Cataclysm Season

[Pthalocy]

Perhaphs in theory, something that doesn’t belong in a different dimension via ideas, thoughts, elements, and technology. and even perhaphs physics could cause issues for matter could follow different rules… and then the more you pull from a side of a dimension say through the wall, the wall would probably be keeping the objects in dimensions seperated… now something in the wrong dimension heading into the right diminsion would probably take significantly less energy and cause less or even no damage. but with sciency guys and their sciency ways put a metaphorical flame to the wall to bash it open with a sledge hammer, that causes holes which as tears in reality letting things inbetween the wall to leak through… just a theory

To expand on that angle: the physics involved to breach the barrier between two dimensions might actually be the cause of the distortions. Our world is relatively stable, though the math ceases to make sense past up and down quarks (smallest bits of atoms we can find afaik). The other reality might be foreign and hostile, but it’s probably similarly quite self-contained and semi-stable in that sense.

Then you have this massive hole where we’ve played cat’s cradle with string theory(? I don’t know what theories would better describe dimensions normally accessible to us) and made a tangled mess of it called a portal. I suppose the closest working comparison irl would be the black hole - though this ‘working comparison’ is inaccurate, it demonstrates the idea: imagine the black hole on the other side has an opposite-world that is accessible (far as we know, not true but let’s pretend anyway). The distance between the event horizon and the gravitational singularity to get to it is literally too fucked up spacetime-wise because black holes effectively take gravity to broken levels. So getting to the other dimension involves passing this spacetime wringer.

I like to imagine portals must be wringing reality in some fashion, though given things are coming through, clearly not as 100% destructive as the black hole comparison. So perhaps anything horribly distorting would be more like a threat to overcome for eventual nether-world adventures.

Except then you’re stuck with the original problems proposed: the nether world isn’t a world we evolved in and it is very, very hostile. But now just getting to it hurts harder too. Yes? No? Good idea? Awful as hell? Helpful to lore or just wrong? I’m spittin’ thoughts to kill some time before going out today.

[Muaddib]

Well, if I remember my Lovecraftian lore correct, that’s pretty much it.

You have these other realms that are like our world, just different. And as utterly horrifying to us as ours is to them.

The issue also isn’t the things from the other planes.

The issue is all the jolly men that happily pass from one plane to another for shit and giggles without breaking a sweat. The kind of people that make Shoggoths and Mi-go cower in fear.

[Pthalocy]

I’m still more concerned with how lethal the door is than either room on either side of it. My room is full of npc @'s who fucking shoot my kidneys out, and theirs is full of Mi-Go’s. I know how lethal that is. Do I WANNA use the portal? Is it inherently dangerous too?

[Jakers]

Do I WANNA use the portal?

YES! FOR !!!SCIENCE!!!

[KA101]

[quote=“Closet Pankin, post:61, topic:8560”]Honestly I think sporefall would be downright terrifying. Spores fall and cover nearly everything, like what happened to that military squad in the lore. You either evacuate immediately, taking what you can, before the spores… well, effect the locals.

Sporefall would be the fungal equivalent of a nuke launch.[/quote]

Mycus soft endgame is a spire large enough to get spores into the jet stream. Soft because 1) I don’t like to have my character taken from me for “winning”, 2) Our progress will be sped greatly by additional colossi, spread in other areas.

[vultures]

You’re just getting more ‘hardcore’ as the message count piles up on the thread.

Lovecraftian heritage perhaps has a lot to do with nether monsters and portals, but the whole “seasonal” idea is profoundly roguelike-ish and echoes on its Elona counterpart.

“I love it! I LOVE it!”

Even if you embrace the Etherwind’s sheer love of all things growing and witing, you would have to recalibrate the almighty CataDDA lore to understand exactly what you’re doing with the Sun and the Moon, and all things eternal. Going all nuclear-fallout on everybody’s ass is like watching moths rushing towards the flame, ending themselves in the process. On the other hand, all the introduced species are abrasive and contrasting from one another - the Vines extending the forest’s hand, the one that never grabs the dead before the Goo does, which shares a weird undeath-symbiotic with the Fungs. Even rebirth is compromised with exceptional abominations from the Nether realm, so even the perfect circle has its spikes.

