The Universim News

We hope you’ve been enjoying the first snow of the season! Well, unless you’re in the southern hemisphere, where thermometers are getting close to bursting. In which case, good luck! As usual, we’ve been keeping the furnace burning over at Crytivo to pump out more great content and bug fixes. So many of you in our beloved community have played a huge role in this process, and we’re all enormously grateful for your contributions through feedback and bug reports. Be sure to join us on Twitter, Facebook, and (most importantly) Discord to stay in touch and chat with the community.

Now, let’s get down to business!

Watch Patch Review Vlog

https://youtu.be/TO_Eh55uUuI



This is a big one! We’ve been putting a lot of work into this system, and it’s finally ready to poke its head out of the door for the first time. The law and order system will have multiple research paths, which greatly impact how you deal with crime. As your civilization evolves, you will need to decide which route to take. Please remember that large systems like these are still a work in progress and will continue to improve over time (expect bugs!).



Criminals are separated into two categories: Thugs and Dangerous Criminals. Every criminal starts out as a Thug and will slowly level up to become a Dangerous Criminal if not caught in time. Thugs are often responsible for small crimes, like petty theft or minor vandalism. Dangerous Criminals will take far more radical action to make things work their way, like stealing more goods, dealing greater damage to property, and even setting buildings on fire.

We have plans to add more elements/actions to this system at a later date, so please give us feedback and suggestions on what you’d like to see.



To keep the crime rate under control, Nuggets will need to construct Police Stations around the civilization. Law Enforcers will patrol these areas and look for any suspicious activity. If they find anything strange, Enforcers will apprehend suspected criminals and bring them back to facilities where they will be detained until proven innocent or guilty.

There are two entirely different approaches to dealing with criminals in your civilization, and you’ll need to decide between them as you go.





Prisons have 4 cells for prisoners to be held temporarily until a full investigation has been conducted. After a certain amount of time, Nuggets can either be proven innocent and walk free or proven guilty and executed. Guilty Nuggets will be sent to the electric chair. Brutal, right? Well, Nuggets can’t really experience pain (research ongoing), so it’s mostly just a fun and exciting way to bid farewell. However, it’s important to keep in mind that electricity usage might skyrockets for a small while during use, so ensure you have some excess power to maintain the lightshow.






If you’ve never really had the stomach for fried Nuggets, then perhaps you should consider the alternative option. Rehabilitation Centers offer a far more peaceful -- albeit less effective -- solution to the crime problem. They only have two rooms to detain suspected criminals at any given time. An investigation is still conducted, but it’s less accurate and has a greater chance of releasing criminals back into society. Nuggets who are found guilty will be referred to a Therapist and spun in a type of centrifuge to put their brains back into a more friendly position, according to Nugget studies. We take no responsibility for what may come as a result of this.






Nuggets quickly realized that their love of playing with fire required an effective way of extinguishing the flames later. Firefighters will make short work of any unintended infernos around your city, so ensure there’s enough coverage and you’ll never have to worry about those accidental blazes ever again.






A new method of beautification has been added for your enjoyment. You can unlock various Parks by completing side quests, which all come with chirpy birds and benches for the bums of your citizens. The smell of freshly cut grass and excellent mood lighting provided by torches at night will improve the lives of Nuggets by at least a few percent.




We’ve rolled a few Parks into the game with this update, but more decoration-type stuff is on the way. Let us know what you’d like to see next!





Nuggets have enjoyed sitting around candle TVs since the Stone Age, but they’ve never been particularly fond of the picture quality or local dimming solutions offered on these early models. With the invention of electricity, films have taken the world by storm. Nuggets around the globe have been buzzing about the magic of cinema. Movie Theaters have quickly become major attractions for the public.





One of our major design goals with The Universim has always been to make everything feel “organic”. Our amazing art team and engineers have done a phenomenal job so far, and the new decal system pushes things even further. This ensures that buildings will blend into the surrounding environment far more naturally. You won’t be able to tell the difference between real life or the game anymore. Go ahead and try.







