Patch status

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 12:37 pm

According to Atari PR, a patch is in the works. The delay was due to working approval for one through WOTC, and the developers are supposedly being meticulous in gathering bugs. They've got a lot to deal with, too.

cjdevito · Post by **cjdevito** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 3:06 pm

Heh. According to Huy at Troika, he's been working on the patch for several days now. However, it's not clear if Atari has actually -paid- for the patch yet; Troika's contract was strictly for the product, and specifically had no provisions for patching.

Even with a finished patch from Troika paid for by Atari, it will be awhile before it sees the light of day. It will need to be QAd by Atari, WOTC -and- Hasbro before it gets rubberstamped for release.

I expect the unofficial patch being made by the Circle of Eight team to be ready frankly weeks before the official one.

Silent · Post by **Silent** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 3:06 pm

Actually, if you read all the interviews: Atari blames Troika and Troika blames Atari for there not being a patch, or a date scheduled for a patch. Troika says they've been working on a patch since day 1 but Atari refuses to support it. Atari says that they have nothing to do with patches and talk to Troika.

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 3:22 pm

@Silent, PR at Atari (FWIW) says Troika put it a little maladroitly. The problem wasn't getting financial support from Atari, but getting the go-ahead on the patch from all parties involved. And (if PR is speaking sooth), WOTC has a lot of hoops and hurdles to go through before approval. But it's all been taken care of.

@Cjdevito, I never said the patch was coming in the next few days.

PR says two weeks down the line. As that's a pretty good ways off, I don't think he was slinging bull.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 3:51 pm

Originally posted by fable
@Silent, PR at Atari (FWIW) says Troika put it a little maladroitly. The problem wasn't getting financial support from Atari, but getting the go-ahead on the patch from all parties involved. And (if PR is speaking sooth), WOTC has a lot of hoops and hurdles to go through before approval. But it's all been taken care of.

@Cjdevito, I never said the patch was coming in the next few days. PR says two weeks down the line. As that's a pretty good ways off, I don't think he was slinging bull.

What exactly do you mean by "two weeks down the line?"

Something tells me I won't really be phased by the due date of the patch, any way. Looks like I could be getting the game some time this week. Maybe I won't experience too much bad stuff when I play it. Who knows?

cjdevito · Post by **cjdevito** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 4:14 pm

Fable...
PR says two weeks down the line. As that's a pretty good ways off, I don't think he was slinging bull.

Wanna bet?

I remember how long it took Atari to sign off on the ready-for-release MOO3 patch when Quicksilver turned it in. In this case, not only is the patch not ready, but it needs to be approved by two other companies besides Atari before release. I hope you're right about the timeline, but frankly I don't expect you to be.

Galuf...
Maybe I won't experience too much bad stuff when I play it.

So far (Temple dungeon level II) I haven't run into anything game breaking, just some annoyances.

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 4:57 pm

I'll put no money on it. I'm not exactly a big fan of Atari customer relations.

But it does give us a "near date" of no sooner than two weeks from now. How far the "distant date" is, is anybody's guess.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 6:17 pm

Sounds good to me, guys.

A near date of two weeks? I can live with that.

@cjdevito: Nothing game-breaking yet? Would you mind telling me of the worst you've experienced? PM if you feel like it.

Silent · Post by **Silent** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 6:53 pm

Is there a quote someplace about this "two weeks"??

I've read plenty of interviews about it and I have yet to see any "two weeks" or even a promise of there EVER being an official patch.

Troika will probably end up releasing an unofficial patch is my guess.

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 7:25 pm

Why would there be a quote somewhere about what was said to me in conversation with the Atari PR rep handling TOEE? I'm only passing along what I was told. Believe it, or don't; it's all one to me.

But IMO, I doubt that there will be an unofficial first patch, rather than an official one. Atari has made some poor decisions about its games, IMO, but lack of support from the get-go for a Troika title isn't likely to be one of 'em.

cjdevito · Post by **cjdevito** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 7:34 pm

Galuf, my bug list so far is pretty small

1. Lots of items available through the craft item interfaces cannot actually be built, as their requirements to build are broken. Additionally, it's unknown if craft weapons/armor is actually working as intended in regards to the inability to enhance looted existing magic items.
2. The diary of the earth temple high priest cannot be read. Attempting to do so brings up a "this door is locked" error message.
3. Several spell scrolls cannot be scribed
4. Most cleric domains are broken in one way or another
5. Many spells do not function correctly. Many are permanent when they shouldn't be.

