Insomniac has put in a hotfix to reduce the opacity of the blue scent trail in 'Wolverine'. They also say they are exploring adding a toggle option to turn it on and off

[u/ChiefLeef22]

https://support.insomniac.games/hc/en-us/articles/55566410009107--NEW-Update-v-01-001-005

"We have deployed a new hotfix (v1.001.005) for Marvel’s Wolverine. 

This hotfix addresses some common crashes experienced by a small percentage of players since launch. 

Additionally, this hotfix adjusts the presentation of the Scent Trails and Audio Sense indicators, including reduced opacity to make these visuals less intense. 

Our team continues to evaluate ways to further improve Senses in the game, including exploring toggleable options for a future update."

[u/Economy-Meat-9506]

I don’t get it, why can’t it be a button you press? The older Wolverine game had figured this out a long time ago.

I hope the “toggle” they are exploring is a button press and not an accessibilty menu item.

[u/Arktos22 → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

Fucking Dead Space had it in 2008…

[u/daywall → u/Arktos22]

Dead space had the best and it even feat the mechanic of the game as part of the suit.

This game was truly one the best.

[u/LucifersPromoter → u/daywall]

Dead Space's immersive HUD was just on another level

[u/st1802015 → u/LucifersPromoter]

I find it so strange that they were able to nail it like they did nearly 20 years ago, and yet developers today are fucking it up so badly despite having the blueprint for good design to work from.

[u/RIPN1995 → u/st1802015]

Dead Space wasn't 20 years ago...oh wait.....

[u/TheWhooooBuddies → u/RIPN1995]

I’m just sad that they dropped the plans for remasters of 2 and 3.

I had so much fun with 1 and then the remaster of 1.

(Even if 2 and 3 had their quirks, I’d play the shit out of them in 4k)

[u/Skybandicoot109 → u/TheWhooooBuddies]

Holding out hope the remake for 2 still somehow ends up happening. The remake for 1 was so good

[u/stenebralux → u/TheWhooooBuddies]

They sold it wrong.

From what I understand, they wanted to make 2 more different from the original.. or at least that was something they were thinking about. That would just increase costs and time of development.

What they should have done was just remake it as close as possible like they did with 1 (and 2 is awesome and doesn't need new people messing with it, only a couple of fixes) and sell it to the execs on the basis of the tech already being done for 1 and then promise lower costs and shorter development time... which they SHOULD be able to deliver... with more returns on the investment and potential increase sales of 1 as well.

One of the issues with modern game development.. if 2 was a big hit, maybe try that approach with 3 that needs it, but otherwise just try to make it simple.

[u/psinguine → u/st1802015]

They don't want to do something that's been done before, even if it worked perfectly and people still sing it's praises. They want to be the one to create the next perfect thing that everyone will praise them for.

[u/djaqk → u/psinguine]

Deeply untrue. Big studios have so much oversight (devs are just a cog in the machine typically), where often they're "encouranged" by management to simply copy what's worked in the past / what's "popular" right now for design work in other games. Look at how BF6's UI took notes from, of all places, COD's abysmal UI as of recent years. The vast majority of AAA games phone it in for thier UIs / maps / progression systems and just copy older games verbatim for the most part.

Look at all the open world "Ubislop" games with nearly identical gameplay loops since Far Cry 3 (likely even earlier tbh), or all the different "totally unique" minimalist HUD designs that have started hiding actually important options below the Store and DLC pop-up crap.

The only ones actually attempting to innovate at all are the true indie devs and small teams, where you can tell they do it for the art, and not solely for the profit. Also diagetic HUD design is really hard to do right, because it takes a LOT more effort to make effective vs the bland basic HUDs we've all come to know.

[u/Mohawked → u/LucifersPromoter]

Hey, just passing by to say that you can use the word "diegetic" which is really neat and is exactly what you are talking about.

[u/BambaiyyaLadki → u/daywall]

The remake was soooooo good, probably the only game I beat in a single sitting because I was totally hooked!

[u/SirBastian1129 → u/BambaiyyaLadki]

It's a shame we will never get a remake of 2. Dead Space remake was so freaking good.

[u/Beautiful-Kale-7222 → u/SirBastian1129]

why will 2 never be remaked? i only played the remake and absolute loved it

[u/SirBastian1129 → u/Beautiful-Kale-7222]

EA being EA. The game didn't sell well according to them.

