Release Date 07.04.2026
With the newest update, we are releasing a new version for relationships, as well as an entirely new feature: Seedling Conversations! Read our developer blog post to learn everything about the newest updates on how relationships work, and find out more about conversations. Socializing in SEED will never be the same again…
Changes to How Relationships Work
Previous relationship versions laid the groundwork, but treated relationships as relatively flat status labels. With this new version, we’re providing a more natural, free-flowing system that players can steer, while also providing Seedlings with enough chances to keep working on those relationships on their own.
Here are the biggest changes at a glance:
Each relationship is now defined by two values: Like and Romance. These values are asymmetric, so a Seedling’s feelings towards another might not be reciprocated. Like indicates how much a Seedling likes another platonically, and romance provides information on the romantic feelings one Seedling has toward the other
To form a relationship with another Seedling, you need to ask your Seedling to introduce themselves, using the Context Menu.
After the introductions, Seedlings now start as Acquaintances
Marriage and Parenthood proposals have been removed. Instead, two Seedlings that are Dating or are Partners can now start creating their own family! Just make sure that one of the Seedlings is fertile
Introducing negative relationships, Seedlings can gain negative feelings towards each other by engaging in mean social interactions or failing social interactions due to incompatibility
Relationship Types
With relationship types, we are providing you with some progression paths on how the relationship might evolve. Relationship Types are separated into three different tracks: the Romantic, Friends, or Rivalry track.
Each Relationship Type has value requirements that both Seedlings must meet before progressing to the next Relationship Type in the track. Hopefully, just like in real life. Either Seedling’s Cultivators can switch the relationship type as long as the Like & Romance requirements for both Seedlings are met. However, with relationships naturally lessening over time, two Seedlings being partners might just end up becoming acquaintances again when they haven’t been in touch for a while (again, just like real life?).
To avoid that, and to give Seedlings a bit more autonomous freedom, Seedlings will now automatically create scheduled appointments between each other, based on the Relationship Type they are in. Just make sure to check out your Seedlings schedule to avoid any Scheduler conflicts! We don’t want your Seedlings' work life to get in the way of their social life, do we?
Compatibility
Previously, Seedlings could progress through relationships at the same speed, no matter who they were engaging with. Introducing Compatibility, Seedlings will now have high, neutral, or low compatibility with each other.
Compatibility is based on the shared Personality Traits and Interests between two Seedlings. More importantly, Compatibility defines how hard or easy it will be to build a relationship between two Seedlings. Your highly extroverted Seedling interested in Woodworking might not be the best choice of partner for that introverted Seedling you’ve just met at the café. A romantic action between two incompatible Seedlings has a high chance to lead to negative social outcomes, whereas two very compatible Seedlings will have an easy time progressing their relationship.
How Conversations work
Introducing Seedling Conversations, players can now click on another Seedling, type in a conversation topic, and watch them go on about it in a full-blown conversation! What happens in that conversation matters. It changes their relationship, and they even remember what they learned about each other. Each dialogue is informed by each Seedling's personality, their current emotional state, the relationship history, and what they already know about each other. If your Seedling feels like you have suggested an inappropriate conversation topic, they might even decline your suggestion. Not a bug, but a feature!
Conversations are the primary way relationships evolve. When Seedlings talk, the conversation outcome directly affects the Like and Romance values, which in turn determine whether relationships progress, hold steady, or begin to fade.
Check out the objectives for guidance on some things that your Seedling would like to accomplish via conversations with other Seedlings. As your Seedlings age, new goals unlock.
Social Battery
We are also introducing a natural way to limit the number of times a Seedling can have a conversation over a period of time. Each Seedling has a Social Battery, with each conversation using one charge. Although the Social Battery recharges over time, players must choose wisely when to trigger a conversation, and with whom.
The Social Battery only accounts for the newly introduced conversations. Social interactions will continue to be at your disposal through the Direct Control menu at any given time.
The Vision
SEED is about watching a world full of autonomous characters, our Seedlings, live full lives shaped by their personalities, goals, and the relationships they form. As a life-sim MMO, social connections are at the heart of our experience. Introducing concepts like Compatibility to simulate natural attraction, watching their personalities come to life in conversations, or letting them book date nights and friend outings with each other, is only the beginning of our social journey.
In the future, you can expect more hooks into the relationship system, platonic and romantic compatibility, more drama, as well as updates to the autonomous behavior to realistically simulate how social circles work in real life. Stay tuned!