(09-13-2023, 12:51 AM)basballguy Wrote: I don't remember if it was Stewy or CKWin that had commented on it but i kinda scoffed (in my head) when they indicated they might not have the time to invest in a game that takes this long, but lol now i'm starting to feel the same way.  It took 111 hours to get through Act 2 and that's not counting deaths, reloads, random game crashes and things like that.  

The first part of Act 3 was pretty straight forward but now that I've made it into the city i'm just so overwhelmed lol.  

Sounds like a thing I'd say. 

Between life circumstances, job, wife, kids, one with a disability, house etc. I maybe have about 1.5 hours a day of "me" time. It's exacerbated by my old ass PC, but by the time I simply load up BG3, remember where I am, what I'm doing etc. I'm already looking at the clock and thinking "well, better wrap this up in a way where it's easy to remember what I was doing for next time". 

Games like Starcraft II with some buddies, or Armored Core 6/Devil May Cry 5 that are mission-based are just so much easier at this point in my life to pick up, blow off some steam for an hour or so and put down. 

Don't get me wrong, BG3 is amazing. There have been at least two or three occasions where I lost track of time and boom I was engrossed in it for something like 3 hours. May have regretted it the next day, but I can't wait until I have the means to really sit down with it. 

(09-13-2023, 06:48 PM)basballguy Wrote: How do you know if a planet is one of the procedurally generated ones?

the planets are not procedurally generated... Some of the Events/locations when you land on the planets are though.    Handcrafted locations i believe show up when you scan a planet... And the Random ones will be the ones that only show up after you land.

***
Other gaming news

Playstation has a State of Play today.
Nintendo has a Direct today
https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/14/23872788/nintendo-direct-september-2023-news-trailers

Embracer who recently shuttered Volition (Saints Row)   has made it known its looking to sell Gearbox (Borderlands)


Ohhh and the Unity Team  (engine many indie devs use) is changing their model to charge per game install.   This has caused major backlash from devs and games like Cult of The Lamb will be deleted on Jan 1st rather than pay this new fee.

So if you are looking at that one dont wait to long to pick it up or its gonna be gone for the foreseeable future unless something changes.

Oh and IPhone 5 has announced some newer games will be available for it Like AC Mirage / Re Village / Re 4 remake

(09-14-2023, 09:03 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: the planets are not procedurally generated... Some of the Events/locations when you land on the planets are though.    Handcrafted locations i believe show up when you scan a planet... And the Random ones will be the ones that only show up after you land.

Are you sure?  

Now I gotta google because i specifically remember Todd whatshisface saying each player will encounter unique planets.

..........

this might be the article i read:

https://www.charlieintel.com/starfield/are-starfields-planets-procedurally-generated-265326/

Quote:"What we do is we handcraft individual locations, and some of those are placed specifically,” he told the Kinda Funny Xcast. “I should also add that we have done more handcrafting in this game, content-wise, than any game we’ve done.”


In practice, this means that Starfield’s planets will be built using AI when a player travels to them, so two players could visit the same world and be met with a slightly different layout. However, certain hand-crafted locations and questlines will be guaranteed to appear for all visitors.

While the terrain of a planet may vary from save file to save file, the major cities and outposts that have become Bethesda’s trademark will still be scattered around the game to track down.

I guess this means it can be interpreted to where we're both right, but I think it makes me more right than you!

(09-14-2023, 05:07 PM)basballguy Wrote: Are you sure?  

Now I gotta google because i specifically remember Todd whatshisface saying each player will encounter unique planets.

..........

this might be the article i read:

https://www.charlieintel.com/starfield/are-starfields-planets-procedurally-generated-265326/



I guess this means it can be interpreted to where we're both right, but I think it makes me more right than you!  

read it again.

(09-14-2023, 09:03 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: the planets are not procedurally generated... Some of the Events/locations when you land on the planets are though.    Handcrafted locations i believe show up when you scan a planet... And the Random ones will be the ones that only show up after you land.

***
Other gaming news

Playstation has a State of Play today.
Nintendo has a Direct today
https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/14/23872788/nintendo-direct-september-2023-news-trailers

Embracer who recently shuttered Volition (Saints Row)   has made it known its looking to sell Gearbox (Borderlands)


Ohhh and the Unity Team  (engine many indie devs use) is changing their model to charge per game install.   This has caused major backlash from devs and games like Cult of The Lamb will be deleted on Jan 1st rather than pay this new fee.

