Along with the 5.1 titans making it into freeplay, this optional beta has a bunch of fixes and improvements to make the game more stable.

Let’s go over a few things related to these optional betas for people who haven’t participated in them before. Firstly, please note: optional betas are limited to the Steam Windows 64 bit build, and may be missing localisations in some newer or updates areas.


Saved games are in C:\Users[YOUR USER NAME]\AppData\Local\EotU\Saved\SaveGames

We highly recommend making a backup of your saved games before you run an optional beta, on the off-chance that some changes cause them to be corrupted. More info on where games are saved is in the Steam forums (but some of the information here will soon be obsolete, if this beta goes to plan). Copying the data in that folder to somewhere else will keep it safe from any potential issues.


If you would like to join the beta, the code is customtitans. 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 customtitans
   
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.

• 5.1's titans can now spawn in huge creature landmarks in freeplay
  
• Added a system to restore saves from backup in-game rather than manually (not yet localised)
  
• Added some extra protection when reloading or quitting the game when defeat rewards are being saved
  
• Increased save backup number to 5 (up from 3)
  
• Bullet ant tech tree video added
  
• Scroll added to behaviour toggles box (will only appear when needed)
  
• Added more recent localisation for Polish and Czech
  
• Updated lighting for custom game levels and extra levels and changed some underground tile grids to the new ones
  
• Whip spider main menu icon is replaced if arachnophobia mode is active
  
• Added arachnophobia hat to all hybrids
  
• Creature stat list can now show percentages to a single decimal point

• Reduced chance of all backups corrupting
  
• Fixed some small reverb problems in Tier 5 lab music
  
• Food taken from dead critters should now look closer to what it comes from
  
• Wood ants now turn to their targets before each shot
  
• AoE resistance now displays as a percentage in the Inspect tool
  
• Creatures mounted on another are now killed when shaken off and landing off the tile grid
  
• Fixed low resolution shadows in Tug of War 3
  
• Large underground creatures in 5.1 and 5.3 can now only demolish a tile if at least one of its neighbours is demolished
  
• Quadrupled VRAM allocated to overground tile grid textures - should improve issues when rapidly moving camera around the map
  
• Inspect tool health-per-second now includes buffs (such as the Matabele medic aura)
  
• Fix for whip spiders rapidly pinging from their creature encounter narration in 3.2
  
• Bullet ant species hex now used in the improvements menu
  
• Allowed marker placement through some plants that were blocking it in 3.2
  
• Matabele colonies should now always drop termites when they sell a tile
  
• Creatures that reach zero health while mounted will always drop to the floor to actually die
  
• Water on the minimap removed on 5.3
  
• Termites will no longer take sun damage in the ending cinematic of 5.3
  
• End game messages now say the NG+ level that has been unlocked if this is not the first NG+ completion
  
• Corrected some issues in the credits
  
• Fixed a ping issue in Occupation 2
  
• Texture size optimisations (should help with some blurry issues)
  
• Skimmer in Battle Arena will now fly and land when there are enemies at the midpoint
  
• Fixed some overhanging moss in the final formicarium / terrarium
  
• Fixed an issue where loading a damaged creature with a star level would restore its health
  
• Prevented ants walking into a rock in 5.1
  
• Fixed an issue where several ants hatch costs were being affected by upkeep in custom games
  
• Fixed an issue where bullet ant lean pupation was not applying in custom games
  
• Fixed an issue where UI scaling 150% would cause formicarium rewards to be off the bottom of the screen and hence unselectable

We’ve put many of our best years into Empires of the Undergrowth, and it is finally released. Welcome to our first newsletter in a post-1.0 world! For all of the many new people who are joining us, you are most welcome, and we hope you’ve been enjoying the game since launch on Friday, 7th June 2024. It’s been a rollercoaster of a few days for us, to say the least, and we’ve got a lot to talk about - so let’s get to it.


