A Source Of Inspiration

There is this documentary I saw a while back, which really set my standards high for Spore. I think its an amazing documentary, and, although it may be theoretical, it can provide a lot of good ideas we could implement into Thrive. I suggest each of us at least watch segments of it, if not the entire thing.

(I cant place a link, so just go to youtube and search "Alien Planet")

I was wondering whether we could implement the concept used near the end of the documentary, the large bulbous sacs found in the heads of the sentient creatures. Would they be filled with helium? Should we include sacs filled with very light gases to give a natural floating/hovering ability to organisms?

Ideas?

I believe we discussed the possibility of air sac creatures, and if i remember correctly its possible

At 1:02:45 of the documentary, the probe comes across an ocean the size of texas. Although the planets seas had dried up long ago, there seems to still be one body of water left. However, what looked like water from space, under closer examination, turns out to have an edge that looks like a thick sheet of gelatin, surrounded by great spires of salt (from the dried up oceans). The probe cannot penetrate the surface, which is covered by a thick, amoebic membrane. It's like a water bed teeming with life. What looks like a sea is actually a vast colony, a matrix of symbiotic life forms. They evolved as the oceans evaporated, trapping the remaining seawater beneath them, under their transparent membranes. As the probe flies over the amoebic sea, it spots a radical change in the surface texture. Suddenly, giant gelatinous pillars of the membrane erupt forth and stretch to reach the probe, but fail in their attempt. The amoebic sea suddenly behaves like a giant predator that preys on low flying animals.

Would it be possible to implement such a thing into Thrive?

Personally, I loved this special. Another one that was similarly based was The Future is Wild.

Ahh ive never seen that one! Definitely going to check it out...

BTW any team leads or admins or anyone? Will a organic sea like what i mentioned be possible?

NickTheNick wrote:

Ahh ive never seen that one! Definitely going to check it out...

BTW any team leads or admins or anyone? Will a organic sea like what i mentioned be possible?

Something that big will probably not be possible, bearing in mind it would need a lot of food for growth and to sustain it. As for that type of organism, we haven't really considered a gelatinous blob before, but the fact it's made up of symbiotic life forms will probably make that particular gelatinous blob quite unlikely to occur, if at all, since I don't think our plans for symbiotic life are very advanced.

-maybe make a function where you can add a life cycle to your creature, although that would probalbly be but in the caste function, wouldn't it?
- viruses as a hazard for microbe stage
- video cam mode- to record your gameplay, as you evolve.( i could post them on youtube as advertisements so people will want to play)
- a function were you can evolve even when you became sapient (evolution goes on and on doesn't it?)

Firstly, a better place to make suggestions would be this thread.

In answer:

1. That would not be in castes. Castes is to do with genders, and situations such as physically differentiated castes, such as bees' queens and workers. I don't think such a thing has been planned, though I'm sure it has been mentioned.
The problem is with this is that it adds complexity, but doesn't improve gameplay greatly. If we do include it, it will be an afterthought.

2. Interesting idea, though I'm not sure how the player could retaliate to them.

3. We have an observer mode, for special views, filters, and a free camera. People who record gameplay for youtube videos generally will have a standalone program for that already, since very few games support this. It's convenient, but entirely unnecessary.

4. Evolution does continue when species become sapient, however to view the evolution of technology in civilisation stage and later, evolution must be slowed to compensate, meaning it will become so slow there is no point in simulating it, since it will be virtually unnoticeable anyway.

I really liked the Alien Planet documentary, but I like the inspirations behind it, Wayne Barlow's sci fi art. You can check it out if you go onto wikipedia and look up Darwin IV. But I like the idea of sonic organs, so I posted on the organ thread.