CELLFORGE

Evolve Beyond the Signal

CellForge is a fast-paced cell survival and evolution game where you consume, grow, split, outplay enemies and fight your way to the top of the arena.

Start as a small cell, consume energy scattered throughout the world, increase your mass and become powerful enough to hunt other cells — but the larger you become, the more dangerous the arena becomes.

Inspired by the classic cell-survival genre, CellForge expands the formula with its own progression systems, hazards, cosmetics, multiplayer infrastructure, dynamic world effects and account-based progression.

CellForge is currently in active development. Features, balancing, visuals and multiplayer systems may continue to change as the game develops.

🧬 GAMEPLAY

The goal is simple:

Consume. Grow. Survive. Dominate.

Food is scattered throughout the arena and provides mass while also contributing towards your account progression.

As your cell grows:

• Your mass increases
• Your cell becomes physically larger
• Your movement becomes slower
• Smaller players become potential prey
• Larger players become a serious threat

Knowing when to chase, escape, split or hide is the key to surviving.

⚡ SPLITTING

Split your cell to launch part of your mass towards your movement direction.

Splitting can be used to:

• Catch smaller players
• Escape dangerous situations
• Cover more of the arena
• Reach food faster
• Perform aggressive attacks

You can control multiple cell pieces at once.

Unlike the traditional instant merging system used by many cell games, CellForge uses a return system.

After enough time has passed, your split pieces begin travelling back towards your primary cell.

Returning pieces are visually connected to the main cell before eventually being reabsorbed.

Mass is preserved throughout the process.

💠 EJECT MASS

Players can eject part of their mass into the arena.

Ejected mass:

• Launches in your movement direction
• Gradually slows down
• Can be consumed
• Costs part of your current mass

This can eventually support more advanced strategies involving teammates, hazards and arena interactions.

☣️ HAZARDS

The CellForge arena contains several different environmental threats.

Each hazard has its own gameplay role, appearance, particle effects and interaction with the arena grid.

SPLIT / RUPTURE HAZARD

A dangerous unstable object that can cause large cells to fragment.

If a cell enters the hazard while large enough, it may be violently divided into multiple smaller pieces.

The resulting pieces still use the normal CellForge return and reabsorption system.

Triggering the hazard creates:

• Grid distortion
• Energy effects
• Particle bursts
• A visible shockwave through the arena

SHELTER

Not everything in the arena is trying to kill you.

Shelter objects can provide smaller cells with an opportunity to hide from much larger opponents.

Their visual effects are intentionally calmer, including:

• Gentle grid distortion
• Soft energy fields
• Ambient particles

Using the environment properly can be just as important as having more mass.

LETHAL HAZARDS

Some hazards should simply be avoided.

Lethal hazards remain stationary but can kill players that collide with them.

They use a much more unstable visual style including:

• Danger pulses
• Energy particles
• Grid deformation
• Strong shockwaves when triggered

Watch where you're travelling.

🌐 DYNAMIC ARENA GRID

The CellForge grid is more than just a background.

The arena uses a dynamic world-space grid capable of reacting to gameplay events.

Movement can subtly distort the world in the direction you're travelling, while major events can physically disturb the grid.

For example, explosions and hazard events can create an expanding ripple similar to:

dropping a stone into water.

The wave travels through the arena before gradually fading and allowing the grid to return to normal.

Different hazards can create different grid behaviour including:

• Radial waves
• Pulses
• Inward distortion
• Outward shockwaves
• Directional movement distortion

These effects are visual only and never alter the authoritative gameplay simulation.

✨ PARTICLE EFFECTS

Important gameplay events have their own visual effects.

Particles can appear during:

• Player splitting
• Reabsorption
• Player deaths
• Large player consumption
• Hazard activation
• Shelter interaction
• Lethal hazard events
• Split hazard events

Effects are deliberately restrained so the arena doesn't become visual noise.

Normal food consumption does not generate endless particle spam.

🍬 FOOD VARIANTS

Food across the arena can appear in different visual variants.

Food is an actual part of the authoritative world simulation and is shared correctly between multiplayer clients.

Consuming food:

• Increases your mass
• Removes the food from the arena
• Grants progression experience

XP Reward

1 Food = 1 XP

🏆 PLAYER VS PLAYER

Become large enough and you can consume smaller players.

