The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout Development History

This consists of the development history for The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout Act I, and other Steam early access development notes. The final update for the game was pushed on September 15, 2023, ahead of the release of The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout Anthology.

Synopsis

Originally, this synopsis was announced:

A fantasy adventure game where you control the actions of a Redwall outsider, on his quest to find the Warrior's Star, a mystical relic believed to be recovered by Martin the Warrior long ago. Called by the spirit of Martin himself, you must secretly explore abbey halls, solve ancient riddles and unlock hidden passageways without being discovered in your search of the mysterious treasure. But beware of those who seek the Star for darker purposes. The fate of Mossflower is in your hands. Lead on, brave adventurer. Your quest awaits!

As of September 2017, the official Steam synopsis was announced as:

A whimsical adventure game based on the bestselling Redwall books. Set in the winter shrouded wilderness between Lilygrove and Redwall Abbey, help Liam or Sophia race for help from the raiding rats under Cheesethief's command.

Characters

A mouse character, "Simon," was described as follows:

"Simon grew up far to the south where tall grass was far more common than tall trees and where serpents gathered in groups. As a child, a traveling monk came through his village tending the sick and lame and that's the first he heard of Redwall. As he grew he found himself always drifting north, season by season he'd wander and while he had no goal in mind there seemed an invisible cord drawing him onward until he found himself standing before the looming wall of Mossflower Wood."

(This character does not appear in the game)

Updates

1/5/2018 Steam Early Access Build : Bug Update V 0.51

File:TheScoutlogo.jpg

Original logo

Controls Lab: Early players were pretty evenly split on what style of controls they wanted to see. Should they be more skill based or more cinematic? This build contains the first iteration of a Control Lab where you can experience two pretty different approaches…and vote on which one you prefer.
Architect Points: The feedback we’ve been getting from early access players has been SO helpful and useful that we want to incentivize that kind of thing. So we’ll be adding in a system that rewards this kind of feedback with Architect Points. We still need to decide what these points get you…but it’ll be non-trivial so stand by.
This is primarily a bug update to address some of the most pressing feedback we got from the first release. To that end expect more of a “fewer things wrong” update than a “bunch of new stuff” update and we plan to have minor bug updates a regular part of the cycle.
What’s Next:
Addition of the scent mechanic we’ve been working on, most likely in a controlled “Scent Lab” environment. Woodlanders experience the world through their noses as much as their eyes and ears and we’ve got a little something we think you’ll like coming up quickly.
Playable alpha (or some progress thereto) for the Lighthouse scene including a three-part sequence and the villainous Scumsnout!

1/30/2018 Steam Early Access Build : Content Release V 0.6

Scent Lab
Updated Lilygrove Chase Scene
Catacomb Graybox

2/4/2018 Steam Early Access Build : Content Release V 0.6

Scent Lab: Scent Lab has been reworked to create a better flow. It should be easier to understand and experience.

2/16/2018 Steam Early Access Build : Tech Update V 0.61

Updated Control Lab: We've been hard at work on a complete rebuild of the character control based partly on feedback from the initial launch. It's a big pivot but it's going well. Check out how that's coming along and give us your feedback on things like speed and jump strength. Still a lot more to do here, but we're probably over the hump.
Water Update: Big changes to how we render water in Lilygrove and Old Moss Creek. We think new were able to find a great balance between realism and the stylized world we've been building.
Updated Catacombs Graybox: Take a look at how the architecture on this level is coming along.
What's Next:
Hilltop Camp graybox. When we launched just before Christmas we striated with Old Moss Creek which is technically Act II, Scene I of the entire game. Since then we've been working backwards on level releases and finally we're getting to Act I, Scene I: Hilltop Camp...this is where it all begins.

3/30/2018 Steam Early Access Build : Combined Tech and Content Update V 0.70

GDC Catacombs (Partial Level): Seen here is the very truncated experience we showed at GDC. It's designed around the rather constrained experience people have a trade show so it lacks much of what would be expected in a "normal" level but many people asked to see this...and your wishes are our commands.
New Controls: Included in the catacombs update is the first release of an entirely new control scheme, including a whole new animation controller, that allows a lot more freedom of movement. If you play Old Moss Creek, which still has the old movement scheme, and compare the two we hope you'll see a significant improvement.
NPC Direction Lab: Part of Redwall's essential ethos is a value for community and fellowship. With that in mind we've begun to make the NPC mice smarter and more capable. We want them to be a valuable part of your adventure and not just a lame escort mission. Seen here is a small testing ground where AI-Driven NPCs can be given directions and collect resources - their most critical role when traversing the cold wilderness.
What's Next:
Complete Catacombs Level: With the constraints of a booth removed we'll be opening up a lot more of this level and letting the everyone roam around a lot more - that includes the rats.
Hilltop Camp Graybox: We had hoped to get this ready to show by this release but getting ready for GDC just took up too much oxygen to squeeze it in. But we'll have this in the next content update for sure.

5/25/2018 Steam Early Access Build : Combined Tech and Content Update V 0.9

The Scout has come a long way since our first build was posted just about five months ago and this might just be the last major update we make before making a genuine commercial release of Act I...depending on how this goes. :)

What's New? A lot...it would be shorter to tell what's the same but here's a few highlights:

New Dialog System
New level: Hilltop Camp
New Menu system
New cinematics
Updated...just about everything

What's Next? There is still obviously work to be done in terms of polish and finished art assets so that's the main effort to come next as well as finishing off a few mini-levels, mini-games, and of course voice over work. Bug fixing and optimization are also ongoing matters so anticipate those to keep on going iteratively.

