Changelog for Patch #4 - January 28th

[Shams]

(Follow www.twitter.com/magickagame for up to date info - remember that devs/publisher are in Sweden - Central European Time)

Patch delivered to steam! Waiting for them to push button.

Changelog for Patch #4 - January 28th Note! we'll be working all weekend to make the next patch, but since Steam doesn't (they like their free time...weird huh?) patch #5 won't be deployed until Monday! We appreciate you having patience over the weekend. If multiplayer acts up, try singleplayer, local co-op or LAN play. We'll be here over the weekend listening to you.

Fixed issues/bugs

• Fixed Move orders such as the one in Chapter 12 (For real this time).
• Fixed trigger ID sync over network (Should fix Chapter 7 crash).
• Fixed uninitialized AI crashing.
• Fixed crashes due to messages arriving early in high latency games.
• Fixed Vlad incorrect clothes in Chapter 3.
• Fixed server list bug, which caused users to connect to wrong game.
• Fixed joining a password protected game through steam overlay.
• Fixed falling damage not working properly.
• Fixed "OMG they killed yellow.." achievement awarded when killing purple (Good theory on the LA Lakers)
• Improved disconnect notice.
• Improved damages over network.
• Improved cut scene skip in early Chapter 1.
• Improved chat position.
• Improved challenge level selection indicator.

New features/balancing

• Added Checkpoint to the party in Chapter 1
• Added missing boss titles in Chapter 1 and 12.
• Balanced Dwarf Priests (Swedish Chef Brigade); are now more difficult.
• Balanced Chapter 9 boss; is now more difficult.
• Balanced Chapter 12 boss; is now more difficult.

Known Issues

• Beam spells merging sometimes crashes game with stack overflow (for real)
• Self-shields sometimes get out of sync
• Players are still able to have too many summons (Changed because of community feedback)
• Server list sorting not implemented
• Network congestion on high ping (>400ms) connections still problematic.
• Game stutters slightly on some systems despite good performance (cause known, fix pending)
• Steam attempts to install XNA framework every time game is launched or rare occasion
• Game sometimes hogs uplink bandwidth - (Being researched)
• "Too fancy for fireballs" achievement is sometimes not awarded
• Quitting the game while the credits are rolling will not award a game complete.
• Mouse outside screen in full screen with multiple monitors will minimize the game.
• Chat still awkwardly positioned.

Workaround

Pending

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Please follow these general steps and hopefully it'll help most of you.

Make sure you're on a computer that has sufficient juice - Magicka does not support integrated graphic cards!

MINIMUM Requirements

• Operating system: Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
• Processor: Intel® Pentium® IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Hard disk space: 2 GB Available HDD Space
• Video: NVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or equivalent
• Direct X-compatible sound card
• DirectX® 9
• 3-button mouse, keyboard and speakers
• Internet connection for multiplayer

We've seen that a bunch of players are reporting that the game is running poorly on their netbooks/laptops without proper graphics cards. This is the primary reason why their game is acting up. Magicka does not support integrated graphic cards!

Make sure you have the latest drivers for your graphics card. Visit www.nvidia.com or www.amd.com.

Make sure your have the following installed (should have autoinstalled)

• XNA Framework - google it to find the correct version for your operating system.
• Microsoft .net framework 3.5 (dotNetFx35setup.exe) - (Link to Microsofts website)

We (devs and publisher) are still super committed to fix stuff that's broken and make sure you guys can have a great time with the game.

Additionally we've also have a bunch of improvements planned and will be patched in as soon as the major issues are out of the way! These are based directly off your input

Keep letting us know if there's anything else we can do!

Thanks again for playing and watch out for friendly fire!

/ Paradox & Arrowhead Team

Additional info can be found on:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/magickagame
The official Magicka Forum: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?496-Magicka
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Magickagame

 

[unmerged(257114)]

Make sure you're on a computer that has sufficient juice - Magicka does not support integrated graphic cards!