But size matters.

You cannot simply touch every other player and consume them.

The attacker must have a sufficient mass advantage and enough overlap must occur before the smaller cell can be consumed.

Consuming another player or bot grants:

+10 XP

Your opponent's mass is transferred into the consuming cell.

🤖 BOTS

Singleplayer and multiplayer arenas can contain AI-controlled cells.

Bots use the same fundamental gameplay systems as real players.

They can:

• Search for food
• Hunt smaller cells
• Escape larger threats
• Avoid hazards
• Split when appropriate
• Navigate around the arena
• Compete on the leaderboard

Bots aren't intended to simply wander randomly.

They exist to make arenas feel alive even when player populations are lower.

🎮 SINGLEPLAYER

Want to play without connecting online?

Create your own local arena.

Configure options including:

• Player name
• Bot population
• Arena scale
• Food density
• Starting mass
• Bot difficulty

A live ecology preview lets you see how your selected configuration will affect the arena before starting.

🌐 MULTIPLAYER

CellForge is being built around dedicated authoritative multiplayer servers.

The intended multiplayer flow is simple:

Multiplayer → Select Server → Connect → Spawn → Play

There is no unnecessary ready-up waiting lobby.

Players can join active arenas directly.

Multiplayer systems include:

• Quick Play
• Server Browser
• Dedicated servers
• Join-in-progress
• Bots filling unused population
• Human-player priority
• Connection/reconnection handling
• Server-side gameplay authority
• Kick and ban support
• Server status and compatibility information

The authoritative server controls important gameplay such as:

• Movement validation
• Mass
• Food
• Consumption
• Splitting
• Hazards
• Player state
• Bot simulation

The client does not decide its own authoritative progression or gameplay results.

👤 CELLFORGE ACCOUNT

Online progression is connected to your CellForge / CodeWithStephen account.

Your profile can track statistics including:

• Matches played
• Wins
• Best mass
• Players consumed
• Bots consumed
• XP
• Level
• Coins
• Cosmetics

Account information is displayed directly inside the Multiplayer section.

📈 LEVELS & XP

Playing CellForge earns experience.

XP Sources

Consume Food

+1 XP

Consume Player

+10 XP

Consume Bot

+10 XP

More progression rewards can also be earned through matches and other systems.

Maximum Level

LEVEL 1000

Progression is designed to provide a long-term goal rather than ending after a small number of levels.

🪙 CELLFORGE COINS

CellForge contains an in-game currency called Coins.

Coins are earned through gameplay.

They are not intended to require real-money purchases.

Coins can be earned by:

• Playing
• Levelling up
• Winning matches
• Progression rewards
• Daily rewards
• Other gameplay achievements

Coins can then be spent inside the:

CELLFORGE STORE

🛒 CELLFORGE STORE

Spend earned Coins on cosmetic customisation for your cell.

The Store contains cosmetics such as:

• Cell colours
• Animal Cells
• Object Cells
• Special designs
• Future unlockable cosmetics

Examples include:

• Dog Cell
• Cat Cell
• Pig Cell
• Rabbit Cell
• Fox Cell
• Bear Cell
• Frog Cell
• Cookie Cell
• Azure Core
• Emerald Core

Owned cosmetics are permanently added to your Collection.

🎨 COLLECTION

The Collection lets you manage cosmetics you already own.

You can:

• Browse unlocked cosmetics
• Preview them
• Equip them
• Change your active CellForge appearance

Your equipped cosmetic is also preserved when your cell splits.

Every piece continues to belong visually to the same player.

🎁 DAILY REWARDS

Return to CellForge regularly to claim Daily Rewards.

Rewards can include:

• Coins
• Progression rewards
• Unlockables
• Future cosmetic rewards

The reward system is designed to complement gameplay rather than replace it.

🔓 LEVEL UNLOCKABLES

Levelling isn't just a number.

Progression can unlock additional CellForge content as you climb towards Level 1000.

Unlockables can include:

• Cosmetics
• Cell designs
• Progression rewards
• Coins
• Special milestone rewards

🏅 ARENA RANKING

During gameplay, the live Arena Ranking shows the strongest cells currently competing.

The leaderboard tracks the active arena rather than your permanent account level.

