It's time for an optional beta! This time, we're giving a little bit of TLC to the swamp environment with two new swamp creatures - the rough green snake Opheodrys aestivus, and the adult form of the eastern newt Notophthalmus viridescens. Both of these are huge creatures, and they come with a new swamp-themed custom game map called Creek.
A rough green snake encounters some very confused ants (by AhYesAnts)
Alongside the updates to the swamp environment, this beta introduces freeplay setup saving - a way to make a template of your preferred custom game settings so that you don't have to re-enter them every time you want to start a new game. On top of this, the spreadsheet-based template files can be edited externally for lots of interesting effects - a separate guide explaining how this works is included as a work in progress. If you'd like anything detailed in this guide that currently isn't, please let us know and we'll add extra detail in that area.
The beta needs a password - it is theswampedbeta. If you don't know how to join a Steam beta, here are the instructions:
Find Empires of the Undergrowth in your Steam library, right-click on it and choose "Properties"
Choose the "Game Versions & Betas" tab
In the box titled "Private versions", enter theswampedbeta
After the "Access code correct" information appears, make sure you've chosen "optionalbeta" 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.
A sand lizard has an argument with a full-grown eastern newt (by Solstitium)
IMPORTANT: Back up your saves
The format in which games are saved has been changed with this update. We're quite confident from our testing that this won't cause problems, but if you participate in this beta your save files will be irrevocably changed to the new format and won't work with the older version. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you manually back up your save files if you ever intend to return to the non-beta version.
To do this, follow these steps:
Open an explorer window and paste this into the address bar:
Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\\EotU\\Saved\\SaveGames Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Epic/EotU/Saved/SaveGames Linux: ~/.config/Epic/EotU/Saved/LevelSetups/
Copy the entire contents of the SaveGames folder and paste it somewhere safe (like your Desktop). This is your backup for if you decide to go back to non-beta version
To restore your backup close the game, delete the contents of that SaveGames folder, and simply copy your backed up files back in.
Snake vs newt (by AhYesAnts)
Patch Notes
Headline Features
Added 2 new huge-class swamp creatures
Rough green snake Opheodrys aestivus
Eastern newt adult Notophthalmus viridescens
Added a new swamp-themed custom game map: Creek
Set in the fork of a slow-moving swampy creek
Designed for 2v2v2 combat
In skirmishes, one of the two new creatures will patrol the outskirts of Creek in a circular patrol pattern
Freeplay setups can now be saved and loaded
Build a freeplay setup in any configuration you like, save it, then export it to a CSV spreadsheet file to share with other players
Edit your custom game setup spreadsheets for detailed control
Save setup files can be edited externally to arrange a game exactly how you want
Options that aren't available in the menu, such as each colony's underground starting chamber and its surface tunnel (alternative exits and termite mounds included) can be accessed this way.
The game will load and play your setup precisely as you designed it
The functionality of freeplay setup CSVs will be expanded on over time
A Steam guide for the full functionality of CSV editing is currently a work in progress
5 example freeplay scenarios to demonstrate the CSV editing capabilities
Hunt the Ubers: you have a super-powerful ereptor colony and ubers will begin spawning extremely quickly and relentlessly
Bad Neighbours: leafcutters vs fire ants, starting super close to each other
Pot Luck: 4 colony free-for-all with randomised species, with more rapidly changing landmarks
Waves from Hell: you're a powerful Matabele colony under relentless attack from buffed waves, fed by enemy termites
You vs the World: super-powerful fire ants vs 5 allied enemy colonies
Changes
New creature models, textures and animations for the devil’s coach horse and slave-maker ants
Significantly reworked memory usage and allocation for efficiency which should result in some performance increase and loading time decrease
Nest numbers have been replaced with glyphs
Save files are now significantly smaller and faster loading
Lots of polish and refinement to the way the new UI works with controllers
Added a hotkey for the Inspect tool which can be rebound in the menu for keyboard & mouse users
Inspect tool button has been moved next to the pheromone panel
Arachnophobia mode now turns the creature icons in the Battle Arena spawner into hats
The queen is given more space when playing as termites in Chowder
The objective in 4.2 saying "Workers are worth less" has been reworded to "Soldiers are worth more" to avoid localisation issues
Alligatorback scorpion harvest slots increased to 8
Moving between formicarium stage 4 and 5 now keeps slightly more brood & food chamber tiles
Notifications now appear in front of subtitles to aid low resolution screens like the Steam Deck
Victory & defeat images added for Myrmecia ereptor colonies
Ranged wood ant variants now have different icons
Texture resolution improvements on 4.2 A Bridge Too Far
Termite species are now playable in Chowder in Remix mode
Rising Tide, Queen of the Hill, Sand Spit & Towhead water look updated
The skip button has been restyled and is hidden when playing with a controller in the 4th formicarium challenge
Localisation updates
Fixes
Fixed controllers not being able to select a unit option when launching a level
Fixed several save game crashes relating to climbable plants, large creatures and nest entrances
Fixed the adaptation tooltip video breaking when moving quickly between tooltips
Fixed the termite minor soldier showing the major soldier's build icon
Fixed exploding termite workers counting as soldiers on the population tooltip
Fixed major termite soldier/worker nursery counts being incorrect
Fixed shore crabs and sand lizards not spawning in custom games in some circumstances
Newer uber creatures now count toward the Hunter victory condition in custom games
Fixed the centipede’s stun applying several times in one hit
Fixed the enemy colony trying to dig through rock in The Harvest
Fixed the leafcutter super major tooltip showing no name
Fixed a victory notification flicker as the UI faded out
Fixed broken victory/defeat sequences in Strawclutch
Removed a harvest point from a leaf that was unreachable in Adventure
Fixed some situations when hovering over a tile displayed an incorrect cursor icon
Fixed defeat animation issues in Drive Them Back (custom game version)
Fixed cavern resource/danger sliders failing to load from a setup file when set to minimum
Fixed scientist 2 announcing the unlocking of the fire ants if it happens after FC4
Fixed Formica ereptor royal guard attacking slowly
Bombs in bomb mode can no longer destroy tiles around the very edge of a map
Rock tiles destroyed by bombs no longer reappear on custom game load
Fixed dragantula’s swoop attack visual effect staying around forever if it is interrupted
Fixed shore crab’s tantrum ability sometimes causing it to get stuck
Fixed some obscure issues with fire ant bridges
Fixed rare crashes on saving & loading
Fixed rare crashes involving creature movement, pickup & death
Fixed rare crashes involving digging and chamber placement
Fixed rare crashes involving UI & minimap
Fixed The Other Foot victory cinematic
Fixed a broken texture on Causeway
Fixed an custom colony issue when selecting species that exclude Matabele or leafcutter units with controller
Inspect tool no longer closes when the tool is cancelled with keyboard & mouse controls
Fixed a crash when a corrupted custom game save meta file was present; the game now remakes the meta file instead
Rising seawater no longer shows in ant nest entrances
Fix (hopefully) for the Mac cursor issues
Several controller fixes
Fixed the custom game difficulty not showing up on the menu tooltip
Fixed an old bug where auras would show through faded terrain as squares
Fixed a tester credit issue
Various spelling corrections
