Witch It News

Patch 1.5.0 is here! In this update, we're excited to release an early version of our Creative 2.0 that will advance your map creation to unimaginable heights! In addition, we now have a new in-game friends system, and have made a lot of performance optimisations towards CPU and GPU. Check it out! 🎉

[h2]Creative 2.0![/h2]
Welcome to Creative 2.0, our biggest technical leap to Creative Mode yet! 🚀

You'll immediately notice that Creative 2.0's camera works slightly different from usual. You now use right-click to rotate your camera. This is to keep our creative mode mechanically aligned with other popular creative modes and editing software, and will be much easier for console players to build maps once we enable controller use in the near future. 🕹️

By pressing Tab, you can now open a radial menu that allows you to select from Place, Edit, or Connect modes seamlessly:

[h3]🪑 Place Mode[/h3]

Place Mode is used to place down props, structures and utilities into your map. In Creative 2.0, the placement menu has been condensed so you don't ever have to open and close the menu to see what you're doing. Your position in the placement menu will remain even after placing a prop (unless switching to another tab or mode), allowing for far more efficiency when you go to fill up your maps with props!



[h3]🔧 Edit Mode[/h3]

Edit Mode is used to modify specific parameters of your props. As usual, you can click a prop to select it for editing - however, you'll now see a useful properties menu appear in the corner of your screen. For the first time ever since Creative Mode was released, you can now type in specific values for position, rotation and scaling, allowing for mathematically accurate transformation of any prop or structure in your map.

Want to equally space out pillars in a building?
Increase one of the position values by 200 each time to create a perfect row! ✔️

Want to create a structures like Twisted House?
Modify the rotation value and copy it to all other props to create weird and wacky designs! ✔️

Need to enable an action prop?
Action props can be activated directly in edit mode! ✔️

[h3]🔌 Connect Mode[/h3]

Connect Mode is used to attach switches to switchable props or utilities. In Creative 2.0, you can connect and disconnect objects by shift-clicking them. Easily view all connections on a single switch by selecting the switch in connect mode, and disconnect all or selected connections via the menu.



[h3]🎮 Play Test[/h3]


Creative 2.0's Play Test mode allows you to test your creations and push their limits without damaging your hard work. When enabling Play Test via the server menu (ESC), you can now select your team and skills before starting the test. Physics are disabled by default in Creative 2.0, so Play Test is what you'll use to quickly enable physics and test your maps exactly as players will see it.


After starting the test, you can run around and play your maps as you wish. Knocking over props, using explosive skills like body slam, and breaking your maps is encouraged - as exiting Play Test will revert everything back to normal and return your props to their original positions! ↩️


Please be aware that this an early iteration of the new Creative Mode, so many things are still not yet finalised. In particular, controller and chat functions do not currently work and will be added in a later update. But there's good news - the Creative Mode structure limit has now been increased from 2000 to 2500! 🧱

Here's some handy shortcut keys that may help you in Creative 2.0:

Press 4 to change to Place Mode
Press 5 to change to Edit Mode
Press 6 to change to Connect Mode
Press 0 to change to Play Test Mode

[h2]Friends System![/h2]
With the upcoming console release and exploration of new platforms for Witch It, we are introducing a new in-game friends list. You can access it by pressing your profile in the top right of the main menu, or by opening the in-game menu during a match and pressing 'Friends'. 👥


Here, you can browse your list of in-game, online and offline friends. If you're currently in a match, you'll also have an option to invite your friend to the session. In this menu, you can also find recently played with players, pending friend invites, and account settings. ⚙️


In account settings, you can reveal your User ID and share with your friends to add them! ➕
Adding in-game friends does not affect your Steam friends list.



[h2]Major Optimisations![/h2]
Players with low-end integrated graphics cards can now select the new "Start with Simple Shaders" launch option when starting Witch It, which will improve performance on old PCs.


