Ant's Life Studio Research and Play Gang

[feral cairn]

that sounds interesting!! keep us updated if you decide to put your experiment to the test!!

[lunar crane]

my next run will be a demo mode run to test how that works

I'll try food after that

[feral cairn]

tbh i assumed carbs affected the workers. since irl the queen and larvae are the ones that typically need protein. worker ants don't need protein but they need carbs for energy. i think in general high protein diets in ants can lower their lifespan.

i know this is a game, but i keep referencing irl ants since the ALS project was supervised by a myrmecologist. lol

oooo! the demo run is gonna be cool!

[lunar crane]

My longest run was when I was feeding biscuits and salmon alternating for quite a while. And then only biscuits and bananas

[feral cairn]

hmm! yeah i've been alternating different foods i wonder how long my nest is gonna last.

i still haven't unlocked bananas!!? yesterday i made several enemies turn around AND i killed enemy 2 ants. i've also deterred 2 tiger beetles today. soooo
i'm on day 07. 4 ants + 3 eggs.

[odd fulcrum]

hmmm yeah that's weird... maybe it doesn't count the enemy ants??

[feral cairn]

i have deterred a ton of enemies. i'm 100% sure at this point i've made 10 of them turn around.

my clock was delayed by an hour a few days ago (the batteries were fine and it kept running normally for a few more days). before the batteries died it displayed the correct date and time. when i put new batteries in i had to enter the time again and the time displayed at that moment was incorrect.

my data was rolledback and ants that were buried a few days ago were "alive", and counted in my stats. then they died again after a while.

so i wonder if unit or the run is glitched in some way? i've wanted to reset the run, but i'll just keep at it and see if i eventually unlock them.

ahhh i wanna open and check the internals soo bad!! i'm scared though.

[lunar crane]

Please don't. @/Yeah Right Sure reported that they're very fragile inside and break pretty much any time you open them

I mean, please don't unless you're skilled with fixing!

In which case, don't let me stop you haha

[feral cairn]

thank you!!! i have experience with opening and modding other things, but i definitely don't want to risk it!

[latent cliff]

I don’t think they are that fragile, you just have to go slow and be gentle. I’ve opened mine a few times and there’s not much going on in there different from another Tamagotchi or Gameboy.

The ribbon cable by the screen is delicate but I don’t think you need to be super intimidated if you have any experience opening electronics.

My first time having the opening on the left! Every other run it has been on the right!

[feral cairn]

ooo okay!!! good to know. thanks!

btw can i petition for more pics of all of your colonies? haha. i looove looking at all the nest progress. 🥺

i'll try to remember to post mine often, too.

[lunar crane]

I have some work things that came up so I'm not sure when I can start my demo run, but I will post once I have stuff to share

[feral cairn]

stay out of our turf ya miscreants!!!
day 8 ants: 4, eggs: 2

[lunar crane]

Enemy ant?

Strong girls

[feral cairn]

yes!! it was 1 of my big ones and 1 of my small ones vs 1 enemy ant

they also ate it in like seconds

[feral cairn]

so i bought this book light. it looks so dumb LMAO but it works. the backlight doesn't last long enough and sometimes i just wanna watch the ants...

i used this neat kaeru grip tape i found at daiso. it's really strong, but it also comes off without residue. you can also pull the light off of the cap so it doesn't get in the way if you don't want it on.

i'm kind of obsessed with the ants right now ok...

[lunar crane]

ohh that's cool!

I found my old microaquarium light and might use that for mine

[lunar crane]

I just started up a demo mode. Looks like you start with six ants (one queen, five workers) and the nest is already halfway down the second page

it displays "DEMO" in the bottom right corner of the second page

[feral cairn]

oooo hmm... can you interact with the menus? does it say how old the colony is?

i wonder if the nest will continue to expand or if it'll remain unchanged with ants just walking around.

[lunar crane]

Says day 1

and yeah, you can use the menus

You can also still place food, but only sugar and pebble are currently available

I'll be interested to see if attacks still happen

Whoop, attacks still happen!

[lunar crane]

Demo mode keeps the screen on

[latent cliff]

How do you activate Demo mode?

[lunar crane]

It took a little fiddling but it pressing left and reset at the same time. You'll know you got it when it suddenly displays the date/time set screen and its back to '06 and basically blank

You can hit reset again to exit demo mode and go back to your normal nest

[odd fulcrum]

my bf's progress so far! he has 9 ants and 1 egg
the tunnel on the left got turned into a loop, very interesting

[feral cairn]

what day is he on?

[odd fulcrum]

day 22!

[feral cairn]

epic!!

i have a feeling nest expansion is relative to date

[lunar crane]

Yeah, Teethy had a no-food run a while back and we started guessing that was the case considering population size was growing at a steady rate over time. The ants also dug a lot faster than when I was feeding and actively trying to care for them so lol

[feral cairn]

it's very much a "sit back and let them do their thing" style of gameplay haha. but i like the ants too much and i want to interfere with their lives!!!

i don't have time to unscrew the other parts, but i took a peek!

[lunar crane]

hmmm, interesting!

[feral cairn]

the component at the very top of the screen is the vibration sensor! SW-18015P

[odd fulcrum]

yeah nest expansion seems relative to date, mine (before i sent it off) was also expanded quite a bit, not as much as my bf's though
i did nothing with it, just left it there

[obsidian herald]

Starting my first ever run since my ALS arrived 🥰😍

[lunar crane]

Yay!

Oo yours has a screen protector. Neat!

[obsidian herald]

The owl scaring the absolute crap out of me 💀💀

[lunar crane]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/611442617485492234/1068237324388925481/ezgif-3-982ba4d022.gif

[lunar crane]

I have a gif for that

because the exact same thing happened to me with the bird chirps lol

[feral cairn]

lmaooo that gif is honestly perfect because the sound effects freak my cats out.

[feral cairn]

i think i'm going to restart my run. it's day 11 and i still haven't unlocked the banana. i opened it up and cleaned some traces and pads so idk if it was just glitchy or what, but we'll see!

[obsidian herald]

Is the frog a predator?

[lunar crane]

Per the vaguely translated manual, possibly?

The unit should do its predator chime if it is

[obsidian herald]

I was half asleep so I didn’t hear the chime, just happened to check and FROG 😂

[odd fulcrum]

it is

we hear the predator chime when the frog comes

[obsidian herald]

The sensor is awful and can’t figure it out despite following the guide

I got it to “woosh” twice by pure coincidence and random tapping along the top 😩

[lunar crane]

Hmm, have you tried shaking it?

[obsidian herald]

I tried a little but didn’t wanna go to crazy shaking cuz I’ve been told it’s a delicate device. But I can give that a try my next encounter

[lunar crane]

You can test if whatever you're trying works as you will still hear the woosh without an attack happening

I recommend trying to figure out what works best for your unit without the pressure of an attack happening. Getting a little frantic trying to stop the attack will likely cause more harm than good

[obsidian herald]

Okay I’ll give it a try then when I have a moment!

So I have to hold it between my legs and use both knuckles on the corners

[odd fulcrum]

we've been shaking ours

tapping doesn't work

i think shaking it kind of slowly? up and down had the best results for us

[obsidian herald]

Yeah I can't get shaking to work, I've tried slowly and going every way. I'll just stick to the way I've found lol

[odd fulcrum]

yeah apparently every device is a little bit different in the tapping/shaking aspect, so whatever works for yours!

the manual says to tap anyway haha

[obsidian herald]

So far I’ve lost both my worker ants that were hatched today

I have 4 eggs tho

[maiden arch]

that is also what i need to do with mine

its always alot of force

knuckle taps

[latent cliff]

Yeah, I have to pick mine up, hold it upside down, and shake it quite vigorously lol

[untold thunder]

For mine I hold it still with one hand and do firm knuckle raps on the upper right hand corner

It's important for me to hold it still cause if it rocks back and forth the force seems to get dispersed and it won't trigger

[obsidian herald]

I managed to get shaking to work, I have to hold it upside down and do a hard shake and do it like slowly? lol complicated to explain but at least I won't annoy my fam 😂

[obsidian herald]

I am sorry for all my questions lol
If I use the stick, should I wait for all the ants to be in the nest before using it? Or will the ants magically be in the nest after closing the entrance?

