New Cycle gets a new look with Unity 6. Changes are coming for the survival city builder, available in early access

New Cycle will soon undergo major modifications. Old players should be back in the game and new players now have a great excuse to start playing. Developers have ported the game to Unity 6 and are now redesigning some parts of the UI. The plans also include expanding the gameplay with new mechanics.

Zbigniew Woznicki

Source: Daedalic Entertainment

New Cycle has been in early access for a year and soon the game will likely undergo some of the biggest changes to date. Some of them were implemented at the request of the players, e.g. changes in the development trees of the city. The Core Engage studio announced that they have made significant progress in the development of New Cycle over the past few months.

What is New Cycle?

For those unfamiliar with the title: New Cycle is a survival city builder that throws you into a post-apocalyptic universe reminiscent of the industrial revolution. Our main task is to expand the city, acquire resources and survive in a hostile environment. In the meantime, we can introduce and develop new technologies to make it easier for the city to function as well as establish laws that will shape its society. The upcoming changes are intended to diversify the above elements, all thanks to upgrading the game to the newer version of the Unity engine.

Buy New Cycle on Steam!

New Cycle is switching to Unity 6

New Cycle was produced with the Unity engine, and now, after a few months, the game is being moved to the engine's latest version, Unity 6. According to the creators, this will allow for further development of the game and will improve its performance. Unity 6 provides new developer tools, which make programming tasks easier. Players can expect a refreshed graphic design.

New lighting design makes the winter nights more atmospheric. - New Cycle gets a new look with Unity 6. Changes are coming for the survival city builder, available in early access - news - 2025-01-29
New lighting design makes the winter nights more atmospheric.

In New Cycle, players can choose various biomes, which, thanks to Unity 6, will become even more unique. In addition to improving texture quality, the lighting will also be improved. The number of effects displayed simultaneously will be increased as well. One of the biggest innovations are volumetric clouds, the movement of which depends on weather conditions and time of day.

To better convey the dark, post-apocalyptic atmosphere, the Core Engage studio, in accordance with the players' wishes, has developed new skylights and lighting compositions that will better match individual biomes.

Lighting and textures look much better thanks to Unity 6. - New Cycle gets a new look with Unity 6. Changes are coming for the survival city builder, available in early access - news - 2025-01-29
Lighting and textures look much better thanks to Unity 6.

Since we're on the topic of biomes, it's worth mentioning that two new maps focusing on aquatic biomes will be introduced to the game. As one might guess, fishing will be one of the main sources of food in this case. New biomes will also bring other mechanics, such as water salinity or alternative methods of energy production. Apart from that, the possibilities of production and exploration will be limited until proper diplomacy- and trade-related research is conducted.

Interface changes and new gameplay elements in New Cycle

The interface has been tweaked to better illustrate the diversity of available biomes. Players will have more biomes to choose from and can easily check what threats each environment entails, even before they start the game.

The New Cycle update also includes several interesting gameplay modifications. Among other things, the chemical development tree has been expanded with new resources, which will be required in already existing production processes.

Aquatic biomes emphasize the new industry branches. - New Cycle gets a new look with Unity 6. Changes are coming for the survival city builder, available in early access - news - 2025-01-29
Aquatic biomes emphasize the new industry branches.

Thanks to the update, we have received a migration mechanic. New stories and processes will appear that will allow a better understanding of the society building its future on the ruins of the old world. Naturally, this also entails new obstacles as well as decisions that players will have to make throughout the game. It's entirely up to the player whether they accept newcomers into their settlement or if they send them away.

The development tree has undergone significant modifications. The devs admit that the development of the metropolis has been too linear and monotonous so far. The development options will be divided into further subcategories, which will allow for a more diverse approach to expanding your city. As a result, players are given a choice and are not forced to follow the same path every time. Moreover, our choices will affect modifiers such as reputation or ideology.

Managing conveyor belts is one of the key mechanics of New Cycle. - New Cycle gets a new look with Unity 6. Changes are coming for the survival city builder, available in early access - news - 2025-01-29
Managing conveyor belts is one of the key mechanics of New Cycle.

In addition, the Core Engage devs took a closer look at the conveyor belt management system, which many players liked, although for some it proved to be too demanding. The developers revealed that this was one of the reasons why players were giving up further gameplay. For this reason, the possibility of building conveyor belts underground was introduced, which should somewhat facilitate managing the entire system. This is not meant to be the final form of this mechanic though. Apparently, it's going to be further developed and as a result, even better integrated with the rest of the game.

Birth mechanics is another thing that is going to be adjusted, followed by balancing production or the value of consumer goods. New players will also have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the updated tutorials.

Vehicle travel in New Cycle

To diversify gameplay and give players a chance to break away from the overwhelming duties of a metropolis manager, Core Engage has introduced a car driving mechanic. As a result, additional missions will appear. Moreover, aquatic biomes will involve a swimming mechanic in the future as well.

We will also receive a new soundtrack with eight new tracks. In addition to this, the developers plan to expand the current 50-parameter game customization with additional options, such as enabling or disabling the mobility of these fauna elements that are dependent on the wind or the shadows quality.

We'll get behind the wheel of a truck! - New Cycle gets a new look with Unity 6. Changes are coming for the survival city builder, available in early access - news - 2025-01-29
We'll get behind the wheel of a truck!

Buy New Cycle on Steam!

That's all Core Engage has prepared for its fans in the latest update. The developers do notice and appreciate that more and more players are exceeding the 30-hour gameplay mark, which shows that New Cycle is able to draw you in for dozens of hours. The release date for its final version hasn't been announced yet, but until then you can get it in early access on Steam for 29.99 USD.

This article was created in collaboration with Daedalic Entertainment.

New Cycle

January 18, 2024

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Zbigniew Woznicki

Author: Zbigniew Woznicki

He began his adventure with journalism and writing on the Allegro website, where he published news related to games, technology, and social media. He soon appeared on Gamepressure and Filmomaniak, writing about news related to the film industry. Despite being a huge fan of various TV series, his heart belongs to games of all kinds. He isn't afraid of any genre, and the adventure with Tibia taught him that sky and music in games are completely unnecessary. Years ago, he shared his experiences, moderating the forum of mmorpg.org.pl. Loves to complain, but of course constructively and in moderation.