Evolution Towers & Research Progress news

As you know, we’ve been planning from the beginning to include a Research Tree in the game, which would ultimately drive the progress and development of your civilization. We even released an early version of the Research Screen in the past, but it was disabled after its second iteration due to it not feeling well with the rest of the game. We hit the drawing board hard to find a better way to handle this aspect of the game, pretty much scrapping the design and starting over in the process.

The reason we didn’t like the first idea is that you constantly had to boot up a new window that covered the entire screen in order to conduct research and unlock things (which is a pretty run-of-the-mill approach that wouldn’t be much different from Civ games). It felt completely separate from the rest of the game, resulting in it breaking the game’s flow. It was a hassle to try and balance it to lower the amount of time you’d spend away from the actual gameplay. At the beginning of the game, we really don’t want research to take too long to unlock, so that you always have a constant supply of new stuff to play with. In later eras, we would then gradually increase the time taken and overall requirements for each research item. The screen didn’t work too well with this philosophy either. So, basically, we scrapped that idea and powered up our in-house Quantum Idea MachineTM. Today, we present you with Evolution Towers.

"THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS IN EVOLUTION"
Louis D. BrandeisTowers are special buildings that Nuggets construct automatically in random locations. This is where Nuggets gather in groups to conduct research into various aspects of the civilization. In the Stone Age, the first Evolution Tower, called the Sacrifice Tower, will look like a pile of stones wrapped together with wooden threads. It will have up to 5 slots to assign Nuggets. The more Nuggets there are in the tower, the faster research will be completed.By clicking on the Sacrifice Tower, you’ll be greeted with the Influence Window. You will immediately notice that the window feels much more a part of the game as opposed to a separate environment. It is comprised of the following:

The various Perks that can be researched, the description for the selected Perk, and requirements that must be met in order to research it. By researching Perks, you unlock new buildings and develop your civilization further. Certain Perks even improve the strength of your Nuggets.

THERE ARE 4 TYPES OF PERKS

Blue Perks are Evolution Perks. They unlock Key Buildings and advance your civilization through the ages. Every Evolution Perk researched brings your civilization one step closer to the Space Era.

Yellow Perks are what we call Travelling Perks, meaning that they are only temporarily available and refresh constantly. They appear alongside almost every Evolution Perk. These Perks usually have minor effects on your civilization (which add up) and consist of either Innovation Perks or Mutation Perks.

YELLOW PERKS ARE ALSO
DEVIDED BY TWO CATEGORIES

Innovation Perks reflect simple but brilliant ideas thought up by Nuggets as they go about their daily tasks. Being so complacent, they would never pursue their ideas without the right motivation. As their god, players can analyze these innovations and decide if they want the Nuggets to research them. Innovations come and go frequently. Nuggets will eventually forget their ideas, so you have to act quickly to research a perk if it interests you.

Innovation perks offer minor improvements (that can add up to major benefits) to various buildings, systems, or professions. An example of an Innovation Perk is Improved Clothing, which increases the maximum temperature range that Nuggets can endure. It adds +5c to Max temperature and -5c to Min temperature. This gives Nuggets a better chance of surviving brutal weather conditions during extreme winters and summers. However, this Perk will also slow your Nuggets’ speed by 3%. These perks are refreshed periodically.

Mutation Perks improve Nugget stats. They stem from mutations found in the DNA of Nuggets, but, like with Innovation perks, these mutations only hold the potential to be activated for a limited time. Players must decide whether they want these mutations to become a permanent addition to the Nugget DNA that will be passed down forever, or just let the mutation die off.
These perks offer minor improvements (that can add up significantly) to the performance of the Nugget species. This can include increased stamina/speed/etc, less need for food or water, and even bump up the fertility rate. These also refresh periodically.

Green Perks are Rare Perks, meaning that they will only appear every now and then, but keeping an eye out for them is a good idea as they will have a bigger impact on your civilization. An example of this is the Perfume Perk, which increases all female Nuggets’ fertility timer fill rates by 5%. This will lead to faster reproduction cycles, and thus, more workers.

Purple Perks are Ultra Rare Perks. When you see this Perk, you’d better hit all of the buttons on your keyboard and do your absolute best to research it. We’re willing to say that it's worth all of the Master Balls you’re carrying. Wait, wrong game. Basically, these are immensely valuable Perks as they dramatically improve your civilization. An example of this is Artificial Fertilization, which allows female Nuggets to become pregnant by visiting a Science Lab if there are no male Nuggets around. We’re really using a lot of reproduction examples today, but you get what we mean.