Would some “States” require certain “Components” as prerequisites before they could be evolved? For example: needing Nerve Rings before you can upgrade from a Diffused Nerve Net to a Bilateral Nervous System (Echinoderms have both), and then needing to replace the Nerve Rings with Nerve Ganglion before upgrading to a Cephalized Nervous System (Cephalopods, Vertebrates, and (depending on your definition) many Arthropods)?
Also, would it make sense to make having a Cephalized Nervous System be a prerequisite to having a Skeletal System?
Edit: Also, as I caught when reading @aah31415’s post here, some Bilaterans (like Echinoderms) have Nerve Rings, so making that Diffuse Nerve Net specific would be inaccurate.
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aah31415
(The maker of SitF, Radiostrocity, The Lifenote and TGBing; The Second Ascended...; And just maybe a security warning come alive...?)
1426
That depends on how you define a skeletal system, since arthropods and echinoderms have stuff pretty close to it despite not being fully cephalized
Wasn’t that division after the development of eggs? I believe the embryos are developed past the point where that would matter by the time they hatch don’t they?
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aah31415
(The maker of SitF, Radiostrocity, The Lifenote and TGBing; The Second Ascended...; And just maybe a security warning come alive...?)
1438
I suppose so. I guess we wouldn’t need an option to choose whether the original cavity becomes the mouth or not then, right?
I honestly haven’t thought too much about the specifics of how components and have focused more on defining the larger concept. Though I think your idea here shows my intended goal with the over-arching idea - broad enough to conveniently organize a large number of diverse body plans, which enough customization to allow some interesting stories related to progression. That could be one way to deal with progression.
My larger macroscopic editor concept does consider it to be a skeleton. I think a skeleton for Thrive’s purpose can largely be thought of as the underlying structural organization rather than a specific hardened part - which, to be fair, is also kind of what skeleton represents in the broadest sense in science.
I was tripped up over whether or not to consider a notochord a component since I would think it would best be represented as a state. This could tie into the “place components to evolve to the next state” discussion, where you’d have to place notochords along the entirety of your body to become a vertebrate. Though again, that needs a more detailed and comprehensive description of progression to make sure it doesn’t get redundant.
The most difficult part of making macroscopic concepts is making a rule broad enough to consistently be applied across most cases of a subject, without it being so broad that it takes away too much detail from specific cases.
I tried to look into that when I was making that larger basic phylogeny tool I have, but I think the best conclusion is that we shouldn’t get too deep into embryology. That’s extremely complicated science that can usually best be proxied through other concepts and mechanics that aren’t as difficult to understand, or as minute.
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aah31415
(The maker of SitF, Radiostrocity, The Lifenote and TGBing; The Second Ascended...; And just maybe a security warning come alive...?)
1440
And also have them form vertebrae I presume? Since otherwise you’d just get a lancelet (or a hagfish maybe)
Would organisms with radial symmetry (from previous discussions would most likely include trisymmetry, link) be able evolve multiple notochords at once, or each notochord would have be evolved separately?
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aah31415
(The maker of SitF, Radiostrocity, The Lifenote and TGBing; The Second Ascended...; And just maybe a security warning come alive...?)
1442
Wouldn’t you be modifying a radial unit of such a creature so if you added a notochord to a starfish-like’s arm for example it’d instantly also be in all other arms right?