Posted October 07, 2021
high rated
I need help, I have a problem with the game.
First, please first check a Troubleshooting thread. In case you don't see a solution there nor nothing appears after a quick look at other threads, please reach us via our customer support.
Is it a new game or an old one?
Blade of Darkness was originally released back in 2001. This is a re-release and it introduces much needed technical improvements to bring it up to speed with modern software and hardware.
What did you improve compared to the original game?
The most important thing we did is ensured that the game can be launched and played again. Here you can see the patch notes.
The game is actually called Severance: Blade of Darkness, Blade: The Edge of Darkness. Why do you call it Blade of Darkness?
At the time the game was released it had different names in different regions. The Spanish speaking community knows it as Blade: The Edge of Darkness, in Europe it was called Severance: Blade of Darkness, while in North America it was known as Blade of Darkness. These names appeared based on the fact the game was distributed in retail (there was no digital distribution at that time) by different companies in these regions and each of them wanted to highlight something they believed is more important for the local gamer. Nowadays we have one global market and we've decided to use the most common element between these three names - "Blade of Darkness".
Who are you? Whom am I supporting by purchasing this game?
SNEG is a small boutique publisher focusing on the re-mastering and distribution of old gaming gems. We want to believe we have a taste for games, a true admiration of the classics, and a desire to bring more entertainment delights from all eras of the gaming culture of today. When it comes to Blade of Darkness, we've signed it with the original Rebel Act founders. Also, quite a few of the original game developers helped us in the process of bringing it back to life and we can't express how grateful we are for their support.
So, is it a remaster of Blade of Darkness from 2001?
No, it’s a re-release. The idea behind it is to bring the original Blade’s experience in its initial form plus several quality-of-life improvements which can’t be ignored in 2021.
Did you implement controller support?
Starting from v83, the game features a full controller support.
I already bought the game back in the days on GOG, do I need to pay again?
We've proposed to the GOG team to allow gamers who bought the game on their platform before to get access to this re-release for free. They've agreed and we all hope you'll enjoy it.
What are your plans for the game's support?
Regardless of any other circumstances we will ensure the game will work across as many systems as possible. As for new (and old) features, we’d wholeheartedly love to bring them to the game but only time will tell if it’s possible.
Can I use existing mods for Blade of Darkness (e.g. HD mod)?
We've tried to be as non-invasive as possible, so, in theory they should, but we don’t know for sure. The HD mod by SrRaulCL should work though, as he has prepared a V4 version based on this new version of the game.
What is this legacy build I've downloaded together with the game?
This bonus content is a version of the game from 2001 but with several fixes (compared to 2013’s GOG release):
-fixed black screen intro on Windows 10
-fixed loading screen freezes
-fixed crashes at launch
-updated nGlide software to the latest version
It doesn’t work on all systems, crashes and glitches are to be expected. Moreover, we will not be supporting this version going further - it is provided as is. We've decided to work on it as we believe for some of you it’s important to have the very original Blade. Sadly, there is a limit to what can be fixed without touching the game’s code, so we believe this is as good as it gets.
Could you explain what all those launch options are?
Play (the default launch button in GOG Galaxy) - launches the new version of the game (re-release)
Play (old version) - launches the original, 2001 build with several fixes applied using reverse engineering. It also utilizes the latest and tailored for this release nGlide software. All of this improves compatibility with Windows 10.
Launch a configurator (old version) - this launches nGlide’s config tool, which could help you to tweak the game’s performance, especially if you’re running into issues with launching this legacy build with the default settings.
Are my old save games from the original game compatible with this re-release?
They should work, but there are possible issues. The best we can say, there is no full compatibility but you should try it.
Does the Cloud Saves feature work for both re-release and old versions?
Yes! Both versions support cloud saves and we've configured them to sync independently. This means you won’t accidentally remove / overwrite your saves from the new version if you’ll create a save while playing the old version.
Previously I was able to access the game's console. Where is it now?
In GOG Galaxy, while at Blade of Darkness game page, click on the settings icon next to 'Play' button, go to 'Manage Installation' --> 'Configure..'. Turn on 'Custom executables', scroll down click 'Add another executable'. There find Blade.exe in the game's folder and add the following in the 'Arguments' field:
-console
What about OpenGL? The original game had it.
The re-release also comes with OpenGL renderer but as a power-user feature. Please note, all our QA tests were performed on DirectX 11 application (we recommend to stick to it), so you might encounter visual glitches by playing with OpenGL or other issues.
In GOG Galaxy, while at Blade of Darkness game page, click on the settings icon next to 'Play' button, go to 'Manage Installation' --> 'Configure..'. Turn on 'Custom executables', scroll down click 'Add another executable'. There find Blade.exe in the game's folder and add the following in the 'Arguments' field:
-opengl
Where is 32bit support?!
32bit machines constitute 0.3% of all PCs on Steam (based on Sep 2021 Steam’s Hardware Survey). There is no data regarding GOG users, but we believe this is representative to PC gamers in general. On the other side, being a 64bit application allows to build a foundation for the game's long term support.
What is this Sentry thing you’ve put in the game?
Sentry is a tool which enables us to collect logs and crash dumps in case of fatal errors. It does not collect any PII (personally identifiable information), nor spies on your machine or does anything funny. You can see an example of its report and read a bit more in the game's EULA, which is available in GOG Galaxy prior to installing the game (if you want to have a glance at the example of the report check this screenshot). We hope for your understanding, as this is a crucial component which helps us to address critical issues within the game.
