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WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition News

Patch v1.0.8j Released

Patch v1.0.8j (Released on 5 March 2022)

BUGS FIXED:
* Bug Report panel won't open.
* Stranger wolf airborne scent is blobby shape.
* Plugging in controller after starting up game will reset thumbstick remappings.

WolfQuest on Steam Deck!

To be honest, releasing WolfQuest on Steam Deck was not at the front of our thoughts since we are so busy. We'd been following Steam Deck progress since Valve announced it last summer. I submitted a devkit request, but I figured getting the game running on Steam Deck was going to be a fair bit of work, so it would not be something we would tackle for quite awhile . (As you know, we are focusing on getting the game done for PC and Mac before considering other platforms. )

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

But then Valve sent us a devkit (a sample device) in January and we tried WolfQuest on it. We were pleasantly surprised that the game ran quite well right out of the box! There was definitely some work that needed to be done for the controller support and to manage the three different input types that the Deck offers (thumbsticks, trackpads, and touchscreen). That took Andrei a few weeks of work, but as of the latest patch, 1.0.8h, we are pleased that Steam Deck users can play WolfQuest.

We know a lot of you are probably thinking, Hey! What about mobile or console? Are you working on these too? The answer is still no, not right now. Those platforms all will require many, many months of development time from the whole team. So, not until the game is completed on PC/Mac, will we have time to turn our attention to other platforms.

We look forward to hearing how Steam Deck users find playing WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition. It does seem like a nice option for people who don't want to spend what it takes to get a computer that runs modern games well or just want a handheld gaming console that can play many or most games in their Steam library. If you want to learn more about the Steam Deck, here is Valve's website about it: https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck

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The WolfQuest saga will continue! Stay tuned for more news in upcoming devblogs. More maps and wolf customizations are also coming in 2022!

Once the game is completed on PC/Mac, we will turn our attention to other platforms.

We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready.

Patch 1.0.8i Released

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Problems ensue if stranger wolf kills your mate, since they then are neither hostile nor courtable.
* Can't select emote when notification is onscreen.
* Pups eyes flicker when sleeping.
* When adding pack members, game doesn't register them until game is relaunched, and similarly for players accepting or rejecting a pack invitation.

Patch v1.0.8h Released!

Patch v1.0.8h (Released on 3 March 2022)

[h3]NEW: MULTIPLAYER[/h3]
* In public games, host's Pack Info panel has a button to make the game private. This hides the game in the MP lobby except for those who are in the game when the host clicks that button.
* In private games, host's Pack Info panel has a button to add other friends to the game, so it will be listed for them in the lobby.

[h3]NEW AND IMPROVED: COURTSHIP[/h3]
We have remade the courtship gameplay to fix some bugs and add new behaviors and functionality:
* If two dispersal groups come to you, interested in courtship, you can now growl at one group to send them away without sending the other group away as well.
* When encountering wolves from a rival pack, if some are interested in courtship, you must immediately show your intentions with submissive behaviors or they'll assume you are hostile and will fight you. You don't have to fight the non-interested wolves anymore, and they will stay around during courtship to ensure the safety of their packmate(s).
* Rival pack wolves aren't courtable if you've recently marked inside their territory.
* If you reject a wolf after its heart-meter fills up, it'll lose some affinity and walk away -- but then come back around in hopes it can still persuade you.
* NPC wolves can court each other (though it's rare to see this in the current game -- this is more for future gameplay in the Saga).

[h3]STEAM DECK SUPPORT[/h3]
WolfQuest now fully supports Steam Deck. We made many small refinements and improvements to controller support, as well as refinements specific to the Deck hardware and inputs, to ensure the game works well on the Deck. Most of these improvements will also make controller experience better in general.

