Build 26268089

Alpha Genesis 2.0 is the biggest update since launch. We changed so much that calling it 1.8 no longer made sense: how you evolve, how you fight, how your colonies grow and how the whole game looks. Here is everything that's new.

Choose how you evolve

• Ability Draft: when you have enough DNA, pick 1 of 3 cards. Each card is either a new ability or an upgrade to one you already own. A new tier opens once you've unlocked 60% of the previous one.
• Free Evolution: a brand new mode you choose when you start a new save. Instead of drafting, you browse every ability from the open tiers and buy exactly the one you want. Same costs, same rewards: it's a playstyle, not a difficulty.
• A new Evolution widget next to your DNA shows what the next evolution costs and, when you can't evolve, tells you why. Press V to open it (LT + D-Right on controller). Prefer the old way? Switch on auto mode.
• The draft no longer offers abilities that only boost stats you've already maxed out.

New transformation effects

Every time your Main Alpha fuses and changes shape you now get a unique effect for each form: a bursting bubble, a nerve discharge, a honeycomb, a scythe of light, a living prism, claws, a swirl of spores, unfurling ferns, a mitosis that splits your old shape in two, and a halo of spores for the crown. Your old shape pops away while the new one springs into place.

Chaos events, reworked

• Chaos events now start from a Chaos Rift that opens in the world. Step in if you're ready, or ignore it and it fades away.
• They are much rarer: the first one after 30 minutes, then every 45 to 60 minutes, at most 3 per ascension.
• Losing no longer ends your run. It costs 12% of your current biomass.
• Every event is graded bronze, silver or gold, and you can always dash out of danger.

Planets and colonies come alive

• Colony buildings really work now: production bonuses, protection from events, extra slots, faster research and expeditions, trade routes. Their effect depends on integrity, level and the buildings next to them.
• Some utility buildings (Refinery, Shield Generator, Comm Hub, Research Lab, Orbital Habitat) now require the matching technology.
• The Planetary Weapon fires on a real 30 minute cooldown, and ion storms drain energy.
• Studying the Ancient Artifact completes part of your current research.
• Terraforming: change a planet's type. A comparison screen shows slots, production, bonuses, minerals and events before and after. Then the work happens in real time, and you get half the cost back if you cancel.
• Planet type bonuses that were only text now apply for real: Frozen, Gas Giant, Alien, Ringworld and more.
• Brand new planets: every world is now drawn as a real lit sphere, with oceans and continents, ice caps and clouds, jungles with rivers, glowing lava, crystal facets, bioluminescent alien veins, Dyson shells and ringworlds.
• Galactic expedition survivors return to the field, trade routes and the resource converter open straight from the galactic map, Terra Nova starts with a free colony, and planetary events now show their choices.

A whole new look

• The start screen has been rebuilt around your Main Alpha, with a radial menu, a save slot carousel, your Steam avatar and your lifetime stats.
• Every screen has been redesigned in the same style: pause menu, draft, game over, forge, ascension, organelles, galaxy, colonies, tech tree, Hive Mind, settings, leaderboard, card archive, market, daily rewards and more.
• The HUD now scales properly with your resolution, from 768p to 1440p and beyond.
• Numbers and texts always fit their boxes, even with huge values and longer languages.
• Full controller support across menus and dialogs.
• Many texts that appeared in the wrong language are now translated in all 8 languages.

Fairer combat

• Enemies no longer deal more damage than they should.
• The eldritch face that punishes you for holding one direction too long now telegraphs its beam, so you can dodge it.
• Dashing gives you a brief moment of invulnerability.
• Respite really stops enemy spawns, and assaults are real waves that come with a warning.
• Enemy scaling after Ascension 5 grows steadily instead of spiking.

Progress that stays with you

• Prestige upgrades, mastery nodes and ascension unlocks that did nothing now work as described.
• Ascending no longer wipes your boss progress or your biomass shop.
• Colonies keep 25% of their crystals and their tier 1 and 2 technologies when you ascend.
• Essence rewards now take your run score and grade into account.
• A new game no longer inherits the prestige upgrades of your previous one.

Performance

• Several slowdowns introduced during development are gone, and the game feels smoother overall.
• Returning to the main menu no longer leaves the previous game running in the background.

Fixes

• Saving after a game over and returning to the menu works again.
• The Black Hole ability no longer pulls in your own cells, which could get your Main Alpha killed instantly.
• In the card archive, the detail panel no longer covers the Duplicates button.
• Pieces in the weapon builder are no longer lost when you close it.
• Expand Membrane is no longer always blocked.
• Colony upgrades from the dashboard now correctly spend biomass and DNA.
• Repaired buildings start working again.
• Leveling an ability no longer stacks synergy bonuses more than once.
• Loading during a chaos event no longer freezes the game.
• Keyboard and controller input no longer leave you flagged as moving, which caused endless Beta spawns.
• The Biomass Cache shared structure has been removed: it could stay on screen without ever being usable.
• The Hive Mind requires 10B DNA and 50B biomass, and the locked button explains how to get there.
• The game over screen shows what you keep and what you lose.

Thank you for playing and for all your feedback. Tell us what you think of 2.0 in the discussions!