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Post by Oliveriver on May 29, 2016 15:07:29 GMT
What biomes do you think we should have in the microbe stage? What should they look like? What effects should they have on gameplay? For reference, here's the thread on the dev forum where we'll be working on concept art for them. |
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Post by Moopli on May 29, 2016 16:06:09 GMT
Cyanobacterial mat: An ecosystem of floating threads and colonies of cyanobacteria near the top of the ocean, and the wide variety of lifeforms that inhabit this verdant forest.
On the game plane, there would be a lot of cyanobacteria -- each cell about the size of a hex, producing small amounts of O2 and containing quite a bit of glucose if eaten. They'd form threads of about 20 cells, with a few of the cells being heterocysts, slightly swollen cells that fix nitrogen (ie, produce small quantities of ammonia). They'd also form rarer spheroid colonies, maybe of about 50 cells, a random few being heterocysts.
The background water could have a greenish tinge, and floating in the background there will be greenish-blue threads and greenish-blue lumps, all the way from the near background, almost the size of the cyanobacteria you can interact with, to the far background, where all you can see are hair-thin threads and pinhead-sized lumps.
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Post by Atrox on May 29, 2016 17:14:06 GMT
Abyss
Visuals: Pitch black. Some faint, blinking lights in the background.
Effects: No sunlight; no heatspots; bioluminescent bacteria; not sure about currents; some rock formations; chemosynthesis is found here; detritus also floating here
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011 
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on May 29, 2016 17:30:23 GMT
Asteroid Interior:
Dark visuals, with gray rocks marking asteroid boundaries. Occasional rock formations and an enormous rock formation surrounding the water. Very cold, no heat or light spots. Mostly chemosynthesis, available when an asteroid strike sends your current rock into space.
Ice Flow:
White and clear ice formations instead of rocks, strong cold water currents. Lots of light spots but no heat spots, very high oxygen content. Found in polar regions.
Saline Lake:
Dark visuals, with perturbations caused by hyper dense saline. No heat or light spots, chemosynthesis mostly, with no rock formations. Found on oceanic basalt where hyper saturated water has settled into underwater "lakes".
Aquatic Caves:
Mostly deep blue visuals with distant view of gray rocks. Occasional light spots with drifting photo synthesizers. Detritus floating in the foreground. Found along continental plates.
Estuary:
Cerulean water with green tinge. Muddy background and strong currents. Moderate light spots, lots of plant life.
Mossy Banks:
Green algal background with occasional breaks for brown mud to show through. No water, but along a river bank.
Mycelium Tangles:
Brown and purple veins running through soil or mud. Few light spots, but lots of fungal detritus. Found on land in any given location where fungi are sold.
edit: Volcanic Crevasse:
Red tinged water with black rocks in the background. Deep yellow-orange veins of lava visible in rocks. Frequent basalt outcroppings. Lots of heat spots and moderate light spots. High concentration of chemicals but high volcanic activity. Found where lava meets ocean water.
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on May 30, 2016 13:38:12 GMT
Thermal Spring:
Clear water with basalt and granite visible in the background, occasional rock formations. Exceptional numbers of heat spots with moderate light spots. Almost no currents. If possible, occasional geyser flare ups. Located near active volcanos.
Irradiated Pool:
Brownish water with a fuzzy blue background (Cherenkov radiation). No rock formations. Lots of really dangerous heat spots, few light spots. Weak currents. Available if a civilization on your microbe's planet has developed nuclear reactors or had a nuclear war, or if the planet has a thin atmosphere.
Glacier Melt:
Brown and gray silt seen in background with white particulates floating in the water. Very high concentration of solutes and nutrients, few heat spots and plenty of light spots. Weak to moderate currents, no rock formations. Found in the trail of retreating glaciers.
Raging River:
Similar visuals to the current microbe stage look. Very very strong currents, with moderate light spots and few heat spots. Very few rock formations.
Bubbling Stream:
Similar visuals to Raging River, but with a dark background signifying the river bed. Weak currents, with plentiful light spots and few heat spots. Frequent but small rock formations.
Placid Pond:
Blue-Green water with muddy bottom visible in background. No currents, and few rock formations. Excessive numbers of light spots and almost no heat spots.
Freshwater Lake (Upper Levels):
Dark blue background with occasional parallax detritus. Weak currents with no rock formations. Many light spots and no heat spots.
Freshwater Lake (Lower Levels):
Dark gray-blue water. Moderate currents with a decent number of rock formations. No light spots, few heat spots.
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Post by Atrox on May 30, 2016 17:10:57 GMT
Petri-dish:
White or metallic background to represent the clear petri-dish on a microscope. Lots of colonies floating around. Plenty of compounds. The player meets a round edge if they travel far enough. An abundance of light and heat. Available if a civilization on your microbe's planet has developed microscopes.
