This patch is the full release of what we’ve been testing in the optional beta - thank you very much to everyone who has provided feedback over the last few weeks on that. It makes several changes and fixes to various things that cropped up since the release of 1.1.

After this patch it will be a while until the next one, to allow some of the dev team to work on UI and controller changes. During this downtime we’ll also be working on ways to optimise, automate and speed up our packaging processes for the future.

• Exploding creatures will now always hit their initial target as well as performing an area-of-effect blast (will ensure they hit very large creatures)
  
• Significant optimisations made to VRAM usage across the game, with the intent of decreasing load time and artifacting (more to come)
  
• Significant optimisations to textures (more to come)
  
• Removed falloff from exploding creature damage so it now does the same damage at the edge of the explosion as it does in the centre
  
• Exploding termite AI colonies will now start with some food storage already in place
  
• Myrmecia ereptor now appears in the level selection screen
  
• Myrmecia ereptor now shows in the end-game victory cinematic animation
  
• DPS values for new colony creatures now show when selecting them to build. Please note that these values do not account for the explosion as the DPS on that would skew the results in a way that is not representative of the actual creature’s regular attack
  
• Disabled Bomb Mode in the tutorial and Beetles Rise Up! and both Enemy of my Enemy extra levels
  
• Bombs should now spawn from all non-colony creatures in all levels if Bomb Mode is active
  
• Disabled leafcutters in Remix versions of new extra levels for the time being - some deeper changes are needed to get these working
  
• Swapped position of rufa and atta in custom colony setup
  
• Army ant’s food items have been better hidden in Front Line and No Ant’s Land
  
• Nudged queen to a more pleasing position on Excavators extra level

• Fixed an unharvestable leaf on 3.2 Front Line which was blocking an achievement
  
• Fixed exploding ant ability Persistent Secretions - damage is now 50% of base explosion damage over 4 seconds as intended
  
• Exploding ants and termites are no longer revivable by Matabele medics if they have exploded
  
• Fixed custom game autosave happening even when that option is disabled
  
• Fixed an issue that would relocate singular ants without neighbours to the nest group on loading a custom game
  
• Fixed an issue with food types dropped from a killed colony not changing to something useful for the killer in custom games
  
• Fixed Matabele ants never leaving the nest in custom games if no termite colonies are present
  
• Repositioned some problematic landmark spawn points on Drive Them Back (custom game version)
  
• Queen danger termite voice line now plays for both termite types
  
• Fixed assassin bug victims t-posing
  
• Fixed bomb toggle not appearing when it should
  
• Fixed tunnel exit texture on Babysitting extra level
  
• Fixed hat position for the two ereptor queens
  
• Added missing audio tracks to the Supporter Pack MP3 & WAV folders
  
• Fixed a Steam overlay issue

Special thanks to tibikee on our Discord for the screenshot used in this post.

V1.1010742 fixes a pesky unreachable leaf that was an achievement block, as well as making exploding creatures more effective against very large enemies and addressing various small issues.

• Exploding creatures will now always hit their initial target as well as perform an AoE (should ensure they hit titans),
  
• Fixed an unharvestable leaf on 3.2 Front Line
  
• Fixed assassin bug victims t-posing
  
• Disabled bomb mode in Beetles Rise Up! extra level
  
• Disabled bomb mode in both Enemy of my Enemy extra levels
  
• Fixed tunnel exits on Babysitting extra level
  
• Nudged queen to a more pleasing position on Excavators extra level
  
• Repositioned some problematic landmark spawn points on Drive Them Back (custom game version)
  
• Fixed custom game autosave happening even when disabled
  
• Fixed Matabele ants never leaving the nestr in custom games if no termite colonies are present
  
• Attempted fix for bomb toggle not appearing when it should
  
• Fixed various missing material issues (on some plants and water ripples, for example)
  
• Fixed a Steam overlay issue

Empires of the Undergrowth is now 50% off as part of the Hooded Horse May Publisher Sale.

Command an ant colony and wage strategic battles in the insect kingdom. This ant-based RTS challenges you to build, defend, and expand your colony, using unique pheromone-based strategies and powerful warrior ants to overcome formidable foes.




https://store.steampowered.com/app/463530/Empires_of_the_Undergrowth/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3402420/Empires_of_the_Undergrowth__Exploding_Ants/

It’s time to do one of our bi-monthly newsletters. For those who have recently joined us, welcome! We do newsletters and vlogs on alternate months, and since April had a vlog (where I actually went outside) May gets a newsletter. Everything is covered in both formats for the convenience of people who have a preference of watching or reading.

This month, we’ll be going over our continued effort to remaster older artwork (thanks to our excellent artists) and also to optimise the game, as well as work that has been done recently on improved UI specifically regarding controller support. Let’s get stuck in.


A defeated hybrid abomination from EutU_fan666 on our Discord


Firstly, I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has downloaded and played the Exploding Ant Update, our first DLC. I think I’d be significantly better off if I had a dollar for every time someone hasn’t believed me when I say, the exploding ants and exploding termites are real species! We didn’t make them up.



Again, thank you for all the feedback and we’re really glad people are enjoying sending their enemies flying with Colobopsis explodens. If you’ve played and have an opinion, it would be really useful if you’d leave a review of the DLC on Steam. This gives us a solid indication of people’s thoughts, and informs where we take the game next.

We’re close to finalising our plans for another DLC now - and we’ve begun the development process in several ways. I can’t talk about what it is just yet, but as soon as the team lets me, I’ll yap on about it until I’m blue in the face.


At the start of the year we expanded our art team, and we’re now in full swing with updating older game assets and bringing the game’s visual identity up to date. The recent environmental reworks - such as the rainforest - are one thing, of course, but our character artists have also been hard at work. Leafcutters have recently had a complete overhaul and some of the enemies have had some aspects of them enhanced, such as animations and textures. Soon, even a few of the titans (creatures that get their own health bars in the UI) will be updated along with a bunch of others. Let’s go over those that are in the works at the time of writing.


The incumbent ruler of the swamp is getting an entire overhaul - models, textures and animations. The slightly more youthful appearance is complimented by weightier and more deliberate animations (watch this part of last month’s vlog to see them), and new materials to better simulate the dampness its amphibian skin. As the imposing area boss of Cold Blood, we’re glad that we have the opportunity to give it the visual fidelity it deserves.


I think it's looking forward to breakfast


We rather like Big Whippy’s look as is, so her model is staying the same. However, she is getting updated materials and animations (watch this part of last month’s vlog to see). Our animators have had a blast working with the unusually-proportioned pedipalps and legs of Heterophrynus batesii. Soon she’ll be matching her updated lair, which was changed from a piece of bark to a knotted cage of plant roots with update 1.1 a few weeks back.


Big Whippy in her rage cage


The emperor scorpion is one of the more recent additions to the game, arriving with version 1.0 last June. However, in updating its animations our artists decided to take the opportunity to remake it completely from scratch.


A moody render of the new emperor scorpion

It’s a touch sleeker than it used to be and its attacks are more snappy, but it has the same huge claws and fearsome temperament. The new feel to the attack animations gives a distinctly twitchy, skittish feel that is very befitting of the king of scorpions.




The juvenile eastern newt is one of the tougher non-titan enemies from the 4th tier of the game, and its bright orange colouration always makes it stand out against the greens and blues of the swamp. It’ll be getting a complete rework - here’s a still of the work-in-progress model in its natural setting of the green swamp bathed in moonlight.


Newt pog (makes a decent wallpaper if you save the full-size picture)

There’s also some talk of reworking the snaking system to allow this creature to have more natural movements as it trails the back part of its body behind it - that system also applies to salamanders and velvet worms. We’ll be showing off those animations once the updated system is online - remember to follow us on our social media (Bluesky, X / Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) for Screenshot Saturdays when we like to show work in progress stuff like this.


Other creatures getting updates include the spiny devil and checkered beetle - here’s one of their animations each (an attack and a death respectively). These two aren’t getting updates to their model or textures for now, but I think you can see Jack’s (our animator) style coming out with the animation changes.



That clear lunge forward when attacking reads more easily when there’s a lot of units on screen, as is typical for an RTS like Empires of the Undergrowth, and adds a deliberacy that conveys intent.




