The summer is passing, the holidays are mostly over, and the time has come for me to return to the development chambers and slowly start getting back on track with the coding chores. When leaving on holidays somebody said to expect to see at least one fishing holiday picture. Well, unfortunately I managed to be so very absent from the forums that I basically didn't post a thing, but as a substitute for the past silence here's half a dozen random summer pictures for you.

Now it's whole lotta e-mails and post to go through to get an idea of how the community and unreal world has survived the summer of 2018.
And then, some fresh lines of code... One at a time...

Midsummer and the nightless nights... that's priceless.
UnReal World... it's on summer sale until 5th of July.

Just recently released version 3.51 is trucking alright, so we are good to hit the holidays now. Finnish summer will surely bring us some rainy days too so some tweaking, fixing and even patching may take place during the summertime. But officially I'm mostly absent from development chambers until early august.

Best wishes,
enjoy the seasonal goodies and I'll be sure to do the same...


Midsummer midnight 2018, just outside the UnReal World development chambers.

Here comes a minor but significant new patch before I'll start settling for summer holidays.

The additions in this version 3.51 mostly consist of balances, fixes and additions related to interacting with both the spirits and NPCs. Many small game hunters should be happy to know that for example the unreasonably harsh forest spirit mood changes are now toned down.

Find the full changelog below.

I wish you all great adventures in both real and unreal worlds -
and nice and cosy summertime, if that happens to be your local season.

Cheers!

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** Saved characters from version 3.40-> are compatible with this version. **


- added: map of known areas (F6) remembering the toggleable settings to show or not to show cultural areas and map markers

This was once featured, but got broken somewhere along the way. The settings are remembered after exiting F6 map view and persist until toggled otherwise. The display for both cultural areas and map markers is on by default when the game is first started.

- added: ask NPCs to find quest related persons in villages

You can now ask villagers if certain quest related persons are around. This is done by automatically appearing chat options within the common greet dialog. For example:
"Is Sampsa around?" or "Where can I find Tornia?"
All the quest related persons, including the original quest giver, are covered within these chat options if you are aware of them.
There are some exceptions though; NPCs who are involved in quests themselves can't be asked for others whereabouts, but there are always enough common villagers around to assist you.
When it comes to finding quest related persons in other villages the chat options become available only when you are in the right village where the person can be actually found. This can be considered slightly gamey in our standards, but it is more helpful that way.

- adjusted: no more multiple villagers with same names

Possiblity of two NPCs having the same name within a single village has been removed. In seriously crowded clustered villages it is theoretically possible that villagers might run out of unique names, but real chances for that to happen are practically non-existent.

MIGRATION NOTICE: Within villages created in the previous version two persons with same names may still exists.

- added: dozens of new northern names

Due to aforementioned adjustment it was necessary to add lots and lots of new names for northern men and women.

- improved: NPC name randomization routines

NPC culture has more distinguishable influence to their given names. There's noticeable variation between the eastern and western names, but especially the current wider range of northern names now appear unique from rest of the world.

- added: light a torch with another torch

If you are already carrying a lit torch a new torch can be lit of it. This is done in normal fashion by [a]pplying the torch to be lit.

- balanced: forest spirit's attitude in regards to hunted animals - size and significance matters

When an animal is felled the forest spirit's mood change and need for compensation by sacrifices now depends on the size and significance of the animal. Previously almost all the killed animals were valued equally by the spirits which resulted in small game hunters often receiving unreasonable disgrace. Now it is far more tolerable to hunt smaller game and get along with only casual sacrifices every now and then.

- fixed: only one sacrifice allowed per day

If any kind of sacrifice to any spirit was performed even the different kind of sacrifices during the same day were considered excess. This was not intentional, and is now fixed back to normal:
You can perform multiple sacrifices on daily basis as long as they are targeted at different spirits, ie. forest or water spirit, or if the act of sacrificing is a part of unique spell.

- fixed: spoiled food items were seemingly accepted as sacrifices

Now it is foolish to try that sort of sacrifices.

- fixed: former companions never agreed to be hired again

Despite of their "maybe in the future" responses former companions did never reach proper status to be hired again. This is fixed now and companions can be rehired after a varying NPC dependant timespan from few months to full year.

MIGRATION NOTICE: Rehiring possibility timespan may appear glitchy as companionship date information was broken in the previous version. For most succesfull rehiring of former companions try it at villages that were visited long time ago.

- fixed: skinning young animals mistakenly gave adult animal size skins

Now skins obtained from young animals are more or less smaller depending on the cub/calf actual age and size.

- fixed: village items getting easily corrupt upon crash

Crash security improvements added in version 3.50 are hereby improved/fixed in regards to certain crash vulnerable village items.

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For more than half a decade already we've had a habit of creating characteristic video greetings with varying themes to thank and delight UnReal World buyers and supporters. About a year ago we started bringing the video works on Steam as a free DLC for UnReal World Steam players.




Feel free to add Video Greetings to your cart if you like. The package now contains three videos to start with, and more will follow in time. As the Video Greetings package grows we'll find ways to keep the file sizes decent. Currently the package consists of five HD video works around 900 MB in size all together.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/505100

If you grab the Video Greetings DLC you'll find the videos within your local UnReal World files in BonusMaterial/ folder. And the game main menu also shows BONUS MATERIAL option which guides you to the right folder.

If you're curious about what the video greetings may be about you can browse the older stuff at:
Enormous Elk YouTube channel.

Cheers!

...yet another release, I mean. ːurw_fireː

After quite a long period of balancing and wrestling with glitches in the preceeding beta versions we are now ready to tag version 3.50 stable - and also managed to squeeze in this finalizing bugfix release also one long-awaited feature; healing the bleeding wounds of your pets.

The version 3.50 itself as whole is quite package of new content so if you haven't been playing the beta version you better take a good look at the changelog below. As this is stable release it becomes the default branch and auto-updates for you. The previous version characters will migrate and work just fine with the new version.
The most important changes in 3.50 concern the numerous spirit world and spells related additions and overhauls. But oh there is so much more...gender and age specific animal generation, skulls and teeth, antlers and bones...and so on.

