Update 1.1.2

• Adds buttons to the walkthrough in order to select sub tasks in more complicated puzzle situations
• Adds multiple subtle graphics, vfx and sound improvements through out the game
• Fixes multiple text, scripting and graphic bugs and errors throughout the game
• Implements various optimizations

The Custom Game & Achievements Update is OUT NOW!
New custom game levels, new achievements reworked difficulty settings and more!

New custom game / freeplay maps! Achievements! New difficulty options! More generous mission rewards! This major update for Empires of the Undergrowth brings in a whole bunch of new stuff, and also puts us in good stead for the final chapter and full release coming in 2024. Thanks so much to everyone who’s been helping to test all the additions over the past few weeks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj0msTbh1JY

Headline Features

•New Custom Game Maps! The 2 winners of our summer map design contest have been completed & added to the game, as well as one more
oImprisoned, based on a design by 鶴轟 - a swampy area that floods & drains, opening up easier access to other resources & colonies
oStrawclutch, based on a design by Noctazar - tightly-packed nests around central resources in the swamp ensures intense skirmishes with neighbours. Comes with a map option for wider-spaced nest locations
oSand Spit - a sandy peninsula designed for a 3v1 setup, where the single colony has an uphill battle ahead of them

•Achievements! There are now over 100 achievements for all aspects of the existing story mode & seasonal levels
•Reworked Difficulty Settings! More resolution in lower difficulty settings with more linear gradation as they increase
oEasy, Medium, Hard, Extreme & Impossible are the new difficulties, with new Easy a little easier than the old, & Extreme being where old Hard was. Impossible is the new name for what used to be Insane


Other Additions & Changes

Mission Rewards
• Mission rewards increased significantly:
o Rewards for a repeated play of a mission increased
o Rewards for playing on higher difficulties increased
o Consolation rewards for a defeat increased
o Easy, Medium & Hard - although these difficulties are easier than before they provide the same rewards they used to
o Extreme - although as difficult as Hard used to be, it will provide the same rewards that Insane did
o Impossible - although as difficult as Insane used to be, it will provide more rewards than Insane did


Creature Changes
• Pine woods tree frog now climbable
• Uber hermit crab is now climbable
• Uber red velvet ant is now climbable
• Uber mole cricket is now climbable
• Young velvet worm is no longer climbable
• Improvements to climbing points on hermit crabs
• Small harvestmen now become food on death
• Jumping spiders now become food on death
• Ladybirds now become food on death
• Young praying mantis can now only be harvested by 1 ant
• New beach creatures now spawnable in Battle Arena
• Level 3 leafcutter mediae & majors can now remove a phorid fly ever 2 minutes (down from 3)

Custom Game Changes
• Leafcutter colonies in custom games now start with 19 queen tiles, meaning more workers / minims & increased fungus capacity
• Creature resource quantity slider added to freeplay options, allowing players to make creatures in their game drop more or less food if they like
• Restart button added to custom game defeat screen
• When spawning attack waves, freeplay director will now choose larger creatures to spawn if none can be found in the smaller creature options
• AI harvesting process now considers the average of total & ants alive when deciding where to harvest & not just enemy ants alive
• AI colonies on Towhead & Embankment will hide for a time after a flood
• More creatures should spawn at the start of a custom game when using singular spawning
• Environmental enemies ramp up faster in singular spawning (including skirmish)
• Adjustments to nocturnal / diurnal spawn timing in custom games
• Freeplay now starts with a default save name

Graphical Changes
• Default FPS is now set to 60
• Updated beach loading screen to use new assets
• Arcade button graphics updated
• Improvements to the living sea urchin decorative asset
• Seaweed models updated in 2.1 & 2.2
• New hat for the sand bear wolf spider

Localisation
• Many updates & fixes for existing languages
• Support added for the following languages:
o Hungarian
o Italian
o Portuguese
o Turkish
o Traditional Chinese
o Ukrainian


