Dear Wonderful Players! A new 2025 trailer is out for Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar, do check it out below! Read further on to learn about the game's 2025 roadmap as well :)

2025 Trailer for Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar

[previewyoutube=6OR-Iorg0W8;full][/previewyoutube]

2025 Roadmap: What's next for the game

New Content: Subspecies, Plants, Environment

This update will add more varieties of each major species (Butterfly, Mantis, Jumping Spider, etc) for giving players greater variety, color and interesting experiences. Alongside fauna, more plants and trees will also be added, giving players a more interesting and beautiful environment in which to play as their favorite creatures!
Finally, the environment itself will be improved - made both larger and more detailed. There is a very exciting update around the corner on this front, so stay tuned for more on this :)

Sandbox v2:"Create & Design - Nature"

A lot of players have expressed interest specifically in the Sandbox mode and its potential. A vastly improved Sandbox mode, entitled "Create & Design - Nature" has been planned for a while now.
This will provide players with complete guidance on how to unleash the full power of the Sandbox mode, emphasizing custom map creation, detailed workflows for handcrafting custom designs, direct control for players over Lighting and Time of Day (eg: choosing a fixed Season and time of day for your Sandbox scenarios instead of having to speed up the time just to reach a new season). "Create & Design - Nature" will also feature a Scenario Editor - enabling players to share their custom creations on Steam Workshop!

Making the grand journey from Bug Life to Birds, Reptiles & Mammals

The game's nature engine has been designed from ground up to support multiple perspectives and scales. Thus, not only the micro-scale undergrowth of First Instar Leafhoppers (tinier than a pinhead!), but also of tree canopies, of meadows, of landscapes and ultimately entire biomes. While invertebrates have necessarily been the game's sole focus as the foundation of all ecosystems, yet the plan has always been to work upwards towards Birds, Reptiles and Larger mammals.
For the game to reach a larger player base and thus benefit existing players like yourself, I feel that this grand leap needs to be taken soon, as demonstrating the full power of the game's nature engine will be a great way to increase awareness about the game and thus bring in a new generation of players like yourself :)

Mutliplayer (Exploration, Survival, Face Off)

Multiplayer is indeed another key milestone for the game's roadmap. Sharing your nature experiences together in a single game world will be truly game changing indeed! While the first version will necessarily focus on the simpler game modes like "Free Exploration", "Survival" or "Face Off" (this will make it practical to deliver a good experience for players on time), there is pretty much unlimited potential for fun in this space!

Thank you!

Thanks as always to the game's wonderful players for your support and inspiration! Everything that can be done to bring a Beautiful, Fascinating and Inspiring Nature World to the game's wonderful players is being done. With your love and support the game will indeed continue to grow and improve with each passing day! Thank you! With Love, - Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2025-03-24 05:41:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Players, This update brings key Steam features that have been requested for by the game's wonderful players for long now! Steam Achievements, Cards, Stats and Cloud Save have all been added! Along with these comes several key improvements to the game itself, to help make your experience of enjoying these Steam features much better!

Steam Achievements

Complete all 16 achievements today!

The Life Of a Monarch" Achievement!

Complete the Monarch Butterfly Male & Female Lifecycles (both of which are different!),

"Mantis Metamorphosis" Achievement!

The game has been vastly improved to make it easier for players to complete these achievements. Above: Chemical Vision reworked to make completing the Praying Mantis Lifecycle easier for this!

Full list of Achievements

To view all achievements, launch the game and open the Steam overlay (Shift-Tab)

Steam Cards

Trading Cards have been added at last! Monarch Butterfly, Jumping Spider, Praying Mantis, Ladybug and Grasshopper are the five cards that can be collected (along with their foil card equivalents). Badges that can be crafted include "Wee Sapling" (Level 1), "Swift Climber" (Level 2), "Verdant Riser" (Level 3), "Ready To Bloom" (Level 4), "The Glorious Sun" (Level 5) and "One With Nature" (Foil Badge). Several Emotions have been made available including: Monarch Butterfly, Viceroy Butterfly, Blue Mud Dauber, Dragonfly, Ladybird Beetle, Leafhopper and Ant.

Steam Stats

Several interesting Stats have been added to Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar! These include:

• Nectar Drunk (in milliliters!)
• Num Hunts
• Num Escapes (from Predator)
• Number of Random Maps Generated
• Num Lifecycles Completed
• Num Moults
• Num Spring Survival Completion
• Num Items Planted
• Num Nature Items consumed (Pollen Grains, Beltian Bodies)
• Time spent Painting!

Future updates will make it easier for players to track their curious statistics!

"Nectar Drunk in milliliters"

Above: Nectar trails seen using the new "High Contrast" Chemical Vision!

Steam Cloud Save

Cloud save has now been enabled for DoN! All your save files will be automatically synced across your computers using Steam's Cloud Save feature. ~ As a reminder, save files are located in the following location: %localappdata%\DoN\Saved

Key Improvements for making it easier to complete Achievements

Random Map Generator Improvements

Lifecycles now has a new "World Generation" menu allowing players to enter Random Map Seeds.
Tooltips with detailed information are now provided to help players not familiar with the concepts of Random map generation and Random Seeds, As a reminder, players can no longer change the "Ecology Preset" for Lifecycles. You can still use Custom Ecology Presets for all other modes like Survival Sim / Create & Design - Nature (formerly Nature Sandbox) / Face Off / Free Explore.

"Regenerate Map" menu for all Game Modes

The Pause Menu now includes a new "Regnerate Map" menu which provides players with complete control over how you restart a new game.
Players can now choose to either Restart using the same World Seed (effectively regenerating exactly the same map again) or they can set a new "World Seed" which will produce a completely new map altogether! If you like a particular random map (eg: something with lakes, rolling meadows, etc) then you can remember that seed and reuse it again in any game mode! Future updates will make it easier for players to Bookmark and manage your Favorite World Seeds!

Chem Vision Improved

To help players complete your Achievements more easily, Chem Vision has been dramatically improved! It is now actually helpful in visually tracking prey that you would otherwise have missed. Particularly indispensable for the Praying Mantis Lifecycle, where you are scouring the vast "Mantis Tree World" for extremely tiny prey. Unlike the previous chem trails which were hard to see against the game's bright and colorful foreground, the new Chem Vision emphasizes the chem trails by isolating them visually, thus making it easier to find prey!

Blue Mud Dauber Survival

Spiders are now always tracked so long as they are in range, making it much easier to complete the "Three Nests Three Eggs" quest for the "Sweet Nectar Drinker" achievement!
Blue Mud Dauber Survival Quest, for Sweet Nectar Drinker Achievement is now much easier to complete and more fun to play!

Jumping Spider Locomotion & Camera

Achievement Alert! "Only the Agile This Path Can Take"

Adult Jumping Spiders now use exactly the same camera system as the tiny instars! Previously the adults used a very different system that was originally designed for the "Lady Love" Creature Quests. This in turn means that the "Lady Love" Creature Quest is a lot more fun to play and easier to control. I managed to beat my all time score (now 38 seconds!) and secured #2 position on the game's leaderboard in just a simple casual run! Why don't you try out the improved "Lady Love" Creature Quest for yourself, right now! :)

Ladybug Creature Quest

Achievement Alert! "The Plants Say Thank You"

The Ladybug Creature Quest is now so much more fun to play and easier to complete! Stamina requirements have been greatly relaxed, allowing players to complete the "Plants Say Thank You"Achievement more easily, for which you need to complete the challenge in under 4 minutes! Personally I managed to beat my all time best and reach #2 spot on the Leaderboard, just in a quick casual test. Why don't you try bettering you Leaderboard score right now! :)

Engine-level CPU performance improvements for a smoother overall experience

This update features core CPU improvements to the underlying engine that should provide a smoother experience for all players across the board.

HUD

This update also features a cleaner HUD and improved fauna icons as well. Importantly - It is now actually possible to understand the gameplay mechanics - such as how a prey saw/felt/smelt you / etc, simply by keeping your eye on the HUD's new Fauna Icons!

Bugfixes

The following bugfixes were made, among several other minor improvements as well

• Random map seeds fixed (was broken in previous build)
• Fixes to Benchmark tool
• Pause menu duplicate entries fixed (for Praying Mantis Lifecycle "Skip Tutorial")

Thank you

Thanks as always to the game's wonderful players for your support and enthusiasm through all these yerars. It is deeply appreciated! I sincerely hope that you enjoy this update of the game. Good LucK! With Love, Venugopalan Sreedharan Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar

[ 2025-03-01 19:41:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Four are the Rivulets of DoN, Manifold are their forms within! To Play Survival / Casual / Fantasy / Design is Fun, Come now, give these a quick spin! [previewyoutube=DktoegCV6tE;full][/previewyoutube] Dear Players, this is the biggest Presentation Update for Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar yet! Featuring a new 3D Menu World at the centre, this update brings DoN's various game modes under a single cloud (or four of them to be precise!), with clear guidance for new players. Survival, Casual, Fantasy and Design are the Four Quadrants of DoN's new 3D Menu World. New players will now find it much easier to gain a quick overview of what the game has to offer, while experienced players will find themselves getting much more out of the game than ever before. Read on to learn more!

Survival Quadrant

Lifecycles, Survival Simulation & Face Off are the game modes under the Survival Quadrant. The "Menu World" plays a visual skit for each mode as you hover your mouse over the button, giving players a hint of what to expect within!
Important changes here include: 1) Separate rosters for each mode. For example, "Face Off" roster features combinations that more likely to be interesting and fun for players. Similarly, "Survival Sim" features fauna in a specific order based on the likely enjoyment of players! Lifecycles order is unchanged. 2) Random Map / Preset selection is no longer available for Lifecycles. This allows the Lifecycles experience to be strictly designed to ensure a more uniform experience. Note that all Lifecycles maps are still randomly generated; players just can't modify the internal preset anymore.

Sandbox Quadrant

Create & Design - Nature (formerly Nature Sandbox) & Planetary Ecology are the game modes under the SANDBOX Quadrant. "Create & Design - Nature" is envisioned as an overhauled version of the previous Nature Sandbox. Better User Interface, Tutorials (presented as "Sandbox Quests") & Editing Workflows are the improvements planned in this space.

Fantasy Quadrant

"Creature Quests is the sole game mode currently featured in Fantasy quadrant. Fantasy Quadrant is envisioned as a collection of experiences that are not intended to be realistic or educational. This provides a formal leeway for the game to provide players with more traditional gameplay experiences, deriving inspiring from the vast assortment of classic gaming experiences that are already proven to work and well-loved by players. Story, Adventure, Platforming are the potential elements that this Quadrant could encompass in the future.

Casual Quadrant

Free Exploration is the sole game mode currently featured in this quadrant. Zero Hunger & Infinite Stamina allow players to try out different creatures at their own pace. While DoN's current Free Exploration is a very simple experience, when combined with random map generation (as well as procedural generation of world flora), interesting emergent experiences often unexpectedly arise, so do give this mode a try some time! In the future Free Exploration will attempt to provide much larger play areas, greater flora and ultimately - biome diversity. Mini-games to encourage exploration and enrich the overall experience are also being considered.

Thank you

That's it for this Presentation oriented update! I hope the new 3D Menu World inspires both new and experienced players to get the most of this game! Thank you so much for supporting Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar! With Love, - Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2025-02-14 02:40:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Relive your favorite experiences!

A major graphics update has been released for Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar! Significantly improved visuals for all game modes and species come with this update, so be sure to give it a try! Aside from graphics, various gameplay improvements have been made as well, read on for complete details!

Release Video!

Be sure to watch this short 1 minute video for the improved visuals :) [previewyoutube=6qAircA-qlU;full][/previewyoutube]

Visual Improvements

Lighting & Colors

Overall lighting has been improved to make longer playtimes more comfortable for your eyes. The new lighting is more consistent and should significantly improve player experience across the game.

Camera Focus Effect

Since much of DoN's gamplay takes place in the foreground andthe game's current creatures are so tiny, keeping the player's visual attention focused on the gameplay elements (flora like leaves and flowers) was considered very important. To help with this, background elements are now taken out of focus.
As game's older players will remember, this was already part of the game before, however the effect was somewhat inconsistent and could not cope with the game's complex requirements of modes like Lifecycles. The effect was eventually removed in 2023 for this reason.
This update however, has finally answered the gargantuan task of configuring the lens effect for every game mode, for every lifecycle and for every creature's instar! After rigorous playtesting. the graphical feature has now been restored again!

Atmosphere & Fog Effects

Draping the entire game world in two layers of fog,this graphical effect brings an additional layer of immersion and realism for the game.
Note: This scene was created using the Nature Sandbox mode Currently this effect is somewhat intense and some players may indeed prefer a clearer air for their favorite creatures. However for now this was deemed necessary to minimize the visual influence of the background environment. In the future this will probably be reivsited, depending on how much progress is made on the game's background environment visuals.

GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS

Improved Perspectives

Camera perspectives have been improved for nearly all creatures in the game! The new perspectives complement the graphical improvements and should greatly enrich the experience of players across all fauna species.

Flight Experience

Flight experience has been improved, particularly noticeable for species such as Monarch Butterfly, Dragonfly, Bee and Blue Mud Dauber

Faster Lifecycles! Consumption Rates Increased

Completing a lifecycles is now faster than ever before! Consumption speed has been significantly increased across all species, doubled in some cases. The goal is to help players focus on their gameplay and complete the lifecycles as quickly as possible. With multi-gen lifecycles around the corner (Gen2/Gen3/etc), it was deemed critical to make it as easy as possible for players to complete each Generation and move on to the next. Note: This update changes only the speed of the consumption visuals - i.e. how fast you eat a given prey. The amount of food provided by a prey remains the same as before! Therefore, this does not affect difficulty level in any way whatsoever, only the speed with which you progress.

Performance Improvements

The Ladybug Lifecycle now has various performance improvements, particularly for the later instars. This should make it easier for players to complete the entire Ladybug lifecycle.

Various Bugfixes

This update also includes an entire range of bugfixes across the game. Some of the notable bugfixes include Praying Mantis andLadybug Lifecycle quest related bugs, Monarch Lifecycle Racing (Courtship Mini Games)related bugfixes. Also improved is AI Flight Landing for Pollinator Insects (like Bees, Butterflies, etc) onto Orange Lily and Knapweed Flowers!

Current Plans

The game's current focus is on polishing and improving the existing product to ensure that the full potential of all the existing game modes and species is fully realized. While this update focused on important graphical improvements, the next set of updates will focus entirely on gameplay and overall quality. Before adding any new features or content to the game it is now considered essential that the existing product is properly polished, optimized and uplifted to a point where players can truly enjoy hundreds of hours of solid gameplay from the existing roster. Once that goal is achieved the game will look towards building on this foundation :)

Thank you

Thanks to everyone for your interest in this game! I sincerely hope that you will enjoy the improved visuals of this update. There is a lot of potential for more great things and the game will keep striving to improve with each day. I want this game to reach a point where it is the most fun and most enjoyable game to play in their game library for all players who come by this way. With your support, enthusiasm and feedback, this goal will be realized one day! Thank you! With Love, Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2024-11-27 19:10:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Linux Gets Latest Content, Vulkan Graphics

Good news for DoN's Linux players! The Linux build has been updated with the game's latest spectacles and now also runs on a new graphics renderer - Vulkan Graphics API. It's a lot faster, smoother and more fun now to play!

Steam Deck Feedback Request

This is a request for Steam Deck owners to try out DoN's new Linux build and provide your feedback! The game's previous Steam Deck build was based on OpenGL, while this new "Vulkan" version should be a much better experience graphically. Presently I am not able to test with a Steam Deck myself, so I'd be very grateful for your feedback to learn about its current state :) Note: Official Steam Deck support is highly desired and will hopefully come soon!
"Mantis Tree World" rendered using the new Vulkan Graphics API (on Ubuntu 24)

Praying Mantis Lifecycle, on Linux!

This update brings the Linux build on par with Windows after gap of several years. The game's long absence on Linux was due to a combination of technical issues as well as a lack of dev resources to address those. Resolving these issues proved challenging and required many late hours, but now that it's finally done, regular updates on Linux platform will now resume again!
Jumping Spider Lifecycle rendered with Vulkan (on Ubuntu 24)

Playtesting notes on Ubuntu 24

Personally I'm finding the latest Linux update to be the most enjoyable version of the game in terms of smoothness and fun. Playtesting on Ubuntu 24 was an amazing experience for me and I highly encourage all Windows players to give the Linux version a try too.
Dragonfly Survival screenshot from the latest Linux build :)

Thank you!

Thanks to all the game's players as always! Additionally, a special thanks to the game's Linux players for putting up with the lack of updates all these years. I hope you will find this latest update to be fun and rewarding! As a reminder, if you have a Steam Deck please give this new Linux update a try on your device :)
With Love, Venugopalan Sreedharan Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar

[ 2024-10-29 16:58:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar's 2024 Trailer

[previewyoutube=QQ_T1BiXY5c;full][/previewyoutube] Dear players, The 2024 video trailer for DoN is now out! This video summarizes the key offerings of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar as of today. The Monarch Butterfly Lifecycle, Praying Mantis Lifecycle and Jumping Spider Lifecycle are the key highlights. While DoN's lesser known game modes like "Face Off", "Free Exploration" are not featured in this particular trailer, they will be emphasized in upcoming videos along with game updates that will focus on helping players to get the most of out of these modes. For now, I hope you enjoy the trailer! :)

Current development status

October has been a quiet month for several reasons, including inability to finance the game's full-scale development this month. Hopefully this situation will improve in the coming days. As a reminder, the game's soundtrack is available for purchase on Steam for interested players to support the game's ongoing development. Much thanks to the game's fans across the world for your support and enthusiasm! At the earliest opportunity the game's next set of major updates will recommence.

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone for your kindness and support all these years :) It is deeply appreciated!
With Love, Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2024-10-25 16:47:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

[hr][/hr] Dear Wonderful Players of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar! Patch #3 for the Praying Mantis Lifecycles is out! Bringing Gender selection, Locomotion improvements & lots more, this update is a must-play for every fan of DoN! [hr][/hr]

What's New

Mantis Male / Female Gender Selection

Players can now choose Gender for the Mantis at the outset. Similar to other species in the game, the Female's gameplay includes Oviposition, while the male is allowed to proceed directly to Gen 2 after Mating (via the "Skip To End Of Life" option in the Main Menu).
[hr][/hr]

Mantis Locomotion Vastly Improved

Moving around is now much easier! Large Mantis Instars will now find crossing across leaves easier than before. Getting stuck in mid-air has also been resolved, yielding a far more smoother and reliable overall experience.
These improvements also carry over to the game's other major spectacles, such as the Jumping Spider and Ladybug Lifecycles too! Do try playing DoN's other spectacles once again if it's been a while since you've played them! :) [hr][/hr]

Beauty of Vision

Smoother camera for the Praying Mantis Lifecycle makes it possible for players to experience the "Mantis Tree World" with far greater immersion than ever before. Additionally, zooming for the adult Mantis has also been fixed, enabling players to take in unique vistas and perspectives by zooming out more easily.
[hr][/hr]

Praying Mantis Lifecycles - Generation 2

Gen 2 has been fixed. This was recently broken with a bug that prevented Moulting in Gen 2. Now players can continue from Gen 1 into Gen 2 without issues :)
[hr][/hr]

Lifecycles Presentation

Quest icons have now been added for each Life Goal making it easier for players to relate to pending quests.
Along with new animations for the Life Goals HUD, quest summary has been improved for several quests. Finally, various minor improvements have also been included, such as better workflow for the Benchmark and Feedback tools. [hr][/hr]

Thank you!

Thanks a lot for your interest in this game! :) All in all, this update is essential for all those who enjoy this game! Be sure to pick it up and try out your favorite game modes / creatures! ~ That's it for this update, but there's always more to come! :) With Love, Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2024-09-21 22:08:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Patch #2 for the Praying Mantis Lifecycles Release is out!

Patch #2 Changelist

The following improvements have been made:

Locomotion improved

Stepping onto flowers and out of them is now much easier!

Ambush gameplay improved

Ambush now triggers "quick reflex" based on the size of the prey. For very tiny Aphids players no longer have to sit through the quick reflex anymore.

Settings Menu - FPS

FPS Limit setting has been added to the game, enabling detailed customization of FPS options.

Music & Audio

Audio level of certain music tracks has been rebalanced to provide a better overall experience as a Praying Mantis

Watch The Praying Mantis Release Video!

[previewyoutube=B9va0Y7TsZE;full][/previewyoutube] In case you haven't yet seen the Praying Mantis Release video, please check it out above!

More improvement are on the way!

Thanks to everyone for your patience :)
With Love, - Venu

[ 2024-09-03 22:38:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Watch The Praying Mantis Release Video!

[previewyoutube=B9va0Y7TsZE;full][/previewyoutube]

Patch #1 Released

Contains the following essential fixes: 1) Growth Issues for 5th/6th instar fixed 2) Chemical Vision no longer throttles FPS 3) Prey Fauna Spawning: now improved such that players no longer see them appearing / disappearing abruptly. This was a performance feature given the super-high concentration of prey in the Mantis Tree World (the actual number of prey exceeds a population of over 10000 of various species!) 4) Quest narration improved for Ambush tutorial. 5) Mantis Movement into Flowers made easier; upcoming patches will improve upon this further. 6) Mantis Egg Sac (Oothecae) now allows smooth movement upon its surface. Movement was previously irregular / shaky here.

Coming soon: Patches #2 and #3 for Praying Mantis Lifecycle!

More improvements are on the way. Camera and movement will be substantially improved, along with performance. Stay tuned :)

Thank you!

Finally, a big thanks to everyone for showing so much enthusiasm and support for this update! It is deeply appreciated indeed! :) With Love, Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2024-09-01 06:23:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Experience The Mantis Tree World!

The Praying Mantis Lifecycle has now been released on the grandest stage this game has ever seen: A Living Tree World -procedurally generated with every leaf, every flower and every shoot depicted as complete 3D surfaces! A Tree World so detailed so real that players can walk, climb, rest or hunt upon any part of it!

Thousands upon thousands of leaves, stalks and flowers surround you, each of them with teeming with so much insect life, that the player can conceivably never run out of prey!

Indeed, dear friends! This Tree World is so huge, compared to you as the player that no Mantis can conceivably ever explore all of it! Also because the Tree is procedurally generated anew each game, each "Mantis Tree World" is slightly different from your previous experience :)

~ The Praying Mantis Lifecycle - Visual Overview ~

Here's a quick visual overview of your Mantis' Six instars, from Egg to Winged Adult!

~ Current State & Known Issues~

Camera, performance and animations are 3 areas that need improvements, upcoming updates will address as many of these as are possible now. "Living Tree World" is the key concept behind this update with the Praying Mantis Lifecycle occurring within that context. Ultimately several compromises had to be made to the original vision due to limited resources, but upcoming updates will keep adding to this vision across the game.
Players who are having any particular issues with this update - particularly Camera, Movement or Performance are requested to check back for subsequent updates, which will hopefully happen soon. ~

Thank you!

First of all heartfelt gratitude to all the supporters of this game and for your support through all these years. For those wondering about why there were no updates for so long, it has not been possible to sustain the game's development due to low sales in the past several years. Hopefully this will change in the days to come and it will then be possible to make more frequent updates :) Thanks to everyone for your interest in this game!
I hope you enjoy playing the Praying Mantis Lifecycles update! With Love, - Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2024-08-25 04:46:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Friends, You can now purchase Drunk On Nectar's soundtrack on Steam! This is also a fundraiser for the game's ongoing development, as every single purchase will help immensely towards providing financial support for sustaining the game's future development. My heartfelt gratitude and love also goes with every single purchase :) https://store.steampowered.com/app/2496420/Nature_And_Life__Drunk_On_Nectar_Soundtrack/

About the soundtrack

A collection of 18 original music tracks written exclusively for the game! From "Mating Rituals" of the Monarch Butterfly to a "Coming of Age" anthem for the Jumping Spider, this is a unique collection of nature themed music that you are unlikely to find elsewhere!

3 Good Reasons to purchase this soundtrack!

1. To Fundraise & Support DoN - every single contribution counts and is deeply appreciated by me. 2. Download as mp3 files, listen anywhere you like without any constraints! 3. Listen to DoN's high-energy, intensely spiritual soundtracks that possess very real power to heal and empower Body, Mind and Soul!

Listening tips

I recommend using noise-cancelling headphones or a totally sound-proof environment (even a car!) if you must use external speakers. Listening to music is a deeply profound experience and to get the most out of your experience, it is well worth choosing the environment, medium and occasion with care! There are an infinite glistening realms of beauty, majesty and wonder contained within every good piece of music and I hope that this game provides you with some wonderful memories in return for your participation in this game's fundraiser!

