We’ve made big strides towards getting the freeplay AI save-able, and we’re at the point where we could do with some extra feedback before we declare it good to go. This opt-in beta build adds saving to freeplay games with AI colonies, which should make them much more viable in a long game.
If you would like to participate, the beta code is christmasants. You will need to be a 64 bit Windows user to join. If you’re unfamiliar with how to activate a Steam beta and would like to, follow the steps below:
- Find Empires of the Undergrowth in your Steam library, right-click on it and choose "Properties"
- Choose the "Betas" tab
- In the box titled "Enter beta access code to unlock private betas", enter christmasants
- 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
- Press close - the game will now update to the beta branch.
WARNING - We highly recommend you backup your saves before testing this beta build. This beta is primarily testing saving so this is more important than usual - there’s an above-normal chance of save files becoming corrupted. Save files are located at:
C:/ Users / [YOUR USER NAME] / AppData / Local / EotU / Saved /SaveGames
Headline Features
- Saving is now available with AI colonies in freeplay
- Please keep an eye out for strange behaviours of the enemy or allied colonies after a save and load in freeplay; it is possible some of their behaviour has not been correctly restored. Please report these on our forums or Discord!
Fixes
- Fixed some underground visual tile bugs
- Fixed a minor issue with the slave maker button in battle arena
- Swarm slave makers now have team colours working properly
- Fixed a surface tile painting issue on The Dunes
- Removed some specks of dirt that were floating on the open nest entrances in The Dunes
- Fixed an issue where AIs that were cheating could only get a free hatch once per game
- Fixed issues with the AI colony’s visibility of spawned landmarks (should lead to some more sensible landmark harvesting decisions)
- Fixed an issue where surface tunnels could switch when a freeplay game was loaded
- Fixed an issue where randomised caverns were not loading and saving
- Fixed an issue where some creatures could freeze if interrupted during picking up another creature
- Creatures eaten by other creatures will no longer drop invisible food
- Festive Spider level funnel web kills now count towards your experience
- Adjusted web size in Christmas spider level the better represent the area funnel webs can detect enemies
- Webs in the Festive Spider level will no longer expand upwards covering the map
- Webs stop increasing in size beyond level 9 in the Festive Spider level
- Fixed an animation issue to do with wood ants rapid firing
- In freeplay uber mole crickets now count towards the hunter victory condition
- Can no longer tag and untag another colony’s tunnel exit for excavation
Optimisations
- Optimisation added to creature spawning when looking up its class (should speed things up when lots of ants are hatching at once such as the beginning of a freeplay game)