Update v1.10 — Hints, Saves & Connection

This is our biggest update since launch. We went through every review and forum thread since v1.08 and focused on what you told us hurt the most: losing progress, getting disconnected, and getting stuck on a puzzle with no way forward. v1.10 brings an optional hint system, saves tied to your Steam accounts, a more reliable connection and full audio settings, plus a long list of fixes.

New: optional hint system

• Over 150 hints across all four acts.
• Hints come in two steps. The first one only points you in the right direction. The second one is more direct, but still leaves the last step to you.
• When the answer is on your partner's side of the mansion, the hint tells you where to look and who to ask. It never gives the answer away: Crimson Manor is still a co-op game.
• Hints only appear after several attempts and some time on a puzzle, so they won't interrupt you while you're still figuring it out.
• Prefer to play without help? Turn them off in Settings → Hints. Control instructions for some puzzles are always shown.

Saves and progress

• Your progress is now tied to your pair of Steam accounts, not to the PC or the session.
• Each player keeps a copy of the save. When you meet in the lobby, both copies are merged, so progress is kept as long as either of you has it.
• Existing saves are migrated automatically.
• Swapping who hosts no longer forces you to delete everything. Completed acts are kept; only the unfinished progress of the current act is reset.
• The Start button now waits until both players' saves are synced.

Connection

• Players on slower connections could be dropped while joining. The game now gives the connection much more time to complete.
• Joining retries automatically once after a network error.
• Clearer error messages: wrong code, full session, network problem or different game version.
• Players on different game versions (for example beta and public branch) are now detected and warned instead of failing silently.
• If your partner disconnects in the lobby, the host stays in the lobby and can wait for them to rejoin.
• Fixed a misleading error message shown while joining a session.
• Fixed several puzzles that one of the players could not operate after their partner joined or reconnected.
• New on-screen warning when the connection with your partner becomes unstable, and when it recovers.
• Opening the game outside Steam (for example from the .exe) now relaunches it through Steam, so achievements, invites and your Steam-linked save always work.
• Less network data is sent for player movement and for the Act 4 dynamo crank, which helps on slower connections.

Audio

• New audio settings: master, music, effects, partner's voice volume and open microphone. Settings are now saved and no longer reset to maximum.
• Push-to-talk no longer triggers Confirm or Skip when both use the same key.
• Sounds in the mansion are now positional. You no longer hear sounds from the other floor as if they were next to you.
• Fixed the ending music stopping if your audio device changed.
• Act 4 bells: the failure sound is now clearly different from the success sound.
• Act 2: the magic drawers in Nicholas's room are now clearly audible, and the prize drawer opens on its own when the puzzle is solved.

Puzzle fixes

• Act 3 pocket watch: fixed an issue that affected the second player. The hands no longer keep making noise after you set the right time.
• Act 3 slider lock: added notches so each position is clear.
• Cryptexes: wheels now snap to the nearest letter when released. Fixed the alignment of one letter on the Act 3 IMMORTAL cryptex.
• Act 2 bathtubs: they no longer drop an empty gear.
• Fixed bugs in the Act 1 barrels, the Act 1 letter drawers, the Act 3 globe and the Act 4 medallion.
• Act 4: fixed several ways to get stuck: the masks not registering the correct order, the double key staying stuck after a failed turn, and the arcane box on the fireplace that the second player could not use.
• Act 4: when you continue a saved game, solved puzzles stay solved (the masks, the 0306 padlock and the arcane box). Fixed the second player being stuck on the loading screen when continuing with the arcane box on the fireplace.
• Items are no longer lost from your inventory when using them on a puzzle doesn't go through (all acts).
• Act 2 blue music box: a wrong sequence now counts as one failure instead of repeating.
• Act 4: the mask photo now shows the player in the picture, not the one who took it.
• Fixed doors staying open: single doors sometimes stayed open for one of the players, and locked or bolted doors never closed again once opened.
• Act 4: if you put the mask on your partner and someone leaves before the photo, the mask is still on when you continue.
• Act 3 crank gate: the message now explains that it needs a crank on each side, and placing the first crank tells you something is missing on the other side.

Interaction and interface

• Removed the examine icon from almost 90 objects that had nothing to examine.
• Each player now gets a message explaining that they have their own monocle.
• Fixed the journal panel getting stuck open.
• Fixed review buttons overflowing in the lobby.
• Fixed Spanish text appearing in other languages and filled the last missing translations.
• The join screen now supports all 10 languages.
• Your partner's head no longer bends unnaturally when they look up or down.
• The examine icon no longer appears when you look down at your own feet.

Graphics

• 64 documents, photos, labels and notes now load at full resolution, so they're easier to read.
• Act 3: fixed windows flickering near the Chinese box and the binoculars.
• Act 3: the library clock face is now sharper.

Thank you

Most of these changes come straight from your reviews and forum posts. If you stopped playing because of lost progress, disconnections or a puzzle you couldn't get past, we'd love for you to give Crimson Manor another try. And if your experience has changed, an updated review, whatever it says, helps a small team like ours a lot. — The MediaCity Games Team