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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 31, 2015 8:04:05 GMT
If you haven't already seen, we now have cells which look like cells and not honeycombs: forum.revolutionarygamesstudio.com/t/membrane/80A massive thanks to TheCreator for his awesome work. We couldn't have done it without him. Pretty soon we should have organelle models floating around inside, and, although it looks like a massively hard problem at the moment, deformation and physics are also planned. Post any reactions, questions or suggestions you have here, and the devs will do their best to respond. EDIT: I forgot to mention that I thought we could set up something using API so that whenever a new topic is made on the dev forums, a new topic appears here which links to it. No idea how possible that is.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 29, 2015 12:51:34 GMT
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 29, 2015 11:34:54 GMT
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 26, 2015 11:30:50 GMT
Hi Riulus! We tend to get this a lot: people really want to help but don't think they have the skills to, so suggest giving donations instead. The subject of money has come up a lot, and while it sounds like a good idea on the surface, there are several problems with it. Firstly, it's quite difficult to decide what to do with it. The core team's a bit more static than it once was, but even so, the list of people actively helping at any one time changes constantly. Dividing up money between everyone would be hard simply because we wouldn't know what the value of everything should be. Do we just give it to the programmers because they're what we need above all else right now? If not, how much do we value things like sound design relative to art or programming? Within the different development areas, who gets how much, and how do we measure how much everyone has contributed? What's the cutoff between getting some money for substantial contribution and getting none? Answering these seems at best unfair, and at worst massively ungrateful. Alternatively, you might suggest we use it for team-wide purposes. These include server costs, software costs, etc. This could perhaps be a possibility (especially with server compensation) but again we have to pick priorities and leave some things behind. Say a 3D modeler wants some expensive software to work on graphics, but at the same time a composer wants to hire session musicians to record tracks. Who do we prioritise? Should we even consider "hiring" 3D modelers who don't have their own appropriate software? While this is a worst-case scenario and I'd hope nobody would imagine doing this, what if they just take the money and run, or buy something far cheaper and keep the rest for themselves? We're not a proper organisation, so we have no way of policing these things via proper contracts. Another possibility is hiring programmers. Many of us could be labelled as idea guys, which programmers in general don't like working with, especially for free. Paying to hire new programmers who simply build what we want would certainly allow us to find more, but then we have to question whether existing programmers should get compensation. And again, it's the problem of weighing up how much work necessitates how much pay, and whether that's even a measurable statistic. Secondly, involving money in the progress throws up some risks we don't want to think about. With the game taking so much inspiration from Spore, EA might have a problem even if we don't make any money from it. If we're completely non-profit, at least the worst we could expect would be a cease and desist notice, rather than a massive fine taking everything we'd made via sales or donations. We've also received threats recently from the original creator of the Thrive concept, back when it wasn't Thrive (it's a long story). While we don't believe he'd actually go through with suing us, adding money into the equation makes it more likely. On the other hand, money might be a Godsend we'd regret ever being so against. Adding money into the equation creates a responsibility to keep working which may attract more people and help them stick around longer, as well as solidify the sense that this is actually happening. Money would allow us to pay for professional programmers who can get the game finished far quicker, as well as subsidising server costs, software costs, advertising costs and so on. It may also instill more confidence from newcomers. An open-source team trying to make a game like Thrive sounds unlikely. An open-source team trying to make a game like Thrive for free sounds completely nuts. It also gives people like you an opportunity to show your support and feel you've contributed something, which is always a good thing. Here are a couple of responses to the question when it's come up before: https://www.reddit.com/r/thrive/comments/2if4s1/kickstarter/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thrive/comments/2awjk5/thought_of_crowdfunding/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thrive/comments/2qmqsv/will_this_ever_happen/ thrivegame.canadaboard.net/t1546-a-very-important-topicthrivegame.canadaboard.net/t1311-possible-idea-that-may-attract-investorsThanks for the offer, but I hope you can see money's a bit of a thorny topic for us. Other members of the team will likely have their own reasons behind our freeware nature, just like I have mine. There are pros and cons to involving money in the process, and we'd need a long debate within ourselves before switching. We don't know ourselves what the right path is, and it's possible at this point we're just trying to justify the position we've already taken rather than looking at things rationally. If you still want to help (which is great, by the way), what we could really use is some promotion. Unfortunately our website's in a bit of a jumble at the moment and can't be fixed until early September, but after that we'd love it if you helped garner some attention for us among potential developers. We just ask that you represent us professionally and don't assume the answers to anything you don't know if they ask questions (direct them to us instead).
