Re-imagining the Creatures of Starbound Introduction This suggestion is about... well, simply just about rethinking the way the creatures work. The idea is that every, or 'some' of the creatures in starbound live in small groups. These groups each have a nest or hive of some sort. This is where they breed their young, and store their food maybe. Their nest could look something like this: This is where they 'store' their eggs, or egg as it probably would be able to hold more than one of these eggs: They could, as said, be 'stored' in the nest, so it would look like this: The idea for the eggs are also that their colors correspond to their creatures. So they could have colors combinations like these When then the creatures hatch, they start out as a small creature, a minor in a way, or a child. So they could start out looking like this: And later on they would grow into something like this: And then: (These are just something I threw together real quick, mind you) The stages Creature stage 0: The Egg The egg stage is the first stage of the creatures’ life cycle. After its spawn, it will be there for maybe 10 minutes, and then it will hatch into the next stage Creature stage 1: The Child The creature is basically a child at this stage. The child stays close to its nest, and it eats from the “stash” of food that is stored there. It does zero to minor damage if attacked. But that is only if it doesn’t flee from the scene. The traits of the species, like spitting, won’t be seen in the minors, as it is first something you will see in the second stage. Creature stage 2: The Young This is where the creature is young. It now goes further from its nest, but it is easy to kill, and doesn’t do very much damage at all. It is however often accompanied by an adult. There’s still chances of them trying to avoid combat by fleeing though. It will start to get their species traits, and it will try to use it, it will not do maximum damage in this stage, but it’s there. Creature stage 3: The Adult This is the adult. The adult is the hardest one to kill, it does maximum damage, and also has the most health. There’s always at least 2 adults at a nest. And if the creatures aren’t hostile, they surely will be if one of their children, young or eggs are attacked. They could maybe even have a small chance to get a berserk buff whenever an event like it is triggered. This stage is also where it got full control of its traits. It will do maximum damage with its trait, and is therefore, as stated, the deadliest of them all. Your Personal Sidekick The Incubater I also made an idea for an Incubator. This is used for eggs. You can steal eggs from the nest around a planet, and you can then bring it into this machine. This machine will hold onto your egg, and later on, it will hatch into a beautiful little sidekick. When you click on the guy, several commands will appear, such as ‘Guard’ ‘Follow’ or ‘Stay’ There will also be a fourth option, which is ‘name’. And it will only be there once, and it will allow you to name him. After he has been named, there’s no way to rename him. ‘Guard’ will have him guard the area, or your house. He won’t despawn from his location, no matter how far you go. But he can still die if he doesn’t get food. If you are not near it, you can leave something that stores food. Maybe a bowel, or maybe he will take it from a chest. ‘Follow’ is pretty obvious, it will make him follow you around, and attack whenever you attack. ‘Stay’ will make him stay wherever he is. He will not move unless attacked or if he is hungry. If he gets too hungry, he might run away, no matter what command he have been given. And you will need to catch him and feed him. This is what I have for now, I've got more ideas for the creatures, such as them hunting for food etc. But for now, this will do. Please leave ideas, thoughts and criticism in the comments. Thank you TODO LIST: Make the pictures bigger, for better viewing pleasure Describe better Extend on the idea Answer questions Make another version of stage 0 (The baby) Be cool
