Beetle Uprising news & patch notes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30237079/014e639f5608db8546a3dd76119ee1a223401427.png We are pleased to announce we have just released a new mode for Beetle Uprising - Easy Mode! In Easy Mode you will find the following key features:

• Reduction in happiness penalties.
• Breeding is biased toward the stronger parental allele.
• Beetles with blue star genetics are now highlighted in all modes.

In practice what this means is that there will be less of a grind needed to get those killer beetles that can dominate the harder levels and enemies in the game. That's not to say you will be able to get three stars in all levels straight away as the game is balanced for replayability - what it does mean is that you shouldn't struggle to complete the levels even to a 1-star standard.

We're finally here! Beetle Uprising has now left early access and is available as a full game on Steam. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this project through its development; the game is now feature complete and the Abandoned Lot is 100% ready to be conquered! There has been an optional beta to test some of the final additions running recently; thanks to everyone who has played this and given us feedback. As well as the completion of the campaign levels, a new feature - Mystery Mode - has been added. This gives random rewards instead of set ones in the campaign, which could lead to some interesting beetle abilities and stats earlier on! We look forward to seeing what you get. The publishers, Slug Disco, have been doing some streams of the game lately and they'll be doing a special stream as part of the release at 6.30pm UK time (1.30pm US Central) on YouTube. That'll be streamed on the Slug Disco channel: click here to go there. So, there you have it. Your Abandoned Lot is infested with ants, spiders and beetles not borne of the Matriarch. Claim what is rightfully yours by breeding the best beetles in Beetle Uprising!

Beetle Uprising has a release date! Breed more beetles, juice the bad ones! Take over the Abandoned Lot and avenge the matriarch on 5th November 2020, when we'll be leaving early access. As well as the full set of levels, the full release introduces Mystery Mode, with random rewards to add a little twist to proceedings. Keep an eye our the Beetle Uprising social media - Facebook and Twitter - for more information as we approach this date!

TIme for another quick behind-the-scenes look at Beetle Uprising! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30237079/e44d8013f7a6caa9b905d2259b0fa1a89d7ef011.png This is a screenshot of the nest. It shows a small navigable area near the exit. Over time, as you level up, the nest gets bigger - this is done by removing the rocks around the border (some are highlighted here). They are set up to block navigation dynamically, so once they are disabled and disappear from the scene, the floor underneath opens up for use by the beetles and for placing objects. We adjusted things so the navigable area is a little ways from the walls and you don't see Beetles penetrating them, although very large beetles are big enough that sometimes their legs might stick through as they turn around in a corner. As the expansion rocks are removed new nest lighting is activated, so the floor beneath them looks cheerful and safe. You can also see 4 big rectangular patches of "fence" around the nest so a player cannot click outside and drive Beetles crazy trying to navigate somewhere impossible, or place a tasty snack out of reach.

Continuing our short look at some of the behind-the-scenes goings on with Beetle Uprising, this time we're talking about the navmesh. Below is a screenshot of the Unity navmesh editor. It shows one of our earlier levels with the navmesh highlighted. We use terrain steepness to limit walkability, and have a few invisible "fence" objects (you can see some straight blocks that cut the nav mesh) we use to keep players and enemies from wandering outside the play area. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30237079/ac2b12d041e136047b2a5a516d1e7bdf12cc032a.jpg We needed to keep players from clicking on navmesh that is auto-generated but is outside the play area, so we wrote code that determines if a click is pathable from a few "starting locations" that are inside the play area. We needed more than one of those objects to deal with situations where doors open and change the play area. If you run your mouse over a map, you can see the cursor change to indicate that you are inside or outside the legal area. We would sometimes have bugs where enemy spawners would not push beetles into the play area, because we like them coming out of holes and other difficult bits of terrain. They might fall through the floor, or pile up inside a cave. So tweaking the spawner location was always fun. Something else about spawners: they have a starting location, but also an implicit move-to is given to each enemy with an optional remote location. This makes it seem like the bugs rush out when triggered, then gather in a staging area, waiting until their Perception area overlaps with one of your beetles. Then the fight is on!