Below you can find the full changelog for version 3.50.

After the short list of the latest stable release notes find the long list of all core additions since first 3.50 beta version.

Let the adventures in the Far North continue. Cheers!

***


** Saved characters from version 3.40-> are compatible with this version. **
** If you are new to version 3.50 scroll down and read changelogs since the first beta version. **

- added: treat bleeding wounds of your pets and companions

It is now possible to try to stop bleeding of the wounds of your pets and companions. The attempt is started by using physician skill, or opening [F7] wounds screen, when facing a bleeding pet or companion. If bleeding wounds are found you'll be asked whether you wish to try to treat them.
The actual wound to treat is then auto selected based on its severity.

The actual game mechanics of applying physician skills to your pets and companions are the same as treating your own wounds. Herbs can be used in the process, the success or failure messages are the familiar ones, and so on.

- added: crash security to overcome creature and item losses when travelling with companions and watercrafts

There's now extra data save added upon each map load to provide crash security and to minimize certain creature and item loss potential. Previously it was quite often the case that the pets and companions you were travelling with would disappear upon a crash. The same sort of crash related disappearence might also happen to the items you were transporting with a watercraft - including the watercraft. This sort of losses should be history now.
Crashes may naturally lose some progress in the game world, but all the creatures and items should stay intact and be available upon returning to post-crash UnReal World.
Finally, let us remind that force quitting seems to be the most usual type of unexpected UnReal World termination and this addition should not in the least to be taken as an encouragement for safer force quitting.

- balanced & fixed: weight of some clothes

Some were found too heavy, and a few were found too light.
The corrections go as follows (with old weight in parenthesis):

* Woollen tunic - now weighs 4.6 lbs (was 5)

* Nettle cloak - now weighs 2.6 lbs (was 6)
* Woollen cloak - now weighs 5.3 lbs (was 6.5)
* Fur cloak - now weighs 11.5 lbs (was 14)

* Woollen overcoat - now weighs 6.3 lbs (was 5.5)
* Fur overcoat - now weighs 13.5 lbs (was 15)

* Leather leggings - now weighs 6.3 lbs (was 2.9)
* Fur leggings - now weighs 7.4 lbs (was 3.5)

- fixed [rare condition]: all too frequent map maintenance with some old characters

- fixed [rare condition]: sages offering the old style teaching of new ritual for some migrated characters

- fixed: triggered traps sometimes appearing as readied and erect

- fixed [rare condition]: too fast melting of ice in the spring

- fixed: animals tied in place with a rope remaining tied even if the rope was destroyed (eg. by a fire)

- fixed [rare condition]: spiritworld related entries cluttering the data stack and causing misleading hoarding warnings

- fixed: animal pens in the villages appearing too close to the western border

The problem was that your dog might end up located in the village animal pen when entering the village from the west.

- fixed: BUTCHER_CONFIRMATION setup option not checking whether the carcass actually could be skinned

Now the confirmation, if enabled, is asked when applicable only if the carcass actually can be skinned.

- fixed: wounded adventurer quest sometimes generating too lightly wounded adventurers

This made the intended quest giver adventurers not speak about their hardships at all even though
the villagers would hint about it.

- fixed: milk from rams and bulls



- added: wounded or starving dogs may refuse to attack on command

If your dog is seriously wounded or starving it may refuse to attack on command. Even the suffering dogs still defend their masters and themselves from charging predators and enemies, but are just reluctant to act as war dogs who always run after a given target completely despite of their own condition. This addition may encourage you to keep your dogs more safe and better fed from now on.

- added: redrawn 8 directional tiles for watercrafts

Both punt and raft now appear bigger and prettier in completely redrawn fashion. The watercraft tile direction does change based on the last actually rowed direction. Credits for these tiles goes to Paulo Spinola.

- added: specific animal purchases

Upon purchasing animals you may now get to choose small or big animals from the list. NPCs still decide which animals they wish to sell so the size you would prefer may not always be on the list, but the animal description now always matches what you'll get. For example, if you go for purchasing a sheep with no size mentioned you are guaranteed to get that average size sheep - not a big or small one.

- added: young animals

Cubs and calves have been added for relevant wild animal species eg. elks, bears, reindeer and hares.
In case of large species ie. elks and bears, the young ones usually remain with their mothers in the wild for a year or two before becoming independent. So now you may occasionally encounter an elk mother wandering together with her calf, or a bear mother followed by her cub. Mother animals may act more unexpectedly or aggressively than usual when they're still taking care of their young ones -- and that's especially true in case of bears.

- added: different gender dogs

In addition to plain dogs, which are male, there are now also female dogs.

MIGRATION NOTICE: for dogs generated in the previous version their gender is randomized upon first load.

- added: different gender bears

Male and female bears are now distinguished, females being descriped as "female bear". Male bears are larger and stronger than the females, and may also appear slightly more aggressive if necessary.

- changed: some animal descriptions

There are some animal terminology and description changes as follows:

* male elk description changed from "stag" to "bull elk"

* bears are now descriped as plain "bear" if they're male, or "female bear" if they're female

* domestic pigs now have gender-based description

Previously they were all called pigs, but are now descriped either a "sow" (female) or a "boar" (male)

* reindeers now have gender-based description

Previously they were all called reindeers, but are now descriped either "reindeer doe" (female) or "reindeer stag" (male). This goes for both dometic and wild reindeers.

MIGRATION NOTICE: animals generated in the previous version may still appear with their old names.

- changed: resources of animal origin named in gender-neutral fashion

For example, you'll now get elk cuts even if the animal gender based description would have been "bull elk". Or, you'll now get pig cuts regardless of the pig having been descriped as sow or boar. (However, a few exceptions to this rule may still occur here and there.)

- added: ant nests

Ant nests can be now found in the forest. They are needed in performing certain spells but currently have no other use or function.

- added: antlers & bones

Antlers and bones can be now harvested from carcasses.

* antlers

Male elk and both sexes of reindeers have antlers. For now, antlers simply appear on the ground when the carcass has been completely butchered for meat.

