ChaserZ release notes
Everything new in ChaserZ, the free virtual storm chasing game played on the real British weather: what each new feature is, what it changes in the game and how to use it. Newest first.
Watch your kit being packed up
When a vehicle packs up one of your instruments you can now watch it happen. The crew rock it loose, kick up dust and throw sparks while it slowly shrinks on its pad, then it hops into the vehicle and is gone.
What it changes: A ring of marks round it lights up one by one as the job goes on, and its name tag counts down the seconds left, so you can see at a glance when the vehicle will be ready to move. With the game sound on you hear the crew at work and the tailgate shut as it goes in. You can watch other players pack up on the map too.
How to use it: Pick one of your instruments on the map and press Pack up. Keep it in view to watch and listen.
Upgrade a catcher where it stands
Upgrading a catcher out in the field is now two presses: Upgrade, then Pay. You pay the Hailstones straight away and your nearest free vehicle drives out to the catcher and upgrades it where it stands.
What it changes: Nothing is packed up, taken home or set up again, so your catcher keeps catching weather the whole time and is upgraded the moment the vehicle arrives. If the trip is called off before it gets there, the Hailstones go straight back to your bank.
How to use it: Research the next level of instruments, pick one of your catchers on the map and press Upgrade to level, then Pay. The panel names the vehicle that is coming and how far away it is.
A tidier leaderboard
The table on the season leaderboard now shows five players and scrolls to show the rest, so it stays neat however many people are playing. Once more than fifty players have joined, the list comes in pages of fifty, with a button to show the next or the previous players.
What it changes: The podium stays at the top on every page, and sorting by a column sorts every player in the season, not just the ones on screen. Your own line stays pinned to the edge of the table, so you never lose sight of your place.
How to use it: Open Leaderboard from the menu at the top right and scroll inside the table. If your line is on another page, press Show my place to go straight to it.
Waves that break on the coast
Waves now roll in and break on the coasts as lines of white surf, with foam trailing behind them and a white edge where they run up the shore. They only break where the wind is blowing in from the sea, and the water stays calm where the wind blows off the land.
What it changes: The size of the surf follows the real sea forecast for each stretch of coast, so a stormy day sends big breakers onto exposed beaches while sheltered bays, lochs and harbours stay small. A glance at the surf tells you which way the wind is blowing on that coast.
How to use it: Zoom in on a coast facing the wind to watch the waves come in.
A closer look at every crew
The Crews list in the Crew tab now shows each crew on its own card: its place among the crews, its season points and Hailstones caught, how many places it has left, and who is in it, with a crown for the leader and a green dot for anyone playing right now.
What it changes: You can see at a glance which crews lead the season, which still have room, and who you would be teaming up with. A crew's points are its members' season points added together, so they match the leaderboard.
How to use it: Open the Crew tab in the bar and press Crews. Your own crew is marked in gold.
Release notes
ChaserZ now has release notes: this list of every new feature, what it changes in the game and how to use it, newest first.
What it changes: You can catch up on what has changed since you last played in one place. A gold number on the menu button at the top right tells you when there is something new to read.
How to use it: Open the menu at the top right of the game and press Release notes.
Easier to pick things on the map
Whatever a click would open now lights up as you move the mouse over it, and every building, instrument and vehicle can be picked anywhere on its shape. When two things stand close together, a short Which one? list lets you choose.
What it changes: No more missed clicks or opening the HQ behind the van you wanted. On a phone, a press lights up what it is about to open and a finger reaches a little further than a mouse.
How to use it: Point at something to see it light up, then click or tap it. If a Which one? list appears, press the line you want.
See who is online on the leaderboard
The season leaderboard now shows who is playing right now. A green Online now strip lists everyone in the game, a Recently row shows who dropped in during the last day, and the top three stand on the same holographic cards as the main WeatherZ leaderboard.
What it changes: It is easier to find rivals to race to a storm, or crew mates to team up with, while they are actually on. Every name in the table also says Online or when that player was last seen.
How to use it: Open the Leaderboard from the menu at the top right, or the trophy button in the bar. Press a name to fly the map to that player's HQ.
Clouds without a repeating pattern
Wide sheets of cloud no longer show the same lumps and gaps repeating across the map. Every patch of sky now looks different from the one next to it.
What it changes: Big weather systems look like real cloud cover. Storms, anvils and showers look just as they did.
1 km of room between players
You can no longer place an instrument, a structure or an HQ within 1 km of anything another player has placed.
What it changes: Nobody can set up right on top of your catchers any more, so the weather over your patch stays yours to catch. Your own things can still stand side by side.
How to use it: If you pick a spot that is too close, the game tells you straight away whose thing is in the way and how far off it is, before your vehicle sets off. Pick a spot a little further away.
Clouds that move like the real thing
The clouds over the 3D map now drift, build and fray gently, like a time-lapse of a real sky. Thunderstorm towers churn upwards faster than the clouds around them.
What it changes: The storms still sit exactly where the live radar puts them, so what you see is still what you can catch. Everything stands still if your device is set to reduce motion.
Solid 3D clouds and proper thunderstorms
Clouds are now solid, rounded 3D clouds instead of flat layers. A thunderstorm is a tall tower with a flat anvil on top that spreads out the way the storm is moving, and every moving shower leaves a small fading tail of cloud behind it.
What it changes: You can read a storm from its shape: bigger storms stand taller, and the anvil points where the storm is heading. Storms still light up from inside when lightning strikes.
How to use it: Keep the Rainfall radar layer on to see the clouds. The Cloud opacity slider in the Layers menu makes them lighter or heavier.
Thunderstorms on the ticker
When a thunderstorm is spotted over Britain it now appears on the ticker along the bottom of the board, saying where it is, how many strikes it has had in the last half hour and which way it is heading.
What it changes: You hear about a live storm the moment it forms, so you can get your fleet moving before your rivals do.
How to use it: Press the storm's line on the ticker to fly straight to it. Storm cells switch on for you if you had them off.
The convective outlook on the map
When WeatherZ issues a convective outlook at level 2 or above, it leads the ticker. A new Convective outlook layer shows the next twelve hours' thunderstorm watch areas on the map as walls of coloured light, with the highest level standing tallest.
What it changes: You can see where thunderstorms are expected before they start, and get your kit in place ready for them.
How to use it: Press the outlook's line on the ticker, or switch Convective outlook on in the Layers menu.
Every Hailstone you bring home scores
Hailstones your vehicles pick up on the road, and what your HQ catches, now count towards your season score at half a point each. Weather your own catchers gather, which you have to go out and collect, still scores a full point a Hailstone.
What it changes: Road trips and a well placed HQ now help you up the leaderboard, while collecting from your own catchers stays the best way to score. It all counts inside the same daily limit.
How to use it: Nothing to switch on. The How to score box on the leaderboard shows every way to earn points.
Catchers now have four levels
Every catcher now comes in four levels, each catching faster and holding more than the last, and every level has its own bigger, more detailed 3D model.
What it changes: Upgrading is a real step up: a level 4 catcher gathers far more weather than a level 1. The higher levels open up as your HQ grows.
How to use it: Research the next level of instruments, then build a catcher straight at that level from Inventory. To upgrade one already out in the field, pick it and press Upgrade to level: your nearest free vehicle packs it up, takes it home, has it upgraded and sets it up again exactly where it stood.
Hailstones on the road
Every drive now lays Hailstones along its route. Your vehicle picks them up as it passes, with a little celebration and a ka-ching, and one in eight is a big gold one.
What it changes: Driving pays: longer trips earn extra Hailstones on the way. They ride in your vehicle as cargo until you bank them, and you can pick up at most 200 a day across all your vehicles.
How to use it: Just send a vehicle somewhere. Its panel shows how many stones are still ahead and how many you have picked up today.
Chat is back in the game
A Chat button in the bar opens the ChaserZ chat without leaving the game. It is the same conversation as the ChaserZ channel in Live Chat.
What it changes: Plan a chase, call out a storm or ask your crew for help while you play.
How to use it: Press Chat in the bar. A gold number on it shows how many new messages are waiting.
New HQ buildings and busier depots
Every HQ level now has its own detailed building, from a small field station cabin up to Storm Command with its tower, radome and helipad. HQs stand a size bigger on the map, and the depots are far more detailed.
What it changes: You can tell at a glance how far along another player is from the look of their HQ. Windows and screens light up at dusk.
How to use it: Upgrade your HQ from the HQ tab to move up to the next building.
Firework displays at your HQ
You can design your own 30 second firework display and set it off over your HQ. Choose the fireworks, colours and pattern, fine tune them on a timeline and preview the show first.
What it changes: Celebrate a win or show off to the players around you: everyone who has your HQ on their map sees and hears the show. It costs 5% of your banked Hailstones and 10 Charge.
How to use it: Pick your HQ on the map and press Firework Display.
Speed boost for your vehicles
You can spend Charge to make a vehicle faster: 10 Charge makes it 50% faster for an hour, and a second boost while the first is running makes it double speed.