We thought we'd share some behind-the-scenes stuff from the development of Beetle Uprising, as we approach the full release! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/30237079/583f0779fafe148f3cc545e5992b8d5d5f17a220.png Here's a screenshot of David's egg editor. He built a custom Unity Inspector to label genes and give himself drop downs to tweak the genes given out with a particular egg. In Beetle Uprising, most of your best beetles will come from generations of cross-breeding, but every so often you’ll need to add fresh genetics to the gene pool which come from beetle eggs. In this shot, We’re looking at the "Best Stats" egg. It shows part of the visual genes, and a bit of the attack type genes. Here, different genes control morph targets in the beetle 3D model (such as making spikes or width or legs different sizes). Similar genes control the custom shader which gives you visuals such as color, iridescence, stripes, or masks. Once a beetle is hatched, its properties are fixed. If you want a different look or ability, you'll need to breed or acquire new eggs from missions.

As most of you who supported our little beetle breeding experiment will know, progress has been slow for a while. We’ve been itching to finish the game off for a long time and so the original development team has pledged to work together remotely to push it out of Early Access. The last public game update was April 29/18. Since then, we have: - Unlocked the final two missions on the map: 17&18, including the final game win flyout celebration and Steam Achievement. - All new, streamlined Nest and Beetle Collection UI. - Better hints for attack types in mission set up and in combat. - Updated Beetle Uprising logo. - Improved genetic display UI. - Removed a few unwanted bugs. But left in all the bugs we really wanted. For anyone who wants to get really stuck into the nitty gritty of breeding, we’ve got a new video explaining how everything works so you can refine your tactics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ym7QUlZDSw We’d also like to announce our collaboration with Slug Disco Studios, makers Empires of the Undergrowth (another great insect themed game) who are helping us spread the word about Beetle Uprising. They’re hosting our new forum, and will be handling a lot of our social media from now on so we can concentrate on making changes to the game. Thanks for sticking with us!

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/0daeb097104615be1b32427d5b75280fe601245c.jpg We have a new update for everyone, today. Here are the new things we've been working on:

• We finished "That's Not Sugar". This one is no Picnic! Stop the greedy ants, so you can feed your colony.
• We finished "We See Dead Beetles". What would you expect to find in a creepy forest?
• Added a Hint system. On the escape menu and other places, you'll see short ideas of things to try. Hit the forums to suggest other hints we can add.
• Updated Lot Map images and paths. It now looks more realistic and reminds you of the Combat Mission level for each Area.
• Tweaked "Puddle of Tears", "Enter the Beetle". Enemies look a little differently, and have different Stats. Play them again, and let us know.

Please post on the forums, or hit the support email if you have any trouble. The final levels are challenging. You will need to breed your Stats up. Especially Armor. Look for unique Alleles (with cyan stars) you might have missed in eggs from earlier 3-Star Missions.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/38bb951ea8eba35db852de7379892f1f6e37a522.jpg We have a new build for you to try on the Beta branch. We'll roll it into the Release branch after we hear whether there are issues. Here are the new things we've been working on:

• Finished "That's Not Sugar". This one is no Picnic!
• Finished "We See Dead Beetles". What would you expect to find in a creepy forest?
• Hint system. On the escape menu and other places, you'll see short ideas of things to try.
• Updated Lot Map images and paths. Should look more realistic and remind you of the Combat Mission level for each Area.
• Tweaked "Puddle of Tears", "Enter the Beetle". Enemies look a little differently, and have different Stats.

Please let us know if you have any trouble. The final levels are challenging. You will need to breed your Stats up. Especially Armor. Look for unique Alleles (with cyan stars) you might have missed in eggs from earlier 3-Star Missions.

