Empires of the Undergrowth News

For patch 0.213 we’ve addressed some issues that have come up in the past few weeks - in particular one which has prevented new content (the 4 jungle uber creatures) from appearing. Freeplay map Towhead has seen a fair few changes - increased landmark numbers and some new paths. Also a bunch of quality-of-life changes in this one.


Towhead has seen several changes this time round

• Solved a bug preventing the 4 new ubers showing up in freeplay (they would be announced but not show)
  
• Landmark spawn rate with leafcutters reduced down to 200% (from 250%) as it was filling all available landmark spots causing landmark droughts on some maps
  
• Leaves now regenerate every 4m down from 5m
  
• Increased the number of landmark locations on Towhead by about 8 (and shuffled some around)
  
• Added a couple of central crossing paths into Towhead to allow better access to the new landmark locations from all spawn points
  
• Funnel web landmarks no longer spawn pebbles (eliminates a bug making ramps inaccessible if the web spawns near one)
  
• Fixed an issue where creatures could end up stuck on top of your nest in freeplay
  
• Uber spawn chance increased when playing Hunter victory condition
  
• Creative mode now automatically spends resources allowing you to harvest resources if you wish
  
• Wave number will no longer increase if defeated before the timer for the next wave starts in freeplay
  
• Added option in freeplay to disable difficulty increase when approaching victory
  
• Renamed a couple of difficulty options in freeplay
  
• Uber spawns now cause a minimap ping
  
• Funnel web landmark despawn timer will tick down 4x as fast if all its inhabitants are dead
  
• Funnel web spiders will not be given targets until they reach their nest
  
• Besieged victory now occurs on final wave defeat rather than just before spawn
  
• You can no longer save the game during an attack wave
  

• Achievement fail and success messages are now off by default and can be turned on from an option in the menu or from the scoreboard (achievement tracking)
  
• Added a widget to the main menu that will show up after you have completed the campaign and will highlight games made by our friends (only on Steam)
  
• Fixed a bug that could break formicarium challenge 2 if you kill the tube spawning ants too quickly after they spawn
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause a green riser to appear if you cancel a dig job the moment a cavern is tunnelled out
  
• Fixed more issues with creatures or food getting stuck under ramps
  
• Funnel web now has immunities to several crowd control effects
  
• Hungry Spider projectile is now visible again
  
• Hungry Spider mouse movement should feel a lot smoother however it no longer paths around walls so you need to manually manoeuvrer it
  
• Fixed an issue where Hungry Spider bite and venom strike were doing less damage than intended further from the centre of the attack
  
• Creatures with low visual range can now see enemies that attack them from further away
  
• Fixed some text issues
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause aphids to float (sometimes very high in the sky) when ladybirds attempt to pick them up
  
• Ladybirds will no longer try and escape once they have started picking up an aphid (they will escape after anyway)
  
• Fixed an issue with brood tile hotkeys not functioning correctly
  
• Massively reduced issues with chamber rep panel thinking the mouse is hovering over a chamber when it is not (worse at lower FPS)
  

There's a new Empires of the Undergrowth extra level available now! In Baby Sitting, you have an AI-controlled sister colony. They're very plucky, but not that bright. You'll have to make sure they don't bite off more than they can chew and keep them out of trouble! Both queens must survive to win the level. To find the new level, choose "Other Modes" from the main menu, then "Extra Levels". Good luck!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Note: your game client will not need to update for this level to be unlocked.

For many months we have been working hard on improving movement in Empires of the Undergrowth, and this patch represents successes in this area but also a bunch of content and quality-of-life changes that we hope you will be pleased with.

Thanks so much for those of you who have helped out during the beta phase for this update; we’re very glad to be able to release it for everyone!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h2]Updated Movement Code[/h2]

After replacing most of the movement code in the game and running extensive beta tests, this is now ready to go. This will lead to a noticeable performance boost for all which ultimately means more creatures and bigger maps!

This will also help fix bugs that have been persistent in movement for a long time. Bugs to do with ants freezing or getting stuck on ramps should, for the most part, be eliminated.

[h2]Freeplay Overhaul[/h2]
Freeplay has seen many changes and should feel very different now than it used to.

• Leaf cutters make their way to freeplay, along with climbable plants!
  