There are far, far more reported bugs. These just happen to be the only ones I've personally encountered.

Silent · Post by **Silent** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:40 pm

You haven't had monsters spawning in the walls, npcs in your party grabbing loot until they can no longer move, etc.?

Most of the bugs didn't bother me a lot either, until i got to the elemental plains and the game decided to start freezing when it had run perfectly before...

There's one npc in particular that would have been sweet to use in my party, but the bugger just kept taking all the good items until he could no longer move...

Silent · Post by **Silent** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:42 pm

oh yeah and Fable...if they are not announcing it to the public, and only telling it to get people off the phone...how reliable is the info?

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 9:00 pm

Originally posted by Silent
oh yeah and Fable...if they are not announcing it to the public, and only telling it to get people off the phone...how reliable is the info?

It depends in part on the contact, but in general I would sooner believe what a rep or a dev says in private to me than a bland PR sheet with all the usual bull, handed out to the press in general. This has no bearing on what I was told by the Atari folks, but if you're looking for a reason to dis the info, you can do better than this.

More to the point, Atari doesn't make public announcements of forthcoming patches (MOO3, for example). Like most game publishers, their developers take care of that.

More still to the point, I can't tell you when the patch is going to appear, but I've had confirmation from two other private sources I trust since I last wrote that the patch is officially supported by Atari. But then again, you're free to believe otherwise. Hell, I'm free to believe otherwise, but it makes good sense--to me.

immortal1 · Post by **immortal1** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 1:45 pm

patch

I read somewhere that it was to be developed all through this month, and released towards the end. I don't really know much else about it.. but at least it is coming.

alterre · Post by **alterre** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 3:20 pm

patch and potion

FABLE im using the circle of 8 patch tht they curently have available. itll do till they improve theirs or atari finally does something. oncidentally i went back and checked the identify spell and you were correct it is costing me gold. i find that really pathetic that pell is costing me wen its my party member that does it. ive never had to pay to use spells in any rpg before. bad atari, bad bad bad

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 4:19 pm

the fact that identify costs gold in ToEE is an implementation of DnD rules, which was troika's idea all along.

It could be worse. At least the game doesn't make you hunt down all the material components you would need to cast spells (eye of salamander, bat guano, lily petals, etc.)

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 5:49 pm

What I find a bit annoying is that the game doesn't *tell* you when it uses up your money and/or components. Some people may not care, but since the inventory screen is intended to--well, track inventory--it seems reasonable to me to expect it to reveal when do something that arbitrarily "uses up" items in my supply. Money, especially.

This applies as well to the Identify spell when your cleric casts it via a domain.

maveric28 · Post by **maveric28** » Sun Oct 12, 2003 9:45 pm

Where does one get this unofficial Circle of 8 patch? Does anyone know the link? And if I do get it and use it, will it interfere with my using the official patch if/when it does come out? I don't want this rather excellent game to be a repeat of the hugely disappointing Ruins of Myth Drannor last year.

kellinjar · Post by **kellinjar** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 6:38 am

Re: patch and potion

Originally posted by alterre
FABLE im using the circle of 8 patch tht they curently have available. itll do till they improve theirs or atari finally does something. oncidentally i went back and checked the identify spell and you were correct it is costing me gold. i find that really pathetic that pell is costing me wen its my party member that does it. ive never had to pay to use spells in any rpg before. bad atari, bad bad bad

Perhaps, but its not a complete implementation.
There is no alchemy, there is no knowledge (Arcana) that can be used for IDing items..
Identify wasn't meant to be used as the be all and end all IDing tool in D&D..especially with potions...
that means in a module thats a pretty faithful reproduction of ToEE.. instead of being able to pay 1 gp to ID a potion you pay 100 gp...
thats a 100x gp price..if that was 1 potion in the whole game ... big deal..but when I have dozens of potions floating around thatI can't stack..and I just don't feel right paying 900 gp to ID 9 CLW potions in 1 persons inventory...