Here is a big update we've been working on for awhile. We hope you enjoy it. http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/59e278b73e616cd121c98908f9c88c052033ca6d.jpg

• You can now have multiple games saved at once. This can be handy if you want to go try out something extreme, but don't want to risk your original collection.
• We added Sandbox Mode, which allows you unlimited Goop and Inventory, and Beetles don't die. You get all the eggs so you can try to breed with the best possible genes. And you start at max level. This allows you to explore the game and learn how the systems work. The original Campaign Mode is still available to challenge your management and strategy skills.
• Added a new combat song that is dynamically arranged.
• New Manual pages for Rock/Paper/Scissors style combat, Stat genetic side effects, Options, and the Game Shell.
• Sorting makes a sound.
• You get a little camera shake when Immolators explode.
• You can delay the hover time for tooltips if they are getting in your way.
• Improved Item Inventory details UI.
• Mission 14 now drops the correct trophy on 3 stars.
• Squashed "The Blueberry Bug". Users were reporting they were stuck placing an object, and the inventory count would increase. This is fixed.
• The default screen resolution is now set to max. Some new players were seeing less than amazing graphics. Of course, you can still tweak your graphics settings using the Options menu.

Here is a big update we've been working on for awhile. We hope you enjoy it. http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/59e278b73e616cd121c98908f9c88c052033ca6d.jpg

• You can now have multiple games saved at once. This can be handy if you want to go try out something extreme, but don't want to risk your original collection.
• We added Sandbox Mode, which allows you unlimited Goop and Inventory, and Beetles don't die. You get all the eggs so you can try to breed with the best possible genes. And you start at max level. This allows you to explore the game and learn how the systems work. The original Campaign Mode is still available to challenge your management and strategy skills.
• Added a new combat song that is dynamically arranged.
• New Manual pages for Rock/Paper/Scissors style combat, Stat genetic side effects, Options, and the Game Shell.
• Sorting makes a sound.
• You get a little camera shake when Immolators explode.
• You can delay the hover time for tooltips if they are getting in your way.
• Improved Item Inventory details UI.
• Mission 14 now drops the correct trophy on 3 stars.
• Squashed "The Blueberry Bug". Users were reporting they were stuck placing an object, and the inventory count would increase. This is fixed.
• The default screen resolution is now set to max. Some new players were seeing less than amazing graphics. Of course, you can still tweak your graphics settings using the Options menu.

We decided to push out a fix to the Task-Reset Cheat ahead of schedule today. After you patch, any "stuck" tasks that you had previously mowed down to zero will now work again. The bug only kicked in if you had run the cheat on a completely mowed task. You will need to re-run the task-reset cheat once more after the patch downloads, to get them unstuck. Our apologies. Darrin

We decided to push out a fix to the Task-Reset Cheat ahead of schedule today. After you patch, any "stuck" tasks that you had previously mowed down to zero will now work again. The bug only kicked in if you had run the cheat on a completely mowed task. You will need to re-run the task-reset cheat once more after the patch downloads, to get them unstuck. Our apologies. Darrin

Big update today. Its been awhile since the last update since we had to fix a few bugs in the beta builds that prevented us from promoting them. http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/66d34e66854d27f177fe43a0f995f62a030d7a53.png Here's what's new:

• There are 3 cheats added to the options menu: new Goop, reset task counts, and reset beetle needs. You won't need them if you follow the best strategy, but they are there in case.
• "Ow My Thorax" and "Many is the Swarm" are now available.
• Spitters are now nerfed. Sorry, but they were pretty OP. This works both ways, so killing enemy spitters should be easier.
• We added a Rock/Paper/Scissors mechanism to attack types. There is a +50% damage done to the next attack type in a circle: Biters->Spitters->Acid->Vampire->Reekers->Biters. There is a +25% damage from everyone to Healers. There is a 25% reduction in damage from anyone to Immolators. You can see the diagram on the Swarm Maker, and if you hold down in combat.
• Hitting in combat also shows you the attack types of each group. This should help with your combat strategy.
• We have randomly generated arranged music in the Nest.
• Some new sound effects with reduced volumes, and some UI tweaks.
• You can now see beetles moving around on the Lot Map when unpaused.
• Fixed a bug when the inventory goes entirely empty.

