The Story of Floppy
The Story of Floppy
In today’s patch, we’ve put Floppy back in her enclosure. In the last patch, she decided to disobey the StayHome directives and has been wandering the hills of Lost River for a few days, but for everyone’s safety, we’ve put her back where she belongs.
But where did Floppy come from? In the game scenario, that’s something for wolves to wonder about. In the development of the game, that dates back to 2016, when we added moose to WQ 2.7. Today’s video tells the tale, but in short: it’s a feature, not a bug!
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We have released the first episode of WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition (Amethyst Mountain) for PC/Mac on Steam and itch.io, as Early Access. While in Early Access, we are updating the game frequently with more features, multiplayer, and ultimately the Slough Creek episode with pups. The mobile version will come after the game is completed on PC/Mac platforms. We’ll then resume development of the next episode, Tower Fall (DLC).
Dave/loboLoco
WolfQuest Game Producer
WolfQuest Game Producer
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Windstrider
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Re: The Story of Floppy
Floppy! All hail the queen! 
Re: The Story of Floppy
Oh, that makes sense! Haha! Poor Floppy! 
I did happen to notice that the neck thing was dominant compared to the rest of Floppy's body, too, so that explains it, haha
I did happen to notice that the neck thing was dominant compared to the rest of Floppy's body, too, so that explains it, haha-
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Re: The Story of Floppy
I know I'm over a month late for this thread, as it was posted quite some time ago, but I hadn't actually watched this full devblog before now, so better late than never right?
Nevertheless, this was a very interesting devblog, and it's nice to know the full story of Floppy now, from how Floppy originally came to be, to her inclusion in Lost River, and, finally, her return in WolfQuest Anniversary Edition. I remember back in the glory days of WolfQuest 2.7 where Floppy was a community favorite. I remember seeing Floppy for the first time with some other people in multiplayer, and I don't think that's something I will ever forget. I remember playing with a bunch of other people in multiplayer, as we found ways to glitch through the wall into Floppy's enclosure, kill Floppy, then found a way to glitch the game to make her respawn, then repeating the process as a way to gain easy Experience points. I spent a whole evening doing that one time with a group of dedicated friends, and that was how I got my first wolf to Pack Elder rank. Man, that was a different time, and because of those memories I still have a lot of nostalgia for the Classic Lost River map. That's part of why I was so excited to see the Lost River map added to WolfQuest Anniversary Edition.
Of course, with a greatly expanded version of Lost River coming in a future DLC, I have many ideas for an expanded Lost River map. I have posted some of these before on the WolfQuest discord and in the Ideas For New Episodes/Future Updates thread here on the forum, but because in both of those cases the ideas got buried, I figured I'd post some of them here as because Dave asked for some in the video above.
I will sort ideas into three main categories: Locations, Easter eggs, and gameplay features/other ideas.
Location ideas for a new, expanded Lost River map:
1. A wide open valley, both similar and different from the area from the original map, with plenty of room for human impacts and abandoned settlements, though such settlements would be much rural in nature. It would basically just be based on rural America, only everything has been abandoned for at least 15 years. There would be overgrown roads, old farmhouses and barns, crumbling grain silos, old farming equipment like tractors, a run-down ranch, oil fields, pastures, and overgrown wheat fields. The entire area would be overgrown and nature would be taking back the land, with wildflowers and young conifers growing in the fields and pastures, and regrowing forests surrounding the edges of the valley.
2. A mountainside area that has been ravaged by a wildfire, leaving most of the once lush forest there charred and many fallen trees scattered around the area. This area would be sort of like The Burn from Amethyst Mountain in 2.7, only much greener and with the landscape recovering. The area would be very green as new growth has taken root and many wildflowers and young conifer trees have taken root in the area. The area could be loosely based on the areas surrounding Mount St. Helens in the decades after the volcanic eruption occurred there that devastated the area.