Joke biome/easter egg/cheat. Could be for an "easy mode" haha
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Post by timetraveler22 on May 30, 2016 17:26:42 GMT
Bloom
Vibrant blue water, sporadic occurance in nature. Full of green algae cells
Red Tide
Basically like bloom, but found in shallower habitats. Water's reddish, algae is reddish, and will slowly starve you of oxygen and kill you.
*Edit*: This is accurate because I've been through both through my time in Florida
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Post by Atrox on May 30, 2016 18:00:45 GMT
Surface: Basically floating on the surface of the ocean. Like the Petri-dish, the biome contains an abundance of light and heat spots, however they disappear and reappear in a consistent pattern. Visuals would include dark blue water and waves. LOTS of oxygen and whatever other compound is present in the atmosphere.
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Post by timetraveler22 on May 30, 2016 18:11:55 GMT
Aerobic mud
Not much water, intertidal land. Background is brown an you move slower since you need to trudge through sediment. Lots of toxic chemicals and mud particles, but abundant with micro organisms from bacteria, to worms, tardigrades, rotifers, copepods and everything in between.
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on May 31, 2016 13:22:58 GMT
Primordial Coral Reef:
This patch of continental ocean floor does not host coral polyps, sponges, or sea plants, because those haven't evolved yet. Rather, it has lots of sun spots, a few heat spots, a plethora of calcium carbonate, and a host of cells which excrete that calcium. The background can have gray rock with veins of pearlescent white running through it, with a parallax sunny water texture. Frequent rocky outcroppings, found along sea shores the world over. Variable current strength.
Roiling Spray:
Water heated beyond its boiling point is escaping the ocean and becoming steam. In this harsh environment, heat spots are plenty while light is intermittent through the haze. Wispy strands of white steam flow over a background of deep blue. There are no rock formations, but currents are moderate. This biome is found where the ocean meets lava, or on planets that begin to get extremely hot.
Arsenic Lake:
Getting dangerously close to necessitating alternate biochemistry, this is a hardcore mode biome. Rust red and brown sands are visible in the background, with yellow veins of precipitated salts running through them. Weak currents push your microbe along past few rocky outcroppings. While in this biome, you will constantly be set upon by damaging agents, but there will be plenty of sunlight, and a few heat spots.
Crystal Cave:
Deep beneath the ocean waves, where only bioluminescent organisms and James Cameron dare venture, a previously enclosed cavern has been opened by erosion. Within can be seen crystals of many species growing from the limestone. This underwater cave has no currents, but extremely frequent and large rocky outcroppings. The background is composed of colorful crystalline structures embedded in light gray rocks. There are no light spots, and very few heat spots, but mineral compounds abound.
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Post by timetraveler22 on May 31, 2016 19:19:30 GMT
Primordial Coral Reef:
This patch of continental ocean floor does not host coral polyps, sponges, or sea plants, because those haven't evolved yet. Rather, it has lots of sun spots, a few heat spots, a plethora of calcium carbonate, and a host of cells which excrete that calcium. The background can have gray rock with veins of pearlescent white running through it, with a parallax sunny water texture. Frequent rocky outcroppings, found along sea shores the world over. Variable current strength.
How is it a Coral reef without any coral? lol. A reef isn't just considered a coral reef. In my state we also have worm reefs, and sponge reefs. I'd think that in this Primordial Reef, there'd be hard bottom sediment, but the flora, per se, would be things like hydra and hair algae-like creatures. Lots of plankton-feeding sedimentary protists that have long tentacles like coral that will try to catch you with their sticky tentacles. These tentacles will be sticky and will produce toxins, which will subdue you as the pred pulls you into it's mouth. If you escape these "pseudocoral's" grasp, then you'd still be under the affect of the toxins just like if you were a plankton in reefs today! |
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Post by timetraveler22 on May 31, 2016 19:23:05 GMT
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Post by lowry on May 31, 2016 19:42:29 GMT
Primordial Coral Reef:
This patch of continental ocean floor does not host coral polyps, sponges, or sea plants, because those haven't evolved yet. Rather, it has lots of sun spots, a few heat spots, a plethora of calcium carbonate, and a host of cells which excrete that calcium. The background can have gray rock with veins of pearlescent white running through it, with a parallax sunny water texture. Frequent rocky outcroppings, found along sea shores the world over. Variable current strength.
How is it a Coral reef without any coral? lol. A reef isn't just considered a coral reef. In my state we also have worm reefs, and sponge reefs. I'd think that in this Primordial Reef, there'd be hard bottom sediment, but the flora, per se, would be things like hydra and hair algae-like creatures. Lots of plankton-feeding sedimentary protists that have long tentacles like coral that will try to catch you with their sticky tentacles. These tentacles will be sticky and will produce toxins, which will subdue you as the pred pulls you into it's mouth. If you escape these "pseudocoral's" grasp, then you'd still be under the affect of the toxins just like if you were a plankton in reefs today! I think the idea is that this area is a near to perfect representation of where we find our reefs. Plus, I believe there's going to be an option to not allow other organisms to evolve past your own stage. Also, I believe you begin the game as one of the few cells at the beginning of that planets evolutionary journey, therefore nothing has evolved past you yet anyway... |
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on May 31, 2016 19:51:27 GMT
Primordial Coral Reef:
This patch of continental ocean floor does not host coral polyps, sponges, or sea plants, because those haven't evolved yet. Rather, it has lots of sun spots, a few heat spots, a plethora of calcium carbonate, and a host of cells which excrete that calcium. The background can have gray rock with veins of pearlescent white running through it, with a parallax sunny water texture. Frequent rocky outcroppings, found along sea shores the world over. Variable current strength.
