The Sinking City is a third-person open world action-adventure game developed by Frogwares. It is based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
First released on June 27, 2019, and two days earlier for pre-orders, the game was published by Nacon and distributed exclusively through Epic Games Store.[1] Following a dispute between the developer and the publisher, the game became unavailable for purchase on the store in July 2020, and was self-published by Frogwares on platforms including Gamesplanet and Origin, offering paid content previously exclusive to Nintendo Switch.[2][3]
After a preliminary court ruling found the publishing contract termination by Frogwares unlawful, the developer had the game briefly available on Steam during the day of January 5, 2021.[4][5] The game returned to the platform on February 26 with Nacon as the publisher, followed by the developer advising against purchasing this version and accusing the publisher of piracy.[6] A copyright violation claim caused the game to be removed from Steam on March 2.[7][8] In response, Nacon referred to the earlier court order, and asserted that the contract between the parties allowed them to adapt and distribute the game.[9] The game appeared on Steam again in late June and rendered its existing save game data incompatible.[10][11] On January 2, 2024, the legal dispute was resolved in Frogwares' favor, with the company being the sole valid publisher for the game.[12]
General information
- Official wiki
- GOG.com Community Discussions
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions of the Nacon release
- Steam Community Discussions of the Frogwares release
Availability
Version differences
- Day One physical edition includes a printed map of Oakmont, the Investigator Pack and Chicago Organ Grinder DLC.
- Deluxe Edition includes Worshipers of the Necronomicon and Merciful Madness DLC.
- Necronomicon Edition includes Worshipers of the Necronomicon and Investigator Pack DLC.
- Deluxe Edition published by Frogwares on Steam included all DLC.[16]
- Digital pre-orders included Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter, Chicago Organ Grinder, Extra Skill Point DLC, and two days of early access.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
Name |
Notes |
|
Worshipers of the Necronomicon |
Extra side quests - Breaking News, Blood from A Stone, Mystic Tomes.[17] Completing the latter grants the Cultist outfit. |
|
Merciful Madness |
Extra side quests - Darling of Fortune, Fool's Gold and Defunct Brain Cylinders.[18] Previously exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version.[3] |
|
Investigator Pack |
Daywear outfit, 21 crafting materials, first aid kit and antipsychotics consumables always available at the Devil's Reef hotel.[17] |
|
Chicago Organ Grinder |
A golden submachine gun available in the inventory from the start of the game.[17] |
|
Extra Skill Point Experience Boost |
An extra knowledge point and 500 XP available from the start of the game.[17] |
|
Microtransactions
Type |
Notes |
Cosmetic
| Investigator Pack DLC contains a character outfit. |
Finite spend
| All consumable and cosmetic items are offered as DLC to own. |
Essential improvements
Skip intro videos
Remove the video files[19]
|
- Go to
<path-to-game>\TSCGame\Content\Movies\
- Remove or rename
Start_video_Frog.mp4 , UE4_Logo.mp4 and UE4_Logo_BB.mp4 .
- A game update may restore the files.
- The image-based intros will remain, although easily skippable with button presses.
|
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
Video
- The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unreal Engine 4 page for more details.
See the related Steam guide on changing the FOV per view by modifying a config file
|
- This method cannot change the field of view of interactive conversations.
|
Use an external tool to fine-tune FOV in real time[19]
|
- Download the FOV changer.
- Launch the game and wait for it to load.
- Run the tool and press the buttons to increase and decrease FOV as instructed.
- Affects the field of view of interactive conversations.
|
Increase FOV by making it vertical through a config file[27]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
Engine.ini in a text editor.
- Add the following lines:
[/Script/Engine.LocalPlayer]
AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainYFOV
- A significant increase from the default 16:9 value.
- This method cannot change the field of view of interactive conversations.
|
Edit the config file[28]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
GameUserSettings.ini in a text editor.
- Locate
FrameRateLimit=0.000000 and set the value to the desired FPS cap.
|
Enable TAA sharpening through the config file[29]
|
- This makes the game appear less blurry when anti-aliasing is on.
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
Engine.ini in a text editor.
- Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.TemporalAACurrentFrameWeight=0.2
r.Tonemapper.Sharpen=1
|
Enable super-sampling through the config file[27]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
Engine.ini in a text editor.
- Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.ScreenPercentage=150
- The 150 stands for percentage of the base resolution, equal to 1.5x. Any other value above 100 can be used.
|
Bloom
Disable bloom through the config file[29]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
Engine.ini in a text editor.
- Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.BloomQuality=0
|
Chromatic aberration
Disable chromatic aberration through the config file[30]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
Engine.ini in a text editor.
- Add the following lines and save the file:
[SystemSettings]
r.SceneColorFringeQuality=0
|
Depth of field
Disable depth of field through the config file[31]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
Engine.ini in a text editor.
- Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0
|
Film grain
Disable film grain through the config file[29]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
Engine.ini in a text editor.
- Add the following lines:
[SystemSettings]
r.Tonemapper.Quality=0
|
Input
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
|
Master, SFX, music, voices, ambient, interface. |
Surround sound |
|
[35] |
Subtitles |
|
|
Closed captions |
|
|
Mute on focus lost |
|
|
Royalty free audio |
|
|
Localizations
- Language selection is only available from the main menu Gameplay settings.
