Empires of the Undergrowth News

[p]It's been a long time coming, but it's time to test out the Beach Brawl update! The beta is available on Windows (not Mac at this time), and we'd love to hear your feedback on the changes made.
[/p][p]The largest and most obvious change is to the game's user interface, which has been completely reworked in almost all aspects to update it, make it more logically functional and make it friendlier for gamepad / controller play.
[/p][p]Speaking of which - playing the game with controllers is now better than it ever has been, with new UI elements designed with them in mind. A new radial menu will be in play when using a gamepad. If you're playing on a Steam Deck or with any sort of gamepad, we'd love to hear about your experience using it.
[/p][p]Also, we have two new maps! Custom game enjoyers should get stuck into Causeway as soon as possible - it's a brand new map that can support 5 computer-controlled colonies, so it's perfect for a 3v3. There are also five new uber creatures from the fifth tier of the game. Causeway - Chowder is a special extra level based on its layout with the objective of taking out the huge shore crab.
[/p][p]That's a perfect segue to the final part of the new content - we have two new creatures! The shore crab and sand lizard will be taking up huge creature landmarks in custom games. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you would like to join the beta, the code is beachbrawlbeta. If you don’t know how to join a beta and would like to, follow the instructions below:[/p][p]Find Empires of the Undergrowth in your Steam library, right-click on it and choose "Properties"[/p]

1. [p]Choose the "Game Versions & Betas" tab[/p]
2. [p]In the box titled "Private versions", enter beachbrawlbeta[/p]
3. [p]After the "Access code correct" information appears, make sure you've chosen "optionalbeta" from the "Select the beta you would like to opt into" drop-down menu[/p]
4. [p]Press close - the game will now update to the beta branch.[/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Causeway: a new beach-themed custom game map for skirmish & freeplay supporting up to 6 colonies![/p]
• [p]Two new critters to inhabit it, plus variations![/p]
  • [p]European shore crab (Carcinus maenas)[/p]
  • [p]Sand lizard (Lacerta agilis)[/p]
• [p]New extra level based on Causeway - Chowder![/p]
  • [p]The causeway is home to many crabs, and in particular one very large individual. Build up your forces to take down the huge shore crab before burrowing crabs at night overwhelm your nest!
    [/p]

[h2]UI Overhaul[/h2]

• [p]Complete redesign of user interface across the game[/p]
• [p]All menus reworked & reorganised with a new styling[/p]
• [p]Reworked campaign mission launcher is now descending rather than ascending,[/p]
• [p]Icons redesigned with improved resolution[/p]
• [p]Radial menu added with controllers in mind[/p]
• [p]Improved visibility and readability should help with handhelds & TVs
  [/p]

[h2]Additions & Changes[/h2]

• [p]Added savannah uber creatures:[/p]
  • [p]Uber giant centipede[/p]
  • [p]Uber alligatorback scorpion[/p]
  • [p]Uber rainbow lizard[/p]
  • [p]Uber huntsman spider[/p]
  • [p]Uber sun spider[/p]
• [p]Updated artwork and/or animations for the following creatures:[/p]
  • [p]American bullfrog[/p]
  • [p]Whip spider[/p]
  • [p]Eastern newt juvenile[/p]
  • [p]Emperor scorpion[/p]
  • [p]Alligatorback scorpion[/p]
  • [p]Spiny devil bush cricket[/p]
  • [p]Checkered beetle[/p]
  • [p]Great blue skimmer (wings)[/p]
  • [p]Dragantula (wings)[/p]
• [p]Huge creatures can now be enabled or disabled in custom game setup to control what spawns at their landmarks[/p]
• [p]New creatures added to Battle Arena[/p]
• [p]Added military-style rank stripes in Battle Arena spawner to show creature size[/p]
• [p]Added a walk animation to the great blue skimmer (for Battle Arena purposes)[/p]
• [p]Added team stripes to colony creatures that were missing them[/p]
• [p]Updated victory & defeat dioramas for colonies with updated artwork[/p]
• [p]Updated water plane material for a more controllable look[/p]
• [p]Fixes to leafcuttter minor tile appearance[/p]
• [p]Overhaul of the way dithering works for foliage / terrain visibility dissolve[/p]
• [p]Tiles marked for excavation now use a pulsing colour (the old striped pattern can be restored from the “Other” section of the settings menu)[/p]
• [p]Changes to custom game launching to configure up to 6 colonies on supported maps (only the new Causeway supports this thus far)[/p]
• [p]Added hotkeys to jump to colonies 5 & 6 (currently relevant only in Causeway)[/p]
• [p]Termites from landmarks will now spoil on death[/p]
• [p]Icons for the DLCs added to the main menu[/p]
• [p]Text size increased in several places for readability[/p]
• [p]Changes to the spline creature system to accommodate new & updated artwork[/p]
• [p]Added option for gamepad with trackpad to support controllers which have a trackpad attached[/p]
• [p]Added an option for displaying advanded tile information[/p]
  • [p]Defaults to off[/p]
  • [p]Causes numbers from contributing tiles to be hidden by default[/p]
• [p]Added an option to unlock the camera from 90 degree rotational increments[/p]
  • [p]If enabled, the camera will be free-rotating and can be returned to default with another bindable button[/p]
• [p]Fixed large underground creatures destroying tiles at the edge of the play area[/p]
• [p]Woodworm, woodlouse & earwig nymphs now spawn much less frequently in custom games[/p]
• [p]Queens in 1.x levels are now immune for the duration of victory sequences[/p]
• [p]Main menu now has a brief camera animation on load & a button press to begin
  [/p]