Based on your feedback, the Tesla quest has been completely redesigned. We have made over 30 changes to the quest and it should be far more enjoyable now. Let us know your thoughts!





You’ve likely noticed some significant performance gains with the last few patches, and we’ve worked even more magic to bring you more of those sweet, sweet frames, especially toward late game. We know how important performance is, so we have dedicated quite a bit of time to performance R&D. Stability has been improved once again and we’ve boosted performance by around 20%. There’s more to come!

• The physics system configuration has been optimized and the number of simultaneously active colliders and rigid bodies reduced.
  
• Late-game saves (containing a lot of buildings and Nuggets) now load up to 15% faster, with far less memory allocation.
  
• The camera-mounted light used during night-time has been optimized to reduce overhead related to shadow casting.
  
• Fixed: Having a large number of buildings caused a severe drop in frame rate due to unnecessary animations playing.
  
• Fixed: Loading a game that contains dead animals caused those animals to spawn at the center of the planet, resulting in unnecessary physics simulation and a reduced frame rate.
  

• Crime System
  
• Police Station + Enforcers
  
• Prison, Guards, and Prisoners
  
• Rehabilitation Center + Therapists and Patients
  
• Oil Tower + Oil Miners
  
• Criminals (criminal actions: stealing, vandalism, arson)
  
• Local influence on temperature
  
• Firefighters
  
• Parks
  
• House interiors
  
• Exile Orators increase crime level
  
• Exile Villages have become even more dangerous! Enemy Orators are able to create chaos in your civilization and temporarily increase the crime in your city. It is up to you to stop them before things descend into anarchy.
  
• Extra worker slot perk for the Fire Station building
  
• Extended lifespan for Nuggets
  
• Redesigned Tesla Quest
  
• Christmas stuff
  

• 
  
• Fixed an NRE with the “look at” AI action
  
• Fixed a bug in Fishing Nugget AI
  
• Fixed an NRE that could occur when Exiles started throwing spears
  
• Fixed an NRE caused by shocking a Nugget navigating along “local path”
  
• Fixed a bug that saw children spawning endlessly
  
• Fixed a bug where canceling the Epicenter upgrade caused the game to break
  
• Fixed a bug with status icons bleeding into UI
  
• Fire no longer spreads across water
  
• Fixed a bug where hitting the Battery with lightning caused it to be destroyed (Tesla quest)
  
• Fixed a bug where using Trickle Effect to extinguish a fire caused the cloud sound to play on repeat
  
• Fixed a bug in Creator Mode that required players to place Medieval buildings from the start
  
• Fixed missing localization for a Nugget running in a small kinetic wheel
  
• Fixed an AI bug that saw Nuggets stop eating/drinking when converting to Exiles.
  
• Fixed an issue where water overlapped with fire
  
• Fixed an issue where Nuggets would randomly lose their accessories
  
• Fixed an NRE on load due to a missing config file
  
• Fixed an NRE on load due to a misplaced construction site
  

• Multiple languages were updated. Languages that do not yet have an appropriate translation will have an English translation instead of .
  
• Farm Food Rebalanced:
  
• The initial Bloodydiarrhea Fruit harvest provided the same amount of food as other fruits that had not been discovered yet.
  
• In order to provide a little more incentive for players to search for a better source of food, Bloodydiarrhea Fruit output has been decreased.
  
• Bloodydiarrhea Fruit output was changed from 3-8 to 1-5
  
• Since the Farm was almost an infinite source of food, all crops have been tweaked and the overall amount of food production has decreased.
  
• The output from other fruit types has been decreased from 3-8 to 2-7.
  
• With the introduction of the Rehabilitation Center and an increased usage of herbs, the amount of herbs that Farms can produce was increased from 1-8 to 3-10.
  