Darrin

Big update today. Its been awhile since the last update since we had to fix a few bugs in the beta builds that prevented us from promoting them. http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/66d34e66854d27f177fe43a0f995f62a030d7a53.png Here's what's new:

• There are 3 cheats added to the options menu: new Goop, reset task counts, and reset beetle needs. You won't need them if you follow the best strategy, but they are there in case.
• "Ow My Thorax" and "Many is the Swarm" are now available.
• Spitters are now nerfed. Sorry, but they were pretty OP. This works both ways, so killing enemy spitters should be easier.
• We added a Rock/Paper/Scissors mechanism to attack types. There is a +50% damage done to the next attack type in a circle: Biters->Spitters->Acid->Vampire->Reekers->Biters. There is a +25% damage from everyone to Healers. There is a 25% reduction in damage from anyone to Immolators. You can see the diagram on the Swarm Maker, and if you hold down in combat.
• Hitting in combat also shows you the attack types of each group. This should help with your combat strategy.
• We have randomly generated arranged music in the Nest.
• Some new sound effects with reduced volumes, and some UI tweaks.
• You can now see beetles moving around on the Lot Map when unpaused.
• Fixed a bug when the inventory goes entirely empty.

Darrin

New Update: We added two new areas, Achievements, Gene Splicing, and Decorations. And lots of other new things to try out. http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/fa1b3699e1ac867b8dcc9a5741d032dd5cf048b7.png

• We have created 19 Steam Achievements. Of which, 17 are available and visible.
• Steam Cloud saves are now working. So you can pick up your game on another machine, if you'd like.
• Enter The Beetle (map 11) map area is now complete, along with its mission.
• Toads of Obliteration map area is now complete. It is an always-hostile area with no combat mission. But the tasks have tasty rewards, including some interesting eggs.
• Beetle visuals can now be saved to flasks and applied to any other Beetle using the Beetle Inspector. To open the Beetle Inspector, just double-click a Beetle. This is useful if you want to preserve a look that you like, or want to make all Beetles with one attack type look the same. We call this Gene Splicing, since the visual change can then be inherited by this Beetle's offspring.
• Added decoration objects for your Nest. Beetles don't use them, but they make the Nest look nice.
• Your Beetles are awarded a trophy for each mission they win at 3 stars. These can be used to decorate your Nest and remind you of your accomplishments.
• The Game Manual now shows up in the Steam Overlay browser, instead of trying to open a PDF reader. And you can click through hyperlinks there.
• We are now a little more generous with Regeneration genetics in eggs from earlier missions.
• Made some lighting improvements in Beetle Inventory mug shots and Beetle Inspector vanity scenes.
• Tweaked a few visual effects and sound effects.
• Fixed a genetics bug that prevented cross-over in the first two genes. Should be a bit easier to get the maximum allele there, now.

New Update: We added two new areas, Achievements, Gene Splicing, and Decorations. And lots of other new things to try out. http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/fa1b3699e1ac867b8dcc9a5741d032dd5cf048b7.png

• We have created 19 Steam Achievements. Of which, 17 are available and visible.
• Steam Cloud saves are now working. So you can pick up your game on another machine, if you'd like.
• Enter The Beetle (map 11) map area is now complete, along with its mission.
• Toads of Obliteration map area is now complete. It is an always-hostile area with no combat mission. But the tasks have tasty rewards, including some interesting eggs.
• Beetle visuals can now be saved to flasks and applied to any other Beetle using the Beetle Inspector. To open the Beetle Inspector, just double-click a Beetle. This is useful if you want to preserve a look that you like, or want to make all Beetles with one attack type look the same. We call this Gene Splicing, since the visual change can then be inherited by this Beetle's offspring.
• Added decoration objects for your Nest. Beetles don't use them, but they make the Nest look nice.
• Your Beetles are awarded a trophy for each mission they win at 3 stars. These can be used to decorate your Nest and remind you of your accomplishments.
• The Game Manual now shows up in the Steam Overlay browser, instead of trying to open a PDF reader. And you can click through hyperlinks there.
• We are now a little more generous with Regeneration genetics in eggs from earlier missions.
• Made some lighting improvements in Beetle Inventory mug shots and Beetle Inspector vanity scenes.
• Tweaked a few visual effects and sound effects.
• Fixed a genetics bug that prevented cross-over in the first two genes. Should be a bit easier to get the maximum allele there, now.

