WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition News

We have finally updated the WolfQuest Soundtrack DLC with new music tracks added to the game last year: Age Perks, Waiting for a Beaver, Premonition, and A Peaceful Passing.

And we've decided to make a documentary video, "Tim Buzza and the Music of WolfQuest," which was part of the Soundtrack and Music Extras package, freely available to everyone now. We created this video back in 2016 during the WolfQuest 2.7 era, and it features Tim Buzza talking about how he created the signature sound of WolfQuest and many memorable tracks in the game. Enjoy!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

If you already own the soundtrack, it should auto-update on Steam, while on itch.io you'll need to download the full package again. If you don't own it, you can buy it here on Steam.

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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.

Multiplayer in this beta IS compatible with the last patch, v1.0.8j, so you can play games with others who have that version. This patch is available for Windows and MacOS.


[h2]BETA 1 (7 March 2022)[/h2]

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Optimizations to movement code.
* Improvements to pathfinding around large obstacles.
* Made fights not block friendly courtship interactions.
* Added custom quest intro text in Lost River for experienced wolves.
* Increased tall grass rendering distance (so fawn/calf doesn't appear before it does, at least not as noticeably)

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Multiplayer: "Waiting for Others" notification locks up screen so player can't do anything.
* Pack wolves turn hostile after courtship if there's more than one group present. Fixed by adding rejections to all spawned flocks sharing packs with the courting flocks
* Mate hangs around den after heading off on their own. Reason: It has been "defeated" by something and interrupted their trip, yet not properly returning home either.
* Autosave fails to fire when completing quests (so Experienced tag is not applied to wolf when completing Learn to Hunt quest).
* Pup cannot be targeted if you take it with you to hunting and then summon your mate (because your mate woofs to put all pups in the den before joining you, and the pup with you responds to that command even though far from den). (Fixed now, but it's still not recommended to bring pups on hunting or marking excursions. They really would rather stay back at the den.)
* Growling during fights still chases courtables away,
* Terrain and water issues.
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[h2]BETA 2 (8 March 2022)[/h2]

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Emotes panel: When using controller, left/right shoulder/bumper buttons are now used to switch between emote categories.
* Emotes: Current Favorite emote is now indicated with small "Favorite" text below it, and the glow-highlight that previously indicated that is now used as better feedback about which emote is currently highlighted by mouse or controller thumbstick.
* Emotes panel: Increased delay (from 0.5 seconds to 0.75s) upon selecting an emote before right joystick is active for camera control again.

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* NPC animals don't consider other animals to be obstacles (so they sometimes clip through other animals or get stuck walking in place behind them).
* Autosave fails during Age Perks/Birthday and Newborn Pups.
* Multiplayer: AFK players are still considered online for a little while in terms of quest progression.
* Mate keeps stopping mid-chase to growl.
* "Attempting to send message" notification can get stuck onscreen.
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[h2]BETA 3 (9 March 2022)[/h2]

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Prevent autosaves in Newborn Pups scene (since those are cannot be loaded successfully).
* Updates to Game Help: Learn to Hunt.

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Multiplayer: Spawning errors can cause lag for awhile.
* Multiplayer: Autosave fails during Age Perks/Birthday and Newborn Pups.
* Multiplayer: Can't close the "Submit report" alert after another player submits a bug report.
* Starting new courtship with NPC wolf immediately after rejecting trial mate causes problems.
* Game crashes when loading Amethyst save in winter season, or transitioning from fall to winter.
* Maximum possible initial courtship level of interest is lower than it should be.
* Bug in View Pack panel can cause interface to stop responding to clicks.
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[h2]BETA 4 (11 March 2022)[/h2]

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* In Game Settings, increased height of Frame Rate dropdown menu to show all options.
* Enlarged Controls Mapping image (of keyboard, controller, or Steam Deck) for better readability on small screens.
* Controller: On Load Game panel, when Filter popout is displayed, pressing "B" button now closes Filter popup instead of closing Load Game panel entirely.

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Pups don't consider parents to be obstacles when going places.
* Carcass chunks won't spawn in Slough Creek.
* Lost River is a lonely place (no other animals will spawn).
* Multiplayer: In Newborn Pups scene, game advances to Raise Pups when client player clicks Continue, not waiting for host.
* Controller: "Use controller?" notification appears after controller is already enabled to use.
* Elk can accidentally kill a raven, causing errors.
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[h2]BETA 5 (11 March 2022)[/h2]

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* Controller and Steam Deck: Changed Left D-pad to Nametags and Down D-pad to Photo Mode (in singleplayer) and Chat (in multiplayer).
* Setup New Multiplayer Game: Added popup about game modes.

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Controller: Can't rename pack in Pack Info panel.
* Controller; Can't dismiss Disconnected from Multiplayer notification.
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[h2]BETA 6 (14 March 2022)[/h2]

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Multiplayer: Sometimes pups are outside the den at the start of Raise Pups quest, until the pups exit the den.
* Multiplayer: Disconnected alert is not always displayed if game loses connection with multiplayer server during loading process.
* Multiplayer: Sometimes chat from previous game is carried over into new game.
* In Slough Creek, distant flooded ponds flicker in fog.
* Can't access UI panels after sending friend request.
* Extra notifications sometimes appear when sending messages or adding users to pack.
* Can't reject a trial wolf.
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[h2]BETA 7 (15 March 2022)[/h2]

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Controller: Saved Game panels: Cannot use Delete Multiple option properly.
* Controller: Custom rebindings interfere with Emote panel RB/LB input.
* Some water issues in Slough Creek.
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[h2]BETA 8 (16 March 2022)[/h2]

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS:[/h3]
* "Hanging with the Pups" music now plays at rendezvous site as well as at den.

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Multiplayer: Client players can't bite newborn calf or fawn.
* Account registration: Username field accepts spaces.
* "Ride of the Wapiti" music plays during parts of the elk showdown.


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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.

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.

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

________________________________________

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.

[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.