WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition News

The upcoming Slough Creek episode (in WQ: Anniversary Edition) will offer a variety of dens for player to choose from, from holes in the ground to tree root hollows to the topic of today’s devblog: rock dens. Drawing inspiration from wolf den camera footage from the Voyageurs Wolf Project* in northern Minnesota, I tried to create such a den for the game. So yes, this video is for those players who have requested a live feed of Dave working…..but for the sake of everyone else out there, most of the video is sped up 2500x.

Each den can take an hour or two to set up (not counting time spent later to tweak it, since it’s never satisfactory when I take another look later). We’re planning to have a lot more dens in the new Slough Creek map than in were WolfQuest 2.7. Not yet decided how many, but there will plenty to choose from. (And how will you find and choose them? Stay tuned!)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


* Check out Voyageurs Wolf Project for lots of great video and research about wolves.
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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).

In today’s patch, we’ve put Floppy back in her enclosure. In the last patch, she decided to disobey the StayHome directives and has been wandering the hills of Lost River for a few days, but for everyone’s safety, we’ve put her back where she belongs.

But where did Floppy come from? In the game scenario, that’s something for wolves to wonder about. In the development of the game, that dates back to 2016, when we added moose to WQ 2.7. Today’s video tells the tale, but in short: it’s a feature, not a bug!

https://youtu.be/35XlTdxTtXc

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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).

UPDATE: Rolling out hotfix 1.0.3f2 with two fixes:
* Can't change wolf eye color in Wolf Customization
* Mates are frozen in Lost River

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS:
* Main menu: Added popup window to display recent patch notes.
* Wolf Customization: Improvements to controller support.
* Wolf Bio: Can add line brakes now with Return/Enter key.
* Modest reduction in frequency of mule deer spawning.
* Refinements to snow effect on Amethyst cliff rocks.
* Removed a few unnecessary words from badwords list.

GENERAL BUGS FIXED:
* Ravens don't flock to carcasses.
* Mule deer fawn entirely underwater when swimming.
* Eagles are not quick enough to fly away when wolf approaches.
* Bite points on wolf rear legs not quite aligned correctly.
* Error that can prevent WQ game launcher (non-Steam version) from working properly.

AMETHYST BUGS FIXED:
* Cliff rocks have no snow in wintertime.
* On World Map during winter, map is tinted dark when Pack Territories are displayed, but does not untint when those are toggled off.

LOST RIVER BUGS FIXED:
* Floppy is not observing StayHome directives.
* Various issues with object colliders, getting stuck on stairs, etc.
* Dave's Bowl sign shines through rain, snow, and fog.
* Elk scent tracks enter grocery store.
* On MacOS, some logs near beaver dam are missing textures.


GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS:
* Main menu: Added popup window to display recent patch notes.
* Wolf Customization: Improvements to controller support.
* Wolf Bio: Can add line brakes now with Return/Enter key.
* Modest reduction in frequency of mule deer spawning.
* Refinements to snow effect on Amethyst cliff rocks.
* Removed a few unnecessary words from badwords list.

GENERAL BUGS FIXED:
* Ravens don't flock to carcasses.
* Mule deer fawn entirely underwater when swimming.
* Eagles are not quick enough to fly away when wolf approaches.
* Bite points on wolf rear legs not quite aligned correctly.
* Error that can prevent WQ game launcher (non-Steam version) from working properly.

AMETHYST BUGS FIXED:
* Cliff rocks have no snow in wintertime.
* On World Map during winter, map is tinted dark when Pack Territories are displayed, but does not untint when those are toggled off.

LOST RIVER BUGS FIXED:
* Floppy is not observing StayHome directives.
* Various issues with object colliders, getting stuck on stairs, etc.
* Dave's Bowl sign shines through rain, snow, and fog.
* Elk scent tracks enter grocery store.
* On MacOS, some logs near beaver dam are missing textures.

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS:
* Minor refinements to grizzly and fox behaviors and vocalizations.
* Added button for WolfQuest merchandise store on main menu.
* Enabled controller bumper buttons when selecting wolves in My Wolves screen.
* Visual cues for controller usage in main menu wolf customization.

GENERAL BUGS FIXED:
* Wolf sometimes does crouch animation when it bites galloping prey.
* Territory hex readouts are incorrect (inverted) -- we disabled those until we fixed this bug, so they are displayed again.
* Camera can go underground if you swing it around very quickly.
* Aspen and cottonwood trees are blotchy when viewed at a distance.

AMETHYST BUGS FIXED:
* In the fall season, animal snowprints are too bright at night.
* Lower section of Chalcedony creek has bright blue texture in winter.
* Winter objects (frozen waterfalls and creeks) don't appear on Mac computers.

LOST RIVER IMPROVEMENTS:
* The much smaller map for Lost River has created a variety of issues. One was that stranger packs had to venture out of their tiny territories to find elk herds, which was confusing since it was mostly unrealistic and differed from behavior in Amethyst Mountain. In this patch, we've adjusted those territories and given each pack an elk herd in its territory. Now they should be more likely to stay and hunt in their territory, but they may still occasionally venture out into the unclaimed central area to hunt. (These changes will only take effect in new games).
* This patch has a few more tweaks to object colliders, but there are still some problems, especially on the narrow steps of the fire tower and gas tanks. It's tricky because the wolf-controller wasn't designed for these narrow spaces. To solve this, and similar issues with the rugged rocky outcrops in Slough Creek, we're reworking some aspects of the controller to handle them better. It's a significant task and will take some time to get it working well.

LOST RIVER BUGS FIXED:
* Various issues with music.
* Prey animals can escape by going farther towards the edge of the map than wolves can. (Now they will turn back before the wolf has to.)
* Mate bounces like a superball when player is in fire tower or atop gas tanks. (Mate still won't go up those ladders--they're afraid of heights.)
* Mate flickers on and off when player is in northeast area of map.
* NPC animals can go underneath the elevated plaza in front of City Hall.
* Some strange clumps of trees here and there.
* Can get stuck if you venture close to the dam.
* Rain falls through roofs.
* Various collider issues.

Last month we put a survey on our YouTube channel, asking if anyone might be interested in WolfQuest t-shirts, mugs, and other merchandise. The response was quite positive, so Susan began exploring how to set up an online store with a variety of game-related images on products. Now it's ready to launch....but of course, the world has changed a lot in the past month. We considered whether to delay or skip an announcement about the store. But it's up there, so in case anyone is interested, you can check it out: http://www.wolfquest.org/merch/

Much more importantly, we hope that everyone out there is staying safe and staying healthy. We truly treasure the community that has developed around the game. On our end, everyone on the WolfQuest team works at home, and we're all currently healthy, so we continue to work on the game every day. Please take care of yourselves and be kind to others. Thanks for all your support.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

_______________
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).