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Critter Cove News

What’s Next For Critter Cove + Win $60 of Steam Games!

[p]Last month we launched our biggest update yet - the Enchanted Islands Update!

We’ve followed that up this month with a big bug fix update this month that squashes over fifty bugs and general annoyances reported by players.
[/p][p]We also sneaked a few improvements in as well: There’s a new house available for Critters to move into, and the light on the tub boat actually illuminates things now!

[/p][p]Check out the full patch notes for more info, and please continue to report any problems on either Discord or the Steam forums, we read and organise every single report even if we can’t solve everything straight away.
[/p][h3]So, What's Next?
[/h3][p]We don’t have an exact release date yet, but we plan to launch into 1.0 in Summer 2026.[/p][p]That’s a little longer in Early Access than we originally had planned – we had originally been thinking of launching towards the end of this year. [/p][p]We’ve had a fantastic reception at Critter Cove so far, and we want to make sure when we do finally launch we’re all absolutely satisfied with the finished game.[/p][p]Instead of having longer waits and throwing a lot out all at once, we’ll be working on bringing out smaller updates on a more regular basis. Not quite every month -- but close to it![/p][p]Our plan is that each update should have a mix of brand new content like new items and quests, alongside bug fixes and quality of life updates. Of course we also have several major new features planned, but more on those as we get them confirmed….[/p][h3]
New Team Members


[/h3][p]We've been quietly growing the team here at the studio -- which we've been able to do thanks to your support both in buying and talking about the game, so thanks so much for helping our Early Access be a success!

We're happy to announce our new developer Nuno (Aurelius) and QA Manager Cariolan (Cariobs) both of whom have been for a while and have played a big part in our recent updates!

And most recently of all, your very blog writer himself, Rob (DrWayward), has joined the team full time after working with us in the background for many years - pictured above at Gamescom several years ago and this very morning, wearing his Critter Cove x Gay Pride shirt.

With a new programmer, QA and hopefully - if Rob can work out all the buttons - designer on board, we've got an great team to bring the game through to launch![/p][h3]
Survey
[/h3][p][/p][p]The other great thing about Early Access is that we can act on your feedback… So once again we’re asking for your thoughts on the game in a quick survey!

If you get a chance to tell us what you think about Critter Cove so far, then filling it out before August 24th will enter you into a draw to win $60 of Steam games.
[/p][h3]Consoles
[/h3][p]We plan to bring Critter Cove to consoles at around the same time as our 1.0 launch on PC. That includes Xbox, PlayStation and Switch 2.[/p][p][/p][p]We’re still looking into the feasibility of a version on the original Switch. We’d love to do a version for the original Switch still, but Critter Cove is a fairly graphically intense game and we’ll only do so if we can guarantee performance will be good.[/p]

Patch Fix

Fix for switching languages caused a loss of resolution settings.

Patch 237: Over 50 Bug Fixes and Improvements!


🎮 Platform & System Updates
* Sort saves by the most recent one loaded.


* Fixed crash when loading corrupted data.



🚢 Boats & Vehicles
* Added a spot light to the tub boat’s light so it actually acts as a light source.


* Boat icon on the map is now darker and purple for better visibility.


* Fixed holes inside cruise boat (near interior doors).


* Doors to floating shipwreck cabins should now be destructible.

📦 Inventory & Items
* Fixed issue allowing items to be placed repeatedly if only one was left in inventory.


* All bakery items should now be correctly placeable.


* Bamboo Bookcase variant colors should not revert to the original when picked up. 


* Fixed item placement and collision issues across various maps.


* Added wonky sauce spawn locations to Wonky Burger Ruins on Carn A Vale.


* Fixed multiple issues with feet slots and swapped footwear combinations.


* Fixed some issues with peg legs and other shoes.


* No longer displaying both shoe slots if there is a shoe alt slot being used



🍳 Crafting, Cooking & Furnishings
* Crafting station image now matches the selected station.


* Loom will now play animation while active.


* Fixed issues with Solid and Advanced Forges not displaying VFX and SFX correctly.


* Fixed issue with cooking pot not displaying animation correctly.


* Added SFX to drinking animation.


* Fixed crab molding material and farmer/mushroom wallpaper (vertical stripes).


* Salt can now be used in any recipe that requires salty ingredients.



🛏️ Characters & Animation
* Critters will no longer try to align with the player when turning in an item while they are sitting


* Fixed characters facing the player incorrectly when delivering items from a ride or seated position.


* Critters should now correctly use other types of benches instead of just the Park Bench


* Characters will now sit correctly on the Rockinghorse furniture item.


* Items should no longer be stuck in Critters hands when turning in commissions.


