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Game Breaking Bug in Skyward Sword. (Spoilers)

BY2K

Membero Americo
It's been discussed once on our forums when someone encountered the bug, but now it seems to spread pretty much everywhere. There is a game breaking bug in Skyward Sword that causes the game to not trigger an event during the Song of the Hero quest, which prevents you from finishing the game and forces you to start anew.

The bug can occur with either the Faron or Eldin part of the quests. If you do the Thunder Dragon first, there is a chance the events at the Sealed Grounds and Eldin Volcano won't trigger at all.

It's unclear why the issue occurs, and the only knows prerequisite is that you do the Thunder Dragon at Lanayru first.

It might not be a bug that occurs 100% of the time. But it's pretty late in the game (almost at the end) and it sucks to have to restart a new game after 25-30 hours. I tried to reproduced the bug myself using a backup save file but it didn't occurred.

If you encountered the bug and have any info, please share them.

One possibility is when you have the Seed of the Tree of Life in your inventory, it cancels the event in the Sealed Grounds so you can go plant the seed in the past and return to the present to get the fruit. I think this might have something to do with it.
My theory is that:

1. You get the Seed of the tree.
2. Go to the past.
3. Plant the seed.
4 Return to the present and get the fruit.
5. Save and quit the game.
6. Return to the game and continue normally.
 

Aeana

Member
That's pretty lame. I just did them in the order you originally visit the areas, as I expect most people do. Lame that such a bug made it through.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I had been thinking about making this thread, but didn't get to it. Glad someone else did!

Here is the video I recorded showing the glitch happening (or rather nothing happening when a cutscene is supposed to be triggered): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNO7nrSu260

It's unclear why the issue occurs, and the only knows prerequisite is that you do the Thunder Dragon at Lanayru first.

That's not accurate. You don't have to to Lanayru first, you just have to leave either Faron or Eldin for last. I did Faron first, then Lanayru, and now can't do Eldin.

One possibility is when you have the Seed of the Tree of Life in your inventory, it cancels the event in the Sealed Grounds so you can go plant the seed in the past and return to the present to get the fruit. I think this might have something to do with it.
My theory is that:

1. You get the Seed of the tree.
2. Go to the past.
3. Plant the seed.
4 Return to the present and get the fruit.
5. Save and quit the game.
6. Return to the game and continue normally.

Nope, that's not it. I did that sequence the normal way, in one go (and like I said, I did Faron first):

(0. Finished Faron.)
1. Went to Lanayru, and made my way to the dragon.
2. Found out he was sick and needed the fruit.
3. Got the sapling.
4. Went to the Sealed Temple, went back in time, and planted the sapling.
5. Returned to the present and got the fruit.
6. Went back to Lanayru, gave the fruit to the dragon, and learned the second part of the song.
7. Went to Eldin, where the cutscene failed to trigger.
8. Game over.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
That's not accurate. You don't have to to Lanayru first, you just have to leave either Faron or Eldin for last. I did Faron first, then Lanayru, and now can't do Eldin.

I meant to say it can occur with either Faron or Eldin if you do Lanayru before either of them.
 
I don't want to read the entire first post for fear of spoilers, but is there anything I should know to avoid doing that would trigger the bug?
 

JCV

Unconfirmed Member
I don't want to read the entire first post for fear of spoilers, but is there anything I should know to avoid doing that would trigger the bug?

Yeah I'd like to know that too. I'm currently in the Lanayru Sand Sea and don't feel like messing up my savegame
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
(0. Finished Faron)
1. Went to Lanayru, and made my way to the dragon.
2. Found out he was sick and needed the fruit.
3. Got the sapling.
4. Went to the Sealed Temple, went back in time, and planted the sapling.
5. Returned to the present and got the fruit.
6. Went back to Lanayru, gave the fruit to the dragon, and learned the second part of the song.
7. Went to Eldin, where the cutscene failed to trigger.
8. Game over.

Did you save and quit the game anytime between the moment you get the seed to the moment you deliver it?
 
That's pretty lame. I just did them in the order you originally visit the areas, as I expect most people do. Lame that such a bug made it through.