3. An open, rugged, sagebrush-steppe sort of environment in a certain part of the new expanded map, with some inspiration taken from the drier, more open and rocky parts of northern Yellowstone near Gardiner, Montana, but with some more forested areas as well. This would be a slightly more arid and rocky area with many different human impacts and a wide variety of wildlife. Notable landmarks here could include a high mountaintop location with a large radio tower on it, an abandoned trailer park, a small lake with a large, abandoned mansion overlooking the lake, and a very high mountain that players could climb.
4. An abandoned prison/penitentiary that players could visit, which was once home to many criminals. The building itself would be crumbling and would have a very worn down look.
5. An area in the mountains, with a crashed airplane there. Players would be able to explore the wreckage of the mysterious crashed plane.
6. A wilderness area up in the mountains called "Midnight Pass" (as a reference to a rumored third episode of the game that was a popular rumor in the community a very long time ago). The area would have many abandoned gold mines in the mountainous areas, a railroad that goes through tunnels in the mountains that is no longer in use, and some abandoned wilderness cabins and campsites, along with a large waterfall coming down from the mountains.
7. Allow players to access the large hydroelectric dam at the southern edge of the current Lost River map. The area beyond the dam could be a large gorge that would also be open to exploration, and players would be able to explore a large, no longer operational hydroelectric power plant at the dam.
8. A densely forested area with many abandoned logging camps and lumber mills, and large power lines extending across the area.
9. A large, partially collapsed road bridge over a river, which would allow players to cross the river, if they manage to avoid the parts that have collapsed. This would raise questions about what caused the bridge to collapse in the first place.
Of course, with all the new surrounding areas opened up for exploration when the Lost River map is expanded, there could also be plenty of room for new hidden Easter eggs in Lost River, such as the following ideas:
1. A reference to the Assassins Creed games, with a location where players can find a hay bale at the bottom of a cliff, and a skeleton nearby, showing that somebody obviously took a "leap of faith" and missed their target.
2. A movie poster near the cinema in the town area, advertising a film called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Wolves" as a reference to the Ninja Turtles.
3. A fridge that has been dumped into Hank's Ditch within the town area, with a cowboy hat and a skeleton inside it as an Indiana Jones reference.
4. Name some new locations in the expanded map after members of the development team, something that was done often in the 2.7 version of Lost River with locations like Grant's Glen or Allison Acres. For example, a location could be called "Buzza Ridge" as a reference to WolfQuest soundtrack composer Tim Buzza.
5. More hidden objects in random locations.
6. More hints at the lore and backstory of the Lost River map. We already have some of these, with a newspaper headline about the evacuation of Lost River visible outside the town hall and a journal entry in the fire tower from Alex, the last known human inhabitant of Lost River. Perhaps in the new expanded map there could be some lost letters from former citizens of Lost River or more newspaper articles hidden in various places around the map that would give a little more backstory about Lost River and what happened to the location. Currently the lore of Lost River is left ambiguous, left for players to ponder and come up with their own theories, but adding more Easter eggs like this could tell a subtle story that players could piece together.
Gameplay features and other ideas:
New animals: Lost River is a slightly different type of environment from the Yellowstone-based maps of Amethyst Mountain and Slough Creek, so maybe some different and unique animals could be added to the map to make it feel different from the Yellowstone maps. There's some small animals that would fit very well in the abandoned city area and help to enhance the abandoned city sort of feel, like rats, cockroaches, house sparrows, pigeons, and feral cats and dogs. In addition, there's some animals that aren't found in Yellowstone or less common in Yellowstone that would still be cool to see in WolfQuest at some point, which could be added in Lost River, like Wild Turkeys, Skunks, Mountain Goats or White Tailed Deer. However, while more animals like that could be pulled off in a setting like Lost River, I don't think it should be a number 1 priority, as there's plenty of other features to add.
