Insects MOD (Discussion & unit preview)

[Supa]

Are the Beetle eusocial insects ? Then, no.

Edit:

I can see from the Tech Tree that there's going to be Bees, Ants, Hornets and Termites, but will there be any diversity in the civs? eg. One civ= Black Ants, one civ= Red ants

As I'm merging a lot of species into one, no; all ant civs (or bee or termite or hornet civs) will be the same. The only difference will be in the leader traits and his flavor affinities.

 

[Stormrage]

Wow, the bee looks awesome

 

[Raw is War?]

Hm, maybe it's just me? But, i find it much harder to make out the bee now that it has that wooly effect...

Tech tree is looking good, not sure about bees and aphids honey? Unless, of course, you're trying to making things easier on yourself, which would be exceptable.

 

[Supa]

I'll post a preview when I'll got the colors right and we'll see what everybody think about it. Right now, what are your problem with it ? Shape (it gained a few pixels every here and there), colors scheme ?

Aphids Honey : I learnt recently that some bees can collect aphids (and co) secretions, thus the Aphids Honey tech.

 

[Raw is War?]

Aphids Honey : I learnt recently that some bees can collect aphids (and co) secretions, thus the Aphids Honey tech.

Ah, i see. Thought it was just limited to ants, thanks for clearing that up.

About the bee... i'm not sure, maybe its the colour scheme like you said. It's just when i look at it i find it harder to see a bee.

 

[fe3333au]

Will you have one of those ants that spit acid .. could make a great bombard/artillery unit?
Formic Acid is secreted out of glands in the abdomen in some ants ... these are the ones that spell like urine when crushed.

Also the ants could have an air unit ... the queens develope wings when immature (and the males I think) ... they fly away to form new nests.

Also in australia we have a jumping ant ... called Jack Jumper don't know if that can be incorporated.

As to wasps ... the most 'social' is the introduced variety that we call the European Wasp ... damn is that a viscious bastard and it is killing many of our honey bees by invading the hives. It can sting manytimes due to no barb on the sting ... they make a paper mache' type of nest. ... so maybe have double attack ???

Honey Bees only have a one off attack and then die, the sting remains in the target complete with the poison sacs which continue to pump the venum long after the bee has had half it's organs ripped out with the sting) ... so a Kamakasi bee unit ???


Finally ... what about a swarm technology ... this will allow a ICBM type of unit ... Ants, Wasps, Hornets, Bees all swarm to attack (not sure about Termites) ... It could be used with limited range to attack a stack of units and damage many.

 

[Supa]

Will you have one of those ants that spit acid .. could make a great bombard/artillery unit?

Yup - with the Acids tech.

Also the ants could have an air unit ... the queens develope wings when immature (and the males I think) ... they fly away to form new nests

Yes and no. They will be a flying ant, but it will only be the queen settler.

Also in australia we have a jumping ant ... called Jack Jumper don't know if that can be incorporated.

There will be a "jumping ant", it won't be an australian but the tropical Gigantiops destructor. Despite the name, it will only be a scout.

As to wasps ... the most 'social' is the introduced variety that we call the European Wasp ... damn is that a viscious bastard and it is killing many of our honey bees by invading the hives. It can sting manytimes due to no barb on the sting ... they make a paper mache' type of nest. ... so maybe have double attack ???

Honey Bees only have a one off attack and then die, the sting remains in the target complete with the poison sacs which continue to pump the venum long after the bee has had half it's organs ripped out with the sting) ... so a Kamakasi bee unit ???

Bees can also sting many times.. But not mammalians. Their barbed stingers have no problem with other insects.

Finally ... what about a swarm technology ... this will allow a ICBM type of unit ... Ants, Wasps, Hornets, Bees all swarm to attack (not sure about Termites) ... It could be used with limited range to attack a stack of units and damage many.

Mm. I'm not sure about that. If I have to integrate a non-settler type of swarm, I'd rather make it an army.

 

[Supa]

New darker colors

 

[The Last Conformist]

That's looking quite good. Aren't the wings a tad small, tho?

 

[Supa]

Looks good to me : http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/selhome/gbu/apis_0002n02.jpg
Perhaps the wings seem shorter due to the cam angle and the fact they never go beyond +50 or -50°.

 

[woodelf]

Lovely bee.

 

[Raw is War?]

Ah, that bee is looking great, i think the colours were just too bright for me last time, but now its much better.

 

[Supa]

This is taking a lot of time to render (40 min for each direction!), but I'm glad of the result!

Notice the newly added stinger.

 

[Stormrage]

Looks perfect! Buzzzzzzzzzz...

 

[Onza]

>Just for you Onza, this is what a wooly poser bee looks like
>New darker colors

You know - it's absolutely splndid, especially the darker one!
Actually, your bee is the best animal unit in Civ 3 I've seen. Congratualtions!

P.S. - as for the chemical "artilery" insect units - in the stupid heap of insane fantasies that is called "The Future is Wild" there were several documentary sections about beetles. - I was stonished to learn there is an actual fire-throughing beetle on Earth now, which really produce fire-strom attacks on its predators. I do not remember the name of the insect, sorry, but it is a average-sized beetle living smewhere in African rainforests...
I suggest you guys think about what a cool unit this animal coul really make!
P.P.S. - Supa yes, I meant those beautiful and deadly carabidae killers to be barbarian units
(even though its nice to alter the rules of a mod sometimes and play as a "barbarian" - cool feeling - Two days ago and changed rules in the "Sword of Sengoku" and lace an "Ainu civ" in the far North of Honchu island with only two unit (koori dartman and spearman) wich are quite accurate for the Ainu, too, and a Shaman instead of Tokugawa King. And "domesticized" bears - thanks to you, Supa. - The game was cool! - Just loved the warfare using stealth and blitz Ainu dartmen lurking in forests and invisiblly attacking samurai armies. ))) And the Great Shaman casting curses on samurai arquebusers and killing them from the distance )))

I think, carabid warriors will be cool :c)))

 

[Supa]

Well, if I ever integrate the beetles in the game, it would be in an unplayable critters civ. And by unplayable, I meant unplayable. No tech tree, unit not designed to be used by an human. But I won't spend my efforts in that now. As you can see, I've got to make all the units for each civilizations myself and a whole bunch of 2D graphics later.

And "domesticized" bears - thanks to you, Supa.

Why ? If you mean the released bear unit, it isn't by me.

Actually, your bee is the best animal unit in Civ 3 I've seen. Congratualtions!

Thanks

 

[fe3333au]

A fantastic and detailed bee ... i especially like the death

 

[Kyriakos]

The bee is really great
Im still finding it difficult to make insect cities though :/

 

[Supa]

Thanks for the comments.

varwnos > If you don't succeed or if it doesn't appeal to you anymore, I would understand. Things like this happen. Anyway, I won't need city sets before a long time, nothing pressing.

 

[Kyriakos]

Well the progression of the size is a strange concept too, since anthills ussually expand underground, keeping the same entrance, so i am not sure what the different sizes could look like. Same goes for bees i guess. The termites probably can have higher nests for the bigger sizes.