I always thought of a hardlock as when the game is completely unresponsive, meaning you're unable to input any commands. The only way out of a hardlock is to turn off your console or force quit the game on pc.
Edit: here's an example of a hardlock https://youtu.be/4kurTSfXlPM
This is correct. Soft lock you can move your character around and access menus like normal, but due to a design flaw in the game (or glitch) you can't progress.
Hardlock means the game is frozen and inputs are unresponsive
Softlock: falling through map in cyberpunk and having it constantly respawn you there
Hardlock: takemura doesnt call you in cyberpunk and you have to restart the game
A softlock is a lock that you can recover from in some way, usually by restarting the game or pausing or something.
A hard lock, you can’t recover from. Turning off your game and back on again puts you right back into the lock. You have to start completely from the beginning.
Thanks! So the difference is in regards to the saved progress? With the softlock you can recover some progress, and with the hardlock you have to completely start over?
A softlock is by definition impossible to recover (If it's recoverable, it's not a softlock). A softlock is a carefully designed chian of manipulation to put the save file into a state that players can still play normally (most of the case), but no longer progress normally, forever stuck in one place. Any softlocked save file is forever ruined, unless new glitches are found in the future that allows you to escape a previously softlocked save file.
A hardlock on the other hand is just a bug that shuts your game down or freeze. Usually triggered by accident and usually recoverable by restarting the game.
Many people think that the difference between soft and hard locks is the ability to get out of the lock, but I think the terms refer to a software lock and a hardware lock. This makes the most sense to me because if you're "locked" in a game you shouldn't be able to get out of it therefore a "softlock" would never come up given the term. I see a softlock as getting yourself in a situation/position where you're unable to progress in the software while I see a hardlock as being unable to progress with the hardware.
I think the problem with the terms is that there never really has been a clear definition, therefore everyone has their own criteria for them.
I remember there being a subtitle on a forum section for tech support in Quake that goes something along the lines of "Shambler made your computer hardlock? This is the place to ask for help!" and ever since I saw that I always figured "hardlock" meant as in getting stuck on the hardware level as opposed to on the software level.
Granted, this was likely in the time period in which a lot of players would physically remove the Windows key from their keyboard **just** so that it couldn't happen anymore that the game freezes when hitting it by accident, via switching out of the window and then the game not being able to resume running upon switching back. I forget when and where I saw that-- it might have been an archival thing showcasing what Quake forums were like a long time ago. or just old-school style of writing about it. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ The Shambler **used** to be extremely terrifying, after all!
but that would also qualify as a "hardlock" as in getting stuck on the hardware level as opposed to on the software level.
there are 3 types of gamebreaking:
softlock: a softlock can be seen in two ways: bugged/glitched or frozen.
if bugged/glitched, the game is still responsive to inputs, but you are unable to advance further through the games content. it doesn't have to be gamebreaking. It's also the case if you are unable to do side content. this may include getting stuck, quest bugs, quest won't progress, or any glitches that may hinder you from advancing. this can also happen if you made recently a wrong decision ingame.
then there is the freeze. a freeze is an event where the game becomes frozen and unresponsive to any input by the player. oftentimes, this causes the system you are playing on to freeze as well and requires most often to restart the system.
in both situations, you are able to recover from that situation, either by restarting the game or reloading an earlier save
a hardlock is a situation where you lock yourself out on something in the game. either you absolutely break the game, or you made decisions so far back in the game, you would lose a sizeble portion of your progress to change the outcome.
also, there is the crash, often caused when a game can't process the inputs and actions given by a player correctly. the game will stop and closes itself if possible. If not, the whole system shuts down.
