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<H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is </LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: J C Lawrence <<A HREF="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 26 May 1998 20:25:33 -0700</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
On Sat, 23 May 1998 15:12:40 +0100 (BST)
Ling <K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk> wrote:
> On Fri, 22 May 1998, J C Lawrence wrote:
>> On Thu, 21 May 1998 20:37:15 +1200 (NZST) Oliver
>> Jowett<oliver#jowett,manawatu.planet.co.nz> wrote:
>> Ahh, but I need and want the wild population swings -- that is
>> precisely the idea of the entire system (even outside of the TC's).
>> The problem I have is that the TC population explodes and collapses
>> a few times to result in their entire world drowning in TC spores.
>> The problem is that the population collapses are thru starvation
>> not predation, the rate of TC spore release on starvation death is
>> too high, and too little that consumes TC spores.
> Er, can't think of an example in nature... Considered adding a few
> more stages to the TC species and perhaps a season? Eg:
> TC spores are produced as per normal.
> Spores do not germinate (hatch?) until there is sufficent mana in
> the vicinity, this includes mana locked up in objects as well as
> free mana floating around. (you use a liquid mana flow from room to
> room, right?) Even then, spores still require a time period to
> mature.
>
> Spores consume mana to grow into a larvae stage which has the
> ability to crawl to the nearest consumable object. Objects are
> consumed in a manner similar to a fly, ie: digestion is carried out
> on the outside (easier to program than having larvae TC burrow their
> way into swords). Rate of digestion is slower than a normal TC's
> englobe tactic (was this inspired by the immune system? Or Pacman?
> :)
Quite. This acts as a moderator, and changes the pacing, it doesn't
however do anything to encourage population collapses. You've slowed
the pendulum's swing, now to get it swinging back and forth.
> Larvae stage undergoes that metamorphing thing, depending on your
> tastes, either breaking out from larvae and going straight to TC or
> going into a short hibernation when packed with enuff mana... If a
> TC went into a shell state, they could make valuable 'mana potions'
> (except they eat your stuff if you're not lookin' closely). Mana is
> consumed during metamorphis (sp?). Mana shells would therefore lose
> value over time. This might also encourage players to act as a
> medium to spread TC's.
<nod>
I like this idea -- TC's as currency.
> TC's encountering larvae will not consume larvae (canabalism
> encourages parasites or species specific pathogens).
Consume != kill. cf most felines (lions, house cats etc), the males
of which will deliberately stalk and kill the kittens of other males
(genetic necessity -- returns female to heat sooner). There's been
some quite ugly and fascinating film work done on the are BTW with
feral and farm cats.
> Population explosion as per usual when TC's are meandering around.
Okay, now what kills the population explosion?
> Could you expand upon your intended behaviour of the spores?
Spores exist for several reasons:
1) To allow TC's to be easily transported in quantity.
2) To allow TC's to lay fallow ala seeds (not enough local resources
available, but spores/seeds will germinate when resources are
available (it rains)).
3) To cause population explostions to be followed by later smaller
after-shock booms as the TC spore population mass-hatches, dies,
hatches, dies etc down to the bottom of the curve.
>> What I want is a population curve that follows the path of a long
>> slow build to a reasonable population size (they start to be
>> annoyingly common), a sudden almost vertical population explosion,
>> and an almost-to-zero collapse shortly after that for the whole
>> cycle to start over again
> A larvae stage would emphasis a slower build up and making the
> spores not hatch might get the players to appreciate life without
> TC's. Unfortunately, I'm relying on some sort of season, like a
> nature mana cycle. I can't run a seasonless simulation in my head.
Seasons, ala winter, could kill off weaker TC's as a form of predator...
> cf Shadowrun.
???
--
J C Lawrence Internet: claw#null,net
(Contractor) Internet: coder#ibm,net
---------(*) Internet: claw#under,engr.sgi.com
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...
</PRE>
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<li><strong><A NAME="00848" HREF="msg00848.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Ling <K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk></li></ul>
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<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00804" HREF="msg00804.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Ling <K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk></LI></UL></LI>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00739" HREF="msg00739.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 20 May 1998, 20:05 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00746" HREF="msg00746.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
Oliver Jowett <a href="mailto:oliver#jowett,manawatu.planet.co.nz">oliver#jowett,manawatu.planet.co.nz</a>, Thu 21 May 1998, 09:56 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00799" HREF="msg00799.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Sat 23 May 1998, 00:12 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00804" HREF="msg00804.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
Ling <a href="mailto:K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk">K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk</a>, Sat 23 May 1998, 14:13 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00840" HREF="msg00840.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 27 May 1998, 03:26 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00848" HREF="msg00848.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
Ling <a href="mailto:K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk">K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk</a>, Thu 28 May 1998, 18:47 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00863" HREF="msg00863.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 03 Jun 1998, 02:53 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00866" HREF="msg00866.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Wed 03 Jun 1998, 04:35 GMT
<LI><strong><A NAME="00881" HREF="msg00881.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MURKLE: Wot it is</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Thu 04 Jun 1998, 23:54 GMT
</LI>
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