Current Development Status

Since June I have been busy with other projects to meet financial needs and so unfortunately things have been quiet of late. I hope that the blessings of the game's wonderful fans will shine upon this fundraising effort so that the ongoing development of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar can resume at full pace again. No matter what happens the development of this game will continue. I sincerely believe that a good nature game can have a lasting positive effect on all of humanity in many wonderful ways! With your best wishes, good will and love, we will reach the end of this epic journey together some day soon! With Love, Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2023-07-12 16:52:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is a minor update with the following bugfixes:

Game Music

Game music was playing just one track repeatedly ("Sweet Nectar Drinker" - the Blue Mud Dauber's theme song) instead of cycling through all the OST in the game. To new players - the game has a large collection of OST tracks which you may have missed due to this bug if you got it in the past week. Do play the game again with this patch to be able to enjoy the full range of music tracks that it has to offer :)

Male Monarch Butterfly Mating

All mating chem trails have been boosted to ensure that high-speed mating rituals (like the Male Monarch Butterfly's mating challenges) provide sufficient visual cues for players to be able to find their mates. Please get back if you are still having any issues with this :) Thanks to everyone for reading!

Upcoming Major Updates - Praying Mantis & Leafhopper Lifecycles

The game is now in the middle of a major update release cycle, with development for both the Praying Mantis and Leafhopper Lifecycles occurring simultaneously along with new visual content for plants and environment :) Stay tuned for more!

With Love

Venugopalan Sreedharan

Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar

[ 2023-06-06 17:04:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy Weekend, Dear Friends! DoN's Version v0.5.2 is out! Featuring more improvements across the board, this build focuses on polishing existing gameplay systems and visual content. Here's a quick round up!

Visual Improvements

Depth Of Field Disabled across the board

For improving consistency of visuals as well as performance, DoF has been entirely removed from the game as an interim measure. This was a stylistic choice as well as to provide consistency across small/large instars and the game's camera zooming feature.

Leafhopper post-life coloration improved

The Grasshopper's Mighty Legs!

This is a multi-update effort aimed at improving the visual quality of the Grasshopper's Leg Kicks - a defensive feature that many of us Grasshopper players have come to truly love, but has been greatly let down in the past by incomplete visual depiction.
This update begins the task of polishing this feature by fixing the following:

• Predators are no longer buried half-way through a leaf after being kicked - their body lines up neatly along the flora surface
• Player camera no longer abruptly changes view or forces you upside down - it is always stable and consistent
• Consistent behavior across different surfaces (leaf v/s landscape, upright v/s upside down pose, etc)

More to come as always!

Audio Improvements

Game Music Maximum Volume significanlty increased!

Given much positive feedback from players in the recent year on the game's OST, the decision was made to uncap the maximum possible volume of all in-game music (Settings -> Audio -> Music) enabling those players who really like the music, to have an absolute blast! The plan to release all the game's OST as a download for players to easily listen outside the game is still active and will occur soon. Along with remastering of old sound tracks, new music will also be added - DoN's fount of music is still gushing forth! Note: The default music volume for the game has also been increased, in the belief that the game's music is vital to its enjoyment. As always, your feedback is welcome :)

Up Next - Praying Mantis Lifecycle

Work has already begun on the game's next major update - The Praying Mantis Lifecycle.
These weekly improvement & bugfix updates will continue to roll in every Friday, but major updates are also being worked on simultaneously. You can look forward to early screenshots of the Mantis Egg Sac (Oothecea) soon! :) Thank you so much for reading and have a blast this weekend! :) :)

With Love,

Venugopalan Sreedharan

Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar

[ 2023-05-26 21:33:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

DoN is being improved around the clock and this weekend release delivers all the goodies that went in over the past 2 weeks!

V0.5.1 Release Roundup

Input Keys highlighting

All player input hints have now been improved - raw text has been replaced with appropriate buttons and icons which are appropriately highlighted. This should make it much easier for new players to learn the game's controls! Additionally, a new high-contrast theme is used for all player hints to make things easier to read.

DoN's Minimal HUD

This is a multi-update effort which aims at delivering maximum immersion to players by minimizing the need for the HUD to the greatest extent possible. Here's what this this update has changed: HUD is hidden when player arrives within strike range of prey (if player has passed all relevant tutorials) HUD is hidden while player interacts with prey. HUD is automatically shown again during critical events such as grappling contests, etc
An actual in-game screenshot - The HUD is automatically hidden during key moments for maximum immersion!
Subsequent updates will bring further improvements under this umbrella, so look forward to a more immersive overall experience of the game! :)

Improvements & Bugfixes

Lifecycles

Jumping Spider

• Sprinting speed significantly increased for Jumping Spider - It is now so much more fun!
• Sprinting cost reduced for all Fauna. You are encouraged to sprint and run around more! :)
• Sprint tutorial (in egg sac) now transitions out smoothly to the next quest
• Narration Avatar for Mother Jumping Spider restored in Egg Sac (see below!)

Nature Sandbox

• Possessing Nocturnal Wasp during Day no longer causes freezing

Narration avatar restored for providing a more engaging experience for players!

Next Update

That's it for this update, but you can look forward to a new release every weekend for DoN from now on! The game is now being improved around the clock allowing this shift to a weekly release cycle. The next update will be out on 26th May 2023 and is sure to bring more improvements across the board to DoN's unique Nature World! Thanks a lot for reading :)

With Love,

Venugopalan Sreedharan

Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar

[ 2023-05-19 15:06:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Drunk On Nectar is back into full development again! This milestone v0.5 update is literally the halfway point for the game towards a Full Release out of Early Access. The game's development process has been revitalized on many levels and is now fully equipped to realize this goal for 2023.
v0.5 features the game's largest collection of Visual and Gameplay improvements, bugfixes, menu and narration updates and is a must play experience for both old and new players of the game. You can now expect a new update every 2 weeks from here on. so this is just the beginning of something great!

What's Changed in v0.5

Here's a quick roundup:

Chemical Vision Perfected:

Across tiny instars and large adults, across flora, fauna and various game modes, time of the day, unique gameplay situations like highly populated swarms, etc, etc, DoN's Chemical Trails have been reimagined and corrected for visual and gameplay perfection.
Chemical trails no longer stay permanently on the screen. The most important gameplay change here is that players now have to Hold X to perceive chemical trails. The goal here was to reduce visual overload, encourage more intelligent planning and to open up new gameplay avenues.

Swarm AI - Significantly Improved

The behaviour of AI swarms has undergone major changes. They're now far more placid, predictable and play out perfectly well for complex predator interactions. Your experience of the Jumping Spider Lifecycle and Ladybug Lifecycle in particular should be massively improved - more fun, rewarding and interesting as a consequence!

Chemical Filters - Redefining your view of the world!

The game now offers a full range of chemical filters which can be cycled by Tapping the C key.

Chem Filter: Prey Only

This mode limits your chemical vision to only prey that you can currently catch and eat. For example, if a Grasshopper is too large for your current instar then it is entirely skipped! This allows you as a predator to focus your energy intelligently on prey that you can actually catch when you get there :)

Chem Filter: Predators Only

Ever nervous about whether a Jumping Spider or Dragonfly was prowling about you? Well, put your fears to rest by turning on the "Predators Only" chemical filter, which limits your chemical view of the world to only those predators which might actually be interested (and able - i.e. by weight, species. etc) to catch you.

Chem Filter: Mates Only

A classic for Lifecycles Act 3 - Mating & Reproduction. This filter limits your vision to only those fauna that you can actually flirt or mate with. Forget about those prey and predators and fly away to find a beautiful mate! :)

Chem Filter: Flora Only

A treat for advanced predator players - You can now smell floral nectar trails - even as a predator and thus predict which flowers are more likely to actually be visited by butterflies and bees :) No more wasting time sitting on the wrong flower! Perfect for a Praying Mantis laying ambush!

Chem Filter: All Fauna

This is pretty much game's previous chemical trail mode which would show you all of everything. It can get very visually intense, but they will now fade away the moment the player releases the Chem Vision key (Default: X), thus preventing visual overload.

Other Improvements by category

Chem vision and AI swarms weren't the only thing improved, this update brings a ton of bugfixes and many long awaited changes across the board.

Visuals & Graphics

• Landscape texturing at close range improved. Most obvious for tiny instars of Jumping Spiders, Ladybug larva, etc while they're off prowling across the forest floor :)
• Landscape texture shaking at close range greatly minimized. Future updates will fully fix this by bringing in new landscapes altogether!
• Camera behaviour for drinking nectar from flowers vastly improved. Abrupt jerking fully eliminated, viewing angles are always smooth now!

Gameplay (Common)

• Bodyfat saturation cooldown - Allows caterpillars plenty of time to rest / scout before pupation, instead of being forced to eat again and make up for lost bodyfat!
• Tiny Predators are now protected from large grasshopper chew holes during tutorial quests.
• Camera behaviour for drinking nectar from flowers vastly improved. Abrupt jerking fully eliminated, viewing angles are always smooth now!

Lifecycles

• Jumping Spider
  • Dragonfly quest no longer freezes during narration
  • Silk Tent Construction vastly simplified - the first two phases (spinning silk) have been removed. Now build your tent in just under 30 seconds!!!
  • Chemical trails are now carefully designed (size & intensity) across all instars
  • AI Mates now start off with full satiety (hunger, bodyfat). This ensures they don't run off to look for food while the player engages them for courtship and mating!
  
  Silk Tent Construction vastly simplified!
• Monarch Butterfly Lifecycle
  • Mating Rituals: Chem trails are now carefully controlled at each stage
• Ladybug Lifecycle
  • Chem trails are far more manageable now, yielding vastly improved gameplay
  • Swarm AI behaviour vastly improved
• Grasshopper Lifecycle
  • Critical bugfix to grass blades: Chew holes no longer "disappear" on certain grass blades.
  • New "Predators Only" chem filter of special interest for Grasshopper Lifecycle players!

Survival Mode

• Praying Mantis Survival
  • Various bugfixes to animation state and locomotion
  • "Prey Only" chem filter ensures that oversized Grasshoppers are not shown as potential targets!
• Blue Mud Dauber Survival
  • Gameplay completely rebalanced, much easier to complete now.
  • Sensory range vastly increased to make it easier to hunt spiders
  • Nectar consumption and hunger rates increased and decreased, respectively.
  • Critical bugfixes to resolve blockers that prevent progress at various points

Creature Quests

• Checkpoint system fixed. This was previously broken in many cases
• Ladybug Creature Quest made a lot more fun and easy thanks to the Chemical Vision improvements

Nature Sandbox

• Squirrel removed from fauna menu as it is not yet complete
• Various other bugfixes
• Major improvements are planned to Nature Sandbox in upcoming updates!

Major Upcoming Updates

Several groundbreaking updates are headed your way, notably

Skill Trees - Lifecycles Act 4 - A Tale of Generations

Ever wished your creature was a lot bigger, or could move faster, or jump higher? Well, Lifecycles Act 4 will make this possible! Level up across multiple generations. choose new skills and create your own unique expressions of the game existing species. Featuring RPG elements such as a Specices Tech Tree, this update will add unparalleled depth to the game's existing offerings and is guaranteed to provide endless replay value for the game's ardent fans.

Subspecies - Variations of existing fauna - Butterflies, Jumping Spiders, Grasshoppers etc

This content focused update will add new subspecies of existing creatures. So more butterflies, more types of Jumping Spiders, more Grasshoppers - some bigger, some smaller, some green, some brown, etc. New models, animations and textures will infuse new vigor and life into the game's existing offerings.

Living Flora - Plant & Environment Focus

One of the oldest pillars of Drunk On Nectar is its extensive "Living Flora" plant simulation engine. Historically this has not been featured as much in the game, but the goal of this update is to absolutely revitalize the plants, the flora, the environment - i.e. the natural foundation which the rest of the game and all its creatures depend on.

Thank You

My heartfelt thanks to the game's loving players for your belief in this game and for your patience through the past years. I'm deeply grateful for your patronage and am absolutely thrilled to walk this road of successful release of the game, here with all of you. The past few years have been exceedingly challenging, but now the time has come at long last for the game to shine in its full splendor. I am fully committed to achieving this and will do absolutely everything in my power and indeed - beyond that, to fully ensure that Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar is complete, successful and brings a lot of fun, happiness and joy to all who may play it! With lots of love to the game's wonderful players and fans, Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PS: If you could report any bugs or other issues you run into with this update either here or on the forums, that would be very greatly appreciated! :)

[ 2023-05-07 22:05:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear friends, Today marks the beginning of a new development cycle for Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar! The goal is to complete the first version of DoN, get V1 out of Early Access and into a full release, over the next 4-6 months or so. Learn more about the plans below!

The Plan

In terms of next updates - Subspecies, new environments and supporting content that uses existing game systems will be the main priority. Polishing the product towards completion of "V1" will be the overall goal. This will include things like: [olist]

More species of Butterflies, Spiders, Bees, Beetles, etc.

More Plants, Trees, environmental attractions (water bodies, etc)

New maps that will form the primary game experience (existing Random maps will be purely optional)

Nature Sandbox Content i) Tutorials ii) Quests / more things to do

Fixing bugs and glitches

Improving animations & physics [/olist]

A Personal Update

Since April I have been working for a wonderful tech company based in Netherlands, working on various projects related to Unreal Engine (the same engine that powers this game!). The experience gained via this exposure was absolutely incredible and for DoN this will be truly invaluable in improving the game. I'm personally very excited about this new development phase as it will be possible now to take the game up to the next level of quality and completeness! Once again, my sincere apologies to players for the long absence, but as noted recently on the forums, the financial reality of the situation was such that I really needed the funds to support myself and provide a chance for continued development of the game. I'm pleased to say that is now happening at long last, DoN's development finally resumes! :)

Music Of DoN - Album release celebrating the return!

Over the past months several players have written to me saying they really enjoyed the game's music and would like to have access to all the audio tracks outside the game. Celebrating the game's return to development and honoring this request, the game's full BGM set (and there's lot more yet to come!) will indeed be released within a week or so for players to enjoy outside of the game. What's more many of these tracks will be resampled as well as remastered to showcase the game's music in the best possible light!

Thank You!

That's it for now, but stay tuned for more news on the next update! Spring enters the world of DoN again! Green shoots abound amid golden rain. Rainbow flowers peep out of glistening glades Jumping insects frolic, dancing with mates! The morning sun shines on golden drops of dew Drunk On Nectar shall blossom and be born anew! It will be fun to soar through the glades again! My sincere thanks to the game's most wonderful players! With Love - Venu

[ 2022-11-18 20:53:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

The next series of updates for "Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar" is underway! Today's update brings a vastly improved experience for the Praying Mantis Survival release. The Mantis is now easier to play, control and survive with, so please do give the Mantis Survival another playthrough now :) A full video series will be uploaded soon, but below is a summary of what this update brings.

Mantis Flying & Hunting made much easier

• Mantis now emits far less vibrations, visibility to prey. This makes it easy for players to quickly fly from plant to plant and prepare to ambush prey upon landing.
• Flight speed increased - Mantis' minimum and maximum flight speed both have been significantly increased
• Flight acceleration doubled - Mantis can acquire its maximum flight speed more swiftly now!
• Flight stamina increased - for easier flying and more fun in the air!

Ambush System - Significant Improvements

• Ambush pose now confers significant strike range bonus! In addition to camouflage this now provides players with a great incentive for using ambush instead of direct attacks.
• Direct attacks (single left click) are now permitted for Mantis while at close proximity to prey. Players are no longer forced to use the ambush mechanic every time!

"Chem grit" system improvements

• Chemical odors (accrued from consumption) are now greatly reduced.
• Players are now provided with an explicit alert when a prey smells you, informing you that body odour levels are significantly high and that Grooming is needed :)

New Chem Filters - "Prey Only"

• Pressing the C key now allows players to filter out chemical visions to "prey only" for predators or between Fauna and Flora for others.
• The game now explicitly informs players of the active chemical filter through the HUD.
• New chem filters such as "Predator Only" are also arriving in upcoming updates :)

Upcoming Updates

Several updates have been planned for the game, below is a quick roadmap: 1) Unlockable difficulty modes for Praying Mantis Survival Players will be be able to unlock "Medium" and "Hard" difficulty modes once they finish the Survival challenge once. While the current update is designed to be friendly to new players, the higher modes will satisfy experienced players far more and will require players to fully master various gameplay mechanics and thus provide maximum challenge and fun! :) 2) In-Game Video Library update A comprehensive in-game video library is planned that will allow player to easily look at reference videos for every single quest, mechanic or tutorial in the game. This will help players who may be stuck at a certain quest or are simply curious to learn the fastest or most efficient ways to complete a quest or lifecycle :) 3) Praying Mantis Lifecycles update As the second installation of the game's Praying Mantis release Lifecycles for the Mantis is still planned and a top priority for the game at this time.
4) Subspecies - roster expansion update New varieties of Butterflies, Jumping Spiders, Praying Mantis, Grasshoppers, etc will be added to the game introducing a "subspecies" concept that will add immense interest, depth and variety to the existing creatures and their individual survival or lifecycle modes. Subspecies is not a purely visual or cosmetic update - major gameplay changes including body size, life behavior and other unique subspecies characteristics will provide a completely new experience of each existing major species :) This will be accompanied by a complete overhaul of the game menu, species selection screen as well.

Thank You!

That's it for this update, but stay tuned for more news as there's a lot of fun planned this summer for fans of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar! :) Thank you for your interest, patronage and love as always! :) With heartfelt Thanks, Gratitude and Love, - Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer Of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2022-03-13 18:04:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Featuring the Praying Mantis, enjoy the best Survival experience ever presented in Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar, to date! Survive 7 days of Spring as an adult Mantis amid intense competition from prey and predator rivals, all set in a new "Mantis Survival" map preset producing a lush, beautiful and ever changing world. Exciting new gameplay features have also been added along with the largest set of bugfixes and improvements added to the entire game this year. Do not miss this update!

"Mantis Survival" - A New Random Map Preset

Demonstrating the full power of the random map generator, "Mantis Survival" is a completely new map preset that looks, feels and plays quite differently from the existing maps. Featuring the largest map size (play area) yet, this preset produces broad and expansive meadows with plenty of space for your Mantis to fly, explore and have fun! The highest fauna population of prey and predators across all the map presets is also found here!

Video Walkthrough

A complete video walkthrough of Praying Mantis Survival will be released soon. Subscribe to the game's Youtube channel to be notified when the videos are up! :)

New Gameplay Features

Ambush is a new predator skill added just for the Mantis!
Chemical grit accrual is another new feature whereby prey can smell chemical trails from your previous meal. So hunting becomes gradually harder unless you Groom yourself and clear the chemical debris regularly!
Flight Stamina is a new concept whereby the Mantis can recharge its flight ability while walking. For those players that dislike stopping completely for a Stamina recharge, this provides non-stop, seamless motion. Fly for a while, continue walking while your flight ability recharges and fly on again! :)

Comprehensive in-game tutorial for Mantis Survival

Covering the basics, advanced skills and also new gameplay features (see above!), this Praying Mantis update features the most comprehensive in-game tutorial in the game yet. New players are provided the opportunity to gain complete confidence in controlling the Mantis being plunged into the 7 day survival challenge!

Large number of Improvements, Bugfixes

This update also includes a large collection of bugfixes and improvements that were made over the past several months. From reworked Lighting to improved locomotion, AI behavior, fixes for player crashing reports to memory and performance improvements, this update brings the game much closer to a stable version for full release. An imporant bugfix benefiting all flying creatures in the game is Smooth Flight - flight controls no longer jutter / spin around in relation to FPS fluctuations; this provides a significantly better flying experience for players! Another crucial bugfix relates to video memory optimization, this fixes a large number of related player issues, including freezing, crashes and low performance, all particularly related to long playthroughs.

Praying Mantis - Lifecycles

Lifecycle of the Praying Mantis will indeed be the next update. While vast majority of the work is already complete, certain unique aspects of the Mantis lifecycle (like the Mantis egg case), early instar gameplay and gender dimorphism depiction, need to be completed. In the meantime I hope that you enjoy this Survival take on the Praying Mantis :)
Praying Mantis Lifecycles - Also Coming Soon!

Thank you

As always, thank you so much for your interest, patience, love and support! Nature is forever beautiful, awesome and fun! With Love, Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2021-12-19 08:14:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

Thanks as always to the game's loving fans for your keen interest and enquiries about the Praying Mantis update! My sincere apologies for the extended delay and lack of news in the past month. On a personal front I've been in the midst of major life changes and engagements that have made focus on development challenging, hence these delays which are understandably disappointing for the game's wonderful players and indeed for myself as well. As thanks for your mails and wonderful inquiries, here are some images of the upcoming Praying Mantis:
Mantis seizing prey with its iconic raptorial limbs
A body built to conquer the insect world!
Fully grown adult with wings!
Praying Mantis now a Flying Mantis!

Current state of Mantis update

Mantis character and hunting gameplay are already complete. while Lifecycle depiction, rival predator interactions and overall flow need to be designed. Everything possible is being done to get back to developing the game and only a few week's worth of dev effort is needed at this point. Your best wishes and good will for the game will be of great assistance at this time to the game and personally to me as well, so you really can give this update a big boost simply with your love, enthusiasm and belief in this game! :)

Thank You

I'm deeply grateful to all of you for your patronage and interest in "Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar". Thank you! Stay tuned for further news as the Praying Mantis update nears release at last!
With Love & Thanks for your boundless patience, - Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2021-11-05 06:03:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

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)

[ 2021-09-18 12:52:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

This update includes the following changes:

Input rempapping fixed

Custom keyboard inputs now save correctly, this was broken in a previous update. Players will now be able to remap controls again without issues!

Monarch species menu improvements

Fauna selection screen for Monarch Butterfly now combines the Lifecycles and Survival entries (which were formerly separate for the Monarch) into a single species entry for better consistency. Players can still choose to play as the adult Monarch straight away by simply choosing "Survival" instead of "Lifecycles" in the species menu :)

DoN's next update

The next content update is close to release, stay tuned :) Thank you for your support, interest and love for this game. It is deeply appreciated! :) With Love, - Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2021-08-26 22:57:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bringing improved lighting and graphics across the board and deep polishing of the entire Jumping Spider lifecycle, this is a major update to the game that also carries vital bugfixes and a fully working Generation 2 gameplay for the Jumping Spider lifecycle!

Beautiful Nature

DoN's basic lighting has been reworked to provide a more realistic appearance. The new lighting depicts floral and anatomical detail in the world much better and reacts better to varying lighting scenarios across time of day and environment. World items like the Jumping Spider's Silken egg sac have undergone major graphical changes too. Brightness, flickering and shadowing issues in the egg sac have been fixed and it no longer "glows in the dark" at night now. Overall visual experience should be significantly improved within the egg sac, allowing players to better focus on gameplay within.
Finally, the Jumping Spider itself has been visually improved! Earlier instars now better show translucency through their bodies while the adult female Jumping Spider's skin lighting also been improved.

The Best of Jumping Spider Lifecycle!

Emphasizing the best parts of the Jumping Spider lifecycle and removing aspects that players frequently had issues with, this latest version of the Jumping Spider lifecycle is a far crisper and smoother experience across its nine instars. With Generation 2 now fully working (see below!) the focus is on enabling players to quickly and happily complete Gen 1's quests so they are sure to experience Gen 2's unique and emergent gameplay as well. Complex lifecycle quests like the "Pollinator Hunt" have therefore been greatly simplified, while frequent predator intervention (prominent among player feedback) has been greatly reduced. Silk tent construction is faster by nearly twice now to help players proceed more swiftly as well! Major improvements to camera and visual effects have been made as well, all with the goal of providing a super fast paced and fluent experience that can do justice to the Jumping Spider's incredible range of movement and abilities. Experienced players of the game are highly encouraged to give this lifecycle another playthrough! :)

Predator Evasion System

Inspired by the Grasshopper's evasion cues but now combined with the Jumping Spider's skills, this update brings a formal "Predator Evasion System". Quickly Dart or Long Jump within an evasion time window to successfully prevent all further attacks from that predator for a while! Players having issues with predators will hopefully find it much easier now as you can finally use the Jumping Spider's incredible physical agility to evade predators with a very satisfying dart or leap :)

Generation 2 fully playable for Jumping Spider. Can you reach Generation 3?

Generation 2 for the Jumping Spider has been thoroughly tested and improved for maximum fun! Performance optimization has been extensively conducted for Gen 2 and should now yield a significantly smoother experience for players! :) Currently providing some of the best emergent gameplay in the entire game, Gen 2 is a very unique experience that all Jumping Spider afficionados should be sure to complete all the way. With no quests or formal direction provided to the player, you are free to Balloon through the land, forging your own growth story and making your own adventures!
Generation 3 is now reachable at last, though gameplay balancing and performance optimization for Gen 3 hasn't been conducted yet, so Gen 3 is left to the brave and mightly for now :))

Looking ahead

The game's upcoming priorities are being worked out and the next set of updates should be out pretty soon! Hope you are enjoying this series of 2021 updates for Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar! With Love, - Venu (Developer of DoN)

[ 2021-05-22 22:56:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

The next round of improvements to DoN is here! Along with major bugfixes and improvements this update also features redesigned gameplay. Notably...

