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WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition News

Hex Invaders

Territorial conflicts have long been part of WolfQuest, but they've always been limited, even in Anniversary Edition. Players can't start claiming territory until they've found a mate. In spring and summer, packs are pretty busy with their young pups, so they don't have time to really focus on their territory. But this is changing in the upcoming WolfQuest Saga* -- as the pups of the year grow bigger and stronger, the pack leaves the rendezvous site and becomes nomadic, following the elk herds. Now the pack has more time and energy to strengthen and expand their territory. And that means more conflicts between packs.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As we began working to make rival packs more aggressive and expansionist in the fall and winter seasons, we realized that this also created an opportunity to improve the gameplay around territorial conflict. In the game previously, rival packs could weaken your claim on a territory hex just by being in it (for example, if they chased an elk herd into one of your hexes and spent some time in it). In the new system, rival packs must deliberately invade a hex with the intention to claim it from you.

So in the Saga, when a rival pack invades one of your hexes, you'll see an onscreen alert about it. You don't HAVE to respond, though. Maybe you don't care that much about that particular hex, Naybe you've got more critical things to deal with at the moment. It's up to you. But at least you get the info and can make the best decision for yourself and your pack at that moment. (However, if you do not go fight them for the hex, they'll be emboldened and move on to another hex of yours.)

Like anyone, rival packs prefer an easy challenge over a hard one, so they'll be more tempted by weak hexes along your border. And of course, you can look for weak hexes on your neighbors' borders and invade them -- and those packs will evaluate the situation and decide whether or not to defend their hex. They're more likely to respond if you invade a strong hex vs a weak hex. But beware: if you invade a rival pack's hex, whether or not they respond to that takeover attempt, they'll often invade your territory in return. So be careful if you don't want to start a pack war.

Because packs are most expansionist in fall and winter, defending your border -- and perhaps conducting a few invasions of your own -- becomes another thing to keep you busy while you help your pups learn how to hunt elk. As with hunting, your pups will be cautious in fights initially, gradually gaining XP and confidence to participate as time passes.

All this is coming later this year as part of the WolfQuest Saga!

* The upcoming WolfQuest Saga is "the rest of the game." Your pups will continue to grow into the fall and beyond, learning to hunt under your supervision, and then becoming yearlings when next year's pups are born. Time will continue progressing through the years until you die. The Saga is currently in development but we do not have a release date for it.
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The WolfQuest saga will continue! Stay tuned for more news in upcoming devblogs about it and other new features!

We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready.

Patch 1.1.2g Released!

v1.1.2g - Released 4 June 2024

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Known Wolves: NPC wolves spawned on other maps are not assigned names at birth.
* Hellroaring Mountain DLC: Territory hexes on east edge of map are unclaimable.
* Hellroaring Mountain DLC: Chewed Radio Collar mispositioned when summer pup is carrying it.
* Small white sphere at entrance to one Amethyst den.
* One AM den doesn't glow in scent view.
* Minor terrain and water issues.

Patch v1.1.2g in Public Beta

v1.1.2g - Public Beta

NOTE: Game saves ARE backward compatible with the last released patch, v1.1.2f. Multiplayer games are also backward-compatible either, so you can play with those who have that last-released patch.
BETA 1

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Known Wolves: NPC wolves spawned on other maps are not assigned names at birth.
* Hellroaring Mountain DLC: Territory hexes on east edge of map are unclaimable.
* Hellroaring Mountain DLC: Chewed Radio Collar mispositioned when summer pup is carrying it.
* Small white sphere at entrance to one Amethyst den.
* One AM den doesn't glow in scent view.
* Minor terrain and water issues.


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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.

Saga Smorgasbord

The upcoming WolfQuest Saga* has some big new features -- pups growing up, learning to hunt, and eventually dispersing -- but we're adding some smaller things as well. Let's look at a few of them in today's devblog:

  1. Marking and urination: The leaders of a wolf pack are responsible for marking the pack's territory to maintain it. We've had the classic Raised-Leg Urination stance in the game since the very beginning, but female wolves often do a variation called Flex-Leg Urination, and we've now added that for female pack leaders. And now that you've got older pups and packmates, they do a basic squat stance when urinating. Dispersals, surprisingly, probably do Raised- or Flex-Leg stances, to alert the local pack to their presence.

  2. From Rick McIntyre's amazing books about Yellowstone wolves, we learned that young pups are quite wary of water. We've implemented this in the Saga, so if you need to cross a creek when moving dens or rendezvous sites, your pups will regard it warily as they build up the nerve to venture into the water.

  3. When we added wolf injuries a couple years ago, it was possible to injure NPC wolves in fights, but those injuries did not persist -- and then a code revision later removed this entirely. We've now fully implemented NPC wolf injuries, so you can do your best to give those rival wolves a bad leg!

  4. Of course, along with all the new features come the inevitable bugs. We've got a good one in this video, so enjoy!


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

* The upcoming WolfQuest Saga is "the rest of the game." Your pups will continue to grow into the fall and beyond, learning to hunt under your supervision, and then becoming yearlings when next year's pups are born. Time will continue progressing through the years until you die. The Saga is currently in development but we do not have a release date for it.
___________________

The WolfQuest saga will continue! Stay tuned for more news in upcoming devblogs about it and other new features!

We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready.

Patch v1.1.2f Released!

v1.1.2f - Released 29 May 2024

[h3]BUGS FIXED:[/h3]
* Multiplayer: Some wolves having no origin pack name in Known Wolves panel.
* Multiplayer: Some wolves disappear from Known Wolves panel,
* In some situations, excessive number of NPC wolves spawned in rival packs.
* At at least one Rendezvous Site, pups refuse to go into tall grass.
* Pup pathfinding issues at a few dens.
* Small Dot coat: White around the eyes.
* Hellroaring DLC: A few scent posts are beyond map borders.
* Minor issues at a few dens.
* Lost River DLC: Increased translucency of some windows.
* Minor terrain issues.