inXile break The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut for Windows 7/8 owners

dreamstation · Jan 20, 2020

The latest update for The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut by inXile is now unplayable for anyone that has not upgraded to Windows 10. They have increased the minimum system requirements for OS to Windows 10 whereas previously it was playable on Windows 7 and 8 as well. So essentially they have stopped players on Windows 7 and 8 from playing the game that they paid good money for. This doesn't seem fair at all and I really think they need to do something about it.

Talk about it here including a reply from someone on the development team: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1091980/discussions/0/1661194916742120841

Microsoft has ended support for Windows 7, and with the latest update to the game we followed suit and have raised the game's minimum system requirements to Windows 10. If you're on an older version of Windows, of course our recommendation is to upgrade/update to the latest version. If that's not possible for you, please contact our support directly and we'll see if there's some way we can assist. https://inxile.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

I backed the kickstarter for Bard's Tale IV years ago and played the original release which was very buggy. Decided to put it down and over the weekend thought I would fire up the Director's Cut version on my Windows 7 machine. The game wouldn't start so I went looking for answers. Very disappointed to find out that I can't play it now and all support for the original version has been dropped, with the game even removed from the steam store.

What do you think people? Is this a shitty thing to do to players who have already bought your game?

Aeana · Jan 20, 2020

Huh, that's weird. They just removed support, no other changes in the update, or what?

I really liked this game a lot after they patched it. Shame that they did this.

ILikeFeet · Jan 20, 2020

were does it say it outright stops working? it just says they won't support issues on Win 7/8 machines

Windu · Jan 20, 2020

Are you sure it actually doesn't work on previous OSes or just that their support teams will no longer do tech support for it? Windows 7 just end of lifed a week ago so no surprise there.

dreamstation · Jan 20, 2020

Aeana said:
They just removed support, no other changes in the update, or what?

There were other changes but nowhere in the update notes does it say about changing OS requirements.

Here's the update notes: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1091980/announcements/detail/1607151615987550977

dreamstation · Jan 20, 2020

ILikeFeet said:
were does it say it outright stops working? it just says they won't support issues on Win 7/8 machines

Windu said:
Are you sure it actually doesn't work on previous OSes or just that their support teams will no longer do tech support for it?

Considering that there are many people in the thread I linked in the OP saying that their game no longer works as well as my own experiences pointing in that direction I'm going to say they have removed support.

Portmanteau · Jan 20, 2020

1) I just launched it on an old laptop running 7 and it's fine.

2) You really should upgrade. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't blame them for this if it makes supporting the game easier, especially given that Microsoft ended support for 7.

Arthands · Jan 20, 2020

Aeana said:
Huh, that's weird. They just removed support, no other changes in the update, or what?

I really liked this game a lot after they patched it. Shame that they did this.

they didnt make specific changes to remove support. They are just changing to the stance of not caring about issues in Win7 anymore, and telling users to upgrade to Win10. They optimize their title for Win10, which introduces errors on obsoleted OS without deliberation.

5taquitos · Jan 20, 2020

dreamstation said:
as as well as my own experiences pointing in that direction

What does this mean? You can no longer launch the game yourself on a Windows 7 machine that could previously play the game?

Windu · Jan 20, 2020

dreamstation said:
Considering that there are many people in the thread I linked in the OP saying that their game no longer works as well as my own experiences pointing in that direction I'm going to say they have removed support.

Doubt its across the board. Probably just a bug on some PCs running windows 7 with the new bards tale patch. Something that they obviously no longer test for. I'd try rolling back the updates and see if you can get a version that works.

Or upgrade to 10. Its free.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/14/21065140/how-to-upgrade-microsoft-windows-7-10-free-os

TheUnseenTheUnheard · Jan 20, 2020

Windows 7 is 10.5 years old. Understandable.

Ukumio · Jan 20, 2020

Today I learned there are people who still use Windows 7 or 8.1 besides libraries, schools, and old people.

Popstar · Jan 20, 2020

Deleted member 20831 · Jan 21, 2020

Microsoft is no longer providing security updates for Windows 7 since around a week now, one would still expect a company to still be on Windows 7 with probably security vulnerabilities?