All that said - we're getting pretty close now and barring the unforeseen we expect to push forward in a way that focuses on additional content like more story lines, more levels and of course more playable characters and species.

7/27/2018 Beta! It's totally real...

Eulalia!

After entering Early Access in December last year, and many iterations in the last seven months, we're ready to call this thing a Beta build.

"Beta" can be a slippery word so here's what WE mean by "Beta"

We're working on bugs
We're working on performance
We're working on controls
No more features are being added (yet)
No more content is being added (yet)

If you've been lurking and hanging out, now is a good time to buy. We want, nay, we NEED your feedback to find every bug, glitch, and sneaking vermin before we go full release. As a motivation all Early Access purchases will be counted as full Season Passes when we go live which will get all three acts of The Scout when they release for the price of one. But this offer is only good until we release in full. After that - it's one episode at time for you boyo! ...If you're already in the EA group - you're already included in this deal. :)

What We've Been Up To:

If you are the proud owner of this game already but haven't played the build in a while, we'd like to invite you to take a look. The core levels have been polished and finalized, voice overs have been added, and every day more and more bugs are removed! After a warm reception at Portland's own Game Developers Conference, we are proud to call this game nearly complete.

Just A Taste Of The Newest Material:

Hours of professional Voice Overs
Updated Art
Polished Quests
NPC group mechanic
Smarter, Deadlier Rats
Faster Ladders
Updated Lighting
Smoother FPS and Much Optimization

What You Can Look Forward To In Future Updates:

Animated Cinematic
Polished Animations
Reworked Dialog System
New Mini-Levels with a Verminous Focus
An In-Depth Cooking System
New Ingredients
More Lore
Polished End-Level Records Screen
Polished Save System
Refined Scent Trails
And more :)

8/21/2018 Steam Early Access Build : Tech Update V 0.96.

Below you will find a condensed version of the changelog for 2018-08-20. You can also see the types of bug being submitted. To view the whole change log visit the link below.

Changelog (2018-08-20)

In Backlog: 203

Working On - Total Bugs: 14

10/27/2018 The Vermin Update

Announcing the highly anticipated Vermin Update!

A huge addition to The Scout that adds two entirely new levels full of the villainous rat pirates that are burning Lilygrove to the ground!

Nine individual, unique, scavenging pirates to encounter and engage and each with their own personalities, conversations, goals and character arcs.

Each rat, both females and males, have their own thoughts and concerns to overhear and observe plus a dynamic interaction matrix when any two rats get together to discuss and deviate. Use your wits, and the available tools, to maneuver and enrage your targets...and just wait to see what happens.

And last, but opposite of least, is an all new terrifying encounter with the enormous weret Scumsnout.

Also in this update:

All new gorgeously animated main menu with granular level selection
45min of all new voice over content.
Fully reworked and optimized cutscenes with subtitles
Full support for Windows 7 (actually fixed in the previous bug patch in case you missed it)
...plus dozens of bug fixes, graphical upgrades, and performance improvements.

This is the biggest content push we've had since March and every Redwall fan will want to check it out.

11/6/2018 V 1.1.1

This build fixed a few obvious (and comical) bugs that came out with the Vermin Update including the infamous Hockey Puck Rat bug...half-sad to see that go away actually...

What's new:

Lots of collision and geometry bugs found and fixed in the two new levels
Added individualized rat AI state callouts in Scene II
Ongoing graphical polish, particularly in the UI department for this build
Several new rat animations to help them feel more alive
56 Urgent and High level bugs crushed and coded
Fixed the persistently dead rat bug (AKA Hockey Puck rats) and the converse Resurrecting Rats bug
Updated the scent cave tutorial...again...and it probably still needs work. This has been difficult to make interesting...

What's Next: The Woodlander Update which will include several new characters and minor locations to fill out the friends and family of our hero and also make Liam a fully playable character that you can choose at the beginning.

Also, while not germane to Steam, there's a lot of effort to get the game launched on Xbox One and PS4 by Christmas...

12/21/2018 The Woodlander Update V 1.5

We’re happy to wrap up 2018 with what we’re calling The Woodlander Update. This build adds in a huge new amount of content, primarily on account of adding a whole new playable character! Now you can choose to play as Liam, or Sophia..or both if you’re really into it.

Along with making Liam playable comes close to full hours of new story, 2 never-before seen supporting characters and a major rework of several core systems and levels.

We expect this release to be the last major content update for episode one but we will still be working on optimization, bugs, and polish - so we’re not done with this episode just yet.

We hope you’ll find all the new content exciting and if you were an early adopter and haven’t been back in a few months, now would be a great time to check out all that’s been added and improved since V1.0.

What’s New:

A entirely new playable character! Liam Rivermouse.
Two new scenes, Dorabella’s Cellar and Sexton’s Hill.
Total rework of Hilltop Camp including a whole new gear upgrade system.
Added and improved conversation trees for several woodlanders like Ichabod Cornsilk, Fr. Thomas Beechwhite, and Dorabella and Belladora Ivywain.
A HUGE performance improvement, especially on rigs at the lower end
A metric bungload of bug fixes.

What’s Next:

There’s still plenty of room for optimization and performance updates, we plan to squeeze out another few FPS.
Our bug list is shrinking little by little but we have another big bug push on schedule after the first of the year.
…and primary development continues on Act II as well...

