With the new creatures add evironmental context behind them

Suggestions
1

Hey TR and the rest of the community!

I just recently watched Malley stream of all the new creatures and it reminded me of my old post:

“I like the stone golems and the new enemies in fighting, however to me they just seem too random and have no purpose of being there. I liked the idea of chopping down forest after forest (keeping track of # of trees cut minus the difference # of trees grown) brings entlings and eventually ent titans, why not mining up caves will do the same with golems, so as to create a more meaningful purpose. Sorry if I sound like I am asking to much, and I love what you guys are doing to the game, I just think that adding more consequences to your actions and making you think before you do things is a more interesting approach and adds more depth, not just random waves like the system now. (however I think the random camps are great and should still be a thing along with undead and goblin random spawns; just not the nature faction to an extent). I believe the nature faction should only come if you hurt nature in specific ways not randomly; like crocodiles only come if you come to close to the waters in very watery area, and wolves spawn in areas that have a higher value in animal wildlife.(as seen on the map when rolling for a new seed and choosing a spot).”

And seeing all the new creatures and monsters just brought me back to that. Adding these creatures as just random waves, to me, is not the best idea. And the creatures appearing doesn’t even have to be from consequences either. For example I think an amazing way to implement entlings and the ents in general would be kinda like a goblin camp except the game could spawn an ancient grove during the world generation where it could be like a large purple tree surrounded by a ring of smaller trees. And entering one of these area spawns entlings and the little ent mages. And the benefit from doing so would reward you to be able to chop down the ancient tree. Ideas like that, to me spark more interest in the world. And if added one encounter at a time, then in the future you guys would not have to go back and reorganize all the spawns of enemies and creatures. Another interesting idea to me it a cougar or panther cave up in the mountains, again generated during world generation where it is just a small divot in the mountains where cougars and panthers can spawn. Adding more risk to mountains but maybe there is a bone pile inside of them that spawns the wild cats and when destroyed it stops the spawning.

You guys are doing an amazing job but just sticking creatures in doesn’t make the world seem alive and adventurous. Adding context and meaning and to the spawns makes the world feel alive, and I hope you guys consider this notion going into the future. You guys don’t even have to do it the same way above but areas of spawn in almost sub-biomes or micro missions would feel much deeper than pure rng.

Again thank you for your time and keep working hard because we are all supporting you guys!

-yosmo78

4 Likes
2

Could approach context or stories behind creatures with a codex of sorts, similiar to ARK?

2 Likes
3

ya adding a lore element, I feel, would add depth. But I feel for long term success of the game adding gameplay depth the encounters would be a stronger move.

4

I very much like the idea of different creatures and enemies having an “origin point” that the player can interact with. Whether it’s a simple matter of building up strength until you can march in and destroy it, or possibly something more creative (e.g. wall it off/dig a moat, make peace with the entities there, move them further away so they don’t bother you), it adds more decisions to the process of securing your town.

The origin point doesn’t need to be within the map, either – the Kobold forces already have a sort of one in the campaign, you can interact with them and come to a sort of understanding at least.

A potential mechanic which wild animals/beasts could use would be that their dens can eventually generate a new alpha/leader, which is thrown out of the den and so wanders the map and settles a new den. Left unchecked, this would mean that the map is eventually covered in animal dens; limiting where your town can expand. However you probably don’t want to eliminate the dens altogether, since the animals they spawn might have uses (taming, hides/other resources, causing mass-extinctions might anger the nature titan, or just preserving the balance of nature); so it becomes a balance between not letting dens approach too close but also allowing them somewhere to remain. Ultimately you end up with nature preserves, which I think would be an awesome feature. And of course, any outside attacking armies might have to walk through those nature preserves to get to you, so they become a natural defence for the town!

2 Likes
5

I don’t completely like where you re going there, @YetiChow
While the idea of origin points is interesting, the way you let the spread and be contained is too player-focussed, I think. From what I read, the player would need to actively manage the wildlife around his/her city. What I think would be much better is if you simulate food webs, where differet animals maintain themselves via predation/starvation. Then the player can come in and take what he/she wants, with the risk of disrupting the balance, or causing extinction.