Explore the ocean quest bugged

[shrewd void]

• Reproduction Steps I cleared all the trash but the next step never appeared on the quest. I left the ocean and slept, then I got off. The next time I started the game I left my home to find ling waiting for me saying a new suit was done and id be able to talk to merfolk. I figured that was the turtles and it still says I dont understand them. Nothing else has happened.
• Repro Rate permanent
• Game Platform ( PlayStation 5)
• Game Version (1.2-1241)
• Input Mode Controller
• Attachment (Save File & Additional Image/Video)

[formal stone]

did u light up all the beacons? cause this one on the right doesnt look lit up but i could be wrong

[pine pawn]

Hello @shrewd void,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

If you get a chance to play again, could you share a short video showing you walking around your last cleared area and your Journal details? A phone-recorded video is totally fine!

This will help the team better understand what’s happening on your end. Thank you so much! 🙏

[pine pawn]

Thanks so much for the videos, @shrewd void — super helpful! 🙏

To help the team check further, could you confirm a few things?

1. What was your in-game date when you completed 20/20 Orbs in Se pulu area?
2. Did you get a shaking/merfolk cutscene afterward?
3. After that, did you go straight to sleep and close the game?
4. Was the quest already stuck at “Heal Coral Site” in the previous version (v1.2-1240)?

Thanks again!

[shrewd void]

Summer 20

No shaking or cutscene, a few in game days after I finished it Ling showed up at the house and gave me the advanced scuba suit and said I could talk with merfolk. I figured that was the turtles. Still couldn't talk to them.

I continued playing the game until about Summer 25

It happened before the update.

[unique pine]

Hi, I'm suffering from this bug as well.

Se Pulu Area 20/20

context: I play on steam/pc. had this game for about 2 years by now. 76 hours in total play time. new update so new game file.
I honestly cannot tell what I did different from any other playthrough. This might be a possible game breaking bug considering this stumps the player considering majority of progress & content necessitates resources from the Ocean map.

[unique pine]

For what it's worth, I will also be answering:

1. Spring 23.
2. No.
3. No, I kept playing till Spring 25 & only then I noticed.
4. No. It happened just this irl day.

[jagged aspen]

Not a dev. But I will also ask, did you clear last site separately or for example 18,19,20 at the same time?
After clearing the last site did you pass out at 2am or left using the anchor? At the time of you leaving the ocean the orb already activate or was in the process?
And since you’re on steam, send in your save and backups. Pinned post has instructions where to find them

[unique pine]

Yes.
No, that's impossible since the robot takes you out of the water at around 11:00.
At leaving, it was already activated.
will do in a while, brb, need to hit the hay for a bit.

again, not my first playthrough. I've completed the entire ocean map before and you can confirm all coral sites have been completed looking at the screenshot.

[pine pawn]

Thank you so much for confirming! 🙏
Just to clarify — on Summer 20, when you completed the 20/20 orbs, did you leave the ocean because you were kicked out by Kibble at midnight or did you use the anchor to exit manually?

And just to confirm, you didn’t receive a cutscene with Ling at the Diving Pier afterward, right? 😮

[pine pawn]

Hi! Thank you for sharing your report here as well. Could you send us your SaveGames folder here?

You can find it by copying and pasting this into File Explorer's address bar: %localappdata%\ProjectCoral\Saved\SaveGames

Then, compress the folder to a .zip file and attach it here. This way, we can check your save and backup files too. Thanks a bunch! 🙌

[unique pine]

will do

hope it helps

i'll also try to load a back-up save and see if the bug still occurs @pine pawn

[unique pine]

oh yeah and iirc, despite me being barred from entry to the stairs we see here, I still unlocked the waypoint Se Pulu and was able to use it no problem.

so the issue is purely the oil tentacles not moving out of the way

[unique pine]

seems like it worked. the cutscene triggered

[pine pawn]

Hi hi! Thank you for the update and for testing your backup! 🙏

Could you let us know what was different between the first time the issue occurred and when you reloaded the backup and redid the quest?

Also, just to confirm — when the issue first happened, did you complete the 20/20 orbs late at night (before midnight)?

[unique pine]

I loaded the backup at Spring 23 - the starting date before I finished the Se Pulu Area.
As for anything different, I cannot say I observed anything different besides the cutscene playing after I finished all 20 orbs.

