Sound of Horses news & patch notes

Hi everyone!

This update includes new features, settings, and improvements.

What’s Fixed

• Gamepad support added for Xbox, PlayStation, and generic controllers

• Steam Deck support added

New settings added:

• Camera distance

• Automatic camera rotation: Automatic camera rotation uses a slider ranging from no auto rotation to full auto rotation. At the maximum setting, the camera will always rotate, even when idle. At lower settings, the rotation increases with speed

• Option to disable level up notifications

• Option to disable quest notifications (quest info is still available using the Help (?) button)

• Minimap Auto mode: the minimap is hidden by default and shown temporarily together with quest info when using the Help (?) button

We continue working on Episode 2 – The Forest Guard, with a planned release at the end of June. If you have any problems, please contact us at

[email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 23037322

Hi everyone!

This update includes improvements, new features, and refinements.

What’s Fixed

• New clothes added to Sam’s shop

• You can now buy multiple items in the shop without exiting between purchases

• Option for minimap rotation added

• Level up notifications added

• The stats page in the backpack has been updated

• Improved keyboard navigation in menus and gameplay, making it more comfortable to play on a laptop without a mouse

• Sound of Horses is now available on Google Play (including Chromebook support), Amazon Appstore, and the Apple App Store

• Overall refinements and optimization

Note about DLC

Originally, we planned to release Episodes 2–4 as separate DLC. However, this added extra complexity for us, and we’ve heard from some of you that the DLC model isn’t ideal.

So we decided to remove DLC completely and keep things simple. Win-win! With future episodes included for players who already own the game.

If you have any problems, please contact us at

[email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 22383713

Hi everyone!

This update includes gameplay adjustments, fixes, and refinements.

What’s Fixed

• Improved tolerance for taking damage from rocks. Issues with rock damage warnings on roads in some areas have been fixed

• Adjustments to horse jump timing and jump height

• Wagon pulling is now less sensitive when galloping, and more roads and tracks are now open for wagons

• Fixed an issue where hoofstep and other horse-related sounds could disappear in certain areas

• A Help section has been added to the backpack

• Language settings are now available in the main menu in cases where Steam starts the game in the wrong language

• Overall refinements and a few new quests added

Stay up to date

Register a Sound of Horses account to be notified when new episodes are released and to stay updated on future news and content: https://soundofhorses.com/account/register.html

If you have any problems, please contact us at

[email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 21821935

Hi everyone!

This update focuses on content cleanup.

What’s Updated

• The temporary Sims-like voices have been removed from the game. Over time, the discussion around them on social media grew larger than intended and began to take focus away from the game itself. To gently close this chapter, the placeholder voices have been removed for now and will be replaced later with real “Sims-like” voices, natural and expressive.

• The last remaining placeholder details, some of which were created using Photoshop AI tools during early development, have now been removed. A few background elements inside shops and minor details on two signs have been replaced with clean, neutral textures.

• Small updates and refinements to some quests

If you have any problems, please contact us at [email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders Build ID: 21532767

Hi everyone! This update focuses mainly on save game stability, along with new languages.

What’s Fixed

• Save game system has been thoroughly reviewed across all quests (200+), to ensure saving and loading works reliably

• You can now exit the game at any point and resume from a save without introducing quest blockers

• There may still be some minor visual issues in rare cases, but there should be no progression blockers

• We still recommend playing day by day when possible, for the best overall experience

• New languages added: Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian

A big thank you

A special thank you to our Portuguese ambassador Juliana Longatti for helping us bring the Portuguese language to life. And a special thanks to Ana Filipa Moisés and Sthefany Teixeira, who also helped out.

If you have any problems, please contact us at

[email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 21423740

Hello everyone,

As the year comes to an end and Christmas arrives, we want to say thank you. Thank you for all the emails, the warmth, and the honest reviews you have shared with us throughout this journey. Your words have truly moved us, and knowing that our game touched your hearts is the greatest gift we could receive this year.

Your support gives us the strength to keep moving forward.

We wish you all a peaceful, warm, and joyful Christmas, and a New Year filled with happiness and bright moments.

With deep gratitude, Lola & Anders ❤️

Hi everyone! Here’s a small update with new languages, improvements, and fixes.

What’s Fixed

• French and Swedish languages are now available

• New in-game language setting added, since Steam’s language selection can be unreliable

• Minimap size setting added

• Jump handling has been adjusted to reduce rare cases where jumping could fail

• Fixed an issue with Isabelle’s swimming quest that affected some players

• Several other small fixes and improvements

A big thank you

A special thank you to our French ambassadors for helping us bring the French language to life: @AliciaShadowbaker @TaiggyStudio

Your time, feedback, and support mean a lot to us. Thank you for helping make the game better.

Important note

We’ve come to understand that Steam sometimes fails to both update the game and select the correct language for some players. Please make sure the game is fully up to date in Steam. In some cases, launching the game from a desktop shortcut may skip the update. We’re actively working on a solution to handle this limitation on our side.

If you have any problems, please contact us at [email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders Build ID: 21277011

Hi everyone! Here’s a small update focused on the new player control system, along with several fixes and improvements.