Other Changes
• New early game objectives added to 3.1 The Harvest
• The idea here is that the early objectives act as a mini tutorial, so the player has a good-sized leaf & refuse chamber before encountering the enemy colony. Shouldn’t interrupt established gameplay otherwise
• New narrator dialogue added regarding leafcutter refuse storage
• Formicarium Challenges now have names instead of numbers
• Visual pulsing effect when the queen is at low health & has recently taken damage (can be disabled in Advanced Options)
• Minor Improvements can no longer be applied mid-mission
• If a creature cannot transfer to the surface it is now killed instead of just being left underground to try again (for example, when exiting an enemy nest after water has risen)
• Creatures no longer heal in the formicarium after purchasing an ability
• Formicarium Challenge 3 (now called Possibly the Final Experiment):
• Easy difficulty now slightly easier
• Enemy queen no longer has abilities on Normal as well as Easy
• Mole crickets & praying mantises no longer have food reduction on harder difficulties
• Adventure: leafcutter supermajor can no longer climb creatures or carry food
• Extremis: food from killed creatures increased
• Extremis now uses newer ability icons
• The Culling: tripled food from spawned creatures
• The Other Foot:
• More time given on Impossible (previously Insane) difficulty
• Food drops from spawning creatures build up & spawn with the next drop
• The Crucible demo level now has difficulty settings
• Spider levels:
o Added sound effects to spider abilities
o Increased healing from Devour by 17%
o Increased max health gained by Bite level
o Hungry Spider: reduced uber wolf spider’s attack damage (down from 410 to 150)
o Hungry Spider: added some queen corpses with 60 food each near the uber wolf spider
o Festive Spider: early game a bit less difficult with more food
o Festive Spider: waves rebalanced in several spots


Fixes
• Fixed environmental creatures with singular spawning not attacking each other
• Enemy colony health bars are now properly hidden in fog of war
• Adventure-specific UI elements no longer overlap the huge whip spider health bar
• UI elements no longer visible when photo mode is on during a victory animation
• Fixed depth of field for cinematic cameras in several places
• Minor improvements are now applied to fire ants at point of purchase
• Adaptations panel jelly value will now update on purchase of minor improvements
• Formicarium Challenge 4 (‘The Final Experiment’) victory camera positioning fixed
• Fixed some old beach style level tunnel exit to use the old one
• Fixed the wrong loading screen showing in some situations in a custom game
• Fixed some huge creatures & hybrids appearing to resurrect after a formicarium reload
• Fixed long creatures adorably chasing their own tails (sorry!)
• Fixed a crash when colony 2 was empty in a custom game
• Hermit crab shells & spider hats no longer receive decals
• Pressing Esc during difficulty selection will no longer lead to a UI overlap
• Fixed an issue with dragonflies that could cause a slowdown over time
• Fixed a problem in Festive Spider where an upgraded tower could be knocked back
• Fixed a crash when a creature firing a projectile was deleted before the projectile lands

1.3.0.11621 Patch

• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the Liz Katz DLC to not work correctly.
• This also sometimes caused duplicate characters on the main menu and or plastic looking characters on the loading screen.
• Music now changes correctly on the speakers.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused custom stories to not load correctly.
• Fixed a couple issues that sometimes caused crashes/hanging on the loading/menu screens.

Patch 1.3.0.11624

• Fixed an issue causing old saves to not open at all in the new build. (Old saves now open. Since they are from a different game version, content may not function as expected.)
• Fixed an issue causing custom stories to sometimes not save and load correctly.

Patch 1.3.0.11632

• Fixed an issue that was causing crashes and hanging after the loading screen for some players.
• Fixed an issue that prevented controllers (affected Steam Deck controller as well) from accessing the full Graphics menu.

Patch 1.3.0.11633

• Fixed a side-effect of the last patch that caused some issues with DLC items and also caused the some owned DLCs checkboxes to become disabled in the DLC Settings window.

Patch 1.3.0.11639

• Fixed music sometimes not resuming play on a loaded game.
• Fixed music not remembering the currently playing song correctly on a loaded game.
• Fixed memory leak associated with changing music tracks.
• Fixed an issue that caused interactive items to not load correctly on legacy saves.

