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Empires of the Undergrowth
Asid:
Optional Beta Update - 0.22031 Release
Fri, 28 August 2020
A small update to address some common issues
A small update to the currently-running optional beta has been released. No new features in this one, just some fixes for common issues. This brings the version number to 0.22031.
• Disabled save on quit in freeplay when save should be disabled (currently save is disabled when playing with enemy colonies; the proper mechanisms for saving AI game states are not yet fully implemented)
• Prevented creatures attacking dead queens if it was a player that killed the queen in freeplay
• Fixed an issue where accepting advanced options in freeplay with the Counterpart Colony selected as your colony would turn it back to a Formica ereptor colony
• Fixed an issue on 3.2 where army ant scouts would not move (this may fix other issues as well)
• When an ally uses a queen ability it now correctly says an ally used the queen ability instead of enemy
• Fixed an issue in tug of war where placing tiles down in the first second would cause an egg to spawn on them instantly
• Fixed an issue where the enemy colony difficulty would flip to the other option (easy or normal) when opening the AI colony setup
• Fixed a crash that occurred when a medium AI colony tried to pause an attack
Asid:
July-August 2020 Newsletter
Sat, 12 September 2020
The latest on fire ants, AI colonies for freeplay, and what we've been up to over the summer!
The last couple of months have been focused on some complicated systems for the fire ants as well as some large changes to freeplay, which are currently in an optional beta for Steam Windows users (details below). Whilst complex from a game design point of view, the extensions to the movement systems needed for the fire ants is getting there. We're close to having the fire ant bridge building system the way we like it!
Uber vs Uber in this colourful shot from Steam user Kist7ck
Whilst Liam and Matt are dealing with the complexities of fire ant systems, John has been adding some much-requested features to freeplay, most notable amongst them being AI colonies to battle against or with! Although they're in an early form right now, they will be improved on over time. Let's start this newsletter properly with details on the freeplay colonies.
AI Colonies in Freeplay
It's probably the most requested feature for freeplay, and it is now in an optional beta phase - AI colonies are being implemented properly into freeplay. In their early form, their intelligence is fairly basic but is being improved on iteratively with each update. As things stand, the player can choose up to 3 AI colonies to be active in their game, and can put them on different teams as they see fit. The AI has various levels of options to allow it to cheat - this helps level the playing field against human players. Over time, we anticipate most players will reduce the AI cheating level as we get better at making them cleverer.
AI leafcutter clash with AI wood ants in freeplay
We've been running the optional beta for the AI colonies for a few weeks now and the feedback has been invaluable. We expect the beta to last for a few weeks longer yet at the time of writing (early September 2020) so if you haven't participated yet and would like to join in then please follow the instructions near the top of this post. You will need to be a Steam Windows 64 bit user to access the beta. Please note that for the time being freeplay saving is disabled in the beta; this is because we're still working on everything needed to fully save the AI's brains.
The AI colonies add a lot of fun and replayability to freeplay, even in their first implementation. In the future, there are lots of things we would like to do to expand their functionality. At the moment, the AI uses a pre-built nest plan but there is a system we worked on a while back that could eventually allow AI to design its own underground, regardless of the map layout. Don't expect this system to be active in the near future but it's an example of where we could go with things.
Fire Ant Progress
As mentioned, fire ant progression is continuing apace. The expansion to the movement systems (and bending of the pre-established game rules) that things like bridge building requires has taken up a large chunk of our recent development time! Below, you can see a video we posted recently that shows how the fire ants form a floating bridge - they link together, walking on each other's backs, until they reach the other side of the gap they are intending to span. A bridge can be constructed at set points on a map to reach territory and resources otherwise unattainable. Once a bridge has served its purpose, it can be dismantled and the ants that formed it are freed up to act normally again.
You can see in this short video we posted a few weeks back how things are improving with this system;
compared to a few weeks ago the ants no longer queue up to form the bridge and it happens a lot quicker than it did before. There are still plenty of tweaks to get there to make it look a bit more natural and fluid, but we're pretty pleased with the results so far!