Long Jumps Redesigned

In response to feedback from players over the years, Long Jumping for the Jumping Spider has been great simplified with a new "aim and leap" design that is more intuitive and reduces the number of input buttons you need to remember! Now just use the mouse to point to where you'd like to jump... and that's it :) Visual improvements have also been added here! Now the jump reticule accurately orients itself to the surface you're jumping onto (like the underside of a flower or steep side of a stalk) providing valuable visual information before you make that pivotal jump! Another visual improvement is easier aiming for jumps that end in midair - the jump reticle now anchors itself onto the midair point you're leaping onto (rather than the surface you'll fall onto) making it easier to adjust and perform corrections during complex jumps. So, Happy Jumping, everyone! :)

Camera Improvements

Includes:

• Better transitions during movement, darts and jumps
• Moving fast across dense clumps of flora now yields a better camera experience.

Critical bugfixes

* Monarch Mating flying issues prior to female race fixed * Planteray Ecology - No longer crashes during "Submerge land masses" tutorial Apologies to new players in the recent week whose experience of the game may have been dampened or cut short but the above issues. There's a lot more to experience now that these issues have been fixed so please give the game a try again now :)

Looking ahead

The ongoing focus continues to be on general improvements and bugfixes, gradually building momentum towards larger updates. Appreciate your patience and support during this transition period as the game's development gradually pushes forward into full throttle again :) Thank you everyone :) - Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2021-05-13 21:08:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Bringing improvements to the entire game across both gameplay and visuals, here is a quick overview of this release.

Overview

~ Monarch Butterfly ~

• Caterpillar locomotion improvements
• Mating minigames for male and female butterfly improved
• Mating interactions (snatch) made easier
• Mating UI improvements - cleaner and simpler

~ Ladybug ~

• Ladybug Lifecycle major rebalancing - it's much easier to complete now!
• Ladybug egg hatching SFX added

~ Jumping Spider ~

• New feature: Super Rushdowns! A new hunting technique for all predators - Sprint all the way upto your prey and trample them over for a "Super Rushdown".
• Rusdhowns fixed! A timing issue that was affecting this game mechanic has been fixed.
• Loading save files fixed - There was an issue that made save files of long playthroughs freeze upon load. Now fixed :)
• Silk Tent entry/exit state transitions fixed for certain edge cases.
• Tiger Beetle's ability to snatch smaller Jumping Spider instars fixed. A bug was previously preventing the beelte's strikes from landing!

~ Misc ~

• Feedback tool fixed. The form submission was broken earlier, but should now be working again.

...and various other improvements to visuals and gameplay that haven't been listed here. For those wondering about the large download size, this update includes a game engine upgrade, visual assets for the "Red Forest Squirrel" prototype (this is not released yet) as well as a large number of improvements to the game made over the past year, but not released until now.

Looking ahead

The current goal is to resume periodic updates for the game to the point where larger updates can be taken up. One of the larger goals is to bring the game closer to exit from Early Access by polishing the existing product further and resolving any outstanding visual or gameplay issues. Appreciate the support of all the game's players through the past year leading up to this point of a new DoN release again :) Though the past year has been challenging on multiple fronts, I will continue to keep building this game to the best of my abilities. I am very grateful to all of you for your goodwill, best wishes and wonderful encouragement. Thank you so much! - Venu (Developer of DoN)

[ 2021-05-01 12:37:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Watch the Storyboard!

Watch DoN's Red Forest Squirrel bound across a carpet of colors in the preview video below! https://youtu.be/gk3p9FlGcvo This video also features a Storyboard and special dev message for fans of the game.

Venu's Nature Stories

The Adventures Of The Red Forest Squirrel is the first prototype for Venu's Nature Stories - a new Adventure / Story mode for Drunk On Nectar and a complete reimagining of the game with brand new visual arts, environments and more.
Watch the video above in its entirety in case you haven't already, to learn more :)

Special Message from Developer For Those Who Love This Game!

The video above also features a special message from me for those who love this game and would like to know more about its current development status. In this part of the video I discuss the reasons why the game hasn't seen many updates so far in 2020 and ways in which you can help the game (even without monetary contributions to the fundraiser!). The video also features additional concept art that hasn't been posted elsewhere :)

Thank You

To quote from the video above, there is nothing I would love more than to add a lot of new content and updates to this game, however this has been a very challenging year. As always I will do my utmost to garner momentum for the next update, but will also greatly benefit from your good will and best wishes for the game :) Thank you for your interest and participation! With Love, - Venu (Developer of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2020-09-29 13:37:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Watch Episode 2 - Fundraising & Fun In Nature!

As part of the ongoing fundraising campaign for Drunk On Nectar, Episode 2 of the Venu's Nature Diary series has been released. Let's take a look! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJ6B2JbfQE Link: DoN Shop

Support DoN - Buy from the DoN Shop!

As a reminder, you can download for free by simply visiting drunkonnectar.com/Shop and ordering these videos for the default price of $0, or you can provide any contribution of your choosing, whenever you feel like. 4k resolution downloads are being uploaded as well and should be available soon :)

Participate for free!

You can participate for free in this fundraiser, just as a show of support. Your mere participation is a very powerful vote for the game and will fulfill the larger goal of this fundraiser so don't hesitate to download the videos even without any monetary contribution :) Ultimately the goal of this fundraising campaign is to raise awareness about the game and to generate momentum, be it fiscal or motivational, both of which are very useful! :)

Thank You :)

That's it for now, but expect to hear soon about the game's next nature adventures!
Watch this Pill Millipede in action in Episode 2! With Love, - Venu

[ 2020-09-26 12:35:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fundraising for Drunk On Nectar, Fun in Nature!

Hello! This is Venu, the developer behind DoN :) I've been building this game by myself for the past 6 years now and most certainly intend to keep going so long as this world needs a Nature Game - which it most certainly does, now more than ever :)

Venu's Nature Diaries

Inspired by a recent forum post where a wonderful person asked if they could provide monetary contributions to support the game's growth, I've decided to share some of my nature documentaries with the fans of the game as a means of raising awareness and raising funds for the game. Purchase Venu's Nature Videos at www.drunkonnectar.com/Shop Visit the DoN Shop where you can purchase these nature diaries (for a price named by you) as a means for providing monetary contributions towards the game. But you can also watch these videos on Youtube for free, learn more below!

Episode 1 - Beauty Slug And Its Orchid Home

Without any further ado, here is the first episode! https://youtu.be/Ug-VNm1Lvys

Why purchase these videos?

By purchasing these nature videos you can [olist]

Support the game's ongoing development

Download 4k resolution versions!

Watch offline without buffering (without using any finicky 3rd party download sites!)

Use the videos for Relaxation, Mental Rejuvenation, etc - Try it for yourself!

Motivate the creation of more interesting nature videos! :) [/olist] Episode 1's price is set at $0 - pay what you want! You can grab the video from DoN Shop for free if you like, or you can choose to provide any amount of contribution you feel like as well :)

Next Update Announced - Adventures Of The Red Forest Squirrel

As revealed in the latter half of my nature diary, the game's next update is a bold mammalian depiction of The Adventures Of the Red Forest Squirrel - a story/adventure take on Drunk On Nectar set in a completely new environment with new plants/species/etc.
Follow the adventures of a female red forest squirrel as part of "Venu's Nature Stories" - a new Adventure/Story mode for Drunk On Nectar with a complete reimagining of its gameplay, art and environments
A red radiant shrub from the "Adventures Of The Red Forest Squirrel" This update has been under development for a while now and will hopefully be out soon with just a bit more momentum generated for the game! Again I request interested folks to support the game through any manner you like; you can now provide monetary contributions via the DoN Shop as well if you like by purchasing amusing nature documentaries about our favorite animals :)

Celebrating 100th Review of Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar!

I'm also pleased to announce that the game now has reached 100 reviews on Steam with an overall 91% positive review score! :) Clearly the game is doing better than ever before, so I thank everyone who has greatly believed in me and the game all these years. Your trust and support in the game is what has resulted in the realization of this great milestone, so once again I thank you all from the bottom of my heart :)

Humanity Needs Nature

As I emphatically proclaimed at the conclusion of Episode 1's diary (from the middle of a rainforest amidst a great downpour of rain! :)), humanity needs nature now more than ever before. Getting more of Nature in front of People's eyes (games, videos, images, anything really) can massively alter the world stage forever in my humble opinion and I firmly believe that this game - "Nature & Life - Drunk On Nectar" can step up to play such a role if enough people support it. That's it for Episode 1 of Venu's Nature Diaries! The next few episodes are being produced right now and will be released soon as well :)) Thanks as always for your faith in me and the game! Thank you :) With Love, - Venu (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2020-09-21 15:32:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

A major bugfix has been released which fully resolves the sudden FPS drops reported by multiple players since the last update. Also fixed is the Monarch Butterfly's pupation and emergence animation sequences; these were inadvertently broken during the Ladybug's Metamorphosis development.

Thank You

Big thanks to the players who persistently sent feedback mail and forum posts on this subject. Through your combined efforts in highlighting this issue, the root cause was finally diagnosed and understood earlier today. Apologies to the players whose experience of the game was greatly hampered during recent weeks on account of this bug. You should now be able to resume from any saved games you may have from previous playtrhoughs, all should now be well :) Appreciate everyone's patience on this! Thank You :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2020-04-30 22:48:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Drunk On Nectar's milestone Planetary Ecology update has been released! In an exciting new direction for the game, players can now Create Planets and Design Biome Landscapes all while learning about Planetary Ecology and Life, thus vastly enhancing its existing offering of animal life and nature simulation.

What's New

Here's a brief gist of what this update contains :) 1. Create Planets, set basic planetary parameters like Rotation speed, Axial Tilt, etc. 2. Create landmasses, oceans and choose from various Biomes for your planet. 3. Tropical Rainforest, Grasslands, Deserts, Temperate Mixed Forests, Coniferous Forests, Polar and Oceanic are the biomes you can literally paint onto your landmassess! 4. Sculpting of landmass with simple earthing / unearthing. 5. Saving & Loading of your Planets. 6. Sharing Planets is possible via exchanging planet files which begin with the name "DoN Planet"; these are present in your Saves folder.

What's Next

There's an incredible range of possibilities from here. Ultimately, convergence of "Planetary Ecology" into game's unique "Life Of Animals", the full-scale animal life experience, is the lofty goal. This can certainly be attained with your lovely feedback, enthusiasm and support for the game. Thank you :) Please voice your opinion on this update in whatever manner pleases you the most! :)

Thank You

As always, thank you for patiently waiting for this update. It is always my sincere goal to provide more content to you in a timely fashion. As best as I can, I will continue to do so :) Hope you enjoy the Planetary Ecology update :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer Of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2020-03-26 07:30:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

New Roadmap!

An exciting revision to Drunk On Nectar's roadmap is now underway! Planetary Ecology, Biomes and Plant Life are the game's new focus; these exciting additions will provide a larger context for the game's existing attractions while greatly enriching the surrounding flora, landscapes and the Nature Sandbox mode's untapped potential as well. Your enthusiasm and ideas are greatly encouraged for this exciting new direction :)
A picture from DoN's original Dev Prototype, depicting the game's early vision :)

Background

Thusfar Drunk On Nectar "The Nature Simulator" has provided a detailed treatment of invertebrate life, but with only minimal depiction of the larger macro level habitats which its creatures inhabit, such as landscapes, biomes or even planetary ecology. To bridge this obvious gap between the game's larger vision (and subtitle!) and its current focus, the time was now ripe to shift gears, zoom out and add broader perspectives as part of the game's already unique offering. This will provide a larger context for the game's existing attractions while allowing a more free and relaxed growth of the game's overall natural world depiction.
Time to zoom out a bit, as our little Grasshopper (see left) clearly inferred! :)

Ideas Invited

This initiative is still in very early stages, so there is enormous scope and interest in your own ideas, creativity and contributions. Please use this Inspirations Thread for sharing your inspirations. Any pictures and inspirations of the Natural World/Landscapes/etc, personally taken by you are particularly welcome in this thread along with your thoughts, commentaries and suggestions :) For those wondering what this means for the eagerly awaited Praying Mantis update, that update has currently been indefinitely postponed. The current plan is to pick up that thread again at an opportune time; I appreciate both your enthusiasm and understanding in this regard :)

Thank You!

As always, a heartfelt thanks to everyone for your patience, kindness and support in helping the game grow and thrive all these years. Please join me on this exciting new adventure by posting your inspirations in the official Inspirations Thread :) That's it for now, but stay tuned for more Nature Goodness! With , Venugopalan Sreedharan Developer Of Drunk On Nectar

[ 2020-01-17 14:48:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Praying Mantis Lifecycle Announced!

Finally! It's time to flex those raptorial limbs, groom those sharp mandibles and strike from the shadows! The most iconic predator of the invertebrate world finally makes its way to Drunk On Nectar's colorful glades! Stealth, Camouflage and Ambush find their supreme exponent in the very beautiful and accomplished Praying Mantis as players will experience the complete lifecycle of this very unique creature.

Release Plan

Development for the Praying Mantis lifecycle begins next week! The Pink Praying Mantis is currently the most favored candidate for its striking good looks, though other suggestions of your favorite Mantis species are very welcome in this early stage. The gameplay prototype is expected to revolve around stealth, camouflage and ambush while visual depiction will revolve around the lifecycle itself and the various life stages. The overall presentation format is expected to be similar to other lifecycles currently depicted in the game.

Thank You

Thanks to everyone for your enthusiastic mails and votes for the Praying Mantis which has finally won this unique creature a place in the game. It's time to strike a pose!

Recent DoN Videos!

Here's a round-up of recent Drunk On Nectar videos by various Youtubers! First up, Draegast covers the Ladybug's Lifecycle in this entertaining overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=933Q-OcRDRs For other videos of Drunk On Nectar from Draegast check out his very memorable Monarch Butterfly lifecycle which has crossed over 1 million views on Youtube while opening up a new audience for the game, and also his recent Grasshopper Lifecycle video. And for DoN's French audience, Youtuber Dan Field covers the Jumping Spider lifecycle in French! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJTgttx7tJs

Praying Mantis Beckons!

That's it for now, but the beautiful Praying Mantis is poised to strike and will quietly, but very strikingly, arrive on your screens, soon! With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2019-12-14 14:01:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

New Pupation Visuals!

New visuals have been added for key moments in the Ladybug Lifecycle's including Pupation, Moulting and Metamorphosis Emergence, greatly enriching the overall experience. Here's quick trailer focusing on the new visuals! [previewyoutube=pfdJ7CmleW8;full][/previewyoutube]

Developer Walkthrough!

Celebrating the new Ladybug visuals, join Drunk On Nectar's Developer Venu in this special gameplay series, as we "Enter the world of the Ladybug" with gusto across its 4 instars, all the way up to pupation, adulthood and even beyond! Here's the walkthrough! Part 1 - Birth, Early Instars [previewyoutube=tXtdHnSJuGY;full][/previewyoutube] Part 2 - Metamorphosis, Mating & Reproduction [previewyoutube=ilGjHlyFKzc;full][/previewyoutube] Part 3 - Generation 2 is planned too :) -

New Educational Content!

An educational snippet has been added for the main Metamorphosis segment, further enriching the Ladybug's lifecycle offering. Wing development and Colorations of the Ladybug are briefly discussed. Here's an excerpt, do check out this update or the videos above for more :)
Here's a quick overview of this update:

• New Metamorphosis Visuals
• New Educational Content
• Grooming animation
• Birth scene population increased to ensure player doesn't run out of prey
• Intro Cinematics bugfix (these no longer stop abruptly at the end).

With the release of this update, the Ladybug Lifecycle comes closer to attaining its full potential, though there is always room for further improvement. Apart from a few outstanding player reports (which are currently being investigated), additional feedback from you is always welcome and will greatly help in realizing the sublime potential that is innate in every creature's lifecycle, whether for their unique gameplay or for visual depiction and most certainly so, for the inimitable Ladybug! Enter the World of the Ladybug! New visual content awaits you! :) Thank you! With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator)

[ 2019-11-21 03:31:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Celebrating Drunk On Nectar's 3rd Anniversary on Steam! :)

Rip-roaring Carnivorous Beetle larva action is here! Charming as an adult, terrifying as a larva, the most voracious insect carnivore in popular lore is here for your play! Action-packed gameplay meets beautiful vistas and Educational narratives, making the Ladybug's lifecycle release the game's most significant update yet, by far!
Survive the most densely populated vistas ever seen in the game. Thrust amidst hoards of prey (New Species - Aphids are here!) and wily Ants, you and your siblings must journey across a blistering life experience as a tiny carnivorous larva with an enormous appetite.

The Metamorphosis of the Ladybug

From Egg to Larva to Pupa to Winged adult, the Ladybug exhibits a "complete metamorphosis", much like the fabled Monarch Butterfly. That's not all though, Mating & Reproduction is included too! As a female or male Ladybug find a partner, engage in courtship, lay eggs and thus complete your Gen 1 life story.
Generation 1 is a carefully guided experience for new players and veterans alike, while Generation 2 (and beyond!) offer pure Sandbox gameplay with unlimited potential for exploration and emergent interactions.

Additional Features Coming Soon:

Certain visual features are still pending, these will be added in due course: 1) Ladybug Pupa transition visuals 2) Various Colorations - before pupation, after emergence, egg shells, etc 3) Grooming & Grappling Animations etc Gameplay wise there is also further room for expansion, however it was deemed essential to get this initial version out for your enjoyment and valuable feedback. Please provide feedback on the things that you enjoyed or would like improved, as this update will continue to be polished over the coming days and your input is absolutely essential in realizing the full potential of this update.

Thank You!

I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You! to all for your great enthusiasm, lively support and boundless patience in witnessing the unfoldment of Drunk On Nectar's joyous dream to depict Nature in a format that we love and enjoy so much. 2019 has seen several milestone releases for the game so far including the Monarch Butterfly and Jumping Spider's Mating & Reproduction, Grasshopper's Complete Lifecycle and now the Ladybug's Lifecycle too. The obvious desire among all of us to see more new content arrive rapidly into the game is clear. That goal is now finally attainable as the game's development effort has been greatly empowered through various lessons learned in this year of 2019 and through many challenges that have been successfully overcome in developing and growing the game over the years. So truly, a powerful creative momentum to propel the game's further growth and expansion is now strongly in place, so rest assured for Drunk On Nectar the show has only just begun! :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator)

[ 2019-11-10 14:50:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Ladybug's Lifecycle is all set to become Drunk On Nectar's next major lifecycles update! Hatch as an egg, survive and grow as tiny larvae feeding on even tinier scale insects and enter your pupal stage to undergo an epic metamorphosis from a hardish yellow blob into a beautiful winged Ladybug! But do watch out for Ants along the way!
Mating and Reproduction will also be featured, so much like the Grasshopper, Monarch Butterfly and of course the Jumping Spider, the Ladybug too will go on to find a mate, reproduce and experience multiple generations!

The Ladybug Plan

Generation 1: New players entering Gen 1 will receive quest based gameplay and educational narratives similar to the Jumping Spider's Gen 1. Generation 2: After completing Generation 1, players will enjoy a Pure Sandbox and non-linear experience with emergent gameplay for advanced Ladybug enthusiasts to enjoy at their own pace! Any feedback on this proposed format is welcome :) This is set to become the game's future lifecycles presentation mould, so your feedback on this subject is greatly valued! Release ETA: This will be a quick release arriving in 2-3 weeks from now, so do post your feedback early! :)
The Ladybug - An iconic, widely loved and beautiful species is all set to hop, fly and land on Drunk On Nectar's green glades soon, so the Lifecycles scene just got a lot more prettier and exciting! I greatly value your patronage, feedback and interest in Drunk On Nectar. Thank you for being an essential part of Drunk On Nectar's journey! Let us soar through the air as the inimitable Ladybugs, soon! :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2019-08-08 12:12:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

A major patch was released yesterday for the Jumping Spider lifecycle bringing new content in the form of educational narratives for mating along with Major bugfixes, Performance boost for "Gen 2" and Gameplay rebalancing that makes it significantly easier to complete the Jumping Spider lifecycle.

Educational Narratives

Educational tidbits about Jumping Spider mating and anatomy have been added with this update. Here's a quick look! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81cclctUU4

Watch the video above for more!

Rebalancing: Completing Spider Lifecycle Made Easier

If you had any issues completing the Jumping Spider lifecycle (and reaching Mating!) at all, do try again! A large number of rebalancing changes aimed at making the Jumping Spider lifecycle much easier to complete were added with this update. More additions are planned too, and will be based on your valuable feedback. Notable mentions:

• Food Intake bonus of 25% for Players.
• Major bugfixes to scripted "Quest predators" to ensure they do not return to harass players.
• Player walk speed automatically reduced if a leaf has silk tent on it.

Major bugfixes

Several important fixes were released spanning Gen 1, Gen 2 (and Gen 3!)

• Various performance issues addressed across the board relating to AI population and their CPU usage. Benefits are mostly clearly perceived in Gen 2 but applies to the entire game and all other species too!
• "Gen 3" Pollen Grains and Beltian Bodies now correctly spawn upon birth.
• Chem trails of Gen 2 sandbox fauna no longer show up during Gen 1 gameplay.
• Camera Improvements for interaction with larger predators; more to come along these lines soon.

"Gen 2" Gameplay Series

A new gameplay video series featuring Generation 2's "Free Roaming" - i.e. Sandbox Survival and Emergent gameplay, has been released! Do take a look! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjMXWKrdcyg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oljv_49eltA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAWGkwPx7m0
An unscripted encounter from Gen 2's "Sandbox Survival"

