Observation

Observation

Developers
	No Code
Publishers
	Devolver Digital
Engines
	Unity 2017
Release dates
Windows	May 21, 2019
Reception
Metacritic	79
OpenCritic	76
IGDB	82
Taxonomy
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Perspectives	First-person
Genres	Adventure, Puzzle
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Sci-fi, Space

General information

Official developer support page and FAQ - for all games from No Code

Official Discord server - includes a dedicated Observation channel

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Epic Games Store		DRM-free when launched from the executable.
GOG.com
Humble Store		Choice between Epic Games Store activation and a Steam key.
Microsoft Store		Xbox Play Anywhere.
Steam

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\No Code Studio\Observation\
Microsoft Store	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\DevolverDigital.ObservationXB1_6kzv4j18v0c96\SystemAppData\wgs\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/906100/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\No Code Studio\Observation\SaveGames\
Microsoft Store	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\DevolverDigital.ObservationXB1_6kzv4j18v0c96\SystemAppData\wgs\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/906100/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Graphics settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Intentionally letterboxed at every aspect ratio. Use the community mod to remove the black bars.
Multi-monitor		See Ultra-widescreen.
Ultra-widescreen		See Ultra-widescreen.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Enable windowed mode and use the -popupwindow parameter (or see the glossary page).
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Part of every graphics preset from Simple and up, with no separate option.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA, SMAA, TAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Limited to the monitor refresh rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unity page for more details.

Ultra-widescreen

The game defaults to the desktop resolution on first launch. Accessing the options menu enforces its 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions.

Use the community patcher to remove the maximum resolution limit

After patching, select the highest available resolution above native to have the game set to native. (e.g. selecting 3840x2160 at 3440x1440 will have the game set to 3440x1440 without it being reflected in the listed resolution) Results in Hor+ scaling and Vert- behavior from letterboxing. The letterboxing can be removed with a mod. Prevents the game from enforcing its hardcoded resolutions upon menu access. Mouse pointer is always confined to 16:9, forcing to use other input devices to navigate the main menu at 48:9 resolutions.

Set any width and height through the config

Launch the game and set its options as preferred, then quit. Go to the configuration file(s) location. Locate the lines that start with Screenmanager Resolution Height and Screenmanager Resolution Width. Double-click one, select Decimal and enter the desired height or width, then click OK. Repeat the step for the other. Run the game and avoid accessing the options or the pause menu (Esc). Results in Hor+ scaling and Vert- behavior from letterboxing. The letterboxing can be removed with a mod. Mouse pointer is always confined to 16:9, forcing to use other input devices to navigate the main menu at 48:9 resolutions.

Input

Controls settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Some keys are not remappable.
Mouse acceleration		Sphere look is affected by negative mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity		Look Sensitivity is for the spheres.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Applies to mouse control of the spheres, and to keyboard camera movement.
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		Vibration toggle.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Gameplay settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions		Most of the environmental sounds are not captioned.
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish

Issues unresolved

Controls hints cut off at wider resolutions

Temporarily setting the game resolution to one with less width will allow to see the hints.

Issues fixed

Controls settings arrow is not functional

Instead of clicking with the mouse, press the arrow button on the keyboard or the controller to access the Camera Control bindings.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11
Shader Model support	4.0

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	FMOD
Input	Rewired

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7	7, 8, 8.1, 10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i3-3240 3.4 GHz AMD FX-4300 3.8 GHz	Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5 GHz Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz
System memory (RAM)	4 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	12 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GT 640 AMD Radeon HD 7750	Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 AMD Radeon RX 570

A 64-bit operating system is required.