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 25, 2015 11:33:14 GMT
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 22, 2015 15:11:57 GMT
We seem to be experiencing a problem with the Thrive website at the moment. Unless you're logged in, you can't see the images on the home page, the menu (in mobile view) or go to certain other pages. We're looking into it.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 19, 2015 15:46:03 GMT
Yeah, I discovered that by adding spoilers to some posts and seeing if there was any difference. I guess from now on we'll just have to say no more than one embedded video per post. That way it at least limits the maximum per page to 20.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 19, 2015 12:42:17 GMT
A couple more of my favourites, without embedding any videos this time: Impossible Creatures: Menu ThemeIf animals played a jazz band. Civilization V: Field of PoppiesGenerally played after a nuclear strike, and you can hear why. Victoria II: Europe Anno 1850Paradox's soundtracks in general are all pretty good, but this is the most memorable for me. Civilization Beyond Earth: XenomalleumAn amazing blend of orchestra, choir and synthesizers gives a serene feeling of exploring the cosmic frontier. Papers Please: Theme SongSimple but effective, like glorious Arstotzkan habitation system. Glory to Arstotzka! The Stanley Parable: Following Stanley
Damdadaadam daadamdaa, damdadaadam daadam daadam... EDIT: I forgot some. Kerbal Space Program: Title Theme
The perfect soundtrack for conquering space, flying to the stars and accidentally killing kerbals because you forgot to add parachutes. LittleBigPlanet: Volver a Commenzar
All the LittleBigPlanet games used licensed music to great effect, especially since none of it was well-known beforehand (in the US/UK, at least: this song was somewhat popular in Mexico). LittleBigPlanet 2: SleepyheadSimilar story. I find this song even better with lyrics, as weird as they are. And then there's this. Gran Turismo 5: 5OUL ON D!SPLAYThe opening theme for GT5 Spec 2.0. In my opinion, it narrowly beats the better-known song that began the game before the update, Planetary: Go.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 19, 2015 11:47:15 GMT
In this thread, you use the game's set of organelles to construct and design a cell for a certain niche. Here's an image with all the organelles and their sizes (excluding cytoplasm, which is just a single hex organelle you build the cell structure out of before adding organelles on top): The nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum and golgi apparatus are always joined together in that configuration, and every cell must have them. Flagella, agent secretors, predatory pili and engulfing edges must be placed on the outside edge of a cell with their appendages pointing outwards. Vacuoles and slime glands are built in a similar way to cytoplasm - you place it hex by hex, and the vacuole/gland is rendered based on the shape of all the hexes together. Engulfing edges are similar, but only affect the exterior of a cell, making a section of the membrane a cell can use to engulf others. Cilia, cell walls, and lamellipodia are periphery organelles, and only one of these can be chosen. Cilia coats the membrane in small hairs for mobility, lamellipodia does the same with small stumps for surface crawling, and a cell wall creates a rigid case around the cell, restricting movement. Cell walls prevent the placement of any external organelles (flagella, engulfing edge, predatory pili) except the agent secretor. Cytoplasm is represented by white hexes, while the colours of all other organelles are up to you. Each vacuole must contain only one compound or agent type. Agent secretors can only be tied to one type of agent each, and you must have storage for that agent in a vacuole. Multiple vacuoles or secretors can store or use the same thing. Other than that, there are no limits. Build something as big or as complicated as you like. You don't have to use symmetry.
Here's my cell: It features a lot of mitochondria, a paralytic agent, flagella and a spike. This cell is designed to be a fast predator: it releases a paralytic to immobilise its prey, before stabbing it with the pilus and using its flagella to quickly collect all the spilt nutrients. Having lots of mitochondria and oxygen/glucose storage allows it to produce a lot of energy when not hunting in preparation for speedy attacks. It also has paralytic resistance, so its own agent doesn't damage it.
