Progress Update 12/06/2025
The biggest news this week is Thrive version 0.9.2! We're hopeful that this version is a lot more stable on release than 0.9.1 was, but we still did not have a beta period, unlike our typical updates. Please report any issues you find!
First of all, it fixes the remaining know bugs from 0.9.1 that were not fixed in 0.9.1.1. Beyond this we have improvements and additions to auto-evo. The calculations now take cilia, binding agents and signalling agents into account, and some performance improvements helped prevent too much increase in calculation time from this. Ambient occlusion textures were added to the terrain chunks, making them look quite a bit better. Finally, the pilus mechanics were altered to make it a bit smoother to use, so please try it out!
Meanwhile, on the developer forums, there was a decent amount of discussion about what graphics settings to use for the pre-sets. But also, the start of a roadmap for the development of the Multicellular Stage.
And finally, we had an interview with Chaim Gingold, a prominent developer of Spore! We discuss game design in general, the early development of Spore, and how Spore inspired other games being developed right now. We also get his comments as we show him around. So have a watch and tell all your friends!
So do watch that interview if you're interested.
Thrive 1.0.0, with the official completion of the Microbe Stage, will release on December 17th! See the full progress list below, and we'll see you in the next progress update!
Programming
- New release 0.9.2.0:
- Added ambient occlusion textures for terrain chunks to improve their visuals
- Added suppression for the error popup opening in some non-serious cases
- Rebalanced pilus damage and made it deal continuous damage on collision persisting
- Added more collision safety checks everywhere collisions are recorded as 0.9.1.1 only added that safety for pilus collisions
- Fixed scene preload errors when moving between the later game prototypes
- Fixed GUI jiggle in the evolutionary tree by turning off GUI element snapping. Please report if you notice any text blurriness or other problems after this change.
- Fixed multiple NaN auto-evo result problems
- Fixed the industrial stage not working due to accidentally left in duplicate pause menu instance
- Added turning speed to auto-evo calculations and it can now place cilia
- Improved efficiency of auto-evo to offset the cost from new features added to it
- Auto-evo now has much better slime jet and sprinting related calculations
- Auto-evo now takes binding and signalling agents into account
- Fixed a save load error when multiple recently expelled entities were dead already
- Fixed environment tolerance sliders just not moving if not enough MP for the desired change. Now the sliders jump as far towards the desired change as there is MP left.
- Fixed too long text in the build commit hash being able to break the options menu
- Auto-evo prediction in the editor now always waits for the previous run to complete to solve errors on slower computers where a further edit may have been done before the previous calculation finished which lead to an unhandled error
- Microbe movement speed now impacts how loud the movement sound is for the cell
- Added an option to select on which monitor Thrive is on with it defaulting to auto to keep the old behaviour
- Adjustment the map life indicator amount based on species size
- Fixed duplicate focus borders around the build date of the game in the settings menu
- Updated code checking tools
- Updated BenchmarkDotNet from 0.15.6 to 0.15.8
- Updated translations
Feedback for the release can be provided here: https://community.revolutionarygamesstudio.com/t/0-9-2-general-feedback-thread/8781
Graphics
- The population “dot” indicator now adjusts for species size, so that large cells don't always show only a few dots per patch.
- Terrain chunks have a new ambient occlusion layer. Essentially, they have shadows drawn on to them that makes them look better.
Gameplay
- The pilus was mechanically adjusted: it now deals continuous damage over time if it stays in contact with a target, not just when it first hits.
- Auto-evo now takes into account sprinting ability for predation. This means it now sees value in having excess ATP production.
- Auto-evo now sees slime jets as a speed boost similar to sprinting, instead of an offensive tool like the pilus and toxisome.
- Auto-evo now recognizes the Binding Agent as giving the osmoregulation cost reduction that you get from being in a colony. The Signalling Agent enhances this bonus, and makes a cell better at predation. Mutations can now also place these organelles.
- Auto-evo now takes into account a cells HP as something that resists predation with pili and toxins.
Sound
- The pilus attack sound now scales its volume based on the amount of damage dealt.
Theory
- Nothing substantial.
Outreach
- Interview and talk with Spore developer Chaim Gingold.
Other
- Thrive is now available on GeForce NOW (for those with a premium membership).
