Empires of the Undergrowth News

This beta patch includes several fixes, some new freeplay features and optimisations! This is an update for the currently running optional beta.

If you're not participating in the optional beta and would like to, follow the instructions in the original beta post for details of how to participate. You'll need to be running the game on Windows and through Steam.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/463530/announcements/detail/1705107447279697254

Full patch notes for beta update 0.2112 are detailed below:

[h3]General Fixes[/h3]

• Some funnel web tile surfers on Baby Sitting will now correctly spawn when your ally tunnels them out.
  
• Moved all pebbles of walkable area in the original spider level
  
• Fixed more pathing issues to do with ramps (some issue that arose on Baby Sitting and other areas)
  
• Fixed an issue where if an enemy died on top of a tile that used to be a cavern it would be un-harvestable
  
• Minor optimisation in ant eggs
  
• Ice plants in Baby Sitting no longer block clicks
  
• Prevented creatures from hanging out within the ant nest tunnel where they cannot be attacked or attack (both on surface and underground)
  
• Shortened text on score screen of a bonus multiplier that was overlapping the score
  
• Fixed an issue where if graphics setting were changed during some particle effects, then they would exist forever
  
• Fixed an aesthetic issue with leafcutter minor’s attack animation loop
  
• Several optimisations for pathing and location functions
  
• Overground minimap will now stop flashing if tabbing to the overground
  
• When trying to place a marker in an un-pathable underground zone it will try and snap to a neighbouring pathable tile, if this fails and error sound plays
  
• Fixed a visual error with the wood ant projectile splash
  
• Players can now place markers on ramps via the minimap
  
• Minor optimisations to do with marker placement
  
• Optimisation added to repathing due to tunnelled out tiles
  
• Optimisation added in various areas that required a calculated path length
  

[h3]Freeplay[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where loaded minims would immediately drop their leaves
  
• Saved plant climbers will now correctly harvest when they reach there harvest points
  
• Fixed an issue where climbers could load stuck climbing a plant and in the wrong place (and unstuck and saved stuck ones)
  
• Fixed an issue where creatures could exit the maps from the position they were standing (and hence could just ping out of existence)
  
• Fixed an issue where sometimes right clicking the minimap would not draw the path of a marker on the surface
  
• Infestation landmark now obeys disabled creature fighting
  
• Fixed victory / defeat animations in Embankment
  
• Moved a log outside of play area on Embankment
  
• Harvestman severed legs will now save and load with a visual mesh and will no longer walk around on their own when loaded
  
• Minor leaf cosmetic changes in Embankment
  
• Rounded victory condition goals to nearest whole number
  
• Deletion jobs for full refuse tiles are now correctly saved and loaded
  
• Default difficulty is now 20%
  
• The time period where the player does not get invaded in freeplay now slowly allows invasions based on a weighted dice roll (first 10 minutes no large creature invasions, next 10 minutes moving from very few, to normal amount by the end)
  
• Added a “Play Difficulty” that affects multiple things including:
  
  • Constant difficulty max and ramp rates in difficulty
    
  • Extends grace periods before ubers can spawn and enemy creatures can attack
    
  • Wave sizes
    
  • Difficulty increase due to victory condition getting close
    
  • Score multipliers added for the above
• Swarms of creatures should no longer hang around nest entrances of active players
  
• 25% increased spawn rate of landmarks when playing as leafcutters (slightly more leaves)
  
• Ubers will not invade a player nest until they have existed on the map for eight minutes, then it is up to them!
  

We've released a bug-fixing (yes, we've heard the joke before!) update for the currently running beta. All of the most recent changes are listed below. If you're not participating in the optional beta and would like to, it is still running and as long as you own the game on Steam and use Windows, you can participate. Follow the instructions in the original beta post for details of how to participate.


https://steamcommunity.com/games/463530/announcements/detail/1705107447279697254

[h3]Changes / Bug Fixes [/h3]

• Added an option slider for a darkened square behind resource counters for visibility
  
• Fixed a problem with creatures moving on z axis when they shouldn’t
  
• Fixed an issue with creature movement on thin ramps
  
• Fixed a sound issue with rove beetles and wood ants
  
• Trail calculations have been updated. Should lead to more ants at the end of trails, more consistent flows and less ants waiting underground
  
• Minor optimisation of markers
  
• Baby Sitting map no longer says “Return to Formicarium” at the end and now returns to the main menu
  