* Items will be put away correctly during some Fetch quests for Grumpy and Weird personalities.


* Farmer blouse should no longer occlude the pelvis if worn on its own


* Increased population cap from 16 to 17 citizens.



🗺️ World, Terrain & Nodes
* Made it so a number of resource nodes on Critter Cove will not respawn after being dismantled. May have to dismantle them one last time after they respawn next.


* Added missing terrain tiles so that certain routes on the map can have more direct sailing.


* Fixed terrain seams and smoothing around the workshop.


* Radio Control Tower Quest now tells you the correct otter to turn the Control Panel into.


* Added more round ceramic planter resource nodes to the world


* Added more oar resource nodes to the world.


* Added animation to the fish and cart ride parts when dismantling


* Removed barber pole spawn.


* Sourbouys should no longer float above planters when fully grown.


* Unlocked additional player and NPC house Critter Cove.




🏘️ Collision & Placement Fixes
* Fixed issue with shovel use animation when used outside of certain areas.


* Fixed missing collision around:


* Rigg’s Outpost


* Sunken city


* Sunken houses near Port Bella


* Woolington quest rocks


* Barn near Port Bella


* Fixed issue with collision meshes not loading properly at start of new game because of a bug in character creation.


* Added additional checks to ensure loading of colliders and meshes.


* Meowise Painting and Mouse Statue should now display correctly in the museum.


* Fixed light/collision on museum ceiling lamps.


* Added ceiling lamps to the original museum wing.



🧑‍🤝‍🧑 NPCs, Dialog & Behavior
* Sprout will now have something to say when they are on the way to or from the Farmers Market.


* Added more tourist dialog for when they are moving between tourist attractions.


* Fixed error where tourists were not talking if doing Baitshop activities


* Added better behavior for when Critters and Tourists are interacting with deco plants.


* Tourists using soap boxes should have correct conversations now.


* Critters should no longer follow the player around if a home visit quest is rejected.


* Fixed duplicate scenario spawning during storm refreshes.


* Fixed issue with scenario replacement when already talking to a critter.


* Copperbottom will no longer offer his personal quest until after the player has completed Renard quest and made the pirate suit.


* Anchor’s pipe will no longer be sticking through the shutters when the port office is closed.



🧩 Quest & Scenario Fixes
* Fixed issue with being able to give character friendship bracelets before they ask for them


* Added map tracking for Farmers after quest completion.


* Fixed issue where quest completion state wasn’t saved properly after reload.


* Critters should no longer invite you over to their house if they are still living in a tent


* Rum Runner quest should no longer be repeatable. Also any duped quest should now be correctly cleaned up.


* Updated lookie-loo soup scenario.



🧪 UI, Icons, and Technical Checks
* Fixed Credits UI "Back" button missing controller mapping.


* Small islands will now show up on the maps as a special island icon.


* Fixed load game UI breaking when deleting characters.


* Improved picking resolutions in the settings screen.

Emergency Patch 228

Fixed bug where save files have been growing over time after finishing the Sprout the farmer part of the Rum Runner Quest.

This caused hourly saves and save exits to be very slow over time as the save continued to grow in size. When a save is loaded this fix will clean out the bad data on Sprouts inventory and stop the extra inventory item (friendship braclets) from being added again over and over.

Sorry for those that have been affected and big thanks to Justin (FFC) for finding this issue.

Patch 227

Ensure character doesn't face us when delivering an item, while they're sitting or being in a ride

Fix for Farmer blouse removing the pelvis when worn by itself.

Fix for characters in tents that would not leave their tent if they got the come visit me in my house quest.

Fix for kicking out characters but we did not store quests for them that you had completed causing some issues like if they had done the rum runner quest it would repeat with the new tavern owner. We now store all the quests separately so we can track what quests where completed even if that character is no longer in the game or town.

Remove duplicate rum runner quests.

Fixing new bakery items not being placeable

Added check on Copperbottom story mission to see if they've finished Renards Pirate mission first.

Fixed issue with carts and fish ride resource nodes not having any hit animations.

Stopped Critters from following player around if they reject a home invite request.

Fixed issue with being able to give Critters Friendship Bracelets before they ask for them.

Added map tracking for Farmers after you've completed a quest for them.

Fixed a bug where a corrupted save file would prevent the load screen from working.

Fixed a bug where we would get duplicate stranded npc scenarios and leave an extra npc in the game that appears stuck ie ignores you while talking with them after storms.

Fixed issue with a crash or disappearing stranded scenario npcs if you are talking to them while a storm ends.

Fixed issue with decoration which let you place down some items but did not remove them from inventory.