Wayward Beta 2.8 “Odds & Ends” Released news

Sorry about that wait! The next major Wayward update is finally upon us! To help celebrate the release, Wayward is -25% off for the next 7 days.

This release we focused on many improvements and a new unlockable system for added replayability. There's not really a theme here to speak of, hence the naming of "odds & ends". Some of the stand-out additions include:

• Introducing "Milestone Modifiers", a new form of unlockables. Toggle-able modifiers are granted upon the completion of milestones (in-game achievements).
• Added a new "refinement" mechanic to reduce item weight at the cost of durability using special refinement tools.
• Three new creatures added, one with a unique mechanic and use in the late-game. SECRETS!
• Stills will no longer require containers when crafting. You will now be able to attach/detach the container (with added visuals) to the still and gather water or drink from directly.
• Added scale armor, crafted from reptile skin using the leatherworking skill.
• Over 30 new items and crafts added with three new legendary properties.

The preview video shows a few more notable features:

Our plan with the upcoming 2.8.x series of patches is to continue to improve these small and large areas of the game, smoothing everything out to make way for something big with 2.9. We aren't entirely sure what we want to focus on quite yet, but there's a few things on our short list based on what players voted for on the new feature voting page. Make sure you vote on what you would like to see in the game next!

We're in it for the long haul, and not in Valve's Artifact version of "the long haul". Thanks for sticking around!

On with the mega changelog:

New

• Added a "Milestone Modifier" system for a new form of unlockables. Toggle-able modifiers are granted upon the completion of milestones.
• Added the rest of the environmental variations to all tiles, including animated lava variations.
• New flat ground terrain has been added for rocks and sandstone.
• Added animal waste to be used as compost. Animal waste production is increased as animals are fed.
• Added a new magical creature that only spawns at positive reputation that unlocks a new way to improve and enhance items.
• Added the golden sextant, a new common treasure that will help you reveal your coordinates.
• There are now two new fish types for added variety and to offset shark spawning.
• Added a new "refinement" mechanic to reduce item weight at the cost of durability using new metal refinement tools.
• Added scale armor, crafted from reptile skin using the leatherworking skill.
• Added new legendary properties for increased decay amounts (hoarding), increased preservation rates (preservation), and item damage reduction (endurance).
• Added new blades of grass resource, reducing the prominence of grass seeds when digging grass.
• You can now pet tamed creatures to increase their happiness and provide bonus effects to certain creatures.
• Added a new "Melee" action which can be used from a quickslot or from the item/action menu to be used in conjunction with the new "Auto Attack" option or for specific item use.
• Added support for colored lights (doodads, creatures, corpses, and tile events).
• Added Steam Rich Presence to Wayward which will share your current game status to your Steam friends.
• Added doodad tiers so certain doodads will provide better crafting results, making certain categories better including some clay and metal-based doodads.
• Added a connection testing feature to check if players are able to connect to your server or game.
• Added tallow and tallow candles, a new cooking and illumination resource.
• Added two new milestones for completing tasks in the challenge mode.
• Added a wooden shield, an upgraded form of the bark shield.
• Added an option to disable UI animations for less GPU/CPU usage and better performance on older hardware and devices without discrete GPUs.
• Added dried saguaro cactus ribs, used for kindling and fuel.
• Reputation logging messages have been added, but are filtered off by default.
• Added a cooked form of Joshua tree flowers, a new cooking recipe.
• Added a help article explaining reputation.
• Added a help article on game modes and difficulty.
• Added ability to change timeouts through networking options.
• Added message of the day functionality for dedicated servers.
• Added ability to send commands to dedicated servers via SSH.
• You can now use a rope to test the depth and water type of a well.
• Added a couple new books.
• Added a developer button for unlocking all milestones.
• Added a new "Save Game" mod category.

