Food Chain

[john9blue]

Version 2

[bigimg]http://i40.tinypic.com/zmcazc.png[/bigimg]

[spoiler=Original Post]Be the predator, not the prey! Expand your edible empire over the entire ocean!

[bigimg]http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2507/foodchain.png[/bigimg]

I know a lot of my drafts can get kind of crazy, but I think this is easy enough to understand.

This will play like Circus Maximus, except it will have bonuses and a few twists. Players will be attacking in a cycle, going up the food chain, back down to decomposition, and into the food chain again. All attacks are one-way (yes, I know that dolphins can eat sharks and vice versa, or whatever, but my knowledge of fish is limited to high school biology and Animal Crossing, so cut me a little slack here). The final product will be much more complex, containing many different species with lots of connections which will look like this or that. Maybe about 42 species or so (not counting decomposition, of course), and the food chains will have different bonuses based on how many species are involved. You can get multiple bonuses, but they can't share more than one species. I'm hoping this is possible with the current XML, because Conquer 4 has a very similar gameplay mechanic (can I get confirmation on this? yeti? cairns? Bueller?). Decomposition resets to 1 neutral each turn.

Largely ignore the graphics, of course, and try to focus on the gameplay. Does this sound like a good idea? [/spoiler]

[miniwally]

not enough territories and you got the arrows the wrong way

[john9blue]

not enough territories

The final product will be much more complex, containing many different species with lots of connections which will look like this or that. Maybe about 42 species or so

and you got the arrows the wrong way

Players will be attacking in a cycle, going up the food chain, back down to decomposition, and into the food chain again. All attacks are one-way

C'mon wally, read what I wrote. All the answers are in my first post.

[miniwally]

not enough territories

The final product will be much more complex, containing many different species with lots of connections which will look like this or that. Maybe about 42 species or so

and you got the arrows the wrong way

Players will be attacking in a cycle, going up the food chain, back down to decomposition, and into the food chain again. All attacks are one-way

C'mon wally, read what I wrote. All the answers are in my first post.

oh sorry

[john9blue]

Here's a super secret sneak-peek of my next draft.

[bigimg]http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7082/asrvse.png[/bigimg]

Comments?

[miniwally]

I like it but how big are you going to be able to have it as you may run out of fish for the food chain?

[ustus]

Go for it!! i suggest compiling a big list of fish and then using wiki or some other kind of encyclopedia to find out what eats what

if you find you've picked a species that is from a diff region, just pick a new one. IMO, the more terits the better on any map...

[miniwally]

i'll help you research if you want i need something to do

apparently zooplankto eats phytoplankton

[john9blue]

Almost done... library was closing so I couldn't finish it (that's the only place where I have access to Photoshop).

[bigimg]http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2686/aavsraes.png[/bigimg]

The last 4 species will probably be sponge, coral, anemone, and (possibly) jellyfish. Still need to do a bit more research. Then I have to make the connections, finalize bonuses, and touch it up a bit. I'm thinking about putting in bonuses for holding an entire row (called a trophic level). Do you like the look of the territories?

[miniwally]

yes

[Spockers]

Pointless, boring, made my eyes bleed.

Seriously, close your eyes and imagine playing this ma....

oh shit sorry i fell asleep just writing that sentence.

[miniwally]

Pointless, boring, made my eyes bleed.

Seriously, close your eyes and imagine playing this ma....

oh shit sorry i fell asleep just writing that sentence.

i like it

[john9blue]

No worries, he probably didn't see the second draft. Besides, he didn't like my chess map, and that's in the Foundry now. If anything, his criticism is a predictor of success.

[porkenbeans]

Interesting,
Just 1 suggestion- Reverse it, so that the top of the food chain, is on top.
This concept has much promise. I like very much, the uniqueness of it. It is certainly NOT like every other map we see coming out of the foundry.

[Spockers]

i like it

Then perhaps you need professional help

[porkenbeans]

i like it

Then perhaps you need professional help

This is a first draft if I am not mistaken.

He has included all that is required for this stage of the process.

Of coarse it is not meant to go as-is. The basic idea is there, and it is unique. For that reason alone it deserves a chance to sink, or to swim it's way through the foundry.

I would like to eventually see a 3-D underwater world. Picture something from that animated "Nemo" movie, from Walt Disney I think...
All that color lends itself great for a map, because all of your territories can be brightly colored, and it will still be natural. Not like having to color in the land areas of most maps.

Like I said, This map has several things going for it.

[miniwally]

i like it

Then perhaps you need professional help

This is a first draft if I am not mistaken.

He has included all that is required for this stage of the process.

Of coarse it is not meant to go as-is. The basic idea is there, and it is unique. For that reason alone it deserves a chance to sink, or to swim it's way through the foundry.

I would like to eventually see a 3-D underwater world. Picture something from that animated "Nemo" movie, from Walt Disney I think...
All that color lends itself great for a map, because all of your territories can be brightly colored, and it will still be natural. Not like having to color in the land areas of most maps.

Like I said, This map has several things going for it.

oh yeh 3d that'd be good

[ManBungalow]

It certainly is an original idea

Maybe you can make a differenct bonus system ?

I would find the idea of "holding one chain for troops" a bit dull, and possibly symetrical (like the Chinese Checkers map.

Maybe you could include some features to seperate the gameplay idea from that of Circus Maximus?
EG. Plankton breeds and gives +1 autodeploy.

[john9blue]

I've got a question. Does anybody know the best way to cut an image from one picture and paste it in another picture, while still keeping the outline smooth? How would I take these pictures

[bigimg]http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/images/orca-family-med.gif[/bigimg]

[bigimg]http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/willow/squid-info0.gif[/bigimg]

[bigimg]http://www.healthstones.com/ocean_life_store/monterey_bay_aquarium/sperm_whale/sperm_whale.jpg[/bigimg]

[bigimg]http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/images/sandbarshark.jpg[/bigimg]

[bigimg]http://storeforknowledge.com/images/2766-29%20large.jpeg[/bigimg]

and paste them onto this background

[bigimg]http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/8752/asdgfae.png[/bigimg]

without it looking like it was pasted?

I'm on break and won't have Photoshop till next week, so if someone can tell me how to do this I'll find pictures for all of these animals.

[porkenbeans]

The water is really bitchen.
Now, a shitload of colorful coral at the bottom, would top it off.

[miniwally]

does this look good enough if so it's easy enough to do

[john9blue]

does this look good enough if so it's easy enough to do

That looks pretty good... the whale/shark/orca have white outlines though. Did you just magic wand the white area around it and delete it?

Also, they're kinda big. They need to be much smaller if I'm gonna fit 24 of them plus arrows on that square (which is 600x600 and probably will be shrunk a bit more for the small version). No need to make another draft though, I'll do it next week.

[miniwally]

does this look good enough if so it's easy enough to do

That looks pretty good... the whale/shark/orca have white outlines though. Did you just magic wand the white area around it and delete it?

Also, they're kinda big. They need to be much smaller if I'm gonna fit 24 of them plus arrows on that square (which is 600x600 and probably will be shrunk a bit more for the small version). No need to make another draft though, I'll do it next week.

i know i was just wondering if that's what you wanted.

You just use magic wand on white bits and black for the one with black outline
then ctrl-shift-i to inverse selection
right click selection layer via cut
then drag layer onto ocean pic

[sailorseal]

Like the idea but it needs an increase in territs and some graphics help

[Dublanous1]

Good, but why is it just sea animals? There should be a land animal section or something, maybe combine the two?