Hey everyone!
A new Dev Blog to share the latest evolution progress of Primordial Empire! The sun has been especially brutal this summer, and with that inspiration, it’s actually quite fitting that I’ve been working on the Salt Barrens biome.
The Salt Barrens
The Salt Barrens are Primordial Empire’s underwater equivalent of a desert, arid lands with very little fertile ground. The intense sunlight quickly bleaches any fertile detritus, making growing crops (Micro Agave) no longer viable under such conditions. Your colony will need to explore other options to sustain the Stem Cells. Like desert dwellers in real life, your ecosystem will rely heavily on hunting and foraging, which is where the Brine Crown, a new wild organism, comes in.
The Brine Crown is a plant that has adapted to the highly saline Salt Barrens and even managed to extract nutrients from literally salted grounds. It grows a type of fruit called the Osmoberries, which are bursting with nutrients. All you need to do is to “pop” them open, with the help of the pointy Lancet Cells. Like other neutral wildlife, the Brine Crown can be assimilated into your collective, allowing it to grow even more food.
Now you might wonder, what does the Salt Barrens do? You might have already guessed it from the name: this upcoming biome will be your sole source of.. you guessed it… SALT! Similar to Enzymes and Toxins, this is a strategic resource essential for certain advanced plants/buildings.
One such plant is the Deep Extractor, which can be found in high-level Mineralized Biomes. This evolved version of the Mineral Extractor only take up half the space, meaning you can fit double the output on the same patch of minerals. Also, it no longer relies on Feeder Cells for sustenance – instead, it’ll need a steady supply of salt! Make sure to connect a trade route to the Salt Barrens to keep these slender plants alive! (No you can’t hook it up to League ranked players.)
Milestones and Lineage
Outside of the new biome, I’ve also been working on a bunch of new features. Today’s highlight is the Free Play mode progression system, from which you will gain currencies by completing different challenges. By meeting certain conditions for the Milestones, you will earn stars that can be spent in the Lineage Workshop for empire-wide bonuses.
From more starting resources and units in new colonies, to receiving additional boosts to trade routes, choose carefully and shape your playstyle with these strategic upgrades. These stars will also be your “win condition” – win the Free Play mode by gathering enough stars. Or if you are up for a challenge, try aiming for that 100%!
On a side note, here’s a new profile creator. You can mess around with your profile designs and, more importantly, store separate saves and progressions. You will be able to share the game with your family and friends, or establish your microscopic empires with completely different approaches. Just a side thing that I think would be a great nice-to-have!
Hope you like what you saw in this new dev blog! Now time to go back to the grind and nurture the next micro-organism in the primordial soup. Remember to check out our official Discord server for regular game dev updates and stay keep an eye on our socials for more news!
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