I am pretty sure finishing off the microbe stage is more on the agenda currently and adding a brand new major compound like methane could just push 1.0.0 into 2026 (which would be unacceptable I can imagine).
If it does come after 1.0.0 though, perhaps it could still be doable in the 1.X.Xs before focus shifts to the macroscopic+?
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Thrive is an open source project so literally anyone could make the methane feature right now and send it as a pull request. Of course as we are close to microbe stage completion they would need to themselves do game design and balance work to make sure it is very good quality, but the roadmap has never been about preventing people who want to work on something from working on it.
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I know, the thing is that:
Might not be so easy to do with just ~3 months left before 1.0.0.
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The ninth stage is where the game becomes real and you are now a god IRL.
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Is that an alternative to descending?
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Maybe the ninth stage is where you unlock Multiplayer and explore the Thrive Multiverse? 
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So you would need to complete the game first before being able to play in multiplayer?
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It depends on when the Thrive devs decide to add Multiplayer.
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There was a prototype created a year or two ago but itβs code would probably not work anymore.
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I was thinking more the Galactic stage. Because I still believe the Space stage should be slit into your solar system, and then the Galactic stage. Also, I believe that Ascended will wind up with options and refinement after the Galactic stage is βfinishedβ. Which would make 10.
- Microbe
- Multicellular
- Macroscopic
- Aware
- Awake
- Social
- Industrial
- Space
- Galactic
- Ascended
That so sounds like an Ascended ability. Crossing the multiverse with your godly powers. It would make the likely different mechanics of multiplayer make more sense, It would then be a competition between Ascended beings and/or their creations. And having different timescales and limitations from the normal game could be rules agreed to by the Ascended for their competitions. Very Interesting.
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Would ascending no matter the circumstances give one multiplier or would it only be available above a certain difficulty?
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So like 5D Chess with Multiverse Travelβ¦
I donβt think multiplayer should be locked with difficulty. That would be unfair. To properly balance things out for everyone, as Poodelicus suggested, Ascended players would agree to certain game rules and conditions. I could see a version of the Planet customization tool being retooled as a Multiplayer Universe customization tool, which would be shared between Ascended Players. This Multiplayer Universe tool would allow customization options not normally seen when starting a Single Player world, such as having the 0.6.4.0 mass speed reducing effect turned off. Or maybe to make Multiplayer Universe tool even simpler, the game could also have an option to just average out the initial game conditions between the Ascended Players.
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I feel like this could end up creating some strange difficultiesβ¦
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Maybe that could be a fun and unique aspect for Multiplayer?
Other Ascended Players: βWhy is my cell suddenly so much faster?!β
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How would stuff like climate or events be averaged with theirsβ rigid settings?
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Or maybe it would be better for the game to pick the most used settings from Ascended Players by default? Like one person had Unstable climate, another two people had Stable climate, and another person had Normal, the game would choose Stable climate. Or maybe let the Ascended Players choose if the game cannot decide?
Also, would Ascended Playersβ creations have the Ascendension Perks chosen by the Player if someone choose already completed the Single-Player game portion? Imagine two different cells from different universes, each one having a different effect due to different Ascension Perks.
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I donβt really see why those perks wouldnβt be compatible, unless thereβs some architecture with ascension perks which makes them always apply to the whole biosphere, whichβd make getting various ones on different species a hard task indeedβ¦
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Probably, one Ascended player would need to βhostβ other players. The host would likely set the rules, and others would look at who had a game with what rules going and choose which βcompetitionβ they wish to join in on. I know a few other games allow one player to host others.
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I wonder if this multiplayer system could be extended to create entire servers of hundreds/thousandsβ¦
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That would likely depend on the computer/s of the hosting Ascending player. Also, that was a double post. Or not?
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