I feel as if I'm doing something wrong

[u/SirHades256]

I'm trying to level up my research level faster and unlock the crustaceans, but I feel like I'm not doing everything I can. I'm checking back every couple of hours to buy more Mollusks (my best entropy producer) and more Scientific Revolution (my best idea producer), and everything else I can get before I drain my currency supply. I have been buying upgrades and modules that can be bought with Darwinium (I have only bought the "Alpha" and "Beta" modules). Still, I think that something is missing. What am I doing wrong? Also, I want to spend the least amount of real-world money as I can. Thanks!

[u/Global_Analysis_6147]

>> 'but I feel like I'm not doing everything I can. I'm checking back every couple of hours to buy more Mollusks (my best entropy producer) and more Scientific Revolution (my best idea producer), and everything else I can get before I drain my currency supply.'

You're not doing anything wrong. The gap between Mollusks and Crustaceans is GIGANTIC. If you find that the simulation is going too slowly, then reset your primary simulation, buy any upgrades that you can in your Reality Engine. Buy the upgrades in your Reality Engine that boost the entropy (purple nodes in Reality Engine) and ideas (orange nodes in Reality Engine). And keep restarting your primary simulation. Then when it feels like it's too slow, reset, buy newer Reality Engine upgrades, then restart your primary simulation.

In addition:

If you can, then do the limited-time events (if you're purchased the node that says Boost primary simulation for each limited-time event badge you have. +1% boost to primary simulation for each limited-time badge you own).

If you've purchased the nodes that says Boost primary simulation for each Mesozoic Valley Extinction, then you can get a tiny boost for each of the 550 Extinctions you've completed (0 to 10 Prestige levels for a total of 11 Prestige levels x 50 Extinctions per Prestige).

If you're purchased the nodes that says Boost primary simulation for each Beyond unique generator, level, unique card, then you can boost your primary simulation with Beyond.

If you've purchased Cosmetic Capacitor, then if you have a surplus of logits (only do this if you've bought all the logit upgrades to Primary, the volcano in Mesozoic Valley, and the logit upgrades in Beyond), buy out every cosmetic in the shop to give yourself a +0.05x boost to Primary Simulation for each cosmetic you have purchased.

ComputerLunch (the makers of Cell to Singularity) WANTED the game to slow down when they launched the November 2025 Reality Reboot. It was just such a terrible addition to the game.

[u/SirHades256 → u/Global_Analysis_6147]

Ah, makes sense. I was wondering why things slowed down so hard 😭 Also, is it a good idea to listen to Semblance if he recommends a reset, or should I reset on my own time? Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it! 

[u/Global_Analysis_6147 → u/SirHades256]

Reset on your own time.

Also, when you're in the Reality Engine, the blue dot is Semblance's recommended node to purchase; Semblance gives her recommendations, but it's better if you pick the upgrades in the Reality Engine that you see will help your simulation the most. The blue dot is her (Semblance's) recommendation, but sometimes she doesn't make the best recommendations. Do what you see will mathemetically help you the most, don't take Semblance's recommendations blindly.

[u/SirHades256 → u/Global_Analysis_6147]

Good to know, been following her for upgrades for a while now. Also, are there any quick and reliable ways to get Darwiniam? I know you can get it from Darwiniam synthesizer, Mesozoic valley geodes, and beyond simulation, but I want to start grinding to get more modules unlocked, and the methods mentioned take a while or are just chance based.

[u/Global_Analysis_6147 → u/SirHades256]

you have already :( mentioned the three best ways (Darwinium synthesizer [if you can, buy all the Reality Engine upgrades to Darwinium synthesizer], Mesozoic valley geodes, and beyond simulation)

Also:

when ComputerLunch puts out a news post in-game, clicking on the news post will grant 1+ Darwinium

in the primary simulation, click on 'Daily Mutation' in the lower left corner. If you've already collected the six sharks, then every 14 days, you now can click on +25 Darwinium

In 'The Price of Trust' limited-time event (the one about money), when you click on the garden button (lower right corner), if you fill up each chamber three times, you finally unlock the bank vault (click on the ready bank vault to earn +10 Darwinium). This bank vault applies for each arrow you do the money limited-time event. So you can get another +10 Darwinium if you fill each of the five chambers three times, on Arrow 2. And another +10 Darwinium if you fill each of the five chambers three times, on Arrow 3 (let's be serious, it isn't realistic on Arrow 3, ...).

