theHunter: Call of the Wild™ News

Howdy Hunters,

It is our pleasure to introduce Rancho del Arroyo, inspired by the harsh, yet beautiful Sonoran desert of Northern Mexico, this stunning reserve includes five unique new animal species to hunt, new weaponry, harsh biomes to explore, and a thrilling storyline that involves uncovering a century-old family mystery.

Please see the detailed patch notes (PC 1.68) for this update below.

[h2]NEW FEATURES
[/h2]
▸ Added support for new paid DLC: Rancho del Arroyo

[h2]SPOTLIGHT BUG FIXES
[/h2]
▸ Diamond Whitetail Deer will no longer weigh more than 100kg;
▸ Backpacks will not be visible in first person camera;
▸ Fixed the slow motion bug for Dog at tracker level 1 and 16;
▸ Fixed the crash when user orders the dog to track within 50m of a rabbit corpse;
▸ Fixed the issue of tents disappearing with an active dog nearby when user resumes gameplay after quitting to main menu;
▸ Animal corpses will no longer be invisible after walking outside of render range and back;
▸ Fixed the issue of missing antlers on the trophies in the Trophy Lodge (this fix is not retroactive);
▸ Fixed the issue of ATV lights turning on/off at night time when 3rd person camera is toggled;

[h2]ADDITIONAL UPDATES
[/h2]

[h3]ANIMALS & ENVIRONMENT
[/h3]
▸ Reworked the spawning rates for Geese;
▸ Fixed the disappearing of Great One Whitetails that previously existed in the reserve's animal population after restarting the game;
▸ Dog will no more be slow in notifying user of a harvested animal;
▸ Buffalos near lookout tower will no longer cause damage to the user on 1st floor;
▸ Fixed the issue where Female Dog showed up even when user purchased Male Dog;

[h3]WEAPONS, GEAR, & CHARACTER
[/h3]
▸ Huntermate screen will not go invisible after switching reserves now;
▸ Fixed the issue where scope became invisible for a weapon while switching ammo types;
▸ [XB1] Fixed the issue of user’s character sliding/drifting during gameplay when controller is reconnected after being disconnected;
▸ Fixed the issue of sight disappearing on bows after switching to a different arrow type;
▸ Fixed the issue with Rangefinder bow sight not displaying range or aim dots;
▸ Fixed the issue when player could not jump or go prone after changing reserve while in a treestand;

[h3]USER INTERFACE & MULTIPLAYER
[/h3]
▸ Removed the black circle which appeared around waypoint marker;
▸ Removed & updated the placeholder text in My Dogs tab when user does not own any dog;
▸ Fixed the dog status icon while tracking live prey;
▸ The effective range stats for rifle ammo will no longer display low values in store and inventory;
▸ Fixed the issue where incorrect values were displayed for individual Reserve and Global
▸ Play stats in Codex menu;
▸ Fixed the issue of user not being able to fast scroll through EULA popup using a controller;

[h3]MISCELLANEOUS
[/h3]
▸ User will be able to pet their dog in the Trophy Lodge;
▸ Dog will now gain a portion of total XP when starting to track a harvest and the rest of XP will be added when harvest is found;
▸ It will be easier now to complete the mission ‘The Perfect Liebre’ in Cuatro Colinas reserve;

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]

▸ Our character artists worked their magic in updating color and fur textures for existing animals like Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Coyote, Bighorn Sheep & Merriam Turkey;
▸ User can now see other users’ waypoints in map during multiplayer session;
▸ Made some Audio engine performance improvements;
▸ Refactored and standardized pricing for Multi Trophy Mounts;
▸ User’s character will get hurt by the cacti if they collide with them;
▸ Enabled footprints for dog in snow;
▸ Added a new (Carcass found) icon to notify user when dog is done with its harvest search;
▸ The maximum tracker level that Dog can achieve is 15 which is now indicated in Tracker Level icon on Dog screen;
▸ Dog will now sniff each blood spot more evidently while tracking blood clues;
▸ Added a checkmark to indicate which Dog is active in Kennel screen (if user has more than 1 dog);
▸ Now users can auto-run using a controller:
▸ Double click of L3 when standing still = Auto-walk
▸ Double click of L3 when walking or running = Auto-run
▸ One click of L3 = Toggle between auto-run and auto-walk

[h2]Greetings Hunters![/h2]

We’re here to give you an update on the state of the game, and also share a little insight into what the team is working on.

[h3]To Recap...[/h3][hr][/hr]
In late March, we released the long-anticipated Bloodhound DLC for theHunter: Call of the Wild. We cherished the awesome hunting stories that you shared with us and are so fortunate to have such a passionate community dedicated to our game.