Lastly - if you're into that kind fo thing - Merry Christmas!

1/23/2019 Update and Bug Fixes

Hey There Redwallers! We recognize that the latest Woodlander Update introduced some new issues and bugs. But we've been working hard to crush the worst of these new bugs, as well as some previously reported, and are happy to announce the first in a series of fixes has gone live. Expect more updates every couple of days until we have the game ship-shape and working for you fine folks.

What's Changed?

Major Improvements on finicky rat AI especially in regards to "the Pirates" level
Major Improvements to the saving and checkpoint system
Fixed the bugs that made the final level nigh impossible to beat
General Changes to brighten the lighting across the entire game
Improvements to squeeze-hole camera's (more still to come)
Improved performance in "the Catacombs" level

What's Next?

Continued polish of Hilltop Camp level and tutorial courses
Further Improvements to lighting and post processing
Further edits to rat AI for smarter and more interesting enemy interactions
A new puzzle and route within the "Pirates" level to allow more fast paced and personalized game play

Thank you all for sticking with us and sorry for any inconvenience in game play. We invite you all to play again soon and see what changed. And as always, our lines are open for your feedback! We want to hear from you - what you like, what you didn't: together we will make this game the best it can be. On behalf of Soma Games, best wishes and a great day to you all.

1/25/2019 Update and Bug Fixes

Greetings Redwallers - Today we have another new build pushed with a number of improvements to your gaming experience!

Can now dismount zipline early without issue
Further lighting improvements
New party décor in Hilltop Camp
Sound now properly pauses in the ESC menu
New Side route in the Pirates Level
New Ichabod Model!

Coming Soon to Steam Near You:

Camera Polish in the Catacombs level
New lootables in chests
Extra Player Guidance via pop-ups
Finally Pin down that pesky Bonus-Cache-not-saving bug in the Hilltop stealth maze

Give it a look - and as always - we hope to hear from you! Feedback, comments, just to say hi ~

Oh and if you are among the players with concerns about the checkpoint system, we've heard you, and we are currently evaluating the best way to proceed. We understand that our current save system is rather punishing, and we are looking at a more comprehensive solution, but unfortunately that will take a bit more time than these bi-daily builds, but know that we are working on something to relieve your headaches

Thank you for Playing :smiley: Have a fabulous day. -Best, Soma Games

2/1/19 Update and Bug Fixes

Hello and Happy Monday, just this last Friday we pushed another Redwall build which included a number of changes to the first two levels:

The second moving rat in the stealth maze now activates and deactivates accordingly
Sidle interacts have been cut and replaced
The "Retry" test issue for the Scent and Stealth courses has been resolved! Tests properly reset and save
Score Screen no longer reports untracked scores (anything that would read 0/0)
Improved Rat Navigation (they no longer attempt to walk through water)
Some Rat's have been given torches
NEW! Can now lock rat's in rooms using collected keys in the Catacombs
Addressed Lag Spikes in the Catacombs level
Fixed buggy Cameras for Squeeze doors and the transition to the Cellar in the Catacombs level
A smoother experience for the final boss level
Addressed some animation weirdness in rescued Refugees
Updated rats who enjoyed walking through shut shutters
Fixed the issue that prevented completion of the Scent Cave when loading level from level select

Thanks for sticking with us, and we hope to continue polishing the experience. Still in progress:

Fix for a save issue that prevents completion should you choose to "retry" a tutorial trial (Note: this fix was already found and made but did not make this build push - sorry for the inconvenience)
On going re-evaluation of the save/checkpoints system
Make the Pirates level final gate openable by player as well as rats
Discussions on Possible AI overhaul
Rework of the Checkpoints/Save system
Introducing new riddle/puzzles and ways to disable rat threats

Ideas, Concerns, just wanna say Hi? We want to hear form you!

2/11/19 Update and Bug Fixes

Good morning, evening, or wherever your time zone lies ~ Soma Games has a new Redwall build push for you today. If you've been following us you'll notice our intended bi-daily builds have slowed to a once a week push as we tackle more complex bugs and system issues (such as the save system and enemy AI) . We would rather make quality updates then push new problems alongside new fixes, so please bear with us and thank you for your patience. What we have for you today:

More Reliable Scent learning that doesn't break the tutorial scent cave
Refined Lightmaps and all around better lighting (Just one more level before this topic is called complete)
Remodeled hillsides now without holes
The Pirates mid-level cutscene now able to click through
Performance boost to Catacombs level
Rats more responsive to player distractions
No more rats running off to fight their friends

3/14/19 Bug Fixes and Update

Hello fellow Woodlanders, and happy pie day! May you find a fair feast of pies both savory and sweet waiting for you at Redwall! On this day we offer a new update filled with goodies just for you! (And beware an extra evil rat or two, you know, in the spirit of March 15th) It's been a while since we've made a push but we hope you'll find it worth the wait. The brunt of our efforts have gone into Performance, Bug Fixing, a dash of extra content, and as you may have noticed, a slew of new achievements for your inner completionist :)

New Cross Level Riddle and related Lore with a special surprise inside!!
A few new Easter Eggs added (and linked to achievements)
Still fighting with Lighting - but getting better with every pass
Improved Frame Rate and Speed and a LOT less lag
Adjustments to climbing ledges for more climbing and less phasing through walls like a phantom
Rats are more efficient and meaner than ever ~ Watch yourself out there brave scouts!
Scumsnout adjusted to be a tiny LESS mean and gives you a fighting chance on the ascent to the Lighthouse
New Audio and Sound Effects on items and terrain sprinkled throughout the game
Improved Tutorial and Tooltips to help guide you through the levels (and some new hint markers to boot)
New log trap in the 'Pirates' level for the mischievous hero
More reliable NPC pathing, now with a mega speed boost - never get bored waiting on your party again
You can now MOVE while in your Wayglass or Slingshot :)

So please enjoy and we hope to hear from you!

