The Hive News

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🌊 The Hive – 75% Off for the First Time Ever! 🌊

To celebrate the Steam Summer Sale, The Hive is now available at its biggest discount yet.
[/p][p]Take control as the insectoid hive mind and lead your swarm through a hostile, beautiful world filled with ancient ruins, colossal creatures, and secrets buried deep beneath the surface.[/p][p]Whether you're new to The Hive or returning for another campaign, there's never been a better time to experience the game.
[/p][p]🧬 Build your colony
🧬 Harvest DNA from enemies
🧬 Unlock new units and abilities
🧬 Face massive bosses and adapt your strategy
🧬 Uncover the mysteries of New Eden
[/p][p]The Summer Sale ends July 10th, so don’t miss out!

While you're enjoying your holidays, the Skydome Entertainment team is sweating through the summer, hard at work on our upcoming game. We wish you a fantastic holiday season and thank you for supporting indie developers like us!

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[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We’re thrilled to unveil our new trailer for The Hive! Whether you’re a seasoned strategist or just discovering the game, this trailer showcases the exciting features we’ve been working hard to improve.



We’d love to hear your feedback – what do you think of the trailer? What are you most excited about in The Hive? Let us know in the comments below!

Thank you for your support. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to expand and refine The Hive!

– The Skydome Entertainment Team

This patch addresses many long-standing issues and implements significant improvements based on feedback from our players and reviews over an extended period. Your input has been invaluable in helping us refine and improve the game. Thank you for your continued support!

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
Resolved a major performance issue related to collisions:

• Identified and fixed inefficiencies in how collisions were handled across all levels.
  
• Result: Noticeable performance improvements across the game, particularly on larger maps with more units and effects.
  

Why: This fix addresses long-standing performance bottlenecks, significantly improving the player experience by enhancing stability and responsiveness.

[h2]Water Shader Updates[/h2]
Water Shader: Completely overhauled and tailored to meet project needs:

• Fixed compatibility issues with Unity 2019 that rendered the old shader broken.
  
• The new shader supports adjustable speed and flow direction, offering greater flexibility and visual consistency.
  

Main Menu Water Shader: Updated to match the new system so it now functions properly and aligns with in-game water visuals.

Why: These changes were necessary to restore broken water shaders while improving customization and maintaining consistency in visual quality.

[h2]Unit Changes[/h2]

[h3]Legionnaire[/h3]

• Squad size: 1 unit
  
• Updated Values:
  
  
  
  • Construction time: 3
    
  • Food cost: 10
    
  • Population usage: 1
    
  • Speed: 0.25 (up from 0.2)
    
  • HP: 45 (up from 35)
    

Why: Squad mechanics were removed to make units easier to control. In response, Legionnaires were adjusted to focus on being fast, swarming DPS units and gap closers, with values balanced for their new role as single units.

[h3]Hunter[/h3]

• Group size: 1 unit
  
• Construction time: 10
  
• Food cost: 30
  
• Population usage: 2
  
• Speed: 0.18
  
• Life: 80
  
• Max life: 80
  
• Damage: 6
  
• Armor Pierce: 3

Why: Hunters have also been converted to single units for improved control. Their stats were updated to reflect their new role as resilient light skirmishers, with a focus on consistent damage and flexibility in early-game strategies.

[h3]Worker[/h3]

• Speed increased from 0.16 to 0.2.
  

Why: Workers were made faster to improve resource collection efficiency and overall game pacing, particularly in early-game scenarios.

[h3]Rhino[/h3]

• Size increased to 2.5.
  
• Speed increased from 0.16 to 0.2.
  

Why: Increasing the Rhino’s size and speed reinforces its role as a heavy frontline tank, enabling it to reach key targets faster and hold its position more effectively in combat.

[h3]Wasp[/h3]

• Angle speed increased from 7 to 20, improving handling.
  
• Speed increased from 0.2 to 0.5, making it extremely mobile.
  

Why: The Wasp’s mobility and handling were enhanced to emphasize its role as a highly agile unit, ideal for hit-and-run tactics and fast repositioning in battle.

[h2]Level Additions[/h2]

• Rhino: Added to the start of Level 2.
  
• Infestor: Added to the start of Level 3.
  
• Wasp: Added to the start of Level 5.
  

Why: These units were added early in the campaign to showcase their unique strengths and strategies, allowing players to experiment with them before deciding to unlock them with DNA. This encourages strategic planning and exploration of playstyles.

[h2]Level Improvements[/h2]

• Level 5 Cutscenes: Two cutscenes redesigned with improved camera angles to reduce disorientation.
  

Why: Player feedback indicated that the original cutscene angles were confusing. The updated angles make these moments more engaging and visually coherent, improving the narrative experience.

[h2]Summary[/h2]
This patch addresses critical performance issues, improves unit balance and gameplay progression, and enhances visual and narrative clarity. The Hive 1.301 is designed to provide a smoother, more strategic, and immersive experience for both new and returning players.

