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Devblog #28. Direct Gene Management.

Irsen · published 28 Aug 2026, 07:05 UTC

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Hello everyone.

In previous devblogs, I talked in detail about the Genetic Lab system, which allows the player to develop and rebuild the genes they find. The Lab provided access to various operations involving individual genes and gene pairs: stabilization, consumption, destabilization, gene fusion to synthesize new genes, removing properties and extracting gene substrate, and adding skill properties.The mechanics themselves work, but over time I noticed that performing these actions requires the player to constantly switch between the Gene Map, Inventory, and Genetic Lab windows.So I decided to simplify and restructure the system a little. I think this is something I will have to do more than once during the development of my game.How the early system workedOriginally, working with the Lab required a separate interface. Let’s look at gene stabilization as an example. The sequence of actions looked like this. The player:

Opens the Gene Map.
Removes a gene from the Gene Map and sends it to the Inventory.
Closes the Gene Map.
Opens the Genetic Lab.
Selects the stabilization operation.
Finds and selects the required gene in the gene selection window.
Presses the stabilization button.
Confirms the operation.
Returns to the Gene Map.
Finds the modified gene in the Inventory and places it back into its slot.

While the system was still small, this worked perfectly well. But the Lab gradually grew, new types of operations for individual genes and gene pairs appeared, and some operations started requiring more and more button presses.The problem was specifically in the interface. The second problem was the disconnect between performing an action on a gene and seeing the result. In other words, the player has to break a gene chain and remove the gene from the Gene Map entirely, modify it, and then place it back onto the Gene Map again.In the new version, I reworked the interface and changed the approachInstead of constantly dragging genes between several windows, I introduced a menu that contains all available operations for individual genes. To access it, the player simply right-clicks a gene directly in the Gene Map or Inventory.At that point, the gene is already selected for the operation. There is no need to remove it or move it anywhere. If we take gene stabilization as the same example, the sequence now looks like this:The player now:

Opens the Gene Map.
Selects a gene and opens the action menu with the right mouse button.
Selects an action and clicks it.
Confirms the stabilization.

The mechanics themselves have not changed. What changed is the way the player accesses them. Fewer transitions, faster results. The main improvement, however, is not simply reducing the number of clicks and item transfers between windows by 2.5 times. More importantly, the gene remains in its original window and the result of the action is immediately visible. The player no longer has to leave the Gene Map.If the gene is part of a chain, its connections remain intact. Skill properties on genes remain quickly accessible. The entire build and all active skills are visible right there as well. Another advantage is that the player no longer has to search for the same gene across three different windows.This change also noticeably speeds up the overall pace of a run. According to my measurements, I obtain more than 220 genes during a playthrough of the demo version. In the full version, that number will most likely have to be multiplied by two. So actions involving genes will now take several times less time overall.The only operation that currently still requires the Genetic Lab is gene fusion. I have not yet decided whether I will also make it accessible through the new menu. After all, the result of a fusion is a new gene, and that gene still has to be manually moved onto the Gene Map.During the development of IRSEN, I often start by quickly building a working version of a mechanic so I can test the idea itself without spending time on a full interface. Once it becomes clear that the idea works and will remain in the game, I start rebuilding it into a more convenient form. This transition to the new menu was made in exactly the same way.The Gene Map is gradually becoming the main workspace for managing the player’s build.

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