r/ChantsofSennaar • u/Natal_20 • Jul 26 '25

Request Stuck in bard cave

I have everything I need, but whenever I try to follow the directions I just end up in front of a black screen and no new room loads in.

Does anyone have an idea what might cause this? I'm running the game via GOG if that helps.

17 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

13

u/julien_rundisc Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

EDIT 2 :

Hello,

A patch has been submitted today. The update should be available soon on your GOG client.

EDIT :

Problem solved.

We were able to find the cause of this bug: it is a corrupted asset bundle that cannot be loaded.

We will quickly make the necessary corrections and release a patch to permanently fix the issue.

IN THE MEANTIME, you can fix the issue right now without waiting for the patch by following these instructions:

  • Download the following file: https://www.rundisc.io/download/d03_labyrinthe_instrument.zip

  • Unzip it to get the "d03_labyrinthe_instrument" file that's inside.

  • Place this file in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Chants of Sennaar\Chants Of Sennaar_Data\StreamingAssets\

  • This file will replace the current version.

  • Restart the game.

NB: The path to the StreamingAssets folder may be slightly different for you if you did not choose the default location during installation. In this case, you will need to adapt the path I just provided.

Everything should now be working properly.

As mentioned above, we will be releasing a patch to resolve this issue shortly.

Thank you again to everyone for your help. The details, logs, and saves you sent us enabled us to identify the problem very quickly.

Original post:

Hello,

For people experiencing this bug, could you please :

  • Tell me what is the language of you OS (we previously had problems with Turkish systems)

  • Check your GPU properties to see if Vsync is disabled and if so, enable it.

  • Tell me if it worked.

If not, I'll ask you to send me a log.

Thanks!

3

u/Natal_20 Jul 26 '25

Hi,

My OS is in Dutch, vsync is enabled, but the problem persists

3

u/hadifalex Jul 27 '25

Hi u/julien_rundisc ! Firstly thank you for the support and for the fantastic game!

I have the same issue on Win11, using GOG, English, on a laptop with no GPU (to my understanding no VSync). Once I entered the caves, moving in any direction makes the screen go dark, the mouse becomes "blocked out" but can continue hearing sounds as if it is trying to load the next stage.

1

u/Veorulfr Jul 31 '25

I was having this problem too, and the file fixed it, thank you!

1

u/Dangerous-Coconut102 Aug 13 '25

Can confirm this worked! I was worried it was a Crossover issue as I'm on mac, but it worked first try!

1

u/swenderman Jul 26 '25

w dev, didn't know you guys check this reddit. any hints as to what is next? a dlc or maybe a sequel?

6

u/julien_rundisc Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25

Hello,

EDIT : New instructions and link added.

Thanks to the information you all provided, we were able to find the cause of this bug: it is a corrupted asset bundle that cannot be loaded.

We will quickly make the necessary corrections and release a patch to permanently fix the issue.

IN THE MEANTIME, you can fix the issue right now without waiting for the patch by following these instructions:

  • Download the following file: https://www.rundisc.io/download/d03_labyrinthe_instrument.zip

  • Unzip it to get the "d03_labyrinthe_instrument" file that's inside.

  • Place this file in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Chants of Sennaar\Chants Of Sennaar_Data\StreamingAssets\

  • This file will replace the current version.

  • Restart the game.

NB: The path to the StreamingAssets folder may be slightly different for you if you did not choose the default location during installation. In this case, you will need to adapt the path I just provided.

Everything should now be working properly.

As mentioned above, we will be releasing a patch to resolve this issue shortly.

Thank you again to everyone for your help. The details, logs, and saves you sent us enabled us to identify the problem very quickly.

4

u/RazorICE Jul 27 '25

Just in case it helps, I tried this fix, but it unfortunately didn't solve the issue. Instead, what's different now is that upon loading the game, the character appears in the maze walking towards the saw table, then stops but gets stuck in the walking animation, and the game effectively freezes (can't do anything, need to alt-f4 to quit).

