Screen Shot Saturday - Under the Soil

[MikeSlugDisco]

Some work-in-progress shots of the new underground look for Screenshot Saturday today.

Whilst previous levels were set on a beach in a temperate environment, the next set of levels take place in the humid subtropical rain forests of Ecuador with its clay-rich soil. This gives a distinct red hue to the underground.

We also have luminous fungal growths illuminating our Leafcutter colony instead of the crystals from the beach levels - a little extra flavour given that the Leafcutters themselves are fungus farmers!

 

[Gagglesworth]

Wouldn't a level 3 major ant be a bit out of place going through 1 tile thick tunnels?

 

[Rayalot72]

Wouldn't a level 3 major ant be a bit out of place going through 1 tile thick tunnels?

It's probably the perfect size to fit through. They've also mentioned that smaller ants will be capable of walking under the majors, so that shouldn't be problematic.

 

[Raptorofwar]

Leafcutter ants!

(Coming January 2021.)

 

[Mr_Ced]

The soil looks so amazing and cool looking! This soil is going to be my favorite.

 

[Redmoth27]

Looks sexy

 

[MikeSlugDisco]

Wouldn't a level 3 major ant be a bit out of place going through 1 tile thick tunnels?

It's probably the perfect size to fit through. They've also mentioned that smaller ants will be capable of walking under the majors, so that shouldn't be problematic.

Yep - the leaf cutters introduce a size hierarchy system that means creatures of certain different sizes aren't impeded by each other.

 

[Talon]

Amazing pictures. I love it and can't wait.

 

[FeaReaper_06]

Will the next update add new enemies?

 

[Buffalo981]

Of course, they'll come along in the next set of levels and new maps (you probably won't see hermit crabs and beach tiger beetles in a rainforest)! Mike or John has mentioned phorid flies, which lay its eggs in a leaf-cutter ant's body.

 

[Liam]

Confirmed: No hermit crabs or beach tiger beetles in the rainforest! (You might see a distant cousin of the Devils Coach Horse though)

 

[Raptorofwar]

Are there going to be Giant Anteaters?

 

[Liam]

Are there going to be Giant Anteaters?

Haha - not yet. I have struggled to imagine how they could possibly be implemented in the game as it stands. They would be so massive compared to everything else. It would be fun to just see the snout overground perhaps and have a giant tongue assault the underground.

 

[Buffalo981]

Because it's a rainforest.... will there be rain?

 

[The vegetarian ant]

About soil I've got some ideas, we could have diffrent types of soil like the normal dirt and the clay that could be dug by ennemies and that could be replaced by ants when they would dig it and there could be different events like rain that would add bits of water on the ground inside of what the ants would risk to drops of water on the ground in which the ants would laugh to be sucked and drown, the other ants should drink the water of the drop to free those who would have been made prisoner before they drown and the rain would also cause a landslide on the clay zones underground that would make it respawn and kill the ants inside, another event could make a gigantic shadow, who would be the ant-eater, pass over the map and at times just a flying tongue whose end we could not see would appear and eat the ants and other insects.