Diona nymph enhancements

[Kaed]

Further to this https://github.com/Aurorastation/Aurora.3/issues/349 bug report I made earlier, there are a few things I wanted to add that are not bugs, but rather would be enhancements on diona nymphs.

1) There used to be a mechanic diona had that let them nip a blood sample from people. I think it did several things, like give you their language, and used to be tied to becoming a full diona, rather than the timer based method we have now. Either way, it does not exist right now. The only interaction diona can have with people is to bite them.

2) The diona 'HUD' such as it is is blatantly ripped from the xeno icon set. It looks horrible and out of place, There should be a proper diona nymph themed health bar, walk/run, etc. I can work on getting it made, if need be.

[Owen]

Yes, I fully support the nymphs being fixed. It used to be way better in the old code.

[Nanako]

My next major project is a nymph overhaul at Killerhurtz request and explicit design, so instead of suggestions based on what we have, i'd like you to make suggestions based on this design we've discussed. Things marked with a (?) are not set in stone yet, and possibly open to feedback

In order to evolve back into a gestalt, nymphs will need to eat thing and gain nutrition. They'll gain it from the following sources:

Food Items:

Anything normally classed as food, nymphs will be able to eat.

They might gain more nutrition from protein/meat (?)

Small Mobs:

Nymphs will gain a new ability to completely devour small mobs. Basically 'anything up to the size of a corgi'. This will destroy it and leave behind only some blood/gibs

Ill probably also let them bite at a mob to eat it a part at a time, will give the same nutrition in total (?)

People:

Nymphs will be able to drain blood from players of organic races (Tajara/human/unathi/skrell/vaurca) for small amounts of nutrition. They will only be able to drain from active (ie, not SSD) players

Draining blood from someone will give you a point towards a language they know. If you gain 3 points for the same language, from 3 unique people, you'll learn to speak that language.

Possibly, when a diona splits, it will forget how to speak basic, and be unable to speak until it learns that via the above method(?)

When a diona splits, it will have a small chance to remember each language it knew (I'm thinking 16% - 1/6th since there's 6 nymphs) otherwise it will forget them.

Currently, nymphs require you to be a diona-whitelisted player in order to evolve into a worker gestalt. This restriction may or may not be kept (?)

Feedback is appreciated, especially on things marked with (?), and double especially on the last one

Edited May 29, 2016 by Guest

[Killerhurtz]

I will be monitoring this thread and probably give input somewhere this week

[Owen]

Draining blood from someone will give you a point towards a language they know. If you gain 3 points for the same language, from 3 unique people, you'll learn to speak that language.

Why does it have to be from three unique people? I am fine with the whole, slowly gaining knowledge with each sample of blood but I don't think it should matter if it is from the same person or not. If you are worried about people spamming the button to drain blood, maybe just put something like a 5 second timer in-between each drain so the person has time to react after they are drained the first time.

I just think if it is three unique people, you are going to have trouble, especially for races like Skrell to get enough unique players to learn the language.

 

Currently, nymphs require you to be a diona-whitelisted player in order to evolve into a worker gestalt. This restriction may or may not be kept (?)

I like it how it currently is. There is no reason for a non-whitelisted player to be playing a whitelisted race, even if they evolve through the stages of a nymph.

I do have an idea since nymphs are being overhauled, maybe make a way for the nymphs to start off in-game? Like, they spawn in the garden? Maybe to prevent people from repeatedly spawning in as nymphs that way, have like a three nymph limit that can spawn in the garden and they have to be whitelisted?

I am not suggesting getting rid of growing nymphs just giving an option for nymphs to spawn in easier without a gardener.

 

Possibly, when a diona splits, it will forget how to speak basic, and be unable to speak until it learns that via the above method(?)

When a diona splits, it will have a small chance to remember each language it knew (I'm thinking 16% - 1/6th since there's 6 nymphs) otherwise it will forget them.

I was always under the impression that the diona nymphs within a gestalt shared their knowledge. That was just my take on the whole language thing at least, their lore dev can correct me on that if I was wrong. I just am not seeing the reason for them to lose their knowledge to communicate when they split. They still were part of the larger gestalt and had the knowledge of it.

[Nanako]

Why does it have to be from three unique people?

