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Empires of the Undergrowth
Asid:
Beta Update - Achievements & Other Fixes
Sat, 14 December 2024
We've just released another update for the ongoing optional beta. We're not far from the end of this beta period now, and it will soon be released for everyone.
Again, thank you to everyone who has tested and reported issues over the past couple of months of this long-running beta.
Fixes
-Fixed an issue where formicarium and custom colonies could end up not having heating tiles in Hibernation
-Fixed an issue that broke formicarium colonies in skirmish mode
-Fixed an issue that could cause an Aloe aphid farm to spawn in the air in Drive Them Back (custom game version)
-1.2 Subjugation now counts all soldier types for objective fulfilment
-1.2 Subjugation now updates objectives on construction rather than a periodic check
-The Other Foot now accepts any worker for tube objectives
-The Other Foot progress bar will now only display its tooltip when visible
-The Crucible no longer requires mediae to be built if the colony doesn?t have them
-Drive Them Back (custom game) fixes to prevent pathing and culling issues
-Can no longer click to enter an enemy nest if it is unopened
-Down arrow will no longer show on enemy nests on hover if it is unopened
-Changing the game type in freeplay will no longer reset landmark settings
-Fixed a missing subtitle related to earwigs
-Moved the landscape in 5.1 to prevent it interfering with the tile grid
-Matabele medics and bullet ants can now harvest mulch if in a termite colony
-Fixed wood ant melees having different AoE resistance values then they should in NG+
-Stink ants can no longer climb smaller climbable creatures
-Prevented multiple versions of the hybrid fight (FC4) sequence occurring
-Termites should no longer be able to spawn from mounds that are currently occupied
-Fixed an issue causing Formicarium Challenge 3 tunnel exits to be inaccessible
-Drive Them Back (custom game version) should no longer display formicarium rewards on victory
-All non-worker ants should now be able to fight off phorid flies at level 3
-Increased chances of Matabele soldiers being built in AI colonies in custom games
-Fixed some collision issues on Drive Them Back (custom game version)
-Ants fighting titans when the titan dies are less likely to be automatically killed
-Fixed an issue where queen death would not cause a colony to become food in Drive Them Back (custom game version)
-Wave spawn should now continue after Play More button is pressed in custom games
-Fixed an issue where termite kings would be removed if landmarks are set to random
-Attempted fix for lynx spiders being killed if they start climbing whist in combat (please let us know if you see this still happening)
-Fixed an issue where fog of war could be seen through on the top of both the nest and linked termite mound in the savannah custom game maps
-Fixed some instances of Matabele medic tiles displaying as black ant tiles
-Drive Them Back achievement icon fixed
-Fixed achievement ?A Bridge Too Many?
-Fixed achievement ?Finish Your Vegetables?
-Fixed "Just Ignore Them? achievement
-"Finish Your Vegetables" tracker no longer says ?Termighty? has been fulfilled
Asid:
2025 Roadmap & VLOG
Sun, 19 January 2025
Time for our twice-yearly update to the EotU Roadmap
It's time for our twice-yearly update to the Empires of the Undergrowth development roadmap, including some early details of the timing for our first DLC. Click on the below picture to see it in all its glory!
We also have a vlog to go along with the updated roadmap. Community manager Mike takes us through this - with some timing details on what you can expect for the next few months.
NOTE: since this is a general Slug Disco vlog as well as an Empires of the Undergrowth one, towards the start of it it goes over other games published by us. To skip those and get to the EotU stuff, jump to timecode 3:10.
Asid:
February 2025 Newsletter
Sat, 15 February 2025
Improved artwork, animations and a little bit about upcoming stuff
In the past few weeks we?ve made a bunch of progress in the remastering of older art assets to the game, including some creatures - we?ll show you a little preview of some improved leafcutter animations - and the new rainforest environment. We?re also not a million miles away from our first DLC at this point; see the current roadmap below for a breakdown of what to expect in the near future.
The current roadmap - click to see the details
If you?d like to see an in-depth discussion of the full roadmap, then see our latest vlog - the timecode for it is 5:10. Some of the things noted on the roadmap might come sooner than advertised (remember: everything in our roadmaps is subject to change), particularly the improved creature artwork.
In this slightly shorter newsletter (there?s lots more upcoming stuff I could talk about, if I was allowed to!) we?ll mainly be going over what we?re doing in our continuing effort to bring more of Empires of the Undergrowth up to the visual fidelity of the more recent additions. Until the official announcement for what the first DLC will consist of is made I'm not at liberty to divulge any details about that, but we can certainly talk about what is coming in the base game.
Now is a good time, once again, to say a big thank you for all of the support you folks gave us during our release year of 2024 - if it wasn?t evident by now EotU is very much a passion project for us, and as well as producing more content for the game we also want it to be the very best it can be in its entirety. The support we received around the release period means we can dedicate the resources to improving older artwork and bringing it up to scratch - a luxury that wasn?t at all certain but is now secured.