Your permanent account progression and your current match ranking are separate systems.

Become the largest cell and take the #1 position.

📊 IN-GAME PROGRESSION HUD

Your current progression remains visible while playing.

The HUD can display:

• Current level
• Current XP
• XP needed for the next level
• XP gain feedback
• Level-up feedback

Rapid XP events are aggregated so the HUD doesn't flood the screen every time food is consumed.

🎮 CONTROLS

Default keyboard controls include:

Movement

Move towards your cursor / movement direction.

Split

SPACE

Eject Mass

E

Menu

ESC

Controls can be changed through the game's settings where supported.

🎮 CONTROLLER SUPPORT

CellForge's interface is being designed around full keyboard, mouse and controller navigation.

The UI automatically changes its input prompts depending on your active device.

Instead of generic text such as:

Press Button 1

CellForge uses proper input glyphs for:

• Keyboard keys
• Mouse buttons
• Xbox-style controls
• Other supported controllers

⚙️ SETTINGS

CellForge includes configurable options covering areas such as:

• General
• Video
• Graphics
• Audio
• Controls
• Gameplay
• Interface
• Accessibility
• Network

Video options can include:

• Display Mode
• Resolution
• Refresh Rate
• VSync
• Frame Rate Limit
• UI Scale

Graphics options include support for the game's visual effects and shaders.

♿ ACCESSIBILITY

CellForge includes accessibility-focused settings such as Reduce Motion.

Reduce Motion can tone down:

• Grid distortion
• Shockwaves
• Strong movement effects
• Particle motion
• UI animations

Important gameplay information remains visible even with additional effects reduced.

🎵 CELLFORGE RADIO

The frontend includes its own music player.

The CellForge Radio system supports:

• Track information
• Previous track
• Play / Pause
• Next track
• Playback progress
• Music volume

Music continues naturally while navigating compatible frontend screens rather than restarting every time a menu changes.

🔔 NOTIFICATIONS

CellForge has a non-blocking notification system for events such as:

• Settings Saved
• Signed Out
• Cosmetic Equipped
• Purchase Complete
• Profile Updated
• Coin rewards
• Progression events
• Network events

Notifications are separate from important confirmation dialogs and are designed to stay out of the player's way.

🖥️ BUILT WITH C#

CellForge is developed in C# using a custom/reusable SFML.Game.Framework foundation.

The game is being built with separate architecture for:

CellForge Client  CellForge Dedicated Server  CellForge Master Server  Shared Gameplay / Networking Systems 

Multiplayer uses an authoritative server model rather than trusting the client with important gameplay state.

🚧 DEVELOPMENT STATUS

CellForge is currently under active development.

This means you may encounter:

• Bugs
• Balancing changes
• Missing polish
• Networking issues
• UI changes
• Gameplay changes
• Server downtime
• Features still being completed

The game is being improved continuously.

If something feels unfinished, there's a good chance it's already on the list.

🧪 WHAT I'M CURRENTLY WORKING ON

Current development is focused heavily on:

• Gameplay polish
• Multiplayer responsiveness
• Dedicated server stability
• Grid effects
• Hazard effects
• Particle systems
• UI/UX improvements
• Account progression
• Store and cosmetics
• Performance
• Audio
• Networking

💬 FEEDBACK

Feedback is extremely useful during development.

If you find:

• A bug
• A performance problem
• A multiplayer issue
• A UI problem
• Something confusing
• A mechanic that doesn't feel right

please report it.

Detailed reports make problems considerably easier to reproduce and fix.

⚠️ PLEASE REMEMBER

CellForge is an in-development game.

Systems shown in screenshots, development builds or earlier versions may change.

Progression balancing, cosmetics, economy values, hazards and multiplayer behaviour may be adjusted as development continues.

❤️ THANK YOU

Thank you for checking out CellForge.

The project started as a cell-survival game experiment and has continued growing into a much larger project involving:

• Custom gameplay systems
• Dedicated multiplayer servers
• Account progression
• Cosmetics
• Dynamic world effects
• Hazards
• Bots
• Store systems
• Long-term progression

There's still plenty more to build.

Enter the arena. Consume. Evolve. Survive.

CELLFORGE

EVOLVE BEYOND THE SIGNAL