We love reading players' comments and questions about WolfQuest -- and there are so many questions! So, for today's devblog, I thought I'd answer a handful of them. The text below has concise answers to each one, but please watch the video for more expansive answers.
QUESTION: Are there any plans to make territory hex colors customizable?
This is not a big task -- but we have a list of more than one hundred minor improvements that we'd like to make to the game, and it's a constant struggle trying to prioritize them. Which ones offer the most the bang for the buck? Which should we do now or soon, knowing that they'll take some time away from work on the Saga, and which should we set aside for the future? So, this one is on the list, but, honestly, it's pretty far down the list.
QUESTION: In the Saga, if all your pups die, will the year continue on rather than resetting you into the past like it currently does?
Yes, if all your pups die you'll just keep on playing. Time will continue to pass, through the seasons. If it's your first litter of pups that died, then you and your mate will just hang out and live the rest of the year hunting and exploring and whatnot. In subsequent years, you'll have your yearlings until the next pups are born in the springtime.
QUESTION: When the pups are older, there will be more emphasis on establishing dominance?
No. Wolf packs generally are a family unit, and they don't have intra-pack dominance challenges of that sort. I posed this very question to one of our advisors, Dr. Dan Stahler, wolf biologist at Yellowstone National Park, about this sort of drama -- a three-year-old offspring challenging a parent for the breeder role. But he reaffirmed that this is simply not known to happen. If they want to lead a pack, they disperse and look for a good situation.
QUESTION: Will the Saga be released in stages or all at once?
There are some aspects of the saga that we will be rolling out incrementally -- the courtship overhaul that we released last month was one of those. There will be others but much of the Saga consists of interlocking parts that don't work properly alone, so the bulk of the Saga will be released all together.
QUESTION: Will there be any new achievements when the Saga is released?
Yes!
QUESTION: Will there be collectible objects on the new Lost River map?
Yes!
QUESTION: Will i be able to bring my mate from Lost River to Slough Creek or Amethyst or vice versa?
No, for several reasons. One is that Lost River is some distance away from Yellowstone (though as a fictional locale, we don't know exactly where or how far). While wolves have been known to travel very long distances, generally those are solo wolves who are looking for a new place to have a territory and find a mate. But maybe more importantly, Lost River is its own world. Some weird things have happened there. Whereas we want to make the Yellowstone maps as realistic as we can, Lost River is an alternate universe where we can have some fun, and I don't want to connect it to the reality of Yellowstone.
QUESTION: Will there be a multiplayer mode where you can put players in different packs and have territory battles?
We have thought about this since starting work on Anniversary Edition. It sounds fun and certainly would be realistic in many ways -- but multiplayer has evolved in ways that make PvP much harder to implement properly. In addition to the usual measures necessary to prevent cheating, we would need to somehow handle special functionality like teleporting which has a legitimate use in the game, but could be abused by malicious players. So this still remain on the back burner, at least for now.
QUESTION: Will we be able to change who gets to be the host if the current host needs to leave?
This feature, called host migration, is obviously very desirable. It's also technically challenging, but we do plan to look into it sometime.
QUESTION: Where are the bighorn sheep?
We've been planning to add bighorn sheep for quite awhile but, because they spend their time up on and around the cliffs, we first need to improve the physics and IK and grounding functionality so they can navigate those areas nicely.
QUESTION: Where are the toads?
Years ago, a devblog showed a pup pouncing on a toad. We are still thinking of adding toads, probably as part of some new pup play and practice-hunting behaviors.
There's more that won't fit here in RU-vid's word count limit, so read the rest on the forum:
www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=89093
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The WolfQuest saga will continue! Stay tuned for more news in upcoming devblogs. More maps and wolf customizations are also coming in 2022!
Once the game is completed on PC/Mac, we will turn our attention to other platforms.
We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready.
24 мар 2022
