Nature And Life - Drunk On Nectar News

Drunk On Nectar is back into full development again!

This milestone v0.5 update is literally the halfway point for the game towards a Full Release out of Early Access. The game's development process has been revitalized on many levels and is now fully equipped to realize this goal for 2023.



v0.5 features the game's largest collection of Visual and Gameplay improvements, bugfixes, menu and narration updates and is a must play experience for both old and new players of the game.

You can now expect a new update every 2 weeks from here on. so this is just the beginning of something great!



Here's a quick roundup:

[h2]Chemical Vision Perfected: [/h2]Across tiny instars and large adults, across flora, fauna and various game modes, time of the day, unique gameplay situations like highly populated swarms, etc, etc, DoN's Chemical Trails have been reimagined and corrected for visual and gameplay perfection.



Chemical trails no longer stay permanently on the screen.

The most important gameplay change here is that players now have to Hold X to perceive chemical trails. The goal here was to reduce visual overload, encourage more intelligent planning and to open up new gameplay avenues.

[h3]Swarm AI - Significantly Improved[/h3]
The behaviour of AI swarms has undergone major changes. They're now far more placid, predictable and play out perfectly well for complex predator interactions.

Your experience of the Jumping Spider Lifecycle and Ladybug Lifecycle in particular should be massively improved - more fun, rewarding and interesting as a consequence!



[h2]Chemical Filters - Redefining your view of the world![/h2]
The game now offers a full range of chemical filters which can be cycled by Tapping the C key.

[h3]Chem Filter: Prey Only[/h3]
This mode limits your chemical vision to only prey that you can currently catch and eat. For example, if a Grasshopper is too large for your current instar then it is entirely skipped! This allows you as a predator to focus your energy intelligently on prey that you can actually catch when you get there :)



[h3]Chem Filter: Predators Only[/h3]
Ever nervous about whether a Jumping Spider or Dragonfly was prowling about you? Well, put your fears to rest by turning on the "Predators Only" chemical filter, which limits your chemical view of the world to only those predators which might actually be interested (and able - i.e. by weight, species. etc) to catch you.



[h3]Chem Filter: Mates Only[/h3]
A classic for Lifecycles Act 3 - Mating & Reproduction. This filter limits your vision to only those fauna that you can actually flirt or mate with. Forget about those prey and predators and fly away to find a beautiful mate! :)



[h3]Chem Filter: Flora Only[/h3]
A treat for advanced predator players - You can now smell floral nectar trails - even as a predator and thus predict which flowers are more likely to actually be visited by butterflies and bees :) No more wasting time sitting on the wrong flower!

Perfect for a Praying Mantis laying ambush!



[h3]Chem Filter: All Fauna[/h3]
This is pretty much game's previous chemical trail mode which would show you all of everything. It can get very visually intense, but they will now fade away the moment the player releases the Chem Vision key (Default: X), thus preventing visual overload.



[h2]Other Improvements by category[/h2]
Chem vision and AI swarms weren't the only thing improved, this update brings a ton of bugfixes and many long awaited changes across the board.

[h3]Visuals & Graphics[/h3]

• Landscape texturing at close range improved. Most obvious for tiny instars of Jumping Spiders, Ladybug larva, etc while they're off prowling across the forest floor :)
  
• Landscape texture shaking at close range greatly minimized. Future updates will fully fix this by bringing in new landscapes altogether!
  
• Camera behaviour for drinking nectar from flowers vastly improved. Abrupt jerking fully eliminated, viewing angles are always smooth now!
  

[h3]Gameplay (Common)[/h3]

• Bodyfat saturation cooldown - Allows caterpillars plenty of time to rest / scout before pupation, instead of being forced to eat again and make up for lost bodyfat!
  
• Tiny Predators are now protected from large grasshopper chew holes during tutorial quests.
  
• Camera behaviour for drinking nectar from flowers vastly improved. Abrupt jerking fully eliminated, viewing angles are always smooth now!
  

[h3]Lifecycles[/h3]

• Jumping Spider
  
  • Dragonfly quest no longer freezes during narration
    
  • Silk Tent Construction vastly simplified - the first two phases (spinning silk) have been removed. Now build your tent in just under 30 seconds!!!
    