More interactivity and small details: Currently Lost River's human impacts are not very interactive, they're more like a backdrop of sorts. Maybe there could be ways to enter some of the larger apartment buildings and shops in the abandoned city area, or maybe players could be able to enter some of the houses around the town through opened windows or underground basements. In addition, maybe there could be dumpsters in the alleyways of the abandoned city area that players could jump onto. Maybe there could be ways to climb up to the top of some of the buildings or something like that, like we can do with the fire tower. In addition, more human detritus in the streets of Lost River would serve to enhance the feeling of being in an abandoned city that was evacuated. Tipped-over garbage cans, old shopping carts, abandoned bicycles, newspapers, and other pieces of human detritus littering the streets would make it feel more like real people actually lived in Lost River at some point. Maybe allow players to interact with such objects as well, like being able to pick up some of them or knock them over.
In the end, there's plenty of ways that Lost River could be made more interactive and interesting if there is an expansion for it. I'm glad that the team is looking into expanding Lost River in a DLC, because personally Lost River was my 2nd favorite map in WolfQuest 2.7 and I would like to see it get some brand new content too now that it has been incorporated into WolfQuest AE.
Nevertheless, this was a very interesting devblog, and it's nice to know the full story of Floppy now, from how Floppy originally came to be, to her inclusion in Lost River, and, finally, her return in WolfQuest Anniversary Edition. I remember back in the glory days of WolfQuest 2.7 where Floppy was a community favorite. I remember seeing Floppy for the first time with some other people in multiplayer, and I don't think that's something I will ever forget. I remember playing with a bunch of other people in multiplayer, as we found ways to glitch through the wall into Floppy's enclosure, kill Floppy, then found a way to glitch the game to make her respawn, then repeating the process as a way to gain easy Experience points. I spent a whole evening doing that one time with a group of dedicated friends, and that was how I got my first wolf to Pack Elder rank. Man, that was a different time, and because of those memories I still have a lot of nostalgia for the Classic Lost River map. That's part of why I was so excited to see the Lost River map added to WolfQuest Anniversary Edition.
Of course, with a greatly expanded version of Lost River coming in a future DLC, I have many ideas for an expanded Lost River map. I have posted some of these before on the WolfQuest discord and in the Ideas For New Episodes/Future Updates thread here on the forum, but because in both of those cases the ideas got buried, I figured I'd post some of them here as because Dave asked for some in the video above.
I will sort ideas into three main categories: Locations, Easter eggs, and gameplay features/other ideas.
Location ideas for a new, expanded Lost River map:
1. A wide open valley, both similar and different from the area from the original map, with plenty of room for human impacts and abandoned settlements, though such settlements would be much rural in nature. It would basically just be based on rural America, only everything has been abandoned for at least 15 years. There would be overgrown roads, old farmhouses and barns, crumbling grain silos, old farming equipment like tractors, a run-down ranch, oil fields, pastures, and overgrown wheat fields. The entire area would be overgrown and nature would be taking back the land, with wildflowers and young conifers growing in the fields and pastures, and regrowing forests surrounding the edges of the valley.
2. A mountainside area that has been ravaged by a wildfire, leaving most of the once lush forest there charred and many fallen trees scattered around the area. This area would be sort of like The Burn from Amethyst Mountain in 2.7, only much greener and with the landscape recovering. The area would be very green as new growth has taken root and many wildflowers and young conifer trees have taken root in the area. The area could be loosely based on the areas surrounding Mount St. Helens in the decades after the volcanic eruption occurred there that devastated the area.
3. An open, rugged, sagebrush-steppe sort of environment in a certain part of the new expanded map, with some inspiration taken from the drier, more open and rocky parts of northern Yellowstone near Gardiner, Montana, but with some more forested areas as well. This would be a slightly more arid and rocky area with many different human impacts and a wide variety of wildlife. Notable landmarks here could include a high mountaintop location with a large radio tower on it, an abandoned trailer park, a small lake with a large, abandoned mansion overlooking the lake, and a very high mountain that players could climb.
4. An abandoned prison/penitentiary that players could visit, which was once home to many criminals. The building itself would be crumbling and would have a very worn down look.
5. An area in the mountains, with a crashed airplane there. Players would be able to explore the wreckage of the mysterious crashed plane.
6. A wilderness area up in the mountains called "Midnight Pass" (as a reference to a rumored third episode of the game that was a popular rumor in the community a very long time ago). The area would have many abandoned gold mines in the mountainous areas, a railroad that goes through tunnels in the mountains that is no longer in use, and some abandoned wilderness cabins and campsites, along with a large waterfall coming down from the mountains.