Gen 2 Sandbox Survival - The Model For The Future

Inspired by the Jumping Spider's Generation 2 gameplay, the current plan is to adopt this model for all species in the roster as the new Lifecycles format. In this new format, "Generation 1" will feature Quests, Educational narration and Linear paths to help new players and establish a baseline, while "Generation 2" will feature a pure Sandbox Survival experience with emergent gameplay and completely unscripted, non-linear experiences. The Grasshopper's Lifecycle will adopt this model at some point; quests and narration suitable for this species will be added to Gen 1 while Gen 2 will continue to offer pure unscripted sandbox action. Your thoughts / feedback on this subject are very greatly welcomed! :)
~~~ That's it for now, for but more information about the next major update will be shared in due course! :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2019-07-20 17:37:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Lifecycle Complete!

Concluding the Jumping Spider's epic life story, Mating & Reproduction is now here! Find a mate, experience Courtship, Mating, Egg-Laying and much more in this milestone update to Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator!

Experience "Free Roaming" - New Gen 2 Gameplay!

Complete Gen 1 spider lifecycle to unlock Generation 2! Do not miss out on the new Generation 2 Jumping Spider gameplay, it is a completely new experience! Gen2 Free Roaming is a pure Sandbox experience without any formal quests like Gen1. You must survive a densely populated map with prey and predators while growing and moulting. Player specific bonuses present in G1 to make life easier are not present in G2 making it a different experience from the get go. So be sure to try Gen 2 Free Roaming as a Jumping Spider! :)
G2 spider family with two egg clusters! Population keeps increasing with each generation playthrough.

Looking Ahead

There's a lot of exciting directions for the game to explore from here. With another member of the roster completing its life story, the game comes closer to its goal of depicting lifecycles for the entire existing roster. Proceeding in that direction the next logical choice would be "Ladybug Lifecycle", offering great visual interest and predator gameplay on multiple levels. However other options are also open, including lifecycles for a new species or exploration of other topics in the vast domain of nature. We'll see! :)
For now though, please enjoy Jumping Spider Mating and do report any issues you run into, they will be swiftly looked into. Thank you! With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2019-07-12 13:32:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

The next major update for Drunk On Nectar is underway! "Jumping Spider Mating" will wrap up the lifecycle of this iconic species and allow players to experience mating, egg laying and possibly some form of multi-generation gameplay similar to the Monarchs and Grasshoppers.

Polish, Cleanup & Bugfixes

A major part of this update will be a large cleanup-and-polish operation for the entire game. Player feedback on various levels has been addressed across the board with much more to come as this update heads towards release. A large number of bugfixes and overall beautification is also expected to come with this release, celebrating the Jumping Spider's long awaited mating release :)
I greatly appreciate your support for Drunk On Nectar. Thank you for following the game! With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2019-06-21 14:57:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Experience a musical journey through Drunk On Nectar's latest and greatest updates! Please watch this freshly released 2019 trailer for the game below, your feedback is very welcome :)

Drunk On Nectar 2019 Trailer - "The Nature Simulator"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa09PJQ1-lI Feel free to share this video around to help spread the word about the game!

Next Milestone

The game's next milestone hasn't yet been finalized although bugfixing and polishing the current product will probably take priority for a sizable period of time. Thanks to everyone for your interest in this game and for your patronage through all these years! Thank you! :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2019-05-26 11:05:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Several improvements including rebalancing of predator interaction, visual and gameplay bugfixes and more come with this update. Watch the videos below for more!

Developer Walkthrough

Celebrating the release of Grasshopper Lifecycle, join DoN's Developer Venugopalan Sreedharan in an action-packed 4 part video walkthrough below!

Gameplay Part 1 (Female Grasshopper Growth)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2gc9Oun0e0

Gameplay Part 2 (Female Mating & Reproduction)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_ZHh6Oj01g

Gameplay Part 3 (Male Grasshopper G2 Gameplay)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFwZCSzueRo

Gameplay Part 4 (Male Mating & Reproduction)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_Iree2vrcI The Ladybug's lifecycle is planned to be taken up next. Further improvements to the Grasshopper are also being made along with a general round of bugfixing and other improvements for the larger game. Hope you enjoy this update :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan Developer of Drunk On Nectar

[ 2019-05-10 16:24:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Life As Prey

As DoN's first major update focusing on prey life, the Grasshopper Lifecycle includes Mating & Reproduction, Multiple Generations and plenty of exciting Prey-Predator action!

Feedback Sought!

Check out this update and provide your feedback either in the comments below or on the forums! You can also use the in-game feedback form to quickly send feedback at any time by simply pressing the tilde (~) key. Upcoming updates such as Ladybug lifecycle are expected to follow a very similar format, so your feedback is very important in shaping the course of upcoming content. If you run into any issues or technical problems while playing this update please do make it known and it will be looked into promptly, Thanks for playing "Life As Prey"!
The rewards of survival are worth it! Two Grasshoppers mating after surviving a storied adventure of Six Instars! With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2019-05-04 17:48:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Experience the Grasshopper's complete lifecycle in Drunk On Nectar's next update! As the first "Prey Lifecycle" in the game, you will be donning the role of a tiny first instar Grasshopper freshly emerged from its egg! Life begins rather placidly, but prepare to be hounded by predators (who're also tiny like you!) looking to grow and sustain their own lifecycles, albeit by feeding on you!
Living as a swarm!

Exploring Life Dynamics: Prey v/s Predator Lifecycles!

Get ready to explore the dynamics between your Grasshopper swarm and a growing family of Jumping Spiders who're also growing and moulting along with you, as you and your humble swarm look to survive the onslaught while growing bigger onto adulthood. Defend yourself with mighty kicks from your spiked hindlegs! As you grow bigger and eventually, as an adult, soar into the skies...where the freedom of flight and mating opportunities is indeed your ultimate prize!
Watch out, my little predator friend!
Nested size dynamics - So many possibilities! :)

Looking Ahead

The Grasshopper Lifecycles update marks the beginning of the effort to wrap up lifecycles for the entire roster so that the game can move on to new content and explore things like new biomes, etc. For those wondering why things were quiet of late, I was preoccupied with work outside game dev that needed ongoing attention and am now transitioning back with the Grasshopper update :) Let's trumpet this exciting Grasshopper Lifecycles announcement with some more teaser pics!
Exploring for food
Landscape POV
Safe under a leaf (hopefully!)
A walk in the glades With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar) PS: Thanks to the game's earnest players and ardent fans for all your feedback mail and messages. Your patronage is very deeply appreciated! :)

[ 2019-03-19 13:32:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Play Act 3 Now!

Experience the joy of Mating as Butterflies! Featuring unique Butterfly "Mating Rituals", Female "Egg Laying", Male "Challenge Levels" and more, be sure to play as both genders when you try out this Act 3 update!

Multiple Generations

Multiple generations can now be experienced, ad infinitum! Watch population levels explode across generations as you and your butterfly companions lay large clutches of eggs, each generation :)
The Ovipositor: Lay Eggs with millimeter precision. Total Control!
Flirt, Race and Conquer the skies! Start your game as a female butterfly, Mate, Lay eggs, but then continue into the next generation as a male butterfly! Or you may do the opposite... Either way, be sure to play both genders because male and female have drastically different gameplay. Male butterflies feature 5 mating challenge levels for you to master. Can you complete the "Butterfly King" challenge? :)

Combining Fun, Education & Relaxation!

Whether you're in it for the blazing high-speed mating races or to learn about "Spermatophore transfer" or to simply relax, this update has it all! It is also well worth covering if you have a youtube channel as arguably nothing like will have been seen by your audience before :)
Mating Monarch Butterflies
Caterpillars now spawn on the underside of leaves... Enjoy the view! :)
Anatomy Mode is expected to add both gameplay and educational value!
Butterfly Ecstasy

For Happiness

Ultimately, this is a pure joy and happiness update. Donning the role of butterflies and experiencing their mating is a very happy and uplifting experience. Your mind needs beautiful and positive images of nature just as surely as your body needs nutritious food! I hope that this update will provide players young and old alike, with something soothing for your eyes :) This particular update carries a certain depth and value beyond its visual and gameplay components, so players are highly encouraged to stay among the butterflies, for as long as you like! Multiplayer would be an ideal addition to this update too, so hopefully that can be prioritized for development at a later point in time.

Sending Feedback

Apart from the comments below and the forums, you can also use the in-game feedback dashboard or even write to the official support mail. Should technical annoyances like bugs, camera, controls, etc get in the way of your enjoyment, please do let me know! I certainly do not want your experience of this update to be diluted by any of those factors.

Stay tuned!

The game's next milestone will be revealed after your experiences and feedback for this update have been studied, enjoyed and processed! There's a lot of territory to be covered in 2019 though, I'll say that much! :D With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar) Steam Dev Profile

[ 2019-01-19 20:58:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Drunk On Nectar wishes all of you a wonderful 2019! With happiness, joy, beauty, prosperity and radiant vigor, may your love for Nature (and nature games!) provide you with immense fun, good health and the nectar of joyous life. Onward we march! :D

Monarch Mating Release

Early January is the expected release date for Act 3 - Mating & Reproduction. Dev for Mating & Egg laying is already complete (with an exciting "Free-form Ovipositor" precise egg laying mechanic added for your amusement :)).
Free Form Oviposition - Place your eggs with millimeter accurate control! What is being worked on now is Multi generational gameplay (bridge point into Act 4) so that "circle of life" long envisioned by the game is finally complete with the Monarch Butterfly becoming the first species to achieve this milestone.

Mating Video Preview

Here's the recent Dev preview again for those who missed it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfA0iPKljdM

2019 - The Year of New Content!

Content updates will be the #1 focus of 2019 for Drunk On Nectar. Shifting gears, the game will now focus on adding more species, new maps, landscapes, biomes along with a major focus on plant life too. The Monarch Butterfly's Migration has been rescheduled into "Act 4 - A Tale Of Generations"; Act 4 is an experimental topic but has long been envisioned as the game's foundation for player progression with skills, traits, skins, and evolutionary pathways offering enormous replay value to players and their favorite species.

Thank You

Big thanks to everyone who has supported and believed in Drunk On Nectar! I'm pleased to announce that the player base is rapidly growing and as the game adds more content in 2019 (including the proposed multiplayer update) I'm confident that a rapid expansion of the game's player base is now truly imminent! Thanks again for all your wonderful feedback, your kind wishes for the game and your indefatigable energy in supporting the game's unique foray into the natural world in a medium that has largely ignored it.... until now, that is! :) A massive number of content updates are headed your way in 2019, I'm enormously excited for them and hope that you too will be excited to play them, hopefully very soon! :)
With , Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar) ~~ ~~ ~~

[ 2019-01-01 14:24:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

They're almost here! The Monarch Butterfly's "Mating & Reproduction" will be releasing with the game's next Steam update. Watch the official preview below!

Preview Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfA0iPKljdM This update is releasing soon, most likely in December 2018! Featuring a new and groundbreaking Anatomy mode along with Flirting & Physicality systems, Racing mini-games and more, this update will greatly enhance Drunk On Nectar's unique depiction of nature and life.

Experience "Anatomy Mode"

Internal Anatomy of male and female Monarch Butterflies! Taking realism to an unparalleled degree, Drunk On Nectar will now feature the internal anatomy of its unique creatures. Body organs and biological phenomena will be depicted in great detail for players to savor, adding both educational and gameplay value. The first creature to employ this is of course the Monarch Butterfly! An "Anatomy Room" for learning and exploring each creature's innards is planned for a future update as well. Be sure to watch the Mating & Reproduction Dev preview above and do let me know your feedback! In this final sprint towards "Mating Victory", I'm working hard to get this Monarch update out as soon as possible. Appreciate your patience, not long now :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan Developer of Drunk On Nectar

[ 2018-12-20 17:24:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Butterfly ecstasy fills the air! Dance in the skies with your beautiful mate, procreate, migrate with the seasons, lay eggs and complete the circle of life in Act 3! Development hereby commences for Butterfly Mating & Reproduction! :)
Easily winning the recent poll with 115 out of 122 votes, the Monarchs will now lay the foundation for the game's Mating & Reproduction systems, much in the same way that they laid the foundation for its growth and lifecycle systems.

The Scope

Let's talk about the scope of this update. The fivefold pillars of this update include: [olist]

Finding a partner:

Having matured into a butterfly, you will explore looking for a suitable partner in the midst of rivals who have the same idea as you. Male and female gameplay will provide unique and different experiences greatly adding to the replay value of the game.

Courtship & Rituals:

You will use Visual gestures, Sound, Rhythm and other cues along with your partner as the two of you bond, impress, flirt and dance. The outcome of the mating attempt will be determined by an elaborate gameplay system that will eventually vary from species to species. This is part I'm most excited about personally and will likely constitute a bulk of the gameplay. Dev update video on this, soon!

Mating:

If courtship was successful, we proceed onto mating! The male butterfly carries the female soaring through the air as they move from spot to spot, looking for a safe spot to copulate. Eventually you land, interlock with your partner, the male's abdominal claspers pairing with the female female's abdomen as the pair unite.

Migration:

Depending on the generation and season, the timing of this step will vary. You may be migrating as a non-mated adult to your Winter roost, or you may be migrating back to your Spring grounds, having just mated after diapuse. Generations born in warm seasons may not migrate at all. Important Note! Migration is considered a stretch goal for this update and so the final format for this is still being worked out. It may be simplified or deferred depending on how complex the previous parts turn out to be. My ideal vision for migration is to use this opportunity to finally expand the game's Biomes beyond the "Temperate Forest" mould with new maps that are large in size and focus on exploration. No promises yet though... we'll see!

Egg Laying - The Circle Complete!

Having mated and fertilized your eggs, as a female you will set off looking for... Milkweed Plants! Successfully laying your eggs on the leaves you will have ensured the next generation has the same opportunity as you did, to start the cycle all over again. As noted above in migrations, multi-generational gameplay is desired, though the exact format cannot be committed to just yet, there's plenty of planning and experimentation with the Monarchs to be done first :) [/olist]

Stretch Goals (Wishlist, TBD, etc):

Some interesting but unconfirmed aspects of this update include: [olist]

Trait Selection (Act 4):

Evolution and trait acquisition over multiple generations was the original intent of adding an XP system to the game last year. The idea was that your character stats would be enhanced over multiple generations and you would also unlock unique traits that you could choose from each new generation to vastly enrich your replay value. However the game's goals have somewhat changed since then and this part may be skipped entirely for simplicity. The reason it is mentioned here is Selection of mates, which would be a bit more meaningful if players are able to choose a mate based on the characteristics they will eventually acquire in a future generation. The simpler option is to just have players mate with any suitable partner and not overwhelm them with the complexity of traits at all. This makes development easier as well. Thoughts on this are welcome!

Multiplayer:

I would really love to add Multiplayer for this update by converting last year's multiplayer prototype into a production-ready system. Mating with actual butterfly players is obviously an alluring proposition so it will be investigated. A large-scale, persistent world would be truly ideal, but this is just me dreaming out aloud :) This is definitely the last item in terms of priority and will be dropped if the other pieces of this vast Monarch Act 3 puzzle prove to be more complex than expected. I did want to list it here though, both to elicit your feedback and thoughts and to provide the early vision and fuel for eventually realizing this dream. [/olist]

Feedback welcome!

Thus has been narrated in full, DoN's massive Monarch manifesto! It's going to be a busy month soaring high in the skies with our beautiful monarchs, so please relay your feedback, thoughts and suggestions right now! :) This promises to the game's most fun and ambitious update, I hope everyone will greatly enjoy what is to come! :)
Soft orange wings entwine, Bound together at the waist Oh red ecstasy divine, No butterfly's life is chaste Encircling their bodies, Encircling their wings, Encircled by Life, They dance, flutter and sing Through Blue skies, Snowy Peaks and Spring's Green plains, What was once a Winged Beauty, is now an Egg again :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan ~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~ (Developer of Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator)

[ 2018-11-04 20:25:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

With new animations, visual bugfixes to the entire game and more intuitive controls, this is the best time to complete your Act 2 playthrough if you haven't yet completed all 9 life stages! Numerous improvements to gameplay, camera and controls also come with this patch, making it the definitive edition of the Jumping Spider lifecycle in particular and Drunk On Nectar in general. Enough with words! As this is a visual update, may bright and colorful imagery fill your screens below!
Some written text is also necessary to do justice to the vast number of improvements this patch brings :)

Visual Improvements

Better Locomotion:



• Smooth Locomotion Animation: Creatures now turn and walk smoothly even across abrupt transitions! Previously this was visually abrupt.
• Climbing system added for Jumping Spider! Flip under/over a leaf to see the climbing animations in action.
• New Jumping Spider animations: Sneaking, Sprinting, Flip Over, Toppled over

  Cleaner Confrontations:

  
  
• Animations for grappling and consumption reworked and fixed (all creatures, all life stage permutations). It's all far more convincing now!
• Ants now properly root to the floor surface after being thrown off by a rival
• Wings folding: Fallen prey with wings such as a Dragonflies now properly fold their wings relative to the ground. Looks far more convincing now!

  Misc:

  
  
• Animation speed variety: Animals of the same species now animate at slightly different / staggered play rates for variety :)

New OST: The Song Of Lifecycles Act II

An original music piece entitled The Song Of Lifecycles Act 2 has been added to the game :) This is the longest music track in the game and perhaps the most lively one too. Drunk On Nectar now features a total of 12 unique music tracks written exclusively for the game. More music shall trumpet forth in the days to come! Visit Extras -> Music of DoN to give it a listen!

Various Other Improvements

Silk Tent



• Silk Tent camera/controls greatly improved to prevent wild movement while brushing against the sides. You can now also flip over from in or outside the tent.
• Silk Tent construction visuals improved: The base is now clearly visible regarldess of external lighting; previously it was difficult to see during bright sunshine

  Controls:

  
  
• Mouse Y is no longer inverted by default for walking creatures. As many players are unaware of the ability to change this in Settings the default now caters to the behavior that most players expect.

  Gamepad:

  
  
• All gamepad issues fixed. Act 2 is fully playable with a gamepad now.
• With default inversion fixed camera controls on gamepad should be far more intuitive now
• Gamepad camera reset feature added: Press LT + RT. This will reset camera direction or camera zoom depending on whether zoom is active.

  Camera

  
  
• Camera does not penetrate through floor for Jumping Spider anymore.
• Camera distance for climbing your mother in Act 1 improved

  Gameplay

  
  
• Long jumping for Instars greatly improved - far more reliable now
• Visual, color and audio cues also added to tell you whether your jump is going to succeed
• Grasshoppers no longer make you fall down after crushing you with their legs (unless you're in mid-air). Players no longer need to climb all the way back up as a result.
• Narration no longer freezes player controls; you're now free to roam around while reading the narration :) For sensitive quests (final instar/spoiler) the game is still paused.

  Anatomy Combat:

  
  
• Rebalanced all attack and critical hit stats. Combat now focuses on fun and quick encounters. It should be a lot more engaging now!
• Counterattack made easy: Players can now very easily counterattaack by just blocking around the same time you get attacked. Much easier now.
• Counterattack (Reversal) input hint improved to encourage players to use it
• Anatomy Combat Z target min distance reduced for AI. This makes it slightly harder for tiny instars to just squat under their larger opponent landing strikes from below :)

  Benchmarking

  
  
• Benchmark warning added reminding players to close other heavy applications.
• Benchmarks can now be retaken from Extras -> Benchmark

  Chem Trails

  
  
• Ladybug chem trails brightness partially restored. As a side-effect of Act 2 (which made chem trails faint) the Ladybug was having a hard time in the "Curious Triad" Creature Quest.
• Chem trails reworked (origin and destination height adjusted) to make them easier to see

  Misc

  
  
• Act 2 victory screen message revised (Act 3 ETA made flexible)
• Quest Tiger Beetle now disbanded after night to ensure player doesn't end up in an unplanned handicap match with 2 Tiger Beetles the next morning
• "Zooming Out" quest now locks player input to prevent players from roaming without completing the quest
• "Zooming out" quest ensures HUD cannot be hidden to ensure players see the input cues

Bugfixes

Major Locomotion Bugfixes:



• Stuttering movements, hovering above the floor, getting stuck in places have all been fixed! This should significantly improve your experience of the game.
• Movement transitions from Leaf to Stalk and Stalk to Leaf transitions fixed; they no longer cause the Jumping Spider to bump into the surface endlessly
• Leafhopper flight fixed! This creature now properly flies around as an adult and lands on a leaf to feed. It's a lot of fun watching them grow from tiny helpless creatures to winged aviators that can go where they please ;)
• "Exhausted" animation no longer gets stuck
• Stamina cost for walking is now applied correctly after a player darts (previously this would stay constant after darting)
• Sneaking inside silk tent does not reset speed
• Prey no longer reverts to stale floor (previous location) after being dropped

  Predation:

  
  
• Prey no longer dangle in mid-air after being dropped
• Predator no longer dangles in mid-air if the prey escaped via long jump just-in-time
• Tiger Beetle walk anim no longer plays while you're holding the prey and standing still
• Tiger Beetle now flees as expected from smaller Jumping Spider if the latter (player) has successfully beaten it

  Gameplay:

  
  
• Nocturnal Wasp: Parasitization sequence made more reliable; Wasp now finds its way back to its nest properly even if it bumps into something along the way
• Nocturnal Wasp: Sleep till morning cue now goes away after a wasp or other predator subdues you
• Grasshopper prey outline no longer gets stuck after it kicks you and escapes

  Misc:

  
  
• A possible crash for some players upon approaching a new swarm has been fixed
• Save Games can now be migrated between computers (as originally envisioned). Previously it would crash while searching for an associated screenshot.

Please Provide Patch Feedback!

QA for this patch has been particularly challenging due its broad nature and scope. Please let me know in case you run into any issues! If you see any glaring visual issues or bugs at this point it is quite likely that it is an accidental bug that needs immediate attention. So please report any oddities! :) ~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~

Drunk On Nectar's Next Big Update!

With the solid foundation of recent patches now in place, it is finally time to usher in that exciting phase of setting a new milestone for the game! There are many options to choose from, with the Monarch Butterfly reproduction being the most obvious and likely choice at this point. There are some ambitious plans brewing for this update, but more on that later :) A recent Google poll (hosted on the game's Google Search page) has produced overwhelming and unanimous results in favor of "Butterfly Reproduction", so that one is going to be hard to ignore :) In any case please do make your suggestions known in the meantime! So it's time for a new adventure in the woods again! :) With , Venugopalan Sreedharan ~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~ (Developer of Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator)

[ 2018-10-28 23:16:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Whether you missed the action or are having difficulty in completing all 9 instars, please watch these quick walkthrough / speedrun videos showing one possible approach to completing Act 2. These videos provide rare insight into how I (as the game's developer) approach the game and also reveal hidden techniques like "Grapple-Plummet" (jump off from a height while grappling for rapid subdual) which even advanced players may not have been aware of. Do take a look! :)

Part 1 (Lifecycles Act 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6dMIo1NIqM

Part 2 (Ballooning, Swarms, Dragonfly encounter)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-zwrzg0tdY

Part 3 (Caught by Parasitic Wasps, Epic Tiger Beetle fight & more!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dGb-3eAaHI

Part 4 (The "Pollinator Hunt" Quest)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWHuYyWvaE

Part 5 (Dragonfly Conquest, Developer Antics :))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiqoQZ5Gs38

Shorter, Easier, Leaner

With recent patches Act 2 is now a much shorter, leaner experience than before. 2-3 hours should be sufficient for most players to complete Act 2 now and all overly long predator encounters have been greatly simplified to avoid fatigue in players.

Next plans

Patch 3 will release soonish and will focus on fixing visual glitches and on improving gamplay experience as well. Beyond that there's a myriad exciting possibilities :) You're welcome to vote in advance for any particular feature or overall direction you're excited about! With , Venugopalan Sreedharan ~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~

[ 2018-10-14 13:55:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Please try Act 2 again if you were having any difficulty completing it at all :) This patch rebalances the game and adds critical bugfixes for camera, controls, gameplay and many more. If you haven't played this update yet, please look at the image below to view an example of the stunning procedurally generated vistas Act 2 can offer for you. Each playthrough generates a new procedural map!
Roots Above, Branches Below, Nature.

Co-Ballooning: Balloon with your siblings!

Ballooning is a phenomenon that gained widespread mainstream attention in recent years after millions of spiders were found flying above Australia :) Before we take a closer look at the patch itself, I want to highlight an AI change that makes co-ballooning encounters far more likely! This is still entirely subject to chance, but chances are good that most players will find at least a few siblings ballooning with them ;)

Making Act 2 Easier To Complete

Balancing:

• Predator cooldown increased giving you a better chance of reaching your silk nest for safety.
• Player grappling strength increased
• Stamina drain rate for players decreased
• Anatomy Combat hit absorption reduced for players
• Quest predators now give up after 3 attempts now to avoid tiring out players. This does not affect simulation-driven (regular) predators.
• Quest predators now give up tracking much sooner instead of persistently hovering about the player.
• Quest Tiger Beetles no longer return back after the player has formally completed the relevant quest. This was causing unplanned encounters of potentially high difficulty.
• Cinematic predators in "Pollinator Hunt" quest are now forced to leave the scene after their cine sequence is over; this eliminates random, unplanned encounters with players
• Ballooning quest now allows you to walk all the way and still win.
• Intro Ballooning sequence now allows you to manually stop (via spacebar) after 60 seconds (if the game was not able to find a suitable landing place for you on its own)

"Ladder Climbing" - New Camera Controls for Plant Stalks!

• You can now climb plants just like you'd climb a ladder in any other game! Just press Up to climb up the stalk and Down to climb down. Look freely around with the camera while you do this!
• Camera transition from Stalk to Leaf is finally seamless! No more camera headaches on plant stalks hopefully :)
• Plant Stalk hitbox massively improved!
• ^ 1 mm accuray: Now even a 3rd instar can believably place its feet (claws/tarsi) on the stalk surface. Truly a micro-world experience at last!
• ^ Movement/collision annoyances on plant stalks are all completely fixed!

Known Camera Issue: Currently the camera stutters at extreme angles while looking up (or down). To fix this simply move the camera back up or down (depending on whether you're on top of a leaf or under). Fix for above issue is coming as soon as possible. New Features:

• Co-Ballooning (see above)
• Zoom reset (MMB) now uses smooth transition for cinematic effect

Bugfixes:

• Floating in mid-air after escaping from a Dragonfly now fixed! This was a pretty old bug in the game that had been tricky to track. Now finally fixed! :)
• Snatching fallen prey no longer teleports you back to the prey's last location
• Sleeping input next to a prey no longer causes you to snatch the prey before sleeping.\
• Some AI siblings no longer stay back permanently in the mother's nest
• "Pollinator Hunt" Quest - Final Dragonfly now leaves properly exits the map after its part is over instead of persistently lingering (this was a bug).
• Camera angle fixed for when a parasitic wasp lays an egg on you
• "Tackled tricky prey" text typo fixed for Pollinator Hunt quest XP gain

Other improvements: Anatomy Combat (Tiger Beetle confrontations)

AI intelligence significantly improved

