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WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition News

WolfQuest Game Giveaway

Win a free copy of WolfQuest! Here's how to enter:

WolfQuest forum - November giveaway contest

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). Note that WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition is not yet available for mobile.

Raising Hills in Slough Creek (Devblog)

We use actual topographic data to create our game maps, since they’re based on real locations in Yellowstone National Park. But the resolution of that data means that the game map is too smooth and generalized, without the level of detail that you see in the real place. Fortunately, there are more and more tools that help us add that important detail to the maps. It’s still a lot of work, but far easier than it was even a few years ago. Today’s devblog looks at how we use a tool for Unity called Gaia to make the granite hills around Slough Creek more realistic. Using Gaia’s Stamper tool, we can apply small-scale heightmaps of rock formations to raise (or lower) sections of the terrain, then paint textures based on convexity of the surface — so granite on the convex bumps and grass in the cracks and crevices in between. It takes a lot of experimentation to get it to look right, but it’s very satisfying to see the map gradually become more detailed and realistic. Of course, with such a big map, that means a LOT of experimentation — and hopefully a lot of satisfaction.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

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While in Early Access, we will be 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).

WolfQuest Returns to Yellowstone: Slough Creek

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Though not as vast as the Lamar Valley or as spectacular as Yellowstone’s geysers or waterfalls, Slough Creek is one of my favorite areas in the park. It was a delight to return there during our visit last August! Susan and I hiked up the valley, often bushwacking through tall grasses and dense woods, to gather photos and impressions of the area as reference for the new, expanded Slough Creek map in WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition. Slough Creek is, of course, where you establish a territory and have a spring litter of pups in the game. While we did not spot any wolf dens (those locations are well-kept secrets, to keep them safe), we did come across plenty of potential densites on our way to Second Meadow.

If you enjoy this video, be sure to check out our other research trips!
* Amethyst Creek (2019): https://youtu.be/9JacCZp7egA
* Slough Creek (2017): https://youtu.be/0LUK_37Ce2U
* Amethyst Mountain (2017): https://youtu.be/gu4apywl6nY

While in Early Access, we will be 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 1.0.1a Released

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Today’s patch has a few new things and a bunch of fixes, mostly to issues in last week’s game update. We’re most excited about the new aspen trees, made by vegetation artist Kerry Baldino, with gorgeous fall colors and elk damage — when other food is scarce, elk chew the bark on the lower portion of the trunk.

NEW:
* Mates will now hunt snowshoe hares.
* Aspen trees, replacing the placeholder model.
* Aurora borealis (northern lights) appear occasionally at night.

IMPROVEMENTS
* Reduced attack damage dealt by all mule deer.
* Reduced mule deer fawn's max health by 25%.
* Refinements to fox swimming action.
* Tweak to Grizzly Boar fur length.

BUGS FIXED:
* Free camera (right-click to orbit) doesn't work.
* Tree trunks sway out of sync with branches.
* Wolf walks funny after loading a saved game where it was on uneven or sloped ground. (IK)
* Wolf forelegs bend oddly during some bite attacks (fixed some cases, not all yet). (IK)
* Wolf forelegs sometimes angled back stiffly when biting another wolf's neck. (IK)
* Wolf sometimes does handstand on carcass. (IK)
* Sunlight shadow direction is incorrect in early morning and late afternoon.
* Abrupt change in light direction a little while after sunrise.
* Eagles dip underground when landing.
* Sometimes you can't bite the cougar.
* Carcasses sink into ground twice before disappearing.
* Wolf can get stuck running along the border north of the Lamar River.
* Reduced microstutter when elk herds despawn.
* Bumpy terrain in a few places.
* In some spots, distant terrain is missing in Basic graphics mode.

WolfQuest v1.0.1 with new animal behaviors!

