Dino Abilities

[Gen. Thomas Jackson]

I got this idea from the Dinosaur Learning thread. In it an idea of slots for Learned Behavior was used, every dino would have a limited number of slots representing intelligence. In those slots one would place the Learned Beahavior.

Every dino woudl have ability slots representing adaptability, in it one would place various abilities, night vision, flight, enahced smell, and others. So what do ya'll think? Any other ideas?

[Hugo Rune]

In what way are Night Vision and so on "Learned Abilities"? If you mean to use this system for Inherited Attributes: Nope, wouldn't work, because dinos with different attributes wouldn't be able to interbreed and the whole evolution aspect would be lost.

[Pythagoras]

Well, this all depends on scale. if the game encompasses millions of years then the learned behaviors of one dinosour would be miniscule. And it sounds like the game will be encompassing millions of years.

[NoviceCEO]

In the Civ series, the resources, population, production, have all been treated as a single solid number. In SMAC, you have three basic resources for every spot: energy, minerals and nutrients. Those resources are in "solid" numbers (I lack Math terms in English): they go from one and on (but can't ever be 1.5 or 6.2). The same thing applies for population, attack, defense, reactor and it spreads like an infection through the whole game, limiting somehow the gameplay. I think it was a bad mistake.

I wrote all of that to explain why I don't like your idea, my fellow forumer. Evolution and the abilities that a creature develops is something very abstract and creating a pre-defined number of "spots" of abilities that a creature can learn doesn't sound very nice to me, at least not the way I read until now (maybe someone can use your idea and find a better concept).

I really do like though, the "intelligence spots". Those dinos had a sort of limited intelligence and the intelligence spots could represent a crude, but reasonable way to express it.

Sincerely
novice

[Gen. Thomas Jackson]

I think I was misunderstood. The learned behavior was form a previos thread where I ot this idea. I agree that night vision and flight are not learned abilities. Here is what I ment to say.

Each dinosaur would have a certain number of ability slots representing that dinoaurs "capability". During the evoluiton of the animal it would aquire these abilites. A dinosaur with one or two ability slots whould be less capaple than one with more slots. These abilites could also change over time allowing for the evolving nature of the dinosaur. That's what I ment to say, sorry for the confusion it might have caused.

[Urban Ranger]

quote: Originally posted by Hugo Rune on 01-24-2000 02:04 PM In what way are Night Vision and so on "Learned Abilities"? If you mean to use this system for Inherited Attributes: Nope, wouldn't work, because dinos with different attributes wouldn't be able to interbreed and the whole evolution aspect would be lost.

Not necessarily.

It depends on how these abilities are developed.

However, this is really not the point of evolution. Evolution is not the equivalent of "progress," which is a common misconception.

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If I can't believe in my own eyes, whose eyes can I believe? Yours?!

[Mergle]

Novice - the word in English you're looking for is "integer". Actually, you might mean "natural":

Numbers 1, 2, 3, ... (sometimes inclusing 0) are "natural" numbers

Numbers ..., -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ... are "integers".

I think resources are integers, as they can go negative.

[This message has been edited by Mergle (edited January 25, 2000).]

[NoviceCEO]

thx a lot mergle.
integers... that's the word... thx!