Brainstorm - Creature Mechanic - Creature production - Ideas needed!

[Rasmus]

1. Essences & Dark Mother's Egg-like Blob Ltd. - You can make creatures only from blueprint-like thing which is an Essence - an item that describes creature's specie, it's something like replicable cells that contains DNA that can be multiplied. This item is not physically existing in the game - but when you got a new specie creature for a first time and that will be eaten by Dark Mother - you will see an animation of glowing sphere with certain "icon" of this specie or other mark over her body that "evaporates" after few seconds - and that means you can now make various creatures from this Essence in Creature's Menu or just by right-clicking on DM's body and chose from popped-out circle menu one of the creature to be made. You can get Essences from animals as well as from creatures, but making creatures from animals would require additional resources or more animals to make animal-origin creature.

This is a good idea, it is simple and works well with the current development of the game

- Munching process - After throwing prisoner(s) to Dark Mother's maw you can hear horrible screams of gobbling the victim, it's bursting like pop corn bones and loud chomp of throwing over victim's meat inside DM's maw.... When DM's ate a creature's of a new specie, after meal you get for example an Orc specie Essence (if eaten creature was an Orc, Troll (so an Elf too?), Goblin, Ogre etc).
- Egg-like Blobsss! - After that horrible process you get an Egg-like Blob! Yes, DM is spitting a new creature in a very gentle, known for her way - she spits out disgusting, gelatinous, blob (that is mixed with Essence's genetic material and DM's fluids) with a creature's Egg-like Blob. You can see her mucous around the spitted out a creature's Egg-like Blob. Depending on creature's "hatching" time it finally hatches, than tries to leave a blob film, get up, brush down from a dribbling mucous and go!

I like the idea of having popping sounds from the DM stomage as she digest a creature. Also, having eggs being spewed out from the DM instead of creatures will make it simpler for me as I don't need the creature creation animation.

2. I won't be alone at the start - Because you don't have any creatures at the beginning you have always a Basic Essence that gives you ability to make Imps and other creatures that were set in map settings (you can set that map wouldn't have any of blueprint at the beginning too).

I am thinking that maybe the Dark Mother could start with being able to create certain creatures. It would work well in campaign mode, once she has learned how to make one creature it will follow her through the campaign, unless we replace the DM between maps.

3. Catch me if you can - To catch a creature you need a pokéb... a Prison Room to where you will throw creatures into and have them alive there - so thanks to that be able to move it from Prison to everywhere you want - and to use one of the following method:
- If you have a creature(s): Use your creature(s) - fight with creatures and leave it with the 1% of it's HP to stun it, then take victim with your creature to the Prison. You can do it with any kind of creatures you want.
- If you have NOT any creature(s): Use traps - At the beginning you're able to make few primitive traps with you can catch & wrap the creatures - using traps like trap hole or press'n'cage trap after activating their Pressure Pads. Afterward, victim of our madness tricks are being stunned by your Imp and moved into Cages in Prison. ATTENTION! Traps that we can use at the beginning can catch only weak and small creatures (later maybe we could make better. Also there is a chance that if stunned before creatures wake up it can free itself and then you need to trap it again!
*Trap holes works like that: when victim is trapped it's wrapped by constructs and it tries to free itself, so until it won't free itself you have chance to stun it. Light weight/fast creatures can jump over holes if they're uncovered.
*Press'n'cage works like that: when creature is pressing a pad, it's caught to cage that came from tile below. Can free itself as above, so you need to be fast until cage would lost it's all durability points. Cage be easily destroyed by another creature, so you need to set your traps wisely... especially that trapping don't need from you to harm victims, so sometimes it's good to built traps near Prison and Dark Mother, but sometimes and can be treacherous.

Yes, I am thinking about something very similar to DK and to the current implementation where the imps transport allies to their beds. We don't need to leave the enemy with 1% HP, when a creature gets hit and his HP goes down to zero he will fall to the ground, after that the Imps will have a certain time (maybe 1 minute) to transport the enemy to the prison, once the enemy has been transported to the prison he will get 1 HP, and the player will be able to right click him to get a options menu on what to do with him.

4. Naked Newborners, but able to fight! - When you chose one or more creatures in the Creature's Menu to be made from DM newly born creature will be naked, without any equipment items like swords or armor. That doesn't mean it will be defenseless, because still creature can use it's abilities to fight and always has it's fist or tentacles or throw flames from it's nose etc... Creatures if you want to have equipped (to fight or work) need to take any equipment item from Racks made in Blacksmith. Note that some if actual creatures in game like Cyclotaur or Fishman don't need equipment to smash your armies.

This is also an idea I like. Having the creatures born naked and weak then the player will have to rely on the training rooms and the armoury to cloth and train him. The creatures aren't born strong, they get strong.

5. What I need to make you? - Dark Mother can produce as many creatures you want, but remember that in the game resources are limited so you can make many creatures with weak equipment or some with very good equipment, the choice is yours. So... to make one creature you need to specific number of Evil Points (temporary name) to consume. If we make that EP means that are a DM's power, energy to make creatures they can start making creature(a) from Essences. What's more, as more creature of the same type (not whole specie, but i.e. Cyclotaur after Cyclotaur) the cost of this creature is growing, so this would limit player to make many copies of the same creature. Remember that Dark Mother can make flesh & blood, living creatures, only! The beginning creature's cost won't depend whether a creature is better or not - but further it's upkeep, equipment, individual needs... and your own preferences.

Yeah, like it is now, that the production price for a creature depends on how many creature he already owns.

6. Take it out there! - To take and move a prisoner to Dark Mother sor for other evil purposes) you just need to do right-click on target prisoner and chose from menu (that appears like any other circle menus in Dwelvers) one of the available option, so for example "Take to the Dark Mother".

Precisely