* A new pet has been added called the Combat Kitty. It's a pretty serious cat.
* All combat pets, clones, and purr pets now have a Peace command. This will teleport your pet to you and stop any combat for the pet.
* The server hardware has been changed from a cloud server to dedicated server hardware. It's far more zippy.
* A few server crashes associated with the threading changes have been squished.
* Look for the Oscillot in the next patch. It's an oscillating ocelot that helps you craft.

The server is back online!

The servers are going to be down for a few days. The current server provider tried to do a bait-n-switch on me, and so I need to switch now. Sorry for the lack of notice.

This change has some internal server changes as well as some nice client asset changes.
* A lot of internal changes were made on the server to get ready for server instances threads. Currently, all instances share the same thread, so this limits the number of instances. Once this feature is activated, (and it doesn't crash to all heck), you should start to see a lot more instance adventures. Also, if you see things broken in this release, please notify a GM or me (on Discord). Most likely, it's a server problem and can be fixed easily.
* If you've been paying attention to Discord, you know that we've been adding a new Panther pet. It won't be added this release, but it is an attempt to make combat pets more useful and powerful. Just know that it'll be featured in the next patch. If you want to see it now, you could beg a GM to turn into a panther for you. :)
* Non-collidable meshes (those shrubbery things that you step on) have been upgraded quite a bit. The static planar/sprite looking plants are now all full meshes. There are a bunch of new meshes.

This is a major release since we are adding a new animation system to the client. In the coming weeks, you should be seeing new things in the game. For now, I only added a new pet which uses the new animation system. It's a cute little frog pet that will loot for you.

This release is more tweeks for the appearance system.

* The Wolf Hell Hound ability has been given a nice visual upgrade.
* Many of the critters that used the old oscillate effect have now been fixed up to use the new appearance system.
* Clare has submitted a Kitty Sheriff Star tinting pattern. Meow!

I'll be announcing a fashion contest to be held in the Steam Forum. The prizes are pretty epic such as a Secondhand Lands Shirt or a Cloak with 7 major buffs plus the colors shimmer.

Now that the client appears to be stable, I've been able to concentrate on making the appearance system better.

* Rendering efficiency has been increased.
* Animated meshes should appear on the map faster. A lot of things were done to make this happen.
* Examining a player in game now shows their guild info
- guild name
- guild title (given to them by a leader)
- guild priviledges
* Pressing the load local texture button sometimes did nothing. It's fixed.
* Sometimes local textures were not freeing before shutdown. It's fixed.
* The player customization dialog has been widened so the tinting names are less likely to impede.
* The player customization dialog has a reset appearance button in case you get borked.
* Many textures were added from users on Discord. I encourage you to join us there.
- an adorable kitty eye patch texture was added by Clare
- scrapper dragon horns textures added by IceOrthrus
- several star textures added by KentaVolkov
- several football helmet textures added by IceOrthrus
- a better cigar lighting texture added by IceOrthrus
- a lion mane texture for the afro wig added by IceOrthrus
- a new wolf texture added by IceOrthrus
* Many new base textures were added
- a wood carving pattern
- a chain pattern
- two more cloth patterns
- five floral patterns
- a sheep pattern
- a snow flake pattern
- a waves pattern
- two wolf patterns
* Many new tinting textures were added
- a floral pattern
- two camoflage patterns
- four candy themed patterns
- a kitty cat pattern
- ten dot patterns
- a noodles pattern
- a rings pattern
- two sheep patterns
- a sheep/wolf pattern
* In all, about 46 textures were added just for appearance.

The next release will hopefully finish Appearance Customization Phase 1. It will include a renovated hell hound mesh and other things. We also want to hold a fashion show to show off your new looks with a lot of cool prizes. The details will be posted here and in Discord.

More things have been done to stabilize the client with the appearance customization:
* The client is now built as a 64-bit executable instead of a 32-bit one
* Several crashing problems were found and fixed
* Previously, when a mesh was loading, the player saw themselves as a sheep. Now we don't show you anything.
* Some player submitted textures were added to the makeup and item tinting kits.