I actually tried that, but nothing happened when I initially went to the forest. Went to the desert instead, then the volcano, and finally the forest event triggered last time I went. I didn't know you could do it out of order.
 

Reknoc

Member
With this and the bug Duckroll mentioned in Dungeon 5 it sounds like the people testing this had no imagination at all.

Sounds like I dodged a bullet though as I did Lanayru, Eldin and Faron.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
With this and the bug Duckroll mentioned in Dungeon 5 it sounds like the people testing this had no imagination at all.

Sounds like I dodged a bullet though as I did Lanayru, Eldin and Faron.

What bug in Dungeon 5?
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Did you save and quit the game anytime between the moment you get the seed to the moment you deliver it?

No, I did it all in one go.

I actually tried that, but nothing happened when I initially went to the forest. Went to the desert instead, then the volcano, and finally the forest event triggered last time I went. I didn't know you could do it out of order.

Hmm, that's odd. The Faron even triggered immediately when I went there, but then (after Lanayru) the Eldin one didn't.
 

Hylian7

Member
I'm past that part (on what I'm pretty sure is the endgame dungeon). Luckily I did the Thunder Dragon last, so that never happened to me.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I'm past that part (on what I'm pretty sure is the endgame dungeon). Luckily I did the Thunder Dragon last, so that never happened to me.

I think that might be the only 100% safe way to do it (since when you land in Lanayru there is no cutscene/event of the same kind as in Faron and Eldin), but who knows.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
No, I did it all in one go.



Hmm, that's odd. The Faron even triggered immediately when I went there, but then (after Lanayru) the Eldin one didn't.

For the Sealed Grounds, if you land at the statue "Behind the Temple" the event won't trigger. You have to land at "Sealed Grounds" statue for the event to trigger. Did the same thing.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
I'll see if I can find the full quote but one of the puzzles froze the Wii if you solved it with the beetle.

IIRC it has to do with the electric fences that are meant to block you in the past. You can actually use the beetle to bypass them, but since you're meant to hit the switch to go into the present to pass the door it messes up.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
IIRC it has to do with the electric fences that are meant to block you in the past. You can actually use the beetle to bypass them, but since you're meant to hit the switch to go into the present to pass the door it messes up.

I can't believe Nintendo managed to leave bugs like these in the game after developing it for five years. Sure, it's a long game, but it's not really that huge in terms of content.
 

Madao

Member
what a lame thing to happen. the dumbasses go out of their way to stop sequence breaking (which affects less than 0.1% of the players) and yet they slip up and let a bug that can affect a way bigger % past the beta testing phase.

and it isn't the first time it happens. nintendo needs to sort their priorities and look where it really matters for glitches.
 

Ifrit

Member
Thankfully wasnt' that spoilery, I'm just about to get the second flame for the sword

I'll make a backup save asap
 

Ysiadmihi

Banned
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't MW3 on Wii use a patching system?

If it's possible for Wii games, I can't imagine why Nintendo hasn't started implementing it in their own so they could avoid crap like this. I guess they figure it's too late in the console's life to even bother.
 

Reknoc

Member
IIRC it has to do with the electric fences that are meant to block you in the past. You can actually use the beetle to bypass them, but since you're meant to hit the switch to go into the present to pass the door it messes up.

Yea pretty much.

Duckroll decided to solve a puzzle so weird way and caused the game to freeze, not really game breaking more annoying.

Not as bad no, not even as bad as the European Super Paper Mario freeze but. It does show something lacking on Nintendo's behalf though if the beetle doesn't work right, or the fact that exploiting the beetle forces you to have to unplug your Wii
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
First the Twilight Princess Canon glitch, then that one door in Metroid: Other M, now this...

Nintendo lets some pretty nasty bugs slip recently.
 

Reknoc

Member
Found it:

I just ran into a freeze bug which I can replicate over and over, and it's preventing me from progressing in the game. Wtf? Does anyone have this problem? Is there a solution?

Dungeon 5 spoiler:

At the end of the Sandship, in the Captain's quarters, I use my beetle to fly through the electric fence, and head up towards through the fan towards the Timeshift stone. The moment the beetle actually hits the stone, the game just locks up completely. I cannot even use the power button on the Wii or the Wiimote to turn it off, I have to shit the main power off to reset the system.

