Difference between revisions of "Overgrowth FAQ"

Latest revision as of 13:01, 7 May 2018

Welcome to the Overgrowth FAQ! Please feel free to contribute to this FAQ as well as the wiki as a whole!

General FAQ

Is this game still being updated?

You bet!

Do devs read the forums?

Constantly, both the Steam and Wolfire forums. We also sometimes reply when it seems fruitful, or when we might be able to shed light on things.

I just purchased the game, what's next?

After purchasing Overgrowth you can do several things:

Access the Secret Preorder Forums (referred to as SPF), follow this guide to gain access: http://forums.wolfire.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16422
Access to the game from the store you purchased it from

If you purchased it from the Humble Bundle store you get some extras:

Access to Receiver
Access to Low Light Combat
A Steam key for Overgrowth

All of these extras can be accessed through your Humble Bundle library.

If you purchased it directly from Steam you get these extras:

Access to Receiver

Receiver will appear automatically in your game library.

How do I create content for Overgrowth?

Overgrowth comes with a level-editor. For more info about modding, check out the rest of this wiki and the Secret Preorder Forum. To install community-created content, visit Overgrowth's Steam Workshop if you're on Steam, or SUMLauncher if you're not.

What do I do if I encounter a Bug?

Read the How To Report a Bug in Overgrowth article.

How do i clear my game cache?

In the top menu bar, press "Settings → Debug → Clear local write cache (dangerous)".

Common Platform-Specific Problems

Mac

Where is the Data folder?

With the Mac version of Overgrowth, the Data folder is located within the application package. You can access it by right clicking the "Overgrowth" application and choosing 'Show Contents", and then browsing to Contents/MacOS/Data

Note - For some users, "Show Package Contents" may not appear in the right-click menu. A workaround should be posted as soon as a more Mac-savvy user edits this entry.

To make future access easier right click 'Data' and choose 'Make Alias'. Now drag this alias out of the application, somewhere easy to find, on your Desktop for example.

Then, next time you need to open a file from within the Overgrowth package, simply navigate to the alias and you should have access to the Contents of the Data folder.

I can't right click

The right shift button is bound to right click by default, so if you can't right click as desired with your mouse or trackpad, try using right shift instead.

Accessing internal_testing on Steam

The development of Overgrowth is quite transparent, as such we allow our players to access the latest nightly build of our games via Steam, containing the latest changes. This build is often unstable and breaks all the time, but can be useful in sneak peeking at new content and features or for checking if an upcoming patch fixes a problem you're having.

To access the build, do the following.

Locate Overgrowth in your games list
Right click on Overgrowth and select properties
Go to "BETA" tab
Click the drop-down list and select internal_testing
Press Ok to close the properties window

After making this change, steam should immediately start updating the game. Wait for the download to finish before launching the game.

To switch back to the latest released version, just go back into the same menu and switch back to default.

Technical FAQ

The game is broken - how do I fix it?

Search for a solution to the problem in the Steam forums
If you can't find a solution you can ask in the Discord #tech_support chat if you want, and/or do one of the following:
- Create a forum post on the Steam forums
- Create a forum post on the Wolfire forums
- Send an email

Email/forum post guidelines

To get help as quickly as possible it's important that you make it as easy as possible for people to help you. So no matter if you're writing an email to [email protected] or a post asking for help on the forums you should:

Use a title/subject that concisely describes the specific problem you're having
If you get an error message, post the full error message, on Windows you can press ctrl+C when the error message is active to copy it so you can paste it into your message
Include step-by-step instructions on how to reproduce the error you're getting
Include screenshots if applicable

If you're having technical issues it's almost always fastest to email us, because we'll often need extra files. So to make sure we can handle your issue as quickly as possible it's a good idea to attach those extra files right in the first email. The How To Report a Bug in Overgrowth article gives all the information you need when emailing us about technical issues.

Recommended system specs

Make sure you have a decent computer that is built for gaming (has a good CPU and a discrete GPU) and that is reasonably up to date. If you have an integrated GPU you might be able to play the game by turning down all the graphics options, but it might not be optimal.

