Howdy, cowpokes!
It’s been a while since our last post, but we are back and bringing lots of improvements to the game. We’ve been hard at work implementing new features and reworks to the game based on your feedback.
What to expect from this update? The focus is on quality of life (QoL) reworks for multiple features and adjustments to the game, and just to give you a sneak peek: We have partial controller support now.
Here are some of the major features that have been improved:
[h2]Revamped dialogue system[/h2]
We saw that players had issues with the dialogue tree and didn’t have a clear path on how to proceed. Sometimes it took too long to get out of a dialogue tree (lookin' at you Miss McAbernathy). With some dialogue options being too vague, we decided to take another look under the hood and make some improvements.
We have added icons to the dialogue UI so you can get a clear picture of the dialogue options at a quick glance. They should help you understand which option to pick when looking for a quest, a recipe, or ending a dialogue.
[h2]New notifications system[/h2]
Players often don't notice a new recipe, a skill point, or a new quest they receive. To remind you of this, we have added a notifications system to help you keep track of all your new stuff.
[h2]No more extra reading[/h2]
When playing a multiplayer game, each time someone found a new recipe, you had to go to the bookshelf to learn it. When the number of recipes grows fast, it can become frustrating to keep repeating this step. We decided: no more mandatory reading lists! If your buddy learns a new recipe you'll also know it if you are in the world together - no extra effort needed.
If you join a game in progress, you will have to visit the bookshelf, to catch up on all the discovered recipes.
[h2]Improved controller support and M&K buttons layout maps[/h2]
We heard the outcry for controller support and have moved its priority way up. Now the game has partial controller support and an in-game buttons layout map. Mouse & keyboard have also received a button layout map.
We will continue to collect feedback on both types of control schemes and improve them in future patches.
[h2]Reworked navigation paths for NPCs & enemies[/h2]
Many times, enemies ended up inside rocks or in the ground (not by choice). We also had situations where the enemy AI did not know how to reach or move around certain areas. We reworked our navigation system for NPCs and enemies to solve these issues. Now, NPCs should not spawn under the map and enemies should be better at patrolling, plus a bit smarter. We are moving to two-color Rubik’s cubes now!
Controller button map layout
Keyboard button map layout
These are some of the major improvements included in the “Quality of Life on the prairie” update. The patch includes a lot more general fixes and adjustments that should give you an overall smoother gameplay experience. We encourage you to jump into the game and experience it for yourself.
We are super happy to be able to share this update with you, as we wanted to address some of the most pressing issues reported by the community. We'd love to hear your thoughts about the game and chat with you over on Steam Discussions or our official Discord.
Best of howdies,
The Don’t Die in the West team