AI navigatges and follows the player correctly now across stalks/leaves/etc

AI launching "heavy strike" correctly orients to face the player now before doing so

Combat poses (orientation towards combatant) improved for both players and AI. This significantly changes the way you need to fight compared to previous setup.

Player ZTargeting no longer behaves unpredictably if the AI moves rapidly between flora or if it moves under a leaf

Player close-range attack orientation corrected. Previously you'd be oriented the wrong way and end up missing a strike that you should have gained. Misc

Chem trails reworked so they aren't super-bright for adults but are still clearly visible for lower instars

Brief stutter while leaving the egg sac now fixed. There is still a brief occassional stutter due to Autosave though (to be improved later)

Moss Pushing effect improved for smaller instars walking on moss; more improvements here are planned! UI

Immersive mode (H key) is now more reliable; Hud elements no longer randomly turn on in some cases.

Silk Tent Construction UI improved

UI simplification: Pollen grain interaction cues are only shown the 1st time now. Similar changes to reduce UI clutter will follow.

Patch 3 is on the way! (Visual Improvements)

While this patch focused on gameplay, the next patch will focus on visual improvements. I'm keenly aware of certain inadequacies in Act 2's visual representation. Many liberties were taken to get the release out last month but now that the gameplay is hopefully stable (Please do shout if it is not! :)), visual flaws will be gradually addressed, both for Act 2 as well as for the entire game. Animations will be an important focus point along with things like preventing clipping of characters across each other, etc.

Act 2 Youtube Walkthrough

A multi-part video walkthrough of Act 2's 4-6 hour long journey will be uploaded soon! If you have a youtube channel please consider recording an Act 2 video of your own as well! For the amusement of others and for spreading the word about Act 2! :) That's it for this patch, more goodies are on the way as always. With , Venugopalan Sreedharan ~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~

[ 2018-10-09 15:06:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Celebrating Act 2's Release

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AO38wsPk8k Celebrating the release of "Lifecycles Act 2" here is the official release video along with a brand new OST aptly entitled "The Song Of Lifecycles Act 2"! Condensing 4-6 hours of unique gameplay into 6 minutes as a musical arrangement, be sure to watch the entire trailer above! :)

Release Notes

Act 2's release resulted in a 300% increase in peak players for DoN while also boosting its average play duration on Steam and bringing a 16% increase in reviews post release. All this has brought in a new generation of players for the game with more continuing to arrive! :)

Q4 2018 Roadmap

For this final quarter of 2018, the game's roadmap is still being worked out. With Act 2's release finally achieved the roadmap is actually quite flexible at this point and will be revealed in the coming weeks!

Bugfixing & Polishing

For the next 2-3 weeks the game will go through a bugfix, cleanup and polishing phase. Some compromises were intentionally made (mainly to visuals) in a bid to get Act 2 out last month and these shortcomings will first be addressed before moving on to new content. If there's any class of bugs or issues you're particularly interested in seeing fixed do report it now, because this bugfixing sprint is an ideal time to get such issues fixed. ~ Lots of interesting directions for the game to go in from here. Stay tuned for more on that! :) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-10-04 21:11:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Various improvements have been made to Lifecycles Ac 2, here's a summary! But before that...

300% increase in peak players!

Act 2's release increased the game's peak number of simultaneous players by nearly 300% to the previous month! An enormous amount of feedback mail has been pouring in as well.With more milestone releases like Act 3 around the corner, this is certainly a future trend for the game! On to Patch 1:

New Features

• Auto Saving

  
  We've all been there; forgetting to save just at that crucial moment when you really needed to! Now the game has your back with an Auto Save feature that periodically saves your progress. "Continue" menus has been added as well for easily resuming your game. If you are undone by a predator the game now presents you with a continue menu so you can quickly jump back.

Bug fixes

After studying the massive amount of community feedback that has been brewing over the past week a number of bugfixes has been made to the game:

• Ballooning now works consistently on flowers (even after saving & loading)
• Blue Mud Dauber stamina recharge issue fixed
• Blue Mud Dauber spider nest provisioning logic fixed
• Grasshopper leg kick (Act 2's new feature!) now properly gives a quick reflex warning before you (as a spider) are about to get crushed
• Grasshopper leg kick htitbox tweaked
• Nocturnal Wasp attack during silk tent construction's final stage no longer causes a crash :) (thanks to community member Dinoman for providing a very clear description of this bug so I was able to reproduce it!)

Other Improvements

• "Rushdown" hunting mechanics made much smoother and more consistent; a lot more fun now! :)
• Performance Friendly mode swarm supply rebalanced
• Grappling made easier on the default difficulty preset
• Swarm chem trails distance increased
• 4th instar quest logic fixed (no more details provided to prevent spoilers :))
• Players now enjoy increased predator cooldown time after escaping from an AI predator (psst... use this to flee to your silk nest for safety!)
• ...and that cooldown is increased even more so for nocturnal snatches (mostly by the wasps).
• Dart input tap interval decreased to prevent interference with Sprinting based on reports by a player.

More improvements are on the way! Please let me know if you face issues of any kind at all :)
With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-09-27 19:59:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Lifecycles party has begun! With 4-6 hours of new content and absolutely unique gameplay never seen or done in any game before, Drunk On Nectar's biggest Steam update is here at last!

Dwarfed by predator, Dwarfed by Prey

With unprecedented features such as 1) Prey and Predator Lifecycles running simultaneously, 2) Massively Populated Swarms of thousands upon thousands strong and a 3) Plethora of hunting skills and techniques for you to master, Lifecycles Act 2 is Drunk On Nectar's most technically impressive and gameplay rich experience:

For Youtubers: Multiple Videos Parts recommended

Act 2 is very long for a single playthrough, so Youtubers are recommended to record multiple parts; each life stage take around 20 minutes to complete with a total of 9 such instars. With over 10 million views on Youtube there's never been a better time to join Drunk On Nectar's growth story, so keep those videos coming! :)

Survive, Grow & Conquer "The Great Outdoors"

With carefully balanced Simulation, Sandbox and Unique Quests, Lifecycles Act 2 provides hours of fun and addictive gameplay in perhaps some of the most colorful backdrops you will have seen yet.

Please Save/Load frequently!

Auto-save feature is only coming next week so until then please save frequently! There are many obstacles you'll need to overcome in Act 2 so make good use of saved games; you can also Quick save (F7) and Quick Load (F9)

Known Issues / Pending Features

There are various known issues that need to be sorted out and will take around a week or so to fully resolve. Notable issues: 1) Ballooning on some flowers doesn't work in the later parts of the game. 2) Gamepad controls for climbing on plant stalk need reworking 3) Blue Mud Dauber player stamina stops recharging at a certain point Pending: 1) Auto-Save feature is coming next week (you can Save/Load manually as always) 2) Linux build is coming next week. As a single developer it's been challenging to QA this giant release single-handedly so kindly allow for 1-2 weeks for stability to be attained. In the meantime, please report any issues you face and they will be looked into immediately :)

Thank You! ❤

Thanks to all of you for waiting so patiently for Act 2 to emerge. Over the coming weeks of bugfixing, polishing and other improvements, I believe Act 2 will set the golden standard for DoN that the rest of the game will successfully follow in its unique depiction of nature and life. With Much ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan Developer of Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator

[ 2018-09-22 21:56:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Drunk On Nectar's biggest Steam update - Lifecycles Act 2 - The Great Outdoors, with 4-6 hours of new and exciting content, is releasing this weekend! This Saturday, on 22nd September 2018, come experience life in an astonishing 0.1 mm living, breathing world, where you, as a tiny Jumping Spider among 25 others, must Survive, Grow and Conquer, The Great Outdoors.
With standout features such as Parallel Lifecycles (prey and predator growing together!), Massive Swarms (several thousands with lifecycles!), New Species Abilities and several other unique surprises, Act 2 provides several hours of unique and unprecedented gamplay that has never been seen or done in any other game before. ~~ If you're hungry to know more about Act 2, check out the article below! https://www.indiedb.com/games/drunk-on-nectar/news/lifecycles-act-2-releasing-on-22nd-september-2018 Come, Join the fun this weekend! :D With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-09-20 13:15:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Video Update

Several game-changing features have been added in the run up to Lifecycles Act 2's release, this video takes an in-depth look at them! https://youtu.be/uQPXsRhPuEM ~ Below is a quick overview: (for more in-depth commentary check out the video above!)

Ballooning Spiders

Ballooning, the iconic spider dispersal technique which gained mainstream attention in recent years, is now a part of the game! Pull your lucky strand of silk out of those spinnerets and up into the air we go!

Hordes & Swarms (Population Density Simulator)

Massively boosting the number of creatures in the map, the population density system depicts large populations of various lifegroups across the map. These are not props, but creatures that exhibit full lifecycles of their own!

Drunk On Nectar now supports a theoritically unlimited number of creatures in a map thanks to this system! :) Over time this feature will continue to expand and cover more areas of the game, but for now its main purpose is to ensure Act 2's 25 strong Jumping Spider family has enough to go around for everyone.

New Species: Leafhopper

The species featured in the images above is the Leafhopper, a new species added for Act 2! Watch the video to learn more!

Breaching the 1mm barrier - A 0.66mm creature!

DoN has a new smallest creature! The 1st instar Leafhopper comes in at a mere 0.66mm and is barely visible unless you're paying attention!
Hint: They're smaller than the smallest creature that's visible in this pic :) Few more Act 2 pics:
Climb atop your elder siblings with the new "universal mounting" support!
The new swarms attract a lot of attention, so be careful out there!

Release ETA

All the basic systems are now in place and the A.I. is now able to complete its entire lifecycle along with the player. These core gameplay systems now need to be distilled into a more coherent experience with things like quests, a structured roadmap, etc for guiding players along Act 2's rich palette of features and creatures. Finally, Aphids and Springtails are being mooted for possible inclusion. One way or another, Act 2 will release this month, that is now certain :) Thanks again to everyone for being a part of Act 2's storied development effort; the wait is almost over now! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-08-08 22:55:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

On the cusp of Lifecycle's Act 2's release, DoN's developer Venu walks you through Act 2's new offerings in this video update. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O2LQopdUxc Topics discussed include: 1. Act 2's "Grasshopper lifecycles" themed hunting gameplay prototype 2. New skin for Female Jumping Spider 3. New Sandbox Lifestage grid

Release ETA

With the prototype now complete, additional features are being planned (details in video). Release schedule is flexible at the moment, could be pushed to next month as well if deemed necessary.

My Steam Dev Page!

Steam recently introduced a "Creator page" feature for developers and publishers. Here's a link to my new developer page! https://store.steampowered.com/dev/Venu/ ~

Act 2 Pics

I leave you with some pics of Act 2's micro-world escapades:
I ran into this giant while scouting for tiny grasshoppers :)
Big spiders build big nests, Small spiders build small nests! (observe the tiny instar and its nest on the center-right of the pic)
"Parallel lifecycles" depicting both the Jumping Spider and Grasshopper's growth, simultaneously, is one concept that was explored in the prototype.
New skin for the Female Jumping Spider
Mission Complete! On the verge of breaking free of its former skin, a 9th Instar Jumping Spider about to emerge, having survived and conquered "The Great Outdoors!" ~ Thanks again to everyone for your great patience in waiting for Act 2 all this while. I am confident that the Great Outdoors will provide you with several hours of enjoyment in return! :) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-07-13 08:00:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Nocturnal behavior, Diurnal behavior and Sleep depiction has now been designed and implemented per species, in an important milestone for the game. A "Nocturnal Wasp" has been added as the game's first nocturnal creature (currently A.I. only, but playable in Sandbox mode) along with an original music track for its diurnal counterpart. Finally a large number of a bugfixes and improvements also come with this update.

Come twilight, life begins to alter in DoN's world

In previous versions of the game, creatures would simply "sleep" in place. With this update, it's all a lot more storied now: A.I. Jumping Spiders scamper off in search of leaves to build their silken abodes. Blue Mud Daubers slowly retreat to their hollow logs of choice while their nocturnal counterparts begin to emerge and briskly scour the landscape for any stragglers unfortunate enough to run into them. Other creatures amble onto the underside of a leaf or find a quiet spot on the forest floor. Unfinished business like predation activity, combat, nest stockpilng, etc are now properly wrapped up by A.I. before they to go to sleep. Finally new sleep animations have been added. Let's take a look at some of these sleeping beauties! :) An A.I. Spider built this silk nest to keep those nocturnal wasps at bay. You should too!
Monarch Butterfly showing off its new "Sleep" animation pose
Using the underside of a leaf is just not this Dragonfly's style

Recommended Playing

To best experience this update, try the following modes:

• Jumping Spider Survival

  
  Now essentially contains Lifecycles Act 2's basic themes and motifs within it. Of course the main attraction of Act 2 is being a tiny third-instar Jumping Spider that powers its growth all the way up to maturity, so that will be a memorable experience in its own right.

• Sandbox - Nocturnal Wasp

  
  Get a glimpse of what nocturnal life in DoN will look like in the future! Playable Nocturnal species will certainly be added to the game over time.

• Nature Sandbox - Spectator

  
  An enormous number of A.I. bugfixes and behavioral improvements have gone into this update so it's a lot more enjoyable now to just sit back and watch the A.I. do its thing!

Bugfixes and Improvements

• Gameplay

  
  
  • Tiger Beetle snatch radius significantly increased to help new players acclimatize to its high speed better
  • Ants are now on the menu for the Jumping Spider.
  • Anatomy Combat matches are now much quicker in response to user feedback. Just a few well-timed critical strikes are now enough to subdue an opponent.

  • Advanced Grappling

    
    Massive grapple bonus is awarded for players while hurling a prey down by falling with it and grappling in mid-air. Use this strategy (snatch, leap, fall to ground) to easily conquer otherwise difficult opponents like an adult Grasshopper!

  • Locomotion

    
    
    • Wasp Locomotion major improvements. Wasp can now walk better and flips under leaves/etc easily. Especially important for walking in and out of the mud nest easily.
    • A.I. - Random spinning / turning of A.I. during land based pathfinding
    • has been greatly mitigated. A.I. - Accuracy of Long Jumps, Darts improved so A.I. doesn't keep falling down while trying to jump across.

  • Sandbox mode

    
    
    • Sandbox possess bug fixed - health/hunger are now correctly setup when you possess an A.I.
    • Creature Highlighting - Hover your mouse over a creature to receive feedback from creatures you can select
    • Sandbox Activity text fixed for Anatomy Combat.

  • Visuals

    
    
    • Floating hollow logs issue fixed by updating model and random map gen params
    • A.I. body placement on surfaces post locomotion improved
    • Free look activation/deactivation issues during grapple and after, fixed
    • Chem vision trails lingering fixed
    • Monarch animation no longer begins in Chrysalis form when you load a saved game

  • Grasshopper Improvements

    
    
    • Grasshopper Flight made much easier; previously the turn speed was set (unreasonably) high as a species trait.
    • A.I. Grasshopper no longer spins randomly while chewing leaves. Looks much better now!
    • A.I. Grasshopper short-flight accuracy improved. Grasshoppers also now favor leaves instead of flowers while fleeing from predators
    • Grasshopper 3rd Instar - Sandbox model fixed; it was previously getting squished due to incorrect application of Jumping Spider consumption after-effect.
    • Grasshopper 3rd Instar - Sandbox Lifecycles disabled for grasshopper instar for now due to pending setup work. This will get needs a formal release later though!

  Lifecycle of a Jumping Spider, Act 2 - The Great Outdoors

  
  This is the next update! All the gameplay systems, new creatures and rivalries are being woven together to bring the Jumping Spider's much awaited lifecycle into fruition. Hope you enjoy this update! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan
  Hard work rewarded - this clever Jumping Spider made it through the night and bore witness to a brilliant dawn. I hope you do too :)
  
  [ 2018-06-11 21:29:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survival mode just got a lot easier with this update as population levels will now auto-recharge when a species hits a critical minimum. Performance benchmarking has also been added and players are graded into 3 groups with optimizations automatically enabled depending on your benchmark results. Read on to learn more!

Auto Population Recharge

No more unpleasantries exchanged with a rival wasp or sibling as the last spider or food source on the map is air-lifted by a rival. Now there's plenty for everyone! Only Survival mode uses this system, Lifecycles mode is unaffected by this change to ensure simulation integrity. The motivation behind this change will become clear below as the new "performance grading" system is explained. In short, it became necessary to ensure that small maps with low population levels could still sustain gameplay for Survival Quests like Wasp nesting.

Performance Benchmarking & Grading

One-time performance bechmarking is now performed the first time you open the game (or this update). A performance grade is awarded based on which default values for various game settings are chosen. There are 3 performance grades: [olist]

Grade - "Pass"

Players with this grade meet or exceed the recommended system requirements. The default graphics quality of High is retained and by default the performance intensive "Temperate Forest Flowers" population preset is used.

Grade - "Below Recommended"

For systems that meet the minimum requirements but fall short of the recommended specs this grade is awarded. Video Resolution is automatically downscaled by 50% (this provides significant performance gains without adversely affecting visuals). View distance is also lowered to 0.5 (as opposed to the default 0.75)

Grade - "Below Minimum"

Systems that do not meet the game's minimum requirements are now provided with relevant benchmark details when they open the game. Graphics quality is automatically lowered to minimum and more importantly, "Performance Friendly" map preset is automatically selected as the default map. [/olist] If you believe your PC has been incorrectly graded do share your benchmark scores and system details below! (you can also email the support mail mentioned here) This auto-calibration will enable players who aren't familiar with graphics settings, population presets, etc to automatically enjoy the best possible format for the game relative to their specific system.

For Simpler Controls, Better Performance, Fair Gameplay

Recognizing player feedback around these three topics, a small but significant detour was taken from content development this month to focus on cleaning up bugs and improving ease of play. Upcoming patches and updates will continue this trend of making the game easier for new players to get into. ~~~ A Nocturnal Wasp now awaits! As twilight gives way to a velvety dark. Soon to strike from shadows bright A stinger that glistens with a spark. (In mundane words, the nocturnal wasp release is coming soon, you Jumping Spiders beware! :)) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-05-28 19:02:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Player feedback on the forums, feedback mail and youtube videos have been used to roll out one of DoN's biggest bugfix and general improvement release. Here's an overview:

A.I. Improvements

• A.I. now flees from predators more consistently
• Wasp A.I. no longer freezes up after catching spiders, nesting behavior is now reliable.
• Wasp A.I. snatch speed increased to improve snatch consistency
• Snatch issues for Dragonfly v/s 3rd Instar Grasshopper, mitigated
• A.I. now looks at you only if you're the same species (previously any species would turn and look at you when you get close to it)
• Simplified Grapple-Stamina: A.I. now gives up when you tire it out by draining its stamina (just like Ants in the Ladybug quest)
• Grooming for A.I is now more consistent
• Grooming for Flying A.I. now begins only after they land and touch down.

Animation updates

New animations

• Tiger Beetle - snatch animation
• Tiger Beetle - Grapple-Pin animation
• Tiger Beetle - Idle Struggle animation
• Blue Mud Dauber - Toppled Over anim
• Blue Mud Dauber - Immobilized anim
• Blue Mud Dauber - Idle struggle anim

Updated animations:

• Wasp Grooming anim extended to include hindleg and wings cleanup :)
• Wasp Walk to Drink Nectar anim transition issues fixed
• Tiger Beetle prey anim interactions (as prey) fixed.
• Grapple idle animations no longer get stuck after grappling
• Tiger Beetle walk/flight anim now plays properly while it has a prey snatched

Player/Simulation Improvements

• Ant Sneak tutorial for Ladybug creature quest fixed
• Wasp Nectaring phase made shorter for players and longer for A.I. Wasp Player hunger increased to compensate
• Hovering Explained: Players flying fast are now provided a flight hint about hovering. Essential for wasp gameplay (entering mud tunnels swiftly, etc)
• Crashing issue fixed - The game would crash on returning to the main menu in certain cases, now fixed
• "Performance" and "Exploration" Population Presets updated to include Blue Mud Dauber and Grasshoppers by default

Face-Off updates (for Blue Mud Dauber Wasp)

• Stinger is now used as the face-off finisher for Wasp against any creature (eventually the main modes will support this too for non-prey confrontations, etc)
• Wasp Snatch interaction setup designed for various creatures
• Survival quests are no longer triggered for the wasp in face off mode

  Recommended Face-off matchups

  
  
  • Wasp v/s Bee - Unlike the Dragonfly, the wasp's flight speed is insufficient to catch the bee, so you'll have to rely on strategy to come out on top. It's not easy to win this fight!
  • Jumping Spider v/s Wasp - Frantic dodge training practice as a Jumping Spider is what this often ends up being. Unlike the simulation mode the wasp has no nectaring phase here and always knows exactly where you're located so this confrontation is far more intense than its survival counterpart!

UI updates

• Grappling keys font changed as requested by a player, for easier readability
• Wasp players are now informed that they can use any nest for carrying spiders into. It doesn't have to be the first one you chose in the previous quest.
• "Strike" UI popup frequency reduced. Wherever it is obvious, only the prey outline visual cue is shown.

Sandbox updates

• Third-Instar Grasshopper added to Fauna spawn brush. Eventually players will be able to select the exact lifestage you want to spawn inside the sandbox (just like the population editor)
• Creature "Activity text" fixed for consistency. It was previously getting blanked out too frequently, now it easier to monitor a creature's activities in the sandbox

Thanks for reading, Thanks for playing!

There's always more to come! Development for the nocturnal wasp (required for Lifecycles Act 2) begins soon and there's more bugfixes and improvements in the pipeline as well. Please post your feedback as always! :) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-05-21 00:41:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Meet DoN's latest species: A Wasp that provides for its larvae by capturing spiders and sealing them shut inside a mud nest. Yikes! Here's the official release video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG6gNeCLih8
Oviposition occurs next to the spider By popular demand, this species has been made fully playable even though the original plan was an A.I. only cameo to facilitate the Jumping Spider's Act 2 lifestory. The "Blue Mud Dauber" Wasp features new Survival Quests, Egg laying and Nest provisioning gameplay. This update offers perhaps DoN's strongest gameplay yet, so please be sure to check out this new species (and the Jumping Spider survival where you now have a new adversary!) This is also DoN's biggest bugfix release yet, with several fixes and improvements added to the game.

Mud Wasp Gameplay Overview

Nectaring on flowers
Grapple Montage. Watch out for that stinger!
Inside a Mud Nest
Carrying a spider back to the nest So Is she a sweet nectar drinker or a fabled persecutor of spiders? Both actually, as the adult wasp only feeds on nectar. It is your larvae that have a penchant for spiders, so each egg of yours is carefully laid in a secure mud nest and provisioned with at least three spiders. This hybrid gameplay is what makes the wasp standout in the roster because it is simultaneously a benign pollinator of flowers, whilst also being a serious threat to the resident spider population.

Mud Nesting

Currently the A.I. uses a densely packed cluster of mud nests (co-located) while the player is provided with smaller chambers scattered throughout the map for you to explore and find. Mud Nest building is not a part of this update but, it will be added eventually.
An A.I. nest cluster. Best experienced in Jumping Spider "Survival" mode

DoN's biggest bugfix patch

Including, but not limited to:

• A.I. snatching issues fixed for tiny prey; they no longer enter a futile snatch loop while snatching tiny prey such as first-instar grasshoppers, Mealybugs, etc
• Milkweed leaves now support building silken nests on them (various bugfixes were needed to support this)
• Lifecycles - Moulting now covers health, stamina and other attributes as well (this was previously ommitted due to a bug)
• Lifecycles - Moulting now applies difficulty levels correctly (previously this was getting overwritten every moult)
• Plant Simulation - Sandbox planted plants now correctly set their lifestage up. This has implications for flora intersection handling and some other subtle visuals.
• Anatomy combat system - Damage per attack anim is now limited to one frame for normal attacks.
• Anatomy combat system - Multi-hit attack now allowed for some special moves. Currently only the Tiger Beetle's heavy strike supports this.
• Anatomy combat system - Larger Instars are now no longer vulnerable to smaller instars. Previously the larger body surface area of larger instars made them weaker in combat.
• Anatomy combat system - Stamina cost is now correct for fully grown Jumping Spider (previously the 1st instar's stamina cost was being used)
• Tiger Beetle grappling anim transitions fixed
• Tiger Beetle species name now shortened to "Cicindela Japonica"
• Ant grappling skill, strength reduced (it was previously nearly on par with a Jumping Spider, this was unintentional)
• Fixed exhaustion safety logic for A.I. from resulting in a behavior loop (for flying creatures)
• Fallen prey no longer wake up to jump/flee upon landing from a height :)
• ...and many more.

New Prop - Hollow Logs

Greatly benefiting the game's landscape both visually and gameplay wise, this release brings with it "Hollow Logs" that players (and A.I!) can travel inside:

On the horizon - Lifecycles Act 2

With the parasitoid wasps finally in place, all the building blocks for Act 2 are here. A nocturnal wasp will need to be added though, so that, along with gameplay design for Act 2 (and maybe another ground-based prey) are the pending tasks. Almost there now!
Thanks as always for reading, hope you enjoy playing the Blue Mud Dauber! :) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan PS: Release video coming soon!

[ 2018-05-12 21:15:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Why use someone else's silken tent when you can build your own? For shelter, for stashing food and so much more!
Male Jumping Spider happily ensconced in his palatial silken estate

Video overview

https://youtu.be/oPACKRoIPNw Watch the new Silk Tent system for yourself!

Act 2 Centerpiece Complete

Building silken tents of your own, was a key theme of "Lifecycles Act 2" and now this update now brings it just one step away from release. Use the Survival mode to try the silken tents right now! Your feedback will be used to improve the gameplay for the subsequent Act 2 release.

For Shelter!

Sleeping out in the open will no longer remain a safe option, so better build shelter if you seek to last the night. Parasitic Wasps are planned for the next release to act as a deterrent for night-time loafers (and thus wrap up Act 2's incremental stream of updates) and with these wasps looking to lay their eggs on you, you had best build a silken tent and keep it closed at night!
Cautiously peeping across the great outdoors

New A.I. Scavenging Behavior

Hoarders beware! A.I. will now opportunistically seize any prey you've left lying around, so gone are the times of piling up your day's hunts in an idle corner. All fallen prey now emit a chemical trail that both you (and A.I.) can detect and investigate.

For Stashing food!

With that background, you'll see why silken tents are also double-up as a neat storage depot. A closed silken tent cannot be opened by A.I. (although this might change in the future) making them ideal for stashing things. Furthermore, decomposition rates of all prey are frozen inside silken tents, so not only can you stash, but you can also preserve your food for a rainy day more easily.
Your personal silken storage depot. Remember to keep the door closed though!

Build v3.1.5 highlights

To facilitate the "Build With Silk" release various bugfixes and control improvements were also added for this release. Most notably movement on leaves, flowers and stalks should be a lot more stable now, making it a bit easier to carry heavy prey along those thin stalks and back to your silken home. Various bugs reported by players via the in-game feedback tool have also been addressed. Please keep the reports coming :)
Open Sesame!

The Road to Mating & Reproduction

There is now a keen focus on wrapping up the Jumping Spider's Act 2 release so that the game's ongoing focus on survival can transition back into Lifecycles, with mating and reproduction and the next milestone. Tthe Monarch Butterfly's long-awaited lifecycle completion (laying of eggs, etc) can finally be facilitated with this, followed by lifecycles for other creatures on the roster. New plants, flowers and natural props are also long-due and will be taken up at some point.
Almost there... Lifecycles Act 2 is incrementally heading towards release!

Thanks for reading!

Appreciate your feedback on this new release! Videos, screenshots, forum posts, et al are all very welcome. I hope that your gameplay experience is as smooth as silk! ;) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-04-12 22:34:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Swishing antennae, flailing mandibles and blisteringly fast limbs, a virtual tour of insect anatomy is now presented in DoN, in the form of an "anatomy combat system". The idea is to repackage traditional combat mechanics, a format that many players are already familiar with, in a manner that complements the game's focus on the natural world. Strike the Thorax to weaken your opponent, launch a critical hit onto the Abdomen for that final blow, or patiently prod their Forelegs to soften them up.

