Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
Hello Universe Architects!
Beyond Episode 19 is coming soon! While the Beyond preps for launch, we have a set of changes and bug fixes in this latest update. You may have already caught a sneak peek if you've been following our dev diary.
Dawn of Civilization
The Civilization garden has gone through a major overhaul as the Dawn of Civilization is upon us. This is the first stage as we set up a series of upcoming updates to celebrate the first six Ages of Civilization. The garden is bare but the first six generators are still available to unlock and have been updated! For those that have already unlocked the generators, they are still available in your garden. More will come as we delve deeper into the history of each era in the coming weeks.
RP Leaderboard
Goodbye, high scores! The leaderboard is now a global, tiered system based on personal progress, achievements and badges collected.
How is all of this calculated? Your progress is tracked in Research Points (RP), which is the new overall XP. More details are provided in the dev diary.
Climb up the progress ladder to earn new titles. Each title has a max of ten levels per tier!
Keep in mind, all leaderboard content, RP calculations, and tuning are still under development as we continue to iterate on production tuning. Title art and names will also be subject to change in future updates. We need more live production data to keep polishing the leaderboard. We appreciate your feedback throughout this process.
4th Tuning with Metabit Production
In this round, we're back to focusing on Metabit production. We wanted the Mesozoic Valley, Beyond and the Explore badges to contribute to Metabit production. With these re-tuning changes, Metabit production should more fairly reflect your progress across all in-game content.
We’ve added 9 new Metabit upgrades— 3 each for Mesozoic Valley, Beyond, and Explore Badges. These will boost the Metabit production for the Main Simulation.
Each upgrade is available after unlocking its respective content for the first time, and the next upgrade will be available after unlocking the former.
New highlighted views are included to view their effects from the total production view in the Reality Engine. Please see the dev diary for more details.
The Metabit cost has also been lowered and increased production boost for Ape and Mammal research nodes.
In addition, the following features are new in this version:
In the Beyond, Trait Cards now appear in tabs and with better sorting to be more accessible
Constellations in the Beyond got some polish
Fixed: locked generators could be focused in the Garden
Fixed: translations for some strings were missing or wrong for some languages in Beyond Episode 18
Fixed: mouse scroll wheel moves very slowly on some menus
Version 19.33 will be available to all players in Steam today and mobile on 08/21/23. Join us on Twitch on Friday 08/18, 1pm EDT where we showcase more of the updated Civ Garden and answer questions about the leaderboard and tuning updates. We hope everyone is excited with these new updates! We look forward to your reactions.
Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
Hi Universe Architects!
We're back from PlayNYC and ready to share what we’ve been working on. Here’s a sneak peak of what will be coming out in the next production build.
The Dawn of Civilization is upon us— starting with a base update to the Civilization Garden. For this release, we've set the stage for the first six Ages of Civilization. The garden may feel empty initially, but this is just the first phase of many to come! In an upcoming series of updates, expect to unfold new scenes that delve deeper into the history of each era— starting with the Stone Age!
The leaderboard has also gone through a complete overhaul. Say goodbye to high scores, and say hello to the new tiered leaderboard system. In this new iteration, your total progress in the game will be tracked using Research Points (RP). You will only see other players that share your current tier, with tiers being based on player progression. We wanted to make leaderboards fair where players are ranked globally based on overall personal progress, achievements and badges accumulated. Keep in mind, all leaderboard content and tuning are still under development as we continue to iterate on Metabit production. On the bright side, players who cheat will no longer be placed at the top of your leaderboard.
RP is the new overall XP and there will be new titles given per rank. Each title will have a max of ten levels per tier and must be achieved before the next title upgrade. Title art and names will be subject to change in future updates. We hope you're looking forward to progressing through the entire game with this updated system! It was designed with your feedback in mind.
It’s been some time since our last tuning update, and we are happy to share the 4th Tuning iteration, soon to be available in-game. In this round, we’ve been focused back on Metabit production. We wanted the Mesozoic Valley and the Beyond to also contribute to Metabit production since players spend a lot of time there prestiging and ranking up. With these re-tuning changes, Metabit production should be reflected more fairly across all in-game content.