Map collision has been entirely replaced with our new map border system, and we made several optimisations on gamecode which will improve CPU performance. 📈

[h2]Prop Transform Grace Time[/h2]
In the in-game settings, there's a new option called "Prop Transform Grace Time". ✨
This refers to the amount of time you can transform into a prop even after it's not highlighted anymore.
While this is mainly for controller users to make it easier to transform while moving, this works just as well for PC players too!



[h2]Patch Notes:[/h2]

1.5.0 - Creative Mode Update

+ Added: There is now a Simple Shader Mode for low end integrated graphics cards which will increase performance
+ Added: In-game friends system - You can now see your friends list and people you recently played with. Friends added via the new system are only friends within Witch It, they will not affect your Steam friends. To access the new system the button in the top right corner of the main menu has been replaced (you can change your icons under “Collection”)

↻ Changed: Several optimisations on gamecode which will improve CPU performance
↻ Changed: Replaced all Mapcollision with our new Map border system
↻ Changed: Witches can no longer get the invisibility Power-Up in Fill-A-Pot
↻ Changed: Invisibility Power-Up duration got reduced from 12 to 7 Seconds
↻ Changed: Updated the Ingame Help Screen for Controllers
↻ Changed: Increased Structure Limit in Creative Mode from 2000 to 2500
↻ Changed: Map border around the ship on ‘Port Plunder’

✓ Fixed: Broken spots on 'Grave Gulch' & 'Bone Pit'
✓ Fixed: Possess working on dissolving props

By the way, please follow our new Instagram page!
https://www.instagram.com/witchitgame

For the first time ever, Witch It is -80% off on Steam! 💸

This is the biggest discount we have ever ran, so now is the perfect time to encourage your friends to grab a copy! The sale will end on 18th February, 2024.

Don't miss out - the "Year of the Dragon" Chinese New Year 2024 event is currently live in-game, packed full of incredible new content to discover. Round up your crew and get involved! 🐲

➡️ You can find the sale by clicking here.

新年好!

The Year of the Dragon is here, and we're marking the occasion with new skins, props, power-ups, and more! And for the romantics among us, we have some Valentine's surprises too... read on! 🐲

[h2]4 New Skins![/h2]
Introducing the Wood Dragon Head for the Witch, and the Red Envelope for the Hunter, two beautiful new Chinese New Year skins for you to earn via event crafting! For those who want less red and more pink, check out the Romantic Hat for the Witch and the Valentine's Hat for the Hunter, granted free to all players who log onto Witch It between 14th - 21st February (when the event ends)! 💞


[h3]Earning Chinese New Year 2024 Items:[/h3]
Open Witch It during the Chinese New Year 2024 event to earn 30 "Fireworks". Combining 1 Firework with 1 Gunpowder will craft 1 random Chinese New Year item.

To earn Gunpowder, you must fill up the item cauldron with 250 experience points on any Official server. The item cauldron fills up at the end of each round, during the level up screen. For every item cauldron opened, there is a 50% chance that you'll receive 1 Gunpowder.
Note: Gunpowder can only be obtained in Official servers.

Alternatively, you can earn Chinese New Year 2024 items by chance through filling up the item cauldron at the end of a round. 🎲

[h2]2 New Player Icons![/h2]
Collect the limited-time "Valentine 2024" and "Year of the Dragon" player icons by playing Witch It during the event season. At the end of the Chinese New Year 2024 event, these icons will never return - so make sure to pick them up before they disappear! 🐉



[h2]3 New Props![/h2]
Explore any of our night maps to locate the new Paper Lantern, Long Paper Lantern, and Dragon Firework props - and don't forget you can use these props to decorate your Creative Mode maps! 🏮



[h2]Grand Architect's & Speed Builder's Helmets![/h2]
Following the popularity of the GIF Master's Hat, we're introducing the "Grand Architect's Helmet" and "Speed Builder's Helmet"! 👷

🏆 Previous and future winners of Official Map Contests will receive the Grand Architect's Helmet!
🏆 Previous and future winners of Speed Build Contests will receive the Speed Builder's Helmet!
The exclusive items will also be granted to their respective event organisers.