What’s Fixed

• First implementation of the new player control system, replacing the temporary one, using a classic third-person control style similar to RDR2

• Inventory unequip is now fully implemented, including removing the saddle

• Bareback riding is now available when unequipping the saddle, with more animations planned for bridleless riding

• Fixed an issue where exiting the game while standing on a bridge could cause a bug

• Fixed an issue where the “Follow Rufus” quest could sometimes not complete, related to save games

• Sam has brought in some fresh new clothes to the shop

Note

We will continue this week to stabilize the save game system. There may still be a few places where saving while a quest is active can cause issues, and we are actively working on resolving these.

If you have any problems, please contact us at [email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 21189669

Hi everyone! Here’s a small update with improvements and the new German language now live.

What’s Fixed

• German language is now available

• French language is coming soon

• Minimap update showing quest objectives and the nearest feeding station

• Player-created cameras now show the hair better

• Fixed a rare bug in the “Seeking the Cat” quest, related to saving mid-day

A big thank you

A huge thank you to our German ambassadors for helping us bring the German language to life: @KaddiGaming and @zaaap

Your time, feedback, and passion mean a lot to us. Thank you for helping us make the game better.

Note

We’d like to remind you to save at the end-of-day window whenever possible. While most quests work fine when saving mid-day, there are still a few edge cases that need special handling. These mainly involve wagons, trains or handcars, and some quests with cutscenes.

If you have any problems, please contact us at [email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders Build ID: 21155332

Hi everyone! Here’s a update with improvements and fixes based on your feedback.

What’s Fixed

• New audio settings for music, ambience, and voice volume

• Option for shorter horse names, Part 1 only; Part 2 can now be left blank

• Hunger and thirst now increase more slowly

• Fixed the crash when sleeping over at Lily’s place, related to saving mid-day

• Text updates and preparations for new languages

We Hear You

About the Sims-like Voices in the Game. We want to share a little more about the Sims-like voices in the game. From the start, our idea was to give each character a small emotional identity, something warm and familiar. That’s why we experimented with Sims-like voices created by a program. It was a small stylistic choice meant to add charm.

We didn’t realize this type of Sims-like synthetic voice might feel distracting for some players. We hear you, and we understand!

We’ve already contacted a voice studio and will soon begin our first tests for real “Sims-style” voices. If the results feel right, we’ll gradually replace the temporary voices in the game. The goal is to bring more emotion, warmth, and variation to every character, so their personalities feel even more alive, happy, sad, surprised, thoughtful, and everything in between.

Thank you for telling us how it made you feel. Your feedback helps us shape the heart of this game.

If you have any problems, please contact us at [email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 21113243

Hi everyone!

You asked for a minimap. Here it is! ;-)

What’s Fixed

• First version of the minimap is in place, can be disabled in settings

• The minimap supports mouse drag to zoom and opens the full map when clicked

• Some HUD layout changes to make room for the minimap, competition GUI etc.

• Jump on Numpad 0 for left-handed players

• Camera navigation hides the cursor, camera can be rotated infinitely, camera speed added in settings

• Made it smoother for the horse to eat and drink, removed some glitches here

• When dismounting the horse, horse grooming options will show automatically if your horse needs care, such as brushing or cleaning the hooves

• Some other small things cleaned up

If you have any problems, please contact us at [email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 21069033

Hi everyone!

This is just a small stability update.

What’s Fixed

• We fixed a crash that one player had related to George in his rowing boat.

• We added more detailed internal logging for shader creation to help us track down an unusual graphics issue one user had.

A quick note

It looks like the previous graphics update solved the rare black screen issue. This was confirmed by at least one user. We also only received one new graphics-related crash, and the new logging in this update may help us pinpoint the cause.

If you have any problems, please contact us at

[email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 21034470

Hi everyone!

Thank you again for an incredible start to Early Access. We’ve been working all weekend to fix things and clean up some issues you’ve helped us spot. Here’s some of what we managed to sort out:

What’s Fixed

• Escape now closes the backpack.

• Quest sparkle effects are bigger in some tricky spots.

• Horse “in air” time adjusted so it feels less sensitive.

• Fixed an issue when jumping into water.

• Noel lost her dishcloth while cleaning tables, but she found it again. Lucky for her! ;-)

• Level and XP info in the backpack now works. More improvements coming.

• Added detailed logging to help us track down rare graphics and audio issues.

• More flexible graphics mode that should solve some of the odd startup problems a few players had.

• Lots of other small things we cleaned up.

We Hear You

• We’re reevaluating a minimap or other small navigation help.

• Player controls, yes we know ;-). We’ll polish them soon. All our love has gone into the horse control so far.

• A Help section will be added to the backpack.

• We’re also setting up our Discord so we can talk with you more easily and gather feedback in one place.

• And yes, we still have some placeholder assets left.

If you have any problems, please contact us at

[email protected]

Thank you! More updates are coming soon.

Lola & Anders

Build ID: 21003208

What a day. Thank you all for the amazing support and kindness during our very first day of Early Access.

A quick summary:

• A few players had issues with Windows account names containing special characters. A fix is already live.

• We’ve only had a few crash reports so far, and they all seem related to system audio devices. We’ve added extra safety checks for this.

• We’re also looking into a rare black-screen issue that has been reported. If anyone else experiences this, please let us know. We’re on it.

Thank you to everyone who played, reported issues, shared comments, and supported us. We’re incredibly grateful. ❤️

If you’ve enjoyed your first steps in Homeland, a Steam review from you would help us more than you can imagine. It tells Steam that people care about the game.

With love, Lola & Anders