We’re adding 9 new Metabit upgrades— 3 each for Mesozoic Valley, Beyond, and Explore Badges that will affect the Metabit production for the main simulation. They all give a 10X increase to the base power of 0.01
No upgrade:
0.01 per rank
Level 1:
0.10 per rank
Level 2:
1.00 per rank
Level 3:
10.00 per rank
These new upgrades will boost Metabit production for each extinction for Mesozoic Valley, each episode of the Beyond, and each Explore badge earned.
This is reflected in the new highlighted views from the total production view in the Reality Engine.
The first Metabit upgrade will be available after unlocking its respective content for the first time, and the next upgrade will be available after unlocking the former.
The Metabit cost has been lowered for Ape and Mammal research nodes while also increasing production boost.
After a break from events, a new limited-time Explore Event will debut soon! We have been exploring ways to reduce production time so that we can bring more to you at a faster cadence. The new Explore Event will be focused on the history, technology and culture of tea. It will include a new tree with achievements, music and after reading your feedback, we are re-introducing the garden but in a far more simplified form. Look forward to Explore: A Journey of Serenity in the coming weeks!
Beyond Episode 19 is almost here! There are four new star generators to look forward to as we continue our exploration of The Lives of Stars. In addition, we'll be adding nine new trait cards and one constellation. For those who are part of the beta, please continue to give us feedback as we finalize tuning.
We will also have a livestream on Friday 08/18, 1-2pm EDT to show you more of the updated Civ Garden and to answer your questions about the leaderboard and tuning updates. Thank you for your patience and support. We hope to see you in our upcoming livestream!
Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
Greetings, Universe Architects!
Welcome to the second season of the Beyond. Join Semblance as her quest for deeper knowledge goes to galactic heights, starting with the launch of Episode 18: Lives of Stars.
The Beyond began as Cell To Singularity's original space expansion, released in 2021. Based on NASA-supported data, players could learn more about our favorite planets, moons and comets of the Milky Way. Ever since the Beyond ended at Rank 17 with Alpha Centauri, NASA has made incredible new discoveries. Now, a year and a half later— Season 2 will take you on an epic voyage to our neighboring stars outside Alpha Centauri.
Stars are born from dust…
In Episode 18: Lives Of Stars, players will follow the lives of young stars from the moment they're born to the prime of their lives. We want to explore the vast spectrum of colors, shines, sizes and temperatures that different stars can hold.
H-R Diagram
We always strive to make our tree as scientific and accurate as possible. In order to achieve this, we studied the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and designed Episode 18’s new tree to chart the life cycle of a star. You'll notice that cooler and dimmer stars displayed on the right are red, while the white and blue stars to the left are bigger and brighter. The stars are categorized based on their mass and emission spectrum, which corresponds with their age and temperature.
Chart the Main Sequence Stars
Discover three new star generators— Tau Ceti, Barnard's Star and Sirius!
Embark on Tau Ceti's new Astronomy Mission, Exoplanets.
Observe the exoplanets orbit around Tau Ceti in the expanded 3D garden.
Follow each star’s unique animation sequence and stylized particle systems using custom shaders we’ve developed.
If you look closely, the solar flares in Barnard’s star are far more pronounced than the Sun.
Fun fact: To bring each star to life, we drew a lot of inspiration from NASA observation models to emulate the clouds and stellar eruptions.
Unlock New Interstellar Traits
Introducing new Advanced Stars in the Galactic Nursery! They're the Advanced version of the Young Stars from the original Beyond expansion (but way cooler). Each Advanced Star is the upgraded form of the Younger Stars. We recommend stocking up on White Dwarfs and Neutron Stars to get the new ‘Series II’ trait cards that will upgrade your powerful new generators.
Additional Features
We’re also going beyond the Zodiac, as we introduce 2 new constellations— Ursa Major and Eridanus. There will be future constellations to view in the night sky as we progress episodically into the Beyond. In addition to these constellations, there are 8 new achievements for players to earn.
More Episodes to Come Every Two Months
This is not the end— space is vast and ripe for more discovery! Starting with Season 2, we will be releasing more Beyond episodes every two months. Semblance is not sure where we are going next, but she is eager to chart unknown territory. Patience, Semblance.
