Today, indie developer Wessel Stoop announced his evolution sim, The Sapling, that lets players design life is coming in December. Along with today’s announcement a first look video showcasing some of the game basics of life and evolution.
In the first look video, viewers are shown the UI to create a basic plant with enough energy to create a single fruit. Afterwards the plants are planted on the island backdrop. Individual plants can be selected to watch. Once a successful species is created more parts are unlocked. For example leaves can be used to increase energy gains of a given plant.
After a player masters the plant ecosystem a new editor is unlocked that allows for the creation of animals. With time players can evolve their animals and unleash them into the ecosystem. An instinct system lets player specify what an animal should do when it hears or sees something.
A sandbox mode is available as an alternative play method. In sandbox mode a special random mutation feature can be turned on. This allows for newborn plants and animals to have mutations and lets players see natural selection at work.
The world of The Sapling uses a low-poly art styling. With procedural animation any animal can perform any animation.
Music in the game uses a system that takes a collection of small music pieces. The music system responds to what is happening and combines the smaller on the fly creating a unique dynamic audio experience.
According to the game’s website, in the weeks leading up to the release more information is scheduled for release. An article about how player content works is marked for November 21 and on December 5 some interactive teaser content is on the schedule.
The Sapling is set to hit Steam, Itch, Gamejolt, and Kartridge for Windows and Linux on December 12, 2019 at a suggested price of $7.00 USD. All of the latest game details about The Sapling can be found at thesaplinggame.com or @thesaplinggame on Twitter.
Wessel Stoop is an indie game developer based in Nijmegen, a city located in The Netherlands. He had always wanted to play a simulation game where players could build their own plants and animals since 2002. The Sapling is the result of his desire.
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