12/24 Morning Hotfix

Patched several more corrupted audio files. If you run into a voice line that doesn't match the subtitles or that is garbled or cuts out, please report the line and scene to the Dialogue Issues thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1989270/discussions/0/3873717982252461671/

Each file is a fairly easy fix once identified, and I'll be keeping a close eye on reports in the coming days.

Thanks so much for playing, and Merry Christmas + Happy Holidays!

12/24 Afternoon Patch

Fixed another 6 or so corrupted audio files. Thank you for bearing with me while we hunt down the remaining sound issues from the audio re-work. Given the rareness of these issues (appears to be ~1% of voice files, possibly fewer), patching individual files as we go seems like the most effective approach. Bulk re-exporting everything would leave me worried that it wouldn't fix the issue, or that different files might have issues.

As mentioned in the previous post, if you run into any outstanding audio issues, please report them on the bugs channel of our discord ([discord.gg/blacktabbygames](discord.gg/blacktabbygames)) or on this Steam thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1989270/discussions/0/3873717982252461671/?ctp=5

Thank you all so much!
Tony

more fixed voice files lol

on and on it goes, until your patch notes are not your patch notes are not your game!

thanks for bearing with me on this - want to be as on top of fixing these lil issues as soon as possible when they crop up!

EDIT: I'm gonna stop spamming hotfix notes at this point. If you see a small update over the next day or do (like the one that just went out at 6:28 EST on 12/24), it's fixing another corrupted audio file.

Apologies to anyone who's running into these (fairly rare) issues while I continue to fix them: they're rare enough that I'd rather keep the overall mix of the remastered audio as opposed to rolling back to the version before the remaster.

If the issue meaningfully persists after another couple of days of patches, I'll give the whole thing a fresh pass, but in the meantime, putting out a small fix a couple times a day lets me still enjoy Christmas :)

If you run into any issues, please be sure to report them on the Steam forums or on the relevant bugs channel on our discord.

Forums: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1989270/discussions/0/3873717982252461671/

Discord: http://discord.gg/blacktabbygames

EDIT 2: All issues w/ Chapter 3 voice glitches should be fixed; still looking for the stragglers in other chapters but all issues should be resolved soon ^^

Build 0.0144

- Fixed bad mouse over UI on Journal main menu buttons.
- Fixed bad mouse over UI on fabricator and refinery buttons in station panel.
- Fixed bad mouse over UI on station mission panel.
- Fixed bad wormhole warpgate model not properly showing correct model and animation.
- Fixed bad path to MOD folder when saving changes to the sector map using the map editor.
- Fixed bug where Merc would not follow thru the warpgate when Warp FX animations are disabled.
- Fixed bad path to MOD folder on station services panel when assigning station services under alternate MOD folder.
- Fixed Delivery mission bug preventing proper generation of delivery missions on the station Missions panel.
- Fixed a number of typos here and there.
- Fixed bug causing warp drive module to throw errors when no exit gate it available.
- Adjusted station panel button mouse over graphics to match for consistency across all station panels and sub panels.
- Adjusted remote market prices to reflect recent event updates to market items prior to docking at remote location.
- Adjusted general tooltip to allow for multiline and colors.
- Adjusted functionality and UI layout of the Map Editor. Now matches the Skybox Editor.
- Adjusted Pilot panel to remember last viewed tab instead of reseting to skills view when re-opening the Pilot panel.
- Adjusted drone engagement to preform a check of the target type before sending the drone. If target type mismatch, done will remain at ship.
- Adjusted the loot drop formula to prevent higher level ships from dropping lower tier loot from the raiders loot table.
- Added autoscale UI for steamdeck resolution. Loading new player will auto adjust the UI so all panels are visible.
- Added sell pricing information to the remote prices panel on the markets.
- Added tooltip to GPS quick link on the remote prices panel on the station markets.
- Added ability to enter values using keyboard into the Alt-Drag popup box when transfering items.
- Added (Move all to Storage) button onto the fabricator panel next to the (Move all to Ship) button.
- Added button to mission display panel that will open the pilot mission panel showing active missions.

