Cats and Dogs Update Out Now | Revamped Driving Handling and Physics
Hello ranchers,
We have a big update for you today which adds cats and dogs as well as revamped driving steering and physics! Thank you for your patience, and we can't wait to hear what you think of the update!
Cats and Dogs
A Dachshund, a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd are now available to purchase from the general store! You can get these dogs to follow you, and even get them to fetch items for you. Your furry doggo friends will even help defend you from predators such as wolves and bears, and revive you when unconscious! Make sure to build a dog house for your pooch to rest in.
We've also added four different colour cats you can purchase in the general store. All pets can be named by buying a collar from the general store, which can also be customised with different colours using paint. Make sure to feed your four legged friends and give them enough water! (And give them plenty of pets on the head too!)
Driving Handling and Physics
We've heard loud and clear from you that our driving handling and physics needed attention, so we've given them an overhaul. Tweaks have been made to improve stability and drivability for all vehicles and trailers - let us know what you think of the new handling!
Full Patch Notes
Cats and Dogs - Cats and dogs have been added to the game - Cats can be purchased in 4 colours - Cats can be picked up and petted - 3 breeds of dogs can be purchased - Dogs can be commanded to follow by pressing the whistle key (H) - While following, dogs will protect the player they are following from aggressive animals - While following, dogs can be commanded to fetch an item by looking at the item and pressing the whistle key (H) - Dogs will sit in passenger seats in cars when owner gets it (takes up a seat which can no longer be used by a player) - Dog house has been added to the blueprint book (In coop tab) - Dogs can revive a player if they are following a player when they are unconscious - Pet collars added to the store which can be used to name your pets and can be painted different colours using paint - Pet food added to the store - Pet food bowl added to store, can be used to feed pets with water and food
New - Added compact ladder item to help people reach hard to get to areas - Wolves, deer, and bears now have idle animations for sitting and resting - Livestock now not only walk and stand, but can also sit and lie down
Fixes and Changes - Changed parameters of all vehicles and trailers, improving stability and drivability - Fixed issues with character shadows - Optimised vehicle models - Added engine sounds to town traffic - Town traffic is now faster - Fixed radio - Fixed spawning issues with vehicle trailer at hardware store
If you're wondering what's next for Ranch Sim, make sure to read our latest roadmap announcement.
Ranch Sim is 55% Off in the Excalibur Games Publisher Sale
Ranch Simulator is currently available at 55% off, our biggest Steam discount to date, as part of the Excalibur Games Publisher Sale!
Make sure to check out this limited time discount on the sale page.
First Half of 2024 Roadmap Revealed
Hello, and welcome to our first news update of the year!
We're excited to reveal what we've got planned for the first half of 2024.
Coming Soon: Cats and Dogs Update Next Up: Quality of Life Update Followed by: Horse and Tree Update
First up is the Cats and Dogs Update, adding the much-anticipated furry friends to your ranch. We're also focusing on improvements to driving and steering, with alterations to suspension, centres of gravity and more. Last but not least, there will be further optimisations, bug fixes and improvements included in this update.
Then, we'll be moving onto the Quality of Life Update - this will focus on community requested features which make playing the game a smoother experience. We'll be adding an autosave feature, and introducing the option to save and quit without the need to go to a bed and sleep in-game. You can also expect to be able to customise the colour of your coolers so you can transport your produce in style, plus light switches.
Following that, we'll move onto the next update: we've heard you - you want to be able to chop more trees down! So we will be introducing a tree growth mechanic, as well as a trailer to transport logs, in the third planned update. We'll also be adding horse breeding.
We can't wait to get these updates into your hands! Keep an eye out for news on update releases and as always, keep the feedback coming on the Steam forums and our Discord.
Happy ranching!
Thanks for a Great 2023!
Hey ranchers,
As 2023 comes to a close, we wanted to say a big thank you for playing... and offer a little sneak peek at the highly anticipated cats and dogs update!
It's been another fantastic year for Ranch Sim, with a successful 1.0 launch back in November - and none of that would have been possible without you all, our community! We can't overstate how much we appreciate you all playing the game, sharing your excitement, offering feedback, reporting bugs and posting your screenshots and videos. So... thanks for being you!
And we want to say a special thank you to our team of community mods, the Ranch Sim 'Sheriffs', who help to keep the community fun, welcoming and friendly!
Coming Early 2024
In early 2024 we'll be releasing the much requested cats and dogs update, as well as more bug fixes and improvements based on community feedback.
We know that dogs and cats are highly anticipated by the community, so we're excited to offer you a new sneak peek at some of the little friends available in the upcoming update.
Thanks again, and we wish you all a happy holidays and a fantastic new year!
See you in 2024. The Ranch Sim Team
Hotfix - 28th November 2023
Fixed an issue related to multiplayer cross play between Epic and Steam platforms
Hotfix Out Now + Nominate Ranch Sim in the Steam Awards!
Hey ranchers,
We've just released a hotfix which includes optimisation improvements and adds FSR tech to the game to help those of you on AMD cards and lower spec machines. We are also making adjustments to the weather to reduce the chance of rain, plus a handful of other fixes.
