Looking through the whole changelog and thinking of "what should I outline for this update" really makes me want to have done this announcement one version ago. Nevertheless, we need to keep ourselves ahead, so here it is - another Sipho update!

In the spirit of celebrations, we have implemented some of new Mutation Contest winning entries. Specifically in this order - Phyllodermic, that reduces Drag stat of Zooids, EF5 Twister that turns Twister into a mild tornado and Reduplicating - which makes your projectile weapons shoot an extra projectile and hurt themselves for the right balance!

Phyllodermic was the first one to be implemented as it seemed the simplest. We didn't have Drag as stat yet, it was a property of Zooid, so we moved its definition to a place where all stats are placed - into a huge ZooidStats data structure. That data structure is modified through all our Buffs and Mutations - meaning that we will also be able to change Drag with the new Mutation. Drag being a negative stat - that slows or "drags" your zooids down, is the first stat to have a negative effect. We had to implement a negative stat concept for Tooltips - increasing that should be a red coloured text as opposed to the rest of existing stats. Having done all that we send a huge thank you, Salreix, for this contest entry!

Phyllodermic reduces Drag by 33% and increases Max Health by 1, as if it was adding a slick layer!

The second mutation from the contest to be implemented was EF5 Twister. "EF5" is a highest, most destructive category for tornadoes, which is a very fitting name to our micro-tornado creating Zooid. Twister was designed with deep synergy with projectiles in mind - to carry them the extra distance to your target and to keep bombs, like Burstopod bombs, close to your foes. Looks like our players wanted some more OOMPH out of Twister so the Mutation was conceived. The idea was to allow Twister dealing damage as if it was a tornado. To implement that we have added an internal damage counter to its Swirls, which makes them deal damage per second equal to the Ranged Power stat on the Zooid. If Swirl kills anything, it gains +1 DPS as if it "absorbed" broken pieces of what it hit and loses 2% of its DPS when damaging something - it "lost" a part of things that deal damage. To balance high power scaling and not to allow Twister become a tornado with a few damage increasing Zooids like Agonizers, we have given it base Ranged Power reduction of 66.6%. That means each damage buff from Agonizers or Zenoplates that give +1 Ranged Power to connected Zooids will only give +0.33 Ranged Power to Twister.

The EF5 Mutation, being a Twister specific can be generous in damage increase, so it gives base +5 Ranged Power and +100% multiplier. Playtesting it has proven to be fun and interesting - it makes you attack less health-regenerating sides of your enemies and use environment Spike-balls for extra damage. Thank you, Vera, for this great concept!

Finally, Reduplicating Mutation has been implemented. It makes Projectile (Flak, Sprayer, Sniper, Soul Eater), Bomb (Miner, Burstopod, Muck) and Cloud (Squirter) Zooids fire an extra projectile. This required some rewriting of our projectile-shooting code. Due to historic reasons and incremental development we had unique scripts for almost each Zooid. In year 2017 we started out with FlakWeapon script, which was used by Flak, Sprayer and Sniper zooids. Later on, in 2019 a more abstract LaunchObjectSkill was added for Twister and others. Being more abstract, LaunchObjectSkill was eventually used for more Zooids and become better maintained. To clean up some code, I've decided to migrate FlakWeapon zooids onto LaunchObjectSkill. Mostly everything went fine, we were even able to add little fire effects to each former FlakWeapon. There was a one big issue with Flak Zooid itself - it fired three projectiles already, but with different damage values. Initially Flak had 2 Ranged Power and fired three projectiles - two 1 damage and one 2 damage, which would add up to 4 damage in total - not what tooltip said, nor it made any sense as Flak had 2 Ranged Power. To stay as close to previous balance as possible, I've set values to mimic previous behaviour as close as possible and allow scaling through stats:

Now Flak has Ranged Power of 1.33 and Projectile Count 3 with 60% linear falloff - meaning that side projectiles deal 60% and centre ones deal 200% - 60% = 140%. In total, this rounds to 4 damage per shot.
A note for math enjoyers - the linear falloff creates a "house" looking curve with sum area of 1. With steeper side-damage-ratio the error can sum up to 7% because the function is evaluated per-projectile. In reality, this becomes negligible as damage values are high and rounded. From gameplay perspective, it's usually better to have single high damage projectile as it has more chances to kill a Zooid, so this rounding error can be considered a small nerf to extra projectiles for Flak. So far, other projectile weapons have constant damage across all launched projectiles.
Now that all shooting Zooids have been migrated onto we were able to implement Reduplicating Mutation:

The Reduiplicating Mutation is quite powerful and gives +1 Projectile Count, essentially multiplying your damage output. And there's this broken heart thin- What's this "Strain" stat?