Killerhurtz made that decision, and i agree with it. But ill try to explain what i think his reasoning is

More people, means more interaction. IF you can bite the same person multiple times, there will probably be a lot of cornering people in tiny rooms, and/or viting standing-SSD players for easy languages. The amount of people you'd need to bite in total is pretty minimal and you could probably just do it mooching around the department

I don't see a problem with it being challenging, it means it'd be a rare and interesting occurence when someone does manage to learn a language, instead of an everyday thing

 

I like it how it currently is. There is no reason for a non-whitelisted player to be playing a whitelisted race, even if they evolve through the stages of a nymph.

I think most people who play a nymph by joining as a ghost, are going to be non-whitelisted players who want to try it out. those with diona whitelist can be a nymph anytime by spawning and splitting

 

I was always under the impression that the diona nymphs within a gestalt shared their knowledge. That was just my take on the whole language thing at least, their lore dev can correct me on that if I was wrong. I just am not seeing the reason for them to lose their knowledge to communicate when they split. They still were part of the larger gestalt and had the knowledge of it.

if a nymph can remember everything a gestalt could, why would it need to be a gestalt at all?

also fun, losing things and having to relearn them creates a little character arc, mucho RP

[Killerhurtz]

Why does it have to be from three unique people? I am fine with the whole, slowly gaining knowledge with each sample of blood but I don't think it should matter if it is from the same person or not. If you are worried about people spamming the button to drain blood, maybe just put something like a 5 second timer in-between each drain so the person has time to react after they are drained the first time.

I just think if it is three unique people, you are going to have trouble, especially for races like Skrell to get enough unique players to learn the language.

 

Mechanics-wise, it's a balance thing. Lore-wise their method is not perfect. Also something that was omitted, skrellian and taj language are not part of the languages they can learn to speak due to lore reasona.

 

I like it how it currently is. There is no reason for a non-whitelisted player to be playing a whitelisted race, even if they evolve through the stages of a nymph.

I do have an idea since nymphs are being overhauled, maybe make a way for the nymphs to start off in-game? Like, they spawn in the garden? Maybe to prevent people from repeatedly spawning in as nymphs that way, have like a three nymph limit that can spawn in the garden and they have to be whitelisted?

I am not suggesting getting rid of growing nymphs just giving an option for nymphs to spawn in easier without a gardener.

 

Feedback appreciated, I will mull and discuss it.

 

I was always under the impression that the diona nymphs within a gestalt shared their knowledge. That was just my take on the whole language thing at least, their lore dev can correct me on that if I was wrong. I just am not seeing the reason for them to lose their knowledge to communicate when they split. They still were part of the larger gestalt and had the knowledge of it.

 

The reason is critical loss of body mass. They retain some info, but simply do not have the thought mass to 100% retain everything they learned (hence why it's a chance to remember and not just a forget).

[Owen]

The reason is critical loss of body mass. They retain some info, but simply do not have the thought mass to 100% retain everything they learned (hence why it's a chance to remember and not just a forget).

Fair enough

[Owen]

Also, maybe make it so you can choose your nymph's name when you grow after you split. Or even before you grow, like right when you split.

[Nanako]

I've started work on the diona today, consulting with killerhurtz every step.

Diona have a lot of bugs and wierd code abnormalities ill sort out as i go. Like the fact that their damage-in-darkness is simply not functioning

 

Also, maybe make it so you can choose your nymph's name when you grow after you split. Or even before you grow, like right when you split.

 

I'd consider this a bug, and i will be fixing it as i go

I'm not sure if nymphs are supposed to have nams, my vague understanding was that nymphs only name themselves as a collective when they form a gestalt, but i may be wrong, killerhurtz can decide that

[Owen]

I've started work on the diona today, consulting with killerhurtz every step.

Diona have a lot of bugs and wierd code abnormalities ill sort out as i go. Like the fact that their damage-in-darkness is simply not functioning

 

Also, maybe make it so you can choose your nymph's name when you grow after you split.

Or even before you grow, like

right when you split.

 

I'd consider this a bug, and i will be fixing it as i go

I'm not sure if nymphs are supposed to have nams, my vague understanding was that nymphs only name themselves as a collective when they form a gestalt, but i may be wrong, killerhurtz can decide that

 

You can choose your name as a nymph when you are grown just not when you split. At least retaining your old name would be good.