So if you are looking at that one dont wait to long to pick it up or its gonna be gone for the foreseeable future unless something changes.

Oh and IPhone 5 has announced some newer games will be available for it Like AC Mirage / Re Village / Re 4 remake

(09-15-2023, 09:01 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: read it again.

The worlds are absolutely Ai generated.  I don't know what you're on about Xeno.  Individual locations are hand crafted, but otherwise it's the computer.  Firstly, Howard is a known exaggerator and over promiser.  He's getting to be on par with Mr. Over Promise himself, Peter Molyneux.  Howard's over sold sales pitches have lead to him being the target of mountains of internet memes.  My point being, let's step back from drinking the Kool-Aid.


I will preface this by saying, that what I am going to describe below is almost EXACTLY what I expected as described by me in previous posts in this thread pre-release.....which is not a glowing endorsement.  His claim that they "Have more hand crafted areas, than any of their other games" is typical Howard.  Well of course they are!  The development time was 3x any of their other games.  One must sift the disingenuous lawyer speak from reality.

Examples of copy and paste AI:  
---I was reading up on respawn timers on reddit and someone posted that they found a "base near New Atlantis that respawned every 24 hours and that he farmedi t when he needed cash/exp"  I went to the specific place in the specific direction he mentioned, and found not a base but one of those "Autonomous Farms".  Thinking I may have got the directions wrong, I went to every "first/nearest" location 360 degrees around the landing area.  Interestingly, while doing so, I ran into another TWO Autonomous Farms in a row with the EXACT same layout, exact same loot locations...basically copy paste.  Now they had slightly different "events"  One was an escort quest and the other was just some lady I couldn't save who died as I watched her, she had good loot though.  Anyway, having not found the same place, I proceeded to do the same thing around the residential and Mamast districts, then gave up.  Clearly, the events even around New Atlantis are AI placed and quests picked from a random pool.  This was again, exactly as I predicted in a previous post.  This leads to mostly empty and boring worlds with no rhyme or reason except for the one main quest (if there is one) to go to any particular planet.  And you know, perhaps that's ok, because it certainly is closer to reality, than the worlds of the Mass Effect universe.  But do we want that kind of empty reality in our video games?  To be determined for me I guess.  
---ALso on Jemmison around New Atlantis, I happened upon TWO pipeline locations in a row.  The layouts of each were different, however they both had worker quarters that were carbon copies.  I mean EXACTLY.  Same exact locked containers, locked doors, lock difficulties for the same locks were exactly the same, and the loot was exactly in the same places in the same containers.  In back to back locations.  That is going to get old FAST.

But bottom line:  let's not pretend that these worlds are 95% random AI, because they absolutely are.

@Baseballguy - the answer to "How do you recognize AI generated worlds?" is above.  They're essentially everywhere and all around you.

(09-15-2023, 11:20 AM)Stewy Wrote: The worlds are absolutely Ai generated.  I don't know what you're on about Xeno.  Individual locations are hand crafted, but otherwise it's the computer.  Firstly, Howard is a known exaggerator and over promiser.  He's getting to be on par with Mr. Over Promise himself, Peter Molyneux.  Howard's over sold sales pitches have lead to him being the target of mountains of internet memes.  My point being, let's step back from drinking the Kool-Aid.


I will preface this by saying, that what I am going to describe below is almost EXACTLY what I expected as described by me in previous posts in this thread pre-release.....which is not a glowing endorsement.  His claim that they "Have more hand crafted areas, than any of their other games" is typical Howard.  Well of course they are!  The development time was 3x any of their other games.  One must sift the disingenuous lawyer speak from reality.