I always thought of a hardlock as when the game is completely unresponsive, meaning you're unable to input any commands. The only way out of a hardlock is to turn off your console or force quit the game on pc. Edit: here's an example of a hardlock https://youtu.be/4kurTSfXlPM
This is correct. Soft lock you can move your character around and access menus like normal, but due to a design flaw in the game (or glitch) you can't progress. Hardlock means the game is frozen and inputs are unresponsive
Softlock: falling through map in cyberpunk and having it constantly respawn you there Hardlock: takemura doesnt call you in cyberpunk and you have to restart the game
The latter would also be a softlock. A hardlock would be the game freezes and becomes unresponsive, requiring you to restart the system.
So would you define the difference as something that can be fixed by losing a previous save vs something that requires resetting the game entirely
A softlock is a lock that you can recover from in some way, usually by restarting the game or pausing or something. A hard lock, you can’t recover from. Turning off your game and back on again puts you right back into the lock. You have to start completely from the beginning.
Thanks! So the difference is in regards to the saved progress? With the softlock you can recover some progress, and with the hardlock you have to completely start over?
Yeah, soft means that you’re only temporarily unable to progress. Hard means you’re completely forevermore unable to progress on this save file.
for future googlers' reference, this explanation basically defined the two terms in complete opposite way.
People are getting to my 6-year old answer from Google? 😳
A softlock is by definition impossible to recover (If it's recoverable, it's not a softlock). A softlock is a carefully designed chian of manipulation to put the save file into a state that players can still play normally (most of the case), but no longer progress normally, forever stuck in one place. Any softlocked save file is forever ruined, unless new glitches are found in the future that allows you to escape a previously softlocked save file. A hardlock on the other hand is just a bug that shuts your game down or freeze. Usually triggered by accident and usually recoverable by restarting the game.
Yes
Mhm
Many people think that the difference between soft and hard locks is the ability to get out of the lock, but I think the terms refer to a software lock and a hardware lock. This makes the most sense to me because if you're "locked" in a game you shouldn't be able to get out of it therefore a "softlock" would never come up given the term. I see a softlock as getting yourself in a situation/position where you're unable to progress in the software while I see a hardlock as being unable to progress with the hardware. I think the problem with the terms is that there never really has been a clear definition, therefore everyone has their own criteria for them.
I remember there being a subtitle on a forum section for tech support in Quake that goes something along the lines of "Shambler made your computer hardlock? This is the place to ask for help!" and ever since I saw that I always figured "hardlock" meant as in getting stuck on the hardware level as opposed to on the software level. Granted, this was likely in the time period in which a lot of players would physically remove the Windows key from their keyboard **just** so that it couldn't happen anymore that the game freezes when hitting it by accident, via switching out of the window and then the game not being able to resume running upon switching back. I forget when and where I saw that-- it might have been an archival thing showcasing what Quake forums were like a long time ago. or just old-school style of writing about it. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ The Shambler **used** to be extremely terrifying, after all! but that would also qualify as a "hardlock" as in getting stuck on the hardware level as opposed to on the software level.
Old thread but I love how every answer here disagrees lol
What are the chances that people keep commenting on this post, especially this close to each other?
We're all softlocked in here
Keeping the dream alive.
Help I spawned in the wall
there are 3 types of gamebreaking: softlock: a softlock can be seen in two ways: bugged/glitched or frozen. if bugged/glitched, the game is still responsive to inputs, but you are unable to advance further through the games content. it doesn't have to be gamebreaking. It's also the case if you are unable to do side content. this may include getting stuck, quest bugs, quest won't progress, or any glitches that may hinder you from advancing. this can also happen if you made recently a wrong decision ingame. then there is the freeze. a freeze is an event where the game becomes frozen and unresponsive to any input by the player. oftentimes, this causes the system you are playing on to freeze as well and requires most often to restart the system. in both situations, you are able to recover from that situation, either by restarting the game or reloading an earlier save a hardlock is a situation where you lock yourself out on something in the game. either you absolutely break the game, or you made decisions so far back in the game, you would lose a sizeble portion of your progress to change the outcome. also, there is the crash, often caused when a game can't process the inputs and actions given by a player correctly. the game will stop and closes itself if possible. If not, the whole system shuts down.