Plant Gameplay

Sorry if something like this has already been posted, but I haven't seen this anywhere.

I have read multiple times that we are going to allow the player to become a sessile organism like a plant, and in the FAQ it states that game play will not be as open as with a creature. While this all sounds good, I have yet to see any discussion on how the player will actually play as a plant. How will we make it interesting for the player so they might WANT to become a plant, instead of just becoming one once and realizing being a creature is way more fun and never evolve into a plant again? Obviously, it'll be quite different than as a creature, but we need something to get the player engaged.

I have a few ideas. Perhaps the player could guide how the plant grows. For example, in a forest, plants are in competition to get sunlight. So one of the things the player needs to do is make sure their plant gets enough sunlight by growing into an open area. In order for this to work, maybe time could be sped up when playing as a plant so you can actually see your plant growing. We could have a similar system for roots, where plants are trying to get the most water. Also there's the fact that herbivores may eat part of you, so you may need to regrow the part they ate before you loose too much sunlight or water, and defenses could be evolved in the organism editor.

With this system, game play is equal in completely different biomes, you just need to pay attention to different things than in another biome. For example, a rainforest plant would have plenty of water so they wouldn't have to worry about roots that much, but there would be fierce competition for sunlight, making plant growth a priority. In a desert, the opposite would be true, sunlight would be everywhere, but there would be fierce competition for water. Biomes in between like prairies would have an equal amount of time above and below ground, meaning while you won't have to frantically grow in one area, you'll have more things to take care of.

While this setup isn't as complex as with a creature, I think that this will give the player enough of a challenge to make plant gameplay fun. If anyone has anything better or this has already been discussed, post here.

This topic may have been discussed before, but I believe that this idea is brilliant. This system could be organized where the player can control where branches and roots grow (and in what direction) and how much priority is given to growing a particular root or branch.

The Locations of Flowers or Seeds (if applicable) could also be fitted into this.

On a related note to speeding up time for the plant. It may be worth looking into about speeding up time for Organisms that have slower movement or mental speed than humans; and slowing time down for those with higher.

GamerXA wrote:

This topic may have been discussed before, but I believe that this idea is brilliant. This system could be organized where the player can control where branches and roots grow (and in what direction) and how much priority is given to growing a particular root or branch.

The Locations of Flowers or Seeds (if applicable) could also be fitted into this.

On a related note to speeding up time for the plant. It may be worth looking into about speeding up time for Organisms that have slower movement or mental speed than humans; and slowing time down for those with higher.

If you guys can come up with a way to make the game playable as a plant, I'd be happy to endorse it.

i would only play as a plant if i could walk using my roots as legs. That way, as a tree, i can protect my Christmas tree brethren and fall on people who try to turn me into paper. I could also kick dogs seeking "relief"

Another thing I thought of going off my idea. Desert plants can get too much sun. That's why most grow rather small and have protection against the sun. Perhaps we could add a penalty for getting too much, like depleting water? I'm kind of thinking this as having bars for sun/water where the ends are the danger zone. If you hit the end, your plant dies. At the low end of the sun bar, you would die from not being able to make food, at the high end, your plant is scorched to death. For water, it can die from thirst or be too waterlogged. Your goal as the player would be to keep your level in the center of the bar, which is the safe zone.

GamerXA wrote:

The Locations of Flowers or Seeds (if applicable) could also be fitted into this.

I like that idea too. Perhaps we could have it that placing a flower or whatever prevents a plant segment from growing there, but gives a reproductive bonus. And I just thought of something else that could be added. Some plants get some of their nutrients by being carnivores. Instead of a flower, they would grow jaws like a venus fly trap or something like on a pitcher plant. Just like with the flower, it would prevent something from growing there, but would give the bonus of nutrients from prey. Can anybody think of anything that would have the same effect for roots, because so far, all I can think of is above ground stuff.

Wow, I was gone from the computer for two minutes and I already thought of something for roots. Don't some plants poison the soil around them to deter pests/competition? We could have something that ejects poison take the place of flowers.

Overall, I think we should have parts that you have evolved such as flowers etc. be extras that you can add to your plant that inhibits growth but gives you bonuses.

Now, another point for my bars idea. I'm guessing we'll have something to evolve the type of leaves or whatever your plant grows. One type of leaf that maximizes intake in one area should make a negative effect for the other. For example, a plant has leaves built to maximize light intake. As a result, it has a harder time retaining water.

