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The Sinking City

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 21:48, 3 March 2021 by Rose (talk | contribs) (→‎Availability: no longer on GMG either)
The Sinking City
The Sinking City cover
Developers
Frogwares
Publishers
Frogwares
Nacon
Engines
Unreal Engine 4
Release dates
Windows June 27, 2019
Reception
Metacritic 71
OpenCritic 69
IGDB 69
Taxonomy
Monetization DLC
Microtransactions Cosmetic, Finite spend
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Third-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, Adventure, Open world, RPG
Art styles Realistic
Themes Detective/mystery, Interwar
The Sinking City on HowLongToBeat
The Sinking City on IGDB
The Sinking City on MobyGames
The Sinking City on Wikipedia

The Sinking City is a third-person open world action-adventure game developed by Frogwares. It is based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

First released on June 27, 2019, and two days earlier for pre-orders, the game was published by Nacon and distributed exclusively through Epic Games Store.[1] Following a dispute between the developer and the publisher, the game became unavailable for purchase on the store in July 2020, and was self-published by Frogwares on platforms including Gamesplanet and Origin, offering paid content previously exclusive to Nintendo Switch.[2][3]

After a preliminary court ruling found the publishing contract termination by Frogwares unlawful, the developer had the game briefly available on Steam during the day of January 5, 2021.[4][5] The game returned to the platform on February 26 with Nacon as the publisher, followed by the developer advising against purchasing this version and accusing the publisher of piracy.[6] A copyright violation claim caused the game to be removed from Steam on March 2.[7][8] In response, Nacon referred to the earlier court order, and asserted that the contract between the parties allowed them to adapt and distribute the game.[9]

General information

Official wiki
Steam Community Discussions of the Nacon release
Steam Community Discussions of the Frogwares release

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Epic Games Launcher
Day One Edition.[10]
Windows
Amazon.co.uk
Epic Games Launcher
Day One Edition.
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
DRM-free
Deluxe Edition is also available.
Windows
Origin
Origin
Included with EA Play Pro.
Deluxe Edition is also available.
Windows
Developer website (unavailable) Redirects to Gamesplanet as of December 2020.
Deluxe Edition was also available.[Note 1]
Windows
Epic Games Store (unavailable)
Epic Games Launcher
Necronomicon Edition was also available.
Windows
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Published by Nacon.
Windows
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Published by Frogwares. Deluxe Edition was also available.
Windows

Version differences

Day One physical edition includes a printed map of Oakmont, the Investigator Pack and Chicago Organ Grinder DLC.
Deluxe Edition includes Worshipers of the Necronomicon and Merciful Madness DLC.
Digital pre-orders included Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter, Chicago Organ Grinder, Extra Skill Point DLC, and two days of early access.
Necronomicon Edition included Worshipers of the Necronomicon and Investigator Pack DLC.
Steam version published by Nacon included Worshipers of the Necronomicon and Merciful Madness DLC built-in.[12]
Deluxe Edition published by Frogwares on Steam included all DLC.[13]

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Worshipers of the Necronomicon Extra side quests - Breaking News, Blood from A Stone, Mystic Tomes.[14] Completing the latter grants the Cultist outfit.
Windows
Merciful Madness Extra side quests, including Fool's Gold and Defunct Brain Cylinders. Previously exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version.[3]
Windows
Investigator Pack Daywear outfit, 21 crafting materials, first aid kit and antipsychotics consumables always available at the Devil's Reef hotel.[14]
Windows
Chicago Organ Grinder A golden submachine gun available in the inventory from the start of the game.[14]
Windows
Extra Skill Point
Experience Boost
An extra knowledge point and 500 XP available from the start of the game.[14]
Windows

