There’s been a lot of renewed discussion on Discord regarding the multicellular stage that’s generating a lot of interesting ideas. It is important to have these discussions since we need to understand what the Microbe Stage is building up to in detail, allowing us to move forward more confidently. We also have a better understanding of how we are approaching many important concepts and have a much more mature game in our hands. Discussions regarding the late-multicellular (macroscopic) editor, for example, have been very productive recently: Macroscopic Editor, Progression, and Principles
I realized though that, unless I am mistaken, we don’t really have a (detailed) understanding of how exactly gameplay will work in the beginning of the late-multicellular stage - what the player will actually be doing when they first progress to the 3D world. So I think this is an important area to consider in maturing our understanding of how we will manage the switch between the microscopic and macroscopic stages as a whole.
Now, we don’t need a very in-depth list of how every mechanic will work in the early macroscopic stage - just as was done with the Microbe Stage, we will figure out mechanics as we approach the need to implement them. We just need a good idea of what the player will be doing when they first become macroscopic. The beginning of the late-multicellular stage represents this awkward point in evolutionary history where organisms are macroscopic and complex, but blobby and soft-bodied, still developing into various more familiar lifeforms and food webs. Complex enough to be big, but not yet complex enough for advanced musculatures, skeletal structures, etc. So an understanding of how we will make gameplay a bit more than being an unremarkable blob for an hour that swims around willy-nilly is important.
I’ll start the discussion with a spitballed take on how we can describe the beginning of the late-multicellular stage. Then, we can all discuss what we agree, disagree, and are unsure of based on this starting point.
The beginning of the late-multicellular phase of gameplay - the advent of macroscopic gameplay - will be a huge shift, as the player now inhabits a vast, 3D world. Players could very likely be overwhelmed at first, so the introduction to the late-multicellular phase will reflect the beginning of the Microbe Stage; slow-paced and manageable, with many free resources and minimal threat from other organisms.
The first available sources of food will be somewhat similar to the player’s experiences in the Microbe Stage - players will be foraging on microbe matts alongside the seafloor and filtering through plankton near the surfaces (represented as compound clouds). Players who have parts such as rusticyanin can eat rusted iron deposits, though the low-energy output and shrinking resource pool means most organisms will transition to a form of heterotrophy or photosynthetic-autotrophy to sustain themselves and further progress. Photosynthetic, sessile gameplay is another topic which should be addressed with a focused thread. Plankton and microbial matt density will decrease as more and more organisms develop, eventually introducing an incentive to specialize into more advanced heterotrophic diets.
Players will have a new focus on movement, which will be more in-depth, customizable, and diverse than in the Microbe Stage. Two prominent methods of transversal will be a benthic lifestyle - bottom-dwelling alongside the ocean floor - and pelagic movement - swimming. Note that the two aren’t dichotomous - players can have the capacity to be both, though perhaps to a limited extent early on.
Players will already be offered ways to customize their movement. They can alter their movement strategies by changing their, surface area, mass, their body plan (perhaps increasing the amount of mesoglea found within themselves like jellyfish) or by changing the structure of their appendages. More surface-area and less mass will make it easier for the player to float-freely and swim upwards, but will make it harder to swim downwards. Less surface-area and more mass will make it easier for the player to latch onto the benthic floor and sink, but harder to swim upwards and float freely. Appendages will be limited at first due to a limited nervous system, musculature, and skeletal system, but will have some options. Some appendages will help you swim by either increasing surface area or providing a primitive sort of “paddle”. Other appendages will act as simple graspers/limbs, allowing movement alongside the ocean floor. Players who swim freely will likely focus more on filter-feeding plankton, while benthic players will be more focused on microbial matts.
There will be a limited capacity to prey on other macroscopic organisms at first due to the lack of a sufficient mouth and digestive system. I would like to research simple combat and self-defense adaptations first before offering a description, but stinging appendages are an example of such morphological structures present in simple organisms.
What do we think of this description so far?