7/5/19 Update and Bug Fixes

Hey There Folks, a big Hello from Soma Games. It's been a while since we've been able to push an update, so thank you for your patience and sticking with us. Today we are proud to announce our Release to Playstation and XBox! A lot has been tweaked in preparation for this long-awaited release, and of course, here they are for our steam audience. Changes include

Added Death Audio Narration
New Controller Controls featuring thumb-stick tilt speed control
Pick Pocketing Mission added to "the Pirates"
Re-Worked Scent System
New Wind Mechanics – Increased Performance
Scents Release Each Note at Same Time
Scent Notes Are Release with Same duration
Scent Icons Only Show in Active Scent Mode
SCENTS CAN ONLY BE LEARNED IN ACTIVE SCENT MODE
Re-Worked the Approach to make it easier to save the farm
Re-Worked Rat AI
Re-Worked Mouse AI
Performance Changes
Re-worked Camera Collision
Idle Rat Chatter Improvements

2/5/2020 MAJOR UPDATE (ok actually a re-build) of The Scout Act I

Major changes include:

Major improvements to scent system, including all-new visuals.
Huge improvements to environmental visuals across the whole game (see difference below)
More depth and operation in the dialog system.
Major rework of overall flow and goal progression.
On-screen objective markers. (example in image)
New interaction system for spatial positioning, facing sensitivity, and clarity.
Big performance improvements.
Reworked all trees and underbrush, improving both visuals and performance.
Smoothed and improved player control overall.
Global geometry polish and improvements.
Checkpoint and save system overhaul.
Plus hundreds more updates, improvements and bug fixes!

4/9/2021 Patch Notes

Redwallers and Fans of Soma Games WE HAVE NEWS!

We have taken the time over the last few months (Years ….) to redesign Act 1 to make it feel and act like the remaining acts of The Scout. This is not a “quick” updated. There were a multitude of bugs that were squashed. It would be trite to try and write them all out. The biggest change is we have fully redone, both in structure and looks, The Scouts and The Pirates (First two levels). All levels have at least at some level been updated.

General – Update all visuals and created new foliage. Worked on making the game run smoother. Adjusted some achievements to fit in the new experience.

The Scouts – Restructured the whole tutorial. Adjusted the size and instruction of the whole level. It should be easier to follow and understand.

The Pirates – Morphed into an easier to experience stealth level. Make sure you find a way to put those last three rats to sleep.

5/17/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! Our goal is to now be pushing game updates for the different Acts of The Scout every Monday, so watch out for those! Today's update is designed to fix smaller issues related to achievements and progression related bugs. The following list is not exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the important highlights.

Highlighted Fixes:

Finishing the Lighthouse awards achievements correctly
Log Traps in The Pirates save and load correctly
Obstacle Course ziplines have been changed to stop collider issues
Updated some VO lines to represent the selected character
Improved ground checks to prevent cases of falling animation playing and subsequent death

5/24/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! Our goal is to now be pushing game updates for the different Acts of The Scout every Monday, so watch out for those! Today's update is designed to fix smaller issues related to achievements and menu bugs. The following list is not exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the important highlights.

Highlighted Fixes:

Removed some tutorial documents that described features that have been removed.
Fixed the "Is it Stuffy in Here?" achievement.
Fixed a potential crash in The Pirates.
Removed unintended rampant cattail scents in The Scouts that were tanking performance.
Turned off old custom camera in Hilltop near the zipline back to the island that would cause the camera to pan out strangely.
Fixed bug where if you close the pause menu and a modal is up, the modal doesn't close with the menu.
Fixed double menu bug that would happen if you closed the pause menu from the keybinds page and reopened it.

6/1/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! Our regular Monday update was delayed by a day in order for our office to recognize the U.S. holiday of Memorial Day. Today's update is designed to fix smaller issues related to respawn and Journal menu issues. The following list is not exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the important highlights.

Highlighted Fixes:

Fixed bug where all documents would disappear if you pick up the "Letter to Coyle" in The Scouts.
Fixed saving and loading garden veggies in The Scouts.
Delayed saving a checkpoint when springing Thomas's log trap so that the rats stay dead after saving.
Changed the gate after Thomas's house to not be a lockable door.
Fixed a stone ledge popping in and out on the edge of the lake in The Scouts.