Windows - GeForce 660 or Radeon 7850, 8GB RAM
Mac - Radeon R9 M395 or Radeon Pro 560, 8GB RAM. For a Macbook Pro, this means you need the top end 2017 model with all the options. For iMac, you need a 2016 or 2017 4k or 5k model, with an upgraded GPU (Radeon R9 M395/Radeon Pro 560). With an iMac, you might be able to manually upgrade your GPU/CPU. See here for which models come with which GPU - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202823
Linux - GeForce 660 or Radeon 7850, 8GB RAM

Note that these are the 'minimum' specs to run popular AAA titles, and if you're building a PC from scratch it isn't a super expensive system.

How do I make the game run faster?

Some GPU drivers have bugs that slow down games, rebooting your computer might solve the bug
Clear the game's temp files - how to clear the game's cache
Disable all mods
Close all programs running in the background. The worst offenders are antivirus, and anything that shows an in-game overlay or does screen capture/screen recording. Game "speed boosters" also often conflict with games and can cause things to run slowly. It's best to just shut off everything.
Try quitting out of steam (not just closing it) and running the game from its install directory. It is installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Overgrowth by default on Windows
Try verifying that your game install is completely clean - https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335
Try updating your GPU drivers. If your drivers are out of date they might cause performance problems. You might also try a "clean" reinstall of these drivers, because they can sometimes become corrupt (especially for OpenGL games)
If you have an SSD, make sure you have at least 20% free space. SSDs go very slow if they don't have enough free space for their load-balancing algorithms. This causes slowdowns with all programs and games, not just ours!

If none of this helps, check out this guide: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=940734324 TODO: Move the guide at this link to the wiki and update it

Suggestions FAQ

Our wishlist and your wishlist stretches past the moon, and we have only a few people working on the game at this time. We are happy to talk about what we're currently working on and give rough estimates of when we might get them done. We don't promise specific timeframes, because we prioritize our team's well-being over announcing and attempting to meet public deadlines. However, you're free to suggest anything!

How do I suggest a new feature or a change to the game?

Please email requests (one at a time) to [email protected].

Title the email so you could find it 6 months later in a pile of 10,000 similar emails. Make the title as specific and short as you can. Try to be concise with the body too, so we can read it in 30s or less.

Bad titles: "Suggestions for Overgrowth" (too vague), "Pls nerf leg cannon" (not specific enough), "Hello" (pointless), "Halp".

Good titles: "Add stamp-collecting game mode", "Suggestion: support Klingon language", "Make it easier to <do specific thing> in editor", "Bad perf in level <xyz> in 2nd encounter", "Add support for Google Home" (no, but at least the title is right!).

Common Suggestions

Multiplayer

Maybe someday. It's hard to do, but it would be very cool. Also see the Overgrowth Multiplayer Mod.

Dismemberment/gibbing/moar blood

Maybe someday. It's not a high priority compared to other things we are working on right now. If you want help modding it in yourself, we're happy to help you figure it out. If not, then please be patient. Once we get through the list of must-have stuff, then we might get to this.

When will a feature you're working on be released?

In the next patch. See below for when the next release is, and how to try things out early.

When is the next release?

When it is ready. We try to make them take less than 3 months, and usually try to bite off a 1-month chunk at a time. This usually turns into 2 months, because releases take a long time.

If you want to try out new things early, then you can switch to the internal_testing branch (or advanced_testing, if the patch is close). Game library -> Right click on Overgrowth -> Properties -> Betas tab -> switch from "NONE" to "internal_testing" -> click OK -> wait for the update to finish installing.