* bones

Bones can be harvested from almost any carcass except for the birds and very small creatures. Harvested bones appear on the ground when the carcass has been completely butchered for meat. Currently the bones you get are imagined to be the long bones (eg. leg bones) containing the marrow. Each carcass yields four of such bones. The bone size naturally varies depending on the carcass.

Antlers and bones appear in your inventory as tools but have only little usage on their own. Dogs do like bones and as they are marrow-containing ones it's also nutritiously wortwhile to feed them to your dogs.
Otherwise antlers and bones serve the best as trophies and new raw materials to be utilized via modding if you like.

- added: skulls & teeth

Skulls can be now harvested from a few species of dead animals whose skulls, or teeth, have meaningful ritual or magical usage. Currently these animals are bears and seals. Animal skull appears on the ground when the carcass has been completely butchered for meat. It is also possible to remove and pick teeth from a skull by [a]pplying it.

- added: meeting the spirit of the forest

Naturally this otherworldy creature has existed in the game world for a long time, but now it is possible for characters to actually see and meet him - although it is still a rare occasion. The spirit of the forest is famous of being relatively talkative. As a ruler of the forest and its animals he likes to make remarks about your relationship with the forest. In case of being very pleased the spirit of the forest may offer hunting advice, or even reveal where certain animals roam.

- added: a quest related to meeting the spirit of the forest

- overhauled: ritual screen [F4] -> "Spells and magic means" screen

It's now known as "Spells and magic means" screen and all the new spells are listed there as well. New spells" refers to spells featured in version 3.40, which are learned within quests and performed by following the instructions given in spell description by using the common game mechanics and actions.

Previously you could view new spell descriptions only from the quest journal, but now it's all available within the spells screen. Whenever a new spell is learned it will also appear in this new list of spells.

Spells screen also lists some relevant "old spells" which we've had in use for ages and which are performed automatically upon selection. However, most of the "old spells" have been removed completely to bring existence of magic means to our desired new level.

Bringing the selector on any spell in the list displays its information dialog. If necessary, a selection is then made by mouse click or enter. In addition, there are also hotkeys for quick spell selection.
In most cases the spell selection merely shows the spell information dialog as the new spells are performed manually by following the descriped game mechanics and actions. The old spells, eg. blood-stanching incantation or general sacrifice, automatically put to action upon selection. This kind of spells are also colored differently in the list.

- changed: re-organization and removals within the old spell system and spirit world features

* RITUAL skill removed

It was truly redundant skill, serving only as an alternative way to bring up rituals screen.

* feature of periodically learning rituals is removed, but the related messages kept and improved

Automatically becoming aware of new spells over time is history and now new spells can be learned only from NPCs within quests. The good old occasional messages regarding how you feel about your relationship with the spirits are still featured. (Eg. "You feel pleasant.")
Moreover, there's now a lot wider range of these spiritworld relationship related messages and they may vary depending on if the pleased or angered spirits are forest or water folk.

* most of the old rituals are removed

We've saved only a few relevant rituals from the old days, and we are happy with that. Some of the old rituals were seriously outdated and unbalanced in many ways. In case of migrated characters some old rituals are replaced with the new (3.40 ->) spells.
Here's a list of removed old rituals with the replacements spells where applicable:

Completely removed old rituals:

- permission to fell a tree
- blood-stanching prayer
- the oath of iron
- banishing the evil water guardian
- greet the supernatural guardian
- the origin of fire

Removed old rituals with migration replacement spells:

- permission to sleep -> replacement spell: "greeting the earth upon going to sleep"
- hunter's request to catch a fox -> replacement spell: "making foxes to come at the bait"
- fisher's request for a catch -> replacement spell: "gaining fisherman's luck"
- fisher's sacrifice for a catch -> replacement spell: "rod fisherman's sacrifice"
- favourableness of the trap -> replacement spell: "fox trap favorableness"

* these are the old rituals that were kept as is, or improved as descriped below:

- blood-stanching incantation

Works the same as previously.

- general sacrifice

The act of sacrificing is now always known by every character from the start, and has a wider usage than before. It still works as an act of its own, but now also gets associated with other spells as a multipurpose way to please certain spirits for a certain reason. If there's a spell that requires sacrificing which is not described by other means then the general sacrifice does the trick.
For example, if there was a spell described as:
"Reindeer hunting luck is achieved by sacrificing berries on reindeer tracks in the morning." Then, to perform the spell you would probably need to find reindeer tracks, be standing on them in the morning and then use "general sacrifice" spell choosing berries as an item to sacrifice.

- updated: SPELLS encyclopedia entry [F1]

- added: VALUABLES encyclopedia entry [F1]

- added: SACRIFICES encyclopedia entry [F1]

- added: silver valuables as a sacrifice

Previously sacrifices were limited to food items, but now sacrificing silver items is also possible and necessary in rare cases. You will notice the general sacrifice item selection now allowing to pick an item from both food and valuables categories.
However, silver sacrifices are always related to certain new spells and are not completed unless the conditions are right. Upon using silver items as a sacrifice some shards of the item are cut and carved away, and eventually the item gets used completely. This makes silver items both higly appreciated and costly offerings.

- added: more spells

About a dozen of new spells have been added. Like explained above the spells can be learned from NPCs within quests, but there are also some new spells which every character knows from the start.

Here's vague summary about the newly added spells:

* bear skull rite

This spell is known by all the characters from the very beginning. It's crucial common knowledge about what to do with the skull of a downed bear. Killing a bear should now always call for executing this spell at least.

* bear teeth related spells

Bear teeth are powerful charms especially for hunters, and now there are spells associated with them.

* bird and hare trapping

There are new spells to better succeed with bird and hare trapping.

* ant nest related spells

Ant nests aren't merely a terrain feature but also a place for executing certain spells, once you learn them.

* spirit of the forest related spells

There are new spells for both encoutering and gifting the spirit of the forest.

* bear hunting related spells

There are new spells to better succeed with bear hunting.

- added: new spells for new characters

Upon character creation some of the new spells are now randomly assigned for a new character. Depending on the character's culture the given spells are emphasized on either hunting or fishing, or both. New characters usually start with four spells, and the spells screen is shown during character creation just like before.
Of the old rituals general sacrifice is now known by every character from the start.

- added: valuables to be found in the villages

Valuables such brooches, pendants, bracelets and so on can be now rarely found in the villages. Type of these stocked valuables depends on the culture. Even though it is not in the least common for every village to stock valuables the possibility for having acquired some them exists for every culture.

- changed: game-course completion reward "Learn three new rituals" changed to "Learn two new spells"

- added: skinned/cut/burnt carcass coloring

Skinned carcasses now appear in fleshy red color.
Cut or eaten carcasses appear dark reddish, and burnt carcasses blackish depending on the cut/burn degree.

- added: BUTCHER_CONFIRMATION configuration option (defaults to NO)

If the option is enabled a confirmation prompt appears if you try to butcher a carcass before skinning it.
This is to avoid accidentally cutting up the whole carcass and losing the skin.

To enable the option add the following line to urw_ini.txt setup file in your installation folder:
[BUTCHER_CONFIRMATION:YES]

- added: SPEND_DELAY_ADD configuration option

This option can be used to slow down the time consuming actions if you find the game turns running too fast for your taste during the time spending dialog. The given value is in milliseconds, adding that much more delay for each game turn. Good value to try slowing things down a bit would be 10 and nobody really wants to go higher than 100.

To use eg. 10 millisecond turn delay add the following line to urw_ini.txt setup file in your installation folder:
[SPEND_DELAY_ADD:10]

- added: EAT_MUSHROOM_CONFIRMATION configuration option (defaults to YES)

Yes/No confirmation is now asked if you try to eat a mushroom that is not completely known to you, or a known poisonous mushroom. Notice that this applies only to raw mushrooms. When it comes to cooking we assume characters being on track about what they want to do. The option is on by default, as it's most convenient for newcomers.

To disable the option (as it used to be) add the following line to urw_ini.txt setup file in your installation
folder:
[EAT_MUSHROOM_CONFIRMATION:NO]

- added: confirmation dialog for emptying containers (with other than liquid contents)

As the contents are discarded for good upon emptying containers the confirmation is justified, especially for newcomers. If the container has liquid content the confirmation is not asked as losing the liquid upon emptying should be quite obvious.

- adjusted: skiing fatigue rate decreased, walking in deep snow more penalized

Skiing fatigue accumulation rate is decreased which makes skiing more profitable than previously. In addition, walking in deep snow is now slightly more fatiguing than previously. As a result difference between walking in deep snow versus skiing should be more signficant now.

- adjusted: fishing equipment (eg. fishing rod) availability increased among certain cultures

Somewhat increased among kaumolaiset and kiesseläiset, and slightly increased among koivulaiset and islanders.

- added: fire burns away the ground cover

Lichen, moss etc. ground cover now gets destroyed from under a burning fire. Only very small fires may leave the ground cover intact.

- added: winter skin/fur descriptor

As we know winter furs are more valuable, and it's been like that for a long time. Now there's finally also an indication of wintertime furs and skins within the item description.
For example:
"Fine winter fox fur" or "Poor winter bear-skin"

- renewed & optimized: drawing of rain and snowfall

Previously rain and snowfall were drawn in putpixel fashion which was often more or less sluggish. Now rain and snowfall presented by tile graphics with improved look and fast rendering.

- fixed: animals with no proper dexterity/strength being able to sometimes open doors

- fixed: turnip seeds could be used as "vegetable" ingredient in cooking

- fixed [rare condition]: NPCs foolishly drowning/freezing to death in small ponds at the village yard

- fixed: bogbean anti-inflammatory herb property was mispelled in flora files and thus not effective

- fixed: fresh or untanned skins not getting destroyed by a burning fire

- fixed: villager kotas might mistakenly contain "inside of a building" tiles instead "inside of a kota" tiles

- fixed: some treasures you heard of were never to be found

The bug was caused by map maintenance being prone to mistakenly remove treasure locations.

- fixed: missing chance to get also decent quality crafts at very high skill

- fixed: companions and dogs not always attacking robbers on command

- fixed: stone-axe and some knives attack and defense class values wrong

The following weapons still lacked the intended attack/defense class changes.
Here's the list of fixed ones with "old -> new and current" attack/defense class.

* Stone axe

attack/defense: 2/1 -> 1/1

* Kaumolais knife & Northern knife

attack/defense: 2/1 -> 1/1

* Broad knife & Hunting knige

attack/defense: 1/1 -> 1/0

* Knife

attack/defense: 1/0 -> 0/0

MIGRATION NOTICE:
Weapons obtained or created in the previous version still carry the faulty values.

- fixed: too high quest generation interval in case of some rejected quests

Some quests (eg. robbers) might come in your way again too quickly if they were first rejected in the past.

- fixed: robbers occasionally staying at the same region for all too long

- fixed: knife price

Regular knife (called "knife") price was too low (< squirrel hide) and is now increased to intended value
of 6 squirrel hides.

- fixed: arctic fox hide price was the same as of regular fox

Now arctic fox hide is more valuable, as it should be.

- fixed: zooming out at the very left edge of terrain didn't remember the position when zooming in the next time

- fixed: buying animals decreasing quest reward credits

- fixed: depopulating a village might occasionally cause cultural area to be removed also from unvisited nearby villages

Unvisited nearby villages then appeared as vagabond villages when you entered them, but had no proper population or buildings.

- fixed: "crater" villages ie. village generation failures when the surrounding terrain was of much higher elevation

- fixed: indifferent ripe and growing tile graphics with some plants

For example lake reeds, milkweeds and heathers had the same tile graphics regardless of being ready or almost ready to harvest.

- fixed: trousers mistakenly cover feet

MIGRATION NOTICE: Trousers obtained or created in the previous version still appear with feet coverage

- fixed: animal in the forest cover quest completion troubles if the tracks got seriously messed up by other animals

The freshest tracks of the missing animal you can identify do matter. Previously it could rarely happen that you needed to burn the twigs on tracks of other animals who had replaced the original freshest tracks.

***

That's all folks! ːurw_sageː

...yet another release, I mean. :urw_fire:

After quite a long period of balancing and wrestling with glitches in the preceeding beta versions we are now ready to tag version 3.50 stable - and also managed to squeeze in this finalizing bugfix release also one long-awaited feature; healing the bleeding wounds of your pets.

The version 3.50 itself as whole is quite package of new content so if you haven't been playing the beta version you better take a good look at the changelog below. As this is stable release it becomes the default branch and auto-updates for you. The previous version characters will migrate and work just fine with the new version.
The most important changes in 3.50 concern the numerous spirit world and spells related additions and overhauls. But oh there is so much more...gender and age specific animal generation, skulls and teeth, antlers and bones...and so on.

Below you can find the full changelog for version 3.50.

After the short list of the latest stable release notes find the long list of all core additions since first 3.50 beta version.

Let the adventures in the Far North continue. Cheers!

***


** Saved characters from version 3.40-> are compatible with this version. **
** If you are new to version 3.50 scroll down and read changelogs since the first beta version. **

- added: treat bleeding wounds of your pets and companions

It is now possible to try to stop bleeding of the wounds of your pets and companions. The attempt is started by using physician skill, or opening [F7] wounds screen, when facing a bleeding pet or companion. If bleeding wounds are found you'll be asked whether you wish to try to treat them.
The actual wound to treat is then auto selected based on its severity.

The actual game mechanics of applying physician skills to your pets and companions are the same as treating your own wounds. Herbs can be used in the process, the success or failure messages are the familiar ones, and so on.

- added: crash security to overcome creature and item losses when travelling with companions and watercrafts

There's now extra data save added upon each map load to provide crash security and to minimize certain creature and item loss potential. Previously it was quite often the case that the pets and companions you were travelling with would disappear upon a crash. The same sort of crash related disappearence might also happen to the items you were transporting with a watercraft - including the watercraft. This sort of losses should be history now.
Crashes may naturally lose some progress in the game world, but all the creatures and items should stay intact and be available upon returning to post-crash UnReal World.
Finally, let us remind that force quitting seems to be the most usual type of unexpected UnReal World termination and this addition should not in the least to be taken as an encouragement for safer force quitting.

- balanced & fixed: weight of some clothes

Some were found too heavy, and a few were found too light.
The corrections go as follows (with old weight in parenthesis):

* Woollen tunic - now weighs 4.6 lbs (was 5)

* Nettle cloak - now weighs 2.6 lbs (was 6)
* Woollen cloak - now weighs 5.3 lbs (was 6.5)
* Fur cloak - now weighs 11.5 lbs (was 14)

* Woollen overcoat - now weighs 6.3 lbs (was 5.5)
* Fur overcoat - now weighs 13.5 lbs (was 15)

* Leather leggings - now weighs 6.3 lbs (was 2.9)
* Fur leggings - now weighs 7.4 lbs (was 3.5)

- fixed [rare condition]: all too frequent map maintenance with some old characters

- fixed [rare condition]: sages offering the old style teaching of new ritual for some migrated characters

- fixed: triggered traps sometimes appearing as readied and erect

- fixed [rare condition]: too fast melting of ice in the spring

- fixed: animals tied in place with a rope remaining tied even if the rope was destroyed (eg. by a fire)

- fixed [rare condition]: spiritworld related entries cluttering the data stack and causing misleading hoarding warnings

- fixed: animal pens in the villages appearing too close to the western border

The problem was that your dog might end up located in the village animal pen when entering the village from the west.

- fixed: BUTCHER_CONFIRMATION setup option not checking whether the carcass actually could be skinned

Now the confirmation, if enabled, is asked when applicable only if the carcass actually can be skinned.

- fixed: wounded adventurer quest sometimes generating too lightly wounded adventurers

This made the intended quest giver adventurers not speak about their hardships at all even though
the villagers would hint about it.

- fixed: milk from rams and bulls



- added: wounded or starving dogs may refuse to attack on command

If your dog is seriously wounded or starving it may refuse to attack on command. Even the suffering dogs still defend their masters and themselves from charging predators and enemies, but are just reluctant to act as war dogs who always run after a given target completely despite of their own condition. This addition may encourage you to keep your dogs more safe and better fed from now on.

- added: redrawn 8 directional tiles for watercrafts

Both punt and raft now appear bigger and prettier in completely redrawn fashion. The watercraft tile direction does change based on the last actually rowed direction. Credits for these tiles goes to Paulo Spinola.

- added: specific animal purchases

Upon purchasing animals you may now get to choose small or big animals from the list. NPCs still decide which animals they wish to sell so the size you would prefer may not always be on the list, but the animal description now always matches what you'll get. For example, if you go for purchasing a sheep with no size mentioned you are guaranteed to get that average size sheep - not a big or small one.

- added: young animals

Cubs and calves have been added for relevant wild animal species eg. elks, bears, reindeer and hares.
In case of large species ie. elks and bears, the young ones usually remain with their mothers in the wild for a year or two before becoming independent. So now you may occasionally encounter an elk mother wandering together with her calf, or a bear mother followed by her cub. Mother animals may act more unexpectedly or aggressively than usual when they're still taking care of their young ones -- and that's especially true in case of bears.

- added: different gender dogs

In addition to plain dogs, which are male, there are now also female dogs.

MIGRATION NOTICE: for dogs generated in the previous version their gender is randomized upon first load.

- added: different gender bears

Male and female bears are now distinguished, females being descriped as "female bear". Male bears are larger and stronger than the females, and may also appear slightly more aggressive if necessary.

- changed: some animal descriptions

There are some animal terminology and description changes as follows:

* male elk description changed from "stag" to "bull elk"

* bears are now descriped as plain "bear" if they're male, or "female bear" if they're female

* domestic pigs now have gender-based description

Previously they were all called pigs, but are now descriped either a "sow" (female) or a "boar" (male)

* reindeers now have gender-based description

Previously they were all called reindeers, but are now descriped either "reindeer doe" (female) or "reindeer stag" (male). This goes for both dometic and wild reindeers.

MIGRATION NOTICE: animals generated in the previous version may still appear with their old names.

- changed: resources of animal origin named in gender-neutral fashion

For example, you'll now get elk cuts even if the animal gender based description would have been "bull elk". Or, you'll now get pig cuts regardless of the pig having been descriped as sow or boar. (However, a few exceptions to this rule may still occur here and there.)