  • Chemical trails are now carefully designed (size & intensity) across all instars
    
  • AI Mates now start off with full satiety (hunger, bodyfat). This ensures they don't run off to look for food while the player engages them for courtship and mating!
    
  
  
  Silk Tent Construction vastly simplified!
  
  
• Monarch Butterfly Lifecycle
  
  • Mating Rituals: Chem trails are now carefully controlled at each stage
    
  
  
  
• Ladybug Lifecycle
  
  • Chem trails are far more manageable now, yielding vastly improved gameplay
    
  • Swarm AI behaviour vastly improved
    
  
  
  
• Grasshopper Lifecycle
  
  • Critical bugfix to grass blades: Chew holes no longer "disappear" on certain grass blades.
    
  • New "Predators Only" chem filter of special interest for Grasshopper Lifecycle players!
    

[h3]Survival Mode[/h3]

• Praying Mantis Survival
  
  • Various bugfixes to animation state and locomotion
    
  • "Prey Only" chem filter ensures that oversized Grasshoppers are not shown as potential targets!
    
  
  
  
• Blue Mud Dauber Survival
  
  • Gameplay completely rebalanced, much easier to complete now.
    
  • Sensory range vastly increased to make it easier to hunt spiders
    
  • Nectar consumption and hunger rates increased and decreased, respectively.
    
  • Critical bugfixes to resolve blockers that prevent progress at various points
    

[h3]Creature Quests[/h3]

• Checkpoint system fixed. This was previously broken in many cases
  
• Ladybug Creature Quest made a lot more fun and easy thanks to the Chemical Vision improvements
  

[h3]Nature Sandbox[/h3]

• Squirrel removed from fauna menu as it is not yet complete
  
• Various other bugfixes
  
• Major improvements are planned to Nature Sandbox in upcoming updates!
  

Several groundbreaking updates are headed your way, notably

[h3]Skill Trees - Lifecycles Act 4 - A Tale of Generations[/h3]
Ever wished your creature was a lot bigger, or could move faster, or jump higher?

Well, Lifecycles Act 4 will make this possible!

Level up across multiple generations. choose new skills and create your own unique expressions of the game existing species. Featuring RPG elements such as a Specices Tech Tree, this update will add unparalleled depth to the game's existing offerings and is guaranteed to provide endless replay value for the game's ardent fans.

[h3]Subspecies - Variations of existing fauna - Butterflies, Jumping Spiders, Grasshoppers etc [/h3]
This content focused update will add new subspecies of existing creatures.

So more butterflies, more types of Jumping Spiders, more Grasshoppers - some bigger, some smaller, some green, some brown, etc.

New models, animations and textures will infuse new vigor and life into the game's existing offerings.

[h3]Living Flora - Plant & Environment Focus[/h3]
One of the oldest pillars of Drunk On Nectar is its extensive "Living Flora" plant simulation engine. Historically this has not been featured as much in the game, but the goal of this update is to absolutely revitalize the plants, the flora, the environment - i.e. the natural foundation which the rest of the game and all its creatures depend on.




My heartfelt thanks to the game's loving players for your belief in this game and for your patience through the past years.

I'm deeply grateful for your patronage and am absolutely thrilled to walk this road of successful release of the game, here with all of you.

The past few years have been exceedingly challenging, but now the time has come at long last for the game to shine in its full splendor. I am fully committed to achieving this and will do absolutely everything in my power and indeed - beyond that, to fully ensure that Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar is complete, successful and brings a lot of fun, happiness and joy to all who may play it!

With lots of love to the game's wonderful players and fans,
Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS: If you could report any bugs or other issues you run into with this update either here or on the forums, that would be very greatly appreciated! :)

Dear friends,

Today marks the beginning of a new development cycle for Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar!

The goal is to complete the first version of DoN, get V1 out of Early Access and into a full release, over the next 4-6 months or so.

Learn more about the plans below!




In terms of next updates - Subspecies, new environments and supporting content that uses existing game systems will be the main priority.

Polishing the product towards completion of "V1" will be the overall goal.