Please note: players need to have completed Beyond Episode 17 in order to play Episode 18. We guarantee that you’ll enjoy the latest content, it’s worth getting caught up.
The Beyond Episode 18: Lives of Stars is available to all players in Steam today and will be available to iOS and Android on 07/17/2023.
We want to thank every single Universe Architect for your contribution. It is because of you Semblance can continue her journey into the Beyond. Your input, beta testing, and patience is the fuel that allows this spaceship to go into hyperspace.
Thank you for a successful launch of the Beyond Episode 18: Lives of Stars.
Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
Hello Players in the Beta Branch Channel,
If you are already in our open beta branch you should get a update with the upcoming new Beyond episode 18 (Rank 18). This episode continues the journey out into space beyond our nearest star Alpha Centauri.
We’re still working out some bugs before we go public with this, and we need a little more testing.
When you play you will notice an in-game debugger panel floating on the screen. If you run into problems, please save a screenshot from that panel. Please email screenshots to lunch@computerlunch.com or post them in the beta channel of our Discord. (https://discord.gg/celltosingularity)
Version 18.84 changes: + Advance into the next story and zoom further out into the Milky Way + Explore the lives of stars with 3 new generators for our nearby stars + 2 new constellations - Ursa Major and Eridanus + Introduced new “Series II” card traits, 3 new "Advanced Stars", and 8 achievements + Visual improvements to the existing Beyond tree and garden + Fixed: Nanobots cluster on Limited Time Events
Thanks for your help, we are very excited to share the upcoming episode of the Beyond.
- Computer Lunch Team
How to join the open beta?
Goto the our games properties >> betas, then switch to openbeta
Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
Hello Universe Architects!
Beyond Episode 18 is almost here! Before we start equipping our spacesuits, this new update is here to ensure a successful launch into space. With version 18.72, gameplay progression unlock changes are the main focus while Metabit production remains unchanged in this third tuning iteration.
You may notice that there is new background art and an updated tapping portal icon at the beginning of the Main Simulation tree. The Beyond portal has been relocated so that players— both old and new— can enjoy all Beyond content!
Our goal is to avoid overwhelming new players, and so we have moved the Explore Events portal to a new home. The Explore Events hub will now be available after unlocking the humans generator for the first time.
We were able to sneak in some bug fixes as well:
Fixed the transfer game window from closing when tapping outside of the window.
Mesozoic Valley upgrade cards are no longer capped at 10,000 Mutagens after upgrading past card level 12
Additionally, we added some new features! The simulation selection UI has been updated to allow easy access to the various simulations across the game. To the players who have chosen to support Cell to Singularity by watching ads and purchasing Darwinium, they will unlock the new ‘Thank you’ note that will come with a special surprise. We truly appreciate your support as it helps us create more content for everyone to enjoy.
Version 18.72 will be available to all players in Steam today. We will be opening our public beta on Monday 07/10/23 for all players to join us as we finalize the content and tuning for Beyond Episode 18. We thank you for your continued support and hope you are just as excited as us for the launch of the Beyond E18!
– The Cells Team
HOTFIX 18.74 + Fixed Explore Event button not showing in the beyond and Mesozoic Valley
Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
🚀🌌 Hello, Universe Architects! 🌌🚀
We’ve been busy at work these past few weeks. 2 weeks ago, we gave a sneak peek of the Beyond Episode 18 and an in-depth look at the Metabit tuning in our team livestream. In case you missed it, you can check out the livestream on our YouTube channel: link
As a followup from the stream, we want to highlight the importance of the Metabit tuning 🔧 and its future impact on the game. We agree that in its current form it is painfully slow, but it is also temporary. Only 2 iterations have passed and the 3rd iteration is still in the works. As more iterations are released, the Metabit tuning will progressively improve to properly reflect both seasoned and new players' progressions. We want to ensure that there is always something to accomplish with current and future content. This is the foundation that needs to be built before Civilization 🏛️ and eventually Astronomy updates ☄️ can be released. These are some of the changes that have been made in the 2nd tuning iteration: link 📝
With the Beyond, we will be releasing content one episode/rank at a time starting with Episode 18. We will traverse the stars and learn more of our galactic neighbors outside of Alpha Centauri. We wanted to expand the 3D garden to be as accurate as possible in terms of scale and position based on realistic known models. We were able to solve a technical problem in order to zoom out even further in the 3D garden, but it took 8 months of development to resolve ⏳.
