Public Beta Testing: Announcements

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loboLoco
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Public Beta Testing: Announcements

Post by loboLoco » Thu Jan 16, 2020 4:01 pm

We'll use this topic to post information about public beta testing on Steam -- announcements and update/patch notes.
Dave/loboLoco
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Re: Public Beta Testing: Announcements

Post by loboLoco » Thu Jan 16, 2020 4:01 pm

v1.0.2b - beta 1

We have a new beta ready for testing! It's in the same WQ Public Beta branch as the previous public beta. Instructions below.

IMPROVEMENTS
New animal AI behaviors around water: Animals won't do things in water that they shouldn't (e.g. graze, fight, attack); animals will seek out the bank if they decide to do something that they can't do in the water; birds will fly over water and land on shore; prospective mates will follow player if player is in shallow water, and will follow the player across the river; animals will avoid going into water unless necessary to reach their intended destination.

BUGS FIXED
* Possible fix for backwards-running mule deer and elk. If you see that happen again, please submit a bug report (we have more debug info in logs now)
* Possible fix for distorted/exploded animal models.
* World map is broken if your wolf is killed before you open the map in a game session.
* Some issues with remapping controls. (If you have trouble, try resetting them.)

HOW TO GET THE BETA
Only available on Steam. Currently only for Windows.

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.

We will use the Steam Public Beta discussion forum to post information about incremental updates, so please keep an eye on it if you want the latest: https://steamcommunity.com/app/926990/discussions/2/
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Re: Public Beta Testing: Announcements

Post by loboLoco » Fri Mar 06, 2020 4:53 pm

WolfQuest 1.0.3 Public Beta Now Available!

This beta (1.0.3 beta10a) is now available in our beta branch on Steam (for Windows only). See bottom of this post for instructions on how to get it.

NEW: Winter season in Amethyst:
* Winter season begins on or soon after December 1st in game calendar. If you load a saved game that's after that date, it will be in Winter. The game world is blanketed in snow, about a meter deep in the highlands and half that in the valley. Creeks and waterfalls are frozen, but the Lamar River remains open.
* Elk migrate down into the Lamar Valley in November and early December. You may notice them slowly wander that way as they graze. If you load a previously-saved game that is past December 1st, they will begin their migration then.
* Grizzly bears have gone into hibernation, so they won't challenge you over carcasses.
* Bull moose will lose their antlers in early January. (Bull elk and buck mule deer don't lose their antlers until later in the winter.)
* Many birds have migrated south, so the forests are quieter.

IMPROVED: Optimizations:
* Improvements to game logic (uses CPU) when many animals are spawned (usually after playing for quite awhile).
* Improvements to graphics performance (uses GPU), including:
- Better performance on Basic Sky & Vegetation mode, especially if both Ambient Occlusion and Anti-Aliasing are disabled.
- Faster versions of cliff rocks on lower quality levels (with new "Other Objects" pulldown in Game Settings: Graphics panel)
- Note: Scent View still has substantial slowdown on low-end hardware, still investigating that. May have a few more optimizations coming in the next week or two.

REVISED: Territory marking:
* We have revised aspects of the territory and marking system, but these are mostly disabled in Amethyst, since players cannot claim territory there. They should not affect gameplay significantly.
* Territory hexes show strength of territory claim on mouseover.

OTHER CHANGES:
* Reduced maximum number of grizzlies at a carcass.
* Adjust elk health levels so some are more likely to have mid-level health.

BUGS FIXED:
* Visible crack between terrain tiles in valley floor.
* Some issues with shadows (e.g. some shadows were not continuous, but broken lines)
* In Basic Sky & Vegetation mode, rivers are fully visible through fog.
* Splash effects are broken on lower Chalcedony waterfall.
* Snowshoe hares do not change to white coat in winter.
* Rain can occur in winter months.

KNOWN ISSUES:
* On certain computers (Mac using Intel integrated graphics, certain old Windows dedicated GPUs) in Basic Sky & Veg mode, distant trees are sometimes multicolored, and sky may have similar discoloration. This seems to be a Unity game tool bug but we are still investigating.
* On very old (2012-2014) AMD GPUs, terrain may have white patches. Try upgrading your graphics drivers and submit a bug report if that helps. If it doesn't, please test different Terrain Quality settings and submit detailed bug reports about the results of your tests.

