Last Train Outta' Wormtown News

[h3]Howdy![/h3]

I’ve been a bit quiet the last few weeks getting a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff setup for the upcoming Player Progression update! This will include unlockable cosmetics, leveling up your player profile, completing challenges, Steam achievements, and rank rewards!

While there’s still a bit of work to do before the full update is out, there is a new patch on the Public Beta branch for testing now.

[h3]This test patch includes:
New cosmetics to unlock
A bunch of challenges to complete
Leveling your player profile[/h3]


To access the public test patch, Right Click on Wormtown in your Steam library → Properties → Betas → and select the public beta from the drop down list.


[h3]A few notes:[/h3]
- Anything unlocked/completed in the test patch will carry over to the full player progression update.
- Stats and Challenges are saved for Friend’s Pass users, but won’t be rewarded with XP or currency until running the full version of the game.
- This patch does not include the full list of challenges or cosmetic unlocks - we’re still working hard on the additional content for the full update.
- Every challenge will have an associated Steam Achievement. The Steam Achievements are not setup for this test branch, but will be for the full update. (which will automatically unlock if you’ve completed the challenge previously)

Additional Changes:
- Added Noisemaker cosmetics. Press H or Right on the D-pad to use them by default. *honk*

Aside from that, I do have big gameplay balancing and reworks in the pipeline as well. You can expect these changes after the Player Progression update. I know many players are excited for new gameplay changes, so I appreciate your patience!


Do expect a few rough edges and bugs with this test patch! We’re already aware and working on some tweaks. If you have any feedback or bug reports, swing on by Discord.gg/Wormtown and let us know!

Stay safe out there, Pardners

Howdy!

Today is the 1 year anniversary of Wormtown launching in Early Access - and booooy has it been a crazy year! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has played, streamed, made/shared content, for the game and all the rest of the overwhelming support over the past year of development. So much has changed and I've been able to add way more content and features to the game than I ever imagined. THANK YOU!

To help celebrate Wormtown's birthday, the game is currently featured as a Steam Daily Deal! From April 20th - April 27th, Wormtown will be 30% off - so it's a great time to pick up the game or gift it to a friend!

And for those curious about what's next for Wormtown, I'm currently working on player progression, challenges, unlocks, and Steam achievements - so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks.

Thanks again for all the wild support this last year! It's been a blast!

Stay safe out there, Pardners

Howdy!

The Objectively Better Update is now live! Thanks again to everyone who playtested the beta branch these last few weeks.

This update has a bunch of new additions, changes, and bug fixes - here’s the TLDR:

[h3]New Pardner Objectives:[/h3]
Pardners now have 7 unique objectives available (with a few reworked objectives too!). These get chosen at random at the start of the game, with Fueling The Train being the only consistent one. The number of objectives and which ones can be chosen can be set in the match settings in lobby.

[h3]16 Player Lobbies:[/h3]
The lobby cap has been doubled from 8 players to 16. Great for streamers or larger gaming communities! (Our playtests in the official Wormtown discord (Discord.gg/Wormtown) were pure chaos!)

[h3]Wormtown Goes International:[/h3]
Wormtown has now been translated in 9 languages! Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Latin American Spanish. You can swap your language at any time from the main menu.

[h3]New Scoring System:[/h3]
With all of the new gameplay additions, the scoring has now been simplified. Gain points for completing objectives, reviving Pardners, damaging the Worm etc. - on the Worm side of things, you’ll gain points for damaging and eating Pardners and props.
And we finally have Worm stats that appear at the end of the round, too!

[h3]The Town Well:[/h3]
Is the map running low on fuel items? Head to the Town Well and fish out a fuel item from it. This new mechanic is a way to always ensure there’s enough fuel on the map to complete the objective - especially in those new 16 player lobbies!

[h3]Revamped Pardner Tutorial:[/h3]
The old Pardner tutorial was very outdated and difficult to add additional content to - so it's been remade with cutesy video tutorials!

[h3]Terrain Updates:[/h3]
Additional smoothing passes have been added to the terrain during map generation. This not only makes it look and play much better, it also means those annoying sand berms around the train are finally fixed!

[h3]Host Moderation Changes:[/h3]
Everyone can now see all connected players from the pause menu. This also allows Hosts to kick players during a match if they ain’t behavin’.


[h3]Additional Balance Changes:[/h3]
- Cactus Seed Pouch uses increased to 7 (was 5)
- Snake Oil random health gain rescaled to 2-8 (was 1-10)
- Magma Trail damage increased to 6 per second (was 3)
- Lowered minigame inputs required to escape Sandtraps to 8 (was 12)
- Increased zipline acceleration
- Escape minigame changes for better readability

And lots of bug fixes! If you’re curious about any of them in detail, you can check out the Patch Notes channel in the Discord (Discord.gg/Wormtown).

Enjoy!
& Stay safe out there, Pardners!

Howdy!

Today's patch is for the new Pardner objectives beta branch. Thanks again for everyone who's posted their feedback on the new content as your feedback is vital in shaping Wormtown!

