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IMO, there are two mechanics that will be definitive to this stage…
- Cell Specialization - What incentivizes players to make cells which are actually specialized instead of the more generalist cells we see currently?
- Cell Adjacency - What puzzles will the player have to solve when it comes to the arrangement of their colony?
If the two questions above are answered handedly, we can approximate general phenomena that life exhibits as they become Multicellular, and have engaging gameplay.
When it comes to Cell Specialization, I feel pretty confident that @Rathalos has found a good solution. It’s described in this post in the “The Suggestion” section, but the basic idea is: cells in a colony receive a bonus, and that bonus strength and type is determined by how much of their cell is composed of a specific part. I’d say that is candidate A in terms of an idea that is ready for the “let’s actually see what it does” prototype.
When it comes to Cell Adjacency, that’s a bit less concrete. But a suggestion that has come up is essentially having interactions between cells based on their composition. So a cluster of cells with a lot of vacuoles would boost storage for those cells, a cluster of cells with a lot of pulling cilia would result in a black hole, etc.
One other thing that would be good to discuss is to have a shared vision of the fundamentals of the Multicellular Stage. I think it would be a disservice to just see it as an extension of the Microbe Stage - what different challenges, objectives, goals, and “moods” are we presenting the player in this stage?
I detailed this more in this post in the sections titled “The Premise” & “Multicellular Stage Expectations”. But for me, the gist of what I think we should see between the two stages is…
Microbe Stage
Here, you’re exploring your home. What works here? What doesn’t work? And how will you keep up with all the swings?
- Surviving on a volatile and unstable planet, with generally more dramatic events.
- Overcoming constraints of the metabolisms you choose.
- Carving out a place for yourself against other microbes.
- Overall, trying to keep up as resources vary and environmental events occur.
Multicellular Stage
Here, you’ve settled in a bit, but the competition is picking up. How will you grow? How will you defend yourself? Can you keep up with all the competition around you?
- Maximizing stats, and creating a powerful organism.
- Much more “dangerous” AI species with more powerful abilities.
- Surviving a much more chaotic game scene, with projectiles, cell goop, and destruction around you.
- Overall, a desire for “more” - more speed, more efficiency, more projectiles, stronger abilities, etc.
IMO, The Microbe Stage is essentially the player proving they have what it takes not to starve on their new planet. The Multicellular Stage assumes that you’ve proved that well, so it then challenges you with throwing more, and more, and more at you, with dangerous abilities on colonies which have somewhat goofy physics. Can you keep up?
If we nail the general “vibe” we’re going for, we can develop with a pretty cohesive thought. Thrive obviously benefits tremendously from a diversity of thought, but I do think not having the same chasms we’ve had at some points with the Microbe Stage would help our design be more intent.