Help!
 

[Nintex]

Member
Oh man and the part after that quest(I'm there now) is so great that it almost makes you forget the bullshit that this game sometimes pulls.

Maybe you can guys can download a save up untill that point?


First the Twilight Princess Canon glitch, then that one door in Metroid: Other M, now this...

Nintendo lets some pretty nasty bugs slip recently.
Skyward Sword is quite a complex game, I read something about a bug on this board and didn't want to be spoiled when I hit this dragon part I finally got what could go wrong and had a 'what if' scenario in my head that Nintendo's testers didn't...
 

Caelus

Member
The five years thing is just an overexaggeration, they stated that some years were just planning and developing ideas and that shorter time than imagined was actually spent making the game.

But yes, this is a pretty nasty game-breaking bug. I don't think the dungeon 5 thing is something big, though, it's more like a cheat that didn't work out well.
 

Ifrit

Member
Thankfully wasnt' that spoilery, I'm just about to get the second flame for the sword

I'll make a backup save asap

[Nintex];33028604 said:
Oh man and the part after that quest(I'm there now) is so great that it almost makes you forget the bullshit that this game sometimes pulls.

Maybe you can guys can download a save up untill that point?



Skyward Sword is quite a complex game, I read something about a bug on this board and didn't want to be spoiled when I hit this dragon part I finally got what could go wrong and had a 'what if' scenario in my head that Nintendo's testers didn't...

I'm just on my way to the fifth dungeon (just finished the second trial and opened up a way to a new area in the desert, around 25 hours into the game), if anyone wants my save I could maybe upload it
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I'm just on my way to the fifth dungeon (just finished the trial and opened up a way to a new area, around 25 hours into the game), if anyone wants my save I could maybe upload it

PAL or NTSC? I'd like a PAL save from right before the affected quest. That is, right after you've talked to
Levias
(not a big spoiler, just a character name). I suspect most people here are playing the NTSC version, though.
 

heyf00L

Member
Can someone make a spoiler free version of this thread? What good does it do to have spoilers in your warning when the people it affects most aren't there yet?
 

Jocchan

Ὁ μεμβερος -ου
PAL or NTSC? I'd like a PAL save from right before the affected quest. That is, right after you've talked to
Levias
(not a big spoiler, just a character name). I suspect most people here are playing the NTSC version, though.
Hope someone provides you with a PAL save. BY2K, could you add a mention of this to the OP? Maybe some good soul has one.
 

Ifrit

Member
PAL or NTSC? I'd like a PAL save from right before the affected quest. That is, right after you've talked to
Levias
(not a big spoiler, just a character name). I suspect most people here are playing the NTSC version, though.

NTSC :(
 

Mechazawa

Member
I'm having trouble parsing this.

I'm really early in the game and all I have to know is "Leave Lanayru for last". Right?
 

jax (old)

Banned
Nintendo seal of approval.gif

Can someone make a spoiler free version of this thread? What good does it do to have spoilers in your warning when the people it affects most aren't there yet?


I don't see how they can be a spoiler free version. When there are specific triggers that might or might not make this happen
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Can someone make a spoiler free version of this thread? What good does it do to have spoilers in your warning when the people it affects most aren't there yet?

Seriously.


Nintendo seal of approval.gif

I don't see how they can be a spoiler free version. When there are specific triggers that might or might not make this happen

Just tell us what not to do at specific points of the game.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I'm having trouble parsing this.

I'm really early in the game and all I have to know is "Leave Lanryu for last". Right?

Yeah, pretty much. At one point in the game you need to do something in each of the areas down on the surface, and you get to choose in which order you want to do them. It seems like the safest bet is to leave Lanayru for last.

Just tell us what not to do at specific points of the game.

Read above.
 

FreeMufasa

Junior Member
WTF.....so this is a bug???

I first tried going to Faron but the forest was blocked off. So then I went to Eldin, got the song and then to Lanayru and also got that song. Tried Faron again but still the same thing. Came to see if anyone else had this problem here and i'm greeted by this thread at the top. All I was thinking was "please don't let it be........well fuck".

I can't believe Nintendo shipped the game with such a huge bug. I've never played a game with something like this.

