It only needs to take as many generations as Schema thinks is appropriate, tbh. It doesnt have to mimic real world evolution in that respect. But it should definitely take some work to get the results you want. Im pretty stoked to hear about the genetic modifications. I was actually going to put that in my post as well, but i figured that would be an even bigger long shot than what I already proposed.
Can't promise on the exact details, and the first implementations may not be quite as much of a problem for a big ship, but my hope is to have Fauna that regularly surprise you and are more of a threat than you expect. If nothing else, one feature I hope for pretty early on is for leaving your doors open to be a bad idea. As always, no promises on time-frames, but I'd love it if curious Fauna, whether peaceful or extremely violent, would wander/jump onto ships that have openings. But, as everyone else said, you should try reading through some of the rest of the thread.
I'd say scalability is the biggest concern there. Keep in mind we'll have to keep track of the information of hundreds or thousands of individual organisms across dozens of planets... might be a bit much to manage, especially on servers. That being said, not sure what the future will hold. Selective breeding (genetic engineering the old fashioned way) would be an excellent way of doing things, especially since direct manipulation of genetic code might have unintended consequences... or at least that's what I'd like to see in the future.
So we'll see on that one. Might be possible, though.A very valid point.
That's only the first phase of my plan. Once I get my ultra aggressive beetles, Ill combine their DNA with a giant bat, and a crocodile to make a species of space dragons. They'll burn planets to cinder at my command! mwahaha
Good to hear. I had tried modding Minecraft at one point, but found the whole thing a bit... esoteric, to say the least. Here's hoping that whatever mod API is produced for Starmade will have some decent documentation.
Wouldn't you also be keeping track of each organism's species anyway? Though I guess that could be a bit different, as you could simply have them all point to a species definition...I'd say scalability is the biggest concern there. Keep in mind we'll have to keep track of the information of hundreds or thousands of individual organisms across dozens of planets... might be a bit much to manage, especially on servers. That being said, not sure what the future will hold. Selective breeding (genetic engineering the old fashioned way) would be an excellent way of doing things, especially since direct manipulation of genetic code might have unintended consequences... or at least that's what I'd like to see in the future.
For some reason, I want the organic ship components, when salvaged, to spit out Some kind of waste that only sells for a credit and damages your salvage cannon. I still want to have a pet alien just hanging out at my base.
I'd like to see special "Mysterious Materials" that can be used for pirate/other AI enemy faction blueprints that would do this. They would explode and hurt you if you salvaged them by hand, they would disappear if removed using build mode, and they would do damage to your salvage cannon and only turn up useless sulfur-smelling goo if salvaged.
Unfortunately, modding by nature can be a bit daunting. Though the most basic kind of modding - adjustment of values such as sector size, pirate aim values or max speed - is very easy and accessible. Block editing is also not too difficult, with perhaps the visual/graphic in the texture file being the hardest part if you're not used to the process of creating such things/Photoshop. Lots of fun to mod in your own letters based on hull blocks so you can stick them on your ships to give big, satisfying names without requiring a massive wall to write on. Gotta remember that the blueprint will only work properly locally, though, and replace these letter blocks with normal blocks if you intend to use the ship/blueprint anywhere else.
Would make a great simple mission to be given by shops. Would be a little repetitive I imagine, but you need some missions to fill the basic repetitive category, not to mention a lot of things shops, trading hubs or colonies need ARE repetitive. Like shipping food, though that'd be more interesting done as a freeform system by which you buy low and sell high. Though, then again, receiving that in a mission might break up the monotony of self-driven trade or simply make the process more accessible. (Not as much profit to be made compared to being an incredibly savvy trader, though.)
Actually, that is an interesting idea. It'd be important for it to not be obnoxious, though. If the damage went directly to your salvage cannons somehow, it'd feel cheap or unfair on a ship focused on incredible defense. Perhaps better as a slightly dangerous thing when attempted to be salvaged on foot, or drain power/deal damage to shields.
Hmm. Very interesting points/ideas, actually. Weaving them into more of the game mechanics could be quite fun. Though there are some people who might want to avoid dealing with Fauna as much as possible. (To each their own.) I don't like forcing any aspect of gameplay on players rather than letting them decide what to do and experience.
Still uncertain if I should sticky it or not. Still on my mind, but haven't made any decision yet.
