Mapping genre mechanics to Emergence

Core Mechanics

  • Resource patches
    • environmental resources are typically (but not always) continuous, rather than discrete
      • still clumped, but no clear boundaries
      • ex: nitrogen can be extracted from soil, but will be richer in some locations
    • all resources can be obtained renewably, with the right strategy
    • soil contains various concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium)
    • soil is physically made up of sand/silt/clay/stone/organic matter
    • water is vital for virtually everything, and can be found in rain, streams, lakes, organic items and soil
    • energy is similarly vital, but can be found in different forms that are edible to different organisms
      • ultimately gathered via photosynthesis
  • Recipes
    • quite standard overall
    • emphasis on byproducts and consequences of unmanaged waste
    • circular processing
    • some items can decompose over time without action
  • Assemblers
    • simple items can just be assembled by units at a crude shelf made of dirt (cheap) or stone (durable)
    • more complex items involve the use of dedicated plant or fungal buildings with selected recipes
  • Transporters
    • ground units carry items and do work flexibly, but are physically grounded
    • water flows can be used to carry goods downriver
    • water flows can be expanded with player-dug canals
    • large quantities of goods can be transported via large, high-momentum ground units
  • Storage
    • simple one-resource piles that are exposed to the elements
    • sheltered storage buildings made of stone, plants and fungi
    • shelted storage will reduce rate of decay, and mess due to rain and other effects
    • units, assemblers and storage work together in a fashion directly analogous to Factorio's logistic network
  • Resource sinks
    • lossy conversions: energy and water will commonly be lost during resource transformations
    • resource upkeep: energy and water will commonly be lost to keep things alive
    • guided evolution: research analogue used to modify and enhance existing species
    • domestication: research analogue used to add new species to the colony
    • hive mind: research analogue, used to unlock new features in the lab
    • ???: some kind of final goal to work towards building

Advanced Mechanics

  • Distributed resource costs
    • water is used by everything, with rate varying by temperature and humidity
      • ultimately replenished by rainfall
      • distributed via:
        • canals
        • mycorrhizal networks
        • water droplets
    • energy is used by everything, with rate varying by amount of work done
      • ultimately gathered via photosynthesis
      • distributed by:
        • items
        • mycorrhizal networks
  • Fluids
    • transported via plant and fungal networks
    • transported via canals
    • can be pumped
  • Filters
    • units are capable of differentiating between items
    • some units won't care about some items via signal preference tuning
    • simple mechanical filters sort items into classes
      • item size
      • floats
      • blows away
    • plants are capable of sophisticated filtration of solutions
  • Splitters
    • streams that split
  • Prioritizers
    • nonlinear signal feedback loops?
    • stream geometry?
  • Bypasses
    • underground tunnels
    • overpasses
    • catapults?
    • bridges?
  • Spatial constraints
    • rocks
    • trees
    • bodies of water
    • litter from extinct humans?
    • modifying the topology etc should be possible, but very expensive
  • Technology
    • guided evolution: research analogue used to modify and enhance existing species
    • domestication: research analogue used to add new species to the colony
  • Production enhancements
    • upgrades: done via guided evolution, affecting all organisms of that strain
    • enhancements: higher quality fertilizers can be produced and applied automatically via workers
  • Multiple transportation options
    • Many species, and species variants
  • Cyclic production pathways
    • Core mechanic
  • Byproducts
    • Core mechanic
  • Pollution
    • thematically essential
    • needs much richer (and more plausible) model of pollution
    • effects should be varied and depend on intensity of pollution
    • polluting should be easier than dealing with waste products properly
    • pollution can serve as yet-another important driver of temporal variation, as it builds up and must be dealt with
    • several kinds:
      • solid waste
      • water pollution
      • soil pollution
  • Stochastic outputs
    • Inherent in advanced tech
  • Degrading products
    • Organic materials only
    • Most food
  • Hazardous goods
    • Combat-focused items
    • Advanced tech
  • Environmental process bounds
    • inherent to using living organisms as assemblers (and workers)

Supplementary Mechanics

These features supplement the core gameplay loop by providing additional things to do or consider, but are not needed.

  • Exploration
    • important but not essential
    • fairly standard implementation
    • needs more interesting world generation
    • water distribution and topography are key
  • Combat
    • natural but not essential
    • must be careful to avoid snowballing effects
      • design with negative feedback loops like hunger satiation