Rejects,
It’s been just over 24 hours since we’ve opened the gates to Tertium - and we’ve already had one Hel of a time together. Since launching the pre-order beta, you have eliminated 314,264,113 heretics, while 634,640 rejects have fallen in service to the Emperor! Many of you might need to brush up on those numbers if you want to continue to earn your keep aboard the Mourningstar. For now, you’ve earned your rations for the day.
Now, real talk: We have carefully monitored the launch and learned more about stability and performance. While we have worked hard to ensure our pre-sets cater to as many machines as possible, we know we’ve got our work cut out for ourselves as we scale up the experience even more.
Here’s what else we’ve seen, what we have fixed, and some answers to some commonly asked questions:
KNOWN ISSUES WE ARE LOOKING INTO:
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Some players are encountering internal_errors while playing the game.
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Some players are encountering Backend Errors while playing the game.
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Some players are encountering GPU-related crashes. It’s important to note that these issues may result from localized driver-related issues. It is worth trying the solutions found here and here first.
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Some players are not receiving rewards/XP at the end of the mission and are unable to progress as expected.
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Some players are encountering failed_handshake_timeout errors while playing the game.
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Some players cannot purchase items from the Armory Exchange because it is constantly refreshing. If you encounter this, you may need to reset your PC’s date and time to Automatic.
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Some players encounter an issue where their mouse cursor may become stuck on the screen.
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Some keybinds cannot be set.
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Some players are unable to name their characters during character creation.
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Some players are encountering an error reading Something went wrong in the Shader Cache Builder process Exit code = 1. If you encounter this error, please first check if your PC meets Darktide’s minimum requirements listed below:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) / Windows 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel i5-6600 (3.30GHz) OR AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (3.4 GHz)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 OR AMD Radeon RX 570
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 50 GB available space
ISSUES NOTED AND CORRECTED IN THE LAST 24 HOURS:
19:45 CET
We had an error in the backend where rewards were not handed out for a few people correctly and then would, at times, for a few accounts, grant rapidly in multiples beyond what someone should have earned. A few people jumped several ranks in one mission after not getting rewarded for a few missions. We deployed a fix shortly after finding the issue.
20:45 CET
We saw some scaling issues as we scaled up the service, and it took several minutes to self-correct. Everything seemed to be back to normal around 21:15 CET. We added additional safeguards to help prevent this in the future.
21:30 CET
We received some error reports from our backend, some corrupt data in a configuration file causing some issues. We are adding additional health checks to catch and correct these errors.
HOTFIX RELEASED TODAY, NOVEMBER 18TH:
- Fixed various crashes.
- Fixed a bunch of graphics settings not applying properly.
- Fixed some issues when trying to navigate the Social menu and Penances section using a controller / gamepad.
- Fixed an issue where grenades are refilled if leaving and reconnecting to the mission. Number of grenades are now inherited from either replaced bot or previous self.
- Fixed an issue where spamming buttons in the Operative Selection menu would cause the Start and Create Operative buttons to disappear.
- Fixed an issue where unavailable settings were not greyed out.
- Fixed and polished some issues with various cosmetic items.
- Fixed an issue where inventory items could appear at low fidelity.
- Fixed an issue where firearm sights could load lower fidelity models, rendering them difficult to use.
- Fixed an issue where the Barber-Chirurgeon spoke in unlocalised text in the Mourningstar.
- Fixed a wield-switch speed bug, adding movement curve on wield to average out move speeds.
Psyker Changes & Fixes
- Fixed critical threshold to line up with interfacing for “past point of no return”.
- Fixed critical threshold using the correct 97% value.
- Fixed Passive venting and Active venting using the wrong values.
- Active venting duration: 6s, modded properly by force staff vent stat (scales between 6s and 3s vent time based on stat roll).
- Auto vent delay set to 3s before kicking in.
From the Combat Team:
You should be able to cast 3 head-pops without exploding, landing at 100% peril. There is a 3s delay to auto-quell below the critical 97% threshold for repeat cast. There is also a 10% change built into class to quell 10% peril on kill, allowing for additional casts. Faster active quelling, in general, with extra speed on staves, allow for more player control of peril levels.
So while we have nerfed the number of head pops players can cast without too much peril, we’ve also tuned up other sources of damage (specifically agony stacks) and staff-manual-vent/quell loop for more varied gameplay. Full head pop builds with vent-rolled staves are still viable, but the old “multiple head-pop > ult > back to head pop” loop is gone.