Examples of copy and paste AI:  
---I was reading up on respawn timers on reddit and someone posted that they found a "base near New Atlantis that respawned every 24 hours and that he farmedi t when he needed cash/exp"  I went to the specific place in the specific direction he mentioned, and found not a base but one of those "Autonomous Farms".  Thinking I may have got the directions wrong, I went to every "first/nearest" location 360 degrees around the landing area.  Interestingly, while doing so, I ran into another TWO Autonomous Farms in a row with the EXACT same layout, exact same loot locations...basically copy paste.  Now they had slightly different "events"  One was an escort quest and the other was just some lady I couldn't save who died as I watched her, she had good loot though.  Anyway, having not found the same place, I proceeded to do the same thing around the residential and Mamast districts, then gave up.  Clearly, the events even around New Atlantis are AI placed and quests picked from a random pool.  This was again, exactly as I predicted in a previous post.  This leads to mostly empty and boring worlds with no rhyme or reason except for the one main quest (if there is one) to go to any particular planet.  And you know, perhaps that's ok, because it certainly is closer to reality, than the worlds of the Mass Effect universe.  But do we want that kind of empty reality in our video games?  To be determined for me I guess.  
---ALso on Jemmison around New Atlantis, I happened upon TWO pipeline locations in a row.  The layouts of each were different, however they both had worker quarters that were carbon copies.  I mean EXACTLY.  Same exact locked containers, locked doors, lock difficulties for the same locks were exactly the same, and the loot was exactly in the same places in the same containers.  In back to back locations.  That is going to get old FAST.

But bottom line:  let's not pretend that these worlds are 95% random AI, because they absolutely are.

@Baseballguy - the answer to "How do you recognize AI generated worlds?" is above.  They're essentially everywhere and all around you.

so your saying you have a different amount of planets and moons in a system than i do?

I said the Events and locations on a planet can be random But the planets themselves are not HENCE A WHOLE PLANET IS NOT JUST GENERATED in but the locations on it can be

The articles talked about how they Used AI to generate the planets then added handcrafted elements to them (In the beginning not while your playing the game)

Then the proceedurely generated things will happen every time you land

(09-15-2023, 11:20 AM)Stewy Wrote: But bottom line:  let's not pretend that these worlds are 95% random AI, because they absolutely are.

@Baseballguy - the answer to "How do you recognize AI generated worlds?" is above.  They're essentially everywhere and all around you.

(09-15-2023, 04:37 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: so your saying you have a different amount of planets and moons in a system than i do?

I said the Events and locations on a planet can be random But the planets themselves are not HENCE A WHOLE PLANET IS NOT JUST GENERATED in but the locations on it can be

The articles talked about how they Used AI to generate the planets then added handcrafted elements to them (In the beginning not while your playing the game)

Then the proceedurely generated things will happen every time you land

So what I thought (i guess incorrectly) was everything about the starting planets (however many there could've been) was NOT procedurally generated. I mean, Earth is in the game...surely they didn't procedurally generate that..or the moon? I guess I was wrong? That's what led me to believe some planets would be handcrafted and the rest would be rando.

It never even occurred to me that the entire planet would be random (terrain and points of interest) outside the main cities.

Still a fun game...the last patch seemed to address some of my performance issues so I've put in a few more hours on it. I don't think I'll have as sharp of eyes as Stewy though and recognize recycled locations as quickly.

(09-15-2023, 04:37 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: so your saying you have a different amount of planets and moons in a system than i do?

I said the Events and locations on a planet can be random But the planets themselves are not HENCE A WHOLE PLANET IS NOT JUST GENERATED in  but the locations on it can be

The articles talked about how they Used AI to generate the planets then added handcrafted elements to them  (In the beginning not while your playing the game)

Then the proceedurely generated things will happen every time you land

We're having a misunderstanding here while you're having your snit.  The planets themselves were created by AI with inputs about Terrain, resources etc.  But they are NOT created as you land.  I don't believe I ever said the entire planet is created as you lansd or that Solar systems would be different etc.  Where you got that i do not know.  Being created by AI and Procedurally generated events, RSS, nodes, locations are two different things.  The locations, loot, RSS nodes and location "activities" are procedurally generated.  There is very likely a pool or random "hand crafted" events and activities for the computer to generate for you, thus we could go to the same location in our games and it is likely (I hope) that there would be different things there.

They procedural generation happens the first time you land, not every time.  Once a planet is populated, it's static.  I have not had a single location change once revisited.

(09-15-2023, 05:49 PM)basballguy Wrote: It never even occurred to me that the entire planet would be random (terrain and points of interest) outside the main cities.  

We're having some misunderstanding here.  AI creation of a planets topography and RSS density, is not the same as procedural generation of quests, events, etc.  Some locations like New Atlantis were absolutely hand crafted.  The topography and RSS distribution are likely the same for all of us (with perhaps the nodes themselves being randomized?).  However, each planet is likely divided into sectors.  Some sectors will have a set quest that is the same for everyone (like the initial quest on Kreet), whereas most of the sectors will be populated by procedural generation the first time you land.  I guess I just got unlucky by having 3 Autonomous Farms right beside each other around New Atlantis.  But that does speak to the smallish pool of locations that each planet has to pull from when building out the planet upon touching down.