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
|
|
|
Arabic |
|
|
|
|
Simplified Chinese |
|
|
|
|
Traditional Chinese |
|
|
|
|
Czech |
|
|
|
|
French |
|
|
|
|
German |
|
|
|
|
Italian |
|
|
|
|
Japanese |
|
|
|
|
Korean |
|
|
|
|
Polish |
|
|
|
|
Brazilian Portuguese |
|
|
|
|
Russian |
|
|
|
|
Spanish |
|
|
|
|
Turkish |
|
|
|
|
Ukrainian |
|
|
|
|
VR support
Issues unresolved
Shader compilation stutter
Multiple high-end hardware users have reported shader compilation related stutters.[36][37][38][39] The developers acknowledged the issue.[40]
Issues fixed
Save data incompatibility on Steam
Any save files made with DLC content, including files created in the February 2021 Steam version published by Nacon, are incompatible with the latest game version of that branch.[41][42]
Crashing at gun pickup
AMD users reported crashing upon picking up the pistol at the starting location.
Set Post process to Low in the Video settings until after the pistol is picked up.[43]
|
Crashing at boat interaction
Pressing A on an Xbox 360 controller to get on the protagonist's small boat may cause the game to crash.[44]
Press X to get on and off the boat.[45]
|
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
11 |
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
|
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
Physics |
PhysX |
|
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
7 |
10 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core i3 3 GHz AMD Phenom X6 3 GHz |
Intel Core i7-3770 3.5 GHz AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz AMD Ryzen 5 1400 |
System memory (RAM) |
6 GB |
8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
35 GB |
40 GB |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 AMD Radeon R9 380X 2 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 AMD Radeon R9 290 4 GB of VRAM Shader model 5.0 support |
- A 64-bit operating system is required.
Notes
- ↑ Unreal Engine 4 engine build: 4.20.1
- ↑ Despite being listed as DRM-free on the storefront, the game uses an account-based DRM and requires installation and launching through the Frogwares Launcher.[15]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
References
- ↑ The Sinking City and Epic Games store - last accessed on 2021-02-28
- ↑ [1] - last accessed on 2021-02-28
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 [2] - last accessed on 2020-07-02
- ↑ The Sinking City drama resumes: Frogwares warns fans not to buy it on Steam - last accessed on 2021-02-27
- ↑ Package » The Sinking City - last accessed on 2021-03-02
- ↑ Update: The Sinking City Developer Frogwares Accuses Publisher Nacon of Piracy - last accessed on 2021-03-02
- ↑ 'The Sinking City' Developer Uses DMCA to Remove Its Own Game From Steam - last accessed on 2021-03-03
- ↑ Displaying change U:11745207 - last accessed on 2021-03-02
- ↑ Nacon accuses Frogwares of "sabotaging our investments" in The Sinking City - last accessed on 2021-03-23
- ↑ [3] - last accessed on 2021-06-26
- ↑ [4] - last accessed on 2021-06-26
- ↑ The Sinking City on X: "Folks, we got some big news! Frogwares is now the sole publisher of The Sinking City on all platforms! We're happy to finally put this whole thing behind us, and we look forward to sharing more news about the future of the franchise very soon. Please read our full statement https://t.co/IxWblqbYmP" / X - last accessed on 2024-01-02
- ↑ [5] - last accessed on 2021-01-05
- ↑ [6] - last accessed on 2024-01-03
- ↑ Verified by User:Aemony on 2020-07-01
- Verified myself by purchasing the game through the official website. The Frogwares Launcher looks to be a variant of the Xsolla Launcher, and is seemingly only used to launch and update The Sinking City. Launching the game outside of the launcher is not possible as the executables throws the error message: "Please use Frogwares Launcher to launch the game."
- ↑ Bundles » The Sinking City Deluxe Edition - last accessed on 2021-02-26
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 FAQ - last accessed on 2019-06-27
- ↑ What is the Merciful Madness DLC? - last accessed on 2021-04-10
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
- ↑ [7] - last accessed on 2021-02-27
- ↑ [8] - last accessed on 2021-02-27
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
- Tested at custom resolutions of 3840x1080 and 5760x1080, screenshots compared to 16:9.
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
- Tested at the native resolution of 2560x1080, screenshots compared to 16:9.
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
- Tested at the custom resolution of 3840x2160.
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-11-22
- r.MaxAnisotropy gets set from 0 to 8 depending on the quality setting, as seen in the console.
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-26
- TAA is commonly used in Unreal Engine 4 games. The other things pointing at it are the blurriness of the image, config-forced TAA quality options affecting it, and config-forced FXAA removing the blur.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-26
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
- Set to 120.000000 and saw it reflected in the game.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-26
- Screenshots taken and compared.
- ↑ Verified by User:Darktalon on 2019-12-17
- ↑ Disable depth of field in dialogues? - last accessed on 2021-02-27
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
- No dedicated option and no acceleration in my testing at the lowest sensitivity.
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-29
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 34.6 Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
- Tested with an Xbox 360 Razer Onza controller.
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-06-25
- The rear speakers were used for positional audio.
- ↑ The Sinking City - PC Stuttering Issues + Benchmark Scene - last accessed on 2019-06-26
- ↑ (PC) Stuttering/hitching, any fix? - last accessed on 2019-06-26
- ↑ No longer get 60FPS? - last accessed on 2019-06-26
- ↑ Frame rate is not stable - last accessed on 2019-06-27
- ↑ The Sinking City - Official feedback thread - last accessed on 2019-06-28
- ↑ The sinking city not loading save after update. Missing DLC - last accessed on 2021-06-30
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2021-06-30
- Tested both the Epic version save files and prior Steam build save files.
- ↑ The Sinking City - Official feedback thread - user comments - last accessed on 2019-06-28
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-07-03
- Tried and crashed to "Fatal error" 5 times with different boats, with an Xbox 360 Razer Onza controller.
- ↑ Verified by User:Rose on 2019-07-05
- This helps, although pressing A by mistake will still lead to a crash.