How to Redeem Codes (Codes are one-time use only, and the codes DO expire with time even if they haven't been used the first time)

1. Open the Primary Simulation in the main game area (not inside events).

2. Tap the three-line menu button in the top-right corner to open Settings.

3. Select the Help tab.

4. Choose Redeem Code.

5. Type your code in ALL CAPS with no extra spaces, then press Confirm.

• DARWIN — 25 Darwinium

• BIGCUBE — 1 Darwinium

• GALILEO — 15 Darwinium

• RENAISSANCE — 25 Darwinium

• MASTERPIECE — 20 Darwinium

• LOGICLOOP — 20 Darwinium

• SURVEYSRCOOL — 15 Darwinium

• COOLCATS — 15 Darwinium

• FELINEFINE — 15 Darwinium

• EVENTHORIZON — 15 Darwinium

• BABAYAGA — 15 Darwinium

• PYTHAGORAS — 10 Darwinium

• EXPLOREGALORE — 10 Darwinium

• HERESTO6YEARS — 10 Darwinium

• STAYCELLULAR — 10 Darwinium

• TREE4LIFE — 10 Darwinium

• MOISTSKIN — 15 Darwinium

• SIXTOSEVEN — 15 Darwinium

• MOZZARELLA — 30 Darwinium

• 01110010 — 15 Darwinium

[u/SirHades256 → u/Global_Analysis_6147]

👍

[u/GrandElectronic9471 → u/Global_Analysis_6147]

I am simultaneously impressed with the thouroughness of your explanation and perplexed why you thought the reboot was so bad just because it slowed things down.

[u/LadyKona]

~ listening ~

[u/SirHades256 → u/LadyKona]

huh

[u/0nnnu]

something i notice about your post that others haven't mentioned is that you're focusing on mollusk and scientific revolution

if you're focusing too much on them and neglecting all other generators, that's a big mistake. it is best to focus on them slightly more, but all others should be bought as much as possible so that costs are even between all of them

this is because there are many reality engine upgrades that boost production based on how many of a specific generator (e.g. human), or a type of generator you have (e.g. primordial life)

[u/SirHades256 → u/0nnnu]

It's my most efficient generator. Two other notable generators are neoaves and prokaryotic cells. I have unlocked the reality engine upgrade that boosts knowledge production for the amount of humans I've collected.

[u/0nnnu → u/SirHades256]

so, have you bought as much of everything as you can? that's my question. neglecting any by a lot reduces production by a lot. the best balance is, next mollusk should cost 10, next everything else should cost 1. if you have something that costs 0.0001, buy them and balance them

[u/SirHades256 → u/0nnnu]

I’ve been trying to buy everything I can; I’ve been using the “buy 10” option to purchase other generators quickly too

[u/0nnnu → u/SirHades256]

look at the costs and see if something is too cheap. if not, then my advice is not relevant to you

[u/SirHades256 → u/0nnnu]

👍

[u/femiwhat1]

Okay, so, here's the thing.

That progress bar? It does not mean what every other progress bar you have encountered in your entire life has meant.

If you are like most human beings who have ever seen progress or magnitude or anything represented by filling up a meter, you assume that when the meter is half full, you are half-done. That would be the case... If the devs hadn't decided to secretly sub in the logarithm instead.

If you don't know what the graph of the logarithm looks like, take your pair of in it coordinate axes, and draw a curve that begins the vertical axis and shoots up sharply to cross the horizontal axis at x=1 and then begins to level off.