So it's:
Have a computer build a world with certain inputs for size, conditions such as garden world, or a moon, etc.  Tweak inputs to get what you want and BOOM a new world.  Does it have main and priority quests associated with it or is it just a RSS world with random events?  The team would add the non-random events/quests, and let the computer generate the rest upon first encounter with the player.

Note that the Mass Effect Andromeda team was working with AI built and Procedurally generated worlds in Pre-Dev, and according to report got them to work in their world builder software.  This was 2014 before NMS.  However, they never could get the worlds into the Frostbite engine.  So this concept isn't new and Kudos to Beth for seemingly pulling it off.

A list of mods I use for BG3 :

5e spells : It gets more spells in the game.
Lethal AI
EnemiesEnhanced
Immersive_AI
HirelingsUnleashed ( you got some ingame characters as hirelings )
Party limit be gone.

Having more folks in your party while the IA significantly improve gives a good ryhtm to the game ).

https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/

Starfield update:

Level 21 now, almost 22. Unlocked first three powers, then decided to do something else for a bit. The first power is pretty badass especially with my stealth build. Love my current rifle. It isn't exclusively meant to be a sniper, but it's the best one can do early game. Stealth maxed, two chameleon pieces and working toward the concealment skill.

General thoughts:
Space Combat - still unthrilled. It's an important part of the game, but I find myself spending far too many points in it just to be able to progress, and/or lower the difficulty just to get past ships 10 levels lower than me. So I invested in points until I could build a class B ship, spent 140k to upgrade it to the max 3x particle beams (read that it's best to focus on one type). Shields 3x stronger, 4 max size engines, etc. Basically everything you can upgrade at this point in the game, I upgraded. Haven't been in a fight since I re-built my ship, but I'm looking forward to the next battle instead of dreading them. :)

Carry Weight Management: Awful - just awful. his really is a low point for the game. I hope they allow mods eventually on XBOX because "RSS weighs nothing" will be my first mod. RSS weighs FAR too much. It should weigh 1/0th of what it does. I collect everything usable (I don't collect coffee cups, etc.) and when doing so, RSS easily is 70-80% of my mass and that is ridiculous. I plan to invest in the Weight Lifting skill, but it's like trying to use an eye dropper to put out a forest fire. Not exaggerating.
---Minor Solutions: Personal Safe at the Lodge - it has unlimited space. When my ship and I are full, I lug all my RSS to my safe in the Lodge. It currently has over 5000 mass in it. When I want to do research or mod something, I grab it all, go to the basement, then walk up to put it all back. Outposts, do not have unlimited storage containers and are not linked to your other outposts, nor are your outpost storage linked to your work stations. It's like Beth looked at the FO4 system and said nope - let's take 10 steps back, make it onerous and not make it easy for the players. Some have speculated that unlimited containers will end up behind a pay wall, but I hope not. There is also apparently, hard to find container on a desk in the basement itself that is unlimited, so I'll be moving my RS there instead of lugging it from my room.
---You can add items directly to your ships hold from the field - Go to the character screen, click on SHIPS, and click on the Cargo Hold, switch to YOUR inventory and if you're close enough you can add items directly to the ships hold from your inventory. You need to be within 200-300 meters, but it's far better than walking all the way back, zoning into your ship and zoning back out.

Outposts - Worthless at the moment due to all the limitation and steps backward from FO4 - see above for a small taste.

Exploring - Positive: It's easy to just get lost in yourself wandering around, killing fauna, picking up the random quest while working your way toward a distant undiscovered location. I got 2.5 (18-20.5) levels farming polymer on a planet, just doing stuff as it came at me or to me.

Skill Points: Seems like too few ATM. I hope the leveling curve doesn't slow down dramatically or I'm not going to be happy with my build. I could spend 5-6 points right now easily and that's not lvl 1 skills....that's skills i've completed the interim challenge and am ready to move up.