• Framerate changes will now correctly save and reload when changed
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause honeydew to appear as big grey spheres on food tiles
  
• Fixed an issue when a minim looks for a drop off point and re-paths at the same time (it will no longer lose the food)
  
• Beach wolf spider hats (in arachnophobe mode) can now be clicked through for marker placement
  
• Fixed issues with minims getting stuck in walls
  
• Fixed an issue where leaf plant landmarks in freeplay would never despawn and constantly hold a landmark spot (this should lead to more leaves spawning in freeplay)
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause one landmark to spawn on top of another in freeplay after a save and load
  
• Optimisation added to leaves
  
• Increased areas landmarks can spawn on Embankment threefold
  
• Starting landmarks in Embankment increased to 16 (up from 10) and landmark spawns per day increased to 13 (up from 9)
  
• Leafcutter queen death will now trigger defeat in freeplay
  
• Embankment map text and image added to freeplay setup
  
• Embankment minimap colour changed to rainforest colours
  
• Moved some starting food on Embankment
  
• Fixed various movement and pathing issues
  
• Fixed an issue where creatures colliding with walls were picking bad locations to pop out to
  
• Optimisations added to ant jobs
  
• Fixed an issue where freeplay difficulty was set to zero at the start of playing ramp (no matter what setting you had for start difficulty)
  
• Level 1 ants that are swarm creatures (such as the ones in the Battle Arena) will now display their level
  
• Fixed an issue where a praying mantis could crash the game when using abilities
  
• Fixed a crash that could happen if a projectile shooter (wood ant) was eaten before the projectile collided (could happen with wood ants vs. praying mantis)
  
• Fixed Embankment lighting and some cosmetic issues
  
• Fixed an issue where the AI of an ant could break if a marker is placed in its own nest when ants are in an enemy nest
  
• Fixed an issue where a praying mantis could pick up a creature being held by another creature
  
• Removed food in impenetrable rock on Baby Sitting
  
• Fixed an issue where night and day were not correctly progressing on some levels
  
• Camera zoom now interpolates (very rapidly)
  
• Freeplay import / export boxes no longer allow clicking other things when active
  
• Plant climbing speed is now based on the current ant speed, not its speed when it started climbing
  
• Improved food store space reservation
  
• Allied creatures now properly avoid one another
  
• Fixed an issue where tile refund costs would not remain constant through a save for initial builds and upgrades
  
• Optimisation on buried harvestable creatures
  
• Slight smoothing of camera movement (it is improved further by setting a framerate limit)
  
• Improved pathing for dig jobs
  
• Fixed an issue where saving and loading a freeplay game with leafcutters would cause extra creatures objects to spawn each time (potentially leading to a lot of wasted processing)
  
• Wave spawning in freeplay now takes food height into account and no longer spawns in the floor
  
• Fixed a memory leak to do with leafcutter majors with the “Sharp” upgrade infinitely adding more Thorns auras to nearby creatures
  
• Thorns aura now drops off as was intended when leaving the range of the leafcutter major
  
• Thorns aura is now correctly positioned on affected creatures
  
• Fixed an issue where certain food items would think they were under the wrong tile when buried
  
• Removed the phantom log that would float through the middle of the Embankment map from time to time
  
• Beach tiger beetle larvae will no longer try to attack creatures that cannot be killed and will no longer attack creatures that cannot be picked up
  

Thanks to everyone who has taken part in the beta test that has been running since Christmas eve! We have an update to that beta, available now, that introduces a new extra level (Baby Sitting) and a new freeplay map (Embankment) set in the rainforest environment, as well as a lot of bug fixes from the extensive feedback we've received. We're also extending the Christmas Hungry Spider event until the end of January to allow more people to play it - look for the gift on the main menu!

If you haven't participated in the beta yet and would like to join in, it is still open to all Windows owners on Steam. Follow the instructions in the previous post about the beta.

• A new extra level has been added - Baby Sitting! Can you keep an allied colony alive whilst it makes some questionable decisions?
  
• A new freeplay map added - Embankment. Setup your freeplay colony next to a stream in the rainforest.
  

