Thrive v0.2.4 released, what next?

After an amazingly useful 2-week prerelease, version 0.2.4 has been released, and there was much rejoicing!

We've been calling 0.2.4 the GUI update, because that's the most noticeable upgrade Thrive has gotten, but there is much more to this one. We have sound effects, more models, more microbes, new AI, and a lot of bugfixing, so in general, lots of polish.

[caption id=“attachment_346” align=“aligncenter” width=“401”] New microbes! New GUI![/caption]

But the GUI update is behind us now. What next? We're already hard at work on 0.2.5, and we've got a few things that will likely already make it in:

• Some foundational population dynamics: Auto-evo is a major part of the game, and this groundwork is one of the first pieces of that puzzle.
• Compound clouds: programming-wise, this is likely going to see the gnarliest work. Long overdue, and easier than membranes.
• More agents, and more fully-featured ones too, doing more than just damage.
• Bacteria! When we replace the compound particles and emitters with clouds, we'll need new sources for the compounds, and that's where bacteria come in.
• Whatever other simple gameplay improvements nad experimentation we cook up – this release will likely focus on improved game mechanics, making this game more interesting and fun to play!
• Bugfixes and GUI tweaking, of course, to fix most of the problems our test monkeys fans find. The prerelease worked very well in that respect, getting lots of bugs caught and fixed, so our fans will be seeing use as our test monkeys again.

That's that for this short update, and you can expect to hear more from us soon, on progress, plans, prototypes, and more!