Matabele ants in a custom game from Zvistic

First and foremost, thank you so much for making sure that our launch to full release was a successful one. So far, our highest concurrent player count was on the Sunday after launch - peaking at 6,367 - absolutely annihilating our previous best of 2,509 which happened nearly 2 years ago when the fire ant update was set live. These are stunning numbers for our little ant game, far higher than we could have hoped for, and we will be eternally grateful for that.

On launch day we also posted a new roadmap, detailing some of our plans for the immediate future of Empires of the Undergrowth. This newsletter will mainly deal with that, but we’ll also talk about some of the coverage that the game has been getting and how the launch itself went.


In the early evening of 7th June, we took a short break from our preparations to do a short livestream celebrating the reach of 1.0. It was great being able to take a quick breather with more than 800 of you watching at one point, and to be honest this was for us as much as it was for everyone else! The recording of the livestream is available on YouTube for anyone who would like to have a look:



We did all the traditional things you do in a launch livestream - briefly interrogate an environment artist, mix a themed cocktail, that sort of thing. Cue me getting through the entire livestream in good humour only to get emotional at the very end of it - an absolute classic. As always, a privilege to share a little about our process and our team at the end of the road. Well, at the end of this road, anyway.


Even after a project that has done objectively fairly well for several years, you can never guarantee that that will translate to a bigger player base at the end of proceedings. Thankfully, you folks came out swinging for us, and we had both our best day of sales AND concurrent player count on launch day, up until that point (beaten over the following weekend, however!).

Roadmap:



On the day of launch we also released an updated roadmap. While our roadmaps are always subject to changes in ordering and even inclusion, it gives a good idea of what our immediate priorities are to continue content and improve what’s there. Let’s go through the roadmap now and discuss the major points in a bit more detail.


Our first port-of-call is to fix the inevitable list of glitches and issues that pop up when a lot more eyes are on the game all of a sudden. Obviously we did our best to get everything tested properly before release, but with a small dev team and a volunteer focus group (as well as some limited professional QA) it isn’t possible to catch everything until a whole bunch more people are seeing it. Over its long development time, Empires of the Undergrowth has become a fairly big project, after all.

Some of the very common ones have already been identified and fixed, and we in fact hope to get back to doing optional betas fairly regularly. The first of these may well be ready in the short term - so look out for that.


Savannah AO improvements - before & after

In the above pictures, we've included some improvements to the ambient occlusion system that are currently in the works in a before / after form - this should add extra detailing to bare areas like the open parts of the savannah. We hope to get this into a test build as soon as we can.


When in a closed testing environment, one of the things you have to be aware of is that everyone who is involved is at least somewhat familiar with the game and therefore things are likely to be a touch easier for them than the average player. This is really a ‘feel it out’ kinda situation, and although we’re relatively happy with how the difficulty turned out there is certainly some work to be done here. 5.1 could probably do with being a shade easier on lower difficulties, for example, but the general consensus will develop over time in what we need to be doing here.

Balance therefore won’t be one of the things that is worked on immediately (we’ll be working on glitch fixes first) but as it becomes clearer what direction we need to go in it will come a little bit later.


One of the things we were a bit perturbed to have to leave out of 1.0 is achievements for the final tier of the formicarium story. This was simply a time thing, but we absolutely intend to go back in and finish off the ‘chieves for tier 5. We promise not to make them too devious this time. Maybe.


About 3 years ago we hired a dedicated environment artist to the team. The 3 core devs are all generalists, really, because that’s what you have to be with an ambitious project and a tiny team! DanC’s art has now defined the look of Empires of the Undergrowth, and the last bastion of the old style remains in the rainforest biome that the third tier of the game takes place in (as well as some extra levels and custom game maps).


A trail of leafcutter ants from Heolx

We have gone through the game and updated the earlier artwork, so the rotten log and the beach are now up-to-date with the more modern look. The rainforest was left until last, since it certainly represents the best of the older style. With 1.0 now out of the door, there’s time to go back and update the jungle to fit better into the rest of the game.


