If Thrive goes in that direction, I vote the Adult stage should be the more important, but it is still something to consider when designating “vegetation”. In other words, Jellyfish (sessile young and motile adults) would be animals and Sponges (motile young and sessile adults) would be vegetation. Assuming 1 needs to be chosen per species and it is not handled by individual life stages.
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We had some discussion on this in the LOD topic I believe. I think if we decide to simulate such widely different lifestages (it’s possible we will not), each lifestage would have its own vegetation/fauna setting.
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Considering how many species (almost every macroscopic animal pre the Amniote) undergo metamorphosis, I really hope different life stages are included.
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They could also be made a part of the bigger caste/sex system I think
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The repeated suggestion on the forums has been combining Gender, Life Stages, and Eusocial Castes into one system. With gender planned for Multicellular, and Dues’s suggestion of having 2 stages of life in Multicellular (here), that would be half of “The Caste System” right there.
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I suppose later stages will have more possible-to-use slots for life stages?
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I swear I read that whole thread before, but I completely blanked on their being something about life stages in there.
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I mean this is an 8-9 months old post that poodel quoted, it’s not surprising one would forget all it’s contents
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Most Bilatral animals have:
- Eggs
- a Larval phase
- Metamorphosis
- a Juvenile phase
- Growing Larger and Developing Sexual Organs (Puberty)
- an Adult phase
The Amniote evolved to have a longer Egg phase in lieu of Larval and Metamorphosis Phases. Most Mammals and a few other animals evolved Pregnancy to replace the Egg phase.
Jellyfish life phases are more complicated, and some Comb Jellies have the ability to repeat earlier phases of their life and regrow up. Lobsters, several Reptiles, a few Fish, and Trees never stop growing bigger (it has been suggested that some Sauropods were the same way). Growing animals often fill different niches at different sizes, meaning “Growing Larger and Developing Sexual Organs” could actually be multiple stages depending on how much bigger they grow.
I could understand if reverting to childhood or growing eternally are not doable (though I hope they are), but that is still a minimum of 6 Life Stages for many Earth Bilaterans (though, to be fair, for many Bilaterians, Metamorphosis is very short (a few days), and might not need to be played through). I also hope (and have suggested before here) that the player can continue to play as the parent until the egg hatches. But that would still be 4.
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Don’t reptiles also don’t stop growing or is that a misconception?
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A few snakes, snapping turtles, tuatara, and crocodiles can, i think, as can certain fish. I jut edited my post to add those.
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I mean they would eventually die from their physiology not being suit for sizes too great
Trees don’t have problems with that. Goldfish can reach 67 pounds that we are aware of. Actually, come to think of it, other than the Trees, all of the animals mentioned are Aquatic or Semi-Aquatic, probably because it is easier to move in the water than on land. Lobsters have the problem that molting and regrowing their exoskeleton takes more energy the bigger they get, but imagine what advances in Vitamin Supplements and Energy Drinks could do for them.
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Animals would still eventually perish, perhaps from their hearts not being able to provide for such a big body
That probably still depends on the type of animal. Maybe a sponge with the right architecture could grow forever?
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I doubt it, though maybe they could last longer relatively speaking…
Does this discussion mean indeterminate growth could be in the game at some point?
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You mean like a juvenile stage?
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Or also as a special trait/ability that could be evolved? Not sure which way would be better.
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It seems the term mostly applies to plants, could it be twisted to also apply to creatures?