This update adds seven different breeds of fish! It also brings new detailed textures and shaders, improves all animal models and behaviors, adds a range of colors for alpacas and woolskins, and contains a number of bug fixes and balancing tweaks. Fish can only be caught via spears at the moment, which can be thrown from the water. Fish hunting and canoes in general still need some more work, and angling will be added within the next couple of updates. However fish are already a nice addition and a valuable food source. In other news, Majic Jungle has an employee now, it's finally not just me! Paddy has been working on all of the new models for this update, and we'll be continuing to refine these new models, as well as improving a lot of the other models, textures and animations. And this is just a start, there is a lot of new content in the pipeline. New in 0.6:

• Adds fish
• Improves Alpaca, chicken, mammoth models and animations
• New detailed textures and shaders for all objects
• New lighting model improving consistency, especially when moving between indoors and outdoors
• Adds a variety of alpaca wool colors
• Improved mob spawning, migrating, and general behaviors
• Improves water rendering, with major improvements for both high and low quality
• Fixes for multiplayer, making it easier and more reliable to invite and connect to Steam friends
• The role assignment UI now shows sapien age and distance, and allows sorting
• Adds option to invert mouse movement horizontally
• Adds option to disable chat notifications in multiplayer
• Removes the need to research every type of cooked food individually
• Gather, store, and transfer plans can now all be completed in the dark
• Canoes now correctly require wood working and not wood building
• Fixes bugs where they got stuck delivering or picking up resources
• Fixes bug where send/receive orders could get forgotten when your tribe hibernates
• Reduced birth rate, especially if food levels are low
• Faster spear hunting and baking research speeds

[ 2025-04-15 21:45:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! A new update that has just gone out, which adds two major new features: Canoes, and point and click mode. Canoes are simply hollowed out logs, which provide a small amount of storage space, room for one sapien, and very fast transport over water. As well as making it quicker to retrieve distant resources, they also make it possible to trade with more distant tribes. Point and click mode is a whole new separate camera/control option, where instead of a first person 3D view, you can have a visible cursor always, and click on objects easily. This is a highly requested feature, is now the default, and should work well for many players, however the 3D camera mode will stay, and you can switch between them at any point in the settings or with ctrl+tab. As well as these two major features, there are many other tweaks and fixes. The population now grows faster, and levels off at a higher maximum cap. Your sapiens will now walk faster and further to complete tasks than before, and there are some quality of life features like a new chop & replant option, and contour/strata lines on the terrain to add detail and make the lie of the land clearer. This is not a major update, its just another step on the way, and were not done with boats and water yet. Right now Im working on fish, and the next coming update will have new modes of water transport, a number of different fish, and fishing, but log canoes are a good start, and I wanted to get this in your hands now. I hope you enjoy the update! - Dave Full release notes:

• Adds canoes
• Adds point-and-click camera/control mode. This is now the default, you can switch back to first-person/3D mode in the settings or with ctrl+tab
• Adds chop and replant order
• Adds configurable contour lines on the terrain to help you determine altitude changes
• Investigation tasks now provide some context to help distingush between them
• Increases population caps and birth rates
• Increases walk speed by 50%
• Rock and tile paths now require only one rock/tile per path segment
• Digging dirt/sand and dirt/sand paths is now faster
• Reduces mammoth spawn rate in the early game
• Doubled the distance that sapiens will travel to complete orders
• Increases camera ray hit distance so you can issue orders for objects that are further away
• Fixes multiselect bug where sometimes you couldn't issue terrain clearing/digging orders even though some selected vertices were valid for that order
• Fixes crashing bugs
• Fixes bug where items in storage areas on uneven terrain appeared to float
• Fixes bug where the function keys wouldn't work to open the tribe/build/settings menues if a menu was already open
• Fixes bug where keyboard shortcuts didn't work when the resources panel was open

[ 2024-11-19 20:38:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

With the release of the Sapiens 0.5 multiplayer update, a lot of the previous roadmap is now complete. Your feedback has helped to lead the direction of the game, and I have a few new features I want to add, so its time for a complete new roadmap! This roadmap covers all of the features I intend to add before the 1.0 release. There are many more features Id like to add beyond that too, but this is a good set of launch features that can be achieved in a reasonable timeframe. VR is the only removal from the original roadmap, all other omissions either have been implemented, are still planned, or have been replaced by other equivalent features. The VR market has changed substantially in recent years, and my goals and priorities for Sapiens have changed a bit, but I do still genuinely want to support VR one day. These updates will mostly be going out in much smaller bite-sized releases from now on, and if you want to keep a close eye on development and help test new features as they are developed, please do join us on the Discord. -Dave Phase One - Travel, trade and culture

• Canoes to transport goods and sapiens quickly by water
• Fishing, new animal species, animal husbandry and pack animals
• Trading of research, technologies, luxuries, animals and sapiens between tribes
• Improvements for a nomad play-style, with movable shelters and beds
• More types of quests, challenges, and random story events, like crop failures
• More diverse personalities, behaviors and social interactions, and a family tree panel
• A need for recreation, with new activities to help your sapiens relax
• Increased variety of sapiens, animations, expressions, and vocal phrases

Phase Two - Conflict and advancement

• All conflict will be optional, with peaceful modes
• Attack other tribes and defend against raids with new weapons like bows and swords
• New tools for commanding and managing separate groups of sapiens
• Burial, cremation, and stretchers/sleds for moving incapacitated sapiens
• A need for water, with the addition of spring water sources
• Game controller, Steam Deck, and Steam achievement support
• Share world creation seeds along with starting locations and world configuration
• New paths and roads, furniture, structures/walls/roofs, fences, signs, doors and gates
• New ovens, iron tools, wheeled carts, improved automation, and new industries

