Biter Base Spawning
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 8:29 pm
I like the fact that biters can now spawn new bases, but there current mechanics for this seem somewhat random, with bases popping up in weird places, often very close to, and sometimes inside of, your base. I suggest the following changes to give them a more "insect like" behavior.
When a biter base reaches a certain size, it has a small chance to spawn a swarm. The swarm consists of a large number of regular "worker" biters like we see now, in addition to a queen biter. The queen is large and slow moving, has lots of HP, but no real combat ability of her own.
Once spawned, the swarm seeks a good place to build a new base. It should look for an area with low pollution, not wanting to settle in an already polluted area, and a set minimum distance from existing player constructions and other biter bases. Once it selects an area, it should take a little while before the base is actually built and the queen disappears.
When a biter base reaches a certain size, it has a small chance to spawn a swarm. The swarm consists of a large number of regular "worker" biters like we see now, in addition to a queen biter. The queen is large and slow moving, has lots of HP, but no real combat ability of her own.
Once spawned, the swarm seeks a good place to build a new base. It should look for an area with low pollution, not wanting to settle in an already polluted area, and a set minimum distance from existing player constructions and other biter bases. Once it selects an area, it should take a little while before the base is actually built and the queen disappears.
what a name.