To balance already powerful ranged weapons and not scale them ad infinitum with another cool Mutation, a Strain stat has been added. Its behaviour might change in the future and the current version is quite radically fun:
Zooids with Strain stat will receive damage equal to the Strain value on skill use. Meaning that Sniper weapon with 5 strain will lose 5 health per shot. Then, each neighbour of Strained zooid will receive Strain-1 damage - so the Sniper's neighbour will receive 4 damage. And then further neighbours will get damaged, until Strain damage reaches zero.
This means that if you decide to make your ranged weapon more powerful you will have to balance this extra damage with additional healing - either Health Regeneration or Chitin's Shell. Yes, Chitin blocks this damage and even though it feels like the Strain should be "below" the shell, it makes it up with interesting synergy between Chitin and Strain.
A very graphic example of 5 x Reduplicating Mutation Straining Flak
We might use Strain in other places as well - I think it would be interesting to see Soul Eater have 1 Strain if it gets shot empty - this would encourage filling it up and add a bit of strategy to Pusher/Twister and Soul Eater combo. Zooids like Radial, which regenerates Energy when damage could benefit from this anti-stat.

That's it for now, enjoy Sipho and let us know what you think!

• Fix Muscle Zooid trying to get its Siphonophore while being uninitialized
  
• Twister EF5 Mutation
  
• Twister effects
  
• Use stat relevancy for displaying stats in descriptions
  
• Twister can very inefficiently do damage
  
• Melee Grade 4 Mutation reduces Drag and rebalance Powerup Addiction Mutation
  
• Add Charge and Reach Stat icons
  
• Add Phyllodermic Mutation that decreases Zooid Drag
  
• Flail respects Drag stat change
  
• Fix Buffing zooids not being notified of stats changed
  
• Zooid Mass and Drag are now Stats
  
• Scale Puffer transform correctly
  
• Restore Puffer to having 16 connection angles
  
• Update Siphonophore RecentWealth immediately if Wealth changes to higher - fixes Aquarium spawners initially spawning empty heads
  
• Support Polyp-only siphos
  
• Siphonophores no longer store unused stats
  
• Update 2D packages
  
• Muscle Zooids change distance by absolute values - makes Piston and Puffer bit more reliable
  
• New Zooid visual tests
  
• Expand Piston connections only for main connection Zooid
  
• Fix Flail wind-up which would send Flail flying forward when its retracted
  
• Update volatile stats when updating structure
  
• Update credits
  
• Advena mover Radial applies Energy Regeneration buff instead of instantly granting 10 energy per damage point
  
• Make Energy Orb tooltip dynamic so it always refreshes
  
• Polyp damages Zooids it's attached to
  
• Add option to not destroy projectiles on chip
  
• Add Skill energy cost scaling support
  
• Revert back to old pusher behavior - push force vectors are collinear when pushing and concentric when pulling
  
• Projectiles remember pierced colliders
  
• Launch objects at offset distance by launch angle instead of fixed point
  
• Save manually spawned enemies in Aquarium
  
• Remove Mutations from built-in Layouts
  
• Try to fix neighbors stored in Layouts when loading

• Essence of the Elders reduces Strain
  
• Tweak Twister damage
  
• Deal Strain damage on the next frame - won't require dealing with dead Zooids mid-skill activation
  
• Add Reduplicating Mutation and its icon - fire extra Projectile, but have increased Strain
  
• Flak, Sprayer and Sniper are now using Launch Object Skill and supports multiple projectiles per shot. Add new shot effects
  
• Use Projectile Count stat with Launch Object Skill Zooids - Burstopod, Twister, Soul Eater, Muck, Squirter
  
• Use generic launch object skill instead of poison sack for Squirters
  
• Display multiplied values when displaying buffs and Mutations
  
• Add Strain stat - using skill with deal damage to the Zooid itself and with fall-off to its Neighbors. Add Strain Icon
  
• Twister Grade 4 Mutation gives base damage 2.5 as well
  
• Twister starts with 2 Penetration (up from 0), lower inherent Twister damage downscale to -300% (from -400%). Twister Swirls that destroy things increase their internal Damage Per Second by 1. Swirls that deal damage lose 2% of their DPS
  
• Earthy Blossoms Area: Spawn mossy bricks only in deeper layers and bright bricks in top layer
  
• Do not apply energy regen percentage buffs if Zooid doesn't have base energy regen - reduces possible permutations for Intercirculatic Mutation
  
• Parallelize soft body mass inversion calculation for 1% performance improvement
  
• Fade-in soft body deformations instead of having them instant
  
• Split some of Projectile logic into separate scripts for modularity
  
• Allow offsetting random time per zooid renderer - more visual variety for animations

• Delay stat change update to the next frame on Zooid to prevent stack overflow
  
• Fix Shell created effect appearing in wrong places
  
• Remove hack in zooid shader which made zooids fully opaque if they were black
  
• Fix Twister incorrectly counting objects that haven't been damaged as pierced
  
• Handle Leeches dying from leeching on their targets
  
• Premultiply alpha of all Zooid and Environment sprites that do not have semi-transparent parts. Fixes white outlines on some sprites. Was especially visible in Advena areas
  
• Fix negative stat change multiplier display percentage

• Launch Flak, Sniper and Sprayer projectiles at full speed and have no extra force for the same behavior as before
  
• Build

• Scale extra Flak projectiles in a similar way they've been scaled with old Flak Weapon behavior

• Update Flak description
  
• Cleanup Zooid descriptions and add Projectile Count stat
  
• Scale Zooid add-force-over-frames added force linearly instead of applying constant force until all force is applied
  
• Deal Strain damage over time

• Correct Flak damage distribution

Halloween has quickly passed and have finally tallied all of the Mutation Creation Contest results!
Considering the difficulty of the challenge - designing Mutations that are only experienced while deep in the game, the Sipho community has proven to be adamant with 9 entries in total!