Notes

• VR was previously listed in the roadmap, but has now been delayed indefinitely
• A single player campaign is now planned for Sapiens, but this will be after the 1.0 release

[ 2024-08-24 20:50:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

New in 0.5.0.79: - Fixes bug where you couldn't enable mods in previously created worlds - Fixes crashing bugs when using translation mods, enabling storage sharing, and a couple of other rare crashes

[ 2024-08-08 22:24:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Multiplayer is off to a great start in Sapiens, its amazing seeing the impressive builds and screenshots being posted around the community, and I really appreciate all of the feedback, reviews and kind words of support. This update focuses on improvements for when you are working together, with a new Share Storage setting which allows you to share the same settings and send/receive orders. It also makes it easier to see when you have restrictions on your storage areas and sleds, and fixes the issue causing many mods to fail to work. From here, Ill be releasing on the unstable branch for a while, as Im working on larger features including new content like canoes and fishing. Ive also been working on a feature packed new roadmap, so that will be out soon! -Dave New in 0.5.0.78:

• Better support for storage/resource sharing in multiplayer, making it easier to work together. The tribe relationship settings "Take Items" and "Store Items" have been replaced with a single "Share Storage" setting. When two player tribes both have this set, all their storage area restrictions, special orders, and send/receive orders will be shared between both tribes.
• Storage area pegs are now colored yellow for "remove all" orders, and white sides and/or top to represent take/store permissions.
• Sleds now have rails which also display this information, and tool racks and shelves display it too.
• Fixes bug where the enabled mods list was not saved correctly, resulting in modded worlds failing to load
• The light effect for other players in multiplayer now moves smoothly
• Adds "logChat" config.lua option to log all chat messages server-side

[ 2024-08-07 21:49:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Multiplayer

In multiplayer, you each control a tribe, and can work cooperatively, sharing and connecting your villages to create trading hubs, shared accommodation, and large scale building projects. Play in persistent dedicated servers, host a LAN game, or invite a Steam friend to join. Set up and play Sapiens privately with your friends, or join public servers and explore villages built by hundreds of other players.

AI Tribes and Trading

Now all of those thousands of tribes that you can choose from when you start the game have come to life! If you choose somewhere with a lot of nearby tribes, they will now exist as complex AI controlled villages, with their own industries, trade requests and items to sell. Tribes will also establish themselves around you over time, and can offer unique types of items and resources that can be difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. Once you have greeted a member of the tribe, you can complete quests, and supply goods that they require to purchase goods in return. These goods can be moved around with sleds, including a covered variant to keep things fresh. Just don't start taking things without asking, or they may get upset!

Major new multiplayer and AI tribe features:

• Dedicated server for Windows and Linux with cross platform play on macOS and Windows. Steam friend invites and LAN hosting.
• Adds non-player simulated tribes to trade with, and a new quest and favor system, with trade offers and requests.
• Villages are generated with huts, crafting areas, fires, kilns and large quarries. Everything they need to keep them going so they can supply your goods.
• There are 4 types of village, each focusing on a particular industry - rock tools, bread, pottery, and bronze.
• Sleds and covered sleds - It's a moveable storage area! Instruct your sapiens to drag them around where you like, or create send and receive orders to automatically transport goods between other tribes or within your own village.
• Tool racks and shelves - New specialty storage furniture, to help store and display your tools and resources.
• Multiple storage area sizes, with a 1x1 and 4x4 variant added.
• Improved and simplified logistics routes, by replacing them with send and receive orders.
• Improved initial map selection, with better controls, more map detail, and better tribe distribution.

More new features:

• Limitless movement - You can now move as far away from your tribe as you like, exploring freely.
• Higher population cap, with optimizations and AI improvements.
• Multiple tribes - You can create and play as multiple different tribes in the same world in both single player and multiplayer.
• Auto assign for roles - To reduce the micromanagement requirement, there is a checkbox to allow your sapiens to automatically be assigned to roles if they are idle and there is no one else.
• Craft maintain orders - To further reduce micromanagement, you can now easily maintain a set quantity of crafted items.
• Research with multiple sapiens at once - You can speed up research and get bonus skills by using multiple sapiens to research the same type of item. However later game research tasks now take longer to balance this.
• Major improvements to the sapien AI. As a result, tribes are now more efficient, and get more done in a day.
• Sapiens now automatically gather food from nearby trees if they are very hungry.
• Campfires now repel all mobs within a 100m radius.
• New events panel, with a list of previous notifications.
• Click and drag or hold 'E' to plant lots of plants quickly.
• Many minor improvements to the UI, including the ability to type to search for most menus, better text entry support, the ability to select all plant types, a button to zoom to the closest storage area in the resources panel, and much more.
• Further improved graphics, shadows and lighting in a number of areas.

[ 2024-07-19 06:04:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! This is just a quick announcement to let you know that the Sapiens 0.5 update is now open to everyone for testing on the unstable branch. I am aiming for the 18th of July for the full release. Multiplayer is of course the biggest new feature in 0.5, and though there is a lot of tidying up left to do, its already working really well. We have a handful of persistent dedicated servers being run by the community already, with more coming online all the time, so if multiplayer Sapiens interests you, and youre willing to help test it before its stable, then nows a great time to jump in! Switching to the unstable branch means you can play 0.5 now, and will get frequent (every day or two) live updates as I fix issues and implement new features. As a result, it can be unstable, some updates will create new bugs, cause crashes, even potentially corrupt your worlds, so you should backup your single player worlds first before installing. If this all sounds a bit too risky, thats no problem, the full stable release isnt too far away. To switch to the unstable branch, right click on Sapiens in your Steam library, select Properties->Betas. Then you can select public-beta-unstable from the little pop-up button menu, and Steam will then download the latest beta. Please do join us in the discord to report any bugs in the unstable branch, and to keep an eye on announcements for patch notes and things too - thats where its all happening. Hope to see you in one of the multiplayer worlds soon! -Dave

