Hi everyone! We know it's been a while since we've released an update letting you all know what's been up in Developer Land, and we just wanted to take some time to explain what we've been up to for the last few months.

As a lot of you already know, we initially said that we would be releasing the dinosaur expansion a few months ago. Obviously, we're waaaaay behind schedule with that. Essentially, we wrote the whole dinosaur branch of the evolutionary tree, worked up the graphics, got the gameplay running, and went to the first round of beta testing...

... And realized pretty quickly that something just wasn't quite working.

We had to go back to the drawing board and change a lot of things around. We completely re-did the graphics, moved some things around, and changed the gameplay to be in a different style that will build on the existing evolutionary tree while keeping things fresh and non-repetitive. It's been a long process, and we've been working really hard to get everything just right while also having to take time-outs to do bug fixes, work on adding/improving save functions, and other general housekeeping.

But despite the setbacks, we're finally getting to a point where the dinosaurs are nearly ready to be released into the world, like at the end of the latest Jurassic Park (seriously, who thought it was a good idea to just let them out like that? That's how you get a velociraptor eating your pet chihuahua). We're hoping to release them in beta testing to a small group of people by the end of next week, and hopefully once we can get them through a few rounds of testing and made some adjustments, they'll be ready to play.

We're really grateful to everyone who has continued to play the game while we've had to take a bit longer than usual to put this all together. You guys help us to make the game better, and obviously, we couldn't do it without you. Thanks for playing Cells, and we're really excited to introduce you to the dinosaurs!

Check out this sneak peek of what our lizard friends are going to look like. We think you're gonna like it.

Hi all,

A hot fix (v1.53) for an intermittent issue with panning in the tech tree has been released.

If you're still seeing issues, let us know on Discord, Twitter, Facebook, or Email.

Stay cellular,
Computer Lunch

Hi all,
A new patch (v1.52) has been released!

• Steam Cloud has been enabled. Supports cross-platform saving between Windows and Mac.
  
• Fixed not getting offline earnings
  
• Fixed not being able to buy Darwinium Cubes
  
• Fixed “Error Singularity Achievement” showing up
  
• New Languages added: Arabic, Ukrainian, Malay
  
• Added missing icons for generators (Humanoid Colonist, Superhuman, Cyborg, Sentient Android, Android)

As always, hit us up on Discord, Twitter, Facebook, or Email if you have feedback/bugs.

Stay cellular,
Computer Lunch

Hi all,

UPDATE 2: Build has been updated to v1.47. We made another change to try and squash this bug, let us know if it worked!

UPDATE: Build has been updated to v1.42. People reported the earlier fix didn't work, so hopefully our changes this time work!

We need your help in fixing a major bug where people aren't earning their offline income. We've pushed a build (v1.40) to our beta branch, so if you've been affected by this bug, here are the steps to access it:

1. Right-click the game in your library and click on Properties.


2. Click on Betas.


3. Select beta - Public Beta in the dropdown.


The game should automatically update and have [beta] in the title. If not, try restarting Steam.

We're looking for a specific message from within the debug console. To access it:

1. Click on the alert tab



2. Scroll up until you get the first message that looks like this:



Please screenshot that and post it on Steam, the #bug-report channel on our Discord (https://www.discord.gg/celltosingularity) or email us at lunch@computerlunch.com. Thanks!

Hey Cell Players,

We just updated the game to v1.34. Here's some of the changes:

• HOTFIX 1.38 - More the 24 hours of 2X boost caused counter to reset. Note this was only the read out, player did not lose any hours of boost
  
• HOTFIX 1.36 - Followup patch for negative metabits.
  
• HOTFIX 1.35 - Solve bug causing players to get negative metabits.
  
• Framerate has been improved across the board
  
• Pop-ups and buttons have a unified look now
  
• Settings menu has been redesigned to be a slide-in panel
  
• Upgrades tab now shows you the number of available upgrades
  
• Upgrades tab now lists generators in order from most advanced to least advanced
  
• Added more stats to Simulation stats screen
  
• Added label on Simulation screen when upgrading is not available
  
• Added Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit links in Settings
  
• Added link to Wiki in Settings
  
• Added text and icon for Terraforming Mars ending
  
• Added arrow that shows where to tap when you start the game
  
• Added sound effects
  
• Added icons for all achievements
  
• Abbreviated currency numbers
  
• Fixed End-game achievements showing error text
  
• Fixed negative Metabits glitch
  
• Fixed audio playing during Singularity Ending when sound is turned off

Thanks to all our beta testers that helped us find bugs! If you find any bugs with this latest build, please report it on our Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/celltosingularity

Hello! Thanks to all of the players that helped us test the latest beta. The game's never been more stable!

Now, as the title said, we need more testing done before we can set the build live. So if you're interested, keep reading on!

WARNING: Please backup your saves before you switch to the beta branch, as there have been instances of people's saves getting wiped.

The save file location is C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow\Computer Lunch. Copy savedGames.gd and savedGames2.gd. Replace them in the same location if you have problems with your save after switching to the beta.