How is it a Coral reef without any coral? lol. A reef isn't just considered a coral reef. In my state we also have worm reefs, and sponge reefs. I'd think that in this Primordial Reef, there'd be hard bottom sediment, but the flora, per se, would be things like hydra and hair algae-like creatures. Lots of plankton-feeding sedimentary protists that have long tentacles like coral that will try to catch you with their sticky tentacles. These tentacles will be sticky and will produce toxins, which will subdue you as the pred pulls you into it's mouth. If you escape these "pseudocoral's" grasp, then you'd still be under the affect of the toxins just like if you were a plankton in reefs today! 1) This might be the first time I've ever quoted someone...personal growth! Usually I'm too lazy to press a button. 2) The idea was that the calcium carbonate content made the area a perfect precursor to a reef system familiar to most players, and was my attempt to add my favorite biome to a stage where it can't exist in all of its polyp-oid glory. The idea then being that it would gradually give rise to a planet's corals (or coral-like organisms, because taxonomy). |
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Post by tjwhale on May 31, 2016 20:05:34 GMT
That is a cool video. They should have got the rusted iron ring. |
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Post by timetraveler22 on May 31, 2016 20:12:28 GMT
How is it a Coral reef without any coral? lol. A reef isn't just considered a coral reef. In my state we also have worm reefs, and sponge reefs. I'd think that in this Primordial Reef, there'd be hard bottom sediment, but the flora, per se, would be things like hydra and hair algae-like creatures. Lots of plankton-feeding sedimentary protists that have long tentacles like coral that will try to catch you with their sticky tentacles. These tentacles will be sticky and will produce toxins, which will subdue you as the pred pulls you into it's mouth. If you escape these "pseudocoral's" grasp, then you'd still be under the affect of the toxins just like if you were a plankton in reefs today! 1) This might be the first time I've ever quoted someone...personal growth! Usually I'm too lazy to press a button. 2) The idea was that the calcium carbonate content made the area a perfect precursor to a reef system familiar to most players, and was my attempt to add my favorite biome to a stage where it can't exist in all of its polyp-oid glory. The idea then being that it would gradually give rise to a planet's corals (or coral-like organisms, because taxonomy). Calcium is usually only viable to corals when it is in the water and not in solid form. This could add a new feature to the game if you want to add a backbone(just saying it could be a good step to add complexity), but most corals evolved from hydra-like creatures, and bryozoans. Which in Thrive could be more "protista-y" we're still microscopic, so our view of noticeable prey & pred should be around the size that could fit comfortably on our computer screen. As we evolve, we could notice that there're larger coral-like creatures too. |
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The_Wayward_Admiral
Spacefaring
The_Real_Slim_Shady
Atrox drew this awesome image of the Keldori!
Posts: 1,011
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Post by The_Wayward_Admiral on May 31, 2016 20:20:05 GMT
Calcium is usually only viable to corals when it is in the water and not in solid form. The calcium mentioned in the post would be aqueous, available in compound form like Thrive's oxygen and glucose (once both it and the biomes are implemented). My apologies for lack of clarity. edit: for immersion purposes, I added in the white veins idea as carbonate precipitate. |
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Post by timetraveler22 on May 31, 2016 20:24:35 GMT
Awesome! Will calcium become the factor of a viable vertebra? That once you're multicellular, you need to intake so much calcium that you'll be able to develop a backbone, cartilage, notochord?
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RoboTrannic
Spacefaring
haunting deviantart
Posts: 1,005
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Post by RoboTrannic on May 31, 2016 20:54:38 GMT
inside the digestive track of a multicelliur animal: congatsilation you have waited to long to evolve now you have become prey for all well done
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Post by mx on Jun 3, 2016 2:28:51 GMT
Blood stream
- A large complex animal has drank you.. luckily for you you "went down the wrong whole" and made it to the bloodstream via the lungs. Congratulations your the worlds first infection evolve quickly to become your worlds first parasite or succumb to your hosts immune system. - Red background , strong water(blood) currents. uniformly hot and dark, very high oxygen and nutrient content. other microorganisms either non living (red blood cells) or highly aggressive (white blood cells) EDIT; Oops just read another post on parasites which said that they probably wont be implemented  . Ill leave this here as maybe an afterthought for down the line should it become possible.
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. Ill leave this here as maybe an afterthought for down the line should it become possible.