Last Train Outta' Wormtown News

After a couple months of playtesting, bug fixing, and balancing on the public beta, the Art of Worm update is finally here!

[h2]This massive update includes:[/h2]
[h3]- 8 New Worm Abilities
- 10 Special Use Pardner Items (called Kit!)
- A new building type
- 3 New music tracks for the end game screens
- Pardner Cosmetic save slots (and cloud saves!)
- Accessibility options, QOL/Balance changes, and *tons* of bug fixes. (Including camera fixes!)[/h3]

If you want the full breakdown of everything that's changed, check out the previous Steam announcements for the Public Beta Branch, as copying all of those patch notes here would be a bit overwhelming to read!

Additionally, there's now a "Guidebook" accessible in the "How to Play" and "Pause" menu which gives details on all of the mechanics, items, and abilities in the game. It's a great place to learn about the game, whether you're a new-comer or a veteran Wormtowner.

Thanks again to everyone who's been testing the public beta, your feedback has been invaluable!

We've got a fantastic Discord community that is growing by the day, so if you haven't stopped by - come say Howdy! Discord.gg/Wormtown

Stay safe out there, Pardner!

[h3]Changes for the public beta branch:[/h3]

[h3]New Music Tracks:[/h3]
- Added 3 new music tracks for the different game endings.

[h3]New Accessibility Options:[/h3]
These new settings should hopefully help players with colorblindness and other visual impairments. These settings can be found in the options menu.
- Added custom Worm "ping" color settings.
- Added a toggle for the "first-person Worm mouth" visuals when playing Worm (The teeth/mouth around the camera).

[h3]Vanilla Mode:[/h3]
- Added "Vanilla Mode" in the match settings. This is the classic Wormtown gameplay, with no Pardner Kit Items or additional Worm Abilities. You can find the checkbox for Vanilla Mode in Match Settings.
Note: The Worm still has Sonar Scream.

[h3]Misc. Changes:[/h3]
- Cactus Seeds now spawn small barrel cactuses when thrown close to the train (The tall cactuses still spawn when not close to train). This should help with Pardner's blocking the train doors with cactuses.
- Chosen Worm abilities will save between lobbies. (Will reset when you relaunch the game.)
- Added Vsync option in the Resolution dropdown.
- Made the Orange spectrum in the color picker more "orangey".

[h3]Misc. Bug Fixes:[/h3]
- Fixed Worms getting stuck in place while eating chairs.
- Additional Camera fixes when exiting menus and quickchat.
- Fixed cosmetics not saving in the Friend's Pass.
- Added safeguards for altering Pardner cosmetic save files.
- Fixed "Player Left" messages popping up when someone attempts to join a full game.
- Fixed desynced Buildings in the Tutorial maps.
- Fixed a latency related bug where players could add multiple duplicates of an item into their inventory.


I'm hoping this will be the last Beta Update before the new content is pushed to the main version sometime in the next few days. (Assuming there's no dire bug that show up between then and now!)

Thanks again for everyone checking out the new content and all of the valuable feedback :D


To Access the Beta Branch:
Right-click Wormtown in your Steam library -> Properties -> Betas, and select "public beta" from the dropdown list.
Discord.gg/Wormtown

[h3]Changes to the Beta Branch:[/h3]

[h2]Pardner Cosmetic Save Slots:[/h2]
There are now 5 save slots for Pardner cosmetics. They will appear on the main page of the Pardner customization menu.
This required a rewrite of how the cosmetics were saved, and when you launch the game, you should see a default Pardner - but don’t worry: There’s an additional button on the save slot sidebar to load your Pardner from the previous save system!
Additionally, the Pardner cosmetics will now sync to the Steam Cloud.

[h2]New Worm Ability Icons and UI Polish:[/h2]
The very placeholder ability icons have been replaced with finalized art! I’ve also added some additional visual polish to the Worm Ability HUD.

[h2]Guidebook Changes:[/h2]
I’ve added additional pages, images, and content to the Guidebook, including pages for the basics mechanics of Pardners, Worms, and general gameplay.

[h2]Cymbal Monkey Changes:[/h2]
- Increased the Cymbal Monkey Worm stun duration from 10 seconds to 12.
- Worms under the effect of the Cymbal Monkey stun now have their camera controls reversed for the duration.
- Added particle effects above the Worm’s head while they are stunned.

