Changelog — Shepherd's Cells

Apr 16

Continued tuning of cell split timing, light intensities, and minor visual fixes.

Apr 15

Added glucose and oxygen as the resource cost for cell splitting — cells no longer split for free.
New upgrade: Red Blood Cells — flat biconcave disc cells that roam the world collecting debris. Each upgrade costs 10 DNA + 1 sacrifice and spawns 2 RBCs. Max 512 per colony.
Reworked debris system — glucose, oxygen, and microplastic pickups now scatter the world.
Added a heart mesh landmark to the game world.
FPS cap added to improve consistency on lower-end devices.
Easter seasonal content.

Apr 14

Antibody system updated — improved targeting logic and pathogen-marking behaviour.
Virus definitions and world config merged into a single world.json file for cleaner data management.
Minor fixes across multiple systems.

Apr 12 – 13

Major feature: 10 virus types added — Rhinovirus through Smallpox, unlocking progressively as your colony grows. Each has unique speed, infection radius, and learn time.
New upgrade: Antibody — researches and tags pathogens so T-Cells can destroy them. Costs 50 DNA + 3 sacrifices.
Full mobile GUI support — touch-friendly upgrade panel and controls.
Tutorial added for new players.
Anti-aliasing restored.
Performance optimisations across the render pipeline.
Lighting and environment improvements.
Menu polish and bug fixes.

Apr 11

Rally ability added — pulls your colony toward the Shepherd Cell. 15-second duration, 100-second cooldown.
Stats screen added, tracking colony size, DNA earned, captures, and more.
Main menu implemented with new game / continue flow.

Apr 10

Music and sound effects added throughout — ambient tracks, UI sounds, and cell events.
Full environment rework — new sky panorama, reworked lighting, improved atmosphere.
Additional sound polish and volume balance pass.

Apr 9

Sick, faulty, and virally infected cells now drain DNA instead of just not contributing — sick −0.015/s, faulty −0.03/s, viral −0.05/s. HUD rate label turns red when the colony is net negative.
Fixed save manager bug causing cells to become invisible on load.
Performance optimisations reducing per-frame overhead on large colonies.

Apr 7 – 8

Complete redesign as a colony idle game — cells now split automatically on a timer, replacing the old trait/era system.
40% of newly split cells are born faulty. Faulty cells die over 120 seconds and spread sickness to nearby cells within 2 units.
Game over triggers when all colony cells are lost after the colony previously grew past 1.
World expanded to 78-unit radius. Colony cap set to 2,048 cells.
Mitosis split animation added — cells swell then separate.
Mobile support added.
Multiple bug and UI fixes.