Fixes Removed "Early Access Version" label Fixed disable lightning setting Fixed create account screen The honey frame was incorrectly positioned in the female character's hands
Changes FSR 2.0 added (DLSS for non-NVIDIA/Old GPUs) Reduced bad weather probability (rain, fog, storm, lightning, snow) Tree textures slightly reduced Optimized render distance for trees and stones that are not visible from afar
Steam Awards
As you've likely seen by now, the Steam Awards are back! This is your chance to vote for all of your favourite games from the past year in various categories. While you are free to nominate Ranch Sim for any category you see fit, we're going for the Sit Back and Relax award.
We'd be delighted to receive your vote! And only mildly upset if we don't ;)
Thanks, The Ranch Sim Team
Ranch Sim - Quick Status Update!
Hello ranchers,
First of all, we want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of you for making Ranch Sim's 1.0 launch a great one! It's been amazing to see so many of you playing and offering feedback.
The game may be at 1.0, but this is not the end! We have lots more bug fixes, optimisation and content updates to come.
First Post-Launch Patch in Development
We just wanted to offer you a quick status update and let you know that work on the first post-launch hotfix is well underway. We're carefully reading all of your feedback, suggestions and bug reports and replying to what we can. Keep an eye out for more news soon!
What About Content Updates?
As previously announced, the first post-launch content update will be the pets update, introducing cats and dogs! Steam achievements are also on the way. Keep an eye out for news on these.
In the new year we'll reveal our post-launch roadmap. As always, we want to hear your thoughts and suggestions - make sure to join the Discord and let us know what you'd like to see added!
Thanks, The Ranch Sim Team
Ranch Simulator v1.0 Out Now! | Unreal Engine 5 Update Now Available
Hello ranchers,
We're excited to announce that Ranch Sim's huge Unreal Engine 5 update is out now, delivering enhanced visuals, lighting, environments, oil production and much more! This also marks the end of our Early Access period. While this is an exciting milestone it is certainly not the end - we have plenty more to come as we will be continuing to support the game after launch including with free updates and patches.
Unreal Engine 5 Update - Now Available for Everyone
This update features...
Enriched visuals (environments, lighting and more)
Optimisation improvements
New animal models
New animations
Oil production
New vehicle physics
And more
We want to offer a special thanks to those of you who played the unstable versions of this update and helped to test it!
Save Compatibility
We know that your ranch progress is important to you, so we want to be as clear as possible regarding save wipes. Please be aware that your old saves from the previous Unreal Engine 4 version of the game will not work with the new Unreal Engine 5 version. (And if you have played an unstable version of the UE5 update your save may not work with the public version of the update)
Now that we have hit v1.0, we foresee no further save wipes.
Unreal Engine 4 Version Still Available to Play
While we strongly encourage everyone to play the new and improved UE5 version of Ranch Sim, we also wanted to offer you the option of sticking to the old UE4 version and continuing to play with your existing saves.
Please be aware that all future Ranch Sim updates and patches will only be released for the UE5 version of the game. In addition, to play multiplayer with others, all players will need to be on the same branch (e.g. if you are playing the UE4 version you will not be able to play online with a friend who is playing the UE5 version).
To access the old UE4 version of the game, you will need to switch to the Unreal Engine 4 branch.
To access the UE4 branch, do the following: - Load up Steam and head to your Library - Right click on Ranch Simulator and then select ‘Properties’ - Head to the Beta tab and in the drop down select ‘unreal_engine_4_branch’ (no password needed) - This will then download the old UE4 version for you
What's to Come?
We will be continuing to support the game after launch including with free updates and patches - focusing on bug fixes, quality of life improvements and optimisation. Do keep the feedback coming and let us know how you're getting on!
The first post-launch content update we will release is the much requested pets update! Keep an eye out for news on your fluffy friends - we'll be adding cats and dogs to the game.
We can also confirm that Steam achievements are on the way!
In the new year we'll reveal our post-launch roadmap. As always, we want to hear your thoughts and suggestions - make sure to join the Discord and let us know what you'd like to see added!
Celebrate v1.0 Launch With our Biggest Discount Yet
If you've been considering gifting a copy of Ranch Sim to a friend so you can take on the rancher's life together, now's a fantastic time to do it. We're celebrating the game's v1.0 launch with our biggest discount yet.
Lumen global lighting system added (option for high end PCs. Increases GPU resource consumption, recommended to be used in conjunction with DLSS)
Improved version of the game world, using all the features of the new engine
New TSR anti-aliasing system
New improved wolf model and animations
New improved models and animations of roosters and chicks
Ability to skip all introductory quests at the start of the game
Ability to build an oil rig for additional passive income
Improved performance with a large number of animals
Now you can destroy the tent
Added new horse locomotion with additional animations and movements
Full controller support (key remapping for controllers coming soon)
Reworked animations
New car physics
The garage and old barn are now completely destructible
New items icons in the store
Increased cooler capacity
Sound from rain and wind is now muffled indoors
Leaves flying in the air in a strong wind
Thank you!
Lastly, we just wanted to say a massive thank you to every single one of you who have supported us by purchasing Ranch Sim in Early Access. It sounds cliché, but we genuinely couldn't have done any of this without you - without your passion, feedback, suggestions, bug reports and everything else.
We hope you enjoy the UE5 update and are looking forward to our post-launch updates!
Thanks, The Ranch Sim Team
Unstable Update - 1.01
Fixes
Fixed an issue where players would get launched away from their vehicles when exiting them.
Unstable Update - 1.0
Fixes
Vehicles no longer spin or react strangely when items or animals are placed in them
