Fourth Update

"Bee Game 2" is fast approaching feature parity with the Unity version of the game. This update brings two new types of bees (well, flying insects), introduces the terrifyingly-named but somewhat cute Varroa destructor, and lays the groundwork for the future campaign mode. To jump straight into the alpha, click on "Play Now!" at the top of this blog. You will need the password in order to access the page. After you've loaded the game, select "Experimental" mode to see most of the changes in this update.

Carpenter Bees

The first new type of bee is the carpenter bee. Carpenter bees are known for their burrowing behavior, so the new in-game carpenter bees drop a piece of material that cuts through the honeycomb rather than building it up. This can be used to strategically shape the landscape to delay oncoming attackers. I might change this behavior in the future, as it's currently pretty difficult to control. A possible improvement I'm considering is to have the carpenter bees travel in a straight line, burrowing along the way and stopping as soon as they reach their destination.

Northern Giant Hornet

The second new type of "bee" is the Northern Giant Hornet, otherwise known as the "murder hornet"! While not technically bees, these guys make for fun gameplay. The player can order them to travel to a point more quickly than the other types of bees. When they arrive, they can destroy certain types of enemies.

Mites (Varroa Destructor)

The Varroa destructor, or the Varroa mite, is a parasitic mite that feeds on honey bees. Because mite infestation can lead to the death of a honey bee colony, these mites seemed an appropriate initial adversary. In the game, the mites will crawl along the honeycomb surface towards the colony. When they reach it, they will deal damage and disappear. These are the first new enemies since I started remaking the game, and they are the first to travel with pathfinding, so this is a major technical milestone as well. The "walkable" area is visualized in-game with an outline of the walkable cells. Gameplay-wise, I may eventually have the mites attach themselves to bees or attack the bees instead of the colony.

Campaign Mode (Behind-the-Scenes)

This update includes most of the infrastructure necessary to build a campaign. I haven't built up any campaign levels yet, so for now this functionality is not visible in the public build.

Animation Improvements

I spent entirely too long getting animated tiles working. Now, when a bee drops honeycomb onto the level, or when a cannonball destroys part of the honeycomb, there is a transition animation where the honeycomb expands or shrinks.

Experimental Mode

As before, you can play the game by clicking "Play Now!" at the top of this blog. You will need the password to play. The new bees and mites are available in the "Experimental" gamemode. This blog post corresponds to Alpha Update version 0.2.1.