I am interested in contributing to this project. I’m fairly confident with C++, though I’m not sure that’ll be necessary for the following. I’d like to see some additional “ambient” creatures, if that makes sense. Early on (when I was very new to game), I had a character that heard voices and the sounds of a struggle. It was night, so he carefully approached the area and nearly bumped into a mi-go. No matter which way he went, the mi-go would always end up between him and his apparent goal. That was an organic moment of discovery for me, and I think cdda would really benefit from more encounters that encourage players to study their circumstances (without necessarily killing them outright).
First concept I had in mind:
- Stiltstrider: A tall, soot-black silhouette occasionally reflecting an oily sheen. The legs(?) resemble a sea urchins’ needles, appearing utterly rigid despite a fluid stride. These inky limbs arch and coalesce in a singular mass, and therein you can see a dull sphere of amber light. It is definitely staring at you.
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I envision these as relatively rare (they might be too annoying otherwise). Eerie, but not deadly. Upon seeing a player, they will stalk them, always maintaining a certain distance. They cannot track through sound or scent, but their vision is extremely keen. Whenever they can see the player (and are perhaps within a certain range, for balance purposes), they inflict an “uncanny voyeur” ailment that drains focus (or lowers morale, not dead set on specific mechanics). It might be cool to have additional side effects, like disrupting the ability to pick locks or remove vehicle parts.
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They are meant to be somewhat difficult to shake, as they’re faster than players and will always maintain a certain distance, if possible. Most creatures won’t acknowledge their presence (including robots, ideally). Players may ponder if anything else can even see them (this type of confusion is intentional). You can avoid the uncanny voyeur effect by breaking line of sight for a little while. Once they lose LOS they will wait on the spot until you return. While they themselves are not really dangerous, their traits are meant to provoke reckless actions. (Rushing into a forest blind to escape, firing a gun and attracting other monsters, boxing yourself in to break los, etc).
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They are hard to hit and very resistant to cutting, but make relatively weak combatants (to be clear, they are not aggressive). A minimally armored character should have nothing to fear in a physical altercation, if they can somehow get close enough. Generally, they are most problematic in open spaces with high visibility. They should struggle to keep track of players moving through buildings, and they won’t willingly traverse Z levels. But they can linger in an area indefinitely, waiting until the player carelessly stumbles into their field of view (or illuminates themselves at night). Their movement is not significantly impaired by terrain (owing to the stilts) and they’re very unlikely to trigger traps.
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Some might see similarities to flaming eyes, but stiltstriders would ideally be sparsely distributed throughout the wilderness and ought to show up earlier in a typical playthrough. Moreover, flaming eyes force the player into action much more immediately. I think gameplay outcomes will be quite different in spite of any slight conceptual overlap.
I have a couple more ideas to toss out, but to start, do you think a creature like this “fits”?
