Exploration of Region 3

Session Overview

• Date: DEC/05/2025
• Build: Steam Client Build (Dec 05)
• Area Under Test: Region 3 progression, minigame exit logic, camera repair
• Session Length: 30–45 minutes
• PC System Model: ROG Strix G513RW_G513RW

Observations & Findings

1. Minigame Completion Error (NullReferenceException)

• Issue: After completing each timing minigame, a NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object appears on screen.
• Frequency: Occurs consistently after every minigame, across multiple planets.
• Impact: The exception appears briefly and does not crash the game but is clearly not intended game behavior.

2. Region 3 / Stage 3 – Camera System Workflow

• Context: Upon arriving to Region 3, a new mission step appears involving malfunctioning cameras that must be repaired before progression.
• Issue: The player receives no indication that the cameras are broken until checking the report terminal located at the main control panel.
• Bypass: Camera repair can begin immediately, even before:
  • Watching the main panel report video
  • Reading any official instruction
• Result: This allows the player to repair the cameras out of sequence in the gameplay flow.

3. Camera Repair System Behavior

• Interaction: Repairing a camera triggers a short animation/interaction that appears functional.
• Progression: After all cameras are repaired, the story/mission progression continues normally.
• Defect: There is no lock or gating mechanism preventing early repair.
• Video: Camera Repair Behavior

4. File System Behavior on Arrival to Region 3

• Observation: When reaching Region 3, the system automatically wipes old planet archives/reports from the file UI.
• Scope: This includes previously completed planet data (e.g., Planet 1, Planet 2).
• Impact: Removal of old archives does not break progression and may actually reduce the chance of the earlier bug where the game allowed repeated cryo cycles without visiting planets.
• Uncertainty: It is unclear whether data wiping is intended behavior or temporary placeholder logic.
• Video: File System Behavior

5. End-Game Portal Error After Scanning All Available Planets

• Context: After finishing all planets and completing the final cryo/minigame sequence, the game attempts to automatically transition the player to the next destination.
• Issue: Since no additional planets exist in the build, the automatic travel logic triggers an error instead of handling the “no more destinations” case.
• Console Output: NullReferenceException: “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” “No destination region for portal target”
• Behavior: The error appears immediately when the game tries to perform the usual “auto-set course” step, causing a soft-break in progression. The game remains playable but does not advance to any next stage.

Inferences

1. Minigame Error

• NullReferenceException suggests a missing or improperly referenced script variable that fires when the minigame exits.
• The error likely affects UI cleanup or player state transition.

2. Region 3 Camera System

• The intended gameplay structure seems to involve:
  1. Arriving to the planet
  2. Receiving a diagnostic report
  3. Being told the cameras are malfunctioning
  4. Repairing them
• Since players can repair before receiving instructions, the mission sequence logic appears incomplete or insufficiently gated.

3. Archive Wiping

• The game might be trying to:
  • Prevent player confusion
  • Keep only current-planet data
  • Fix sequencing issues from previous builds
• Or, it may be an unintended side effect of new data-handling logic.

Questions

1. Should camera repair be locked until the player first views the diagnostic video?
2. Is the file system supposed to delete previous planet reports?
3. Should players always retain historical planet reports for lore or reference?
4. Should an end-sequence or message occur instead of a NullReferenceException when content is exhausted?

Raw Defect Notes

• NullReferenceException appears after each minigame completion.
• Camera repair can be done before watching the Region 3 diagnostic report.
• End-of-content travel attempt results in NullReferenceException (“No destination region for portal target”).

Session Summary

Today’s session focused on mission flow, the new camera repair objective, and the behavior of the file/archive system after progressing to a later stage. A recurring NullReferenceException was observed during minigame completion, indicating an ongoing script reference issue. The camera repair task is currently not gated behind mission instructions, allowing players to bypass narrative flow and perform tasks ahead of sequence. Finally, old planet archives are wiped automatically upon arrival to Region 3, which may be intentional or placeholder logic. An additional exception was observed when the game attempted to automatically transition to a non-existent next planet, suggesting incomplete end-of-content handling in the travel system. Further clarification is required to establish expected behavior before deriving formal test conditions.