Intelligent Design: An Evolutionary Sandbox News

Thanks again for everyone giving us feedback on these updates. This is a big one, Dave and I have completly re-designed the UI for custom organisms!

• Wind audio now changes smoothly
  
• Added join discord button to launch menu
  
• Changed the wording on the science panel
  
• Revamped the genetics panel so you can see all genes at once when editing
  
• Adjustments to tutorial text
  
• System menu now accessed by pressing escape in game
  
• Fixed drone shadow bug
  

I just pushed out a patch for the experimental branch, as ever we would love you hear your feedback either here or in our discord. Thanks to everyone posting screenshots of the new stuff in the steam community, it really helps us with design!

• Revamped tutorial - Changed wording to reflect new controls, removed voice-over, made the tutorial button driven.
  
• Added tool tips to some buttons, these can be disabled in the options menu
  
• Changed the fire effect and behaviour
  
• Moved the starting position of the radar on Map 1
  
• Buttons are now highlighted red when selected
  

After finishing off this patch I had an idea how to optimise memory management in the game. After a hard day's coding I've implemented it and pushed out a patch. Everyone should notice some significant performance increases with the current version - let me know how it goes!

There has never been a better time to be a Pill Bug Interactive fan.

Today we are launching our Collection Bundle.

So if you already own Intelligent Design: An Evolutionary Sandbox now you can get a copy of Cycle 28 and the fantastic soundtrack by Jordan Rees (Composer of trailer music for The Mummy [Universal Pictures], Mother [Paramount Pictures], The Defenders [Marvel Studios]) for 20% off.

Cycle 28 is an intense retro shooter with a mystery at it's heart. First you think it's an arcade game: simple controls, powerful upgrades, and intense dogfights. But you’re stuck living the same day over and over, trying to find out who the enemy are, and what they want.

Check out the review below to see if Cycle 28 is your cup of tea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FPXrf2Le_w

Good news, ecosystem engineers! We have added an entirely new world in which you can now test your efficiency and scientific prowess.

The as-yet unnamed world is Map 1 on the experimental branch of Intelligent Design. Conditions on this world are not considered stable, so all employees are advised to anticipate changes as we adapt to this new environment.

We value all staff feedback. Please let us know if you have any thoughts, comments, or concerns regarding this new and exciting opportunity.

Our Discord channel is an excellent medium for engineer-employer interaction, try it today!

Back in April we shared our plans for an Intelligent Design: An Evolutionary Sandbox content update, you can read them here. Today I'm really excited to launch our experimental branch!

We decided to give you access to the content update as we build it because (1) we think the improvements we have made so far will allow more people to enjoy the game and (2) we want to get your feedback as we go. We can't push this patch into the default branch because, since the controls have changed, we will need to re-write the tutorial.

To download the update go to Intelligent Design in your Steam library, right click it and select properties. Then click on the Betas tab of the window which appears and select the Experimental Branch from the drop down list. The experimental branch will store game saves in a different folder, if you want to copy over existing saves into that you can, there is a button in the system menu (in game) which opens up an explorer window in your save game directory.

Here are the main changes:

• General performance improvements
  
• The controls have been reworked so they are entirely mouse driven. You now left click on the menus to select a unit or building you want to create, then right click on the map where you want to create it. Move the camera with WASD, shift, ctrl and hold the middle mouse button to move it.
  
• We have added a time acceleration slider. This was something you could unlock if you completed all of the performance targets, after lots of thought we decided to make this available right from the start.
  

You can watch a video of Dave and I discussing the new controls below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cXhnqeXKYI

The best place to discuss and give us feedback about these changes is in our discord, we would love to hear what you think!

Finally, I want thank everyone in the community who continues to support us at Pill Bug Interactive. We are both continually humbled that so many people enjoy this weird abstract genetics sandbox.