[feedquote='STO Lootcritter','https://lootcritter.com/2016/10/27/issues-continue-to-impact-day-2-of-artifacts-release-some-fixes-work-full-fix-eta-tbd-soon/']
Let’s start this blog post by taking a deep breath, and by thanking CrypticSpartan for what can only be described as one hell of a 48-hours. Between the forums, Reddit and redditchat – Spartan was there constantly answering questions and identifying issues, and generally helping us keep our collective heads on while the community deals with graphics and kit issues. Over on the PWE side of the company, LaughingTrendy has been working out the details on fixing the promotional code issues that turned out to be easily exploitable.
It was a ‘When it rains, it pours’ kind of day.
This is the first time that I lucked out and missed out on the bad issues and had what can best be described as a fun and error-free launch day. But not everyone experienced the day unscathed.
Note: the issues listed here are being addressed, and individual issues may be updated at any time. Please check out the Developer Twitter tracker (@STO_DevTracker ) for the latest updates, comments, and to follow the threads on issue statuses.
Dude, Where’s my Ground Kit and Modules?
Tuesday’s ‘Black Box’ issue continues to plague players throughout the PC version of the game. While several tricks have been found to force verify the Kit to free it from the Black Box (listed below the video), many players are still stuck in a frustrating limbo.
The change to how the kits worked was to have been straight forward. As outlined in the various blog posts by Cryptic the changes included simplifying module slot types and adding the ability to upgrade kits and some of the modules themselves. During the Tribble test, problems were identified by players and reported in the appropriate forums. This included the black box issue, and outright missing kits and modules. For whatever reason, some of these problems reappeared on Holodeck with Artifacts release.
In the case of Romulan Embassy Kits, they outright disappeared.
[Forums] [CrypticSpartan] As I mentioned in this thread, Romulan Embassy kit frames are a known issue that will be fixed in a patch soon.
A fleetmate provided this video for Cryptic Support:
Customer support has responded by email:
We’re sorry for any frustration this may have caused and we can confirm that the developers are aware of the issue and are investigating it further.
At this time we can’t say when it will be fixed and we encourage you to keep an eye on our website and official game forums for updates.
Note: despite the issues, this kit update is pretty cool – more on that later.
Possible fixes:
- Black Box: Switch maps, 2-3 times while going from ground to space seems to be able to release the black box effect.
- Missing Modules – Crystalline Spike – you can reclaim it in the dilithium store.
- /lootcancel command works for some
Lighting Issues, Blurry Images on some machines
Lighting 2.0 has been for many players a huge improvement in the games quality. It’s an entirely new game as previously dark locations now have great depth and detail (Quonos), to places like DS9 that IMO look entirely new. As beautiful as it is, there is still a fair amount of refinement left to add.
Polaron ‘Plaid’ Skin under the new Lighting 2.0 Conditions.
Disabling Lighting 2.0: For players on older machines, it’s becoming a bit of a frustration as they were caught unprepared for the changes, with some older systems not responding at all. A setting in your Options menu under Graphics allows you to disable Lighting 2.0.
Blurry Images: This was partially caused for some players when your resolution scale was changed by the update. You can manually reset this value again under Options, on the Display tab, by sliding the Resolution Scale to a more appropriate value. I’ve seen recommendations from 0.4 to 0.8 to resolve the issue.
Random Crashes have been reported as well, tied to the resolution issue. While l hesitate to even mention this, many players have gone through the process of a full reinstall to provide a fix to the lighting and resolution issues – and some have had success. Note that at the moment I do NOT recommend this step as I cannot verify the success.
Tacofangs also provided this fix on day one:
1) Goto your Graphics Options
2) Turn on Use Sliders (if it isn’t already)
3) Slide both the Render Quality and the Graphics Detail sliders all the way to the left.
4) Slide both of those same sliders all the way to the right again.
5) Hit Apply
6) Now go back and change your settings to whatever you usually use.
Missing Text
Some players noted that lighting 2.0 created black or reverse text on Tribble. That error appears to have reappeared in the Holodeck release. Forum User Freakium has presented a 3-step (sometimes technical) process to fix that problem which you can find here.
Missing STF’s & Red Alerts
This wasn’t by design, but rather by accident, and will be returned by the next patch.
Missing Foundry.
Not missing. The foundry is taken offline for a short period with every major release.
Delta Recruit can’t claim account-wide Temporal Agent rewards
Known Issue, to be restored shortly.
48-Hour Promotional Giveaway
If you were lucky enough to get a promo code in the past day promoting the Artifacts launch, only to find the code invalid – fear not, LaughingTrendy to the rescue. For the next 48 hours, 1 character per account may get the following from the promotions tab:
Captains looking to jump into Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts can enjoy not only a host of new content, but a set of rewards when they log in today! From now until Saturday 10/29 at 9AM Pacific, you’ll have the opportunity to log in and receive a reward pack filled with the following items:
• 1 Large XP Boost
• 3 Gamma Duty Officer Packs
• 1 R&D Box
Please note: this pack can be claimed once per account in the promotions tab for characters at least level 10. The items and the pack are character-bound.
Dude, Where’s K-13? Why can’t I get on the station?
Location: Alpha Quadrant, top left-hand corner of the map in 20 Draconnis.
K-13 Fleet Holding: You need to finish Level 1 to actually get inside, but you can visit it in the new mission.
Replaying the Featured Episode
Do not click on the featured episode graphic, rather open the episodes list and look to the top of the left-hand list. Click featured episode, and enjoy. This isn’t a bug, but rather how the system works after you’ve played the mission once on that character. One could argue that another screen should dynamically appear with the play option, but I digress.
This story is ongoing, and we’ll update as we learn more.
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