Gameplay Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvriGPUi7Mw Subscribe to DoN's Youtube Channel to be notified of new content!

How it works - Explaining DoN's Anatomy Combat System

Each creature's body is divided into major body parts; the primary limbs for locomotion, the head, thorax (or cephalothorax if they're fused together like in arachnids), abdomen, etc. Each body part then has a unique potency in an offensive capacity (eg: sharp mandibles deal more damage) and in a defensive role (eg: Abdomens are a weak spot, target them for earning critical hits on your opponent!) When two creatures engage in combat these bodyparts are shown to the player when they're struck and additional commentary is provided in some cases. Additional features like permanent limb damage (target the legs to limit the opponent's mobility), limb severance, etc, may be considered in the future, but for now player feedback is being monitored to first perfect the basics of this system.

Which parts of the game have changed?

So far only Tiger Beetle v/s Jumping Spider confrontations use this new system. The existing grappling system is still intact across the board and will always continue to be the ultimate decider in settling creature confrontations.

How to try the new combat system?

To try this new system you can either use the "Face Off" mode and setup a Tiger Beetle v/s Jumping Spider matchup (or use the quick link when the game opens) or you can play the Survival mode as either species and eventually you'll bump into an ill-tempered rival :)

Sandbox Mayhem

Don't forget to use the Sandbox mode to setup your favorite matchups too!
A group brawl featuring a horde of Jumping Spiders overwhelming a smaller, but more fleet-footed troop of Tiger Beetles. Psst: The Jumping Spiders won ;)

Fleeing from Combat

It is worth mentioning that you can (and should) flee from combat when you are overwhelmed, either via loss of health, or when you're swarmed by multiple opponents. To flee, just run away from your opponent and exit the combat zone (which is a predetermined radius of distance away from your opponent!). Similarly, the A.I. also flees from battle when it is about to be defeated. By the way, try snatching a fleeing Tiger Beetle if you can. They're very fast!

Feedback Sought

Your feedback is eagerly solicited on this new system! The current intention is to use this system to cover all rivalry interactions (predator v/s predator, etc) and some other future situations such as competing peers from the same species (mating rights, what not). The "Playfights" of Act 1 (which are the basis for this system) are meant to serve as training for the actual confrontations in Act 2. You have the opportunity to influence the future direction of this experimental system, so please try out this update and voice your thoughts below, in the forums or via the in-game Feedback Tool.

Until next time!

So get those insect body parts swirling now and check out DoN's new anatomy combat system in this update! WIth ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-03-24 01:15:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Introduction

Swishing antennae, flailing mandibles and blisteringly fast limbs, a virtual tour of insect anatomy is now presented in DoN, in the form of an "anatomy combat system". The idea is to repackage traditional combat mechanics, a format that many players are already familiar with, in a manner that complements the game's focus on the natural world. Strike the Thorax to weaken your opponent, launch a critical hit onto the Abdomen for that final blow, or patiently prod their Forelegs to soften them up.
~ Video Coming Soon! ~ Subscribe to DoN's Youtube Channel to be notified!

Which parts of the game have changed?

So far only Tiger Beetle v/s Jumping Spider confrontations use this new system. The existing grappling system is still intact across the board and will always continue to be the ultimate decider in settling creature confrontations.

How to try the new combat system?

To try this new system you can either use the "Face Off" mode and setup a Tiger Beetle v/s Jumping Spider matchup (or use the quick link when the game opens) or you can play the Survival mode as either species and eventually you'll bump into an ill-tempered rival :)

Fleeing from Combat

It is worth mentioning that you can (and should) flee from combat when you are overwhelmed, either via loss of health, or when you're swarmed by multiple opponents. To flee, just run away from your opponent and stay away for long enough! Similarly, the A.I. also flees from battle when it is about to be defeated. By the way, try snatching a fleeing Tiger Beetle if you can. They're very fast!

Feedback Sought

Your feedback is eagerly solicited on this new system! The current intention is to use this system to cover all rivalry interactions (predator v/s predator, etc) and some other future situations such as competing peers from the same species (mating rights, etc). The "Playfights" of Act 1 (which are the basis for this system) are meant to serve as training for the actual confrontations in Act 2. You have the opportunity to influence the future direction of this experimental system, so please try out this update and voice your thoughts below, in the forums or via the in-game Feedback Tool.

Until next time!

So get those insect body parts swirling now and check out DoN's new anatomy combat system in this update! WIth ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-03-24 01:15:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Japanese Tiger Beetles are now playable in Drunk On Nectar! Blistering speed, fearsome mandibles and dazzling looks to go with them, they are perhaps the most fun creature to play in the game right now, so do not miss out on these swift beauties!
Obligatory grooming GIF
This poor Ant was simply not fast enough

Build v3.1.3 Highlights

As a show of thanks to everyone for patiently waiting for Act 2 all this while, the Tiger Beetle which was originally planned as an NPC (non-playable) has been released as a fully playable creature. The active cast of Act 2 is now slowly falling into place and just a few more creatures need to be added before all major players to support the Jumping Spider's lifestory are ready for action. Apart from the iconic Tiger Beetle's inclusion, many other improvements have been added as well:

Rebranding of DoN: Drunk On Nectar - The Nature Simulator

As some of you have already noticed, the game's title now has a suffix to go with it! The intention is to allow people to better understand at first glance what the game is about. Please feel free to provide feedback on this change as the more swiftly DoN reaches a larger audience, the bigger the game too can grow!

Two New Original Music Tracks (Total of 10 now!)

To celebrate the Tiger Beetle release two new music tracks written exclusively for DoN have been added to the game! Check them out in the Extras -> "Music of DoN" section or simply while playing the game. This brings the total number of original soundtracks in DoN to 10! On top of this, another new sound track dedicated to the Tiger Beetle is being written right now and will make it into the next release :) Eleventh for the swift one!

Random Maps with Seed input support

Players can now enter Seed numbers for random maps. For those not familiar with the concept, random map seeds are numbers that you can enter or specify to control the outcome of the random map (visuals, population levels, spawn locations, etc) in a deterministic manner. This means if you find a random map you like, you can simply memorize the number and enter it again to replay the same random map!
Speed isn't everything when you're dealing with an ancient aviator

Fauna Interaction Bugfixes

With a keen focus on the Tiger Beetle's mandibles, a number of long-standing issues in the game with hunting visuals have finally been fixed. Creatures latch on to other creatures in a far more convincing manner now. Nearly every creature benefits from this change. There is more scope for improvement in this space and as always future updates will continue to iron out visuals over time.

Jumping Spiders v/s Tiger Beetles v/s Dragonflies

The rivalry is on. The three-way tussle between these three predatory forces is now underway in full swing and is a new dynamic that denizens of the forest floor will need to reckon with. One is an expert grappler, climber and strategist. Another is swift, fearless and built for combat. The third, a master of the skies. Who shall prevail? Download this update and find out for yourself! ~ The new brawler-style combat system (playfights) is not yet in place for the Tiger Beetle but eventually this will be the mechanism through which its confrontations with the Jumping Spider are adjudicated. For now, its the plain old reflex based grappling system.

Calling Youtubers for Tiger Beetle videos!

The official release video is not out yet, so you can still make the first ever Tiger Beetle gameplay video of Youtube, the Internet and all of the world! If you're as swift as our fleet-footed friend, that is, as the official video will be out soon too. That's it for this update! Enjoy playing as the fastest insect in the world and perhaps, perhaps one of the most beautiful ones too! :) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan PS: May More GIFs Appear Below!

[ 2018-03-01 18:07:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

For those wondering why things have been quiet of late, the game's development has been shifted to a new city. As DoN's sole developer I've been very busy with moving, shifting and setting up infra in the new place. Development of Lifecycles Act 2 was intentionally deferred to make room for this relocation. Things have finally settled down now, so it's back to building Act 2 at full capacity! In addition to this, the game's development methodology has also shifted (original post) to allow for more detail, deeper gameplay and better QA than the previous updates. Lot of changes are coming including a transition from the game's random map generation to more traditional hand-crafted maps which accommodate detail far more easily than the current model of random map generation. Sorry again for the super-long delay on Act 2. Many of you have posted via the game's feedback tool indicating your eagerness for it and your feedback is certainly being heard! Things should rapidly pick up pace now that this big move is complete.

Build v3.1.2

For those who missed out on this min-announcement, an update was released last Sunday with several improvements to the game including new animations for the Grasshopper!
Here's a quick summary:

• Flying creatures no longer get stuck mid-flight
• New animations: Grasshopper grooming and idle animations added, chem-reception cost tweaked, Grasshopper model, textures vastly improved
• Grasshopper & Dragonfly A.I. vastly improved, various bugfixes to A.I in general
• DoN's Lighting is reworked: Daytime brightness modulated, all in-game detail now more easily visible

That's it for this update! With the long gestation period involved in relocating to the new premises nearly complete, now the benefits of this move should be apparent in the form of faster development times, better content and of course, a fresh start for the game! Development now resumes with maximum verve and vigor! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan
PS: More of these beauties are headed your way soon :)

[ 2018-02-11 19:54:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Featuring Grasshoppers, a redesigned Survival mode, Saving & Loading support and an improved foodchain, this update is a special treat for those who enjoy the survival aspects of the game, which by extension is also a key focus of the upcoming Lifecycles Act 2 release. See for yourself in this video!

Video Overview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsY3LCPqbiY

Survival Reboot

Survival mode now requires you to go all the way from Spring to Summer to win. Definitely give this mode a whirl again as the gameplay dynamics have changed drastically with the arrival of new prey, a reworked food chain and longer survival requirements.

Jumping Spiders v/s Dragonflies - The rivalry is on

Jumping Spiders can finally get back at their winged rivals - while they are on the ground of course. This now means Dragonfly A.I. will actively flee from you while it is resting on a perch, but pursue you relentlessly if it has aerial advantage. Have the skill and patience needed to catch a Dragonfly unawares and give it a taste of its own medicine? Find out for yourself by playing the new survival mode!

Grass is now 3D, with full collision!

With our resident Grasshoppers demanding that their green stations of choice be made accessible forthwith, a new 3D collidable grass has been added. Climb atop it, munch on it or use it as a launching pad to strike prey if you're a wily Jumping Spider.
As a result, the landscape floor is now drastically different for players as for the first time you can actually see into the distance without large clumps of purely visual grass blocking your vision. This should improve your gameplay experience, but as always do post your candid feedback on these changes!

Saving & Loading support

It's finally here. You can now save and load your games at any point. This is still in somewhat early stages so please report any bugs or issues with loading your saved games and they will be looked into straight away.

Grasshopper Gameplay

Browse on grass or leaves, use your strong legs or wings (as an adult) to get around and use your size and strength to thwart predators. Jumping Spiders have a special bonus attack if they get the jump on you though (via long jump) so beware! Dragonflies do not normally mess with adult Grasshoppers, but for now (and on Easy mode) you will be able to overpower them. Lifecycles for Grasshoppers will also be released in 2018, but only after the Jumping Spider and Monarch Butterfly's reproductive cycle (Act 3) is done.

Mouth-shapes/patterns for browsers!

For those juvenile Jumping Spiders left wondering whether that hole in the leaf was a poisonous fifth-instar caterpillar or a juicy grasshopper, now the guesswork is taken out for you!
Mandibles/Mouthparts make different impressions on foliage for different creatures, so now each browser leaves its own unique mark while munching on a leaf! Little touches like these are being added for Act 2 to ensure the game's attention to detail continues to grow along with its creatures.

Lifecycles Act 2 News

Given that Act 2 - "The Great Outdoors" focuses on survival it was deemed essential to release this survival reboot along with the Grasshopper first. With this release out of the way focus shifts back to Act 2. The development cycle has been protracted due to technical complexity and a steep increase in QA requirements; with the game continuing to grow and expand, the sheer number of QA permutations that need to be tested and bugfixed for every species, every game mode, etc is adding to the overall development cycle. In the meantime do provide feedback on the new Survival mode and food chain so that any feedback received can be utilized to improve Act 2. That's it for this update, hope you enjoy DoN's Green Grasshoppers! :) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-01-22 03:40:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is another patch in the run up to Lifecycles Act 2 with a focus on A.I. improvements for the entire game. Major highlights include Dragonfly hunting A.I overhaul and Lifecycles Act 1 A.I. (Jumping Spider early instars). This patch carries significant improvements to both. To whet your appetite, here's a preview of DoN's new Grasshopper for Act 2!
Texturing is not yet done! hence the golden hue

Changelog

Flying Creatures A.I.

• Dragonfly A.I. can now travel to and snatch grounded prey with far a greater chance of success. Jumping Spiders esp, beware!
• 3D Pathfinding critical bugfix; flying creatures no longer get permanently stuck in mid-air .
• Dragonfly A.I. stamina limited to compensate for improvements. A.I. is forced to rest/perch frequently and can only pursue prey for short durations.
• Perched Dragonflies can be taken down by adult Jumping Spiders from the next update onwards (Act 2).

Lifecycles Act 1 A.I.

• Major behavior bugfixes. Instar activity is now smooth and efficient, A.I. now completes its growth cycle fully.
• Moulting mid-fight is now prevented (this was an edge case to do with XP earned from counterattack)
• Bigger instars are now able to make combat contact with smaller instars more easily during combat
• Bigger instars now deliver greater combat damage compared to smaller ones
• Bigger instars pick up items with better accuracy
• Hitbox modified for young Jumping Spiders to prevent visual intersection in some cases
• A.I. no longer glitches/spins around while moving/turning for activity.
• Fauna evasion behavior improved (upon colliding with each other).
• Instars caught under the egg sac's silk webbing are now swiftly evacuated :)
• Instars escaping the eggsac glitch has been fixed
• Post-playfight toppling over anim now plays consistently.

Bonding system bugfixes

Follower / Spectator distances increased to give more room to the player.

After grooming Min Walk Speed is now properly restored. Previously it was stuck at the grooming value (slowing down the player)

Grooming visual feedback and audio now modulates correctly when players are frantically tapping LMB and RMB together :)

Changed "follower lost" text color/style for readability Misc

• Caterpillar infinite leaf farming prevented; browsed leaf areas are no longer browsable (this used to work correctly in previous builds)
• Gamepad input cue in the bonding screen (for Continue) corrected
• Gamepad I1/I2 changed to A/B (from X/Y) for consistency
• Gamepad controls image updated (was outdated before)
• Font changes to Act 1 intro for readability

Your A.I. siblings can now finally grow up to third-instar quite briskly :)

Act 2 Dev

While this bugfix spree has delayed Act 2's core development a fair bit (many new species are planned, on that note!), it was inevitable as Act 2's gameplay revolves around A.I. hunting/evasion/etc and so this solid foundation was necessary. On the bright side things like the improvements made to Dragonfly A.I. will benefit new species like the Spider Wasps that are being added to Act 2.

New Species confirmed for Act 2

The following A.I. species are confirmed for the next update:-

• Grasshoppers (First-instar, Nymph, Winged adult)
• Spider Wasps
• Tiger Beetles
• Springtails
• Whiteflies
• Possibly more...

Here's some Grasshopper WIP footage for your time :)
Texturing is not yet done! hence the golden hue See also, GIF: Grass-hopping antics More WIP images of new species will be shared this week! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2018-01-09 00:57:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

In anticipation of DoN's Lifecycles Act 2, this patch brings major improvements to the game that significantly bolsters gameplay experience, fixes several long-standing issues and improves upon nearly every aspect of the game.

Patch Notes

For a full list of improvements see further below.

When will Act 2 release?

Act 2 will release in January 2018, the exact time period in still being worked out. Several factors contributed to this delay, let's look at some of them below: 1. The decision to finally develop a Save/Load system for DoN as part of Act 2 was one source of delay. The game's living plant simulation (where plants germinate from seeds, sprout leaves, blossom, etc) proved exceptionally complex to distill into a compact save file. Saving/Loading was finally achieved last week though and is an important milestone for the game as players will soon be able to save their Lifeycles progress and eventually even share their Sandbox creations/etc. 2. Apart from infrastructure dev, there was the need to polish and fix outstanding glitches in the existing game before adding new content. These needed a fair amount of time to build and test as well. That's ultimately the purpose of today's patch, so let's review that:

v.3.0.4 List of improvements:

Lifecycles Act 1

• A.I. growth capacity significantly bolstered by smarter movement, evasion and foraging.
• Now the A.I. will not only keep pace with you, but swiftly outgrow you if you don't keep up :)
• Egg-sac occupants are now prevented from accidentally falling out of the egg sac / flipping over.
• Visual glitches while picking up pollen grains fixed. Camera no longer jerks around! Creature turning anim plays properly too.
• Pausing the game before narration no longer causes narration to get stuck after unpausing.
• Bonding follower now behaves like a spectator during playfight (instead of annoyingly getting between you and the opponent :))
• Grooming while climbing atop another creature (usually your Mother!) is fixed
• Female Jumping Spider's texture details are now more evident (like the male) while growing to better emphasize their growth.
• Added reminder to Act 1 outro that players can use the "Survival" mode to play as adult Jumping Spider even now :)
• Egg emergence input cue changed to simply "Hold W" (instead of the previous "hold W/S/D/A")

Combat System

• A.I. combat intelligence significantly improved, Combat logic fully reworked. A.I. can handily defeat players now!
• Combat face/off distance is now correct for smaller-instars playfighting with larger-instars. Previously they'd end up under the larger creature.
• Heavy Strike audio cue now plays consistently. It was previously getting swallowed in certain cases.

A.I. Locomotion

• Creatures no longer fall off when bumping into another fauna. They hop off intelligently! Especially evident during playfights
• Evasion - Flying creatures no longer get stuck when bumping into each other. Evasion behavior also improved.
• Evasion on vertical surfaces/angles fixed for walking creatures

A.I. Behavior

• Adult Jumping Spider scouting behavior fixed (this was broken recently)
• Major bugfix that vastly increases a creature's ability to perceive flora/food in a map

Camera

• Invert camera option now supports independent controls for Walking and Flying modes
• Look up clamp relaxed for cam to make looking up easier
• Mouse turn-around setting option removed. Streamlining camera management code became necessary due to multiple possible camera paths (spider cam, regular third-person, etc)

World Generation

• Caterpillar now spawn on leaves with gentle slopes (as opposed to steep ones) to make camera viewing angle and movement easier for players.
• Adult fauna spawning for non-Lifecycle game modes fixed
• Population of Monarchs v/s Viceroys and Bees finetuned in favor of the latter (for gameplay)
• Amount of nectar per flower decreased to encourage flower-hopping

UI

• In-Game Clock fixed to show user-friendly time, removed from all modes except Survival and Sandbox
• Stamina/bodyfat alert cue no longer flashes too quickly, readability improved.

Hunting

• Prey Snatch mechanism rewritten; grasping prey with mandibles is more physical now.
• Long Jump aiming+camera improvements in anticipation of Act 2; still more room for improvement here.
• Long-Jump-Snatch positioning issue for Jumping Spider fixed
• Long Jumping onto a creature you can't snatch no longer suspends you in mid-air!

Sandbox

• Floral varieties spawning in Sandbox mode fixed (eg: different colors of Orange Lily flowers)

"Hard mode" improvements

• Hard mode's mandatory "Manual snatch via Shift" for hunting is now explained to player at startup
• Stamina mgmt for JP lifecycles in hard mode reworked
• Grappling in hard mode reworked for all game modes.

Audio

• Increased tempo of bonding-new-bond music cue
• Reduced volume of jump tutorial feedback cue, fixed cross-play / overlap of progress cues
• Eggs cracking open can no longer be heard by farway walking creatures :)

There's still plenty of room for improvement, but for now the focus shifts back to Act 2. Screenshots of new species (NPC) on both sides of the food chain will be shared next week! Thanks again to everyone for your patience in waiting for Act 2. It is shaping up to be the game's most exciting update yet, so the wait will be worth it :) Learn to live in the Great Outdoors, Build your own silken egg sacs, March on towards adulthood and beyond! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-12-28 01:20:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

To celebrate Drunk On Nectar's first anniversary on Steam EA, DoN's milestone "Lifecycles" update was released last week on 16th November 2017.

Lifecycle of a Jumping Spider

Built at an unprecedented 0.1 mm scale and buoyed by several new gameplay systems, DoN's lifecycles journey is officially in full swing. The first update depicts the Jumping Spider's birth from an egg and growth up to the third instar.

Act 1 - The Silken Egg Sac

Here's a quick video overview! https://youtu.be/2rgBjTuOLlI New Features Roundup Several new systems were added to the game to support DoN's Lifecycles journey, here's a quick roundup of some of them:

Body Anatomy & Combat System

Major body parts of creatures have been mapped to limbs that players can interact with and learn about in various gameplay situations. In combat, strikes to vital parts like the Cephalo Thorax or Abdomen earns you a critical hit. This new combat system will eventually supersede the existing Hunting/grappling system.
The anatomy system is also used for grooming - a simple mini-game where players learn about various limbs while improving their relationship meter with a creature (more on that below!).

Bonding & Relationship System

Every creature now has a unique "Creature Glyph" - a 2D hologram-like image that is procecdurally generated to be unique for every creature. By bonding with a creature you unlock its Glyph (think of it like a name) and gain access to various bonding options.
Come With Me allows you to form a party of creatures that will follow you (and in future updates, assist you in combat, quests, etc). The better your relationship with a creature or your Clan Reputation, the longer they will follow you. Play-Fight: Animals often learn the tools of their trade by playfighting with siblings. In a unique take on this concept, you can now playfight with creatures of your species. This fills an important gameplay vacuum for early instars too (one of the main motivations behind the bonding system as well). Groom: Boost your relationship level with a creature and earn some Xp while you're at it in a simple grooming mini-game. Give Item: Carrying an item on you, bond with a creature and offer it to them! In return, they will follow you around for longer (and generally approve of you). Teach Skill / Learn Skill: Once DoN's multi-generation lifecycles update is out, you will acquire unique skills across multiple generations and that knowledge can be shared / acquired from peers through the Bonding screen. The idea is to make every creature unique in some respect (some will be better at combat, others will acquire special ways to use silk, build better shelter, woo a mate more easily, etc).

Experience System

Bodyfat is no longer the sole criteria for progress. To offer players a broader gameplay experience than would otherwise be possible, creatures need to saturate both their bodyfat and their Xp levels to moult/pupate/etc.

Quests & Narratives

A quest and narration system has been built from ground-up to guide new players with specific objectives and goals pertaining to a creature's life. The narrative adds another dimension to the game for those players expecting a broader context or storyline.

Procedural Cinematics system

Each time you start a new Jumping Spider lifecycles game, a completely new cinematic is generated as you're air-lifted through the green glades of DoN's procedurally generated world. Combined with random-map generation, this makes every cinematic and playthrough different from the other. There's a virtually inexhaustible number of scenes that you can generate and enjoy watching simply by restarting the game over and over!

Diurnal / Nocturnal sleep system

Diurnal creatures (active by day) like the Jumping Spider are now coaxed into retiring at night via stamina and over-exertion penalties. Sleeping for the night triggers a timelapse which lasts till morning. Your health and stamina are fully restored when you wake up.

Creature Mounting Ability

Tiny creatures can now climb larger creatures (like their mother!) with limb accuracy and animation support. The larger creature can move a very tiny limb (like a pedipalp) and the tiny mounted creature will cling on snugly as the limb animates. Great news for creatures who carry their brood on their back!

And many more...

Many other changes and improvements including the HUD, menus, smarter flora generator, etc have been made. As this post is getting super-long already I will conclude here and get to the roadmap :)

Roadmap

The release video offers a colorful rendition of the roadmap, but if you prefer plain text here's a quick rundown: December 2017 Jumping Lifecycle Act 2 - "The Great Outdoors" - Hunting, Survival, Building shelter 2018 Q1 - 1 Jumping Spider Lifecycle Act 3 - "The Nuptial Dance" - Mating, Reproduction, Parenting 2018 Q1 - 2 Monarch Butterfly Lifecycle wrap up (using all the new systems) 2018 Q1 - 3 Multi-Generation gameplay - Character Progression across generations: Skills, Traits, Seasons, etc Other items on the card include Carpenter Bee lifecycle, Ladybug lifecycle and the Dragonfly's lifecycle. After this marathon lifecycles march is complete, Multiplayer support (with lifecycles!) will finally be added to the game.

Bugs/Issues/Feedback

With so many new gameplay systems and experimental concepts, it was inevitable that bugs and issues crept in to the release build. Several patches were released over the past week to address these, though there's still some work to be done here. Please do report any issue you run into, that's the best way to ensure that your nature game lives up to your expectations.

Videos / Steam Reviews requested

If you have a youtube channel please upload videos of your Drunk On Nectar gameplay! This will not only help spread the word about the game, but also provides immensely valuable data for understanding how players approach the game and is also the primary source of feedback used to shape future updates of the game. If you haven't written a Steam review for the game yet, please do consider writing one as well to help fuel the game's growth on Steam! Finally, you have indeed reached the end of this super-long announcement. Thank you for reading! :) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan ~~ PS: Time for a new DoN poem! A Circle of Life unfolds, Carrying in its bosom, A story of creatures untold, Hid among shimmering blossoms. The Life of Animals, of Plants & Trees, Nature's shapes and forms in view, Come, experience the grand sum of these, Drunk On the Nectar of Life anew. Lifecycles! Here we come! :) ~~~

[ 2017-11-22 01:04:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Lifecycles - Drunk On Nectar's biggest and most ambitious update is being meticulously crafted around the clock. This is a complete gameplay rewrite of the current game with lifecycles, character progression and other genre-crossing mechanics headed your way.

Video Preview

Check out the first Lifecycles video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pUJuxwk65o

Release Estimate

This update is scheduled for Q4-2017. Anywhere between 8-12 weeks more is needed to do justice to such vast topics as Mating & Reproduction, Parenting, Character Progression, Skills, Seasons and more.

Lifecycles Itinerary

Starting with the Lifecycle of a Jumping Spider, DoN will wrap up the Monarch Butterfly's mating and reproduction (they've been waiting for this for a long time now!), then followed by the Carpenter Bee's fantastic nesting & lifecycle (wood tunnels!), then followed by the Ladybug's inimitable metamorphosis from a curious looking larva to the familiar bright-red elytra sporting adult. This all will culminate in the mighty Dragonfly's fabled Aquatic lifecycle thus finally ushering DoN's arrival into freshwater ecosystems, a vast topic by themselves. ~~~ All that is a lot of stuff to build, so appreciate your patience as this humongous journey of Lifecycles development is being fulfilled. Everything that can be done to expedite this release is being done, however this is a very important update for DoN to fulfill its EA goals, so where necessary more time will have to be taken to ensure that the those goals are fully met, exceeded and comprehensively won over. For more Lifecycles news subscribe to DoN's Youtube channel or Twitter or Steam community hub. Stay tuned for more! :D WIth ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan (Developer of Drunk On Nectar)

[ 2017-09-07 20:03:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

As an Early Access game, Drunk On Nectar needs your feedback to grow and improve every day. To make this easier, an in-game feedback dashboard has now been added! You can now voice your thoughts without using the forums or any other external channel.

1) Feedback Dashboard

Press TAB any time while playing to open the feedback dashboard (or use the new left panel while on the main menu). If you have any feedback you want to quickly send before you forget or if you just don't feel like posting it in the forums, you can now simply use the feedback tool to make sure you're heard! Feedback about the feedback tool sent using the feedback tool is also welcome ;)
~~~ This large patch also carries a number of improvements to the game. With these improvements now in place, development will finally switch gears from polishing the existing product to creating new content again :) Graphics Improved for High, Epic presets (see section 5)
Chemical Vision now in full color (see section 4)
Here's an overview:

