Hey all,
We are well underway with the next major release of Wayward, codenamed “Next”. More on that naming a bit further down. As always, these newsletters are for keeping players up to date with what we are working on and while a few of these previews have been shared on social media, there are a few new reveals as well below.
Minecarts
Travel in style (and speed) with minecarts. They work to increase your carrying capacity and traveling speed on land. The carts themself also work as a mobile form of storage (which now also apply to boats by the way).
Action Bar Improvements
Previously known as “quickslots”, the action bar has got a complete overhaul, building on top of the action quickslotting concept we did in the last major release. Some of the changes include:
- You can now change the number of action slots per your needs, up to 50 slots.
- Configuration of action slots is now contained within a single, searchable, filterable drawer of actions with extra options about how the slot is used and restocked.
- Each action now has a unique icon when set to an action slot.
We’ll have more information and previews on this coming soon!
Wetlands
Explore this brand-new island type filled with unique land formations, creatures, items, plants, and more.
Action Improvements
Building on top of all the work done with the action bar, the action/item menus have been completely redone to feature a new look and new functionality. Each action now has a unique bind and can be customized. No longer will action binds jump all over the place based on the context or item type. This is a huge usability win and will further our progress towards a new unified UI.
Volcanic Upgrade
The volcanic islands are getting a big upgrade in the form of a new resource type: basalt. This hardened igneous rock is an upgrade over normal rock (now named granite) and sandstone.
Crafting Success/Efficacy Tooltips
Minmaxers will rejoice at these new inclusions to the crafting tooltips.
- Crafting success and quality chances are now presented in the crafting tooltip after having at least 30% and 60% skill, respectively.
- Crafting efficacy is now shown in the crafting item tooltip when over 60% in the recipe’s skill.
New Custom Game Options
We are adding three of the most commonly requested custom game options: always spawning creatures and item durability/decay multipliers, allowing much finer control over the difficulty in the game.
Storage Improvements
Going along with the minecarts, and previously hinted at, storage, in general, has got a big reduction in the tedium factor, especially for those that like to keep organized. As mentioned, boats now act as a container and can store items. Not only that, but can be picked up into your inventory along with all containers in the game (like chests) even with items in it. They act exactly like bags or backpacks and can be interacted with and organized in the same way.
- Boats can now be used as storage containers.
- Boats can now be placed or built on top of water.
- Boats now have varying levels of speed that allow you to move faster.
- Boats will now have a defense bonus when inside them but can be damaged in combat.
- Chests can now be opened and used while in your inventory.
- Unlocked chests can now be picked up while they have items in them.
- Added an option to drop automatically into containers instead of the ground.
Featured Mods
Check out these awesome recent mods from the community:
Colors Everywhere
Colors Everywhere give you the ability to paint and dye structures (like walls/fences/gates), chests, and armor. Some of the pigments and dye creations use existing items while others are provided as new flowers added by the mod.
Trick Arrows
Trick Arrows adds an interesting variety of arrows to your ranged arsenal. Some are a bit on the whimsical side, while others focus on the use of some rare (and rather unuseful) items. Included are:
- Shark Tooth Arrow
- Incendiary Arrow
- Dragonsbreath Arrow
- Ice Arrow
- Spectral Arrow
- Boxing Glove Arrow
- Stinger Arrow
Sashimi
Sashimi does just as the name suggests; adds a more fancy way of consuming your raw fish. But wait, that’s not all. You’ll also find a few other goodies in here including salt, popcorn, apple pie, and more!
Naming Poll
We have begun to codename our next major releases as “Next” before we settle on a name. And speaking of settling; we can’t quite do that for this one. So, we are asking for your help in choosing the final name now knowing what you can expect in the next release.
- Wheels & Wetlands
- Stockpiled
- Motions in the Marsh
- Operator
- Actions & Estuaries
- Locomotion
Steam Survival Fest
Wayward will be part of the survival-themed Steam sale taking place from August 1st at 10:00 AM PDT (GMT-7) to August 8 at 10:00 AM PDT (GMT-7). Wayward will be -30% off during this sale event. It’s a great time to grab a cheap copy for yourself or a friend.
These upcoming features are just a small preview of what’s to come in the next release. Stay tuned for more news on the re-opening of the development branch (to take a deeper look into everything and provide feedback/testing) as well as the next multiplayer meetup (which has been on hiatus for a bit as we worked on this release).
Oh, while you are at it, make sure to vote on some of the new frequently requested additions to the game on our feature voting page.