FEATURES AND MECHANICS

Terrariums

Options hanging at the top left (from left to right):

Current TP (The amount of Terrarium Points the player has currently)
TP/min (The amount of Terrarium Points the currently viewed terrarium is producing
Back (Not pictured here, but will be in final design (leads back to the Hub with the rest of the players terrariums))
Plants (any of the players collected plants)
Creatures (any of the players collected creatures)
Decorations (any of the decorations the player has crafted)
Delete (allows the player to trash any plants, creatures or decorations they have)
Checklist (list of mini objectives the player can complete if they wish)
Travel (lets the player travel to different dimensions to go exploring)

Top right:

Terrarium Stats
- Climate/Habitat (The terrariums current climate/habitat status (won't always be there if the terrarium isn't a specific climate/habitat))
- Soil (The type of soil in the current terrarium)
- Temp. (The current temperature of the current terrarium (in%))
- Humid. (The current humidity of the current terrarium (in %))
- Precip. (The current precipitation of the current terrarium (in %))
- Day/Night (Whether the current terrarium is in a state of daylight or night-time)

Creature UI

Features (top to bottom):

The name of the creature
Image of the creature
Health (number of points out of 100 this specific creature has)
- 75-100: healthy
- 40-74: mid
- 0-39: unhealthy
Happiness (number of points out of 100 this creature has)
- 75-100: happy
- 50-74: okay
- 25-49: unhappy/sad
- 0-24: angry
Hunger (number of points out of 100 this creature has)
- 75-100: full
- 40-74: hungry
- 0-39: deathly hungry
Food (opens up the food menu to feed this specific creature)
Decoration (opens up the decoration menu to place an item directly near this specific creature (will need a collision check)

Plant UI

Features (top to bottom):

The name of the plant
Image of the plant
Health (number of points out of 100 this specific creature has)
- 75-100: healthy
- 40-74: mid
- 0-39: unhealthy
Water (number of points out of 100 this creature has)
- 75-100: quenched
- 40-74: thirsty
- 0-39: deathly thirst

Plant Details UI

Features (top to bottom):

The name of the plant
Image of the plant
Temp. (The temperature points the plant adds to the terrarium)
Humid. (The humidity points the plant adds to the terrarium)
Precip. (The precipitation points the plant adds to the terrarium)
Climate (The plants preferred climate)
Habitat (The plants preferred habitat)
Soil (The plants preferred soil)

Any UI icon made should use the wooden background shown throughout. Rather than being linear, the edges should be ragged, as if it has been hastily crafted. This will add a more rustic look to the UI and the overall feel of the game. Information should be clear and readible, so avoid using the Glass font from the logo design, and opt for a sans serif font, like Calibri or Arial. When hovering over a bar (temperature, health, happiness, etc.) the value for that variable should appear in a small overhead box.

Terrarium Crafting

By collecting materials out in the field, the player can craft terrariums at the table in the middle of their base. There will be different types of terrarium, each with their own material requirements. They may also have different effects on the environments inside. For example, the open terrariums will have less humidity than the closed terrariums.

Prism Terrarium

3 Glass
3 Wood

Sphere Terrarium

4 Glass

Bottle Terrarium

3 Glass
1 Wood

Cylinder Terrarium

5 Glass
2 Wood

Tank Terrarium

10 Glass
5 Wood

Large Prism Terrarium

5 Glass
5 Wood

Bowl Terrarium

8 Glass

Habitats

When a terrarium contains a certain amount of specific plants, or decorations, it will become a certain habitat. For example, a terrarium with many trees in it will become a forest habitat terrarium, and creatures that greatly prefer forests will become happier, where others may not. This may trigger the adaption mechanic (see below), where some creatures may change form depending on what environment you put them in. The mindmap to the side details what habitats should be created and what the environment might contain.

Soil

Plants will have a preferred soil type that they like to grow in. This will often be the same as the type that can be found in the habitat that they prefer too. When creating a terrarium, the player will be prompted with what type of soil they want to use, and a plot of land will be randomly generated inside. The animatic below shows how this might look.

Climate

The climate is made of three different variables. The temperature, the humidity, and the precipitation. All are will be recorded as a percentage out of 100. Like habitats, different plants and creatures will take differently to different climates. For example, in a hotter climate, Kumofumofu become grey and spark with electricity.

The image to the left details the various climates, and the values which determine the thresholds for each climate.

As the player adds more plants and decorations to their terrarium, the different variables will change, In order to calculate the current statistics for the terrarium, the average points for each value will be calculated, that is, the total score for each variable, and divided by how many items affect that variable.

Climate Animatic

This animatic shows how the climate mechanic should work. It shows the creature stats to the upper left, the terrarium space in the middle, and the terrarium stats to the upper right. The terrarium starts as a Temperate Forest, but as the player adds more Fireblooms, the temperature begins to increase, and the humidity and precipitation levels drop. This causes the Kumofumofu to become unhappy and lose their health, making them grey and crackle with electricty before flashing with thunder and lightning. The terrarium has become a Dry Forest. Dynamic interactions like these are the main focal point of the terrariums, and should be carefully thought out and designed.

Decorations

Players will be able to craft decorations for their terrariums at the table in the center of their ship. As well as being a lovely aesthetic addition to the terrariums, they may also provide certain effects or benefits. They may create more humidity, such as is the case with the waterfall pictured right, or they may be needed as a requirement for a creature or plant's adaption.

Behaviours

Each creature will have its own list of behaviours which it can pick to perform depending on its current state of happiness, as well as other factors, such as the climate of the terrarium. If the creatures happiness passes into a specific threshold, and any other outstanding conditions have been met, then the creature may perform that specific action. The image to the left shows how this might be done.

Red = negative requirements

Grey = neutral

Blue = positive requirements

Purple numbers = a threshold for a creature to meet to perform a certain action

Adaption

Certain plants or creatures will be able to change forms depending on if certain conditions have been met. This could be being in the vicinity of another plant, or being near a certain decoration, or being fed a certain food or being in a completely different environment. For example, Hananezubi, if certain requirements are met, could change into a sparkler variant, or a smoky variant. Or haroi trees, which are normally leafy, could become bare and decorated with ice in a terrarium in a colder climate.

Exploration Animatic

The player wields their shrink gun and aims towards a cloud sheep. The cloud sheep is roaming around the meadow so the player must keep moving the camera in order to aim. The reticle is moving around in this animatic, but in the actual game, it would be fixed in the center of the screen, and the player would move the camera in order to aim. A controller is also shown to show the inputs for each action in the game.

The format for exploration will be in first person, to get the player to look in every corner for new surprises. This may be a collectable, or a rare creature or plant. There aren't any threats, as this is going to be a relaxing experience for the player. Expeditions are afforded by TP which players earn from their terrariums. However, as creatures and plants can die if not cared for properly, the Meadow area will be free so that in this unlikely case, the player is able to start again and isn't softlocked out of the game. As more areas to explore are unlocked, the price of travel will increase.

Terrarium Points (TP) are generated by the creatures and plants in your terrariums. As noted above, each terrarium has an amount of TP that it gains per min based on the total amount of everything that contributes in that terrarium. Each plant and creature has a unique amount that it generates. TP is then used to craft items, and to make trips to other dimensional environments, allowing for rarer plants, creatures and materials.