15.3 Update: Sky Fish Summer!
The 15.3 update includes new Wilderness activities (like Sky Fishing!) several economy balancing changes, changes to Quests, improvements to the Beacon Charges UX, and many quality of life improvements.
Also, for those who might have missed it, we’ve been keeping the community up to date on our Monetization Plans. We previously shared some blog posts that explain in detail what our challenges are, and how we plan to make the game sustainable in the long run. Then, last month, we published another blog about our latest thinking around the benefits of a possible optional membership plan, and we hosted an AMA on Reddit about that idea.
We received a ton of feedback from the community, the vast majority of which was wonderfully supportive and constructive. After having reviewed all that, we have locked in our decision to give Spirit Crossing an upfront price of US$ 29.99 on the release (with localized prices in other countries), and an optional membership including nice-to-have features that were non-controversial within this community.
Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Also, a small new feature of these patch notes: from now on, changes we’ve made to Spirit Crossing based on your feedback and suggestions will be marked with a Beacon Spark! 🌟
Economy Balancing Changes
This update also includes a lot of economy balancing changes based on your feedback and continuing our efforts to adjust the in-game economy during the playtest.
Crafting & Resources
Tool Enhancements: we have replaced the Trusty and Lucky enhancements with the Bounty and Riches enhancements, respectively.
Now you have a meaningful choice when upgrading your tools - you can either spend coins to enhance and get more resources, or you can spend resources to enhance and get more coins.
Bounty: exactly like "Trusty", it grants bonus resources of the nodes you harvest. But unlike the old "Trusty" enhancement, this now costs Coins instead of Resources to craft.
Riches: this enhancement grants the player bonus Coins when harvesting, and it costs 2 different types of resources to craft.
🌟 Enhancements now have a 100% chance to craft, so you will no longer fail your enhancements… ever!
Your tools will keep the current enhancements they have (Trusty or Lucky) until you spend all of their uses. Then, you’ll be able to use the new enhancements from here on out.
Resources: We are also continuously adjusting the rates in which you get certain resources to make sure you don’t have a large excess of what you don’t need, so the drop rate for Fluffalo Wool and Greens has been slightly lowered.
Village Gift Crafting Workbench: you can now craft some Gift items in a crafting workbench in the Village Center 🎁
Certain Gifts are locked by Errand completion
🆕 Gift Collections: Candlewic is now collecting unique Gifts and he’s ready for your scams! 🤣 There are 3 new collections for different Crosslanders Gifts.
We have moved the Alchemy Table from Joule’s Workshop. It is now located right next to the Gift Crafting Workbench in the Village near the Fashion House.
Traversables: Wilderness and Waystation traversables have changed in cost so they have more similar prices and requirements to be built:
⬆️ Launch Pads (horizontal trampoline) are now more expensive
⬇️ Lift Pads (big fans) are now cheaper
🌟 Wilderness traversables are also recyclable now. In case you missed it, Entry Lands traversables were made recyclable in the previous update.
Coins
🌟 We have received your feedback that you miss getting extra coins from the water harvest *cof cof* exploit *cof cof*. We introduced the water harvesting cap because players were using it so aggressively that it was literally causing the game to crash. We wanted to introduce a less problematic, more fun means of earning coins, so in 15.3, we've introduced Tiny Scraps.
🌟Players will be able to earn Tiny Scrap from helping others harvest co-op nodes in the Wilderness AFTER they've already harvested that node themselves. This is available for Storm Salvage, Ore, Wood, Luna Resources, and Yearning for the Mines harvestables.
You get 1 Tiny Scrap for each assist in Tier 2 Nodes, and 2 Tiny Scraps for each Tier 3 Node assist, and you can recycle Tiny Scrap for 10 Coins each.
The harvesting cap for Tiny Scrap is 200 per day
Crosslanders Shops Adjustments
Rudi’s Shop
🌟Rudi has decreased his prices in his shop and now almost every item is cheaper to buy.
🌟You can now earn Rudi’s coins more easily. Target Practice and Whack-a-Slime games pay out more, and the earnable amount from repeating the games has been increased significantly.
Rudi’s shop now also sells various resources.
