Niche - a genetics survival game News & Patch Notes

This is just a small hotfix to fix a security vulnerability of the unity engine.

Dear pack It’s been a while and we hope you have been doing well :) We have some exciting news to share with you today 🎉 We teamed up with Makeship to produce more cute new Niche merch. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25155836/b83a1582a3a355c49e6e666affb54006af9e8d77.png Is it a bear? Is it a hyena? Even worse, it's a Bearyena! Who among us has not hasn't fallen prey to them on our adventures? Luckily this one's still a baby, so we should be safe (for now). We might actually be safe for good, because these plushies will only be produced if at least 200 people order one until December 3rd. So if you want to help unleash the Bearyena calamity on the world, please make sure to order yours asap ❤️ https://www.makeship.com/products/bearyena-plush {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25155836/cfc30520e3d4f87d0310562a169a1b3ce8cd122a.png Cheers & Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio PS: Check out this video if you're interested in the plushie's creation process :)

Dear pack We wanted to give you a quick heads-up that we launched a Kickstarter campaign for an Adam plush and lots of other Niche merch :D {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25155836/a97bce265536c7b8f93374a5d21e09cf09908db6.png Many of the rewards have been created by Niche community members. We're already close to reaching our funding goal, with stretch goals waiting to be unlocked 😸 Please make sure to take a look 💖 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/strayfawnstudio/adam-plushies Cheers & Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Updated news section with Niche merch Kickstarter

Dear pack We have two exciting news to share with you :D First: Niche has been released on Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X! You can check it out here. Second: Our first ever mobile game, Niche - Breed and Evolve was just released on iOS and Android! It took us a lot longer than we imagined to finish Breed and Evolve. It was planned to be a tiny project but in the end we worked on it over the course of two years! But now that it’s done, we really love how it turned out. It’s quite different from the original Niche. This time the focus is fully on the breeding mechanics and not on survival. It’s a chill casual game about building up your own pack, adapting to the world to unlock new islands and collecting all the genes. (Plus you can pet your Nichelings now ^^) It’s a premium game and costs $2.99. If that sounds interesting to you it would be AWESOME if you could support us once again by spreading the word and/or buying the game and writing a review asap ❤️ There are also some giveaways happening on Facebook and Twitter. Cheers & Thanks, Larissa, Philomena and the Stray Fawn team

Hi Pack! First of all, we wanted to give you a quick heads-up about all the things that are currently happening in the Niche universe :) - We are porting Niche to Xbox1 and PS4. - We will soon release 'Niche - Breed and Evolve' (a new Niche game for mobile that focuses mostly on breeding and less on survival) - We are soon running a Kickstarter for Adam plushies (and they turned out super cute!) - We are writing a draft for a book with an author about the story of Adam's sister Nara (though this is still very WIP and we're not sure what will happen with it) - And Philomena (Niche's lead game designer) started programming a new Niche-related prototype and is documenting it in our forums ^^ Come join us in the forums or our Discord if you want to chat about any of these :D ------ The second topic for today's community news is a bug we had with save files on MacOSX: Since December 17th Niche is using a new folder for the save files on MacOSX. Unfortunately this caused problems with the Steam Cloud sync and it did not sync the files anymore. The Cloud Sync should now be fixed and work again. You might get a popup asking if you want to download the old saves or upload the new ones when you start the game. To recover old save files that were created before the 17th of December you have to copy them into the new save folder. Here is how you can do that: - Open the Finder - Click on Go in the top bar, hold the Option Button so you can see the Library Folder - Then click on Library - In Library/Application Support are two Niche folders: unity.Team Niche.Niche - a genetics survival game/Saves <- This folder is not used anymore and contains the save files before December 17th. com.strayfawnstudio.niche/Saves <- This is the new folder which contains the saves made after December 17th. - Copy the old save file that you want to play from unity.Team Niche.Niche - a genetics survival game/Saves to com.strayfawnstudio.niche/Saves - If there already is an new save for the same slot, it will be overwritten. So make sure to make a backup copy of a save before overwriting it, if you want to keep it.¨ {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25155836/92138a387b0f62f9ee1f488464d0571b0efd6664.png We are sorry for the problems that this change caused. Hopefully this guide helps you to recover your old saves. If you still have trouble write us an email to [email protected] and we can help you. Cheers & Thanks Stray Fawn Studio

Dear pack, Today we released a new update for Niche: a completely new Simplified Chinese localization done by our partner WhisperGames. We also fixed a bug where status effects were no longer visible when the Nicheling is underwater. To celebrate, the game will have a -60% discount during Steam Winter festival. We wish you all happy holidays and a great start into 2021 :) Cheers! Stray Fawn Studio

