Ecosystem News

Today (8th June) is World Oceans Day, which catalyzes collective action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate. That's why we're pleased to share that Ecosystem is taking part in Games for Waves, to help support Whale and Dolphin Conservation!

Ecosystem will be offering a 20% discount until the end of the event, and we'll be contributing a portion of our proceeds during the event to the cause.

Games for Waves features over 100 games, and all purchases made during the event will help to support Whale and Dolphin Conservation's vital conservation work to create safer seas for whales and dolphins, so make sure you check out the full line-up of demos and games available here!

Hey everyone!

May is almost over and it’s time for another monthly update! We've got things scuttling about in the depths that we need to cover...


Thank you for the support!

First of all, a massive thanks to everyone for checking out Ecosystem and the Behavior Update. We really appreciate all your support to our indie project, whether you're new to the game or have been with us for some time. Super happy to see everyone enjoying the new content and we got many new players showing up for the submarine concerts and light shows!


*Jumps in excitement


Curious questions

The update introduced a bunch of evolution options, and we got some questions on how they work in the game. So here's a screenshot of us on Twitter talking about how our creatures develop their unique vocalizations.


Something's lurking...

Now, a big update might be out of the way, but work isn’t over. Here’s a sneak peek on a little something we are working on:



We can’t tell you exactly what it is just yet, so be sure to follow us on Twitter, YouTube or TikTok for the latest news. If you have any questions or feedback, do join our Discord and let us know!

On that note, we shall end our May round-up here. See you all next month!

Hey everyone!

April was a big month for Ecosystem, so we thought we'd share a monthly round-up of everything we got up to in case you missed anything.

The Big Behaviour Update

After an extended open beta, the Behaviour Update launched for all players last month, and was jam-packed with new features for your ecosystem. From building nests, swimming in schools, and even singing, this update introduced a range of new behavioural features for your creatures to fulfill their individual needs. Plus, we added bioluminescence! If you haven't updated your game yet, you know what to do...
Read the full patch notes here.

Earth Appreciation Festival and WASD London

Ecosystem also took part in two events in April: Earth Appreciation Festival 2024, where we donated a portion of our profits to Ocean Conservation Trust, and WASD in London, where the latest version of the game was available to play.

That's everything we have for you this month, but as always, be sure to join our Discord to chat all things Ecosystem, and follow us on Twitter or Facebook for the latest news!

Today marks World Earth Day, an occassion where we mark the importance of our planet and the factors that are impacting it. But with human-made issues such as climate change, pollution, overpopulation, lack of sustainability, and conflicts, it's a stark reminder not to take our planet for granted.

That's why we're taking part in Earth Appreciation Fest 2024, which contains both post-apocalyptic games that remind us of what we stand to lose, and nature-based games to help celebrate the incredible bio-diversity of the planet we call home.

You can check out the full range of games taking part in Earth Appreciation Festival here.


Psst! Don't forget Ecosystem is also exhibiting at WASD 2024, where you'll be able to try out the latest build of the game from 25th - 27th April!

Hello everyone!

After an extended open beta we're pleased to announce that the Behavior Update is out now for everyone!

There are a lot of changes and fixes in the update, full patch notes below, but lets take a look at the new changes in the latest trailer.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

PATCH NOTES

FEATURES
Increased creature autonomy: after learning first to swim and then to seek out targets, creatures enter a life stage in which they are more autonomous in their decision-making, attempting to fulfill their individual needs.

The following new behaviors are now available to creatures:

• Finding shelter and resting
  
• Building nests
  
• Feeding on insects on the water surface
  
• Gathering food to bring to their offspring
  
• Playing and socializing, chasing each other or knocking stones around
  
• Swimming in schools
  
• Bioluminescence
  
• Song
  
• Pitch and volume envelopes for each note in a song are specified in the genetic code, so songs will evolve as the species does.
  
• Reworked creature fertility and energy so that the odds of survival and number of offspring is less influenced by random factors.
  
• Creatures now remember the locations of food seen while exploring.
  

FIXES

• Update translations for the new text added in the update.
  
• Improved line-of-sight checks before creatures resort to pathfinding to prevent cases where creatures swim far up because their target is behind a small bump.
  
• Fixed some errors with line of sight checks that could result in creatures not seeing food/mates that actually should have been visible.
  
• Fixed error where color comparisons could be incorrect when checking how well a creature blends in with its environment.
  
• Fixed error where bilateria spawn preset had incorrect 4x lifecycle count by default.
  
• Fix: On rare occasions, creature models can freeze and end up floating permanently in the water.
  
• Fix: On rare occasions, plant models can freeze and be unremovable by the player.
  
• Fix: messages about species maturation and nonviability remain on the screen while the game closes down after exiting
  
• Fix minor errors that could occur when the plankton cursor was outside of the game region and when displaying traits for certain creatures, which could impact performance.
  
• Fix error that could cause some saves to fail to load.
  
• Fix: boosting a creature creates offspring that are not initialized properly.
  
• Fix error causing degraded performace and incorrect behavior when creatures who are playing with a rock knock it out of the ecosystem boundary.
  
• Fix: creatures forget what they were doing upon loading a savegame.
  
• Fix: all gifts turn into mushrooms upon loading a savegame.
  
• Fix: when mushrooms are picked up to use as a gift, they are not held in the mouth but seem to float outside of the head.
  
• Fix error where the games by friends panel would not disappear when it was supposed to.
  
• Fix error that can occur when a creature is recovering from a staggered state and actively targeted by another predator.
  
• Fix minor errors with bioluminescence and the creature editor.