4th Tier Creature: Red Velvet Ant
The fourth tier levels will take place in a swampy area of North Carolina in the United States. We've already talked about some of the wildlife you'll encounter in these levels in a previous newsletter (for example the Venus fly trap and the bombardier beetle). We thought we'd reveal another creature in this newsletter, and it's an interesting one - the red velvet ant (Dasymutilla occidentalis)! This distinctive insect is named for the bright red fuzz that covers its back.
Red Velvet Ant, from Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY 2.0. Cropped for newsletter
Despite its name, it is not an ant at all but instead a species of wasp. The female of this species is wingless, and given the close relation between wasps and ants you can see why it is often mistaken for an ant. The bright colouration should be a warning of its nature - it has an exceptionally painful sting, earning it its nickname of "cow killer".
There are lots more creatures that are coming in the 4th formicarium tier, in fact it will feature the largest creature count so far by quite a way. Amongst these are titans, huge creatures that have some special rules applied to them. We're not ready to show off any of those yet, but we will talk about them in future newsletters closer to the time!
Tug of War
The next extra level, Tug of War, has been in beta at the same time as the AI colonies in freeplay. This is an auto-battler mode where your strategy comes down to the placement of tiles in your nest. Periodically, you will be given an injection of resources, as will your AI opponent. Eggs will hatch simultaneously on a timer, and the idea is to push back your enemy to their queen and kill her! It's a game mode that harkens back to Empires of the Undergrowth's origins; this is not too far from what the game would have been like when it was first envisaged as a game for mobile devices back in 2014. We've come a long way since then, but it is nice to return to our roots with this one-off game mode. It will be released as a new extra level with the next non-beta update.
Tug of War screenshot from Steam user whoamijr
We're also working on the next extra level after that, called "Adventure" - John's been streaming some development of this level for some time now, and it looks to be another unique level altogether! More information on this as we get close to releasing it.
Yogscast Tiny Teams
In early August, we took part in the Yogscast Tiny Teams festival! This was an event that highlighted some of the really neat work that's produced by teams with 3 or fewer core members. As well as some of the better known ones and their own selection of titles, the festival featured lots of lesser known titles such as our own. Although it wasn't part of the festival, Tom of the Yogscast has been streaming Empires of the Undergrowth on his Twitch channel recently and as someone who's been following the Yogscast for nearly a decade, I consider that a personal accomplishment for us!
new Twitch.Player("twitch-embed3", {
video: "728098789",
height: "600",
width: "480",
autoplay: false,
parent: "dogsofwarvu.com"
});
We're a Tiny Team!
It was lovely to be part of such an event, and we'd definitely like to do more of them in the future!
Screenshot Central
We've been spoilt for choice for Screenshot Central this month! Some excellent stills and it's great to see more of you guys using photo mode to get some nice angles for your snaps! F9 by default enters photo mode; if you hold down shift whilst you press it you get an unconstrained camera for ultimate creativity! Take shots through Steam (F12 by default) and upload them to Steam Community if you'd like us to feature them in a future newsletter. Alternatively, you can email them to mike@slugdisco.com and I'll check them out.
A Counterpart Colony on the march from Steam user The Dreaded Kazoo
Nice shot of a Formica fusca queen from Steam user Liam
A stunning leafcutter major from Steam user Din0ll
Asid:
Optional Beta 0.22033 Release - Freeplay Menu Overhaul, Features & Fixes
Sat, 26 September 2020
A new way of setting up your freeplay games and randomised caverns headline this optional beta release.
The latest changes to the optional beta have been released. This one includes an extensive overhaul of the freeplay setup menu as well as some extra features in freeplay, like randomised caverns below ground.
This will currently only affect you if you're participating in the optional beta. If you’re not participating in the beta and would like to, please see the details in this link https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/463530/view/4639224265623430978 . Note that the beta is only available to Windows Steam owners.
