Slug Disco’s insect RTSEmpires of the Undergrowthsees players take control of a variety of ant colonies as they seek to make them thrive in a series ofhostile environments. In addition to resource collection and management, players will also have to battle against rival colonies, as well as a series of predatory threats both above and below ground. Fortunately, players have several important tools at their disposal. These can help develop the colony into a strong and worthy force, even in the most difficult and treacherous biomes.
Players will need to construct their habitats using a range of different tiles. Each tile can represent a different aspect of the colony, fromfood storage to growing eggs. Placing tiles alongside each other will cause them to unify, and when enough tiles are placed together, the player can then upgrade them to enhance their benefits. There are three levels for each tile, and they each possess a number of upgrade points which will increase as more tiles are added nearby. Using the upgrade tool, players can then level each tile and see its improved performance. They will need to keep nest ants on hand to perform upgrades. When a tile shows either 6/6 or 12/12 (depending on its current level), this means it is ready to upgrade.
6Waste Tile
An Anti-Toxin Tile For Certain Species
While they are not available to every species, Waste Tiles are used to dispose of polluted fungus. This leads toa healthier queenand overall brood. This is primarily for Termites and Leafcutter Ants, who will need to construct these areas in addition to their food and hatching tiles.
Upgrading Waste Tiles is helpful for reducing polluted space, and doing so comes at a very low cost. However, it is not a priority upgrade unless toxicity levels reach dangerous heights within the nest. Most ant species will not require waste management whatsoever, and therefore, this upgrade will not be available to them.
5Speed-Up Tile
Enables Greater Movement Speed Within The Nest
Movement speed is critical for running an efficient colony. In addition to having high numbers of ants, ensuring that they can move quickly inside the nest will greatly help in all areas from food collection to frontline reinforcement.
Building Speed-Up Tiles along key traffic routes will benefit the colony, and will be especially helpful in complex underground settings withlimited build space. Speed-Up Tiles can also be upgraded for very little cost, and should therefore be utilized whenever possible.
4Food Storage Tile
Allows For Increased Food Capacity And Overall Colony Size
Food is the single most important resource inEmpires of the Undergrowthfor the vast majority of playable species. If food runs too low, new eggs will not be able to hatch or grow. Meanwhile, too much food will cause the colony to halt its growth and collection processes.
A simple way ofmanaging the problemof a high food demand in a limited space is to upgrade the Food Storage tiles themselves. This will double their capacity, enabling the colony to continue collecting food whenever a source is encountered.
3Worker Ant Tile
Improves The Abilities Of Worker Ants
As the baseline ant unit for most species, Worker Ants, regardless of their species, can be upgraded to improve their attributes. This should be done once a decent number of workers have been spawned, since higher numbers of workers are preferable to a limited number of fully upgraded ones.
When fully upgraded, tiles will spawn two workers per tile depending on the species. The upgrade will also increase the overall health, attack, and movement speed of the unit on that particular tile. Workers are the lifeblood of the colony and their upgrades will come relatively cheap compared to other unit types.
2Soldier Ant Tile
Improves The Abilities of Soldier Ants
Soldier Ants are essential for the protection ofa healthy colony, and can be made even more vicious and deadly through the upgrading of their tiles. Particularly when exploring the surface and facing the many threats which lurk there, a strong cohort of soldiers can make all the difference between victory and defeat.
Even below ground, many threats can appear that will threaten the safety of the colony’s queen. As a result, it can be a good idea to place soldier tiles close to the queen, ensuring a rapid response of hatching eggs whenever an invader is present.
1Specialist Ant Tile
Improves The Abilities of Special Ants
Many ant species in the game, though not all, have their own specialist unit types. Ranged Wood Ant Soldiers or Matabele Ant Medics already have unique abilities, but these can be further enhanced through bothgenetic modificationsand tile upgrades.
Like most other tile upgrades, this will improve the base stats of the ant in a variety of areas, as well as increase the overall growth and hatch rate of the egg. For specialist soldiers, creating these elite units can be hugely beneficial to the success of a colony.