Also, when the issue first happened, I did complete 20 out of 20 orbs late at night before midnight; I must specify however that it was not around 11:00 when Kible Bot forcefully pulls us to the shore. I cannot say for the other person in this chat's experience, but from mine, the cutscene simply didn't occur from my side.

[hard bluff]

Hello, I have encountered the exact same issues as other people from this thread and I cannot relod an old save file because that would throw me back 30 days... would there be a way to modify my save file to unlock my situation without me losing content?

[pine pawn]

Thank you so much for clarifying that! That’s super helpful. 🙏

To ensure we fully understand your steps, could you please confirm these details?

• Did you complete the 20/20 orbs after 11:00 PM, or slightly before?

• Just to confirm, did you leave the ocean using the Anchor? Or Kibble kick you out after or before midnight?

• After activating the last (20th) orb, did you go straight to sleep afterward, or did you do any other activities first?

Any extra details about the sequence of actions that night will really help the team reproduce the issue on our end. Appreciate your help!

[pine pawn]

Hi Maggie,
Thank you for your report, and I'm sorry that you encountered this problem too.

The Backup saves are covered for 10 days if you play on Steam and 1 day for other platforms. 🙇‍♀️

Could you confirm the following details to help us gather more info:

• What is the platform you use to play?
• What was your in-game date when you completed 20/20 Orbs in Se pulu area?
• Did you get a shaking/merfolk cutscene afterward?
• After that, did you go straight to sleep and close the game?

Thanks again!

[hard bluff]

I use steam, in game day was spring 13 I think, I did get the cinematic about the shake but NOT the merfolk one and I kep playing until early summer. I can also confirm that I wasn't pulled out of the water by the robot or pass out under the sea or anything like that, it was literally just any normal day. The shaking cinematic happened about multiple days days after I finished se pulu which is already kinda buggy in itself.

[pine pawn]

Ahh, I see. Thanks for confirming, Maggie!

Could you also send us your SaveGames folder here?

You can find it by copying and pasting this into File Explorer's address bar: %localappdata%\ProjectCoral\Saved\SaveGames

Then, compress the folder to a .zip file and attach it here. Thanks a bunch! 🙌

[unique pine]

• slightly before

• I left the ocean using the Anchor

• I tried to get through the black/oil vines barring the way but to no avail. I looked at the map and to my surprise the Se Pulu waypoint was active despite me not ever meeting the mermaids. I swam there myself and the cutscene where you meet them did not trigger. I left the ocean using the anchor, used the waypoint near the diving spot, teleported to my Farm, entered my house and slept to continue the game.

unlike the recent person who joined the thread, I did not experience the shake cutscene.

I never left underwater during that entire time

only after knowing that the oil vines are not moving, I can't enter, and it's closing in on 11:00 where Kible pulls me out.

which I know sounds like there's no bar of entry for reproducing the bug but that's just what I experienced myself

I hope the other people in thread can share their experiences in more detail if they can as they may be able to shed light on something I cannot

[hard bluff]

I will send the file once I get home feom work o/

[hard bluff]

Do I need to send the full save game folder or just the save of rhe playthrough that's being problematic to me?

[hard bluff]

here's the entire file. the playthrough affected is the one with the character name "rumi" (and dated 23/10/2025) thank you very much for your help

[hard bluff]

okay so I started a new playthrough today and the same thing happened. I'm thinking maaaaaybe it's because I did the last what 12 beacons on the same day...?

[jagged aspen]

not a dev, but if you can describe your steps in detail and maybe answer some questions here #1429846425025515581 message

[hard bluff]

Still playing on steam. I was on spring 15, did the first part of the quest then reported to ling when I got stopped after what was it 8 beacons? Then on the 16th I did all remainint 12 beacons. On the 18th still no merfolk in sight or ling. The quest is written as done but the reward cannot be claimed. No cutscene after the 20 nodes and I didn't close the game right after sleeping on the evening after, I kept playing for 2 more in game days.

[hard bluff]

today I tried something, I went back 2 in game days on my second playthrough and cleared all the nodes again except one. I slept then cleared the last one. THEN the cinematic launched and everything was normal so I guess the bug happens because you clear the 14 beacons all in one day.

