A few months ago, we got a feedback report from the player FrostByter with an excellent suggestion: if the player howls when looking for a mate, dispersal wolves should howl in response. We had to set that idea aside while we focused on Slough Creek multiplayer, but we've returned to it this month -- and it's one of the improvements coming in the next patch. And not only do dispersals respond to your howls, but stranger wolves -- whether patrolling their territory or back at their homesite -- might also respond. Any wolves who do respond and are nearby (within two kilometers) will be marked on the compass, to help you track down dispersals whom you might want to court. This is a fairly small feature but I think it adds so much to the game. Thanks for the suggestion, FrostByter!
Fun fact: Our game developer Tommi realized that howling responses would be affected by the speed of sound (343 m/s), so he added an extra delay to account for that, based on the distance between those wolves and the player.
Another improvement in this patch: All animals now deal less damage when low on energy. This is most pronounced with prey, who become less dangerous after you've chased them for awhile -- but remember that you too will deal less bite damage if you've got less energy at the time. We hope this encourages more realistic hunting tactics, especially since weaker elk will now slow down as you chase them, and tired elk will do less damage to you.
These improvements plus a few more, plus a lot of bugfixes, are coming in v1.0.8d, which is in pubilc beta now. We expect to release it within a few days.
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.
Changed depots in mptesting branch