Game development is a great job and a lot of fun, but not every day is brimming with excitement. Sometimes you get to make awesome new stuff, and sometimes you just keep the engines running. Here’s what this week looked like:
Mule Deer
We commissioned the mule deer from a game animation company in Slovakia, and they put the finishing touches on the doe, so now we have a complete family! (Of course, you’ll never see these deer as calm as this in the game.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymbpLazRLM0
2.7 Patch with New File Sync Function
Earlier this month, with the help of a few players, we identified a flaw in WolfQuest 2.7’s file sync process which could interfere with complete syncing of wolf and game files when alternating between different computers/devices on the same account. So we’ve redesigned the sync function. Now it’s more robust and smarter as well, with a new “Sync All Files” option that will check the timestamp on every wolf and game file and sync the latest version on both your computer/device and the server. It took awhile to work out the kinks in this new function, which took a lot more of our time this week than we wanted, but we finally got a patch/update with that and a few other fixes and improvements out on all platforms.
Parents Guide
Susan finished writing a new Parent’s Guide to WolfQuest to help parents of younger children understand the game itself and especially multiplayer games and rules.
Game Server Issues
Our web host was acquired by another firm recently, and our WolfQuest.org site was migrated over late last week—before we’d tested it on the new server, alas, due to some miscommunication. Fortunately the 2.7 accounts system worked fine on the new server, but the forum broke, which took up a chunk of time last Friday and Saturday. However, we continue to see periodic slowdowns on the new server, so we did some server software upgrades and optimizations, which broke the forum again. So that took some time to deal with. And we’re still working on the server slowdowns….
New Wolf Pup Model
The pups will be older in the Tower Fall episode, so we’ve been working on a new pup model for the summertime (3-4 months of age). Not quite ready to show yet, but it’s coming along. This week our 3D artist Steve Adamson refined the body morphology and he’s now working on the UV mapping in preparation for texturing.
Wolf vs. Prey Gameplay Code
We did make some progress on the new codebase this week. Our Unity developer Tommi Horttana is currently working on prey attacks, implementing better game mechanics to make this — a core part of the game — more exciting, more challenging, and more realistic. It’ll still be somewhat stylized (as real hunts can be pretty wild and crazy), but we think this will be a significant improvement in the game overall. We’ll share more information later this summer. This new gameplay will be added to the existing game later this year, if all goes well, and then be part of Tower Fall, which we’re aiming to release early in 2018.
Planning New Music
We met with composer Tim Buzza to start planning the musical soundtrack for Tower Fall. Tim’s music is one of the very best aspects of the game, so we’re eager to hear what he comes up with. (And remember you can buy the complete soundtrack plus a 26-minute video documentary about the music of WolfQuest! We’ll add the Tower Fall tracks upon release.)
WolfQuest on Social Media
Since it looks like WolfQuest will be around for awhile, we decided to put more effort into our social media presence. We now have an official WolfQuest channel on YouTube, an official Facebook Page, and we’ve revived our Instagram account. Longtime WolfQuest volunteer Neamara continues to manage the Tumblr, Discord, and Wikia/Fandom sites.
- Facebook Page This is our official presence on Facebook -- like or follow it to see game news and updates in your Feed! And please write a review (even a short one), we need more!
- Facebook Group This is an active online community where you can discuss the game with other players, chat with wolf biologists, and share artwork and stories about wolves.
- Instagram We're actively managing WolfQuest on Instagram now, with frequent pictures and updates.
- YouTube We finally set up a WolfQuest channel!
- Twitter We've had a Twitter account for awhile but we aim to be more active now.
- Tumblr Neamara continues to do a stellar job managing our Tumblr site.
- Wikia This is a remarkable repository of information about WolfQuest, also managed by Neamara. (Even I turn to it when refreshing my memory about certain aspects of the game.)
- Discord Also managed by the indefatigable Neamara. Gee, no wonder I felt a bit scattered this week! But with luck, we’ll be able to focus most of our time next week on Tower Fall.