Will you be adding support for integrated graphics cards? If so, is it something that will take a while?
It would be nice to know if I will ever be able to play this.
My laptop is pretty new and has DirectX 11;
it really should be sufficient to run the game from what it looks like.

 

[unmerged(255257)]

Could you add the current game version in the patch note? I guess the version for patch #4 is 1.3.3.3, but I'm not sure. That way we'll know if our game is up to date or not!

Thanks and keep up the good work!

 

[unmerged(257592)]

My laptop is pretty new and has DirectX 11;

you can have DX11 installed (think Win7 has it by default), but that doesn't mean your graphic card supports it.

I'd like to ask if there's going to be any VSync option in the future. I solved the tearing screen by playing windowed in lower resolution, but can't get the tearing to stop in fullscreen.

By the way, me and 3 of my friends managed to get a stable 4man game after some time today and it was awesome. Had a couple of game crashes but we played for about an hour . Hopefully when all is fixed this will become one of our regular "after mmorpg raids " chillout games.

GL with the patching.

 

[Tobear]

Make sure you're on a computer that has sufficient juice - Magicka does not support integrated graphic cards!

Will you be adding support for integrated graphics cards? If so, is it something that will take a while?
It would be nice to know if I will ever be able to play this.
My laptop is pretty new and has DirectX 11;
it really should be sufficient to run the game from what it looks like.

Sorry, but integrated graphics cards are and were never meant to be used for gaming purposes. Even the IGP of the new sandy bridge generation (like the 3000HD from the i7-2600k processor) isn't able to play any newer games in a proper way.

 

[unmerged(257114)]

Sorry

Thank you for your sincerity.

Steam and the Devs needed to make it clear in the system requirements that
integrated graphics cards don't work at all.

People can't be expected to look at a Nvidia and ATI model number and know how that compares with their integrated graphics;
nor should people be expected to assume that their integrated graphics card would not allow them to play the game at all.

Every computer I've ever used was substantially behind the games I played,
but not one game has failed to work (until now). After more than 10 years of online gaming, I can say that an individual should be able to assume the game will run, but slowly and with less than optimum quality.

If people with new laptops can't play this,
and that fact is not made clear,
it feels like border-line scamming;
or as if we were being charged to Alpha test for the company.

How many people are actually receiving refunds?

Will integrated graphics ever be supported? This really needs to be answered; or I'd like to know what special feature this game is using that prevents it from being played with integrated graphics.

 

[unmerged(256444)]

People can't be expected to look at a Nvidia and ATI model number and know how that compares with their integrated graphics;
nor should people be expected to assume that their integrated graphics card would not allow them to play the game at all.

Actually, this is what minimum requirements are for. So that you don't have to assume.

If people with new laptops can't play this,
and that fact is not made clear,
it feels like border-line scamming;

'New laptop' is not the same as 'gaming laptop'. If it's been sold to you as such, but doesn't have a dedicated graphics unit then *there's* something you could say was scamming. Not the game devs though. They've posted minimum specifications that exceed those of your laptop in this area.

EDIT: To add something a little more constructive to my response I suggest you ask the vendor you purchased the game from, politely, about getting a refund, on the basis you've described - not understanding the minimum requirements. There's a reasonable chance you will succeed - politeness goes a long way, plus I believe that (at least on Steam) the minimum requirements were initially described as slightly lower than they actually are, so they might be processing a few refunds on that basis.

 

[unmerged(257114)]

Thinker:

You realize you are entering into conflict on the side of:

"It makes sense to not tell people that the game doesn't work with integrated graphics; no one uses laptops with integrated graphics and everyone knows that they wouldn't work simply by looking at the Nvidia or ATI model number; so why would they possibly want to add a single line of text, that would save everyone so much time, money and apparently conflict."

There is no need to pick through the post of someone that's having problems,
to offer nothing other than needlessly contrary statements. I'm here looking for help.