We have realised that objectively choosing a single winner out of all entries would be impossible - high majority of the ideas fit perfectly in the game. And we can only tell if presented ideas are going to work is by implementing them. We have decided to award all of the participants as most entries differ by their presentation, while underlying ideas are pretty solid. We want our competitions to be a celebration for the community and inspire future participation. We have commented each entry how we imagine these ideas in the game by order of their submission:

Steam Entry by Earwig Incorporated

This Mutation turns Spike into a debuffing Zooid that specifically counters Chitin Shell passive ability - growing Shells on other Zooids and protecting them from damage. We could see this effect on more Zooids than just Spike - Shells do tend to get out of control in later Epochs.

Discord Entry by skipydog

A punny play on words, this Mutation turns Leeches into jellyfish-like tentacles that sting on touch. This sounds like a great idea that could synergize well with fast-moving Siphos. Furthermore, Leech tentacles could be affected by Pushers and Twisters as well. That would give player control to extend limp Leeches further as they would lack stiffness with this Mutation. Definitely worth of thinking about and giving some extra work on Leech physical interactions with the world.

Discord Entry by Moff
The classic extra-bullet per bullet take with a twist - at the expense of reduced healing and Energy efficiency. Ranged weapons are inherently very strong - most of them can safely damage their prey while being far away from the danger. To balance that, proposed drawbacks help limiting the damage potential - with reduced energy efficiency and increasing the risk - with reduced healing effect. We could push this further by making affected weapon damage its neighbours while firing - as if it was leeching life-force to create additional stings or bombs to fire. This could be mitigated with healing and regeneration Mutations. This could open up interesting synergies with Zooids that activate their passive abilities after being damaged - one of which is Advena's Radial mover that regenerates Energy after being damaged.

Steam Entry by buzzart30

As a Mutation, The Ramak appears to be a conversion of Nervefiber into a self-sufficient damaging Zooid. Imagine a ball of Ramaks slowly approaching their enemies - sounds like some body-horror blob of death. We will keep this entry as a separate Zooid idea.

Discord Entry by Salreix Von Otsuu

Loving the biological basis for this Mutation! Physical Drag reduction Mutation was one of the things we were thinking about of introducing into Mutation pool and this idea hits the right spot. The very subtle +1 Max Health hints of Zooid getting an additional layer of skin - one that makes them move better in the water.

Discord Entry by Vera the Wut Worshipper

Another classic mechanic entry with a suggestion of sticky, or rather, Adhesive mechanic - with a twist of Mines and Bombs becoming a bit less volatile until they get stuck on objects. Shaking those bad boys off would be hard. So we're thinking that initially the Adhesive force would be weaker and additional stacks would increase the strength of the effect - giving player and its enemies a chance to "shake off" stuck bombs early and additional stacks creating more sticky situations.

Discord Entry by Vera the Wut Worshipper

An attempt to give a deadly power to Twister, a harmless Utility Zooid that creates twists of currents that carry things around, is a welcome attempt. While this Mutation could reduce Twister synergy with Burstopod and Projectile weapons as it would destroy projectiles inside of it, we could make those destroyed projectiles "feed" into the twister, increasing its passive damage. So the play would be keeping the Swirl alive with by releasing additional Swirls and feeding it various objects so it becomes more "dusty" and dangerous.

Discord Entry by Moff
Grabber is a very special Zooid that we keep looking for ways to improve - it is chaotic and often does more harm than good - pulling in a spiky ball from offscreen is rarely fun for the player. This Mutation changes how Grabber would work - turning a meme machine into a more controllable and reliable gap-closing Utility Zooid. We might not have this as a Mutation, we might just change how the Grabber works - control and reliability is very important in the physically janky world of Sipho.

Steam Entry by Mr Gaymer
This entry cracks us up as it is a Mutation for a Zooid that doesn't exist yet. At least officially. Piston Zooid is an experimental Zooid, hidden deep in game files and in historical development test builds. We tested how could new "squishy" physics work with muscle Zooids - that can extend and contract their connections. And they do somewhat work - their quick and hacky implementation makes them extend one of their connections further away - allowing player to change their shape on a whim. They could be used as muscles for opening "jaws" without needing to change layout. There are some technical challenges with making connections weaker - Zooids can become tied-up in a disorderly ball if their connections are loose enough. Before we implement Piston or any other kind of Muscle Zooid, we will keep this Mutation in our hearts. Figuratively.

