From a Colony of Cells to an Organism

Question: Our auto-evo requires template organisms, right? Thoughts?

Tenebrarum wrote:

Question: Our auto-evo requires template organisms, right? Thoughts?

There will probably be a set number of cells (At this point there probably won't be individual cells but your creature will be divided into cell clusters with functions as far as game mechanics go) that when you pass it you will go from 2d -3d.
SO if your something like a daphnia, you will go from seeing it like this:



To this:




Im may not seem like such a big change, but we have been discussing these template organisms...

How about a couple generations before you reach the 2D-3D cell cap, the game could *somehow* determine the main shape, movement, energy production and structural material (Ie lots of platers around the exterior of the colony or no platers but lots of stingers), of the colony, and relate it to one of our template orgs.

So we would probably have to make a whole batch of template orgs for all the possible combinations, which with crowd-sourcing would probably not be too hard (200-500..?)

So for something like the above Daphnia:

Shape: Round - Egg if we are being extraspecific

Movement: Contractile Muscle Cells
(Muscle cells will form from large areas of other movement cells - not altogether scientific but function-wise it will work and it will be done 'behind the scenes' when individual cells are phased out).

Energy production: Respiration

Materials: (Probably represented as a ratio to determine what goes where or how it is distributed about the shape of the body) Includes Platers, Eaters, Feelers, Eye Cells etc.

Now from all these factors, perhaps the game could pick the closest match out of our 3D template organisms and during the next few generations phase in features from them? Then when you go full 3D you more or less assume their shape?

Thoughts? (BTW the last couple posts by me are rather important, please read them )

Best idea yet Pezz!

And it could easily relate organisms based on the similarities of their share codes.

Tenebrarum wrote:

Best idea yet Pezz!

And it could easily relate organisms based on the similarities of their share codes.

Yes that too

So are we having Biomes for microbial and Colony stage? I mean it would be cool if a gargantuan filter feeder swam right by your colony. Or even swallowed you XD

Good ,but what about muscle valves? how will we create them?

kaosrain wrote:

Good ,but what about muscle valves? how will we create them?

We can essentially cheat with most muscle related cells.

If not I guess for some colonies there will be certain cells that can de-stick and re-stick to allow food substances through, and in order to open the will need a mover nearby so I guess later in gameplay these moves will become muscle cells I guess valves could form to allow blood/substances/anything else through?

And for excretory systems systems the same?

kaosrain wrote:

And for excretory systems systems the same?

Yeah I guess... And perhaps sphincters can form at this level too... or not.

I'm really loving your ideas here, Pezz!

~sciocont wrote:

I'm really loving your ideas here, Pezz!

Thx scio!

Let me re-iterate a few things for a second.
I more or less clicked onto this while re-reading my above post.

Pezzalis wrote:

(At this point there probably won't be individual cells but your creature will be divided into cell clusters with functions as far as game mechanics go)

What's an easier name for these clusters? Parts.

I think your right scio about the basic OE coming into play as soon as a colonies cells start to specialize as thats when certain cells have different functions and thus arrangement is essential. It makes a lot of sense.

I've done some reading around and I can't seem to find how we will bridge the gap between having a bunch of cells in a colony and having a large organism dynamically.

As in when do cells become invisible to you? Suddenly or do they disappear over time?

Because in order to be animal sized you need to accumilate about a trillion cells, and that's....alot.
Not trying to reopen discussion, just trying to get clarification.

Bob Blackmon wrote:

I've done some reading around and I can't seem to find how we will bridge the gap between having a bunch of cells in a colony and having a large organism dynamically.

As in when do cells become invisible to you? Suddenly or do they disappear over time?

Because in order to be animal sized you need to accumilate about a trillion cells, and that's....alot.
Not trying to reopen discussion, just trying to get clarification.

Throughout the generations of colony gameplay the cell count will multiply and the maximum zoom in level will adjust accordingly, to a point where the game isn't rendering individual cells - It will either apply a texture or split the organism up into parts (Exactly how the OE will work). This way you will be able to zoom in less as you get bigger.
Eventually the cell count will be phased out completely as it wont matter - around the point that you are about the size of a mosquito larva. From here gameplay is controlled through the main evolution concept.