Merge Evolution Mode
Small pieces pour into a round arena and any two of the same merge into the next one up, until the final form appears. Every control in Merge Evolution settings, explained. (Creator)
What Merge Evolution Does
A spout at the top of the ring pours in the smallest piece. Whenever two of the same piece touch, they merge into the next piece up the chain, which is bigger: chick, rabbit, cat, fox, bear, cow, lion, dragon with the default settings. The arena fills with small pieces early and holds a few large ones late.
The last piece in the chain is the final form. It never merges again; it gets golden rings and its own effect and sound, the run holds for a few seconds and then starts over. With the default settings the final form appears after about 50 seconds.
Tip
- The pieces are real engine balls, so your ball size, skin, gravity, bounce, arena and RGB border all apply. The first piece is your ball size and every later one grows from it.
- Equal pieces drift slowly toward each other, so a run never stalls with two lonely pieces on opposite sides.
Plans and Basics
Merge Evolution settings is one panel in Engine and needs Creator. Anyone can open Merge Evolution, watch it and record it on its default settings.
Technical parameters
- Basics shows: Pieces in the chain (3 to 9), Each piece shows, Fall speed (0.5 to 40), Pieces poured per second (1.5 to 8), Size growth per merge (1.1 to 1.8) and Merge sound. The Engine panel allows more.
Evolution Chain and Spout
What the pieces are and how they come in.
| Setting | What it does | Range / default | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pieces in the chain | How many steps there are up to the final form. | 2 to 12, default 8 | Fewer pieces reach the final form sooner. |
| Each piece shows | An emoji, your own image, a number that doubles each merge, or just the ball. | Default An emoji | Each piece has its own emoji, colour and image slot in the list below. |
| Piece colours | Own colour per piece, or your global ball colour. | Default Own colour per piece | |
| Size growth per merge | How much bigger each step is than the one before. | 1.05 to 2, default 1.36 | Larger steps make each merge feel bigger. |
| Biggest piece (share of the arena) | A ceiling on how big the final form can get. | 0.15 to 0.7, default 0.52 | |
| Equal pieces drift together | How strongly matching pieces pull toward each other. | 0 to 3, default 1 | At 0 only bumps bring pieces together. |
| Fall speed | The fastest a piece can fall. | 0.5 to 40, default 6 | Lower it for a slow, gentle drop. At the top only gravity decides. |
| Pieces poured per second | How fast the spout pours. | 0.2 to 20, default 7 | A faster pour reaches the final form sooner. A generated seed sets its own rate until you move this slider. |
| Biggest piece poured in | The largest piece the spout may pour. 0 pours only the smallest. | Default 0 | Pouring only the smallest piece makes the whole climb visible. |
| Pour speed, Most pieces at once | How hard pieces leave the spout, and a cap on pieces in the arena. The spout pauses at the cap. | Defaults 1 and 90 | |
| Show the spout, Spout width, Spout length, Spout colour | The two walls of the spout. Their colour follows the arena border unless you pick one. | Defaults on, 0.26, 0.6 |
Merge Effects
What a merge looks like. Effects scale with the piece, so small merges stay quick and the late ones land hard.
| Setting | What it does | Range / default | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merge pop | How hard the new piece pushes its neighbours away. | 0 to 6, default 1.2 | |
| Merge effect, Effect size, Effect pool | The burst on each merge: a random one from your pool, one per size, or none. Tap effects to add them to the pool. | Defaults A random effect from your pool, 1.6, six effects | |
| Final form effect | The burst when the final form appears. | Default Firework | |
| Glow ring, Shock ring, Flash, Light rays | A glow that follows the new piece, a ring that spreads out, a screen flash and rays on the big merges. | All on, Flash 0.7, rays from piece 4 | |
| Shake on big merges, Final form rings | Screen shake on the last few merges, and golden rings round the final form. | Both on | |
| Restart after the final form (sec, 0 = keep going) | How long the final form holds before the run starts over. | 0 to 30, default 6 |
Merge Sounds
By default one sound plays on every merge, fast and high on small merges and slow with reverb on the big ones, so the climb is audible.
| Setting | What it does | Range / default | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merge sound | One sound, faster small and slower big; a sound per piece; or the global bounce sound from the Audio tab. | Default One sound, faster small and slower big | |
| Source, Main sound | A sound effect or upload, a MIDI melody, or the sliced song. | Default Bubble | |
| Speed of the first merge, Speed of the final form | How fast the sound plays on the smallest and on the last merge. The steps in between are spread evenly. | Defaults 1.6 and 0.62 | |
| Reverb on the slow merges | How much reverb the big merges get. | 0 to 1, default 0.6 | |
| Final form sound, Wall bounce sound, Volume | An extra sound for the final form, the global bounce sound on hard wall hits, and the mode volume. | Defaults on (Magic), off, 1 |
Common Problems
What to check when Merge Evolution misbehaves.
| Problem | Why it happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The run is longer than the video | A long chain with a slow pour. | Lower Pieces in the chain or raise Pieces poured per second. |
| The last pieces do not fit | Size growth per merge is high for a long chain. | Lower Size growth per merge or Biggest piece (share of the arena). |
| The early merges are skipped | Biggest piece poured in is above 0. | Set Biggest piece poured in to 0. |
| The final form does not stand out | Every effect is at full strength on every merge. | Lower Effect size and Flash, keep the final form effect. |
More from BallEngine
Guides, plans and answers for making your videos.