After ten years, I decided that Secondhand Lands needed a face lift with some nips and tucks. Previous updates have concentrated on lighting shaders and other visual aspects such as water. This release concentrates on player customization.

As the title suggests, this is just the first phase of player customization upgrades. In order to complete player customization, I want the player customization system to be purely player driven. For example, one player could create a custom texture for a player mesh, and upload it to the game. This texture could then be sold to other players. The creating player would receive ingame compensation. This creates an economy based on talent. With this system, it's possible for player to have a unique appearance no one else has. I need to do a few other releases before we finish player customization though.

The next major release will concentrate adding support for Autodesk .fbx files. Currently, Secondhand Lands uses a propriety animation system. The rest of the world mostly uses Autodesk .fbx files, so expect to see a lot of new assets slowly flow into the game with this change. (wish me luck)

Appearance Changes:
* All makeup kits whether beginner, complimentary, or expert open the same user interface. Basically, all makeup kits are now super expert makeup kits.
* All of the old tinting kits now open up the new super item tinting windows as well.
* All Makeup and Item kits will NOT consume themselves for the next 30 days.
- Learn how the kits work.
- This allows you to fix your appearance up in the new system.
- Please invite your friends who are on hiatus to come back and at least fix their appearance.
- After 30 days, the kits will go back to their previous behavior of consuming themselves upon use.
- If you do not have a makeup or tinting kit, then buy one using tokens from the daily grind.
* Both makeup and tinting kits allow you to select up to four tints per player texture.
* Each player mesh usually has two textures: 1) a flat fur textures 2) a shiny textures for eyes, mouth, teeth, claws, etc... Catgirls are special -- emphasis on that!
* If you're a visual learning person, here's a video on the basics of the new system: https://youtu.be/JtAf9sR4Aa8
* Both Makeup and Item Tinting Kits have a button called "Test Local Textures".
- This button allows you to load up a texture from your own hard drive and see how it looks on your character.
- This feature does NOT upload your texture to the server for other players to use. Something like that is coming later.
- You cannot save your appearance when you're using a local texture.
* The Discord server for Secondhand Lands will have two special channels:
1) Texture Library: for serving out the default player mesh textures and equipment
2) Texture Submittal: submiting new textures as additional choices in the player customization and item tinting kits.
* If you're a hard core Secondhand Lands player, please join us on Discord.
- The social etiquette rules of the Discord server are strict.
- Get advanced news on patches and other changes.
- Tell Bobby he's totally wrong. (happens a LOT)
* Item Tinting kits will allow you to manipulate the tinting textures by offsetting them, scaling them, reversing, and rotating them.
* Player kits won't work if you're polymorphed. Ex. Hell Hound or Princess Pwnie
* Item Customization is specific to a mesh type.
- Catgirl A customizes an item and gives it to Catgirl B. It works fine!
- Catgirl A customizes another item and gives it to Wolf C. The item appearance will be reset to default. :(

Bug Fixes:
* I finally tracked down the cause of the zombie rabbit hole creeps. Hopefully, my code fix will (hopefully) put an end to this scourge. Previously, some critters would run around in circles through the walls.
* Mesh loading is now smooth. Unfortunately, it's a bit slower too. Being polite sometimes means, waiting for your turn.
* Lots of main world map errors were fixed.
* Only one Level Cake can be produced from a recipe.
* Bearnie's Chalice is no longer crushing him. :)
* Window sizes should persist more reliably.
* The little false player at (128, 128) has been removed.

Known Issues:
* Many of the player base textures and tinting textures are sparsely populated. By sparsely populated, I mean they have exactly one.
* Tinting and Oscillation effects are currently broken. For example, the snap dragons in the rabbit hole are stuck at white instead of changing colors. I need more time to fix these effects correctly.
* There probably are some equipment texture errors. Please report these.
* Some non-player meshes may have some texture errors. Please report these.
* Your player's previous appearance customization is gone! The old and new system are pretty different, so find or use any player customization or item tinting tool to fix up your appearance.

I anticipate that there will be a rapid succession of client patches for a few weeks as errors are found and resolved.

Warning: I have given GM's the ability to clear player mesh appearance just in case you make an inappropriate mesh customization. Please don't make them angry.