Release Roadmap

This page contains a rough roadmap of future features for Thrive.

We have a kanban board for concrete issues short(ish) term planning: https://github.com/orgs/Revolutionary-Games/projects/2

Roadmap

0.x Releases

These are releases towards more fleshed out microbe stage. This roadmap was discussed here.

0.6.x (the combat and part upgrades updates)

• Implement upgrades/specialization system (basic implementation done) Related issue: Implement rest of the organelle upgrades framework
• Implement part unlocking mechanic (with endosymbiosis lite being one option)
• Ingested Matter amount can be NaN (this needs a workaround at least ASAP by clearing things to 0)
• Chemoreceptor should have option to detect other cells
• Damage delay (or knockback) for offensive pili (issue)
• Rename predatory pili to a more neutral term
• Tutorial should be prevented if game is entered through the auto-evo exploring tool
• Cilia upgrades and pull mechanic (basic implementation done)
• Toxin system customization and rework
• Implement new damage effects to better convey cell is being harmed
• Finish Binding Agents (Need additional benefits for colonies, bugfixing) One bug: Fix the weird workaround and investigate the corner cases in microbe colonies
• Microbe editor: Deleting hex plays the hex placement sound
• Rework cell rotation to be physics based. Potential knockback for offensive pili
• Try to fix Pilus should block being engulfed more often
• The player being engulfed tutorial should not appear if the player can't be digested
• Implement Stamina system and speed boosting
• Make cell chunks emit more compounds (related to combat and scavenging balancing)
• Add a button to eject all engulfed things
• General combat balancing
• Implement variable light levels in the cell stage to help balance photosynthesis (Day/night system)
• Feature to allow swapping to a related species on extinction (selectable only in easy mode)
• Microbe engulf storage full tutorial should have an end trigger
• Convert save screenshot to PNG to buffer directly instead of using a temporary file
• Look for a more proper way to calculate collision force (might need to wait for Godot 4.0)

0.7.x (the graph updates)

• Implement the Thriveopedia
• Add creation loading panel to gui and code (related to Thriveopedia)
• Present option for migrating player species without the player moving themselves
• Rework player starting compounds to allow for more flexibility (we probably should show this in the editor and let the player pick as long as the total amount is below some threshold). Related issue: Make initial compounds proportional to player's compound usage
• Make organelles able to turn off with Add button in the process panel to pause a process
• Auto-evo prediction panel and extra info don't react to language change
• Timeline history cleaning logic has a bug
• Timeline should not claim the player is extinct if rescued by external effects
• Global timeline doesn't show total population correctly
• Reworked auto-evo report to be much more graphical, also auto-evo prediction. Should solve: Add some way to view preview images of species in the report tab
• Create a cache that is stored on disk for PhotoStudio (for better reworked auto-evo report performance)
• Add alternative ATP balance mode based on what source of ATP organelles use
• Add a way for the player to control organelle split order
• Show the resource organelles use for ATP generation in ATP bar tooltips and Add tool in editor to explore ATP / compound balances without all resources. Also good would be good to have: Make compound balances show the situation at ATP equilibrium
• Make extinct in patch auto-evo result say split off
• Make auto-evo not claim a species is extinct if external effects rescue it
• Implement someplace that shows the used energy sources per species
• Compound production + Implement diffusion of compounds and gasses between patches (dynamic gas compounds is at least a part of this)
• Add hydrogenase
• Food chain editor tab
• Add the full process panel to the editor
• Create a better icon for process running speed in process panel
• Add best organelle suggestion shown in the editor
• Add a tooltip to auto-evo predictions to show the previous total populations

0.8.x (world and auto-evo updates)

• Planet Generation and Customization
• Move away from using percentages in the patch conditions
• Marine snow (chunks) spawn density should depend on existing species
• Add fog of war for the patch map
• Patches that link regions together should be more obvious
• Radiotrophs. Issue: Add radioactivity as an energy source
• Change patch map generator to not need to abandon regions
• Compound Toxicity and Environmental tolerance
• Patch terrain generation and differentiation
• Environmental events
• Replace all Godot prints in auto-evo with storing events
• Add button to run multiple worlds in a row in auto-evo exploring tool and collect statistics
• Show the total spent auto-evo time in the auto-evo exploring tool
• Navigator panel doesn't detect other world entities other than compound clouds and cells
• Fix microbe AI once again having amnesia when loading
• Make organelle storage amounts in tooltips use localization
• Improve water currents functionality and visibility
• Improved microbe backgrounds
• Make biome light properties actually affect the graphics (might get done with the day/night system)
• Fix background image artifacts and Bathypelagic background textures have non-tiling section
• Make player species members dying or reproducing on screen affect the population
• Factor movement into Compound Food Source
• Increase player auto-evo strength to 80% once the algorithm feels good
• Auto-evo does not change its prediction upon patch change
• Auto-evo needs to update prediction upon rigidity and behaviour change
• Rework the crude extinction system into something proper
• Review chunk food source balancing
• Investigate auto-evo generated species that immediately starve to death
• Add some benefit in auto-evo calculation from chemoreceptor
• Make some auto-evo calculations be affected by organelle upgrades
• Make auto-evo take lysosomes (new digestion) into account