[h2]Bile Bomb Changes:[/h2]
- You can no longer fire a Bile Bomb when something is in your mouth.
- Fixed Bile Bombs firing below the ground when aiming downward.

[h2]Armored Carapace Changes:[/h2]
- You can no longer cast Armored Carapace when something is in your mouth. (You can still use the ability before grabbing something, just not while something is in your mouth. This should fix an overly strong strategy of Worms reacting to accidentally eating dynamite by armoring immediately.)


[h2]Misc. Changes:[/h2]
- The Jump you do when completing a mini-game no longer takes stamina.
- Worms no longer see cactus seeds being held in Pardner hands. (When they are aiming to throw the cactus seed).
- Pardner “Equipment” has been renamed to Pardner “Kit”, as typing “equipped equipment” felt silly.


The beta has been fantastic so far in gaining valuable feedback and fixing balance issues and bugs. Thanks to everyone who's been playing! I feel like the majority of the issues have been ironed out and hope to have the beta branch pushed to the main version soon! (I'm aiming for sometime next week, but it's always scary giving an exact time frame!)

Stay Safe out there, Pardner!

To Access the Beta Branch:
Right-click Wormtown in your Steam library -> Properties -> Betas, and select "public beta" from the dropdown list.
Discord.gg/Wormtown

[h3]Changes for the Beta Branch:[/h3]

[h3]Worm Ability Balancing[/h3]
Bile Bomb:
- Radius Increased to 10 units (was 8).
- Detonation time reduced to 3.3 seconds (was 4 seconds).

Scorching Sands:
- Damage per second increased to 3 (was 2).

Escape Balloon Changes:
- Once the Balloon has flown into the map, if a Pardner gets revived, the Balloon will lift up the ladder and fly to the center of the map. When there is only 1 Pardner remaining again, the Balloon will pick a new landing spot and move there. (No more Pardners camping the Balloon ladder, waiting for their buddies to get eaten!)
- Added a toggle in the match settings to disable the Escape Balloon.

Misc Changes:
- Moved the new pickup item information HUD display. It is now centered above your Pardner.
- Added map boundaries for ghosts.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed issues with zipline velocity and ladders.
- Fixed an exploit where you could get unlimited uses of an Equipment item.



To Access the Beta Branch:
Right-click Wormtown in your Steam library -> Properties -> Betas, and select "public beta" from the dropdown list.
Discord.gg/Wormtown

[h3]Changes for the Beta Branch:[/h3]

Added the Adrenaline status effect:
Adrenaline grants 50% damage reduction and 100% stamina reduction. Lasts 10 seconds. Whenever a Pardner escapes a Worm mouth, they gain Adrenaline.

Design insight: This should fix two problems, One being Pardners with very low health (and thus low stamina) not being able to reach a safe spot before the Worm heals, and the damage reduction nerfs some Worm ability combos like placing a Bilebomb right when a Pardner escapes their mouth. The Bilebomb combo does take some guess work and prediction, and it’s an intended strategy, but Adrenaline should make it feel less punishing and cheap for the Pardners.

New Pickup Information Display: Instead of the panel that pops up above the object you’re looking at, the information will instead display on the right side of the screen. This will also indicate if an item is an Equipment or Objective item (aka, the Train Key).

[h3]Misc Changes:[/h3]
- Added custom death event messages to the Worm abilities.
- Removed all status effects and their particles when a Pardner dies.
- Made the Church hill smaller.
- Previously, Pardners that climbed too high would lose all of their grip immediately. As an unintended side effect, this also was happening when climbing the top of the church. This “grip loss” has been completely removed, and new colliders have been added to the red rock walls to handle it now.
- Backpacks and Equipment items have a dithering effect when playing as Worm, so they will no longer block your vision when gobbling a Pardner with them equipped.

[h3]Bug Fixes:[/h3]
- Fixed multiple control prompts shown when holding a usable item and having usable equipment (Items take priority in these situations).
- You can no longer take items out of your inventory while in a mini game (Worm mouth or Sand Trap).
- Fixed building destruction getting de-synced (for real this time!)
- Fixed the Worm being able to grab objects and Pardners through walls.


To Access the Beta Branch:
Right-click Wormtown in your Steam library -> Properties -> Betas, and select "public beta" from the dropdown list.
Discord.gg/Wormtown