PLAYING SOLO WITH BOTS & PRIVATE LOBBIES, A NOTE FROM THE TEAM:
We hope you’re enjoying your time in Tertium during the Pre-Order beta. We’ve been thrilled to see your excitement and reactions to Darktide. We’ve been hard at work gathering your feedback and bug reports while working on future patches to update stability & performance, balance adjustments, and squash out the bugs. That said, we’d like to take time to address a recurring couple of questions with you.
With Darktide, we set to work on a much-requested feature from the previous tide games: Dedicated Servers. We put considerable effort into engineering new technologies that would allow us to run dedicated servers at scale and run the huge hordes of our “Tide” games you have come to know and love. Dedicated Servers were a priority for us, and due to the Network Scale Test and Closed Beta, we were able to fully battle-test our dedicated servers (a special thank you to all who participated!).
Now we are confident in our Dedicated Servers, we would like to take the time and answer those recurring couple of questions that remain; “Can I play Darktide solo?”, “Can I play a private game with one or two of my friends?”.
The answers will be Yes, and Yes.
We’ve been working on an option to play exclusively in Solo Mode, where you will be hosting locally your own instance with bots. Because you will be hosting the AI and other game systems locally, this will increase performance cost. However, we continue to monitor and improve the performance where we can. Solo play is in its final stages of testing as we fix the last issues that remain. We aim to release this at Launch. If not, a patch shortly after that in December.
We have recently begun implementing Private Games as an option, and we’re in the middle stages of development for this. When launched, you can start a private game with 2-4 of your friends. We expect to be able to release this later in December.
We heard your feedback on these topics and needed some time to investigate the solutions we had available to us. We hope you enjoy these features when released and welcome further input on them.
ADDITIONAL FAQ:
When does the pre-order beta end?
The pre-order beta will end November 29th.
Will I still have access to the beta if I pre-order now?
All pre-orders will have access to the beta until it ends, so long as the game was purchased before the close of the beta.
I received the game as a gift, will I be able to access the pre-order beta?
So long as you have a normal game key, you will be able to access the pre-order beta.
I recently bought an NVIDIA GPU, where is my promotional Darktide key?
NVIDIA is currently hosting a promotion where new purchases of qualifying RTX cards will also receive a key for the Darktide Imperial Edition.
If you have not received your key for the Darktide Imperial Edition, please contact NVIDIA directly.
The easiest way to do this is by using the ‘Ask us a question’ or ‘Live chat’ buttons at the bottom of NVIDIA’s Support page here:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/support/consumer/
More information on this promotion can be seen on NVIDIA’s website:
When will more detailed weapon stats be available?
We understand the way information is presented for weapons stats is unclear.
We hear you, and are working on changes we will be implementing post-release.
When will I be able to access my pre-order bonus items? When will I be able to access the Devoted Rejects cosmetics?
Players will be able to access these items when we launch the full game November 30.
Will crossplay and cross-save be available?
We see the value in cross-play and cross-save and fully intend to support cross-play shortly after launch. Cross-save is more complex to execute and still being investigated.
When is Darktide coming to consoles?
We know this is one of the top questions console players have.
We will have more news on the release date for Xbox Series X|S as soon as possible and likely immediately after the release on PC.
At this time, Darktide has only been announced for PC and the Xbox Series X|S.
When will I be able to change my character’s appearance?
The Barber-Chirurgeon is not yet live, meaning you will not be able to change your character’s appearance after creation yet.
We are working on putting the Barber-Chirurgeon live as soon as possible.
Will progression persist between the pre-order beta the full game on launch?
Our goal is to ensure all progression will carry over from the moment you start playing through full release - but we cannot fully guarantee at this moment. The reason is that we are still using this period to test our progression systems, and we want to reserve the opportunity to change or reset things in the event something unforeseen or critical happens.
But we assure you that we will do our best to ensure all your characters and progression carry over!
Will I be able to refund the game on Steam if I play the pre-order beta?
Yes, we believe you will have the ability to refund with the same refund rules applying once Darktide launches and after November 30th. Please contact Steam support for further details or additional clarification.
As you can see, we are heading into the weekend excited about the early start, but also with the intent to consistently improve Darktide’s performance across the board. We appreciate every single comment, report, and overall feedback, and we will keep listening in, watching you play and fighting the hordes of Chaos with you.
Thank you.
The Darktide Team