Dear pack As indie developers it's very important to support fellow devs when they finally launch their game after many years of work :) So we want to go ahead and give a shoutout to our friends from Slug Disco who just released their game pet/strategy/genetics simulator Beetle Uprising from Early Access to Full Release on Steam today. It didn’t do too great at launch in 2017 and they’re trying to breathe new life into it. There have been some big changes for this release so if you’re into beetles, pet games, Real Time Tactics, or if you happen to be in the market for a really quite in-depth genetics simulator (which I'm pretty sure you are ;)), then check it out. https://store.steampowered.com/app/662680/Beetle_Uprising/ And here is the new release celebration trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLwrxRcdAyU {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25155836/1a34f3bd2a069df7bda31cf708b6b45f287e1c1f.png Cheers & Thanks Stray Fawn Studio

Dear pack, We just launched the Kickstarter campaign for our next game: The Wandering Village! The Wandering Village is a brand-new city-building simulation game where you build a settlement on the back of a giant, wandering creature. Have a look at our trailer to get a feeling what the game is about:

About the game

Mysterious plants are spreading all over the earth, emitting toxic spores as they grow. A group of people seeks shelter on the back of a giant, wandering creature. Becoming their leader, players build both their settlement and a symbiotic relationship with the gentle beast to survive together in this hostile, yet beautiful post-apocalyptic world that now surrounds them. For more information about the game please visit the Steam page and don't forget to wishlist it <3 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121640/The_Wandering_Village/

Kickstarter

Like we did with our other games Niche and Nimbatus we are launching a Kickstarter campaign for The Wandering Village where you can support us and get some awesome rewards in return! The campaign will be live for the next 30 days, please make sure to check it out :) We also set up a new Discord server for the game. Come and join us to share your ideas about the game, chat with us and meet other fans! Cheers & Thanks Stray Fawn Studio

Our good friends over at Monster Couch have released their digital edition of Wingspan today, and we've teamed up with them to offer a special 10% discount for all Niche owners on top of their launch offer. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25155836/5aa328252deb7619f0d56e476b113c9d74aa0d41.png If you've not heard of it before, Wingspan is a relaxing strategy card game about birds for 1 to 5 players. Each beautiful bird that you add to your preserve makes you better at laying eggs, drawing cards, or gathering food. Many of the 170 unique birds have powers that echo real life: your hawks will hunt, your pelicans will fish, and your geese will form a flock. Check out their trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNmg0sJRn_I And you can find it on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1054490/Wingspan/ {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25155836/58b058d54534fb3ed53a90f2c79f447899512ecf.png Cheers & Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Dear pack Today is the day, Niche has just been released on Nintendo Switch! It would be amazing if you could help us spread the word about the launch. And as a little thanks all of these options also include a Switch key raffle!

Retweet the announcement tweet
Share the Facebook announcement
Comment & like our announcement on Instagram
Join our Discord and leave a comment in the #giveaway channel

Thanks for your support, The Stray Fawn Team

Dear pack Did you know that we’re currently porting Niche to Switch :D? And we now finally have a release date: September 3rd 2020! This took so much more work and time than we expected. Reworking the UI, adding controller support, making it run smoothly. But we have finally arrived at a version that we enjoy playing on Switch just as much as on PC. And we hope you will like it too :) In case you are interested to buy Niche on Switch: You get a 10% discount if you pre-order on the Nintendo eShop before the game launches on September 3rd! https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/niche-a-genetics-survival-game-switch/ {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25155836/464f134abb4add0263f42e6b18d57eb3553b4a5b.jpg To celebrate the occasion Niche is 45% off until September 4th, 10:00am PST. On other news, we’re also hard at work on a brand-new Niche mobile game and are hoping to run a Kickstarter for an Adam plushie early/mid next year ^_^ Thanks for your support, The Stray Fawn Team

Dear pack Our studio has just released its second game on Steam :D It’s called Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor https://store.steampowered.com/app/383840/Nimbatus__The_Space_Drone_Constructor/ Here is a gameplay overview video we put together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXWlxelXCrg Nimbatus is a game about building your own drones and sending them out on missions. While the setting (space) is quite different from Niche, they share quite a few gameplay aspects and genres. If you own Niche on Steam, you get 10% off Nimbatus during the next 2 weeks, loyalty discount. Together with the launch week discount, that means 35% off! Cheers, Stray Fawn Studio PS: To celebrate the occasion, Niche is currently 50% off :)

Dear pack, We just uploaded a hotfix to fix the steam achievements. It seems like the last update broke the achievements. They should now work again. Unfortunately you have to redo the required actions for some achievements to trigger. Thanks for reporting these issues! The Stray Fawn team

Dear pack Niche just turned 3 years old! And we have some special news to share with you today.