We’re excited to release this update, which has a bunch of bugfixes and minor improvements, plus some bigger and more exciting new features that give the NPC residents of our WolfQuest world more to do: from hunting to fighting to just hanging out. It’s available now and should auto-update via Steam or the WolfQuest launcher.

Devblog video: https://youtu.be/f2HGe8nRqX4

NEW ANIMAL BEHAVIORS:
* Stranger wolves (dispersals and pack wolves) hunt prey.
* Bull elk rut: Bull elk challenge the resident bull in a large herd to a fight, involving a lot of bugling, circling, and clash of antlers.
* Buck mule deer rut: Buck mule deer will converge near small doe herds and challenge each other to a fight, involving a lot of circling, eyeing each other, and antler clashes. Since mule deer don't live in herds as elk do, this is harder to witness. Try following mule deer scents and hope to find a situation where two males have converged on a family group of does and fawns.
* Eagles are present throughout the game world: flying around, perching on dead trees, and hunting. Bald eagles hunt fish in the Lamar River while Golden eagles (new species!) hunt snowshoe hares.
* Ravens are present throughout the game world.
* Coyotes hunt snowshoe hares.
* Foxes hunt small prey.

OTHER NEW AND IMPROVED THINGS:
* Custom markers on the World Map now appear on the Compass (faded with distance).
* Added a third Gore level, now No Gore (carcasses do not turn bloody), Low Gore (carcasses turn bloody), and More Gore (carcasses turn bloody and skeleton and innards revealed during consumption.) The original intent was for Low Gore to be as described here, but it inadvertently switched to what we're now calling No Gore. We've renamed "Low" to "No" so it preserves your previous visual effect, but you can change it to Low Gore if you want a bit of blood.
* Carcasses have improved textures (fur only on the skin, not on the exposed innards).
* Adjusted colliders on the rock at the top of Fairies' Falls. Should be possible to jump onto it, and should be quite hard to get stuck.
* Player wolf will sometimes crouch when facing an opponent, preparing to attack.
* Moon casts shadows at night.
* Competitors should be less likely to get stuck running in circles near you.
* Minor performance improvement when many elk are spawned in vicinity.
* Controller support: Added a steering sensitivity slider for controllers. (Many more improvements for controllers still to come.)
* Stranger territory audio now part of Interface Audio (so not muted if music is muted).
* Animals use walking turn more now, don't do the spin-in-place turn except in urgent situations.
* Bite cursor should be hidden in Photo Mode.
* Removed "mate" from badword filter for wolf bio.

BUGS FIXED
* Animals sometimes have snow on them when it hasn't been snowing.
* Weird snow pattern on bears.
* Sometimes grass density settings don't persist in later game sessions.
* Unable to save your game or overwrite existing saved game (fixed a couple bugs; there may be others still)
* Ravens gather at some distance from carcass.
* When running in dual-monitor setup, with game on one screen in Fullscreen Windowed mode, game minimizes when you click on other screen.
* Elk calves have Cow Elk label.
* Fox fur looks bad.
* On some computer systems, the mouse cursor has "hand grab" icon instead of pointer.
* In "My Wolves" in main menu, sometimes one wolf is missing, and arrows are missing too so can't select another wolf.
* Dispersal wolf is occasionally frozen.
* The "So Sleepy, Bug..." alert is missing text.
* Grass sometimes bends quite excessively in the wind.
* Improved lighting on trees when viewing towards sun.
* Reduced acceleration and deceleration speeds for cougar, coyote and fox.
* In Basic mode, some areas have grass when grass is disabled.
* In Customization, fur pokes through radio collar if you change coats after choosing the collar.
* In Basic graphics mode, at some places in the game world, some distant terrain sections are missing.
* Can get stuck on far side of Lamar River, stuck between two world-edge barriers.
* Thin vertical lines appear around grass in Basic graphics mode.
* Controller: Fixed incorrect labels on Controller Help image (ack!)
* Sometimes wolves don't growl or snarl during wolf fights.
* Various terrain tweaks.