 

[unmerged(90527)]

Thinker:

You realize you are entering into conflict on the side of:

"It makes sense to not tell people that the game doesn't work with integrated graphics; no one uses laptops with integrated graphics and everyone knows that they wouldn't work simply by looking at the Nvidia or ATI model number; so why would they possibly want to add a single line of text, that would save everyone so much time, money and apparently conflict."

There is no need to pick through the post of someone that's having problems,
to offer nothing other than needlessly contrary statements. I'm here looking for help.

That's the problem. There is no "helping" you. Integrated Graphics chips HAVE NEVER been able to handle a game with serious graphics. Magicka may seem like a rinky-dink farmville flash-type game to some of you but there is much much more going on "under the hood" in Magicka than some dumb flash game which runs on integrated graphics.

If you've been playing games for as long as you say you have you would KNOW that and not even be contesting that point. Integrated Graphics are like buying the 4-cylinder version instead of the the 6 or 8-cylinder version of a car. Are you really suggesting that the 4-cyl car should have the performace and power of the 6 or 8-cyl versions? Come on dude.....seriously?

If anyone scammed you it was the idiot you bought your "new notebook" from who convinced you that integrated graphics would run today's REAL (not flash) games.

anyway....I've said my piece......sigh

 

[unmerged(256444)]

Thinker:

You realize you are entering into conflict on the side of:

"It makes sense to not tell people that the game doesn't work with integrated graphics; no one uses laptops with integrated graphics and everyone knows that they wouldn't work simply by looking at the Nvidia or ATI model number; so why would they possibly want to add a single line of text, that would save everyone so much time, money and apparently conflict."

There is no need to pick through the post of someone that's having problems,
to offer nothing other than needlessly contrary statements. I'm here looking for help.

I'm genuinely trying to help. I was not trying to be combative, apologies if I came across that way. I was trying to help you understand that the minimum requirements ALREADY state what you needed to know.

I'm not at all saying that they should 'not tell people' - they do say it. Integrated graphics is generally going to be inferior to what they described. However it would be inaccurate for them to simply say 'integrated graphics will not work', since conceivably someone could make high end integrated graphics that DID meet the requirements. It's not up to the developer to keep abreast of every single piece of hardware out there. All they can reasonably be expected to do is give a common example of the minimum standard, and rely on the purchaser to be able to determine if their hardware is better or worse than that.

Many people are not aware of how their hardware compares, but unfortunately there is not a good solution for that problem - the sheer variety of hardware on offer is both the blessing and the curse of the PC as a platform.

I feel your pain. If you're an avid gamer, perhaps you should consider selling your laptop and purchasing one that is more suited to your requirements. The difference between one with a GPU and one without, is often only around $100. If that's not feasible, then sadly, you may have to pass on this gem of a game.

 

[Tobear]

Will integrated graphics ever be supported? This really needs to be answered; or I'd like to know what special feature this game is using that prevents it from being played with integrated graphics.

I am sure IGPs will never be fully (I don't know if a HD3000 in a i7-2600k would be performing well, someone with a new sandy bridge CPU would have to check this) supported by Magicka. It's coded with XNA and this isn't very scalable. And I don't think they will completely retype the engine in C++, Python (lol^^) or whatever.

 

[unmerged(256398)]

Thank you for you hard work. I really appreciate it!

Hope that the patch on monday will enable me to play the game at all (atm it crashes sometimes during the tutorial)

 

[unmerged(258266)]

It's not just integrated graphics, I've got:
Intel i7 2.8
8Gb DDR3 RAM
Geforce 295
Win 7

Stutters to the point of unplayability outside the first area, even with nothing going on.

Seems odd I can run Crysis, CoD:BO et al maxed out but this causes my rig problems.

Worst part is, since it doesn't start until the second area, I have to replay the whole tutorial and first area to see if anything I do fixes it. Seriously, I thought developers realised making people play through the same sections over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over was a bad idea sometime in the 90's

 

[unmerged(257114)]

On the steam forum, I asked:

Will integrated graphics ever be able to run this game?