6/7/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everybody! It's another Monday update to the game! We've got quite a number of things covered in this patch which we think will help you have a much smoother experience! The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Fixed error when delivering mail that would cause all interactions in the level to break.
Fixed a missing voice-over line when playing as Sophia in Hilltop when you're given the list of ingredients to find.
Disabled the slingshot while on the first wayglass platform in Hilltop Camp so that it can't be used to rotate the player.
Fixed an area under the first wayglass platform in Hilltop Camp where you could die from falling just by walking towards a slope under the tree.
Fixed conversation with Robin where it would incorrectly show Robin's portrait while the player's character is speaking.
Fixed an area at the candle trial where you could "fall" to death between a crate and a rock.
Fixed the shimmy ledge after the candle trial so that the player can't climb up into a solid rock wall.
Made the rope ladder at the obstacle course unreachable from the ground so that you need the slide the crate.
Fixed the wind that was causing strange snow behavior in the garden at Hilltop Camp.
Made interact icons show above the vegetables in the Hilltop Camp garden.
Fixed the interact icon for a lore piece in The Pirates being hidden inside level geometry.
Active sense now turns off when aiming the slingshot, fixing an issue where you could be in active sense while not holding the active sense key.
Removed functionality for learning the rat scent from rats and the fish scent from fish barrels (these scents are known by default).

6/14/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It's time for our weekly Monday patch to the game! We made a number of adjustments this week to fix the menu and issues it was having with saving settings. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Updated Main Menu for all Acts to have the Quality settings option that were missing.
Updated Pause Menu keybinds to have the same options as the Main Menu.
Changed "Notebook" to "Journal" in the keybinds to be consistent with in-game dialogue, and changed default binding from "N" to "J" to match the new naming.
All audio sliders in the Main Menu were controlling Master Volume, but should now control what they say they do.
Control sensitivity should now set and save correctly from the Main Menu.
Fixed a bug that could cause learning scents to be tracked incorrectly.
The game doesn't immediately un-pause when exiting to the main menu, which will prevent deaths from cancelling the exit sequence.
Updated tutorial prompt in the scent candle test to say "Journal" instead of "Notebook" to be consistent with dialogue in-game.

6/23/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! The Soma offices were closed Monday and Tuesday this week for a conference, so this update is coming to you on our first reopen day of the week. This week we fixed some small bugs that appeared in Hilltop Camp and throughout the game. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Removed an old, non-functional interaction from fish barrels.
Fixed the Total scents learned counter to only include scents that can be learned, not all known scents.
Fixed objective markers from disappearing after death on the wayglass platform by adding a bit of delay so that objective markers have time to get set first.

6/28/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our regular Monday patch. Thank you for all of the bugs you've been submitting! This week we fixed some issues that were found in Hilltop Camp. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Fixed occlusion issues causing you to look through the world when peering through the squeeze hole into the Hot Springs.
Fixed the fallen balance beams in the Hilltop obstacle course disappearing at certain camera angles.
Fixed the character freezing if dialogue was started while the player was on a ladder, in a barrel, or performing some other animation.

7/6/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! The Soma office was closed on Monday in observance of the U.S. Independence Day, so we are now putting out the week's game patch. Thank you for all of the bugs you've been submitting! This week we fixed a number of dialogue bugs relating to voice-over clips and character portraits. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Fixed one of Liam's missing lines when talking to Dorabella in the Catacombs.
Fixed an incorrect portrait showing while talking to Belladora in the Catacombs when discussing Dorabella.
Fixed the amount of jam needed to unlock upgrades not being reset when starting a New Game and resetting all progress.

7/12/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our regular Monday patch. Thank you for all of the bugs you've been submitting! This week we fixed quite a few things that were newly reported and that were causing terrain clipping or crashes. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Performance tweaking for The Weret to fix framerate issues that were occurring at certain points.
You can now correctly learn one of Coyle's Likes and his Dislike in his critter page from discussing them in Hilltop. (His second Like is revealed in a subsquent Act.)
Improved the Hilltop obstacle course to help prevent phasing into the platforms when getting off some ziplines.
Corrected the name of the Starthistle Amulet in the password chest in The Weret.
Fixed a bug causing the Active Sense effect to not activate when you had the Starthistle Amulet.
Fixed the player camera changing positions when exiting Active Sense when you had the Starthistle Amulet.
Fixed a null error that would prevent the game from loading into levels.
Pushable crates now check for things behind you when you are moving similar to other crate types, so no more clipping into walls.
Fixed an error from old save data that was possibly causing documents to disappear from the Documents tab in the Journal.
Added null checks to areas where null reference errors were found.

7/19/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our regular Monday patch! There were some technical issues with Steam updating our build, so this may not appear until Tuesday. We fixed a ton of items for Act 1 this week, so we hope you enjoy the removal of many typos, missing voices, and leftover documents! The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Fixed various text and voiceover errors for Liam and Sophia in The Scouts level when talking to different characters.
Added a new prompt explaining the shortcut for opening the Objectives when the Journal is received in The Scouts.
Stopped adding old, out of date tutorial documents to the player's inventory at the beginning of The Scouts.
Made the streams of scent from the vegetables in the Hilltop garden more distinct from one another.
Added wind visuals to the vent near the end of the Hilltop Caverns in The Scouts.
Spelling and punctuation fixes in the subtitles for the closing cutscene of The Scouts.
Spelling and punctuation fixes in the cinematic for The Weret.
Removed an old, outdated Rosemary herb from behind Friar Thomas's house that was emitting a scent in The Pirates.
Removed out of date tutorial documents from The Catacombs.
Updated the tallied Lore total to 40 to reflect newly removed documents.
Fixed a code issue preventing the gold wayglass ring from unlocking.
Known scents are now saved in the same way as Documents, Jam, etc. This means that the scents that are known will only be reset when resetting all progress while starting a new game. (Instead of resetting each time a level is reloaded from the Level Select.)