One thing I haven't ironed out yet is things such as thorns. Obviously, we can't have thorns stop plant growth, since they're part of the growth. Maybe we could have something like with my leaves idea?

tklarenb wrote:

Sorry if something like this has already been posted, but I haven't seen this anywhere.

I have read multiple times that we are going to allow the player to become a sessile organism like a plant, and in the FAQ it states that game play will not be as open as with a creature. While this all sounds good, I have yet to see any discussion on how the player will actually play as a plant. How will we make it interesting for the player so they might WANT to become a plant, instead of just becoming one once and realizing being a creature is way more fun and never evolve into a plant again? Obviously, it'll be quite different than as a creature, but we need something to get the player engaged.

I have a few ideas. Perhaps the player could guide how the plant grows. For example, in a forest, plants are in competition to get sunlight. So one of the things the player needs to do is make sure their plant gets enough sunlight by growing into an open area. In order for this to work, maybe time could be sped up when playing as a plant so you can actually see your plant growing. We could have a similar system for roots, where plants are trying to get the most water. Also there's the fact that herbivores may eat part of you, so you may need to regrow the part they ate before you loose too much sunlight or water, and defenses could be evolved in the organism editor.

With this system, game play is equal in completely different biomes, you just need to pay attention to different things than in another biome. For example, a rainforest plant would have plenty of water so they wouldn't have to worry about roots that much, but there would be fierce competition for sunlight, making plant growth a priority. In a desert, the opposite would be true, sunlight would be everywhere, but there would be fierce competition for water. Biomes in between like prairies would have an equal amount of time above and below ground, meaning while you won't have to frantically grow in one area, you'll have more things to take care of.

While this setup isn't as complex as with a creature, I think that this will give the player enough of a challenge to make plant gameplay fun. If anyone has anything better or this has already been discussed, post here.

I'm also uncertain if this has been discussed before- if it has, could I get a link so that I can add it to my list of things to add to the wiki (eventually)?
Moving on, while it may be the case that Plant gameplay would intrinsically be less exciting, depending on how we do it, the immense diversity in the possible plantlife makes pinpointing a single "type" of gameplay a little risky. For example- not all plants use sunlight for synthesis of energy; and not all plants have roots or leaves.
On the other hand, thinking broadly but then developing a specific type of gameplay for each one is just unrealistic, as each would have to be individually coded. Rather, I think it would be a better decision to make a compound list of things that all plants universally require, based on Earth definitions, and then possibly extrapolate on those to develope a universal gamemode that suits all of the types. As well, we should think up some interestingly unique alien plants, and see if they would be fun to play with the guidelines we developed.

(Just for reference, I typed this up a several hours ago right after this topic was first made....and then I forgot I wrote it. GAAAH. lol
Still, I think it's relevant. We need to think up universal constants, and work off of those. Do we have them already?)

From my understanding a plant is composed of two main segments, the stem and the root system. So two main control systems would be necessary to use them.

For the roots, a target system could be the interface in which the player specifies the point at which the roots should grow in the direction of. As for the Stem, a few organs would have to be incorporated into the OE to allow for plants.


With the OE:
One part would enable semi-random growth like that of a plant's Node. From this would grow a modifiable selection of organs that would be somewhat random to allow different growth per individual. Organs that could be selected to grow from it could be Individual Leaves (like that of a cactus), a Petiole, Thorns (either modified Hard Protein or Wormacle), or Flowers (would be handled with the same system as other reproductive organs). Internodes could also be selected to grow out of it that would then create another Node at it's tip. The Number of Organs that can grow out of a Node would also be controlled along with at what angle.

The Petiole organ could be modified to allow for different patterns of leaf growth such as that of a Fern. Leaves would be another Organ that's shape would be handled by a controllable fractal with a few major modifiers. A Root Organ would also be required, it could be modified in what it would extract from what it grows into and in how thick or widespread any root growth is.

The Leaf and Petiole Organs would be controlled without them being attached to the main Organism. The Node Organ's Arrangement on an Organism could be controlled/placed (a similar interface would also apply to Roots). These Organs could also be placed on Animal-Like Creatures (such as using Roots for Jellyfish Polyps) or modified to produce Fungi-like Organisms.


With the Control System and Interface:
With these Organs, controlling a Plant Organism would become somewhat akin to controlling a City. Such as deciding what/whether/where to grow something from a Node or on what side to grow Flowers/Spores. Water and Nutrients could also be allocated to different parts, such as sacrificing a branch that is infected with a disease. Though I don't know how Venus Fly-Trap like Leaves would work.

