Wild and Wacky Biomes

[Grishnerf]

if the game introduces real "liquids" on maps we could have :

1) A volcanic barren wasteland planet with Lava that steadily flows in one direction til it gets cold.
-> (frozen/cold Lava makes new mountains and new pathways possible, hot Lava burns everything)
Maybe new Event :volcanic Eruption, at a random Point a new vulcan emerges.
It is only possible to block Lava flow with plasteel walls.

2) A naboo like planet with swamps where you can get flooded by water masses (perma zzt).
Everything not built on a floor will sink into the ground and disappear after some while. even walls.
-> (wouldmake waterpumps more useful to stop water flowing in your direction and to make deep swamp tiles into swamp into normal ground to build on.)
You could also build waterdams out of wood and stop waterflow and use that for energy
or flood other Areas of the map with it. -> (make fertile soil "buildable", Rice farms more efficient.
Maybe even a new beaver/raider Event where they built a dam in the edge of the map. etc)

3) A Tropical water planet with very few Islands.
There we could have a low and high tide element, so that some areas get revealed only at certain times to mine from/to get loot.
-> (can use sandbags only to block some high tide water. on low tide you could harvest corals, seashells etc.. Rikkis fishing mod should be a basegame thing then already )

[blub01]

if the game introduces real "liquids" on maps we could have :

1) A volcanic barren wasteland planet with Lava that steadily flows in one direction til it gets cold.
-> (frozen/cold Lava makes new mountains and new pathways possible, hot Lava burns everything)
Maybe new Event :volcanic Eruption, at a random Point a new vulcan emerges.
It is only possible to block Lava flow with plasteel walls.

2) A naboo like planet with swamps where you can get flooded by water masses (perma zzt).
Everything not built on a floor will sink into the ground and disappear after some while. even walls.
-> (wouldmake waterpumps more useful to stop water flowing in your direction and to make deep swamp tiles into swamp into normal ground to build on.)
You could also build waterdams out of wood and stop waterflow and use that for energy
or flood other Areas of the map with it. -> (make fertile soil "buildable", Rice farms more efficient.
Maybe even a new beaver/raider Event where they built a dam in the edge of the map. etc)

3) A Tropical water planet with very few Islands.
There we could have a low and high tide element, so that some areas get revealed only at certain times to mine from/to get loot.
-> (can use sandbags only to block some high tide water. on low tide you could harvest corals, seashells etc.. Rikkis fishing mod should be a basegame thing then already )

maybe have some kind of genetic modification as a lategame tech allowing your colonists to adapt to the environment as a new victory condition, then.

also, we'd need time-based area restrictions for tides to work without tons of microing, and for an ocean world, maybe some kind of special "floor" that's basically stilts to put your houses on and a surprise flood event that covers the entire map in water.

[JimmyAgnt007]

I think floating flooring would make more sense for open water, stilts would be better on beaches for the tides.

Also, its been suggested to have a dense urban biome where there is minimal plant and animal life.

[Limdood]

Solid mountain.  Start in one corner of the map in a small cave complex and mine your way into a workable base.  Cabin fever would need to be adjusted, or the entry point would need to be unroofed.  Now my Neolithic tribe can truly be CAVE PEOPLE!

Princess Bride-esque Fire swamp....mostly doable with our current tools.

Volcanic - very little foliage, extremely high ambient temp, rivulets of lava that start fires on nearly things (including pawns)

Gaia - Nearly all rich soil, no predators, faster foliage growth, naturally occurring cotton, berries, healroot in great abundance.  Temperature a perfect 70F degrees all the time, weather-response rain for fires is MUCH faster, NO MINERALS...no steel, no rocks, no plasteel (come on, there are so many "extreme" maps, there had to be one super hospitable)

[JimmyAgnt007]

An entirely organic map ideal for growing WOULD be an interesting challenge.  As sort of a tame version of the sea ice challenge since you wouldnt have minerals or rocks there but without the crushing cold.

Its been a long time since ive seen Princess Bride, whats with the fire swamp?

[Limdood]

princess bride fire swamp is your standard run of the mill swamp, but has "the 3 terrors of the fire swamp" - a flame spout (not too different than a lightning strike in game imo), the lightning sand (which is quicksand, which isn't in game, and probably should never be, but sand patches will pull it off i suppose), and ROUS's, or Rodents Of Unusual Size - person sized, aggressive rats.  Add a warm climate with frequent thunderstorms, plenty of unbuildable, marshy soil, and extremely dense cypress trees and you're set.

One of these days I might try to "create" the gaia biome in dev mode....but without a click/drag tool for terrain, even the smallest map would be a LOT of clicks to remove all the stone and change the terrain to rich soil.

[JimmyAgnt007]

Ah ok thanks, also yes, we need a better terrain editor.  Id like the ability to add overhead mountain as well.  Personally, if im doing a sea ice map I dont want water spots either so getting rid of them is handy.  Though on sea ice, lots of time is spent waiting so doing it manually gives you something to do.