Pascale & Mural Shop Adjustments
🌟 Pascale and the Waystation mural vending machine now sell Dye Base and Pigment exchanges.
Pascale's tile inventory has changed slightly.
Pascale now sells most items in her shop in the Wilderness before the mural is completed. Players still need to complete the mural to purchase the Mural Paintings.
We have moved the Artist Studio set from Pascale’s shop into The Furnisher’s decor shop regular rotation.
Socialization
We’re introducing some brand new features to make socializing and interacting with other wanderers a lot easier, based on your requests!
New Chat & Translation Options
🌟Waystation-wide chat: coordinating large buildings or projects? We got you! With the waystation-wide chat, your messages can be read by any fellow waystation members, regardless of where they are in the waystation or your friendship with them!
🌟Direct Messages: reach level 10 Friendship with another wanderer to unlock DMs with them! (This can be disabled in the friend permission menu.)
🌟World Chat: talk to anyone you know that’s close to you - please note that only non-Strangers will be able to read what you write. Meet new friends to speak with them!
🌟Real-time translation: this is a game about forming friendships and feeling part of a community. It’s harder to do that with people who don’t speak the same languages as you. So we have made it possible to easily translate in-game messages from other players into your own language! Quite a lot of research went into this effort, and we’re pleased to have identified a translation solution that utilizes tech both we and our community feel comfortable using, without any big compromises around quality or accessibility
New Player Moods
🌟Feeling like spreading joy around? Feeling like not interacting much because your social battery is too low? We now have brand new Player Moods to show others how you’re feeling! Check out the Cheerful, Tired, Grumpy, Birthday, Wandering, Away, Do Not Disturb and Lurking moods in the Character Customization Menu > Moods.
🌟In 15.2, the Do Not Disturb Mood also automatically opted players out of auto-meeting. In 15.3 we moved this functionality away from the Mood and into a toggle in the Settings Menu called “Auto Introduction”.
Note: Do Not Disturb Mood still blocks non-automatic meeting requests from Strangers.
🌟Players are now prompted to set their Mood on their first session of the day.
Recruit Groups
🌟 Want to invite everyone from your group chat at once? Or are you a streamer wanting to make it easy to play with your whole community in the same Realm? Now with the Group Recruit option, you can!
This option is available in the Recruit Friends screen:
In the Main menu, click “Recruit Friends” and select the “Recruit Group” tab to create and manage your group invites
Or while playing, access your friendlist (💑 icon on the top-right menu) then click the “Recruit Friends” banner on the top, and select the “Recruit Group” tab
Players who use your code will be:
Assigned to the same Realm as you;
Added to your Friendlist as a “Connection” (lvl 1 Friendship);
Automatically unlock chat and House visit permission (please note that you can adjust permissions later on);
Quests & Activities
🆕 Wilderness Communal Goals
Attention, all Crosslanders! It’s time to gather the community together to recover this Wilderness from the damage caused by the Storm before the Trolley leads us to another one. To do that, we’re introducing the Wilderness Communal Goals!
Clean up Storm salvage, repair Storm-plagued lanterns, clean Relics or help Passing Spirits in the Wilderness together to complete each stage and unlock the next one
After completing each goal, rewards become available for your to claim until we move to the next Wilderness
Missed a reward? Don’t worry - the Mail Courier will send that via Mail for your convenience, just like with Waystation Goals
🆕 Sky Fishing Activity
Now you can take to the skies on a fluffalo train & fish from the clouds together!
We have adjusted a few fish spawns to better balance for the Sky Fishing activity. Now 16% of fish types are sky fishing exclusives, whereas 32% of fish types are pier fishing exclusives, and the rest are shared between Sky and Pier
Pickaxe Sweet Spot
New Sweet Spot mechanic, to introduce some variation to the pickaxe minigames, and reward players for your timing skills!
Hit the sweet spot at just the right time to get bonus loot!
Quest Log
With this update, we’re introducing some New Errands for you to complete!
🌟Errands should no longer be pinned automatically, based on your feedback, and we also fixed some other bugs related to quest pinning
We have moved Waystation Bounties from the main menu to the Quest Log as well
World Scenarios and Tournaments
All DJ Fuzz EE’s Dance Floor scenarios are now timed - meaning they will have a starting and ending time - to fix the issues around those and to make it more predictable.