• 
  
• Bunker Happiness decrease was changed from -20 to -10
  
• Missing Medieval buildings were added to Creator Mode
  
• New Information about the Crime System has been added to the wiki
  
• Added new news messages for the Crime System
  

• Building foliage material/shader
  
• Oil Tower building + oil resource
  
• Prison building 3D model with cell interiors and execution room
  
• Police Station building 3D model with cells
  
• Rehabilitation Center 3D model with interiors and animations
  
• Pre-Modern Movie Theater 3D model
  
• Fire Station 3D model
  
• New accessories for: Firefighters,Police Officers (Enforcers), Prisoners, Patients
  
• Law enforcement-related animations
  
• Firefighter animations showcasing fire extinguishing progress
  
• Christmas decorations
  
• Parks and Props 3D models -- 3 variants
  
• Stone Age Hut interiors
  
• Pre-Medieval Reservoir LOD groups fixed
  
• Stone Age and Pre-Medieval building decals
  
• Foliage added to Engineers Hut and Eatery
  
• Fixed missing texture for tree stumps
  
• Oil resource stockpile model added
  
• Fixed gas stockpile textures (previously missing)
  
• Added decals to Parks
  
• Fire Station interior
  

• Residential Buildings Panel updated -- added a “see interior” button and a do not disturb label when Nuggets are mating
  
• Quest window: small visual tweaks
  
• Main UI optimization
  
• Construction Menu: added icons for Rehabilitation Center and Prison
  
• Prison Panel implementation
  
• Rehabilitation Panel implementation
  
• Police Station Panel implementation
  
• Fire Station Panel implementation
  
• Parks Panel implementation
  
• MainUI update: added crime indicator and tooltip
  
• Nugget List Panel update: removed Happiness and added believer/non believer icons
  
• Oil Tower Panel implementation
  
• Implemented oil resource in all resource windows and updated warehouse
  
• Engineers Hut, Fire Station, Movie Theater, Oil Tower, Parks, Police Station, Rehabilitation Center, and Water Pump now have proper cloud renders in the Construction Menu
  
• Construction Menu Happiness has a new icon
  
• Added Construction Menu icons for Oil Tower, Movie Theater, and Police station
  
• Added status icons for: going to Fire Station, going to put out a fire, going to Oil Tower, going to arrest, going to Police Station, patrolling, going to Prison, going to Rehabilitation Center
  

• Fire now increases the temperature of nodes
  
• Improved Nugget shock and awe state
  
• Pathfinding layers: now Nuggets actively avoid fires and wild animals and do not ignore areas where buildings have been destroyed anymore
  
• Improved how the wind speed affects trees
  

The team has done an incredible job to implement all of this in such a short time. We hope you love all of the new features! We’re so grateful to have your support, and your friendly encouragement fuels us to work even harder every day. Keep the feedback coming! We review every one of them, positive or negative. Remember to share your awesome ideas and suggestions with us and the community, too.

Keep spreading the word of The Universim and be sure to follow us on our major social channels. Discord is the new home for the community, so join us there is you haven’t already! Lastly, for all Crytivo news and promotions, subscribe to our newsletter right here.


Stay awesome!

With love,
Crytivo Crew

Hello everyone,
Today at 11am PST join our devs for a review of the new content in Hot Patch V29! We have the new Crime System to show off, including Law Enforcement, Prisons, and Rehabilitation Centers, as well as new additions in the form of Firefighters, Parks, and a completely redesigned Tesla quest. Ask us anything! Let's make it a fun discussion.

Watch Recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO_Eh55uUuI

You can join us here:
https://twitch.tv/crytivo
https://www.youtube.com/user/theuniversim/live

For people who like to read and would like to see everything on paper, we also prepared patch notes, which you can find here: https://crytivo.com/en/news/the-universim-hot-patch-notes-v0-0-29

We hope everyone is having a blasting weekend !

Sincerely,

Crytivo Crew

Hi everyone,
Today we released a second hotfix that fixes multiple issues that everyone had. Hopefully those fixes will provide you with a little bit more pleasant experience.
Thank you for your support & feedback.

