the left stick from player control to cursor control. However, Xanadu Next does not seem to support controller triggers, which would be the ideal place for such a toggle. The left bumper - which default to camera rotation, can work if you want to go that route.

Aside all that, mouse and keyboard is simply quicker to use if you need to access player inventory or skills during combat.

Nothing's changed I see. They also list a few bugs (hopefully) unique to the pre-release build. Sara @ XSEED just opened up a whammy of support topics on the Steam forums, so it looks like she's on top of things.

I'm actually using the somewhat odd combination of Gamepad + Mouse (Gamepad most of the time, mouse when tinkering with inventory), which I think works pretty well, except for one annoyance which is that touching the gamepad at all resets the mouse cursor to a default location. If there's any way to set it so the gamepad only supersedes a physical mouse if the mouse control button is hit, that'd be fantastic.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Err, I've already updated the OP about gamepad control. It works quite well now if you do proper set-up/check for bugfixes or workarounds on the Steam forums. Game wasn't made for gamepad but it certainly feels good to use.

Spoiler

(It is a bit weird that the forest is a long way north from the village, and the mountain is just to the west of it, yet taking the forest exit to the mountain is really brief, which does make me wonder if the physical layout in the game wasn't actually what what meant to be represented!)

We'd have to build a map of Eternal Maze below Clover Ruins, Eaglet Mountain, and Trechier Woods to find out if Falcom planned their geography correctly. It's definitely a little exaggerated in order to have that bridge-crossing setpiece.

 

[mclem]

Err, I've already updated the OP about gamepad control. It works quite well now if you do proper set-up/check for bugfixes or workarounds on the Steam forums. Game wasn't made for gamepad but it certainly feels good to use.

Yes, I've used it extensively, and I like it, the only bit that was bothering me is that it overrides the mouse pointer (even when it's not explicitly controlling the pointer). For all I know, though, the way it was implemented might mean that it has to do that.

 

[Jawmuncher]

So I beat the first boss and am now back in the sewers. I broke the rocks and there's two rooms that I can't seem to access. One where I kill all the enemies but the bars stay up, and another that has the water blocker down. I pressed the switch to move the water but it didn't seem to do anything. I got the tablet though, and am assuming I use that on the path with the falling rocks, which I am going to check now.

But am I missing something for those other two rooms?

 

[Nabs]

Those rooms and switches are numbered, so look for the correct switch and return to it later.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Those rooms and switches are numbered, so look for the correct switch and return to it later.

Ok i'll keep an eye out for those, didn't know they were numbered.

 

[djtiesto]

Just beat it (I'm not gonna tackle the secret dungeon, after a few tries I'm like 'f this!'), and really enjoyed the game. The interlocking level design was truly excellent, the challenge level was just right, the puzzles were fun (they get a bum rap but I love sokoban puzzles), the aesthetic gave me a lot of nostalgia.

Aside from a few glitches and awkward gamepad integration (I don't really like playing games where I have to move with a mouse) I absolutely loved the title. It's easy to see how even the Souls games were highly influenced by this. Really wish more people would play. It's like taking Ys/Souls/Vagrant Story/Diablo and throwing them all in a blender then giving it a Dreamcast-game coat of paint. That plus the fact it's a PC exclusive (we won't count the N-Gage port which looks like rubbish) makes it seem like something GAF would go crazy over, so I'm surprised this thread isn't so popular.

 

[Erheller]

I'm actually surprised at how much attention it's been getting in the Steam thread, honestly. I mean, it's a really old game that doesn't seem like it would appeal to most people.

Also, where do I go after

Spoiler

beating the second spider boss? Do I have to go around trying to figure out where to use the spectacles?

 

[mclem]

I'm actually surprised at how much attention it's been getting in the Steam thread, honestly. I mean, it's a really old game that doesn't seem like it would appeal to most people.

Also, where do I go after

Spoiler

beating the second spider boss? Do I have to go around trying to figure out where to use the spectacles?

Pretty much. A further hint:

Spoiler

Most likely, you've seen two locations with the telltale sparkles that indicate a hidden floor. But can you remember where they are? Might be worth studying the map to find routes not travelled

 

[Ascheroth]

I'm actually surprised at how much attention it's been getting in the Steam thread, honestly. I mean, it's a really old game that doesn't seem like it would appeal to most people.

That's because Steam-GAF has good taste!