7/26/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our regular Monday patch. Thank you for all of the bugs and feedback you have been providing! You spoke, and we listened, so we have reworked the controls for gamepad and some of the slightly confusing elements in the tutorial level! The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was updated, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Updated the gamepad controls! You now walk by default, can sprint while holding the Right Trigger, scent while holding the Right Bumper, and can toggle Sprinting on and off with the left thumbstick.
Added the "I Spy" achievement to the game, rewarded for interacting with all the Points of Interest that are findable with the wayglass. This achievement tracks your progress, which should help in determining how close you are to unlocking the golden wayglass rim.
Updated the way scents were being blown in the Hilltop Camp garden during the quest to collect beets, making it easier to identify which scent is coming from which vegetable.
Revamped the Hilltop Camp zipline obstacle course to make the path of progression more obvious. Fences have been added to the platforms, the locks have been moved on the shootable planks, and more!
Added another slingshot-locked log to the Hilltop Caverns to get players more used to shooting locks in that way.
Removed a stray cattail scent in The Pirates that was acting as a death trap, then updated the Scent total for that level.
Fixed a spelling error in first objective in The Scouts.
Fixed several missing or quiet VO lines when talking to Coyle and Robin in The Scouts.
Removed placeholder dialogue when marking jam containers from a wayglass cairn.
Fixed some text to match VO at the beginning of The Weret.
Fixed the Journal showing that there is only one learnable scent in The Weret until part way through the level (there are two).
Fixed missing VO lines when you rescue mice in Catacombs.
Added missing VO line when interacting with Balaam's grave.
Fixed particle effects showing up on wreaths in The Pirates.
Fixed some text to match VO at the beginning of The Weret.
Fixed the Journal showing that there is only one learnable scent in The Weret until part way through the level (there are two).

8/2/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our regular Monday patch. Thank you for all of the bugs and feedback you have been providing!

One of the biggest pieces of feedback we have heard from you since the beginning is your desire for a better camera. Therefore, this week we have made some huge changes to how your camera moves! We've redesigned it from the ground up to feel better when using, "less clunky", and to work better when you're pressed up against walls. Try it out and let us know what you think!

Additionally, as a bonus we have fixed an issue with the scent tracking system, hopefully for the last time. The numbers in the Journal for scents learned should be more reliably accurate now.

8/9/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our regular Monday patch. Thank you for all of the bugs and feedback you have been providing! Most of our programmers had to be redirected to work on bugs that were arising in a new product we are launching soon, and thus only a few changes to The Scout were able to be squeezed in this week. Don't worry, this isn't permanent! The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was updated, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Fixed players getting stuck in the obstacle course platforms when getting off of ziplines.
Fixed an issue where the player could interact with certain objects like Flour Barrels while in Active Sense if they had obtained the Starthistle Amulet.

8/16/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our regular Monday patch. Thank you for all of the bugs and feedback you have been providing! This week we fixed some minor issues found throughout the game that all helped make the game feel "buggy" even if none of the issues on their own were super egregious. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was updated, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Removed the ability to be able to talk to refugees after they begin entering a dumbwaiter.
Fixed an animation issue when interacting with some push crates while airborne.
Raised where the player camera focuses so the player character's body takes up less of the screen at certain camera angles.
Fixed player alignment with push crates so the player cannot be performing the pushing animation from weird angles.
Fixed problems that could occur when using Active Sense when entering a barrel.
Fixed a bug causing the player to continue the speaking animation after dialog ends when earning a jacket upgrade.
Fixed the interact paws for vegetables in the Hilltop Camp garden not disappearing after gathering all of the soup ingredients.
Fully removed the ability to be able to bring up the slingshot in The Lighthouse after loading a checkpoint.
Fixed the "Rat Tooth" and "Chili Pepper" texts so they have a space in between the words.

8/24/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our beginning of the week patch. Thank you for all of the bugs and feedback you have been providing! This week we fixed some minor issues found throughout the game that all helped make the game feel "buggy" even if none of the issues on their own were super egregious. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was updated, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Fixed a spot where you could get stuck at the beginning of The Scouts.
Fixed some specific jam baskets that were still getting the player stuck in the "speaking" state when the player received the Silver Scout Jacket *upgrade.
Fixed an issue where the text on the pause menu would disappear and the game would unpause when trying to pause the game as it fades back in after loading a checkpoint.
Fixed the Scents tab from the Journal showing briefly during the startup screens.

8/30/2021 Release Notes Act 1

Hello everyone! It is time for our regular Monday patch. Thank you for all of the bugs you've been submitting! This week we fixed some issues found related to loading the game. The following list is not necessarily exhaustive of everything that was fixed, just the items we decided to highlight.

Highlighted Fixes:

Made old tutorial documents (which you can't obtain anymore) get ignored when loading save data, which will help fix the incorrect document count for those players with older save data.
Fixed a bug where the log traps in The Pirates could stay open when loading a checkpoint from before when they were opened.
Fixed an issue where rats sometimes wouldn't return to what they were doing if a checkpoint was saved before a rat was knocked out and then loaded after the rat was knocked out.

12/07/2021 Patch Notes

We are releasing a new build with a lot of bug fixes. This includes both Art and Programming fixes. Thank you for your continued support.

2/18/2022 Quick Hot Fix

Hi all!

We have some exciting things in the works for The Scout, but today we just wanted to put out a quick hotfix to address some new bugs that were preventing players from finishing tasks in some levels. Specifically, this patch fixes a broken interaction with the chili pepper scent in the Hilltop Caverns and a set of barrels that were able to trap players in the Catacombs.