One another lore-ish, yet fantastic example is one of the Sign and Stars so many roleplaying games use. You can go all HOMM and call the whole bunch a “dwellings item”, so your creatures gain strength in numbers and perhaps some favor from the gods. Since Magicka isn’t an issue with CataDDA, you could call TES portion of this a sort of a buff, a sort of a blessing that happens every now and then; that is, if you introduce a grand-mix of faith and piety before understanding how it works over the climate, and what it yields to creatures other than yourself who also “live” inside this game.

I dunno if the whole thing is a trapdoor to “the underworld of Lovecraftian belief system” but it sure would be nice if someone explained why it’s suddenly raining apricots the next time I attempt to play the latest CataDDA build.

[Catfoodbob]

I dunno if the whole thing is a trapdoor to “the underworld of Lovecraftian belief system” but it sure would be nice if someone explained why it’s suddenly raining apricots the next time I attempt to play the latest CataDDA build.

giant tree made by the triffids that just happens to drop apricots every now and then in a large area

[vultures]

I’m already a fan.

[Belteshazzar]

[quote=“Sundaysmile, post:44, topic:8560”]Well a way to make it more flexible is change it from Acidic Gas to “Corrosive” Gas. A Gas which interacts with organic matter be it, skin/flesh, Leather, Cotton(plant fibres) and such and having a detrimental or gradually degrading effect upon armour, health and HP. Could also make interactions like “Your Skin feels Really Itchy” reducing your Speed further or creating lesions on unprotected areas of your body which need to be disinfected or cauterized.

Corrosive gas could check for item’s acid resistance to determine how well it protects (something like environmental protection * acid resistance / 10), but having gas actually damage items would be pure bother and tedium - currently all items are easy to repair, it just takes player action to do so.[/quote]

Perhaps we could say it’s an ammonia based fog? It’'s mildly caustic, quite irritating, and in significant quantities, suitably lethal.

I’ve generally considered the ‘acid rains’ to be some manner of dilute, yet pain stimulating organic agent (formic acid or some other carboxylic relative) as they wouldn’t completely obliterate our environment or rust away metals in a single shower, while still being a notable hazard.

An ammonium fog of some sort would follow the same logic in being another common organic material that could reasonably form a significant component of an alien ecosystem, while ALSO providing players with yet another useful resource to be harvested (using refrigeration units to build vapor distilleries.)

[quote=“vultures, post:76, topic:8560”]You’re just getting more ‘hardcore’ as the message count piles up on the thread.
…
but it sure would be nice if someone explained why it’s suddenly raining apricots the next time I attempt to play the latest CataDDA build.[/quote]

As for ‘blood rain’ specifically, that seems a bit too Dwarf Fortress. Too thematically HELL DIMENSION OF LOST SOULS! It ‘could’ be quite feasible for some of the alien portals to be connected to an unimaginably huge creature that also happens to use an iron based circulatory fluid… but it’s not the first impression that would be made by a Blood Shower.

[Pthalocy]

If it was going to rain any sort of bloodied mist, I’d… nah. I mean if this were an aquatic environment, a LOT of sedentiary species send their children (fertilized or otherwise) out into the world via dispersion.

Maybe not spores, but imagine something venting a nasty bloody mist into the air to make wee ones (or like… whatever bloodied waste those alien ships expelled in the newer War of the Worlds movie. That shit was morale-crushing and grotesque). Maybe this stuff wouldn’t work unless it settled into an environment that suited it like its’ homeworld, I would be against something that blanket-infected the player like a spore bomb.

