WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition News

Anyone who has visited Yellowstone and played WolfQuest has one question: Where are the bison? We did not include bison in the original game, back in 2007, because historically bison have not been very numerous in Yellowstone, and represented a small portion of a wolf’s diet. That has changed in recent decades, though. While elk still outnumber bison in Yellowstone, bison are extremely visible to visitors since they like to graze in the broad Lamar and Hayden valleys, where they are easily seen (and often hard to avoid). And since wolves were reintroduced to the park in the 1990s, they have been learning how to hunt bison. Wolves still prefer elk, which are much easier to kill, but bison now make up about 13% of a wolf’s diet, on average.

We’ve been planning to add bison to the game for quite a long time. (In fact, we had hoped to do it in 2010, but we asked players to vote on several new features and bison lost out.) The large herds consisting of a hundred or more bison pose significant game-performance issues currently, and while we hope to overcome those someday, we don’t want to wait that long to add this important species to the game. So we are adding small groups of elderly bull bison, who typically congregate together after they’ve grown too old to be active members of the big herds. They’re huge and cranky and extremely dangerous — more dangerous than any other animal in the game! It’ll be best to admire them from a distance…but players can use their own judgment.

We’ve been setting up bison in the game with the beautiful animal model and animations created by our partner GIM. There's still some work still to do so it’ll be a few weeks before they are ready to release, but we thought you might like this sneak peak.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Bison are the largest land-dwelling mammal in North America. Learn more! https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/bison.htm

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We have released the first episode of WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition (Amethyst Mountain) for PC/Mac on Steam and itch.io, as Early Access. While in Early Access, we are updating the game frequently with more features, multiplayer, and ultimately the Slough Creek episode with pups. The mobile version will come after the game is completed on PC/Mac platforms. We’ll then resume development of the next episode, Tower Fall (DLC).

Patch 1.0.3i Beta 1 is now available in our beta branch. (Instructions below; beta is Windows only.)

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]
* Controls remapping: You can now remap mouse buttons to keyboard inputs and vice versa.
* Some physics optimizations, which should improve performance if limited by CPU power (sometimes occurs when many animals are active in the game world, though most players are usually limited by GPU power) and possibly reduce some lag spikes.
* In the Quest panel, player's current quest is automatically displayed (instead of first quest in the list).
* In Graphics Quality, new option for Grass and Bush Variety: Low will be a bit faster.
* Reduced odds of wolf carcass spawning.
* Slightly reduced odds of coyotes and mule deer spawning.

[h3]BUGS FIXED[/h3]
* During winter season, after sleeping and dreaming at end of December, terrain is bare ground instead of covered with snow.
* Some areas of snow during Winter Season have obvious tiling patterns or are too dark or contrasty.
* Wolf can get stuck hovering in the air along rock face.
* Wolf sometimes climbs weirdly up a rock and then leaps off.
* Elk Hunt notification can appears when biting other prey and interrupt the action.
* Doe mule deer carcass is masquerading as moose in scent view.
* A dead log has orange rim glow.
* Scent View Tutorial Tip blocks input and scent controls while displayed.
* Typo on one dispersal wolf: Cinnebar instead of Cinnabar
* Animals occasionally will teleport when touching other animals.
* Visual glitches with dreams.
* Water splash audio sometimes stops when you zoom out and then back in again.
* In Lost River, fire tower and porch roofs do a poor job of blocking raindrops.
* Cow elk sometimes freezes when player bites calf.

[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 1.0.3i Beta 1 is now available in our beta branch. (Instructions below; beta is Windows only.)

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]
* Controls remapping: You can now remap mouse buttons to keyboard inputs and vice versa.
* Some physics optimizations, which should improve performance if if limited by CPU power (sometimes occurs when many animals are active in the game world, though most players are usually limited by GPU power) and possibly reduce some lag spikes.
* In the Quest panel, player's current quest is automatically displayed (instead of first quest in the list).
* In Graphics Quality, new option for Grass and Bush Variety: Low will be a bit faster.
* Reduced odds of wolf carcass spawning.
* Slightly reduced odds of coyotes and mule deer spawning.

[h3]BUGS FIXED[/h3]
* During winter season, after sleeping and dreaming at end of December, terrain is bare ground instead of covered with snow.
* Some areas of snow during Winter Season have obvious tiling patterns or are too dark or contrasty.
* Wolf can get stuck hovering in the air along rock face.
* Wolf sometimes climbs weirdly up a rock and then leaps off.
* Elk Hunt notification can appears when biting other prey and interrupt the action.
* Doe mule deer carcass is masquerading as moose in scent view.
* A dead log has orange rim glow.
* Scent View Tutorial Tip blocks input and scent controls while displayed.
* Typo on one dispersal wolf: Cinnebar instead of Cinnabar
* Animals occasionally will teleport when touching other animals.
* Visual glitches with dreams.
* Water splash audio sometimes stops when you zoom out and then back in again.
* In Lost River, fire tower and porch roofs do a poor job of blocking raindrops.
* Cow elk sometimes freezes when player bites calf.

[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.

It's time for the monthly contest to win a free copy of WolfQuest! Lucky winners will receive a free copy of WolfQuest 2.7 (and PC/Mac users will also get WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition Early Access for PC and Mac)! Winners can choose to get any version of the game (Mac/Windows, Android, iOS, Kindle). Or you can also choose the WolfQuest Soundtrack and Music Extras if you already own the game.

[h2]This Month's Contest[/h2]
Email your username and your answer to the question: "What are three interesting facts about wolves?" to [email protected]

[h2]Deadline[/h2]
All entries must be received by midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.

[h2]Random Drawing[/h2]
Winners are selected randomly from complete entries. Please enter only once in each monthly contest. Each complete entry will be assigned a number. We will then use a random-number generator to generate three numbers. The entries bearing those numbers will each win a free copy of the game.

While Tommi builds out mate and pup AI for Slough Creek, Mikko has been plugging away on multiplayer. We had a team test session a few days ago and today’s devblog video shows some snippets from our 75-minute session. It’s really coming together!

(Hint: In the video, switch on CC/subtitles to track the conversation better!)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We know that you all have lots of questions about multiplayer. Here are answers to some of them:

Q: When will multiplayer be released? Which will be first: multiplayer or Slough Creek?
A: We are not announcing specific release dates — but we are making lots of progress, and at this point, we expect to release multiplayer before Slough Creek. That might change, though!

Q: Will there be a beta for multiplayer?
A: We are planning a public beta in our Steam beta branch once multiplayer is ready for broader testing. (If you purchased the game on itch.io, you get a Steam key with your purchase, here’s how to find it: https://support-classic.wolfquest.org/help/getting-a-steam-key-from-itch-io-purchase

Q: How many players will be able to join a multiplayer game?
A: We understand that many people want to have a lot more players in a MP game session, but we don’t know yet what will be possible. It partly depends on performance: more players can spawn more animals, which increases the burden on the host’s computer to run the entire simulation.

Q: How does sleeping work with the new, dynamic time system?
A: Player-wolves can sleep whenever they want, but everyone needs to be sleeping simultaneously in order for time to advance rapidly as it does in single-player when sleeping. We are working on exactly how that will be triggered in the game.

Q: Can we fight other players?
A: We plan to add an (optional) PvP mode in the Tower Fall episode, which will follow Slough Creek.

Q: Can we fight the other packs? Can we establish territory in Amethyst Mountain in multiplayer?
A: Yes, you can fight stranger wolves, just as you can in single-player. We are planning a multiplayer mode that includes territorial acquisition in Amethyst, though it may not be available initially.

Q: Will players have to make a new account to play multiplayer?
A: WQ: Anniversary Edition will use new accounts (very similar to old accounts, just a newer version). There will be a simple method for upgrading your existing WQ account.

Q: Will there be changes to the chat system?
A: Text Chat is much improved from the old game: you can resize the chat panel, adjust opacity, and more. We’ll show that in a future devblog.

Q: Can we see the difficulty level of the game we are joining?
A: Yes — as well as which mission it is currently on (if there’s a sequence of missions, as there will be in Slough Creek).

Q: Will there be a way for players to find their friends and know if they are online?
A: This should already work in WQ 2.7, but we know it’s not reliable for everyone. We’ll take another look at that in the new account system.

Q: Can we block certain players from joining our games?
A: We want to have better options for this kind of thing, but no details yet.

Q: Once our multiplayer pack is formed, can we close the game to newcomers so we can role play without interruption?
A: Yes.

Q: Can we play as pups or other animals?
A: Maybe someday!


______________
We have released the first episode of WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition (Amethyst Mountain) for PC/Mac on Steam and itch.io, as Early Access. While in Early Access, we are updating the game frequently with more features, multiplayer, and ultimately the Slough Creek episode with pups. The mobile version will come after the game is completed on PC/Mac platforms. We’ll then resume development of the next episode, Tower Fall (DLC).