Also side note: My arm/shoulder hurts so much from shaking it

[lunar crane]

Not sure on this one. @untold thunder do you know the answer on the stick?

[odd fulcrum]

day 27 queen ant died

[lunar crane]

https://tenor.com/view/shes-dead-dead-rip-ripped-rip-me-gif-23605147

https://tenor.com/view/baby-crying-kid-highchair-sob-gif-13887716

[lunar crane]

You have any eggs sitting and waiting to hatch?

[odd fulcrum]

i don't think so.
i think the possible cause of death might have been that too many ants died in a short amount of time, so she was trying to lay more eggs to keep up the population
bf said he was slacking off on chasing away the predators the past few days

[lunar crane]

I can't wait until one of us gets a winged ant egg

I'll be starting another run next week. I'm settling into a new position at work this week

[odd fulcrum]

i was hoping ours would be the one haha

[lunar crane]

I thought you guys would be too!

I feel like the ants life studio needs like a trucker team where people watch it in shifts LOL

[odd fulcrum]

it really does LOL
i feel like to get a winged ant you need to get a near perfect run

which means every 3-4 hours you need to shake it

💪

[lunar crane]

It's so hard to understand what's considered a perfect run. But I think it might have to do with getting the queen chamber at the bottom of the nest maybe?

Did you guys get one?

[odd fulcrum]

i think we had it in the middle of the nest or closer to the top

[lunar crane]

Interesting. From what I read, it's at the bottom and it's usually super large

Maybe the nests are more variable than what I thought

My first run I had attacks every hour to 3 hours. It was usually around 1.5-2 hrs

[odd fulcrum]

yeah i think we had the nest on the right top

we had an earthworm attack a day or two ago while we were away and lost some ants

[lunar crane]

I wish there were more protection from those

I still don't know what the non-edibles do for items

like the pebble or the dog shit lol

[odd fulcrum]

the queen didn't die from that since the nest was up there but yeah

[lunar crane]

I so wish we could be in contact with the designer of it

[obsidian herald]

Udate: They don't magically go into the nest I have one ant stuck on top

[lunar crane]

https://tenor.com/view/and-leave-me-here-to-die-is-that-what-you-want-redd-foxx-fred-sanford-sanford-and-son-do-you-want-me-to-die-gif-17868711

(god I love Sanford & Son)

[odd fulcrum]

is there a way to reset the als without clearing high scores/items you achieved?
like getting a new egg with tamagotchi

or do you need to hard reset lol

[obsidian herald]

They dug through the entrance fast so I managed to trap them all the second time lol

[lunar crane]

I don't think so? I don't think a soft reset does anything after a queen dies.

[odd fulcrum]

i guess the only thing you can do is to hard reset then?

[lunar crane]

Yeah I think so

[latent cliff]

Yeah it’s a real pain losing everything because ant fishing is 😭

[latent cliff]

Day 12, only feeding sugar cubes this run.

[lunar crane]

Are you preventing hunts as well with pebbles, or are you allowing them to scavenge?

[odd fulcrum]

i love that the entrance is on the left

[latent cliff]

Oh I forgot to think about hunting, they are still doing that

[lunar crane]

Okay, starting up a new run. I think I'm going to try to see if I can get The Winged Ant™️

[obsidian herald]

Left my antlings alone while in class without clicking the entrance cuz there was no way I'd get em all into their nest

[obsidian herald]

I thought my ant was being attacked but it was just struggling it’s little but off to drag whatever this thing is onto the screen 💀💀

I have no clue what it is? A bee? It’s got a pointy butt lol

[lunar crane]

Looks like it with the stripes!

[main siren]

OH SHIT I WON AN AUCTION FOR A UNIT

I just placed a bid for fun and GOT IT

[lunar crane]

YAY!!!

Holy crap I just had my first frog attack

I love the detail but also SCARY lmao

[obsidian herald]

How often to earthworms attack? It's been 13 days and not had a single one lol do my ants need to dig farther?

[lunar crane]

I legit just had one

haha

It was about here on my screen

I'm 4 days in on my run

[obsidian herald]

Cool thanks, I like how anything can happen and it's not the same each run lol

Also I have had so many frog attacks, they tend to appear at night for me lol

[odd fulcrum]

yeah i think earthworm attacks are random
one time we got an earthworm attack and it didn't even affect our nest because our nest was too shallow

[lunar crane]

yeah that just happened to mine

[obsidian herald]

my queen died sometime last night, day 15. Do I just let my ants die out? Or reset? I have one egg.

[lunar crane]

We've determined nothing happens when the queen dies and the rest will eventually die out. You can either let them or restart :)

[obsidian herald]

I suppose I'll restart, watching em die one by one will just make me sad 😂

[lunar crane]

Mood. I was like, "do I watch em die or do I reset them and erase them, effectively killing them?"

https://tenor.com/view/baby-felix-pacing-back-and-forth-thinking-what-to-do-pondering-walking-gif-18447502

[obsidian herald]

I'll just pretend they're living their best life lol

Can't believe how invested I am in little virtual ants xD

[obsidian herald]

Loving where the entrance is on this run.

[latent cliff]

Oh yeah! My current run has this, but I've been traveling a lot recently so had to take the batteries out.

I'll be really curious to see if we have a similar layout

I wonder if the layout is linked to the entrance position.

[lunar crane]

Air vent?

[latent cliff]

I’ve not seen that before!

[odd fulcrum]

entrance on the far right for us too

[lunar crane]

They repaired whatever it was

[grim breach]

Cave in?

[obsidian herald]

There’s this one bug, and it comes onto the screen and I shake and it evaporates into a pile? So I keep shaking and eventually it gets up and leaves. What is it? What is happening?

[soft ivy]

I think it's a cricket playing dead! But I honestly don't know. Only seen it once and didn't see it walk away! I think the image is it laying on its side.

[lunar crane]

Might be a cricket, I agree with Yawn. I've heard they play dead but I've not seen one yet

[obsidian herald]

Oh cool! It's happened twice this run but the first time I thought it was a partially eaten bug, but was confused when the chime saying the predator left and it was gone lol

[scenic verge]

I got my first earth worm attack, and I guess I wasn’t around when it happened

Is there a way to clear the dirt path it created or do the ants have to dig it out?

[lunar crane]

The ants dig it out themselves over time

[scenic verge]

TY! Poor lil dudes. I was hoping I could help

[lunar crane]

I wish we could too!

[main siren]

I just got my unit today aaaa!!!! question: can I use rechargeable AAA batteries or is there a specific type of battery I need?

[lunar crane]

I assume rechargeables are fine. I've not tested it but I wouldn't see an issue with it

[main siren]

awesome, thank you!! I have a little bit or corrosion on some of the terminals inside the unit as well. does anybody have tips on cleaning that up?

[lunar crane]

White vinegar on anything blueish/white to counteract the remaining acid in it. Let it dry or use isopropyl alcohol (ideally 90%+) to assist with the evaporation. If it's rust or other corrosion like general oxidation, scraping it to get fresh metal on the surface of the contacts and/or rubbing with iso is also helpful

[lunar crane]

sorry, meant to tag

[obsidian herald]

I’ve been using rechargeable AAA batteries and they’re great!

