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 ]