Headline Features
• Freeplay setup menu overhaul
o This new menu allows faster setups of freeplay games with more focus given to other colonies and victory conditions
o All options are still available and have been grouped into tabs
o Games can be set up quickly through the game type dropdown which applies presets to options
• Randomised underground caverns in freeplay
o When enabled, underground caverns are generated randomly on game start which hold basic resources and enemies. Resources and dangers can be altered in the game setup
• Domination and Hunter victory conditions in freeplay are now team based and are a race to beat the other colonies
Changes
• Work has been done on making marker behaviour more predictable (so if you move a marker to your queen or remove it all together it should now have similar effects)
o We are aware of some bugs with the marker changes such as the ants getting stuck at markers that have been removed. We are working to resolve these as fast as possible
• Dropdown boxes in freeplay setup now display tooltips for each individual option when hovered if required
• Freeplay now has an option to disable colonies entering one another (this turns on by default if playing Domination or Hunter game modes)
• Reduced mortar arc height
• Can now select which ubers you wish to spawn in freeplay
• Easy AI colonies will no longer be more likely to attack the weakest player
• AI colonies should be more likely the gather nearby food than far away
• Freeplay will not allow the game to launch with Conquest as the victory condition if there are no enemy colonies
• Tug of War extra level now allows fighting within the tunnel exit so colonies can no longer sneak past one another
Fixes
• Fixed an issue preventing allied colonies defending one another
• Fixed an issue where allied colonies would defend one another even after queen death
• Fixed an issue where allied colonies would see their own presence in an allied nest as an enemy presence
• Fixed an issue where the wrong music would play when playing more after 2_1
• Possible fix for rapid fire wood ants strange behaviour when shooting and getting stuck
Performance
• Optimisations for creature movement
• Changes to how certain checks are done on the behaviour tree to improve performance
• Performance improvements on funnel web landmark
• Improved honeydew resource performance
• When an egg hatches, the open egg and particle effect will only occur if the player is viewing that tile grid at the time (as does the hatch sound)
Asid:
Optional Beta v0.22035 - New Freeplay Map, Marker Changes
Sat, 10 October 2020
A new freeplay map, Basin, is included in this update to the optional beta.
We’ve updated the currently-running optional beta including a new freeplay map! - this will only affect you if you're participating in said currently-running optional beta, detailed in the above post.
New Features
• New freeplay map - Basin (This map is designed around a 2v2 match)
o If you have a single ally, you will start in the same area and have quick access to each other's nests
o This map also has destructible barriers at the top and bottom of the map which when destroyed open up new routes of attack (make sure the map option is on)
• Allied starting locations have been implemented on all freeplay maps (if possible allies in groups of two will be put next to one another)
• Towhead has had ramps added near each players nest, reducing both distance to landmarks and chance of being trapped by an enemy
Changes
• Markers rework
o Ants will now all immediately leave the nest
o In order to create trails some ant will turn around on their way to the destination and start coming home early
o This video explains the changes:
Bug Fixes
• Fixed a crash that would occur on “the other foot” level when creatures got close to bridge edges (after the formicariums are connected)
Asid:
Hotfix v0.220351 - Crash fix and AI fix
Sun, 11 October 2020
Thanks to everyone who has reported issues, this has allowed us to get to the bottom of them quickly! Some issues remain however the worst ones have been solved.
• Fixed a crash that would occur every time a save happened (such as starting a story colony or playing a story mission)
• Fixed an issue causing certain landmarks to float on the map Basin
• Fixed an issue in Tug Of War where ants were being sent home
• Fixed an issue where having map appropriate creatures set on Basin map would not always be rainforest creatures
• Fixed an issue where alliance starting points were not functional on map Towhead
• Fixed an issue with AI colonies markers sending ants home shortly after they get to surface
• Fixed a bug in freeplay setup where a setup is first saved it would not be selected from the menu but would act like it was
• New freeplay games with open the setup window with default settings now instead of trying to restore your previous settings (they have been issues with this functionality so it is being disabled until a fix can be found)
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