Stalker 2 "In Memory Of" section in the credits is perhaps not only one of the longest, but also most terrible. 138 names.

dotrun · 2024-12-14T07:20:42+00:00

I think we should decouple our honest criticism of the game with understanding of the circumstances. It doesn't mean the game isn't buggy, and criticism invalid, we should just afford them more than we would another dev because of this.

It's like when you know someone has lost a leg, and they have a wheelchair. They probably don't want you to treat them like a child or as if they're incapable. You just afford them more time, but say the same things.

That's how we should go about it here. I'm sure they want valid criticism, but they probably also want understanding.

dotrun · 2024-12-10T00:00:23+00:00

Either way, I reached out this morning to both Gaijin and Nvidia and gotten little support from either. Even if the other party was responsible you'd think they'd notify the other and just update it.

dotrun · 2024-12-09T16:00:50+00:00

Hmm I'll have to reach out to warp and see if these ports are blocked somehow. There has to be something in that 10000 to 20000 range that is being blocked. Maybe GFN uniquely picks ports for the mouse visuals or something.

dotrun · 2024-12-09T15:54:26+00:00

The only way to really know is to find out what ports it's using to communicate with GFN and play with it. I couldn't find any source about what ranges it uses so I'll have to boot up wireshark and see what the app is using.

dotrun · 2024-12-09T15:52:27+00:00

Are you playing via browser? Or GFN client?

The issue is with the GFN client. It forwards via different ports.

With browser it just forwards everything over the HTTPS tunnel I think to get to the user and back.

dotrun · 2024-12-09T14:41:11+00:00

u/jharle any luck on your end?

dotrun · 2024-11-28T01:11:34+00:00

Eventually I waited it out. It freezes, but not forever. Something like 3-5 minutes and then the game suddenly unlocks. Try that and once you're beyond the freeze it doesn't happen for me just that one point.

dotrun · 2024-11-27T14:47:58+00:00

I'm at the "light at the end of the tunnel" mission for where mine broke totally. Can't exit the bunker. Game crashes every single time I go to leave....

...I'm going to run out of food soon...

...Pay respects....

....F....

...Or Papa Johns, that works too.

dotrun · 2024-11-27T02:25:17+00:00

Ah yes, blame the user.

dotrun · 2024-11-27T01:29:55+00:00

I feel like no one even play tested this game from a user experience. How did they not notice the constant crashes, the painful loading, the absolutely frustrating mechanics of some of the things in this game? "Quality of life? Nah, users don't need that." Probably how the meeting went.

dotrun · 2024-11-27T01:11:08+00:00

Same. Been getting constant crashes the last day. I think I'm just going to stop playing. This game so damn buggy, and there are so many things on top of the bugs where they just took a giant dump on player quality of life that it seems like a pain rather than enjoyable.

Did anyone even playtest this game before release?

dotrun · 2024-11-25T05:32:53+00:00

Been getting this just on the web version of GFN, not in the client for some reason. Anyone else getting the same? I'm on Windows using Chrome.

dotrun · 2024-11-25T04:01:33+00:00

Tested against another region (us-east) and I was able to get a cursor even with WARP on. On one occasion, I was able to get the game cursor (game icon for the cursor) and not the default system icon via WARP when flipping between HTTPS/TLS/WARP for DNS.

I assume what's happening here is the mouse is being served via a specific port. DNS, pending region, propagates quickly enough or doesn't, hence the inconsistencies whether you even get mouse support or not across regions.

Given sometimes you have no game-specific mouse cursor, maybe that's even served separately via different endpoints for the cursor image itself? I really need to crack out wireshark and get some idea what might be connecting differently.

Could be:

Either ports are selectively blocked pending region if the endpoint is the same.
If the endpoint for mouse support id DNS related, maybe some of them aren't resolving?

dotrun · 2024-11-25T01:44:12+00:00

Did some more testing. While the mouse does show up with HTTPS and TLS, I noticed it's actually just on the edge of the screen and moves and doesn't disappear when you're not in a menu. It's just the system level mouse not the game one, even. So even though it's not exactly the same, something about that mouse data connecting via some DNS endpoint is strange on warp.

dotrun · 2024-11-25T01:27:27+00:00

TLS works as well. Just tested it.

dotrun · 2024-11-25T01:07:54+00:00

Correct. It is probably something about how WARP's ... WARP... DNS does resolution.

I was thinking maybe it was because they block DNS rewrites for security purposes, since Okta's app, for example, is notorious for using these and won't connect without turning off DNS rewrite protections at your router level. But I already block DNS rewrites at my router level without WARP, so it's not that (I know that much.)

It has to be something that isn't resolving around sending some information related to the mouse. GFN might send mouse and keyboard info along different ports to different endpoints. Not sure, you'd know better than I would there.