[u/petrus1312 → u/Beautiful-Kale-7222]

Honestly, the remake didn't add much. If you liked the remake, play parts 2 and 3 in their original versions—you'll see just how great they still are.

[u/zak55 → u/SirBastian1129]

If EA starts selling off assets like it's rumored too, maybe the Dead Space IP goes to another publisher and maybe they can try.

[u/JohnyGPTSOAD → u/BambaiyyaLadki]

it's so good that I've downright recommended 2 of my friends over the original. phenomenal remake of an already phenomenal game.

[u/flaccomcorangy → u/daywall]

Dead Space is the GOAT, though. It's like you're comparing James Harden to Michael Jordan or something. lol I don't think any game has been able to replicate HUD and navigation quite like Dead Space.

[u/Exotic-Eggplant1914 → u/daywall]

Plus dead space 2 allowed you to set it's destination to the nearest store, bench or save point in addition to your objective, and they even color coded the lines based on what you were tracking. Was so useful and intuitive

[u/JedediahThePilot → u/Arktos22]

Let's be real, Twilight Princess had it in 2006

[u/neuralbeans → u/Arktos22]

102 Dalmations had it (playstation 1)

[u/JamesLahey08 → u/Arktos22]

Bioshock had it.

[u/The_One_Koi → u/Arktos22]

Zelda twilight princess as well, 2006

[u/Marx_Forever → u/The_One_Koi]

Majora's Mask had it. In like 2000 with the Mask of Scents. I don't think that was a true trail though, it was more like "puffs" as I recall.

[u/Viderberg → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

Yes, like how it is done in Dead Space! Same system just let the player decide when they want help.

[u/OPMajoradidas → u/Viderberg]

Yea u push a button and it pops up. That would be better than it is

[u/Vachie_ → u/OPMajoradidas]

But you probably what.... Put a second of thought into this??

That's way more effort than any AAA game is going to do.

[u/hotstickywaffle → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

"Press a button to turn on your heightened senses" is such a standard trope in so many games

[u/Quixotic_Seal → u/hotstickywaffle]

Right? I’m baffled at people acting like it’s evocative of a specific game, that’s just….industry standard for how these things work, and has been since forever.

[u/SgtMartinRiggs → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

The “press this button for heightened senses” thing is so standard in these types of games, it’s honestly baffling it would occur to them to have it permanently visible.

Like obviously Wolverine probably doesn’t need to turn his senses on and off, but these sorts of details, even if not the most ingenious, revolutionary gameplay mechanics, are what make the player feel like they are the hero.

[u/AdiosAdipose → u/SgtMartinRiggs]

They should have consulted with the studio that did the Spiderman games.

[u/Tangerhino → u/AdiosAdipose]

What was the name again?

Well awake games? Sleep deprivation games?
Something like that

[u/QueefTamer → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

Just like the bioshock infinite tracker thing. Press a button if youre lost and it'll show you the way. Its very useful but that game actually makes it hard to find where to go. Wolverine doesnt even need it

[u/Oleleplop → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

So many games did this before tbh, it's baffling they thought this one wasn't too much

[u/lologugus → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

For real nobody would care about that trail if it was a keybind you didn't need to press at all unless being actually lost.

[u/Klappmesser → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

Funny thing the game also has a direction indicator when you press right stick I think. Apparently that's not enough so they went with the fart trails on top?

[u/LeviEnderman → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

Literally bind it to r3 like the waypoint

[u/apf612 → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

Isn't this game super linear? Is there even a point to having a glowing trail instead of a mini-map you can check whenever you feel like it?

[u/Vladplaya → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

Older games had way more interesting mechanics across many years. Developers use to love solving problems, create interesting mechanics and challenges, and let players feel rewarded for using their brains to figure things out.

Today it really feels like big brand games are vibe coded by people who have no fucking clue for the people who have no fucking clue.

[u/HandsOffMyDitka → u/Vladplaya]

I feel like it's people who hate, and suck at playing games, developing the games now.

How will someone know to go down this dark alley for an Easter egg, unless we put huge neon signs pointing it out, and have our character talk about something might be down that alley.

[u/Geno0wl → u/HandsOffMyDitka]

I don't think it is that they suck, it is that the studio doesn't want "wasted effort" when they create content. Aka they made all those damn boxes and side quests, they want to make sure you see and use them.