Our lovely new savannah biome has a sort of semi-arid beauty to it, and it’d be a real shame if we didn’t create some custom game maps using them! At least 2 new custom game maps using these assets are planned in the short term, perhaps with more to follow. They will of course feature the towering spires of the termite mounds, which are the primary visual feature of the savannah.


Driver ants clash with stink ants in this shot from AntBZK


This system is still very much a work-in-progress, but the idea here is to allow users to create custom game setups via CSV (comma-separated value, or spreadsheet). It will require the users to learn a little bit about the system (we’ll provide some simple documentation when the time arrives) but it should allow for some more funky stuff to be achieved than just basic setup saving.

If this all goes to plan there’s no reason why we couldn’t open this up to the Steam workshop, and allow people to share and download clever custom game setups that way.


We are also due some variants of the tier 5 creatures being added properly into custom games. The sun spider, African giant centipede and emperor scorpion are all due to make an appearance as huge creature landmarks in their larger or ‘titan’ forms.


The emperor awaits, from Orion (Dilphy)

5 new creatures will also get uber variants, because who doesn’t love a walking lightshow that is an existential threat to your colony? I won’t spoil all of them now, but one of them will be the uber alligatorback scorpion.


Freed from the stress of completing a nearly decade-long project to 1.0, we will have a bit more time to do some of our more fanciful / experimental (or both) levels. For those who haven’t tried them yet - making extra levels takes practically no time at all compared to the campaign, because they typically don’t involve extensive new asset and / or system creation. Given that they exist outside of the canon of the game, they also give us creative license to be more experimental and create scenarios that wouldn’t be appropriate to the campaign.


An overview of Adventure, one of the more ambitious extra levels

As the roadmap says, these extra levels may come at any time as they are devised. They take a few hours to a couple of days each to produce compared to months for the campaign, and if developer John (who has made all the extra levels thus far) gets an idea he likes he may well just do it and release it in fairly short order. We’ll try to give a little bit of a heads-up about that, though, so keep those eyes peeled!


It is likely that custom games will remain an area of tweaking and changes for some time to come, and it is by far the game mode with the most subjective taste involved. Although it is very customisable, getting those default values right always takes experimentation and iteration, as well as getting the gist of player consensus as well. Another option open to us, which we haven’t used yet, is individual stat changes to creatures that are different to the campaign.

The AI is also due further tweaks and changes, and although its newer decision making system is more sophisticated than the old one by a large margin, there are still some areas where it can get stuck in a logic loop that prevents it from sending trails out, and we’ll be weeding this issues out as we continue.


No comment. Coming 2025. Boom.


We’ll be continuing to do changes, new maps and extra levels, and perhaps even bigger updates for the foreseeable future. The roadmap will continue to be updated every 6 months, and we’re very happy to have been secured by the successful launch to continue work on the project. There is a lot more stuff we want to do, and we now have the chance to do it.


The part of the launch live stream that turned me into a big soppy mess was when it came time to thank you, our players. You have been exceptionally kind and patient with us, as we completed our dream game and brought it to fruition, over a far longer time than we ever expected it to take us. Oh, our naivety all those years ago!

Thank you to our players, those who have contributed with testing and suggestions, our supporting artists and voice talent. Also to Hooded Horse, our co-publishers, whose guidance and superior wisdom has steered us through the trickiest part of the project.


It feels like it’s been an age since I got to do my favourite part of the newsletter, but it hasn’t even been 3 months (it feels like a year). If you’d like to contribute to this section in the future, the easiest way is to get on our Discord and post in the appropriate screenshot channel there. Alternatively, you can post to the Steam community and I will occasionally have a search through there. This month it is, predictably, tier 5-themed.