Artwork Improvements Continue
Firstly, we?ll talk about recent improvements to the creature artwork - the models, textures, and animations. Everyone please say hello to Aron and Jack, our two new character artists who have been hard at work over the past couple of months to do just that. Whole species are in the process of getting remasters, and the first of these is the leafcutters. I don?t want to spoil their new look in its entirely just yet, but we would like to show some updated animations - I?ll show off their new texturing at a later time, perhaps as a Screenshot Saturday (see our social media to keep up-to-date with that).
A new leafcutter idle animation
Read on...
Asid:
Exploding Ants DLC - Coming March 24!
Mon, 10 March 2025
Our first DLC includes 2 new playable species - exploding ants and exploding termites
The exploding ants DLC is arriving on March 24! It comes with not only exploding ants (Colobopsis explodens), but also exploding termites (Neocapritermes taracua). Please enjoy the trailer!
Once you have the DLC they'll be available in your formicarium, in separate colonies for custom games, and in two extra levels that are twists on campaign levels (The Harvest - Firebreak, and Front Line - No Ant's Land).
The store page for the DLC is live now - add it to your wishlist to be informed when it releases. Exciting times ahead!
Empires of the Undergrowth - Exploding Ants
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3402420/Empires_of_the_Undergrowth__Exploding_Ants/
Exploding Ants - Colobopsis explodens
The exploding ant has an unusual defense mechanism - when the colony is threatened, some of the soldiers undergo a process called autothysis where they rupture their bodies, spraying a toxic goo over their usurpers. In the game, this is represented by a concussive blast that causes high damage to enemies, impedes their movement and sends them flying!
A queen with a healthy brood of Colobopsis explodens ants
When added to an ereptor colony, exploding ant soldiers will have a choice of upgrades. One choice is between Controlled Blast and Violent Blast - increasing the damage or radius of the explosion respectively, while Chain Reaction or Persistent Secretions will increase the damage of other exploding ants caught in the blast, or leave a pool of liquid on the ground that deals continual damage.
The major soldiers do not explode but take reduced damage from the front, and generate high threat (making enemies more likely to target it). It has an underground-only area of effect ability - it will become stationary, and increase the armour of nearby allies.
Exploding Termites - Neocapritermes taracua
Autothysis is not unique to ants! Some termites have also evolved this remarkable ability, and in the case of Neocapritermes taracua it is the workers that do the exploding rather than the larger soldiers. For a while after birth they are inert, but will soon mature into their volatile adult selves (indicated by a darkening of their colouration).
A growing Neocapritermes taracua colony. Over time the workers darken in colour, indicating they are ready to go boom
Exploding termite workers will confuse and cause damage over time to enemies caught in the blast. The longer the worker has lived before exploding, the more damage will be caused and the longer the confusion effect will be.
As part of a gene thief colony, exploding termite workers have a choice between Rapid Maturity (reduces the time until it is explosive) and Accelerated Gland Filling (speeds up the rate at which the damage and duration of the explosion increases). They can also choose between Extreme Toxins (increases the duration of the damage over time effect) or Extreme Confusion (increases the duration of the confusion effect).
The larger taracua soldiers do not explode, but they have a dual ability called asymmetric snapping with different effects depending on if they are on the surface or underground - underground, the ability causes high damage to an enemy, while on the surface it will stun and cause the termite itself to be flung back.
Boom!
We hope you enjoy the Exploding Ant DLC coming on March 24! It will also be launching in the wider context of a major artwork overhaul for the game - with a completely reworked rainforest environment and updates to creature models, textures and animations in many areas.
Asid:
Optional Beta - Artwork Remaster, Fixes & Changes
Sat, 15 March 2025
The remastered rainforest, as well as many creatures, are ready for beta testing along with fixes & changes
An optional beta is now available for all Steam Windows users of Empires of the Undergrowth. We?ve had a very large graphical overhaul of several parts of the game - most notably the rainforest environment, leafcutter ants, ereptor ants, black ants, and others. Some creatures have had animation improvements. We?ve also fixed (we think!) a long-standing problem with the Pillage the Pillagers achievement and several others.
Remastered rainforest environment, level 3.2 Front Line
Any feedback you can provide on any errors or crashes, etc is much appreciated - please post on the Steam discussions for that.
Code: rainforestrefresh
If you would like to join the beta, the code is rainforestrefresh. If you don?t know how to join a beta and would like to, follow the instructions below:
1. Find Empires of the Undergrowth in your Steam library, right-click on it and choose "Properties"
2. Choose the "Betas" tab
2. In the box titled "Enter beta access code to unlock private betas", enter rainforestrefresh
4. After the "Access code correct" information appears, make sure you've chosen "Open beta" 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.
Read on...
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