Microtransactions

Type Notes
Cosmetic Investigator Pack DLC contains a character outfit.
Finite spend All consumable and cosmetic items are offered as DLC to own.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Remove the video files[15]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\TSCGame\Content\Movies\
  2. Remove or rename Start_video_Frog.mp4, UE4_Logo.mp4 and UE4_Logo_BB.mp4.
A game update may restore the files.
The image-based intros will remain, although easily skippable with button presses.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\TSCGame\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/750130/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\TSCGame\Saved\SaveGames\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/750130/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Origin
Steam Cloud
Available for the Frogwares version released on January 5, 2021, and unavailable for the Nacon version released on February 26.[16][17]

Video

Video settings
Video settings

Graphics feature State Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Vert- gameplay. Pillarboxed cutscenes and dialogue scenes.[18]
Use the related mod for Hor+ scaling.
Ultra-widescreen
Vert- gameplay. Pillarboxed cutscenes and dialogue scenes.[19]
Use the related mod for Hor+ scaling.
4K Ultra HD
[20]
Field of view (FOV)
See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Scales with the Textures setting.[21]
Anti-aliasing (AA)
TAA with multiple quality options.[22] See Anti-aliasing (AA) for sharpening or SSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Limited to 62 by default. See High frame rate for more.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the engine page to force native HDR output, or the glossary page for other alternatives.
The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unreal Engine 4 page for more details.

Field of view (FOV)

Use an external tool to fine-tune FOV[15]
  1. Download the FOV changer.
  2. Launch the game and wait for it to load.
  3. Run the tool and press the buttons to increase and decrease FOV as instructed.
Increase FOV by making it vertical through a config file[23]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini in a text editor.
  3. Add the following lines:
[/Script/Engine.LocalPlayer]
AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainYFOV
A significant increase from the default 16:9 value.

High frame rate

Edit the config file[24]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open GameUserSettings.ini in a text editor.
  3. Locate FrameRateLimit=0.000000 and set the value to the desired FPS cap.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Enable TAA sharpening through the config file[25]
This makes the game appear less blurry when anti-aliasing is on.
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini in a text editor.
  3. Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.TemporalAACurrentFrameWeight=0.2
r.Tonemapper.Sharpen=1
Enable super-sampling through the config file[23]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini in a text editor.
  3. Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.ScreenPercentage=150
The 150 stands for percentage of the base resolution, equal to 1.5x. Any other value above 100 can be used.

Bloom

Disable bloom through the config file[25]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini in a text editor.
  3. Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.BloomQuality=0

Chromatic aberration

Disable chromatic aberration through the config file[26]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini in a text editor.
  3. Add the following lines and save the file:
[SystemSettings]
r.SceneColorFringeQuality=0

Depth of field

Disable depth of field through the config file[27]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini in a text editor.
  3. Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0

Film grain

Disable film grain through the config file[25]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Engine.ini in a text editor.
  3. Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.Tonemapper.Quality=0

Input

Controls settings
Controls settings
Gameplay settings
Gameplay settings

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
[28]
Mouse sensitivity
Labeled Camera sensitivity.
Mouse input in menus
Backing out of settings menus is not possible with a mouse click.[29]
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Invert X and Y axis options.
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
[30]
Controller sensitivity
Labeled Camera sensitivity.[30]
Controller Y-axis inversion
Invert X and Y axis options.[30]
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
[30]
Xbox button prompts
[30]
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
Generic/other controllers
Additional information
Controller hotplugging
[30]
Haptic feedback
Vibration toggle.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M
[30]

Audio

Audio settings
Audio settings

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Master, SFX, music, voices, ambient, interface.
Surround sound
[31]
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language selection is only available from the main menu Gameplay settings.
Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Arabic
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Czech
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Turkish
Ukrainian

VR support

Issues unresolved

Game stuttering

Multiple high-end hardware users have reported stuttering unrelated to FPS drops.[32][33][34][35] The developers acknowledged the issue.[36]

Issues fixed

Crashing at gun pickup

AMD users have reported crashing upon picking up the pistol at the starting location.

