Version 3.85 beta released

The time has come for yet another UnReal World version to go live as version 3.85 beta is hereby now released. Being in beta phase it's available as a beta branch you need to opt-into at your Steam Library. This will be explained below. In few weeks time, if no showstoppers are found, we can expect a stable release.

With this version we've now accomplished featuring the vast majority of crafting as pausable tasks. Now only a few item categories still remain to be done on our way to comprehensive pausable crafting. The other most notable additions in version 3.85 are also linked to crafting. One to mention is the shingles - a new type of light source with its unique usage mechanics. Secondly, there's now tree species property for big trunks and assorted timber products which affects to what type of wood is needed/preferred for crafting this or that. You can find full changelog at the end of this post, and a closer look at the few mentioned features with screenshots here.

Tree species property for big trunks and assorted timber products

Upon felling big trees the tree species now gets derived into the produced tree trunk. The basic timber products made of big trunks eg. blocks and boards will now start to inherit the tree species resulting in eg. "pine boards" or "block of birch wood". And so the tree type will now start to affect to what type of wood is needed/preferred for crafting this or that.

Here our character has felled big spruce, pine and birch trees and they appear on the ground like this.

To give a few examples birch tree is preferred for making wooden shovels, cups and bowls. For wood slats pine is preferred, and shingles need to be made exclusively from blocks of pine. For crafting a paddle spruce is required. And the bows are best made out of pine or birch.

The tree species preference is indicated within the material and tool selection dialog the same way as all the other preferences. Here's how it goes when longbow crafting is initiated - pine or birch board is the preferred raw material.

Shingles - a new, traditional light source with new game mechanics

Shingles are thin and flat oblong pieces of pine wood which were burnt to produce light - especially for lighting up houses during the dark time of the year. Shingles are lit by using [a]pply command. Once a shingle is burning you can drop and set it wherever the light is needed, or carry it with you. One shingle burns for about 30 minutes in the game so for continuous lighting a new one needs to be lit before the previous one fades out. This sort of shingle replacement is done automatically if your character, or companion, is located beside the burning shingle and there's a stack of new shingles nearby on the ground. The character then automatically replaces and lights a new shingle when necessary, and you don't need to worry about maintaining the lighting even if the task you were doing would take a long time.

There are two shingles being burnt to light up a cottage in this Koivulais settlement. Stack of reserve shingles lays on the floor and a close by player character, their companion or the villagers might automatically set a new shingle burning if need be.

How to opt-into 3.85 (beta)

• First, quit the game if you were playing it.

• Right-click UnReal World in your Steam Library,