7. Allow players to access the large hydroelectric dam at the southern edge of the current Lost River map. The area beyond the dam could be a large gorge that would also be open to exploration, and players would be able to explore a large, no longer operational hydroelectric power plant at the dam.
8. A densely forested area with many abandoned logging camps and lumber mills, and large power lines extending across the area.
9. A large, partially collapsed road bridge over a river, which would allow players to cross the river, if they manage to avoid the parts that have collapsed. This would raise questions about what caused the bridge to collapse in the first place.
Of course, with all the new surrounding areas opened up for exploration when the Lost River map is expanded, there could also be plenty of room for new hidden Easter eggs in Lost River, such as the following ideas:
1. A reference to the Assassins Creed games, with a location where players can find a hay bale at the bottom of a cliff, and a skeleton nearby, showing that somebody obviously took a "leap of faith" and missed their target.
2. A movie poster near the cinema in the town area, advertising a film called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Wolves" as a reference to the Ninja Turtles.
3. A fridge that has been dumped into Hank's Ditch within the town area, with a cowboy hat and a skeleton inside it as an Indiana Jones reference.
4. Name some new locations in the expanded map after members of the development team, something that was done often in the 2.7 version of Lost River with locations like Grant's Glen or Allison Acres. For example, a location could be called "Buzza Ridge" as a reference to WolfQuest soundtrack composer Tim Buzza.
5. More hidden objects in random locations.
6. More hints at the lore and backstory of the Lost River map. We already have some of these, with a newspaper headline about the evacuation of Lost River visible outside the town hall and a journal entry in the fire tower from Alex, the last known human inhabitant of Lost River. Perhaps in the new expanded map there could be some lost letters from former citizens of Lost River or more newspaper articles hidden in various places around the map that would give a little more backstory about Lost River and what happened to the location. Currently the lore of Lost River is left ambiguous, left for players to ponder and come up with their own theories, but adding more Easter eggs like this could tell a subtle story that players could piece together.
Gameplay features and other ideas:
New animals: Lost River is a slightly different type of environment from the Yellowstone-based maps of Amethyst Mountain and Slough Creek, so maybe some different and unique animals could be added to the map to make it feel different from the Yellowstone maps. There's some small animals that would fit very well in the abandoned city area and help to enhance the abandoned city sort of feel, like rats, cockroaches, house sparrows, pigeons, and feral cats and dogs. In addition, there's some animals that aren't found in Yellowstone or less common in Yellowstone that would still be cool to see in WolfQuest at some point, which could be added in Lost River, like Wild Turkeys, Skunks, Mountain Goats or White Tailed Deer. However, while more animals like that could be pulled off in a setting like Lost River, I don't think it should be a number 1 priority, as there's plenty of other features to add.
More interactivity and small details: Currently Lost River's human impacts are not very interactive, they're more like a backdrop of sorts. Maybe there could be ways to enter some of the larger apartment buildings and shops in the abandoned city area, or maybe players could be able to enter some of the houses around the town through opened windows or underground basements. In addition, maybe there could be dumpsters in the alleyways of the abandoned city area that players could jump onto. Maybe there could be ways to climb up to the top of some of the buildings or something like that, like we can do with the fire tower. In addition, more human detritus in the streets of Lost River would serve to enhance the feeling of being in an abandoned city that was evacuated. Tipped-over garbage cans, old shopping carts, abandoned bicycles, newspapers, and other pieces of human detritus littering the streets would make it feel more like real people actually lived in Lost River at some point. Maybe allow players to interact with such objects as well, like being able to pick up some of them or knock them over.
In the end, there's plenty of ways that Lost River could be made more interactive and interesting if there is an expansion for it. I'm glad that the team is looking into expanding Lost River in a DLC, because personally Lost River was my 2nd favorite map in WolfQuest 2.7 and I would like to see it get some brand new content too now that it has been incorporated into WolfQuest AE.