Nature And Life - Drunk On Nectar News

New visuals have been added for key moments in the Ladybug Lifecycle's including Pupation, Moulting and Metamorphosis Emergence, greatly enriching the overall experience.

Here's quick trailer focusing on the new visuals!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Celebrating the new Ladybug visuals, join Drunk On Nectar's Developer Venu in this special gameplay series, as we "Enter the world of the Ladybug" with gusto across its 4 instars, all the way up to pupation, adulthood and even beyond!

Here's the walkthrough!

Part 1 - Birth, Early Instars
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Part 2 - Metamorphosis, Mating & Reproduction
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Part 3 - Generation 2 is planned too :)

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An educational snippet has been added for the main Metamorphosis segment, further enriching the Ladybug's lifecycle offering. Wing development and Colorations of the Ladybug are briefly discussed.

Here's an excerpt, do check out this update or the videos above for more :)


Here's a quick overview of this update:

• New Metamorphosis Visuals
  
• New Educational Content
  
• Grooming animation
  
• Birth scene population increased to ensure player doesn't run out of prey
  
• Intro Cinematics bugfix (these no longer stop abruptly at the end).
  

With the release of this update, the Ladybug Lifecycle comes closer to attaining its full potential, though there is always room for further improvement. Apart from a few outstanding player reports (which are currently being investigated), additional feedback from you is always welcome and will greatly help in realizing the sublime potential that is innate in every creature's lifecycle, whether for their unique gameplay or for visual depiction and most certainly so, for the inimitable Ladybug!

Enter the World of the Ladybug! New visual content awaits you! :)

Thank you!

With ❤,
Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator)

Rip-roaring Carnivorous Beetle larva action is here!

Charming as an adult, terrifying as a larva, the most voracious insect carnivore in popular lore is here for your play!

Action-packed gameplay meets beautiful vistas and Educational narratives, making the Ladybug's lifecycle release the game's most significant update yet, by far!



Survive the most densely populated vistas ever seen in the game. Thrust amidst hoards of prey (New Species - Aphids are here!) and wily Ants, you and your siblings must journey across a blistering life experience as a tiny carnivorous larva with an enormous appetite.


From Egg to Larva to Pupa to Winged adult, the Ladybug exhibits a "complete metamorphosis", much like the fabled Monarch Butterfly.

That's not all though, Mating & Reproduction is included too! As a female or male Ladybug find a partner, engage in courtship, lay eggs and thus complete your Gen 1 life story.



Generation 1 is a carefully guided experience for new players and veterans alike, while Generation 2 (and beyond!) offer pure Sandbox gameplay with unlimited potential for exploration and emergent interactions.


Certain visual features are still pending, these will be added in due course:
1) Ladybug Pupa transition visuals
2) Various Colorations - before pupation, after emergence, egg shells, etc
3) Grooming & Grappling Animations etc

Gameplay wise there is also further room for expansion, however it was deemed essential to get this initial version out for your enjoyment and valuable feedback.

Please provide feedback on the things that you enjoyed or would like improved, as this update will continue to be polished over the coming days and your input is absolutely essential in realizing the full potential of this update.





I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You! to all for your great enthusiasm, lively support and boundless patience in witnessing the unfoldment of Drunk On Nectar's joyous dream to depict Nature in a format that we love and enjoy so much.

2019 has seen several milestone releases for the game so far including the Monarch Butterfly and Jumping Spider's Mating & Reproduction, Grasshopper's Complete Lifecycle and now the Ladybug's Lifecycle too.

The obvious desire among all of us to see more new content arrive rapidly into the game is clear. That goal is now finally attainable as the game's development effort has been greatly empowered through various lessons learned in this year of 2019 and through many challenges that have been successfully overcome in developing and growing the game over the years.

So truly, a powerful creative momentum to propel the game's further growth and expansion is now strongly in place, so rest assured for Drunk On Nectar the show has only just begun! :)

With ❤,
Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator)

The Ladybug's Lifecycle is all set to become Drunk On Nectar's next major lifecycles update!

Hatch as an egg, survive and grow as tiny larvae feeding on even tinier scale insects and enter your pupal stage to undergo an epic metamorphosis from a hardish yellow blob into a beautiful winged Ladybug!

But do watch out for Ants along the way!



Mating and Reproduction will also be featured, so much like the Grasshopper, Monarch Butterfly and of course the Jumping Spider, the Ladybug too will go on to find a mate, reproduce and experience multiple generations!

Generation 1: New players entering Gen 1 will receive quest based gameplay and educational narratives similar to the Jumping Spider's Gen 1.

