Our newest patch ticks off one of our promised roadmap features: our Emote System. It also includes a whole slew of bug fixes and improvements: in total, we’ve fixed over 100 issues for this patch! 

Our team will be taking some much needed vacation over the next few weeks, so things may feel a little slower until mid-August. We’ll still have some folks around available to answer questions, handle our official Support queue, and of course continue developing the game.

So what’s next? We’ve been working hard on new content like our upcoming chapter, another riding island as well as animation polish, optimization, and new quests.

Emote System: Our first batch of emotes are now live! These can be accessed by pressing “R”.

• You can finally Pet your horse! 

• Find a jokester on the island? Laugh at their antics!

• Clap to show you’re impressed.

• Want to celebrate? Share a High Five with others.

• Show that hospitable Alderwood spirit by Waving to new and old friends.

• Feeling down in the dumps over a lost race? Let others know with the Sad emote.

While on horseback you can wave and pet your horse. Other emotes are available while dismounted. Now that the Emote System is working, we’re looking forward to adding more in upcoming updates.

Texting and Riding: On horseback you can now steer while you have your phone open. You can do this by holding the right mouse button.

New items like hats, helmets, bridles, saddles, and blankets have been added to shops across the island!

• Cowboy Hats are located at the Blacksmith.

• Beanies are located in Hook’s End.

• English Helmets are available in Downtown Alderwood.

• Ball Caps can be purchased at the Farmer’s Market in Downtown Alderwood.

• Modern Saddles can be purchased from the Farmer’s Market in Downtown Alderwood.

• New bridles can be purchased from various locations.

• Western blanket pads are located at the Blacksmith.

Please note that hats and helmets are cosmetic only i.e. they do not have stats.

• Collecting items from horseback in all slower gaits (aside from sprinting!) is now easier to do.

• The UI and widget for Horse Needs has been improved.

• Farrier and Vendor menus have had their usability and UI improved.

• Audio settings now include a numeric description of the volume sliders.

• Quest dialogue, especially for Chapter 2, has been improved and polished.

• New set dressing has been added to various houses and special surroundings around Alderwood Island.

• Various environmental art improvements have been made to eliminate broken textures, floating assets, or model issues.

• Horse animations continue to be improved, specifically for jumping and the neck.

• New options in the graphics menu! Several anti-aliasing modes (TAA, TSR, DLSS, DLAA) and ability to fine tune TSR and DLSS.

• Phone usability has been improved now that multiple bugs have been fixed.

• Players in town will no longer hear SFX from other players’ horses.

• Quest details display in the correct ratio now when viewed while the map is open.

• Players will not be stuck during the Poacher’s Alert.

• Artifacts for Alfred can now be found. 

• Clubs no longer can have identical names; all clubs must have unique names.

• The (spoiler warning: Ch. 1) \corrupted animals in Kyle’s hut\ now remain on the ground when completing the quest.

• High Coast Trail, the newest riding island, now has a freshly baked nav mesh. Enjoy the collision!