Hello everyone!

With the release of v2.3.0, I've been told by many people that they are liking where things are going. Some... don't like the game, or me as a person at all, but that's okay!

Today I'm going to list some of the major features coming to LONE WOLF: Horizon in patch v2.4.0! A side note, v2.4.0 is probably the last major Early Access patch (there will be no v2.5.0, but there will be v2.4.x patches). Once v2.4.0 goes live, I will iron out bugs, release bug-fix patches, and then move on to v1.00, the full release update, bringing the game out of Early Access!

This will not be a fast, or easy process. v2.4.0 still has a lot left to be completed, and v1.00 is not even in my mind yet. I do things as I go while following a roadmap of mine on my Google Docs.

Some major highlights of v2.4.0:

Soldier Mental State System

Being a soldier is a traumatizing experience. In v2.4.0, the soldiers in LONE WOLF: Horizon are even more realistic than before. Going into combat, being shot at countless times, losing blood, and seeing friends die can take a toll. The soldiers now have a mental state characteristic. When they go into combat, the soldier's mental state will change over time. When the soldier is healthy, their mental state is Brave. When they feel brave, they charge into combat, gun down soldiers, and fight for what they believe in.

When being shot at a lot, and seeing friends die, their mental state declines, and next they feel Neutral, this is neither brave, nor scared, but they feel kinda empty on the inside. They don't know what to do anymore, and will often stand their ground and shot at people to get the job done.

When they've been in intense combat, losing a lot of health, their mental state can decline and they become Scared. When a soldier is scared, they will retreat back to their respective base and rest, heal, and try to calm down. There is a chance however, that they will become overwhelmed with the war, become so depressed, and commit suicide at the base.

Soldier Commanding

Another new feature coming into v2.4.0 is the ability to command individual soldiers. Simply walk up to a soldier, press F to interact with them (or whatever your interact key is set to), and select an option to tell them what to do. The choices are for commanding are:

Attack SNA

This is the default option, which tells the soldier to go into the world and attack SNA soldiers and bring their influence down.

Follow

This tells the soldier to deal with their mental state, get a gun, and follow the leader of the army (you, the player). When you engage in an enemy, the soldiers following you will also attack the targeted enemy. If they cannot get a clear shot, they will provide cover for you and attack the closest enemy to them.

Hold Position

When telling them to hold their position, they will stop where they are, and guard the surrounding area for enemies. You can tell a soldier to follow you, and then tell them to hold their position at your own base, as a way to set up guards at the base.

Moon Miners

Another addition to v2.4.0 is the implementation of moon miners. These purple armored humans mine the Eos crystals on the moon, which drives competition up, between the miners and you, to collect Eos Crystals. You can engage in combat with these miners, to allow yourself freedom to mine Eos Crystals easier. The miners collect the Eos Crystals to sell to the SNA to allow them to become stronger.

Moon Environment Changes

The moon has been completely redone from the ground up to make it more alien-like. It's a moon, with a very thin atmosphere, a grassy surface, with the occasional rocky area, so it will be a bit barren. The gravity has also changed on the moon, to a lower value. Higher jumps!

Specialty Weapon Characteristic

Weapons now have the chance to be a specialty weapon, meaning, depending on the type you pick up, can be specialized for mining, or battling. When the gun's specialty is mining, Eos crystals are easier to mine than the base model of the weapon. When the gun's specialty is set to combat, the gun handles combat easier than the base model of the gun. There is also the chance for no specialty.

Separated Nation Army Guardian

There is now a chance for the SNA to send out Guardians. These are highly skilled soldiers ready to kill. They are 3-5 times stronger than the normal SNA soldier. They are more accurate than a normal soldier, and can take a severe beating before dying. Upon dying, these Guardians often drop rare loot, and bring the SNA influence down by a large amount. You want to take these soldiers out.


Overall, v2.4.0 brings many, many improvements and bug fixes. The additions listed above are only a few of the features added to LONE WOLF: Horizon with the v2.4.0 patch. I'm still adding a lot of things, and tweaking some things, and bug fixing. v2.4.0 is still nowhere near complete, as I still have a lot planned. So stay tuned!

- Mark