Firstly, this first beta is available only for Windows at this point. Other platforms will follow in-time. We're sorry for the prolonged waiting time, but couldn't help it, and really needed to start 3.60 betas rolling.
And they get rolling from now on. Things are fairly stable already, but our to-do list is still not completed. So bear in mind that many of the features now available will be polished even further in patches to follow as we stride towards the stable tag.
Key features of version 3.60
The key features of version 3.60 version deal with NPCs, companions, domestic animals, village properties, and crafting additions. The list of additions and fixes is long and you can find the full changelog at the bottom of this post.
One of the most awaited additions is wandering NPCs now actively hunting animals on detailed map level. This opens up possibilities for numerous exciting incidents to take place as the woods with hunters and their game now becomes far more alive and complex than before.
Screenshot from version 3.60beta. The player character has followed an elk, freezing and starving. He bumps into a scene never witnessed before. There's a pile of elk bones, raw elk meat and few arrows. And an adventurer, who has apparently downed that elk, now carrying it's winter fur and some cuts he had already roasted. This is just one example of scenes which could have been witnessed by player character, turn by turn, from the start of the hunt to very act of utilizing the carcass.
We think you may want to opt-into 3.60 beta now...
How to opt-into beta release
This is password protected beta-releasae.
The password you need to know is: 360betaXXXZZZ
- 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.
- Enter the password mentioned above into 'Beta access code to unlock private betas' field, and press [CHECK CODE].
- Now 3.60 beta is available.
- Select "3.60 beta" in the dropdown box ('Select the beta you would like to opt into').
- Close the dialog, the game updates, enjoy!
Should you encounter crazy problems with the beta, you can always switch back to current stable version by choosing "NONE" from the beta dropdown box.
And here comes the changelog...
Version 3.60 beta changelog
** Saved characters from version 3.40-> are compatible with this version. **
BETA NOTICE:
This is a beta release. There are likely bugs, things are still somewhat under construction, and some of the listed improvements will be tweaked and polished further in patches to follow.
- added: active hunting mechanics for wandering NPCs
Wandering NPCs in the wilderness now actively hunt animals, and also utilize the kills the best they can.
NPCs seek the game based on their cultural preferences, and within their hunting possibilities. The very act of NPCs hunting, or chasing the game, is rarely witnessed by the player character but bones and remains found in the woods can now tell a story of another human hunter at the area.
This addition opens up possibilities for numerous exciting incidents to take place as the woods with hunters and their game now becomes far more alive and complex than before.
Two imagined but possible examples:
One day an arrow flies beside your head and is soon followed by a woodsman running past you. Half a day later you meet him again happily roasting the squirrel he eventually managed to shoot down.
Or you may suddenly bump into wounded and therefore aggressive bear who rushes at you with no warning - only because it had been angered earlier that day by another hunter. And so on...
- added: hunting NPCs utilize their kills and roast the raw meat
Hunting NPCs can now skin and butcher carcasses and roast the meat. They also try to utilize otherwise obtained raw meat, so after trading raw meat to wandering woodsman you may notice them proceeding to cook it.
Unlike player character, NPCs don't leave the meat by the fire and pick it up when it's done, but they stay put by the fire while roasting is being done.
BETA NOTICE: NPCs are not able to cure or tan animal skins. That's pending to be added later on.
- added: dog companions for wandering NPCs
Wandering woodsmen and adventurers you may encounter in the wild can occasionally have dog companions with them. And just like dogs owned by player characters these will also protect their masters.
- added: footwear wearing out in use
Shoes and boots now wear out in use ie. when walking or otherwise moving around by foot.
Footwear material determines their durability. If used extensively on a daily basis
an average working lives of different footwear materials are:
* birch-bark - two weeks
* fur - a year
* leather - a year and a half
Walking barefooted, or using simple birch-bark shoes, is now more reasonable activity during the summertime as you may want to prolong the working life of your precious winter boots.
Footwear will break apart completely when they are worn out down to 50% of their original condition.
- tweaked: armour and cloth quality having greater impact on their durability
As a rule of thumb high quality items are more durable, and low quality items wear out faster in use. This is already seen with wear out rate of eg. weapons and tools. Now the quality based durability is extended to cover all the armous and clothes. You can expect rough armours to wear out faster in combat, and fine shoes to last longer on your journeys, and so on.
