The latest version of Intelligent Design is now available to download. This update introduces an important new system - science research. Your goals in the game are to create a stable ecosystem by creating plants, herbivores and carnivores. You have always been aware that their behaviors depend on some underling genetic code. I gave some very simple tools for you to inspect each organisms genes, over time you could have potentially figured out what each gene controls. However this was too difficult, hence I came up with a science system which unlocks that information for you.
To start generating science you need to build a research station, you pay for these with biomass. These stations investigate organisms within a particular range. Each station has a research generation rate and along with how many organisms it can see, and your current organism level, this determines how quickly you generate science. You can spend biomass to upgrade research stations, this increases their range and generation rate. The cost of upgrades and building new research stations increases as you build more. This is balanced by any science you generate also resulting in a biomass income. You can also build collectors which will siphon biomass from the surrounding environment and plants. The question is what is most efficient way of creating an effective science generating machine?
Science is then used to unlock some new abilities. These abilities firstly show you what each gene in an organism does. It then allows you to change the maximum value that gene can take when you create new organisms. This gives you more power to control your ecosystem. It also might result in some much weirder creatures. Remember once you introduce a genetically modified organism into your environment you can't take it back...
In future updates I'm going to work on polish, I know there are some visual bugs if you spam upgrade buildings. As far as I'm aware the underling model/mechanics are working correctly. Download the game give it a try and let me know what you think!