An Aloe shadow looms over the savannah from ~SlushieChris~


A basking rainbow lizard from NightEqual2374


Bonk! An emperor scorpion stuns its prey from AhYesAnts

Empires of the Undergrowth’s version 1.0 is now released, featuring the Matabele ants as the final focal species of the game, as well as the termites in a co-starring role. The whole campaign is now playable start to finish, along with all of its challenge modes and a greatly expanded custom game offering. But we’re not finished yet.

Please enjoy the launch trailer!



The major changes as well as the significant improvements and quality of life alterations are detailed below, but this release is much too big to fit everything into a reasonably-sized post! After the changes, read on to see our updated roadmap, showing where we intend to take the game now it has reached version 1.0.

• The story of Empires of the Undergrowth reaches a cataclysmic conclusion, now playable in its entirety with a fully narrated documentary-style campaign inspired by real world scenarios, and shocking challenges in an adjacent sci-fi setting
  
• Battle for survival in the wild, then bring the spoils of war back to your formicarium and unlock ugradeable ant species to meet the challenges set by the evil scientist
  
• Play endlessly customisable missions in skirmishes and freeplay games against environmental creatures, AI colonies, or both!
  
• Take on the Arcade with a multitude of inventive extra levels, both nature-inspired and more fanciful, and the Battle Arena to watch the chaos unfold
  
• The campaign is repeatable with end-game rewards and New Game Plus

• Enter the heat of the African savannah with the Matabele ants
  
  • Obligate termite eaters, they must raid nearby nests as their only long-term viable food source
    
  • Mighty titans of the undergrowth threaten the very existence of the Matabeles at night
    
  • Driver ants and African stink ants give fierce competition to the Matabele ants
    
  • The Matabele will nurse their wounded back to health - a near-unique trait among invertebrates
• Play a special campaign level as the termites!
  
  • Play a scenario as one of 3 termite colonies under threat of the Matabele, stink ants and other hungry predators
    
  • Farm for fungus by collecting decaying plant matter from the surface, but beware the midday sun!
• Return to the formicarium for the REAL final experiment, where the plans of the scientist are finally laid bare and the ultimate battle must be won
  
• Beat the campaign to add the end-game reward of mighty bullet ants to your colony, as well as several other units!
  
• Take your enhanced colony into custom games, or repeat your colony’s journey with tougher challenges in New Game Plus - but this time you can take your formicarium upgrades into the mission with you!

• Take on the fire ant missions with an added twist; the six-spotted fishing spider has joined the fray, causing havoc at pontoon construction sites
  
• The sinister assassin bugs prowl the savannah in the Matabele ant missions, taking victims and disguising themselves with the dead bodies of their prey

• Matabele ants and termites are now selectable as separate colonies in custom games!
  
  • Matabele colonies must search out termites to eat
    
  • Termite colonies must find patches of lignocellulose to grow into fungus
• New savannah creatures will now spawn in custom games when activated - take on alligator back scorpions, earwigs, centipedes and more!

• Tug of War 3: battle with new units, including the enormous bullet ants and Matabele, in this continuation of the tug-of-war style of extra levels we’ve added previously

• New main menu, loading screens and buttons
  
• Expanded arachnophobia mode (you can just have the hat to be visible)
  
• Increased rewards across the board for first-time level playthroughs
  
• New music in 5.1 & 5.2, as well as in the final formicarium
  
• New Battle Arena (surface) and new options for creatures
  
• New decorations and underground looks for the formicariums

• New Inspect tool (right-side of the pheromone panel) to show creature stats; stats will also now show in tooltips
  
• Clearer display of challenge mode and its rewards
  
• Important notifications should now be more obvious
  
• Numerous small quality of life changes

• Fixed an issue preventing fire ant’s ‘Last Stand’ ability from triggering
  
• Improvements applied to swamp and beach environments
  
• Several issues with minor improvements fixed
  
• Numerous small fixes

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, we’re not done yet. A few days after release there will be a newsletter going through this more closely, but we wanted to put the post-1.0 roadmap out a little early with the launch, so people can see what the immediate plan for the months ahead is.