Teeth · Jan 21, 2020

Ukumio said:
Today I learned there are people who still use Windows 7 or 8.1 besides libraries, schools, and old people.

Windows 8.1 with a menu app is the secret best version of Windows.

EDIT: On topic, if they actually did do something that breaks some compatibility with Win7/8, they should leave an old build up in the Beta branches of Steam with an express note saying that they no longer support it, but it's there for people who need/want it. That's what we did with Cuphead when we moved from DX9 to DX11.

Popstar · Jan 21, 2020

PianoBlack · Jan 21, 2020

It's shitty to stop people's games from working, if that's what they're doing. Agreed on that point. But running Windows 7 today is the same (in terms of age) as running Windows 98 in 2009. Upgrade or don't be surprised when stuff doesn't work.

Deleted member 49535 · Jan 21, 2020

You can upgrade to Windows 10 for free, there's no reason for them to maintain compatibility with Win 7.

dreamstation · Jan 21, 2020

Portmanteau said:
1) I just launched it on an old laptop running 7 and it's fine.

Are you sure you launched the Director's Cut version and not the original release?

5taquitos said:
What does this mean? You can no longer launch the game yourself on a Windows 7 machine that could previously play the game?

Yes that's right. Steam says it's launching the game and then it just dies.

Windu said:
I'd try rolling back the updates and see if you can get a version that works.

How do you roll back updates through steam?

DSP · Jan 21, 2020

it's pretty poor if it doesn't even launch, because that's just artificial at this stage. It makes sense they don't support it but you shouldn't just patch a lock for lols.

Calibro · Jan 21, 2020

They're doing you a service. Upgrade to 10, because 7 is a huge fucking security issue now.

Windu · Jan 21, 2020

dreamstation said:
How do you roll back updates through steam?

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

XR. · Jan 21, 2020

There's really no reason to support non-secure, outdated operating systems these days. It's living hell to support antiquated software just because some people refuse to update. It's for the better to incentivize people to upgrade.

terminaljeremy · Jan 21, 2020

Windows 10 is a free upgrade, dude.

Spacejaws · Jan 21, 2020

I agree on the outdated OS part but they sold this game as Windows 7 compatible initially. They should attempt to do right by people who bought the game in good faith by at least offering a previous stable version and note that no further updates will be compatiable with W7.

Deleted member 62561 · Jan 21, 2020

it may be time to consider updating your operating system.

DoradoWinston · Jan 21, 2020

bruh Win7 is over a decade old and Win8 is gettin damn close to that just upgrade.

Win7 doesnt even get MS support anymore lol

dreamstation · Jan 21, 2020

Some people are missing the point. It's not whether or not you think an OS is out of date. It's the fact that they sold a game that worked on X operating system and now they've removed that compatibility. There's no mention of this in their patch notes and if it wasn't for people on the forums asking why doesn't my game work anymore then there wouldn't be any explanation.

DSP · Jan 21, 2020

dreamstation said:
Some people are missing the point. It's not whether or not you think an OS is out of date. It's the fact that they sold a game that worked on X operating system and now they've removed that compatibility. There's no mention of this in their patch notes and if it wasn't for people on the forums asking why doesn't my game work anymore then there wouldn't be any explanation.

WoW doesn't work on xp anymore. Same for StarCraft. Steam collectively dropped XP. It will happen to 7 very soon too. That's not the issue actually. Live games and services are constantly updated and they will have to move on.

I don't know what that has to do with Bard's Tale. Isn't it a single player game? They didn't need to do this. That's the difference.

Arthands · Jan 21, 2020

Its not in their update log because they didn't remove the comptibility. Its an issue that appear on certain obsoleted OS machines in the latest update, which can be fixed by updating the obsoleted OS. they also gave a link for users who refuses to update their OS to fix this and various other comptibility issues.

https://inxile.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?mobile_site=true

Fredrik · Jan 21, 2020

They say that you can contact the support if you can't upgrade to Win 10 and they'll try to help, have you tried that?

