Development history

Changelog

Follow Ant Trail from its earliest trail-recording builds to the current character-history and Replay system.

Current releases

What players are running now

Newest first

v0.36.2

Forever compatibility and map polish

Current

Updated compatibility for current WoW: Forever 1.60.1 behavior.
Added safer handling for controller and gamepad UI mode.
World Map integrations step aside when Blizzard’s controller interface requires it.
Reworked the World Map launcher into a round Ant Trail medallion and expanded /atcheck compatibility information.

View Ant Trail on CurseForge →

v0.36.1

Cleaner World Map controls

Simplified World Map controls around viewing and managing your trail.
Moved Replay controls into the dedicated Replay window.
Added Hide / Show for Ant Trail map overlays while keeping quick access to All, Life, Session, Zone, Mark, Field Kit, and the collapsible menu.

v0.36.0

Replay and map performance

Reduced temporary memory use during Replay and map rendering.
Improved trail processing and let World Map updates sleep when not needed.
Replay releases more temporary data after closing, with expanded /atperf diagnostics.

v0.35.15

Release cleanup

Cleaned and refined the public addon package.
Updated outdated source wording, internal labels, and technical documentation without changing player-facing behavior.

v0.35.14

Long-term history improvements

Added long-term trail compaction for characters with extensive history.
Older trails can be stored more efficiently while preserving route shape and important Life, session, zone, landmark, and teleport boundaries.
Recent history stays at full detail, with improved storage reporting for long-running characters.

Public Beta Development

The road to the current build

Major public-facing changes from Handshakes and People I’ve Met through character-spanning Replay, Colony Portraits, release polish, and compatibility work.

v0.35.13Clearer Replay Story rows+

Replay Story rows gained short descriptions so repeated Memories, Roadstones, and Familiar Ground entries are easier to distinguish.
Missing details are never invented.

v0.35.12Replay and World Map cooperation+

Fixed Replay and the World Map closing or interrupting one another.
Play My Life now opens the map correctly while the Replay companion remains available beside it.

v0.35.11Privacy and public-package cleanup+

Removed unused export functionality, expanded local-data disclosures, and kept optional diagnostics off by default.

v0.35.10Interface state cleanup+

Corrected native resting, hover, disabled, and selected button states across the Ant Trail interface.

v0.35.9Presentation refinement+

Refined Trailbook, Replay, Field Guide, Feedback, Journal, and People I’ve Met hierarchy, readability, headings, hover states, and Warcraft-native presentation.

v0.35.8Beta Feedback tools+

Added the in-game Beta Feedback panel and /atfeedback, with permanent access through the Field Guide.
Feedback and bug-report tools remain local unless the player chooses to submit them.

v0.35.7Replay onboarding+

Improved first-run Replay onboarding, added a direct Open Replay path, improved font compatibility, and clarified confirmed encounters in People I’ve Met.

v0.35.6Stronger Handshakes+

Confirmed encounters now come from direct targets and shared group experiences; mouseover is metadata-only.
Improved repeat-crossing logic, People I’ve Met navigation, and route wording.

v0.35.5Honest Replay timing+

Logged-out time no longer inflates Life playback; Story scenes appear when Replay reaches them.
Improved Chapter opening/closing presentation, added direct-click Say to Trailcries, and expanded People I’ve Met history.

v0.35.4Native Roads interface pass+

Unified major windows around a more Warcraft-native style, added a collapsible World Map toolbar and improved markers, and refreshed emblem/minimap artwork.

v0.35.3Colony Portraits+

Added Colony Portraits using recurring roads, Deep Places, geography, habits, Chapters, and earlier Colony eras, with refined regional naming.

v0.35.2Public distribution preparation+

Prepared Ant Trail for public distribution with README/privacy documentation, improved metadata/onboarding, and diagnostics off by default.

v0.35.1Story Fusion+

Several interpretations of the same event can become one stronger Story Moment instead of overlapping entries, without rewriting existing Chronicle history.

v0.35.0Character-spanning Replay+

Play My Life expanded across multiple Lives, with Story mode for major scenes and Full mode for detailed chronology.
Unobserved travel is never invented.

v0.34.5One presentation cadence+

Reduced overlapping notifications and repeated story presentations across Ant Trail storytelling systems.

v0.34.4Life Retrospectives+

Completed Lives can draw from Journeys, Chapters, Memories, places, Roadstones, Colonies, Threads, Deep Places, and Fellow Travelers.

v0.34.3Fellow Travelers+

Recurring confirmed encounters can become recurring characters in the private biography without relationship scores or rankings.

v0.34.2Trail Whispers+

Added sparse acknowledgements of meaningful stretches of recorded play without rewards, progress bars, screenshots, or automatic chat.

v0.34.1Days Gone By+

Older moments can return after meaningful real-world time has passed through restrained, evidence-based callbacks.

v0.34.0Echoes of the Road+

Older Lives, Chapters, Memories, places, and repeated encounters can connect back to the present.

v0.33.3Handshake integrity+

Added additional Handshake integrity checks, social-system diagnostics, and stronger old-save regression validation.

v0.33.2Cleaner places and menus+

Improved place naming, including cleaner capital-city presentation, and strengthened one-window-at-a-time menu behavior.

v0.33.1Trailcries and upgrade auditing+

Added player-directed Trailcries through existing group channels and direct upgrade auditing between Ant Trail versions.

v0.33.0Handshakes and People I’ve Met+

Ant Trail began remembering legitimate encounters with other adventurers without realm scans or player searching.
Added local privacy controls and historical encounter presentation.

