Good Heavens co op issues currently include NPC dialogue freezes, respawn failures after death, desynchronized quest rewards, and transition crashes when moving between dungeon floors. Developed by Nowhere Studios, this open-world crafting RPG supports up to eight players in online co-op, but recent builds and demo versions have introduced stability hurdles that interrupt shared sessions.
The following sections break down the specific multiplayer bugs reported by players, developer responses from the Steam community forums, and practical steps to minimize lost progress.
NPC Dialogue Freezes and Input Lockouts
One of the most disruptive co-op glitches occurs during NPC conversations. Players report that initiating dialogue with key figures—such as the early-game NPC Kynndar—can completely lock the interface for one or both players.
When this freeze happens, standard inputs like pressing Spacebar to advance, using ESC to exit, or clicking the completion checkmark fail to respond. In some instances, players can only use the A and D keys or mouse wheel to scroll text, but they cannot back out of the scene.
Community testing and developer confirmations reveal several common triggers for this bug:
- Multiple players attempting to speak with the same NPC simultaneously.
- A player speaking with an NPC shortly after their co-op partner spoke with them and moved out of visual range.
- Restarting the game typically unfreezes the player, but it can leave quest tracking in an inconsistent state or cause the NPC to reposition unexpectedly.
Nowhere Studios confirmed on the Steam forums that they were able to reproduce this conversation lock and have prioritized patching the dialogue state machine for multiplayer sessions.
Respawn Failures and Reconnect Crashes
Death mechanics in multiplayer have also triggered severe disconnect loops. When a co-op partner dies in combat, their character occasionally fails to display a respawn prompt and remains incapacitated on the ground indefinitely.
Attempting to fix this by quitting and rejoining the session often compounds the issue:
- Rejoining players have reported spawning as visual clones of the host, standing with closed eyes while viewing a black screen with floating UI elements.
- Connecting via the Steam overlay chat invite or in-game join buttons has resulted in hard crashes to the desktop.
- If a client successfully reconnects after a complete game restart, they frequently find that their inventory items were wiped upon loading in.
The developers acknowledged these stability problems following recent updates, noting that client disconnect/rejoin logic created unexpected crashes that required engine-side fixes or rollbacks.
Quest Reward Desync and Inventory Blockers
Progression in Good Heavens! balances personal tasks and shared group milestones, but co-op quest turn-ins have caused several desynchronization problems:
- Single-Recipient Rewards: Turning in certain team objectives—such as early diplomacy scrolls from dungeons or 150-influence milestones—has granted the reward to only the player interacting with the NPC. The second player neither receives the currency nor retains the ability to turn in the quest independently.
- Leftover Quest Items: When items are turned in by one party member, duplicate copies in the teammate's bag can become permanent, non-discardable dead weight.
- Quest Item Design Shifts: To address players disconnecting while carrying critical items, the developers began phasing out physical inventory quest items. For example, opening the target chest in the Library Dungeon now triggers a shared team state change rather than dropping an individual document, preventing teammates from locking group progress if someone disconnects.
| Quest Type | Developer Intended Design | Known Co-op Problem |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Quests | Can be taken by anyone; trade and tutorial tasks that do not alter the world state. | Occasionally fail to register if accepted while a partner is in dialogue. |
| Team Quests | Advances world state and unlocks new scenario content for the entire lobby. | Influence or secondary item rewards sometimes award to only one player. |
| Dungeon Objectives | Opening chests directly flags group progress without requiring physical items. | Desync can occur if a player experiences lag inside dungeon rooms. |
Dungeon Ladder Transitions and Shack Lockouts
Exploration bugs frequently occur around instanced transitions and player-built structures:
- Dungeon Floor Crashes: In multi-level dungeons featuring tight floor layouts with ladders, zoning between floors can trigger a fatal error popup and an immediate game crash. Climbing upward can occasionally dump players outside the dungeon prematurely, followed by a bugged prompt insisting that all cleared floors must be re-cleared.
- The Shack Dismantle Glitch: If a multiplayer session disconnects unexpectedly while players are near or inside a base structure, the host may find themselves locked out upon reloading. Attempting to tear down the building to reset it fails with the error message: "cant dismantle while players are inside."
- Stacking Movement Speed Buff: Players previously encountered a bug where character movement speed stacked infinitely after sleeping. The developers clarified this was tied to a city boon that grants speed bonuses near wounded enemies, which calculated improperly when calculating multipliers across multiple players.
Hotfix Updates and Troubleshooting Workarounds
Nowhere Studios has actively targeted multiplayer stability across regular patches, including Hotfix v0.6.4 and subsequent demo updates. Hotfix v0.6.4 specifically addressed:
- Teleportation failures for co-op clients using wayhome scrolls and city-purchased teleport scrolls.
- Crashes stemming from duplicate Points of Interest (POIs) loading simultaneously.
- Damage stacking issues on the Mountain King boss encounter.
- Hotbar slot #8 becoming unresponsive during active sessions.
If you run into persistent co-op issues while playing, use these community-tested workarounds:
- Coordinate NPC Interactions: Appoint one player to handle quest dialogue and turn-ins. Avoid having multiple players talk to the same quest giver in rapid succession.
- Full Client Restarts: If a player dies and gets stuck on the ground or encounters a black screen after disconnecting, close the game entirely rather than returning to the main menu. Relaunching the client fresh reduces profile cloning bugs.
- Avoid Mid-Fight Disconnects: Do not force-quit while inside multi-level ladder dungeons or enclosed shacks, as the game may register your character as still occupying the interior space upon reconnection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can all players collect the same quest rewards in co-op?
Under intended design, personal trade and tutorial quests reward each player individually, while team progression rewards apply to the server. However, players have documented cases where influence and quest items only registered for the player who handed in the task.
How do I fix the black screen bug after dying in multiplayer?
If your character fails to respawn and reloading gives you a black screen with UI elements, force-quit Good Heavens! to your desktop and restart the executable before joining your host's lobby again.
Does Hotfix 0.6.4 fix co-op teleporting issues?
Yes. The 0.6.4 hotfix resolved the teleport bug for connected clients using both wayhome scrolls and city teleport scrolls, alongside general multiplayer crash fixes.