• New rainforest map Embankment
  
• Difficulty has been tuned and and extra difficulty option added that affects how quickly and how far the games difficulty will change
  
• Optional victory conditions have been added allowing you to set goals (these also affect the difficulty as you approach victory)
  
• Freeplay setups can be saved, and can also be shared via a string
  
• Ubers have been rebalanced bringing them to a fairer difficulty level. They have also been altered to be strong / weak against various enemy combinations
  
• As difficulty increases, creatures will now get stronger (rather than just more numerous) and will have much less food reduction
  

[h2]Extra Levels[/h2]
We will be bringing regular extra missions to the game apart from the main campaign. Here we have allowed ourselves more freedom to do things in a more game-like fashion rather than true to nature, like we strive to be in the story.The first 3 maps will be released a month apart!

• Aggrandise launches today! Command a Formica ereptor colony featuring the fierce trap jaw ants and carefully choose your targets as your colony grows large enough to take on a large foe!
  
• More are on the way - follow our social media for details!
  

[h2]Third Tier Challenge Mode[/h2]

Phorid flies are tiny, inconspicuous-looking insects that could easily be mistaken for fruit flies but are far deadlier. They lay their eggs between the armoured carapaces of insects, in particular your ants, leading to a time where they will be less effective followed by inevitable death as the larva eats away at the innards.

All ants have a chance of fighting off the flies when they are attacked, but level 3 mediae and majors have a 100% chance to fight them off.

[h2]First Tier Achievements[/h2]

We have also added a bunch of achievements for the first tier levels of the game. This includes New Home, Subjugation and the first formicarium challenge. Multiple achievements have been added for various difficulties and challenge modes. There are the generic achievements, such as finishing a level on a specific difficulty, but also tasks that have specific conditions to achieve. Check your achievements from the in-game menu.



On top of all these additions there has been a raft of optimisation changes made that should also improve performance. Some areas have also seen balance changes including area-of-effect (AOE) attacks, insane difficulty on 3.2 Front Line and many others. Many of these changes are listed below.

[h2]Optimisations[/h2]

• Projectiles have been significantly optimised (very noticeable with rapid fire wood ants)
  
• Substantially reduced the cost of rendering the Isolepis Cernua (spiky plant)
  
• And many more! See previous patch notes from beta testing for extensive details
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• Black ants now take 20% less damage from AOE attacks
  
• 3.2 Front Line on harder difficulties will spawn less environmental creatures and more higher level army ants
  
• Formicarium challenge 3 has been made much easier on harder difficulties:
  
• Reduced the number of resource refills the enemy colony receives across various difficulties (now 0/1/2/4 down from 0/1/5/10)
  
• Reduced reload quantity to 1800 (down from 2000)
  
• Resource reloads will now appear gradually (10 per second) rather than instantly
  
• Reduced size of cricket drops on harder difficulties
  
• Damage falloff implemented on wood ant mortar, uber basic attacks and some whip spider attacks. This deals less damage the further away from the epicentre of the attack the creature is (reaching zero at the very edge)
  

• Multiple frame rate limits added
  
• Added an option slider for a darkened square behind resource counters for visibility
  
• Markers should feel more responsive with faster movement between different markers, more ants at the end of the marker and far fewer ants waiting at home to head to the marker
  
• Camera zoom now interpolates very rapidly
  
• Visuals added for leafcutter major auras
  
• Difficulty levels have been added for Formicarium challenges 1 and 2
  
• Trail calculations have been updated. Should lead to more ants at the end of trails, more consistent flows and less ants waiting underground
  
• And many more! See previous patch notes from beta testing for extensive details
  

• Significantly less ants getting caught on corners
  
• Corrected an error that could cause creatures to get stuck at the entrance to ramps
  
• A previously dormant patrol route behind the player’s nest has been reactivated in 3.2
  
• Fixed an issue where workers could survive their tiles being deleted if they have the “evasive” skill
  
• After purchasing a queen ability, all queen cool-downs need to recharge (prevents switching queen abilities during formicarium challenge exploit)
  
• Ladybirds now immune to many crowd control effects to prevent them being affected whilst eating an aphid
  
• “Attack when favourable” creatures (such as mantis and jumping spider) now take nearby allies into account when deciding to attack or not
  
• Improvements to ant crowd movement - particularly in combat
  
• Mole crickets now take room size into account when selecting a room to spawn in
  
• Improvements to collision detection with difficult shapes
  
• Battle arena now only removes creatures that are not in combat
  
• Ubers will no longer ignore the nest invasion setting in freeplay setup
  
• Moved all pebbles off walkable area in the original Hungry Spider level
  
• Fixed a visual error with the wood ant projectile splash
  
• And many more! See previous patch notes from beta testing for extensive details
  

Last bits of balance and fixes! Just a very short test to make sure nothing we’ve added or fixed causes any major issues - and then this should be the last one before we set it on the main branch. Hang tight just a little longer if you’ve been waiting for the beta to finish!