I know the feeling all too well, I started an older Windows 7 laptop yesterday to try play some games. Nope. Couldn't get a single one started. Mainly because of Direct X 11 though.
PCs have quite okay backwards compatibility but if you stick with an older computer you'll quickly notice the ugly side of it all, I get the feeling that we're all forced to update both software and hardware in an increasingly faster pace.

But in the end, if you can you should really consider upgrading to Windows 10.

dreamstation · Jan 21, 2020

Fredrik said:
PCs have quite okay backwards compatibility but if you stick with an older computer you'll quickly notice the ugly side of it all, I get the feeling that we're all forced to update both software and hardware in an increasingly faster pace.

In over 20 years of PC gaming I've never run into an issue with a game not running because the OS is too old, normally it's older games not wanting to work on newer OS. I normally upgrade my PC more regularly and this machine is getting a little long in the tooth but it still plays most of the games that I want to play, even some newer ones like Disco Elysium. Pretty much the only games that I've found that I can't run on my OS is the Microsoft ones and there's a reason for that.

Fredrik said:
But in the end, if you can you should really consider upgrading to Windows 10.

What's the process I should follow to get this free upgrade to Windows 10? Normally when I put together a new system I buy an OEM version but I have no real reason to upgrade my system right now so I guess I'll have to do it via the internet. Hopefully it's an easy process.

arcadepc · Jan 21, 2020

For older hardware w10 is slower, especially for sata drives. Cheap laptops especially, even newer ones with Sata drives are brought to a crawl. It isn't convenient for everyone to upgrade

Fredrik · Jan 21, 2020

dreamstation said:
In over 20 years of PC gaming I've never run into an issue with a game not running because the OS is too old, normally it's older games not wanting to work on newer OS. I normally upgrade my PC more regularly and this machine is getting a little long in the tooth but it still plays most of the games that I want to play, even some newer ones like Disco Elysium. Pretty much the only games that I've found that I can't run on my OS is the Microsoft ones and there's a reason for that.

Yeah that's the usual scenario, my main rig has been updated several times during the 7 years I've had it, OS and hardware, and it just works.
But the laptop hadn't even been touched since 2015. And well, it just don't work. :P
Quite annoying tbh. I used it for like two years.

I'm currently doing CPR on it, had over 50 important windows updates and even more less important ones, with the final startup recommending me to upgrade the OS. That final thing really shows that MS is pulling the plug for real on Windows 7. Zero updates from here on. No security ones either.

Anyway, I got Direct X 11 installed at least but I think the laptop GPU just isn't enough, the games just spit me out at startup.
I really don't have many old games so it's tricky but I'm hopeful to get Ori to run at least, it just needed DX9, so that's my final plan in this experiment to see what this bugger can do in 2020.

To get back to you, I totally get your frustration here, especially if things did work and now they don't, just because of an auto update. That's just not okay. If you haven't already you should contact the support and see what they can do.

dreamstation said:
What's the process I should follow to get this free upgrade to Windows 10? Normally when I put together a new system I buy an OEM version but I have no real reason to upgrade my system right now so I guess I'll have to do it via the internet. Hopefully it's an easy process.

I think someone linked to the free update earlier. I used the internet and it was pretty straight forward, it just verifies that your current OS is legitimate and downloads and installs, easy peasy. Just don't forget to backup everything!

Deleted member 20831 · Jan 21, 2020

Popstar said:
I don't expect them to be using Windows 7 on their day to day machines. I do expect them to have a Windows 7 machine in a corner with whatever test boxes they have. If I can keep one around for testing builds surely they can.

If they have good IT administration, those old systems would be updated and converted to daily use without generating e-waste or taking up precious inventory space.

dreamstation · Jan 21, 2020

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1091980/discussions/0/1661194916742120841?ctp=8#c3345546664209674836

inXile have responded in the steam forums:

Hey all, as a brief update (regarding minimum requirements having been raised to Windows 10), I've spoken with our engineers and they're looking into a solution that could allow Win 7/8.1 to still launch the game. I don't have specifics to share yet as far as timeframe, or even if it's a change they'll be able to make, but we're looking into it.

