Key Buffering problem with timed puzzles

[JimRPh]

Based on the comments, it must be me, and my PC, but I can't do the Sword of Nex Two-Step. I can get as far as pressing the button on the North side of the column, step back, then I fall in a trap door. I've tried about a hundred times. (and, yes, I did remove the torch; it's the next step that gets me.)

Somehow, I've managed the other speed traps, including the iron door on level 7. However, I'm about ready to give up on Nex. Like some others, I wasn't planning on an arcade game, and this has detracted from the game for me. My fighters are level 11, and the rogue and magician are level 12, mostly gained from fighting the re-spawning Uggardians as I fall, climb and re-try. I feel this has given me a bit of an advantage on most monsters other than the Ice Lizards, but it's felt very repetitious getting here.

I'm not saying it's not a great game, and it's certainly a good value. However, I'd personally prefer to lose the high speed arcade moves.

[Spathi]

You don't have to get off the last trapdoor, you can just hit the button and fall.

It is really tight despite some people saying there is 2 seconds spare, I did not have any. If you have trouble count the taps and list directions you need to move and turn, then just do it three or four times until u get the fluke.

p.s. you can't hit the button when moving, so you need to use every ounce of calm to wait an instant. Also, leave the mouse lined up as you don't need to move it.

SpoilerShow

For the guardians you can hide in the corridor each time you slap them and they will not know how to get to you. Kill them with arrows and freeze. They take a while to work out they can chase you if you keep running back to the corridor. i.e. don't enter the room. If your characters are strong you can lure them all the way out one by one.

ps. just reload for the trap each time you fail, else you will get too much XP

That puzzle was dumb imho.

[Pipsissiwa]

Okay so everone who has problems at timed puzzles (especially that one in level 3 or 4 what OP was talking about)

is either not smart enough to recognize that turning costs time aswell and should be avoided

or

has some serious hardware problems

because really, that puzzle is not hard or "nearly impossible timewise"

I can do it really easy on my machine.

Try "Press Button" A W W W A A Q Q "Press Button" A A S S.

As you see if only turned twice in the whole puzzle which saves you huge amounts of time.

Now I would like to know from you if you can do it that way. Because if not, it cant be your or the games fault but your hardware's because its. not. hard. really.

I always strafe and only turn if i have to to face a wall and press a button.

There were timed puzzles like this in most of these games back in the 80s/90s and i've never had an issue completing them after a few goes before. This one I'm at now that involves, yes, it feels like about 40 moves that have to be done fast is just insane and not even close to fun. Even slowing the game with the console can't make that immersive or enjoyable. And the player definately shouldn't have to rely on trying and trying till they 'fluke' it...

So many people are having this problem on a wide range of hardware from bottom end to somewhere in the stratosphere. One poster in this thread has even scientifically (as far as possible) tested it and determined significant differences in step speed for different rezes and interestingly full screen/windowed. For some hardware may well be involved/contributary factor (including mine), but the problem it is causing is still odd as the game itself in all other ways is running fast and smooth - its the speed that the game will accept movement commands that seems to be out of sync. I've seen vids on youtube of people doing these puzzles and their games /monsters etc look and move just like mine, except their key presses seem to 'take' much quicker or something.

There is a huge and distinct divide on this - "its easy" or "its impossible" and pretty much nothing in between, which isn't what you would expect. I still say something else odd is going on. We can mod the game to slow it (for those capable), which many are quite happy to do and I will probably have to as well (although I'm not happy about it). This is why I am championing a puzzle speed setting like the monster one. This game is utterly amazing - it would be UTTERLY UTTERLY AMAZING without the immersion-destroying, frustration-inducing long squence timed puzzles (esp those with pits lol).

Several friends of mine have tried these (long) timing puzzles (a few steps are ok - esp when no pits involved and you just have to get through a door) on my machine and none can do it and got very annoyed after a short time. None now want to buy this game (which they were considering), despite being huge fans of this kind of game, as a direct result of trying these puzzles. I hasten to add I wasn't trying to put them off - quite the opposite in fact. A couple of them I was persuading to buy the game by demoing it to them and I happened to be near a timed puzzle in my save, the other I admit I did ask for help from, in the hope they could do it for me lol.

I still honestly don't believe that AH intended or expected that so many people would have to resort to modding their wonderful game so soon after launch just to play it, and these are just the ones we know about.

[dkedzi]

Hi All,

I was just trying to solve timed puzzle in level 6 halls of fire - it was impossible.
I lowered resolution and graphical settings from high to low-medium - it was EASY (incl. secret)

The same with fighting monsters - after lowering graphical setting it is way easier.

The game implementation is broken because threads that process player input seem to have lower priority than other threads (graphics, mechanics).

Thanks for posting this Pipsissiwa!

[nottorp]

Something is fishy about the input indeed.
I just FINALLY managed to solve the sword of nex puzzle on linux/wine (native versions anyone?) by putting everything on low, vsync off and lowering the resolution to 1024x768. Even then it took me a LOT of retries and i only managed it because i snatched a save on solid ground right after pressing the 3rd button.
I was close to demanding my money back from Steam

[Kektimus]

I'm slightly sad to return months later and not feel any difference in how the key-hold buffering problem is handled (as it still proceeds to walk one or two steps more after a key has been released after a hold)

[Komag]

I only ever walk by repeatedly hitting the direction I want to go, never holding a key.

[Soorg]

I agree with you. I don't think the game should be a test of manual dexterity at any point, and I feel the challenge should be entirely on the decisions we make, especially when under pressure. Failure to interface correctly with the keyboard shouldn't come into it.

I 100% agree with OP and it's not manual dexterity it's bad controls implementation.

I'm not sure about the few puzzles that are platform game like, if the game had good controls perhaps I would have enjoyed more. The second puzzle where you need make a skeleton stay long enough on a plate, I had found the solution but apply it has been so hard and boring. That said overall it involves only few puzzles like that, puzzles in that games is still overall a huge value and have some speed puzzles is fine. For many involving speed it was ok for me despite the awful controls and for some I just used the reload to retry, most of those involving both speed and failure involves a fall. In fact exploit the commands stacking is possible you just need know in advance and not react to which lead to failures.

I'd add that fights involve a lot of movements and that controls problem is less obvious but quite clear and a pain to be more fluent during fights.

I remember Doom could have awful frame rate and impressive precise controls. The point is to give constantly priority to controls management and skip as many drawing than necessary for that.

By implementing themselves their engine I'm not surprise there is such problem, the other is that the CPU/Graphic usage is a lot too high than what the game show I don't think it's half as well optimized than base engines that exist. Well for now it seems there's mainly one for 3D, the unreal one.