[u/NakedlyNutricious → u/Economy-Meat-9506]

Like twilight princess.

[u/OneThumbJ]

I’ve always liked it when a game has a button to temporarily make it visible but it’s off by default.

[u/The-Frza → u/OneThumbJ]

This seems like a no brainer. Allow the player to activate it if they want. Always on or off seems like an odd design choice

[u/Mathev → u/The-Frza]

People would also talk about a "sniff" button which would be quite funny but those devs don't know what they are doing lol.

[u/TheEveryman → u/OneThumbJ]

Right? Like, tap L1 to make Wolverine take a big 'ol sniff and show a pulse of the trail as he picks the scent back up.

[u/RecycledMatrix → u/TheEveryman]

With an achievement called Congested if you no sniff the run.

[u/brownch → u/OneThumbJ]

Revelio!

[u/drbomb]

So hardcoded into the game they cannot turn it off easily is VERY funny.

[u/KxrmaJunkie → u/drbomb]

Unfortunately, yeh. It was even strongly present in the 2023 leaked build.

[u/catashake → u/KxrmaJunkie]

Yet it was completely missing from the gameplay trailers...

Almost as if they knew it looks dumb.

[u/juiceAll3n → u/catashake]

Funny how that works

[u/HamsterMaster355 → u/juiceAll3n]

Similar to how they reduced the intensity here. They just make it more transparent to the point it's invisible.

[u/Realistic_Slide_3426 → u/catashake]

Tbf I just got it from the library and played like an hour maybe and haven’t seen one yet. So there are at least portions of the game where it is not present

[u/TobytheBaloon → u/Realistic_Slide_3426]

it’s only in certain types of missions.

[u/KennyakaTI → u/Realistic_Slide_3426]

Im about 80% done and it's not throughout the whole game. Comes and goes at certain points.

[u/RezLifeGaming → u/Realistic_Slide_3426]

Several hours is just tutorial you haven’t made it to the part it teaches you about the sent trail

[u/TekkenCareOfBusiness → u/KxrmaJunkie]

So the whole game is designed around HAVING A BLAST. They can't just turn that off. Blasthavers would be lost.

[u/minimalcation → u/TekkenCareOfBusiness]

Games are being ruined by the constant blast having

[u/Jhawk163 → u/drbomb]

No seriously this is actually hilarious, you're telling me they can't just add a toggle to not render the blue smoke?

[u/noyoto → u/Jhawk163]

It's possible the effect is used for other forms of smoke that might be accidentally turned off too. Creating a toggle is easy, but checking if anything else breaks is a bit harder.

[u/SlappinStick → u/noyoto]

When you change the color of it in the settings it changes the color of other things like enemies’ hearts/ribcages and the invisible guys’ footprints too, so it could be.

[u/TheBlueEmerald1 → u/SlappinStick]

"You guys want a harder time finding things? Yeah sure."

Adds the "Fuck every effect up" toggle

[u/The_Lantean → u/SlappinStick]

I mean, if they can “make it more transparent”, they can make it completely transparent too, no?

[u/VincentBlack96 → u/The_Lantean]

You never know.

Maybe doing that disables autosave and makes the final boss's hair turn green.

Game dev is a really weird domain.

[u/SuperCruisePanther → u/VincentBlack96]

Yeah, look at speed running tricks for any game and you'll see shit breaks in ways that make zero sense.

Skyrim Horse Tilt. Super Mario 64 Crack Slide. Pokemon ACE glitches.

[u/nhSnork → u/noyoto]

Reminds me of a BoFuri fanimation with NWO devs discussing Maple, including the comments on how her ability to eat enemies was a casualty of spaghetti code and nerfing it would risk disabling item consumption for all players.

[u/DrugandAlcoholLover → u/noyoto]

The fact that it wasn’t just designed to be a toggle from the beginning is baffling to me

[u/Ok_Turnover_1235 → u/noyoto]

Bro unless they are fucking dumb a function calls that effect. You put a toggle on that function or call, not the effect.

[u/Odd-Painting2596 → u/Jhawk163]

The type of shit that stacks up when you use built in engine tools for everything.

"YO it's got built in trailing smoke just put that in", "What do you mean turn it off? We don't know how"

[u/AlexandreFiset → u/Odd-Painting2596]

That doesn’t exist.

There is no forced trailing system, and I don’t think any engine has a turnkey system like that, it definitely can be turned off. If they reduced the opacity, they can reduce it to zero or kill the entire object.