We have promoted the most recent build to Beta. We added two new areas, Achievements, Gene Splicing, and Decorations. It also has lots of other new things to try out. http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/fa1b3699e1ac867b8dcc9a5741d032dd5cf048b7.png

• We have created 19 Steam Achievements. Of which, 17 are available. We'll make these visible when the build hits general release.
• Steam Cloud saves are working. This is a bit tricky to test in a Beta build. Let me know if you want to participate in that, and I'll work up the instructions. But this is definitely coming in the next general release.
• Enter The Beetle (map 11) map area is now complete, along with its mission.
• Toads of Obliteration map area is now complete. It is an always-hostile area with no combat mission. But the tasks have tasty rewards, including some interesting eggs.
• Beetle visuals can now be saved to flasks and applied to any other Beetle on the Beetle Inspector (just double-click a Beetle). This is useful if you want to preserve a look that you like, or want to make all Beetles with one attack type look the same. We call this Gene Splicing, since the change can then be inherited by this Beetle's offspring.
• Added decoration objects for your Nest. Beetles don't use them, but they make the place look nice.
• Your Beetles are awarded a trophy for each mission they win at 3 stars. These can be used to decorate your Nest.
• The Game Manual now shows up in the Steam Overlay browser, instead of trying to open a PDF reader. And you can click through hyperlinks there.
• We are now a little more generous with Regeneration genetics in eggs from earlier missions.
• Made some lighting improvements in Beetle Inventory mug shots and Beetle Inspector vanity scenes.
• Tweaked a few visual effects and sound effects.
• Fixed a genetics bug that prevented cross-over in the first two genes. Should be a bit easier to get the maximum allele there, now.

We have promoted the most recent build to Beta. We added two new areas, Achievements, Gene Splicing, and Decorations. It also has lots of other new things to try out. http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/fa1b3699e1ac867b8dcc9a5741d032dd5cf048b7.png

• We have created 19 Steam Achievements. Of which, 17 are available. We'll make these visible when the build hits general release.
• Steam Cloud saves are working. This is a bit tricky to test in a Beta build. Let me know if you want to participate in that, and I'll work up the instructions. But this is definitely coming in the next general release.
• Enter The Beetle (map 11) map area is now complete, along with its mission.
• Toads of Obliteration map area is now complete. It is an always-hostile area with no combat mission. But the tasks have tasty rewards, including some interesting eggs.
• Beetle visuals can now be saved to flasks and applied to any other Beetle on the Beetle Inspector (just double-click a Beetle). This is useful if you want to preserve a look that you like, or want to make all Beetles with one attack type look the same. We call this Gene Splicing, since the change can then be inherited by this Beetle's offspring.
• Added decoration objects for your Nest. Beetles don't use them, but they make the place look nice.
• Your Beetles are awarded a trophy for each mission they win at 3 stars. These can be used to decorate your Nest.
• The Game Manual now shows up in the Steam Overlay browser, instead of trying to open a PDF reader. And you can click through hyperlinks there.
• We are now a little more generous with Regeneration genetics in eggs from earlier missions.
• Made some lighting improvements in Beetle Inventory mug shots and Beetle Inspector vanity scenes.
• Tweaked a few visual effects and sound effects.
• Fixed a genetics bug that prevented cross-over in the first two genes. Should be a bit easier to get the maximum allele there, now.

I wanted to let you guys know, that we just updated our store image (in case you missed that): http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/8472496801be888a92d8f1405ef4d0244e383b4b.jpg It used to look like: http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/7bf4cf3ecd0c25f150c229fc6e2ad9f66f9393d5.jpg Thoughts? Darrin

I wanted to let you guys know, that we just updated our store image (in case you missed that): http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/8472496801be888a92d8f1405ef4d0244e383b4b.jpg It used to look like: http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/7bf4cf3ecd0c25f150c229fc6e2ad9f66f9393d5.jpg Thoughts? Darrin

We are up to 10 game areas on the Lot Map. There have been quite a few UI and feature additions since we launched into Early Access, and the game has been very stable. So we are inviting as many people as possible to try out this new build. http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/fe3ea7870f4f8666c19313f1f2708f4720cf9983.png Most recent improvements/features:

• Genetic Visualizer for stats genes allows you to know whether you're passing on the very best to your offspring. You can see this on the Vanity screen by double-click a Beetle in your collection or in the offspring grid. Also, try holding the key to see genes for multiple Beetles at once.
• Beetle Needs are displayed on the Vanity screen, so you can figure out more about what Beetles are thinking in the Nest.
• The Asphalt Anger area and mission are available. This is the first 4 swam combat mission. It does get hectic! And you'll need some pretty advanced genetics to get the stats needed to succeed. So collect eggs from previous missions and tasks.
• You can click and drag items off the inventory list. Or you can continue to use double-click.
• Use -wheel to scroll through Beetles on the Vanity screen, and while hovering over the Beetle inventory. This also works for inventory items.
• You can now change the name of newly hatched Beetles right away, instead of having to find them in the Beetle Inventory.
• The Lot Map was updated so new players must play the Red Rock mission first. This should make the learning curve a little easier.
• Your Beetles should find a few more beds when going on tasks.
• Cool water animation added to the mission in the Puddle of Tears area.

Bug fixes (heheh):

• Beetle inventory doesn't jump around when you select parent slots on the breeding screen or swarm slots when going on combat missions. This should make it easier to slot in the top Beetles from whatever sort you have selected.
• Transparent albedo textures now show up properly in combat. So your combat Beetles should look a little more like your Nest Beetles.
• Beetles returning from missions (if they survive), walk in from the door, instead of teleporting to where they started.

As always, please let us know if you have problems, or have ideas for changes. Darrin

We are up to 10 game areas on the Lot Map. There have been quite a few UI and feature additions since we launched into Early Access, and the game has been very stable. So we are inviting as many people as possible to try out this new build. http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/fe3ea7870f4f8666c19313f1f2708f4720cf9983.png Most recent improvements/features:

• Genetic Visualizer for stats genes allows you to know whether you're passing on the very best to your offspring. You can see this on the Vanity screen by double-click a Beetle in your collection or in the offspring grid. Also, try holding the key to see genes for multiple Beetles at once.
• Beetle Needs are displayed on the Vanity screen, so you can figure out more about what Beetles are thinking in the Nest.
• The Asphalt Anger area and mission are available. This is the first 4 swam combat mission. It does get hectic! And you'll need some pretty advanced genetics to get the stats needed to succeed. So collect eggs from previous missions and tasks.
• You can click and drag items off the inventory list. Or you can continue to use double-click.
• Use -wheel to scroll through Beetles on the Vanity screen, and while hovering over the Beetle inventory. This also works for inventory items.
• You can now change the name of newly hatched Beetles right away, instead of having to find them in the Beetle Inventory.
• The Lot Map was updated so new players must play the Red Rock mission first. This should make the learning curve a little easier.
• Your Beetles should find a few more beds when going on tasks.
• Cool water animation added to the mission in the Puddle of Tears area.

Bug fixes (heheh):

• Beetle inventory doesn't jump around when you select parent slots on the breeding screen or swarm slots when going on combat missions. This should make it easier to slot in the top Beetles from whatever sort you have selected.
• Transparent albedo textures now show up properly in combat. So your combat Beetles should look a little more like your Nest Beetles.
• Beetles returning from missions (if they survive), walk in from the door, instead of teleporting to where they started.

As always, please let us know if you have problems, or have ideas for changes. Darrin

We promoted the dev build to beta, which should be available for anyone to try out. Lots of cool things added about genetics, plus a whole new area and mission. If you see any issues, please let us know by commenting on this post, so we can fix them, or promote this to the default branch for everyone else.

• Genetic Visualizer for stats genes allows you to know whether you're passing on the very best to your offspring. You can see this on the Vanity screen, and when breeding. Also, try holding the key to see genes for multiple Beetles at once.
• Beetle Needs are displayed on the Vanity screen, so you can figure out more about what Beetles are thinking about in the Nest.
• The Asphalt Anger area and mission are available. This is the first 4 swam combat mission. It does get hectic! And you'll need some pretty advanced genetics to get the stats needed to succeed.
• You can click and drag items off the inventory list.
• Use -wheel to scroll through Beetles on the Vanity screen, and while hovering over the Beetle inventory. This also works for inventory items.
• You can now change the name of newly hatched Beetles right away, instead of having to find them in the Beetle Inventory.
• The Lot Map was updated so new players must play the Red Rock mission first. This should make the learning curve a little easier.
• Your Beetles should find a few more beds when going on tasks.
• Cool water animation added to the mission in the Puddle of Tears area.

