No dev blog video this week but the new "Ironwolf" feature is getting closer, thanks to Mikko. Intrepid players will soon be able to select this option when creating a wolf and truly live the life of a wild wolf -- one death is all you get and it's game over.

Also this week, Andrei has been overhauling the music system, switching to a different method of playing adaptive music to eliminate unsynced tracks -- so not super exciting, but will be a relief to the ears.

Tommi did more work on beavers, then switched to finishing up his part of a new unannounced feature (which should be ready to show within a few weeks!).

Dave, Susan, and George have been doing various aspects of design and testing of Ironwolf and this unannounced new feature.  

If you are looking for ways to support game development, spread the word about the the new Yellowstone Wolf Coat DLC and/or write a nice review on Steam. Thanks, everybody. We couldn't do it without you!

Beavers are coming soon to WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition! Today’s devblog looks at how we are modifying the Slough Creek environment to match what beavers really do in the real world.



Unlike the other game animals that roam around to find what they need to survive, beavers set up shop in specific places and then modify their environment to suit themselves. So before the beavers can move into WolfQuest, we’ve had to spend some time learning about what makes good beaver habitat and then recreating that in the game map. We also wanted to give them the very best of homes, so 3D artist Aaron Hillaker has created new and improved 3D models for their dams and lodges. We knew the beavers would also need more willows and aspens to eat and use for construction -- but figuring out just where to put them took some research. Lucky for us, we have great science advisors and Google satellite images give us clues about where to place our new rodents in the game.

We’ll share more about beavers and how wolves can interact with them in a future post.

_______________

WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition is available now for PC/Mac on Steam and itch.io, as Early Access. The game currently includes Episode 1: Amethyst Mountain, Episode 2: Slough Creek, Lost River: Classic, and multiplayer mode in Amethyst and Lost River. (Slough Creek multiplayer is coming soon,.) The mobile version will come after the game (including Slough Creek) is completed on PC/Mac platforms. The next episode, Tower Fall (DLC) will follow. We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready!

Patch 1.0.6q - Released on 13 March 2021

* Pup-a-palooza! You always get seven pups in a litter.

* In multiplayer, chat settings are saved and used in future sessions.
* Cougars are now sometimes a bit harder to chase away when stalking pups.
* Switched Amethyst winter creeks to have ice texture matching those in Slough Creek.

* Multiplayer game saves sometimes fail to load. (Two causes of this are now fixed.)
* Saving game fails, shows error. (One cause of this is now fixed.)
* Save Game button sometimes is not displayed in Options menu (gets stuck when Quest Completion popup is blocked).
* Pups in Family Tree preview sometimes are deformed.
* When elk are alarmed (head held high), their tongue pokes through lower jaw slightly.
* As seen from the ridge, Lamar Valley in winter has some poor texturing.
* In summertime, Slough Creek creek audio can have odd audio effects.
* There's a paucity of cow moose in May.
* One meat chunk on buck mule deer carcass depletes carcass food too much.
* Elk float too high in the water when swimming.
* When player goes into den and sees mate already in there, mate has some excess/overlapping meshes.
* Adjusted placement of one meat chunk in the mouth.
* Removed some excessively-cautious words from the badwords list.
* Correction to Learn to Hunt game help text.
* Big Blaze has miscolored claw.
* Wolf Customization has DLC "?" button on other panels besides Coat.
* Water and terrain issues.

No video this week but enjoy this lovely vista by Defnemia. Speaking of screenshots, we’ve added some of our contest winners’ screenshots to the Steam and Itch.io stores. They look great! Thanks again, everyone who sent in screenshots.

And thank you to everyone who purchased the new Yellowstone Wolf Coats DLC and also the folks who bought the WolfQuest Soundtrack and Music Extras! Proceeds go right back into supporting game development.

If you haven’t had a chance to write a Steam review for the game or for any DLC you have purchased, good reviews make a huge difference to WolfQuest.

We just posted this month’s WolfQuest Giveaway. If you already have the game, you can enter the drawing for a chance to win free DLC! Or you could win and then gift something to a friend. Look for the contest details and how to enter on various social media.

So, what are we up to this week? Tommi has been working on beaver AI, drawing on the latest research by the Voyageur Wolf Project about wolf predation on beavers. Mikko has fixed some multiplayer bugs but mostly has focused on a new, improved system for rendering scent particles, which should solve a number of problems caused by the old system. Andrei fixed a bunch of bugs and is now working on a very cool, unannounced feature that we hope to release within a month. He also figured out a solution for the out-of-sync music bug, which meant Dave had to spend a bunch of time re-exporting music files to match the new method. George has been testing and tuning variables in that unannounced new feature. Susan’s highlights this week: getting the word out about the new Yellowstone Wolf Coats DLC and researching meat chunk textures (and before breakfast, too!).

We have a public beta about to go up with some important bug fixes. So that’s always good!

