Hi Universe Architects,
In March, the Cells team spent a week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. There was a lot of prep work involved as we wrapped up our schedules to prepare and showcase our game with other fellow game developers. Things were quiet in the forefront, but we’ve been busy in the backend working on some new upcoming content and features, including Beyond episodes. We hope players enjoyed our April Fool's post. Big changes to the game are also on the way.
For this dev diary, we wanted to talk about the future of multiplayer. In our last livestream and in past patch notes, we’ve alluded to the challenges of developing multiplayer features. It was our first time as a development team to tackle multiplayer and we’ve learned a lot along the way. To recap, we developed a new competitive leaderboard system for the Explore Events called the Research Race. This feature grouped players based on their progress and time started in the Explore Events up to a total of fifteen players per group. Each group would compete for first, second and third place and win prizes respectively. While the Research Race provided a fun and new way to play our events, it did leave casual players, who were less interested in the competitive aspect, little chance to win prizes. We also had cheaters who would consistently win the top prizes each round which created an unfair advantage. We did a number of changes over time from fixing technical issues to making the gameplay more fair, such as:
- Adjusting the badge boost bonus to a gradual uplift after gaining 200%.
- Players who were known to be cheating were shadow banned from the leaderboard (however, they will appear on the leaderboard if players have marked them as friends in the game).
- Time flux purchases were capped in Explore Events.
In the end, we feel that the Research Race was not the right fit for our game or the right environment we want to create. And so, multiplayer is evolving.
It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over
We will be phasing out the Research Race. We are currently developing a new segmented leaderboard where 1000 players will be playing in a group together. Players will be sorted in segmented groups based on the time they start and their relative progress in achieving objectives. There will be different tiers of achievements that will allow more players to win prizes. For example: Of a 1000 players in a segment, players would compete and could be placed in the top ten percent, top five, top one, etc. The higher the tier, the bigger the prize. The goal for this change is to be able to reward players who do not have as much time or who do not enjoy the competitive aspect in the game. Below is an example of a prototype. It is still a work in progress, the rewards and tiers are not a reflection of the final iteration.
Part of this new segmented leaderboard is in the game. We are collecting data in the background to make sure it works well with our Explore Events. Our beta players have already seen a sneak peek of this feature with a very conspicuous UI button appearing on the right side of their screen. We want to shape this system to be an enjoyable successor to the Research Race.
It Takes Two to Tango
We also want to expand the multiplayer experience in Cell to Singularity. Another feature we are planning to develop is one where players can collaborate together as a team. It is still early in the planning process, but we are excited to share some of our thoughts with players. This feature will introduce a new branch in Explore Events where players would group up to unlock and purchase new nodes that would enhance the Explore Event's tree. This could range from making the event go faster, gaining more currency, or even earning better prizes.
Teamwork is an inherent part of human evolution, so why not make it a part of Cells? We hope to offer players a new experience outside of competition based on the feedback we’ve received.
Do It Again
Another direction we're considering is shortening the length of Explore Events. We’ve received feedback that Explore Events are difficult to complete within forty hours. If events could be completed faster, a prestige mechanic, similar to the Mesozoic Valley, could be introduced that would allow players to earn more rewards before the end of the event. The extra currency generated from the Explore Events could also be converted into other game currencies. For example: Converting tea leaves from the Tea event into metabits, entropy or even ideas. Shorter events would also benefit casual players by giving them improved chances of completion.
The sky's the limit. We welcome any other ideas and opinions our players may have. Is there a preference over competition or collaboration? Would players enjoy the Explore events with a prestige mechanic? Or something else entirely? Share your thoughts with us in the comments, Discord or email: [email protected]
I Know It When I See It
Our latest exciting new event: Explore: Visual Art — The Power of Images concluded its first run on Monday. It was a labor of love and our first event collaboration with Pariah Interactive — a game studio located close by in Brooklyn. We spent time curating art from across human history which culminated into the grand opening of our 3D garden art gallery. To promote the event, we held a Visual Art Contest where art was submitted in three different styles: Dadaism, Cubism and Pop Art. The creativity and variety of the submissions were breathtaking, from human-made art to AI generated work. We announced the winners and honorable mentions in a short chill stream, viewable on YouTube and Reddit. Check it out!
As Stone leads to Bronze, Bronze gives way to Iron. The Iron Age will be making its appearance to the Civilization Garden soon. Marked as the end of the three metal epochs, the Iron age was known as the “classical” period which introduced many cultural achievements and political reform. Watch the rise and fall of great empires with our latest trailer.
The Beyond is still underway as our beta players caught a glimpse of its development last week. We welcome feedback as we continue to polish the next episode. Last but not least, by popular request, we have an updated roadmap for our curious players. Take a look at what’s in store. The future of multiplayer is in the forefront of our minds as we continue to create more content. We’ve also been adjusting the tuning of the main simulation to accommodate new content from the latest Civilization updates.
We want to provide more contests and other fun engaging events to our community. In order to accommodate, moving forward, we will be releasing our dev diary once every three months (once every quarter). Roadmaps will continue to be released two times a year— one at the beginning and another at the end of the year. Livestreams will continue to be bi-monthly, with the next one towards the beginning of May. We will also be multi-streaming on Twitch and YouTube.
Thank you to all our players who continue to support us. We couldn't have made all this without the greatest game community we could imagine.
Always thankful, stay cellular!
- The Cells Team