2) Climbing Mechanics Improved

* Creatures can now intuitively climb above/under any surface just by walking up to it! * The previous "Alt to Flip Over" mechanic is now totally removed. Alt key is now used to switch between Simulation/Player mode in Sandbox. * Major bugfix for walking creatures. Walking on complex foliage (eg: Fern Fronds) is now smooth and glitch-free!

3) Camera Improvements

* On vertical stalks and other steep surfaces, camera no longer tries to change your view while you're turning in-place. * Auto-spider-cam: Camera is now pinned directly behind player while walking downwards along a stalk. Much easier to see where you're going. * Spider-Cam can now be activated at any time by holding the right-mouse button (for walking creatures).

4) Chemical Vision Reworked

* Chemical Vision no longer desaturates the entire screen; chemical trails are now shown alongisde the colors of the actual world. * This makes it easier (on the eyes) to spend longer time in chemical vision, it is much more closely aligned with the game's regular color scheme.

5) Graphics Upgrade

* The recent performance work has provided some leeway for graphical quality improvements, which have been leveraged in this patch: * Shadow quality improved on High, Epic presets * View distance tweaked for all flora to achieve a better compromise between good visuals and performance (in favor of visuals).

6) Gamepaly & Balancing Changes

* Increased Grappling Reflex of A.I. in Easy mode to make it a bit more challenging. * Perception radius reduced for all creatures in Easy mode to add a bit more empahsis on exploration.... * Ant v/s Beetle - Sound effect added for when Ants sting you. * Ant v/s Beetle - Input hints added to encourage players to fly away with the ants instead of grappling with them.

7) Misc

* Sandbox now displays a "Press to go back to Sandbox mode" hint. * Sandbox difficulty dropdown disabled for now as it doesn't make much sense in the current scheme of things. * Added EARLY ACCESS watermark to the game and menus to emphasize to players (and onlookers!) that DoN is still in early stages. Feedback is encouraged as the game continues to add new gameplay and content. That's it for this update! ~~~ Do try out the new feedback dashboard and send your thoughts across! :D ~~~ With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-07-16 21:17:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Flying creatures now splash water while skimming its surface! If you haven't completed the "Curious Triad" creature quest yet, give it a try again because this patch contains rebalancing and bugfixes that make your Beetle-life quicker and easier. The ongoing focus on improving the existing product first before moving on to new features continues with this build. Here's an overview!

Improvements & Bugfixes:

• Multithreading support added for flying creatures' pathfinding. It is now possible to spawn many more flying creatures and have them respond to the world almost instantly!
• Population levels of all creatures increased! thanks to the recent performance and multithreading work. The world looks so alive now! :D
• Critical bugfix for walking creatures' pathfinding. Ants can now find their way up to any target much better. Beetles beware!
• Creature consumption visuals vastly improved.
• Flower perch locations fixed for walking creatures. They now no longer glitch/intersect while resting on flowers.
• Honeydew particle fx fixed. Now you can see the ants farming mealybugs properly :)
• Sandbox spawn camera angle reworked so you always see flowers around.
• Sandbox brush tool now highlights the fauna you're placing separately so you know it's a brush preview (and not an actual creature in the world!)
• Sandbox brush tool spawn height improvements - you now get a nice random spread while placing creatures
• Fixed random spinning of flying creatures in certain situations
• Dragonfly no longer takes off upon seizing an already fallen prey
• Prey subdual bar now hides itself after an aerial grapple is complete
• Imperata Cylindrica (grass) visual glitch fix
• Water splash effect fixed for tutorial map while restarting to a prior checkpoint
• New: Water gliding effects added for flying creatures skimming across any water surface! :D
• Camera Zoom feature now prevents zooming in beyond the creature being controlled. Zoom settings are now carefully tuned for every creature in the game.
• Spacebar can now be used to toggle fly/walk for flying creatures (in addition to the existing ctrl).
• Short-jumps for flying creatures is now removed.
• Fixed end-game messages to show up properly upon exhaustion/starvation/ant-stings/etc

Gameplay/Species rebalancing

• Increased Ladybug walk speed
• Increased Ladybug pre-flight hop height. This makes it easier to start flying without bumping into obstacles/etc.
• * Increased short-flight duration for Ladybug, lowered stamina cost
• * Decreased Mealybug consumption duration
• Creatures that escape a grapple clutch no longer fall, but are instead rooted to a nearby floor. In the future this may be limited to Easy difficulty
• (per above) Mealybugs dropped by Ladybugs now fall right onto the stalk and carry on where they left off (instead of heading for bottom of the stalk). This makes it easier to catch them again after you've chased away the ants!
• Dragonfly is now permitted to hover in mid-air (spacebar key) and still snatch prey while hovering (previously you needed to attain a minimum flight speed)
• Dragonfly is now permitted to hunt while groudned (results in auto-take off post snatch)
• Dragonfly can no longer teleport across flowers to snatch prey. This makes hiding under flowers viable again! Esp relevant for PvP (not in the game yet, but still!)
• Reduced Mealybug grappling strength to allow larger creatures to easily overcome them.
• Intro text changed for Curious Triad Creature Quest.
• Hint messages on dealing with ants improved to encourage players to use the Beetle's flying skills to carry opponents away as a viable strategy for winning the quest.

"What's New?" feature added to main menu

Now you can catch up on the latest DoN updates straight from the main menu using the new "What's New" button near the version number. Not all patches are announced here in the community hub, so this is a great way to keep up with new features released in minor patches that keep trickling frequently. That's it for this humongous bugfix patch! ~~~ In-Game tutorials for all creatures are still being worked on and will arrive soon. After that.... Lifecycles for all creatures! :D Hope you enjoy this vastly improved version of Drunk On Nectar :) With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-07-07 15:54:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Now enjoy Drunk On Nectar with smoother frame rates! If you've had any performance issues whatsoever with the game (or even if not), please download this patch and report your new FPS! The patch should massively boost your frame rates across mid-end, low-end and even high-end GPUs. Please download this patch and report your FPS here or in the FPS Survey thread! ~~~

Still having performance issues?

If your performance is still not satisfactory after this patch, please report your FPS and system details in the FPS Survey thread! straight away! That's the best way to ensure that sufficient attention can be devoted to your specific setup.

Improved Medium and Low video presets

High/Medium/low video settings have been vastly improved to deliver a much better visuals-to-performance ratio. This allows mid-range hardware to still run a good looking game while achieving consistently high frame rates. High is the default video setting now. If you have a powerful system do take the time to up your video settings to Ultra(/Epic) to enjoy the best possible visuals the game has to offer.

Let's take a closer look

If you have any feedback on the new visuals, please post those too :)
Video Setting: High, Life Of Animals Mode, Ladybug,
Video Setting: High, Life Of Animals Mode, Dragonfly
Video Setting: High, Life Of Animals Mode, Jumping Spider
Video Setting: Epic, Nature Sandbox mode

Reminder: FPS Survey

Please post your new FPS in the FPS Survey thread! This will greatly help in validating the success of this performance patch, so do take the time :) Before moving on to new content it is now imperative to ensure that players across different hardware are able to enjoy the existing product to the maximum, so the ongoing theme of polish, bugfixes and performance improvements will continue for at least a couple of weeks. Feedback is welcome! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-06-26 19:19:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Check out DoN's brand new trailer showcasing how far the game has come since its EA foray on Steam! https://youtu.be/6c0GtCIB_w4 Special build v2.6 To celebrate the new trailer this build comes with a ton of bugfixes, enhancements and polish to the existing product. Here's a quick overview:-

Interaction Cues

Glowing highlights are now used to show creatures(/items) you can interact with. UI messages have been cleaned up to be more subtle.

Species Info

Walk up to any species and you'll now see the species name and its relationship to you on a new panel in the right side of the HUD. This also tells you if a creature is poisonous!

Sensory Alerts

Did an ant smell you? Or did a spider sense your vibrations? Or a Dragonfly perceived you with its keen vision? Now you'll see exactly which creature sensed you and how on the lower left corner of the HUD. Use this in maps like the Ladybug/Beetle Creature Quest to plan your way around the ants!

Smoother camera transitions

Camera transitions are now no longer abrupt. Eg: If you're falling down the camera now smoothly follows.

Sandbox bugfixes

Nearly the entire trailer was made using DoN's powerful Sandbox mode, so to facilitate that a number of bugfixes have gone into this build. Quick mentions include: Brush mode throttling when the mouse position hasn't changed, outliner duplicates, camera issues while possessing a Sandbox creature and many more. As a lot of changes have gone into this build, please report any issues should you run into them! ~~~ Once again, here is DoN's 2017 trailer - "One With Nature": https://youtu.be/6c0GtCIB_w4 Feedback / requests are welcome! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-06-21 22:55:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Sandbox mode is a big part of DoN's offering while the other game modes continue to grow the Sandbox will not be left far behind. This update adds a brush mode for placing creatures/plants (requested by the community!) and provides access to 16 new props (stones/branches/trees) that can be placed by you to transform the map. Here's a full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAidAMGOk8I And to whet your appetite, here are some GIFs :D

1. Brush mode - planting made easy

2. Add creatures rapidly

Swarm of male and female Jumping Spiders :p

3. Ants placed with the new brush tool

4. New Trees available to plant:

5. Sandbox Baby caterpillars!

6. Of Ladybirds & Leaves:

7. Conclusion - Give DoN's Nature Sandbox a Go!

Again, here is the full video :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAidAMGOk8I

How can I save my Sandbox Creations?

This is a shortcoming that still needs to be addressed. There is no way to save your creations (yet). On the bright side, this will come in a future update. A Sandbox-driven Level Editor (create your own Creature Quests!) with Steam Workshop support is planned too. Once the current backlog of updates is cleared, save/load functionality will be taken up.

Feedback for Sandbox mode

The brush feature actually came about as community feedback, so if you'd like to see anything else in the Sandbox don't hesitate to ask! The more feedback the game receives about existing mechanics/features, the more rapidly it can grow and improve. That's it for this update! In-Game tutorial maps for all creatures will be coming next. With ❤, - Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-06-16 21:36:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Whether its dumping Ants in water, nailing airborne snatches on Mealybugs, or anything else Ladybird related, this 20 minute uncut gameplay video should have you covered! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0HyClx9N7Y Future plans for DoN and how-to-play-as-an-Ant are also revealed at the end of the video so do check out all of it when you get the time :)

Bugfixes - Build 2.4.3

This patch contains the following bugfixes: [olist]

Rebinding keys via keyboard no longer causes Gamepad controls to show up.

Chemo Vision hint is now persistent until the player uses chemo at least once. This is to encourage new players to use chemo vision as the primary means of discovering creatures/items. When you're such a tiny creature it can take a really long time to explore by sight alone :)

"You Win! The Plants say "Thank You" - Victory text when you complete the Beetle mission now shows up properly (for those wondering why the Plants say "thank you" (this is story mode after all!), it's because Mealybugs and Plants are not friends! That's indeed the backstory behind the Beetle mission) [/olist]

In-Game Tutorials

In-Game tutorials for all creatures will be worked on this week. There are many not-so-obvious mechanics in the game which are yet a big part of the gameplay experience. As more and more new players come to Drunk On Nectar (DoN has enjoyed a huge growth spurt in the past month!), it is important to ensure that players are made aware of everything the game has to offer.

Feedback for Beetle mission

Do try out the Beetle mission (errm, Creature Quest) and provide your feedback! Your feedback is vital in ensuring that DoN continues to grow and improve on all fronts every single day! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-06-10 17:39:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Several bugfixes have been released for "The Curious Triad" Creature Quest (featuring Beetles, Ants and the Mealybug).

Time of day / Nightfall fix

* Night-time no longer occurs within the first five minutes of gameplay (this was a bug) * Night-time Chemo vision is now vastly improved, so when night-time does occur you can rely on chemo vision to get around

Now dump Mealybugs in water!

You can now dump a Mealybug into the lake and it still counts as a successful strike. Previously you'd reach a stalemate if any of the Mealybugs fell into the water (this can easily happen when an ant bites you while you're grappling with the Mealybug)

Other improvements

* Beetle camera distance increased to make it easier to see. You can always use the mouse-wheel to zoom in/out too. * Beetle flight speed now easier to control; deceleration boosted (press S/back). You can also press Space to hover in mid-air! * The beetle no longer falls off while grappling ants * Stamina of the ants is now shown when they're clinging onto you, so you can plan around tiring them out. * Audio effects improvements. * Added option to disable mouse for turning creatures upon user request. If any issues are hampering your enjoyment of the Ladybird quest please report it! Your feedback is a vital tool to improving the product; if you find something off, just report it so it can be fixed! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan PS: Be the first one to get your name on the leaderboard :D

[ 2017-06-07 19:31:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Play it now!

Featuring Ladybugs, Ants and Mealybugs, "A Curious Triad" is the latest Creature Quest added to DoN. How long will you take to nail down all the Mealybugs? :D The Leaderboards await your pleasure!

In-Game Tutorials!

The Ladybird Beetle comes with a fun in-game tutorial covering Flight, Chemo vision, Stealth, etc. Existing creatures will also get a tutorial in the coming days! Your feedback about the dated tutorial pages has been heard.

Visual Improvements - Detailed Textures

From landscape to leaf, all textures carry a lot more detail now. The challenge has been the size of Ladybugs/Ants; they're are so tiny (they make a Jumping Spider look huge) that detail which was sufficient for larger creatures were no longer detailed enough for them. With these improvements, now the tiny Monarch caterpillar also benefits from a better looking leaf :)

Performance Improvements

This major update also carries several performance tweaks. While there's still more room for optimization, this build significantly reduces the game's texture memory consumption on the GPU.

How do I play as Ants?

In this update, you play as the Ladybug. You can cheat around this in Sandbox mode by placing an ant and becoming it, but player gameplay for Ants hasn't been built yet. This will come in a future update. This build features A.I. ants farming scale insects in return for protection.

What's Next

Current focus is on polishing this update and monitoring your feedback for the new quest. After that the possible options are to 1) Resume Multiplayer work (it's been coming along, but delayed due to technical issues) or 2) Add new quests for other creatures or 3) Finish Lifecycle work for all existing creatures in the game or 4) Add Praying Mantis / Lacewing to this Creature Quest. Either way, future updates will be posted more frequently to avoid long periods in-between builds; Your great patience in waiting for today's update to come out is much appreciated :) So keep the feedback coming, with so many possible directions to branch off into, knowing what excites you the most is always helpful in forging the road ahead! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan PS: Yes, the game needs a new trailer now that this update is out!

PPS: Use the beetle's flight ability to carry and dump Ants away from any areas you need access to. More advanced techniques like this are hidden for you to find ;)

[ 2017-06-06 23:28:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ants, Ladybugs and Mealybugs form a curious trio and they're arriving to DoN in the next update! https://youtu.be/VK-YqUKRtTk Check out this video to see what's headed your way :) This update is releasing on 6th June 2017. --

Watch out for the Ants!

Ants are very protective of their scale insects whom they farm for a drink of honeydew. So be careful when you go out there!

New Mechanics

Swarming/Clinging onto creatures is a new fun mechanic that the ants will employ. Beetles beware! You'll need to shake off the ants....somehow ;)

More GIFs

Chemo vision will play a vital role!
An in-game tutorial is also being built to make these mechanics easier to learn. Appreciate your patience in waiting for this update to come out, all efforts are underway to make the wait worth it for all of you :) Grab this update next week! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-06-02 20:44:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

As noted in last week's announcement several new creatures have been confirmed for DoN! First up we have a Beetle video!

Beetle WIP Video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuUfzk_ZShA ~~~ And some GIFs :)
Yes, beetles have super-powers :O
~~~

Major bugfix for butter-smooth creature movement

In a major breakthrough, an ancient bug that was ruining player experience has finally been defeated. Now, no more wobbly movement, abrupt jerks or other such nastiness while walking, it's butter smooth now!
~~~

Release ETA for Venu's Garden, the next Creature Quest

With the Ladybug beetle mostly done, it's time for the other members of the cast, namely Mealybugs, Ants, etc to get ship-shape. The plan is to release a basic version of this Creature Quest first and then add Multiplayer, Lifecycles, etc on top. Expect 1-2 weeks for initial release! ~~~ Once again, here's the Beetle WIP video:

Beetle WIP Video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuUfzk_ZShA Feedback and comments are welcome. Post them below! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-04-23 16:58:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Announcing Venu's Garden: A new series of Creature Quests

Inspired by real-life Nature stories being enacted right now in DoN's living garden, comes the next series of Creature Quests: War has been declared against the animal family Pseudococcidae, the dreaded Mealybugs. Even as I type this, these mindless plant parasites eke a living destroying the very plants that support them. And they must be stopped, at any cost!

Form a crack-team of expert assassins

Whether your chosen battleground is Singleplayer or Co-op or Multiplayer, choose a squad of intrepid invertebrates to complete this quest, but choose wisely: Your efforts will be thwarted by ants farming and protecting the Mealy ones. Spiders and other opportunists will be waiting for you and for your insect pollinators friends. You win when the plants win. * Eliminate the enemies of the plants. * Provide a safe space for insect pollinators to complete an entire cycle of pollination. * Ensure future generations of plants can grow, reproduce and thrive. ~~~

Venu's Garden - Part I - Ladybugs meet Mealybugs

Ladybugs will take center-stage in the first Creature Quest in this series. Play as a Ladybug mysteriously arrived in an undergrowth infested with Mealybugs. Ants will fiercely protect their cattle of Aphids and Mealybugs, so be prepared for a fight! More news on this new Creature Quest will be shared as development continues! Until then dream of Ladybugs climbing those tall wooden stalks! With ❤, - Venugopalan Sreedharan ~~~ [PS] Milkweed update Video Overview: For those who haven't seen the video overview of the Milkweed Release yet, here it is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWDWbOv7AA

[ 2017-04-15 19:50:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Milkweed plants released

Huge, tall Milkweed plants have arrived. Apart from their dazzling flowers, they add great verticality to DoN's landscape; it takes a creature almost a minute to climb from base to the apex of a milkweed, that's how huge they are in-game!
A Milkweed Trip

Caterpillar gameplay revised

Monarch Caterpillars now spawn on Milkweed leaves (as they should). The view from up there is lovely and caterpillar gameplay now benefits from the Milkweed's morphology: you now need to travel along the woody stems of the Milkweed from leaf to leaf, something that was missing in the previous caterpillar gameplay.

Sandbox Mode finally gets new content!

You can now plant caterpillar eggs, 5th Instar caterpillars, adult Monarchs in the Sandbox. It's quite amusing peppering the map with caterpillars and watching them amble towards the nearest Milkweed :)
New Fauna Options You can now also plant mature versions of Milkweed plants/Orange Lilies/Knapweed/Fern straight away to quickly fill a landscape. You can still plant saplings and watch them grow like before too.
New Flora Options Paint-brush mode for quickly placing items onto the map is coming soon.

Misc

A video overview will be shared tomorrow so we can take a closer look at the Milkweed patch, there's a lot of improvements across the board gone into this build. ~~~ Some major announcements on new content will also be shared in the next couple of days, keep your eyes peeled :)
With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan ~~~ I leave you with more Milkweed pics!

[ 2017-04-13 20:16:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

The first leaderboard contest for the new "Creature Quest" game mode has concluded and it's time to announce the winners!

First Place - NuclearMedic

With a blistering run of 1 minute 2 seconds NuclearMedic is the winner of the first contest! A Hall-Of-Fame map will be added to the game to commemorate this achievement; the map will have unique vistas honoring each contest winner (for posterity to ponder over their heroic deeds) and NuclearMedic will be the first recipient of this honor!

Second Place - Sexy Vultures

1 minute 17 seconds.

Third Place - Gaming_Darksouls

1 minute 52 seconds

Fourth Place - Lantea

1 minute 57 seconds

Fifth Place - Yama-in

2 minutes 4 seconds

Sixth Place - evernewjoy

3 minutes 24 seconds ~~~ In addition to the Hall-Of-Fame entry the first place will also be awarded 5 Steam keys of Drunk On Nectar, as will the Top 3 places. Others will receive 3 Steam keys of DoN as a show of appreciation! Contest winners will receive a message from a Steam account affiliated with the game so be on the lookout for that :)

Next Creature Quest

...Is brewing in the lab and will be announced soon. Stay tuned!
That's it for this round of news, do check out the first Creature Quest if you haven't already and be sure to provide any feedback you may have for the game as well. With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-04-11 18:06:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

DoN's lighting has been reworked. The entire time-of-day cycle and season simulation has been carefully honed to fix various lighting issues/bugs that crept in over time and to beautify the existing product. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so.......


