- Idle Research 2 - Developer Standup Blog News - Episode 3 (XV-L) - 16 December 2025
Hey everyone! I'm back with the largest set of developer standup blogs so far. Since the last post, I have finally graduated from college with a bachelors in Computer Science, and transitioned to full-time software development. I've done a pretty good job balancing work, life, and this game, and I'm very excited to see where this goes! You will again see a lot of small changes throughout the next 26 posts. Enjoy!This is probably the longest steam announcement ever, sorry if it lagsEpisode 3 - Posts XV-L5/20/25-12/14/25 Dev Standup 25.0: UI Refactoring from Polling to Reactive (Epic UI Optimization)5/20/25 - III.XVI spent the last few weeks celebrating my recent graduation and working on some IR2 refactoring... again! Visually, I only have this screenshot to show you of some Library UI tweaks. I am in a position where customizing UI is getting easier by the day, and I have complete contr…
- Idle Research 2 - Developer Standup Blog News - Episode 2 (XI-XIV) - 30 April 2025
Hey everyone! I'm back with another set of developer standup blogs from my discord. Posts have been less frequent because of College. I'm about 2 weeks away from graduating! Anyways, I present you the last 14 episodes! *Looking at the earlier posts now... wow, do I love to change shit all the time haha. Just let me cook :) Episode 2 - Posts XI-XIV1/30/25-4/29/25 Dev Standup 11.0: Boring Day - Water Pipeline Map Validation & New Water FeaturesNothing super exciting to show off... But I am writing unit tests in game development for the first time ever! Basically I have it set up to check for mistakes in the maps I make. In this case, I'm missing 3 drains that spawn on the map by default. Additionally, I have set up basic configurations for the new 12-13 water features, that's quite a bit :o Demo still not approved, not looking too good. On the bright side, I'm already on making the start…
- Idle Research 2 - Developer Standup Blog News - Episode 1 (I-X) - 4 March 2025
Starting today, I will be reposting 10 days of developer standup blogs that I write on my discord server. These will be delayed but highly detailed posts about what I have been working on for Idle Research 2. You will also see the progression of changes over time, so some things may come and go. Obviously, there still isn't a demo out... I missed the deadline for the Steam Idler Fest because of a failed Steam review and I decided to completely rework the entry feature. You will see the initial idea in Standup 10.0. Also I have been moving to a new apartment, so the past few weeks have been unproductive. Anyways, here are the first posts! The earlier ones are a bit rusty Episode 1 - Posts I-X 1/18/25-1/29/25 Dev Standup 1.0: First Me from the past few days... Building rule logic implemented (valid/invalid tile highlighting soon), Blocking building counts, QoL, and build confirmations (de…
- Idle Research Further Development News - 15 January 2025
You wake up from a time-activated cryogenic pod in 2070 on planet Mu Ra Tempel — after the devasting Earth-27 Mutually Assured Destruction incident. Steam Page At The Bottom Hey all, I have been able to get a lot more progress with Idle Research /2. I'd really like to provide at least a small demo during the Steam Idler Fest in February 3, 2025. Here are some screenshots to get you in the loop of what's coming: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3420280/Idle_Research_2/
- Idle Research 2 - Optional Survey - 4 July 2024
Hey friends! Happy 4th of July to my American players, and happy Thursday to everyone else! I hope everyone is having a great week. As decided on my discord, I have decided to begin development on a new version of Idle Research. There's a lot of things that need to be remade from scratch, specifically project infrastructure and basic game features (Research, Crafting, etc.). I personally feel like the game needs a more thoughtful approach to what I wanted Idle Research to be. I would really love if people filled out this Google Form survey, so I have a good idea on my player base's wants and needs for the best idle/incremental game experience. Here is the link: https://forms.gle/jUQ2jT9vWhH9XBhWA I'll provide more details on what will happen to the current Idle Research, but to keep it short: Game will be playable and live, not replaced by Idle Research 2. Cylinders will not be a thing,…
- Idle Research: Black Ice Steam Achievement REMOVED - 30 June 2024
Hi friends, I have finally removed the steam achievement for the Black Ice Flask. So now people should be able to 100% the game for now. This new update is still taking way longer than it should, and I again apologize for that. For those who don't know, I am a full-time computer science student who also is an intern at a software development company. On top of that, I've had a lot of personal/social obligations to focus on, and other side-projects unrelated to Idle Research. I'm doing my best to make progress, but it's just hard maintaining everything. Hopefully this achievement removal will help people! Thanks, Zach
- Idle Research: New UI Sneakpeaks + Other Previews (Still No ETA) - 30 June 2023
