Where No WolfQuest Has Gone Before
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When we began developing the first version of WolfQuest way back in 2006, we imagined a three episode arc: Fall, Winter, and Spring. We had to collapse that into two, due to budget constraints, but that established the format: each episode focused on one or two seasons in Yellowstone, with certain quests and gameplay. So when we began working on what became Anniversary Edition five years ago, it felt natural to think about a third episode, Tower Fall, that followed the pack as the growing pups learned how to hunt. (We also had vague ideas for another episode after that, continuing the story into the deep winter, set in Pelican Valley.)
But as the game evolved, we realized that the game's potential went well beyond those months, and so our ideas for this next episode expanded substantially. Instead of folllowing the pack for a few more seasons, we would follow the pack over the course of years. Time just keeps going, the seasons keep passing by, and the pack has a litter of pups year after year, until the player-wolf dies.
And once we had that in mind, it felt increasingly weird for that to be DLC. It's not a DLC side quest, it's simply the rest of the game -- the rest of the wolf's life. Iany other game, without WolfQuest's unique development history, that's what it would be: the rest of the game. The problem with that, of course, is that our financial model for WQ:AE was based on Tower Fall being DLC. Someone who bought WQ 2.7 for $10 already got AE for free. That's a lot of people! And since we've had our hands full with all the new stuff we've now released in 2021, we bided our time, until now, when we need to make that decision. So here's the new plan:
* Tower Fall will be DLC: a new map that we hope lots of players will purchase. If you buy this map, you'll be able start a new game here,or move your pack to it anytime, as long as the pups are big enough (September through March in each game-year). And then you can move back to Slough Creek or even to Amethyst Mountain.
* The "rest of the game" -- your pups growing, learning to hunt, becoming yearlings as you the new pups of the year are born, then eventually either dispersing or staying with the pack for awhile to help raise the pups of the year, and so on -- all that will be part of the game, no additional purchase necessary. That will be the complete WolfQuest experience, available to everyone who owns the game.
We're really excited about this plan, especially with some of the twists and turns that can happen over the years with your pack. But this raises an interesting question: What do we call this "rest of the wolf's life"? For so long we've used the the map=gameplay model, where "Slough Creek" is shorthand for "raise pups," but that won't work anymore, since you'll be able to stay at Slough Creek if you like. Or start a new game in Slough Creek or Tower Fall. Or establish your territory and choose a den on Amethyst Mountain. With the entire saga playable on each map, there are so many possibilities!
So we're calling this the Saga: Life goes on, time goes by, pups are born, grow up, disperse, one generation after another.... It's the WolfQuest Saga. We think it'll be kind of epic!
The Saga is going to keep us busy for awhile and the game will remain in Early Access until it's completed and released, which means we won't be turning our attention to other platforms until that point.
In addition to Tower Fall, we plan to release more DLC in 2022: at least one more wolf customization pack, and of course the expanded Lost River map. If you start in Lost River, you won't be able to travel to the Yellowstone maps, but you will be able to play the entire Saga, raising pups year after year. We also have another Yellowstone map in mind. We want to give players more ways to enjoy the game -- and more ways to support game development. You can also support the game by gifting the game or DLC to friends, writing a review on Steam, and even donating to WolfQuest on Fundly.
I'm sure that this will raise many questions for players, but this is all we have to share at the moment. Devblogs in the coming months will look at various aspects of the Saga. We are as eager as anyone to get this new phase of the game out there, but as usual, we have not set a release date. So stay tuned -- 2022 is going to be a another great year for WolfQuest!
When we began developing the first version of WolfQuest way back in 2006, we imagined a three episode arc: Fall, Winter, and Spring. We had to collapse that into two, due to budget constraints, but that established the format: each episode focused on one or two seasons in Yellowstone, with certain quests and gameplay. So when we began working on what became Anniversary Edition five years ago, it felt natural to think about a third episode, Tower Fall, that followed the pack as the growing pups learned how to hunt. (We also had vague ideas for another episode after that, continuing the story into the deep winter, set in Pelican Valley.)
But as the game evolved, we realized that the game's potential went well beyond those months, and so our ideas for this next episode expanded substantially. Instead of folllowing the pack for a few more seasons, we would follow the pack over the course of years. Time just keeps going, the seasons keep passing by, and the pack has a litter of pups year after year, until the player-wolf dies.
And once we had that in mind, it felt increasingly weird for that to be DLC. It's not a DLC side quest, it's simply the rest of the game -- the rest of the wolf's life. Iany other game, without WolfQuest's unique development history, that's what it would be: the rest of the game. The problem with that, of course, is that our financial model for WQ:AE was based on Tower Fall being DLC. Someone who bought WQ 2.7 for $10 already got AE for free. That's a lot of people! And since we've had our hands full with all the new stuff we've now released in 2021, we bided our time, until now, when we need to make that decision. So here's the new plan:
* Tower Fall will be DLC: a new map that we hope lots of players will purchase. If you buy this map, you'll be able start a new game here,or move your pack to it anytime, as long as the pups are big enough (September through March in each game-year). And then you can move back to Slough Creek or even to Amethyst Mountain.
* The "rest of the game" -- your pups growing, learning to hunt, becoming yearlings as you the new pups of the year are born, then eventually either dispersing or staying with the pack for awhile to help raise the pups of the year, and so on -- all that will be part of the game, no additional purchase necessary. That will be the complete WolfQuest experience, available to everyone who owns the game.
We're really excited about this plan, especially with some of the twists and turns that can happen over the years with your pack. But this raises an interesting question: What do we call this "rest of the wolf's life"? For so long we've used the the map=gameplay model, where "Slough Creek" is shorthand for "raise pups," but that won't work anymore, since you'll be able to stay at Slough Creek if you like. Or start a new game in Slough Creek or Tower Fall. Or establish your territory and choose a den on Amethyst Mountain. With the entire saga playable on each map, there are so many possibilities!
So we're calling this the Saga: Life goes on, time goes by, pups are born, grow up, disperse, one generation after another.... It's the WolfQuest Saga. We think it'll be kind of epic!
The Saga is going to keep us busy for awhile and the game will remain in Early Access until it's completed and released, which means we won't be turning our attention to other platforms until that point.
In addition to Tower Fall, we plan to release more DLC in 2022: at least one more wolf customization pack, and of course the expanded Lost River map. If you start in Lost River, you won't be able to travel to the Yellowstone maps, but you will be able to play the entire Saga, raising pups year after year. We also have another Yellowstone map in mind. We want to give players more ways to enjoy the game -- and more ways to support game development. You can also support the game by gifting the game or DLC to friends, writing a review on Steam, and even donating to WolfQuest on Fundly.
I'm sure that this will raise many questions for players, but this is all we have to share at the moment. Devblogs in the coming months will look at various aspects of the Saga. We are as eager as anyone to get this new phase of the game out there, but as usual, we have not set a release date. So stay tuned -- 2022 is going to be a another great year for WolfQuest!