EDIT: For reference, here's the structure of the game's starting cell (not the one in the game at the moment, but the one that will be eventually):
ANOTHER EDIT: Oh, and if you want information on what each organelle does, as well as a list of possible agents and compounds you can use, see: thrivegame.wikidot.com/gdd-microbe:appendices#toc1 (Agents) thrivegame.wikidot.com/gdd-microbe:appendices#toc3 (Compounds) thrivegame.wikidot.com/gdd-microbe:appendices#toc4 (Organelles)
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Tierra
Aug 15, 2015 16:13:25 GMT
Post by Oliveriver on Aug 15, 2015 16:13:25 GMT
Has anyone here heard of Tierra? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tierra_(computer_simulation)It was a simulation written in the early 90s where a program was unleashed upon a computer and left to evolve. It could replicate with the possibility of slight mutation, and each new program competed for the resource of CPU processing time like real life organisms compete for food. It displayed some of the principles of evolution even in such a simple system: punctuated equilibrium and even parasites leeching off other programs for survival.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 14, 2015 20:35:20 GMT
I had a quick go at editing a few posts to put the videos in spoilers to see if it would improve loading times. It didn't. Unfortunately that means there's no way to embed large numbers of videos without massive load times. Try posting just the links instead as much as possible from now on, like in Cobalt's post.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 10, 2015 2:36:05 GMT
I think that in Industrial stage and up, it should be possible to see a sign for Dani's Burritos. (In reference to Daniferrito) I like the idea of referring to developers in-game in some way. To add to this and the many Uteen references there are likely to be (try and guess who is being referenced with each): - In the Industrial Stage, a meteorite could land on the planet and can be harvested to produce the unique compound 'Cheese' (stolen from Dani's suggestion in the original thread).
- The player could run into a star in the Space Stage called Daniferrito (also stolen from that thread).
- If the player names their species 'Nick', then all individuals of that species in the society stages will be named 'Nick' (if randomised individual naming is a planned thing).
- The player could find a giant teacup-shaped rock formation in the Aware Stage.
- An FP available when creating clothing could be a set of yellow glasses. There could also be a set of scientist goggles with warning labels on them.
- In the Space Stage, some spacefaring species may be tagged 'Untrusted' to warn you that they require caution to deal with.
- On Industrial Stage concert halls, there could be posters advertising a purple and orange version of Beethoven.
- Somewhere hidden deep in the ocean, the player may discover a friendly Cthulu.
Obviously none of these are grounded in feasibility or likelihood anymore, so hooray for wild speculation! I can't think of anything for ~sciocont, moopli, Seregons or US_of_Alaska. Anyone have any suggestions?
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 7, 2015 15:48:59 GMT
Fixed.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 7, 2015 15:09:18 GMT
It's been archived, which means we won't talk there anymore but we may occasionally reference threads and ideas from it.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 7, 2015 0:23:57 GMT
Yeah, the OxtToxy organelle is a quick fix right now to demonstrate the principles of cell combat in the simplest way possible, with very simple agent synthesis. The current concepts for synthesising agents are outlined here: thrivegame.wikidot.com/gdd-microbe:gameplay#toc10thrivegame.wikidot.com/gdd-microbe:gameplay#toc26Basically, once the player adds an agent secretor (or the AI evolves one), they're granted a random agent with a very low effectiveness (e.g. a flagellum inhibitor with 10% efficacy). They can choose to replace it or upgrade it in following generations. Upgrades take place over multiple generations until it reaches high power after many evolution cycles. Slime is one agent, and I don't believe it has any possible upgrades - it just blocks engulfing edges based on the amount consumed by an enemy. This would make it one of the most powerful first level agents, so it could lead to the scenario you describe.
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Post by Oliveriver on Aug 1, 2015 21:42:34 GMT
I don't think that's an editable admin option, but we could start enforcing a rule that videos need to be spoilered (added to the FAQ guidelines). That thread is a particularly bad example as there are so many.
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Post by Oliveriver on Jul 29, 2015 20:08:42 GMT
We are using it, but it's a secret. We might have to wait a while for someone to get the required post count for it...
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Post by Oliveriver on Jul 29, 2015 19:39:32 GMT
Now we just need to adjust the post thresholds again so that it doesn't overflow onto two lines...
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Post by Oliveriver on Jul 29, 2015 11:13:10 GMT
Huh. after my experimentation, I lost my stars. Not anymore. Oliveriver to the rescue! Anyway, they don't need to be meaningful really, just a way for people to show how much people have contributed. Post counts could also show this, but hey, the stars are just trinkets.
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Post by Oliveriver on Jul 28, 2015 20:41:29 GMT
And what happened to all the pretty stars? Somebody's been messing with the member ranks it seems... Moopli...
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