Now, off to the savannah with you! And if this is your first time playing Empires of the Undergrowth, welcome. If it’s been on your radar for a while, we hope it’s been worth the wait! It’d be odd not to get slightly emotional at the end of a huge project like this one, and indeed I'm close to bawling my eyes out writing this out now. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us through the years. We love you all, and we literally couldn’t have done it without you.

We’ll see you in the Undergrowth,
The Slug Disco Team

It's been a long time coming. Version 1.0 is coming very soon, so please enjoy this special new gameplay trailer for the whole of the game that reveals the release date at the end of it.

Spoilers for the release date from this point on, so watch the video first!



Empires of the Undergrowth will hit version 1.0 exactly one month from this post, on June 7th 2024! The final story tier of the game will feature the fearsome Matabele ants and their surrounding species. Here's a breakdown of the major features:

• The Matabele ants, termite-eating specialists, feature in 3 brand new fully voice-acted campaign levels in their own environment of the sub-Saharan African savannah!
  
  • Harvest food from the towering spires of the cathedral-like termite mounds, carefully managing this precious resource
    
  • Matabeles have a special medic class, allowing them to revive injured colony members!
    
  • The scorching savannah is rich in biodiversity, and rife with danger
    
  • Encounter marching lines of driver ants & solo-hunting African stink ants
    
  • New huge titans, deadly scorpions, spiders, earwigs, beetles and more!
• New Game Plus mode will activate upon completing the campaign, unlocking new units and new options for further playthroughs
  
• Once you're done in the savannah, return to the lab and add the Matabeles to your home colony for one final climactic formicarium challenge - the REAL final experiment!
  
• Sweeping changes to custom game modes
  
• Many quality-of-life tweaks and improvements

Later on this month there will be a newsletter with an updated roadmap, taking us past 1.0 and into the future for Empires of the Undergrowth.

This long, long journey that we've been on and has transformed our lives is so close to completion now, and the kind patience of our community has allowed us to make our dream game into reality. From the very bottom of our hearts, thank you. We'll see you in the savannah.

Today marks World Earth Day, an occassion where we mark the importance of our planet and the factors that are impacting it. But with human-made issues such as climate change, pollution, overpopulation, lack of sustainability, and conflicts, it's a stark reminder not to take our planet for granted.

That's why we're taking part in Earth Appreciation Fest 2024, which contains both post-apocalyptic games that remind us of what we stand to lose, and nature-based games to help celebrate the incredible bio-diversity of the planet we call home.

You can check out the full range of games taking part in Earth Appreciation Festival here.


Psst! Don't forget Empires of the Undergrowth is also exhibiting at WASD 2024, where you'll be able to try out the latest build of the game from 25th - 27th April!

Every couple of months we like to do a vlog. This is a big one, both literally and metaphorically. It's a big roundup of all the tier 5 news that has been announced over the last few weeks, with a few new tidbits thrown in, as well as having its very own big creature reveal. I was holding one back especially for vlog 10 - and I'm glad I did!



The thumbnail might be my finest work.

The vlog's main focus is Empires of the Undergrowth, but it also has a short section about the other games published (but not developed) by Slug Disco Studios - if you'd like to skip that, then the timecode is 04:00.

Empires of the Undergrowth is now 35% off until April 29th. Command a colony, build, and battle in the bustling world of ants. Every decision, from food collection to frontline combat, matters in the undergrowth empire.



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

Just in case the change in the winds isn't perceptible to all yet, I’ll spell it out - we're approaching a point where we'll soon be ready to announce our release date for version 1.0 of Empires of the Undergrowth. Official reveals for the setting and species you'll be encountering have begun, and so this newsletter will focus firmly on that.


What wonders await in the savannah?

The reveals began at the start of the month and since then we've been doing regular posts on our social media (X/Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Discord), usually on a Saturday. A few other content creators are also getting involved in the fun this time around! Let's go through everything that has been revealed so far and give it some in-depth discussion.