Generation 2: After completing Generation 1, players will enjoy a Pure Sandbox and non-linear experience with emergent gameplay for advanced Ladybug enthusiasts to enjoy at their own pace!

Any feedback on this proposed format is welcome :) This is set to become the game's future lifecycles presentation mould, so your feedback on this subject is greatly valued!

Release ETA:
This will be a quick release arriving in 2-3 weeks from now, so do post your feedback early! :)



The Ladybug - An iconic, widely loved and beautiful species is all set to hop, fly and land on Drunk On Nectar's green glades soon, so the Lifecycles scene just got a lot more prettier and exciting!

I greatly value your patronage, feedback and interest in Drunk On Nectar.

Thank you for being an essential part of Drunk On Nectar's journey!

Let us soar through the air as the inimitable Ladybugs, soon! :)

With ❤,
Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

A major patch was released yesterday for the Jumping Spider lifecycle bringing new content in the form of educational narratives for mating along with Major bugfixes, Performance boost for "Gen 2" and Gameplay rebalancing that makes it significantly easier to complete the Jumping Spider lifecycle.


Educational tidbits about Jumping Spider mating and anatomy have been added with this update.

Here's a quick look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81cclctUU4





Watch the video above for more!


If you had any issues completing the Jumping Spider lifecycle (and reaching Mating!) at all, do try again!

A large number of rebalancing changes aimed at making the Jumping Spider lifecycle much easier to complete were added with this update. More additions are planned too, and will be based on your valuable feedback.

Notable mentions:

• Food Intake bonus of 25% for Players.
  
• Major bugfixes to scripted "Quest predators" to ensure they do not return to harass players.
  
• Player walk speed automatically reduced if a leaf has silk tent on it.
  

Several important fixes were released spanning Gen 1, Gen 2 (and Gen 3!)

• Various performance issues addressed across the board relating to AI population and their CPU usage. Benefits are mostly clearly perceived in Gen 2 but applies to the entire game and all other species too!
  
• "Gen 3" Pollen Grains and Beltian Bodies now correctly spawn upon birth.
  
• Chem trails of Gen 2 sandbox fauna no longer show up during Gen 1 gameplay.
  
• Camera Improvements for interaction with larger predators; more to come along these lines soon.
  

A new gameplay video series featuring Generation 2's "Free Roaming" - i.e. Sandbox Survival and Emergent gameplay, has been released!

Do take a look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjMXWKrdcyg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oljv_49eltA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAWGkwPx7m0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_5kbrfCZeQ

An unscripted encounter from Gen 2's "Sandbox Survival"


Inspired by the Jumping Spider's Generation 2 gameplay, the current plan is to adopt this model for all species in the roster as the new Lifecycles format.

In this new format, "Generation 1" will feature Quests, Educational narration and Linear paths to help new players and establish a baseline, while "Generation 2" will feature a pure Sandbox Survival experience with emergent gameplay and completely unscripted, non-linear experiences.

The Grasshopper's Lifecycle will adopt this model at some point; quests and narration suitable for this species will be added to Gen 1 while Gen 2 will continue to offer pure unscripted sandbox action.

Your thoughts / feedback on this subject are very greatly welcomed! :)



~~~

That's it for now, for but more information about the next major update will be shared in due course! :)

With ❤,
Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

Concluding the Jumping Spider's epic life story, Mating & Reproduction is now here!

Find a mate, experience Courtship, Mating, Egg-Laying and much more in this milestone update to Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator!



Complete Gen 1 spider lifecycle to unlock Generation 2!

Do not miss out on the new Generation 2 Jumping Spider gameplay, it is a completely new experience!

Gen2 Free Roaming is a pure Sandbox experience without any formal quests like Gen1. You must survive a densely populated map with prey and predators while growing and moulting. Player specific bonuses present in G1 to make life easier are not present in G2 making it a different experience from the get go.

So be sure to try Gen 2 Free Roaming as a Jumping Spider! :)

G2 spider family with two egg clusters! Population keeps increasing with each generation playthrough.


There's a lot of exciting directions for the game to explore from here. With another member of the roster completing its life story, the game comes closer to its goal of depicting lifecycles for the entire existing roster.

Proceeding in that direction the next logical choice would be "Ladybug Lifecycle", offering great visual interest and predator gameplay on multiple levels. However other options are also open, including lifecycles for a new species or exploration of other topics in the vast domain of nature.

We'll see! :)



For now though, please enjoy Jumping Spider Mating and do report any issues you run into, they will be swiftly looked into.

Thank you!

With ❤,
Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Drunk On Nectar)