Greetings, Guardians,

Today, we are introducing Hotfix #4. which brings with it a number of improvements, patches & bug fixes, details of which you can find below. But above all, this update introduces something far more important and close to our hearts: a permanent in-game memorial to Mikayla Raines.

Mikayla was the founder of SaveAFox Rescue, a passionate animal caretaker, and a gentle force for good in the lives of countless foxes, and people. We have had the opportunity to collaborate together on some upcoming news for Spirit Of The North 2, and we are fully committed to continue supporting SaveAFox in the coming months and years. We hope this memorial will be a place where you can peacefully, and respectfully remember Mikayla and her legacy.

A Place to Remember

Nestled in a quiet corner of Fox Village, you will now find a new area dedicated to Mikayla’s memory. At its centre stands a newly-implemented mural of Namara, a character from the world of Spirit of the North 2 inspired by Mikayla herself.

Namara’s name means “No Sorrow” or “The One Who Dispels Sorrow.” In the game’s lore, she was a gentle caretaker of animals whose home was a flourishing garden full of life - especially foxes. Her kindness, and deep compassion made her beloved by all creatures.

You may also notice Finnegan, a small fox who hangs out near the mural, never straying far from Namara’s side. He is always there, resting by her side.

Although we never knew Mikayla personally, this is how we choose to remember her: as someone who left beauty and joy in her wake. This memorial is our small way of honouring her. We hope it brings warmth to those who knew her, followed her, or were touched by her spirit.

Thank you for sharing this world with us. And thank you, Mikayla, for helping make it kinder.

Patch Notes

• SaveAFox tribute area added to Fox Island. Featuring a memorial to Mikayla Raines.

• SaveAFox logo updated in credits.

• SaveAFox Finnegan NPC added to tribute area.

QOL UPDATES

• Sprint Toggle can now be enabled in settings. When enabled, player can sprint by toggling sprint on and off rather than by holding.

• Water Rune Improvements. We felt the Water Rune was underwhelming and gave it a new fun mechanic.  When rune is equipped the player character can jump while in water. Can be used for jumping across water surface or to more easily exit water. Jumping in water uses 1 spirit energy. Water rune swim speed buff decreased from x2 to x1.6. Water Geysers restore spirit energy(unchanged).

• 40+ Statues of Eona added through out world in an effort to reduce time spent walking back to graves. 

• Vixen Skin added to game with small platforming challenge.

GAMEPLAY & UI BUG FIXES

• Custom drop down menu added instead of menu anchors so scrolls boxes work properly within settings menu.  In preparation to add more settings over the years.

• Player character can no longer bring lit torch into Stag Guardian Encounter.

• Player character can no longer carry items into final Grimnir Encounter. Will auto drop when cutscene begins.

• Waypoint no longer spawns in ending level.

• Various bug fixes for Palace of Peace.

• Player can no longer enter Stag Temple from top to access Spirit Form rune early.

• Loot Tortoise Improvements. Mushroom trails are not so far away, spawn on surfaces that can be reached, and mushrooms are evenly spaced along path to follow.  Loot tortoise should now always spawn in Mushroom ring.

• Base Rejuvination (Regaining spirit energy) is now paused while using Spirit Form Abilities.  This change also prevent buffs to rejuvenation from exceeding Spirit Energy drain from Spirit Form.  No more infinite Spirit Form when comboing Spirit Form with Rune of Suffering.

• Rotation bug after closing pause menu. Fixed!

• Improvements to Target Jump. Blocking volumes now more efficiently stop traces and no longer produce invalid targets.

• Character friction settings are properly applied when moving from Ice to Grey Sand(Very specific I know... lets celebrate). Fixes issue where fox would continue to slide after exiting ice slides.

• Spirit Form Bug Fix. When returning from spirit form to a "ragdolled" body (because of death or being struck by something) body will remain in ragdoll until recovery or respawn. Returning to dead body will no longer cause the body to play "wake-up" animation.

• Spirit Form Bug Fix. Controls are no longer locked when body is "ragdolled"  while player is in spirit form.

• Spirit Form Bug Fix. Spirit form no longer experiences strange movement and rotation issues when body is "ragdolled".

• Ram Boss melee attack range and melee trigger range are equal. Ram will no longer get stuck in endless melee attacks if player is nearby but out of damage range.

• Stationary Stone Torches now properly deactivate Moon Runes when lit.

• Fixed container that was missing loot. New drop location for Water Rune.

OPTIMIZATIONS

• Continued environment optimization. Removed foliage hidden under static meshes.

• Rebuilt HLODs.

• Rebuilt Nav mesh.

ENVIRONMENT & LEVEL FIXES

• Continued environment polish. Fixed various misalign geometry.

• Collision fixed for particular river.

• Replaced problematic cliff mesh throughout world.

• Loot added to a few locations that were missing loot containers.

• More environment clean up. (floating rocks, misaligned cliff mesh edges, etc)

• Jump Targets block around player home mirrors.

• Foxy Home doors now auto open from both sides.

• Free portals (like those in glacier tunnels) now handle more edge cases. Fixed bug that caused player to teleport to wrong location OOB if player target jumped through portal. Also added fade to black for smoother transitions.

• Misc Environment meshing fixes. Near Thief's Demise.

• Decorative torches will now ignite flammable items(like held torches) but not player character. These torches are also no longer jump targets.

VISUAL POLISH

• Waterfalls no longer causes fox to bubble from mouth.

• Crossfox skin color and saturation adjustments.

• High Global Illumination now correctly impacts performance.

• Furless Fox Bug. Fixed issues that caused character fur to be hidden but skin visible when returning from Spirit Form while camera is close to character and materials are faded.

• Misc VFX optimization 

AUDIO POLISH

• Optimization for footstep VFX.

• UI Pause Menu Open SFX now aligns with player input.

• Rune Ability Wisp Form now has SFX

• Rune Ability Wisp Form now allows player to "chirp" like a wisp

• Player Wisp Form chirp SFX updated. Now uses sound from SOTN1.

• Player Wisp Form listener location updated(Can hear things near wisp instead of near fox.)

MISC CHANGES

• Updates to Announcement Panel in Main Menu.

• Framework for accessing announcement data from website (Work in Progress).

• Framework for future DLC implementation completed (All platforms).

• Credits removed from main menu in preparation for addition UI features.

• Translation changes for Sun Wolf name in several languages including English. Was Okama and now is Okamu.  Many languages already used this alternative spelling to avoid association with a Japanese slur.

• Water Rune description updated for all languages.

• Misc typo fixes in various languages like Spanish and Russian.

• Added Translation for recent UI additions such as "Enable Toggle Sprint".

CONSOLE UPDATES

• Coming very soon
  

Thank you once more. With love,

Infuse Studio & Silver Lining Interactive