• Restored minimap path drawing
  
• Fixed a divide by zero crash that could occur whenever a creature jumps (the trapjaw crash)
  
• Fixed an issue causing large frame rate drops when funnel webs were checking for targets
  
• Fixed an issue where green food capsules would display if playing freeplay leafcutters with fog of war on
  
• Fixed an issue on the monthly levels where the starting units were displaying colourless
  
• Fixed an issue on Extremis where waves would stop at wave 23
  
• Media and trapjaws will now properly say selected once they have been purchased in Extremis
  
• Tunnellers will now head to the queen if their dig targets are tunnelled out in Extremis
  
• Fixed an issue on Extremis where a wood ant upgrade purchase would display the wrong one
  
• Fixed a tile exclamation mark that was mispositioned on Hold Out
  
• Exclamation mark enemies should now always spawn when tunnelled out
  
• Fixed an issue with Beach Tiger Beetle Larvae where they could sometimes get stuck attacking and will no longer attempt to attack a target that cannot be picked up
  
• Media belonging to a Formica ereptor colony should no longer have fungus waste, minims and be able to pick up normal resources
  
• Fixed an issue with Crucible where colony creatures could not get above ground
  
• Fixed an issue with paint work on closed tunnel exits in the dunes and other similar issues in freeplay levels
  
• Fixed an issue where mantis chirping could be heard after death
  
• Exclamation mark spawning should more consistently be at the location of the mark
  
• Plant shoots should no longer spawn off the visible edge of a cliff
  
• Black ant workers feet pulled out of the floor
  
• Fixed an issue where used fungus quantities could go negative in the top bar
  
• Fixed a tick box issue with freeplay landmarks
  
• Fixed an issue where food would still think it was buried if generated on a cavern (and the ants could not pick it up)
  
• Fixed an issue where creatures could pick food up from long distances
  
• Fixed an issue where dropped items would appear anywhere with 300 radius of the drop
  
• Fixed an issues with leafcutter colony economy when loaded in freeplay (wrong storage values, and used fungus not being regenerated properly on tiles)
  
• Corrected some translation errors
  

• Allied creatures now show as yellow on the minimap and health bars
  
• Extended the Christmas level until the end of January
  
• Added in extra frame rate limits
  

• Improved movement around ramp entrances
  
• Fixed issues with creatures trying constantly to walk off some cliff edges (and being teleported back onto the cliff)
  
• Fixed an issue where creatures would attempt to path through pebbles and other obstacles
  

Merry Christmas all! We've got an optional beta build for testing the freeplay leafcutters & reworked freeplay setup ready for those that would like to help us test. We also have a very festive special level for you to try!

WARNING: This is a beta build and the new movement code still needs to be perfected. Formicarium levels have been disabled until we have dealt with specific issues in these levels. If you wish to play these levels, disable the beta in steam which will opt you back out. It is available to all Steam Windows players.

The beta code is christmasants.

The main features for you to test in this beta build are:

• Leafcutter ants are now a playable colony in freeplay
  
• Under "Other Modes" there is a new menu - Extra Levels - and the first two of these, Aggrandise and Extremis, are there to be tested
  
• A special Christmas level - click the gift on the main menu!
  

Guess who's back?

WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND BACKING UP YOUR SAVE GAME FILES before attempting to play freeplay.

Please see this thread on the forums for information about where your saved games are stored so you can back them up.

[h3]How to Access the Beta[/h3]

To access the beta, follow the below steps:

1) Find Empires of the Undergrowth in your Steam library, right-click on it and choose "Properties"
2) Choose the "Betas" tab
3) In the box titled "Enter beta access code to unlock private betas", enter christmasants
4) After the "Access code correct" information appears, make sure you've chosen "openbeta" from the "Select the beta you would like to opt into" drop-down menu
5) Press close - the game will now update to the beta branch.

By doing so, you are acknowledging that this is a beta and things are not in their finished state.

We are quite happy for you to post and share videos / screenshots of everything in this beta - in fact we're looking forward to seeing if anyone can beat the new Christmas level, which is just as devilishly difficult as the legendary Halloween one! In fact, you might recognise the protagonist...

To access the new Christmas level, simply click on the gift that appears on the main menu after opting into the beta.

Oh boy! I wonder what it could be?

Our aim is to expand the scope of the beta after the Christmas break, bringing the formicarium levels back in with the re-worked code and add a few extra bits and bobs, such as the challenge modes for 3.1 and 3.2. Once this is all sorted we'll activate support for achievements and release the update for everyone.