Warning: internal_testing is our nightly automatic build, and we can't test it all the time. It can often be unstable. It also won't work with many of the scripting mods. Use at your own risk, and please report bugs using the "tech support" instructions above!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This is the Overgrowth FAQ.
+[[Category:FAQs]]
+[[Category:Overgrowth]]
+[[Category:SPF]]
-* This FAQ is intended for useful tips for new users as well as answer common bug-related questions.
+Welcome to the Overgrowth FAQ! Please feel free to contribute to this FAQ as well as the wiki as a whole!
-* If you wish to report a bug, email it to [mailto:[email protected] [email protected]].
-Please feel free to contribute to this FAQ, and the wiki as a whole!
+== General FAQ ==
-== I just purchased the game, what's next? ==
+=== Is this game still being updated? ===
+You bet!
+=== Do devs read the forums? ===
+Constantly, both the Steam and Wolfire forums. We also sometimes reply when it seems fruitful, or when we might be able to shed light on things.
+=== I just purchased the game, what's next? ===
 After purchasing Overgrowth you can do several things:
@@ Line 13: / Line 20: @@
 * Access to the game from the store you purchased it from
-If you purchased it from the Humble Bundle store you get some extras:
+'''If you purchased it from the Humble Bundle store you get some extras''':
 * Access to Receiver
@@ Line 21: / Line 28: @@
 All of these extras can be accessed through your Humble Bundle library.
-== How do I create content for Overgrowth?==
+'''If you purchased it directly from Steam you get these extras''':
+* Access to Receiver
+Receiver will appear automatically in your game library.
+=== How do I create content for Overgrowth? ===
 Overgrowth comes with a level-editor. For more info about modding, check out the rest of this wiki and the [http://forums.wolfire.com/viewforum.php?f=13 Secret Preorder Forum]. To install community-created content, visit Overgrowth's Steam Workshop if you're on Steam, or [http://blog.wolfire.com/2013/04/Introducing-SUMLauncher-3 SUMLauncher] if you're not.
-==What do I do if I encounter a Bug?==
+=== What do I do if I encounter a Bug? ===
-If you wish to report a bug, email it to [mailto:[email protected] [email protected]].
+Read the [[How To Report a Bug in Overgrowth]] article.
-Please follow the instructions [[How To Report a Bug in Overgrowth]], it increases the chances that we will be able to find and fix it.
-Your email should contain the following:
+=== How do i clear my game cache? ===
-* The version in which the problem was encountered
+In the top menu bar, press "Settings → Debug → Clear local write cache (dangerous)".
-* Your system setup (Operating system, graphics card, processor and anything else relevant)
-* An explanation of the problem
+=== Common Platform-Specific Problems ===
-* Actions performed, step by step, which led up to encountering the problem
+==== Mac ====
-* Expected and Actual Results
+===== Where is the Data folder? =====
-* Attachments (screenshots, crash reports, etc.)
+With the Mac version of Overgrowth, the Data folder is located within the application package.
+You can access it by right clicking the "Overgrowth" application and choosing 'Show Contents", and then browsing to <code>Contents/MacOS/Data</code>
+*Note - For some users, "Show Package Contents" may not appear in the right-click menu.  A workaround should be posted as soon as a more Mac-savvy user edits this entry.
-Refer to [http://university.utest.com/writing-quality-bug-reports-and-utest-etiquette/ this webpage] for tips on how to write a quality bug report.
+To make future access easier right click 'Data' and choose 'Make Alias'. Now drag this alias out of the application, somewhere easy to find, on your Desktop for example.
-Here are additional steps you can take:
+Then, next time you need to open a file from within the Overgrowth package, simply navigate to the alias and you should have access to the Contents of the Data folder.
-* Check the [http://forums.wolfire.com/viewforum.php?f=13 Secret Preorder Forum] and look for posts that describe similar problems.
-* Ask on Wolfire's [http://www.wolfire.com/irc Discord server].
-== What can I do if Overgrowth is running slow on my computer? ==
+===== I can't right click =====
+The right shift button is bound to right click by default, so if you can't right click as desired with your mouse or trackpad, try using right shift instead.
-Start the game, go to Settings, set the "Overall" dropdown to "Low". Now restart the game and see if it's good enough.
+=== Accessing internal_testing on Steam ===
-If it's still running too slow, also turn off "Enable custom shaders", set "Anisotropy" to "none" and "Texture Detail" to "1/8". Then restart the game and try again. We didn't want to try turning these off first because these make the game look really bad in some places.
+The development of Overgrowth is quite transparent, as such we allow our players to access the latest nightly build of our games via Steam, containing the latest changes. This build is often unstable and breaks all the time, but can be useful in sneak peeking at new content and features or for checking if an upcoming patch fixes a problem you're having.