In the meantime, we do have a sort of workaround we're offering through our support contact that may help some of you. Again, if you haven't done so already, please reach out to us there: https://inxile.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

No guarantees at this stage but at least they're looking into it apparently. Makes you wonder why they just didn't do something like this to begin with. Not sure how they thought they could just cut people off after they'd purchased the game. They also mention that they've "sort of got a workaround" but they're not openly posting what said work around is. Each individual person has to contact them through their support page.

defaltoption · Jan 21, 2020

If it doesn't work anymore for purchasers that's shitty but it sounds like thats not the case, dropped support is normal for software still getting updates past an operating systems eol

dreamstation · Jan 21, 2020

defaltoption said:
If it doesn't work anymore for purchasers that's shitty but it sounds like thats not the case

But that is the case. The game just flat out doesn't launch anymore. You have to contact their support to get "a sort of workaround" to get it working. Either that or roll back to the previous update.

defaltoption · Jan 21, 2020

dreamstation said:
But that is the case. The game just flat out doesn't launch anymore. You have to contact their support to get "a sort of workaround" to get it working. Either that or roll back to the previous update.

Damn if thats true that's ridiculous and I would demand a refund when contacting them. I don't even think updates can be rolled back on steam, at least not easily.

bmdubya · Jan 21, 2020

arcadepc said:
For older hardware w10 is slower, especially for sata drives. Cheap laptops especially, even newer ones with Sata drives are brought to a crawl. It isn't convenient for everyone to upgrade

We have some older laptops at work, probably like 6 years old. One of laptops has Windows 7 on it for some legacy software I rarely have to run. Win7 definitely runs worse on those machines than 10. It's painful how slow Win7 is on a slower computer compared to 10.

Kilbane65 · Jan 21, 2020

There are legal issues involved in the removal of the ability to use a software you payed for by the makers of said software.
That's why all other companies who have legal teams worth a damn release something called LEGACY EDITIONS of their software. What inXile is doing is wrong no matter what your feelings about sunsetting OSs are.

Hailinel · Jan 21, 2020

Portmanteau said:
1) I just launched it on an old laptop running 7 and it's fine.

2) You really should upgrade. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't blame them for this if it makes supporting the game easier, especially given that Microsoft ended support for 7.

Yeah, this is less "Fuck you, inXile, for breaking this game," and more "inXile, being a Microsoft-owned studio, obviously wants to encourage the usage of the latest operating system given that Windows 7 has been deprecated (and Windows 8 is a piece of shit anyway)".

arcadepc · Jan 22, 2020

bmdubya said:
We have some older laptops at work, probably like 6 years old. One of laptops has Windows 7 on it for some legacy software I rarely have to run. Win7 definitely runs worse on those machines than 10. It's painful how slow Win7 is on a slower computer compared to 10.

It also depends on the amount of software installed. The more the worse. With w7 it was stuck for years at sp1 with individual updates which you could ignore. W10 with mandatory cumulative updates makes things worse for non-ssd HDD as it messes the file structure needing defragmentation.

dreamstation · Jan 23, 2020

They're working on an update to fix it for Windows 7 and 8 and they posted details on how to revert to previous update in the meantime.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1091980/discussions/0/1661194916742120841/?ctp=8#c1741139415983918681

Regarding Win 7/8 users: we're working on an update but as that'll take some more time to develop and test (and we'd like to get you back in-game asap) you can follow the below to revert back to the last build and play.

Of note: Mac and Linux users should NOT use this method. Anyone experiencing issues on Mac or Linux should reach out to us via our Support Site.

- In your library, right click The Bard's Tale IV: Directors Cut
- select 'Properties'
- click the BETAS tab
- input this code: Win7n8CompatTest
- click 'check code'
- in the drop down above the code field, select Win_7_8_Test -
- click close on that tab

At this point, the game will update to the previous version that should be compatible with Win 7/8. Existing saves should be unaffected.

If this doesn't work for any Win 7/8 users, please let me know.

inXile break The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut for Windows 7/8 owners

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