Slough Creek multiplayer beta is now available for Windows and Mac computers in the WQ:AE Public Beta branch! (See instructions at bottom of this post on how to access the beta.)
NOTE: Multiplayer is not compatible with the last released patch, 1.0.7n, so you can only play MP games with others who have this beta. You can switch back and forth between this beta and 1.0.7n anytime, game saves are compatible.
IMPORTANT: When reporting multiplayer bugs, we need a report from both the host and any other player who is having the problem. Without the host's report, we cannot try to reproduce and fix the bug.
If the game crashes, please email the Player.log and Player-prev.log files to
[email protected]:
- On Windows: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\LocalLow\eduweb\WolfQuestAE\Player.log
- On MacOS: ~/Library/Logs/eduweb/WolfQuestAE/Player.log (You can open the Library folder via the Go pulldown menu.)
[h3]NEW: SLOUGH CREEK MULTIPLAYER![/h3]
In Story mode, establish a territory, choose a den, and raise pups in multiplayer, just as in single-player! All gameplay is the same, with some new multiplayer-only features:
* Two decision-making options: Host Decides (when choosing den and rendezvous site, and deciding when to move to a new den or rendezvous site) and Majority Rules (all players vote on homesites and when to move).
* Two time-speed options: Normal (same as single-player) and Accelerated (pups grow faster, resulting in game duration of roughly two hours, give or take).
* Pup Favorites: Each pup has a favorite adult wolf (initially the player who named them), whom they will socialize with more often, and follow when traveling to a new den or rendezvous site. Feed and socialize with this pup to maintain your status (but the more pups who consider you their favorite, the harder it will be to maintain that status.).
[h3]ALSO NEW IN MULTIPLAYER:[/h3]
* Two other Slough Creek Multiplayer modes: Pack Life (live and hunt in an area which stranger wolves cannot claim) and Territory Acquisition (compete with stranger wolves for territory).
* Four territory configurations to choose from in each mode.
* Ten new achievements to earn, mainly in Slough Creek Story mode.
[h2]BETA 4 (6 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Carcass markers: Carcasses often provide more food than you can eat in one sitting. When at a carcass, howl to mark its location on the compass and World Map until it has been consumed. (In multiplayer, this will also share the carcass's location with all current members of your pack.) Also, the carcass icon (in airborne scents and on map and compass) is now an X.
* Pup health and hunger: Late summer is a challenging time because prey are healthier and pups are growing faster, so pups are now a bit hungrier in May and June, and noticeably hungrier later in the summer. Pups also lose health when very hungry, raising the threat of death from malnutrition if players don't keep them well-fed -- this is also greater for the summer pups. Summer pups also have a somewhat larger appetite.
* Pup AI: Pups will often take a nap after filling their tummies, and they will always move away from the carcass so other pups can reach it.
* Pup sickness: Pups won't get sick until a few game-hours into Raise Pups quest. Reduced the duration of sickness, and minor tweaks to make kk pups more likely to get sick compared to Kk pups. Reduced odds of dying some. Reduced the chances of a pup getting sick for a second time.
* Lost pups: Reduced the period of time that pups can be lost before dying in the wilderness.
* Increased pup eating speed (somewhat faster in spring, more in summer).
* When pups are clustered around a carcass, it can be hard for player to target the carcass, so now you can target it more easily if you walk up close to it.
* Mate: Reduced the distance from the den that the mate will feed pups at.
* Age Perks: Reduced Youthful Prowess effects on competitors.
* Made grizzlies and cougars a bit more persistent during den raids.
* Multiplayer: Now you can rename game when loading a save (and if there is already an active MP game with that name, you are prompted to change the name of your game.)
* Changed time of Newborn Ungulate subquest popup from 6am to 1am on June 1st, so people will stop bugging me about finding newborns in those six hours before the popup appears. * Prey carcasses emit airborne scents more frequently.
* Scent posts emit airborne scents less frequently.
* NPC obstacle avoidance code is now multi-threaded, which should have minor performance improvement.
* Increased stamina drain when carrying a pup (now you can carry it for 100 seconds, previously was about 130s).
* Modest reduction in coyote aggressiveness during den raids. (Not too much though, since coyote pups are the most vulnerable of all competitors to wolves, so coyotes would be pretty fierce to protect them.)
* Mate will regurgitate more when pups are very hungry.
* Increased the min/max distance that carcasses can spawn (because now with the carcass markers, we don't need as many carcasses out there).
* Loaf at Rendezvous Site quest intro texts modified to mention risk of malnutrition.
* Added a note in Lost River intro dialog about not being able to have pups there.
* Tweaks to the NPC spawning reductions based on CPU benchmarking (less reduction when fewer animals are spawned, more reductions when a lot of animals are spawned). These reductions are now applied in single-player as well as multiplayer, to prevent CPU-based performance issues.