SPOILER ALERT:
WARNING: before you start any major MAIN story or faction quest, search google for if it is bugged. There are several main quests that game breaking bugs with no current solution beyond console commands. I'm not saying to spoil the quest, but to look up in there is a major bug. Be careful. Many are absolutely game breaking. Example: In the UC Vanguard Faction questline, you need a specific type of weapon or you cannot progress. The quest spawns the type of weapon you need, and you can pick it up to progress, but currently it is likely to NOT SPAWN. As the city you are in is on lockdown until you complete the quest, you are stuck without the weapon and literally your game is broken. Current solution is to take a weapon of the type you need with you (EMP). My problem is I'm stuck because I haven't even seen an EMP weapon yet. So I'm holding off.
---Point being - these kinds of problem are COMMON, so read up and don't break your game especially if you're on XBOX and have no console command resolutions.

Bethesda has a lot of fixing and tweaking to do. BUGS I understand and Beth is known for them. But whoever designed outposts and whoever QC'd them needs to be fired, seriously.

Mostly, enjoying the game. I like the combat. Many of the quests are very well done and not just the main quests, but the primary side quests, faction quests and secondary side quests. The "tasks" are your basic fetch quests, but I mostly ignore those. Very glad I didn't purchase it however or I'd be pissed at the broken quests, boring space combat and horrible outpost mechanic (one of my favorite aspects of FO4.

60 hours into Starfield... Only 1 bug ive noticed so far. One of my Companions head stayed cloaked when walking around town... Was kinda of funny.

Level 28 i believe. Been leveling mostly Tech after i got carry weight and ballistics max out. The exploring has been pretty fun and a great source of XP.

I spent almost all day saturday on Neon just doing the quest there. A main quest took me there for an artifact.

I have progressed the main story now to the point of getting my First Power. Have quest for a few more.

Space combat took me a bit to figure out now its going pretty smoothly. Just bought a 250k Class B ship but havent really tested it out in a serious battle yet.
Only 1 outpost i made for a quest to transport goods. Dont really have the skills for outpost yet so will wait till later or a second playthru.


Still mainly in the starting corner of the map. but slowly getting out there.

(09-18-2023, 02:20 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: Space combat took me a bit to figure out now its going pretty smoothly.  Just bought a 250k Class B ship but haven't really tested it out in a serious battle yet.

I think your idea to BUY a ship was smarter than me rebuilding the Frontier. hehe  I completely forgot you could or I may have gone that route.

(09-18-2023, 03:49 PM)Stewy Wrote: I think your idea to BUY a ship was smarter than me rebuilding the Frontier. hehe  I completely forgot you could or I may have gone that route.

i grabbed the "Shield Breaker" from new Atlantis...   

only downside is its auto cannons are killing things to fast for me to lock on and disable lol..  i have yet to modify a ship. thing probly wouldnt fly when i was done

(09-21-2023, 10:38 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: i grabbed the "Shield Breaker" from new Atlantis...   

only downside is its auto cannons are killing things to fast for me to lock on and disable lol..  i have yet to modify a ship. thing probly wouldnt fly when i was done

There's a check.  You get error warnings telling you what needs to be fixed or if something is out of place or if something you added doesn't work with the other parts.  Like if you add any B part that requires power and you only have a A reactor.  Once I unlocked B lvl ships, I completely rebuilt the Frontier from the ground up and now it's a badass Battle Freighter (lol).  Basically I maxed everything, so I have the reactor and engine thrust to handle the Mass, and still have maneuverability.  It has 1400 Cargo Storage now.

FYI - if you looking to upgrade piloting skills, which requires ship kills, join the UC Vanguard.  The Initial quest has you use a flight simulator to test your combat skills.  The destroyed ships count toward your Piloting Skill kill count.

Sidenote:  I'm so annoyed I can't move the Constellation storyline along until they patch the "Empty Nest" game breaking bug.  *sigh*  They've know about it since launch and still haven't fixed it.

(09-21-2023, 11:47 AM)Stewy Wrote: There's a check.  You get error warnings telling you what needs to be fixed or if something is out of place or if something you added doesn't work with the other parts.  Like if you add any B part that requires power and you only have a A reactor.  Once I unlocked B lvl ships, I completely rebuilt the Frontier from the ground up and now it's a badass Battle Freighter (lol).  Basically I maxed everything, so I have the reactor and engine thrust to handle the Mass, and still have maneuverability.  It has 1400 Cargo Storage now.

FYI - if you looking to upgrade piloting skills, which requires ship kills, join the UC Vanguard.  The Initial quest has you use a flight simulator to test your combat skills.  The destroyed ships count toward your Piloting Skill kill count.