Hello everyone! As you may have noticed, it is definitely past the February or March goal I was hoping for. Unfortunately, there is no update ready still. Those who go to university and work full time may understand. It is currently summer break, and I am currently a full-stack software developer intern (ASP.NET + Angular for anyone who is interested). I do have more time to work on the game, but I have become such a better programmer over the past few months. This has led me to begin a rewrite project. The rewrite will consist: Brand new polished UI UI Themes! Removing the current tutorial system, replacing it with a task/chapter system. If the storyline is ever made, it'll be combined with this. (Hopefully In the future) modding support Brand new menu and settings system. Ability to have more than one playfab cloud and local account per device Major performance boosts Etc. Here are so…
- Idle Research: Final Feature Preview for the Next Update (Still No ETA) - 27 January 2023
Hello! I just wanted to provide the last major feature previews to provide more updates on where I am at in terms of the next major update THESE ARE JUST PREVIEWS, NOT AN ACTUAL UPDATE. THERE IS STILL NO ETA. I AM STILL FOCUSING ON COLLEGE AT THE MOMENT. My personal goal is end of February or March, and I will announce 1-2 weeks before. But who knows, take this with a grain of salt :) Anywho, here are some screenshot previews: Offline v2.0, from Research Tier 2: Corruption (Flasks Only): That'll be it, stay tuned for more information! Join the discord for more previews and announcements: https://discord.gg/9A9CjrSxeu. Thanks, Zach / CryptoGrounds
- Idle Research: Next Update Preview (No ETA) - 22 November 2022
Hi friends! Just felt like I should provide some updates on my progress with the next major update. THESE ARE JUST PREVIEWS, NOT AN ACTUAL UPDATE. THERE IS NO ETA. I AM STILL FOCUSING ON COLLEGE AT THE MOMENT :) Also spoiler warning... Anywho, here are some screenshot previews: So this is Research Tier 2, if you didn't see the previous post. It will contain random stuff like unlocking ice, prestige v2, mastery v2, etc. Tubes' Blue Energy will now boost Flasks' Green Energy. Adventure is being reworked by a lot (which is taking up a lot of time). You can no longer manually deploy, your army is just based on your current Tubes. QoL! Skill Shards are also no longer RNG. More information in the future. Flask Intruders in Tubes... more information in the future. Simulations Rework If there are special game breaking errors (most likely caused by crafting presets), you will now get error messa…
- Idle Research: General Roadmap - 22 August 2022
Hi everyone! Classes for college starts tomorrow... 😢 I wanted to give you guys a quick heads up on what I will be working on during this semester (and potentially next semester). There are lots more than what's being shown, but it's just the general list. Can't give any promises on ETAs sadly. But due to my sanity/mental health, I plan on doing my best to balance school life, social life, and game dev life. Hope y'all understand and are excited for what's to come! Thanks everyone
- v0.21.7 Update - Offline Fix, Reworked Tutorial, Custom Preset Input, etc. - 14 August 2022
Thank you very much for your patience to those who were affected by the Offline Progress issue. Should be good to go now! :^) (Accelerators) You can now hold on the little buttons on every accelerator. (Crafting) EXPERIMENTAL: Added a manual input for crafting presets. If you somehow add some weird string or something and it messes up the game, please get in contact with me! (Tutorial) During the tutorial, when you need to head to a certain location in navigation, the button will turn blue! (Research) Added the crafting cost in the description of current research. (Settings) Ability to toggle patch notes on game load. (Settings) When using Mixed Notation, you can now switch through a few numbers when you want it to switch to scientific. (Diamond Shop) If you feel generous and appreciate my work, you can now donate in the Diamond Shop. These do not change the game in any way, just donati…
- v0.21.6 Patch - Balancing, Save System Rework, Diamond Upgrades Rework, etc.! - 11 August 2022
(Crafting) Presets now have a custom preset input. (Solitaire) A setting to toggle Auto Win NOTE! A lot of the balancing related changes in this update are subject to change! (Saving!) Save System has been reworked. Flasks, Tubes, and Shared data has been merged! No more importing/exporting/managing multiple files! This should eliminate a lot of the save-related bugs. With this save system change, current backups have been wiped. You are still allowed to import previous saves with the following tags: “FLASKS>”, “TUBES>”, “SHARED>”. (Saving) You now have a maximum of 50 backup files. (Menu) Menu has gotten a touch up since the save system was reworked, so it should be less confusing now! (Research) Orange Flask Research Time: 120 => 60 Seconds (Research) Yellow Flask Research Time: 600 => 300 Seconds (Research) Yellow Flask Requirement: 250 => 100 Orange Flasks (Research) Blue Flask Time…
- v0.21.5 Patch - Presets UI Rework + Save System Update - 8 August 2022