And so, winter came. And with it, the season of darkness and cold but also the season of goodwill and cheer. A little bit of a shorter newsletter this month, as we are still (I know, I know) working through the last of the movement code changes. Keep an eye open for the beta announcement - before putting it onto the main branch, we will run an optional beta for all Steam Windows players to help us pin down the last of the issues.

Night-time jungle from returning contributor MorPacke

There are a couple of new things to show, however - the extended time it's taken to get the rewrite done has meant that John has had the time to get ahead on some other systems whilst Liam and Matt are busy with that. We're ready to show off the creature that will feature in challenge mode for levels 3.1 The Harvest and 3.2 Front Line, so let's get right to that!

Phorid Flies

The mortal enemy of many ant species, the tiny phorid fly may look as unassuming but it harbours a deadly secret. It can quickly lay its eggs on the bodies of vulnerable ants. The eggs will hatch into maggots that burrow into the body of the ant, eating its innards and inevitably killing it.

Innocuous-looking and tiny, but deadly - the phorid fly

Leafcutter ants are not entirely defenseless against such a gruesome fate, however. The tiny minims - which under normal circumstances rarely if ever leave the nest - can hitch a ride on the back of their much larger nest-mates, fending off the attacking phorids and sparing their sisters from being eaten from the inside out.

In Empires of the Undergrowth, phorid flies will join the mole crickets and tiger beetle larvae in our menagerie of critters for people who like an extra twist on their levels, or who just want to collect some extra royal jelly! The exact mechanics of the minims riding on the backs of the bigger ants are yet to be fully implemented but we can't wait to show you once they are.

The current plan is to get the challenge modes into the game along with the upcoming freeplay update. As always, until we're entirely sure we don't want to speculate on when we'll be ready - we will announce a firm date when we can be certain of meeting it.

Achievements Unlocked!

Another system that we've been itching to get into the game is achievements, as mentioned a couple of newsletters ago. John did a successful test of these working with Steam on one of his live streams - see the below video of the wonderful moment he managed this (around the 1: 43: 15 mark)! Along with the upcoming update the first batch of achievements will be added to Steam, with more coming later.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This means the first set of achievements is now locked in, but if you have suggestions for fun hidden achievements then please drop by the thread we've set up for this purpose on our official forums.

EGX Berlin

At the start of November, Liam travelled to Germany along with Tom (who is working on his sandbox evolution game Ecosystem, which we're publishing and you should play the demo of) to meet up with Matt and exhibit both Empires of the Undergrowth and Ecosystem to the attendees at EGX Berlin. We always love doing these events for a specific purpose - the true value of them lies in observing the reactions to someone entirely new to the experience. It gives a level of insight that is entirely different than curated feedback sent to us over the internet - the hands-on approach is just not achievable any other way.

Ecosystem and EotU, and some curious beetles at the end... hmmm

We'd like to thank everyone who stopped by our booths to play for a while, and we loved hearing (and seeing) what you felt about the way things are going! We don't go to many of these events, perhaps one a year - but we make the most of them whilst we're there.

Off the back of EGX Berlin we're also very grateful to Nicholas Montegriffo of PC Invasion for including Empires of the Undergrowth in his list of 5 indies to watch from the event! Go and give his article a read.

Just For Fun - Scale Difference

Just a little fun here that gives a bit of an insight into the way scaling works in Empires of the Undergrowth. Unreal Engine 4, which is the engine system we use, uses a convention of 1 engine unit = 1cm, which would be a bit fiddly for Empires of the Undergrowth given our subject matter of tiny creatures. So we scale creatures up an order of magnitude, for our own convenience. The main menu has very little in the way of tiny creatures in it, however, so that is made at the standard scale.

I wonder, then, what would happen if I put a normal creature into the main menu OH NOOOOOOOOOOO



And the scientist's hand from the third formicarium? Well, I've gone this far already, I've only myself to blame. Actually, it was suggested by someone on Facebook so you can blame them.

What have I done?!?

Screenshot Central

If you'd like to contribute to our monthly screenshot section then simply upload your screenshots to Steam (F12 by default) or mail them to [email protected]. I'll look through them and choose some of the real lookers. You can enter the cinematic photo mode by pressing F9 - and if you do that whilst holding shift you'll have free movement of the camera, allowing you to get some really interesting angles. Give it a spin!


An unfair end to freeplay from klagana6166 - we're working on balancing it!

Nice wide shot of the jungle from WraTTaFix

The scientist waits impatiently for ereptors to clash from Cthulaid42