Feb 17
Dynamic Ecology
Something that feels a bit off for me is how hard it is to actually affect the ecology of the game unless you make a ridiculous amount of ground pollution. I would like to see a more dynamic play between flora, fauna, and civilization.
Animals:
- animals each have different preferred foods be it plant or other animals.
- the amount of food available sets an upper bar for population.
- population of prey animals also depends on amount of predators.
- Population of native trees sets a capacity on total amount of animals.
Plants and trees:
- all plants and trees not planted on tilled soil, will eventually die and disappear from the world.
- when a new plant wants to grow in a vacant spot, each possible plant has spawn rate determining what plant gets to grow.
- spawn rate for different plants is dependent on the amount of animals that eats that plant.
- plants dying naturally replenish nutrients to the ground.
These changes would make the ecosystem much more dynamic and codependent. Left alone, it will swing back and forth as predators and prey will keep each other in check. But introduce players and it gets interesting. Overgathering a plant or overhunting a certain type of animal can now potentially set in motion a chain reaction that could lead to species going extinct. Apart from that, deforestation will affect the total amount of animals available in the world as natural habitats dissappear.
Pending