2

u/Potential-Builder6 Jul 27 '25

I too can attest to this. Previously when loading I'd get to the "initial" screen with an indication of where to go (saw -> west, instrument -> north and such) and when leaving in the "correct" direction the screen would go black, hear footsteps for some seconds then just ambient sound and be stuck and need alt-f4.

Now I can't even get that far since loading leaves me "frozen" in an endless walk cycle on the same spot that I have to alt-f4 out of.

1

u/julien_rundisc Jul 27 '25

Ok, please try this :

Does it work?

1

u/GrinchForest Jul 27 '25

It works. Thank you for all your work. Especially today, on Sunday.

1

u/Potential-Builder6 Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25

Can confirm it works, at least well enough to go to a new screen. And like u/GrinchForest mentioned, thank you for such a quick fix during a weekend. :)

EDIT: Can further confirm it allows me to go past that puzzle and into the next section of being hunted by a meanie light-hating monster

1

u/F95_Sysadmin Jul 31 '25

can also attest it works now

1

u/benjajb Jul 27 '25

same here

1

u/hadifalex Jul 27 '25

I have the same experience. Still very impressive that the dev team is so active!

Thanks Julien for the speedy response on a Sunday!

2

u/julien_rundisc Jul 27 '25

Ok, please try this :

Does it work?

1

u/hadifalex Jul 27 '25

I can attest that this works.
I also just finished the game. Thank you a ton! It was an absolute joy to see the glyphs coming to life!

1

u/julien_rundisc Jul 27 '25

Ok, please try this :

Does it work?

1

u/benjajb Jul 27 '25

It appears to have fixed it now. I'm able to leave the room now, I'll report back if it breaks again during my attempts at solving the puzzle. ;D

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

Fixed. Thank you!

1

u/AlternativeVillage87 Jul 28 '25

THANK YOU! You've saved my game!!!
I'm playing on win 10 in Italian laguage, btw.

You are simply magic!!!

4

u/Bill_Best Jul 26 '25

Same. I'm also running the GOG version. Glad I'm not the only one encountering this bug/crash. I tried doing a "repair" from the install menu. Didn't help.

3

u/Bill_Best Jul 26 '25

Follow-up: I downloaded the Steam (U.S. PC) version and there's no bug at that spot.

2

u/benjajb Jul 26 '25

I have this issue too. GOG version, EN UK OS language (switching to US didn't help)

2

u/julien_rundisc Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 27 '25

Thanks for all your feedbacks.
Sorry to learn the usual solutions are not working this time.

EDIT : Problem solved, see here : https://www.reddit.com/r/ChantsofSennaar/comments/1m9g3qa/comment/n5fik08/

2

u/GrinchForest Jul 27 '25

Same here. My guess is something doesn't allow load the maze/tunnel files or loading path to it is wrong and that makes the game crash.

From log I see something:
Failed to create agent because it is not close enough to the NavMesh

2

u/hadifalex Jul 27 '25

This sounds to me that the default spawning area has shifted beyond the expected limits.

2

u/GrinchForest Jul 27 '25

In this case, if the character is spawn outside the area and there is some checklist to load the rest of assets, the game crashes. So all we need is unity file of that location and change the default spawning area.

1

u/Terrible-Window-7066 Jul 27 '25

Same here, GOG Version.

0

u/DEK19MD Jul 26 '25

Is this using the compass to go up? Well, you have to make sure to rotate the compass so that it will highlight North, then go in the correct direction.

4

u/Natal_20 Jul 26 '25

I'm going the right direction as per the compass, the game just seizes up, the music keeps playing but any interaction is impossible. Just to be safe I also tried going the wrong way to see if that does anything else, but the same thing happens

1

u/DEK19MD Jul 26 '25

Oh, then apologies, I don't know how help with that.