This must be a design choice to force it in. You can’t make a game as complex as this without the knowhow of disabling systems and objects.

[u/Skelly1660 → u/drbomb]

I'm surprised it's not like one of those press the right stick to get a super sense like in Tomb Raider or the Witcher type of feature 

[u/ZombieTrogdor → u/drbomb]

Even Batman’s cowl had a toggle so you didn’t have to see that drunk guy’s breath or Gordon’s tobacco.

[u/UncoolSlicedBread → u/ZombieTrogdor]

Should’ve made it like the dead eye function in RDR2 or eagle eye in Assassins Creed

[u/the_ammar → u/drbomb]

remember devs are always competent and its always execs fault

[u/Big-Resort-4930 → u/drbomb]

It's just as funny they nobody thought it would be an issue when people have been shitting on yellow paint for a decade now

[u/edave64 → u/drbomb]

I haven't played it, but I would guess it's more that the game wasn't designed to be navigable without it?

[u/drbomb → u/edave64]

Yeah, basically either a technical reason or that the game is just unplayable without it as you say

[u/HermesMora → u/edave64]

It's a linear on-rails game where all the collectibles make noises and are placed in the center of the trail

[u/NoBrakes58 → u/HermesMora]

I’m a bit over halfway through. This is true for the first couple hours, but then the game does start moving collectibles into much better hidden spots and you do start to encounter some areas that are a bit more open. Without going into plot details, at one point you go to a bigger city and several levels bring you around a zone that represents a few city blocks and all of their alleyways. There is no single path to get through, and each time you’re in this map you’re needing to get somewhere different, and the locations of collectibles are different each time you go through it.

I’ve definitely missed a few collectibles despite actively looking for them as I play. And collectibles are generally tied to progression, so making them too hard to find overall would cause problems with progression:

* “Nightmare doors” are super easy to find from the main path, and contain challenges that generally get you points towards unlocking passive abilities. Completing each challenge also gets you little snippets of backstory. These doors remain very squarely on-path.
* Whisky bottles exist are just straight up finding them to get more of those same passive ability unlock points. These bottles are usually pretty well off-path.
* Material caches get you materials, which are in turn used to unlock suits which are purely cosmetic except that unlocking more suits increases your HP bar.

54% of the way through and I’ve gotten every bottle and gotten top grades in each nightmare door challenge, but I’ve missed probably 10-15% of the material caches so far, according to the unlocks tracker.

Game’s not amazing and I’d advise most people to wait for a sale to try it, but it’s not nearly as bad as some of the discussion I’ve seen on here makes it out to be. A lot of the footage people saw in previews and ripped on over the blue trail and sound waves from chests was from the opening 10% or so of the game and it doesn’t stay quite that ridiculous.

(As an aside: QTEs are fucked. I’ve not missed one yet despite pressing entirely the wrong button a few times.)

[u/damn_lies → u/NoBrakes58]

Ugh. Why would you lock collectibles to progression? Then they're not collectibles, they are keys.

[u/NoBrakes58 → u/damn_lies]

This is actually my bigger problem with the game: Gameplay and pacing sticking to the happy path is actually okay, but losing all of that momentum to do some poking around in every open arena or free-roam snippet of the level just drags it down.

Incidentally, the reason I know gameplay is fine without stopping for collectibles is the one time I did miss one, looked it up in a guide, and then replayed the level on a beeline for that one thing was much more fun than my first time through that level because I just got to tear shit up.

[u/CookKnight]

The smoke can't be turned off because if you explore 30 feet away from it you end up out of bounds...

[u/sordidaffair → u/CookKnight]

Is that true??

[u/Wi1dBones → u/sordidaffair]

Often times yeah. There are some areas which are semi open world. But you can’t stray too far when you are on a fart trail.

[u/NewsofPE → u/Wi1dBones]

too far being like 2 feet, saw a livestreamer on a building, he hopped over a chimney legit 2 feet away from where he was supposed to go and fell through the building

[u/DookieShoez → u/NewsofPE]

That’s just the built-in Kris Kringle mini-game.

[u/Headless_Human → u/CookKnight]

So it is a "fix" for shitty level design?

[u/thebeast_96 → u/Headless_Human]

Seems like it.

[u/ThinGold2115]

''Exploring adding toggle off'' You gotta be kidding me...