- added: armour and cloth quality having impact on their protective values
High quality armours and clothes now provide more protection, and the low quality ones provide less.
In most cases this covers more than one coverage aspect, but always at least the most important aspect for the item in question.
For example, fine fur clothes are warmer and maybe have more protection against blunt strikes too but masterwork quality fur clothes may also be more resilient against edges and tears as well.
- added: trying to use village goods for your own crafting is considered a breach
Villagers now react to player character's attempts to use village raw materials, eg. boards and tree trunks, for player character's own crafts. This is considered a minor breach
but ignoring villagers fair warnings it may lead to eventually getting banished from the village.
- added: measure of length for tying equipment
Tying equipment such as ropes and cords now have a length property. The unit of length we use is foot (ft), and should an item have a length property it is displayed both in inventory menu and when looking at items on the ground. This addition foremostly affects to crafting material requirements which can be length based from now on.
MIGRATION NOTICE: All the items which are designated to have a length property should convert automatically. So, your old ropes and cords should appear with their new proper lengths in this version.
- added: new crafting category under [M]ake menu: "Tying quipment"
This category contains the usual ropes and cords, which were previously found in "Utility articles".
- added: join and shorten options to manipulate tying equipment lengths
Under "Tying equipment" category within [M]ake menu there are options for joining and shortening ropes and cords as sometimes specific length is desired. You may not want to spend full length rope on something that requires only a short piece, or you may need to join cords together to come up with long enough string for a specific craft.
- changed: tying equipment requirements in crafting are now length based
Instead of requiring certain number of cords and ropes all the tying equipment requirements are now length based.
- reasoned: required tying equipment types in some crafting recipes
For example:
When making arrows, previously you could use any "tying equipment" in the process - including
ropes. Now arrow making requires "cord", a little finer and more specific tying equipment.
- added: tying equipment used in cookery do not disappear in the process anymore
You can pick your ropes and cords back after the smoking and drying processes are done.
- added: harvesting and utilizing birch-bark
Birch-bark can be now harvested with the common 'Peel bark from a tree' TIMBERCRAFT option.
Birch-bark is peeled and removed from a tree in long strips which are then wound to a ball for storage. (As a trivia, this kind of balls are called 'Sommelo' in Finnish.)
Peling birch-bark strip is slower process compared to harvesting other types of bark
which are removed from the tree as sheets.
Birch-bark can be also used as tanning material.
- changed: time of the year matters in harvesting bark
You can't no longer harvest bark all year around. The best season for peeling bark is early summer.
The process gets more difficult and the yield decreases accordingly outside the proper bark harvesting period, and eventually it becomes completely impossible.
- changed: bark item properties
* Alder and rowan bark items are now called a "sheet of [tree type] bark".
* Bark sheet weight has been decreased down to 0.5 lbs, but you may now obtain several sheets from a single tree.
* Yield of harvested bark is not constant but depends on character's success in bark peeling, determined by their TIMBERCRAFT skill, and the season when bark is collected.
- added: birch-bark rope
A new rope item made of birch-bark strips.
- added: craftable birch-bark items
It is now possible to craft the following birch-bark items. Character's CARPENTRY skill determines
success of all these birch-bark crafts.
* birch-bark box
* birch-bark basket
These can be found are under "Utility articles" within [M]ake menu.
* birch-bark rope
This can be found are under "Tying equipment" within [M]ake menu.
* birch-bark shoes
* birch-bark cap
These can be found are under "Clothes" within [M]ake menu.
- added: craftable clothes added to diy_glossary.txt
Sub-section "clothes" has been added to main crafting definition file diy_glossary.txt
and all the craftable clothes can be now found there.
- adjusted: cloth crafting times and material requirements
All the material requirements have been increased to slightly exceed the finished cloth weights. Crafting times of some small clothes have been reasoned by increasing or decreasing the required time.
- modding add: =length= raw material requirement tag
Required length of raw material for crafting can be indicated with a numerical value between
equals signs (=). The length unit is foot and value has to be whole number. The tag can be naturally
applied only to items that have a length property.
