Chemotrophy and compound absorption in Thrive are actually quite unrealistic. To survive, you need to purposefully seek out compounds. Real microbes donβt behave this way; they typically simply wait for the compound to reach them through diffusion and currents. In thrive, this only works in the coastal biome, since only there are currents that move compounds at all actively; in other biomes, the water is either practically stagnant, or the currents are not active enough. At the same time, auto-evo does not take currents into account at all; your type of microbes that rely on currents for nutrition, according to auto-evo, can thrive in a biome without currents, but if you try to survive there, you will die out due to the lack of currents. In reality, microcurrents are very important for microbes.
The number and intensity of microcurrents depend mainly on two factors: topography and temperature changes.
Hydrothermal vents - most powerful, given the enormous temperature difference between the cold ocean floor and the hottest spring, as well as the presence of complex terrain nearby, the strongest microcurrents should be found here.
coastal, estuary, tidal basin, arctic, underwater cave - powerful, given the temperature difference and topography.
epipelagic - powerful (but slightly weaker), since the epipelagic biome has virtually no relief.
The mesopelagic zone and the seabed - moderate; in the first case, there is no relief, and temperature differences are not so significant; in the second, there is relief, but there are almost no temperature and pressure differences.
Deep ocean - Microcurrents are almost absent.
I also think that auto-evo should take microcurrents into account in its calculations (especially for sedentary species).
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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...?)
2
I am not sure how would the devs integrate that, and they also may not want to extend autoevo times right before the massive load of multicellular evo gets added
Since currents can take compounds away from, as well as toward you, wouldnβt that make currents have a neutral impact on Auto-Evo?
Also, unfortunately, some realistic considerations might need to be unincluded for gameplay and quality-of-life purposes. I am unsure if this is one of those instances.
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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...?)
4
Could be a reason the currents arenβt included in the calcs.
It should be noted that this autoevo vs gameplay distinction in the survivability of specimens extends to factors unimpacted by the currents aswell