Define Basic Microbe Structure

[bkloster]

Before implementing actual gameplay, we require a basic model of how microbes in the game should behave. To get that moving along, I propose the following structural model. Most of this is gleaned from the Microbe Stage Final Draf.

A microbe has a basic shape, either

• Sphere
• Rod
• Comma
• Spiral

A microbe has these "attributes":

• Size
• Maximum movement speed
• Acceleration
• Nourishment level

A microbe has "traits". These traits may modify the microbe's appearance and / or grant additional abilities or bonuses. Examples are:

• Flagella: Increases movement speed
• Cilia: Increases movement speed
• Pilus: Grants a poisonous spike
• Sticky Enzymes: Enables multicellular structures

Traits should be implemented as extensibly as possible. The above linked thread has many more examples of traits and knowing designers, they will come up with even more.

Traits may exclude or prerequire each other.

Traits take up space in the cell. A cell's size must be greater than the sum of its traits' sizes.

[bkloster]

Open questions

Are there "exclusive" traits, i.e. traits that exclude each other?
Concerning the trait-graphics: what if a cell has so many traits that the graphical space within the cell runs out?

[Daniferrito]

Yes, some traits (lets call them organelles) are exclusive from each other. If you have a cell wall, you cannot have an amoeba-like movement.
Some traits have a pre-requisite. About half of the higher traits require a nucleus.

Probably the traits will show smaller. However, one of the requisites for having traits is that you can fit it into your cell, so hopefully that won't happen.

[bkloster]

lets call them organelles

As I understand it with my limited knowledge of biology, organelles are like "components" for a cell, right? Names are important, so if that's an accurate name, we should use it. However, do all traits mentioned in the final draft have associated organelles? For example, what's the organelle of "Squishers"?