Miscellaneous Bugs And Questions That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Thread

Same limitations apply to underwater and underground as long as you are submerged ie. being near lava underwater means CRAZY heat, same for rocks as well. As an aside I don't think valcanoes are useful on land either, it's still too hot poisonous and dreadful. Sam and Frodo only survived Peter Jackson's mount doom explosion thanks to the wonders of fiction

PTFace wrote:

Speaking of burrowing creatures, wouldn't it be possible for underwater civilizations to form if a fish was able to burrow into the ground, find a volcano, and use that to make tools?

I'm pretty sure the underwater civ debate is pretty much is pretty much set in stone, and I wouldn't bring it up too much because these hate when people keep arguing over already solved topics.

"I'm pretty sure the underwater civ debate is pretty much is pretty much set in stone, and I wouldn't bring it up too much because these hate when people keep arguing over already solved topics."
QFT

Ooh, questions!

zippybomb wrote:

What about burrowing creatures like moles and amphisbaneans? How would they work? What soil could they dig in and what couldn't they?

We would probably use the tag system, but the closest I've ever seen in a game to a dynamic landscape are systems like in Minecraft and From Dust: One requires the entire world to be incredibly low in detail, the other has a landscape like a large rubber sheet - overhangs are impossible. So since digging never has been done in combination with a realistic world before, it probably isn't the simplest of things to program, so I wouldn't expect this... At all, probably, seeing as even large companies can't do it.

zippybomb wrote:

How would they see if they had no eyes? If you lived in a cave how would that work?

Maybe if you had antenna or were smelling you would see black and white vision with color trails to represent different things, like green for prey and red for predator?

Senses Integration talks all about that stuff.

zippybomb wrote:

Also some other stuff, could another species in your world evolve into a civilization? and how would you interact with that civilization if you were a creature? Would they pollute the oceans and would that affect you?

Yes.

However you would with any other species, except they probably will respond intelligently. Eg. Examine, sample (take to a SC for further study), domesticate, go "⎈⌧⍹⍓!" (alien speak for 'that dog's got no nose!' or something), etc.

Maybe... As a tag, making the water lower health in some way when consumed, and for anything living in it.

zippybomb wrote:

Also, has anyone thought about making servers where people could play online with eachother? that would be cool.

It would, but that would require a server, and a lot of extra coding. Our decision - lots of effort, and someone will mod it if there is demand for the feature.



Level up!

Anyone think it may be worth flicking a message to a large indie game developer (or dev team) perhaps asking a tad of advice, or perhaps even a shout out for any experienced programmers at a loose end?
Like for instance, Notch?
Could help us get out there more and even grant us a few more team members?

Pezzalis wrote:

Anyone think it may be worth flicking a message to a large indie game developer (or dev team) perhaps asking a tad of advice, or perhaps even a shout out for any experienced programmers at a loose end?
Like for instance, Notch?
Could help us get out there more and even grant us a few more team members?

sounds like a nice idea, maybe contacting Markus Persson via Twitter.......

but anyways, in fact, getting help from Mojang would be cool, but their field is the Java Language. but hey, as long as we dont contact a big company like EA or Activision, sounds like a good idea.

penumbra espinosa wrote:

Pezzalis wrote:

Anyone think it may be worth flicking a message to a large indie game developer (or dev team) perhaps asking a tad of advice, or perhaps even a shout out for any experienced programmers at a loose end?
Like for instance, Notch?
Could help us get out there more and even grant us a few more team members?

sounds like a nice idea, maybe contacting Markus Persson via Twitter.......

but anyways, in fact, getting help from Mojang would be cool, but their field is the Java Language. but hey, as long as we dont contact a big company like EA or Activision, sounds like a good idea.

Sounds interesting. Is there anything in particular we want to ask about?

We also should start a Kickstarter after we have something to show.

Not sure how that works with nonprofit, but the publicity is a good idea.

PTFace wrote:

We also should start a Kickstarter after we have something to show.

this si a non profit project, i dont think we should put it in kickstarter.......also we aren't a company or some sort of development studio, just a bunch of people who gathered from the internet and started a project.

Kickstarter is more fore the little dev team, people who actually work together, i mean, personally, we're just a bunch of anons, so it would be really complicated....

Mysterious_Calligrapher wrote:

Not sure how that works with nonprofit, but the publicity is a good idea.

If we raised money for donation to a charity (for protecting endangered species, maybe), it'd stick with non-profit and get publicity. People would pay money to make good things happen and in the process pay us attention, so it would work well for everyone involved. Although, I'm not sure how we'd set it up...

The Uteen wrote:

Mysterious_Calligrapher wrote:

Not sure how that works with nonprofit, but the publicity is a good idea.