This beta now includes Mac, Linux and Win32 builds if anyone would like to test for them! For those familiar with how to activate a beta password the word is christmasants. For more detailed instructions see this post on the forum.

Thanks to ant27rex for the screenshot used in the header and cover of this post!
[h2]
Balance - Baby Sitting
[/h2]

• Reduced number of funnel web spiders on hard and insane difficulties
  
• Provided slightly more time between computer actions on insane difficulty
  
• Dead creatures provide more food on hard and insane difficulties
  

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Just Isn’t Cricket achievement will now correctly complete instead of completing a different one
  
• Slave makers now correctly drop resources when they see an enemy
  
• Fixed an issue where an invisible enemy could be present in replays of formicarium challenge 3
  
• Fixed an issue where you would autocomplete Rapid Growth and NOPE after beating 1.2 insane
  
• Achievements will now only give their failed or succeeded announcement if you do not already have them
  
• Fixed an issue where tunnelling enemies (Extremis and Surrounded) could get stuck digging nothing or standing still if they tunnelled out and could not see an enemy
  

We're entering the final stages of beta testing for the 0.21 update now - and for the first time in the game this update introduces achievements! The first batch (formicarium tier 1) are present here - more will follow suit later down the line. We’ve also done some fairly extensive balancing.

This is an optional beta - if you’d like to join the beta whilst it’s still running, follow the instructions in the box near the top of this previous post. If you're already on the beta branch you won't need to do this; the game should update by itself. Thanks so much to everyone who has helped us test this large update; we’re nearly there now! NOTE: The beta will only run on Windows. Once we've finished the beta period Mac and Linux will get the full finished update!

Thanks to whoamijr for the screenshot used for the header and cover of this post!


[h2]Headline Features[/h2]

• Achievements are now active on Steam for the first tier of the formicarium. Note you will currently only be able to get these in the beta
  
• Some level balance changes, more details below

[h2]Balance Changes[/h2]
[h3]Aggrandise[/h3]

• Raised the cost of trap jaw ant build to 90 (up from 60)
  
• Added black ants to the player’s build options to give a mid-way unit now trap jaw cost has been increased so much

[h3]3.2 Front Line[/h3]

• On higher difficulties less patrolling creatures appear
  
• On higher difficulties more level 2 and 3 army ants will appear

[h3]Formicarium Challenge 3[/h3]

• Reduced the number of resource refills the enemy colony receives across various difficulties (now 0/1/2/4 down from 0/1/5/10)
  
• Reduced reload quantity to 1800 (down from 2000)
  
• Resource reloads will now appear gradually (10 per second) rather than instantly
  
• Reduced size of cricket drops on harder difficulties

[h2]General[/h2]

• A couple of achievement times adjusted for balance reasons
  
• Creatures set to attack player when damaged now only attack the first player that attacked them and do not switch

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Food reservation now affects leaves and harvestable creatures, so you will not harvest from these unless there is space available for ants to reserve a slot to place them
  
• Minor change to a web on 1.2 allowing the spider to see other ants that are on top of its nest
  
• Fixed another resource pickup issue that could cause an ant to get stuck trying to pick up a resource
  
• Funnel web spider can no longer be introduced after its death has been announced in 1.2
  
• Fixed an issue where leaves could be dropped in a way that made them inaccessible around nest entrances
  
• Fixed an issue with recent changes to mole crickets that made them spawn on the same spot (and could crash)
  
• Fixed an issue that could occur with harvesters when harvesting was turned off (they could walk back and forth to the thing they were previously harvesting for a time)
  
• Fixed some bugs with achievements in 1.2
  
• Resources dropped from deleting tiles now correctly display food values and appear on the minimap
  
• Fixed an issue where ubers were still invading with invasions turned off (again!)
  
• Moved some food in the old demo levels to be in caverns
  
• Fix added for water rising on low frame rates that could cause it to overshoot (sometimes enough to kill ants coming out of their nest)
  
• Fixed an issue where an ant could briefly be given a job as it was heading to the surface, causing its AI to break and not move when it reached the surface
  
• Potential fix for ants locking out harvesting of plant from a long distance away
  
• Minor adjustments in food size in critters to help flickering
  
• Fixed a bug with plant disembarking
  
• Leaf sizes are now more sensible in 3.1
  
• Fixed a rare crash that could occur in pathfinding
  
• Fixed an issue where an ant targeted by a funnel web that was killed could not be targeted by another until ants stopped entering the nest