Sidenote:  I'm so annoyed I can't move the Constellation storyline along until they patch the "Empty Nest" game breaking bug.  *sigh*  They've know about it since launch and still haven't fixed it.

What happened to you in Empty Nest i believe i completed that one..  That was taking Sam Coe to Akila and then tracking down the Artifact there right?

i got that one done joined the Free star collective and now working on Sam's Personal mission 

I have maxed out Piloting Skills... I had taken over a few ships that i couldnt pilot and it made me sad so i made that a focus lol.
(i blew up the ships but a buddy told me that they would have been waiting for me although i didnt think they would be cause i never piloted them. But oh well lol.. I got a bigger boat now)

I just did the Missions for the UC where the Terramorphs attack. Where it spawns that EM weapon to knock out the civilians. Got the weapon took a bit to click they were all knocked out but then no issues going forward.

(09-21-2023, 12:18 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: What happened to you in Empty Nest i believe i completed that one..  That was taking Sam Coe to Akila and then tracking down the Artifact there right?

i got that one done joined the Free star collective and now working on Sam's Personal mission 

I have maxed out Piloting Skills...  I had taken over a few ships that i couldnt pilot and it made me sad so i made that a focus lol.  
(i blew up the ships but a buddy told me that they would have been waiting for me although i didnt think they would be cause i never piloted them.  But oh well lol..  I got a bigger boat now)

I just did the Missions for the UC where the Terramorphs attack.  Where it spawns that EM weapon to knock out the civilians.  Got the weapon took a bit to click they were all knocked out but then no issues going forward.

I don't know exactly where the quest is broke, but the last patch 2-3 days ago broke it apparently.  I read up on major quests to make sure there are not game breaking bugs.  So I haven't experienced it because I avoided the quest due to the bug.  But as of yesterday, according to Reddit, the bug is still there.  Apparently it's related to getting the item at the end, like you carve it out and then can't pick it up, of the quest marker doesn't work, or a companion bugs out on you.  Sounds like you dodged a bullet or completed before the last patch, when they broke it.

I'm level 29 in Starfield. I have the the first 3 main quest missions done and my first power. I also have the UC Vanguard and the Free Star Rangers factions done. I was doing some quick clearing of the activities list (a ton of neon quests with lots of persuasion if your looking to boost that skill) I decided it was the perfect time to start over and do some things earlier and better than the first time... Like doing the Mantis quest line early for the ship and spacesuit/setting up my mining outposts earlier.

(09-21-2023, 03:53 PM)Synric Wrote: I'm level 29 in Starfield. I have the the first 3 main quest missions done and my first power. I also have the UC Vanguard and the Free Star Rangers factions done. I was doing some quick clearing of the activities list (a ton of neon quests with lots of persuasion if your looking to boost that skill) I decided it was the perfect time to start over and do some things earlier and better than the first time... Like doing the Mantis quest line early for the ship and spacesuit/setting up my mining outposts earlier.

That mantis stuff is a life saver....I accidentally did that quest at like level 5 or 6 and the impact it has on CO2 and carry weight relieved a huge burden for me because I like to pickup every damn thing I can to sell it.  I'm sometimes rocking a larger mass than what the ship cargo can hold.  

However, I pivoted back to BG3 to finish Act 3 while the NVDA performance issues continue to get ironed out.  

(09-21-2023, 03:48 PM)Stewy Wrote: I don't know exactly where the quest is broke, but the last patch 2-3 days ago broke it apparently.  I read up on major quests to make sure there are not game breaking bugs.  So I haven't experienced it because I avoided the quest due to the bug.  But as of yesterday, according to Reddit, the bug is still there.  Apparently it's related to getting the item at the end, like you carve it out and then can't pick it up, of the quest marker doesn't work, or a companion bugs out on you.  Sounds like you dodged a bullet or completed before the last patch, when they broke it.

I would just recommend For any Large open world game that allows you to save freely.   To save Often and in rotating slots   So you never have to back track tooo far if something like this happens..

I tend to make a save before/after each mission and before potential quest dialog.

I had a similar issue in AC Valhalla and lost about 5-6 hours  (1-2 trying to force it to work) and the 3-4 finding a save before i broke it and catching back up.

**Funny enough i picked up this habit cause of Morrowind lol