CREATURE BEHAVIOR: Haven't you noticed that most creatures in Starbound act pretty much the same. Either friendly or hostile, there are no big changes: when they attack, they attack. This suggestion aims to change that. Features: (These would be not so much skills, but monster AI basically) SOCIABILITY: Loner: single monster. Always. Pack: may go with a small group of similar monsters. If any of them attacks or is attacked, they will all attack. Swarm: very small monsters, large pack. Not too strong but... they're many. FRIENDLINESS: Friendly: does nothing unless attacked. Harmless: can't do anything but run away from you. Territorial: will attack if you bother them. Crazy: will attack you as soon as they see you. BEHAVIOR: Backstabber: this monster is peaceful only when the player is looking at it. Once you turn your back on him, this monster will try to attack you. Kind of like these cute white Ghosts from Super Mario 3. Hive: spawns lesser horrors, can not move or attack. May shoot slow mosquito clouds. (projectile that can be destroyed) Stalker: Tracks the player from a very long distance, but doesn't go aggro until it's ready to strike on the unaware player. Berserker: attacks attacks and attacks no matter what. Ambusher: hides until it's time to strike. When this monster's position is discovered, it attacks with one of the following strategies. COMBAT STRATEGY: Archer: keeps the distance between the player and himself and uses ranged attacks Harasser: keeps distance, attacks fast (melee or skill) and then retreats. Be sure to avoid him so you can hit him! Charger: charges an attack and shoots/charges towards you with a telegraphed attack. He doesn't keep the distance like the harasser and instead of an "assassin" this guy is a tank with lots of damage. Trapper: this monster runs and sets "traps". If one of these traps catches the player then it rushes to bite him/her! Sludger: not necessarily violent, but it leaves a trail of acid which can have several bad effects: from poison or slippery floor to burning and radiation! Turtler: no, it does not need a shell to be a turtler. This monster will block any front/back attacks depending on it's parts. once it feels it's safe, prepare to be attacked. Catcher: this monster is called catcher because it tries to catch or grab the player and drag him/her into dangerous places such as lava, toxic, spikes, electric or just water, if it's a fish. Don't drown! Matador: aggressive and melee, but they wait until you come close enough so you can't avoid their attack, then charge. If they're attacked by ranged weapons, they will charge. I hope you enjoyed these suggestions.
This would be pretty cool, but would probably take a lot of work from the devs who are occupied with their own stuff. Of course there's always mods...
I think pack behavior would just need some tweaks on monster stats and then add a chance of spawning in groups depending on size. 50% for small 25% for normal, and 0% for big. I'll try to do it myself when I have some free time to test and balance. Some suggestions are a bit over the top, but well, this is just an idea thread.
also maybe a trickster that will trick you into runinng in to him like a matador by the way shouldt harmless planets only have neutral and harmless animals on it
I think that fear is missing. Would be nice if you needed to hunt some of then, or if they would run only by see you. They never run away when losing a fight too, would be a nice move if they try to escape.
STALKER: a monster that lurks and stalks the player running back if approached, only attacking when the player cant see them! often found in caves, if you are ever running around at night or in a dark cave, BEWARE!...........(I> <I).........
Changed Tracker into Stalker because it's a cooler name. Slightly updated the description. It would be awesome if some monsters had skills like turning off light sources or getting really mad if you point at them with a lantern.