v1.21.2-rc.1/rc.2 Story Chapter 2 Redux, TOPS-Lagspike patch

[Thorfinn]

Oh, my takeaway from your first post on the matter, @Teh Pizza Lady, was, "In the PR I outlined exactly what the bug is and how it is being triggered and why it is severely game-breaking." It just had the feeling I got from the late great M. Emmet Walsh, "He's not carnival personnel!"

[Teh Pizza Lady]

19 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

It occurs to me that this would probably cease if they just implemented eating over time, similar to the way they did healing over time.

You have just given me a new mod idea...do you mind if I take a stab at making this happen?

[LadyWYT]

28 minutes ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

You have just given me a new mod idea...do you mind if I take a stab at making this happen?

Sounds like I need to get ready to break things in testing again.

[Cetasaya]

the elk controls and that 2nd boss fight were two of my most disliked things in the second lore update thank you so much for changing those things.

playing through again right now and still hanging around the first story location but once i reach that boss' location (the 4th story location i think?) im desperately hoping the parkour and impossibility of scaling that building have been changed too cause im STILL shocked and confused that was even considered let alone actually added, its such an extreme and wild just straight up below-the-bedrock-that-is-below-the-dirt-that-is-below-the-grass-that-is-below-the-floor-that-is-below-the-bottom-of-the-barrel downgrade from the absolute brilliance of the first location.  like, going from THAT (which i will likely remember as an absolute peak experience in any game ever for a long long time.  im talking final fantasy 7, 9, and 10 levels here.  im talking super mario world.  freaking san andreas.  as good as rimworld, shovel knight, stardew, ect., ect.  going through that dungeon for the first time was legit MAGICAL) to THAT (which made my physically enraged in terms of impossibility, time sink, and completely destroyed all my expectations (which were reasonable i knew topping or exceeding the first location was way too much to ask for and i was fine with and fully prepared for that) and dissapointment) is insane.

the 2nd boss' visual and sound design are actually awesome though.  the fight and the tower were beyond unacceptable but the design and vibes of the area AROUND the 4th location are immaculate and brilliant.  and so much combat and loot my god it terrifying but oh so rewarding.  peak vintage story.

while im here, the 2nd location was a decent 7/10.  only experinced right after it was added but i remember that being mentioned to have been improved recently too?  cant wait.  and the 3rd location has always been close to perfection.  i love that place.  very very useful and convienient shopping and trading.  almost always set up a permanent base nearby. 

and the treasure trader hut just added around spawn is gorgeous as well.  his elk keeps escaping though.  the hut spawned in.  elk running away.  i reach it and find the trough and went, "...oh.  okay, he's farming pigs maybe?  where are-? OHHHHHHHH lol whelp.. shoulda built a taller fence buddy.. not like you cant afford it, mr. treasure hunter"  the hut's surrounding area almost always screws up the landscape though it seems to spawn as a massive massive plateau for my worlds at least.  probably a terrain generation mod's fault, though.  too lazy and dont care enough to test.  plateus arent even bad at all its just kinda weird.  it makes the hut very easy to find at least.

anyway.  one of the greatest games of all time.  in my top 5 easily all day long.  only game i care enough to post on their forums about.  this game's updates are the ones I care the most about.  only game besides rimworld, stardew, final fantasy 9, and final fantasy tactics I ever reccomened to people. 11/10.

 

Edited September 28, 2025 by Cetasaya

[LadyWYT]

9 hours ago, Cetasaya said:

the hut spawned in.  elk running away.  i reach it and find the trough and went, "...oh.  okay, he's farming pigs maybe?  where are-? OHHHHHHHH lol whelp.. shoulda built a taller fence buddy.. not like you cant afford it, mr. treasure hunter"

They're supposed to have elk? I suppose I'll have to pay more attention next time I see one. I've not seen them spawn with elk and not seen any elk wandering around nearby.

 

9 hours ago, Cetasaya said:

while im here, the 2nd location was a decent 7/10.  only experinced right after it was added but i remember that being mentioned to have been improved recently too?

The second location that contains the boss has seen quite a few changes since it was added to the game. Most notably: 

Spoiler

The fight itself feels a little less harsh than it used to, however, the top of the Tower's design has also been altered to prevent players from being able to cheese the fight by hiding in the stairwell(stairs are now gone, replaced by a ladder). There is now a basement section that players will need to complete in order to unlock the main door on the first floor. As for the jumping puzzle of the Tower itself, players will still need to complete it in order to reach the Lens at the top, however, the elevator now acts as a checkpoint so once one has completed a floor they can use the elevator to return to that floor should they fall.

All in all, this section of the story plays a lot more smoothly than it did at launch, but players will still need to prepare themselves very well, as it is still quite a difficult section to complete.

[ifoz]

When 1.20 was first released I felt it was a bit of a left-field design choice to make one of the story locations a sudden difficulty spike of a platformer section in an otherwise (usually) not platforming-centric game, but now that it's been polished up a bit I don't mind that section. This is purely in terms of gameplay, the atmosphere is awesome.

I still do think some kind of climb or ledge grab would help make the platforming feel more "realistic" than your classic Minecraft parkour, but the elevator is definitely a welcome change, and such moves would probably take a good amount of time to design and balance. My only real gripe with the location when it first came out was that it sort of broke my immersion of ch2's overall journey by being extremely video-gamey in its design, rather than gamey-but-grounded like chapter 1 was.

Some way to preserve that feeling of grounded gamification might be an optional sidequest for an item that repairs the elevator early and lets you skip most of the platforming in exchange for some extra time and trouble, but from what I have seen it's already feeling better than its initial iteration.

The new basement area was a very good addition imo, since it adds an element of puzzle solving that ties into a certain spoilery mechanic. I hope we see that mechanic used again in the future for some more advanced puzzle solving, there's a ton of potential there!

Edited September 28, 2025 by ifoz