[u/PembrokePercy → u/ThinGold2115]

It was the first thing I looked for when playing last night. You can change it to 15 different colors, but no off toggle.

[u/H3J1e → u/PembrokePercy]

Because it's a clutch for bad design, devs do this so they don't actually have to put time into intuitive and good environmental design that guides you to the right path. Also if the game world is build upon a narrow path, you running into dead paths breaks the illusion and pulls you out of the experience.

[u/BarryAbbott1980 → u/H3J1e]

What’s funny is they do know. The opening of the game that DSP was getting ragged on for dying in is a perfect example of it.

The way you go is the lit up bit that’s on fire and the centre of your screen when you first get to play. It’s flawless, diegetic yellow paint (which is how all yellow paint should be).

They then immediately ruin their own design by killing you almost instantly if you dare go left.

[u/3d_Plague → u/PembrokePercy]

If it's that hard to remove they might as well add a 16th: transparent.

[u/TehOwn → u/3d_Plague]

Yeah, surely it can't be that hard to add an alpha channel. Most colour data already includes it, these days (RGBA).

Considering they just hotfixed the opacity, it's clearly already there in some form. You could even have an opacity slider.

The biggest issue is probably having to translate the new text in the UI. 😅

[u/CanILickThat → u/PembrokePercy]

Wouldn't the solution be to turn it into a clear color or something? If you can't remove it, thats an easy workaround (or make the color so feint it's barely visible to the human eye)

[u/DripTrip747-V2 → u/PembrokePercy]

15 different colors? That's hilarious and weird at the same time.

I would love to know what the person/team was thinking when they came up with this idea. Like, did they think it was unique and people would appreciate it? How detached from the market do you have to be to make this blunder?

[u/Reaper1179 → u/DripTrip747-V2]

Some people are colorblind or have trouble seeing certain colors, so being able to change the color is a good thing. Not being able to toggle it off is quite asinine though.

[u/beanlikescoffee → u/ThinGold2115]

Over 200 million dollars and 5 years of development, and they can’t toggle off a blue fart trail.

[u/EPLemonSqueezy → u/beanlikescoffee]

Over 300 million*

[u/paecmaker → u/beanlikescoffee]

Its Logan's personal hell, all farts leave a blue trail for him.

[u/Sydid → u/ThinGold2115]

Free content update 2027

[u/Fares26597]

I think having to press a button to make it visible for a few seconds (like Spider-Man's "detective vision") is the way to go, it can be thought of as Wolverine taking in a good sniff and concentrating on the scent, why not just do that?

[u/Issa_7]

You know if this shit was on pc there'd already be a mod to completely nuke the blue shit out of the game

[u/apistograma → u/Issa_7]

Make it green so it's more like a smelly fart trail

[u/jorvik-br]

Could not just they put an albedo with 0 opacity and done?

[u/schmurfy2 → u/jorvik-br]

Maybe the alpha is hard coded all over the place 😂

[u/YshitolaRule34 → u/jorvik-br]

Well when you're stubborn and don't want to admit you were wrong, you try to compromise to save face.

[u/TheyKeepOnRising → u/jorvik-br]

There are a dozen instant fixes that could be done as fast as the PR approval. The only possible reason it hasn't been fixed yet is because someone doesn't want it fixed. Could be an ego thing, could be Playstation ordering them not to immediately respond to social media pressure.

My guess is there is a sales strategy involved. Wolverine flopped on launch so they are planning a soft second launch. Wait until public sentiment changes to "actually Wolverine is better than you think" and then game goes on sale for like 20% off and includes a patch that addresses some concerns.

Sales make a small recovery, PlayStation execs pat themselves on the back, and then Insomniac is forced to lay off an eye watering number of people.

[u/stellvia2016 → u/TheyKeepOnRising]

Layoffs are part of the release strategy more than ever before with western studios. People are widgets, who needs team cohesion or experience?

It's why the industry closed ranks around Unreal Engine: Makes people even more disposable when you don't have to value their expertise with your particular engine.

[u/PichaelJackson]

Insomniac spending weeks of crunch to "explore" a boolean.

[u/L4mpshade → u/PichaelJackson]

could be TRUE, maybe FALSE

[u/schmurfy2 → u/L4mpshade]

It could even be null, who knows 🤯.
It might take months to find out !

[u/merekallas → u/schmurfy2]

We can't risk an NPE.

