Update 0.5.0 — Toxicity

Update 0.5.0 — Toxicity

Update 0.5 opens Toxicity and expands the ways your cell can evolve. It also brings progression adjustments, clearer feedback and performance improvements.

Steam progress: a fresh start

• Lineages are now separate for each Steam account, and between the Playtest and the main game. Your Steam slots will be empty when you first launch 0.5: previous progress is not imported. Your old files remain on disk.

Toxicity, the third biome

• Toxicity becomes available after winning a cycle in the Coral Barrier.
• New fauna and flora inhabit all three scales, bringing fresh food sources and poison-related dangers.
• Three new bosses await, each with its own identity and surprises.

New ways to evolve

• The Cilia and Instinct branches open up in Genetic Memory.
• New organelles and variants expand poison-related adaptations.
• New upgrades expand defences, secretions, perception and symbiotes.
• New mutations await discovery. Some enemies can also develop adaptations of their own.

Combat and progression

• DNA progression has been adjusted to better reflect threat, and victories are more rewarding.
• Environmental poison pressure gradually increases with threat in Toxicity.
• Adjustments cover ability use, enemy behaviour and several cycle interactions.

Interface and readability

• New indicators convey threat, DNA gain rate and critical health.
• Combat feedback and health bars are clearer and more accurately reflect applied effects.
• Genetic Memory and Awakening Objectives gain clearer presentation and more consistent wording.
• Lineage statistics are now available in the Archives.
• The News menu brings together playtest information and patch-note history.

Visuals and performance

• Visual rework of symbiotes and their animations.
• Several protections and Spine families have been visually reworked for better readability across cell sizes.
• The presentation of some bosses and combat effects has been refined.
• Optimisations to reef rendering, plant regrowth, objective menus and the death transition.

Your feedback will help guide further playtest balancing.