But what senses would a plant have that would allow user interface if the Organism doesn't have eyes coming out of a stem? The screen could possibly be filled black (plus the GUI) with a gray silhouette of the plant in the center (with a free camera that can rotate around it). A white shine could be visible on leaves where sunlight (or what the leaves respond to) is being cast on. A red glow could emanate from parts of the plant that were torn off or eaten (Representing anywhere a plant is not at full health or would be feeling pain). And Underground, a blue splotch could be positioned where roots are feeling moist soil. Basically, it would be like playing a game of Battleship with trying to learn your surroundings.

we haven't talked about sessile gameplay before, so If you want to draft a concept for it, again, I'd be happy to talk about it.

Quote :

not all plants use sunlight for synthesis of energy

Actually, yes, all plants do photosynthesize. Carnivorous plants are only carnivorous because they live in nutrient-poor soil.

~sciocont wrote:

we haven't talked about sessile gameplay before, so If you want to draft a concept for it, again, I'd be happy to talk about it.

Quote :

not all plants use sunlight for synthesis of energy

Actually, yes, all plants do photosynthesize. Carnivorous plants are only carnivorous because they live in nutrient-poor soil.

*scratches head* I need to check my sources, then. Then again, it depends what definition of 'plant' we're using. Is it the 'Plantae' Kingdom?

GamerXA wrote:

From my understanding a plant is composed of two main segments, the stem and the root system. So two main control systems would be necessary to use them.

For the roots, a target system could be the interface in which the player specifies the point at which the roots should grow in the direction of. As for the Stem, a few organs would have to be incorporated into the OE to allow for plants.


With the OE:
One part would enable semi-random growth like that of a plant's Node. From this would grow a modifiable selection of organs that would be somewhat random to allow different growth per individual. Organs that could be selected to grow from it could be Individual Leaves (like that of a cactus), a Petiole, Thorns (either modified Hard Protein or Wormacle), or Flowers (would be handled with the same system as other reproductive organs). Internodes could also be selected to grow out of it that would then create another Node at it's tip. The Number of Organs that can grow out of a Node would also be controlled along with at what angle.

The Petiole organ could be modified to allow for different patterns of leaf growth such as that of a Fern. Leaves would be another Organ that's shape would be handled by a controllable fractal with a few major modifiers. A Root Organ would also be required, it could be modified in what it would extract from what it grows into and in how thick or widespread any root growth is.

The Leaf and Petiole Organs would be controlled without them being attached to the main Organism. The Node Organ's Arrangement on an Organism could be controlled/placed (a similar interface would also apply to Roots). These Organs could also be placed on Animal-Like Creatures (such as using Roots for Jellyfish Polyps) or modified to produce Fungi-like Organisms.


With the Control System and Interface:
With these Organs, controlling a Plant Organism would become somewhat akin to controlling a City. Such as deciding what/whether/where to grow something from a Node or on what side to grow Flowers/Spores. Water and Nutrients could also be allocated to different parts, such as sacrificing a branch that is infected with a disease. Though I don't know how Venus Fly-Trap like Leaves would work.

But what senses would a plant have that would allow user interface if the Organism doesn't have eyes coming out of a stem? The screen could possibly be filled black (plus the GUI) with a gray silhouette of the plant in the center (with a free camera that can rotate around it). A white shine could be visible on leaves where sunlight (or what the leaves respond to) is being cast on. A red glow could emanate from parts of the plant that were torn off or eaten (Representing anywhere a plant is not at full health or would be feeling pain). And Underground, a blue splotch could be positioned where roots are feeling moist soil. Basically, it would be like playing a game of Battleship with trying to learn your surroundings.

I didn't understand much of the first part--mostly all the scientific terms, but your second part on actual gameplay is great. It's much more complex and challenging than my original concept, yet still simple. Having to explore your surroundings to find resorces and maintaining your "city" is a great way to go.

Quote :

*scratches head* I need to check my sources, then. Then again, it depends what definition of 'plant' we're using. Is it the 'Plantae' Kingdom?

That's my understanding of it.


Now that we have a good base concept for plants, we might want to start thinking of how other sessile organisms will work. This concept won't work perfectly with organisms such as sponges or fungi, but I think it can be modified based off of what resources they need.

I don't think that there will be much of a difference between plants or animals in the OE, nor do i recommend such a distinction (Unless we're planning to seed a starting planet with plant and animal life [which would be undesirable]).