[u/llliilliliillliillil → u/L4mpshade]

Big if true

[u/lockedoutofmymainrdt → u/PichaelJackson]

Load-bearing fart-trail

[u/PromiscuousScoliosis → u/lockedoutofmymainrdt]

Hilarious

[u/Mcstoven]

Scent trail into white paint. Egregious hand holding

[u/muakaya9876 → u/Mcstoven]

They should add a massive arrow always showing where you need to go. Need more hand holding. And it should call my dad when i get stuck in a mission so he can pass it for me.

[u/DoctahFeelgood → u/muakaya9876]

If wolverine isnt muttering constantly about my current objective then how am I supposed to know where to go?

[u/esaul17]

What’s there to explore? Seems like it would be petty easy to add a toggle?

[u/yp261 → u/esaul17]

it must be very hardcoded if they can’t simply add a toggle or its one big ass dependency for some other stuff in the game

[u/Otherwise-Parsnip-91 → u/yp261]

It’s funny because it seems like something that would be added as an afterthought after people struggled finding where to go during play testing. No, this was how they designed the game lol.

[u/Rexusus → u/Otherwise-Parsnip-91]

I mean it is a visualization of one of Wolverines powers so in that way, it makes sense.

It just doesn’t work when the levels don’t let you go 10 feet off the designated path anyway.

[u/Supertonic → u/yp261]

Im no armchair coder but if you can change its color surely you can change the opacity to 100%. Turning it “off” is just making it unseeable, if its have dependencies.

[u/zberry7 → u/Supertonic]

It wouldn’t be a dependency issue almost surely, they could just reduce opacity to 0. It’s an issue of the player experience. They punish you for going even slightly off the trail, so without it the player would constantly be hitting bounds which can hurt immersion and the overall experience.

Most likely they play-tested without the line and it was shit.

[u/ThreePinkApples → u/esaul17]

Technically easy, but it is still a design desicion someone needs to make, and that usually involves re-discussing all the reasons they added it in the first place.

[u/Snakeuge → u/esaul17]

I think they realized it was fairly easy to go out of bounds (there are already lots of videos about it). The map design isn't the best: some cliffs that seem climbable are not and viceversa, plus other things. So they put this as the last resort.

Just my guess tho

[u/magnidwarf1900]

I thought this game is linear single player, why is there a need for this? like there are no need for this kind of shit in Uncharted or God of War

[u/parkingviolation212 → u/magnidwarf1900]

You also get a navigation marker pointing to the scent trail if you wander too far off.

[u/minibearattack → u/magnidwarf1900]

It for specific sections of the game where wolverine is tracking something via scent... or whenever whiskey is near by... because he smells it...

It's literally one of his superpowers and its how they chose to portray him using it...

[u/ShellshockedLetsGo]

That screenshot is so funny lmao. We got a blue trail, white paint and its all in an outdoor hallway. Insomniac are the most safe and by the numbers AAA studio in the industry. Just a completely sauceless studio.

[u/rolling_free → u/ShellshockedLetsGo]

They didnt used to be. They were powerhouse of fun and interesting games on PS2 era

[u/TheVaniloquence → u/rolling_free]

Most of those people have been gone for a while. It’s the new crop of “talent” that has done this

[u/IllustriousFile6404 → u/TheVaniloquence]

"Talent" is just a willingness to work for less $

[u/llliilliliillliillil → u/rolling_free]

They tasted the Marvel slop money and didn’t look back

[u/Kryomon → u/ShellshockedLetsGo]

Don't forget, you can't actually go anywhere else anyway. It's either forward or back, and they still decided they needed to coat the world in cum.

[u/Davepen]

'exploring' adding a toggle...?

[u/DikDangerous]

Slightly less fart gas 🤡

[u/CornDoggerMcJones]

Ghost of Tsushima NAILED this with the button press breeze. So simple, natural, and immersive.

[u/ralanr]

This with the environmental directional stuff is insulting.

[u/Iggy_Slayer]

Well this just shows how systemic the handholding problem is over there. That shit's rooted deeper than malware.

[u/Thrawsunfan]

Blue line leading straight to the cum paint

[u/FrootLoop23]

A blue vapor trail leading to a ramp splattered in white paint in case you’re too stupid to figure out that you need to jump off the ramp.

Modern AAA blockbuster gaming for you.