[stark stump]

Hello I’m having problems getting the cut scene where the oil roots move , I have all 20 orbs done I have cleared all trash I have gone to ling serval times I have slept through days to hope it triggers I’ve gone back to the spot multiple times and I have even tried finding another way. however I did get the mermaid cutscene and I got the new suit. But I’m not able to get past the oil roots after the first 20. I’m so lost on what to do , this is also my second play through after the most recent update getting me back into the game I wanted a fresh start

[stark stump]

So, how do you go back in game days? Also, Did the bug still happen or did it work , and do you know if it’s going to be fixed?

[pine pawn]

Hi Wota! Got it, thank you so much for sharing these details and clarifying your experience — that really helps a lot! 🙏

We’ll relay this to the team for further investigation.

[pine pawn]

Hi Maggie! Thank you so much for sharing all the details and keeping us updated. 🙌

Could you also share your latest save file here? If possible, do you happen to have a video showing when the issue occurred again in your new save? That would really help us in investigating further.

[pine pawn]

Hi! Thank you for your report, and I’m sorry that you’ve encountered this issue as well.

To help us gather more information, could you please confirm the following details:

• What platform are you playing on?
• What was your in-game date when you completed the 20/20 Coral sites in the Se Pulu area?
• How many Coral Sites did you complete that day? Did you perhaps finish 12–20 Coral Sites in one go?

These details will be very helpful for our investigation. Thank you! 🙌

[stark stump]

-I use steam
-I can’t remember the exact date but it would have been early summer
-I was flying through so yes I want to say I did

I went through a new save today , only doing one orb a day and not upgrading my scythe, so I’m pretty sure what triggered this bug was completing so many orbs all at once so my advice would be to just take the ocean slow in a new save so this bug doesn’t trigger again , I will miss my old save though I hope this can be fixed eventually !!

[pine pawn]

I'll add your details to the note as well. Thanks for confirming! 🙇‍♀️

Could you also send us your SaveGames folder here?

You can find it by copying and pasting this into File Explorer's address bar: %localappdata%\ProjectCoral\Saved\SaveGames

Then, compress the folder to a .zip file and attach it here.

[hard bluff]

Hello, sadly I did not take a video, didn't think of it on the moment. I've continued to play on that playthrough since, do you still want the save file?

Also I have to say that I've recently played on 3 different saves, the two I've mentionned and a third one that I have on the online servers with my partner. On the third one I had no issues whatsoever but spread the cleaning of that part of the ocean on 2 in game days instead of one just like I did with the playthrough I mentionned kn my last message. So far on 3 playthroughs and redoing the action 4 times in all, the only times it bugged were from when I cleared all 16 nodes in one day. It'd be intesting to know if it's the same for other people

[jagged aspen]

Can you clarify also when you cleared first 6, did you to Ling’s that same day or some other day? Did you complete some of the altars or not?
I’ve tried recreating it, didn’t encounter it. But I went to Ling’s couple of days after.

[hard bluff]

So I cleared all 6 after unlocking diving, then took a few days to level up my sickle, then spoke to ling to unlock the rest of the nodes and then did all 16 nodes in the same day I spoke to ling. Every time it bugged I did it like that.

Altars I can't remember but I think yes because I had the releports to the pier and the mine if I recall

[pine pawn]

Hello Maggie! Yes, that’s totally fine — could you please still share all your save and backup files here?

Thank you as well for all the detailed info! I’ll pass everything along to the team so they can try to reproduce the issue on our end. 🙏

[hard bluff]

I will try to do that. I managed to find the actual files but where do I find the back ups? Ive found them through the game but not in the filepath of windows

[jagged aspen]

paste this in explorer %localappdata%\ProjectCoral\Saved\SaveGames
or find the folder, Disk C/Users/Your PC user name/App Data/Local/ProjectCoral/Saved/SaveGames and zip the entire folder and send it here

[faint dew]

I also have the same problem, after i activated the last orb nothing happended. I even went to check if the roots were gone but they were not so i went back with the anchor, I play on steam, it was prob begin summer and i continued playing hoping it will fix itself. I am now in the end of summer. I think i activated orb 18/19 and 20 all together.

I can't seem to find the save files tho when i click on project coral there is no next map for saved

[faint dew]

found it!

i am playing on steam version 1.2-1243

[pine pawn]

Hi Maggie,
To find the files, you can follow the steps wecouldtalk shared above, or simply copy and paste this file path into your File Explorer’s address bar:

%localappdata%\ProjectCoral\Saved\SaveGames\Backup

Then, please compress the Backup folder into a .zip file and attach it here.
Let us know if you’re still having any trouble locating it!

[pine pawn]

Hi! I'm sorry that you encountered this problem too. Thanks for sharing your details here. 🙏

Could you confirm the following details to help us gather more info:

• How many Coral Sites did you complete that day? Did you perhaps finish 12–20 Coral Sites in one go?
• Did you get a shaking/merfolk cutscene afterward?
• After that, did you go straight to sleep and close the game?
• Did you leave the ocean using the Anchor at that time?

These details will be very helpful for our investigation. Appreciate your help! 🙌

[faint dew]

I finished the last two or three orbs all together after that i did not get the shaking cutscene, i left the ocean using the anchor after investegating if the roots disappeared bc nothing happended. After i left the ocean it was not long before i slept but i did continue playing for some more in game days because it is my first time playing and thought maybe i need to sleep to trigger the next step

[pine pawn]

Hi! Thank you so much for the details.
Just to check—on the same in-game day when you finished activating all the beacons, did you happen to do any other activities before heading underwater?

Things like farming, mining, talking to NPCs, or completing quests?

[pine pawn]

Hi hi Maggie, sorry to bother you again! 🌻
Our team would love to look into this further, and gathering more save files would really help us out.

If you have a moment, could you please zip and share your SaveGames folder with us? The Backup folder will be inside the SaveGames one.

We truly appreciate your help—thanks so much!

[hard bluff]

So sorry ! Your messages always arrive when im at work and I'm a very forgetful person, I had completely forgotten > < ! I'll get to it when I come home, promised !

[faint dew]

no i dont think so, i directly went to dive to finally complete that quest.

[pine pawn]

Ohh, bad timing right 😅
No worries at all — just send it whenever you have the time! Thank you again for helping us with this 🙏

[pine pawn]

Got it - thank you so much for confirming that, Romy! I’ll pass your details along to the team — we’ll let you know if there’s any update or if we need more info from you. 🙏

[faint dew]

thank you!

[pine pawn]

Hi again, Maggi!
Just a quick reminder whenever you get the chance — the team still needs your backup and save files to check this further. 😄

Whenever you’re able to send them over, that’d be super helpful. Thanks a bunch!

[hard bluff]

phew finally got to it ! so sorry for the delay !

[pine pawn]

Thank you so much for sending this!
No worries at all about the delay, really appreciate it.

I’m forwarding the files to the team now for further investigation. Thanks again!

[pine pawn]

Hello Maggie! Sorry to ping you again — we just need a bit more confirmation.

When you mentioned the issue happened again in your new playthrough, did it occur in your co-op save file? 😮
If so, did it happen while you were playing with your friend in Spring 15 and Spring 16?

[hard bluff]

It didnt happen o my co op play file nor on the oldest playthrough, only with rumi and christine

Both times in early spring

[pine pawn]

Ahh, I see! So when you mentioned the issue happened again in the new playthrough, was that on your save file named Rumi?

If so, just to reconfirm — you completed all remaining coral sites (20/20) on Spring 16, right?
Did you finish around midnight at that time?

[deft anvil]

Hello
Seems like I also encountered the same bug

• I play the game on Steam
• I dont remember exact date, but it would be middle of Summer
• During the time I finish all 20 coral site, I think around 9pm and I did heal 4-5 coral sites in one go

[deft anvil]

Heres my gamefile backup

[hard bluff]

It was rumi the first time it happened, then I created christine and it happened again. The difference is that with christine I rolled back to an older save and instead of finishing all 20 nodes on the same day, I left one last node, slept, then did the last one and it worked as it should.

It was around 22 or 23 every time I left the water on every playthrough (I never push all the way to where the robot pulls me out I'm sure of that).

[pine pawn]

Hi! So sorry to hear you ran into this issue too — thank you for letting us know.

Could you help us with a few details so we can gather more info?

• What’s your current in-game date?
• After completing all 20/20 Coral Sites, did you get the shaking/merfolk cutscene?
• Before diving and finishing the sites, what were your in-game activities that day?
• And when you were done, did you leave the ocean using the Anchor?

Thanks so much for the help!