The final ants that the player will control in the campaign is the Matabele ant, a large and fierce termite-eating species Megaponera analis. They live in sub-Saharan Africa. We did a 'Creature Feature'-style short video about it, which also begins to show off some of the environment they live in - the grassland savannah.



These ants habitually pillage nearby termite nests - indeed, they are entirely dependent on them (in-game other creatures will be consumable to them, but yield very meagre pickings compared to termites). As obligate termite eaters, they inhabit spaces where they can conduct dusk and dawn raids on nearby mounds.

One of their most interesting qualities is that they are an extremely rare example of helping behaviour in insects. For almost all other eusocial insects, colony members that are wounded in a conflict are left to die. However, Matabele ants that are not mortally injured release a distress pheromone, which attracts their sisters. They're collected and brought back to the nest, where they are nursed back to health.


A Medic ant - someone call an antbulance!

Although the healed ants aren't as strong or fast as their unscathed broodmates, in this way the Matabeles can significantly reduce their foraging losses and have many more productive ants in the colony. In Empires of the Undergrowth, this whole process is represented by a special Medic class of ant that will take injured Matabeles home, where they will be revived in short order to live a second life with some reduced stats. In this way, the Medic class allows you to increase your population beyond its tile limit. It's the Medic class that you'll be able to unlock for your formicarium.


Absolutely central to tier 5 is Macrotermes bellicosus, an African termite. Termites evolved from a cockroach-like ancestor, as opposed to ants who evolved from a wasp or wasp-like ancestor. The Latin 'bellicosus' means combative, or war-like. It's a slightly misleading name in some respects - although they do not usually seek conflict with their neighbours, they are well-prepared for it and have evolved multiple defensive castes involving major and minor soldiers. They build iconic cathedral-like mounds out of clay and saliva, which are cunningly crafted to provide an ideal internal temperature for their brood in spite of the baking daytime savannah temperatures.


Mulch gang for life

They take refuge in their mounds during the warmest parts of the day, and conduct most of their foraging activities when the temperature is more forgiving. They collect mulchy lignocellulose (drying plant material) from the surface, which they process into edible fungus through a partial digestion process. In-game, this gives them a similar yet slightly more complex food production pipeline to tier 3's leafcutter ants.

Termite reproductives mate for life - the queen becomes huge and immobile as she grows, and unlike ants that only mate once during a nuptial flight, a termite king lives alongside his queen for their entire lives. In the 5.x levels this rare example of insect monogamy will be represented by the termite king acting as the queen's fierce protector in her laying chamber.


Some of the only real lovebugs in nature

The Matabele-wielding player will need to conduct raids on termites at opportune times, whilst striking a balance - how many termites should they take, without over-harvesting their most important resource? A dead termite colony cannot produce useful food in the future, after all.


One of the two auxiliary ant species that the player will encounter in tier 5 is the African stink ant, Paltothyreus tarsatus. These relatives of the Matabele are not as dependent as they are on the nearby termite hills but termites still represent an important part of their diet.



Living in a network of shallow tunnels near the surface, stink ants usually hunt or scavenge alone. However, when the odds are against them they will attract more of their nestmates over a significant distance with their powerful pheromones. It's these potent pheromones that give the ants their name - they smell strongly sulphurous to human noses.


Just in case anyone was worried about us forgetting about one of the best things from the last tier (titan-class enemies), we've got you covered. One of the titans you'll encounter in tier 5 is the sun spider (Zeria keyserlingi). We gave one of our favourite YouTube content creators Frazzz a bit of a preview of the sun spider in a special Battle Arena build - the video gives a great representation of their look, animations and abilities. Check it out!



Solfugae (sun spiders), otherwise known as camel spiders, achieved an almost cryptid-like status on the internet in the 2000s due to many unfounded myths about them. The idea that they could kill a dog, or are as dangerous as cobras, or perform facehugger-like jumping attacks at camels are all entirely unfounded but fun to read about.