Things that we fixed:

• Fixed the issue with the Tesla Quest. Previously when you destroyed the battery and failed the quest, you were not able to unlock the battery
  
• Fixed the issue when the Tesla Quest was still active and not failed when the construction site was destroyed with lightning strike
  
• Fixed the issue when subtitles were displayed on every language despite language missing translation. (Once translation for the subtitles will be ready, it will be added to the game and they will be enabled for those languages)
  
• Fixed the issue with Steam Achievements. Previously, steam achievements were not working.
  
• Fixed the issue with the grass shaders. Previously grass & flowers shaders were broken and due to that reason, they were creating different artifacts
  
• Voting Timer for the evolution tower was not working correctly after evolution tower upgrade.
  
• Fixed the issue with the happiness stat. Previously, happiness stat was added before the building is finished, which caused an issue with happiness being stacked.
  
• Added 3 languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean
  

Sincerely,
Crytivo Crew

Greetings, Creators!

Patch time! We’ve spent the last month cleaning and optimizing our in-game simulation engine, Prometheus, to give you a far smoother experience, especially at later stages of the game. We have also started preparing the platform for modern age buildings that will start rolling out with the next major patch. We’ll discuss that closer to the time, so stay tuned!

Patch Highlights

NUGGOLA TESLA QUEST

This patch introduces a new mechanic to quests with the addition of the Nuggola Tesla Quest. Previously, quests did not feel rewarding enough. As a result, we added a little something extra to this one to provide a more enjoyable experience for everyone. Successfully completing the quest will reward you with an immediate unlock of the next electricity-related Research Perk. The quest also includes multiple objectives for the first time.



NEW HAPPINESS SYSTEM

We are slowly progressing away from micromanagement to allow for more macro-level interaction. Happiness is the very first step in this direction, as it was previously tied to individual Nuggets. If a Nugget was upset, they would refuse to perform important tasks, which became annoying with so many Nuggets running around.

The new system works on a more macro level, relying on different factors such as: available buildings, current events, and how you use your Creator Powers. You can view how much each building affects Happiness by checking the information in the building’s panel/construction menu. We hope this system leads to a far more enjoyable experience, as we believe it gives you more control over what used to be a slightly unwieldy system.

Happiness is divided into 5 states: Miserable, Unhappy, Indifferent, Happy, and Overjoyed. Each level has a particular status effect associated with it. For example, an overjoyed civilization will have a bonus to research speed, twin birth rates, and Creator Point generation.



SUBTITLES

We have added subtitles to ensure absolutely everyone can enjoy the little tidbits, comments, and advice that the Narrator has to offer. We have added more than 900 lines of subtitles in this patch. Happy reading!




MEDIEVAL WATCHTOWER

The Stone Age Defense Tower finally received a medieval upgrade! It was a little lonely. Watchers will feel a little safer behind the improved walls of the Medieval Watchtower..




MEDIEVAL FISHING HUT

Another upgrade! The Medieval Fishing Hut is here. Too long have Nuggets struggled to fill their tiny boats with fish to feed the hungry masses. Seafood will become more plentiful with the medieval upgrade.




MEDIEVAL SCAFFOLDS

We have added new visual elements to construction sites to improve their overall aesthetic in the Medieval Era. Previously, Nuggets relied solely on rocks and a few sticks when building, but multiple generations of injuries has led to the invention of medieval scaffolding.




SHIFTS

The Governance Perk has received its much-anticipated extension: Shifts. Where Nuggets were once incredibly disorganized, the government has stepped in to offer some order. Nuggets will now be assigned shifts and alternate working times with other Nuggets to improve efficiency. After their shifts, Nuggets will be able to perform all of their daily needs, like eating, recreation, and sleeping. There’s a day and night shift, so have fun deciding who gets which.