🌟 Tournaments Rewards adjustment: We noticed that the percentage-based rewards for tournaments were not calculated correctly, thanks to your reports. Those have been adjusted and should be significantly higher for all positions, except Top 1, which was already correct.
Waystations Beacon
🌟We have changed the way upcoming Beacon Charges changes in your waystation are displayed.
🌟Now, instead of displaying a projection of how much Charge you would lose in a day, it will now show the all of projected change that will be applied when the next Storm hits. We know it may look a little more jarring, but this will show how much effort is needed to prevent any Beacon Charge losses.
A red line displays a projection of charge loss
A yellow line above your current charges means you’re currently gaining charges
We’re also moving the countdown timer to the Beacon Charge screen so it’s easier to visualize when damage will be applied;
Player Houses & Permissions
New Interactive Decor! Introducing intractable Mirrors, Water-themed and musical items that you can interact with and place in your home
We implemented a minor fix for the Home Prestige. The Large Filler Clear Charm was incorrectly displayed as if it unlocked at Home Prestige level 10, instead of 12. Now, the display should match the unlock at level 12.
Advanced Build Mode Settings
🌟We’re introducing a bunch of new settings to make building a more pleasant experience for you all. You can enable or disable those settings in Build Mode, in the bottom-left corner. We really appreciate all the excellent Discord feedback that led us to make these changes!
🌟Camera: when enabled, the camera can move independently without moving the player.
🌟Snapping: when enabled, decorations will snap to floors, walls, and ceilings.
🌟Obstruction Avoidance: when enabled, placed decorations cannot obstruct other decorations.
🌟Ignore Support Requirements: when enabled, decorations no longer require another decoration or surface beneath them to be placed.
Note: on mobile devices, the Settings button is only visible while trying to place an object or proposal. Some advanced settings are not available in Waystation and Wilderness, only player houses.
Permissions
🌟We have adjusted the Player House Permissions and introduced a Trusted Guest system, to prevent anyone from accidentally allowing other players to change their home without intending to. Here are the adjusted permissions and what each does:
🌟Tourists can visit your home, but cannot interact with you and not your items, cannot use Proximity Chat nor be seen
Visitors can interact with your home (for example, sit and lie on items), see you and other players visiting your home, and use Proximity Chat
Players with Visitor or higher permissions are considered Trusted Guests and have much higher permissions. They will be able to water and play music for your potted plants, turn interactable items on and off (for example, fireplaces and lights), and use the house owner’s crafting station.
Due to the amount of permission these players get, Decorator and Occupant permissions can now only be assigned to individuals, instead of being granted in groups
Added Trusted Guest permission level for home management
Friendship with Crosslanders
🌟We know you’re hungry for more character development! New Friendship arcs have been added for several of your favorite (and least favorite?) villagers!
New Amano Arc (Unlocks at Level 5)
Updated Candlewic Arc (Unlocks at Level 5)
New Hardtack Arc (Unlocks at Level 5)
New Marj Arc (Unlocks at Level 2)
New/Updated Roomie Arc (Unlock at Levels 2 and 5)
New/Update Tanice Arcs (Unlock at Levels 2 and 5)
(As part of this villager story update, some old and outdated quest content has been removed from the game. Some of these quests will return in a different form. Stay tuned!)
We have adjusted Maya’s Friendship Progression track to match other Crosslanders’
This means that Maya is now a Giftable NPC!
You can level her friendship up by giving her Gifts and by doing her Quests.
Due to balancing reasons, you will no longer get Friendship XP from purifying your resources with her
We changed Maya’s Friendship progression rewards to make sure they are unique to her relationship progress. The new rewards will be granted retroactively to players who have reached those milestones, and you’ll get to keep previously-earned rewards.
Friendship Track Rewards: Now certain unique, exclusive items earned through Friendship Progression with Crosslanders are NOT recyclable and NOT tradeable
🌟Accidentaly sold or recycled a unique Friendship reward? Now you can purchase it from Dusty's Stop-N-Swap for 500 coins.
You must be eligible to get the item (meaning you can only purchase it if you already have unlocked it through the Friendship Progression track) and you cannot buy a duplicate (meaning you don’t own it already).
