June Dev Blog: Scouts and Transports

Hi everyone!

Summer is here, bringing sunshine and warmth to the primordial soup. Thanks to that, our microscopic world is teeming with life, and our growing Collective is gradually adding new microorganisms to the mix. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the new cells and plants I’ve designed over the last couple months:

Elite combat unit

The Collective already has two different combat units: Lancet Cells as the staple melee fighter, and Medusae (or Jellies) for ranged support. Still, I always felt something was missing – the roster just didn’t feel right without an elite unit. Thus, the Abyssal Harpy was born.

The Abyssal Harpy will be a fast heavy-hitter with a piercing tongue attack (actually, a bit like a xenomorph). It’s going to hit like a truck, and can even swallow smaller, damaged enemies whole! I want these harpies to evoke a sense of alien menace, so their imagery, while still obviously biological, almost looks spiky spaceships, which hopefully gives off a feeling of cosmic horror or monsters from the deep.

Spawning from the brood pod, the Harpy will grow in the dark, and once it hatches, it can deploy anywhere. What? The Brood Pod looks like a garlic, you say? Well, because the design is inspired by garlic!

Scouting

Next up, Scout Cells. I noticed the Collective still lacks specialized scouting units, and mostly relying on free-roaming cells like stem cells and Lancet Cells to break through the fog of war. So I decided to design a cell dedicated specifically to scouting.

The Scout cells, spawning from Sensory Spires, won’t possess any combat capabilities, but they will fulfil various scouting duties both locally and globally. It will roam the local map to explore undiscovered corners, as well as embark on scouting missions across the world map to acquire enemy data or detect incoming threats. Especially useful for gauging enemy strength and deciding how big an army you need to invade enemy territory.

Their designs are based on the Euglena Cells, and you can also see my behind-the-scenes process of designing and painting the Scout Cells in this YouTube short.

Assault Tardigrades

Last time we showed the peaceful tardigrades, so it’s time to look at the tardigrades of war: Assault Tardigrades. This spiky version will be your troop transport during expeditions, taking units deep inside enemy territory. Reaching their destination and unloading troops is not their only job: disembarked cells in foreign territory also rely on the Assault Tardigrade for healing and nutrients, essentially using it as a mobile base.

This tardigrade isn't just here to support, for it is a living war machine by its own right. As a siege unit, it can deliver a devastating ranged attack against plants and large enemies. The down side is, it needs time to charge, so just like tanks IRL, support it with other units and keep smaller enemies away from it!

Steam post image The visual design of the Assault Tardigrade is inspired by Heterotardigrades, which also sport heavy armor and spiky appendages.

Hope this dev blog gives you a better idea of what's coming to Primordial Empire and how the world map mechanics will work! Now time for me to go back to working on more new content. What do you think about these new cells and plants? Let me know on the Steam discussion board or join our Discord to talk about it with other microbiology fans! And don't forget to follow our socials for more about Primordial Empire! (Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram)