Beginner’s EVRIMA Guide

Overview

Contains information such as growth timers, combat controls and UI controls. This guide is intended for those wanting to play on the heavily revised update: EVRIMA while being as resourceful as possible for both new gamers and veteran players. Questions and suggestions are welcomed.

Welcome to EVRIMA

EVRIMA (translating to “discovery” in Greek) is the name given to the substantial change to The Isle thus far, and is quite literally a new game. EVRIMA will one day replace Legacy and be pushed to the public, but as of now it sits as an opt-in beta.

The reason for such an extensive change originates from the plethora of issues that resided in the original code base that rooted into the very fundamentals of the game’s structure. There was more bad than good, more bugs and crashes than the game play mechanics it provided. This older version of The Isle is known as “Legacy” to the community, and is the game that will open by default unless you choose to participate in the opt-in beta.

Please note that this version of The Isle is an entirely new game with entirely new code. EVRIMA has only been in development for a fraction of the time that Legacy has been in development can contain flaws and game breaking bugs.

When installing The Isle for the first time, you will be greeted with the legacy version of the game. This is the older, less “raw” version of the game. To play on EVRIMA you will need to swap branches, which can be done easily if you follow the steps below.

• Open Steam
• Install “The Isle” on Steam

Once the download is complete:

• Right click “The Isle” on Steam
• Select Properties > Betas
• Select the beta “EVRIMA public branch” on the drop-down menu

EVRIMA is an entirely new game, thus will have some issues that aren’t found in Legacy. Consider checking out the linked troubleshooting document to see if your questions has been answered, otherwise you can head to the Official Discord or the Steam Forums to ask for support.

Troubleshooting Document[docs.google.com]
Official Discord[discord.gg]

What is Survival?

The Isle’s core game mode is Survival, a tense and difficult experience where you need to grow fast or die young. You will enter the world as a young juvenile, relying only on your wits and bravery to survive. You grow with time, becoming much more capable and more formidable for as long as you survive.

Dinosaurs in Survival mode progress through several life stages, starting out small and vulnerable. Use your scent ability, night vision and wits to survive long enough to grow, becoming more powerful and unlock new abilities such as nesting.

Tenontosaurus
Dryosaurus
Hypsilophodon
Stegosaurus

Utahraptor
Carnotaurus
Pteranodon
Deinosuchus

Fresh Spawn
The term used when referring to people who have just loaded into the game. They are typically juveniles, and not fully grown.

Bugs
Bugs are when the game behaves in an unintended manner, ranging from being slightly inconvenient to game breaking problems. Bugs with time will eventually be resolved but given the game is in Beta – bugs are to be expected.

AI
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is currently a major work in progress. The Dryosaurus AI was the first animal to have an AI variant implemented, and will be the foundation for future AI.

Ideally, it will be designed to behave similarly to players, and are a good means of populating the world around you. The AI found in Legacy will one day be overshadowed by EVRIMA’s more advanced AI.

Hatchling
This is the youngest variant you can be; they have no means of fending for themselves. The more appropriate name would be “nestling”, but it’s rarely used.

Juvenile
Juveniles are older, and more capable than hatchlings and can survive on their own. These are, by legacy’s standards, what you spawn into the world as. This word is usually shortened to “Juvie”.

Sub-adult
Sub-adults, sometimes called “subs” or “sub (species)”, are nearly fully grown animals. Few animals in The Isle have a true sub-adult model similar to the rex, but it’s a noteworthy point in one’s growth.

Full Grown
Full grown animals have reached their peak in terms of the capabilities of their species, and make formidable opponents.

Elder
Currently not in-game. More information later.

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Default Controls

• Mouse
Moving your mouse allows your camera to move around
• Middle Mouse Button (MMB)
Scrolling in and out zooms your camera closer and further from you
• Left ALT
When held: Enables free-cam view

It’s worth mentioning that certain controls are not applicable to every animal. Some can’t jump, others can’t crouch. Please consider checking out your species’ guide further down to get an idea of what you can and cannot do.

• W, S, A, D
W moves you forwards, S moves you backwards, A moves you left, and D moves you right. These are your typical movement keys for just about any game, suited best for the QWERTY keyboard.