Death awaits you all, with nasty, big, pointy teeth!

They are in fact venomless, and the most harm they could ever do you is give you a relatively medically insignificant bite. Perhaps it's their unsettling appearance that makes them so memorable - they're arachnids, but not true spiders and nothing else looks quite like them. They're also capable of running very fast for invertebrates, and have a habit of scuttling towards people's shadows in an attempt to get out of the direct sunlight.

Of course, if you're the size of an ant, they represent a much bigger existential risk. Keep an eye out for them in the savannah!


Everyone who's ever dug around in the dirt as a kid (or indeed as a grown-up enthusiast) will be familiar with earwigs. This species is Forficula auricularia, an originally European / Asian native that has spread to almost everywhere that humans inhabit, including the parts Africa where the 5.x levels take place. A common nocturnal and subterranean enemy, it can use the pincer on the tip of its tail as an additional attack vector when it encounters prey or predators.



This enemy comes in a male and female variation, indicated by the shape of the tail pincer.


Would it even really be a proper Empires of the Undergrowth update without a new tiger beetle? Tier 3 excluded, obviously. This is Dromicoida elegantia, and like all tiger beetles it is a fierce predator with excellent vision, fast motion, and powerful slicing jaws. It will feature as one of the regular enemies roaming the savannah.




The tier 5 levels take place in the savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa. African savannahs are grasslands with open-canopy tree populations. Daytime temperatures can be brutal, and most species must take refuge in the shade in the hottest parts of the day. For termites this means retreating to their naturally air-conditioned mounds. It is a place of clay-rich soil and impressive biodiversity. Savannahs are far from deserts - standing water is often found there, and flowing water is available seasonally with most rainfall confined to a wet season.


An overview of one of the 5.x levels, WIP

At some point in the coming weeks I’ll do an environmental showcase for the savannah levels, as we get closer to the artwork being completed for them.

That's everything that's revealed so far about tier 5 - but there's a lot more to come. The round-ups in newsletters and vlogs will continue, but our social media (X/Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Discord) is the best place to get news quick.


Unless something happens in the meantime there’s a very strong possibility that myself and one other Slug Disco team member will be going to ANTCON 2024 in Carmarthen, Wales in May. That team member is unlikely to be one of the EotU devs - it’s an understandably very busy time for them! Tickets for the event are sold out, but if you managed to snag one then we look forward to seeing you on the Saturday. Last year’s event was great fun - check out the travelog we recorded.


As always, if you’d like to submit a screenshot to this part of the newsletter the easiest place to do that is on the appropriate channel of our Discord. Hit F9 (by default) to enter photo mode, and hold shift whilst you do that to uncouple the camera from the ground plain, allowing for some creative angles.


Army ants climb a bullfrog from WarriorAntGaming


Foam washes over the beach from Zvistic


Two different tiger beetles clash from Akilay Williams


A final note from me as I close up this newsletter and get back to the ultra-busy period of time the Slug Disco team is currently in - we are indeed approaching the end of the long early access journey, and the one thing that has been able to sustain us through that is you. Your patience and understanding has allowed this tiny team of three old friends to slowly craft their dream game, and that dream is nearly fully realised. Now, back to it.

Mike
Senior community manager

Hello! From now until March 21st, you can save 35% on Empires of the Undergrowth, and get great deals on all other games published by Hooded Horse during the Steam Spring Sale. Come check the game out!

Empires of the Undergrowth is participating in the Digital Tabletop Fest: Roll of the Dice, hosted by Auroch Digital.



This festival celebrates tabletop-inspired games and the incredible game studios behind them. From March 7th to March 11th, you'll find demos, previews of upcoming titles, panels from developers, and game discounts, too.

If you've been anticipating playing Empires of the Undergrowth, it is currently 35% off until March 10.

Survive, build, conquer, and rule over the ant hill today!

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