Dear Earwig Incorporated, skipydog, Moff, buzzart30, Salreix Von Otsuu, Vera the Wut Worshipper and Mr Gaymer, we are very humbled and thankful for your participation in this event! The support is immense and we love making Sipho a better game for you! We will be contacting Discord entry authors on Discord. Steam users - please contact us on sipho@allpartsconnected.com, by messaging Dominas or on Discord to receive your prize!

Speaking of support, we have a community-ran Wiki page that you can participate on. It is pretty fresh, but the content is solid - waiting for more additions. We also discuss Wiki matters and other Sipho development topics most actively on our Discord server.

This update brings small bugfixes and some hidden code refactors to make Sipho a bit more extensible for future Zooids.

There is a one notable fix to how dive-awarded Mutations were applied. They were given to the player when they should have been applied to enemies. Newly spawned enemies would get their Mutations correctly, but since the player never dies, player accumulated them by surviving. Saving and re-loading would apply correct player Mutations. This was noticeable by player being weaker after save reload. The outcome of this fix makes New Game plus a bit harder. The upside of that is that we can add more powerful Grade IV Mutations that will help the player a bit more in the future. Big thanks to our player who reported it.

And a reminder - our Mutation Design Contest is still on-going and gives you a chance to win Sipho keys for you or your friends!

• Always update Sipho stats in Growth mode so energy regeneration and other values do not get stale
  
• Attempt to fix spooky growth point null ref bug
  
• Grabber remembers what damageables it has pierced
  
• Pierce objects one-frame early with Grabber so the tip doesn't stop when piercing
  
• Sync Muck cloud particle lifetime with its effect better
  
• Award all unlocked achievements that are saved in files on launch
  
• Fix Mutation Manager applying mutations to player when they should be applied to correct Faction when adding new mutations
  
• Workaround not getting Steamworks callback for enabling us to report Achievements
  
• Pusher supports negative force
  
• Polyp uses Fixed Joint
  
• Polyp correctly attaches to surfaces and aligns to their normal
  
• Polyp applies strong energy buff when attached to a surface
  
• Track enemies in defined areas instead of globally in Buginis boss fight 3 - prevents soft-locks if there are enemies in unreachable areas
  
• Add 3 second spawn delay to Reward consumables so they aren't accidentally picked up so easily after spawn
  
• Highlight Mutation zooids on UI select
  
• Update ignored zooid collisions when repositioning zooids correctly
  
• Use strict initialization path for ZooidComponents
  
• Fix Aquarium Spawners not saving spawned things due to inconsistent ID
  
• Fix Polyp connection angles
  
• Leeches hold things better

Have you ever had ideas for new spooky and creepy Mutations? Now there is a chance - we announce The Halloween Mutation Creation contest!

If you need inspiration, you could think of how you would like to see certain Zooids act differently and what needs to be changed. For example - if you wished to have dozens of passive Spikes that are good enough just to sit on your structure Zooids while you ram your enemies your wish could be a Mutation: Reduce Spike Mass, Drag, Range and Cooldown Recovery and it becomes a stationary, passive Spike, which can be placed all around your Sipho. You can also read more about Mutations in our Mutations update announcement.

Mutations can be seen as Zooid ideas which are not unique or distinct enough to become physical Zooids. This type of thinking allows taking some of those ideas and creating them as Mutations. Or creating Mutations that shift existing Zooids into their idea counterparts. This changes how your Sipho is laid-out and that is what makes Mutations and replaying the game interesting.

There are some design limitations - Mutations need to stack to not make their usefulness limited. If you wish to negate some of existing Zooid functionality you could play around with Stats as in previous Spike example. Adding negative Stat allows to shape Mutated Zooid into playstyle you want. And those Stat reductions can be alleviated with other Mutations, allowing player with a certain Mutation combo have a very powerful Sipho.

Think of a Mutation that changes the way you would play the game and write that down. You can also use Aquarium and create a Layout that shows how your Mutation is used. Creative freedom is yours! After your are ready to share the idea, post it in our Discord or on Steam's Artwork page. Most unique and technically achievable ideas will be remade in the game!

You don't have to be a professional designer to participate in this event. A basic doodle on a napkin and a description of Mutation effects are enough for us to pick it up and get it into the game. Anyone can participate. Although if you haven't played Sipho before, be sure to check videos or screenshots to get familiar with its world and creatures.

• Describe Mutation effects - try using existing Stats, Buffs and other mechanics or come up with new ones. If the idea is chosen - we will come up how to implement it!
  
• These effects should stack - picking up designed Mutation for second time should make its effects stronger
  
• Describe which or what kind of Zooids are affected - type of zooids, breed or specific Zooids. For example: Weapon type Zooids, Weapons that shoot projectiles, Weapons, Advena breed Zooids, Grabber
  
• Provide a sketch or a screenshot with Layout string of a Sipho that uses this Mutation - if your Mutation is chosen to be added to the game, we will also include the Layout
  
• You can also draw an icon for the Mutation - it will not be judged, but will be a welcome addition. Make sure it is not subject to copyright and by providing it you allow it, or modified form of it, to be used in the game
  
• More unique and technically achievable Mutations will be judged better. Cleverly using existing game mechanics are much more welcome
  
• Post your entry on Sipho's Artwork section. If you can't post it there, leave a comment with a link here or post it on our Discord
  
• Multiple contest entries are allowed

Our team will pick one or more winning designs right after the end of this event.
Winners will be awarded with Sipho Steam keys and their name in the credits.