* Reduced grass density at maximum graphics settings to eliminate micropauses on GTX 20XX-generation GPUs.
* Douglas-fir trees in Amethyst look a bit better, not as dark.
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Multiplayer: Nametags don't appear on other players in certain circumstances.
* Pathfinding: Mate stuck on top of rock den (and animal long distance pathfinding in general).
* Pathfinding: Mate does not come to player after secondary howl.
* Pup is running in place near parent when it should be sleeping. (Why? Because it's a social pup and wants to closer to the parent before sleeping, but can't get there.)
* Sometimes mate stops moving when carrying pup.
* Wolf panting sound effect is much too quiet.
* Sometimes wolf cannot pick up beaver, fawn, or calf carcass.
* Birds sometimes fly just above ground and/or move with jittery, slow animations.
* In SC winter, some tree stumps are missing, but their colliders are not.
* Terrain issues.
_______________________
[h2]BETA 5 (6 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Players joining a MP game are invulnerable to damage for 20 seconds (so they can get away from dangerous NPCs if they happen to spawn right by one).
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: At end of Establish Territory, can get stuck or delayed completing the quest.
* Sickness readouts flicker on Easy difficulty.
* Mate sometimes wobbles back and forth, and sometimes stutters, when running.
* SCMP: When inside den, player-marker is at corner of the World Map.
* LR: Birds and distant animal audio does not play.
* Long distance navigation problem can cause unexpected NPC movements.
* MP: Wolf's mouth remains open if it was carrying something when going offline.
* If game resolution is set to something lower than monitor's native resolution, tabbing away from game and returning can make game switch to native resolution.
_______________________
[h2]BETA 6 (7 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* SCMP: Reduced the maximum number of stranger wolves who can attack the den (based on number of players at den).
* SCMP: Increased affinity boosts when two players in game.
* Eagle attacks at the den are more exciting now.
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: Can get stuck in Newborn Pups screen in certain situations, and if some players have laggy computers.
* SCMP: Somtimes a fight with competitor doesn't fully end after it's over.
* SCMP: Pups don't respond to Fun Parent if other players put them over the Affinity cap
* Game freezes or crashes after launch in certain rare situations.
* No wolf preview in Family Tree.
* Fearful Snarl emote gives speed boost when running.
* Stranger wolves don't have correct stranger-wolf airborne scent icon.
* Male ungulates can do glitchy multiple frontal attacks in a very short period of time.
* Mate can't catch hare.
_______________________
[h2]BETA 7 (8 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* More refinements to adjust the number of strangers attacking players at den and elsewhere.
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: Pups float or glitch out of two players try to pick it up at the same time.
* Eagle can grab a pup out of player-wolf's mouth (if player picked pup up while eagle was already diving for it).
_______________________
[h2]BETA 8 (9 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* MP games: Players do not lose control of their wolf now when notifications appear onscreen, and can use X key (or Enter key) to close the notification, instead of using mouse. Notifications now show key input to continue or make selection. (X and Enter also work in singleplayer games, but these other change to notifications do not affect singleplayer.)
* SCMP: Improvements to pup behavior when traveling to new den or rendezvous site, to eliminate bugs where pups would not come out of tall grass patch if greatly separated from other pups. Please note that pups should be kept together in a group, not split into separate and widely-separated groups during these journeys.
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Enter key does not open chat input.
* Pups still can get sick immediately at start of Raise Pups quest.
* Competitors can attack during the Loat at Rendezvous site conclusion howl/spiral camera.
* Fearful Snarl emote does only head animation, not crouch movement.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 9 (9 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Nobody can enter the den (bug in beta 8, which was up only briefly).
* SCMP: Pups switch to new Favorite adult at start of Journey quest.
* SCMP: Fun Parent gets cooldown notification.
* MP games: If cursor is already unlocked, then keyboard inputs are not recognized.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 10 (9 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Newborn pups start disappearing immediately when naming them. (regression in beta 8).
* SCMP: Moving to New Den subquest is not completed properly, which can also cause subsequent bugs, particularly preventing the Raise Pups quest from completing when pups reach 15 lbs,
* New keyboard-input glyphs on MP quest and notification UI panels appear in single-player games as well.
* Lost River Multiplayer: Howls and other animal and natural audio are muted.
* Pups panic when golden eagles land near den but are not hunting pups -- they just want to eat a meat chunk or carcass.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 11 (10 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* SCMP Accelerated mode: Reduced rate of flea increase a bit.
* SCMP: Move to New Den/RS quest dialogs appear a second time when World Map is opened.
* MP: Reduced maximum distance between players when adjusting size of stranger patrols.
