The new patch -- featuring deep snow, animal tracks, some nice new multiplayer features, and a new higher level Graphics Quality setting: Stupendous -- is now available on Steam in public beta for Windows and MacOS! Check out the new features in the devblog video. Instructions for opting into public beta at bottom of this post.
NOTE: Game saves and wolves are compatible with the last patch, v1.0.8o. But multiplayer is not: you can only do multiplayer games with players who have this beta.
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BETA 24
BUGS FIXED:
* Player gets stuck when digging out a dirt burrow den, cannot continue playing game.
* Snowy weather at start of Slough Creek multiplayer games in non-winter seasons.
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BETA 24
IMPROVEMENTS:
:
* Reduced number of game-days that newborn calves and fawns are hiding in tall grass.
BUGS FIXED:
* In multiplayer, problems ensue after doing Host Transfer when a quest is ending.
* In multiplayer lobby, games that have already been ended can be listed in lobby.
* Some floating vegetation in Lamar Valley.
* In deep snow, wolf clears snow noticeably ahead of its chest.
* Some floating winter dens in Slough Creek.
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BETA 23
IMPROVEMENTS:
:
* Refinements to falling aspen and cottonwood leaves in Autumn.
* Various minor refinements to snow appearance.
BUGS FIXED:
* Animal tracks in deep snow are occasionally very pixelated or, in specific areas, very low resolution. (Pixelation issue should be fixed; low resolution trenches is improved, but stems from an underlying Unity issue/optimization to terrain resolution that we can't modify.)
* When running in deep snow, animals often switch gait animations, causing odd glitches in movement.
* One den in winter is floating above terrain sometimes.
* Occasional difficulty sending an in-game message during gameplay.
* Endless loop of repeating notification popup when plugging in a controller for the first time at certain times in gameplay.
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BETA 22
IMPROVEMENTS:
:
* In winter, snow-covered dens look better at varying degrees of snow depth.
* Various refinements to animal tracks in deep snow.
* In Autumn, leaves fall from deciduous trees.
* Flashlight beam casts shadows (depending on your graphics quality settings).
* Less or no snow accumulates now on ranger cabin porch and in outhouse.
* Clouds move across the sky when windy.
BUGS FIXED:
* In multiplayer games, non-host players sometimes cannot bite elk calves and possibly other animals.
* Thin gaps in snow during deep snow.
* Newborn calves and fawns are hiding in the grass for only a few game-days. (From a recent change, now revised.)
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BETA 21
BUG FIXED:
* Error in Slough Creek multiplayer quest prevents games from loading.
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BETA 20
IMPROVEMENTS:
* Reduced scene brightness in scent view during winter season, when on Enhanced Sky & Veg mode.
* Minor tweaks to wolf snow effects.
BUGS FIXED:
* Deep snow still accumulates in Lamar River and Slough Creeks (snow masks were not being applied properly), and many thin gaps in the snow. (Some hairline gaps remain, no need to report.)
* Animals don't make tracks when near the edge of the Amethyst cliff edge.
* Some branches of Cottonwood trees near Lamar River turn blue when covered in snow.
* Missing sound effect for limpy wolf in snow throws errors, could hurt performance badly.
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BETA 19
IMPROVEMENTS:
* Newborn calves and fawns are hiding in grass for just a few days, much shorter period of time than they should be.
* Wolves make tracks to the side of their wolf when running in deep snow -- possible fix.
* Hole in Amethyst terrain above Chalcedony Creek.
* Refinements to snow height variation on Amethyst cliff slopes.
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BETA 18
IMPROVEMENTS:
* Prevent deep snow from accumulating in Slough Creek (in the actual creek, that is. Still need to do this for Hornaday Creek.). Not fully tested so please F11 if you find a spot where there is deep snow in water. Also, there are a few cracks in deep snow right alongside the creek, no need to report those.)
* In multiplayer games, somewhat fewer stranger wolves are now likely to attack players. Please see how this is and submit feedback.
* Improved resolution of deep snow on Low Deep Snow quality level.
* Various small refinements to deep snow.
BUGS FIXED:
* In multiplayer games, host does not see tracks for other player-wolves, and other players don't see tracks for any animals but their own wolf.
* Snow gait audio plays when walking on rock areas of Amethyst.
* In Slough Creek, deep snow in the distance can be dark and extremely contrasty.
* In main menu on Good graphics quality (and other combinations), scene is too dark and contrasty compared to in-game.
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BETA 17
IMPROVEMENTS:
* Various refinements to snow tracks at low levels of accumulation.
* Heavy snow starts falling immediately at the start of a new Slough Creek game.
* Prevent deep snow from accumulating in water bodies -- done for Lamar River in Amethyst, will be fixed in Slough Creek soon.
* Carcasses and meat chunks adjust their position better when snow has been cleared underneath them.
* Removed the old snowprint texture from all animals (never looked that good, now conflicts with new tracks).
* Reduced volume of snow gait audio.
BUGS FIXED:
* Family Tree panel layout is totally busted.
* Lost River (not yet released DLC) listed in game maps when creating a new game.
* In the multiplayer lobby, available rooms disappear when a new game is added.
* Sometimes ground and airborne scents are not rendered in multiplayer games.
* In non-winter seasons, animals get speed and stamina effects of deep snow even though there isn't any deep snow.
* Amethyst North Border notification text is broken.
* Some wintertime dens in Slough Creek are floating a bit off the ground.
* Exposed rocky areas of terrain have tessellation and tracks in deep snow.
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BETA 16
IMPROVEMENTS:
* Increased rate of snow accumulation, and decreased melting rate, so deep snow will be present longer.
* Reduced odds of elk stumbling in deep snow.
* Chat Commands popup window can be closed even while chat text input field is active.
* Added example for /whisper chat command.
* Improvements to wolf gait sound effect in snow.
BUGS FIXED:
* When deep snow is present, Slough Creek dens are down in square holes in the snow.
* Some graffiti in Lost River is way too big.
* Wolf in Family Tree has blurry nose or body.
* Terrain texturing issues.
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BETA 15
NEW:
* In winter season, snow depth increases when it snows, and animals make snow tracks. Snow depth gradually reduces after snowfall ends. (Only occurs on Medium and High Terrain Quality settings.)
* New Stupendous" graphics quality setting, for recent GPUs such as Nvidia 3000 series.
* New: Distance Blur visual effect, enabled by default on Glorious and Stupendous graphics quality levels, blurs the distant landscape.
NEW in Multiplayer:
* Host Transfer allows host to hand off the game to another player, who then becomes the host. On Pack Info, the host can click the "Transfer Hosting" button and choose a client player to transfer the game to. If that player accepts the transfer, the game will then reload for all players, with the new host in charge.
* MP Chat system refactored to improve code quality and to provide a better foundation for adding features.
* MP Chat Commands (out of character, nearby, whisper to another player).
* MP Chat Emotes: Trigger emotes via the chat panel by typing /whine to whine, /howl to howl, etc. (The complete list is available via the gear button on the chat panel.)
* MP Chat: New toggle to show/hide usernames in chat panel.
IMPROVEMENTS:
* A few days after Find a Mate quest begins, the players dreams when sleeping and the game jumps to December/Winter season, to give players more time and things to do in winter.
* More notifications changed to "Common" type (which can be hidden), and which now appear in lower-right corner when enabled.
* Added "Unlock Cursor" to remapper.
* When creating a private multiplayer game, new button to sort friend names alphabetically.
* Distance Blur added to Graphics Quality settings.
* Reorganized some elements on Graphics Quality UI panel.
* Increased moose swimming speed.
* Improvements on View Pack panel: improved display of messages, improved button actions, better UI feedback on removing members, code improvements.
* Switched to new aspen tree models.
* Improvements when joining multiplayer games, will hopefully reduce the failure to join issue.
* Mate now stalks when player stalks.
* Increased timer so wolf standing idle waits longer before sitting.
* Added alternate ear-scratch when wolf is sitting.
* Improved mate and NPC navigation when crossing creeks.
* Better color grading when AO is disabled and on Basic Sky & Veg mode (especially noticeable in winter).
* Modest reduction in ambient occlusion at nighttime.
* Various terrain, tree, and environment improvements.
* Switched to new aspen trees in main menu, AM, and SC.
BUGS FIXED:
* Running sound effect sometimes keeps playing after animal dies.
* Rival wolves have wrong airborne scent icon when in the vicinity.
* Sometimes Pack Info says pup is in den when it isn't.
* Bison tail is white when seen at a distance.
* Sometimes cannot bite winter elk calf from the front.
* Snow pattern is odd on grizzly cub in autumn.
* In Lost River-Classic, den raid icon appears occasionally.
* Issues with controller navigation on World Map.
* In main menu, it's not always clear and sunny when in wolf customization.
* Errors sometimes when removing multiple players from a Pack.
* NPC wolves occasionally have an ugly injured tail tip.
MULTIPLAYER BUGS FIXED:
* Game locks up if player joins while pack is just going to sleep (conflicting UI panels).
* Wolf takes fall damage if in the middle of a jump when suddenly teleported to a lower location.
* Some rare glitches with delayed notifications.
* Rounding differences can create different hex strengths for host and clients.
* Problems ensue if client player is kicked out of game during pup naming scene.
* In MP lobby, season selection does not refresh if you choose SC and then choose AM.
* Some other rare SC MP bugs.
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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.