Looking to earn one of these incredible helmets? Keep an eye out on our Steam announcements for the latest contest news as it arrives! We also announce the contests on our Discord server - check it out! 📢



[h2]4 New Power-Ups![/h2]
For the first time since their introduction back in 2018, we're excited to reveal 4 brand new power-ups!
We've added 2 new Hunter power-ups and 2 new Witch power-ups, designed to spice up your matches and open up new tactical opportunities to turn the tide of a round - these power-ups may be the ultimate difference between a win or a loss! 🧙

[h3]Hunters[/h3]
🐔 Detection
A helpful chicken perches on the Hunter's head, temporarily alerting them if Witches are nearby!

⏱️ Cooldown Reduction
Fueled with determination, the Hunter's skill cooldowns are reduced for a short duration!



[h3]Witches[/h3]
👁️ Invisibility
In the blink of an eye, the Witch vanishes for a brief time, allowing them to escape undetected!

🍄 Confusion Wave
A powerful wave of Witch energy expands into the surrounding area, disorientating nearby Hunters!



In addition, power-ups are now tweakable in Match Rules+! ✔️



[h2]Patch Notes:[/h2]
+ Added: 4 new Power-ups
+ Added: Power-ups are now tweakable in Match Rules+
+ Added: 2 new Chinese New Year themed skin items
+ Added: 2 new Valentine’s Day themed skin items
+ Added: 3 new event props
+ Added: Serbo-Croatian localization

↻ Changed: Updated Wall collision to our new collision system on 'Northern Whispers' and 'Singing Sanctuary'. More Maps will follow in the next patches.
↻ Changed: Removed some level achievements
↻ Changed: Reorganized mainmenu to be a bit less cluttered
↻ Changed: Login flow is updated to make sure everything is loaded when the main menu is shown

✓ Fixed: Broken spots on 'Northern Whispers', 'Wardwell Wintry' & 'High Spruce Town'
✓ Fixed: Possess is not showing why it is not possible
✓ Fixed: Rocket sound is heard everywhere on the map
✓ Fixed: Power-ups dropped from Witches getting launched when a Witch is caught

Edit:
⚠️ Just a heads up - we have been made aware of a bug that causes the item cauldron to not always show all drops you have received. For example, you may have been earning gunpowder without realising it! But don't worry, the actual inventory is correct, so any drops you can't see will appear on your account regardless. We'll be fixing this as soon as possible. ✔️

[h3] Witch It is currently down for maintenance! 🔧[/h3]
We expect to be back up and running in roughly 2 hours, at 12pm UTC.

⚠️ Please do not use any Witch It functions during this downtime - such as crafting, Creative Mode, etc.

Thank you for your patience! 💜

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We are proud to announce the winners of the fourth community Speed Build Contest!

The theme was randomly picked from two pools: a style to determine the atmosphere of the map, and a main theme to determine the setting of the map. The randomly picked theme was "Moody Bay"!

🥇 1st place: Distortion Map Link - Moody Bay
Distortion wins a 10 Euro Steam gift card and the Speed Contest Hat granted to them in the near future! Congratulations!



🥈 2nd place: Vissia Map Link - Sullen Wharf
Vissia wins a 10 Euro Steam gift card!

🥉 3rd place: hgbf Map Link - Dino Bay
The 3rd place 10 Euro Steam gift card will be passed down to the next highest-voted contestant.

All participants will receive 10 Crystallized Moonlight in the near future! 🎁

Disclaimer: A small number of suspicious votes have been excluded for fairness between competitors.

Thank you to all participants for taking the time to create incredible and impressive entries, especially under the difficult time constraints!

And an additional thank you to hgbf, Obscura and fri for going above and beyond in their efforts to make these incredible community contests. We appreciate you! 💜