We're currently porting Niche to Nintendo Switch.
AND! we're working on a brand-new Niche mobile game!

Both are planned to be released in 2020 :D Want to chat about the these awesome news with us and other players? Come visit us in our forums. To celebrate the birthday, Niche is now 30% off! Also, in case you missed it, Niche is now available for schools for free! Thanks for your support, The Stray Fawn Team

Dear pack Niche is now available for schools and teachers for free! https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25155836/5de80085bf96d520293adfa55136e78dc4ab10c7.png When the game was released, we started receiving requests from teachers about buying educational licences. After considering all the options we decided to give them the game for free instead. This is our way of saying thank you for all the support we received along the way. Niche wouldn't exist without its Kickstarter and without the people who trusted us enough to buy it during early access. Thank you all for making this possible :) All infos can be found here: https://niche-game.com/for-schools/ Want to help us spreading the word? Like + share this post on Facebook And/or retweet this one Cheers and Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Hey folks We just uploaded a hotfix (1.2.1) to fix the Japanese Tutorial texts. Thanks for reporting this bug! Cheers and Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Dear pack The sandbox settings update is now available to play for everybody! A huge thanks to all of you who helped us with the testing and reported bugs. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25155836/12e62ce3a95d1f0c52a2398e1ea16015b60ea238.gif This update is all about changing the sandbox mode according to your preferences: Deciding how old your animals can get, designing your starter animals, setting your own goals, etc. All important new features can be seen in this update video on Youtube. But there is plenty more! The complete patch notes can be found in our forums. Another important addition: Niche is now also available in Japanese and Polish. To celebrate the occasion we're running a sale: Niche is currently 30% off If you don’t own the game yet or want to win a Steam key for a friend: We’re running a giveaway in our forums (and also on Facebook and Twitter) We hope you all enjoy this new version ^^ It would be great if you help us to spread the word! Cheers and Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Dear pack member If you down own Niche yet (or want to get it for a friend), this is your call! The game is 40% off during the Steam autumn sale, starting now. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25155836/cacdcfa6e69785099591474630202a274be66da2.jpg On other news, we have started to work on a big new update: Customization options for the sandbox mode! This means that you will soon be able change settings, such as how long an animal lives and what your starting pair looks like. Do you have ideas for cool settings we should add? Come join us in the Niche forums! Cheers & Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio PS: Our other game, Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor is on sale too! You can get if 20% off during the Steam autumn sale.

Hey pack :) The new update featuring wings and the whale island is now live. A huge thanks to everyone who helped with the bug testing <3 https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25155836/c1e91322aa8a5e725ef0bb64aad60c68936aaff9.png

Community Voting

[The voting to decide what will be added in the next update, starts NOW! Suggest things and vote for your favorite ideas until July 9th! Head over here to participate: https://strayfawnstudio.com/community/index.php?/forum/15-feature-requests/

Patch notes, version 1.1.4

New Features

New paw gene (Wings) to jump over obstacles, swoop and sit on trees
New island (Whale Island)
Blue Birds can now be attacked if your animal can fly
New horn gene (Antenna) for weather prediction
New head gene (Purring Head) to heal surrounding pack mates
New head gene (Beak) which gives digging and collecting ability
New tail gene (Scorpion Tail) which makes animals venomous
New tail gene (Fin Tail) which gives high swimming ability
New tail gene (Peacock Tail) only works for males and attracts wild females
Lots of new trees! (Palms, Acacia, Mangrove, Asp)
Call when sitting on high places to attract wild Nichelings
Day Counter

Improvements

Spiky body babies can't be picked up by blue birds anymore
Leeches die when they attach themselves to toxic body creatures
Armored body is impervious to leeches
Damage from cacti and thorns depends on defense (3+ defense = no damage)
Added different assets for travel ports (which show difficulty of new island)
Digging paws now give digging +2
Oak Nuts can now be smelled
Lowered default animal texture resolution for players with less than 4GB RAM

Bugfixes

Arctic Ram Foxes now die of old age
Camouflage should now work with more fur color and grass combinations
Fixed several bugs when loading a savefile
The Animation when moving an animal should not loop anymore
Normal Blood Clotting can now be mutated
Identical Twins achievement should be awarded correctly
Globetrotter / Homecoming should not be awarded too early anymore
Clams / leeches no longer spawn on land
When restarting with the same bloodline, animals no longer can be blind
When restarting with the same bloodline, animals no longer can have the same immunity genes
Filtering for tail genes with spiky body now shows results
There should not be multiple digging buttons on an underwater field
Skeletons should now also appear on tree stumps
Visual fixes for poison fangs
Fixed Berry bush savannah double attack icon
Family tree can now be opened during the tutorial correctly
Survive in cold climate requirement now only requires temperature -1 instead of -2.
Toggling the UI on and off should not disable all notifications anymore
Typing 1,2 or 3 as the animal name should not toggle the senses anymore