[protocol47]

Simulated Tectonics
This would implement both volcanoes and earthquakes. It would determine the locations of volcanoes and fault lines, which would control where and how sever earthquakes are.  Players could research an early warning system that would work for both events, just gives you a little time to get pawns in cover.

Volcanoes
I think the easiest way to get volcanoes implemented now would be to place the actual volcano in an impassible mountain area. Irl they are typically located on mountain tops, and this would remove lava flows and all the coding needed to make them work. With a lava flow you would need to implement new graphic elements, fluid dynamics, as well as have tons fire all round, which is taxing on the system (i believe this is why it mysteriously rains when a wildfire gets too big).
If your colony is within a certain range it would be affected by the eruption. It would vary depending on distance and severity of the eruption. There would be 3 main effects.
Falling ash: Blocks out the sun, essentially a long eclipse. Occurs even at far distances from the volcano. Could also coat the ground like snow, and behave exactly like snow. It will slow pawns traveling through it, and could be cleared using snow removal zones.
Flaming debris: Large chucks of flaming debris crash down around the colony, damaging structures, injuring anyone nearby, and starting fires. They would behave like falling ship chunks. This would occur at medium-to-short ranges from the volcano, and would scale up the closer you are.
Noxious Gas: At close range clouds of poisonous gasses would roll down the sides of the volcano and cover any nearby areas for a short time. I imagine the effects to be a cross between a poison ship and radioactive fallout, just supercharged. As the event would be relatively short-lived, the effects should be much stronger. Most wildlife and plant life would quickly die off, pawns would be seriously injured by even a brief exposure outside.

Earthquakes
Its been mentioned somewhere before, just giving the idea a bump. Depending on strength it could damage some weaker structures, or destroy them completely. Roofs would fall like normal, injuring anyone caught underneath. Pawns could also be thrown to the ground, sustaining minor injuries. In an especially bad earthquake overhead mountain tiles could collapse randomly, making mountain bases more vulnerable.

To me, this seems like the easiest way to get both of these in the game quickly with minimal work. I tried to gear these ideas so they could use existing mechanics in the game. I think it would work well as a mod, but I don't code so I could be speaking from my ass on this.

[ARiA1089]

idk if this was mentioned already

a radiation zone:
lots of areas within this region are filled with deadly radiation/chemicals from the dumping of ancient colony's,(toxic buildup)

a flood region:
the zone during rain tends to flood, killing wildlife and plants, washing away items and potentially killing colonists or simply injurying them

quarantine zone:
this region of the planet is home to a few deadly virus's, increasing the chance of your colonist catching flu, malaria, etc. as well as increasing infect chance and lowering immunity gain

a plate zone:
this region of the planet is on an unstable destructive plate boundary, causing earthquakes which cave in buildings, injure colonists and destroy the local region

war zone:
this region was under conflict a while ago, the area is destroyed, to an extent and un-detonated munitions remain, as well as old gear and corpses (wouldn't give good mood boosts to colonists

[JimmyAgnt007]

Some of these have been covered but I do like them.  There is definitely room for the game to grow into these areas.

[Names are for the Weak]

Garden of Eden: All the soil is fertile, there are no predators, and ambrosia grows like raspberry bushes. However, raids are far more frequent.

Magnetized area: Cargo drops, ship crashes, etc. are far more common. In addition, metal ores spawn at about a 1-1 ratio to stone deposits from years of cargo drops.

Giant bug hive: Infestation events are far more frequent, bug lights appear naturally all over the place, and the wildlife consists almost entirely of giant insects. Raiders and outlanders alike avoid it like the plague.

Mechaniod hive: Ancients ruins are all over the place, and you can expect mechanoid raids to happen all the time.

Swamp: Not that crazy of a biome, but most of the map would be filled with marshes, with a new kind of tree that can grow in water, the mangrove. In addition, a new animal would be introduced, the crocodile. It would be a predator whose hide would be comparable to thrumbofur.

Wasteland: A desolate biome where plants and animals alike would be scarce. There would be no fertile soil, and most of the farmable earth would be gravel. Think an ice sheet or extreme desert, without the extreme temperatures.

[makkenhoff]

I like the idea of volcanic areas thus creating natural hazards, I'm not convinced on alien environments at this point. Future alphas might convince me otherwise though.

[JimmyAgnt007]

Well this is really just a place to collect all the biome ideas, and then maybe figure out a balanced method of incorporating them.  Hopefully Tynan reads this at some point when he feels ready to try out new ones.

[Penguinmanereikel]

Garden of Eden: All the soil is fertile, there are no predators, and ambrosia grows like raspberry bushes. However, raids are far more frequent.

Let's call them something more technical sounding since this is a Sci-Fi game: Edenic (ee-DEH-nik) Gardens, or something like that.

[SpaceDorf]

Garden of Eden: All the soil is fertile, there are no predators, and ambrosia grows like raspberry bushes. However, raids are far more frequent.

Let's call them something more technical sounding since this is a Sci-Fi game: Edenic (ee-DEH-nik) Gardens, or something like that.

G.E.C.K. - Enhanced Area