Release Roadmap

This page contains a rough roadmap of future features for Thrive. For already complete features and done releases you can read the releases page on our Github,

We have a kanban board for concrete issues short(ish) term planning: https://github.com/orgs/Revolutionary-Games/projects/8

Roadmap

Skipped Roadmap Items

These items have been determined to be important enough to keep on the roadmap, but not as absolute blockers for us advancing to further stages of the roadmap. These are listed here with the hope that someone volunteers to work on them.

• Patch terrain generation and differentiation base system done but needs configuration per biome type
• Split ToolTipManager.tscn to multiple files
• Our wiki now needs more updating to have better Thriveopedia content. If someone wants to join the team just to update the wiki, please apply to the team).
• Create a different cutscene for when starting in the warm pond and probably for panspermia (latter is done)
• Make proper short tips for the microbe stage and the editor

1.x Releases

Microbe stage is completed, focus moves to multicellular.

Due to how small many of these featuresets are there might not be actual releaseses for each, for example we might skip from 1.2 to 1.4 directly.

1.1

• Change multicellular starting point to a blob of unspecialized cells Basically done with just 3 items
• Increase background ammonia and phosphate based on number of cells so that reproduction doesn't take forever
• Cell adjacency based specialization bonus
• Tutorial for specialization

1.2

• Bonuses for cell specialization
• Spore reproduction mode as extension for budding

1.3

• Uniform membrane type in Multicellular (+ prevent membrane type changes entirely in macroscopic)
• Specialization balancing and tweaking

1.4

• Sexual reproduction
• Microbe AI for sexual reproduction

1.5

• Myofibril available in the multicellular stage (muscle cell type)
• Organelle membrane pre-requisites (allow specifying organelles that don't work with membrane types, myofibril not in walled cells)

1.6

• Colony movement rebalance
• Endosymbiosis in multicellular

1.7

• Nerve cell based on axon (maybe related to going macroscopic?)
• Maybe some extra bonus from nerve cells?
• Non-cell parts of multicellular colonies (optional, if time)
• Background cells (optional, if time)

1.8

• Reproduction cell type (different from plain gamete) (optional, if time)
• Size-related costs that go up with size to offset all the bonuses and specialization
• Moving to macroscopic condition

1.9

• Final balancing and auto-evo tweaking for multicellular

1.x

These are general items that will be worked on at any point before 2.0 release:

• Auto-evo for multicellular organisms
  • Make auto-evo not skip multicellular
  • Mutation strategies for multicellular
  • New selection pressures for multicellular?
• Microbe AI improvements for when it is in control of multicellular organisms (cell colonies)
• Terrain avoidance for microbe AI
• Improve algorithm for positioning cells so they aren't floating so far apart (maybe stretch membranes to make shapes line up better?) / inter(/extra)-cellular matrix (graphics programmer needed). This will be skipped unless someone really enthusiastic wants to work on it.

2.x Releases

Multicellular stage is "finished" focus moves to macroscopic.

• Skin textures for 3D early organisms
• Ground/terrain

3.x Releases

Macroscopic stage is "finished" focus moves to aware stage.

Feature Backlog

This is a rough list of features that are planned, suggested or have been discussed in the past and haven't been rejected. Note that none of the listed features are not guaranteed to be implemented, as this list does not include the official plans of Revolutionary Studios, only potential features.

Once we have many planned features for different stages this list should be split to be by stage.

Main Features

These features are considered but still may not be implemented. They are divided into three categories of increasing relevance.

High Priority

These features are in demand for implementation when possible.

• Nothing currently

Planned

These features are intended to be in the game eventually.

• Multiplayer
• Non-linear size / osmoregulation cost for cells (and matching gameplay with auto-evo energy cost)

Accessory

These features are deemed unessential to the game, but desirable.

• Nothing currently

Debatable Features

These features need debating (or major design work) before being moved to the list of main features for implementing

• Addition of seperate forms of a cell for lifecycle stages or interchangable "modes"
• Gene Transfer
• Endosymbiosis (full)
• Patch addition or rebalance
• Mobility altering gas vacuoles
• Reworking the spawn system to using an encounter / sector model (old pull request)
• Organelle adjacency bonus / bonus from being at the cell edge