Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch (Switch): all the updates (latest: Ver. 1.1.6)

Additions

• Added a rolling animation: horses in your pastures will occasionally lay down and roll on their backs. This has no impact on gameplay, we just think it’s super cute!
• Added blueprints for some missing decoration items (Well variations, Serene Zen Garden) in chests across the game world.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a crash that could occur during the Crater Lake race.
• Fixed crashes that could occur during Lilli’s Low Point, Party Time and An Unusual Visit missions.
• Fixed special characters showing up in breeding stable mails
• Fixed an issue where the horse would sometimes play a shaking animation in the middle of races under certain conditions
• Fixed an issue where horses were kept after selling them and earning fame.
• Fixed an issue where buildings from the estate could disappear.
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to mount the rival horse during the Reconciliation mission.
• DLC info banner now opens automatically when first opening the game. After that, you can still open it from the main menu.
• Fixed a bug with the Arabian tack sets where reins would sometimes float behind the horse’s foreleg when dismounted.
• Fixed an issue with the Vertigo trait mission where some places in the game would negatively impact the horse but not count towards quest progression.
• Fixed an issue where Limited Edition DLC contents Noble Armor, Dark Armor and Elegant/Celtic Armor were missing in Tack Shed
• Fixed an issue that prevents players from dismounting the horse in some cases.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when inspecting horses in the pasture or breeding stable.
• Fixed an issue where the player could not give any input to the character after triggering mount and feed actions at the same time.
• Fixed an issue where the HUD will disappear and the camera will not work as intended after selecting ‘Start Race’ and ‘Start Race (No Rival Preview’ at the same time.
• Fixed crashes that could occur randomly throughout the gameplay.
• Fixed a collision issue that prevents player from climbing the stairs to reach the top of the pirate ship at the Pirate Cove.
• Fixed an issue where the horse remains in leashed state when the player leashes the horse at the stable and resets to the estate.
• Fixed crashes that could occur while inspecting DLC horses.
• Fixed an issue where the collision is ignored during jumps, leading the character to go out of the world area.
• Fixed crashes that could occur when the player quits the game to main menu after leashing the horse.

• Additional notes: none.
• Source: Microids

• Additional notes: none.
• Source: Microids (Steam)

Major Improvements

Several improvements to performance optimization and resolution scaling. What this means for players is reduced ‘blurriness’ and fewer hitches/lags when moving through the world. This will be most noticeable on Nintendo Switch, but may improve the experience on other platforms as well.

Extended Camera Settings

You now have several more options to customize your camera behavior.

• Locked Camera Mode
  • Means the camera stays behind horse and rider and you have to press the camera toggle button (Middle Mouse Button or Period on PC) to move the camera freely. (This is a new, simplified mode!)
• Free Camera Mode
  • Means that you can always move the camera with your mouse. The camera toggle button then simply re-centers the camera behind you, but you can always move it again. (This is how it’s been working so far!)
• Simple vs Dynamic Camera Movement
  • Determines how the camera moves and pivots. Select “Dynamic” for the camera to behave as it has been so far, or switch to “Simple” if you’re looking for a more immediate response that is always centered on the player. You can set this separately for the movement on foot and on horseback.
• Auto-Reset Camera
  • Is a toggle that determines if your camera occasionally resets behind you. Disable this if you always want full control over the camera.

Try the different settings to find the experience that works best for you!

Fast Travel between Home Bases

You can now unlock fast travel between the Emerald Estate and your Homesteads!

• Fast travel to a home base
  • You need to visit it on foot/horseback first and find a ticket that unlocks the location for fast travel.
• Hot-air balloons
  • Keep an eye out for the hot-air balloons on each of the bases. The tickets can be found nearby. Interact with the balloon to travel.

Balancing Adjustment

We’ve added more Sandcastles in the world and increased the number of peppermints you get from Esmee for a favor point.

Bugfixes

• Collision triggers
  • Fixed a bug where all collision triggers (resource collecting, race checkpoints) would stop working.
• Lucha Libre tack set
  • Fixed the availability of the “Lucha Libre” tack set. The set can now be found as intended by the Chasms race near Withers’ Ridge.
• Horse Walker blue print
  • Fixed the availability of the “Horse Walker” blue print: The blueprint is now a mission reward for the “Horse Expertise” side mission. If you’ve already completed this mission, the Horse Walker should be buildable as soon as you update the game to version 1.1.4.
• Traits issues
  • Fixed issues with the Out of Shape, Lazy Jumper and Lazy Sprinter traits: These traits can now be trained/improved correctly and should not return once the relevant training mission has been completed.
• Fear-related Trait Missions
  • Fixed multiple issues with fear-related Trait Missions: Traits like Fear/Uneasy in the Dark and Fear of/Uneasy with Heights no longer return once the relevant training mission has been completed.
• Trophy Cabinet
  • Fixed an issue where the trophy cabinet would become empty when rebuilding the player home.
• Localization issues
  • Fixed minor localization issues, such as horse parentage getting displayed the wrong way around in the horse’s history.

• Additional notes: none.
• Source: Microids

• Fixed a critical bug where the game would stop saving eventually. With the patch, your autosave should work as usual again if it previously stopped saving. Unfortunately, we cannot restore completely corrupted save files, but the patch will greatly reduce the chance of save game corruption in the future.
• The save game changes also fix decoration slots within building slots (including obstacles in riding hall and riding space). These were previously not saved correctly. It’s possible that some decorations need to be rebuilt after the patch, but they will be saved correctly from now on.
• Fixed a bug where gene test results would not be cleared properly when switching horses, and some horses would show the wrong genes as a result.
• Fixed gene testing for leg markings. Note that unfortunately some issues with the face markings remain. Also note that in some cases the Tobiano gene will cause more white leg markings than what the Markings section displays.
• Gene testing now displays the full pattern string, including dominant and recessive genes.
• Fixed a bug where horses with the “Food Lover” trait would be much slower than intended.
• Fixed a bug where wild horses would not respawn properly after resting. Note that sometimes, the same horse may reappear multiple times after being scared off.
• Fixed a bug where a chest would spawn a small Gazebo instead of the Gazebo blueprint.
• Fixed a bug where some quest horses would be ‘mixed warmblood’ instead of purebred Selle Français. This fix will only affect new saves, not horses that were already caught/found.
• Fixed a bug where the player would fall through the ground if they chose “Reset to Estate” while leading their horse.
• Fixed the button mapping for the Rename Horse option so you can do it without using the touchscreen.
• Removed pink face markings that were wrongly displayed on the horses.
• Fixed that some areas would not count properly towards completing “Vertigo” or “Afraid of the Dark” trait missions.
• Fixed that wild horses would sometimes have both “Vertigo” and “Uneasy with Heights” (or: both “Afraid in the Dark” and “Uneasy in the Dark”) traits and that the relevant trait mission couldn’t be completed as a result. Unfortunately, further issues with some traits not getting removed after completing the missions (Out of Shape, Lazy Jumper, Lazy Sprinter) are still being investigated. If you have this problem, please consider sending us your save file!

• Additional notes: none.
• Source: Microids