Spoiler

And Falcom shilling is the best kind of shilling

 

[Nabs]

That stutter/frame pacing fix is great. I wanted to test it out a little, but now I'm heading to the castle in my second playthrough.

 

[PantsuJo]

That's because Steam-GAF has good taste!

Spoiler

And Falcom shilling is the best kind of shilling

And I'm gonna buy it tonight, even without being on sale, because it's Falcom <3

 

[Corpekata]

How exactly do you install/ use that voodoo fix thing? Little unclear.

 

[Nabs]

How exactly do you install/ use that voodoo fix thing? Little unclear.

When you run dgVoodoo, you want to click on the .\ button near the top. It switches it to the install folder, making it easier to find the necessary files. You then make your changes. I'm not 100% on what everything does, or what works for me, but these are my settings: general and directx. When you're done, go to the dgvoodoo/MS folder and copy those 3 files into your Xanadu folder. I recommend disabling system cursor in the Xanadu setup, otherwise my cursor would disappear while playing

The only negatives I've noticed is that loading takes a bit longer, and I had to drop the internal framebuffer to 2k.

edit: It seems the d3d8 wrapper posted below also works well.

 

[itschris]

How exactly do you install/ use that voodoo fix thing? Little unclear.

Later in the Steam thread that KainXVIII created, DarkSpartan posted a link to a different DirectX 8 wrapper that, in my experience at least, works even better:

https://github.com/ThirteenAG/d3d8-wrapper/releases

Just unzip the two files, and put them in the same folder as the Xanadu Next .exe. No configuration needed (though again, I can only speak to my experience here, no guarantees of course). The .ini has a few options, but I didn't need to change any of them.

EDIT: With newer versions of the wrapper, you need to change Direct3D8DisableMaximizedWindowedModeShim from 0 to 1 in the ini.

There's no penalty to load times at all, unlike the other option (I thought that the longer loads were gone when disabling borderless windowed mode, but there was still a slight increase compared to normal). Still, big thanks to KainXVIII for finding out about the first program and creating the thread, or else I never would have found out about either fix!

As a bonus, this one even worked for me with the Trails in the Sky series! There's an issue with those games (at least for me and some other people) on Windows 10 where they ignore vsync and always run at 125 FPS - they can be capped to 60 with RivaTuner, but that solution still leaves intermittent stuttering, similar to the issue with Xanadu. This ThirteenAG d3d8 wrapper fixes that entirely - they now run at a smooth 60 with no RivaTuner needed!

Ultra late edit: changed link to current download location.

 

[Terxus]

Later in the Steam thread that KainXVIII created, DarkSpartan posted a link to a different DirectX 8 wrapper that, in my experience at least, works even better:

https://bitbucket.org/ThirteenAG/d3d8-wrapper/downloads

Just unzip the two files, and put them in the same folder as the Xanadu Next .exe. No configuration needed (though again, I can only speak to my experience here, no guarantees of course). The .ini has a few options, but I didn't need to change any of them.

There's no penalty to load times at all, unlike the other option (I thought that the longer loads were gone when disabling borderless windowed mode, but there was still a slight increase compared to normal). Still, big thanks to KainXVIII for finding out about the first program and creating the thread, or else I never would have found out about either fix!

As a bonus, this one even worked for me with the Trails in the Sky series! There's an issue with those games (at least for me and some other people) on Windows 10 where they ignore vsync and always run at 125 FPS - they can be capped to 60 with RivaTuner, but that solution still leaves intermittent stuttering, similar to the issue with Xanadu. This ThirteenAG d3d8 wrapper fixes that entirely - they now run at a smooth 60 with no RivaTuner needed!

Oh wow, you're the best! I have been searching for a solution to the uncapped fps problem in the trails games ever since I installed Windows 10 this summer and this works perfectly.

 

[Granjinha]

yo this game is legit great

like GOTY-tier great, after finishing i was honestly shocked at how good it is. Shame XSEED doesn't invest a little more in marketing (as in trying to get the game in streamer's and youtubers hands) as this could have done really well for them with more word of mouth

 

[PantsuJo]

Bought, even if not on sale because love my Falcom guys <3

 

[Psxphile]

Later in the Steam thread that KainXVIII created, DarkSpartan posted a link to a different DirectX 8 wrapper that, in my experience at least, works even better:

https://bitbucket.org/ThirteenAG/d3d8-wrapper/downloads

Just unzip the two files, and put them in the same folder as the Xanadu Next .exe. No configuration needed (though again, I can only speak to my experience here, no guarantees of course). The .ini has a few options, but I didn't need to change any of them.

