Three of the most encroaching threats upon the cataclysmic planet, blobs triffids and fungus, also happen to be highly aggressed against at every avenue. While sensible, there might be alternatives!
With blobs, of course, there are vehicle-based alternatives in a few mods, and their main use outside of that seems for conversion of matter to less threatening matter and for mutative substances, so I will give them a pass for this.
So, how better to co-exist with triffid and fungus?
I’m of course, discounting the fungus existence route enabled by spoilery ways, here. How could a survivor choose to live in somewhat harmony with these new floral overlords.
I have a few ideas for aiding this.
Much of the resources for such things can be gathered from the fungal/triffid themselves, and the rest can be salvaged elsewhere.
Firstly: Variants of zombie pheromones that disguise you and reduce aggression. Carrying around a tin can with holes poked in it, juicing the mulch inside with a manual piston every so often, could serve wonders to reduce tendril and general aggression. Protective clothing can also help alleviate the problems that arise when dusted and to prevent inhaling. Especially if the clothing comes pre-infused with pheromone. Essentially advanced beekeepers clothing but for fungus and triffid. Special boots for movement on fungal beds would work wonders here.
In addition, tools for the enhanced and safer harvesting of excess produce. For fungal beings, there are many spore clouds that could be given a simple bug net treatment, and cutting down/harvesting fungal fauna with specialized tools can further your yields instead of destructing them into clouds of spores.
I’d also like to see some sort of repellant or clever redirection, so you can keep various objects you don’t want turned into fungal mass or overrun by trees. Just sprinkle it around on the ground every so often, or build a high tech automated system, keep your refrigerator safe.
Secondly: I’d like to see the ability to harvest or grow fungal blocks of your own, to repurpose into building projects. I recall some company IRL that used scaffolding to grow fungus into shapes. Chairs, tables, building blocks for walls, all sorts. Completely safe (after being irradiated) very strong and surprisingly resistant to sudden impacts but also surprisingly supple and easy to work, and highly fire resistant.
For fungus: Buildable scaffoldings of various types, so that when your fungal overlords come by, they can grow around it as you suggest. You could build an entire house this way; by building wall scaffoldings and window scaffoldings and door scaffoldings and just coming back later to finish it off after the fungal clouds have poofed all over it.
Garden scaffolds so you can encourage them to grow into furniture and building blocks that you can harvest later, would be neat as well.
Also the ability to experiment with farming. What sorts of fascinating effects could fungus have on your more common crops, if combined with various mutagens?
For triffids: The ability to harvest special humors and bits from queens to aid in the creation of ‘guiding pheromones’ to take advantage of their natural aggression towards other queens. Just sprinkle them along and watch triffid queens grow neat chaotic little lines in search of their foe.
The ability to milk chemicals from fungal fighters might be beneficial. No telling what sorts of fascinating organic molecules they might produce.
The ability to harvest various types of otherworldly fauna and resources from them would be neat as well. Nectars and pollens could have chemical and cooking uses.
There’s also the possibility of capturing triffid sprouts in pet carriers and conducting scientific ventures on them. Just think; If you could grow a sprout into your very own, genetically altered triffid queen. Selected for their docility and chemical/produce creation, no doubt! Just make sure to hide them from wild triffid queens.
Vine growth could certainly be given scaffolds as well, but probably not to the same degree as for fungus.
Thirdly, while fungus has a for coexisting with them mutation-wise, triffids do not! Why not a similar for turning yourself into a triffid queen (or similar)? Basically an altered version of plant serum combined with harvested goodies.
If you have any alterations or further ideas, this would be the best place to put them.