If we raised money for donation to a charity (for protecting endangered species, maybe), it'd stick with non-profit and get publicity. People would pay money to make good things happen and in the process pay us attention, so it would work well for everyone involved. Although, I'm not sure how we'd set it up...

Right, is anybody here old enough to remember the late 90's, early 2000's, when there were a lot of elementary school fund raisers (bake sales, at least as I remember) to protect the Rainforests of Brazil? Basically, what happened is that the money was sent to nonprofit conservation organizations who used it to buy chunks of the rainforest as a sort of public trust.

If there is still a company around that does that, or something similar, that would be a good thing. We could design a thrive T-shirt or something as a "donation gift" for people who pledged upwards of $30 or something. I mean, we'd have to wait until we had something to show for ourselves besides the bouncy circles, but it's a good thing to keep in mind for when we have a release of some magnitude.

Also, everybody here who participates in a website (which allows such things, of course,) would have to spam the belgium out of the kickstarter, in their sigs or whatever, but I think that this would be a very good discussion to have when we're ready for a major release. Say, the beginning of multicellular.

This is a fantastic idea! Quickly! Everybody think as fast as they can! We need ideas for rewards!

zippybomb wrote:

This is a fantastic idea! Quickly! Everybody think as fast as they can! We need ideas for rewards!

- Logo buttons/tees
- Posters (concept art, probably... Kinko's it or something.)
- list of people who have donated (bragging rights)
- Advance download of game music or something... maybe.

Good stuff to have on the table when this idea becomes applicable and we've got something to show for ourselves. I'll bring it back up in marketing at an appropriate time.

Mysterious_Calligrapher wrote:

zippybomb wrote:

This is a fantastic idea! Quickly! Everybody think as fast as they can! We need ideas for rewards!

- Logo buttons/tees
- Posters (concept art, probably... Kinko's it or something.)
- list of people who have donated (bragging rights)
- Advance download of game music or something... maybe.

Good stuff to have on the table when this idea becomes applicable and we've got something to show for ourselves. I'll bring it back up in marketing at an appropriate time.

Typically the way I've seen is: (also higher levels receive the lower ones)

Smallest amount- Some little in game thing, such as being able to make your creature completely golden or silver with no negative repercussions.
Next- Something like a Thrive mousepad or button
Next- Your choice of Concept art as a poster
Next- A downloadable version of the soundtrack
And then a huge jump in price, lets say it is now 50 dollars- A signed T-Shirt with all the developers names
75 dollars- A signed physical copy of the soundtrack with all the composers
100- A signed concept artbook with all artists
anything over 100 will also receive their name in the credits

Something like that

PTFace wrote:

Mysterious_Calligrapher wrote:

zippybomb wrote:

This is a fantastic idea! Quickly! Everybody think as fast as they can! We need ideas for rewards!

- Logo buttons/tees
- Posters (concept art, probably... Kinko's it or something.)
- list of people who have donated (bragging rights)
- Advance download of game music or something... maybe.

Good stuff to have on the table when this idea becomes applicable and we've got something to show for ourselves. I'll bring it back up in marketing at an appropriate time.

Typically the way I've seen is: (also higher levels receive the lower ones)

Smallest amount- Some little in game thing, such as being able to make your creature completely golden or silver with no negative repercussions.
Next- Something like a Thrive mousepad or button
Next- Your choice of Concept art as a poster
Next- A downloadable version of the soundtrack
And then a huge jump in price, lets say it is now 50 dollars- A signed T-Shirt with all the developers names
75 dollars- A signed physical copy of the soundtrack with all the composers
100- A signed concept artbook with all artists
anything over 100 will also receive their name in the credits

Something like that

Um, I don`t think we could sign things, we would have to mail them around and that would take a long time.

Right, I just looked at a few random kickstarters and those were the most common things

Also, what program is being used to code the game and where can you download it?

zippybomb wrote:

PTFace wrote:

Mysterious_Calligrapher wrote:

zippybomb wrote:

This is a fantastic idea! Quickly! Everybody think as fast as they can! We need ideas for rewards!

- Logo buttons/tees
- Posters (concept art, probably... Kinko's it or something.)
- list of people who have donated (bragging rights)
- Advance download of game music or something... maybe.

Good stuff to have on the table when this idea becomes applicable and we've got something to show for ourselves. I'll bring it back up in marketing at an appropriate time.

Typically the way I've seen is: (also higher levels receive the lower ones)

Smallest amount- Some little in game thing, such as being able to make your creature completely golden or silver with no negative repercussions.
Next- Something like a Thrive mousepad or button
Next- Your choice of Concept art as a poster
Next- A downloadable version of the soundtrack
And then a huge jump in price, lets say it is now 50 dollars- A signed T-Shirt with all the developers names
75 dollars- A signed physical copy of the soundtrack with all the composers
100- A signed concept artbook with all artists
anything over 100 will also receive their name in the credits

Something like that

Um, I don`t think we could sign things, we would have to mail them around and that would take a long time.