The woody stems you see there is a Milkweed :) The full milkweed release is coming next week but there's already some really gorgeous pictures of DoN's bees nectaring on pink-white Milkweed flowers coming to life; those will be shared soon :)

Critical bugfix for leaderboards crash

Leaderboard crash related to Steam avatar cache has been fixed. This issue was mostly directly affecting new players from earlier this week but also some others. This patch now ensures a smooth experience for the first Creature Quest. *...DRUMROLL...*

Leaderboard Contest is almost up!

The first Creature-Quest-Leaderboard-Contest (hey, that rhymed!) concludes on 10th April 2017. As a reminder here are the prizes to be won:

• 1st place - Win 5 keys and a Hall of fame entry: Permanent place in DoN's In-Game HoF!
• Top 1-3 - Win 5 keys of Drunk On Nectar!
• Top 4-10 - Win 3 keys of Drunk On Nectar!

If you haven't yet participated int the contest, check out the new Creature Quest mode and see kind of score you manage to muster! More Creature Quests are planned and will the ongoing focus for at least a couple of weeks. Multiplayer/Co-op Creature Quests are also being investigated. That's it for this patch, more pics below! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan ~~~

[ 2017-04-06 17:28:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

You can now choose to play as a Female Jumping Spider in DoN's latest Creature Quest! This was a request from a user in the community and it made perfect sense, so it was swiftly executed :) Here's a video personally narrated by me walking you through the Female Jumping Spider: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRbMM-jr27E

Win Prizes by reaching the leaderboard Top 10!

The leaderboard contest just got underway and Steam user NuclearMedic is currently the lead with a blistering 1:10 seconds (as of writing!). Check out the new fun map, get your name on the leaderboard and win these prizes:

• 1st place - Win 5 keys and a Hall of fame entry: Permanent place in DoN's In-Game HoF!
• Top 1-3 - Win 5 keys of Drunk On Nectar!
• Top 4-10 - Win 3 keys of Drunk On Nectar!

The first contest will run until 10th April 2017! ~~~ More creature quests are headed your way, so please check out the first one and provide feedback! Again, The female Jumping Spider came about as a request from the community, so feel free to ask; you never know how soon your request might be realized :)
With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-03-31 12:57:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Creature Quests are gameplay-focused maps with support for leaderboards and eventually co-op, multiplayer and more.

Leaderbaords Released!

Today, the first leaderboard challenge "Lady Love" is out. You play as a male Jumping Spider on a quest to reach Lady Love on the other side of a deceptively placid lake. Here's a video of me (Venu, DoN's Dev) playing the challenge with narration! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMvwyHtAqlo

~~~Prizes for Top 10 players~~~

Get your name up on the leaderboard and win some nifty goodies!

• 1st place - Win 5 keys and a Hall of fame entry: Permanent place in DoN's In-Game HoF!
• Top 1-3 - Win 5 keys of Drunk On Nectar!
• Top 4-10 - Win 3 keys of Drunk On Nectar!

More goodies may be forthcoming in the days to come :) The first contest will run until 10th April 2017. Please upload a video of your leaderboard run to Youtube to help spread the word :) So put your Jumping boots on, because Lady Love is waiting on the other side of the lake and you're not the only Phidippus Regius in town! ~~~

Multiplayer Creature Quests

Upcoming Creature Quests are anticipated to have multiplayer/co-op focus. More info on this soon; new creatures are planned for specific quests too. While Lifecycles, metamorphosis, mating, reproduction are still central to the game, Creature Quests will allow players to enjoy new quests and content while providing the core simulation sufficient breathing room to blossom to its full potential.

Get your name on the leaderboard!

That's it for this update! Get your name on the leaderboard, win some prizes and have fun being Drunk On Nectar :D With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan ~~~
Addendum; other patch notes:

Universal Cam - A new control/camera scheme

[olist]

Consistent camera mechanics across landscape/stalk/leaf/flower

Turn creatures using R-Stick / Mouse when you're moving

Auto-Free-Look when creature is idle (R-Stick or mouse)

Smart Camera picks best viewing angle for moving creatures [/olist] Controls will obviously play a huge role in your ability to register the best possible scores so do post any issues you run into and they will be looked into earnestly.

[ 2017-03-29 11:26:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

~~~ Please consider taking the time to write a Steam review for DoN :) If you enjoyed the game, definitely leave a review to help more awesome content come in sooner. If you haven't played the game in a while, controller support, improved visuals and other goodies have come in recently so check out the latest version. Your candid feedback is also a great tool to allow focus on areas that need most attention. ~~~ So take a few minutes to write a Steam review for DoN today!
With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-03-15 03:21:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Controller Support Released

Pick up your gamepads and give the little creatures a whirl! They feel so different with a controller; opens up new dimensions in everything from from Flight and camera to smoother turning for caterpillars. Your feedback is essential in getting this right, so please post any issues you run into and they will be addressed quickly :) --

DoN's Gameplay Evolution - "From Simulation to Symphony"

The goals of a Simulation are often very different from the goals of super-fun-over-the-top gameplay and so far the game has veered towards the former, often sacrificing rich gameplay possibilities at the altar of quasi-realism. In many cases features that were meticulously crafted over years or ground-breaking technical achievements (DoN's 3D-pathfinding system is capable of powering an entire flight-based racing game!) have been vastly under utilized.
The current Survival mode was always meant to be a stop-gap arrangement until full lifecycles (Mating/Reproduction/Egg-laying) would open the floodgates, but until that happens, the serious issue of DoN's gameplay being hamstrung into a small fraction of what it could (and should) be, cannot be ignored. And rest assured, it hasn't been ignored: --

Enter: Challenge Maps & Leaderboards

Challenge Maps, powered by Steam's leaderboards are envisioned as maps with simple and fun objectives for players to enjoy and master various gameplay mechanics while competing with each other for best scores. From Jumping Spider quick-reflex wizardry to Dragonfly aerial acrobatics to Butterfly-Bee pollination flight-athons, the possibilities are endless. Conveniently, they're also trivial to implement compared to the staggering complexity of DoN's actual game world, so this won't hold back development of the core game by any means. The first challenge map: a lake scene agility challenge for the Jumping Spider is coming up soon! More to follow depending on feedback, reception, what not. --

Build v1.2.4 Notes

A number of bugfixes, camera changes and visual improvements have gone into this build along with Controller support. Random map generation has been improved, Depth-Of-Field reworked. Here's a few images of the new visuals:


More visual improvements are on the way. Random map generation may be sidelined in favor of traditional hand-made maps if necessary too. --

The road to Multiplayer

Ultimately, this is the road to multiplayer support. Instead of tacking multiplayer on as a plain addon to the existing product, DoN's entire gameplay is being reimagined to ensure that Multiplayer and Co-Op (both are now confirmed features :)) have a solid foundation to build upon - i.e. richer gameplay and game modes that are fun and worth your time. That's it for this update, but the blistering race to the next one is already underway! Forward March, Drunk On Nectar! With ❤, - Venugopalan Sreedharan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS: Special news!

Thanks to coverage by Youtubers, DoN has received a massive boost in the past two weeks! Here are some videos that significantly boosted the game's market performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpgx_p90x_s&t=2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8RlnvcrQ1Y&t=7s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOTsxOpaTY8&t=1s My thanks to these individuals for their help! Please tell your favorite youtubers about Drunk On Nectar. It's working :D
~~Fin~~!

[ 2017-03-11 17:51:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

With the milestone Monarch update complete and a vigorous marketing campaign for DoN underway, this very important update brings more polish to the product as a grand welcome for new players to the game.

2017 Trailer - Please Watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6tz5fIVm5w Please watch this trailer and provide your feedback! Share it around :) ~~~

Chemical Vision vastly improved

A rich medley of bright chemical trails amid colorfully saturated flowers & fauna for your eyes to savor!

~~~

New World Preset: "Temperate Forest Flowers"

World-Preset is DoN lingo for a random map configuration that is used to generate the game world. They're not maps in the traditional sense of the word, but since people are more familiar with that term I'll use that here. Here's the new default map from various perspectives:

The new preset is very graphically demanding so if you're experiencing major frame rate issues try the previous default: "Temperate, Simple" or "Performance Friendly" presets instead.

Major bugfixes & Visual polish

As noted in the forums, a number of major bugs quietly crept in with recent builds. As DoN grows larger, the existence of several gameplay systems for each species means that sometimes new creatures and features will inadvertently introduce bugs. You can help by reporting any issues you see; my thanks to the various players who reported some of the bugs listed below:

• Various Jumping Spider walking issues fixed (rotation, getting stuck, etc)
• Caterpillar animation jittering fixed. They're much smoother now.
• Twilight transition fixed, major lighting/time-of-day improvements
• Landscape improvements: View distance increased for all flora. Distant parts look less "empty" now. More to come on this soon.
• Seasonal simulation: Herbaceous/perennial plants now properly "Spring up" (as they should) at the end of Winter season.
• Grooming now hides the HUD for the duration of "groominess"
• Players are encouraged to use Chemo vision through a new input hint
• Frequency of Camera hints reduced. Some of them were getting way too obtrusive.

DoN's Next feature: Multiplayer (finally!)

Multiplayer support is finally happening. While the original roadmap had milkweed plants, grasshoppers, more land creatures, etc queued up, right now Mutliplayer offers an important way to enhance the existing product and open it up to a wider audience. "Act - IV Mating & Reproduction" (you'll understand what I mean if you see the Monarch metamorphosis video!) will have to wait. Mating & Reproduction is still crucial to fulfilling DoN's animal lifecycle vision so it will be revisited at some point. ~~~ That's it for this update!
PS: Keep spreading the word about DoN! A full-fledged Nature game absolutely needs to be made, it is gaming's final frontier and Drunk On Nectar is the game to make this happen. You can help by telling everyone that a game like this exists! With ❤, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-02-22 19:39:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

All, At this time DoN really needs your help in broadcasting its unique depiction of the Monarch's lifecycle and metamorphosis to more people. Please retweet this on Twitter! https://twitter.com/DrunkOnNectar/status/832495099854671872 If you aren't on Twitter, please share the Monarch Metamorphosis Trailer to your favorite subreddit or forum, or as a tip to gaming media sites. Right now the game's ability to march forward and deliver more awesome features is directly linked to the success of its ongoing Metamorphosis marketing campaign, so please help :)

[ 2017-02-17 07:59:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

I'm thrilled to report that Drunk On Nectar has now become perhaps the first game ever to depict an animal's entire lifecycle in full 3D, at full scale, from a 1mm egg to larva to pupa and beyond. Watch the Monarch Butterfly's complete lifecycle for yourself in this brand new DoN trailer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYr3xNqxkLU

Lifecycle overview

Playing as the Monarch Butterfly, here is the journey you will undertake :)

DoN's next journey

Promoting the Monarch Butterfly's foray into DoN and helping the game reach more people is the number one priority right now. A lot depends right now on how many people this video reaches and you can help by sharing the Monarch Trailer on social media. Consider posting a link in your favorite subreddit or forum to help DoN get some visibility! I'm confident this update will be a game-changer for DoN that will galvanize the game's development on several fronts, so a lot of effort has gone into it, in-game and in the trailer (whose music track was lovingly written only for DoN's Monarch!). So may the twin-winged butterflies of DoN encircle the world!
~~~ Do remember to spread the word about DoN's Monarch Metamorphosis Trailer in any way you can. Let us broadcast DoN's Metamorphsis Victory across the globe! ~~~ With the ♡ of a million Monarchs dancing in ecstacy, - Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-02-15 22:33:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://www.drunkonnectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Monarch-Caterpillar-Banner.jpg][/img] ~~~ *drumroll* ~~~ The mighty Monarch caterpillar is here! Download the latest patch and give the little one a whirl!

Video Overview

For those who haven't purchased the game yet here's a video overview of Monarch caterpillar gameplay. If you enjoyed all that caterpillary action do consider purchasing the game to support its ongoing development! https://youtu.be/nfaZBQ2fP6k If you already have the game please consider recommending the game via a Steam review, that's one more way to support the game's growth! --

Part II: Mating & Reproduction!

Early next week, the final metamorphosis from a fifth-instar caterpillar to an adult Monarch will be added (it's not there yet in this patch). Soon after: mating of male and female butterflies, courtship rituals, laying of eggs for the next generation to thrive, the whole thing!
~~~

Limitation & Known Issues

1) "Physical Leaf Munching" is no longer "physical". A.I. caterpillar complexity contributed to this. Leaf physics might be reintroduced in the future. 2) Milkweed plants are not yet in, will be added in Part II update. 3) Caterpillar eggs are laid on the upside of a leaf to make the camera easier on players. 3) Some A.I. quirks/glitches relating to locomotion are present and known. ~~~

Looking ahead

So Monarch butterflies will be the first species in the game to exhibit a full lifecycle after the Part II update is rolled out. After that, Grasshoppers will probably be taken up next followed by either a few more land creatures OR official multiplayer support. Time will tell :) For now enjoy the Monarch's foray in DoN's World! May these beauties prosper in all the worlds they inhabit!
With ♡ - Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-01-25 23:30:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

This announcement is a quick progress report on the arrival of Monarch caterpillars into the game. First up, video of a neat new feature!

Video of DoN's "Physical Leaf Munching" system

https://youtu.be/BtSG6jw_e6I --

ETA for caterpillar release

Another 7-10 days will be needed based on the current trajectory. Hopefully the video above did a good job of showing how the caterpillar is being built at an unprecedented level of detail. Instead of building just-another-generic-species by reusing existing systems, a new locomotion system, a new consumption system, etc have been built for the caterpillar to fully express itself in the game. Add to this lifecycle depiction (egg-to-larvae-to-pupa) and the end-result was a formidable amount of complexity that has taken longer than planned to satisfactorily execute.
--

What about all the other species planned?

I'm fully aware that everyone is very eager to see many more species and more content in the game. Rest assured, all the building blocks needed for making this happen are industriously being built. These building blocks will make it so much easier to add new species over time. Eg: the caterpillar's "leaf munching system" can be readily carried over to a grasshopper munching on grass and its "wormy locomotion system" can be adapted to other invertebrates. With each new species the game's development methodology also evolves further as the lessons learnt from tackling one creature are put to use in the next. ~~~ If you liked the "physical leaf munching" video feel free to share it around, being a 1mm sized creature sculpting leaves hasn't often been done in gaming :) Thanks for following DoN's journey! With ♡, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-01-12 20:59:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

[img=http://www.drunkonnectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Nectar-Banner.jpg][/img] Image taken with new Camera Zoom feature (mousewheel)

Development News

The Monarch caterpillar work is in full swing, let's first review some recent videos! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HkU_f9tRjQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQflySrSqhw An unprecedented level of detail is going into the Monarch so it's taking longer than planned to get there, but hopefully the wait will be well worth it:
-- Now on to the actual patch, Build v1.2.3!

Camera Enhancements!

If you've had any Camera/control issues whatsoever with DoN, get this patch and try the "Hybrid Cam" (default option). It's so much more fun now to control fauna :) Here's the complete list of improvements:

• Zoomable Camera! Use the mousewheel to zoom the camera in or out to your liking.
• Greatly improved camera stability. Results best experienced in Hybrid Cam mode
• Camera stuttering issues related to FPS dropping fixed.
• Camera rotation lag for hybrid/player cam decreased
• Jumping Spider camera to player distance increased. It's so much easier to see and control this creature now!

Visual Enhancements

• Friendly/neutral species can now see each other at all times. Only prey/predator interactions are subject to the complex rules of DoN's three-way perception/LOS system (visual acuity, chemo-reception, vibratory reception)
• This makes Chemo Vision so much more fun and colorful because any creature that you can already see is implicitly "smelt" and shows up in Chemo as bright colors :)
• Invertebrate leg simulation improvements to all creatures. More accurate leg placement while climbing, leg flickering issues resolved.
• Grooming now induces Free mode camera so you can take a better look at the creature grooming itself :)
• HUD: Smaller minimap, newer colors. More cosmetic changes to come in the future.
• Plant species information is now briefly shown for any new species players walk onto along with useful hints.
• Input Cues added for surface Flip Over, Jump Cancel, Jump Height modulation

[img=http://www.drunkonnectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/HUD-Improvements.jpg][/img]

Bugfixes

• Sensory wheel (a.k.a The Minimap) fixed for Sandbox mode
• Sensory wheel no longer stutters in highly populated worlds like the Butterfly Paradise preset
• Wing fluttering visuals now work properly for mouse-driven flight
• "Spider Aerial Spin Dance" (i.e. usage of Q/E grapple keys in mid-air!) no longer breaks camera setup.
• Spacebar to Space input cue aliasing issue fixed

--

Sandbox glory!

To cap things off, here's an image taken from the Nature Sandbox mode while testing this patch. Just a reminder that the sandbox is very powerful and if you haven't tried its high-speed season simulation / level-editing tools / etc then you're highly encouraged to explore the sandbox mode.
Wish all of you great success in this year 2017! - Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2017-01-03 21:09:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Before we take a sneak-peek at upcoming features, let's first review DoN's recent videos for the benefit of those who aren't yet subscribed to DoN's youtube channel.

Sandbox Tutorials

Our first video is a must-see if you haven't seen DoN's powerful World Editor tools yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYNgY_6b2ko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3iKEqHbKKo The sandbox mode has a lot of cool features you might not have seen! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X3VGv4m06c Did you know you can create timelapse videos in DoN? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCeV3NkNt2k Obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCt6Poe54oo Need survival/hunting tutorials? Check out this video or this one. --

Upcoming features

[img=http://www.drunkonnectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/So-many-flowers.jpg][/img]

Monarch Caterpillars

Next week dev begins for caterpillars! They shall hatch from tiny eggs, moult and eventually metamorphose into adult butterflies looking to mate! The Monarch butterfly has been chosen because of its iconic status. Read this thread for more! --

Multiplayer support

DoN's dev prototype for multiplayer was briskly built over the past two weeks and this now paves the way for official multiplayer support! Please expect another 4-8 weeks for this as it is important to ensure that multiplayer development doesn't slow down delivery of other much-awaited features like new species/etc. There's just so many other goodies waiting to be built :) -- Please support DoN in any way you can! Consider writing a review if you already own the game. Sharing DoN's videos or providing feedback in the forums are also great ways to nourish the game's rapid growth! Drunk On Nectar shall take giant leaps ahead this month! With ♡, Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2016-12-11 21:50:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

--

Free Exploration Mode

No hunger, no stamina and access to all four seasons without having to use the Nature Sandbox mode! A new world preset aptly entitled "Exploration" has been created to go with this game mode. There's obviously a lot more that needs to be added to the macro-game world to make exploration more fun but this is a long-term journey DoN is undertaking here. Slow and steady wins the race. For now, the exploration mode shows a glimpse of a different side of DoN, one that is in stark contrast to its fast-paced survival gameplay. --

Butterfly Paradise Preset Added!

It took less than one minute with the handy World Preset Editor to be surrounded by hundreds of flowers and so many butterflies fluttering around, drinking nectar :)
The purpose of adding this preset is to encourage you to create world presets of your own. It's very easy and one of the main features of the game, so go ahead, let your imagination run wild. If you're not fond of spiders for example, you can just make a world preset without them ;) --

Grappling Demystified

The game's "grappling outcome matrix" has had a lot of people befuddled so this patch adds grappling hints that tell you exactly what key(s) to press to out-grapple your opponent. --

Spider Vibrations

Some of you noted that prey were over-sensitive to vibrations. This patch decreases the vibratory output of Long Jumps and Walking for the Jumping Spider making it easier to springboard yourself onto a flower with prey and then sneak up on them to win your meal. Sneaking (Hold Control) is still an essential part of your hunting strategy. --

Multiplayer Feasibility Analysis

Visit this thread to learn more about the game's ongoing multiplayer feasibility analysis, which will be the main focus for a couple of weeks. There are numerous technical hurdles invovled so the multiplayer prototype may be deprioritized in favor of other new features. --

Bugfixes/Other notes

• Easy is now the new default difficulty level.
• Fixed multiple bugs in random map generation that caused player not to spawn correctly in some custom presets.
• Renamed Temperate Forest low-end preset to "Performance Friendly" to make it more obvious.
• Camera collision reinstated. This was previously removed to help with the camera issues, but the new camera systems in the previous patch should have sovled that. Please report if you're still having issues with the camera.
• Camera distance to player increased for butterfly/bee to allow players to see a bit better.
• Fixed a stamina-recharge-hunt behavior loop for A.I. that would happen when a tired A.I. spotted prey and decided to go after it.
• Fixed a grooming bug where players could move around while grooming (introduced in a recent patch that changed the key for stopping grooming from "any key" to "Control")

That's it for this patch! Please report any issues or bugs you find with this build! - Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2016-11-28 23:00:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Your feedback about camera/controls has been taken seriously and to this end, three new camera systems, support for mouse-driven flight/jump trajectory have been released in Build v.1.2.0. A new soundtrack "Nectar Moon" has also been added exclusively for the game! Be sure to provide feedback on the new camera/controls. Until the existing game mechanics are in a state where everyone can enjoy and excel as existing fauna, it doesn't make sense to rush into adding new features or species. A video overview of the new camera systems will be posted tomorrow, but for now let's dive into the patch notes: ~~

Default keys changed

Please take note of these or you'll be left scratching your head, wondering why the spider isn't flipping over like it used to :)

• Default key for "Flip Over" changed from Shift+S to Alt. Flip Over is essential to move between the underside and topside of flowers, etc
• Default key for "Chemo Filter Cycle" is now C. This is used to switch between smelling flowers and smelling other fauna.
• Free Look (new feature): Hold MMB

New Camera systems

Three new camera systems have been added to the game in addition to the existing one. Choose these from the settings menu:
Hybrid Cam is now the new default system. It provides the best of both worlds, i.e. easy movement on landscape and auto-free look while climbing. New players might want to use Player Cam which provides slightly more traditional controls. Free Cam is the original camera system and finally, Spider Cam is an experimental option, mostly for fun :)

Mouse gameplay

• Flight is now fully controllable using a mouse, flying is a lot more fun now! You can still use the old Q/E/W/A/S/D keys if you like.
• Long Jump trajectory is now controllable via mouse! A mouse has only two axes, so you for adjusting jump height you'll need to hold down RMB. You can still use only keys, this is often easier in many situations (like when hanging upside down from a flower!)

Loading screen

Loading screen added to emphasize the random map/procedural aspect of the game (and to provide an avenue for showing gameplay tips). This will be improved over time.

Bugfixes/Balancing

• Fixed a bug where AI's chemo cues were getting displayed to the player
• Aerial dodging cooldown relaxed to encourage players to use this feature more.
• Input hints added in certain situations.

~~ So the ongoing focus will be to make the game easier for players to adapt to. There's a lot of different mechanics at play in this game and hopefully over time new players will have all the in-game cues/tutorials they need to get the most out of their DoN experience. Stay tuned for more of Drunk On Nectar! There's so much more to come :) - Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2016-11-22 23:03:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is the first in a series of patches aimed at improving existing species. Highlights of Build v1.1: The Dragon Can Hunt Again! The hunting range and snatch speed of Dragonfly has been vastly boosted to make Dragonfly hunting more fun :) You should now find it easier to startle prey on flowers and carry them away, flapping wings and all! Good strategy is still essential though.
-- Jumping Spider Camera Improvements - Phase 1 If you were are having camera issues with Jumping Spider gameplay, give the little one a try again! Camera transitions are now smoother and you're allowed to see more of the world while walking. More improvements are on the way.
-- Gameplay balancing

• "Chemoreceptors are overloaded!" This was clearly annoying a lot of people so chemo accrual is much more lenient now. No more manic grooming every 10 seconds :)
• Hunger levels now reduced for Jumping Spider & Dragonfly.
• Grappling strength is now increased for predators.

Reminder: The game has a custom Difficulty Editor you can use to tweak gameplay to your liking:
-- Other Bugfixes

• Hunting prompts now appear more consistently, i.e. snatching prey is more accurate
• Prey snatched in mid-air can now escape after out-maneuvering the predator mid-flight.

-- Please report any issues you find! The new features/species that you're all eagerly awaiting will be taken up after the existing creatures are in a strong and robust state. Hope you enjoy being Drunk On Nectar! - Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2016-11-18 21:45:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

All, I'm thrilled to present Drunk On Nectar, the Nature Sandbox game to you! The game has now officially released on Steam! Pick it up now and show your support for what could potentially become the first full-fledged nature game ever made! --
Of course, to reach that lofty goal DoN needs your support, enthusiasm and patience as we embark on this ambitious journey with great vigor. The game is still in Early Access, so please be patient with any bugs, glitches, gameplay balancing issues that you run into. You can help by providing your feedback in the forums and together we can help DoN grow, to greater and greater heights. --
DoN is now a green sapling that has sprouted from its seed. One day it will turn into a mighty tree with all its branches spread out in full glory. I want you to come aboard Drunk On Nectar's dream and be a part of DoN's journey! Thank you :) - Venugopalan Sreedharan

[ 2016-11-16 15:54:53 CET ] [ Original post ]