[ 2024-05-02 01:48:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Ive been making great progress on the next big update, and have some news to share, Sapiens 0.5 will come with full multiplayer support! Sapiens 0.5 will be available to everyone in 2-3 weeks time, on the unstable branch, with the full stable release coming in July. Weve been running a private test with members of the community playing together on a persistent dedicated server for the past few weeks. Initially things were a little rough, with a number of bugs and performance issues to iron out. But despite this, it was clear early on that multiplayer was amazing. I still enjoy just sitting down and playing Sapiens from time to time, but these multiplayer sessions have been by far the most enjoyable for me. Watching other tribes grow, checking up on their progress, stealing their ginger roots when they were offline, just general good fun. Multiplayer adds a whole new dimension to the experience, and so I felt it was worth spending a little longer to get in and fix those bugs and optimize it now, and ditch the experimental disclaimer. The main result of that extra time is that were now able to support more sapiens, and more players. These optimizations benefit single player too, so I have now doubled the sapien population soft-limit in single player, and Ive removed the camera restrictions too, so you can freely move and explore as far away from your tribe as you like. This work is just about complete, and so Im moving back to finishing off other 0.5 features, fixing a few bugs in the new sleds and AI tribe trading mechanics, things like that. Overall its really coming together, and I cant wait for you all to be able to play, even more so now that Ill be able to join some of your worlds and see what youre creating. Not long now! -Dave

[ 2024-04-07 22:35:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Thanks everyone for all of your support throughout 2023! The 0.5 update is progressing nicely, and over these past couple of weeks Ive made a lot of progress on multiplayer and AI tribes. But with the update just about to enter the first testing phase, its still going to be another few weeks before its ready. So while youre waiting, and with over 70 mods available, now is a great time to try out a few! If you havent installed any mods before, Sir Lichs new Christmas 2023 mod is a great place to start, to add a purely visual festive vibe. Vanilla Tweaks makes it easy to configure a wide range of new options to change the gameplay and interface, and set things up just the way you like. Chop and Replant is a handy mod by Witchy that adds a new button to the radial menu, allowing you to automatically replant trees that have been chopped down. Some role assignment automation is coming to the vanilla game in 0.5, but AutomatedRoles (also made by Witchy) gives you the ability to automatically mange your tribes roles already, with a bunch of control too. Bone Crafting adds a bunch of bone related content, with furniture, bone broth, a giant axe and even wind chimes And Time Control Plus adds some handy information to the clock. Some of these mods require Hammerstone, which is a base mod youll need to install first. If you need any help installing mods, there is a great tutorial on the Sapiens wiki. And if youre interested in making your own Sapiens mods, this community created mod development wiki is a fantastic place to start, and the discord linked there is great if you want to get more involved or have questions too. I hope you have a great holiday season, and well see you again in the new year! -Dave

[ 2023-12-18 00:06:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi Sapiens fans! I've been working hard on the big 0.5 update, and it is getting closer to being ready for testing. There are still a few more weeks of development left to go, but it's definitely time to share some details about what's coming. So what's new? Firstly, AI Tribes! Now in 0.5, when you are picking a tribe to lead, the other tribes around will actually be there in the game. They'll have their own villages, and you can send some of your sapiens over to meet them.
Once you have met an AI tribe, you can then trade with them, or complete a variety of optional quests. Trading uses a "favor" currency, where you gain favor by providing resources that they need, or for completing quests. You can use this favor to ask them to deliver resources in return, and the more favor you have with a given tribe, the better they will treat you.
Given that AI tribes will sometimes be some distance away, 0.5 also introduces sleds, which are a movable storage area. You can set them up like any other storage area, and use them to deliver larger quantities of items directly, or as part of a transfer route.
As well as AI tribes, there are a large number of other features and improvements. Here's a few of the bigger ones: - We have a new notification list, so you can go back and look at what happened if you missed something - There is now an option to auto-assign roles. If no sapien is available to complete a task, it can automatically reassign someone else - New tool racks, shelves, and smaller and larger storage areas - Much improved tribe selection and less restrictive map zooming, so it's a lot easier to find the right tribe and location to start. And there is still more to come! One great thing about working on interactions with AI tribes is that most of that work was also required for multiplayer. So in 0.5, I'll be shipping experimental multiplayer support, and it's shaping up really nicely. You will have simple options for managing whether you share resources with other players, so you will be able to work together to build a large village and pool resources, or build up separate villages and trade (and later, fight) with each other, or some combination of both. The 0.5 update won't have any conflict yet, but it's planned for 0.6, along with the full release of multiplayer. I am expecting to release 0.5 early next year. Keep in mind that the features I've mentioned here and these screenshots are a work in progress, there will still be changes before the update is released. If you would like to keep up to date with progress, you can join the discord, and I'm now posting frequent progress updates here on the Steam discussion forums too. It's been longer than I would like to get this update out, but we're on the final stretch now, and I'm really excited to get it into your hands as soon as I can! - Dave