- AUDIO STUFF
- Adjusted all 3d audio settings for every module object in the game.
- Adjusted all 3d audio settings for every prop object in game.
- Adjusted all 3d audio settings for every fx object in game. ( Thank God that is over with!)
- Added new slider for station ambience volume control under Audio Options.
All station sound effects have been moved to this new audio channel.
- Added new slider for communications chatter volume control under Audio Options.
- Added new audio for mouse clicks and mouseover on all station panels.
New mouse over audio for all Market panel buttons, and market overview buttons.
New mouse over audio for all Market Buy and Sell panel buttons.
New mouse over audio for all buttons on the station Garage panel. Garage module overview and extra garage options.
- Added missing audio for mouse clicks and mouseover on station Shipyard and shipyard subpanels.
- Added missing mouseover tooltips and audio onto the Refinery and Lounge station panels.
- Added missing audio mouseovers to all items on the station Mission panel.
- Added missing audio for mouse clicks and mouseover on Lounge and Market panel.
- Added missing audio for mouse clicks and mouseover on Station Storage panel and sub panels.
- Added audio to mouseovers to office list items on station Office panel amd station Services panel.
- Added audio to mouseovers to NPC Dialog panel.
- Added tooltips and audio on the specialty buttons for free floating NPC Dialog box.
- Added new ambient audio system for all stations. new system takes over 2 unique ambient sounds and sprinkles them into the background.
How busy the station is will affect how often these audio samples are added to the station atmosphere.
- Added new audio for station trams, utility ships, personal vehicles.
- Added the ability to collapse and expand drone groups and categories on the Fleet Command panel.
- Added ability to expand collapsed drone group by clicking header. This will not select all drones from that group, but expand the group.
- Added dynamic audio samples for all Projectile impact explosions.
- Added dynamic audio samples for all Missile impact explosions.
- Added dynamic audio samples for all Laser impact explosions.
- Added dynamic audio samples for all Beam impact explosions.
- Added dynamic audio explosions for Crates.
- Added audio for warp drive module, and fuel requirement notification.
- Added new dynamic audio system for all warpgates.
New sounds for warpgate charging, launch, transit, exiting and aborting.
New audio system uses warpgate charging timer to adjust pitch of the charging sound effect.
New system uses warpgate transit timer to adjust pitch of the transit sound effect when exiting the warp.
6 New warpgate charging sound effects for each of the 6 main factions.
6 New warpgate transit sound effects for each of the 6 main factions.
- Added new sound effects for Buy Ship, hire Merc, Train Skill, Buy Entertainment.
- Added new sound effect for Merc payroll deductions.
- Added ship AI vocal warnings for low energy, life support, shield and armor. These are timed in sequence as not to overlap each other.
- Added ship AI vocal triggers for toggles of, Auto dock, Auto warp, Auto scan, Auto target and orbit.
- Added ship ai vocal triggers for Missions. Objective complete, Accpected, Aborted, and Expired.
- Added ship AI vocal triggers for Mercs. Hire, Retire, Standby, Killed and Abandoned fleet.
- Added ship AI vocal warnings for Mercs. Low hull, needs repair, and gained a level.

12/26 - more voice fixes (should be done or almost done at this point)

Fixed a handful of additional corrupted voice files. Soon we shall be free.

Update 1.76-2 Patch Notes

• Improved rain FX and sound effects (don't fall asleep while playing!)

• Now after you sacrifice to the Rock in Ashinaka, it will permanently disable all of the teleporters. This should make your life a lot easier!