Offline: For Tubes Adventure, you now gain kills offline! This only gives kills for the stage you are currently on. Settings: A setting to toggle the offline progress screen. Crafting: Presets have a new look and were heavily simplified. You can now toggle individual presets, rather than presets as a whole. Getting rid of the three buttons on the side allows the preset screen to look less cluttered and confusing. Settings: For PC, the fullscreen setting has been changed. It should work properly and work across all scenes. For the first time, it might load into borderless or windowed. Saving: If you load into a local save, it will only save locally automatically. You can manually save to the cloud if you want. However, if you load into a cloud save, it will automatically save locally and to the cloud. Saving: Attempted to fix the Save System for when you close the game or shut off your d…
- v0.21.4 - Massive Solitaire QoL and bug patch! - 6 August 2022
⇐ v0.21.4 ⇒ Flask’s Assembly: Added shortcut buttons in Juice. You can now hold on the Sample Processor buttons. Mastery: (QoL) since there is a large phase where you only have 1 mastery slot, assigning another mastery slot will disable the already enabled one (assuming you have no slots left). Potions: You can now see tube expenditures at the top. Settings: Added a setting where the game can run in 10 fps if it’s out of focus. Misc: Added Skill Shards to the Skilling navigation button SOLITAIRE: YOU CAN NOW DOUBLE CLICK THE CARDS IF YOU WANT THEM TO GO TO ONE OF THE 4 FOUNDATION PILES (if it can) (WOOOOOO!!!) +5 Diamonds for winning! Game will also automatically end if you win. Solitaire cooldown has been reduced to 23 hours, so users don’t keep pushing it further and further into the night. AUTO WIN CONDITION HAS BEEN ADDED! No more needing to spam drag/click cards! You can now switch…
- v0.21.3 - v0.21.3.2 Patches - 4 August 2022
⇐ v0.21.3 ⇒ Settings: Army Veteran Gamer has been added to the social media section in settings, thank you for making a series on the game! Intro Animation toggle Letter Notation, all notations after log notation have been shifted plus one. Your settings may change if you use any of those notations. Diamond Shop: Time Bender IAP now multiplies offline progress as well. Ice: Added a button where you can queue freeze mode on the next prestige. This is so you don’t have to disable auto prestige anymore! Guide: Added accelerator descriptions in the accelerator guide page. Crafting: In tubes layer, auto brewing potions now subtracts your crafting production display. Added a “Set Current Crafting Layout as Preset Layout” button”. The Map: Added the ability to load a cloud save in the Map. If you want full control on what you want to choose, it’s best to go to the main menu. Menu: An export sa…
- v0.21.2.1 Patch - 3 August 2022
- Lab now displays Flasks' boost as energy boosts, because that's technically what it was. So now it makes more sense. - Daily Solitaire: I heard ya. Stockpile now deals one card, instead of three. This will make games a bit easier to win! - Alright, solitaire will now bring you back to main menu again. There has been some saving issues when it brings you directly to the game. No idea why. If this happens to you again, please get in touch immediately, and don't close your game so I can obtain player log files. In case it does happen and you are a windows user: Go to C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\CryptoGrounds\Idle Research\ and send me Player.log and Player-prev.log if you have it. Otherwise, you can do it from the main menu if you scroll down to "Report Bugs" Thanks!
- v0.21.1.1 Patch - 2 August 2022
- Change All buttons in mastery - Process juice button on all sample processors (Flask Assembly). - Mixed Scientific Notation, Scientific starts at 1e50 rather than 1e100 - Solitiare now sends you back to the game, instead of the menu - Minor UI Fixes - Fixed Ice Maker Steam Achievements (blue and up) - Fixed Crafting Presets being goofy - Fixed Steam iaps not buying - Fixed Playfab once again - Locked Crafting Slots, just to clean the interface and eliminate a bug. Other minor undocumented changes (silly me) Side Note: Very sorry for the amount of bugs related to solitaire and saving lately. Hopefully those are gone for good. For the Daily Solitaire, I plan on adding one or two more easier games, so you get to choose. I also will make Daily Solitaire 1 card draw instead of 3, which should increase the chances of winning. Thank you everyone for playing. If you enjoyed, be sure to leave…
- v0.21.0.8 Patch - 2 August 2022
- Minor UI Changes - Daily Solitaire reward now starts with a 5 Diamonds. This will allow you to skip playing solitaire and get the free Diamonds. - Daily Solitare and Diamond Shop now unlocks at 1e8. - Fixed the game being messed up for new people - And other undocumented bug fixes
- v0.21.0.6 Patch - 1 August 2022
- All accelerators now have a spend energy button on them. QoL - Added a crafting flask flashing setting - Added a fullscreen mode setting (experimental) - Current amount of fire flasks under the fire button - Prestige navigation text now displays the prestige gains when you are able to prestige. - Auto research now defaults to on - Reduced Diamond Shop and daily solitaire unlock to 1e10 energy - The boost in daily solitaire no longer drains - Fixed tutorial related bugs - Fixed Playfab related bugs - Other UI bugs
- v0.21.0.5 Patch - 1 August 2022
Fixes more minor ui bugs Disables Steam Cloud to prevent data issues Fixes IAP related issues