How to access the Steam Beta:

1. Right click the game in your Steam library and click on Properties:


2. Click on the “Betas” tab:


3. Click on the dropdown menu and select “beta - Public Beta”:


That’s it! The game should update automatically and have [beta] its title on the sidebar.

If you find some bugs, the best place to alert us is in our official Discord: https://www.discord.gg/celltosingularity. Fill out the Beta Tester role form so that you can gain access to the #beta channel!

Stay cellular,
Lunch

EDIT: Hey folks, unfortunately it seems like some people are losing their saves when they try the beta. This is a bug we didn't anticipate, clearly, and we're really sorry that it's affected you. We're working on finding a fix for it now, but at this time, we don't have a way to restore lost saves. Again, we're really sorry about this.

Cloud saves are in development right now and it's one of our top priorities. We're hoping to be rolling that out in the next update or two, and once that happens, this sort of thing shouldn't happen again.

TL:DR, We'd suggest not trying to beta test the game currently if you're worried about losing your save, as it seems to be happening to some people because of a bug we're working to fix ASAP.

-----

We've been working hard on getting the game's latest patch out to you all. It's shaping up nicely, but it's not ready to be released yet. We need more players to help out with testing, so if you want to beta test the game, now is the perfect time!

How to access the Steam Beta:

1. Right click the game in your Steam library and click on Properties:



2. Click on the “Betas” tab:



3. Click on the dropdown menu and select “beta - Public Beta”:



That’s it! The game should update automatically and have [beta] its title on the sidebar.

If you find some bugs, the best place to alert us is in our official Discord: https://www.discord.gg/celltosingularity.

Thanks for the help!

Hi, everyone. We know it's been a while since we've released an official update to the game, or a statement with recent news. We're sorry for the radio silence, but it's been a very busy couple of months.

Showing the game at PAX East, as well as getting more feedback from players, has given us new ideas for how to improve the game. We finished the dinosaur expansion, but realized while we were beta testing it that it wasn't really adding anything new to the game in terms of gameplay- we've had a lot of comments that the game can feel repetitive, and we want to keep introducing new gameplay elements and other features that will keep the game feeling fresh.

Because of this, we've had to put a hold on a lot of our content updates- for example, "The Beyond" has been in development for a while, and we have a working outline of where it's going to go, but we don't want it to just be more of the same. We've decided to spend more time bringing new gameplay elements into the game, and that's a lot of work.

We know this has led to a delay in our updates and a lack of news from our end. We've been having a lot of internal discussions about what directions we want to take the game in, and how we are going to implement our new ideas. We've been approaching development from some new angles, and it's meant that we had to take a break from releasing new content for a while as we worked on fixing some bugs and problems with the game, as well as figuring out the aspects that we're experimenting with now. Our original timeline of release for content has gotten reshuffled, and we've had to go back to the drawing board on some things.

The game is absolutely still in active development, and we will have a new Steam update coming out next week. We're working really hard on re-working the dinosaur expansion, because we know how excited people are for it, and we want it to live up to expectations and satisfy you guys, the players.

The Beyond is definitely going to be coming in the future, you will be building Dyson spheres, traveling space, and more. We are, without a doubt, going to be bringing you everything that we've talked about- it may just take us some time.

In terms of Steam-specific developments, we are working on getting a Steamworks saving system working in the game, and on adding Steam achievements.

We are a very small team, only five or so people, and many of us work multiple jobs. We're grateful for everyone who has been patient with us as we take this time to try to improve the game, and we understand the frustration of players who've been waiting for an update. We have a lot of plans for the future, and a lot of new content that we can't wait to share with you. We couldn't make this game without you, and your messages and feedback help us immensely.

TL;DR: The game isn't dead, we are still actively working on it, The Beyond will be coming eventually but not for a while, and we're going to be adding new gameplay elements soon.

Cell to Singularity is going to be at PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts from Thursday, March 28th through Sunday, March 31st! You'll be able to find us in the Indie Developer's Room at booth #17127. Stop by and check us out.

MAP OF PAX EAST



For players of the game at PAX East, you'll also be able to see the premiere of our newest expansion, DINOSAURS. You'll get the chance to see the debut of this new branch of our tree of evolution, before anyone else!

We'll have three buttons available for visitors to our booth, including an exclusive dinosaur pin that'll only be released at PAX.



We can't wait to see you all in Boston, and we hope you'll come by and say hello!

Hey minor update here.

People were very vocal about this so we definitely had to change it back. Thanks for letting us know.


It used to take up the whole bottom of the screen, now it only fits in the bottom right corner of the screen.



We would like clarify that we are only collecting analytic gameplay data for us to improve and balance the game. We have absolutely no intention of selling any of our player's personal information, and we don't even have access to information outside of our analytics. There have clearly been some misunderstandings in regards to what we are collecting, and we want to put people's fears to rest.


- fixed achievements resetting on simulation reboot.
- In the options menu there is now a button linking to the mobile phone version. Did you know you can play Cells on Android and iOS? We are adding cross play at some point in the future.
- People were having problem sending us mail from our feedback panel. I wrote out my email on the panel to get around the problem.
- The camera jump has been turned off although that is more of a bug, we are still debating what we want to do with the camera switching.
- Added a hidden sneak preview of things to come....see if you can find what it is...