Cyclopean News

[h3]New Mouse Mode[/h3][p]I am really hoping this resolved the "floaty" mouse issue some players are having. This new mode (which is optional at this time) will translate the Windows mouse position into the game window. This issue has been due to several problems I faced early on in the game's development.[/p][p][/p][p]Problem:[/p][p]The issue with this approach has been that since the game window is scaled, the Windows mouse will move very fast if the game window is larger than the default 640 x 360 window size. [/p][p]Solution:[/p][p]To account for this, in the new mode, I adjust the actual Windows cursor speed to compensate. [/p][p]Problem:[/p][p]The problem with this approach was that if the game crashed, or was ended prematurely, it would keep the mouse in the new, slow mode.[/p][p]Solution:[/p][p]This is the main new feature at this point. I have adjusted the script so that it automatically changes back to the original mouse speed whenever the mouse leaves the game window, or if the window focus changes to a different program. I am hoping this will be enough to prevent players from having to manually re-set their mouse speed.[/p][p][/p][h3]Options Menu - How to Set it Up [/h3][p][/p][p]To set up the new mouse mode, go to the options panel, and click the check-box labeled "Windows Mouse" and it should automatically adjust the way your mouse works. remember to click "Apply". Folks who have tested it say it seems to work for them, so I hope it works for you too. [/p][p][/p][h3]Demo Updated[/h3][p]I've also updated the free demo, so if you want to try it out before buying the game, you may do that too. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]


[/p]

[p]NOTE: The mouse sensitivity slider will not do anything in this version. I will think about using it to adjust the windows mouse speed, as I describe in this message. [/p][p][/p][p]I've made a new adjustment to the mouse so that it adjusts the sensitivity based on the scale of your game window automatically. I used this method in the past, but I got complaints that if/when the game crashed the windows mouse would remain slow, and had to be manually readjusted. This only occurred on a crash, if the game was exited properly, it would automatically set the mouse speed back to its original value.[/p][p][/p][p]Anyway, this version works the same way, however, I have added a function that automatically sets the speed back to its original value whenever the mouse exits the game window. So this way there is far less likelihood of it keeping the mouse on the new, adjusted value. [/p][p][/p][p]I think for people who have been having the floatyness issue, this will solve their problem. I plan to integrate this with the full game next, and offer an option to switch mouse methods in the options menu. Depending on how it goes, I may make this new method the default, but we'll see about that.[/p][p][/p][p]Refer back to the previous update for how to try this out:
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]
It should be compatible with any saved games you have.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]NOTE: The mouse sensitivity slider will not do anything in this version. I will think about using it to adjust the windows mouse speed, as I describe in this message.

I've updated the testing branch in order to start coming up with a better solution for the mouse movement. Some players, and from what I can gather, it seems to effect folks with bigger monitors and high DPI mouse sensitivity the most, have been struggling with the game's weird mouse scaling script that I wrote.

So this testing version resets everything, and it uses the mouse's actual screen position to determine where it appears in the game. Great! Problem solved, right?

Wrong. The game has a very unique, and in hindsight, perhaps problematic, way of displaying on your screen. It is a small window (640 x 360 pixels) and it gets scaled up to the size you prefer, like 1920 x 1080 for instance. However, Windows somehow still thinks it is 640 x 360. So when you move the mouse across the game window, it actually moves much faster, depending on how large you have set the window size.

This was the reason I ended up writing my own mouse script to begin with, as players back then complained that the mouse was too sensitive. Fair enough.

I hope this can be a new start, to prevent the "floatyness" issue current players are experiencing.

The next step will be to address the sensitivity. Previously I had a script that actually adjusted the Windows mouse speed while playing the game. That became a problem if players wanted to work on something else outside of the game screen. The mouse would remain slower, and if the game crashed or exited without using the exit button, the players had to go into Windows settings and re-adjust their mouse speed manually. Obviously that was a big problem.

However, I might be able to re-introduce that is a less ham-fisted way. So perhaps it can adjust the speed only when the mouse is actually over the game window, etc...

The other option could be to actually use the proper window size (which I have tried before) and figure out a way for the text and graphics to scale up more correctly. When I've done this in the past, it really messes up the look of the game, so I am reluctant to go this route. But we'll see what happens...

To try out the new (old) mouse script, go to Cyclopean > Properties > Betas and pick "Testing" from the list. Try it out, see if the floatyness is gone, and if the sensitivity is too much or acceptable. Please report your findings back here, or on the discord. Thanks!
[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[h3]Books Missing[/h3][p]If you found a book, but then died and started a new game, without restarting the actual program, the game would think you'd already found that book. This should be working now.[/p][p][/p][h3]Finishing the Game[/h3][p]When you reach some of the endings, the game will inform you that you will be leaving the Great Abyss, and off the opportunity to stay longer. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[h3]Main Menu Issue[/h3][p]Apparently Steam Deck may have some kind of problem with how the game handles the opening and closing of the main menu. I don't have a Steam Deck, and I am not sure how to test or reproduce this problem. However, I have made a small change to the code that does not effect the game for keyboard/mouse users, but my hope is that it might fix the problem for Steam Deck users.

If you use a Steam Deck, let me know if this fixes the issue. Also, if you have been using Steam Deck, and did not have this problem, let me know too. The problem was that the main menu would flash on and off while pressing the menu button (assigned to Escape on keyboard). [/p][p]It's possible this was only happening for some users. Again, I don't have a Steam Deck, and the game is not officially supported on that platform, but it would be nice if it works![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]