[pine pawn]

Got it! I’ll relay all of this to the team so they can continue looking into it. Thank you so much for the detailed explanation — this is super helpful! 🙏

[deft anvil]

• Current in-game date is Fall 12 Year 1
• No I do not get any cutscene, which is why i was so confused. I thought Ling would say something
• Just watering plants, maybe harvesting stuff, probably gifting stuff (i dont remember which date so if its someone birthday i do that first) also probably catching bug. What I remember was i try to finish the mission fast cos i thought it was easier than mining
• I did leave the ocean using the Anchor, but I do try looking around first and try to activate the Se Pulu gate. I did not realise the waypoint was activated until tomorrow

btw i restart a new game file, i would try healing until 19/20 and do the last one separate to see if that solve the issue

(gonna take awhile since im only at 10 Spring Year 1)

[pine pawn]

Hi there, thank you so much for the details — this really helps!

Just two quick follow-ups:

• Do you remember if you upgraded your scythe on that same day?
• And did you meet or interact with Ling at any point that day?

Since you’re testing it again on your new save, it would be super helpful if you could record your gameplay, especially when you reach 19/20 and complete the final heal. If possible, please use Steam’s recording feature (here’s how: #1222877204233584722 message).

Thanks again for all your help! 🙌

[deft anvil]

• Nope, I upgraded my scythe earlier i think
• I want to say no, since I rarely go to the lab (this is before i get the Brush from pickstarter event)

[pine pawn]

Got it, thank you for confirming! I’ll add these details to the report for the team.

If you notice anything else while playing through your new save, please feel free to let us know — it really helps us track down what’s causing this.

Thank you so much, bananacupcake!

[deft anvil]

So it seems I manage to get the next quest after healing all 20 coral sites in my new saves files. Key difference

• I separate the session in 2 days. I heal 15-18 coral sites in Day 1 and 19-20 coral sites in day 2 as per video
• I try to progress the day as natural as possible so you can see what my tools level, relationship, crafting, money etc
• Several differences also in this new savefile such as i plant a bit less plants than before so im very poor than my last save files, I have started ranching, Ive depretified the earth golem.
  Just in case you need more info, i will pause my gameplay in this save file so i can recheck any data

https://youtu.be/UDmQpTNjXEI

[pine pawn]

Thanks so much for the detailed update! That’s super helpful 🙏
If you don’t mind, could you also share your entire SaveGames folder in a .zip file here so we can take a closer look?

And if you have a moment later, would you be willing to try completing the coral sites again the same way you did in your previous save (when the issue occured)? Our team has been trying to reproduce the issue based on all the steps players shared, but it hasn’t triggered on our end so far. 🙇‍♀️

Thank you again for all the time and effort — we really appreciate it!

[deft anvil]

May i know how i can access to previous date?
So in my previous save, im in Fall, ive finished the 20 coral sites in summer

Or you mean try to play in my previous save and check back ?

[pine pawn]

Ohh, we mean in your new playthrough!

If you go back to Summer 1 and try completing all the coral sites in a single day (just like in your previous save when the issue happened), we’d like to see if finishing everything at once triggers the same problem again on your end. This will help us narrow down what’s causing the quest to get stuck.

If you’d like to test this, you can use the backup feature by doing the following:

• Open Settings in the game and go to Game
• Scroll down to Show Backup and set it to Yes
• Return to the Main Menu
• When loading your save, check the Show Backup box in the corner

From there, you should be able to load one of your previous days (as long as the backups haven’t rolled over).

Totally optional of course — but if you can try it and let us know what happens, that would be super helpful! 🙏

[deft anvil]

Ah ok i can do this

[deft anvil]

Almost forgot, but this is the save file for this

[pine pawn]

Really appreciate you taking the time to test it! Please take your time and just let us know whenever you have any updates.

And thank you also for sending the updated save file — I’ll relay this to the team in the meantime.

[deft anvil]

So I tried finishing the last 5 healing spots on the same day and the bug did not reproduce

I tried doing 8 healing sites, unfortunately i do not have enough time nor stamina to complete it

For now your best bet is to wait for new person to report for more info
(or if one day i decided to replay with new save file and somehow encounter the bug again)

[pine pawn]

Hi there, thank you so much for taking the time to test it out again and share the results with us!

It’s really helpful to know that the issue didn’t reproduce when you healed multiple spots in one day this time. We’ll keep monitoring new reports and gather more details as they come in to see if there’s a more specific trigger behind the bug.

The team is still actively investigating this issue. Thanks again for your patience and for helping us look into this. 🙌