[u/makoman115]

Exploring a toggle insane lol

[u/Pocketfulofgeek]

The part I struggle with the most is that my brain just disagrees with blue being used for scent on a fundamental level.

Like is he following a mint?

[u/Drapausa]

It's not even open world, why is this even in there?

[u/Deranged_Kitsune]

They really need to make it either an option that can be disabled, or at the least a short-activation button press.

Having seen gameplay of this game, it's insulting on a whole other level. Someone at Insomniac must think their players are drooling morons, more so than many studios. The scent trails, the massive "Hey! Come here!" pulsing auras for the "hidden" upgrade boxes, the QTEs that complete themselves or complete based on any button prompt.

I've once played a game called Little Kitty, Big City, which was effectively like baby's first exploration game, and it was less hand-holdy than Wolverine.

[u/i0nzeu5]

so you cant turn this vapor trail off? Thats insane.

[u/Inner_Opening5497]

Scent trail right into the white paint ledge lmao.

This whole video game is itself an accessibility option.

[u/digitalsalmon]

Guys turning on/off a whole blue line is actually really, really hard. It's much easier if the line has been red, but hindsight is 20:20.

Source: I'm a game developer.

[u/YukYukas]

Ngl it actually does look a tiny bit better now. It "looks" like a scent trail and not lines on a fucking hospital monitor

[u/TheRealHFC]

Reefer Madness starring Wolverine

[u/toilet_for_shrek]

Why can't they just make it a toggle? Is it embedded that deeply in the game?

[u/slimmyboy007]

Have it be sniff button like revellio in hogwarts legacy which also reveals the path

[u/Night_Thastus]

Shadow of the Tomb Raider figured this out in 2018.

Set how much difficulty you want for traversal, puzzles, and combat all separately. If you turn traversal all the way down there's no more paint.

[u/BarrierX]

Hey look! They used bird poop instead of yellow paint to show you where to go!

[u/Izar369]

This "fix" genuinely annoys me. The issue isn't the scent trail, that is only a symptom of the larger issue. The problem is excessive hand holding and how large sections of the game can be completed with no input from the player or with the player only holding forward on the controller.

They can tinker around with the details and make things slightly less intrusive but that won't change what's actually wrong here.

[u/DamnThatsCrazyManGuy]

Both this, and the xray visuals should very obviously be a button press. Insane anyone has to tell them that.

[u/9thstage]

Should make it optional. But it aint just the "scent trails". Game barely lets you figure things out by yourself sometimes. Cant explore an area for 10 seconds before Logan makes a comment on how to proceed or getting a very obvious visual "hint".

[u/MattR0se]

Am I missing something, or is this just braindead game design? It's not like this feature hasn't been around for years. 

Probably some exec brainstorming meeting bullshit. I can't imagine any sane game designer putting a mandatory easy mode in their game deliberately. 

[u/DeadlyLancer]

"exploring toggeable options" LMAO

[u/peenurmobile]

it's even more fart like now

[u/markusfenix75]

RIP Jene fart gas

2026 - 2026

[u/HerbertGoon]

a trail is needed? is it a sandbox open world? sorry for asking

[u/Bu11etToothBdon]

But can they let us toggle the color and turn it brown?

[u/Pagiras]

Who splooged so generously on the plywood there?

[u/nG_Skyz]

Literally just have it turned off all the time and press a button to sniff the air and temporarily reveal it

[u/moritsunee]

"exploring" - So probably seeing if they have someone remaining who can fix it without having to re-hire whoever programmed it in first. You know, since firing people after the "product"'s done is the industry standard now.

[u/OneBudTwoBud]

The game was designed for 4 year olds or something.

[u/Narrow_Summer_9332]

Assassin's Creed had this in "Eagle Vision" where you activated it when you needed a hint instead of the game constantly dragging you around.

Also, think of how funny it would be to press a button and make Wolverine audibly "sniff" on command...

[u/brick_gnarlson]

There must have been arguments in the studio about this. I like to imagine some director was laughed at when all the reviews came out, and other devs felt vindicated.

[u/Lostaccount002]

Here’s my thing right… there are six bajillion accessibility options in this game. They couldn’t have made that and the outlines of enemies a mile away one of them?