Improvements

• All previous milestone benefits (increased starting stats) have been removed in favor of the new "Milestone Modifier" system, enabling a truer roguelike experience if desired, or unique bonuses if not.
• Stills will no longer require containers when crafting. You will now be able to attach/detach the container (with added visuals) to the still and gather water or drink from directly.
• Only the milestones available to be unlocked in the current game mode are now displayed in the milestones dialog. Script mods now disable milestones by default. Warnings are shown when milestones can't currently be unlocked.
• "Dead" trees are now referred to as "bare" trees and may regrow over long periods of time.
• The desert now spawns a different set of desert-y items on map generation.
• The maximum height of messages (in non-windowed mode) now scales based on your resolution.
• Shields now have an attack value and damage type.
• Piles of ash produced by burning doodads will now be limited to smaller stacks and can spread to adjacent tiles. (Thanks BangkokPost!)
• Fire can now spread to some corpses and will decay (be destroyed) faster when on fire.
• Fixed up some confusing wording in item descriptions regarding cordage.
• The Starter Quest time commitment and complexity has been reduced due to water still changes.
• You will now receive a message when parrying an attack, mitigating extra damage on top of the parrying defense bonus.
• Replaced the default "A save game" description when uploading save files to the Workshop with game and player stats.
• Walk to tile now allows paths through tamed creatures.
• Added an "Eternal Day" button to the custom game options to prevent future misunderstandings about how it should be configured. (Thanks 0d1!)
• The Starter Quest is now disabled in challenge mode.
• Mudskippers will now be fishable and have a unique corpse item for cooking and eating.
• Added turn and score counters to rich presence (Steam and Discord).
• Allowed players to ignite torches when facing another player with a lit torch equipped.
• Igniting a torch with a torch will no longer require kindling or fuel.
• Provided more help/information on the "Unable to Join Game" message when failing to connect to multiplayer games.
• Plants will no longer grow when players, creatures or NPCs are on top of them or if they are on fire. (Thanks Cryomantic Cultist!)
• Doodad containers (chests) can now receive the legendary weight capacity property.
• Acid will now damage items and corpses that are in it.
• Reduced possible confusion regarding tame status of creatures.
• The fuel amount on lit doodads and desalination status on water stills will now show without "see more" enabled for tooltips.
• Added more visual feedback when hovering over disabled inputs and selections within the UI.
• Added a custom game option to choose between using global recipe unlocks for a save, having all recipes unlocked, or none.
• Added open and close container actions for chests placed on the ground.
• Improved handling of pouring seawater into a well so that the well is no longer permanently seawater afterwards in certain instances.
• Tumbling tumbleweeds will now move on top of tiles with other tile events like fire.
• Added an option for changing the world tooltip delay, for less flickering and better performance.
• Fires will now properly burn other tile events like tumbling tumbleweeds, waste, and blood.
• Blood carving has been replaced with blood clearing via pouring, digging, tilling, and more.
• Equipping held items with the keybind now cycles which hand to equip to, rather than always equipping to the right hand.
• Acid is now a colored light source and flammable.
• Added descriptions to skill tooltips that mention the effectiveness of the skill on repair, reinforce, transmogrify, refine, and preserve actions.
• Updated the inaccurate wording of many action descriptions.
• Added bonus durability to items based on weight (so heavier things are generally a bit more durable). This can intentionally be done through crafting for maximizing bonuses.
• Fire elementals no longer trample plants.
• Fixed an oversight that didn't account for doodad quality when crafting using fire sources such as campfires, kilns, etc.
• Protected items now have a visual "P" beside their graphic.
• Scorpion and spider meat are now considered "meat" for grouping.
• Improved dropdown filtering. It will now match individual words in addition to exact string matching.
• Pond and garden templates will no longer spawn close to shorelines.
• Added a way to filter mods in the mods menu, switched to use a single sort row for all mod types.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed all UI elements leaking memory. (Thanks Arnkh!)
• Fixed an incorrect defense bonus applied from parrying that resulting in more damage in some instances. (Thanks jettix!)
• Fixed large creatures appearing under players and tall doodads in WebGL 1 mode and other inconsistencies in WebGL 2 mode.
• Fixed torches still gaining skill and damaging fuel when attempting to add fuel when not possible among other issues. (Thanks num ca nem vi!)
• Fixed incorrect max weight conversion on older saves. (Thanks Scapestoat!)
