After a short hiatus we are back! We have a lot of new stuff to show you on this update. So much so that this post’s format will be different, as we are going to explain in detail what has been achieved on each team during the past weeks.

But before that, we have some very important news, We have a Patreon now! That’s right, now you can finally support the project financially. We have three tiers at the moment with their own advantages, these are:

• Supporter ($1 Per month)
  • Patron-only progress updates and messages
• Devbuilds Supporter ($5 Per month)
  • Everything in the previous tier
  • Early access to Thrive devbuilds
  • Special group membership on our community forums
• VIP Supporter ($15 Per month)
  • Everything in the previous tiers
  • Access to special forum section just for you and Thrive developers to get priority responses to any Thrive related questions or giving feedback on the devbuilds
  • Priority questions on our livestreams (when we answer questions)
  • Even more special group membership on our community forums
  • Occasional polls for you to decide which features should be prioritized

If we want to keep development constant, the most reliable way is by having financial support and we hope patreon is the key for that. So please consider supporting us, you will not only receive some juicy perks, but you’ll also ensure that development keeps going at a constant pace.

At the moment the money will go to hhyyrylainen as he’s the patreon’s owner (and the one who puts most time into Thrive) but we plan to make a non-profit in the future to take care of financial distribution.

That being said, let’s see what’s new.

Programming

We implemented a new feature: Cell walls! And they are not merely cosmetic, oh no, this time they give new stats to your cell, like reduced osmoregulation cost or resistance to toxins and pili. They also have disadvantages like slowing down your cell and decreasing the compound absorption rate. And you can even change their rigidity to further customize your stats.

We are also working on (yet another one) graphics engine switch, there are many people with Intel graphics cards that can’t play the game, so we need another engine. This time we are going to try Diligent engine.
Finally, the + New cell button on the editor only works on Freebuild now to not be game breaking.

Graphics

We needed new textures for some of the membranes so here are the Silica and Carbonate walls assets. We also made an aesthetic guide for the GDD and some concepts for future stages.

Gameplay

The new cell stats wouldn’t have been possible without some game desigining, fortunatelly we finally got a designer. Buckly defined what each membrane would do, balaced their stats and also balanced cell metabolism according to the new variable tickrate.

Sound

We have a new sound artist on the team, Mehdikazim. He’s been working on new sound effects for when the player is in danger and when there’s a natural disaster.

Theory

• Nothing Substantial

Outreach

We’ve submited thrive on a couple of indie game platforms: Indie Video Games and Indie Game Planet. Both sites offer free exposure to indie games, so it’s a nice thing to sing up for. We also updated the press kit and made a new instagram page!

Other

There was a GDD in the old wiki, since it was very outdated we made an up to date version on the new wiki, including new concepts and ideas that weren’t in the old doccument. It still needs some work, but an updated GDD is a good thing to have around.