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 ]