WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition News

[h2]Patch v1.0.6n - Released 4 March 2021[/h2]

[h3]NEW:[/h3]
* Yellowstone Wolf Pack DLC now available! Go to My Wolves, then Coat Customization and scroll down to preview the new coats (Founders, Hall of Fame, and Cool Coats) on your wolf. Click the Buy button to go to Steam or itch.io to purchase the coats. They will immediately be available for your wolves. They will also be eligible to appear on dispersal wolves and grown pups in any new game that you start after purchasing this DLC. (Note that if you have the game from Steam, your purchase is tied to your Steam account. If you have the game from itch.io, you must have a WolfQuest game account, as that is where your purchase is recorded.)

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* When in Endless Summer quest, you can now regenerate your family snapshot in the Pack Info panel. This will replace the snapshot that was taken previously when completing the Loaf at Rendezvous Site quest. (Useful if you change a mate or pup name, or if a pup dies and you want to be honest about it.)
* On Apple Silicon computers, wolf feet now touch ground, and alert appears in main menu about bugs.

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Female wolf does not appear pregnant in Slough Creek until you save and reload the save.
* If your wolf is female and save your game in Slough Creek before having pups, then start a new game in Amethyst, your wolf will be pregnant there.
* Moose calf in August grew up too fast.
* In Slough Creek, on Basic Sky & Veg mode, audio controls do not affect rain and snow sounds.
* Tall grass patches disappear in August.
* Snow does not accumulate on distant landscape in spring and summer in Slough Creek.
* Player gets stuck if notification appears while dreaming.
* In Wolf Customization, can't click drag to rotate wolf.
* New Mate quest (sometimes) appears after game over when a pregnant mate dies.
* Scent tracks sometimes stop abruptly.
* Scent tracks get suddenly older.
* All stranger wolves are interested in courtship. (Bug introduced in February -- Valentine's Day Special! -- and fixed now in new games but will persist in saved games from the past several weeks.)
* All dispersals and stranger wolves have the same level of interest at the start of courtship (should be vary some).
* World Map does not remember state of Show Dens button during Raise Pups quest.
* Regurgitated meat does not glow in scent view.
* Errors loading a save with carcass scent tracks spawned.
* Water and terrain issues.

[h2]Public Beta 1.0.6m (Beta 3 - 18 February)[/h2]

This beta is backward-compatible with saved games and wolves, so you can switch between this and the last release (1.0.6m) without any problems. However, multiplayer is not compatible with that release.

This beta is for Windows only.


[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Revised how vegetation is updated during season changes. This should look the same as before during gameplay, but it's possible that something isn't set up quite right, so please report if you notice anything different about vegetation compared to previous patches.
* When the final "Explore Lost River" quest begins on that map, switched the music track from Journey to Slough Creek since you can't actually journey from Lost River to Slough Creek.

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Dying elk remove long stripe of grass near them.
* One section of Slough Creek has no current when flooded in May.
* Ears bend back too far when howling while lying down.
* Prey Killed music can play repeatedly after killing prey.
* Cougar carries pup under chin instead of in mouth.
* Saving fails if player somehow manages to use special characters in mate and pup names.
* NPC wolves can sometimes change coats.
* One meat chunk sits too high in the mouth.
* Terrain and water issues.

[h3]BETA 2 (1 March)[/h3]

[h2]BUGS FIXED:[/h2]
* Female wolf does not appear pregnant in Slough Creek until you save and reload the save.
* If your wolf is female and save your game in Slough Creek before having pups, then start a new game in Amethyst, your wolf will be pregnant there.
Moose calf in August grew up too fast.
* In Slough Creek, on Basic Sky & Veg mode, audio controls do not affect rain and snow sounds.
* Tall grass patches disappear in August
* Snow does not accumulate on distant landscape in spring and summer in Slough Creek.
* Player gets stuck if notification appears while dreaming.
* In Wolf Customization, can't click drag to rotate wolf.
* New Mate quest (sometimes) appears after game over when a pregnant mate dies
* Scent tracks sometimes stop abruptly.
* Scent tracks get suddenly older.

[h3]BETA 3 (2 March)[/h3]

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* When in Endless Summer quest, you can now regenerate your family snapshot in the Pack Info panel. This will replace the snapshot that was taken previously when completing the Loaf at Rendezvous Site quest. (Useful if you change a mate or pup name, or if a pup dies and you want to be honest about it.)

[h2]BUGS FIXED:[/h2]
* Multiplayer is broken since beta 1.
* Distant landscape is pink after proceeding from one quest in Slough Creek to the next.
* All stranger wolves are interested in courtship. (Bug introduced in February -- Valentine's Day Special! and fixed now in new games but will persist in saved games from the past several weeks.)
* All dispersals and stranger wolves have the same level of interest at the start of courtship (should be vary some).
* World Map does not remember state of Show Dens button during Raise Pups quest.
* Regurgitated meat does not glow in scent view.
* Errors loading a save with carcass scent tracks spawned.

[h3]BETA 4 (3 March)[/h3]

IMPROVEMENTS:
* For Apple Silicon computers, wolf feet now touch ground, and alert appears in main menu about bugs.

BUGS FIXED:
* Extra "Abandoned Den" lines appear in Pack Info.
* Water and terrain issues.