I really don't have the time to start the game again. Is there a correct save file up to this point I could just download?
 

[Nintex]

Member
Seriously.




Just tell us what not to do at specific points of the game.

The OP has made you guys aware in the least spoilerific way, I don't see how he could've said it in any other way.

WTF.....so this is a bug???

I first tried going to Faron but the forest was blocked off. So then I went to Eldin, got the song and then to Lanayru and also got that song. Tried Faron again but still the same thing. Came to see if anyone else had this problem here and i'm greeted by this thread at the top. All I was thinking was "please don't let it be........well fuck".

I can't believe Nintendo shipped the game with such a huge bug. I've never played a game with something like this.

I really don't have the time to start the game again. Is there a correct save file up to this point I could just download?

You're not experiencing this bug
Go inside the temple, talk to Groose, the door is supposed to be locked
 

Reknoc

Member
WTF.....so this is a bug???

I first tried going to Faron but the forest was blocked off. So then I went to Eldin, got the song and then to Lanayru and also got that song. Tried Faron again but still the same thing. Came to see if anyone else had this problem here and i'm greeted by this thread at the top. All I was thinking was "please don't let it be........well fuck".

I can't believe Nintendo shipped the game with such a huge bug. I've never played a game with something like this.

I really don't have the time to start the game again. Is there a correct save file up to this point I could just download?

Are you entering Faron from the bird that isn't behind the sacred temple?
 

Jocchan

Ὁ μεμβερος -ου
WTF.....so this is a bug???

I first tried going to Faron but the forest was blocked off. So then I went to Eldin, got the song and then to Lanayru and also got that song. Tried Faron again but still the same thing. Came to see if anyone else had this problem here and i'm greeted by this thread at the top. All I was thinking was "please don't let it be........well fuck".

I can't believe Nintendo shipped the game with such a huge bug. I've never played a game with something like this.

I really don't have the time to start the game again. Is there a correct save file up to this point I could just download?
Have you tried going to the
Sealed Grounds
?
 
WTF.....so this is a bug???

I first tried going to Faron but the forest was blocked off. So then I went to Eldin, got the song and then to Lanayru and also got that song. Tried Faron again but still the same thing. Came to see if anyone else had this problem here and i'm greeted by this thread at the top. All I was thinking was "please don't let it be........well fuck".

I can't believe Nintendo shipped the game with such a huge bug. I've never played a game with something like this.

I really don't have the time to start the game again. Is there a correct save file up to this point I could just download?
You don't have the bug. This seems to be not triggering the Eldin volcano scene which I think you've already done? To progress you have to:
speak to the old lady in the Sealed Grounds and Groose, they will let you proceed into the forest.
 

Disguises

Member
If this was any other company, a simple patch would fix this :/. Guess those affected will be shipping their SD cards to Nintendo for a fix again -_-;

Edit: I feel like Nintendo thinks patches aren't required because games should be bug-free and high quality at launch, however, these game-breaking bugs show otherwise - that you can't always guarantee games being major bug-free. It's time Nintendo learned.
Man, I'm having a proper anti-Nintendo day today :S
 

Phenomic

Member
Oh... man holy crap I think I might have been at risk for this bug. End game spoilers:
I'm so glad this didn't go down this way. Essentially I did Eldin Volcano at first and then after finished that up I went straight into the Desert area. I got the point where I had to revive the Dragon and for whatever reason I went back to the get the Seed. Fi ended up telling me that there was a disturbance or whatever, but nothing seemed to trigger and I couldn't go into the door. So I assumed I just had to finish the thunder area and went back and got the dragon back to health. So the same thing happened again next time I went to the forest and luckily I guess the scene triggered by talking to Impa.
Did I dodge some kind of bullet here?
 

Tuck

Member
If this was any other company, a simple patch would fix this :/. Guess those affected will be shipping their SD cards to Nintendo for a fix again -_-;

Edit: I feel like Nintendo thinks patches aren't required because games should be bug-free and high quality at launch, however, these game-breaking bugs show otherwise - that you can't always guarantee games being major bug-free. It's time Nintendo learned.
Man, I'm having a proper anti-Nintendo day today :S

Hopefully they get tired of people having to send SD cards to them and change their ways.
 
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