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.
Dave/loboLoco
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Re: Public Beta Testing: Announcements

Post by loboLoco » Sat Aug 29, 2020 10:23 am

1.0.5 beta 37 - released 29 August 2020 on Steam Public Beta Branch

The beta build of the 1.0.5 update is ready for public beta testing! Please review the changelist below. (Beta is currently available only for Windows; see instructions at bottom of this post to get it.)

NEW: MULTIPLAYER!
* Create a public game that anyone can see in the multiplayer lobby and join.
* Create a private game with restricted access: All friends, Selected friends, or (coming soon) Packs. Only the selected players will see the game in the multiplayer lobby.
* Choose from two modes: TerritoryQuest, where players try to claim and maintain territory, and Pack Life, where players have an enforced no-mans-land (much like in single-player) so they don't have to worry about holding territory.
* Choose text chat or no chat. (For players under age 13, text chat is available only in private games with friends and packs. We will be adding phrase chat soon, which will be an option for everyone in all types of games.)

MULTIPLAYER-ONLY FEATURES
* If killed, you can revive yourself after ten seconds.
* If very low on health, use the new Quick Heal action, which converts some food in your stomach to health. Can only restore some health (capped at 40%). On keyboard, lay down, then press-hold the R key. On controller, lay down, then press-hold Y button and right trigger.
* Pack Rally: If most players howl simultaneously, everyone earns a stamina boost, which lasts
* On the World Map, other player-markers are displayed only when they are within two kilometers. If they howl, their marker will appear and remain displayed for one minute. If players do a Pack Rally, everyone's markers will be displayed for everyone else for the duration of the rally.
* When a player leaves the game, they indicate if they are planning to return soon or not. If returning soon, their wolf is put into limbo for five minutes and if they return within that time, they can resume where they were. This also occurs if they leave abruptly without clicking the Quit or Main Menu buttons (such as if they are disconnected from the game.).

NOTE ABOUT GAME SIMULATION
The game host runs the entire simulation, so more powerful CPUs can handle bigger simulations than weaker CPUs. The host's game runs a CPU benchmark test when starting a new game and uses that to set a cap on the number of spawned animals. If players mostly stay together, they should rarely be affected by this cap, but if there are a lot of players and they spread out, it's possible (especially if the host has a weaker CPU) to hit that cap. (The cap ranges from 50 animals for weak CPUs to 120 for powerful CPUs.)

IMPROVEMENTS
* Player can send a friend request directly from another player's info panel in Pack Info.
* On the World Map, in Multiplayer, other player-markers are displayed only when they are within two kilometers. If they howl, their marker will appear and remain displayed for one minute. If players do a Pack Rally, everyone's markers will be displayed for everyone else for the duration of the rally.
* In multiplayer, autosave enabled only for the host, not for clients.
* If client players clicks Quit or Main Menu buttons, they then indicate if they are returning soon or not. If they are, then their wolf is kept in the game, in limbo, for five minutes. If they are not, their wolf is removed from the game immediately.

BUGS FIXED
* Mother (elk or mule deer cow) sometimes stands idle while player attacks calf/fawn.


FEATURES STILL TO COME
We have many more features and refinements still to come in the next month, including:
* Many improvements and refinements to friends, multiplayer lobby, etc.
* Controller support for Accounts panels, add some missing controls for multiplayer creation.
* Refinements to wolf turning (headlook, etc)
* Add multiple spawn points and different territory config for each.
* Host can name their pack.
* Phrase Chat.
* MP Lobby filtering options.
* Improved sync precision (ongoing task over the coming months)
* Improve jumping and falling as seen by other players.
* Enable contact emotes.
* Add descriptive tags that host can select when creating MP game.

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.

To get the Steam version if you purchased the game on WolfQuest.org or itch.io, follow instructions here: https://support.wolfquest.org/help/gett ... o-purchase
Dave/loboLoco
WolfQuest Game Producer

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