[h3]OTHER IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Territory size (and to a lesser extent strength) have much more effect now on stranger wolf attacks. A good territory has two-hex buffer all around your den. Stranger wolves care about how far they have to travel in your territory to reach your pups, not about the total size of your territory.
* Multiplayer: If a player leaves the game but remains in limbo, their slot is reserved (while in limbo) so the room cannot fill while they are away.
* Multiplayer: If a player whose wolf is in limbo in a game session returns to the multiplayer lobby, a notification appears asking if they want to rejoin that game.
* Multiplayer: Leaving games should be more reliable now.
* Competitor NPCs animals eat less from carcasses, so carcasses are not consumed as quickly.
* If player fails to complete Slough Creek after advancing in age, when starting a new Slough Creek game, mate will also advance in age to keep player-wolf and mate age in sync.
* Reduced the Affinity threshold for pups in tall grass when traveling (about halfway back to what it has been previously).
* Controller: Changed left D-Pad to Chat, and moved Headcam to double-pull on left shoulder.
* Controller: Added Headcam tip for controllers on notification when eagle attacks.
* Controller: Added controller input icon for Peaceful Death.
* Controller: Refined navigation on coat selection panel of wolf customization.
* Added Nametags dropdown on Game Settings panel.
* Added Nametags option on Remap Controls panel for game controllers (currently unmapped, but available for remapping).
* Cropped the badge's pawprint icon, as it had a row of invisible pixels at the top which made the health level non-intuitive.
* Prevent usernames consisting only of numbers, as those can cause problems with the WQ account system.
* Inverted the stranger airborne scent icon, to contrast better with player's scent post icon at a distance.
* Refined elk hunt music so it switches back from showdown to chase music if solo elk starts fleeing again.
* When in Pupcam, player-wolf's head doesn't follow camera viewing direction now.
* Improved wolf's aim when urinating and appearance of urine stream.
* Reduced wolf howl volume at medium (20-100m) distances.
* Removed the Basic/Enhanced Sky & Vegetation toggle on Apple Silicon Macs (since the trees are wonky in Basic and M1s can run Enhanced.)
* Increased ambient occlusion before sunset and after sunrise to improve visuals.
* Better texture for Douglas-fir bark.
* Adjusted volume of music and sounds at end of Courtship quest.
* Made FPS display more readable.
* Assigned correct Confident Tail Wag icon on Courtship Emote wheel.
* Added a delay to prevent dens from flooding while newborn pups are in it.
* Tweaks to predator attack frequency.
* Adjusted wolf walking speed to match animation speed better.
* Cougars can attack when you are moving to a new homesite.

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* NPC wolves just can't stop themselves when eating at a carcass.
* Mate won't eat a meat chunk at den (unless very hungry), even if pups are too young to eat it.
* Mate won't eat a meat chunk if it's too close to pups (even if pups can't eat it).
* Mate won't feed pups if there's a meat chunk at den, when the pups are too young to eat meat chunks.
* Mate won't drop pup during journey sometimes.
* Mate sometimes carries pup to you when you're out marking territory.
* Stranger wolves don't attack summer pups.
* At night in winter, ambient occlusion is too strong and causes dark flickering behind trees.
* Staying in den with sick pup will ensure its recovery.
* Multiplayer: Incorrect text on disconnect alerts (saying whether host or you have disconnected).
* Multiplayer: Players are stuck with black screen if they have not saved/reloaded game since starting new MP game.
* Multiplayer: Players in limbo are included in the Pack Rally requirement.
* Multiplayer: Tail keeps wagging when player goes into limbo.
* Multiplayer: When a notification is onscreen, you cannot type into text chat.
* Multiplayer: Some issues with chat input when using both controller and keyboard.
* Several things interrupt predators when en route to a homesite raid.
* Going into scent view just as you are going to sleep enables scent view, and it can't be disabled.
* Stray "100%" readout on the margin of the World Map sometimes.
* Scrolling does not reset to top of long panels such as those in Game Help.
* Error when loading game with unborn pups.
* In Setup New Game panel, depending on visible dropdowns, Start Game button navigation could jump the last one.
* On very rare occasions, ungulates spawn at den.
* Find a Den quest music doesn't play properly.
* Saving game sometimes erroneously says save exists already.
* FPS Alert is inaccurate in certain moments.
* When remapping an input with multiple actions associated with it, those associated actions were not recreated when the action was remapped again.
* Terrain edge peeks through entrance tunnel at several burrow dens.
* Sometimes damage sound effects don't play when they should.
* Pups don't close their eyes when they sleep or howl.
* White edge on right eye of Tawny wolf coat.
* Low texture quality selected incorrectly on higher graphics quality levels in Amethyst map.
* Massive lag spikes in certain, probably not too common, situations that make the game unplayable.
* Error when saving game (possible fix).
* Elk meat chunk has wrong scent color.
* Terrain and water issues.

Courtship and Territory Improvements

The next patch, 1.0.8h, now in public beta, features another nice set of improvements and bug fixes. Today's devblog video looks at two of those:

* Tommi rewrote the courtship gameplay, adding new aspects to it, eliminating bugs, and laying the groundwork for more gameplay to come in the Saga expansion. For example, now when you encounter an interested wolf from a rival pack, you can avoid a fight with their packmates by demonstrating that yours is a peaceful visit. You might also occasionally glimpse dispersals courting each others.

* Territory size affects how frequently rival wolves will attack your pups, but this effect was diluted substantially by other factors, often making it hard to see much difference with different-sized territories. We've revised how this works so now the effect should be much more noticeable. And remember, it's the size of your territory -- specifically how far a rival wolf has to travel from the edge to your homesite -- that matters, much more than the strength of the hexes.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We'd love to get feedback on these improvements, especially on the territory revision, so please use the F11 key to report on your experiences. And there's lots more in this patch as well, which we expect to release next week.
__________________________________

The WolfQuest saga will continue! Stay tuned for more news in upcoming devblogs. More maps and wolf customizations are also coming in 2022!

Once the game is completed on PC/Mac, we will turn our attention to other platforms.

We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready.