Jan 10, 2020
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
We're releasing this update today for the PC/Mac game in Early Access! Over two months of work went into this update, with several big new features (new and improved NPC pathfinding and obstacle avoidance, and controller support), plus many smaller improvements and plenty of bugfixes! Details are below the video:



IMPROVEMENTS:
* Redesigned pathfinding and obstacle avoidance systems for NPC animals. Eliminate bugs with animals that can't find a way out of a spot, and mates that do nothing near cliffs for fear of going over the edge.
* Full controller support for Xbox and DS4 (Playstation) Controller (see details below).
* Revised the cliff rocks with new shader for better realism and dynamic snow.
* Main camera view adjusted so player-wolf is lower on screen, showing more of landscape ahead.
* Mate may stalk if player stalks, when hunting. (Bold mates are less likely to do this.)
* Mates, especially if cautious, will not charge into the hunt as eagerly without being prompted by the player, unless the player takes too long.
* Reduced mule deer maximum speed a bit.
* Reduced aggressiveness of bull elk and moose a bit.
* Reduced spawning frequency of grizzly bears.
* Golden eagles sometimes feed on carcasses now.
* Mate is sometimes too selfish about hunting hares.
* Fish dropped by eagles now function like other meat chunks: carryable and with food value. Will emit floating scents if few other floating scents around (due to performance constraints). Will not glow in scent view yet, that'll be added soon.
* If you activate Photo Mode (Shift-P) while bite-holding an animal, bite-hold will continue if you use right-arrow key to step forward in time.
* Reduced aggressiveness of bull elk and moose a bit.
* Reduced spawning frequency of grizzly bears.
* Adjusted camera angle when zoomed out behind wolf, to show more of terrain ahead.
* Meat chunks will emit floating scents now (but may not if there are a lot of other floating scents around, due to performance constraints).
* Odds of wind direction evened out some. (A bit less accurate to Yellowstone weather patterns, but helpful for finding floating scents.)
* Refinements to the lighting intensity and effects, especially at dawn/dusk and nighttime, with and without moonlight.
* Removed white haze in sky when rain/storm clears.
* Revised the cliff rocks with new shader for better realism and dynamic snow.
* Tweaked grizzly bear run-animation speed.
* Improved general appearance of snow on ground.
* In Glorious quality level, grass and shadow distance is increased, for better visuals and slightly worse performance.
* Many tweaks to terrain ground textures.
* Added Bug Report to Options menu.

BUGS FIXED:
* Sometimes prey run too slowly when you are chasing them.
* Various glitches when waking from sleep.
* Rare issue with saving mate after completing trial mission.
* Some distant trees have bluish trunks.
* Wolf footfall audio stops playing if you zoom out and then back in.
* Cottonwood and aspen tree leaves look bad in certain lighting angles.
* Rear legs on coyote corpse are unnaturally bent.
* In bug reporter, the priority options are out of order.
* Guitar-emote music during courtship doesn't play.
* Can get stuck on rocks or trees when sliding down steep slope.
* Can skate on pond surface if you jump onto pond from land.
* Duplicate bull herds.
* Too many bulls in one place (won't be fixed in previous saves)
* Clouds evolve shape too quickly.
* Snow on gnarly white bark pine is too extensive.
* Problems with invert camera toggles.
* Pink mule deer carcass.
* Placement problems with snow on grizzlies.
* Wolf skull in Fossil Forest is too small.
* Areas where you can get stuck in cliff rocks.
* Mismatched coat texture on one dispersal wolf in Courtship popup.
* When playing on Fastest quality, eagle wings have holes.
* Some nature sounds don't respect audio slider settings.
* Shadows are too jiggly sometimes.
* Typo in loading screen text.

CONTROLLER SUPPORT:
* We have implemented full controller support for Xbox and DS4 (Playstation) controllers. The game should automatically recognize those two controllers, though we have seem some issues with non-Sony DS4 controllers, and we're working on that.
* Tutorial Tips and Game Help show controller glyphs if controller is plugged in and active (in Game Settings: Controls).
* Controller remapping works, and your settings will appear in Tutorial Tips and Game Help.
*
SOME KNOWN ISSUES:
* Animal behaviors in water are non-optimal. (Nw water-specific AI coming in next patch.)
* Wolf can get stuck sometimes when jumping into boulders. (Will be fixed in next patch.)
* Bull elk and buck mule deer sometimes run backwards after fighting. (Will hopefully be fixed in next patch.)
* On Macs using Intel integrated graphics on Basic graphics mode, distant trees are sometimes multicolored.
Jan 9, 2020
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
Update 1.0.2. public beta 12 (EDIT: and another hotfix, b13!)
Windows only, Mac coming soon.

BUGS FIXED:
* Reverted two fixes (for backwards-running animals, and getting stuck when jumping into rocks) that created new bugs in b11.

KNOWN ISSUES:
* On Macs using Intel integrated graphics on Basic graphics mode, distant trees are sometimes multicolored.
* Some non-Sony DS4 controllers are not recognized, we're working on it!


WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
WolfQuest v1.0.2. public beta 11.
Windows version only, will add Mac soon.

IMPROVEMENTS:
* Mate will stalk if player stalks, when hunting. (Bold mates are less likely to do this.)
* Mates, especially if cautious, not charge into the hunt as eagerly without being prompted by the player, unless the player takes too long.
* Adjusted camera angle when zoomed out behind wolf (reduced the tilt a bit).
* Meat chunks will emit floating scents now (but may not if there are a lot of other floating scents around, due to performance constraints).
* Keyboard/mouse icons in Tutorial Tips will reflect player remapping.
* Odds of wind direction evened out some. (A bit less accurate to Yellowstone weather patterns, but helpful for finding floating scents.)

BUGS FIXED:
* Can get stuck if you jump into a boulder.
* Various glitches when waking from sleep (more fixes for this bug).
* Rare issue with saving mate after completing trial mission.
* Some distant trees have bluish trunks.
* Wolf footfall audio stops playing if you zoom out and then back in.
* Cottonwood and aspen tree leaves look bad in certain lighting angles.
* Wolf stops running when doing emote.
* In Wolf Customization, wrong coat assigned to Lamar pack #5.
* Rear legs on coyote corpse are unnaturally bent.
* In bug reporter, the priority options are out of order.
* Various terrain tweaks and improvements.

CONTROLLER SUPPORT IMPROVEMENTS:
* Xbox and DS4 icons appear in Tutorial Tips if controller is set to active in Game Settings: Controls.

KNOWN ISSUES:
* On Macs using Intel integrated graphics on Basic graphics mode, distant trees are sometimes multicolored.
* Some non-Sony DS4 controllers are not recognized, we're working on it!
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
Oops, a bad bug snuck into the last beta, causing various problems with scents in Scent View. This beta build fixes those issues. (You can check the version in bottom-left corner of the main menu.)

Available now for Windows, coming later today for Mac.

Both Windows and Mac builds are available now.
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
Knowing when and how to fight (or flee) means understanding the risks and rewards when you encounter competitors – grizzly bears, coyotes, foxes, cougars, and, of course, other wolves. We asked JayPlays, a popular YouTuber and longtime WolfQuest player and beta tester, to suggest some tips and tactics to both avoid fights whenever possible and fight successfully whenever a clash is impossible to avoid. Here’s her video — enjoy!



And then go enjoy many more videos of WolfQuest and other animal games on her YouTube channel.
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
A new build of the public beta for WQ:AE v1.0.2 is available now. If you've opted into the beta channel, it should update automatically. We do now have the Mac beta available as well, sorry for the delay on that.

If you haven't (or missed last week's announcement about the public beta), please go see that announcement here.

We're glad that so many players have opted into the beta -- your bug reports are invaluable! Keep it up!

v1.0.2. public beta 9

IMPROVEMENTS:
* Fish dropped by eagles now function like other meat chunks: carryable and with food value.
* Main camera view adjusted so player-wolf is lower on screen, showing more of landscape ahead.
* If you activate Photo Mode (Shift-P) while bite-holding an animal, bite-hold will continue if you use right-arrow key to step forward in time.
* Reduced mule deer maximum speed a bit.
* Reduced aggressiveness of bull elk and moose a bit.
* Reduced spawning frequency of grizzly bears.
* Golden eagles sometimes feed on carcasses now.
* Mate is sometimes too selfish about hunting hares.

BUGS FIXED:
* Mule deer occasionally spawn right in front of player.
* Two instances of same stranger or dispersal wolf.
* Dispersals are frozen sometimes.
* In certain situations, ungulate prey don't react to attacks on themselves or a calf or fawn.
* Some trees make camera snap closer or farther from wolf, especially in free cam movement.
* Gray vignette and/or wavy dream effect from sleeptime don't disappear after waking up.
* Invisible obstacles.
* Rim light is too bright on some wolves at night.
* Snow dust effect appears under wolf when on cliff rocks.
* Wolf head occasionally doesn't play howl animation when howling.
* Drinking water repeatedly stops playing animation, but still plays sound.
* When waking up from sleep, mate stands up to do an emote, then lays down, then stands up again.
* In Customization, can't select certain howls in certain situations.
* In Customization panel, the "modify wolf" button becomes highlighted when toggling through wolves.
* In Customization panel, wWhen modifying a wolf that has a radio collar on, customizer loads wolf without the collar.
* Y Axis incorrectly inverted in Scentview and related issues.
* "Hide name in HUD" setting isn't saved in saved game.
* Eagles and ravens let predators get too close.
* Grass is floating above a cliff rock.
* Snow on some cliff rocks is black.
* Two bull elk herds congregate in the valley.
* Various terrain tweaks and improvements.

CONTROLLER SUPPORT IMPROVEMENTS:
* Enabled right/left bumpers to navigate on Map/Quests/Pack Info panels.
* Added easier way to navigate to Reset button on Remap Controller panel.
* Added onscreen keyboard for bug reporter panel.
* Added a deadzone slider in Game Settings: Controls

CONTROLLER BUGS FIXED:
* Can't do Stalk gait with controller.
* Controller sometimes isn't recognized after disconnecting and reconnecting it.
* Onscreen keyboard can appear on Name Mate popup even if controller is disabled.


Dec 28, 2019
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
A lot of players have asked over the years how they can become beta testers -- and now they can! We’ve been working for the past two months on a couple substantial new features, and we’re ready now to open this new version, v1.0.2, to public beta testing. Anyone on Steam who want to try these new features can do so. Those who prefer to stick to the official released version can stay on that until the beta period is over and we release this version as the official current release.

This beta is currently for Windows only, but we should have the Mac beta out in a few days. The beta is available only on Steam, because it has a very easy-to-use method of switching between beta builds and the released build.

Watch the video to see what’s in this new version, and for some tips on submitting useful bug reports:

YT VIDEO



To get the beta build:

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.

Please use the F11 Bug Reporter to submit bug reports, but you can also discuss issues on the new Public Beta discussion forum on Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/app/926990/discussions/2/

This beta build has the following changes:

New AI Pathfinding System
This replaces the pathfinding and obstacle avoidance system in the game. It's much more robust for both large-scale topography (like steep cliffs) and small objects like trees and boulders.

Controller Support
We have complete support now for the Xbox controller (PS4 and Steam Controller support will be added in the final release of v1.0.2.). Please refer to the Controller diagram in Game Settings: Controls for guidance, as we have not yet added controller icons to the game tutorials and help screens. Remapping should generally work, though not well tested yet.

Other Improvements
* Refined the lighting intensity and effects, especially at dawn/dusk and nighttime, with and without moonlight.
* Revised the cliff rocks with new shader for better realism and dynamic snow.
* Tweaked grizzly bear run-animation speed.
* Improved general appearance of snow on ground
* Removed white haze in sky when rain/storm clears.
In Glorious quality level, grass and shadow distance is increased, for better visuals and slightly worse performance.
* Grizzly bears should be a bit less common now.

Bugs Fixed
* Missing guitar-emote music during courtship.
* Can get stuck on rocks or trees when sliding down steep slope.
* Can skate on pond surface if you jump onto pond from land.
* Duplicate bull herds.
* Too many bulls in one place (won't be fixed in saves)
* Terrain tweaks and fixes.
* Clouds evolve shape too quickly.
* Snow on gnarly white bark pine was too extensive.
* Problems with invert camera toggles.
* Pink mule deer carcass.
* Placement problems with snow on grizzlies
* Wolf skull in Fossil Forest is too small.
* Areas where you can get stuck in cliff rocks.
* Sometimes prey run too slowly when you are chasing them.
* Mismatched coat texture on one dispersal wolf in Courtship popup.
* When playing on Fastest quality, eagle wings have holes.
* Some nature sounds don't respect audio slider settings.
* Shadows are too jiggly sometimes.
* Various terrain tweaks and refinements
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
FREE WolfQuest Dreams Wallpaper!

As a small thank you to everyone who has supported WolfQuest over the years, we've put together a pack of desktop/phone wallpaper depicting some of the wolf dreams in WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition.

When playing the game, your wolf occasionally dreams of their quest for survival in Yellowstone National Park. What do wolves actually dream of? No one knows, so these images are our best (albeit whimsical) effort to imagine them.

It's a free download -- enjoy!

WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - Pepper


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 choose the WolfQuest Soundtrack and Music Extras.

How to Enter
Email your answer to the question: "What are three interesting facts about wolves?" to contest1@wolfquest.org. Winners are selected randomly from complete entries. Please enter only once in each monthly contest.

All entries must be received by midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) on Sunday, December 22, 2019.

Random Drawing
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 or soundtrack.

WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco
One of my favorite elements in WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition is the dynamic snow, which accumulates everywhere….except for the rocks on the cliffs overlooking the Lamar Valley. But no longer! The shader we’ve been using for those rocks didn’t support dynamic snow, but we’re switching to a different shader now which does. It’s a spin-off of the amazing MicroSplat shader that we’re using for the terrain, so the snow and other rendering effects will match the terrain quite nicely. Today’s video shows that new shader in action. It’s been a lot of setup and tweaking (and in a couple of those shots, the cliff rocks are a bit dark still), but it’s coming together.



This isn’t available yet — it’ll be in the next update. (No date on that yet, still wrangling with a couple other things). But do you know what IS available? The updated WolfQuest Soundtrack with all the new music from WQ: Anniversary Edition! All sales revenue helps support further development of the game.

Watch our video about it.

Buy it here on Steam!

Already have the WolfQuest Soundtrack but still want to support the game with a direct donation?
...