EXILE VILLAGE ADDITIONS

Exile Villages have received a bit of love as well. Two new events have been added:

EXILE PRIESTS
EXILE ORATORS

Exile Villages have learned that fighting isn’t always the best solution to their problems, as that involves too much cleanup, so they’ve devised a way to spread chaos within your civilization that does not involve a frontal assault. Once Priests infiltrate your city, they will begin converting your Believers into Non-Believers, which will lead to them leaving to join the Exiles. Keep a watchful eye for Nuggets sneaking into your civilization with robes and staffs.

Orators, on the other hand, are more of a pest than a direct threat. They like to make a lot of noise and rile up your citizens. It isn’t too bad at first, but your civilization’s Happiness will suffer if you don’t get rid of them.

NEW FIRE SYSTEM

Meet Fire 2.0! Our previous system was too performance intensive and brought a whole mess of unforeseen problems. As a result, we completely reworked the fire system to fix these issues and smooth out the rough edges. That means you finally have your Fire Power back! However, it’s deadlier than ever, as it can spread wildly and cause Nuggets to flee in terror (they now react to it!). They will actively avoid fire, as any semi-functional being would, but they may not be able to outrun the hungry fire monster for long. Remember, fire is not a toy, no matter how much fun it is to play with. It can and will destroy your civilization. That probably won’t stop you, though.





PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATIONS

Smooth sailing! A lot of work has been done under-the-hood, which has increased and stabilized the overall frame rate. This will be most noticeable in the late-game, where the frames used to take a magnificent dive off a cliff on certain systems.



Decal system optimized to increase overall frame rate.

Nugget and Animal out-of-view culling improved to reduce CPU usage.

Low-frequency updates of Nuggets and Animals are now spread over multiple frames to smooth out the frame rate.


BUG FIXES
Fixed a bug that allowed players to skip Perks and eventually break the game.

Fixed an issue with tooltips not appearing on upgrade panels.

Fixed an issue where a fresh Exile spawn showed the “became an adult” message.

Fixed an issue with the faith system not ignoring newly exiled Nuggets.

Fixed an AI issue where Hunters would chase prey into water.

Fixed an NRE on load when a construction site was already destroyed but Nuggets still tried to access it for local pathing.

Fixed: Exile deaths showing up in news.

Fixed an NRE with regards to Nugget AI.

Fixed an NRE when Nuggets changing shifts would attempt to access an occupied jobslot (Stone Refinery, Wood Refinery, Hunting Hut).

Fixed an issue with Pre-Medieval Reservoir LOD groups cycling too fast.

Fixed a missing texture for the Mummy Nugget and fishing boat paddles.

Fixed the clear infection quest.

Fixed duplicate Nugget thoughts cluttering panels.

Fixed an issue that prevented players from dropping resources on certain construction sites.

Fixed Nugget list gender icons disappearing when hovering over the row.

Fixed a crash that occurred when loading a game where a Fishing Hut had no water.

Fixed the Nemesis quest.

Fixed resource requirements not matching on the construction popup window.

Fixed an issue where clicking a disaster button would close all panels and open the Forecast panel.

Fixed an issue where the Research window would close when pressing the Construction or Creator Power menu.

Fixed an issue with the Reservoir tip not triggering.

Fixed an issue with the “Little Baby Nugget” narration playing when a child is spawned for the Find My Lost Nugget quest.

Fixed invisible infection zones.

Fixed an issue where Nuggets were getting stuck inside Fishing Huts.

Fixed quests spamming multiple warnings when loading objectives.

Fixed an issue where stamina effects were stacking.

Fixed an NRE with regards to reserved building spots.

Fixed an issue where the Unhappy Icon was displayed above Exile Nuggets’ heads.

Fixed an issue where the second Fisher Nugget was not accounted for in the Fishing Hut.

Fixed an NRE that was caused by tornadoes.

Fixed missing translation for the believer icon.

Fixed NRE with regards to the ghost outline of buildings. Placing a building on uneven surfaces would sometimes cause an NRE.

Fixed an issue where the Eatery would not reduce the number of raw food units while preparing a meal.

Fixed an NRE caused by construction sites.

