Hello, everyone!

WE'RE LIVE STREAMING NOW

We will be Streaming a Universim Q&A on the official Crytivo Twitch channel for those who would like to hop in and start seeing the new version of the game. Please join JJ and Alex within 15 minutes at 11:00 PDT or 2:00 EDT.



WATCH LIVE STREAM

We have a smoking-hot new content update for you! However, we would first like to take this opportunity to ask that you please stay at home during these troubling times. We have compiled a list of guidelines from various health services to best protect yourself and others from COVID-19. Of course, the biggest help you can offer right now is staying at home as much as possible. To make your time at home a little brighter, were running a Rainy Day Sale across all games on the Crytivo Store. Everything is 30% off. This discount comes directly out of Crytivos pocket and will not affect the revenue of developers. Its a great time to support indie developers and get something for yourself to enjoy during the lockdown. Stay safe!

Now back to the topic at hand. Our team members who usually operate in the office have switched to remote work, but that hasnt stopped us from ironing out the experience and delivering awesome new content. Heres whats new:


Updated and Upgraded Residential Areas

Now thats how you renovate! These new residential areas are far prettier than before. Weve spent a tremendous amount of time improving how residential buildings are constructed and appear in the game. Every building now has a story to tell. Look closely and youll see just how different they are! We hope you love them as much as we do.











Roads

Woah, woah! Hold on! We havent implemented roads yet, but we wanted to drop you a small update on whats been going on behind the scenes. As you know, roads have been in heavy development for some time now. The fact that the planet is round and lacks a level construction grid for roadworks makes this system quite complicated. But, the good news is, after numerous sleepless nights and rapid hair loss, we figured it out!





Roads arent just going to be cosmetic, theyre going to play an important role in society. Theyll increase Nugget movement speeds across the board, which means we have to factor this into the pathfinding solution. Phew, this is some complex stuff! However, were making good progress and we hope to let you play with it soon. For now, heres a sneak peek:



Bridges

Okay, get excited again! Bridges are now available in the game, you can truss us. They will help connect Nugget nations together and create shorter paths across previously impassable terrain. The first bridges will be unlocked in the Medieval Era, giving you a useful pathway across water sources and offering Nuggets a speed boost.







Memory usage optimization

We reduced memory usage by a whopping 20%! Here, take it. It only took us 3 weeks to get it working :/.

Sound optimization and fixing

Unitys audio system is a mess, which means weve had to work hard to improve overall sound processing and overhaul our own in-game sound system. If all is well, you shouldnt get any more weird sounds or clipping issues during your playthrough.

Save system rework

We unfortunately still arent able to offer backwards compatibility with older saves, due in large part to the sheer amount of changes and new content that ships with every update (changing something like the position of a research item in the research tree can break the game if you already have it unlocked). Keeping track of so many procedural objects and systems while accounting for backwards compatibility will require a massive effort, which we feel is better placed in more exciting content. But, were still tinkering with the save system and making constant improvements. The new rework will enable us to save multiple planets thatll be coming in the full release. Get hyped!


Improved underground resources display when placing mines and wells

Key Features:

Camera Controls improvements


Not in the build but being worked on:

• HyperLoop
  
• Roads
  
• Organic simulation on planets
  
• Alien planets
  
• Rovers
  

Improvements and balance changes

• Rebalanced and slightly reworked Research Tree
  
• Rebalanced all the building costs
  
• Improved performance related to resource piles
  
• Amount of oxygen provided by parks was increased:
  
• Big Park 3 -> 10
  
• Medium Park 2 -> 7
  
• Small Park 1 -> 5
  
• Depleted resources icons for Mines were added
  
• Reworked blur shader used on pause, ESC menu, etc.
  
• Reworked audio system
  
• Boxes during trading received tooltips for each resource
  
• Trading can be initiated at any point of time by clicking on an Exile building
  
• Wolves will no longer attack every winter
  
• Fiber Factory and Carbon Factory were removed from the game
  
• Drastically improved all transportation requests and building prioritization
  
• Status icons for building upgrades above buildings will fade in / fade out instead of constantly staying on the screen
  
• When you place a building, a new hint will appear displaying the rotation buttons of the building
  
• Increased the cost of the Change Season Creator Power
  
• Stone Wells have additional slots unlocked at the start
  
• Increased Well refill speed
  
• Increased speed of water generation in Eatery
  
• Additional Police Slot is unlocked
  
• Additional Engineer slot is unlocked for the modern age
  
• Additional slots for the Prison and Rehabilitation unlocked
  
• Medium-sized park is unlocked via Research perk
  
• Decreased the amount of underground resources on the planet
  
• Rebalanced the amount of materials needed to produce cement, chemicals, fuel, steel
  
• Eateries received additional capacity for customers
  
• Unlocked additional capacity in Hospitals
  
• Fishing hut boat capacity now improved with each Fishing Hut level
  
• Engineers received an improved bonus to their strength that influences their repair speed
  
• Reworked the building decay mechanic. Currently all buildings across all ages will be decaying at the same speed.
  
• Improved Nugget response related to thirst. Nuggets will constantly check for available water in Wells and Eateries while moving towards the lake.
  