Despite our efforts and positive testing results, the Bloodhound release wasn’t as smooth as we had hoped. For example, the ‘Tracker’ trait progression wasn’t working as intended, and the Codex Scoring… Yeah, that too.

We promptly addressed the situation in a ‘Message From the Developers’ update, and a few weeks after, a hotfix was deployed simultaneously across all platforms.

[h3]What's Happening Next[/h3][hr][/hr]
While this update solved most of the hot-topic issues (but not all), it also, much to the detriment of the team, introduced new problems. As we’re sure most of you know, there are almost always risks involved when preparing and deploying a hotfix. Despite our best efforts to successfully resolve the issues we plan to address, sometimes stuff happens or there’s something we can’t see when testing on such a limited scale and we aren’t able to get it right. We really are sorry about this, and share your disappointment.

While there is still much work to do, the team has been making good progress every day.
We’re not ready to commit to a date just yet, but we’ve prepared a solid list of issues that the team is actively working on.

Please keep in mind that we can’t guarantee that all these issues will be solved. We will however do our best to solve as many of them as possible.

Thank you again for all of your support and understanding! We’ll provide another update as soon as we can. 🧡

/ The Call of the Wild Team

[h2]👇👇[/h2]
[hr][/hr]
[h3]🐛 Highlights[/h3]

• Fix so that Diamond Whitetail Deer no longer weigh more than 100kg;
  
• Fix so Backpacks are no longer visible in first person camera;
  
• Fix the slow motion bug for Dog at tracker level 1 and 16;
  
• Fix the crash when user orders the dog to track within 50m of a rabbit corpse;
  
• Fix the issue of tents disappearing with an active dog nearby when user resumes gameplay after quitting to main menu;
  
• Fix so that animal corpses will no longer be invisible after walking outside of render range and back.
  
• Fix the issue of missing antlers on the trophies in the Trophy Lodge
  
• Fix the issue of ATV lights turning on/off at night time when 3rd person camera is toggled;
  

[h3]🙌 Additional[/h3]
--- Animals & Environment

• Rework the spawning rates for Geese and Ducks
  
• Investigate reports of the disappearing of Great One Whitetails that previously existed in the reserve's animal population after restarting the game
  
• Improve the delay when the Bloodhound notifies the player of a harvested animal;
  
• Fix the problem of audio persisting from bushes after walking through them;
  

--- Weapons, Gear, & Character

• Fix so Dog will not push/ block the user’s character anymore;
  
• Fix so Huntermate screen will not appear transparent after switching reserves now;
  
• Fix the issue where a scope becomes invisible for a weapon while switching ammo types;
  
• Fix the issue of a sight disappearing on bows after switching to a different arrow type;
  
• Fix the issue with Rangefinder bow sight not displaying range or aim dots;
  
• [XB1] Fix the issue of user’s character sliding/drifting during gameplay when controller is reconnected after being disconnected;
  
• Fix the issue when toggling run on a controller caused the character to stop when auto-walk is enabled;
  

--- User Interface & Multiplayer

• Remove the black circle which appears around the waypoint marker;
  
• Remove & update the placeholder text in My Dogs tab when user does not own any dog;
  
• Fix the dog status icon while tracking live prey;
  
• Fix so the effective range stats for rifle ammo no longer display low values in store and inventory;
  

--- Miscellaneous

• Fix so user will be able to pet their dog in the Trophy Lodge;
  
• Fix so Dog will gain a portion of total XP when starting to track a harvest and the rest of XP will be added when harvest is found;
  

[h3]🐞 Bug Fixes:[/h3]

• Very Common: Crash when ordering dog to track within 50m of a duck or goose corpse
  
• Very Common: Incorrect ranking of trophies displayed in Hunter Profile menu. This issue is fixed for new harvests but is NOT retroactive
  
• Common: Unusable state of dog going into a slow motion state at level 15 of tracker trait
  
• Rare: Crash on joining multiplayer session 
  
• Rare: Crash on startup on PC
  

[hr][/hr]
❗Help us swat those bugs! 💥

If you find a bug or issue, please submit a report via our OFFICIAL SUPPORT PORTAL.

[h2]Howdy Hunters![/h2]

We’re overwhelmed with all the positive feedback and chatter surrounding the first ever canine companion for Call of the Wild. It’s a huge feat for us, and a long-time anticipated addition for everyone!

