We're back this week to bring you some new art and research for the game (plus a tiny update)!

This devlog is a part of our ongoing Fungi Facts series, in which we share the weird and wonderful facts we learn as we research our game.

New Cover Artwork

We will probably use this for the promotional materials for our game and in many of our future devlog updates. We hope you like it!

Game Prototype Update

Darren added a Sprite Tilemap Grid to the game! This was surprisingly easy because Unity is amazing. It will take a while for us to figure out how we want to work with it, but this is a solid start. Thanks Unity... ...Thunity.

Fungi Facts - Sharing our subject research

During the development of this game, we want to invest in researching our subject and setting - trees, mycelium and the forest. It's always a good idea to research the subject you are representing. That way we can make informed decisions and hopefully gain some more insight into our reality.

Adding every fascinating fact or story we learn about into our tiny game is not possible given the scope of this project, but we can at least share it in factoid form. It's certainly worth learning about and sharing in any case.

We plan to share the research process in these devlogs updates. A few interesting facts each update. This way, you can learn about the fascinating observations, stories and facts that we encounter on our journey towards our Demo Version.

The Hidden Life of Trees - Part 1.

Tia, our lead artist, has thus far re-read the first half of the book that was a big inspiration when we were coming up with the concept for the game - The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben.

You can read a few interesting facts from the first part of the book below!

A bit about trees;

• Trees live on a different timescale then us; it takes about an hour for a tree to react to pain and so warn other trees of the danger.
• Trees use scent to communicate among themselves. They produce gases that are carried with the wind to other trees.
• They can repel insects by producing toxins in their leaves, making them bad tasting.
• Trees that are man planted are usually deaf and dumb, rendered antisocial since they didn't grow up and bond in a family community like a forest. But even in a forest there are loners, hermits.

A bit about fungi;

• Fungi are the largest living organisms on the planet thanks to their Mycelium web.
• One teaspoon of forest floor contains miles of fungus networks.
• Fungal connections intersect with tree roots and help bring news of insects, drought, and other dangers. It's a wood wide web!
• Loners and trees without a good fungal network are more susceptible to danger because they can't receive news and communicate as well as others.

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend you read the book yourselves and I guarantee you’ll never look at trees and fungi the same again!