[h2]Fixes & Optimisations[/h2]

• [p]Significant optimisations to textures & materials across the game[/p]
• [p]Ensured the newer sapling models appear on freeplay maps & landmarks[/p]
• [p]Fixed cursor drift when using keyboard to move the camera[/p]
• [p]Various spelling & grammar corrections[/p]
• [p]Fixed small plant vegetation dissolve[/p]
• [p]Driver ant soldier ability now mentions movement speed increase[/p]
• [p]"The Savannah" title now displays correctly on its loading screen[/p]
• [p]Lignocellulise information will no longer display on storage tile tooltip if the play is using exploding termites[/p]
• [p]Vacuum in The Real FInal Experiment now uses newer ant models[/p]
• [p]Numerous other small fixes[/p]

[p]Empires of the Undergrowth is now 70% off as part of the Hooded Horse Spring Sale.

Command an ant colony and wage strategic battles in the insect kingdom. This ant-based RTS challenges you to build, defend, and expand your colony, using unique pheromone-based strategies and powerful warrior ants to overcome formidable foes.

Hooded Horse Spring Sale[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
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[p]Empires of the Undergrowth is now 70% off as part of the Hooded Horse Publisher Sale.

Command an ant colony and wage strategic battles in the insect kingdom. This ant-based RTS challenges you to build, defend, and expand your colony, using unique pheromone-based strategies and powerful warrior ants to overcome formidable foes.

Hooded Horse Publisher Sale [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Time for some info about the next maps and monsters to come to Empires of the Undergrowth!

