Getting started: slime, camera and time
A colony is not led from a distance. Your view follows one of its creatures.
One slime as a viewpoint
This world is seen through a single slime. It is viewpoint and tool at once: [WASD] or a click sets it moving, and holding a direction or double-clicking a distant destination soon has it sprinting. Any other member of the colony can be taken over with [Shift] and a click, as long as the current slime is not carrying cargo.
The full list of controls is kept in the [F1] panel. These pages tell how things fit together.
The view across the world
The view follows the slime under control but comes loose as soon as it is pushed across the world, with two fingers on a trackpad as well. [Space] brings it back to the controlled slime, and [Tab] wanders from one colony member to the next. A small light point above the head and a soft glow show which slime is under control; both move along when another is taken over.
The world does not care where the view rests. What happens out of sight happens all the same.
Field study · The controlled slime carries a small light.
When my view returned to the queen, the forager from the forest edge was already carrying a load. I had missed its departure.
When a way is blocked
Not every order can be carried out. A red circle at the destination shows that the slime cannot get there. If only earth stands in the way, a double-click sets it digging. If an order fails along the way, the slime reports it itself.
Stopping time, hurrying time
[0] stops the world and sets it going again; [1], [2] and [3] choose single, double or fourfold speed. In fast-forward everything advances together: the daily cycle, needs, growth and travel. During the pause the interface steps back a little. View and zoom stay free, and another colony member can be taken over even while the current slime carries cargo; walking, fighting and eating wait until time moves on.
Each world remembers its speed: if it last ran in fast-forward, it does so again after loading, and new worlds begin at an easy pace. The pause menu stops the world as well. The Bestiarium and the options do the same but let the music play on.
First encounters
When a slime meets another species, a creature or a biome for the first time, the world pauses briefly and an illustrated card shows the find. From there a link leads to the matching page of this book. Each discovery happens only once: what has been seen once stays known, in later worlds as well.
What the world reports
The objectives of a journey wait as small hints and explain themselves when clicked. What happens along the way the world reports in short messages; older ones can be read in a chronicle, ordered by game day. How many hints, banners and event cards appear can be set in the options. Saving happens on its own; a brief “Saved” beside the version number confirms it.
Another perspective
Switching to another slime does not replace the colony. It erases neither its objectives nor the knowledge gathered in this book.
When the controlled slime dies, the view lingers at the spot for a moment. Then the world pauses and names the cause, and the journey continues with another living member: a worker or soldier first, the queen last. The chosen speed is kept. If losses follow each other closely, the switch happens without another interruption.
A dead slime does not return. The colony is lost only when none of its members are alive.