[iceball3]

Oh look, i got sigged!
Anyway
I have a think that fungus very late endgame will begin to sprout fungal structures, on all fungal bedding, slowing and eventually obstructing mobement over time (and when Z levels are implemented, scale Z levels)
This growth would start and radiate out from around the spire itself, with the immediate ring around the spire growing specially and fast as to eventually encapsulate the tower in a multi-z level structure with a large pore on the top to eject more spores. Repeat the process again on a further perimeter to eventually accumulate a massive multi-shell superstructure.
After several years of expanding, the visual appearance might be such that everywhere in a 4 mile or so radius is buried under a meter or so of fungal material (with tendrils mixed in) and a massive tower in the center with a 100 meter diameter with a 500 meter height, roughly

[Flashlight_Hoarder]

I just had a thought come to me. Why is it that every cataclysm character is an atheist? I kinda want religion in the game so I can play as a Paladin of the Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[iceball3]

[quote=“Flashlight Hoarder, post:82, topic:8560”]I just had a thought come to me. Why is it that every cataclysm character is an atheist? I kinda want religion in the game so I can play as a Paladin of the Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster.[/quote]That is very off topic,
but i feel like i can make it on topic

Flying spaghetti monster beats mycus amirite?

That said, who said our survivors were atheists? It isn’t implied at all, given you can read religious texts for morale boost.

[AllisonW]

I just had a thought come to me. Why is it that every cataclysm character is an atheist? I kinda want religion in the game so I can play as a Paladin of the Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The Spiritual trait was added recently in the experimentals. It gives you morale bonuses when reading holy texts, contemplating holy symbols, or tripping balls. Possibly also when eating people if you’re also a cannibal or psychopath.

[Catfoodbob]

So psycopath and spiritual go well together?

[AllisonW]

So psycopath and spiritual go well together?

You can mix and match Spiritual, Cannibal, and Psychopath however you please.

[Muaddib]

So psycopath and spiritual go well together?

I’ve been thinking about playing a psychopathic spiritual cannibal priest for a while.

“The light of Christ has shown me the way! I must consume their blood and flesh!”

It’s too bad you can’t play a character, abandon them to the AI and make a new character to fight your old character. I’d make a gunslinger cop hunting the cannibal priest.

[iceball3]

Why do you keep derailing? Take it to another thread.

Another suggestion for regional threats, perhaps have portals spew out some kind of alien liquid? Basically turning the local area into a flooded region, but instead of water you have whatever the hell exists in the subprime hydrosphere. I was thinking some kind of iodine like fluid or something, not drinkable by us earthlings. This could make local area more hospitable to the nether creatures and be more populated by such, including whatever smaller more prey level fauna. Call it “Subprime Swamp”? Perhaps even have it be necessary feature before blob pits can occur.

[Pthalocy]

[quote=“iceball3, post:88, topic:8560”]Why do you keep derailing? Take it to another thread.

Another suggestion for regional threats, perhaps have portals spew out some kind of alien liquid? Basically turning the local area into a flooded region, but instead of water you have whatever the hell exists in the subprime hydrosphere. I was thinking some kind of iodine like fluid or something, not drinkable by us earthlings. This could make local area more hospitable to the nether creatures and be more populated by such, including whatever smaller more prey level fauna. Call it “Subprime Swamp”? Perhaps even have it be necessary feature before blob pits can occur.[/quote]

That’s kind of cool! I haven’t seen any nether creatures I’d describe as ‘aquatic’, so that’d be an interesting venue to explore for mob creation, interaction, combat, etc. Would also make getting to the portal a lot trickier in that case, should closing/traversing it become viable options for quests. (Or for funsies.)

[iceball3]

I can imagine the flooded area could ve anywhere between swampland to a full blown lake of sorts. The later could be kinda fun! Especially when you are hand paddling your boat when suddenly NETHER BEAST bursts up and EATS HALF YOUR BOAT
or something like that.
Sinkholes in nether swamps could have an effect where it drops you into a slime-pit which spawns below nether-infested tiles by default, perhaps?