Grimrock

I keep seeing posts about how the compass is broken.. But it seems to be working just fine for me. Is there some kinda bug that breaks it?

so far the thing always points north to me.. Just currious what the possible issues could be.

some of us are used to games where the 'compass' points in the direction you're going. so, if you're pointed east, the arrow points east.

this is a 'true' compass, always pointing north.

that's the cause of confusion.

There are not issues. You've just become aware of the incredibly sad fact that there's a bunch of people running around the world that don't actually comprehend what a compass does. This isn't a "brain fart" situation...because they actually take the time to analyze it, confirm their suspicions, then post on an internet forum about it. Yep, they actually don't understand what the tool "compass" DOES.

I know. Take deep breaths.

Ah nah its just an easy mistake. Many other games orient you by telling you which cardinal direction you are facing with. In short people were thinking when its facing up you're facing north, when its pointing to the right you're facing east etc. It's not that they don't understand how a compass works necessarily, its that they got used to different interfaces in different games.

**Edit.

affa wrote:some of us are used to games where the 'compass' points in the direction you're going. so, if you're pointed east, the arrow points east.

this is a 'true' compass, always pointing north.

Exactamundo.

Yeah, I was one of them who made the mistake.

affa wrote:some of us are used to games where the 'compass' points in the direction you're going. so, if you're pointed east, the arrow points east.

this is a 'true' compass, always pointing north.

that's the cause of confusion.

You're not "used to a compass" that does anything of the sort. If a compass "always pointed in the direction you're going", it would never move now would it? Please, just stop for a second and actually think about what you're saying. It would ALWAYS point "forward". What information is that providing you? How would you know you were facing East if the compass always pointed FORWARD?

King Semos wrote:Ah nah its just an easy mistake. Many other games orient you by telling you which cardinal direction you are facing with. In short people were thinking when its facing up you're facing north, when its pointing to the right you're facing east etc. It's not that they don't understand how a compass works necessarily, its that they got used to different interfaces in different games.

That's not a compass.

jfunk wrote:

affa wrote:some of us are used to games where the 'compass' points in the direction you're going. so, if you're pointed east, the arrow points east.

this is a 'true' compass, always pointing north.

that's the cause of confusion.

You're not "used to a compass" that does anything of the sort. If a compass "always pointed in the direction you're going", it would never move now would it? Please, just stop for a second and actually think about what you're saying. It would ALWAYS point "forward". What information is that providing you? How would you know you were facing East if the compass always pointed FORWARD?

Um. What are you talking about? It would still move - it would point East when you face East, etc. And yes, tons of games have what many would call a 'compass' (even thought it's not a 'true' compass) in the corner of the screen which points in the cardinal direction you're facing. Grimrock uses a 'true' compass, which is actually rare in games. Awesome, but rare. Many of us are trained to look at an in-game compass and expect the 'game' type of compass.

jfunk wrote:

King Semos wrote:Ah nah its just an easy mistake. Many other games orient you by telling you which cardinal direction you are facing with. In short people were thinking when its facing up you're facing north, when its pointing to the right you're facing east etc. It's not that they don't understand how a compass works necessarily, its that they got used to different interfaces in different games.

That's not a compass.

There is more than one type of compass, specifically the alternative compass is a "Card Compass" or "Marine Compass". It differs from most other compasses because it uses a fixed needle, relying on a moving compass card for directional readings. In short this means the needle always points to the cardinal direction of which its facing. So if you point it east, the needle is marking east.


In which case, if the in game compass was a Card Compass, it would be broken.

affa wrote:Um. What are you talking about? It would still move - it would point East when you face East, etc. And yes, tons of games have a compass in the corner of the screen which points in the cardinal direction you're facing. Grimrock uses a 'true' compass, which is actually rare in games. Awesome, but rare. Many of us are trained to look at an in-game compass and expect the 'game' type of compass.

I think what he's telling you to do is think about real life: If a compass always points the direction you are facing, it is always pointing away from you (i.e. "forward"). This is a relatively pointless device.

A compass is a pretty straightforward and simple device, regardless if other games have bastardized the concept to point an arrow in the "direction you're facing", (which is counter-intuitive, since you're really always facing "forward"), and as I've already mentioned on the other thread, it's somewhere between comical and sad how many people are unable to understand how an actual compass works.

King Semos wrote:There is more than one type of compass, specifically the alternative compass is a "Card Compass" or "Marine Compass". It differs from most other compasses because it uses a fixed needle, relying on a moving compass card for directional readings. In short this means the needle always points to the cardinal direction of which its facing. So if you point it east, the needle is marking east.


In which case, if the in game compass was a Card Compass, it would be broken.

The compass in Grimrock doesn't have N,S,E,W on it does it? It doesn't even have more than a single double ended pointer on it does it? How exactly would it be mistaken for a marine compass?

I'd actually love to hear the description of this thought process. Somebody hands you a compass. it has a single double-ended pointer on it. One end is colored and the other end is not. Describe the thought process that leads you from this moment in time to "I'm holding a marine compass".

EDIT: By the way, the description the OP thinks he's giving of a "compass" doesn't even match a marine compass, in case that wasn't clear. It's entirely obvious that he's not describing a marine compass, since he insists the arrow SHOULD move. We're not talking about a moving bezel or a suspended sphere here...we're talking about an arrow that points a different direction when you turn.