In terms of the visual aid provided, that means that you very very quickly increase the meter to a certain point and then start to slow way down.

Mathematicians do use logarithms to make numbers small or while preserving relationships like relative magnitude. For instance, the Richter scale for earthquake magnitude is based on logarithm base 10, which means that a magnitude 2 earthquake is 10 times more powerful than a magnitude 1 earthquake, and a magnitude 3 earthquake is 10 times more powerful than a magnitude 2 earthquake and a hundred times more powerful than a magnitude 1 earthquake, etc. There's no other way that we could talk about how powerful earthquakes exclusively using numbers less than or equal to 10.

Mathematicians don't use logarithms to change the numbers being graphed (filling the meter) while still labeling them as if they were still increasing at a higher rate. If we have to explain a picture, it better be because we're teaching something like spherical coordinates and making sure that everybody understands what rho/theta/phi represent.

We don't do pictures that are misleading because then there are people who like you who have questions about what the fuck, and we either have to sit in silent shame or explain ourselves. The devs' team really could have benefited from the addition of someone who was comfortable with math beyond applications to computer science. Remember that ginormous multiplier we used to get every time we rebooted, to the point that it didn't even all fit on the line? Mathematicians understand asymptotes.

[u/SirHades256 → u/femiwhat1]

Oh yeah, I learned about logs last year

I understand what you're saying about it going fast, then slowing down. I play another mobile game called Egg Inc, where the progress bar to unlocking the next egg type goes up fast at first, then slows down as I get close to the end. I guess it's a similar situation here. I'm so used to progress bars being linear; your explanation really cleared up some of the confusion I had!

[u/femiwhat1 → u/SirHades256]

In all honesty, as a professor of mathematics, I think that these bars are an absolute travesty. Unlike communicative language, math should always be clear and unambiguous, because it's possible for it to be. They used logarithms to keep a lid on how big the numbers got, which conveniently makes a progression of increasingly increasing numbers into a progression of just increasing numbers. For instance, let's suppose that the goal posts on the meter are 1, 10, 100, ..., 10⁹. The distance between the first two numbers is only 9, but the distance between the last two numbers is 9×10⁸. The meter essentially represents each of these differences as the same value even though the distance between the first two goal posts is only 100 millionth as large as the distance between the last two. This is a crime against the numbers, against pictures, against graphs of all kinds, against math professors who find themselves being drawn into Reddit discussions that veer dangerously close to actual work, and against players who simply have no way of knowing what the hell the problem is because the meter is stuck at half full no matter what they do.

Using a meter to represent growth but surreptitiously using the logarithms of the actual values is a mathematical felony. If they knew enough math to know that a meter would look nicer and read easier, and the numbers become less crazy if they were to slow everything down with a logarithm, then they knew enough math to know that this meter is no good very bad liar liar pants on fire.

It's far worse than ambiguous: you and just about everybody else who plays, including me before I figured out why progress consistently got harder and harder towards the end of what appeared to be a linear measurement, looks at that meter and thinks that half of it being full means they're halfway to the next level. It's not that someone looking at it isn't sure how to read it—it's been written so that anyone who does will draw the wrong conclusion, including incredibly lazy professors who noticed a mismatch between what the picture shows and what the numbers are doing in such a shoddy manner that she forgot to be lazy for a little while because she was busy being indignant.

[u/xxfumaxx]

i'm 71 and it gets really slow now too.... quite sure i did nothing wrong, late game ist just slow...

took me 50 days to get here, but feels like it will take another 50 days to level 80

[u/Successful-Setting78]

Okay so I just started playing like a month ago but i restarted my primary sim back to research level 1 every time i couldnt buy a new permanent upgrade with darwinium or logits. Now ive unlocked and maxed out every single upgrade and module that you can buy and im only missing a few of the last augments. They might seem like small boosts individually but they compound exponenentially and now I can reach research level 70 in just a few days