Episode 18’s tree was designed based on the Hertzsprung diagram, where we changed the order at which the stars get unlocked. In the diagram below, cooler and dimmer stars displayed on the right are red, while bigger and brighter stars to the left are whiter and blue. These stars are categorized based on their mass and the amount of energy they emit. Our new trait cards follow the progression of a star from the moment they are born to the moment when they no longer have the energy to burn. There will also be two new constellations coming out. Can you guess which ones? Hint: you can find out in the livestream, along with a new Darwinium code. It's time to get SIRIUS! 🌌💫
As Beyond Episode 18 nears completion, we have made a number of changes to the game in anticipation for its release. In the next production build, players will notice that there is a new location for the Beyond in the Main Simulation. The Beyond will be accessible after unlocking the Moon 🌕 in the beginning of the game. The special tapping animation that plays while unlocking the Beyond has also been updated. We hope you check it out 👀!
We have also been exploring our branding for marketing. We've been experimenting with a more sci-fi look as we move away from our known solar system 🚀. At first, we wanted to title our episodes with X such as Beyond X18 but we found that it might be too confusing to read. Now we're taking the 'E' from episode and turning it into Beyond E18. Nothing has been finalized yet as we are still exploring our options but let us know what you think. Should we have gone with X instead of E, or is E the clear winner?
We are aware of the production version overwriting the save files of the beta version in Google Play, and we are working on a solution 💼. In the meantime, we highly recommend beta testers to uncheck the auto update option for Cell to Singularity to prevent the production build from overwriting their beta save files.
We also want to take this time to stress how vital our beta testers' contributions are for improving the game. We really appreciate all participation in the beta as we work towards making the game as enjoyable as possible together. The primary goal for the beta is to identify bugs and feedback before the game gets released to the public. However, we do want to remind our players who participate in our betas that these builds are not bug free as they are meant for testing. As a result, we have multiple warnings upon agreeing to be part of the beta that your save file and progression will be affected. As we are testing the next Beyond episodes, there will be times where we will reset everyone’s progress to the end of the last rank to test the next episode’s content. We appreciate and thank all of our players who choose to participate in our betas! We are always looking for more people to join, so for those who are interested please apply below: 👇
Steam: On the Steam C2S main page go to Properties -> Betas -> Enter beta access code "cellsalphatest" and click "Check Code".
As always, we truly appreciate and thank you all for your feedback. We may be slow, but we do listen. Very soon, we will announce the launch date for the release of the Beyond Episode 18. Keep an eye out for it 👀!
Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
Hi everyone,
Welcome to the 2nd round of Tuning For the Future! As mentioned in version 18.12, we have 8 iterations of Metabit tuning planned to pave the way for our game’s growth and content progression. With version 18.35, more necessary changes have been made to reduce the earning power of Metabit production.
While many players may not agree with decreasing the current Metabit production, we want to emphasize that the changes in this update are temporary. Cell to Singularity is over 4 years old and the current tuning is no longer in a state that can support future content. As a result, we are working towards step by step improvements with each update. In addition, by reducing the Metabit upgrades, our goal is to make glitches and upgrade boosts more impactful so they can be purchased at a more satisfying pace. Here is a list of changes made in this 2nd tuning iteration:
Structured Metabit upgrade prices and positions to enhance player progression.
Mammal research node prices and multiplyer have been reduced.
Nanobot prices have increased.
Mammal upgrades have been reduced.
Ape research node multiplayer have been increased.
More details on the tuning calculations can be found here: link
Reality Engine Notifier
Apart from tuning changes, we added some exciting new quality of life features. Players will now be able to know when they can afford the next Reality Engine upgrade with the introduction of the Reality Engine Notifier.
With the Reality Engine Notifier, the Reality Engine icon will show a UI change to signify when an upgrade is available. This should help players know when they have the option to reboot based on what they can afford.