The First part of my previous post probably had more to do with the OE than with Sessile Gameplay (I should probably repost it somewhere else).


It would be interesting to put Eyes on a mostly plant-like Organism that connect to a basic system of... Swaying Branches? But that kind of a system would warrant the ability to swap between speeds of gameplay in order to control it effectively.

tklarenb wrote:

GamerXA wrote:

From my understanding a plant is composed of two main segments, the stem and the root system. So two main control systems would be necessary to use them.

For the roots, a target system could be the interface in which the player specifies the point at which the roots should grow in the direction of. As for the Stem, a few organs would have to be incorporated into the OE to allow for plants.


With the OE:
One part would enable semi-random growth like that of a plant's. From this would grow a modifiable selection of organs that would be somewhat random to allow different growth per individual. Organs that could be selected to grow from it could be Individual Leaves (like that of a cactus), a Thorns (either modified Hard Protein or Wormacle), or Flowers (would be handled with the same system as other reproductive organs). Internodes could also be selected to grow out of it that would then create another Node at it's tip. The Number of Organs that can grow out of a Node would also be controlled along with at what angle.

The Petiole organ could be modified to allow for different patterns of leaf growth such as that of a Fern. Leaves would be another Organ that's shape would be handled by a controllable fractal with a few major modifiers. A Root Organ would also be required, it could be modified in what it would extract from what it grows into and in how thick or widespread any root growth is.

The Leaf and Petiole Organs would be controlled without them being attached to the main Organism. The Node Organ's Arrangement on an Organism could be controlled/placed (a similar interface would also apply to Roots). These Organs could also be placed on Animal-Like Creatures (such as using Roots for Jellyfish Polyps) or modified to produce Fungi-like Organisms.


With the Control System and Interface:
With these Organs, controlling a Plant Organism would become somewhat akin to controlling a City. Such as deciding what/whether/where to grow something from a Node or on what side to grow Flowers/Spores. Water and Nutrients could also be allocated to different parts, such as sacrificing a branch that is infected with a disease. Though I don't know how Venus Fly-Trap like Leaves would work.

But what senses would a plant have that would allow user interface if the Organism doesn't have eyes coming out of a stem? The screen could possibly be filled black (plus the GUI) with a gray silhouette of the plant in the center (with a free camera that can rotate around it). A white shine could be visible on leaves where sunlight (or what the leaves respond to) is being cast on. A red glow could emanate from parts of the plant that were torn off or eaten (Representing anywhere a plant is not at full health or would be feeling pain). And Underground, a blue splotch could be positioned where roots are feeling moist soil. Basically, it would be like playing a game of Battleship with trying to learn your surroundings.

I didn't understand much of the first part--mostly all the scientific terms, but your second part on actual gameplay is great. It's much more complex and challenging than my original concept, yet still simple. Having to explore your surroundings to find resorces and maintaining your "city" is a great way to go.

Quote :

*scratches head* I need to check my sources, then. Then again, it depends what definition of 'plant' we're using. Is it the 'Plantae' Kingdom?

That's my understanding of it.


Now that we have a good base concept for plants, we might want to start thinking of how other sessile organisms will work. This concept won't work perfectly with organisms such as sponges or fungi, but I think it can be modified based off of what resources they need.

Ah... I was working off of the assumption that 'Plant' was being used in the casual sense. I'm sorry!
Well, in that case I suppose we should develop methods of gameplay for all of the different kingdoms? =x or was that already obvious? Urrgh.

GamerXA wrote:

I don't think that there will be much of a difference between plants or animals in the OE, nor do i recommend such a distinction (Unless we're planning to seed a starting planet with plant and animal life [which would be undesirable]).

Yes, I agree with that. And I think actual gameplay would be similar between plants and sessile animals, just with different resources (example- a resource for a sponge would be the microorganisms it feeds off of)

Zetal wrote:

Well, in that case I suppose we should develop methods of gameplay for all of the different kingdoms?

Yes, we need to do that. And I just started with the plant concept because it seemed the most clear. Like I just said, the other kingdoms of sessile organisms would be similar in gameplay, just with different resources.

tklarenb wrote:

GamerXA wrote:

I don't think that there will be much of a difference between plants or animals in the OE, nor do i recommend such a distinction (Unless we're planning to seed a starting planet with plant and animal life [which would be undesirable]).

