Elysian Eclipse

Elysian Eclipse is a Sandbox Evolution Simulator, aiming to be a spiritual successor to the hit 2008 game Spore, letting you evolve from a single-celled amoeba into a space-travelling sentient being.

Development
Development for Elysian Eclipse began in early January 2022. The lead developer of Elysian Eclipse Wauzmons has said when asked about the name of Elysian Eclipse; "Elysian, because your species ascends into the sky. Eclipse, because their empire will cover the stars."

2022
The website and subreddit for Elysian Eclipse were created on January 13th. Regular monthly updates on developments were reported in Elysian Logs, along with previews on reddit. On April 9th, V 0.1.1, also known as the first early access version of Elysian Eclipse was released, which included early versions of the Cell and Creature Editors.

On July 28th, V 0.1.4 was released including the first control prototype for the creature stage (The Blorb Zone) marking the first time that one could actually "play" the game. In October, V 0.2.0 will release introducing the first Cell Stage demo, it will include the base of an actual playable Cell Stage.

Gameplay
Game-play will be similar to Spore, the player starts in the Cell Stage and will eventually work their way up to the Space Stage at the end of the game. Each stage will have its own mechanics and is spread over multiple game genres. The player will be able to create and customize their creature, along with their civilizations and vehicles. Players will be able to share their content online with other players which whom they can interact with in-game. A multiplayer mode is planned for the game.

Currently, there isn't too much information on gameplay as the game is still in early development. As of V 0.1.4 only the Microbe and Creature Editors are available, along with The Blorb Zone creature stage control prototype. The first Cell Stage demo will release in V 0.2.0, sometime around October 2022.

Stages
In Elysian Eclipse there are seven different game stages. Cell, Aquatic, Creature, Tribal, Medieval, Industrial, and finally Space.

Cell Stage
The Cell Stage is the main stage in development right now, which will have a level system, part upgrading system and multiple biomes.

Aquatic & Creature Stage
The Aquatic & Creature stages will take place after the Cell Stage and are planned to include, complex multi-biome planets, creature types and a variety of creature diets.

Other Stages
The Tribal, Medieval, Industrial, and Space Stages are all further in development and are planned to include level-able skills, crafting, research systems, cities with no premade layouts and fleet management. The Tribal, Medieval, and Industrial Stages are planned to have elements of RTS gameplay. The beginning of Space Stage will have the player colonizing planets in their own solar system, and then will eventually achieve interstellar travel.

Editors
In Elysian Eclipse there is going to be a wide variety of Editors. As of May 2022, the Microbe Editor and Creature Editors are in early access, though the Vehicle, Nest, and Building editors and more are planned.