Set Post process to Low in the Video settings until after the pistol is picked up.[37]

Crashing at boat interaction

Pressing A on an Xbox 360 controller to get on the protagonist's small boat may cause the game to crash.[38]

Press X to get on and off the boat.[39]

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 11
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics PhysX

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 7
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i3 3 GHz
AMD Phenom X6 3 GHz
System memory (RAM) 6 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 35 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 760
AMD Radeon R9 380X
2 GB of VRAM
DirectX 11 compatible
A 64-bit operating system is required.


Notes

  1. Despite being listed as DRM-free on the storefront, the game uses an account-based DRM and requires installation and launching through the Frogwares Launcher.[11]
  2. 2.0 2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/750130/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (750130) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

  1. The Sinking City and Epic Games store - last accessed on 2021-02-28
  2. [1] - last accessed on 2021-02-28
  3. 3.0 3.1 [2] - last accessed on 2020-07-02
  4. The Sinking City drama resumes: Frogwares warns fans not to buy it on Steam - last accessed on 2021-02-27
  5. Package » The Sinking City - last accessed on 2021-03-02
  6. Update: The Sinking City Developer Frogwares Accuses Publisher Nacon of Piracy - last accessed on 2021-03-02
  7. 'The Sinking City' Developer Uses DMCA to Remove Its Own Game From Steam - last accessed on 2021-03-03
  8. Displaying change U:11745207 - last accessed on 2021-03-02
  9. Right of reply from NACON following Frogwares’ allegations - last accessed on 2021-03-03
  10. [3] - last accessed on 2021-01-05
  11. Verified by User:Aemony on 2020-07-01
    Verified myself by purchasing the game through the official website. The Frogwares Launcher looks to be a variant of the Xsolla Launcher, and is seemingly only used to launch and update The Sinking City. Launching the game outside of the launcher is not possible as the executables throws the error message: "Please use Frogwares Launcher to launch the game."
  12. This game INCLUDES Necronomicon and Merciful Madness dlcs!!! - last accessed on 2021-02-28
  13. Bundles » The Sinking City Deluxe Edition - last accessed on 2021-02-26
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 FAQ - last accessed on 2019-06-27
  15. 15.0 15.1 Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
  16. [4] - last accessed on 2021-02-27
  17. [5] - last accessed on 2021-02-27
  18. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
    Tested at the custom resolutions of 3840x1080 and 5160x1080, screenshots compared to 16:9.
  19. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
    Tested at the native resolution of 2560x1080, screenshots compared to 16:9.
  20. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
    Tested at the custom resolution of 3840x2160.
  21. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-11-22
    r.MaxAnisotropy gets set from 0 to 8 depending on the quality setting, as seen in the console.
  22. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-26
    TAA is commonly used in Unreal Engine 4 games. The other things pointing at it are the blurriness of the image, config-forced TAA quality options affecting it, and config-forced FXAA removing the blur.
  23. 23.0 23.1 Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-26
  24. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
    Set to 120.000000 and saw it reflected in the game.
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-26
    Screenshots taken and compared.
  26. Verified by User:Darktalon on 2019-12-17
  27. Disable depth of field in dialogues? - last accessed on 2021-02-27
  28. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
    No dedicated option and no acceleration in my testing at the lowest sensitivity.
  29. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-29
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
    Tested with an Xbox 360 Razer Onza controller.
  31. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
    The rear speakers were used for positional audio.
  32. The Sinking City - PC Stuttering Issues + Benchmark Scene - last accessed on 2019-06-26
  33. (PC) Stuttering/hitching, any fix? - last accessed on 2019-06-26
  34. No longer get 60FPS? - last accessed on 2019-06-26
  35. Frame rate is not stable - last accessed on 2019-06-27
  36. The Sinking City - Official feedback thread - last accessed on 2019-06-28
  37. The Sinking City - Official feedback thread - user comments - last accessed on 2019-06-28
  38. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-07-03
    Tried and crashed to "Fatal error" 5 times with different boats, with an Xbox 360 Razer Onza controller.
  39. Verified by User:Rose on 2019-07-05
    This helps, although pressing A by mistake will still lead to a crash.