[ 2023-11-13 23:10:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

With this update your tribes will now function much more efficiently, and if they still don't quite do what you want, you now have a lot more control by prioritizing orders. New in 0.4.2: AI and fixes: - You can now prioritize any order at any time. Sapiens will tend to choose prioritized orders to complete first. - You can then deprioritize orders again to restore them to the default prioritization level - Different plan types are now prioritized differently by default, so idle sapiens are much more likely to choose a recruit or hunt order than a store order. - The outputs of prioritized orders retain the prioritization, so if you prioritize a gather order on an apple tree, then the store orders for the apples will also be prioritized - If you manually assign sapiens to an order, they will drop everything and are much more likely to continue to work on that order. - Sapiens are now a lot more likely to continue a single task to completion. Hunting in particular is much improved. - Taking a required tool to an order site now requires the order's role, instead of the general labor role. This improves efficiency as that sapien can then complete the order, and it stops tools getting stuck lying around waiting for the right sapien. - Telling a sapien to stop, or manually assigning a sapien to an order now causes them to drop what they were carrying - More Fixes, optimizations, and UI improvements Balancing: - More visitor tribes in the early stages of the game - Visiting sapiens tend to stay longer - Crucibles now degrade when used - Reduced quantity of manure produced, as it was excessive and degraded performance - Reduced quantity of sapien vocals when time is fast forwarded

[ 2023-06-08 21:13:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

0.4.1 is a minor bug fix update, mostly fixing issues relating to AI around compost bins, but with some important other fixes too. - Fixes issues with sapiens getting stuck delivering to compost bins - Fixes issues when restricting the use of rotten resources in the resources panel to disable composting - Sapiens will now carry and deliver multiple items in one load to compost bins - Compost now degrades after a year, as it was building up indefinitely and causing problems - Improvements to AI prioritization - Fixes issues when running on Linux under Proton - The hammer now degrades when blacksmithing - Sapiens no longer get hungrier while sleeping, which helps avoid having sick or injured sapiens starve and leave Though this update does contain some AI improvements, I'm working on another update with some more major improvements to the priority system and AI too, so you can expect 0.4.2 soon.

[ 2023-05-24 01:30:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

This second major update to Sapiens introduces new challenges and game mechanics, tools, weapons and building materials, and your tribe can now enter the bronze age!

Windstorms

Every couple of years or so, you can now expect to experience a windstorm severe weather event. These windstorms can damage buildings, blow things away, extinguish fires, and sapiens can get injured by flying debris. Windstorms are a fun new challenge to plan for and overcome.

Composting & Mulching

Soil quality will now degrade slowly if you harvest many times from the same area. To enrich the soil again, you can now mulch using manure or compost. Manure can be found where animals have been, and compost can now be produced from rotting organic matter in compost bins.

Stone chiseling

A number of new rock types have been added to the game, including granite, marble, sandstone (in a variety of colors) and lapis lazuli. Your sapiens can now chisel stone blocks directly from rock, and use these blocks to build walls, or chisel them into tiles for roofs and floors. Soft rocks like sandstone and limestone can be carved using chisels made out of hard rock, but to craft blocks out of the harder rock types, your sapiens are going to need bronze chisels.

Bronze

Tin and copper ore veins are now scattered around the world. Once you've mined some and crafted a kiln and a crucible, you'll be able to research blacksmithing. With bronze your sapiens can smith chisels to carve hard rock, but they can also now craft a range of more durable and powerful tools and weapons.

New roof and floor types

0.4 Adds a number of new roof pieces to help your sapiens build better houses and villages. With new corner pieces, smaller slopes, and triangular floor pieces too, you'll have a lot more design options than before.

And more!

- New option in the radial menu to "Rebuild" using different materials - You can now limit the quantity of items stored in each storage area - Improvements to building snapping - Your sapiens can now dig and mine on steeper slopes - The camera maximum height limit now rises as you build higher, so you can build as high as you like - Adds options to change the cursor reticle size and shape - New autopause feature after you don't interact with the game for a configurable period - Mud brick structures can now get damaged in the rain if they are left uncovered - New sound effects and animations - Much improved controller support - New keyboard options for camera zooming - AI fixes and performance improvements - Many other minor features and bug fixes

[ 2023-05-18 21:12:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Sapiens is progressing nicely and the next big content update "Windstorms" will be ready to launch one week from now. The update is available for testing now on the unstable branch if you'd like to get an early look and help find those last few bugs. Full release notes are coming, but here's an overview of what's new in 0.4:

Windstorms

Every couple of years or so, you can now expect to experience a windstorm severe weather event. These windstorms can damage buildings, blow things away, extinguish fires, and sapiens can get injured by flying debris. Windstorms are a fun new challenge to plan for and overcome.

Composting & Mulching

Soil quality will now degrade slowly if you harvest many times from the same area. To enrich the soil again, you can now mulch using manure or compost. Manure can be found where animals have been, and compost can now be produced from rotting organic matter in compost bins.

Stone chiseling

A number of new rock types have been added to the game, including granite, marble, sandstone (in a variety of colors) and lapis lazuli. Your sapiens can now chisel stone blocks directly from rock, and use these blocks to build walls, or chisel them into tiles for roofs and floors. Soft rocks like sandstone and limestone can be carved using chisels made out of hard rock, but to craft blocks out of the harder rock types, your sapiens are going to need bronze chisels.

Bronze

Tin and copper ore veins are now scattered around the world. Once you've mined some and crafted a kiln and a crucible, you'll be able to research blacksmithing. With bronze your sapiens can smith chisels to carve hard rock, but they can also now craft a range of more durable and powerful tools and weapons.

New roof and floor types

0.4 Adds a number of new roof pieces to help your sapiens build better houses and villages. With new corner pieces, smaller slopes, and triangular floor pieces too, you'll have a lot more design options than before.

