Thrive: Progress Update 5/02/2026

From Thrive: link to original post

Despite this work week once again only having 4 days, there is still a significant number of patch notes. In new mechanics, we have the visualization side of the cell adjacency system (the back-end was already included last week). Whenever you have a cell type selected to place somewhere, or are hovering over a cell with the cursor, any adjacency effects are displayed with green arrows, and numbers that show the strength of the bonus.

Another new mechanic is that we now have the ability to restrict organelles from being placed in cells with some membrane types. What mainly inspired this is that muscle contraction is not really scientifically credible in cells with cell walls, especially of the mineral type. Currently, this only applies to the myofibril in the Macroscopic Stage being restricted to Normal/Double membranes.

There have also been a number of smaller changes and fixes. Chemoplasts were buffed and Nitroplasts were adjusted for scientific accuracy. There were bugfixes for an error caused by the recent addition of connection lines in Macroscopic, colony member cells not receiving any radiation, and the editor ATP production bar showing the wrong number for compound usage, among other things. Meanwhile, over on the development forums we only had one comment on the Macroscopic 3D artstyle.

Next week will most likely be the last week for adding new features before the release of Thrive 1.1. So look below for the full progress list, and we will see you next week with the last additions before the next release!

Programming

• New Devbuild available to our Patreon Supporters:
  • Cell adjacency bonuses are now shown in the editor on hovering on a cells
  • Auto-evo migrations now prefer targeting empty patches and won't be generated for a patch that already had the migrating species in it
  • Added a feature to make some organelles incompatible with certain membranes. For example, myofibril can't be now used with wall type cells.
  • Fixed microbe colony members not being able to receive radiation from rocks
  • Fixed tooltips being in the wrong position for one frame when initially becoming visible
  • Fixed the nitroplast not being scientifically accurate (it no longer uses oxygen)
  • Fixed a bug in the multicellular editor allowing it to move cells to overlap each other
  • Fixed multicellular growth not resuming correctly if the main cell got engulfed and then ejected
  • Buffed glucose output of the chemoplast to make it a proper upgrade again (some previous game balancing cycle had not adjusted it correctly)
  • Fixed ATP production bar showing incorrect numbers for compound usage
  • The microbe AI now uses closest colony member distance to determine when to turn on engulf mode
  • Fixed a regression in symmetry mode in macroscopic causing an error
  • Fixed context-specific tracks being able to play multiple times in a row when there were non-context specific tracks that could have been played instead
  • Implemented a general physics force system and updated the division animation to use it
  • Added console commands for managing the in-game jukebox
  • Fixed incorrect native library calls when the return type was a boolean
  • Fixed some output interleaving and scrolling problems in the console
  • Renamed AbsorptionRatio to AbsorptionRate in our code
  • Updated code checking tools - Updated dependency nuget packages
  • Updated translations

Graphics

• Comment on Macroscopic Stage 3D artstyle.
• There is now visualization of the cell adjacency system. Whenever you hover the cursor over an already placed cell, or have a cell type selected to place and are hovering over an empty hex:
  • Green arrows pointing towards the cell are shown from each adjacent cell of the same type.
  • A percentage is shown on the cell for the bonus to cell specilization it currently receives/would receive.
  • Similarly, a percentage is shown on each adjacent cell for the amount they contribute to that bonus.

Gameplay

• Removed oxygen consumption from the Nitroplast nitrogen fixation process, because that is not how this process works in real life. Instead, it now simply produces about triple the Ammonia of a Nitrogenase, at a slightly better ATP efficiency.
• Slightly increased the Chemoplast's production and efficiency to make sure it is a worthwhile upgrade over the chemosynthesizing proteins.
• In a notable fix, all cells in a colony (including Multicellular species) now absorb radiation, both for damage and for radiosynthesis.
• The Macroscopic Stage cell part Myofibril can now no longer be used in cells with cell walls (anything other than Normal or Double membrane)
• AI-controlled colonies (including Multicellular species) can now turn on engulfment mode if any of their cells are close enough to the target, rather than only checking the “main” cell.

Sound

• Nothing substantial.

Theory

• Nothing substantial.

Outreach

• Nothing substantial.

Other

• Nothing substantial.