For anyone who’s waiting for remasters of other ant species (slave makers, wood ants, etc) - they’re coming, don’t worry! Our art department’s ordering has some logic to it but it’s also a healthy mix of what we feel most motivated to work on first.


We’ve had an optional beta running for some time now - it fixes things that are currently bugged in the live build. It’s available to PC and Mac Steam users, and if you’d like to join in please have a read through of this post that details the password process to access the beta branch, as well as listing all of the changes made in it.

There are likely to be some updates to this optional beta before we set it to become the live build, and if you have a little time to give it a whirl we’d be much obliged. Apart from various fixes and balances for the base game and DLC, one of the main intentions of this current beta is to test a slew of optimisations that have been made to textures and texture streaming.

Texture streaming is a system that loads in artwork over time rather than all in one go, in theory cutting down load time and more efficiently using VRAM. As things stand, the process is not very well optimised for Empires of the Undergrowth - Aron, one of our more recent hires, has spent a lot of time recently working on this system to allow it to properly do its job. This should be a very good thing for people on lower end hardware in particular.


Two of our developers are currently elbows-deep in reworking the UI. This is long overdue, but it has a particular focus on making things work better with controllers - while the game is certainly playable on a Steam Deck or with an XBox / PlayStation gamepad as things stand, we feel there's quite a lot that can be done to make this way of playing significantly better, so we're doing that.


Yes, you can play EotU on a Steam Deck, but soon it'll be better

We've been consulting with people who are knowledgeable about such things and taking advice - so, controller players rejoice - your time is nigh.


For the entirety of the project (and particularly after we started supporting multiple platforms and storefronts) when we decide we’ve made enough changes to warrant a full-on update, it takes one of our developers the better part of a week to do all of the processes needed. Since we’re a small dev team, that can have a very tangible effect on development time; it’s one of the reasons that we make larger updates less frequently rather than smaller ones more often.

After the next large update to the game, we’ll be taking time to automate as much of this process as we can. There hasn’t been a breathing space to do this until now, just after our first DLC has been released, when we can dedicate dev hours to what will be a huge future time saver.


Subscribers to our YouTube channel may have noticed that some weeks back, we renamed it to be a solely Empires of the Undergrowth one. It was mainly that anyway, but as Slug Disco takes on more publishing projects, we felt everything was getting a bit muddied and diluted.


Just EotU from now on (but older videos will stay)

That’s why we’ve opened up the Slug Disco Games channel, where we’ll be posting everything Slug Disco that isn’t Empires of the Undergrowth-related. If you’ve been a fan of Ecosystem, Beetle Uprising, or Horticular, liked the Adapt demo, or are intrigued by the look of Strange Seed, Green Again or Primordial Empire, I’d highly recommend subscribing.

This also has implications for the vlogs that we post up here. Until this point, they’ve regularly shared news about our publishing projects, but now they’ll be almost entirely EotU-focused, with some rare exceptions if there’s something particularly spicy to share from elsewhere in the Slug Disco universe.


We’ve been to the previous two shows - Slug Disco will once again have a presence at ANTCON in Carmarthen, Wales. Set in the lovely venue of the Ant Antics store, ANTCON is the world’s premiere ant keeping event. It’s a great way to meet fellow ant keepers, listen to some talks from scientists and enthusiasts, pick up a colony, and see the latest ant keeping kit.

Check out this video we put together from the 2023 event!



This time, marketing content creator Hei Man and character artist Jack will be there, and we’ll have a small booth with a game of Empires of the Undergrowth set up for you to play!

ANTCON 2025 is on the 24th and 25th May.


The only reason I write these newsletters at all is to get to this part of it - Screenshot Central! I occasionally trawl through the Steam community tab and the screenshot channel on our Discord, and whenever I write a newsletter I pick three of my favourites for this section. If you’d like to join in, just keep uploading that good stuff to the Steam community tab, or better yet, jump onto our Discord and get involved. Friendly, ant-loving gamers guaranteed!

To get a better angle on your shots, hold down the shift key when you enter screenshot mode (F9 by default). This will uncouple the camera from the ground and allow you to get extra creative with your screenies.


