Underwater civilisations

Civilizations of sapient species that live in water are called underwater civilizations. If the sapient species can live both on land and in water, it is called an amphibious civilization. Cities on floating seaweed count as amphibious.

One of the most popular suggestions for Thrive was having the possibility of creating of underwater civilizations in society stage and beyond. But soon it turned out that there are some serious problems with water that prevent developing some technologies, such as metalurgy. The developers said that underwater civilizations will not be added to the game unless someone can figure out how a hypotetical civilization can overcome such roadblocks.

The arguements weren't productive, people didn't read the comments that were made befode and disproven, and kept suggesting the same things over and over again, which resulted in the "smeltal the meltal" meme.

One post managed to prove that it is possible to reach a temperature high enough to melt metal underwater, but melting alone isn't sufficient for creating good quality metal.

Discussing underwater civilizations is currently banned in the community forums unless someone comes up with a complete proof. But the discussion can be still made in the subreddit dedicated to this topic with no restrictions.

Currently (in the prototypes), the game warns the player if awakening stage is entered with a fully aquatic organism. It will not be possible to progress beyond a certain level in society stage.

Arguments for smelting metal underwater:


 * 1) Thermite
 * 2) Hydrothermal vents
 * 3) Focusing suns light with a lens or a mirror
 * 4) Nuclear energy

Arguments for making fire inside air:


 * 1) Air bubbles or underwater caves
 * 2) Land suits or a breathing symbiote for going to land

Arguments for getting technology without smelting metals:


 * 1) Biologic iron
 * 2) Tool breeding
 * 3) Advanced technology without metals

There are also a few jokes

You can help this page by expanding it.
 * 1) Exiting the water for a short amount of time or exiting it partially
 * 2) Sponge bob fire
 * 3) Trading or being uplifted by a land civ or aliens