Save Restore
Another highly requested quality of life feature that we've added is the new Save Restore system. This feature allows users to access saves up to five days prior and can be accessed in the Settings menu.
We receive a lot of reports from players about lost save files. We never want this to happen to anyone, and we already have backup save systems available along with the Game Transfer cloud save. However even with these systems in place, players still occasionally have save issues. This new Save Restore will back up your game locally once every 24 hours while the game is active. It will create up to 5 backup save files for each past 24 hour period. After 5 backups, it will overwrite the oldest backup. We hope this system will act as a fail safe in case your current save gets corrupted.
As a reminder to our players if you do lose your saves, please email our support at lunch@computerlunch.com and we will help restore your save file. However these save files will not be quite the same as your personal save. We hope that this new Save Restore feature will prevent players from losing more than a day’s worth of playtime.
As always, we really appreciate and value your continued support! Some of these iterations may not be glamorous, but your feedback is crucial for all retuning efforts. Thank you, and please let us know if you have any comments, questions or concerns.
– The Cells Team
HOTFIX 18.43
+ Fixed Semblance intro sequence not showing for new players + Fixed Explore event occasionally not loading correctly
Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
We have heard your feedback and concerns regarding the changes to the Metabit tuning. Starting from this version 18.12, there will be significant changes made to the Metabits production. The production rate of earned Metabits will be reduced immensely. As a result, we want to assure our players that the slowdown of Metabits production is not a bug; it is intentional and necessary.
Cell to Singularity is 4 years old and we want to continue to grow the game for both new and current players. Over the course of the game’s lifetime, the current Main Simulation tuning was sufficient to allow users to finish the content in approximately 2 weeks. We have a lot more content now so this does not align with our future plans. The implementation of the Giant Squid further emphasized the need to retune and balance the game as the Squid caused player progression to increase by 1000%.
We want to continue to grow the game, as highlighted in our yearly roadmaps. Thus it is important for us to adjust and slow down the current tuning in order to accommodate newer content such as updates to Civilization, adding in astronomy and more.
We realize that these changes will be difficult but we want to assure everyone that these changes are not final with this build release. We have 8 iterations, if not more, planned to ensure that the game’s tuning will reach a satisfactory and smooth experience.
In addition, we want to release new upgrade types that will boost the Main Simulation based on your Mesozoic Valley and Beyond progression. We have received numerous feedback regarding this suggestion and we are happy to be implementing them.
Thank you so much for your support as we take this necessary step for the refinement of Cell To Singularity. We look forward to hearing your continued feedback! – The Cells Team
Cell to Singularity - Evolution Never Ends - lunch
Hi Universe Architects!
We’ve been quiet for a while, but we have some good news to share with all of our players!
A big thank you to the Explore team who launched Explore: Deep Sea "Lurking in the Dark” earlier this year. Since we are a small team, we can only focus on one thing at a time, so now we will pivot back to another highly anticipated feature: The Beyond. We heard all of your feedback and we are happy to share that we will be expanding the Beyond in episodes, one rank at a time. We will be looking across the Milky Way, exploring nebulas, and journeying deep into the universe.
After exploring the depths of space, it will be time for the dawn… of Civilization! We will expand the civilization tree and overhaul the 3D garden. We gave a sneak peak of its development during the ‘Lurking in the Dark’ event launch AMA, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
We had a number of issues with Metabits production after the implementation of the giant squid. When we added the giant squid, the new progression curve conflicted with the existing tuning in the game. This caused Metabit production to accelerate infinitely, and many players hit the max cap. We had to re-tune the mined Metabits bonus to get it under control; this also reduced the Metabit production rate and the Metabits inventory of affected players. This led to some confusion and feedback regarding ‘missing’ Metabits.
The screenshot below shows the mined Metabit bonus curve per rank. Note the old curve (blue) starts to run off the chart while the new curve (red) gets a capped amount of 50,000% boost. This led to more underlying issues that have negatively impacted the game economy and retention. We are currently working hard to fix this problem and will continue to make adjustments on the tuning. We appreciate your support as we make these changes to ensure that the game remains fun.
Thank you again for continuing to enjoy the game! We plan to update you regularly with more dev diary posts.