Biome Detail: Bioluminesence

Discussion in 'Planets and Environments' started by SyberSmoke, May 13, 2012.

  1. SyberSmoke

    SyberSmoke Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I am sure people will scream about "Oh this is just an Avatar thread". But TBH I have no idea how a young man who can bend the four elements and his friends weighs into this...heh. But in all truth light emitting plants (bioluminescent) could be used more as a detail item that could have planetary consequences. This will not just talk about glowing blue mushrooms, but also about the possibility of planetary change and contamination!!

    Glowing Plants
    Bioluminesence is mainly a reaction to dark environments. This simple statement would mean that it would primarily develop on planets when short day periods and long night periods OR on a rouge planet, one with out a light source. Now that would be cool...a planet with no day cycle...just drifting through space!

    This could allow for some very interesting environments as the player may see a world a many colors with out ever seeing the light of a star. Plants of this type could also be carnivorous as they have to find other ways to et energy then through photosynthesis. A sort of plant angler fish!

    Planetary Contamination
    Simple thought, the play has visited a rogue planet with bioluminescent plant life. Unknown to them some seeds hitch a ride on them or on the shuttle. Then the next planet they land on gets some new plant life that will spread across the planet. Kind of like galactic Kudzu or Creeping Charlie (Nasty stuff...just refuses to die and will conquer the world if you let it).

    Types of Plants
    1. Moss or grass: Glowing moss could be the easiest to transfer and will appear as moss on trees during the day but glowing at night. While grass would spread out for the point of landing slowly taking over the biome.

    2. Mushrooms: Wow man...psycodelic!

    3. Small Plants: Bigger then grass but not as big as a bush, these plants include flowering weeds and the like. They could be easily transferred depending on the plant.

    4. Bushes: Harder to transfer but still possible. The planet will get a collection of indigenous and alien bushes, but depending on the invasive qualities of the bush it may be countered by the biome.

    5. Trees: Players would have to plant a couple for them to spread naturally.

    Plant Invasiveness:
    Plants are often tailored to their environment. A plant that lives in a harsh or desolate area will be more aggressive in the ways it spreads to new areas. Less invasive plants will not spread as much or may not even get a foot hold if the native flora is highly aggressive its self. This attribute would be a measure of the plans ability to adapt to an environment and spread supplanting a planets natural flora.
     
  2. Alvin Flummox

    Alvin Flummox Existential Complex

    Haha I literally just mentioned this in my thread about planetary variety. More variety is never a bad thing :)

    On a side note: Creeping Charlie is a bitch.
     
    legodude2 likes this.
  3. Tetrys

    Tetrys Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Heyo! \o

    First off, I'd like to say, great ideas. I'm not particularly certain how the contamination and invasive mechanics would work but it would be incredible to see that level of detail within this (Or any) game. Gotta say though, my favorite concept has to be the bioluminescent flora. I'm considering setting up shop on an eternally dark planet and it would be quite impressive to find it full of glowing plants (And if possible, cultivate).
     
    legodude2 likes this.
  4. Lord Kain

    Lord Kain Ketchup Robot

    Reminds me of that one plant in Terraria...blinkroot? that glowed in the dark..well more flickered. So i could see this happening on dark planets.
     
    legodude2 likes this.
  5. Tetrys

    Tetrys Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Yup, that's the one. It was rather useful for finding caves beyond your torches' ability to pierce the ground.
     
    Heartstrings likes this.
  6. The Enderman

    The Enderman Phantasmal Quasar

    And Moonglow, don't forget Moonglow!
     
  7. Alvin Flummox

    Alvin Flummox Existential Complex

    Lava and glowing wildlife would make such a fantastic combination in a pitch black planet base
     
    Slawthe and Heartstrings like this.
  8. SyberSmoke

    SyberSmoke Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I agree, and if the luminescence of the plants mimicked the coloration of the plants (mainly not green mind you) then it would be a very cool look. :)
     
  9. Eight

    Eight Pangalactic Porcupine

    I already had this idea a few days ago. I called the thread Pandaro, maybe I should've called it something else.
     
  10. FireDrake204

    FireDrake204 Pangalactic Porcupine

    This looks like it could be really pretty, I'd love to see this.
     
    XZile likes this.
  11. KuraiRyuu

    KuraiRyuu Space Kumquat

    I'd absolutely love it if there were planets that were forever/mostly night-time with glowing plants and trees. It would look so pretty. They could even make it so there were different colored glowing planets too. I loved the Avatar look.
    Btw, when people say "Avatar" about this, they are talking about this(wiki link).
     
  12. SyberSmoke

    SyberSmoke Subatomic Cosmonaut

    ^ (Laughing maniacally) I knew some one would fall into that trap eventually. Hehehehe.
     
    Ruban Crusade and Maw like this.
  13. Eight

    Eight Pangalactic Porcupine

    Screen Shot 2012-05-14 at 2.11.44 PM.png
    (It would've looked better if i'd used a hallowed tree, and why is it so white?)
    Don't the trees in Terraria look so weird after seeing the starbound trees.

    I think I might draw a glowing forest if I have the time.
     
  14. SyberSmoke

    SyberSmoke Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I think may be the additional torches are a little off the top. But the leaves of the trees would be what glows, more akin to the Underground Mushrooms in Terraria. Where the Blue grass glows as well as the mushrooms them selves.
     
  15. StarJoe

    StarJoe Void-Bound Voyager

    Please excuse the poor quality, had to screenshot the video which is quite blurry. Don't have many images to go on yet, but I imagine glowing mushrooms would be quite cool (a bit like blinkroot).

    [​IMG]
     
  16. Kamoda

    Kamoda Sandwich Man

    That looks pretty darn funky. I think having bioluminescent plants and such would make a planet look pretty rad.[/quote]
     
    XZile likes this.
  17. StarJoe

    StarJoe Void-Bound Voyager

    Diablo 3 uses a lot of glowing colour, the weapons and the environments look lush. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the style in D2, but the new game looks very colourful and very magical. I'm looking forward to Diablo 3, GuildWars 2 (done the beta for both of these!) but I'm mostly looking forward to this beautiful indie title.
     
  18. SyberSmoke

    SyberSmoke Subatomic Cosmonaut

    There is just something about the 2D side scroller that is quite nice compared to 3D. It is a nice change of pace.
     
    XZile, Aeryc and Alvin Flummox like this.
  19. StarJoe

    StarJoe Void-Bound Voyager

    I create a lot of 2D graphics (vector) for my work, it's really refreshing to hear someone say this. If this game were 3D it miss out on the beautiful style it has now.
     
  20. SyberSmoke

    SyberSmoke Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I have been playing games fr about 25 years now, since I was 9. So I have seen and played allot. I got into 3D modeling when I was in high school...Mmmm...3D StudioMax. Then Lightwave in College, but still also 2D graphic design and the such. I have also been designing games for a while and can say that some times 3D is not the best approach. In some regards 3D limits your imagination...your limited to what you can make a model do. But pixels...not so much, your not really pressured into being photorealistic. It is why I never got into minecraft, I preferred terraria for being able to see a little through the blocks and MC always looked claustrophobic.

    Any way, I stray. I just believe that this style of game and art works well together and that there will always be a place for a good side scroller. Their simplicity and ease of play makes them attractive and a welcome break from 3D games allot of the time. :)
     
    Aeryc likes this.

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