What happens when accurate depiction of body-anatomy meets old-fashioned brawler style gameplay?

Find out for yourself in Drunk On Nectar’s latest Steam update!

Inspired by the Playfight system of Lifecycles Act 1, this new combat system will serve to settle various confrontations among rival species including but not limited to rival predators, competing peers from the same species, etc. This system also takes the game one step closer towards fulfilling its Lifecycles Act 2 mandate as the various parts and pieces of the puzzle that constitute the Jumping Spider’s lifestory are now falling into place.

To learn more about this update check out the official Steam announcement or visit the game’s Steam Community page!

Initially planned as a cameo to support the Jumping Spider’s lifestory, the blisteringly fast Japanese Tiger Beetle ultimately had its own way.

Having strong-armed (or indeed mandible’d) its way into the roster as a fully playable creature, this species is now one of the most beloved creatures in the game based on player feedback so far.

Take a look for yourself!

Finally, Spider AI for DoN is ready! This proved particularly challenging because I had to write a custom pathfinding system again (this time for land based creatures). I was hoping to use Unreal’s native navigation for this but understandably it’s geared more towards humanoids (so it doesn’t work beyond 90 degree slopes and slender foliage like plant stalks are not covered even with maximum cell precision settings).

In another important development, DoN has a new game mode!

Combat Survival is a game mode where players can quickly jump into short timed matches with simple objectives (eg: survival for prey, a successful hunt for predators). In the short-term, this game mode will be the primary focus of the game until I’ve built enough momentum to carry the core nature simulation work forward again.

I’ve written a detailed article about this change in direction on DoN’s IndieDb page, so be sure to check that out as well. (I didn’t want to rehash the entire content here a second time :P)

My current focus is to complete work on DoN’s Menus, HUD, SFX and BGM. The aim is to take all the content available in the game now and package it neatly into a playable build.

For now though, enjoy this video of DoN’s agile Jumping spiders absolutely trouncing prey in style!