WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition News

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 (any username is fine, we just have to know what to call the winners) and your answer to the question: "What are three interesting facts about wolves?" to the email address [email protected]

[h2]Deadline[/h2]
All entries must be received by midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) on Thursday, August 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.

Back in June 2017, we had been working concertedly on WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition for half a year. To help maintain interest in the game during development, we decided to start creating devblog videos to show our progress periodically. One of our players suggested releasing them on a regular basis, and I thought, "Sure, let's do one every week. We should have the game ready to release around the end of the year, so that's manageable."

Over three years later....

Today's marks the 150th devblog video! That's a lot of videos. So I've put together a semi-random selection of clips for our amusement, and hopefully yours too. Enjoy!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

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Thumbnail Screenshot Image by Sass
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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).

[h2]1.0.4a beta4 -released 18 August 2020 on Steam Public Beta Branch[/h2]

The beta build of the 1.0.4a patch is ready for public beta testing! Please review the changelist below. (Beta is currently available only for Windows; see instructions at bottom of this post to get it.)

[h3]NEW: User Accounts[/h3]
* Register Account: Players can register a WQ:AE account either using their username/password from their WQ 2.7 account or creating an all-new account. (2.7 usernames are reserved, so upgrade if you want to keep the same username, or create a new account if you want a new username. You cannot register a new account with a username already claimed by someone in WQ 2.7.) On Steam, your WQ account is then linked to your Steam account, so you'll subsequently log in automatically.
* Friends List: Works the same as in 2.7.
* In-game messages: Works the same as in 2.7.
* Packs and Achievements are not set up yet.

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]
* In Wolf Customization, changed "Stats" section name to "Attributes".
* Adjustments to stamina drain and recharge rates.
* Added notification about duplicating wolf when player changes wolf name in customization panel.

[h3]BUGS FIXED[/h3]
* Floppy is dead. Long live Floppy!
* A few boulders in Amethyst have invisible sphere colliders, making wolf walk above it, on air.
* Some cougar sounds are truncated or sound bad.
* On World Map, territory hexes can show 0% strength while hex is tinted.
* Occasionally, wolf face is missing from badge. (Possibly fixed, if not, please submit bug report with details about your game.)
* On some terrain quality levels, inconsistent amount of snow in distant view.
* Terrain texture and topography issues.
* Ravens and eagles often don't fly away when wolf gets close.
* Wolf carcass has two coats, can't decide which to use.
* Lost River: Some animals have spidey skills.
* Lost River: NPC animals walk high in the air above the wall along the BCE compound.

[h2]1.0.4a beta 5 - released 21 August 2020 on Steam Public Beta Branch[/h2]

[h3]IMPROVEMENTS[/h3]
* Bison and stranger wolf scents adjusted for better differentiation.

[h3]BUGS FIXED[/h3]
* Occasionally wolf face is missing from badge HUD.
* Cannot access Attributes buttons with controller.
* Amethyst ponds are green in certain lighting on low quality levels.
* Discrepancies in snow coverage between near and far terrains on some terrain quality levels.
* Lost River: Some collider issues around the bridge.
* Removed some unnecessary words from badword filter.
* Adjusted wolf howl volume.


[h2]1.0.4a beta 6 - released 21 August 2020 on Steam Public Beta Branch[/h2]

BUG FIXED: Grizzly cub dies unexpectedly.

[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.

Along with multiplayer, we've been working on the new game account system for WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition. This uses the same account system as WolfQuest 2.7, but it's separate so players can have an account for each game.

The new account system just about ready to release to give everyone extra time to set up their WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition account. So today's devblog takes a brief (hopefully not too boring) look at the new account system and how to go about signing up once it’s released.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We heard loud and clear that many players will want to keep their username from the original game, WolfQuest 2.7. So, each WQ 2.7 username is reserved for that player! They can use that same username and password when creating a new account for WQ:AE.

If you don't have an old account, or simply want to start fresh, you can do that instead and create a brand new account. Just remember:  You won't be able to choose a username that someone has already claimed in WQ 2.7. At some point in the future we will likely remove that restriction, but not until the game is released on all platforms.

In this new account system, we have friends and messages working now, and will add packs soon, since those will be helpful for multiplayer. Later this fall we will release the new achievements system.

The new account system will be included in the next game patch, v.1.0.4a, which we expect to release within a week! We want to get this out into everyone's hands so players have a chance to create a new account before multiplayer is released.

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Game screenshot by Loach
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We have released the first episode of WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition (Amethyst Mountain) and the Lost River Classic map 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).

Along with good progress on core multiplayer functionality, we’ve also been adding other features to enhance everyone’s experience. Today’s devblog looks at several of these:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

• Instead of private games, the multiplayer host can restrict access in three new ways: making the game available to all their friends (using the in-game Friends list), or selected friends, or one or more Packs (groups) that they belong to. Choosing one of these options will make their game appear only in the lobby for those selected players and no one else. We think this will be more efficient and user-friendly than the old private game-name and password method, and we hope it will greatly reduce the number of players who hold spots for friends in open games.
  
• Sometimes a player will leave the game (intentionally or not) but wish to return soon, so we now keep their wolf, resting quietly, in the game for five minutes. If they return in that time, they resume control of their wolf. If they don’t, then the wolf is removed. We hope this will smooth over some annoying but inevitable disconnections.
  
• The Pack Info panel shows basic information about all player-wolves in the game: health, stamina, wakefulness, along with their stats and their bio.
  
• The text chat panel is much more versatile: you can resize it, detach it from the corner and move it around, minimize it, and change the font size and opacity to suit your preferences.
  
• Pack Rally is back! Much like in the old game, players can howl together to boost their spirits and their stamina for a period of time. A new wrinkle: if any player-wolf dies while the rally is in effect, the rally is terminated. We added this after thinking about the big wolf fights that we’ve been testing in multiplayer, where NPC wolves behave rationally (preferring not to die), while player wolves find death a more acceptable option. By losing the rally boost, we hope to give players a bit more incentive to stay alive.
  

All these are coming soon in WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition multiplayer. We don’t have a release date, but it won’t be too much longer now.

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Thumbnail Screenshot Image by Sass
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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).