• Small improvements with ghouls moving towards player during attack

Patch 1.0.5 is now live

Hello Reporters,

A new patch has just been deployed to improve your adventure:

Bugfix

• Fixed an issue when Beetle Puzzle Audio can't be heard
• Fixed an incorrect UI in Beetle Puzzle
• Fixed an issue regarding pictures from notebook/load save menu disappearing/resetting upon loading a save from Load Game or by selecting Continue
• Fixed a crash during the mission "Escape from the hospital"
• Fixed an issue regarding pictures appearing too dark
• Fixed an issue of unresponsiveness if the user opens the Load Game menu during gameplay
• Fixed an issue regarding a block when fighting Rastapopoulos’ guards on the Cruiser
• Fixed an issue of missing voices in the Jungle
• Fixed a crash when being caught by Sarcophagus
• Fixed a block by losing in the big jump during the car chase in the last chapter
• Fixed a crash during transition from Airplane section to Abudin
• Fixed an issue of an application displaying an unresponsive screen for more than 30 seconds
• Fixed crashes encountered in the Jungle chapter while helping professor Sarcophagus find “the Eyes”
• Fixed an infinite loading icon that would make it impossible to pause the game
• Fixed a block by triggers not activating in certain parts of the Cruiser
• Fixed a block by being able to fall through the environment when chasing Sarcophagus
• Fixed a visible placeholder for "move left rail" and "move right rail" buttons
• Fixed a block by running back when chasing the Fakir
• Fixed misplaced Curtains blinds misleading the player during Asylum Chase
• Fixed a block by getting stuck with the car after the big jumps during the car chase to the Asylum
• Fixed an issue of characters in the load screen in the Cruiser
• Fixed a block by camera flipping and causing the user to not be able to use the QTE
• Fixed a camera issue going under the car after losing in the car chase to the Asylum
• Fixed a block after getting caught in comms room in Abudin
• Fixed an issue of missing hotspots in the Temple
• Fixed an issue of puzzle logic that could get broken sometimes
• Fixed a wrong Game Over in the maharajah when playing flute
• Fixed a lack of chase bar when entering the Chasing Sarcophagus level from another one
• Fixed the improper camera being selected in the hold of the ship when looking at the ammo crates after coming from previous sequences
• Fixed an issue regarding the deaf soldier inside the floor when calling for us in Abudin
• Collisions added to block incorrect paths while following Sarcophagus
• Fixed an issue after pressing continue and seeing the wardrobe displaced in Tintin quarters on the Cruiser
• Fixed an incorrect torch pose after doing the Ankh Puzzle in the Temple
• Fixed an issue of triggering without throwing the keys in the Cruiser if you get close to the wall when Tintin is arrested
• Fixed an issue of soldiers not catching you if you aren't crouched in Abudin
• Fixed a camera issue after performing the QTE with the broomstick in Abudin
• Fixed a missing bark from the guard when caught after leaving the prison in sneaking out
• Fixed a line from Oliveira saying that he owes Tintin
• Fixed a not running nurse during the chase from Asylum to the train
• Fixed a rewind issue seeing Tintin going through the floor of the smugglers
• Fixed a reset issue if you fall over with the car in certain sections
• Fixed issues of hoods placed on the floor after unmasking the cultists
• Fixed a trigger in the line of military instructions of Abudin
• Fixed the mannequin’s beard in the Maharajah's room if it was the last thing placed
• Fixed an enemy going into a pose when catching you while running out of Abudin
• Fixed a throwing issue while sneaking out of Abudin
• Fixed the FOV when obtaining the boots in military instruction
• Fixed a strange rotation issue of Sarcophagus if caught while jumping when chasing him in the Jungle
• Fixed an air conduct seen from out of the Cruiser window
• Fixed a resolution issue for the light puzzle of the Temple’s lower floor
• Fixed camera going into player during the last chase of the game
• Fixed a sliding animation in the last chase
• Fixed the camera for inspecting sound in the workshop wagon
• Fixed planks in the last chase
• Fixed the water rise in the first hideout puzzle
• Fixed an issue of Snowy floating in a picture in the Temple
• Fixed an issue of getting caught even when "covered" in the main gate zone of Abudin
• Added the correct camera to Game Over when sneaking out of Abudin
• Adjusted the fans in Asylum
• Fixed a broken camera when Tintin is arrested in the Cruiser in Thompsons area
• Fixed the lifeboat chains on the Cruiser
• Fixed a frame rate drop while sneaking out of Abudin
• Fixed a prompt disappearance when trying to climb crates when sneaking out of Abudin
• Fixed general collisions
• Fixed PC controls and UI
• Added indications in the line of recruitment of the military instructions in Abudin
• Added indications while trying to lead Sarcophagus in the Jungle
• Fixed an issue where the radio puzzle would get stuck when pressing A
• Fixed an issue where users could climb into the air in the military instructions sequence
• Fixed an issue where users could lose hotspots during the Temple sequence
• Tintin and Snowy are misaligned with the car after they dodge the bullet at the end of the last car chase
• Fixed an issue of the game getting stuck on an infinite black screen after spamming the 'Option' button during the objective fail sequence of the objective 'Royal heir - Save the prince'
• Fixed an issue where water was not displayed when looking out of the cruiser when Tintin is arrested
• Fixed collisions in the Cruiser to prevent NPCs from crashing into tables
• Fixed an issue where the chess-playing NPC would not do his patrol
• Fixed out of focus issues with some cameras in the Cruiser and Temple
• Fixed AI in the workshop so that they move appropriately
• Fixed infinite autosave that could occur while chasing the Fakir
• Fixed possible crashes when traversing through the cave in the climax chase sequence

