The GDTE swamp area has been visually overhauled

Hello, and welcome to WalkScape development blog once again! This time we have quite a few things to show, so without further ado, let’s get started!

Wave 3.5: December 15th to January 6th

Let's start with the most important news that many of our followers are looking forward to: our next wave, which we call Wave 3.5. The wave runs from December 15th, 00:00 UTC+0 to January 7th, 00:00 UTC+0.

Similar to Wave 2.5, this is an intermediate wave that's shorter and supporter only. This means we won't be accepting new applications during this period.

If you've supported us on Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee and linked your account to your WalkScape Portal Account, you're all set to start playing on December 15th. For those interested in joining this wave but haven't supported yet, access will be granted to anyone who becomes a supporter before or during the wave. You can visit the WalkScape Help Page for detailed instructions.

We also want to try out the new gifting feature that Patreon added, so the quickest fifty people can gain one month of free WalkScape Patreon membership by using this link: https://www.patreon.com/WalkScape/redeem/3B13B.

It should be also possible to gift memberships to other people by using the new gift page.

A lot of new items that have been designed in the last two weeks…

Improved in-game notifications

Reworked in-game notification bubbles

Now, let's talk about development progress and quality-of-life improvements!

In the last development blog, I mentioned I would cover Gear Sets. However, after completing extensive engine optimizations, I discovered that the in-game notification system (the XP and item bubbles that appear after completing activities) needed a complete rework to be compatible with these optimizations.

During this rework, I made the "in-game notification bubbles" much more versatile. Many of you have asked to see more information, so I added new bubbles for:

• Procs (double action, double rewards, etc.)
• Arrive in location
• Collectibles (sticky)
• Achievements (sticky)
• Both looted & crafted items will now clearly show their quality (or if they're fine)
• Saved steps
• Realm reputation

The sticky bubbles will remain on screen until you dismiss them. This addresses feedback from players who sometimes missed notifications about achievements or collectibles they'd earned!

Improved “While you were away” view

Like the in-game notification bubbles, the "While you were away" view needed updating to work with our optimized engine. I took this opportunity to completely rebuild it with some much-needed improvements.

Based on your feedback, this view is particularly important since it creates that rewarding dopamine rush when you see all your progress after a long walk. I wanted to make this feeling even more satisfying.

The new "While you were away" includes everything from the notification bubbles (your procs, reputation gains, saved steps, and more) plus several new features:

• World map. You'll see a portion of the world map and can watch your character's journey if you were traveling.
• XP bars & level ups. Instead of plain text, you'll now see your XP bars filling up and get better visual feedback for level ups.
• Emphasized "rare events". When you collect special items, craft eternal gear, find legendary/ethereal loot, or complete achievements, the step counter will pause briefly to showcase your rare finds with a cool animation.
• Always shown after significant walks. Now appears whenever you open the game after collecting many steps, not just after a full restart.
• Can be reopened. Want another look at what you earned? You can now reopen the summary whenever you'd like.

The system and UI are still being polished, but should be ready in the next few days. Here's an early preview of how it looks:

Here is also a video that showcases this in action.

Party system teasers

The party system has also made significant progress since our last update. Myzozoz has worked hard on this feature, and we've completed the core party management functionality. Before we can release the party system, we still need to implement "two week challenges" and the ability to see other party members on the world map.

Here's a preview of the UI (while it needs some polish, the main functionality is complete):

UIs are still WIP

Don’t forget to give your party a memorable catchphrase!

Overall view on progress

The engine optimizations are now complete. A few server-side additions are still needed before release, and extensive testing remains to ensure everything works as intended.

I plan to release the new update with the optimizations (and hopefully gear sets!) during Wave 3.5 or shortly after. I'm not setting a specific date yet, as it's difficult to estimate how long the testing phase will take.

Once the new notification systems are finished, I'll begin work on Gear Sets!

Until next time

Alright folks, that's all for today! I hope you found this development blog exciting. I'm thrilled that the engine work is now complete and performing beautifully - in my testing, the game processes even 3 million steps in about one second. This is a massive improvement over the previous system.

We're also excited to welcome new players to the game with Wave 3.5! If you need any help getting started, I encourage you to join our Discord community.

Stay hydrated, and keep walking everyone! ❤️