cubap
commented
9 years ago Grasses
coverage on tiles; tread to create paths, roads; harvested for some materials
- turf - grass of some type * tall grasses - impacting movement, shelter, stealth * short grasses - easy movement, lawn-ish, maybe heavily grazed areas are more of this
- grains - harvestable, plantable... maybe types like flour, oats...
- flowers - pretty, ultimately variable, harvestable for oils, maybe some food, spices
Plants
- trees * lumber - like oak; sturdy, heavy wood in large supply; grows long and tall * fruit - edible drops; shorter lived; softer, less useful wood \ nuts/drupes - special food; hard and lovely wood for special applications
- bushes * hedge - foliage, shelter, small twigs and weaving branches * briar - good shelter for small animals, restricts movement for larger animals \ berry - some shelter, twigs; good food.
Animals
At a minimum, I think we need small and large each of predator and prey species. Probably the basic rules will apply for many of them with differences in preferred group size and habitat being the major difference. Flying and swimming things present the biggest coding problem, probably.
- squirrel - small prey forager; prefers small groups and wooded areas; east berries, nuts
- fox - small predator and scavenger; small family groups; territorial; eats meats
- elk - large grazer; herds; eats turf
- wolf - large predator; territorial packs; eats small and large animals
- game bird - small prey forager; prefers grasses and roosts in trees; eats among tall grass (bugs and such); lays eggs in ground based nests
- cattle/buffalo - very large grazer; herds; eats turf
- bear - very large omnivore; solitary; predates single animals, scavenges, and eats nuts and berries; lives in woods, especially near caves (if there is such a thing)
Characters
No formal classes exist, but the following playstyles may be accommodated and perhaps AI should drift characters towards one of these types of living.
- Drifter - a wander about forager who may have skills in mapping or barding, but has no permanent homebase. Fits both adventurer and outlaw.
- Hermit - self-sufficient with a labor intensive dwelling and a defensive perspective. Homesteader.
- Farmer - sets up a crop or ranch and overproduces a certain good for local sale or wholesale. Territorial and defensive.
- Craftsman - develops skills that seem to be unrepresented in an area once more people are encountered and processes raw materials into more advanced goods.
- Public servant - seeks out civic path advancements and leadership roles within communities.
- Shopkeeper - buys and resells goods when an imbalance of need arises. May be a grocer in early game, a banker in cities, a quartermaster in tribes.
- Merchant - a shopkeeper with wanderlust who recognizes different exchange rates and seeks to travel between centers of trade. Starts as a gatherer who resells materials to craftsmen or grocers.
- Soldier - an aggressive or strong character good at following orders. In peace, these may be hunting parties or gatherers. The more clever ascend to leadership and plan activities.
- Explorer - cartographer, bard, or jetsetter. Travels for travel sake to see all parts and interact with people.
- Scientist - inventor, experimenter. Spends time around others observing actions and attempting new things with known materials. Reconfigures recipes and attempts strange combinations.
Put it all in, we can sort out the top tier later. As a general rule, I think the critters and plants will be abstract, so a statement like "apple tree" is equivalent to "fruit tree" or "orange tree" so when a distinction is intended, such as with a nut or drupe, it may need to be called out.