Fixes:

• Beetle inventory doesn't jump around when you select parent slots on the breeding screen or swarm slots when going on combat missions.
• Transparent albedo textures now show up properly in combat.
• Beetles returning from missions, walk in from the door, instead of teleporting to where they started.

http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/fe3ea7870f4f8666c19313f1f2708f4720cf9983.png

We promoted the dev build to beta, which should be available for anyone to try out. Lots of cool things added about genetics, plus a whole new area and mission. If you see any issues, please let us know by commenting on this post, so we can fix them, or promote this to the default branch for everyone else.

• Genetic Visualizer for stats genes allows you to know whether you're passing on the very best to your offspring. You can see this on the Vanity screen, and when breeding. Also, try holding the key to see genes for multiple Beetles at once.
• Beetle Needs are displayed on the Vanity screen, so you can figure out more about what Beetles are thinking about in the Nest.
• The Asphalt Anger area and mission are available. This is the first 4 swam combat mission. It does get hectic! And you'll need some pretty advanced genetics to get the stats needed to succeed.
• You can click and drag items off the inventory list.
• Use -wheel to scroll through Beetles on the Vanity screen, and while hovering over the Beetle inventory. This also works for inventory items.
• You can now change the name of newly hatched Beetles right away, instead of having to find them in the Beetle Inventory.
• The Lot Map was updated so new players must play the Red Rock mission first. This should make the learning curve a little easier.
• Your Beetles should find a few more beds when going on tasks.
• Cool water animation added to the mission in the Puddle of Tears area.

Fixes:

• Beetle inventory doesn't jump around when you select parent slots on the breeding screen or swarm slots when going on combat missions.
• Transparent albedo textures now show up properly in combat.
• Beetles returning from missions, walk in from the door, instead of teleporting to where they started.

http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/30237079/fe3ea7870f4f8666c19313f1f2708f4720cf9983.png

We've released a new build, today, focused on improving the UI to be easier to understand and make use of. Here's what's new:

• Added new relative stat icons per beetle image so you can see which of the 7 stats is best or worst at a glance.
• Offspring grid shows all stat values to make it easier to pick the best one.
• UI art pass on most screens to make things a bit bigger and brighter. Especially in breeding and beetle list images.
• Beetles in Combat Missions and in the Nest now have a highlight when they are selected.
• Fixed a defect with NPC healers in combat. They now follow their team mates to heal them, so some missions may now be a little tougher.
• Improved list scrolling and reduced jumping.
• Red Rock is a little harder.

We've released a new build, today, focused on improving the UI to be easier to understand and make use of. Here's what's new:

• Added new relative stat icons per beetle image so you can see which of the 7 stats is best or worst at a glance.
• Offspring grid shows all stat values to make it easier to pick the best one.
• UI art pass on most screens to make things a bit bigger and brighter. Especially in breeding and beetle list images.
• Beetles in Combat Missions and in the Nest now have a highlight when they are selected.
• Fixed a defect with NPC healers in combat. They now follow their team mates to heal them, so some missions may now be a little tougher.
• Improved list scrolling and reduced jumping.
• Red Rock is a little harder.

We promoted our build from last Thursday to the Beta branch. Let us know if you try it, and whether you see any issues, before we roll it out to everyone in a day or so. Here's what's new:

• New relative stat icons so you can see which of the 7 stats is best or worst.
• Offspring grid shows all stat values to make it easier to pick the best one.
• UI art pass on most screens to make things a bit bigger and brighter. Especially in breeding and beetle list images.
• Bugs in Combat Missions and in the Nest now have a highlight when they are selected.
• Fixed a defect with NPC healers in combat.
• Improved list scrolling and reduced jumping.
• Red Rock is a little harder.