- added: ant nests

Ant nests can be now found in the forest. They are needed in performing certain spells but currently have no other use or function.

- added: antlers & bones

Antlers and bones can be now harvested from carcasses.

* antlers

Male elk and both sexes of reindeers have antlers. For now, antlers simply appear on the ground when the carcass has been completely butchered for meat.

* bones

Bones can be harvested from almost any carcass except for the birds and very small creatures. Harvested bones appear on the ground when the carcass has been completely butchered for meat. Currently the bones you get are imagined to be the long bones (eg. leg bones) containing the marrow. Each carcass yields four of such bones. The bone size naturally varies depending on the carcass.

Antlers and bones appear in your inventory as tools but have only little usage on their own. Dogs do like bones and as they are marrow-containing ones it's also nutritiously wortwhile to feed them to your dogs.
Otherwise antlers and bones serve the best as trophies and new raw materials to be utilized via modding if you like.

- added: skulls & teeth

Skulls can be now harvested from a few species of dead animals whose skulls, or teeth, have meaningful ritual or magical usage. Currently these animals are bears and seals. Animal skull appears on the ground when the carcass has been completely butchered for meat. It is also possible to remove and pick teeth from a skull by [a]pplying it.

- added: meeting the spirit of the forest

Naturally this otherworldy creature has existed in the game world for a long time, but now it is possible for characters to actually see and meet him - although it is still a rare occasion. The spirit of the forest is famous of being relatively talkative. As a ruler of the forest and its animals he likes to make remarks about your relationship with the forest. In case of being very pleased the spirit of the forest may offer hunting advice, or even reveal where certain animals roam.

- added: a quest related to meeting the spirit of the forest

- overhauled: ritual screen [F4] -> "Spells and magic means" screen

It's now known as "Spells and magic means" screen and all the new spells are listed there as well. New spells" refers to spells featured in version 3.40, which are learned within quests and performed by following the instructions given in spell description by using the common game mechanics and actions.

Previously you could view new spell descriptions only from the quest journal, but now it's all available within the spells screen. Whenever a new spell is learned it will also appear in this new list of spells.

Spells screen also lists some relevant "old spells" which we've had in use for ages and which are performed automatically upon selection. However, most of the "old spells" have been removed completely to bring existence of magic means to our desired new level.

Bringing the selector on any spell in the list displays its information dialog. If necessary, a selection is then made by mouse click or enter. In addition, there are also hotkeys for quick spell selection.
In most cases the spell selection merely shows the spell information dialog as the new spells are performed manually by following the descriped game mechanics and actions. The old spells, eg. blood-stanching incantation or general sacrifice, automatically put to action upon selection. This kind of spells are also colored differently in the list.

- changed: re-organization and removals within the old spell system and spirit world features

* RITUAL skill removed

It was truly redundant skill, serving only as an alternative way to bring up rituals screen.

* feature of periodically learning rituals is removed, but the related messages kept and improved

Automatically becoming aware of new spells over time is history and now new spells can be learned only from NPCs within quests. The good old occasional messages regarding how you feel about your relationship with the spirits are still featured. (Eg. "You feel pleasant.")
Moreover, there's now a lot wider range of these spiritworld relationship related messages and they may vary depending on if the pleased or angered spirits are forest or water folk.

* most of the old rituals are removed

We've saved only a few relevant rituals from the old days, and we are happy with that. Some of the old rituals were seriously outdated and unbalanced in many ways. In case of migrated characters some old rituals are replaced with the new (3.40 ->) spells.
Here's a list of removed old rituals with the replacements spells where applicable:

Completely removed old rituals:

- permission to fell a tree
- blood-stanching prayer
- the oath of iron
- banishing the evil water guardian
- greet the supernatural guardian
- the origin of fire

Removed old rituals with migration replacement spells:

- permission to sleep -> replacement spell: "greeting the earth upon going to sleep"
- hunter's request to catch a fox -> replacement spell: "making foxes to come at the bait"
- fisher's request for a catch -> replacement spell: "gaining fisherman's luck"
- fisher's sacrifice for a catch -> replacement spell: "rod fisherman's sacrifice"
- favourableness of the trap -> replacement spell: "fox trap favorableness"

* these are the old rituals that were kept as is, or improved as descriped below:

- blood-stanching incantation

Works the same as previously.

- general sacrifice

The act of sacrificing is now always known by every character from the start, and has a wider usage than before. It still works as an act of its own, but now also gets associated with other spells as a multipurpose way to please certain spirits for a certain reason. If there's a spell that requires sacrificing which is not described by other means then the general sacrifice does the trick.
For example, if there was a spell described as:
"Reindeer hunting luck is achieved by sacrificing berries on reindeer tracks in the morning." Then, to perform the spell you would probably need to find reindeer tracks, be standing on them in the morning and then use "general sacrifice" spell choosing berries as an item to sacrifice.

- updated: SPELLS encyclopedia entry [F1]

- added: VALUABLES encyclopedia entry [F1]

- added: SACRIFICES encyclopedia entry [F1]

- added: silver valuables as a sacrifice

Previously sacrifices were limited to food items, but now sacrificing silver items is also possible and necessary in rare cases. You will notice the general sacrifice item selection now allowing to pick an item from both food and valuables categories.
However, silver sacrifices are always related to certain new spells and are not completed unless the conditions are right. Upon using silver items as a sacrifice some shards of the item are cut and carved away, and eventually the item gets used completely. This makes silver items both higly appreciated and costly offerings.

- added: more spells

About a dozen of new spells have been added. Like explained above the spells can be learned from NPCs within quests, but there are also some new spells which every character knows from the start.

Here's vague summary about the newly added spells:

* bear skull rite

This spell is known by all the characters from the very beginning. It's crucial common knowledge about what to do with the skull of a downed bear. Killing a bear should now always call for executing this spell at least.

* bear teeth related spells

Bear teeth are powerful charms especially for hunters, and now there are spells associated with them.

* bird and hare trapping

There are new spells to better succeed with bird and hare trapping.