To access the beta branch:
Right Click Wormtown in your steam library -> Properties -> Betas, and choose "publicbeta" from the drop down list. You should see Steam begin downloading the new patch.
note: The beta is available for both the full game and the friend's pass.

[h2]New Additions this update[/h2]

[h3]New Scoring System/End Game Stats:[/h3]
With the addition of the new objectives, the old scoring system and the end game stat screen needed to be reworked as many of the tracked stats no longer exist in the same way they used to. The individual objective scores have now been condensed into a simple "score" value.

Pardners gain score points by: Progressing and completing objectives, damaging the Worm, and reviving fellow Pardners.

Worms gain score points by: Eating Pardners, eating props, and damaging Pardners with their abilities.

- and finally!! Worms have stats shown at the end of the game! (sorry this took so long!)

[h3]Objective Match Settings[/h3]
Added the ability to select/deselect each objective in the Match Settings panel, for those who want to further customize which Objectives can appear in game.

Note: Train Fuel is still designed to be the "main" objective in every game, and as such will always be chosen unless it's specifically checked off in match settings. All other checked objectives will be randomly chosen.

[h3]The Town Well[/h3]
One of the issues we ran into testing 16 player lobbies is the scaling on the train fuel objective meant in some situations there wasn't enough fuel on the map to complete it (lol woops).
The Town Well is a way to always ensure there's enough fuel to complete the objectives. Walk up to the Well and "use" it to fish for an item at the bottom of the Well.

The Well can only contain lower fuel items (2-3 fuel), and if used too often will only retrieve tin cans (1 fuel) until it's cooldown resets. This mechanic is designed to be used at any part of the game when you need an extra bit of fuel, but the slow retrieval time of the Well makes it so it shouldn't be your primary source of fuel.

The Well can always be found at the center of Town.

[h2]Misc. & Minor Additions:[/h2]
- Polished the "usable" UI and key prompts when standing near something you can "use".

[h2]Balancing Changes[/h2]
- Cactus Seed Pouches now have 7 seeds (was 5)
- Snake Oil random health gain changed to 2-8 health. (was 1-10)
- Magma damage increased to 6 per second (was 3). *note: this might be an over buff, it was just far too weak before!
- Lowered the number of inputs needed to escape a Sandtrap to 8 (was 12).

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
- Fixed the pick up display info occasionally staying on screen when no item is in front of the Pardner
- Fixed gravestone spawning issues with more than 8 players
- Worm can no longer push Gilbert's Safe (lmao)
- Fixed a handful of small errors causing performance issues.


As always, feel free to leave your feedback over at Discord.gg/Wormtown

Stay Safe out there, Pardner!

Howdy!

Today we have an exciting (and also experimental) change in the beta branch: 16 player lobbies!

I say experimental, because I'm not sure how well the game will even handle that many players and chaos - but that's why we have test patches and betas!

I know most groups won't have 16 players to play with, but hey! If you do, let me know your feedback and how it goes.

To access the beta branch:
Right Click Wormtown in your steam library -> Properties -> Betas, and choose "publicbeta" from the drop down list. You should see Steam begin downloading the new patch.



Additionally, another beta branch update was pushed a few days ago and I totally forgot to post the patch notes here on Steam! (woops! You can always see the up to date patch notes on the Discord, too.)
Here are the changes in that patch as well:
New Additions:
⭐ Pardners cannot have less than 40% max stamina.
Stamina is still tied to health up to the 40% threshold, but below 40 health, your max stamina will always be 40%.
⭐ Added a ramp to quarry
⭐ Added the new objectives and the shovel to the guidebook

Changes:
🌵 Tumbleweed burn duration increased to 55 seconds (was 50)
🌵 Tumbleweeds get destroyed when lighting a signal fire
🌵 Doubled the dig radius of the key. (aka, it's easier to find the exact spot now)
🌵 Recorded puzzle map numbers now display in a vertical column to fix overlapping issues. Map symbols also grey out when recorded, so it's easier to track which ones you still need
🌵 Successful minigame inputs now are sorted behind the rest of the mini game UI, making them not obscure the upcoming arrows/inputs
🌵 Reverted the difficulty change to the firepit objective (i.e. made it slightly easier) and added lighting effects to them

Bug fixes:
🪱 Worms no longer always see Sassperilla crates when they are on the sand
🪱 Fixed issue with stats saving to Steam (not used yet, but will be used for achievements etc. later)
🪱 Fixed metal detector not being visible after being revived
🪱 Fixed issues when climbing a ladder and digging at the same time
🪱 Worms no longer see the light aura on blinking metal detectors
🪱 Fixed Sandstorm and other external forces absolutely yeeting Pardners
🪱 Fixed various bugs with softlocking Pardner inventories
🪱 Fixed the "Start Game" button so it, well ya' know, actually starts the game


And as always, feel free to leave any bugs, feedback, or just hang out with some cool people over at the Discord. Discord.gg/Wormtown
Stay safe out there, Pardners!