This will include things like:

1. More species of Butterflies, Spiders, Bees, Beetles, etc.
   
2. More Plants, Trees, environmental attractions (water bodies, etc)
   
3. New maps that will form the primary game experience
   (existing Random maps will be purely optional)
   
4. Nature Sandbox Content
   i) Tutorials
   ii) Quests / more things to do
   
5. Fixing bugs and glitches
   
6. Improving animations & physics
   

Over the past months several players have written to me saying they really enjoyed the game's music and would like to have access to all the audio tracks outside the game.

Celebrating the game's return to development and honoring this request, the game's full BGM set (and there's lot more yet to come!) will indeed be released within a week or so for players to enjoy outside of the game. What's more many of these tracks will be resampled as well as remastered to showcase the game's music in the best possible light!


That's it for now, but stay tuned for more news on the next update!

Spring enters the world of DoN again!
Green shoots abound amid golden rain.
Rainbow flowers peep out of glistening glades
Jumping insects frolic, dancing with mates!
The morning sun shines on golden drops of dew
Drunk On Nectar shall blossom and be born anew!


It will be fun to soar through the glades again!

My sincere thanks to the game's most wonderful players!

With Love
- Venu

The next series of updates for "Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar" is underway!

Today's update brings a vastly improved experience for the Praying Mantis Survival release.

The Mantis is now easier to play, control and survive with, so please do give the Mantis Survival another playthrough now :)

A full video series will be uploaded soon, but below is a summary of what this update brings.

• Mantis now emits far less vibrations, visibility to prey. This makes it easy for players to quickly fly from plant to plant and prepare to ambush prey upon landing.
  
• Flight speed increased - Mantis' minimum and maximum flight speed both have been significantly increased
  
• Flight acceleration doubled - Mantis can acquire its maximum flight speed more swiftly now!
  
• Flight stamina increased - for easier flying and more fun in the air!
  

• Ambush pose now confers significant strike range bonus! In addition to camouflage this now provides players with a great incentive for using ambush instead of direct attacks.
  
• Direct attacks (single left click) are now permitted for Mantis while at close proximity to prey. Players are no longer forced to use the ambush mechanic every time!
  

• Chemical odors (accrued from consumption) are now greatly reduced.
  
• Players are now provided with an explicit alert when a prey smells you, informing you that body odour levels are significantly high and that Grooming is needed :)
  

• Pressing the C key now allows players to filter out chemical visions to "prey only" for predators or between Fauna and Flora for others.
  
• The game now explicitly informs players of the active chemical filter through the HUD.
  
• New chem filters such as "Predator Only" are also arriving in upcoming updates :)
  

Several updates have been planned for the game, below is a quick roadmap:

1) Unlockable difficulty modes for Praying Mantis Survival
Players will be be able to unlock "Medium" and "Hard" difficulty modes once they finish the Survival challenge once. While the current update is designed to be friendly to new players, the higher modes will satisfy experienced players far more and will require players to fully master various gameplay mechanics and thus provide maximum challenge and fun! :)

2) In-Game Video Library update
A comprehensive in-game video library is planned that will allow player to easily look at reference videos for every single quest, mechanic or tutorial in the game. This will help players who may be stuck at a certain quest or are simply curious to learn the fastest or most efficient ways to complete a quest or lifecycle :)

3) Praying Mantis Lifecycles update
As the second installation of the game's Praying Mantis release Lifecycles for the Mantis is still planned and a top priority for the game at this time.



4) Subspecies - roster expansion update
New varieties of Butterflies, Jumping Spiders, Praying Mantis, Grasshoppers, etc will be added to the game introducing a "subspecies" concept that will add immense interest, depth and variety to the existing creatures and their individual survival or lifecycle modes.

Subspecies is not a purely visual or cosmetic update - major gameplay changes including body size, life behavior and other unique subspecies characteristics will provide a completely new experience of each existing major species :) This will be accompanied by a complete overhaul of the game menu, species selection screen as well.


That's it for this update, but stay tuned for more news as there's a lot of fun planned this summer for fans of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar! :)

Thank you for your interest, patronage and love as always! :)

With heartfelt Thanks, Gratitude and Love,
- Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer Of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

Featuring the Praying Mantis, enjoy the best Survival experience ever presented in Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar, to date!