Here’s the list of items you can now purchase back (marked as spoiler so click at your own risk!): || Sprout and Daisy Hat (Maya lvl 8), Bear Ears (Roomie lvl 8), Bear Glider (Roomie lvl 11) and Spirit Eye Glider (Maya lvl 15) ||
Customization
With this update, we have introduced new starting character customization options
🌟 Dusty’s Shop now sells femme-presenting tops and dress variants in the Entry Lands so players can customize their characters earlier on.
🌟 You can now select different pronouns after character creation in the Options menu under “Form of Address”
Two brand new Clothing Sets!
You can now find the Swim Clothing Set in the Stylemaster’s shop rotation, and the Pinafore Clothing Set in the Tailor’s shop rotation
Quality of Life Improvements
Now you will receive Mail once a day to let you know when your proposals were completed by other players.
🌟We’re introducing Streamer Mode settings!
🌟Access your Settings to be able to hide nameplates, obscure players names, hide your own name for others, hide chat from the screen, hide waystation names, and hide your debug information;
🌟 Hiding nameplates should allow players to play hide-and-seek, as requested by you previously! Hope you enjoy it.
🌟You should no longer hear music played by blocked players, nor be able to accompany them playing. And you can’t see blocked players’ Blot Bells, Fishing Rod bobber, or music notes.
🌟 Shops now show “Out of Stock” text on the small item card when the item is out of stock
🌟The Camera is now available in Vending Machines alongside tools instead of being granted through Nibbit’s questline
🌟 We have adjusted the Plot cornerstones’ sizes so they don’t get in the way of your building!
Joule’s Crafting Workbench no longer contains the National Park item set. These items have been moved to the Waystation Crafting Station instead.
For your convenience, "Tier Up" recipes for Fruit, Nuts, Greens, and Talismans were added to Kasu's Cauldron.
🌟New players can now select their starting Realm to match their friends! 🌐
🌟Items in Starter Plots no longer take storm damage
🌟Players can now Recycle items directly from home build mode and home storage instead of just deleting them
ART, UI
Updated icons for Wood, Ore, and Wool resources;
Updated the visuals for the Pirate Flag Bear quest item;
We have standardized and adjusted a few window items sizes and proportions so they are all compatible with the Simple Curtain: Standardized Starter Shack Window, Large Window A, Large Window B to all work with Simple Curtain;
We have made a small saturation tweak to the game; there are some places that will be oversaturated, it is hard to catch all of them. Please feel free to give us feedback if you see things that seem broken and/or oversaturated!
The Bear Bed became fluffier and larger so now Roomie can be placed on top!
Trunk base branches from the Giant Tree were removed in order to shrink dimensions, now that partial support is enabled
We also gave the Waystation Overview Board a visual refresh, substituting the old temporary art!
Bug Fixes 🐛
Now wanderers have the option to destroy their “Harvested” flowers without needing to fertilize them first;
The tree that was located next to a plot was moved so they don’t interfere with object placement;
Smart Connectors won’t cause unpaintable walls inside your house;
Updated Tanice’s dialogs so wanderers are not concerned about her alleged twine-eating habits;
Waystation members with the “Neighbor” role are now able to place Building Kits in their Starter Plots;
In case you missed it, we released a few bug fixes in previous hotfixes:
Hovering over flowers will no longer prompt the option to Destroy them instead of the “Watering” or “Plant Info” options;
Android devices should no longer display black textures;
Fix for the issue causing high memory usage on lower end iOS devices;
Fixed the crashing issue caused by scrolling the Collections menu too quickly;
The size of the the watering can's interaction zone made it difficult to interact with any other nearby objects;
Fix for the issue that prevented players from getting higher waystation roles after being reset to Initiate;
15.3 Known Issues List
Some players may be stuck in the loading screen if they return to the game after being inactive for a while. As a workaround, you can close the “Connected, waiting for welcome…” loading screen and hit Play again while we work to fix this issue.
Some items in the Waystation Vending Machines are not displaying why they are locked
They are locked by Waystation Role (e.g. Architect permission needed to buy/place crafting tables). It looks broken like this:
Thank you, as always, for your support and for being a part of this playtest! Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.