Frequently Asked Question

This page shows the most frequently asked questions. Its content was last updated on March 19th 2024.

Updates

When will the next update be?

We have a policy of not announcing release dates before we're sure we can meet the date. To be honest this stems from a history of being terrible at meeting predictions we've made for ourselves! We're not alone in this. Even the really big developers have trouble pinning down when an update will be done.

Smaller patches without major new features are likely to come unannounced, but larger patches will likely get a few week's notice.

What's next for the game?

Now that 1.0 has been reached, our next step is a balance/ fixing patch that will iron out the inevitable issues that crop up when a lot more people are playing.

Check out the roadmap for more details about what order stuffs are arriving in, with the caveat that it's ALL subject to change.

Are there any further updates now that it's reached 1.0?

See the roadmap for what's happening in the immediate future.

As long as things are still going sustainably we will continue to add new things such as extra level and custom game maps, and perhaps bigger things. At some point we will likely want to move onto a new project but excluding outright catastrophe we don't see ourselves ending support for the game entirely.

Features

Why can't we move the queen? Queen ants move in nature.

We're fully aware that most queen ants are very mobile in the real world but Empires of the Undergrowth is not a simulation. Quite simply this is a choice of game mechanics. Our primary inspiration for this game is Dungeon Keeper. It has a dungeon heart mechanic which is a central point that must be defended. The missions are designed and balanced around this.

If it were possible to move the queen, the obvious tactic would be to move her to a much more easily defensible position than she starts in, far behind your forces. Unlike most RTS games we don't have a wide open arena. The underground is bound by many walls and allowing the player to do this would cause insurmountable balance issues.

Why can't we build dirt tiles? Do you plan on adding this?

The answer to this is similar to the one above. Allowing the player to build dirt tiles would unbalance the game by allowing the player to create labyrinthine paths to the queen, or force clunky things like path checks to make sure there's always a way to access the queen and brood chambers. This feels inelegant. We've been thinking about the game mechanics since 2014 and haven't come up with a way for building dirt tiles that we like and doesn't break things. If this were to find a place in the game, it's not at all likely to be in the story.

Why can't the game be saved mid-level but freeplay can?

Early on in the project it was decided that in-mission saving for the story missions would not be a thing. It's for purely practical reasons, with a small team it would take an inordinate amount of time to implement. Since the story missions are heavily scripted there's a lot of one-off variables that a saving system would have to account for, and it'd have to be done individually for each level.

Custom game mode is a different beast entirely. It has no scripting, and everything about it can be saved in a nice, predicatable manner.

What are the creature / ability stats?

Stats can be seen by using the inspect tool. They also appear in tooltips.

This wiki is the official encyclopedic source for everything EotU-related. If you want to help, log in here and find our chat room on Discord!

Will the game have multiplayer?

The game won't have multiplayer. It hasn't been designed for multiplayer, and we are committed to finishing our promised single-player story and freeplay mode. It would be a very significant undertaking to make it capable of supporting multiplayer, requiring some very fundamental rewrites that would affect the entire project in an unpredictable way. We would effectively be starting from scratch.

Will we be able to make our own maps?

The in-house solution we use is great for us but isn't fit for public consumption. A lot like multiplayer, making a level editor fit for purpose outside of the team would take a lot of time and we'd have to weigh up whether it'd be worth it. Also like multiplayer, it's something we'd like to do but certainly not before we leave early access.

Will you add more things outside of the main formicarium story?

Yes. Extra levels and new custom game maps are a semi-regular feature when we're not in the throes of being close to a major update.

We might also add more event and demo levels.

Is the game available on Android / iOS / consoles?

No, and there are not currently any plans for support outside of Windows, Mac and Linux. If this changes in the future we will make an announcement about it.

An important related point here is that if you see a game purporting to be Empires of the Undergrowth on any mobile stores, they are certainly not us and may in fact be dangerous to your device or personal data. Please report them to the stores and to us.

Can you add weaver ants to the game?

Weaver ants deserve a special mention, since they are requested so often. No, weaver ants won't be in Empires of the Undergrowth. For starters, their nesting systems are incompatible; they create conical nests made of leaves, high up in trees. Secondly, they are arboreal and don't dig into the dirt to create their nests. As I've often said, there is a fantastic game to be made about weaver ants, but it is not EotU.

How big is the development team? Why do big updates take a long time?

There are 3 developers/ directors and an environment artist. Outside of the immediate dev team, there's also a marketing team consisting of a head of product marketing, lead community manager and 2 regional community managers.

As you can see, we're a really tiny team! We ask you to be patient with us whilst we make quality work that's worth your time.

Crash reports

Where are the save files located? Are you going to do cloud save?

For Windows, the save files are at: C:\Users\[Your user name]\AppData\Local\EotU\Saved\SaveGames

For Mac, the save files are at: /Users/[Your user name]/Library/Preferences/EotU

For Linux, the save files are at: ~/.config/Epic/EotU/

The game uses Steam Cloud saving, and that's active by default for everyone playing on that system. We are aware that other systems such as GOG Galaxy also allow a cloud save. We're looking into it.

My computer won't run the game/ runs slowly/ crashes. Why?

The most common cause of this is that your system doesn't meet the minimum recommended hardware specs for the game.

Windows:

• OS: Windows 7 64-bit or higher

• Processor: Intel Core i3-4340 / AMD FX-6300

• Memory: 4 GB RAM

• Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB / AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB

• DirectX: Version 11

• Storage: 2 GB available space

Mac OS:

• OS: Mac OS X 10.12.6

• Processor: Intel Core i3-4340 / AMD FX-6300

• Memory: 4 GB RAM

• Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB / AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB

• Storage: 2 GB available space

Linux:

• OS: Any reasonable new Linux distro (Ubuntu 16.04)

• Processor: Intel Core i3-4340 / AMD FX-6300

• Memory: 4 GB RAM

• Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB / AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB

• Storage: 2 GB available space

Please note that although many Mac systems are highly-specced in some areas, they often lack a dedicated graphics card completely and rely on a low-grade Intel HD solution. Although we support Mac and the game might run on such systems, performance will suffer greatly as a result. Make sure you check that your Mac system has a dedicated graphics card before you purchase.

I meet the minimum specs but I'm still crashing. How do I report it?

Usually, sending in the report from the dialogue box that pops up on a crash will be sufficient. Please fill in the box with as much context as you can - that'll really help us get to the bottom of a crash fast.

We might ask you to send in some more files, such as your saves, if they're relevant to the problem at hand. Including an email address we can contact you at is helpful there, or you can post here in the Discord and myself or someone else will let you know what we need.

The more information we have the faster we can get to the bottom of the matter.