• Couriers Hut received additional slots
  
• Twitch option to grant PP points to viewers
  
• Twitch option for allowing viewers to get a job
  
• Increased the amount of water on the planet
  
• Added the ability to prioritize multiple construction sites
  
• Further improved pathfinding for Nuggets. Now pathfinding will correctly update with the changes in the world, such as blocked paths or raised terrain caused by a building.
  
• Police, hunters and guards will now protect your civilization from wolf attacks and Exile attacks.
  
• Added the ability to click on Nugget names in the News Panel.
  
• Improved outdated tooltips
  
• Improved clouds system
  
• Added shadows for the clouds (they can be turned off in the settings)
  
• Added an option to control Camera Speed when the Shift button is pressed.
  
• Archive is no longer destroyed by outside forces ( Tornado, Exile attack etc.), it still can be demolished manually.
  
• Improved Engineers. Now they fix everything faster
  
• Decay rate of the buildings is standardized across all ages. Buildings will decay with the same speed.
  

UI and Art:

• Amount of stars in the sky increased
  
• New Stone Age Residential blocks
  

• New Medieval Residential blocks
  

Modern Age Buildings - a lot

• Ground decals for stone age residential buildings.
  
• Advertising banners
  

New props for Residentials
Resource indication map tweaks.
Icons above buildings improved
Added settings for Camera movement speed.
Modern Age Liberal Nuggets Hair Colors
Added ice to the water when its cold.


Bug Fixes:

• Fixed: Policeman kept their job after being unassigned
  
• Fixed: Nuggets were moving sideways while walking into the temple
  
• Fixed: %NaN% error fixed for Temples
  
• Fixed: Traps were not providing any food from dead animals
  
• Fixed: Twitch command Attack Nugget was not working properly
  
• Fixed: Twitch Commands Fill Reservoir & Fill Well were not taking any bits for an action
  
• Fixed: Nuggets would get stuck trying to deliver resources to the Warehouse
  
• Fixed: Huts were not being upgraded automatically
  
• Fixed: Indentations in the ground were not leveled up when a new building was placed, causing Nuggets to get stuck
  
• Fixed: Shadow quality settings were not working properly
  
• Fixed: Nuggets inside the Eatery had a white icon instead of a Nugget icon
  
• Fixed: Grass setting was not working properly
  
• Fixed: Nuggets that grew up inside the bunker were losing their ability to mate
  
• Fixed: Trading button was not appearing for Exiles
  
• Fixed: Nuggets that came from a Space Box were staying far away from their place of work
  
• Fixed: Picking up a Boomer as it was about to blow up would cause an error
  
• Fixed: Transportation request was not cleared when the object was picked up
  
• Fixed: Residential buildings were shaking without Nuggets inside them
  
• Fixed: Nuggets that were set on fire were unaffected by rain clouds
  
• Fixed: Nuggets shock and awe status was not working
  
• Fixed: The Creator Powers Panel and building panels would overlap if both panels were opened in a rapid sequence
  
• Fixed: Building a house quest was missing
  
• Fixed: Weird artifacts caused by a building ghost
  
• Fixed: Issues with the timers in the Cosmodrome
  
• Fixed: Saving and loading the game during the Tesla quest would make parts disappear, leading to failure of the quest
  
• Fixed: While the game is paused, the oxygen panel became stuck open
  
• Fixed: Issue where players were not able to click on buildings to open a building panel
  
• Fixed: Evolution tower was vulnerable to all damage sources (Lightning Strike, Meteor etc) during construction and if it was destroyed it would cause an error
  
• Fixed: During Save / Load, trading with Exile timers would reset
  
• Fixed: Missing Resource tooltips at the bottom of the screen
  
• Fixed: Police patrol would die of thirst while patrolling
  
• Fixed: Nugget panel list was displaying information incorrectly
  
• Fixed: Ministers will now place Fishing Huts beside lakes that actually have fish
  
• Fixed: Nuggets will proceed with gutting fish, even if the lake is drained. Previously they would stop working completely.
  
• Fixed: Lakes had incorrect height during save / load
  
• Fixed: Difficulty opening building panels along the shore
  
• Fixed: The game would be saved automatically whenever you simply click away from a text field
  
• Fixed: Orbit camera was below the planet radius at some points, causing different artifacts in the game
  
• Fixed: Imprisonment buildings were not consuming resources
  
• Fixed: An issue where nuggets wont deliver in certain cases rocks and wood to refineries, staggering the progress
  
• Fixed: Residentials upgrade button is removed and residentials do not show requirement of 650 resources
  
• Fixed: Locust Swarm was immune to creator powers in certain cases
  
• Fixed: Memory leak when Nugget Panel was opened
  
• Fixed: In certain cases camera could have been submerged underwater, breaking the visuals of the game
  
• Fixed: Lights during night time were dimmed
  

Thank you all for your continued love for The Universim! Its a joy to work on, and you all make it so much better. Please dont forget to leave us a review on Steam if youre enjoying the game, and be sure to join us on our new Crytivo Discord Server to participate in giveaways and stay up to date. Stay godly!

All the best,
The Crytivo Crew