Keep watching out for exciting news in the future! Until then, happy playing!

08/24/2022 Patch Notes

Eulalia Redwall Fans and initiate Scouts! Act 2 is going to be 30% off this week, making it the perfect time to continue your journey to the Winsome Wraith and onward to the Abbey. Face brutish pirates, impress a verbose owl, and befriend a brave little mole on your quest to save the mouse you love.

Already a veteran Scout? Share the experience with a friend. The more Scouts the merrier. We could all use a little Christmas in August.

In addition, we have released a preliminary update to Act 1 with some bugs addressed that you all have noticed!

Here is the list of fixes:

Fixed incorrect total Lore count for The Scouts. There are 15 Lore items.
Removed some visual artifacts in Hilltop Camp
Fixed a camera bug during the wind-flag trial in the Hilltop Caverns.
Fixed missing text in the subtitles for The Catacombs.
Fixed being able to pull out the slingshot and walk onto balance beams, which would cause players to get temporarily stuck in a first-person view.
Fixed some sillohuette outlines not appearing in front of other graphics when in Active Sense.
Fixed refugees climbing into the dumbwaiter again upon respawning.
Fixed missing dialogue when earning the wayglass upgrade.
Fixed missing audio when walking across snowy grass in the game.

09/09/2022 Patch Notes

Hello, everyone! We will soon be announcing an exciting upcoming product related to The Scout! As we prepare for the reveal, we are also fixing bugs to clean up many of the issues you all have noticed in the original games! Today we have a few of those fixes pushed live to you. Here are some of the highlights from today's patch:

Fixed a lore item in one of the tents in The Scouts not being collectable.
Fixed a lore item in Hilltop camp which did not appear visible and instead appeared as a lamp.
Fixed a checkpoint not firing properly in The Approach when climbing under a fence.
Changed the verbage of one line from "zipline course" to "obstacle course" to create consistency.
Fixed a number of typos that appeared in dialogue throughout the game.
Added consistent capitalization across objective pop-ups and journal entries that appear in the game.
Added clarification when keybinding the right versus left Shift keys and Control keys.

10/13/2022 Patch Notes

Hey everyone! To make sure we create the best Redwall game we can put out there, we have another set of bug fixes for you!

If you are interested in testing our games and getting free rewards for it, we would love to have you join at https://www.somabugs.com/bugs/join

Highlighted fixes for this patch:

Fixed a variety of typos throughout the game.
Added labels to indicate who is speaking throughout all of the dialogue lines in the introduction cutscene to the game.
Updated the objective marker pointing to the obstacle course so that it disappears when entering the obstacle course and reappears if the player leaves before completing the objective in Hilltop Camp.
Fixed the optional side quest in Hilltop Camp so that the player can collect the mail for Coyle again even if they die.
Removed a leftover collectable from an earlier version of the game in The Pirates.
Fixed a number of instances in which certain pieces of audio would not obey the volume settings set by the player.
Fixed a spot in The Pirates where walking past a certain location would cause much of the map to briefly disappear.
Ensured that audio now plays from jam baskets when the player collects them in The Catacombs.

11/08/2022 Bug fixes and new Scout game

Hi everyone! We are very excited to announce that Soma is officially developing a new Redwall project, The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout - Encore Edition! This upcoming version of The Scout will include all three Acts combined into one game, along with a variety of new content, improved controls, and other quality of life updates that players have requested over the years!

In the meantime, we are committed to making sure that everyone who own original copies of The Scout acts have as bug-free of an experience as possible, so we will be continuing to roll out bug fixes here until we have smashed as many as possible! In lieu of that, we have a hefty bug fix update for you today! Here are some of the highlights:

Fixed a number of typos in dialogue and cutscenes across all levels.
Adjusted a few lore items which were too hard to read to make them more legible.
Fixed a number of rocks in the river in Hilltop Camp that would kill you if you were standing on them.
Fixed a variety of ways to get out of bounds in Hilltop Camp.
Solved a sharp edge in Hilltop Camp on the way to the Obstacle Course that would catch players and stop their movement.
Fixed a dialogue line from Captain Robin in Hilltop Camp which overflowed its dialogue box.
Fixed a few floating trees in The Pirates.
Added some additional snow to the Friar's house steps in The Pirates.
Fixed some dirt floating slightly above the bridge in The Pirates.
Removed a lingering black decal floating in The Catacombs.

01/27/2023 Patch Notes

Hello, everyone! We've got a massive bugfix update for you in The Scout! Check out the updates relevant to Act 1 in the list below!

The Scouts

Blocked the majority of ways used to escape out of bounds in Hilltop Camp.
Fixed being killed by water when standing on dry land in Hilltop Camp.
Fixed incorrect music playing without stopping in The Scouts after reloading a checkpoint.
Fixed Captain Robin's dialogue being cut off in its text box in Hilltop Camp.
Fixed the rug in the Hilltop Camp hot springs stopping player movement.
Adjusted tree branches in the Hilltop Camp obstacle course.
Stopped a bottle from floating in the Hilltop Camp obstacle course.
Prevented the player from clipping into the ground when mounting ladders in the Hilltop Camp obstacle course.
Made the door leading to Hilltop Caverns appear properly dark behind it.
Stopped players from being able to walk through doorframes in Hilltop Cavern.
Added additional outdoor rocks & foliage to better direct player movement.
Fixed dialogue mismatching the written text when speaking to some characters in The Scouts.
Fixed punctuation and capitalization in cutscenes across the game.
Fixed instances of dialogue and subtitles not matching up in cutscenes across the game.