What it changes: Get to a storm first, or rush your cargo home before anyone can take it. Only the driving is sped up.
How to use it: Pick a vehicle and press Go 50% faster.
Engines that sound like engines
Vehicles now have real engine sounds as they pull away, cruise and arrive, from tyre roar and turbo whistles to diesel clatter and a V8 burble, depending on the vehicle.
What it changes: Following your vehicle feels like being out on the chase.
How to use it: Make sure the sound is on with the speaker button in the bar, then pick a vehicle to follow it.
The season leaderboard
A season leaderboard shows who is winning, with each player's score, Hailstones caught and brought home, HQ level, kit, vehicles and forecasts. The top three stand on gold, silver and bronze holographic cards.
What it changes: You can see exactly where you stand and what the leaders are doing. The How to score box explains every way to earn points.
How to use it: Press Leaderboard at the top of the menu at the top right, or the trophy button in the bar. Press a column to sort by it.
Round trips and routes you can change
A vehicle can now run a round trip by itself: collect from one of your catchers, bank at the nearest depot and repeat. A route can be changed at any time, stop by stop.
What it changes: Your fleet keeps working while you are away, and a wrong turn is easy to put right.
How to use it: Pick a vehicle, press Plan orders and choose Round trip with the catcher to collect from. To change a route, press Change orders and remove any stop with its cross.
Pick a vehicle to follow it
Picking a vehicle now follows it across the map, and shows its speed and how much road is left under its name.
What it changes: Watching a chase is easier: zoom and turn the view as you like and the camera stays with your vehicle.
How to use it: Press a vehicle on the map. Drag the map away to stop following.
Field assignments you can find
Each field assignment's spot is marked on the map with a waving flag in your team colour inside a ring, and a finished assignment sets off fireworks over its spot.
What it changes: No more hunting for where an assignment wants you to go.
How to use it: Press the ring, or open Assignments in the HQ tab and press Send a vehicle there: your nearest free vehicle drives to the spot and parks.
Banking you can see and hear
When you bank, Hailstones burst over the board around the amount and fly into your Banked total, clicking as each one lands. The bigger the bank, the bigger the show.
What it changes: You always know when a bank has gone through and how much it was worth.
Map controls are back
On-screen map controls are back: move, zoom, tilt and turn the map with buttons.
What it changes: Handy on a phone or tablet, where finger gestures can be fiddly.
How to use it: Press Map controls in the bar. Tap a button for one step, or hold it to keep going. The arrow in the middle turns the map to face north again.
Build more vehicles
New vehicles in the research tree, including the Standard truck, the Field estate and the Patrol car, and you can now run up to two of each kind, or three with Motor pool.
What it changes: A bigger fleet means more catchers looked after and more cargo brought home. The Patrol car is the toughest vehicle and can clear roadblocks.
How to use it: Research the vehicle in the Research tab, then build it from Inventory. A new vehicle parks at your HQ ready to go.
Your HQ catches the weather
Your HQ now catches every kind of weather that falls on it, lightning, rain, wind, sun, frost and snow, at half the rate of a catcher built for the job.
What it changes: A well placed HQ earns on its own, and what it catches is banked straight away with no trip needed.
How to use it: Place your HQ, or move it, somewhere the weather is lively.
Inventory has its own tab
Inventory is now its own tab in the bar, with Build, Storage and Workshop: what you can build, what you have in storage and what is being made.
What it changes: Building is easy to find, and sending kit out is one press: a vehicle picks it up, drives out and sets it up for you.
How to use it: Press Inventory in the bar, build what you have researched, then send it out from Storage.
Things to do
A lightbulb button at the bottom left of the board suggests things to do next, so you are never stuck for what to try. The suggestions never run out.
What it changes: Finishing a suggestion earns you a bonus of Hailstones, a few times a day.
How to use it: Press the lightbulb. The gold number on it shows how many suggestions are waiting.
The new ChaserZ: seasons, HQs and fleets
ChaserZ is now a seasonal strategy game on the live British weather. Place an HQ, research blueprints, build instruments and send a fleet of vehicles along real roads to wherever it is raining, blowing, shining or striking.
What it changes: What your instruments catch is at risk until you bank it at your HQ or a depot, so plan the run home. Each season starts the campaign afresh, and you keep your level, cosmetics and crew.
How to use it: Create a free account or sign in, join the season and place your HQ. Take the tour from the More menu for a quick walk round the game.
Play ChaserZ free: open the game to see the live board, or create a free account to join the season. New to storms? Read thunderstorm safety first.