__________________________________

[h3]TO GET THE BETA BUILD[/h3]
1) In the Steam app, go to your Library, then right-click on the WolfQuest: AE name in the left column and choose Properties.
2) Then go to the Betas tab and select the WQ current Beta option in the pulldown. No password is necessary. Steam should then start downloading it. Later you can switch back to the public version in that Betas tab, by selecting NONE in that pulldown.

We got a suggestion from a player that it would be cool to add a special animation for the way elk sometimes pull their heads up and back when they are alarmed and fleeing wolves. We were perplexed because this is already included in the game. But no, it turns out that this animation stopped working sometime ago and no one had caught that. So, it’s back in the game now…. And now we are getting bug reports that the elk look weird when they run! So, that’s not a bug.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

But why do elk hold their heads that way sometimes? As Dr. Dan Stahler, one of our game advisors, explains:

“Elk head position during wolf pursuit probably serves a couple purposes - although these are somewhat speculative because I don't think there's any real data per se. One, due to position of their eyes on the sides of their head, it's thought to provide a little better vision on the field of view behind them when they tilt their head back. This may help with tracking the pursuing predator to anticipate evasive maneuvers or need to kick.

"When the head tilt is exaggerated, it usually accompanies a high stepping prance. This is more akin to the honest signaling you see in stotting mule deer, or the African ungulates like springbok, gazelle, etc. These are energetically costly movements for these animals, but the ability to do it is thought to be an advertisement of body condition that may cause a pursuing predator to gauge probability of capture (and risks associated with trying to do so).”

This week also released Patch v1.0.6m with lots of improvements and bug fixes. You can see all the patch notes and updates here: https://support.wolfquest.org/help/patches-wolfquest-anniversary-edition

Finally, we love all the WolfQuest screenshots people post on social media!  Most people turn off the HUD for better pictures. But we actually need some shots showing gameplay with the HUD displayed. We will select our favorites to promote the game — and those players will get a free DLC pack (WQ soundtrack or the upcoming Yellowstone coat pack) in appreciation. We are looking for screenshots in Fantastic or Glorious graphics quality, 1920x1080 resolution. Please email them to [email protected]— and thanks!

EDIT: I totally forgot that we hide the HUD in Photo Mode screenshots. Ack! So with Steam, just press F12 instead of spacebar when in photo mode and you'll get the HUD in the screenshot. Sorry about that!

_______________

WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition is available now for PC/Mac on Steam and itch.io, as Early Access. The game currently includes Episode 1: Amethyst Mountain, Episode 2: Slough Creek, Lost River: Classic, and multiplayer mode in Amethyst and Lost River. (Slough Creek multiplayer is coming soon,.) The mobile version will come after the game (including Slough Creek) is completed on PC/Mac platforms. The next episode, Tower Fall (DLC) will follow. We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready!

Patch v1.0.6m is now available for Windows and Mac.

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Refactored scent system to make it more robust. This should reduce or eliminate bugs with disappearing scent tracks and pups leaving tracks when carried, along with improvements to how the scents are laid down when the animal makes sharp turns, and what happens when a pup enters and exits a den.
* Notably faster loading times when starting new game or loading saved game.
* Spring flood ponds in First Meadow retain their shapes when seen from far away.
* Better creek sound effects.
* Switched to new rocky-ground terrain texture in Amethyst with much better tiling.
* Improvements to terrain texturing in Amethyst and Slough Creek.
* Improvements to June elk calf limb movements when being carried.
* In Wolf Customization, the Coats panel is taller to show more rows, and clicking and scrolling is more intuitive.

[h3]
BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* When fleeing predators, elk should often pull their heads back, but don't. (This was in the game originally but broke at some point, probably a long time ago.)
* Predator music bugs (same clip plays repeatedly, wrong clip plays).
* Female wolf sometimes does not have pregnant belly in winter and early spring.
* Game accepts keyboard inputs when another app has focus. (Really fixed time!)
* Game sometimes pauses during courtship in Lost River.
* Quest music doesn't play reliably at start of each quest.
* Terrain switches back to previous season in certain situations.
* In Lost River, game sometimes pauses for some seconds during courtship.
* One stick rides too high in the pup's mouth.
* In multiplayer, buggy behavior after clicking Exit Game or Main Menu buttons.
* Lost River music keeps playing when returning to main menu.
* Wolf ears do not fold back when howling while lying down.
* Mate is unable to enter tree stump den.
* Pup carcass oddities when carried by parent.
* Some save game errors and failures.
* Pups won't exit tall grass if parent is inside as well.
* Pups will follow player far from the den or rendezvous site if trying to respond to a social emote.
* If terrain quality is low or very low, but Enhanced Sky & Vegetation mode is enabled, dirt dens do not have holes in ground.
* When adding a player to a pack, can't click OK button to continue adding more players but must click Done and then reopen Packs panel.
* In main menu, wolves in the My Wolves carousel are floating a bit off the ground.
* Map labels for two ponds are in wrong spot.
* Grizzly cub and elk calf can get stuck in turning animation.
* In very particular circumstances, a litter can have zero pups.
* Winter can rudely interrupt Endless Summer in Slough Creek.
* Fish sits a bit high in the mouth.
* Text edits and corrections.
* Terrain and water issues.

No dev blog video this week. The furnace is out at WQ HQ in Minnesota – brrrrr! We still are working in our long johns and extra wool socks waiting for the repair crew so this great screenshot by Ominous Odyssey suits our mood today. The team is working on bugs and boring necessary things. Susan is prepping for tax time (again, see comment about screenshot mood).

Cheer us up by telling us about other games you like to play and why!