We hope you enjoy all the new stuff! If you have any trouble please reach out to us. The best way to reach us is in our forums, which we check daily. https://strayfawnstudio.com/community/ Or via email [email protected] Cheers & Thanks a lot, Your Stray Fawn Team

Hi pack Thanks for all the bug reports! We fixed a lot of stuff. Here are the patch notes for version 1.1.1: https://strayfawnstudio.com/community/index.php?/topic/861-patch-notes-111/ Version 1.1.1 is currently on the release_preview branch. We'd recommend only playing this version if you want to help with bug testing. If you want to enjoy the finished, bug free update, please wait for it to come live on the main branch. If you want to jump right, please switch to the preview branch on Steam. Switching to the preview branch: – Open your Steam library – Right click on Niche – Click on properties – Select the Beta tab – Select the release_preview branch from the drop down – Restart Steam if the game does not update – Let the game update – Open Niche and play Please report bugs here and read the instructions on how to report bugs, before posting! Thanks :) Come join our forums and let us know what you think about the new update. Cheers and Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Hi pack! We are super happy to announce that the new update is now live on the preview branch :) Patch notes Please remember that this is an UPDATE PREVIEW. This means that there will be LOTS of bugs! If you just want to play and enjoy, it might be best to wait a few weeks, so that everything will be running without problems ^^ If you want to jump right in and help with bugtesting, please switch to the preview branch on Steam. Here is how: – Open your Steam library – Right click on Niche – Click on properties – Select the Beta tab – Select the release_preview branch from the drop down – Restart Steam if the game does not update – Let the game update – Open Niche and play Please report bugs here Please do a quick check if the bug has already been reported. If it has, leave a comment on the existing thread instead of opening a new one. That helps to keep things organized. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the new update! Please come join our forums and let us know what you think :) Cheers and Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Hi pack We just pushed a new build with some fixes and improvements to the main branch. Most of these things were already in place on the preview branch (version 1.0.6). A big thanks to everyone who helped with the testing <3 Improvements - Improved tutorial, now fully localised - Added new UI tooltips - Updated credits - Attacking rogue males prevents them from mating for a short time - Option to change animal texture resolution (Set to low to increase performance) - Added support for 64bit Windows and Linux -> Because of this you will now see a pop-up when playing with older versions on other branches. If you do, please choose the second option :) Fixes - Disabled UI key U, when renaming animals - Leeches can no longer move on land - Fixed problems with camouflage Cheers and Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Hi pack Here are the results of the first community voting :) The three most rated suggestions are: - Call to attract wild Nichelings, as real animals call to attract mates. - A set of new tail genes: Peacock, scorpion and fin. - Gene changes: The armored body is impervious to leeches, the toxic body kills leeches, spiky body babies can't be picked up by blue birds (we will also add prevention from cactus damage if you have armored body) These 3 suggestions + a day counter will be added to the game, hopefully in the March/April update when we add wings and the whale island ^_^ http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/25155836/a8e04c63bff28473b03050406c8e3d81bdc19e22.png Cheers, Stray Fawn Studio

Dear pack We just opened the first round of the community voting for new Niche features/improvements :) A huge thanks for all your awesome suggestions! Go cast your vote(s) for your favorite ideas now <3 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nA4KxKfpSD1c5yDlpWYQFY8Oub18rwguWzhCXM0lyaQ Cheers, Stray Fawn Studio

Hi pack We just pushed a new build with some fixes and improvements to the preview branch :)

Improvements

- Improved tutorial - Added new UI tooltips - Updated credits

Fixes

- Disabled UI key U, when renaming animals - Leeches can no longer move on land We would greatly appreciate feedback for the reworked tutorial here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/440650/discussions/1/2549465882920508124/ Please note that the new tutorial has not been localized yet. How to switch to the preview branch: – Open your Steam library – Right click on Niche – Click on properties – Select the Beta tab – Select the release_preview branch from the drop down – Let the game update – Open Niche and play Cheers and Thanks, Stray Fawn Studio

Hi pack We just pushed a new build with some fixes and improvements to the preview branch :)

Improvements

- Improved tutorial - Added new UI tooltips - Updated credits

Niche - a genetics survival game news & patch notes

Niche - a genetics survival game news & patch notes

About the game

Kickstarter

Community Voting

Patch notes, version 1.1.4

Improvements

Fixes

Improvements

Fixes

Steam news for Niche - a genetics survival game