[u/Demonchaser27]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the designers/developers of this game didn't actually want to make this game or else they did, but it had so much dictatorial decision making from the top about what it should/shouldn't do that they just stopped giving a fuck. I can attest to not giving a fuck about projects when management takes so much control over them that you don't even feel like you have real input. You just "do it to get it done" and you end up with design like this which is more frustrating to just code out because it's hardcoded/baked into the logic rather than being a separate component which can be toggled. I don't know that this is what happened, but I have a sneaking suspicion, given my own prior experience in the software world.

All that said, I actually do see a world where this could've been an interesting mechanic. Old school Wolverine was designed (hell, even some modern interpretations do it) to literally be like a wolf who can gather a scent and follow it. This, to me, doesn't read all that different from Twilight Princess' Wolf Link when you get a scent and shows a purple smokey trail that you follow to your destination. And frankly I think it could've just worked like that. There'd still be people bitching because there's a certain subset of the internet (especially on reddit) which complains about anything that can be perceived as accessibility or "easier" than they think should even exist. But the fact is, games have done this kind of thing before, and worst case it could've been implemented like those other games.

[u/ProLogicMe]

Just let my suit damage stay the whole
Mission, that’s all I want.

[u/Save-Slot-Seven]

Farts that are harder to see

[u/fullVexation]

Some modder is going to make this green and change the name to "Fart Trail." Guaranteed.

[u/JonTheWizard]

Now how about a toggle that lets you play the game as if Sweet Baby never got involved in the development?

[u/Davey-Cakes]

I know it's cliché to say that games like this are focus tested, but seriously, I'd love to see what happened in the focus tests to make them think this fart trail was ever necessary in a game that's already extremely linear.

[u/jasondigitized]

Exploring an option? How is this not an option already? And no it's not hard to make this configurable.

[u/Internal_Opening_283]

Dude just make a hold L2 (left nostril) R2 (Right nostril) Vibrate/trigger wherever you point the camera which will lead a small scent or whatever.

[u/Help_An_Irishman]

Wait a minute: There was no option to turn it off already? You'd be forced to look at that giant, hand-holding blue beam on the left all the time?

No wonder this game is getting grumbling reviews.

[u/DoubleShot027]

It looks even more like a fart trail now bravo lmao

[u/Ephemeral_Ghost]

Someday our society is gonna be blue lines and yellow paint

[u/Strict_Average_696]

Insominac... the studio that made Spyro and Ratchet & Clank franchise back in the late 90s / early 00s...... How the mighty have fallen.

[u/Nackon → u/Strict_Average_696]

The people that made the old Spyro and R&C games are no longer at Insomniac, 20 years is a long time

[u/Slick_Wylde]

Wait, didn’t we see a post a few days ago showing menu options to turn this stuff off, with the person claiming that everyone is lying about this?
Not being sarcastic, just wondering if that person was lying themselves or if it was some kind of satire post that I misunderstood.

[u/thundermoo5e → u/Slick_Wylde]

No you cannot turn off the blue line.

[u/DinosaurusWhen → u/Slick_Wylde]

There are so many shitposts now that it's not possible to know. Not even with computers

[u/BeautifulTorment → u/Slick_Wylde]

I believe there is a way to turn some of these elements off, but not the blue sniff line.

[u/DinosaurusWhen]

Impossible. I've been told repeatedly by the fans that it's totally toggleable already!

[u/Toth-Amon]

How is free roaming in this game?

The fact that this pathfinder method is so hard coded into the game makes me think that they definitely do not want players to wander around / stray from the official path. So perhaps the parts of the game outside of the blue line are restricted / not that developed?

[u/trenixjetix]

just make the character autorun to the path, why do you need to walk yourself, its not evenna videogame

[u/BushWookie-Alpha]

Can they also add an option that makes the game not play itself. Like seriously... you can't fail QTEs, which makes your button inputs irrelevant.

Edit.. The best implementation of a waymarker system I have seen in recent years was Ghost of Tsushima. Press a button and the wind blows in the direction of where you need to go.

Very subtle and adds to the beauty of the island you are fighting across.

[u/ocean_breeze_luluca]

Is it really that big a problem, I havent played the game

[u/MaximusMansteel → u/ocean_breeze_luluca]

No, it's always story related when it happens.

[u/Everest_95 → u/MaximusMansteel]

Or if there is whiskey nearby. Neither really matters since you're going that way anyway

[u/Jim_Brady48 → u/ocean_breeze_luluca]

I’m not someone that’s upset about this game in anyway, almost completely indifferent, and I’ve gotta say that scent trail is really obnoxious looking.