Early Development

v0.32.5 → v0.1.0

The full foundation is preserved here without making every visitor scroll through it.

Biography systems take shape · v0.32.5–v0.20.0

v0.32.5Extended the Warcraft-native interface style across Guide, Field Kit, Replay, Trailbook, and map controls.

v0.32.4Introduced the first Blizzard-style Journal shell and refined screenshot Memory and Ant Call presentation.

v0.32.3Improved Chronicle, Replay, Memories, Echoes, and diagnostic performance for larger histories.

v0.32.2Added Old Roads recovery, persistent biography identity, safer migrations, and restricted-value handling.

v0.32.1Improved character switching, rapid relogs, Journey continuity, and field diagnostics.

v0.32.0Added the Field Ledger for local diagnostics, bug reports, performance samples, and testing exports.

v0.31.0Added Authored Replay Story Mode and expanded Colony presentation.

v0.30.0Added Trailbook Chapters, Quick Memory access, screenshot observation, and broader Colony patterns.

v0.29.0Reorganized Journal and Trailbook around clearer ownership and reduced duplicate reports.

v0.28.0Added The Life So Far and simplified Trailbook terminology and navigation.

v0.27.0Added recurring Threads and Rough Patch handling for repeated deaths.

v0.26.0Added full Life Retrospectives and rebuilt Trailbook Lives around story-first cards.

v0.25.0Reworked milestones into Roadstones and rebuilt Campfire Tale around biography rather than raw statistics.

v0.24.0Improved Story Capture, Journey Epilogues, Natural Chapter titles, and Trailbook Journey presentation.

v0.23.0Expanded Colonies and improved Journey story synthesis.

v0.22.0Expanded Colonies with everyday play patterns and supporting habit information.

v0.21.0Added loading-screen trail breaks, supported teleport identification, and Deep Places for instances.

v0.20.0Added the Story Editor and reduced repetitive story presentation.

Storytelling expands · v0.19.0–v0.10.0

v0.19.0Added Chapter epilogues and keystone Story references while reducing stacked alerts.

v0.18.0Added Departures, The Long Road, recurring Road Threads, and Chapter-boundary storytelling.

v0.17.0Added early Echoes, Replay speed controls, and Echoes in Campfire Tale.

v0.16.0Added Natural Chapters to recognize larger eras from meaningful changes in place and history.

v0.15.0Expanded Living Chronicle with place-based stories such as Familiar Ground, Old Haunt, and Homecoming.

v0.14.6Reduced Journal memory use and improved Journey and Statistics refresh performance.

v0.14.5Introduced compact Trail Storage, real-displacement distance rules, and improved Colony reveals.

v0.14.4Moved active biographies into per-character SavedVariables with safer migration and storage tools.

v0.14.3Added the TrailStore architecture for consistent recorded-trail management.

v0.14.2Consolidated background update loops and removed duplicate persisted telemetry.

v0.14.1Improved Living Chronicle consistency and removed outdated geography assumptions.

v0.14.0Introduced the formal Living Chronicle with Story Rules, Moments, Seeds, evidence IDs, and Places With Memory groundwork.

v0.13.1Improved Campfire reliability, settings clarity, and Colony/sender presentation.

v0.13.0Added opt-in Campfire Calls and separated local storytelling from social sharing.

v0.12.0Simplified navigation and Field Kit while improving onboarding and readability.

v0.11.1Refined the Ant Trail emblem and Ant Call presentation.

v0.11.0Added Notable Moments, Ant Calls, PvP story bursts, minimap access, and broader story integration.

v0.10.1Added regional Colony interpretation from meaningful time spent in different places.

v0.10.0Added the first Colonies, Colony history, and reveal flows without ranks or progression goals.

The first trail · v0.9.0–v0.1.0

v0.9.0Added the first major Trailbook retrospective and strengthened the biography-first direction.

v0.8.2Rebuilt trail rendering around a more performance-safe native line system.

v0.8.1Reduced Trail renderer cost while preserving its visual behavior.

v0.8.0Rebuilt Memories into a paged book and added Story Capture, screenshot handling, richer metadata, and Replay Memory Spotlight.

v0.7.0Introduced smoother trail rendering, curve interpolation, halos, age fades, and trail styles.

v0.6.1Added smoother Ant Trail-owned trail presentation and trail-strength controls.

v0.6.0Added first-run onboarding, Field Kit, Campfire Tale, Session Archive, milestones, and standalone Replay controls.

v0.5.0Added trail coloring by age, Life, and type plus place observations and richer metadata.

v0.4.1Added safer handling for restricted Forever values so unavailable movement information fails safely.

v0.4.0Added the Field Guide, improved tooltips/notes, and broader play-context tracking.

v0.3.1Fixed World Map layering so Ant Trail remained visible without covering important map elements.

v0.3.0Added standalone Replay Chronicle, early Insights, and the foundation for screenshot Memories.

v0.2.0Added live map trail updates, Session filtering, Trail Notes, level-up markers, Replay seeking, and Journey context.

v0.1.0Introduced the first Replay, basic map controls, local character history, database versioning, and the original trail-system foundation.

Public changelog rule: version numbers only, player-visible outcomes first, and no private testing notes, personal names, internal filenames, or unreleased experiments.