[TWD] Game ruining bug

Dear support,

By now it's obvious something is wrong with Episode 4, savegames are destroyed, and apparently achievements aren't tracking either.

Immediately after starting episode 4 this morning, exactly in the same way I had done for previous episodes, I realized something was wrong, as it started at the beginning of episode 1.

It's because of the strength of The Walking Dead that this is such a big issue; I stopped seeing it as a normal game, because I've stuck with the choices I've made in the heat of the moment. This means that, like in real life, there may be choices I regret, but they are -my- choices, and I have to live with them.

Not only do I have to replay the game from the beginning (I already have to find time to play games), I would be seeing it more as a standard game, because I'll be able to make better/different choices.

I am still a huge fan of the game, but by leaving this episode available for players, you're ruining a growing fanbase. From the messages on your board it should be obvious people are passionate about this game, this will hurt you if you don't fix this properly.

My suggestion to fix this:
- Take down the episode until issues are resolved, you are currently knowingly distributing software which is not ready for release
- Allow users to start the game from a later episode with the ability to choose what they've chosen before (only where it's relevant)

If the latter is not possible, I will probably not decide to play the game again, and I would like a refund for that last episode.

Good luck with coming up with a proper solution.

Comments

  • edited October 2012
    I just hit this too. I had completed Episodes 1, 2, and 3, all on the same save slot (1), and had played through each in one sitting.

    Today I started Episode 4, and it tried to restart me at Episode 1, wiping my save. I quit immediately and restarted Episode 4 and it launched normally. I played most of the way through, saved, quit, and then again when I went to restart later it wiped me and put me at the beginning of Episode 1 again.

    I'm not being particularly productive here, just venting and adding my voice to the chorus of angry users. It's a shame, but at this point I can't recommend the series to any friends, nor do I think I'll be picking up Chapter 5 unless there's a fix made that somehow recovers progress.
  • edited October 2012
    Strange. I had a similar problem - I had played episode 4 for a while and when I wanted to continue at another session, it suddenly started with episode 1. After following the sticky thread instructions I could at least restart ep4 with the choices from the previous episodes intact. After quitting the game via the menu I have also been able to continue the episode twice.

    I guess I was halfway through after the wipe of my save and it sure is annoying. There should have definitely been some warning, maybe a popup message when starting the game as soon as Telltale found out. (Not mentioning that this should never have happened, Q&A definitely fucked up).

    So maybe try the instructions in the sticky. I had to redo them twice I think until it worked.
  • MattPMattP ModeratorFormer Telltale Staff
    edited October 2012
    The sticky thread on this issue can be found here: http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36416

    We are still working on patching this issue.
  • edited October 2012
    MattP wrote: »
    The sticky thread on this issue can be found here: http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36416

    We are still working on patching this issue.

    Dear Matt,

    The game is currently broken, and you should not be selling it until it's fixed, because you are alienating new fans. The issue you are not mentioning, and which is what's making people angry, is that the game overwrites your earlier progress. If you do not understand why this makes people angry, then you don't understand why your game was successful in the first place.
  • MattPMattP ModeratorFormer Telltale Staff
    edited October 2012
    Please note that if you are experiencing the issue mentioned in the sticky thread, your saves are not being overwritten, but rather only 1 slot is accessible. By following the workaround steps and always exiting the game properly you can avoid experiencing this issue going forward.
  • edited October 2012
    Hi,

    I just tried to start Episode 4, and I'm experiencing the exact same problem described by I_Dream_Of_Zombies. I was actually warned about this bug by a friend of mine who got the game last week and also encountered this exact bug, but hoping that it wouldn't happen to me was about as much as I could do.

    Regarding your response Matt, I don't think this issue is the same as the one described in the Sticky Thread - it isn't that only 1 save slot is recognized, it's that loading the Episode 3 save restarts at Episode 1 instead of starting Episode 4 - the slot is then saved over with an Episode 1 save. So the workaround steps that you suggest (beginning with loading the Episode 4 save) do not work, as I no longer have an Episode 3 or 4 save, my save has been overwritten with a fresh start.

    If you are looking to patch this issue, are you going to be able to help those of us who have had our savegames effectively deleted? As suggested above, the best I can think of is an option to select the choices that we have made from a list at the start of Ep 4, unless there's a way you could ascertain the choices we made from the data that was uploaded for the statistical comparisons at the end of each episode?

    I have really enjoyed the first 3 Episodes and was of course planning to purchase all of them (and have been recommending them to friends), but if all of my progress is now irreparably lost simply by attempting to start Episode 4, then I think I'm done with this game, which is a shame. I would ask for a refund if there was any way of returning digital content, but I don't suppose that's possible.
  • MattPMattP ModeratorFormer Telltale Staff
    edited October 2012
    Unfortunately if your save has been overwritten, we can not recover it. This issue has been sent to our QA team and they are actively looking to recreate it. I do apologize for all the frustration this has caused.

    Please make sure that when you try the workaround that you follow all steps precisely. The menu you are in and current game state do make a difference. The patch is still on its way, and I'll update the sticky when it's available.
  • edited October 2012
    Thanks for the reply Matt - I just came back on here to say that I did manage to get around the problem and somehow carry on from where I left off.

    I loaded the game again today and tried selecting the save file (Episode 1) and then loading Episode 4. This loaded Episode 1 (again). I then quit to the Xbox Dashboard, ran the game again and tried this exact process again - for no apparent reason it then worked, and even though my save file appeared to be overwritten, it started Episode 4 with all my choices intact. I played through it all in one go just to be safe!

    I'm not sure if this is the same issue as the one referenced in the other thread you link to or not, it sounds different to me and the workaround was slightly different, but I was at least still able to recover my progress and complete the Episode.
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