The COW Project - Space Monsters

COW Design - Space Monsters

Various species of space monsters will exist within a game. Each species will have a set of statistics which define its behaviour within the game.

For each of the stats marked with a (~), a minimum and maximum value are defined. Stats for each individual of the species are determined randomly between these max and min values.

Occurrence

Occurrence Type : How the species is introduced to the game.

Random system
Random unoccupied system
Deep Space
Game boundary

More than one of the above options may be selected for a species.

Occurrence Interval : defines how often, on average, in game turns, the species will appear. So, every turn, a species has a 1/interval chance of appearing.


	Likelihood = 1 / Interval

Minimum tech level, Maximum tech level : If no empires in the game are between the minimum and maximum tech levels for the species, then the species will not appear. If one or more empires in the game are between the levels, then the likelihood increases for every empire at the required level, e.g:


	Likelihood *= number of empires within tech limits / total empires

Physical Attributes

Defines the 'ship design' of the species. Values are for the adult of the species.

Values marked with (~) vary from individual to individual, therefore minimum and maximum values must be defined.

Values marked with (+) start at the minimum possible (1 or zero) and ramp up to the final value during the first stage of the creature's lifecycle. In addition, for some species, the values marked with (+) continue to grow during the second stage of the creature's lifecycle (see 'adult growth factor' under 'lifecycle', below).

Values marked with (-) ramp down to zero during the final stage of the creature's lifecycle.

Physical Attributes:

Hull Size (+)
Hull Material
Hull Hitpoints (~)(+)(-)
Armour Type
Armour Hitpoints (~)(+)(-)
Shield Type
Shield Hitpoints (~)(+)(-)
Combat Speed (+)(-)
Weapon Types
Weapon Sizes (+)
Weapon Count (~)(+)(-)

Migration

Migration Type 1, 2, 3 : One migration type is defined for each phase of the space monster's life cycle. Each type will be chosen from one of the following:

Stay Home : Individual will not migrate
Move once : Individual will move once, then stay at that location
Find Empty Territory : Individual will move until it finds empty territory, then stay
Nomadic : Individual will move constantly between systems
Territorial : Like wandering, but individual will stay close to (within movement range of) home
Drifting : Individual will move in random directions until it is near to a system
Return Home : Individual will return to its birthplace.

Minimum Resting Time, Maximum Resting Time : How long an individual will remain at a system after each journey. Value will be random between min and max for each journey.

Movement Range : how far away a system can be for the species to move to it.

Movement Speed : how far the species moves per turn

Food

Food Source 1, 2, 3 : defines the food source for the species in each stage of its life cycle.
Each stage will be one of the following:

Solar Energy - may require/prefer a certain star type
Mineral - harvests minerals from planets. This will gradually decrease the mineral richness of the planet.
Biological - will harvest life from planets - will seek out populated systems
Piracy - Species attacks civilian shipping, affecting trade income, economic growth, and causing unrest

Consumption 1, 2, 3 : Defines how much of the food source is consumed each turn

For Mineral consumption, this will affect the mineral richness of the planet based on the

For Biological consumption, the number will determine the number of population units consumed per turn. If no population units are present in a system, then the fertility of planets will be reduced in the same way as mineral richness is reduced for mineral consumption.

For Solar Energy, if this is not zero (i.e. passive absorption) then the species will actually consume material directly from the star. As a result the life cycle of the star may be affected in some way, depending on the characteristics of the star. Possible effects include :

temporary instability (increased radiation etc)
change in mass (and therefore temperature)
accelerated ageing - possibly leading to a supernova.

Aggressiveness

Determines the likelihood of the creature attacking each turn.
For each entry there are three values, one for each stage of the species life cycle.

Planet Aggressiveness 1, 2, 3 : % chance to attack inhabited planets each turn.

Ship Aggressiveness 1, 2, 3 : % chance to attack ships at each location.

Piracy Likelihood 1, 2, 3 : % chance to perform piracy each turn.

Monster Aggressiveness 1, 2, 3 : % chance to attack other monsters.
This is in fact a table (or 3 tables) of values cross referencing aggressiveness levels for each species against every other species (both other space monster species and playable races). Note that there will also be an aggressiveness level for a species with itself. In addition there will be 'default' levels specified for undefined monster species and playable races.

Intelligence

Intelligence Quotient (~)(+)(-) : how intelligent a creature is. Low intelligence means that creatures will not learn during their existence (animalistic behaviour). High intelligence levels mean that creatures may recognise different empires and react to them based on past experiences.

??? Effects of intelligence ???
??? Other intelligence factors ???

Social Behaviour

Behaviour type 1, 2, 3 : defines the social behavious for the species in each stage of its life cycle.
Each stage will be one of the following:

Solitary : Species will avoid members of its own species.
Indifferent : Species will ignore members of its own species. It won't travel with them except by coincidence, but it won't avoid them either.
Group : Species will tend to travel in groups. A maximum size for the group is defined for the species. Whenever the group grows beyond this size, there is an increasing chance that the group will split into two or more smaller groups.
Swarm : Species will move as one organism. Effectively a group of infinite size.

Note that the above behaviours will affect, to an extent, the effects of the Monster Aggressiveness value for the species towards other members of its own species. For example, solitary behaviour increases aggressiveness. Group and swarm behaviours decrease it.

Life-cycle

At birth, all combat statistics are zero. They then ramp up to their full values over time, stay at these values for a period, then decline back to zero. Note that if any of the values is zero then that stage of the life cycle is skipped. If any of the values is less than zero, then that stage of the life cycle is infinite, and individual stats remain static at those for the start of that stage.

Time to maturity (~) : number of turns for the species to become an adult. If zero, the species is born fully mature (e.g. self-replicating machines)

Time to old age (~) : number of turns duration of adulthood.

Time to death (~) : number of turns for the species to die once adulthood has been completed.

Adult Growth Factor : determines how much larger individuals of the species will grow during the adult phase of their lifecycle. E.g. a value of 25% means that all relevant physical and mental attributes (those marked with (+)) will increase gradually to 125% of their initial adult values by the time old age starts.

Reproduction

A species only reproduces during the adult phase of its life cycle. In order to reproduce an individual must be in a system with food available.

Base Breeding Rate : How fast the species reproduces.
Species only reproduce during adulthood.

Local Crowding Factor : a higher factor reduces the base breeding rate the more individuals of a species are present at the current system. A value of zero means that local crowding is ignored.

Global Crowding Factor : a higher factor reduces the base breeding rate the more individuals of a species are present within the entire game. A value of zero means that global crowding is ignored.