NOTE: This beta IS compatible with saved games and wolves, and with multiplayer in the last release, 1.0.6o, so you can switch back to that version if you want, and you can play on this beta with others who have 1.0.6o.

This beta is only for Windows.


* In multiplayer, chat settings are saved and used in future sessions.
* Cougars are now sometimes a bit harder to chase away when stalking pups.
* Switched Amethyst winter creeks to have ice texture matching those in Slough Creek.

* Multiplayer game saves sometimes fail to load. (Two causes of this are now fixed.)
* Saving game fails, shows error> (One cause of this is now fixed.)
* Pups in Family Tree preview sometimes are deformed.
* When elk are alarmed (head held high), their tongue pokes through lower jaw slightly.
* As seen from the ridge, Lamar Valley in winter has some poor texturing.
* In summertime, Slough Creek creek audio can have odd audio effects.
* There's a paucity of cow moose in May.
* One meat chunk on buck mule deer carcass depletes carcass food too much.
* Elk float too high in the water when swimming.
* When player goes into den and sees mate already in there, mate has some excess/overlapping meshes.
* Adjusted placement of one meat chunk in the mouth.
* Removed some excessively-cautious words from the badwords list.
* Correction to Learn to Hunt game help text.
* Wolf Customization has DLC "?" button on other panels besides Coat.
* Water and terrain issues.


BUGS FIXED:
* Save Game button sometimes is not displayed in Options menu (gets stuck when Qust Completion popup is blocked).
* Big Blaze has miscolored claw.
* Water issue.

It's time for another chance 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).

If you prefer, you can choose the new Yellowstone Wolf Coat DLC (only for WolfQuest: AE for PC/Mac) or the WolfQuest Soundtrack and Music Extras.

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 contest1@wolfquest.org

All entries must be received before midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) on Thursday, March 18, 2021..

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.

Patch v1.0.6o - Released 5 March 2021

IMPROVEMENTS:
* Increased the odds that, if you have purchased the Coat DLC, some of those coats will be assigned to dispersal wolves. (Will only be effective in new games.)

BUGS FIXED:
* Spitfire is misclassified as a genetically gray coat.
* Dispersals with one DLC coat have wrong image on courtship panel.
* In 106n2, DLC coats can be assigned to dispersals for players who have not purchased the DLC pack. (Side-effect of last night's hotfix. If you started a new game and found a mate with a DLC coat, lucky you!)
* Mysterious cube floating above rocky slope in Slough Creek.

We are rolling this hotfix out as quickly as we can. Currently available for Windows. Mac coming soon. Mac is out now too.
* Dispersals and grown pups do not get DLC coats even if player has purchased them. This fix will only be effective in new games. Sorry about that!
* F11 does not open bug reporter in main menu.

* Yellowstone Wolf Pack DLC now available! Go to My Wolves, then Coat Customization and scroll down to preview the new coats (Founders, Hall of Fame, and Cool Coats) on your wolf. Click the Buy button to go to Steam or itch.io to purchase the coats. They will immediately be available for your wolves. They will also be eligible to appear on dispersal wolves and grown pups in any new game that you start after purchasing this DLC. (Note that if you have the game from Steam, your purchase is tied to your Steam account. If you have the game from itch.io, you must have a WolfQuest game account, as that is where your purchase is recorded.)

* When in Endless Summer quest, you can now regenerate your family snapshot in the Pack Info panel. This will replace the snapshot that was taken previously when completing the Loaf at Rendezvous Site quest. (Useful if you change a mate or pup name, or if a pup dies and you want to be honest about it.)
* On Apple Silicon computers, wolf feet now touch ground, and alert appears in main menu about bugs.

* Female wolf does not appear pregnant in Slough Creek until you save and reload the save.
* If your wolf is female and save your game in Slough Creek before having pups, then start a new game in Amethyst, your wolf will be pregnant there.
* Moose calf in August grew up too fast.
* In Slough Creek, on Basic Sky & Veg mode, audio controls do not affect rain and snow sounds.
* Tall grass patches disappear in August.
* Snow does not accumulate on distant landscape in spring and summer in Slough Creek.
* Player gets stuck if notification appears while dreaming.
* In Wolf Customization, can't click drag to rotate wolf.
* New Mate quest (sometimes) appears after game over when a pregnant mate dies.
* Scent tracks sometimes stop abruptly.
* Scent tracks get suddenly older.
* All stranger wolves are interested in courtship. (Bug introduced in February -- Valentine's Day Special! -- and fixed now in new games but will persist in saved games from the past several weeks.)
* All dispersals and stranger wolves have the same level of interest at the start of courtship (should be vary some).
* World Map does not remember state of Show Dens button during Raise Pups quest.
* Regurgitated meat does not glow in scent view.
* Errors loading a save with carcass scent tracks spawned.
* Water and terrain issues.