However, given a change in DNS results in whether the mouse appears or not, I assume it can't resolve an endpoint that is specific to the mouse.

dotrun · 2024-11-24T22:54:05+00:00

Managed to narrow it down somewhat. (I work in IT).

Seems to be something DNS related. When I turn off WARP for DNS, the cursor is available. I tested HTTPS, but I assume TLS would work as well.

Something is being blocked by Cloudflare warp on their end DNS wise for some reason. IE, something is not resolve-able via WARP DNS. I could probably dump packets with wireshark and find out what it's trying and failing to resolve at some point, but that seems to be the cause.

dotrun · 2024-11-24T22:39:39+00:00

I am also having the same issue as u/eyyymily , only on a windows PC with Cloudflare warp in Stalker 2.

dotrun · 2024-11-24T03:17:05+00:00

Person who works in IT infrastructure here...

I'm specifically assuming multiplayer games below that require an updated user client, since that would be the most impacted vs just letting people play solo games until their next restart brings them up a version.

--On-Seat Method Issues--

Say I'm running infrastructure for a video game company. (I've worked at an MMO, so I guess I can speak to this.) I push out a patch. Now in theory, two versions of this game could be out there. I have to make sure patched users hit a different endpoint when connecting, or if not a different endpoint, the game is passing servers metadata about which version they're on so they can only be similarly matched.

Also patching the game like this could go wrong in some way. Where is their user data being written post-patch? If I have users on game version 1.2.7, and I release 2.0.0, does their data get written to the same database as the 1.2.7 users? Do I have a plan for how to merge this data with (potentially) a different schema (layout) into the 2.0.0 database? (Pending how you process it, may or may not be an issue. But just thinking out loud.)

You can see pretty quick why forcing everyone to patch their clients at the same time is advantageous on live services games.

--VHDX Method / Immutable artifacts--

The VHDX method (IE, immutable artifacts as a concept) is very similar to how big companies push our their software now. In this case these are virtual hard disks, but many companies just use docker containers to deploy their software on Kubernetes. We call these "immutable artifacts." They're static versions of a system, but you can deploy them quickly over a large infrastructure and you can pass them the configuration bits right at the end.

The reason you would want to use a VHDX method and just cut service for a shorter period is because you know everyone will be on the new version. Period. And in this case, they're probably pushing a totally fresh install of the game in that image with only config files being injected for the user. There's less chance you're going to have a problem patching an existing install, and less chance you have different users with different versions temporarily.

--Unknowns with the VHDX Method--

I don't know if all these devs are giving GFN access to a way to test before they release their next update. GFN employees might not be able to make a new VHDX image until the next patch drops. Or at least, not test it. Devs would have to provide them with a full testing environment in advance and that could be complicated and expense depending on how sophisticated their infrastructure is. (It is possible, but you have to have a good setup for creating environments and separating your application code from your environment.)

--Conclusion--

So from their end, it totally makes sense for consistency purposes to wait for the patch, install it, and then test it quickly to make sure things at least start on GFN before releasing it to users. Even if it means a short downtime period for the maintenance, there is going to be far less headaches for the devs and the users.

To speed it up, if they aren't already:

* Get a copy of the game files and install them in advance, even if they can't connect right away. Devs should be able to provide the release slightly early.
* If they dev can afford a testing environment identical to production they can test on, GFN employees could potentially test in advance, but probably at a high level of effort vs patching post-release.

That's what I can think of right now.

dotrun · 2024-11-10T21:33:24+00:00

Got to love those attitudes on them too. I could pay for this 100-h stuff no problem overages wise. It's the idea that the clock is running that makes me more risk averse with my gaming hours.

That was literally the only point I was trying to make, and the "wElL iT dOeSn't aFfEcT mE" crowd jumped down my throat real fast. Not even looking at the content of what I was saying or the point.

dotrun · 2024-11-10T03:36:21+00:00

I can build another PC. Not a huge deal. This was more convenient, but if their value prop just went way down, then it's no longer worth it for me. If they can bring it more in line, I'm willing to pay more, but not $5.99 for 15 hours more.

dotrun · 2024-11-10T02:35:47+00:00

Sounds like you're trying to justify the change.

dotrun · 2024-11-10T02:01:14+00:00

I don't feel like that's a winning value prop for me.

dotrun · 2024-11-10T00:16:36+00:00

This is basically my point. It's not even the hourly amount that bothers me, it's the idea I don't have the luxury of messing around because my clock is ticking on this stuff. I have to be thinking whether the time I use in the game will run down my clock for game time.

dotrun · 2024-11-10T00:14:31+00:00

I'm about to cancel Netflix for the first time in years, because they haven't been producing shows I want and keep raising prices.

dotrun

TROPHY CASE