• Z
Toggles Walking/Trotting

• Left CTRL
Toggles Crouch/Stand

• Left Shift
When held: Activates your run, allowing you to move at your fastest at the cost of stamina.

• Spacebar
Toggles Jump

• E
Interaction Key
Used for: Eating, Drinking, and interacting with the game.

• H
Toggles Sitting/Standing

• Q
When held: Activates Scent

Tip: Holding down any of your call-keys produces a louder sound

Pressing your F key will make your character call. Typing in chat triggers this call.

• This call has no exact meaning
• It’s heard most frequently when people are chatting

Pressing your 1 key will make your character broadcast

• This is the loudest call, good for attracting attention

Pressing your 2 key will make your character friendly call

• Used to seem friendly, but doesn’t guarantee friendship
• Sometimes used by players to misguide others
• Using this while facing another of your species invites them to a group

Pressing your 3 key will make your character threaten

• Used for a variety of purposes, they probably want to be left alone
• Occasionally used in combat

Pressing your 4 key will make your character call for help/alert others of danger

• This call is typically used when someone is in danger

Combat controls vary from dinosaur to dinosaurs, and some have more than others. I’d recommend reading more about the individual species to get familiar with their different attacks and experimenting for yourself.

• Left Mouse Button (LMB)
Default Bite/Light Attack

• Right Mouse Button (RMB)
Special/Heavy Attack

Aerial Controls

➤Flying Controls

◽Hold Spacebar A while stationary
Stationary takeoff. Used to launch yourself into the air to fly, at the cost of extra stamina.
Stamina cost subject to change.

◽Hold Spacebar A while sprinting
Running takeoff. Costs less stamina than the stationary take off but takes longer to get into the air.
Stamina cost subject to change.

◽Hold Spacebar A while flying
Fly upwards.

◽Hold CTRL right stick button while flying
Fly downwards.

◽Hold SHIFT B while flying
Fly faster at an increased stamina cost.

◽Hold Z while flying N/A
Air break. Used to slow yourself down in order to land safely. Do not hold for extended periods, or you will plummet from the sky.

◽Hold CTRL right stick button + Z while flying
Descend safely. Used to slow down and make a steep descent. Safe to hold for extended periods.

Aquatic Controls

➤Aquatic Animal Swimming

◽Spacebar A while submerged in water
Ascend upwards.

◽CTRL right stick button while submerged in water
Dive downwards.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

This meter displays some basic information relating to your dinosaur’s calls (F + 1-4 Keys).
The inner symbols represent how long you’ve held the call key for. Tapping 3 will result in a weaker threat whereas holding 3 will result in a louder threat.

The outer circle that surrounds your vocalisation meter is your breath. Calls you make will use up a little bit of your breath, and the amount of stamina you have can also impact this. Less breath means your calls will not travel as far.

One of the major aspects of a survival game is maintaining your hunger and thirst. Not eating or drinking will result in your character dying from either starvation, dehydration, or both. The bright green within the hunger and thirst containers represents how full and quenched you are. Remember to keep them topped up!

Your stamina is a measurement of how long one can sustain prolonged physical tasks: fighting, sprinting, and swimming. You’ll want to keep an eye on your stamina, entering a fight without a good reserve of stamina to rely on can be the line between life and death. Stamina regenerates over time when it’s not actively being consumed, and regenerates faster when you’re resting.

The compass displays only while scent is activated. The peak of your compass represents North, and the valley represents South. This can be useful for getting a general idea of where to head in-case you have become lost.

Your Health Pool (HP) is your method of seeing how far away you are from death. The closer you are to death, or the more damage you have taken, will result in a bloodier and darker screen. Many aspects of this game will cause you to take damage, such as: drowning, starvation, dehydration, or being attacked.

If you take damage, you will need to subdue what damaged you and heal over time. Healing in this game takes time, with that time being shortened if you are resting (Toggle H). I suggest finding a safe, quiet and well-covered area to rest after a battle.

The chat box is a form of communication with players around you. Pressing F6 will toggle your chat box on and off.
There are three chats the player can utilize: Global, Local, and Group. Cycle through them by pressing enter to open the chatbox, and cycle using tab. Servers can disable certain chats if they wish, so not all may be available to you.

