The Hive News

[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

Hey all,

Another small update has been released, the main thing here was sorting out bugs when loading a saved game.

Full notes below:

1.203 - 2020-03-09

[h3]Bug fixes:[/h3]

• Fixed issue where GUI would get stuck if played had resource source selected when it runs out
  
• Fixed issue where inventory icons would not show up after loading
  
• Fixed issue where items would disappear when loading a save
  
• Fixed issue where certain items could be duplicated after loading
  
• Items are now returned to unit that had them after loading a save
  
• Items equipped on workers are now returned to inventory after loading a save
  

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

Cheers,
Sauli, Akseli, Antonio, Jenni, Johanna & Jonna.
aka
Skydome Entertainment

Today we are proud to release update 1.2 "Rise of the Behemoths", which includes new player units, buildings and a reworked DNA upgrade system.


[h2]Behemoth[/h2]
Heavy Insectoid unit Behemoth - A sturdy unit with heavy melee attack. It nests
small Seeker aerial units on it’s back.

Light Insectoid aerial unit Seeker - Swarm of them is carried on Behemoth’s
back. Uses aerial bombing attacks to hit enemies from range.


[h2]Infestor[/h2]
Medium Insectoid specialist Infestor - Uses a variety of neural oozes to terrorize
enemies and aid friendly units.

This update features:

• Heavy Insectoid unit Behemoth
  
• Medium Insectoid specialist Infestor
  
• Small Insectoid aerial unit Seeker
  
• Insectoid building Nestling Mound
  
• Insectoid building Conch
  
• Damage and Defence upgrade rework (Different classes have different upgrades, light, medium, heavy)
  
• Food costs at start of levels adjusted to speed up start of levels
  
• Rhino and Avatar now have custom sound effects
  
• First level boss damage adjusted
  
• Streamers now get notification regarding video quality, if they are using OBS recording software
  
• Several new ability visual effects and sounds have been added
  

Bug fixes:

• "Shadow" faction buildings now have custom debris effect on destruction
  
• Avatar and wasp units no longer get stuck after ability cast
  
• Several tooltip tweaks
  
• Population cap can no longer go over 200 due to saving bug
  
• All workers now continue their current task correctly after loading
  
• Workers no longer get stuck on cutscenes
  
• Tomb of Aradesh overlaping music fixed
  

Follow us on Steam, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube to keep up to date with what we’re working on!
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Skydome
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkydomeHive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkydomeEntertainment/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SaarimaaSauli/

[h3]Have fun with the new features and let us know what you think![/h3]
Cheers,
Sauli, Akseli, Antonio, Jenni, Johanna & Jonna.
aka
Skydome Entertainment

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hello everyone!

We are happy to announce that the full soundtrack of The Hive is now available on Steam! The OST can be purchased as a standalone DLC or as a discounted bundle with The Hive game.

The Hive OST includes high-quality WAV files as well as Mp3 versions.

The soundtrack is composed, performed and produced by Akseli Takanen & Slava Pogorelsky.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1257630/The_Hive_Soundtrack/

Track listing:

1. Main Menu (2:44)
2. Pools of Reflection (2:19)
3. Tomb of Ara'desh (3:23)
4. Chalatoi Empire (3:51)
5. Ancient Waterway (3:33)
6. Skeleton King Battle (1:26)
7. The Sunken City (4:35)
8. The Lost City (3:27)
9. The Gatekeeper (4:07)
10. Derelict Ship (2:17)
11. Temple of the Drowned God (4:34)
12. Orb of Life (0:46)
13. Drowned God Battle (1:57)
14. Underground Empire (0:55)

Total length 39:56


Enjoy the atmospheric sounds of the underworld and stay tuned for the upcoming release of our new major content update in the following weeks!

Cheers,
Sauli, Akseli, Antonio, Jenni, Johanna & Jonna
aka
Skydome Entertainment