First, please first check a Troubleshooting thread. In case you don't see a solution there nor nothing appears after a quick look at other threads, please reach us via our customer support.
Is it a new game or an old one?
Blade of Darkness was originally released back in 2001. This is a re-release and it introduces much needed technical improvements to bring it up to speed with modern software and hardware.
What did you improve compared to the original game?
The most important thing we did is ensured that the game can be launched and played again. Here you can see the patch notes.
The game is actually called Severance: Blade of Darkness, Blade: The Edge of Darkness. Why do you call it Blade of Darkness?
At the time the game was released it had different names in different regions. The Spanish speaking community knows it as Blade: The Edge of Darkness, in Europe it was called Severance: Blade of Darkness, while in North America it was known as Blade of Darkness. These names appeared based on the fact the game was distributed in retail (there was no digital distribution at that time) by different companies in these regions and each of them wanted to highlight something they believed is more important for the local gamer. Nowadays we have one global market and we've decided to use the most common element between these three names - "Blade of Darkness".
Who are you? Whom am I supporting by purchasing this game?
SNEG is a small boutique publisher focusing on the re-mastering and distribution of old gaming gems. We want to believe we have a taste for games, a true admiration of the classics, and a desire to bring more entertainment delights from all eras of the gaming culture of today. When it comes to Blade of Darkness, we've signed it with the original Rebel Act founders. Also, quite a few of the original game developers helped us in the process of bringing it back to life and we can't express how grateful we are for their support.
So, is it a remaster of Blade of Darkness from 2001?
No, it’s a re-release. The idea behind it is to bring the original Blade’s experience in its initial form plus several quality-of-life improvements which can’t be ignored in 2021.
Did you implement controller support?
Starting from v83, the game features a full controller support.
I already bought the game back in the days on GOG, do I need to pay again?
We've proposed to the GOG team to allow gamers who bought the game on their platform before to get access to this re-release for free. They've agreed and we all hope you'll enjoy it.
What are your plans for the game's support?
Regardless of any other circumstances we will ensure the game will work across as many systems as possible. As for new (and old) features, we’d wholeheartedly love to bring them to the game but only time will tell if it’s possible.
Can I use existing mods for Blade of Darkness (e.g. HD mod)?
We've tried to be as non-invasive as possible, so, in theory they should, but we don’t know for sure. The HD mod by SrRaulCL should work though, as he has prepared a V4 version based on this new version of the game.
What is this legacy build I've downloaded together with the game?
This bonus content is a version of the game from 2001 but with several fixes (compared to 2013’s GOG release):
-fixed black screen intro on Windows 10
-fixed loading screen freezes
-fixed crashes at launch
-updated nGlide software to the latest version
It doesn’t work on all systems, crashes and glitches are to be expected. Moreover, we will not be supporting this version going further - it is provided as is. We've decided to work on it as we believe for some of you it’s important to have the very original Blade. Sadly, there is a limit to what can be fixed without touching the game’s code, so we believe this is as good as it gets.
Could you explain what all those launch options are?
Play (the default launch button in GOG Galaxy) - launches the new version of the game (re-release)
Play (old version) - launches the original, 2001 build with several fixes applied using reverse engineering. It also utilizes the latest and tailored for this release nGlide software. All of this improves compatibility with Windows 10.
Launch a configurator (old version) - this launches nGlide’s config tool, which could help you to tweak the game’s performance, especially if you’re running into issues with launching this legacy build with the default settings.
Are my old save games from the original game compatible with this re-release?
They should work, but there are possible issues. The best we can say, there is no full compatibility but you should try it.
Does the Cloud Saves feature work for both re-release and old versions?
Yes! Both versions support cloud saves and we've configured them to sync independently. This means you won’t accidentally remove / overwrite your saves from the new version if you’ll create a save while playing the old version.
Previously I was able to access the game's console. Where is it now?
In GOG Galaxy, while at Blade of Darkness game page, click on the settings icon next to 'Play' button, go to 'Manage Installation' --> 'Configure..'. Turn on 'Custom executables', scroll down click 'Add another executable'. There find Blade.exe in the game's folder and add the following in the 'Arguments' field:
-console
What about OpenGL? The original game had it.
The re-release also comes with OpenGL renderer but as a power-user feature. Please note, all our QA tests were performed on DirectX 11 application (we recommend to stick to it), so you might encounter visual glitches by playing with OpenGL or other issues.
In GOG Galaxy, while at Blade of Darkness game page, click on the settings icon next to 'Play' button, go to 'Manage Installation' --> 'Configure..'. Turn on 'Custom executables', scroll down click 'Add another executable'. There find Blade.exe in the game's folder and add the following in the 'Arguments' field:
-opengl
Where is 32bit support?!
32bit machines constitute 0.3% of all PCs on Steam (based on Sep 2021 Steam’s Hardware Survey). There is no data regarding GOG users, but we believe this is representative to PC gamers in general. On the other side, being a 64bit application allows to build a foundation for the game's long term support.
What is this Sentry thing you’ve put in the game?
Sentry is a tool which enables us to collect logs and crash dumps in case of fatal errors. It does not collect any PII (personally identifiable information), nor spies on your machine or does anything funny. You can see an example of its report and read a bit more in the game's EULA, which is available in GOG Galaxy prior to installing the game (if you want to have a glance at the example of the report check this screenshot). We hope for your understanding, as this is a crucial component which helps us to address critical issues within the game.
Post edited December 20, 2021 by snow_panda