All the best,
Skydome Entertainment

[h2]Overview[/h2]
This update brings a range of improvements to visuals, gameplay balance, and early-game pacing based on player feedback. Our goal is to make The Hive more visually engaging, intuitive for newcomers, and better balanced overall.

We’ve introduced quality-of-life changes to improve resource visibility in darker areas, refined unit and boss stats for smoother combat, and fixed a critical monitor resolution bug.

[h2]Under the Hood Updates[/h2]
Alongside the visible changes in this patch, we’ve made important updates behind the scenes to improve the game’s infrastructure and prepare for future development:

• Updated Epic SDK to enhance achievement systems.
  
• Created a standalone demo build of The Hive for smaller platforms, increasing accessibility.
  
• Prepared the project for importing into Unity 6, ensuring long-term compatibility and access to advanced development tools.
  

These updates lay the groundwork for future improvements and ensure The Hive continues to run smoothly.

[h2]Future Plans[/h2]
We’re committed to improving The Hive and taking player feedback into account as we look toward the future. Here are our primary focus areas moving forward:

• Enhancing Gameplay Balance: Refining combat and resource progression for a smoother, more engaging experience.
  
• Unit Differentiation: Making units feel more unique, both visually and mechanically, to encourage diverse strategies.
  
• Content Expansion: Introducing more units and mechanics to keep gameplay fresh and exciting.
  
• Technical Updates: Ensuring the game remains stable and compatible with new platforms and tools for future updates.
  

Your feedback is invaluable in shaping these updates, so keep sharing your thoughts with us!



[h2]Graphics and Visual Improvements[/h2]

[h3]Scene Lighting Adjustments[/h3]

• Brightened scenes for better visibility.
  
• Added slight saturation for more vibrant colors.
  

These changes ensure environments are clearer and more visually appealing.

[h3]Improved Object Visibility[/h3]

• Gold piles now emit a soft glow, making them easier to spot in dark areas.
  

This ensures resources are noticeable without disrupting immersion.

[h3]Reflection Probes Added[/h3]

• Introduced new reflection probes to enhance realistic lighting on units and environments.
  

This improves the visual fidelity of objects and characters in the game.

[h3]Dimetrodon Miniboss Color Adjustment[/h3]

• Adjusted Dimetrodon miniboss color for better differentiation and clarity.
  

This change ensures the miniboss stands out effectively in its environment.

[h2]Gameplay Adjustments[/h2]

[h3]Legionnaire Speed[/h3]

• Increased movement speed from 1.0 to 1.2.
  

This adjustment makes Legionnaires more effective in combat by improving engagement pacing.

[h3]First Level End Boss (Ancient Crab)[/h3]

• HP reduced from 3500 to 3000.
  
• Melee damage reduced from 20 to 15.
  
• Cave-In Ability: Cooldown increased from 10 seconds to 15 seconds, and splash damage reduced from 20 to 10 HP.
  

These tweaks make the Ancient Crab less punishing while retaining its challenge.

[h2]Early Game Enhancements[/h2]

[h3]Starting Units[/h3]

• Players now start the first mission with 1 Behemoth and 2 Medics.
  

This change introduces unit variety early on, encouraging strategic gameplay and showcasing advanced units that can be unlocked later.

[h3]Starting Resources[/h3]

• Food increased from 20 to 100.
  
• Minerals increased from 250 to 350.
  
• Starting population count on first mission increased from 1 to 13.
  
• Population cap raised accordingly.
  

These adjustments provide a smoother economy at the start and encourage unit production experimentation.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

[h3]Monitor Resolution Bug Fixed[/h3]

• Resolved the error: "Couldn't switch to requested monitor resolution."
  

This fix ensures smoother transitions between monitor settings and eliminates related crashes.

Thank you for your continued support and feedback! Let us know your thoughts in the comments or forums—we’re excited to keep evolving The Hive and look forward to hearing your ideas for future updates.

All the best,
Skydome Entertainment

Hey all,

We have released a new update for The Hive. Our main focus was to resolve difficulty issues with A.I behaviour on levels 4 and 5.

We were also able to find a solution, why The Hive ending cinematic "The Age of Discovery" would not play for every player at end of the campaign.

It is now working correctly for everyone. If you have not seen it, we recommend completing the last level again!

Full notes below:

1.204 - 2023-05-11

[h3]Bug fixes:[/h3]

• Fixed issue where Ending Cinematic "Age of Discovery" would not play after completing the campaign, if loading from a save.
  
• Fixed issue where A.I would be too aggressive with attacks on levels 4 and 5.
  
• Balanced out the attacking Chalatoi forces on levels 4 and 5.
  
• Players now have more time between attack waves on levels 4 and 5.
  
• Player starting food increased from 20 to 50 on levels 4 and 5.
  
• Added additional food and mineral sources to levels 4 and 5 starting areas.
  
• Chalatoi Archers range reduced from 50 to 35. They can no longer outrange player turrets.
  
• Skip function now works on ending cinematic
  

[h3]Thank you again for reporting the bugs for us! (no pun intended)[/h3]

Cheers,
Sauli, Toni, William, Dat, Ale & Ville.
aka
Skydome Entertainment