The latest update for Valheim, Patch 0.150.3, recently went live, introducing a terrain modification system, swamp draugr spawn fixes, and a number of other noteworthy tweaks and changes. Since the survival title's launch back in February, developer Iron Gate Studios has worked tirelessly to improve upon the experience with bug fixes and quality of life updates.
In fact, the studio's post-launch content plans for Valheim have taken a backseat, as the team focuses its efforts on ironing out the most egregious issues. Such a decision came to pass due to the unexpected popularity of the game itself, co-founder Henrik Törnqvist admitted in an interview last month. Thus, once things are in full working order, players can expect Iron Gate to start rolling out bigger content drops, the first of which will come in the form of Valheim's previously teased Hearth and Home update. This release will specifically emphasize additions such as new building and food-related options.
While Valheim faithful continue to wait for the Hearth and Home content, Iron Gate has unleashed Patch 0.150.3, which primarily brings a new terrain modification system into the mix. According to patch notes listed on Steam, terrain modification is meant to "reduce the number of network instances and make loading faster and smoother." Players shouldn't notice any major differences, barring smoother area loading and "minor behavior changes" to the hoe and pickaxe. Every terrain modification after this patch will automatically make use of this new system. However:
"For existing areas where heavy terrain modifications have been made before this patch we have added a special console command “optterrain” that basically converts all the old terrain modifications in the nearby area to the new system. To use the “optterrain” console command, you first need to enable the in-game console by adding “-console” as a launch argument for the game."
In addition, the newest patch fixes instances where Valheim's swamp draugr enemies accidentally spawn inside of stones. Iron Gate also implemented world loading tweaks, reworked the Dolmen location stone size, and decreased the amount of stone necessary to raise ground when using a hoe.
The loading adjustments alone make Patch 0.150.3 among the survival game's most important updates yet. As such, it'll be interesting to see how else Iron Gate manages to improve the experience throughout its Early Access period.
Valheim first began taking the world by storm nearly three months ago, with momentum that saw the inventive indie project move one million units with in its first week of availability on Steam. By mid-March, it had crossed a whopping six million units sold.
Valheim is available to play on PC via Steam Early Access.
Source: Steam