• Fixed many skill checks regarding the chemistry skill including improper crafting reputation displays. (Thanks sechsauge!)
• Corrected some issues regarding placing flammable items over lit doodad (campfires) producing much more fuel than they should have. (Thanks BangkokPost!)
• Fixed friend games not displaying as friend games in the server browser.
• Fixed lighting from creatures lagging behind them when players moved.
• Fixed the message dialog showing inapplicable context menu options.
• Fixed the throwing skill not providing bonus range for slings. (Thanks Grub!)
• Fixed some items not getting the proper randomized durability when crafted or found.
• Fixed a reduction in weapon durability when not meeting all the requirements to fire (like bow and arrows). (Thanks sechsauge!)
• Fixed instances where WebGL would fallback to version 1 unexpectedly.
• Fixed light sources "flickering" during certain times of day.
• Fixed the message dialog appearing differently based on which quadrant it was in when opened.
• Fixed edit filter checkboxes not working when first clicking each filter.
• Fixed carried torches not illuminating when first joining a multiplayer game.
• Fixed the game not loading in rare instances with old items requiring an update. (Thanks Shiranai!)
• Fixed the messages window appearing wonky when using smaller resolutions.
• Fixed modded doodad requirements not showing up properly within crafting tooltips. (Thanks Lovefield!)
• Fixed a bug where hitched creatures could despawn and leave hitching posts unusable. (Thanks Zillvr!)
• Fixed missing functionality when doodads could cause status effects, but your equipment protected you from it.
• Fixed scores having decimal places based on custom game settings.
• Fixed a bug where built doodads did not retain their disassembly information when picking them back up into item form.
• Fixed some cases where it was possible to unselect all options from a choice list.
• Fixed iron spears and hammers not returning the pole item used in crafting when disassembling them.
• Fixed older saves not upgrading max weight limits. (Thanks MadMarcAgain!)
• Fixed Starter Quest (and any other unpublished mods) appearing as "undefined" in the pause menu mods list.
• Fixed the "Protect Crafting Items for Containers" only working when both it and "Protect Crafting Items" was checked. (Thanks terribleperson!)
• Fixed an error appearing when hovering over certain tiles that had been modified through digging in rare cases. (Thanks Tarin!)
• Fixed incorrect weight calculation after travelling to a new island. (Thanks Tkenny123!)
• Fixed wells not updating their water status when underground conditions had changed. (Thanks Demasis!)
• Fixed smother fire replacing impassable terrain. (Thanks num ca nem vi!)
• Fixed legendary inheritance on consumables producing items that should have not been possible (like negative weight seeds). (Thanks Obbe C!)
• Fixed carried torches not de-illuminating when leaving a multiplayer game.
• Fixed ranged weapons not showing an "item may break" confirmation on use.
• Fixed merchants stocking items that shouldn't have been tradable. (Thanks Cryomantic Cultist!)
• Fixed eating aloe vera leaves functioning the same as "applying" them to soothe burn injuries.
• Fixed quality not affecting decay levels of items properly.
• Fixed tile variations showing up over tilled visuals.
• Fixed starting a new game from the multiplayer menu not selecting proper defaults. (Thanks Amax!)
• Fixed the messages window having no spacing between the edge of screen when positioned on the right.
• Fixed naturally generated plants and doodads not receiving a durability bonus from their quality or weight.
• Fixed transparency on sprites not working correctly while flying things are around.
• Fixed item groups not displaying the proper grammar or "item" article in messages/requirements.
• Fixed lowered stamina movement affecting ghost speed.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to gather multiple treasures under certain circumstances. (Thanks num ca nem vi!)
• Fixed Creation Time & Turn Count save sorts not working in the Load Game Menu.
• Fixed serverside mods installed off of dedicated-server mode being enabled internally by default.
• Fixed not being able to scroll in the requirements section within the Quests dialog.
• Fixed Discord integration not working for 32-bit windows clients.
• Fixed protected items now showing they were protected while in container and not updating when equipment/quickslots were changed.
• Fixed the private multiplayer option not functioning correctly when re-opening a previous game or server. (Thanks 0d1!)
• Fixed a memory leak when playing a game after a previous game was loaded.
• Fixed visual glitches when tilling near lava.
• Fixed the mod list in the pause menu not displaying mod states correctly.
• Fixed initial time not being imported when loading custom game options. (Thanks 0d1!)
• Fixed the flintlock pistol saying you didn't have ammunition to fire it when missing black powder.
• Fixed being able to select and use some disabled buttons with keyboard controls.
• Removed the ability for status effects to deal 0 damage to you based on custom game settings.

