Dear players,
The much awaited Praying Mantis Lifecycle is game's next update and it is almost there!
Players will experience the complete lifecycle of the Praying Mantis across multiple generations with new gameplay mechanics and strategies completely unique to the Mantis.
Preview image - A first Instar Praying Mantis espies a massive world awaiting exploration!
Today's update
An update was released for DoN today that the sets the stage for the Mantis release by bringing vast improvements to the overall game.
Below is a gist of what today's update includes:
Checkpoints added to all Creature Quests for easy completion!
Unlike the Lifecycle mode which puts emphasis on species depiction, the Creature Quests mode offers a more traditional gameplay experience and currently features two unique challenge maps for the Jumping Spider and Ladybug respectively.
In response to player feedback that the Creature Quests were too difficult or prolonged, this update adds a new Checkpoint system.
Players who fail to complete a challenge map (by falling in water, etc!) can immediately resume at the latest checkpoint and try again! The leaderboard timer counts the duration of all your attempts together of course.
Checkpoint system in action for the "A Curious Triad" Ladybug Creature Quest!
Creature Quests, in my personal experience as the developer of this game, offers some of the most unique and enjoyable experiences the game has to offer. If you have previously tried this mode but were put off by the difficulty level or perhaps found it tedious to repeat an entire challenge map for just a single fall, do try Creature Quests again as this update enables players to freely explore the challenge maps for any desired duration.
Falls are now not punished with a restart, but with a safe return to the latest checkpoint from where you can experiment freely again! :)
Notable mention for the Ladybug challenge map which contains several checkpoints hidden away in unique locations (can you find them all!?), along with a "Giant Mantis" prop honoring the imminent Praying Mantis release :))
Tree shadows for high-end PCs!
Until now trees in the game did not cast any shadows at all due to size constraints (each tree is absolutely massive relative to a tiny insect!).
With this update however, high-end PCs will enjoy full tree shadowing to take DoN's nature scenes to a new level of visual richness!
Just make sure the Shadow quality slider in "Video Settings" is set to the maximum as that is what selectively enables and disables tree shadowing in the current version.
Trees are expected to become more and more important as gameplay elements for DoN, so eventually trees with active gameplay will indeed have shadowing enabled for lower end PCs as well.
Below is a visual comparison:
Without Tree Shadows
With Tree Shadows
Praying Mantis Lifecycle Release ETA
Currently body visuals and gameplay prototyping for the Mantis is still underway, but with DoN's powerful lifecycle frameworks ready at hand, the overall flow is already nearing completion.
Approximately 2 weeks, i.e. late September or early October, is the expected timeframe based on the current trajectory :)
Thanks to everyone for your great patience in waiting for the Mantis update since the original announcement.
I greatly look forward to playing as the Praying Mantis along with all of you, hopefully very soon :)
With Love,
Venugopalan Sreedharan
(Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)