Greetings, hunters!
We hope you've stepped into the new year with the right foot forward and that you managed to get a few good hunts in. Meanwhile, we've been hard at work on Way of the Hunter, releasing DLCs, chipping away at more goodies, and all that good stuff. Let's summarize everything that's happened in the last weeks and a bit of what you can expect in the near future.
By Garamond (Discord)
What's new
Matariki Park has been our third DLC map and one we were *very* excited to announce and release. Red deer was one of our favorite animals in the base game, and we took a lot of joy in the opportunity to return to it at world-record trophy sizes. It's a true deer hunter's paradise with no natural predators in sight, as well as a hiker's dream destination. We took great care to recreate it in all its spectacle and it's always nice to see it be appreciated.
By Tomas Vaclavik (Facebook)
Simultaneously, we released Map Pack 2, a bundle of Matariki Park DLC, the fourth map DLC (coming in summer 2024), and a bonus in the form of an Outfits Pack DLC, which will also arrive later this year. These DLCs will be available separately as they are released and will remain bundled with a baked-in discount.
One gameplay addition that you have been able to enjoy regardless of whether or not you've bought the Matariki Park DLC is a portable tripod stand. As far as we can tell, you have taken your maps by storm, and managed many a herd from a supremely comfy position! As always, we continue to watch you share your experiences and how you adjust your playstyle to new options, in case things could use a tune-up in certain areas. Keep the feedback coming!
By Sir_Marshall (Discord)
There were a good number of other tweaks and fixes in version 1.25 that were released alongside Matariki Park, but one certainly deserves a special mention, as innocuous as it may sound:
Fixed: Small branches and leaves stop bullets on some trees.
Chances are you have had more than a few shots spoiled by an odd branch or leaves standing between you and the target. We're glad to say that we have finally remedied this on all the foliage on every map, and you can now plan your shots without having to account for every bit of every tree and bush in your vicinity.
Moreover, bullets will also pass through thicker branches and thin tree trunks, provided you hit them with enough bullet energy. You will most likely find that a .22 LR will be stopped by pretty much all of them, but stronger calibers will make easy work of them. Of course, bullets will have their energy decreased by obstacles (the thicker they are, the more they'll slow the bullets down!), so you'll want to ensure the energy isn't too low by the time it reaches your target. We should also note - shooting animals through things is by no means an ethical approach and if anything, it's going to make your hunts tougher. But as far as making the environment behavior closer to what you would expect intuitively, this will hopefully save a lot of headaches.
If you want to brush up on the full patch notes, click here.
By Openthenoorrr (Discord)
How you've been
Before we get to your feedback on Matariki Park and update 1.25, we would like to give, once again, a shout-out to Nekhebu, who has recently updated his now-infamous WOTH Toolbox with all the markers and animal need zone locations in the new map. For your herd-tracking needs, look no further. Check it out here.
What's next
We heard you loud and clear on some of the less-than-great aspects of our latest release, most notably:
Visible grass pop-in in the Performance mode on PS5/Xbox, and Low/Medium visual settings on PC,
FPS drops in certain areas,
Progress blockers in missions “No brainer,” “Bee gone bandito,” and “Ghost of Matariki”.
Another one that has been becoming more and more prominent in recent weeks is incorrect animals in the Claim screen and the Hunting log.
We have been working on addressing these (plus a handful of others) and have since fixed them in a patch currently available on the Development branch on Steam. As is customary, we will release the patch for all players on all platforms as soon as we confirm that the patch is stable and the fixes are confirmed.
If you are reading this before the patch has been released for everyone and you are suffering from any of the above issues, we encourage you to try the dev branch.
Beyond that, we are full steam ahead in developing new content that we have announced as part of Map Pack 2, as well as a few extra surprises. Stay tuned! ;)
By scoazectiti29 (Steam)
What we have been up to
With its cold weather and a quick ramp-up back to full speed after a restful holiday season, the beginning of the year doesn't lend itself to our preferred forms of get-togethers and celebrations. But if there's a will, there's a way! A whole pig roast is certainly one way to keep us in the office late (and to put a cap on the development of Matariki Park)!
Thank you for caring about Way of the Hunter, and if you have any thoughts to share, you know where to find us (and if you are not a fan of social platforms, drop us a line at info[at]ninerocksgames.com).
Good hunting!
On behalf of Nine Rocks Games,
Michal, Community Manager
Official WOTH Discord
WOTH on Facebook
WOTH on Instagram
By JacekB (Discord)
Hunter Log archive
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