Yes, I agree with that. And I think actual gameplay would be similar between plants and sessile animals, just with different resources (example- a resource for a sponge would be the microorganisms it feeds off of)

Zetal wrote:

Well, in that case I suppose we should develop methods of gameplay for all of the different kingdoms?

Yes, we need to do that. And I just started with the plant concept because it seemed the most clear. Like I just said, the other kingdoms of sessile organisms would be similar in gameplay, just with different resources.

Alright. Sorry if that seemed a little redundant, but thus far what I thought I understood was completely debunked and I figured it wouldn't hurt to be more clear.

In that case, I hope no one minds if I spout some basic gameplay ideas for something like Fungi.

So- if I remember correctly there is an overarching theme for all fungi (Heterotrophism) and then three general types;

Saprophytes(Sp?)
The gameplay overlay would be similar to a member of the Plantae kingdom, in that there are multiple parts to control, all needing to work in harmony to survive. I'm not sure how many different mechanisms would be included for this possibility, but I believe the most common include absorption directly or the release of external parts to digest food for later consumption. Therefore, the search and acquisition of nutrition could be a vital part of this stage, guided by the player. Similar to the plant, surroundings would not be visible until moved into- but each reveal would expend energy, and as such players would need to balance reckless vision with the expansion of their organism. Essentially, the control of a fungi would be an attempt to use the obtained energy in the most fit manner in order to avoid extinction. If a player chooses to focus on food acquisition, but does not reproduce, the species wouldn't last very long. If the player chooses to enlarge the fungus, but not acquire food, the individual would starve.

Parasites
This would vary depending on the host- if it's an animal (somewhat rare, right?) then the fungus would need to also avoid removal or death as a result of overparasitism. Killing a host due to taking too much resources would leave the fungus homeless, and without an easy route back. Besides this element, I can't imagine that a parasitic fungus would be too entirely different from a saprophytic one.

Symbiote
Similar to a parasite, but focuses more on helping to ensure the survival of the host, and their fitness in the wild. By doing so, a symbiotic fungus ensures a safe haven from predators and other means of elimination. Identical, but instead of focusing on avoiding removal or killing the host, it would focus on evaluating the situation of the host, and attempting to best suit their needs so as to ensure the organisms own survival.

Just kinda random thoughts I threw together, I guess. Tear it apart.

There are only 4-6 Kingdoms with only 3 of them would truly be applicable for the Multicellular Phases.

Fungi is of close relation to slime molds, with the majority of characteristics being a mainly single-celled existence that usually aggregate into colonies. Fungi that grow Mushrooms are only truly located in their underground 'root' systems; and as such, the player could control the growth of it's mycelium towards targets and would choose the position along the root system closest to the ground at which to grow the fruiting body.

It may be wise to separate the types of gameplay controls into the classical Creature controls for Organisms with muscles and are unbounded; and Sessile, City-Like, controls for anything that is somewhat fixed to a single position. For Organisms that can move around but lack any muscles (such as Slime Molds) the Sessile controls could be used to Grow towards a point while the trailing cells are either left behind and die, or are absorbed forwards.


Parasitic gameplay would dependent on the host Organism. For Sessile Hosts, this would be somewhat simple as they would grow at the same rate and would allow gameplay speed-up to take place as usual.

As for Non-Sessile Hosts, this could present a problem if the player is moving along at a rate that makes controlling growth reasonable but is then suddenly eaten, pecked-off or fought by the Host's Immune System within a split second.

GamerXA wrote:

As for Non-Sessile Hosts, this could present a problem if the player is moving along at a rate that makes controlling growth reasonable but is then suddenly eaten, pecked-off or fought by the Host's Immune System within a split second.

Couldn't we just alter the speed of the immune system along with the parasite? It doesn't have to model the real world exactly.

tklarenb wrote:

GamerXA wrote:

As for Non-Sessile Hosts, this could present a problem if the player is moving along at a rate that makes controlling growth reasonable but is then suddenly eaten, pecked-off or fought by the Host's Immune System within a split second.

Couldn't we just alter the speed of the immune system along with the parasite? It doesn't have to model the real world exactly.

I think that sounds really reasonable. =)
For example- if the host is exhibiting a defensive response against the player, gameplay slows down much more to accommodate that, and, because of this, the player can temporarily postpone upkeep activities as well. Seems like a logical decision, especially if we have some form of control for defending the organism.

Zetal wrote:

tklarenb wrote:

GamerXA wrote:

As for Non-Sessile Hosts, this could present a problem if the player is moving along at a rate that makes controlling growth reasonable but is then suddenly eaten, pecked-off or fought by the Host's Immune System within a split second.