* ant nest related spells

Ant nests aren't merely a terrain feature but also a place for executing certain spells, once you learn them.

* spirit of the forest related spells

There are new spells for both encoutering and gifting the spirit of the forest.

* bear hunting related spells

There are new spells to better succeed with bear hunting.

- added: new spells for new characters

Upon character creation some of the new spells are now randomly assigned for a new character. Depending on the character's culture the given spells are emphasized on either hunting or fishing, or both. New characters usually start with four spells, and the spells screen is shown during character creation just like before.
Of the old rituals general sacrifice is now known by every character from the start.

- added: valuables to be found in the villages

Valuables such brooches, pendants, bracelets and so on can be now rarely found in the villages. Type of these stocked valuables depends on the culture. Even though it is not in the least common for every village to stock valuables the possibility for having acquired some them exists for every culture.

- changed: game-course completion reward "Learn three new rituals" changed to "Learn two new spells"

- added: skinned/cut/burnt carcass coloring

Skinned carcasses now appear in fleshy red color.
Cut or eaten carcasses appear dark reddish, and burnt carcasses blackish depending on the cut/burn degree.

- added: BUTCHER_CONFIRMATION configuration option (defaults to NO)

If the option is enabled a confirmation prompt appears if you try to butcher a carcass before skinning it.
This is to avoid accidentally cutting up the whole carcass and losing the skin.

To enable the option add the following line to urw_ini.txt setup file in your installation folder:
[BUTCHER_CONFIRMATION:YES]

- added: SPEND_DELAY_ADD configuration option

This option can be used to slow down the time consuming actions if you find the game turns running too fast for your taste during the time spending dialog. The given value is in milliseconds, adding that much more delay for each game turn. Good value to try slowing things down a bit would be 10 and nobody really wants to go higher than 100.

To use eg. 10 millisecond turn delay add the following line to urw_ini.txt setup file in your installation folder:
[SPEND_DELAY_ADD:10]

- added: EAT_MUSHROOM_CONFIRMATION configuration option (defaults to YES)

Yes/No confirmation is now asked if you try to eat a mushroom that is not completely known to you, or a known poisonous mushroom. Notice that this applies only to raw mushrooms. When it comes to cooking we assume characters being on track about what they want to do. The option is on by default, as it's most convenient for newcomers.

To disable the option (as it used to be) add the following line to urw_ini.txt setup file in your installation
folder:
[EAT_MUSHROOM_CONFIRMATION:NO]

- added: confirmation dialog for emptying containers (with other than liquid contents)

As the contents are discarded for good upon emptying containers the confirmation is justified, especially for newcomers. If the container has liquid content the confirmation is not asked as losing the liquid upon emptying should be quite obvious.

- adjusted: skiing fatigue rate decreased, walking in deep snow more penalized

Skiing fatigue accumulation rate is decreased which makes skiing more profitable than previously. In addition, walking in deep snow is now slightly more fatiguing than previously. As a result difference between walking in deep snow versus skiing should be more signficant now.

- adjusted: fishing equipment (eg. fishing rod) availability increased among certain cultures

Somewhat increased among kaumolaiset and kiesseläiset, and slightly increased among koivulaiset and islanders.

- added: fire burns away the ground cover

Lichen, moss etc. ground cover now gets destroyed from under a burning fire. Only very small fires may leave the ground cover intact.

- added: winter skin/fur descriptor

As we know winter furs are more valuable, and it's been like that for a long time. Now there's finally also an indication of wintertime furs and skins within the item description.
For example:
"Fine winter fox fur" or "Poor winter bear-skin"

- renewed & optimized: drawing of rain and snowfall

Previously rain and snowfall were drawn in putpixel fashion which was often more or less sluggish. Now rain and snowfall presented by tile graphics with improved look and fast rendering.

- fixed: animals with no proper dexterity/strength being able to sometimes open doors

- fixed: turnip seeds could be used as "vegetable" ingredient in cooking

- fixed [rare condition]: NPCs foolishly drowning/freezing to death in small ponds at the village yard

- fixed: bogbean anti-inflammatory herb property was mispelled in flora files and thus not effective

- fixed: fresh or untanned skins not getting destroyed by a burning fire

- fixed: villager kotas might mistakenly contain "inside of a building" tiles instead "inside of a kota" tiles

- fixed: some treasures you heard of were never to be found

The bug was caused by map maintenance being prone to mistakenly remove treasure locations.

- fixed: missing chance to get also decent quality crafts at very high skill

- fixed: companions and dogs not always attacking robbers on command

- fixed: stone-axe and some knives attack and defense class values wrong

The following weapons still lacked the intended attack/defense class changes.
Here's the list of fixed ones with "old -> new and current" attack/defense class.

* Stone axe

attack/defense: 2/1 -> 1/1

* Kaumolais knife & Northern knife

attack/defense: 2/1 -> 1/1

* Broad knife & Hunting knige

attack/defense: 1/1 -> 1/0

* Knife

attack/defense: 1/0 -> 0/0

MIGRATION NOTICE:
Weapons obtained or created in the previous version still carry the faulty values.

- fixed: too high quest generation interval in case of some rejected quests

Some quests (eg. robbers) might come in your way again too quickly if they were first rejected in the past.

- fixed: robbers occasionally staying at the same region for all too long

- fixed: knife price

Regular knife (called "knife") price was too low (< squirrel hide) and is now increased to intended value
of 6 squirrel hides.

- fixed: arctic fox hide price was the same as of regular fox

Now arctic fox hide is more valuable, as it should be.

- fixed: zooming out at the very left edge of terrain didn't remember the position when zooming in the next time

- fixed: buying animals decreasing quest reward credits

- fixed: depopulating a village might occasionally cause cultural area to be removed also from unvisited nearby villages

Unvisited nearby villages then appeared as vagabond villages when you entered them, but had no proper population or buildings.

- fixed: "crater" villages ie. village generation failures when the surrounding terrain was of much higher elevation

- fixed: indifferent ripe and growing tile graphics with some plants

For example lake reeds, milkweeds and heathers had the same tile graphics regardless of being ready or almost ready to harvest.