Much more

0.4 is packed with many other smaller features, quality of life improvements and bug fixes. The look has been improved with new detailing textures and more realistic shaders. You can now build as high as you like, as the camera height limit rises when you build. You can mine on steeper slopes, and set a maximum quantity to be stored per storage area. There are new options for the cursor reticle and autopause when you're AFK too, amongst many other tweaks and fixes. If you would like to try it out now, you can switch to the unstable branch: - Right click on Sapiens in your library on Steam. - Select Properties->BETAS and then choose "public-beta-unstable" from the pull-down menu. - You don't need to enter a code, that's it, Steam will then download the latest beta. Currently the unstable version is PC only, I'll be sending out the Mac version to the unstable branch early next week. WARNING: If you join the unstable branch and create or load worlds on that branch, it is dangerous to then move back to the default branch and load those saves again. If you do decide to opt in to the unstable branch, you should back up your worlds regularly. I hope you enjoy the update! -Dave

[ 2023-05-11 23:33:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

The next Sapiens update is coming along nicely, and I thought it was time to let you all know how things are going. After taking a bit of a break over Christmas, I started the new year working on a new mechanic for improving soil. So in 0.4 we will now have compost, manure, and mulching, which allow you to improve the soil quality and grow crops faster. To balance this and add realism, as you harvest or clear from the land, the soil quality now slowly reduces too, so eventually you'll need to move your crops to more fertile land, or mulch to put the goodness back in.
Just after that was done, we got hit by a cyclone in New Zealand. It was a significant disaster, and we lost power for a week. But once I was able to work again, I started adding new building materials. It has always been my plan to give different building materials different strengths and weaknesses, and I'll be working more on that soon, but first I wanted to add stone block structures to the game. Stone blocks were historically a widely used early building material, and Sapiens felt like it would really benefit from having them. So you will now be able to chisel out stone blocks directly from the ground, and use them to build walls and columns, and craft tiles which can be used in floors and roofs. I also added new rock types, with the addition of granite, marble, and lapis lazuli, as well as sandstone in a variety of colors.
Historically the first chisels were made out of hard rock, but rock chisels could mostly only be used on soft rocks like sandstone and limestone, so that's what I have done in Sapiens too. However there needed to be a way to chisel granite and hard rocks too, and so I decided it was time to add bronze to the game. You'll first need to mine copper and tin ores from the ground. Then at a kiln you can learn the new blacksmithing skill, and combine the ores to smelt bronze in a crucible. Once you have bronze ingots, you can then smith them into new tools and weapons. There are bronze variants of all of the existing tools, which will work faster and last longer. And of course you can craft bronze chisels which will unlock the ability to build with hard stone blocks. With the addition of bronze and the new rock types, I needed to do a lot of work on the look of the game, adding more detail and realism to the textures, and improving support for metallic materials. So we now have shiny metals and bump-mapping on the terrain and objects too, which really helps to make the world feel more alive.
I still have quite a lot more planned for this update, so keep an eye out for an announcement here when it's nearly ready. And keep in mind that the features I've mentioned here and these screenshots are a work in progress, there will still be changes before they are released in a few weeks time. If you want to keep a closer eye on progress, please join the Discord where I post much more frequent updates. Thanks for your continued support and patience while I'm working on the update. - Dave https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2023-03-09 20:35:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

You can now play Sapiens on your Mac! Sapiens now runs natively and performs great on both Apple silicon and Intel. Sapiens was always designed to be a cross platform game, which meant it took only a couple of weeks to add support for macOS, and it made a lot of sense to do this now so more people can play. Throughout the early access development, I plan to continue to add support for more platforms, more hardware features, more modding support, and more quality of life improvements and bug fixes. It's really important to keep this work going alongside additional gameplay features and content, like what was released in the recent herbal medicine update. Have a great holiday season everyone, and I'm looking forward to working on the next big content update in the new year. - Dave https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-12-13 20:21:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

I want everyone to be able to play Sapiens on as many devices as possible, and a mac port is a good first step. So if you have a mac, you'll soon be able to play it natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon. You won't need to buy it again if you have already purchased it for Windows, and you will be able to find it listed in the Steam store within the next few weeks. If you already have a copy for Windows, you can play right now by opting into the mac beta on Steam. This will help me to iron out any remaining issues before a full release within the next few weeks. To opt in: - You will need to have purchased Sapiens - In your Steam Library on a mac, right click on Sapiens, and go to Properties->BETAS - Enter "macosbeta123" in the access code box, and hit "Check Code" - If it fails, restart Steam and try again - You should now be able to switch to the mac beta, and install Sapiens on your mac Sapiens for macOS requires macOS 10.15 or later, and will need either a dedicated GPU, or an M1/M2 chip to run well. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-12-01 22:49:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

0.3.6 is a minor update with the following changes: - Adds improved support for modding, and support for the new official "Moa" mod, available via Steam Workshop - Fixes crashes - Fixes issues with the notification text when injured while hunting - Fixes issue where tall aspens could be invisible in winter - Fixes issue with smoke and fire particles in certain world locations - Slow motion debug mode is now mapped to ctrl+9 instead of just '9' to avoid accidentally triggering it - Fixes issues with nomad tribes and migrating mob groups spawning when you are surrounded by water - Fixes issue where bones were not dropped after eating raw meat - Fixes issues with mammoth animations when attacking

[ 2022-11-13 22:05:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Herbal Medicine update introduces viruses, burns, food poisoning, and new injuries. To deal with these new challenges, your sapiens will need to find a number of new plants that can be researched and combined into medicines. This update also brings improvements to the graphics, AI, and user interface, and provides a whole lot of smaller fixes and improvements too.

Herbal Medicine

Viruses are a new threat, which can be introduced by some visiting sapiens, especially if you recruit them. You can help stop the spread by isolating infected sapiens, but this will become a lot easier to manage once you have researched medicine. You can now allow sapiens to eat raw meat, however there is a high risk of food poisoning, which they can get in other ways too. They can also get burned around fires, so you might want to find some aloe and keep some burn medicine stored. To create medicine, you'll want to investigate one of the seven new plants. They can be hard to find, so you might need to explore further out.