For example:
{Birch-bark strip} =5= [remove]
This means that 5 feet of birch-bark strips are required, which are then removed in the process.
- modding add: [LENGTH:] item property tag
This tag is used to specify item length. It's usage is intended for specifying length for
modded ropes and cords so be sure to use it within proper item type context. Results for
other than tool type items can be unpredictable.
[LENGTH:] - length in feet
For example:
[LENGTH:4] - the item is 4 feet long
- added: companions can help you with laborous tasks thus shortening the working time
Unoccupied companions now spontaneously help you with many different tasks. Their labor input helps to finish the physical work in shorter time, but doesn't otherwise affect to result or quality of the task outcome. The help companions provide is imagined to be something they can do without specific tools, but the kind which makes it easier and faster to finish the work together.
For example:
When building a log wall it helps to have extra hands around for moving and setting the logs in place even if the player character would be the one who does the necessary carving.
When softening the skin with a beater as a final stage of tanning process it helps to have somebody around to check, adjust or tighten the skin if necessary.
When setting and retrieving nets it helps to have somebody to row the watercraft.
The tasks where companions can currently help you are as follows:
* all the building tasks
* building trap constructions
* setting and retrieving nets
* harvestring bark
* tanning stages of cleaning, applying tanning material and final softening
* crafting rafts
* crafting leather ropes
* crafting birch-bark containers and ropes
The tasks are 10-20% faster to perform with a companion and in many cases having multiple helping pairs of hands shortens the time 5-10% more per companion. However, the benefits of helpers is gapped at three (3) companions, so having more than three helpers doesn't shorten the working time any further. It depends on the task how many helpers is the optimal number, and this varies from one to three companions.
Companions do help you with these tasks completely spontaneously, without any commands, if they are free from other chores and can reach the player character. You will be notified about companions helping you with specific messages displayed right after starting the task. These messages also tell if you are being assisted with the optimal maximum number of companions for the task in question. If you receive help from some companion(s), but the task would be even easier with more helping hands the message is, for example, as follows:
"You get some help with this task from Ahti."
And if you have the optimal maximum number of helpers the message is, for example, as follows:
"Tapio, Korjus and Visa help you with this task."
- modding add: header tag to specify companion help possibility for do-it-yourself crafts and building
There is a new tag to be used in biy_* and diy_* headers:
[assist:value]
This defines maximum number of companions whose labor input can help to shorten the working time
as described above. The value can be 1, 2 or 3.
- added: several new companion commands
Companion usefulness is seriously boosted with the following new tasks they can now do on demand.
Their skills affect to outcome of the tasks so companions' expertise can be sometimes
used to obtain higher quality goods than what the player characters could produce by themselves.
* butcher and skin a carcass
Companions can be commanded to butcher and skin carcasses. They go for the closest carcass
and first skin it if possible, and then cut it for meat and fat. These products will end up
in companion's inventory, or are left by the carcass if they are too much to carry.
Companion's hideworking skill affects to obtained skin quality.
* roast meat or fish
Companions can be commanded to roast raw meat or fish they happen to be carrying.
Unlike player character, companions don't leave the meat by the fire and pick it up when it's done,
but they stay put by the fire while roasting is being done. Companions roast ten pieces of meat
at a time, and if not given another order they try to keep on cooking until everything is roasted.
* make logs
Companions can be commanded to carve trunks into logs. A few trunks are processed in a row.
* make boards
Companions can be commanded to split boards from trunks. A few trunks are processed in a row.
Companion's timbercraft skill affects to quality of finished boards.
- added: asking NPCs about their general skills
Within "Ask for help/company" chat mode there's now an option to ask people about their skills and
expertise. The skills NPCs speak of when asked are hideworking and timbercraft as these have
significance with the new companion commands added.
- added: villagers refuse to sell all of their animals
Previously you could empty a village of its animals with sequential purchases.
Now villagers refuse to sell them all and always want to keep few of each species to themselves.
- added: village dogs now roam freely
The dogs you may find in villages are not penned anymore but roam freely at the village area.
This not only adds atmosphere but allows dogs now to truly defend the village if need be.