- fixed: trousers mistakenly cover feet

MIGRATION NOTICE: Trousers obtained or created in the previous version still appear with feet coverage

- fixed: animal in the forest cover quest completion troubles if the tracks got seriously messed up by other animals

The freshest tracks of the missing animal you can identify do matter. Previously it could rarely happen that you needed to burn the twigs on tracks of other animals who had replaced the original freshest tracks.

***

That's all folks! :urw_sage:

The Year of The Dog has begun, and UnReal World is participating in the ongoing Steam Lunar New Year Sale. So feel free to help yourself or your fellow adventurer with the reduced price purchase.

Our last news also concerned sales and seasonal event, and even though the newest UnReal World (opt-into) version 3.50 beta is still in beta phase, it's proven very so very playable that you shouldn't hesitate to update.


Here's how to opt-into 3.50beta:

• Close UnReal World if you happen to be playing it right now.
  
• Right-click UnReal World in your Steam games library and select "Properties".
  
• Select "Betas" tab, and select "3.50 beta" in the dropdown box
  
• Close the dialog, the game updates, and you are now ready to get going with the fresh beta.

And here's 3.50 beta changelog. It's the Year of the Dog and ever so suitably we've got dog related additions in this version as well.




I bring these sale news and greetings to you from the North but this time just from a neighbouring country. As we speak, I'm travelling and visiting people and places in Norway. So it's greetings to You - old and new adventurers - from on the road. Welcome aboard, and let there be happy adventures in real and UnReal World.



Dev on the move, on a train from Stockholm to Oslo.

The Year of The Dog has begun, and UnReal World is participating in the ongoing Steam Lunar New Year Sale. So feel free to help yourself or your fellow adventurer with the reduced price purchase.

Our last news also concerned sales and seasonal event, and even though the newest UnReal World (opt-into) version 3.50 beta is still in beta phase, it's proven very so very playable that you shouldn't hesitate to update.


Here's how to opt-into 3.50beta:

• Close UnReal World if you happen to be playing it right now.
  
• Right-click UnReal World in your Steam games library and select "Properties".
  
• Select "Betas" tab, and select "3.50 beta" in the dropdown box
  
• Close the dialog, the game updates, and you are now ready to get going with the fresh beta.

And here's 3.50 beta changelog. It's the Year of the Dog and ever so suitably we've got dog related additions in this version as well.




I bring these sale news and greetings to you from the North but this time just from a neighbouring country. As we speak, I'm travelling and visiting people and places in Norway. So it's greetings to You - old and new adventurers - from on the road. Welcome aboard, and let there be happy adventures in real and UnReal World.



Dev on the move, on a train from Stockholm to Oslo.

Winter Sale is going on, so once again it's good time to grab UnReal World for yourself, or gift a friend into the Far North.

As the sale brings in many new adventurers I'll first hereby take moment to say welcome all you new adventurers.

And then, the important things at this very time of the year:


In addition to current default version (3.40) there's also fresh beta version which you can opt-into at will. As the early showstoppers have been found and fixed by now it's highly recommended now. Earlier we had the beta-branch password protected but not anymore for more convenient start.

Here's how to opt-into 3.50beta:

• Close UnReal World if you happen to be playing it right now.
  
• Right-click UnReal World in your Steam games library and select "Properties".
  
• Select "Betas" tab, and select "3.50 beta" in the dropdown box
  
• Close the dialog, the game updates, and you are now ready to get going with the fresh beta.

And here's 3.50 beta changelog.



The time has come to say seasons greetings to all of you, from Finland - in case you didn't know. It was the winter solstice yesterday, and now we're slowly heading towards the increasing daylight. And I'll be heading towards the holiday season and wish you all great times whatever you may, or may not be celebrating.

Here's the huge big seasons greetings to each and everyone of you, from the tiny dev and the winter tree. Merry whatever, fellow adventurers!




For those who are new to what the game and the devs are about, let's take a moment to introduce in more personal way. In addition to future game development to follow in 2018, also a trad.archery channel will follow. Both the bows and the code have become equally familiar during the past two decades. As you play you'll find about the latter, and here's how the former is handled by Sami, Creator of UnReal World, as establishing Ugri Archer YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNnxu6bbBJI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LwjhvPSbB0

For more diverse set of videos by the two-man dev. team Enormous Elk, Sami and Erkka (co-designer), you can take a peek at Enormous Elk YouTube channel.

Happy adventures everyone!

Winter Sale is going on, so once again it's good time to grab UnReal World for yourself, or gift a friend into the Far North.

As the sale brings in many new adventurers I'll first hereby take moment to say welcome all you new adventurers.

And then, the important things at this very time of the year:


In addition to current default version (3.40) there's also fresh beta version which you can opt-into at will. As the early showstoppers have been found and fixed by now it's highly recommended now. Earlier we had the beta-branch password protected but not anymore for more convenient start.

Here's how to opt-into 3.50beta:

• Close UnReal World if you happen to be playing it right now.
  
• Right-click UnReal World in your Steam games library and select "Properties".
  
• Select "Betas" tab, and select "3.50 beta" in the dropdown box
  
• Close the dialog, the game updates, and you are now ready to get going with the fresh beta.

And here's 3.50 beta changelog.



The time has come to say seasons greetings to all of you, from Finland - in case you didn't know. It was the winter solstice yesterday, and now we're slowly heading towards the increasing daylight. And I'll be heading towards the holiday season and wish you all great times whatever you may, or may not be celebrating.

Here's the huge big seasons greetings to each and everyone of you, from the tiny dev and the winter tree. Merry whatever, fellow adventurers!




For those who are new to what the game and the devs are about, let's take a moment to introduce in more personal way. In addition to future game development to follow in 2018, also a trad.archery channel will follow. Both the bows and the code have become equally familiar during the past two decades. As you play you'll find about the latter, and here's how the former is handled by Sami, Creator of UnReal World, as establishing Ugri Archer YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNnxu6bbBJI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LwjhvPSbB0

For more diverse set of videos by the two-man dev. team Enormous Elk, Sami and Erkka (co-designer), you can take a peek at Enormous Elk YouTube channel.

Happy adventures everyone!