AI improvements

Sapiens are now more social, with better head movements and conversation flow. They will now run for urgent tasks, like providing medicine, or hunting, and they are better at choosing which task to complete first. They also now move and behave more naturally, and there are optimizations to help improve performance with large tribes too.

Graphics, Performance and More!

This update features new models, animations, shaders, and textures, so the world feels more vibrant and alive. Despite this, you should see a higher frame rate, with a number of renderer optimizations, and some new options to increase performance further. And there are a bunch of bug fixes and quality of life improvements too.

Full Release Notes:

Herbal Medicine

Adds viruses which can be introduced by visiting sapiens, and spread through your tribe

Adds food poisoning, which can occur if you allow them to eat raw meat, or store raw and cooked meat together

Adds a risk of getting burned while delivering fuel or crafting at kilns or campfires

Injuries can now occur while doing more activities like chopping trees or mining

New medicine skill, research, and craftable items

Adds 6 new plants and the elderberry tree

Adds fired and unfired bowls

Sapiens can now die from starvation or hypothermia, and these systems have been rebalanced

Sapiens will seek fire when they are very cold, and stay there until they warm up

Campfires and kilns now melt the snow near by

Many craftable items must now be researched individually

Adds a new immunity trait

AI improvements

Sapiens now interact with each other more, and talk to each other while seated

Many improvements to the AI with how they prioritize and choose tasks

Sapiens will now run when hunting, and for urgent tasks like treating with medicine

As running makes mammoths easier and safer to hunt, they now take more spears and provide a little less meat

Improved pathfinding, with smoother movements and walking animations

Improves a number of other sapien animations

Mouth movements while talking

Injured and sick sapiens will now go to bed, and their outcomes will be better if they sleep

Graphics and Performance

Significant optimizations in many areas

Many improvements to shaders and rendering quality, including more vibrant colors

Adds new options to toggle bloom and ambient occlusion, and adds a lower quality water option

Improvements to a number of models, especially thatch buildings, which also have a slightly larger window allowing you to fly through

Newly crafted log drums and balafons will now display the correct wood type

Other Changes

Decorative items will no longer go rotten or despawn, until they become usable with "allow use"

You can now dig and fill steeper slopes

New notification text when you move too far from your tribe

Notifications are now color coded

Some status effects like injuries can now be more severe, and are colored red/orange to indicate this

Notifications now stay up when the game is paused

You can now build anything out of split logs to complete the tutorial goal, not just a split log wall

The tech tree has been redesigned to make more sense

Balafon crafting now requires wood working instead of tool assembly

Playing any musical instrument will complete the music tutorial task

Undiscovered items now don't show what they are in the resources panel

Bug Fixes

Named objects will now preserve and display their name when carried and moved around

Fixes bug where bamboo didn't grow back

Fixes issues with selecting paths

Fixes bug with issuing orders in multi-select

Fixes bug where mammoths could become invisible after a successful hunt

Fixes bug where the order of sapiens changed when you changed their role assignments

No longer follows symlinks when deleting worlds

Many other minor fixes

[ 2022-10-13 20:33:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is the first major content update, and it introduces some new challenges. Viruses are a new threat, which can be introduced by some visiting sapiens, especially if you recruit them. You can help stop the spread by isolating infected sapiens, but this will become a lot easier to manage once you have researched medicine. You can now allow sapiens to eat raw meat, however there is a high risk of food poisoning, which they can get in other ways too. They can also get burned around fires, so you might want to find some aloe and keep some burn medicine stored. To create medicine, you'll want to investigate the new plants. They can be hard to find, so you might need to explore further out. There are also many other significant improvements to the AI, graphics, performance, and a bunch of other new features and fixes too. The update will go out next week, but if you don't mind helping to find any remaining bugs, you can try it out now on the public-beta-unstable branch. Please keep the feedback and bug reports coming, thank you! - Dave

Full Release Notes:

Herbal Medicine

Adds viruses which can be introduced by visiting sapiens, and spread through your tribe

Adds food poisoning, which can occur if you allow them to eat raw meat, or store raw and cooked meat together

Adds a risk of getting burned while delivering fuel or crafting at kilns or campfires

Injuries can now occur while doing more activities like chopping trees or mining

New medicine skill, research, and craftable items

Adds 6 new plants and the elderberry tree

Adds fired and unfired bowls

Sapiens can now die from starvation or hypothermia, and these systems have been rebalanced

Sapiens will seek fire when they are very cold, and stay there until they warm up

Campfires and kilns now melt the snow near by

Many craftable items must now be researched individually

Adds a new immunity trait AI improvements

Sapiens now interact with each other more, and talk to each other while seated

Many improvements to the AI with how they prioritize and choose tasks

Sapiens will now run when hunting, and for urgent tasks like treating with medicine

As running makes mammoths easier and safer to hunt, they now take more spears and provide a little less meat

Improved pathfinding, with smoother movements and walking animations

Improves a number of other sapien animations

Mouth movements while talking

Injured and sick sapiens will now go to bed, and their outcomes will be better if they sleep Graphics and Performance

Significant optimizations in many areas

Many improvements to shaders and rendering quality, including more vibrant colors

Adds new options to toggle bloom and ambient occlusion, and adds a lower quality water option

Improvements to a number of models, especially thatch buildings, which also have a slightly larger window allowing you to fly through

Newly crafted log drums and balafons will now display the correct wood type Other Changes

Decorative items will no longer go rotten or despawn, until they become usable with "allow use"

You can now dig and fill steeper slopes

New notification text when you move too far from your tribe

Notifications are now color coded

Some status effects like injuries can now be more severe, and are colored red/orange to indicate this

Notifications now stay up when the game is paused

You can now build anything out of split logs to complete the tutorial goal, not just a split log wall