* Controller: Added correct glyphs for controller input in Multiplayer quest dialogs and notifications.
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: Eagle attack doesn't trigger red predator icon or music.
* SCMP Accelerated: Pups grow too much before newborn ungulates are born.
* SCMP: Occasionally pup health readout says 101%.
* SCMP: During den votes, AFK players can hold up progress.
* SCMP: Pup keeps running off toward another player after moving to a new den.
* MP: When host closes the game, clients don't get notified for 8-10 seconds.
* Two achievements -- Home Is Where the Heart Is and Den Memory -- are broken (since beta early this week).
* Mate can get stuck when trying to carry meat out of water.
* Meat chunks don't have new "X" airborne scent icon.
* Data not saved correctly to earn Den Memory or Home Is Where the Heart Is achievements.
* Mate can get stuck at certain water locations.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 12 (11 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* SCMP: Pup nametags are now tan, to be visually distinct from player nametags.
* Added a 60-second timer on the Vote for New Den/Rendezvous Site poll, so no player can hold up progress.
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: The "Strength of the Wolf" (both difficulties) and "Favorite Forever" achievements don't unlock when they should. Sorry about that!
* SCMP: The "Nobody Messes with Us" achievement doesn't unlock when it should, but NOTE: in this build, you'll earn it even if pups die in the attack. We'll get that part fixed tomorrow.
* SCMP: In specific circumstances, players can get stuck with a black screen when going from Find Den to Newborn Pups.
* SCMP: If a player joins just as a quest is ending, they can get into a buggy state.
* SCMP: Move to New Den button appears on Pack Info during Establish Territory quest.
* SCMP: Name Your Pack dialog text mentions your mate (text from singleplayer).
* SC: Elk calves in winter are a bit too small.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 13 (12 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: Pup weight sometimes is not synced properly between host and other players, which can also prevent finishing the Raise Pups quest.
* SCMP: Nobody Messes With Us achievement can be earned even if pups are killed by strangers.
* SCMP: Favorite Forever achievement sometimes isn't unlocked when earned.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 14 (13 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* SCMP: When traveling to new den or rendezvous site, stranger wolf attacks will show the red predator icon only when the strangers are attacking the core group with the pups. (Previously the red icon would appear in territorial fights with any player-wolf anywhere on the map.)
* SCMP: When players close quest-conclusion popups, a "Waiting for Others" notification appears until all players have closed the popup, or the countdown timer ends, to provide clarity about situation.
* MP: Keyboard icons switched from light to dark style.
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: If moving dens near the end of the Raise Pups quest, the vote texts refer to rendezvous sites instead of dens.
* SCMP: Problems ensue if a player-wolf dies at the very end of a quest, during the fade-out.
* SCMP: When still naming pups when timer finishes, players end up stuck at the start of Raise Pups.
* On Easy difficulty level, pups can remain sick for a very long time.
* Hare airborne scents use old icon. (Regurgitants still use the old icon since they are not carcasses.)
* Terrain issues.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 15 (13 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* SCMP: Den attack music now plays for players inside the den during an attack.
* SCMP: Added countdown timer on Newborn Pup naming in Host Decides mode, so no player can hold up the game by not naming their pup(s).
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: Game can get stuck at end of Establish Territory with no way to proceed (occurs if a player switches to scent view or headcam immediately upon joining, before Quest intro dialogs have appeared).
* SCMP: Some pup death and other important notifications don't always appear when they should.
* MP: DIsconnected notification does not appear if player is disconnected while joining a game.
* Game fails to load properly (stuck on aerial view of map) if player had previously quit the game during dreams.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 16 (14 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Added Carcass Marker icon to World Map legend.
* Added Carcass Markers to game saves.
* Adjusted grass and bush placement on main menu on Glorious.
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Dinner (carcass) music plays when there is no carcass nearby.
* Lost River main exploration music never plays.
* SCMP: Wrong notification text if you go to a den before the pack has begun voting on a den.
* File Syncing alert flashes repeatedly.
* Occasionally territory chime sfx doesn't play.
* SCMP: Occasionally pups make no sound when howling or vocalizing.
* SCMP: Occasionally other player-wolves' nametags are missing.
* SCMP: No targeting arrow over other player-wolves.
* SC Pack Life and Territory Quest: Dens glow in scent view and trigger den radar below compass.
______________________________
[h2]BETA 17 (15 December 2021)[/h2]
[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* SCMP: Quests do not complete properly if a player joins in the final moments.
* SCMP: "Waiting for Others" could be closed by sleeping and incorrectly never come back.
* Rock den in northeast Slough Creek does not glow in scent view.
* Find a Den quest music only plays once, at start of quest, never again.
* Merch popup has wrong title text.
* Family Tree wolf preview doesn't work (again).
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[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.