The event ends at November 1st, 00:00 UTC

The deep waters have changed - what was once a simple endless loop of growing, adapting, eliminating your foes and resting is no more. Instead of laying down your Zooids after finishing the game you will now be able to repeat your journey in a new Epoch. Some may call it a New Game Plus!

Each new Epoch starts after your long slumber, getting a wake up call to climb back onto the top of the food chain. After your first Epoch, Nature starts to Mutate and shift towards chaos. Each dive brings new Mutations to your foes and each Boss kill awards you with a choice of one. Alpha creatures also reward you with a choice of Mutation - but beware, the one that isn't picked gets applied to the rest of the creatures.

That is some highly mutated Sipho right there

New Epochs and Mutations will give new opportunities to experiment with builds that were not possible before - some Mutations may even change Zooid properties that affect their placement. Other Mutations will simply make you faster, stronger or prolong buff durations!


Your run will no longer be ending in the area after the last boss. You can choose to roam The Open Waters (formerly Freeroam) and fight your former creations freely, but entering a Whirlpool will again bring you to a first Level. You will be stripped of Nutrition, but will not lose anything that has been Adapted or Mutated. A new Epoch will begin.

In following Epochs Mutations are introduced - permanent buffs that stack and affect your colony in different ways. Currently there are 4 Grades of Mutations with increasing effect with each Grade:

• Grade I: Usually affects all Zooids. These Mutations are weak, but can stack up quickly if combined with other Mutations.
  
• Grade II: A group of Zooids is affected - either whole Breed or type of Zooid - Combat, Movement, Utility, Structure. These Mutations can enhance your strategy or allow shifting it towards previously non-viable one. These Mutations have stronger effect than Grade I.
  
• Grade III: Affects specific Zooids and have strong effects. Some stats, like the new Neighbor Reach stat will increase how far, for example Zenoplate, Splitter or Greaser buff their Neighbors - a strong effect which even affects how your Sipho is shaped.
  
• Grade IV: Affects specific Zooids with very strong effect and can have drawbacks. Designed to change your playstyle and strategy. Negative effects can be countered with lower Grade Mutations.

Mutations can be acquired and will be applied to Enemies in different ways:

• Each dive to a deeper Level awards enemies with Grade I and II Mutations - the difficulty gradually increases, keeping you on your toes.
  
• Each non-boss, non Level 1 and not The Open Waters level will have an Alpha creature spawned which will be Mutated with two additional Grade I-III Mutations. Killing it will allow you to choose one to keep and another to give to your opponents. A risk-reward opportunity to make your Sipho even stronger.
  
• In addition to Zooids, regular bosses will drop Grade I-III Mutations and the final boss will award you with Grade III-IV Mutations.

As you might notice, Grade IV Mutations are never awarded to Enemies - this is intentional as this allows us designing more game-breaking mechanics without compromising the difficulty. We can never be certain that there will be enough counter-Mutations for adverse Grade IV effects and Layout designs so that Enemies stay competitive and varied. For example, some built-in designs can be broken with Grade IV Mutation which increases Spike Damage by 500%, but reduces Range to close to 0.

Layouts that have been Autosaved will retain Mutation information. This will preserve Mutation context in which that Layout works. In the future, we will add Layout Mutation manipulation to Aquarium so irrelevant Mutations can be stripped off or new ones added.

You can find the long list of changes on Pastebin.

These new additions are massive and best explained while playing the game. Don't hesitate, jump in Sipho and let us know how you like them.

This 0.9.0 update marks a huge leap forward and little remaining steps towards Sipho 1.0.0. Development will not be slowing down - in the near future we will be polishing up remaining boss fights, improving enemy AI and getting ready to come out of Early Access. More on these news will come soon. For now we are prototyping new Breed.
If you are interested how the game is made, we sometimes stream development on Twitch
Join our Discord community if you wish to chat with other players, share your strategies or creations and gives us feedback on early builds!

Fix whoopsie and random errors that have surfaced after engine update. Enjoy!

• Handle unplugging input device if it was plugged in before
  
• Fix Steam not initialized errors
  
• Fix projectiles never dying if they keep colliding with triggers. Also gradually kill off projectiles that are slower than 50% of their intended velocity

This update marks a new step towards Layout management as we have envisioned.

Layout Browser now displays previews of layouts which makes layout management much more pleasant and allows to see what is going to be grown without exiting the window.

It works by Layout Window requesting for previews of displayed layouts and the Layout Preview Generator either provides existing layouts or queues a request to render a preview for layout. Then Siphos are spawned in the background to have their layout image taken. Selected layouts take priority and no longer displayed layouts without previews have their requests automatically retracted. Large siphos grow over several frames to not resource hog the game, so some may take several frames to render a preview. If you have a very low memory machine you can reduce the number of cached layouts in options menu.