Myrmecia ereptor from tibikee on our Discord


An alligatorback scorpion surveys stink ants from Bananta

Lovecraftian bullfrog amalgam in the Battle Arena from TotemSP2

An optional beta is currently available for all Mac & Windows Steam users of Empires of the Undergrowth. This one sees some significant optimisations designed to aid texture streaming and other processes, fixes issues with Bomb Mode and the exploding ant update.

We are very appreciative of any feedback! Just post on the Steam forums or join our Discord to join in the chat there. Friendly, ant-loving gamers guaranteed!


If you would like to join the beta, the code is fixtheundergrowth. 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
   
3. In the box titled "Enter beta access code to unlock private betas", enter fixtheundergrowth
   
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.

• Significant optimisations made to VRAM usage across the game, with the intent of decreasing load time and artifacting
  
• Significant optimisations to textures
  
• Fixed exploding ant ability Persistent Secretions - damage is now 50% of base explosion damage over 4 seconds as intended
  
• DPS values for new colony creatures now show when selecting them to build. Please note that these values do not account for the explosion as the DPS on that would skew the results in a way that is not representative of the actual creature’s regular attack
  
• Myrmecia ereptor now shows in the end-game victory cinematic animation if it is selected as the colony appearance
  
• Swapped position of rufa and atta in custom colony setup
  
• Queen danger termite voice line now plays for both termite types
  
• Removed falloff from exploding ant damage so it now does the same damage at the edge of the explosion as it does in the centre
  
• Exploding ants and termites are no longer revivable by Matabele medics if they have exploded
  
• Fixed hat position for the two ereptor queens
  
• Myrmecia ereptor now appears in the level selection screen
  
• Army ant’s food items have been better hidden in Front Line and No Ant’s Land
  
• Bombs should now spawn from all non-colony creatures in all levels if Bomb Mode is active
  
• Fixed an issue that would relocate singular ants without neighbours to the nest group on loading
  
• Fixed an issue with food types dropped from a killed colony not changing to something useful for the killer in custom games
  
• Disabled Bomb Mode in the tutorial and Beetles Rise Up!
  
• Exploding termite AI colonies will now start with some food storage
  
• Disabled leafcutters in Remix versions of new extra levels for the time being

At least one of us decided to touch grass - an update on how things are going and where we think we're going next!



Since this is also a general Slug Disco update as well as an Empires of the Undergrowth one, there is a section at the beginning that doesn't deal with EotU - if you'd prefer to skip that, the timecode is 01:36.

This small patch deals with some issues from the 1.1 update that arrived yesterday. There are more fixes on the way soon but these deal with the most pressing ones, so we're getting these out first.

• Fixed an issue with charge abilities (ie, driver ants and big-headed ants) not working in Battle Arena
  
• Fixed ants with garbled textures on Beetles Rise Up! extra level and Hungry Spider seasonal level
  
• Fixed glow position on the leafcutter supermajor (Adventure extra level)
  
• Altered several assets to optimise texture streaming

• Fixed a hang / crash that occurred when expIoding termite colonies were added to custom games
  
• Rapid Maturity & Accelerated Gland Filling now correctly update exploding termite worker visuals when they become explosive & fully powered
  
• Fixed termite mound not appearing on No Ant's Land extra level
  
• Fixed exploding ant worker and queen descriptions
  
• No Ant's Land extra level now uses termite voice lines
  
• Exploding termite workers now have access to the lignocellulose digestion toggle if in a Macrotermes colony
  
• Mulch on No Ant's Land extra level can now be harvested up to 45 at a time (depending on the harvester)
  
• Fixed an issue where new creatures were not changing the mouse cursor to the build tool
  
• Changed exploding termite soldier to melee class to match other UI elements

Empires of the Undergrowth 1.1 is out now! A major remastering of many art assets including the rainforest environment, leafcutter ants, black ants, and gene thief ants is included for all owners of the game. Many changes and fixes are also included - full details are included in the patch notes below.



Releasing simultaneously is the Exploding Ants DLC, which adds the exploding ants (Colobopsis explodens) and exploding termites (Neocapritermes taracua) to the mix. These are based on real-life species that really do rupture their bodies in an act of self-sacrifice for their colony! Nature is endlessly inventive.