The Pirates

Added name identifiers to the captions of the ending cutscene for The Scouts level.
Adjusted a rat's voice to obey player volume sliders.
Attached audio to the lines Sophia says around the Mr. Ryemaid's grave.
Added collision to assets around the Friar's house so the player can no longer walk through certain objects.
Blocked various ways to get out of the map by the Friar's house.
Added collision so the player can no longer walk into bushes around the church.
Fixed levitating crates, trees, and objects.
Fixed a barrel that clipped through a haystack at the start of the stealth maze.
Better matched dialogue text to voice lines in The Pirates.
Fixed some floating snow in multiple places in The Pirates.
Repaired some floating trees in The Pirates.

The Catacombs

Fixed broken lighting on objects in final room of The Catacombs.
Fixed instances of the world disappearing that occurred when standing inside a mural alcove.
Removed a floating smoke billow in The Catacombs.
Fixed doors so that they require keys to be found and the level can be progressed as intended, rather than all doors being unlocked from the start.
Fixed sound so that it plays when re-entering the level from the main menu.
Adjusted Pickerel's Riddle lore visually for better readability.

The Wearet

Added names to indicate who is speaking in the opening cutscene of The Wearet.
Corrected spelling of "The Wearet" in the main menu level selection.
Updated Sophia and Liam's character portraits from neutral to the appropriate emotions for the opening conversation in The Wearet.

The Lighthouse

Corrected the spelling of "unconscious" in the opening cutscene of The Lighthouse.
Covered gap in water.

09/15/2023 Patch Notes

Hi, everybody! We’ve got some news to share. But first, thanks for waiting for this update—this one includes a lot of requested fixes and we really feel the gameplay has been improved by this overhaul of bugs. A special thanks to our game testers for their contributions!

This is very likely the final update to our Acts 1-3 of The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout. As you may know, we’re thrilled to be releasing The Scout Anthology in the coming months, and in lieu of this updated edition, these separate acts of The Scout will be retiring from Steam.

We’re so grateful to everyone who purchased these individual acts; and as part of that thank you, our programmers, artists, and testers worked on getting this massive final batch of bug fixes out to you. We appreciate you, and we hope we’ll see you again for The Scout Anthology this holiday season!

General

Improved the centering and resolution of the pause screen.
Ensured journal scrolling works with all intended methods.

The Scouts

Grounded a floating lantern.
Improved camera angles around stalactites.
Covered gaps in vine/bush textures.
Prevented certain walls from being walked through and getting the player stuck.
Added guiding golden Paws of Martin to scramble walls that were missing them.
Added object-marking option to jam basket from the topmost cairn.
Prevented players from leaving the intended play area.
Added a rope where it was missing.
Improved interact-prompt placement.
Improved lighting.
Stopped player-character from being blocked by invisible walls, and from floating.
Improved volume levels.
Elevated character walking level so that player doesn’t sink into the floor in the tents by Fraybie/Tussa.
Re-shaped ivy masses around camp.
Stopped ropes from floating in the obstacle course.
Ensured the player could interact with the lighthouse through the cairn wayglass.
Fixed incorrect cinematic zooms.
Prevented the player from seeing Sophia’s headband through the wayglass.
Corrected grammar/text errors in cutscenes.
Added collision to objects.
Made a crate pushable from all sides in case it gets flipped.
Corrected a save point so that respawning by the rat doors doesn’t block you from continuing.
Removed floating snow from the bridge.
Prevented player-character from dying in obstacle course platform gaps.
Rotated a tree that was obstructing the zipline path.
Removed floating rope that would remain after respawn.
Removed a problematic cairn in the obstacle course.
Blocked routes out of the intended play area.
Ensured lotus icon directions were correct throughout cave trials.
Corrected action prompt in rat-door room.
Added character names in the end cutscene to indicate who is speaking.
Cleared paths with rough terrain.
Corrected stalactite behavior.
Removed two ways to get into the feast in Hilltop Camp.
Adjusted sound levels for end cutscene.
Prevented rope pulley from spawning incorrectly.

The Pirates

Improved lighting.
Covered visible seams and sharp edges.
Improved alignment of crawling-under-fence animation.
Grounded floating objects.
Prevented player from walking through objects.
Fixed routes to farmhouse cairn.
Added collision to a crate so you can’t walk through it.
Added sound to snowy-grass textures.
Fixed save point during sneaking section.
Reverted the river to its boundaries.
Ensured Friar Thomas gets a lotus quest marker above him.
Ensured rats move smoothly across the bridge without getting stuck.

The Catacombs

Repaired visible seams.
Prevented player-character from getting stuck behind stacks of books.
Stopped objects from jittering in the dibbuns’ room.
Relocated the tapestries back to their intended locations instead of their origin point.
Added guiding golden Paws of Martin to the beginning scramble wall.
Ensured character dialogue remains uninterrupted.
Improved ladder accessibility by adding some crates to get to it.

The Wearet

Repaired stretched textures.
Added missing jam collection sound.
Fixed the level’s loading screen spelling.
Cleared assets that were blocking a squeezehole view.
Fixed pages in the Journal not behaving correctly with the mouse wheel scrollbar.

The Lighthouse

Corrected player prompt for clarity after riding the cart.
Prevented blockades from reacting incorrectly to Scumsnout.