Currently incomplete.
The insert menu can be toggled by pressing the ins (short for insert) button on your keyboard. This contains useful information about your overall wellbeing, including: growth, diet, bite force, maximum speed, health and much more.

Note: Some keyboards do not have the Insert key on them, consider changing what key this is bound to in order to access this menu.

The Logout timer is designed to prevent people from logging out during combat as a means to save themselves for a sticky situation. Logging out without being considered “safe” will leave your character in-game for a period of 5 minutes even after you log out. You’re fair game at that point. Tapping H will cancel the logout.

In order to safely logout without having your character a sitting duck for an extended period of time is simple:

• Ideally, you will want to find a safe place to log out; anywhere on the map works, but hiding is often better for logging back in unnoticed.
• Sit down. The timer wont appear until you are fully resting. (This will be changed to sleeping)
• Press ESC, you’ll see the timer ticking down in seconds.
• Leave the ESC menu up until the countdown is over, closing it will reset the timer.

You can access the Group Menu by pressing Insert (or Ins) on your keyboard and choosing the “Group” option. This menu contains all relevant information regarding your group status, such as people in the group, the option to leave a group, who is the leader and, if you are the leader, the option to kick people from the group.

Note: Some keyboards do not have the Insert key on them, consider changing what key this is bound to in order to access this menu.

Not currently in-game.

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General Mechanics

Upon taking too much damage, be it from dehydration, starvation, or combat your character will keel over and die, becoming carrion for any passing predators. Death will reset your progress all the way to the beginning, so be careful, and pick your fights wisely.

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Friendly Call (2 Key) another of your species to invite them to a group
Grouping should be considered separate from casually tagging along with other animals, as this mechanic only works on others of your species, meaning that as a Stegosaurus, you’d friendly call to invite another Stegosaurus, but the same wouldn’t work on a Tenontosaurus.

It’s also worth noting that grouping is limited to a certain number of people per group, the exact number being different depending on the species. Being in too large of a group will cause your scent to be a lot easier to track, leaving large plumes of stink wherever you and the group go

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Hold Q to Smell
Using your nose to scent things lets you inspect your surroundings for important resources: Compass, footprints, corpses, plants, and bodies of water. Herbivores can only use their scent while standing still, whereas carnivores are able to use scent while trotting, allowing them to track on the go.

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While standing over mud: Hold E to Wallow
Wallowing in mud coats your animal in mud, and makes you smell like mud, temporarily preventing players from scent-tracking your footprints. Not only that, but if you’ve got open wounds and are bleeding, wallowing will clot these open wounds and prevent further blood loss, unless they’re reopened again.

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While sitting: Tap any movement key to initiate quick stand
If you find yourself caught offguard and in immediate danger, standing up quickly just might save your hide. Quick stand allows you to get up quickly from a resting position at the cost of stamina.

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Submerging in deep water automatically sets you to swimming. Swimming in water is a physically taxing activity and will drain your stamina. Be careful when entering water with low stamina, you’ll begin to drown!

Tip: Holding Left Shift while in water lets you swim faster, and allows you to climb steeper slopes.

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You will find yourself vomiting if you end up overeating from any food source, so be sure to keep an eye on your stats. Vomiting negatively affects your stamina, food and hunger by temporarily capping how much you can consume, and will turn your HUD a sickly yellow.

Note: This effect lasts 20 minutes.

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Time passes on in The Isle, just as it should in real life (although sped up dramatically). Day time will eventually shift into night time, and vice versa.

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Not yet. Might help remedy certain illnesses.

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Hold E over Grass
This is exclusive to Herbivores! Grazing from grass, done by holding the E key, refills your hunger slightly. This is not a sustainable method for keeping your hunger high, but it helps stave off starvation for the time being.

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Carnivores are able to latch on to and drag/carry bodies by using the G key. Pressing the G key again lets you drop it. This can be used as a means to bring food to friends, or moving it to a more secure location.

Note: You cannot carry bodies that outweigh you. Attempting to will result in grabbing a flesh chunk instead.

