Announcing a New Episode: Tower Fall!

Find out what we're doing and thinking as we develop WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition and the Tower Fall expansion!

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Announcing a New Episode: Tower Fall!

Post by loboLoco » Thu Feb 02, 2017 3:50 pm

In the first weeks of June, the pups frolic at the rendezvous site in Slough Creek while their parents bring them their first meals of fresh elk meat. When the elk herds move down into the Lamar Valley, the pack follows — only to find other packs have already established territories in the valley. So they journey further south, up and over Specimen Ridge, then down into the valley of the Yellowstone River. There, on the banks of the Yellowstone, with Tower Fall thundering nearby, the pack makes a new home amidst fellow predators and plentiful prey. Here the pack will stake out a new territory, protect their family from danger, and and raise a new generation of skilled hunters.  

Thus begins the next episode of WolfQuest — or rather, that’s how it will begin. We’re still in the early stages of gameplay design and development. But we’ve got some very exciting ideas for Episode 3, and we’ll be discussing our thinking and our progress here in this blog over the coming months.

One of our first big decisions was where to set the new episode. We spent hours on Google Earth, roaming around the Northern Range in search of a good area. Lamar Valley is the obvious choice, being central to wolf activity since reintroduction. But it’s problematic as a game map. As a broad, open valley, there are no natural barriers for the walls of the game map. We need a smaller area with at least some natural barriers like steep bluffs or rivers. Then we were tempted by a little spot called “Death Gulch,” but that seemed more appropriate for a different kind of game.

Finally, we got ahold of our fabulous science advisor Dr. Dan MacNulty, a wolf biologist at Utah State University. He suggested Antelope Creek Basin, which drains into the Yellowstone River just above Tower Fall (next to "Devil's Den" on this map). Scroll or click to see the whole thing:
Map of northern Yellowstone, showing game areas
Map of northern Yellowstone, showing game areas
ep3mapA.png (1.66 MiB) Viewed 28080 times
This area is a lovely microcosm of northern Yellowstone, with broad upload slopes as well as rugged river bottomlands, two creeks and a major river, and a spectacular waterfall. And, of course, plenty of wildlife. It’s also a reasonably short journey (as the wolf trots, at least) from Slough Creek, as you can see on the map. We all quickly fell in love with the area and what it would bring to the game. While the waterfall itself will only be one small part of the map, we knew that “Tower Fall” was the perfect name for what we’re sure will be the biggest and best episode of WolfQuest yet. (And yes, the name is singular, according to the U.S. Geological Service, which gets to decide these things.)
Tower Fall (Wikipedia)
Tower Fall (Wikipedia)
Base_of_Tower_Fall_with_rainbow.JPG (105.18 KiB) Viewed 28080 times
Yellowstone River above Tower Fall
Yellowstone River above Tower Fall
YellowstoneAboveTower1k.jpg (187.43 KiB) Viewed 28080 times
What else will this episode include? Lots! In a future blog post we’ll talk about how we’ve compiled all the ideas from the “Ideas for new episodes” threads here and on Steam to see what aligns with this period in a pack’s life. We’ll be sharing details over the coming months as we refine our designs and start production. For now, we can say this:

* The pups continue to grow — and so do their appetites.
* Fortunately there are elk and moose calves around, which make easier hunting for clever wolves.
* As the summer progresses, those pups will grow big enough to join in the hunting trips.
* Rival wolf packs may try to kill your pups and even take over your territory — unless you’re strong and skillful enough to fight them off.

We'll be talking much more about the game design and production here, so check back often!

Oh, and did someone ask when Episode 3 will be released? Nah, nobody cares about that, right? We're aiming for early 2018, but no certain date or guarantee of that.
  • Edit:
Will it be free?
loboLoco wrote:Episode 3 will be DLC for purchase. We haven't decided on the price yet--it'll depend on the size and scope of the episode--but at the moment I'd imagine around $6-$8, more or less.
Source: Thanks for supporting WolfQuest! And what's to come!
Last edited by loboLoco on Mon Aug 07, 2017 8:14 am, edited 4 times in total.
Reason: Added a quote from last month about episode 3 being paid DLC.
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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by SolitaryHowl » Thu Feb 02, 2017 4:04 pm

Sounds really exciting! :D

Tower Fall is a beautiful place to have the next episode.

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by Shadziulec » Thu Feb 02, 2017 4:10 pm

Oh so excited!
Will you guys possibly implement automatic day/night/seasons cycle? :)

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by Phasoli » Thu Feb 02, 2017 4:14 pm

This sounds amazing! Thank you for keeping us posted! I am elated!!

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by LunarWolf94 » Thu Feb 02, 2017 4:33 pm

Oh my god I am so excited for this! Any idea when we can expect this episode? :D

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by SolitaryHowl » Thu Feb 02, 2017 4:37 pm

LunarWolf94 wrote:Oh my god I am so excited for this! Any idea when we can expect this episode? :D
Hopefully before the end of the year, but Dave's release predictions have been wrong before (Sorry Dave, but its true!)

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by LunarWolf94 » Thu Feb 02, 2017 4:59 pm

SolitaryHowl wrote:
LunarWolf94 wrote:Oh my god I am so excited for this! Any idea when we can expect this episode? :D
Hopefully before the end of the year, but Dave's release predictions have been wrong before (Sorry Dave, but its true!)

They can take as much time as they want at this point, as long as they are working on it! :D

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by Writers Block » Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:08 pm

Very cool! Thanks for sharing! I'm actually intrigued -- I might actually buy the game in order to play this newest episode when it comes out! o:

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by Celestial-Howl » Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:12 pm

This is awesome! I remember the days when it looked like WQ would never get an episode 3, but now it is! Thanks for all your hard work!

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by Timber-Wolf-at-Dusk » Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:54 pm

This sounds so exciting I can't wait! :wolf:

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by Nor-easter Forecast » Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:05 pm

Wow you announced this in such an informative, intriguing way! I'm delighted to see the official announcement of Tower Fall and I'm so excited to hear more!

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by Kamaal » Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:12 pm

That's very exciting! It's amazing to see how far WQ has come thus far, I look forward to seeing more as time progresses!

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by Koa » Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:37 pm

Looking forward to more blogs. Thanks, Dave!

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by TacticianLyra » Thu Feb 02, 2017 7:30 pm

I just about screamed when I saw those pictures; I'm just guessing but that's probably going to be a beautiful map! Which means I really need to figure out how to successfully chase down cougars in the "defend the pups" mission...
Last edited by TacticianLyra on Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Announcing Episode 3: Tower Fall!

Post by alethe » Thu Feb 02, 2017 7:50 pm

this is the best news I've heard all week! Sounds amazing, Dave!

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