[odd fulcrum]

same, we use rechargeable batteries! c:

[scenic verge]

So, I’m not sure if there’s a downside to this, but…
My ants hadn’t dug a completely clear path when my batteries went low so I changed them and my path was then clear

[lunar crane]

Interesting! I know resetting can roll back like...an hour

But when I put in new batteries today on mine, my earthworm attack line remained

[scenic verge]

Hmmm maybe I’ll test it again next time. I don’t care to cheat, if some consider that cheating, but I’m curious to know!

[latent cliff]

When I’ve replaced the batteries all of my own lines created with the stick have disappeared, along with the ants’ trash and food piles.

(I took the batteries out a few weeks ago when I went away for a work trip and haven’t started it back up yet - must get to that this weekend!)

[main siren]

so we begin!!

[soft ivy]

Caught the sleeping bug in action 😭 RIP little ant friend

[obsidian herald]

Sacrificed for science

[lunar crane]

Wow, what a capture! Do you mind if I use it on the guide???

(with credit to you, of course!)

[soft ivy]

Absolutely! Little ants death shan’t be in vain

[obsidian herald]

I have ants dropping like flies today, just probably from age but can ya'll not. My poor queen two died at the exact same time (in the nest)

[feral cairn]

sweet video!!! assassin bug i believe!

i've been mia from ant's life because i got so busy! and actually.... i uh... ended up getting REAL ants lmao.
i bought some queens and made them a formicarium and everything haha

but i put in new batteries and my data didn't save so i'm not sure what's up with that. maybe my device needs some new parts? because i was still having issues with not unlocking the deter rewards.

[lunar crane]

@wooden shuttle -- I think the guide is in a good enough state to be linked if you still want to do that. I still have work to do on it, but it's not embarrassingly incomplete anymore hahaha

[soft ivy]

Assassin bug! Yes, I didn't even think of them, name is very fitting lol

[wooden shuttle]

Awesome! Okay, I'll try to get it updated this weekend! Had some trouble last time I tried to update Tamatown haha, but I'll be able to figure it out just might be tomorrow or Sunday!

[latent cliff]

Ooh would you mind sharing some pictures please? I’ve wanted a real one for years and years but have never been able to convince my partner.

[feral cairn]

the plastic storage is roughly 4"x3"x2"!

i just made these. they are founding formicariums for brand new queen(s), so ideally i won't be opening it a ton or won't have trouble with escapees. once there are too many ants to safely open the container i can simply attach another container or put this one inside a bigger one. tbh i underestimated the size of the queens and made the chamber a bit too big, but i think they're okay. the queen with the wings actually took them off when i checked on her last (which may be a good sign she's comfortable?).

the species i bought were prenolepis imparis, "the winter ant" or "false honey pot ant"!! they are so cute. apparently a slow moving species with workers that can get really big booties!
they can also form colonies with multiple queens which is not very common. i started with 5 queens, but one of them died and another one doesn't look like she's going to make it. shipping is really stressful for them.

now is the perfect time to get into ant keeping because with a bit of effort you can find some new queens doing their nuptial flights throughout spring and summer. once autumn comes you'll need to wait until next year!! if your partner is worried about escapees, there's actually a product called "fluon" that can be applied as a barrier. most species cannot walk on it.

you can dm me if you have anymore questions about my build or ants in general!!

[latent cliff]

🤩 Thanks for all that information!! That's super helpful! Also they are absolutely adorable with their big booties 😂

[obsidian herald]

Rip my ants because I lost 5 of them within 24 hours

[soft ivy]

Wow! That’s awesome. Their little set ups are cool. Ant farms have come a long way! Hopefully they can distress and build a solid colony. They're so cute!!

[obsidian herald]

has anyone successfully killed the live caterpillar?

am I doing something wrong?

[lunar crane]

I find that the best way is to wait for multiple ants to be on the surface AND give them the maximum time to interact with it by gauging the distance from the side of the screen vs the location of the ants. I can't really explain it better than that :/

Also they've only been able to do it once for me

But they've brought them back from hunts before, which is interesting

[obsidian herald]

I'll give that a shot

I've tried multiple times but the things also so fast lol

[lunar crane]

They really are 😭

[obsidian herald]

I have three ants on the surface and the ants are just like "Hey, how ya doin?" walks past it

[lunar crane]

I wonder if the size of ant matters. You know how there's small adults and larger adults?

[lunar crane]

So I got a new nestcam from google for free because I was still running on an old dropcam pro. the dropcam will still be supported for a year. Gonna try to set it up to be my ants life cam

damn, the quality isn't great

was hoping it would be clearer close up but alas

could probably still use it to take time lapses of my plants though

[soft ivy]

Today is a sad day. 😔 Day 27, my queen died. I could tell something was wrong. Her butt and body seemed low and see wasn't moving around the nest, only wiggling her little antenna. Figured maybe she was sleeping or resting or something. But alas, she passed and now rests in the trash. Doesn't seem real. Hits hard. RIP Queen.

(Video of Her passing with Death Sound)

[lunar crane]

god like, it's really sad

but also there's something cartoonish about her just being like

https://tenor.com/view/yes-desmaiei-faint-omg-funny-gif-15686578

[soft ivy]

LOL right?!

[meager shoal]

that death sound is so sad

i kind of assumed that you would be able to run a single nest forever but i guess that's not the case 😔 you cant get new queens can you?

[soft ivy]

It would be awesome if we could keep a nest going forever, but seems like they don't want that. They go out of their way to kill the ants and make life for the queen hard lol

Wish there was some way to tell what kills the queen or a way to support her better, like stats or something

From my understanding you can't get a new queen, but I think different ant types can be born in later stages so I'm not really sure. That would be cool though, have two queens or more lol

[lunar crane]

There is note in the manual that if you take good care of the next, the queen will lay a winged ant egg

but I don't know if that's like old school p1/p2 tama-type talk where it's like "good job, here's an egg animation, now restart" or if it will let you continue your same nest

[soft ivy]

In the translated *blog the person said the winged ant flew away I think?
I can't recall what happened after.
But it would be cool to get a winged ant and see what happens!

[obsidian herald]

My Queen just died. I felt like we were doing so good. I do not understand 😭

Day 16. Made it one day longer than my last run.

[lunar crane]

My queen just died yesterday too

day 21

What were you feeding?

[obsidian herald]

I would like mix it up to not constantly go with the same food, but maybe I'm not understanding how to food works?

[lunar crane]

We don't know a ton about the food because it's very difficult to test

I had my best run when I fed biscuits with a few snacks of salmon

but that could be just coincidence

[obsidian herald]

maybe I'll avoid using some of the other food I use and just focus on using the same few items see what happens

[soft ivy]

When the Queen dies, do you reset the device and start fresh?
Or do you let your current ants live out their lives?
I feel bad resetting, and they are still working hard!

[lunar crane]

I feel the same way! I let them run their own dang lives without mama watching

[soft ivy]

Glad I'm not the only one! I think I'll let them be.
I lost 2 of 7 to an earthworm attack. So now at 5.
Wonder how long they will be able to stick it out.

[obsidian herald]

I reset, I don't wanna watch them die one by one 💀

[soft ivy]

Gah! I was thinking that too. 😭
I could tell myself they were living happy on their own lol

[obsidian herald]

never actually caught my queen laying an egg before I just thought they appeared lol

[maiden arch]

ive neglecting this so bad

but since im almost outta school

i can play with ants

[lunar crane]

hell yeah, ant time!

[woven crest]

just saw the announcement, this is awesome! I was the one that translated the manual a long time ago

[lunar crane]

Neat! Thanks for your work!!

[woven crest]

same to you! thanks for your work on these guides!

[gray jacinth]

Running my ants life for the first time in a while. Gonna be pretty hands off cause I work full time but it'll be interesting to see how it develops! I'll likely trap em in a lot to try and avoid as many deaths. We'll see!

[lunar crane]

Good luck!

I tried last time to do something similar and my brain said nope!

My queen lasted 23 days with the nest being entirely ignored from day 4 lol

[gray jacinth]

I'm going to be getting a second ants life studio some time next month when I ship my zenmarket stuff. I do plan on selling my current one which is older and doesn't have the box, but, I think it would be an interesting experiment to run them both and treat them exactly the same and see what happens :o

[lunar crane]

That would be! Very interesting experiment

[wooden shuttle]

@lunar crane finally was able to get back into Tamatown.com to make a post about your guide and replace the old ALS guide in the guide links!

The site still sucks on mobile and just needs to be rebuilt, but it's viewable at least!

[obsidian herald]

Left my ALS alone for a day and a half (just got back to it). Glad my queen is still alive 🥰

[obsidian herald]

The ALS cicadas are scary 💀

[lunar crane]

Yes!!

[obsidian herald]

I love them irl, but the screeching makes me think my ALS is dying 😂😂

[obsidian herald]

So my Queen is still alive and it’s day 24. I’ve been feeding Salmon Roe (the most), Bloodworm, and Tangerine.

[lunar crane]

Have they gotten to second screen yet?

[obsidian herald]

No they haven't, suddenly the line separating the nest towards the bottom appeared so there might of been a worm attack I missed?

[lunar crane]

ohhh yeah sounds like it, huh

[obsidian herald]

They've been slow at progressing the nest, but they suddenly started working on the little area under the big chamber

[lunar crane]

It looks like the Salmon and the bloodworm are supposed to affect fertility and the tangerine is strength

I feel like the stats are a fixed total value that can only be shifted once the nest is going. So like the more fertile it is, maybe the slower it digs? Have you been having losses?

[obsidian herald]

I loose like 1-2 ants a day (I nap a lot lol)

That makes sense!

[lunar crane]

That's not too bad. I don't know how anyone could really have less other than constantly closing up the nest the way teethy did

Even when I hit every predator attack for a few weeks (I was even waking up to do them), I still had those numbers

[obsidian herald]

I haven't closed my nest except for like once, otherwise I let them do what they want. That's good to know, wasn't sure what like the average was!

[lunar crane]

I mean if there's an attack on average every 2 hours (mine did at least), that's 12ish attacks a day to watch out for

and you gotta sleep sometime haha

I found that even when I caught every single one, sometimes the ants would still end up dying during the attack if it was an enemy ant

[obsidian herald]

Yeah xD But I take like 5 hour naps a day most days 😂
Ugh yeah, the enemy ants are a pain, I struggle with them sometimes

[lunar crane]

I'm interested to see how far this run gets! Keep us updated

[obsidian herald]

Will do! So far this is my longest run!

[obsidian herald]

A frog attack and worm attack within a matter of seconds within each other lol

[lunar crane]

OHH that is very interesting data!

I wonder if worms are on a separate time scale than surface predators!!

thank you for this information. Are you still on your last nest?

[obsidian herald]

Yes I am! I was waiting to see if I made it to day 30 for an update but I’ll show my nest now since I have nothing better to do lol

[lunar crane]

omg the possibility of a day 30, I'm shook

[obsidian herald]

The nest so far. Took a photo as it scrolled because you can’t really see the bottom part unless it’s moving

[lunar crane]

holy cow! Look at em go on that second screen!!

you are an ants life GOD

whatever you are doing is WORKING!

I only ever got like idk, five pixels down on the second screen? Maybe?

[obsidian herald]

The longer it goes the more nervous I get 😂 this is the first time I’ve even made it to the bottom

[obsidian herald]

Haha thank you

[obsidian herald]

my queen died I got to cocky

[lunar crane]

NOOOO

[obsidian herald]

Thinking of just letting them run their course until they all die, I wanna see how big the nest gets

[latent cliff]

😭

You got so far so quickly and we’re doing so well, I wonder what triggered it 🤔

[obsidian herald]

I lost three ants like minutes after she died too lol

Yeah I'm not sure, she was doing so well

[tired oyster]

I don't know if anyone will see this, but does anyone know why the queen will sometimes die like that? Asking for my dad who was doing so well, day 20, second screen, 6 ants and 2 eggs. she had plenty of food, no reason for her to just up and die

[lunar crane]

That was something I was hoping to test over time, but I've taken too many projects on at once and have been slammed at work. Hoping once I get the Census done, I can focus back on this guide!

Some thoughts have been:

• It's random?
• Lifespan decreases every time she lays an egg?
• or lifespan decreases every time she lays multiple eggs in a day?
• Food type matters?
• Still don't know how the food really affects the nest.
• If laying eggs decreases life, is fertility increasing bad?
• Or does that add to her lifespan in spite of her laying eggs?

We know that she seems to lay eggs to replace dead workers (as in there seems to be a baseline and then she'll lay more heavily if there were losses). Teethy did a run where she kept them underground. They didn't starve and the ants never grew in size to the final large ant size either

The queen essentially laid at a steady rate and the ants lived to be about 20 days, iirc

[latent cliff]

I’m currently doing a no touch run, Day 20 and honestly it is identical progress to the runs that I baby it and give it constant care.

[lunar crane]

Yeah, I had that same observation when I did mine

In fact mine lasted LONGER than most my other runs

[latent cliff]

I wonder if hunting has anything to do with things.

Maybe that’s why the queen dies if she’s blocked in, because they can’t hunt?

[lunar crane]

Yeah, I wondered that too. Testing what the served food does is hard enough, but I can't imagine how hunting may affect stats

Teethy's died from a worm attack I think

I don't think she died from the mystery death

[latent cliff]

Ohh interesting.

I’ve had two work attacks I think so far.

[lunar crane]

Good lord, did you alert HR? /jk

[latent cliff]

I keep the sound off because I was finding it annoying and I only check once a day.

[lunar crane]

Yeah, I turned off sound for my no touch run too

Wish we could just dump the ROM. Or find a designer for the dang thing to ask some questions

[latent cliff]

Yeah, I’ll be honest, after the initial shine wears off, it’s probably one of the more frustrating ones I’ve played with.

I think because it’s so slow and relatively it’s hard to really experiment.

I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great one! But oof it can be annoying.

[lunar crane]

Yeah, I found I needed to take breaks between runs and get back into my "ooo bugs" mindset

[tired oyster]

No touch run? Like nothing at all??

[lunar crane]

Yep!

[latent cliff]

💯 Nothing! And here I am on Day 24 with 8 alive, no deaths, and starting a bit on screen 2.

It’s almost like feeding and chasing predators made my other runs slower 😵‍💫

[tired oyster]

that is nuts! I think he's going to try that next. it's funny, I bought it and ran it twice and just wasn't super into it, so I gave it to my dad. he's been running it steadily since New Year's!

[lunar crane]

That's so nice. You should get him on Discord to help us with this research 😆

[latent cliff]

So my no-touch run went to day 28 and then the queen died -- appeared to be by natural causes, at least there wasn't a worm attack. They mostly finished the first screen nest and made decent progress on the second screen.

This was the furthest I've ever gotten into the digging, even on runs when the queen dies in the 40's, I haven't seen as much digging progress.

[lunar crane]

What do you normally feed on your normal runs? Teethy noticed they dig faster with no food when she sealed them up as well

My thought for testing food is this:

Feed only one food item an entire run. Keep pebbles on screen overnight to prevent hunts. Take a picture at the same time every day (time the nest digging started) to measure progress.

We might be able to nail down which food items speed up and slow down digging

[latent cliff]

Oh that’s a good idea! Maybe I’ll try a pebble run next and see what happens if they can’t hunt!

The first few runs I did it was pretty random what I fed them. Intended to veer towards higher end food as I unlocked it but I was all about a balanced diet.

I did a run with only sugar cubes (and let them hunt) and that got to the 30’s or so before the queen died

That’s another thing to figure out - not sure we ever will - but what triggers a queen’s death

I wonder if it has to do with how many eggs she lays or maybe the types of food she is fed

It’s so hard because the runs take so long 😵‍💫 I’m going to see if I can get a second one and replace the crystal to speed it up.

[lunar crane]

ooooo cool idea!

automatic timelapse hahaha

[latent cliff]

Yeah and watch them scurry around like crazy fast 🐜

[obsidian herald]

So this is not really ALS related as I haven’t played mine since my last good run. But I killed an ant today and it bit me, I felt so guilty, all I could think about was my previous ALS ants what if it was one of them

[latent cliff]

I'm digging the Autumn fireflies and animations! I'm also very pleased those noisy cicadas are gone 😅

[worn badger]

Hey all, quick question about this from the guide -- "There is anecdotal evidence that using the AC adapter outside of Japan can fry the internals of the unit due to differences in standard electrical current between countries. Use with caution if you decide to plug in the unit."

Not knowing this, I started using my AC adapter way before finding the wonderful guide here. It didn't seem to short or cause any damage when I did it previously, do folks think that that means it's likely that for whatever reason the electricity in my apartment should be safe?

I don't really mind going through the batteries, but I would prefer for the screen to not constantly go to sleep. I have mine on my work desk and I like glancing over and seeing it running!

[lunar crane]

Hi hi! The supposition is that there is a difference between Japan's standard voltage and the rest of the world (JP = 100v, US=120v for example), with Japanese voltages being lower. The evidence we have for this is very limited and anecdotal. No one has taken one apart and done any testing for what happens when it's plugged into the wall

I mainly just wanted people to be aware of the possibility so that they can make informed decisions for themselves :)

[worn badger]

ok great!! given that it seemed to work safely before I think I'm going to take the risk. thank you!

[latent cliff]

@worn badger I think the warning is particularly aimed at us in countries that use 230 volts, but even going off of American voltage could cause problems.

The issue is that the ASL power supply is rated at 100 volts.

So in America you’re supplying it with 120volts; that’s ~20% more voltage than it was designed to take. Whether or not that is within tolerance is impossible to say.

It might seem fine now, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t causing issues that will eventually catch up — you might burn something out eventually.

If you really want to leave it plugged into the wall, the best bet is to get a step down transformer. They are relatively inexpensive, at least compared to another ASL!

[lunar crane]

Very good point!

[worn badger]

thank you! that's a great explanation, I'll look into the transformer

[muted rock]

I'm 99% sure the issues were caused by incorrect input voltage

I ran the OG adapter off my transformer for maybe a week or two and it was fine

I found a replacement adapter that fits and runs off ~90-264v input though that has also been fine if anyone is interested

not sure if they stopped making it but they didn't have too many when I ordered
it is specced the same as the official adapter but uses a more efficient switched mode power supply design so it wastes less energy

fwiw...I measured the official adapter with my multimeter out of US power @ 120v, the adapter put out 8.2v and out of my 100v transformer it puts out 6.6v

this is with no load so it will actually be less but

having an extra ~1.5v is in my opinion what fried it for people

would be even higher on europe power or something

if you get one with 6v output and correct input voltage and 200mA or higher current it should be fine if the plug fits

this is the adapter I got btw https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/490-SMI6B-6-4-P6

comes with plugs for most regions (the one with no plugs was out of stock)

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/cui-inc/SMI6B-6-4-P6/10264722

seems like digikey has more of em

been running it off this adapter only for 5 days or so with no perceptible issues

it measured 6.1v off my outlet

if you can find a same spec one with the same barrel jack measurements i imagine it'd also be fine

I would not recommend using the original adapter off 120v tho but this one can

the og one has no voltage regulator cause it just expects 100v, this one does so the output will always be correct and around 6v unless the adapter fails somehow

[lunar crane]

Wow, thanks for this great explanation! I'll update some part of the guide with the difference in voltage output and a link to the one you provided!

[muted rock]

ty

sorry i rambled a bit but I got one not too long ago so i dug into what was going on since i really like the long mode light and it's adapter-only

[lunar crane]

No worries, I really appreciate it! It's great to have actual numbers about it

[muted rock]

i had a transformer already but

the adapter runs hot anyway cause it's an old type design

a lot of the input voltage just gets lost as heat

[lunar crane]

Yeah I used it briefly myself and noticed that

[muted rock]

i was also trying to find one that powers it off USB but haven't found one with the right specs

i wasnt sure this one would fit cause my ruler measurements were slightly smaller lol

[lunar crane]

usb only outputs like 5v on american bricks, doesn't it?

[muted rock]

I think so

there's a chance it'd still be fine? since the batteries themselves are only putting out a little over 4.5v at best if you're using alkalines

undervolting it isn't very likely to be dangerous

cause that happens anyway as your batteries die

[lunar crane]

Yeah, I just wonder if keeping the light on long would draw faster than is being sent to the device

if that makes sense

since that's limited on battery power

[muted rock]

yeah it might be looking for a higher voltage input to know it's plugged in

[lunar crane]

If you find something and don't want to purchase to test, let me know. I'll be happy to test a USB for it. The only caveat is that my backlight doesn't work so I'd likely not be able to test to see if it draws harder than is input (for the long-light option)

[muted rock]

i'll probably just stick with the adapter but im glad i found out that just runs normally

its tiny too lol

ive been taking out the power to "pause" it just to see how far I get

I noticed I do lose some progress but not as much as I expected

[lunar crane]

Oh, that's an interesting tactic. Do you find that you- oh yep, I figured

I think it saves about every 20 minutes?

[muted rock]

ive been capped at like 5 or 6 ants for w/e reason

on day 7

[lunar crane]

Teethy had HUGE gains by keeping them locked in

[muted rock]

I keep giving them salmon roe and chocolate lol

[lunar crane]

They lived about 12 days and didn't starve without food

[muted rock]

idk if its hurting them

[lunar crane]

it was weird

[muted rock]

mine keep dying randomly even tho im feeding em

its so weird

[lunar crane]

I do wish we could test the food items better

[muted rock]

an enemy ant came one time and got one within 5 seconds tho

so not much i could have done about that one

but got every other predator to go away

[lunar crane]

holy cow, termin-ant-or

[muted rock]

not seen the worm yet and im nervous lol

i always think it'll be the worm

maybe it doesn't show up till a certain day

to give you time to dig deep enough for it to mess up your run

[lunar crane]

I do feel like it took about 5-7 days before they started up, but I'd have to check my sheet

[muted rock]

when I got it mine said 2022 and I was like "wait a minute"

but i didn't know it saved so i guess that's when the seller quit

im glad i got exactly 30 on my good run of ant fishing

its deceptively hard

[lunar crane]

I think I got my first worm 6 days into my first run. I have attacks listed as "unknown" but I got every single predator attack, day and night recorded on my first run

I think I didn't see the worm on the unknowns

[muted rock]

its been almost all spiders and...whatever the other thing is that's not an ant

the one that jumps

[lunar crane]

this time of year? Cricket I think

[muted rock]

yeah

my first time i ran into one it made like 6+ passes before it went away lol

i think i got a good technique for triggering the sensor tho

I hold the base with one hand and then tap the upper right corner really fast

[lunar crane]

yeah I put mine in my lap and do the same

lol

[muted rock]

i thought my backlight was messed up when i got it cause the bottom isn't lit as brightly

but i looked at pics/videos and other people have the same thing so im pretty sure it's normal

[lunar crane]

Yeah, I've seen one that was pretty faded but most of them are like that

[muted rock]

oh mine's decently bright

slightly yellow case tho but not too bad to where i wanna take it apart

wish bandai would make more weird non tama/digi non licensed pets

been lovin als

[lunar crane]

yeah, I would REALLY love a Bee's Life

where you raise a hive

[muted rock]

[lunar crane]

and maybe have minigames for processing honey

[muted rock]

i had an idea for a vpet where you raise fish

and stick a probe in real water

and depending on the water's dirtiness (turbidity) and salinity you get diff fish

and care

[lunar crane]

that sounds super cute!

[muted rock]

at first i was thinking just integrate it into the pet but

i've heard horror stories about sumikko water lol

[lunar crane]

oohhh what about temp too?

tropical fish

[muted rock]

yeah that would make sense

i was thinking if it were integrated with the pet

you could have like

a refillable water compartment

but like

isolate it with gaskets or something

[lunar crane]

ohh like those little pool tester kits hahaha

[muted rock]

and then have the screen be like the treasure gaust

where you can see thru the LCD

and just have the water behind it

[lunar crane]

that's such a cool idea!

[muted rock]

yeah sadly i am not good at 3d modeling so i couldnt make the case for it lol

but i like coming up with ideas

a lot of the existing fish/ocean themed vpets are kinda overly brutal lmao

well umino mainly

[lunar crane]

I think another cool one would be a short, very wide one meant to be a desk pet to sit between your keyboard and monitors that has a B&W lcd/backlight combo and it's a coral reef you care for that attracts sealife

with nature sounds like the ants life, maybe whalesong sometimes

mini games like cleaning up plastics that float by

[muted rock]

lol

random legos that attack

[lunar crane]

and being able to interact with the inhabitants like feeding a wolf eel with tongs lol

[muted rock]

honestly i think theres a lot of unexplored market space for cool lcd desk things

maybe als didnt sell well and bandai is spooked of trying again tho

[lunar crane]

That's probably the case

[worn badger]

totally agree on all of this, ALS is in a class of its own and I think it's a shame because there's so much potential. tbh I was shocked that there wasn't an aquarium "vpet"

I feel like the model of vpets that you mostly just watch throughout the day and maybe interact with once or twice is perfect for adults with desk jobs. it's a bit hard to keep up with care needs of a lot of vpets, but I love having a little something to keep me company

[muted rock]

yeah my only real con is the noises are loud so volume control would have been nice

or a mode where there's no predators and the colony just goes with no input would be cool

[worn badger]

absolutely!

[muted rock]

or maybe with predators but it auto-scares them off some of the time

so it'd still be entertaining when one attacks cause you don't know if it'll be successful

lol

i should have gotten mine yrs ago when i first heard about them, they were much cheaper

😔

[feral cairn]

hi als club! long time. i want to run my als again, but was wondering if anyone knew of a reputable member in the discord i could send my als unit to for repairs? i just want to get the capacitors replaced to see if that fixes the issues i had with detered-enemies not registering/counting towards unlocks.

i could probably do it myself but i'm a bit lazy lmao

[lunar crane]

I don't personally know of anyone who has experience with the ants life, or anyone who has offered their services in the past unfortunately :<

[feral cairn]

ah bummer! okay. tysm!

[muted rock]

ive done plenty of cap replacements and total recaps but never opened my als lol

i would think most als caps are probably still good but

if you've got a multimeter i'm not sure if they can be checked in circuit on ALS specifically but a lot of the time you can

can at least tell if it's completely dead

but if there's a bunch of junk in parallel with the caps then prob have to desolder

[lunar crane]

Hi sorry for the tag, but I just wanted you to know I updated the guide and credited you, thanks! Your contribution can be found in the Getting Started area of the guide

[muted rock]

it's cool, ty 👍

[muted rock]

think my ants moved a log in my nest or somethin when i wasnt lookin

theres a weird gap under whatever it is

whereas the rest of the dirt has a normal-ish lookin pattern

but it kinda blends in lol

[lunar crane]

Huh

[muted rock]

the lower left part

the rest of the dirt has like 1 pixel wide "flecks" in it but the one under the object is like 4 wide which leads me to believe it's not just dirt

it's not food either cause it's stayed there for about a day

well maybe given the scale it's just a twig

but yeah they haven't dug through it or changed its shape either

kinda wish i had seen them move it

[lunar crane]

Very strange and cool! Thanks for sharing

[muted rock]

np! still not sure what it is lol

i would assume if it were anything edible it would have been eaten by now tho

[lunar crane]

Yeah. By your first description I would have thought it was a weird remnant of a worm attack, but the fact that it's angled and inconsistent width leads me to believe it's something else

worm trails are usually straight across

[muted rock]

Yeah I think I have been watching for every predator since before it appeared, still not had a worm that I know of

[latent cliff]

I think for my runs the first worm has usually popped up somewhere around Day 7~10 pretty consistently.

Maybe earlier, but they often come at night and I put it in another room, so if you haven’t dug deep you might not see the trail of destruction it leaves behind.

[muted rock]

I've been "pausing" it overnight and occasionally which is why it's taken extra long to run

so I def would have seen it i think

on that note...I wish it had a power off button, pulling the plug feels excessive

at least it's not like the uni where the battery is trapped inside tho

[latent cliff]

I really like the ALS but the 24 hour cycle is the biggest buzzkill. I just find it really obnoxious that you can wake up in the morning and have your 40+ day colony wiped out to nocturnal predators.

I’ve got a 60 day colony that’s nearing completion at the moment and I’m terrified whenever I leave it on its own.

[muted rock]

Yeah that's why I yank the plug overnight

I figure if I'm running it for a month+ I might as well see how far I get under the best possible conditions

[lunar crane]

I've purchased another one from the wonderful @/suoxrextchi that has a working backlight and also an AC adapter (separate purchase) as well

dual wielding ants life

[muted rock]

nice

so weird your original one didnt work

[lunar crane]

It's not super uncommon for them to not have working backlights, unfortunately

I spent more than 2 minutes on this and I hate that I did. What has my life come to.

one ants life for each hand

I can see the matrix now

help, I need more brain cells

[muted rock]

i wonder why they break

never took mine apart to look at the lcd tho

but worried it's the type of thing where it becomes prevalent on most models over time

[lunar crane]

Not sure. They can apparently be repaired but I don't have the know-how. Maybe eventually!

[latent cliff]

Can I just double check, this plug has a voltage regulator so even on a UK outlet (230v) it’s still likely to be safe?

[lunar crane]

the input voltage is up to 264 according to the stats

and it has a UK plug configuration that comes with it

the data sheet also lists the model as being universal range

(the single regulated output is for the submodels, you can select what output, which is specified in the model number)

https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/670/smi6b-1605895.pdf

[muted rock]

yep, should be fine on uk power

you might be able to get one with only a uk plug also

if they had it it would be smi6b-6-b-p6 i think

but if not smi6b-6-v-p6 and smi6b-6-4-p6 have uk blades you can put on the adapter included

id still recommend everyone measure their output but I get similar output on my 100v transformer and 120v outlet

if you've got any cheapo multimeter you can just stick any probe in the center and the other on the outside of the barrel end and should be around 6v

amp rating shouldnt matter as long as whichever one you find is >20 milliamps

it should only pull what it needs

[latent cliff]

Thank you both 🙂

I'll order one and test with the multimeter and report back!

[worn badger]

Just had a scare where I woke up from sleep mode and saw The trail of a worm attack work my queen nowhere to be found. Turns out, she's just narrowly trapped underneath the dirt line. Close call!

[lunar crane]

omg

[worn badger]

Yeah I hope someone digs her out quick lol

[lunar crane]

my ac adapter gets here TOMORROW

[lunar crane]

hell yeah. adapter achieved, tested on my current unit, working beautifully

Oooh I wonder if I'm going to get the same layout as Robin's!

[muted rock]

if i remember right the manual said there's like over 100 combinations of layouts so maybe there's like a 1% chance haha

[mellow ledge]

hmm is it a common issue for the backlight to be stuck on?

[lunar crane]

I haven't seen that before!

1. Are you using batteries or plug in? If plug in, are you outside Japan and using the original ac adapter sent with the unit?

2. Is the backlight stuck on constantly or is it just staying on longer than you would expect? (There are backlight duration options on the unit you can fiddle with)

3. Have you tried soft resetting with the front button? You may lose around a half hour of progress when doing this, but that solves the issues I experience on my current glitchy unit.

[mellow ledge]

thanks for your reply!

1. rechargeable batteries

2. was stuck on constantly

3. I did try the soft reset to no avail. Eventually what helped was taking out the batteries. Had to leave them out for a few minutes or else it would stay stuck when it came back on

[lunar crane]

Wow, taking out the batteries was going to be my next suggestion. That's odd behavior.

I've heard of the units getting a little weird with batteries because sometimes they wiggle loose from the contacts and don't make perfect connections with the battery terminals. There's a lot of room between the sliding door and where the batteries rest and tapping to deter predators can sometimes shake them loose. I wonder if that's what happened

[lunar crane]

Holy cow, having mine plugged in with the screen always on, I just saw a message about it writing to memory!

it was in english

I'll have to pay attention and see how often it writes and if it's on a certain time stamp

I was in a meeting at the time and couldn't super pay attention to it

[muted rock]

ive seen it once too

not sure what interval it's on tho

probably an hour or less since i never seem to lose much more progress than that

[worn badger]

I got my adapter as well! My partner says the multimeter readings look good, for fun we also tested the original ALS adapter and damn it was putting out a lot. probably should have noticed something was wrong when the little box felt so warm to the touch

In the process he accidentally called the device my "ant wife studio" and now that's all I can hear 😅

[lunar crane]

LOL that reminds me of the time I accidentally typoed "Magic: The Fathering" and now we can't stop calling it that

[worn badger]

omgggggg

[mellow ledge]

do i need to clear the soil from the pencil tool thing?

[lunar crane]

No, the ants will clear it themselves. They can't starve, so don't worry if it takes them a while to dig out :)

[mellow ledge]

thanks!

[lunar crane]

working backlight and AC adapter LESGOOO

Thank u @odd fulcrum for selling me a fully functional unit

[mellow ledge]

is there any troubleshooting to try if my unit doesn't seem to be registering taps during the attacks?

[lunar crane]

Some aren't as sensitive as others. For my first one, I had to firmly hold it either in my lap or sort of push down on it from the top to firmly hold it against my desk, and then use my knuckle to tap the front of the top right corner to get mine to register

I don't know any way to troubleshoot it, unfortunately

[mellow ledge]

thanks i'll keep messing with it

[mellow ledge]

yeah i'm not getting any whooshes or dust falling 😦 oh well poor ants

[lunar crane]

Have you started getting predator attacks? 😭

[mellow ledge]

i think so at least? the spider walks around above ground and i do hear the all clear noise at the end

[lunar crane]

oh yeah, okay, you definitely are

Someone else here had to shake theirs to get it to register

maybe try that?

[worn badger]

I also had a problem with my vibration sensor! I would tap rap and shake the darn thing and nothing worked. Eventually I had my partner open it up and re-solder the connection to the vibration sensor, which fixed it. If it helps you visualize, this is where the sensor is -- I would try tapping the back of the device right behind the sensor as a test

[lunar crane]

Oooh I didn't know it was in the middle!

I think the manual stated you should tap the top right corner

this is interesting!

[worn badger]

The sensor itself is a surprisingly cheap component that's still being sold, so if yours is truly busted and you or a friend have some soldering skills you might be able to fix yourself

[lunar crane]

I'll have to update the guide. Do you mind if I use your pic (credited, of course!)?

[worn badger]

Of course! Happy to help 😊

[lunar crane]

Awesome, thanks so much for your help!

[worn badger]

Good luck with everything, I found it super frustrating to have to watch the pressure attacks and not be able to intervene

[mellow ledge]

oh this is perfect thank you! i will open it up if needed and borrow my friend's soldering equipment

glad to know the component is replaceable if needed

[mellow ledge]

totally! like wow it's a brutal life for the ants in this studio

[worn badger]

right???

If it helps with the FOMO, once I got it fixed I realized that some predators will require you to tap like 20 to 30 times to scare them away and a part of me started to feel like the grass was greener when there wasn't anything I could do

There are some very persistent crickets out there apparently

[lunar crane]

LOL

Yeah, I counted a really long one once. 32 taps

like

what the heck

[worn badger]

Right??? Whyyyyy

[lunar crane]

it was a worm

the nemesis

https://tenor.com/view/angry-fist-arthur-憤怒-gif-5794225

We are building a left side nest this time

man, discord's compression for photos is getting grody

[mellow ledge]

yeah even if i get the feedback going right.. these little guys are still being muted when i go to sleep

[mellow ledge]

at least the spider sprite looks really cool as he murders my defenseless ants...

[muted rock]

Nice, yeah the og one is a "dumb" type adapter where it's just power out is proportional to power in, and it wastes a lot more energy as heat in the process even on a transformer

i wonder if theres any logic to number of taps it takes to scare off predators

usually it only needs like 10 or less for me

but initially i had one that needed quite a lot

mine registers taps better if i hold the base with one hand and quickly tap the top with my other hand so it kinda rocks back and forth slightly

[muted rock]

i know i felt like i was the only one who noticed

making all that money from nitro and the images still look bad

i mean i get why but ugh

[lunar crane]

She still hasn't laid eggs because she still doesn't have a chamber

Oh wait, I lied...there's some in the soil next to the end of this tunnel

This layout is gonna be weird lol

[lunar crane]

So I was wrong the other day. She did not lay until she finished digging and it took her four days on this layout

She now has eggs

[lunar crane]

Boxed em in for work yesterday and they haven't dug out yet. Which is good because this unit does not like to register taps either. Ants Liveses are so touchy 😭

[latent cliff]

They are making swift progress 🐜

[worn badger]

Starting on a lower floor!

I've been playing a little bit fast and loose with predator attacks, I go to the office twice a week and out every now and then and whatever happens while I'm out happens. So for the colony seems to be holding up okay, I have more ants than I've had in a while!

What are folks' ant population high scores?

[lunar crane]

I got up to 23 once

My queen promptly got wormed

[worn badger]

Nooooo

[muted rock]

mine keeps sticking around 6

maybe it'll go up

never got hit by a predator

but they just...die

[worn badger]

Yeah I've been noticing that too! Just hearing ant death sounds every now and then

[lunar crane]

My ants still have not dug out. I have 8 now with two eggs

[latent cliff]

I think the most I’ve seen is 14, but they usually hover ~12

I think I’ve almost both screens… just a little bit left !!

Hyper aware of worms etc now

[lunar crane]

Are they digging a big queen chamber at the bottom?

[latent cliff]

It’s not a great picture, but this is what we’re up to

[nova mirage]

All of this is so helpful! ^_^ This is such a cool pet 🙂

[lunar crane]

I lost some. I might start unplugging at night. The 24hrs a day predators is so rough

Also lol I tried to do some ant fishing between meetings this morning and had a miserable time at it

High score: 002

[worn badger]

Ant fishing is kind of a nightmare lol

When I was first reading the guide I didn't understand that some food unlocks cared about the cumulative number of ants caught across all fishing sessions, and I was like "how in high hell am I supposed to catch 70 ants in a row"

[lunar crane]

[lunar crane]

I just realized the wind and bird chirping noise means you unlocked something. Am I just a dumb dumb and we already knew this?

[worn badger]

Woah!! No I had no idea. Which sound effect is this?

[muted rock]

i was so happy when i lost ant fishing it was at 30 exactly

it gets weirdly hard sometimes when the ants just randomly stop

cause if you try to account for them stopping then they will be wobbly on the hook if they don't stop

and eventually that got me lol

[lunar crane]

You'll hear like a light breeze and a bird chirp. I got it last night after I unlocked the worm

[lunar crane]

A wobbly ant got me on ant 2 one time. I was like....really?

[formal mist]

where can i get this vpet from its so ant 🥹

[lunar crane]

japanese sites/proxy. They're pretty expensive these days ($120USD+)

[formal mist]

Thank you !!

[lunar crane]

TIL my new Ant's Life Studio responds best to rubbing it back and forth on a surface and letting the rubber feet make friction and vibration lol

tapping? no. shaking? hell no. tapping against a surface? nope.

[muted rock]

feels like you need a little bit of luck to keep ant fishing goign even with good timing

mine only really registers a tap when I hold the base down and hit the upper right corner over and over

[latent cliff]

My queen just randomly keeled over and died whilst I was stitching this together 😢

[lunar crane]

Noooooo!!!

What day were you on?

[latent cliff]

Day 71

I feel like I was so close to completing the nest!

[nova mirage]

Same thing happened to me last time I played LOL I was so sad. 71 days is amazing!!!

[shell creek]

hi fam! I'm running my Ants Life Studio and wondering if the motion sensor might be borked. looking for help troubleshooting 🙏🏻

lol, after reading some old posts I figured out my own special unit...

[shell creek]

excited to do a real run now that I know the sensor is working, I'll try to post updates 😄

currently on day 4, should have 3 eggs hatching today!

(I also had to look up what I paid for mine, great condition with box, after seeing current prices 😱 this was in late 2020)

[tired oyster]

yeah, I paid out the nose for mine a year ago but it was in great condition with the box/cable/instructions

[shell creek]

day 6, 7 ants, digging deeper! they finally freed themselves from the dirt pile I made yesterday 😂

[shell creek]

day 8: A RANDOM DEATH 😫

the trash pile has begun 🗑️

[shell creek]

a new fishing record 💪🏻 I WAS SO CLOSE TO 20

hard at work on day 8 with an impressive trash pile (of dead friends, RIP)

[shell creek]

also: have discovered I can register "taps" by shaking my unit front to back, pretty vigorously

[shell creek]

day 11: holding steady at around 6 ants, trying to grow the colony. so fun to watch the nest take shape! fk ant fishing tho 🙅‍♀️

[shell creek]

day 13/14 nest design, 8 ants!!

[shell creek]

day 16: a fresh kill

[shell creek]

day 23: 10 ants, breaking into the bottom screen

[shell creek]

H A U L

(omg wtf even is that)

[formal mist]

roly poly or beetle

[nova mirage]

This is so cool 🤩

[marsh storm]

bro i want one so bad the idea of making a ant home and taking care of the pack sounds so fun

[undone ruin]

Oh my gosh. I didn’t even know these were a thing! They seem so fascinating omg.

[untold thunder]

checking back in on how yall doin

have we found anything cool since testing in like april

last i recall i was doing the full starvation run and got further than i ever did

[feral cairn]

\

^ oops my bad lol.
i was trying to start up my als again but it's having issues turning on!! eeep!!

recharging all my batteries to see if that fixes it. gulp

[muted rock]

this is so weird to me still

i should continue my run

i was feeding it every day tho

i wonder what the longest run is

[muted rock]

do you have a compatible adapter for your voltage? maybe that will work if not the batteries

i think the one i use is linked in the faq if not

[latent cliff]

My longest run was Day 71 and I didn't feed, I was using stones to block hunting even ! I haven't had the energy to start it up again, I feel like it needs a surprising about of babysitting.

[untold thunder]

ya no feeding runs tend to last forever cause it just eliminates all dangers but the earthworm

which kinda negates the point of an ant farm

but it is kinda funny

[feral cairn]

which faq? i'd love to check out this adapter!

nvm i found the link you posted! i'm going to order one!

[muted rock]

👍 I use the cui one

Worked solely powered off of it for like a month with no issues so I figure it's good

Should be more efficient than the original design since non switch mode adapters are really wasteful and lose a lot of power as heat

[feral cairn]

ty for the headsup about the adapter! mine is already out for delivery!!!! although it's UPS so hit or miss whether they actually attempt to get it to me. but yay i'm excited.

having an ALS really made me interested in ants so i ended up getting a real colony last year. it's been a lot of fun keeping them, but they're in diapause (hibernation) right now.

[muted rock]

i get them every summer uninvited 😔

i have stockpiled weapons of mass ant destruction as a result since my kitchen is going too far

but maybe if i had them on their own it would be ok

thats pretty fast for ups tho

surprised

[feral cairn]

aww darn i'm sorry! lol yeah they're fun to watch while contained, but i can imagine the headache if you have them as pests.

i'm surprised, too. considering it says it shipped from texas and i live in bc, canada!

[muted rock]

i got granules made for only pest control companies just for em lol

i'm ready

last year they were really bad

usually it takes em 3-4 days at least for me (I'm on east coast US)

maybe since they can fly it tho

i usually get coin cell batteries with my order which makes it ground-only

cause they're cheap in bulk off mouser and usually higher quality than anywhere else that's not overpaying at a retail shop

i got the murata ones with my last order and they have been pretty great so far

i think they now make sony's batteries

i had alates last year so i was very worried since terro wasn't cuttin it

the pro grade stuff did tho

[feral cairn]

hi!!! oooo it's been so long maybe i should run my ALS, too!

[raw acorn]

that would be great ❤️

[raw acorn]

It seems that there is no way to save the game

the memory is apparently built into the processor, which is on the other side not visible to the eye

I think so

[raw acorn]

The memory of the ants is stored in the 24C16R6 chip

[meager shoal]

is the epoxy blob with the MCU on the other side of the board?

[raw acorn]

I received the dump, but I don't know what to do next.

[raw acorn]

yes, that's right. And the number of ants, the number of days is contained in 24С16

[reef barn]

Hey guys,m just got one of these. is the fishing game important in anyway? I made it up to 6 ants hahaha.

[shell creek]

I believe you get access to more foods when you hit certain fishing records (50, 100)

[reef barn]

Oh cool! that's great to know! Thank you!

[shell creek]

There's some info in the instructions in #tama-vpet-info but I feel like I saw more somewhere at one time

@reef barn here! https://milynnial.notion.site/Food-Guide-V1-1-94db4927e21041f0b46467e40c9325fe

[raw acorn]

for some reason big ants die in 1 day or is it just me

[shell creek]

Hmm not necessarily

[reef barn]

Thank yoU!

[shell creek]

we back

[reef barn]

Has anyone purchased an adaptor for their ant life studio?

I have rechargable batteriesa but I have to change them out like once a week.

[shell creek]

There's definitely been some convo about it if you search the thread, I just use rechargeables