Balance

• Most items that previously required liquid but did not consume it will now consume a full container of water.
• Aberrant creatures now have a higher chance of dropping non-guaranteed items and will drop double the amount of certain grouped items.
• Items in fire will now be damaged much faster.
• Increased possible amount of clay from each tile slightly.
• Reduced Acid Spitters resistance to blunt damage slightly.
• Reduced aberrant base defense scaling and maximum (capped) values.
• Item decay time has been quadrupled in challenge mode so more item quests are realistic and fun.
• Increased the chances at returning quality items from dismantling based on skill.
• Removed some items that were too tedious to gather for challenge mode.
• Players will no longer share crafting recipes in multiplayer games.
• Trees and plants now have more durability, making them slower to burn in some cases, especially when matured.
• Reduced transmogrification difficulty slightly.
• Transmogrification no longer keeps exact maximum durability amount, but reduces it slightly based on how much it is over the expected amount and no longer fully repairs items.
• Wells built in the caves will no longer be an infinite water source (they will refill overtime similar to building them above ground).
• Decreased the difficulty of repairing items slightly.
• Increased the difficulty of crafting advanced and expert recipes slightly.
• Increased weight capacity (storage) legendaries will now scale higher based on their default capacity.
• Increased the preservation effect slightly across all containers, but copper is now the highest tier due its antimicrobial and thermal properties.
• Cod are no longer considered for killing quests for the challenge mode.
• Increased time required to desalinate water in stills slightly to promote usage for wells/solar stills and alternate water gathering methods.
• Reduced default amount of plant-life in the desert slightly on map generation.
• Reduced plant growth time slightly.
• Decreased plant regeneration chances slightly.
• All types of trees can now start as seedling or bare on world generation.

Technical

• Improved performance significantly on integrated GPU configurations and other low-end GPUs.
• Updated Wayward to use Electron 6.
• Updated Wayward to use TypeScript 3.6.3.
• Multiplayer games started on development branch will no longer keep sync checks enabled when moving to a stable branch.
• You will now be able to save and quit the game if the GL context does not recover.
• Blood and acid are now tile events instead of corpses and doodads respectively.
• Removed the required UiApi/IGameScreenApi parameters from NewUi classes.
• Iterator chaining has been replaced with a new @wayward/goodstream module & API for increased speed.
• Converted interrupts to use an interrupt ID system, with its own dictionary. Mods can register their own interrupts.

Modding

• Added Wayward.exe commands for creating and updating mods, for examples see the updated Modding Guide.
• The Wayward TypeScript declaration files, or "types", have been moved to a new repository and a node module @wayward/types.
• Mods that have scripts can no longer provide a list of compatible minor versions, and will instead only work with a single version declared in the waywardVersion property of the mod.json file.
• Fixed uncountables incorrectly schema'd as uncountableRules.
• Removed the blockDig doodad property and replaced its functionality with the LitStructure doodad group.
• Added TileUpdateType argument to the onTileUpdate hook.
• Mods that don't provide scripts (only JSON additions) no longer need to provide a list of compatible versions.
• Added a new @Inject decorator for injecting code into and manipulating any method across the codebase.
• multiplayerClientside and multiplayerCompatible have been combined into multiplayer, accepting clientside, compatible, and serverside.
• Added modding support for doodad groups.

Mods

TARS

• Fixed errors when running with the Troposphere mod enabled.
• Fixed attempting to dismantle/craft items while in water.
• Notes are now disabled when running TARS.
• It will only eat food that could cause poison if it's an emergency.
• Pathfinding calculation time has been reduced.
• Fixed looking for build tile freezing the game completely in some cases.
• Prioritize building items when possible; it will no longer walk around with heavy items in the inventory while trying to complete other objectives.
• Add a visual overlay over tiles to show how it sees the world.
• Fixed it taking long paths through oceans only to die by running out of stamina while swimming. It will now rest before taking a long swim.
• It will now drink from water sources on the ground when it's thirsty, has high health, and it's far away from the water still in the base.
• Improved water still logic. It will refill and light water stills after drinking water from it.
• Ensures the base is not built that far away from rocks.
• Improved the use of chests and inventory space. It knows how to use chests when crafting items.
• It now runs away from creatures when its health or stamina is low.
• It now acquires and equips a shield.
• It now chooses the best weapon when attacking/defending against creatures, taking damage types into account.
• It now knows how to acquire items by dismantling others.
• It now gathers from the "easiest" doodad/terrain when acquiring items. The easiest resource to gather from might not be the closest. It depends on what's in the path between the player and the resource.
• Improved the objective planner. It's now smarter when executing objectives.

Balancing Tools

• You can now freeze NPCs.

Troposphere

• Fixed glass bottles no longer having the gather rainbow action.
• Added descriptions for creatures, doodads, and improved other descriptions.

Debug Tools

• Improved performance when teleporting or inspecting tiles while zoomed out.
• Added a keybind for toggling full visibility (both fog & lighting).
• Added the ability to change the brush size for Tile Paint.
• Item & doodad dropdowns can now be filtered by item & doodad groups. A list of valid, clickable groups will be displayed to the side.
• Added support for Doodads, Corpses, and Players in the Selection panel.
• Added a way to filter selections by specific type.
• Added the ability to teleport a player to the nearest selection match.