RoadCrewWorker replied:

Magicka is using pixelshader 3.0, which means that it depends on running programs on the GPU that your hardware simply can't support.

Except for a rewrite of the rendering engine, I can pretty certainly say that the answer is no.

 

[unmerged(259642)]

Sorry, but integrated graphics cards are and were never meant to be used for gaming purposes. Even the IGP of the new sandy bridge generation (like the 3000HD from the i7-2600k processor) isn't able to play any newer games in a proper way.

That bit about the Sandy Bridge 3000HD is simply not true at all. Here is some proof: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-2820qm-sandy-bridge-mobile,2838-10.html

Here you can clearly see that the 3000HD outperforms a Radeon HD4550 (512MB) discrete graphics card in WoW:Cataclysm at 1680 x 1050. The "proper" way to play any game should ALWAYS include modest framerates at modest resolutions. 1680 x 1050 is a pretty high resolution... and WoW has much more sophisticated graphics than Magicka..

The 3000HD should be FULLY EXPECTED to run Magicka at a similar resolution. To brush aside all integrated graphics as "not for gaming" is ridiculous. Gaming is changing fast to include tons of casual or non-hardcore gamers, many of which who will have integrated graphics. These people should not be shut out of fun gaming experiences due to archaic attitudes about what an "acceptable system for gaming" looks like.

full disclosure: I am typing this on a PC I built myself that has an overclocked i5 750 at 3Ghz (3.6Ghz w/ turbo boost) with a GTX 460 oc'd passed GTX 480 specs. So, I'm not whining because I have integrated graphics too...

 

[unmerged(259642)]

That's the problem. There is no "helping" you. Integrated Graphics chips HAVE NEVER been able to handle a game with serious graphics. Magicka may seem like a rinky-dink farmville flash-type game to some of you but there is much much more going on "under the hood" in Magicka than some dumb flash game which runs on integrated graphics.

If you've been playing games for as long as you say you have you would KNOW that and not even be contesting that point. Integrated Graphics are like buying the 4-cylinder version instead of the the 6 or 8-cylinder version of a car. Are you really suggesting that the 4-cyl car should have the performace and power of the 6 or 8-cyl versions? Come on dude.....seriously?

If anyone scammed you it was the idiot you bought your "new notebook" from who convinced you that integrated graphics would run today's REAL (not flash) games.

anyway....I've said my piece......sigh

Please see my post directed at Tobear...

 

[unmerged(257866)]

Well, as fun/sad as this whole "My graphics card has a bigger stick, therefore you smell funny" argument is, really all I want to know is, who do I go to in order to get my money back? Paradox or Steam?

 

[Syrion]

Well, appearently not at Steam, but you can always try...

 

[unmerged(301026)]

im having the problem of magicka opening and closing right when i try to load the game up. i have a dell xps 15
2nd generation intel core i7-2720QM CPU @ 2.20GHz
6gb ram
640gb hd
nvidia geforce gt 540m 2gb

and your telling me that i can't run this shit? this is a gaming laptop. i can run all games on high and this gaming laptop can't run magicka?

 

[zenstar]

All those people arguing over whether or not IGPs will work / should be warned against etc...
From the steam page selling Magicka:

Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon® X1900 (Integrated Video Cards not recommended)

IE: use integrated graphics cards at your own risk.
What's next? You're going to buy a car and then complain it requires petrol to run because you'd like to use fruit juice because you already have fruit juice?

I don't mean to be mean but unfortunately IGPs and Magicka do not play nice. They DID warn you. I'm sorry but you'll need a better graphics card / different laptop to play.

acquiredsp117: It sounds like you should be able to play. Open a post in the Tech support & bugs forum with your dxdiags and error reports from your magicka directory.

gaffit: you go to the person who took your money. If you bought a car and the window didn't roll up do you go back to ford or the dealer? BTW: steam may not give you a refund if you are below min specs.