As it turns out, there were a few sneaky stowaway’s aboard the release:

[h3]👉 Bloodhound ‘Tracker’ trait progression not working as intended.[/h3]
When the Bloodhound reaches level 15 its animations may decline into a persisting slow motion state, essentially making it unusable. Thought to have been resolved during early production, this issue selectively reappeared during the Content Creator Weekend and has since been popping up more frequently among the sheer volume of players.

As an almost immediate temporary fix a server-side change has already been pushed to prevent the issue for players that have yet to encounter it, and solve it for the minority of players who have.

Please note this temporary solution is an online only fix; players who play offline, and therefore aren't syncing with our server, will still run into this issue.

[h3]👉 False animal-scoring recordings in the player Codex.[/h3]
An entirely new issue with growing reports, Silver-scoring animals are being recorded as Gold, Gold as Diamond, and Diamond as Great Ones.

Luckily, we know the cause and are in the process of preparing a fix. The downside is that any kills registered in the Codex between the issue occurring and the upcoming fix will remain incorrectly listed.

[hr][/hr]
[h3]👉 A hotfix is coming.[/h3]
The team is working toward resolving these issues as quickly as possible, though with this weekend (Easter) being a business holiday period for many around the world we won’t be able to deploy a hotfix as fast as some may have hoped for.

Thank you again for all of your support and understanding! We’ll provide another update as soon as we’re able.


[h3]Call of the Wild Team[/h3]

[h2]🆕 New Features:[/h2]

• Added support for new paid DLC: Bloodhound
  
• Blackbuck TruRACS
  

[h3]--- Helpful Tips for Hunting Dog[/h3]

• To get your very own Bloodhound you’ll need to visit the nearest Outpost locker.
  
• Additional information on the Bloodhound can be found in the Codex Tutorial Log.
  
• Like tracks, animals, and points of interest viewing options, you can find and tailor certain accessibility settings via the in-game menu under the Settings ‘System’ option.
  

[h3]🐛 Bug Fixes:[/h3]

--- FEATURED✅🙌

• Reworked animal simulation code which should fix issues with animals not showing on time at need zones and not dropping clues while also improving performance
  
• Alexander Traditional Longbow (Silver Ridge Peaks) can now be used to complete several bow hunting missions in Layton Lake and Hirschfelden
  
• Fixed several issues resulting in animals falling out of sync between players in multiplayer game
  
• Fixed issue with Trophy Lodge multiplayer where a guest would spawn in an empty lot🔥
  
• On PC, the animal ranking leaderboards will not be empty anymore
  
• Fixed certain cases where the game would shut down due to becoming disconnected from Steam server (even when playing offline)
  

[h3]Additional Updates[/h3]
--- Animals & Environment

• Fixed Turkeys so that they properly flee when spooked
  
• Fixed an invisible horn of a Bighorn Sheep on a very low-scoring set of horns
  
• Red Fox feeding need zones no longer show up right next to European Rabbit burrows
  
• Tweaked several side missions from Vualez Arc (Layton Lake) so that they’re no longer so extremely hard to complete
  
• Revised the number of coyotes in Cheelah Lake to complete a mission
  
• Walking through shallow water won’t be too loud anymore
  

--- Weapons, Gear, & Character

• Fixed Rangefinder Bow Sight (High Tech Hunting Pack) so that it shows distance to target in yards when using imperial unit system
  

--- User Interface & Multiplayer

• Fixed an issue where human tracks (related to various missions) would show a random animal icon in the Tracking HUD
  
• Fixed issue where mounting weapons on gun racks during multiplayer session would prevent player from entering their trophy lodge again
  
• Fixed an exploit that allowed to harvest the same animal multiple times under severe network lag
  
• Fixed issue where confirmation prompt would remain on screen after closing Store, and could result in buying wrong item
  
• Fixed issue with ATV prompt showing for all players in a multiplayer game
  
• Huntermate will not show black screen now when user fast travels between outposts in Te Awaroa reserve
  

--- Miscellaneous

• Fixed issue that made it impossible to jump or go prone after fast travelling from a treestand
  
• Various crash fixes
  

[h3]⏫ Improvements:[/h3]

• New left and right stick deadzone settings in System > Gamepad menu
  
• New mouse smoothing option in System > Keyboard / Mouse menu
  
• Text chat in multiplayer is now supported for Russian, Japanese and Simplified Chinese (only on PC, game’s and system’s language need to match)
  
• There is now a warning if you bind the same key/button to multiple actions (it’s still possible to do it but it will help you avoid an error and give you a chance to cancel if you made a mistake)
  
• We added a limit of maximum 5 Trophy Lodges of each type (this is needed to solve certain save issues and ensure they won’t happen in the future; your lodges won’t be deleted if you’re over that limit but you won’t be able to create more lodges)