Yeah... we have several different countries here, guys. I mean, some of us might have access to a scanner good enough for some sort of digital signature to go through well... but it's not like we're all developing in the same office building here.

Psst. PT, pester Roadkill. He was just here talking to the new programmer the other day. To the best of my belief, we're using C++, though I highly suspect it's something that's on your computer which you can use if you have the power, not something you download.
*Sincerely hopes she's not the only one old enough to be yelling "I have the power" or remember Greyskull Castle.*

Ill try to think of something...

I liked PTs idea for in-game stuff with lower donations. How about there is something in-game along with concept art posters and/or soundtracks for every donation? Like a golden biome?

We also need exact donation amounts, except for above-a-certain-point donations. (you know, $100+)

Orygandian2 wrote:

Ill try to think of something...

I liked PTs idea for in-game stuff with lower donations. How about there is something in-game along with concept art posters and/or soundtracks for every donation? Like a golden biome?

We also need exact donation amounts, except for above-a-certain-point donations. (you know, $100+)

We'll have to think of something that's achievable by our programmers. I'm thinking something highly decorative that wouldn't break game physics. Of course, that would delay the kickstarter even more because we'd have to program easter eggs as well as the stage... Also, even if we couldn't sign physical stuff, it is entirely possible to design t-shirts, have them printed, and ship them to people without ever seeing the t-shirt. Plus, you know, real-world advertising, not something we'd get out of having just an easter egg.

I thought of a tonne of In-game donation rewards.

Here they are:

- Exclusive special textures and parts (parts are optional)
- Golden and Silver textures
- (expansion on PTs Idea) Ability to make creatures Solid gold, Silver, Platinum etc, as well as making allowing you to color parts that way, or actually MAKE the parts gold/silver/platinum/etc, along with exclusive new parts corresponding with precious metals like those.
- Same as before, only with birthstones.
- Thrive-labelled parts, TOs, and a special t-shirt in-game.
- Secret/unlockable editor of some sort. (ghost/spirit editor? I dunno.)
- Special god tool. (I didn't see a weather tool discussed, but that seems like it should be included in game... We need something that isn't as should-be-in-the-core-game. Maybe a fear-inducing tool?)
- Special material biomes. (Gold, Silver, Lapis Lazuli, Platinum, Ruby...)
- Infinite amount of one type of resource.
- Access to something from the beta (something REALLY early on in development)

I'm prone to think of something else.

Just to let people know, if they haven't noticed, I've moved discussion about donations to a new thread, since it seems to have outgrown this one.

Now I can ask some questions that have been wanting to get out the moment I joined the forums.

1. When playing in strategy mode, exactly what are you playing as? For the Space and Industrial stages it's acceptable to play as a commander of sorts, but what about the more "Tribal" stages? Or, if you have a pack in Aware and possibly multicellular, what would be?

2. How will the Tech Tree and creators come into the game? The stage-to-stage progression is supposed to be really smooth, so you wouldn't realize you're in awakening stage after finishing aware, but the FP creator can't just "appear", players would know when they are in awakening stage, and it just wouldn't look good.

3. Will the OE still be available in awakening and beyond? If it isn't, we would have to figure out how to make it fade out of the game.

4. How will the transfer to ascension work? Will your entire species instantly become gods, or is it just you? Ascension is the one weirdest issue we have, because we know exactly how most of it is going to go, but we still have a tonne of problems involving gameplay.

Orygandian2 wrote:

Now I can ask some questions that have been wanting to get out the moment I joined the forums.

1. When playing in strategy mode, exactly what are you playing as? For the Space and Industrial stages it's acceptable to play as a commander of sorts, but what about the more "Tribal" stages? Or, if you have a pack in Aware and possibly multicellular, what would be?

2. How will the Tech Tree and creators come into the game? The stage-to-stage progression is supposed to be really smooth, so you wouldn't realize you're in awakening stage after finishing aware, but the FP creator can't just "appear", players would know when they are in awakening stage, and it just wouldn't look good.

3. Will the OE still be available in awakening and beyond? If it isn't, we would have to figure out how to make it fade out of the game.

4. How will the transfer to ascension work? Will your entire species instantly become gods, or is it just you? Ascension is the one weirdest issue we have, because we know exactly how most of it is going to go, but we still have a tonne of problems involving gameplay.

Brittish spelling?
1) You can play as real time strategy as soon as there's any form of societal organization, or you can play as a creature.

2) Discussed: We'd start with people learning to smash nuts open with rocks (as one of many examples,) and that would be when you start getting TE ability.

3) Pretty certain yes.

4) Holy belgium, I thought that had died... Um, I think that's on the list of things to worry about when we actually start worrying about at a later date.