Descriptions can now be added to saved layouts in Layout Browser, allowing to describe lore or intended strategy of the layout. Descriptions are included in exported layout data.

We now also track kills of the layout in Campaign mode. It should be an interesting trivia to look after at some time - who is your greatest nemesis?

In the future, we hope to speed up Layout preview generation process by saving generated previews as files on disk, so they don't have to be regenerated every time the game is opened. This would also allow us to embed layouts in images and allow sharing images instead of just layout text.

We have made some notable mechanical changes:

• Projectiles now have their "age" reset after being bounced-off a surface. This mainly happens in Cra'Than zones and could make some interesting interactions by using walls to reach enemies further away or around corner
  
• Flail base now has smaller collider than its "head" - this means that now Flail zooid, when retracted, fully blocks attacks from the front. It is, however, still susceptible to poison or flanking attacks, but it should have some interesting defensive properties now.
  
• Speaking of Flails, a new movement type has been introduced called "Twin Stick Spin" - it allows having a free spinning Sipho, which allows "windmilling" with multiple flails. Holding Right/Left buttons makes Sipho spin clockwise or counterclockwise, Forward/Backward buttons move it to or from where the mouse is pointing at.

We have seen reports of Sipho not running well on new Macbooks (M1 architecture). We have updated engine and plugins to newest versions which fixes several issues - UI glitches and Steam support.

Time to tidy up all those autosaved layouts and take a Flail for a spin!

• Clone Advena boss 3 layouts properly
  
• Include Warden of The Depths in Layout Browser
  
• Fix exceptions if game is exited while previews are being generated
  
• Update Unity packages

• Tweak Layout browser spacing
  
• Select neighbor Layout Browser entry if selected one disappears
  
• Fix Layout Browser search getting defocused when it filters new Layout results
  
• Tone down description colors in Layout browser
  
• Lock input when editing Layout description

• Layout browser size tweaks
  
• Show more statistics and description of Layout in Layout Browser
  
• Layout Browser improvements
  
• Better way of detecting if renderer cloner can be moved or will it be destroyed
  
• Update engine to 2021.3.0f1
  
• Fix copy-paste typo in handling Sipho change of Campaign Logic

• Update Unity version to 2020.3.33f1

• Update Steamworks.NET to 20.1.0 Package
  
• Fix null ref exception in zooid graphics initialize if no Camera Follow is existing
  
• Make Flail base collider much smaller so the Ball part covers it completely from projectiles
  
• More refactoring to support separate Zooid Physical and logical radii
  
• Handle player death Layout kill tracking when there's no killer
  
• Separate Zooid Radius from Physical Radius to support arbitrarily sized Zooid colliders
  
• Reset projectile age if it bounces or slips off a surface
  
• Fix Cra'Than Environment Holes bugging out if spawned in zero timescale
  
• Fix weird built-in layouts
  
• Basic kill/deaths info in Layout selection
  
• Include layout name in Sipho death logs
  
• Put UI icons to an atlas
  
• Add Skull icon
  
• Track layouts that are killed by player and which ones kill the player
  
• Track all Layout Guids in Layout Database
  
• Add compressed layout format for exporting Layout strings
  
• Fix Layout browser selection scrolling
  
• Add Global Unique Identifier to Layouts
  
• Tweak how Layout Browser looks
  
• Make current Sipho Layout information panel buttons selectable only in Growth mode
  
• Fix keyboard/controller navigation in Layout Browser not selecting layout type toggles
  
• Use Linear color space for rendering Layout Previews
  
• Show player's layout evolution when player dies
  
• Invoke Zooid kill callback before zooid is removed from its Sipho
  
• - Layout saving refactor
  
• Add Realtime Preview generation priority which renders preview while gameplay is unpaused
  
• Track player's Layout evolution throughout Campaign play session. Does not persist through restarts yet
  
• Add more layout hash tests
  
• Approximate Layout hashes are order-independent
  
• Add OnKilledSipho callback for Siphos
  
• Disable Random Motor Speed component when pooling
  
• Cleanup tutorial code which used old ways of updating Layouts
  
• Try rendering High Priority Layout previews as soon as possible
  
• Add Approximate Hash calculation for Layouts
  
• Clean up several built-in layouts
  
• Block Tooltip raycasts below Layout Browser
  
• Sort layouts consistently

• Automatically determine Layout Preview resoltion
  
• Add Layout Preview Cache Size and Resolution settings to Graphics Options Menu
  
• Cull Layout browser elements according to their visibility in viewport. Prioritize preview for selected Layout
  
• Use rigid mode for preview generator Siphos
  
• Grow layout preview Siphos over time instead of stalling to grow whole layout instantly
  
• Generated Layout previews are transparent
  
• Add Layout generator which generates Layout previews for Layout browser while the game is paused
  
• Add Twin Stick Spin movement type convenient for round Siphos
  
• Menu Stacks are local

This update brings polish to various parts of Sipho.

Most notably - performance, which after latest physics update has not been as good as with older physics. It was expected as calculations are now more complex, but reports have shown that some players were unable to play in certain parts of the game. We would have left optimisation phase for 1.0 release, but we tackled this issue now, as we want to keep the game as accessible as possible. Not only we have spent time improving physics calculations related code, but also optimised other parts of the game to give more CPU room for physics to run.

Some of Powerup effects were quite dated - coming from the older times when Powerups have been just introduced and never changed since. Other effects were placeholders which weren't replaced for a while. We took an opportunity to make visual effects more consistent and fit a more realistically into Sipho world.

We are always looking for ways to improve mechanics in the game by tying up different zooids with synergies. Either through stats or other more interesting interactions. Thus we have finally added support for Leech and Energy Leech to benefit from Penetration stat. Leeches will now slurp on more targets as Penetration stat scales. The leech graphics behaviour had been also updated which looks quite satisfying.

New Powerup effects and Buffed Leech in action.

Another, more fringe mechanic was added to Sniper zooid. We wanted to try this for a long time and while Sniper was already a strong zooid due to its ranged capabilities, it didn't differ much from other projectile weapons. We made its projectiles carry status effects. Sniper Projectiles can now be imbued with Sizzler energy, can be Poisoned or Mucked if they pass through a cloud and carry these effects onto targets as if the Sniper's owner was applying them. This makes fighting with Sniper more interesting - your damage type depends on what you are fighting. Or you can come up with elaborate Layouts to imbue your projectiles with deadly effects.

• Make Sizzler and Muck damage logic based on Reactions - this allows doing damage when Muck is applied after Stun and allows Sniper projectiles to carry this effect
  
• Buffs can now react to each other
  
• Change Soul Eater base Penetration stat to 3 and scale additional stat increases by 300% - 1 additional stat increase would actually increase Penetration by 3
  
• Wait one frame after activating a skill before activating another so that it's easier to time ordered skill use

• Add Damage powerup remove effect
  
• Dirty prefabs
  
• Add fade-out effects for Cooldown Reduction and Cra'Than powerups
  
• Sizzler now damages Damageables other than Zooids if they are Mucked
  
• Reduce Sizzler penetration base value to 4
  
• Update Sniper description
  
• Sipho Eggs do not explode on contact if they're stunned
  
• Food containers and Sipho eggs can now be debuffed
  
• Sniper projectiles now carry over debuffs to their targets
  
• Add IDamager interface for damage callbacks and use it with Projectile
  
• Allow BuffManager have no zooid.
  
• Tweak Powerup effects
  
• Fade out ripple effects when entering growth mode
  
• Increase size of deformable parallel job batches to reduce overhead caused by the job system - fast machines are already fast at this and slower ones will benefit from less overhead
  
• Pre-calculate inverse mass ratios outside of soft body loop
  
• Normalize constraint direction
  
• Use regular lerp instead of slerp for slightly faster orientation lerping
  
• Optimize soft body calculations by not converting rotations to angles and back
  
• Add Slerp for lerping orientations

• Initialize GraphicsConnectorSystem on BeforeSceneLoad rather than BeforeSplashScreen

• Saenus Boss 3 enemies are now more goal-oriented (to kill the player)
  
• Cra'Than powerup effect is now black
  
• More robust leech calculations
  
• Use Frame Skipper for Boid-based boss ability checks
  
• Use Frame Skipper to skip pulling in consumables with Eaters
  
• Fix Cra'Than holes not counting their spawn time correctly after FrameSkipper changes
  
• Jobify GraphicsConnector position updating
  
• Fix FixedFramSkipper not skipping frames correctly. Add utility method to check for skips
  
• Remove unused EaterGraphic script
  
• Add method to remove script from all prefabs
  
• Execute Deformable Fixed Update latest in the frame so it has time to complete Deformation Jobs
  
• Add performance log to GraphicsConnector update
  
• Optimize Zooid consumable consumption search - now they will only try to consume if Siphonophore overlaps nearby food by its radius
  
• Optimize Zooid Overlay controller
  
• Fix leech weapon accessing position of dead zooid in rare cases

• Add teleport delta to leech tongue positions when Sipho is teleported
  
• New Powerup effects that fit in better in the world.
  
• Speed Powerup effect is now a cool shadow instead of blue sparks
  
• Renderer cloner can now clone Sprites onto Particle Systems as well
  
• Allow Following Effects not have Particle System
  
• More leech polish
  
• Improve leech graphics
  
• Update leech graphics
  
• Leeches now attach to multiple victims based on their Penetration stat
  
• WIP Leech Penetration support
  
• Fix Cra'Than Holes spawning things after they have been disabled. Also simplify some other components that get disabled when pooled
  
• Advena boss 3 ungrows zooids only if there are enough poison stacks to kill
  
• Bump year :^)
  
• Mines (Poison and Muck mines) don't explode when touched by Bombs (Burstopods)
  
• Avoid infinity and NaN in recent wealth
  
• Add Optional Debug to Reward On Death
  
• Move tooltip scripts to separate folder
  
• Correctly get world corner tooltip positions for non 16 by 9 screen resolutions. Correctly calculate tooltip direction for world objects
  
• Allow getting key down if Input Manager is null
  
• Make it easier to hover mouse over Zooid unlock pickup by adding larger UI collider

• Complete soft-body constraint calculations earlier if constraint errors are below threshol - should significantly improve physics performance
  
• Fix null exception when event zooid dropping Sipho is killed after player is already dead
  
• Fix whirlpools getting NaN size when spawning at the same time as level ends

Oh boy, what a journey this was. The short version of the story is - Sipho physics are now different - more squishy, wiggly and natural-feeling.

Just look at this Sipho segments individually moving in different directions!

New physics allow Zooids to have different Connection Stiffness parameter - something that controls how much deformation resistance Zooid has. Higher stiffness means less deformations and more similar behaviour to old physics. Lower stiffness means that connected Zooids will be more wiggly and Sipho will have more difficulty holding its shape. Current stats as of this patch are:

• All non-structure Zooids have 100% connection stiffness
  
• Saenus Chitin also has maximum stiffness. It should be de-facto the most stiff Zooid - When future physics tweaks allow us to have more stiffness Chitin stiffness will be increased. Currently it is as stiff as it can be
  
• Cra'Than Nervefiber has 80% stiffness
  
• Vagorian Peapod has 80% stiffness and a skill to toggle down to 10%
  
• Advena Zenoplate has 70% stiffness
  
• Buginis Splitter has 60% stiffness

The stiffness loss compared to old physics is somewhat acceptable for Siphos grown in Campaign mode - they don't usually reach the size where more stiffness would be needed. This won't be the case for super large Siphos saved in Aquarium. Some larger Siphos now might suffer from not being able to hold their shape:

This can be solved by using Chitin or adding more connections:
These improvements were long coming from the conception of Sipho. We once used built-in Unity 2D joints, but they have proven to be very unstable with more connections.

At some point we switched to shape-matching physics you have become familiar with - the algorithm would try to hold Sipho in shape that is defined by Layout. This worked for up to 4 by 4 Zooid sized Siphos. However, it had limitation of not understanding limbs - larger Siphos would feel box-like and deform somewhat unintuitively.

Hopefully these new physics will make Sipho stand out even more from similar games, such as shipbuilders and other rigid-body simulation games. Having quite rigid and box-like creatures didn't feel as organic and live as we want Sipho to feel.

To iron out all issues and provide as much variety as possible physics might get tweaked in the future - we want to provide as many creative compositions as possible and allow you to make creature you wish to play with.

Just look how happy he is stretching those limbs!

And for the most curious, please have a changelog! Read bottom-to-top:

• Optimize Zooid food eating check
  
• Add flail launch force over time
  
• Make procedural generation of Cra'Than Boss 3 more robust

• Tweak Layout Info panel
  
• Fix Whirlpool NaN on spawn
  
• Fix Growth Ghosts being updated in between growth states
  
• Add ChargeUpButton and use it for Layout deletion button
  
• Tweak skill UI font so Q is more visible
  
• Deselect growth element when tooltip is shown in tutorial
  
• Do not show center text in Tutorial as it obstructs other text
  
• Fix typo in tutorial
  
• Fix wrong info for skill rebind key
  
• Extrapolate positions and rotations from velocity when adding new body to deformable
  
• Add wider margins for growth camera
  
• Do not automatically regrow Zooids which neighbors are too far away. Apply force to bring them together
  
• Fully stiffen Zooid connections when they are close enough
  
• Grow Zooids with connections initially relaxed for far away neighbors to reduce immediate forces
  
• Use last seen alive neighbour position to display dead Zooid ghosts
  
• Fix NaN center of Mass and Thrust when Sipho dies
  
• Regrow zooids next to their alive neighbors rather than at undeformed position
  
• Place new zooids locally according to their neighbor position
  
• Add Mass and Movement Force stat icons to Growth Mode. Clicking them toggles display of their areas
  
• Recalculate Center of Mass and Center of Thrust on Sipho to support stat display in Growth Mode
  
• Recalculate Sipho volatile stats on Zooid reposition
  
• Move whole Sipho if center of mass is outside of area of trust - fixes unbalanced Siphos getting stuck on rocks while trying to turn
  
• Prevent Sprite renderers without sprite to be cloned. Remove dummy sprite renderer from Grabber connection
  
• Do not update Growth menu in Fixed Update - should reduce lagspike when entering growth mode
  
• Override Sipho stiffness to undeform when entering growth mode
  
• Allow setting custom save/data path with -datapath launch argument
  
• Move Relax skill onto Peapods, make them originally stiffer
  
• Projectile weapons apply their knockback force over several frames to avoid breaking physics simulation with large impulses
  
• Fix certain Buginis boss layout Zooid positions being off-grid
  
• Whirlpools always break obstacles and decorations
  
• Add soft body connection stiffness parameter to Zooids