Last Train Outta' Wormtown News

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!

Howdy!

[h2]New beta patch, New Pardner objectives![/h2]

It's been a little while since the last development update, it's been a hectic couple of months! I'm excited to announce a new public beta patch available to try now! The beta patch includes a handful of new Pardner objectives and reworks for the old blocker train and key objectives.

These new objectives drastically change the Pardner side of things. While there is still a lot of work left to do with the remaining features, bug fixes, and changes coming in the next official patch, the beta should give plenty of time to gain vital feedback and testing.

Under the match settings panel, you're able to choose the number of objectives you want for the round as well as the difficulty of the objectives. By default, the objective number is set to scale with Pardner count - more pardners, more objectives. It will randomly choose from the pool of objectives. In the future, you'll be able to select which specific objectives you want.

The beta can be accessed in both the standard game and the Friend's Pass.

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.

Notes:
- This is a beta patch, so you may run into bugs and unfinished/unpolished content. Everything is subject to change! - but, the objectives are in a fully playable state.
- The new objective system broke the Pardner tutorial, and it's disabled for this update.

[h2]How to complete the new objectives?[/h2]

While the objectives are in game, they're not tutorialized yet. Most of them are fairly self explanatory, or can be figured out easily, some are more complex. I'm also aware many players would like to try and figure them out on your own, so [h3]SPOILERS AHEAD!![/h3]

Fuel Train: unchanged. Get fuel, throw in furnace. Fuel scaling has been adjusted (lowered) now that there are more objectives to balance things out.

Train Blockers Reworked: The train blockers have been removed and replaced with broken segments of the track that need repaired. Find scrap and throw it into the designated area around the broken track. Scrap can be found by blowing up abandoned train cars (placed randomly throughout the map) and buildings. Train cars drop 3 scrap, the church drops 2, and normal buildings drop 1.

Train Key Rework: The key is now hidden and buried underground. You'll need to find it's location and dig it up with the new shovel equipment (spawned on train). The shovel has a metal detector attached to it, and the bulb will ding when near the keys location. It will ding faster the closer you are to the buried key. When standing directly over the key spot, the detector light will be fully illuminated and a distinct noise will play.
Note: Dynamite will also unearth the key - which can be helpful when finding the exact spot is difficult. Additionally, The key can be buried under a rock or house, in which case you'll need a dynamite. This is intended (aka, not a bug) but may change with player feedback.

Sarsaparilla Delivery: Around the map are broken down stagecoaches that were once delivering sarsaparilla to the townfolk. Retrieve the cases of sarsaparilla and bring them back to the train (drop them near the bottle + arrow in the enclosed train car). Sarsaparilla crates are fragile and bottles will break when dropped or impacted. When fully broken, a new crate will spawn at the stagecoach.

Cattlebug Herding: Cattlebugs are flying around the map. When you get close to one, it will flee away from you. Guide all of the Cattlebugs to the back of the train (a sign post will designate the area) to complete the objective. Note: Since the cattlebugs don't touch the ground, the Worm won't see them unless they use Sonar Scream nearby.

Light The Signal Fires: Around the map are large signal fires you'll need to light (large triangular piles of sticks with a red flag poking out of the top). Tumbleweeds can be "used" near the train furnace to ignite them. Once ignited, throw/drop/roll the burning tumbleweed into the signal fire pit. But be quick! The tumbleweeds will only burn for so long before crumbling to ash.

Retrieve the Train Manual from Gilbert's Safe: Inside one of the ranch houses (the houses outside of town), there is a large Safe with a series of symbols on it. This is the code you'll need to figure out to open it.
On the train, you'll find a new special item: the "Puzzle Map". Press the use item button while holding to toggle the map view. The map shows the Safe's location as well as a series of symbols. Head to the symbols shown on the safe to find a playing card sticking out of the ground with a number on it. That symbol = that number.
Press your pickup key ("e" by default) in front of the safe to begin entering the code, the dial will begin spinning and pressing "e" again will lock in that digit and move to the next one.
Once open, pickup the book that falls out of the safe to complete the objective.
Note: If you're holding a map in your hands and you "use" a playing card, it will record it's number on the map so you don't have to remember it! (the map numbers will be stored for others if they pick up your map - but it's specific to that map. It will not update on other maps).


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!

[h3]Howdy and Happy New Year![/h3]

This update marks the official end of the Winter Wonderworm event. The winter map theme will still be available in the match settings panel, but will no longer be the defaulted theme.

Aside from that, this is a small patch that lays the groundwork for some big changes coming to Wormtown soon! Most of the development work near the end of 2023 was focused on localizing the game to other languages (I had no idea just how much work it takes to localize a game! OOF) So I'm excited to be able to get back to significant gameplay development soon!

A mini-development roadmap for 2024 includes:
- Significant gameplay changes (don't want to spoil too much yet!)
- The 1.0 release of Wormtown
- Achievements, stats, and player progression
- Increased lobby player count

Lots of fun stuff to look forward to!


[h3]Now, for THIS update:[/h3]

[h2]New console and "cheats":[/h2]
We've done a complete overhaul to the debug console. Okay, cool, so why is that exciting? Well, it makes it much easier for us to find and fix bugs - but also means we've added fun commands and "cheats" for you to play around with!

Now, don't worry, these cheats are strictly for having fun in private lobbies, and CANNOT be activated in public games. When cheats are enabled in a lobby, a yellow icon will appear on the left side of the screen, so all players in a lobby know they're on.

To activate cheats:
* Be the host of the game
* Press F3 to open the console
* Type "cheats true" and hit enter

After that you can type "list" in the console to see all of the commands at your disposal, including:
- forcestart: Want to run around solo? Want a game where everyone is Pardners? All Worms? This command forces the game to start with any configuration of players.
- endless: the game won't end when there's no Pardners left alive (good for silly custom games!)
- and more, including resurrecting yourself (any number of times!), spawning props/kits/dynamite, flying, teleporting!

Note: once cheats are enabled by the host, clients can also use the cheat commands via the console.

We had a lot of fun messing around and creating fun little game modes (Pardner Dynamite Dodgeball!) while testing the cheats out :D


[h2]Misc Changes:[/h2]
- Now displays a props fuel percentage next to it's actual fuel value on the pick up UI. This directly corresponds with the percentage on the train furnace, so no more guessing!
- Added a "leave game" confirmation pop up when leaving a match.
- Starting with this update, we're storing basic stats for wins, fuel items deposited, and others. This means you can start gaining progress towards these stats now, for the inevitable achievements for them once they're officially added to the game later in 2024.

[h2]Bug Fixes:[/h2]
- Fixed Snake Oil giving Pardners health when escaping a Sand Trap. (woops lol)
- Fixed unstable camera issues when looking directly down with the Pardner aim camera.


Again, this small update lays the groundwork for significant gameplay additions and changes coming soon!

Lastly, Thank you everyone for such a crazy 2023. The support you all showed for this silly little game was more than I could have ever dreamed for and I truly appreciate it all. 2024 is going to be a great year for Wormtown!

Howdy!

Changes:
+ Crossbow shoots 20% farther
+ Sandstorm visual effects now match map theme colors

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed Ed's (The Balloon Pilot) festive hat being visible to the Worm. (oops!)