Patch 1.0.6 is now live

Dear Players,

Thank you for your precious feedbacks, we've got a new patch available for Tintin Report - Cigars of the Pharaoh:

User Interface (UI) and Accessibility:

• Added UI indicators for the cat chase.
• Added Game Over indicators during various sequences.
• Added tutorials to various game sections.
• Improved UI by adding camera with text for investigations.
• Fixed issues where interaction prompts would not appear or were incorrect.
• Fixed an issue where the Load Game screen showed two Egypts.
• Added global UI indicator in the Cave section of the last chase.
• Added crossed eye UI to Sarcophagus in a specific scene.

Animation and Visual Effects (VFX):

• Improved quality of animations throughout the game.
• Added animations and expressions to Tintin in various sequences.
• Added VFX in several scenes, including the boat explosion and driving sections.
• Fixed issues with characters and objects not moving or animating correctly.
• Adjusted character levels of detail for optimization.
• Fixed general animation linking issues with objects.

Gameplay and Mechanics:

• Adjusted time and difficulty in various sequences (Jungle driving, Asylum escape, etc.).
• Added parachute Game Over and chase behaviors.
• Repositioned game elements (lever in Workshop, etc.) for better accessibility.
• Fixed issues with Tintin's movement and interaction (walking on water, vibrations, etc.).
• Adjusted AI behavior and reaction ranges.
• Fixed various gameplay blockers and crashes.

Audio-Visual and Cinematic Issues:

• Fixed issues where audio would play incorrectly or stop.
• Cinematic optimization for smoother transitions.
• Improved general atmosphere in specific scenes (thunderstorm in the Bungalow).
• Fixed synchronization issues with voice and subtitles.

Miscellaneous Fixes:

• Fixed issues with game freezing, random freezes during autosave, and micro-freezes.
• Improved lighting and visual aspects in various scenes.
• Adjusted hotspots and collectible ranges.
• Fixed general blur problems and other graphical issues.
• Added and fixed cutscenes and small cinematics for narrative enhancement.

Specific Bug Fixes:

• Fixed specific issues in various levels and sequences, like the military chase, Asylum escape, and Cruiser section.
• Adjusted and fixed issues with specific character interactions and animations.

Patch 1.3.0.11681

Pretty much all reported issues should be resolved with this patch. Let us know on our Discord: https://discord.gg/eekgames in #create-ticket if you're experience any issues and we will dig deeper in and/or get it in the next patch! We also love seeing your screenshots of your customized outfits in #community-content in our Discord, and in Steam and would love to see more!

Some of the resolved issues include:

• Player jacket/shoes are no longer stuck on.
• Vickie Vixen and Brittney side stories are now working correctly.
• The issue sometimes causing plastic looking characters on the loading screen has been resolved.
• Fix for female player sometimes not being able to "use with" some items.