0.9.x (finishing things off updates)

• Bioluminescence
• Achievements. Issue: https://github.com/Revolutionary-Games/Thrive/issues/2665 (also for Steam)
• Reworking the spawn system (only if necessary). Related issues: Add per spawner caps for entities, Make cloud spawns less random and more time based, Rework spawn system to be encounter based. Likely obsolete issue: Investigate a way to parametrize the bias for spawning in front of player
• Add a separate sound effect for binding mode
• Review how game difficulty settings death penalty works in terms of the coefficient and constants
• Compound bag useful compounds shouldn't be saved
• Thermoplasts (full implementation, basic is done)
• Expanded tutorials for the microbe stage + hand holding mode selectable as an option that enables even more aggressive tutorials. Add tutorials like Add a tutorial on death when using multiple ATP production types, Add tutorial for negative ATP balance, Add a tutorial for taking ATP damage in engulf mode, Add an editor tutorial that triggers with negative ATP balance, Add a tutorial about loading a save if the player dies too much
• Create a different cutscene for when starting in the warm pond and probably for panspermia
• Adjust initial tutorial welcome to the game message for different starts
• Split ToolTipManager.tscn to multiple files
• Make membrane meshes properly 3D
• Make a nice cell division animation
• Reimplement the context dependent hints system
• Make proper short tips for the microbe stage and the editor
• Improve the separation of big cells on divide
• Make clouds look like they did in 0.3.4 (if can be done with reasonable effort, or at least visibility should be improved) Related issue: Increase perlin noise texture size or get UV scaling math right
• Improve the game performance as much as possible. Potential things to do: Try setting render bounds on the Microbe node based on size, Investigate if cell graphics can be rendered using MultiMesh
• Fix lag spikes from organelle duplication in very large cells (if auto-evo or the player can create so big cells that they cause problems, if only unrealistic cells cause this problem this is a low priority thing)
• Improve the process panel display
• "Final" microbe game balancing

1.x Releases

Microbe stage is "finished" focus moves to multicellular.

1.0.0

• Microbe stage is finished
• We should have at least the early multicellular no longer marked as a prototype by this time

2.x Releases

Multicellular stage is "finished" focus moves to aware.

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.

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.

• Implement upgrades/specialization system (basic implementation done)
• Implement part unlocking mechanic
• Finish Binding Agents (Need additional benefits for colonies, bugfixing)
• Reworking the spawn system (perhaps the sector model?)

Planned

These features are intended to be in the game eventually.

• Improve water currents functionality and visibility
• Implement in-game encyclopedia
• Implement variable light levels in the cell stage to help balance photosynthesis
• Rework cell rotation to be physics based
• Implement Stamina system and speed boosting
• Planet Generation and Customization
• Patch terrain generation and differentiation
• Endosymbiosis (lite)
• Introduce DonGororo's Report Menu concept
  • Statistics graph (done)
  • Timeline tab (done)
  • Food chain tab (WIP)

Accessory

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

• Achievements
• Thermoplasts (full implementation, basic is done)
• Radiotrophs
• Present option for migrating player species without the player moving themselves
• Rename predatory pili to a more neutral term
• Implement new damage effects to better convey cell is being harmed
• Cilia upgrades and pull mechanic (basic implementation done)
• Feature to allow swapping to a related species on extinction (selectable only in easy mode)

Debatable Features

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

• Damage delay or knockback for offensive pili
• Addition of seperate forms of a cell for lifecycle stages or interchangable "modes"
• Gene Transfer
• Compound Toxicity
• Endosymbiosis (full)
• Patch addition or rebalance
• Implement diffusion of compounds and gasses between patches
• Add hydrogenase
• Bioluminescence
• Environmental events
• Mobility altering gas vacuoles
• Official Mac support. Once there's enough demand (potentially we should do code signed builds)
• Improved microbe backgrounds
• Toxin system customization and rework
• Rework player starting compounds to allow for more flexibility