Fixed multiple missing translations for Exile Villages.

Fixed an issue where Nuggets would fall through mountains.

Fixed an issue where the Kickstarter Creator Power was not adding a boost to Nuggets.

Fixed an issue where some loose resources on the ground were causing an NRE during Save / Load.

Fixed an exception which was caused by multiple stacked stats of different categories.

Fixed an issue where picking up a Nugget being attacked by a wolf would cause a crash.

Fixed an issue where the lightning strike projector was appearing underground.

Fixed an issue with the cloud projector being too high above the ground.

Fixed an issue where some quest messages were not disappearing.

Fixed an issue where the “Press F to fly” message was appearing randomly.

Fixed an issue where construction sites would show a different amount of required resources than the pop-up panel.

Fixed an issue where Nugget fertility timers were not reset after mating (edge case).


GENERAL DESIGN / BALANCE CHANGES
Clicking on the attack message will bring you to the location of the event.

News messages added for newly-established Exile Villages. Clicking on the message will take you to the village.

The Trickle Effect Creator Power now refills oceans & Reservoirs. Changed from 1000 -> 5000.

Reworked Jolt of Joy Creator Power in order to accommodate Happiness changes.


ART
Medieval Fishing Pier building added.

Nugget inventor - Nuggola Tesla added as part of the quest.

Tesla quest items added .

Defense Tower Medieval upgrade added.

Scaffolding upgraded to Medieval Era.

Burned tree models improved.

Halloween decorations added to Epicenter.

Nugget- Orator character with accessories added.

Nugget- Orator unique animations added.

Nugget- Priest with accessories+animations added.

Pumpkins added for the Halloween mood :) .


UI DESIGN:
MainUI: added Happiness indicator alongside the Happiness tooltip.

Added Happiness info to the construction menu construction cloud.

Couriers Hut bug fixed where you couldn’t change the building’s name.

Quest window visual updates. Added support for multiple pages.

God light moved to seasons panel.

Nugget ID card update. Removed Happiness slider since it is now a global value. Added Believer status.

Nugget ID card renaming visuals updated.

Almost all building panels have new renaming visuals.

Archive panel - fixed bug where text would leak out of frame.

Arrest this Nugget button added to Nugget ID panel - disabled for this patch.

Removed Mute Narrator button from main UI

Gas Mine shifts added.

Fishing Pier: fixed shifts container - Nugget slots were outside the panel.

Multiple objective support added to quest windows.

8 research Perks have new icons.

Bug report window added to Esc menu.

Construction menu building cloud happiness icon and value added.

Buildings list panel received an additional upgrade column.

Extended Wiki screen title text.

New Believer Icon.

New Research Icons.

Construction menu update. Added cloud renders for defense tower lvl 2 and Fishing pier lvl 3


MISCELLANEOUS
Dead Nuggets now despawned after some time.

Batteries now retain electricity even without water, but they drain faster in this state.

Added multiple new sounds for buildings and Creator Powers (Gas Plant ambience, Metal Mine ambience, Pump ambience, Wind Turbine ambience, Wind Turbine ambience, Rejuvenate Creator Power sound effect).

Updated Music Controller for better performance.

Refactored Quest triggering system.


KNOWN ISSUES
We will continue to monitor and investigate any Save & Load issues that may occur. The save system is enormously complicated, largely due to it needing to save tens of thousands of procedural objects and simulations. Please note that older save games will not work in the latest version of the game. We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but the addition of new features and optimizations will require you to start a new game.

Potential issues with Exile Villages. This is a massive new system that will require further testing and development. Please report any bugs you discover on our forums.

Subtitles may require some adjustment in certain conditions.


As always, thanks for being absolutely amazing! If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for updates and special offers (we never spam). Please leave us your thoughts and comments down below. We hope you love the patch!

All the best,
The Crytivo Crew

Hi Everyone!

Join our Live Stream Now Here starts in a few minutes Ask us questions and learn what's coming to The Universim bam bam bam!