Patch 10.25

The Sapling

The Sapling is a short simulation game where you design your own plants and animals, and put them in a world together. Or you turn on random mutations, and see what evolution does to your ecosystem!

Large: * Algae near the shore can now evolve into plants * Aquatic animals are now also restricted by ocean current speed, making huge population boosts less likely, and giving them reason to evolve * Fixed a bug preventing aquatic animals from evolving into air breathing animals * Completely overhauled how animal positions are tracked, making time jumps with a lot of animals much faster Small: * Fixed disappearing alga models problem * Optimization: disabled animations for invisible algae in a few more situations, increasing framerates for large underwater worlds * Backfins and tailfins can now evolve separately from side fins, taking their own evolutionary path * Optimization: removed unneccessary checks for swimming aquatic animals, increasing framerates for large underwater worlds * The algorithm that decides which animal models are built now prioritizes common species, which is both faster and gives a much better display of the variety * Avoid reproducing in crowded areas (which would make them even more crowded) * Fixed a simulation bug where children of existing species did not do damage to plants and algae when eating them (that is, they had an infinite food source) * Fixed glitches related to instincts 'go away from x' near the edge of the map * Fixed glitches related to algae being eaten even before than can grow * Fixed a simulation bug causing underwater nests * The species list view now remembers which filters were (de)activated * Ocean current speed is now determined by distance from the shore, not wind speed, to make it more gradual and reliable * Made the game write some more information to the log file, in the hope of catching another 'impossible animal'