Couldn't we just alter the speed of the immune system along with the parasite? It doesn't have to model the real world exactly.

I think that sounds really reasonable. =)
For example- if the host is exhibiting a defensive response against the player, gameplay slows down much more to accommodate that, and, because of this, the player can temporarily postpone upkeep activities as well. Seems like a logical decision, especially if we have some form of control for defending the organism.

This seems to be a good solution. But what controls would be available to the player that would affect the outcome of a battle with the Host's Immune System? And in what way would the "Battle" be laid out to be understandable by the Player?

GamerXA wrote:

Zetal wrote:

tklarenb wrote:

GamerXA wrote:

As for Non-Sessile Hosts, this could present a problem if the player is moving along at a rate that makes controlling growth reasonable but is then suddenly eaten, pecked-off or fought by the Host's Immune System within a split second.

Couldn't we just alter the speed of the immune system along with the parasite? It doesn't have to model the real world exactly.

I think that sounds really reasonable. =)
For example- if the host is exhibiting a defensive response against the player, gameplay slows down much more to accommodate that, and, because of this, the player can temporarily postpone upkeep activities as well. Seems like a logical decision, especially if we have some form of control for defending the organism.

This seems to be a good solution. But what controls would be available to the player that would affect the outcome of a battle with the Host's Immune System? And in what way would the "Battle" be laid out to be understandable by the Player?

Turn based RTS? With fungi?
Well, sort of. Depending on what is attacking the fungus, it's possible for the player to place and control the excretion of defensive compounds, such as antibiotics (?) or something along those lines. If it's a physical attack, exterior cells could be ordered to produce an acidic substance to possibly dissuade the attacker, at the cost of energy. Everything costs energy, and so the player would need to balance their reaction to any given situation to ensure fitness.

A few other actions could be available for Organisms that have the potential of changing Host.

On a separate note, would Parasites (i.e. Ticks and Fungi/Plant-like Organisms that attach to another Organism) be controlled using a similar form of gameplay as Sessile Organisms?

GamerXA wrote:

A few other actions could be available for Organisms that have the potential of changing Host.

On a separate note, would Parasites (i.e. Ticks and Fungi/Plant-like Organisms that attach to another Organism) be controlled using a similar form of gameplay as Sessile Organisms?

If it's alright, I think I'd personally prefer to keep this topic to Nonsessile gameplay, like plants. There are other topics for Sessile Organism gameplay, I believe. (Speaking of, I'd like to petition a topic change for this from 'Plant Gameplay' to 'Nonsessile Gameplay' seeing as this is a good place to discuss the similar styles)

Does anyone agree/disagree?

Zetal wrote:

GamerXA wrote:

A few other actions could be available for Organisms that have the potential of changing Host.

On a separate note, would Parasites (i.e. Ticks and Fungi/Plant-like Organisms that attach to another Organism) be controlled using a similar form of gameplay as Sessile Organisms?

If it's alright, I think I'd personally prefer to keep this topic to Nonsessile gameplay, like plants. There are other topics for Sessile Organism gameplay, I believe. (Speaking of, I'd like to petition a topic change for this from 'Plant Gameplay' to 'Nonsessile Gameplay' seeing as this is a good place to discuss the similar styles)

Does anyone agree/disagree?

Agreed. Parasites aren't really sessile, at least not all of them.

I think we should just stick with plants period right now, though. Once were done with them, we can tweak the concept to fit other nonsessile organisms.

To start narrowing this down, I think we should figure out all the resources a plant will need, then figure out how they will be taken in and distributed in gameplay.

Here's a start:
1. Sunlight or heat- depending on if they're photosynthesizers or thermosynthesizers. I think both would be rather similar.
2. Water
3. Nutrients from soil (I'm no botanist, so can someone expand this?)
4. C02 (or whatever air they take in)

Sessile means that an organism cannot move.

Those are essentially all of the things we need to know about an area to determine what plant life can live there. You guys might want to read this thread before developing your concept further.

~sciocont wrote:

Sessile means that an organism cannot move.

Oops, was more typing then thinking when I wrote nonsessile.

~sciocont wrote:

Those are essentially all of the things we need to know about an area to determine what plant life can live there. You guys might want to read this thread before developing your concept further.

Looking at it now. It seems to conform with our idea, although we haven't taken plant size or reproduction into account yet.