Press G on a body that’s too large to carry
Grab meat chunks by pressing G over a body that’s too large to actually carry. Your character will automatically grab a decent sized chunk of meat, letting you run away to snack safely.

Combat Mechanics

When an enemy latches onto you, Hold E
If you have a pesky Utahraptor stuck to your side and clawing your hide, hold E. You’ll begin to flail, which drains the attacker’s stamina tremendously. If they don’t hop off in time, they’ll fall to the ground and be open for an easy attack.

Every animal has a certain amount of blood in its body. You have it, I have it, these animals have it. Your blood pool can be considered your ‘second health pool’ as losing all your blood will result in death, no matter your overall health.

You will begin to temporarily bleed if any form of piercing/slicing attack hits you, so once that blood pool starts getting low, consider finding some mud to clot your wounds with and hiding somewhere safe. The amount of blood you lose varies depending on your hunger, thirst and stamina, so a healthier, more well-fed player will be able to resist better than a hungry player.

Note: Wallowing clots wounds, your hunger/thirst/stamina impacts amount of blood lost

Taking any form of damage will lock off a small percentage of your maximum health. You will still be able to heal, but the health that has been locked off will require additional time to heal off before you’re at maximum health once more.

Customising the Controls

This panel allows users to modify their game settings according to what fits for them.

The “Audio” tab gives users access to modifiers for changing the values between sound effects, music, and overall game volume according to their taste.

No information as of right now.

Contains all methods of movement currently available in-game for you to change. Please note that there are some known issues with changing your key-binds for controls. If you encounter this please check out the mentioned troubleshooting document.

TIP: You can manually input number values into settings by left clicking any numerical value you see on screen. From there, the world is your oyster.

The Isle aims to further improve their accessibility options to help widen their reach. If you have any suggestions to further enhance the customisation options for this game you can leave a suggestion either on the Discord or in the Steam community forums.

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The Map & Environment

Contains UNOFFICIAL names for map locations.
Click me for the full image[images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com]

The swamp is characterised by its dense foliage and plentiful, deep and murky water sources bordered by cypress trees. Herbivores can find moderate amounts of edible vegetation in the surrounding area.

• Dense foliage
• Plentiful deep water sources
• Moderate amounts of edible vegetation

The jungle is characterised by the dark, dense forests and moderate ground foliage. Water isn’t too infrequent to come by as many major rivers run through and by the jungles. Edible vegetation isn’t common but can be found in the surrounding areas.

• Dense foliage
• Nearby rivers in the area
• Moderate amounts of edible vegetation

The plains is characterised by the open fields of lush, tall grasses; rarely speckled with tall, thin eucalyptus (gum) trees with a fair amount of edible vegetation. Water is not common in these areas.

• Little to no trees – lush, tall grass
• Water is infrequent to come by
• Plentiful amounts of edible vegetation

The beach is one of the more unique biomes, sand dotted with sticks and stones, bordered by sea, palm trees and jungle. Water and food is infrequent to come by in these areas, and is much more of a sight seeing area to pass by.

• Little to no foliage – beach is barren
• No nearby drinkable water
• Little to no edible foliage

Tenontosaurus

The Tenontosaurus (meaning “sinew-lizard”) was the first herbivore added to the EVRIMA update and was used to pave the future of the game. It’s commonly referred to by the community as “Tenonto” or “Teno” for short, with some slight variations in spelling.

1 Hour 45 minutes

The Tenontosaurus is a herbivore. You’ll be relying on edible plants to survive. Grazing merely helps stave off starvation, it’s not a reliable food source. Edible foliage, or “food bushes”, can be found in various places on the map. Use your scent (Hold Q) to locate nearby resources.

The world is a scary place and not without hungry predators, so you better get acquainted with your controls! Find a technique that suits you to combat against your attackers. Some attacks deal heavy blows, but will drain your stamina. It’s wise not to overuse them, only use them when you are confident you will hit your target.

• LMB
  Front Kick / Punch

• LMB (While moving)
  Bite

• RMB
  Backwards Kick
  Can be used while moving

• Left Alt + RMB
  Tail Slam
  Vocalisations

  Tip: Holding down any of your call-keys produces a louder sound. Calls that display your name, when held, will display your name over a greater distance.

Dryosaurus

Dryosaurus (meaning “tree lizard”) was the third playable animal added to the EVRIMA update along with its AI counterpart. You will see Dryosaurus often shortened to “Dryo” by the majority of the community.

30 Minutes

The Dryosaurus is a herbivore. You’ll be relying on edible plants to survive. Grazing merely helps stave off starvation, it’s not a reliable food source. Edible foliage, or “food bushes”, can be found in various places on the map. Use your scent (Hold Q) to locate nearby resources.

The Dryosaurus is a flighty herbivore and easy prey for many larger animals. Use your quick wits and skillful dodges to your best ability to swiftly escape your predators.

• LMB
  Bite

• RMB
  Dodge
  Relative to camera direction

Tip: Holding down any of your call-keys produces a louder sound. Calls that display your name, when held, will display your name over a greater distance.

Hypsilophodon

Hypsilophodon (meaning “Hypsilophus-tooth”) is the smallest playable herbivore in-game at this time. The small stature of this animal makes dense jungles and fields with tall grass the prime environment for survival. The community will typically shorten the name to “Hypsi”, or even “Hypsie”.

No Growth Time (Spawns in as Adult)

Hypsilophodon is a herbivore. You’ll be relying on edible plants to survive. Grazing merely helps stave off starvation, it’s not a reliable food source. Edible foliage, or “food bushes”, can be found in various places on the map. Use your scent (Hold Q) to locate nearby resources.

Hypsilophodon is a speedy critter that sports an impressive jump, but most noteable of all is its ability to blind predators by spitting out the acidic contents of its stomach onto their face, giving it a chance for a quick escape.

• LMB
  Bite

• Hold RMB
  Spit
  Let go to Spit
  Press R to cancel Spit

Tip: Holding down any of your call-keys produces a louder sound. Calls that display your name, when held, will display your name over a greater distance.

Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus (meaning “roof-lizard”) is the largest playable herbivore in-game. It sports an iconic silhouette, with large back-plates along its spine, and thagomizers at the end of its tail. It’s name is typically shortened to “Stego” by the community.

5 Hours

Stegosaurus is a herbivore. You’ll be relying on edible plants to survive. Grazing merely helps stave off starvation, it’s not a reliable food source. Edible foliage, or “food bushes”, can be found in various places on the map. Use your scent (Hold Q) to locate nearby resources.

Stegosaurus is a very cumbersome animal that takes things at its own pace. It’s best played as a defensive nomad rather than something offensive given the slow sprint. With a powerful and deadly swing, few animals will consider fighting this graceful beast.

• LMB
  Bite

• RMB
  Tail Swing

Tip: Holding down any of your call-keys produces a louder sound. Calls that display your name, when held, will display your name over a greater distance.

Utahraptor

The Utahraptor (meaning “utah’s predator”) was the first carnivore added to the EVRIMA update and was used to pave the future of the game. It’s commonly referred to by the community as “Utah” for short, with occasional variations in its spelling.

1 Hour 25 Minutes

The Utahraptor is a carnivore. You’ll be relying on your wits to hunt other animals, scavenge for bodies, or even consider cannibalism. Bodies can be located when using scent (Hold Q), nearby bodies will be highlighted red.

Even the most skillful start somewhere, and you’ll be competing against these players so you better get acquainted with your controls. Find a technique that suits you in combat. Some attacks will drain a high amount of stamina with a high damage output, so use them wisely.

• LMB
  Front Claw / Bite

• Hold RMB
  Launch / Pounce
  Release RMB to cancel the pounce

• ALT + LMB
  Front Claw / Bite
  Based on camera, Area of Effect (AOE) attack

Your pounce attack is one of your most deadly, risky and rewarding attacks that you can use against your prey. Successfully pouncing smaller animals pins them to the ground and mauls until you let go. You can only latch onto larger animals, but be warned: they can buck, draining your stamina.

Tip: Holding down any of your call-keys produces a louder sound. Calls that display your name, when held, will display your name over a greater distance.

Carnotaurus

Carnotaurus (meaning “meat-eating bull”) was the second carnivore added to the game alongside the Stegosaurus and Hypsilophodon.

2 Hours 30 Minutes

The Carnotaurus is a carnivore. You’ll be relying on your wits to hunt other animals, scavenge for bodies, or even consider cannibalism. Bodies can be located when using scent (Hold Q), with nearby bodies being highlighted red.

Carnotaurus, though somewhat fragile, is the fastest animal currently added to the game. Don’t take his fragile build for granted, for his ability to push over and stun animals smaller than it is something to fear. Use this charge to down your enemies and keep them stunned to the ground for a period of time.

• LMB
  Bite

• Hold RMB
  Charge
  Let go of RMB to cancel Charge

Tip: Holding down any of your call-keys produces a louder sound. Calls that display your name, when held, will display your name over a greater distance.

Pteranodon

The Pteranodon (pteron meaning “wing”, anodon meaning “toothless”) was the first flier added to EVRIMA in Update #3. It’s commonly referred to by the community as “Ptera” for short. Fun fact, Pteranodon was a pterosaur, not a dinosaur.

1 Hour

The Pteranodon is a piscivore, though can also consume meat. You’ll rely on feeding from fresh water sources for fish, though may alternatively choose to hunt juveniles and small animals, if not, then scavenge. Ripples found on the water’s surface are indicators for nearby schools of fish, and bodies can be located when using scent (Hold Q), nearby bodies will be highlighted red.

The Pteranodon is a small and fragile animal, and doesn’t hold its ground well in combat against anything larger than it. Use the skies to your advantage, and try not to get caught off-guard!

Hold Spacebar while stationary – Stationary take off. Used to launch yourself into the air to fly.

Hold Spacebar while sprinting – Running take off. Costs less stamina than the stationary take
off but takes longer to get into the air.

Hold Spacebar while flying – Fly upwards.

Hold Ctrl while flying – Fly downwards.

Hold Shift while flying – Fly faster at an increased stamina cost.

Hold Z while flying – Air break. Used to slow yourself down in order to land safely.

Hold RMB while flying close to a water source – Skim the water. Perform this action above ripples in water sources to catch fish. Release RMB when prompted to catch a schooling fish.

The Pteranodon cannot swallow food while flying.

Tip: Holding down any of your call-keys produces a louder sound. Calls that display your name, when held, will display your name over a greater distance.

Deinosuchus

Spacebar in water – Swim upwards.

Ctrl in water – Swim downwards.

Hold RMB when waterwalking (walking on the bed of water sources) – Big lunge. Used to grab targets to drown them. Only effective on targets half your weight or less, otherwise causes you to be staggered.

Hold RMB on land – Small lunge. As above, but doesn’t launch as far and costs more stamina.

Tap RMB when swimming – Water boost. Used to rapidly launch yourself to your fastest swimming speed.

Passive – Water Sense. Used for detecting nearby movement in water.

Hold Q while underwater – Enhanced Water Sense. Used to detect movement in water at a further range. The longer the key is held, the further you can sense. In order to use regular scent you must be above the surface of water.

The Deinosuchus cannot eat food while underwater. The Deinosuchus must rise to the surface of water or be on land in order to do so.

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Thank You Note

Thank you for checking this guide out! If you want to make any suggestions, ask for help, or just leave a comment – feel free! I’ll be reading the comment section of this guide frequently to help improve and fine-tune it to be as easy-to-read and informative as possible.

When playing (especially as a carnivore) do not expect kindness from others. Cherish it when it happens but do not rely on it to get you around. People are ruthless and will not hesitate to betray you for their own reasons – and do not take it personally. Be kind but alert, play how you want to play, stay in groups made up of familiar people.

Herbivores are often much more of a community that look out for one another than carnivores. Carnivores rely on sacrifices to survive much more than a herbivore does. That being said, a strong group of carnivores can be a great communal effort to partake in.

If you’re keen on learning about what the future of the game will entail, consider checking out the official roadmap development Trello by following this link.
[link]

AUTHOR NOTE

Please feel free to correct any mistakes found in the guide!
I’m going to be updating this guide overtime aesthetically. For now, it’s a bit of a mess. But should still be readable.