-Beyond this, all you can do is decrease the "Resolution" setting until the game hopefully runs well enough.
+To access the build, do the following.
-== How do i clear my game cache? ==
+# Locate Overgrowth in your games list
-In the top menu bar, press "Settings → Debug → Clear local write cache (dangerous)".
+# Right click on Overgrowth and select properties
+# Go to "BETA" tab
+# Click the drop-down list and select internal_testing
+# Press Ok to close the properties window
+After making this change, steam should immediately start updating the game. Wait for the download to finish before launching the game.
+To switch back to the latest released version, just go back into the same menu and switch back to default.
+== Technical FAQ ==
+=== The game is broken - how do I fix it? ===
+# Search for a solution to the problem in the [http://steamcommunity.com/app/25000/discussions/ Steam forums]
+# If you can't find a solution you can ask in the [http://discord.gg/wolfire Discord #tech_support chat] if you want, and/or do '''one''' of the following:
+#* Create a forum post on the [http://steamcommunity.com/app/25000/discussions/ Steam forums]
+#* Create a forum post on the [https://forums.wolfire.com/ Wolfire forums]
+#* [[How_To_Report_a_Bug_in_Overgrowth|Send an email]]
+=== Email/forum post guidelines ===
+To get help as quickly as possible it's important that you make it as easy as possible for people to help you. So no matter if you're writing an email to [mailto:[email protected] [email protected]] or a post asking for help on the forums you should:
+* Use a title/subject that concisely describes the specific problem you're having
+* If you get an error message, post the full error message, on Windows you can press ctrl+C when the error message is active to copy it so you can paste it into your message
+* Include step-by-step instructions on how to reproduce the error you're getting
+* Include screenshots if applicable
+If you're having technical issues it's almost always fastest to email us, because we'll often need extra files. So to make sure we can handle your issue as quickly as possible it's a good idea to attach those extra files right in the first email. The [http://wiki.wolfire.com/index.php/How_To_Report_a_Bug_in_Overgrowth How To Report a Bug in Overgrowth] article gives all the information you need when emailing us about technical issues.
-= Common Platform-Specific Problems =
+=== Recommended system specs ===
-'''TODO:''' Remove any of these that aren't relevant.
+Make sure you have a decent computer that is built for gaming (has a good CPU and a discrete GPU) and that is reasonably up to date. If you have an integrated GPU you might be able to play the game by turning down all the graphics options, but it might not be optimal.
-== Mac ==
+* Windows - GeForce 660 or Radeon 7850, 8GB RAM
-=== Where is the Data folder? ===
+* Mac - Radeon R9 M395 or Radeon Pro 560, 8GB RAM. For a Macbook Pro, this means you need the top end 2017 model with all the options. For iMac, you need a 2016 or 2017 4k or 5k model, with an upgraded GPU (Radeon R9 M395/Radeon Pro 560). With an iMac, you might be able to manually upgrade your GPU/CPU. See here for which models come with which GPU - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202823
-With the Mac version of Overgrowth, the Data folder is located within the application package.
+* Linux - GeForce 660 or Radeon 7850, 8GB RAM
-You can access it by right clicking the "Overgrowth" application and choosing 'Show Contents", and then browsing to Contents/MacOS/Data
-*Note - For some users, "Show Package Contents" may not appear in the right-click menu.  A workaround should be posted as soon as a more Mac-savvy user edits this entry.
-To make future access easier right click 'Data' and choose 'Make Alias'. Now drag this alias out of the application, somewhere easy to find, on your Desktop for example.
+Note that these are the 'minimum' specs to run popular AAA titles, and if you're building a PC from scratch it isn't a super expensive system.
-Then, next time you need to open a file from within the Overgrowth package, simply navigate to the alias and you should have access to the Contents of the Data folder.
+=== How do I make the game run faster? ===
+* Some GPU drivers have bugs that slow down games, rebooting your computer might solve the bug
+* Clear the game's temp files - [[how to clear the game's cache]]
+* Disable all mods
+* Close all programs running in the background. The worst offenders are antivirus, and anything that shows an in-game overlay or does screen capture/screen recording. Game "speed boosters" also often conflict with games and can cause things to run slowly. It's best to just shut off everything.
+* Try quitting out of steam (not just closing it) and running the game from its install directory. It is installed to '''C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Overgrowth''' by default on Windows
+* Try verifying that your game install is completely clean - https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335
+* Try updating your GPU drivers. If your drivers are out of date they might cause performance problems. You might also try a "clean" reinstall of these drivers, because they can sometimes become corrupt (especially for OpenGL games)
+* If you have an SSD, make sure you have at least 20% free space. SSDs go very slow if they don't have enough free space for their load-balancing algorithms. This causes slowdowns with all programs and games, not just ours!
-=== I can't right click ===
+If none of this helps, check out this guide: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=940734324 '''TODO:''' Move the guide at this link to the wiki and update it
-The right shift button is bound to right click by default, so if you can't right click as desired with your mouse or trackpad, try using right shift instead.
-=== I want to see live console output, but the console doesn't show it until after the program closes ===
+== Suggestions FAQ ==
-If you want to see the console output live you will need to run Overgrowth from the Terminal.
+Our wishlist and your wishlist stretches past the moon, and we have only a few people working on the game at this time. We are happy to talk about what we're currently working on and give rough estimates of when we might get them done. We don't promise specific timeframes, because we prioritize our team's well-being over announcing and attempting to meet public deadlines. However, you're free to suggest anything!
-To do so right click Overgrowth, choose 'Show Package Contents', then navigate to /Contents/MacOS/ and double click 'lugaru2'. This will open Overgrowth along with a new terminal window that displays all the data written to the console but in real time.
+=== How do I suggest a new feature or a change to the game? ===
+Please email requests (one at a time) to [mailto:[email protected] [email protected]].
-To make accessing this file easier in the future right click the 'lugaru 2' file, choose 'Make Alias' and drag the resulting file to a more convenient location.
+Title the email so you could find it 6 months later in a pile of 10,000 similar emails. Make the title as specific and short as you can. Try to be concise with the body too, so we can read it in 30s or less.
-= Accessing internal_testing on Steam =
+Bad titles: "Suggestions for Overgrowth" (too vague), "Pls nerf leg cannon" (not specific enough), "Hello" (pointless), "Halp".
-The development of Overgrowth is quite transparent, as such we allow our players to access the latest nightly build of our games, containing the latest changes.
+Good titles: "Add stamp-collecting game mode", "Suggestion: support Klingon language", "Make it easier to <do specific thing> in editor", "Bad perf in level <xyz> in 2nd encounter", "Add support for Google Home" (no, but at least the title is right!).
-This build is often unstable and breaks all the time, but can be useful in sneak peaking at new content and features or for verifying if a patch fixed your problem.
-This build is available via Steam.
+=== Common Suggestions ===
+==== Multiplayer ====
+Maybe someday. It's hard to do, but it would be very cool. Also see the [http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=915583394 Overgrowth Multiplayer Mod].
-Sometimes you'll be directed by bugs@wolfire.com to "Test internal_testing".
+==== Dismemberment/gibbing/moar blood ====
+Maybe someday. It's not a high priority compared to other things we are working on right now. If you want help modding it in yourself, we're happy to help you figure it out. If not, then please be patient. Once we get through the list of must-have stuff, then we might get to this.
-To access the build, do the following.
+=== When will a feature you're working on be released? ===
+In the next patch. See below for when the next release is, and how to try things out early.
-. Locate Overgrowth in your games list
+=== When is the next release? ===
-. Right click on Overgrowth and select properties
+When it is ready. We try to make them take less than 3 months, and usually try to bite off a 1-month chunk at a time. This usually turns into 2 months, because releases take a long time.
-. Go to "BETA" tab
-. Click the drop-down list and select internal_testing
-. Press Ok to close the properties window
-After making this change, steam should immediately update the game. To switch back to the latest released version, just go back into the same menu and switch back to default.
+If you want to try out new things early, then you can switch to the internal_testing branch (or advanced_testing, if the patch is close). Game library -> Right click on Overgrowth -> Properties -> Betas tab -> switch from "NONE" to "internal_testing" -> click OK -> wait for the update to finish installing.
-[[Category:FAQs]]
+Warning: internal_testing is our nightly automatic build, and we can't test it all the time. It can often be unstable. It also won't work with many of the scripting mods. Use at your own risk, and please report bugs using the "tech support" instructions above!
-[[Category:Overgrowth]]
-[[Category:SPF]]