MIGRATION NOTICE:
This applies only to new villages you enter. Villages created in earlier versions for migrated
characters still have the dogs penned.
- added: watchdog behaviour for village dogs
Village dogs now alert of the approaching strangers by barking. Now the player characters may be
greeted by approaching barking dogs when they first enter a village. This dog behaviour gets
gradually toned down when the player character becomes more familiar with the village.
- added: color variety for domestic animals
All the domestic animals may have subtle varieties in their coat colors. This adds flavour to the
game world, but also makes it easier to distinguish different colored pets from each others just by
their looks.
- adjusted: snakes
There was a fistful legacy issues related to snakes which are now fixed and balanced as follows:
* snakes now cause point type wounds
Previously they caused tear wounds, which wasn't quite right.
* snakes now hibernate during the winter as they should
Previously they were active all year around, which wasn't quite right.
* snakes are now slightly more common than previously
* snakes are now venomous, as they should be
The snakes in the game are vipers. They are venomous species but the bites are usually not highly
dangerous. If the venom is discharged upon a bite it will take several days for the snake to
refill its venom glands. However, the snakes can naturally bite without venom too.
- adjusted: colorful outcome of eating certain mushrooms
- changed & reasoned: birch-bark item weights
Many birch-bark items weighed too much and have been adjusted as follows:
[previous weight] -> [weight now]
Birch-bark shoes 0.8lbs -> 0.13 lbs
Birch-bark cap 0.9lbs -> 0.15 lbs
Birch-bark necklace 0.1lbs -> 0.05lbs
- changed & fixed: foreign traders won't accept more furs than they can carry
Previously foreign traders dropped their excess load after completed trade and this opened an
exploit where dropped furs could be picked up and used again in trading. Now foreign traders simply
reject the offered items they can not carry.
- balanced: villagers' interest to buy paw-board fox traps
Trading paw-board fox traps could be used an exploit as villagers did buy them without any reasoning.
Now there's a cap for villagers' interest in paw-board fox trap.
- fixed: tufted duck populations were far too rare. Now they appear more commonly.
- fixed: cancelled unpacking of pet/companion on a tile with plants caused harvesting to proceed without confirmation
- fixed: being able to wear fur footwear with shoes or boots already worn
Fur footwear, despite of their vague name, are essentially fur boots.
And only one pair of shoes or boots can be worn at a time.
- fixed: being considered defeated (against robbers) when knocked out even if you still had companions/animals active
The fights which deal with special consequences for the player character's party upon defeat will
now continue despite of the player character being unconscious until the true result is resolved for
all the participants. This includes both fighting the robbers, as well as some village fights where
villagers choose to deal with nuisances in non-fatal manner.
- fixed: bears active and awake in the winter
Now they hibernate during the winter as they should.
- fixed: double tree trunk when felling the same tree as your companion
- fixed: forced swimming in shallow water gets you stuck after 100% fatigue
This is fixed by character automatically getting to wade mode if the water is shallow enough,
and while when wading it is possible to rest by standing still.
- fixed: wading on land
Getting out of water whilst swimming made the character wade on the first land-tile reached.
- fixed: [roast] cookery method decreasing also other than non-meat/fish weights
The intention was to make roasting to reduce meat/fish cooked weight, but it mistakenly extended to cover
other ingredients as well.
- fixed: only one fistful of young leaves regardless the plant patch size
Harvesting the young leaves you always got only one fistful of them even though there were more plants in the
patch. This is now fixed (or re-reasoned) and bigger the patch the more young leaves you can expect to get.
However, young plants still yield less leaves compared mature plants so the harvest is still usually smaller
than the patch size would indicate.
- fixed: lavaret (fish) missing price per weight value
- fixed: same types of fish caught on different gaming sessions not stacking
This was due to redundant randomized value existing in fish data.
- fixed: no stags among forest reindeers
- fixed: companions refused to fell any trees if there was a bear skull pine relatively close by
- fixed [typo]: player owned pigs sometimes mistakenly descriped as "board" (instead of boar)
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That's all folks! ːurw_sageː
Cheers, have fun, and let's keep our fingers crossed for the possible beta bugs being minor and scarce. But whatever their size and annoyance level may be, we've got our bows prepared for shooting them down.