Community manager Mike goes over the changes to the user interface, controller support, and the additions of two new maps and two new critters that will be available to preview in an optional beta for the game, very soon.
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[p]It’s time for the first newsletter of 2026. We’d like to offer a warm welcome to everyone who’s joined us recently in the Steam and Hooded Horse sales over the holiday period, and introduce you to how we do our newsletters and vlogs! These newsletters come out roughly bi-monthly, with a vlog in the intervening months. The idea here is to cover everyone’s personal preference for how they get their EotU news delivered - everything that is covered in one will be covered in the other, with some overlap for new things. [/p][p][/p][p]Me when I realised I've still been writing 5 at the end of my dates a month into 2026
[/p][p]The team is now at the end of a long process to complete a large overhaul for the game’s user interface, as well as for improvements and optimisations to much of the game’s artwork. There’s a very strong possibility of an optional beta being run in the near future to allow wider testing of these extensive changes before we roll them out to all users. More on that a little later on, but keep an eye open for news on that shortly - here, and on our social media (YouTube, X, Bluesky, Discord). [/p][p][/p][p]An emperor scorpion awakes, ready for a night of hunting in the savannah[/p][p][/p][p]The time of posting this newsletter (28th of January) is an opportunity to introduce our new players to our seasonal levels, as it marks 2026’s appearance of the New Year’s Feast event. So, let’s begin our newsletter, and our Year of the Horse, with that![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You should touch that lantern, trust[/p][p][/p][p]If you boot up EotU at any time over the next few weeks, you will notice a colourful lantern has appeared on the main menu. Like all of our event levels, selecting the new thing will do something fun. Clicking on it will bring you to New Year’s Feast, our special Lunar New Year which this year celebrates the Year of the Horse.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]The level features a unique soundtrack (which is also included in the supporter pack), and has some special narration in Chinese to fit the theme. [/p][p][/p][p]New Year’s Feast is one of our more whimsical levels, giving you control of a unique colony of fire ants as they prepare their hotpot feast for their new year’s celebrations. You must send your ants to gather the spices in the ingredients list - returning them to the queen will activate a temporary buff that affects your units in various ways. A little extra spicy pep in your step for a short time, if you like. [/p][p][/p][p]It’s the Year of the Horse! This statue changes each year to fit the Chinese zodiac animal of the year.[/p][p][/p][p]As you continue your foraging activities, you’ll encounter other ants in perilous situations that can be rescued and brought home, unlocking that species for building as well. [/p][p][/p][p]The level features explosive firecrackers that can be found in various spots - ants will automatically pick them up if gathering is active, and their fuse will light when approaching enemies. Firecrackers cause heavy damage to enemies and send them flying, as well as damaging otherwise invulnerable rock walls underground which, with some creative planning, could open up otherwise inaccessible pathways. [/p][p][/p][h3]!!! SPOILERS FOR LEVEL END !!![/h3][p][/p][p]Finally, the level ends on a special encounter with the legendary Nian beast. Enjoy my best Attenborough impression in this video about it (my best, not the best) and always remember: any resemblance to a newt in a costume is entirely coincidental.
[/p][h3]!!! END SPOILERS !!![/h3][p][/p][p]There are several event levels and modes in EotU - also active at the moment is the Festive Spider level, which can be accessed by selecting the gift instead of the lantern. When there’s a full moon, try the cobweb for the Hungry Spider. Around April, things may well get explosive![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The long road to the UI overhaul and reassembling the project in the aftermath is now coming to a close - the focus group testers are currently giving bug reports and feedback on this and have been for a couple of weeks now. We’re just due a localisation pass and then we’ll be able to get an optional beta out to everyone. [/p][p][/p][p]For those of you who haven’t taken part in an optional beta before - when the time comes, we’ll post on Steam about it and there will be a code to enter to unlock it. This will activate a special branch of the project, and once your game has updated you’ll notice the difference immediately.[/p][p][/p][p]With this particular beta, we will be looking for feedback about issues with the new UI changes (which are game-wide) and therefore any reports will be appreciated for any issue in any part of the game - post them in the Steam discussions, or join us on our lively Discord server. Plenty of levels in EotU have unique UI elements that are made just for them, and with our closed testing group being small there are bound to be issues that haven’t been found yet.[/p][p][/p][p]The new radial menu for controllers - don’t worry KB&M users; you won’t be forced to use it![/p][p][/p][p]We will also be looking for feedback from anyone who prefers to play the game with a controller, and perhaps on a handheld device like a Steam Deck - the control systems for gamepads and handhelds have been completely updated, and better controller support was one of the main motivations for the UI overhaul. [/p][p][/p][p]That said, no-one who joins in an optional beta is at all obliged to post feedback, and everyone is welcome to try it out with the understanding that there may well still be some wrinkles to iron out before everything’s good to go. [/p][p][/p][p]There may well be a couple of extra goodies thrown in to play with when the beta arrives - so keep an eye out for news![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you’d like to submit a screenshot for this section of the newsletter for a future edition of it, the simplest way is to join our Discord and then just put your best screenies up on the relevant channel. Alternatively, post on the Steam Community and I’ll also check that out every once in a while.[/p][p]Pro tip: to uncouple the camera from the floor and get some much neater angles on your shots, hold down shift while pressing the photo mode key (F9 by default).

This month, all three Screenshot Central pictures came from the Discord.[/p][p][/p][p]A green lynx spider waits for prey in a pitcher plant lid from danialol[/p][p][/p][p]This termite queen is feeling festive from Dino Dude[/p][p][/p][p]A frog escaping a terrible fate from tibikee[/p]