The tech tree has been redesigned to make more sense

Balafon crafting now requires wood working instead of tool assembly

Playing any musical instrument will complete the music tutorial task

Undiscovered items now don't show what they are in the resources panel Bug Fixes

Named objects will now preserve and display their name when carried and moved around

Fixes bug where bamboo didn't grow back

Fixes issues with selecting paths

Fixes bug with issuing orders in multi-select

Fixes bug where mammoths could become invisible after a successful hunt

Fixes bug where the order of sapiens changed when you changed their role assignments

No longer follows symlinks when deleting worlds

Many other minor fixes

[ 2022-10-06 21:23:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta 20 contains a number of tweaks, bug fixes and new features. I'm still catching up with launch issues, so there is no major new content just yet. But you can expect to see more updates with more content within the next few weeks. Features/Changes: - Adds ability to assign sapiens to beds, by clicking a sapien, selecting move, and then clicking on a bed - Adds a difficulty guide when selecting your tribe - When knapping a large rock into small rocks, you can now also use another large rock as the tool - Sapiens can now sit on split logs - Move & Wait has been removed from the radial menu, as it was a trap for new players. This functionality will likely be added again soon using a modifier key instead - Reduces frequency and volume of bird sounds - Bamboo now only drops 2 when gathering, saving 2 for when it is chopped down - Adds option to invert the mouse wheel zoom direction - Adds a total time played in game days to the world load menu - More fonts and characters added for localization mods, especially Japanese and Turkish - You can now add, remove, and update world mods for existing worlds - Mod lists are now scrolling views, to allow more installed mods - Exposes more variables for mods - Adds buttons to open the world save directory, and mod directories Bug Fixes: - Fixes issues where they would get stuck far away, and not return home in time to get to sleep - Fixes crashing bugs - Fixes an issue where you could get stuck unable to build a kiln due to a research order on stored mudbricks - Fixes pathfinding issue that could cause them to run very slowly over long distances - Fixes AI issues relating to choosing where to store items - Fixes AI issues where two sapiens would attempt to sit on the same seat, or seats became unusable - Fixes issue where it displayed the incorrect craft count for split logs, small rocks - Fixes issue where digging discovery was assignable before you had discovered rock knapping - Now warns if Steam overlay is not enabled, if you do something that requires it

[ 2022-08-22 01:45:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

In this video I look back at the entire creation process. From right at the beginning with early sketches and ideas, to creating the custom engine and huge world of Sapiens, the refinement of the design, content, and game-play, and then finally pushing that green button and sending it out to the world. It's been a long, and at times difficult process, filled with many obstacles to overcome. The development of Sapiens has changed my life. I've learned so much, and grown both as a developer and a person. But there is still a lot of work to do, and I'm looking forward to leading Sapiens to its full potential, through Early Access and beyond. [previewyoutube=66SKA06jouw;full][/previewyoutube] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-08-12 01:27:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta 19 is a small update which mostly focuses on bugs and contains the following fixes:

• Fixes various crashing bugs.
• Fixes issue allowing both research and fill orders to be queued on the same hex
• Automatic pausing when the app window loses focus is now optional in the settings, and turned off by default
• Fixes AI issue that caused them to occasionally wander away near the end of the day for no apparent reason
• If a wait order has been issued, it is now removed automatically when you issue a standard move order
• Fixes issue where they couldn't build 4x4 floors from adjacent floors, and needed closer access
• When starting a new world, burning large pine cones as fuel is now disabled by default
• There is now a chance of receiving a small rock when digging soil
• Adds Cyrillic and Korean fonts for better localization mod support. More fonts to come soon.
• Fixes crash when using international fonts at low resolutions

It might be a little longer until the next update now, as I want to tackle a few larger tasks. But it should still be ready within the next week or two. Thanks again for all of the feedback and bug reports.

[ 2022-08-03 21:18:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, thanks again for all of the feedback and bug reports. Beta 18 is a small hotfix update which fixes 3 bugs:

• Fixes bugs where they would get stuck in loops trying to eat flax seeds. They also now won't attempt to eat flax seeds unless you enable it in the resources panel.
• Fixes issue selecting storage areas when you are standing very close to them
• Fixes issues with the queuing up of research orders

I'll be continuing to send out hotfixes to fix any major bugs, crashes, or issues with worlds loading over the next few days, but also will be starting on new features and content next week. Can't wait! Dave

[ 2022-07-29 22:57:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, thank you very much for all of the feedback and bug reports. It's been a very busy couple of days since launch, but I'm now able to start coding again, so I've started by just fixing a couple of crashing bugs. I've had a few reports where worlds have failed to load, so if that's happened to you, this will hopefully fix it. If you do hit any crashes, especially if your world won't load, please use the button in the settings menu to send a bug report, and be sure to include the world save. Then I will be able to fix the issue quickly. Any bugs causing worlds to fail to load will always be my top priority. More fixes and updates to come soon!

[ 2022-07-28 20:11:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, majicDave here. Im thrilled to launch Sapiens into Steam Early Access. Its time to lead your tribe!

Early Access Roadmap

This Early Access release is only the beginning. The above shows you some ideas of whats next in terms of content and features. As I will be taking on board community feedback and suggestions, the roadmap isnt set in stone and the order may change, but it should give you a good general idea of Sapiens moving forward.

Feedback & Community

Im excited for you all to play what Ive been hard at work on and hear your feedback. I really do want to hear your ideas and hear about your triumphs and struggles in Sapiens. Feel free to post here in the Steam forums, or better yet, drop by the official Discord to join our community, where I regularly post progress updates. Im just one man making a big game, so I expect the days ahead to be crazy busy, yet Ill be hard at work to make my way through all your feedback, reports, and suggestions. Thank you so much for your interest and support. I hope you enjoy my game! If you do, it would mean the world to me if you left a review or comment. More news and updates from me coming soon. Cheers, Dave https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-07-26 19:00:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, majicDave here. For weeks now, since the Next Fest, Ive been getting ready for Sapiens to launch into Steam Early Access. After 7 years of solo development, there's now only 1 day left until release! Thanks to everyone who has played private test versions as well as those who tried the public demo of Sapiens. Your feedback and suggestions have been greatly appreciated.

