PC development blog

[Petter]

Hi All,
I've started a small blog where I make updates on the PC version development progress. It can be found on the main web page cell-lab.net. Please let me know here if you have any suggestions relating to what I show there. I know there are lots of suggestions here already and I keep those in mind while coding, but new things might come up relating to what I show there. E.g. I do not have any game scripting experience so perhaps someone experienced in modding/scripiting can weigh in on design decisions I've made?

Cheers,
Petter

[HumanoidX]

Thanks!!!
Can you show me where is the source code? Maybe I can help...

[Petter]

Hi HumanoidX!
Thanks for offering to help! I was planning on selling the PC version so it is not open source unfortunately. This will also allow me to run a server and have some multiplayer stuff. At the very least I will make some system for easier sharing of substrates and genomes as this is a hassle now. There will be some way of browsing and perhaps rating interesting substrates in-game, and of course upload substrates or simply share to a friend.

I will ask for help with beta testing at some point, and I think help with making challenges would be nice if anyone would like to do that (those will be open source). It will mostly be porting of the old challenges to the new scripts, and perhaps making them a bit nicer with the options it offers (and larger substrates). But some new challenges would be nice too. But this will be at a later stage when there is a beta ready.

[Petter]

Btw, I'm thinking a bit about the unlocking of genes. I think it can be quite rewarding to finish a challenge, and get to explore a new cell type. I also think it could be quite overwhelming to have access to all cell types in the beginning making it very difficult to get a grip on how it works and some users might give up before figuring out all of them.

However, I also see how this could be annoying and some users might feel that this is an unnecessary limitation in the game. It would also make these multiplayer features easier if everyone had access to the same cell types.

What do you think? Would you have played as much, more or less, if all cell types were available in experimental mode from the start?

[HumanoidX]

Thanks
Looking forward to the PC version

[HumanoidX]

Btw, I'm thinking a bit about the unlocking of genes. I think it can be quite rewarding to finish a challenge, and get to explore a new cell type. I also think it could be quite overwhelming to have access to all cell types in the beginning making it very difficult to get a grip on how it works and some users might give up before figuring out all of them.

However, I also see how this could be annoying and some users might feel that this is an unnecessary limitation in the game. It would also make these multiplayer features easier if everyone had access to the same cell types.

What do you think? Would you have played as much, more or less, if all cell types were available in experimental mode from the start?

Mm hm, I think... Umm... Arr... Ahh, I can't think of it!
I mean, it would be nice to let them play with all the genes without completeng all the challenges, but it is bad to be confusing...
I think you will maybe keep the old mobile challenges and unlocking genes so that it won't be confusing.

[Petter]

New dev blog update!

Yea might be confusing, but what do you think about the reward part?

I'm afraid I will not be too backwards compatible with Android cell lab, some things might have to be relearned (I might change names of things, e.g. the glueocyte..). My feeling is that most users download the game and enjoy it for a while and then get bored. This is natural and I don't see it as a failure as long as they enjoyed it for a while. However, it means I don't need to keep everything the same as old versions. I might be wrong though, I must have gotten a few hundred messages after removing the copy from .

[HumanoidX]

Haha, copy from is good, should really implement it.
And for the reward part...
Aha. Why don't Cell Lab reward cell modes, dish size and cell types instead of only cell types?

[Petter]

Some more advanced settings, like nutrient priority (?), are unlocked by challenges too already. The thinking was to make early levels easier with less things to consider, and then there is some extra motivation to keep on finishing challenges Perhaps I should lock more features like that? Mode number doesn't feel like it is so useful to hide, handling 20 is not harder than 5.

[hansgone]

Perhaps I should lock more features like that?

Yeah, I believe you should lock like, literally every features at the beginning. Then, break the current *optional* tutorials down into smaller challenges to introduce those features. Maybe it's just me but I actually hadn't played any of the tutorial before getting stuck at the neurocytes.

Important features (such as split mass) can be main challenges, required to progress, while the others (like mirroring) can become side challenges.