There's no penalty to load times at all, unlike the other option (I thought that the longer loads were gone when disabling borderless windowed mode, but there was still a slight increase compared to normal). Still, big thanks to KainXVIII for finding out about the first program and creating the thread, or else I never would have found out about either fix!

As a bonus, this one even worked for me with the Trails in the Sky series! There's an issue with those games (at least for me and some other people) on Windows 10 where they ignore vsync and always run at 125 FPS - they can be capped to 60 with RivaTuner, but that solution still leaves intermittent stuttering, similar to the issue with Xanadu. This ThirteenAG d3d8 wrapper fixes that entirely - they now run at a smooth 60 with no RivaTuner needed!

Good looking out, this worked for me on XN. However, I tried it with Trails in the Sky FC but I still got random stuttering, something I've always suffered with in these games. You get used to it after awhile, but it would have been nice to get a buttery-smooth 60fps for a change. In some scenes it'll hit 60 and stay there, in others stutter. However I never had the 125fps issue like the others here so maybe it's a different problem altogether.

It would be nice to finally get this problem worked out and solved before The 3rd hits, I assume it'll be the same there with the random stuttering. For the record I'm running on Win10 on an old AMD Radeon 5700. There's probably some graphic setting I've overlooked causing the problem.

 

[itschris]

Oh wow, you're the best! I have been searching for a solution to the uncapped fps problem in the trails games ever since I installed Windows 10 this summer and this works perfectly.

Glad I could help!

Good looking out, this worked for me on XN. However, I tried it with Trails in the Sky FC but I still got random stuttering, something I've always suffered with in these games. You get used to it after awhile, but it would have been nice to get a buttery-smooth 60fps for a change. In some scenes it'll hit 60 and stay there, in others stutter. However I never had the 125fps issue like the others here so maybe it's a different problem altogether.

It would be nice to finally get this problem worked out and solved before The 3rd hits, I assume it'll be the same there with the random stuttering. For the record I'm running on Win10 on an old AMD Radeon 5700. There's probably some graphic setting I've overlooked causing the problem.

Hmm, that's unfortunate. Though as you say, it may be a different issue since you already had a functioning 60 FPS cap. Do you have Hardware Vertex Shading enabled in the game's configuration tool? Some people have reported that turning that on fixed the stuttering for them.

 

[Psxphile]

Glad I could help!



Hmm, that's unfortunate. Though as you say, it may be a different issue since you already had a functioning 60 FPS cap. Do you have Hardware Vertex Shading enabled in the game's configuration tool? Some people have reported that turning that on fixed the stuttering for them.

Yeah, it's on. I've had it on since Day 1 I think. Same with SC. Just for the record I turned it off and loaded a save just now to see what happens but the game didn't behave any different.

 

[itschris]

Yeah, it's on. I've had it on since Day 1 I think. Same with SC. Just for the record I turned it off and loaded a save just now to see what happens but the game didn't behave any different.

Damn. I'm no expert or anything, but these are the only other things I can think of to try, if you haven't already:

1. Try all the combinations of the vsync and borderless windowed settings (both off, both on, one or the other on)
2. Try running in fullscreen with no vsync or borderless, and cap the game to 60 FPS with RivaTuner

As a last resort, what I settled on eventually (before this new d3d8 wrapper) was to cap the FPS to 120 with RivaTuner. Even though I have a 60hz display, the intermittent stuttering was less bothersome at 120 than 60 (does that even make sense? Maybe it was just a placebo, but it really did feel like the stuttering was less extreme). I don't know if that would work for you, but it might be worth a shot!

And to make sure this is still the Xanadu Next thread: I'm up to 8 hours played - I just got

Spoiler

the third crown and the ability to breathe underwater

. It's still a lot of fun, and I'm interested to see where the story goes from here.

 

[mclem]

Endgame (but non-spoilery) question: My stats are such that, as far as I'm aware, I can use any item. Up 'til now, I've been using the various item stat requirements to dictate my character progression, but that's now by the wayside. So, in broad terms, with postgame in mind, is there any stat I ought to particularly favour, any soft caps beyond which a given stat is markedly less useful, or anything else I should have in mind for the bonus dungeon?

(

Spoiler

I have done the full character reset already, but I haven't yet finished off the main game itself. That's the real next job, but as I'm doing that I'd like to be building my character with the future in mind