Launch Info

As a reminder, the base price is $24.99 and there will be a 10% launch discount. The OST is already available, with all the proceeds going to the wonderful John Konsolakis for his tireless work on the music for the game. The game will go live on Steam tomorrow, July 26 at 12pm PDT / 3pm EDT / 9pm CEST / 7am NZST. Im excited to see what tomorrow brings and to have your help to make Sapiens the best game it can be. Cheers, majicDave https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-07-25 17:33:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

After several years in development Sapiens will be launching in Early Access on July 26! It will be available right here on Steam for $24.99, with a 10% launch discount. And if you didnt already know, the soundtrack is available for purchase right now. So far the release process has gone better than I could have imagined. I can't wait to share the full experience of the first early access build with you all, and I'm looking forward to working on future updates with more new content and features. In case you havent seen it, heres the latest devlog recapping the demo release: [previewyoutube=j5i6iWr-3xU;full]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5i6iWr-3xU&t=1s[/previewyoutube] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-06-30 20:33:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Will Sapiens support multiplayer? How far into the future will it go? How many sapiens can you have? Dave will be answering all of these questions and more in this second Next Fest livestream. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-06-14 20:00:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone, The Steam Next Fest starts today! You can already download the demo for Sapiens, which allows players to explore and build throughout 2 in-game days. This gives you a good idea of the game's core mechanics and how you can start off your tribe. Ill also be livestreaming today, June 13, at 9:00pm EST / 6:00pm PST. For new players, heres a few of my best tips:

• Build many storage areas! They take no time or resources, but it will slow down your advancement if you dont have a free one available for a new type of resource.
• It will be easier to advance quicker if you find a larger tribe to start with, and its a good idea to find a spot with lots of trees nearby.
• Dont queue up too many orders. Sapiens will pick the closest task to them that matches their needs and roles. The easiest way for you to direct them where you want is to limit their options.
• Flax is a key resource, required to bind advanced tools together. If you want to get far in the demo with tool building, you will need to find and investigate flax early.

And if you havent seen it yet, check out the trailer below! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFI3anJLhBg Head over to the Discord server to share your feedback and hear the latest news about the Early Access release. Hope you all enjoy Next Fest!

[ 2022-06-13 15:36:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ahead of the official start of Steam Next Fest on June 13, the Sapiens demo is now live! After 7 years of development its so exciting to see people enjoying the game already, and I look forward to seeing more reactions within the next few weeks. Check out the dev vlog below to get a behind the scenes look at the release process, including the creation of the trailer, reactions to influencer videos, and a look at the demo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5i6iWr-3xU Look forward to more updates during Steam Next Fest, including a livestream playthrough on Monday, June 13 at 9pm EST! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-06-09 21:35:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Sapiens has been in a private alpha for a while now. During that time, the testers have been busy making many large and detailed builds.
This castle has been built by generations of sapiens over many in-game years.
It's built with mud bricks that have been dug out from the surrounding hills, and mixed with hay and sand and left to dry. The wood is mostly split logs, from birch tree plantations, with some apple wood too for color.
This next village was founded where two rivers meet.
The are no boats in Sapiens yet, but the docks are ready and waiting!
There are some nice green spaces for the sapiens to enjoy within the town walls. This village is in a tropical biome, so it is filled with coconut trees, bamboo, and banana plants. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-05-31 23:06:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

In this preview of Sapiens, watch the developer play through the start of the game, and then take a look at some amazing late-game builds created by players. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens

[ 2022-05-31 02:02:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

After 7 long years of development, Sapiens will finally be in your hands very shortly! A time-limited demo will be released when Sapiens participates in the Steam Next Fest, June 13-20, 2022, with the full early access release coming soon after. Check out the Steam page for a brand new trailer, and don't forget to add Sapiens to your wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060230/Sapiens/

[ 2022-05-19 21:33:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, I'm majicDave, and this is Sapiens! Sapiens will be launching into Early Access soon, and you can expect a release date announcement within the next few weeks. With the launch fast approaching, it's time to share more about where the game is at and how development is going. If you want to get a good overview, the latest devlog video is a great place to start: [previewyoutube=CQt5R0pd9WI;full][/previewyoutube] Since recording the video, I've added new musical instruments to accompany the flute, a balafon and log drum. It's great when the sapiens get together and play.
Music talent is a personality trait, some sapiens will pick it up faster than others, and some sapiens will actually get sad if they haven't played or heard music lately. But if you assign a few sapiens from your tribe to the music role, then whenever they start to feel the need, they'll go and pick up a musical instrument, find a place by a campfire, and start playing. Then all of the near by sapiens will get a mood boost too. A new trailer is in the works, which will be published soon, and I've added new weather effects for rain and snow too, which adds a huge amount to the ambience.
I'll be posting more frequent updates from now on, so see you again soon!

[ 2022-04-27 21:52:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

[previewyoutube=Amr5otowkNw;full][/previewyoutube] Work on Sapiens is progressing nicely, and it's now far enough along that I can show off a full play through of the game as it currently stands. The focus lately has been on the early-game gameplay and the major underlying systems, but there is still a lot of work to go, loads of content to work on, and improvements to be made. But hopefully this should help you to see the potential, and understand what playing Sapiens is all about. The game is really starting to come together!

[ 2020-08-27 07:58:44 CET ] [ Original post ]