Survive 7 days of Spring as an adult Mantis amid intense competition from prey and predator rivals, all set in a new "Mantis Survival" map preset producing a lush, beautiful and ever changing world.

Exciting new gameplay features have also been added along with the largest set of bugfixes and improvements added to the entire game this year.

Do not miss this update!

[h3]Release Video[/h3]
https://youtu.be/zKWaEAfJJaM



[h3]"Mantis Survival" - A New Random Map Preset[/h3]
Demonstrating the full power of the random map generator, "Mantis Survival" is a completely new map preset that looks, feels and plays quite differently from the existing maps.

Featuring the largest map size (play area) yet, this preset produces broad and expansive meadows with plenty of space for your Mantis to fly, explore and have fun!

The highest fauna population of prey and predators across all the map presets is also found here!



[h3]New Gameplay Features[/h3]
Ambush is a new predator skill added just for the Mantis!



Chemical grit accrual is another new feature whereby prey can smell chemical trails from your previous meal. So hunting becomes gradually harder unless you Groom yourself and clear the chemical debris regularly!



Flight Stamina is a new concept whereby the Mantis can recharge its flight ability while walking. For those players that dislike stopping completely for a Stamina recharge, this provides non-stop, seamless motion. Fly for a while, continue walking while your flight ability recharges and fly on again! :)



[h3]Comprehensive in-game tutorial for Mantis Survival[/h3]
Covering the basics, advanced skills and also new gameplay features (see above!), this Praying Mantis update features the most comprehensive in-game tutorial in the game yet.

New players are provided the opportunity to gain complete confidence in controlling the Mantis being plunged into the 7 day survival challenge!



[h3]Large number of Improvements, Bugfixes[/h3]
This update also includes a large collection of bugfixes and improvements that were made over the past several months.

From reworked Lighting to improved locomotion, AI behavior, fixes for player crashing reports to memory and performance improvements, this update brings the game much closer to a stable version for full release.

An imporant bugfix benefiting all flying creatures in the game is Smooth Flight - flight controls no longer jutter / spin around in relation to FPS fluctuations; this provides a significantly better flying experience for players!

Another crucial bugfix relates to video memory optimization, this fixes a large number of related player issues, including freezing, crashes and low performance, all particularly related to long playthroughs.

[h3]Praying Mantis - Lifecycles[/h3]
Lifecycle of the Praying Mantis will indeed be the next update.

While vast majority of the work is already complete, certain unique aspects of the Mantis lifecycle (like the Mantis egg case), early instar gameplay and gender dimorphism depiction, need to be completed.

In the meantime I hope that you enjoy this Survival take on the Praying Mantis :)

Praying Mantis Lifecycles - Also Coming Soon!

[h3]Thank you[/h3]
As always, thank you so much for your interest, patience, love and support!

Nature is forever beautiful, awesome and fun!

With Love,
Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

Thanks as always to the game's loving fans for your keen interest and enquiries about the Praying Mantis update!

My sincere apologies for the extended delay and lack of news in the past month. On a personal front I've been in the midst of major life changes and engagements that have made focus on development challenging, hence these delays which are understandably disappointing for the game's wonderful players and indeed for myself as well.

As thanks for your mails and wonderful inquiries, here are some images of the upcoming Praying Mantis:

Mantis seizing prey with its iconic raptorial limbs

A body built to conquer the insect world!

Fully grown adult with wings!

Praying Mantis now a Flying Mantis!


Mantis character and hunting gameplay are already complete. while Lifecycle depiction, rival predator interactions and overall flow need to be designed.

Everything possible is being done to get back to developing the game and only a few week's worth of dev effort is needed at this point.

Your best wishes and good will for the game will be of great assistance at this time to the game and personally to me as well, so you really can give this update a big boost simply with your love, enthusiasm and belief in this game! :)



I'm deeply grateful to all of you for your patronage and interest in "Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar".

Thank you!

Stay tuned for further news as the Praying Mantis update nears release at last!



With Love & Thanks for your boundless patience,

- Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Drunk On Nectar)