Relating to a comment made earlier by Cervator, I have been an idea to help make worlds more "alive". I'm posting the idea here in the hopes we can discuss it and what might be involved to create such functionality from technical, design, and game asset creation perspectives.
In the game Equilinox, the player helps to evolve and nurture various biomes and the plants, animals, and elements therein. An Equilinox biome consists of the plants, animals, and other inert objects such as stones, soil, and water. Species have a natural affinity towards certain biomes, biome elements (other species and artifacts), and elevations. Likewise, species can have an aversion to certain conditions, elements, or other species.
Terasology idea
It would be cool to provide some sort of biome hacking and evolution meddling in Terasology. This could be done through craftable tools and an inspection/modification user interface, outlined below.
Inspection tool
When a player encounters a plant or animal, they might use an 'inspection' tool, perhaps shaped like a magnifying glass, that allows them to inspect details that plants or animals. These details could include the health, hunger, biome preferences, and genomic information for the inspected entity.
Transplant/transport
Plants and animals can be transplanted between biomes. Animals could be transplanted with some sort-of craftable 'pokeball' for catch-and-release tool. Plants similarly could be sampled, either in seed form or sapling, and transplated to new biomes where they may die off, flourish, or even transform the biome over time.
Evolution
When variants are introduced into an ecosystem, new evolutionary gradients are created governing the possible form and appearance of species within the biome. These gradients can also be triggered through player intervention, without the player needing to transport a species from biome to biome, by using the aforementioned inspection interface.
Game model variation
Some evolutionary traits are visible, like color alterations or shape/species transmutation 'trees'. So, it might be useful for in-game models to support color variation, rather than having to texture separate models for each variant.
Building blocks
Now, I am not sure to what extent this is already possible in Terasology, nor how Terasology biomes evolve and grow, but I would like to help add some of these evolutionary biome game mechanics to Terasology.
In the game Equilinox, the player helps to evolve and nurture various biomes and the plants, animals, and elements therein. An Equilinox biome consists of the plants, animals, and other inert objects such as stones, soil, and water. Species have a natural affinity towards certain biomes, biome elements (other species and artifacts), and elevations. Likewise, species can have an aversion to certain conditions, elements, or other species.
Terasology idea
It would be cool to provide some sort of biome hacking and evolution meddling in Terasology. This could be done through craftable tools and an inspection/modification user interface, outlined below.
Inspection tool
When a player encounters a plant or animal, they might use an 'inspection' tool, perhaps shaped like a magnifying glass, that allows them to inspect details that plants or animals. These details could include the health, hunger, biome preferences, and genomic information for the inspected entity.
Transplant/transport
Plants and animals can be transplanted between biomes. Animals could be transplanted with some sort-of craftable 'pokeball' for catch-and-release tool. Plants similarly could be sampled, either in seed form or sapling, and transplated to new biomes where they may die off, flourish, or even transform the biome over time.
Evolution
When variants are introduced into an ecosystem, new evolutionary gradients are created governing the possible form and appearance of species within the biome. These gradients can also be triggered through player intervention, without the player needing to transport a species from biome to biome, by using the aforementioned inspection interface.
Game model variation
Some evolutionary traits are visible, like color alterations or shape/species transmutation 'trees'. So, it might be useful for in-game models to support color variation, rather than having to texture separate models for each variant.
Building blocks
Now, I am not sure to what extent this is already possible in Terasology, nor how Terasology biomes evolve and grow, but I would like to help add some of these evolutionary biome game mechanics to Terasology.
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