Finally, the Supporter Pack is also releasing today and is now available separately.

---

If you've been enjoying 1.1 — or even if you've just got thoughts on exploding termites—we’d love to hear your feedback in a Steam review. They’re not just a boost to visibility; they help us understand what’s working and what needs more love. Thanks for being part of the colony!


The following rainforest levels have been remastered:

• 3.1 The Harvest
  
• 3.2 Front Line
  
• Custom game map Basin
  
• Custom game map Embankment

The following ant species have been remastered:

• Leafcutter ants - queen, majors, mediae, minors, minims
  
• Gene thief ants - queen, workers
  
• Black ants - workers, soldiers

The following rainforest creatures have had improved animations:

• Leaf mimic praying mantis
  
• Jumping spider
  
• Trapjaw ant

• Pillage the Pillagers achievement can now be attained
  
• Fixed Matabele medics getting stuck if their heal target is removed from play
  
• Queens can no longer be picked up by larger creatures
  
• Fixed a termite mound issue in Drive Them Back (Custom Game Version)
  
• Fixed a texture chamber issue on old beach tile set
  
• A voice line referencing ants will no longer play if the player is a termite colony
  
• Prevented lignocellulose spawning in termite mound walls in custom games
  
• AI colonies in custom games will no longer harass colonies that are dead / missing their queen
  
• Seasonal hats will now appear in the right place on Matabele & termite queens
  
• Added a failsafe to a possible crash involving phorid flies
  
• Fixed player’s army ants counting towards objectives in Adventure in remix mode
  
• Some lighting corrections in Drive Them Back (Custom Game Version)
  
• Fixed All The Heals achievement failing on hard difficulty due to starting soldier tiles
  
• Fixed a crash relating to the American bullfrog
  
• Fixed mulch landmarks always being on the map with pre-set landmarks even when no Matabele or termites are in play
  
• Fix for Full House achievement issues
  
• Some grammar / spelling fixes here and there

The Exploding Ants DLC is now available from the Steam store. It includes not just exploding ants, but exploding termites as well! Both perform a remarkable function called Autothysis which can be toggled on and off like climbing and aphid collection. Once you have the DLC installed, the following features will be available to you:


Exploding ant soldiers are available as unlockable units in ereptor colonies. When threatened, they explode causing high damage and a concussive blast. As part of an ereptor colony, the exploding ant soldiers have the following upgrades available:

• A choice of Controlled Blast or Violent Blast, increasing the damage or radius of the explosion, respectively
  
• A choice of Chain Reaction or Persistent Secretions, increasing the damage of other exploding ants caught in the blast or leaving a pool of liquid that causes continual damage, respectively

Explodings ants are available as full colonies in custom games, remix mode and the extra level The Harvest - Firebreak:

• Colobopsis explodens majors do not explode, but take less damage from the front and have an underground-only ability. They will go stationary, and buff the armour of allied units around them

In The Harvest - Firebreak, exploding ants must eliminate an aggressive fire ant colony against the backdrop of two leafcutter ants bringing in their harvest. Find it in the Extra Levels section of the Arcade.


Exploding termite workers are available as unlockable units in ereptor colonies. When threatened, they explode causing damage over time and confusion to enemies.

• Since they are workers, they will perform nest jobs as usual
  
• Workers are born inert but become explosive after a time, indicated by a change to their UI icon
  
• The older the worker is before it explodes, the more damage over time and the longer the confusion effect will be

As part of an ereptor colony, the exploding ant workers have the following upgrades available:

• A choice of Rapid Maturity or Accelerated Gland Filling, which reduces the time until they become explosive or speeds up the damage over time and confusion increase, respectively
  
• A choice of Extreme Toxins or Extreme Confusion, which increases the length of the damage over time or the confusion effect, respectively

Exploding termites are available as full colonies in custom games, remix mode and the extra level Front Line - No Ant’s Land:

• Neocapritermes taracua majors do not explode, but they have a dual ability called Asymmetric Snapping. Underground, this ability causes high damage to enemies. Above ground, it will sun an enemy and cause the termite itself to be flung back
  
• Exploding termites consume lignocellulose in a similar way to African termites, but they do not require the steps to process it into fungus and instead consume it directly

In Front Line - No Ant’s Land, a small colony of exploding termites must survive a number of days against the approaching lines of army ants. Find it in the Extra Levels section of the Arcade.


The Supporter Pack does not add anything that affects gameplay, but is intended for those who have expressed that they missed out on the original funding campaign way back in 2016. It includes the following items:

• Myrmecia ereptor gene thief skin - new models and animations for the gene thief ants. Includes both queen and worker models. Inspired by real-life bull ants (Myrmecia genus)
  
• Original Soundtrack - the Empires of the Undergrowth soundtrack, 170 minutes presented in 35 separate tracks and downloadable as uncompressed WAV files
  
• Sounds of the Undergrowth widget to listen to the music and voice-lines in-game, with adjustable sliders for intensity
  
• 7 4k wallpapers with multiple variations for a total of 16 wallpapers
  
• 19 emojis, with some based on the game’s achievement icons
  
• 12 portraits

We hope you enjoy the update! This release completes a large swathe of our current roadmap, and puts a dent in the rest of it. So, go and marvel at the beauty of the jungle, and blow it up with exploding creatures!

Empires of the Undergrowth is now 50% off as part of the Hooded Horse Spring Publisher Sale.

Command an ant colony and wage strategic battles in the insect kingdom. This ant-based RTS challenges you to build, defend, and expand your colony, using unique pheromone-based strategies and powerful warrior ants to overcome formidable foes.

Hooded Horse Spring Publisher Sale 2025


https://store.steampowered.com/app/463530/Empires_of_the_Undergrowth/

Thank you all for the amazing response to the new beta with the remastered artwork! We’ve had a bunch of feedback and have been able to fix the majority of the problems for the time being. Please see below for full patch notes.

The beta is now available on Mac.

If you didn’t join last time and would like to, see the previous post for details on how to activate the beta. The password for the beta is rainforestrefresh.

As before, any feedback you can provide on any errors or crashes, etc is much appreciated - please post on the Steam discussions for that.

• Fixed inaccessible leaves in several levels
  
• Fixed climbable plants & stuck aphids in Basin
  
• Fixed decorative water clipping through the ground in Basin
  
• Fixed black ants and trapjaw ants carrying things in the wrong place
  
• Fixed behaviour toggles not appearing in the formicarium when appropriate
  
• Fixed leafcutter mediae & majors not getting larger with level
  
• Fixed references to DLC creatures appearing where they shouldn’t
  
• Repositioned the glow effect on the leafcutter supermajor (Adventure extra level)
  
• Fixed messed up textures on starting workers in the tutorial & formicarium levels
  
• Fixed messed up textures on royal guard in Enemy of my Enemy 1 & 2
  
• Fixed some rainforest decorative plant model issues
  
• Removed a hexagonal dev tool graphic that was accidentally left in some levels
  
• Fixed the defeat cinematic animation in 3.1 The Harvest
  
• Level select now uses the new black ant worker model
  
• Latest localisations added
  
• Added Mac build to beta

Blurry textures on creatures and scenery - some users are having issues with the new environments and models, with a blurry look to the materials which is caused by texture streaming.

We intend to review this fully, but for now you can try disabling texture streaming on Steam by adding the following launch argument to the game: -NOTEXTURESTREAMING. To do this, find the game in Steam, go to Properties > Set Launch Options > … and paste in -NOTEXTURESTREAMING (make sure you include the dash). This is not guaranteed to fix the issue but testing shows it helps.

If you decide to do this, loading times may be affected and you might find that you need to drop texture quality somewhat from the in-game graphics menu.

Game stays running after closing for some users - we’ve narrowed the cause of this down - it affects AMD users but fixing it involves some deep engine changes and we don’t think it’s wise to be making the change so close to a major release. Please continue to report if you have the issue, as other changes have been made which may impact this.

Built-in crash reporter does not seem to currently appear reliably after a crash - please let us know if you get a crash without a box popping up referring to sending in a report.