MECHANICS
Terrariums
Ideation and Development > Gameplay Development
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As I've discussed in the section linked above, the terrarium mechanic will allow players to choose what kind of terrarium they want to build, as well as what soil they will be using. Terrariums will be built through the collection of materials out in the field, which will also be able to be used to build decorations for the terrariums too.
Terrariums (Cont.)
The image below details how the terrarium functions might look in actual gameplay. Of course, the terrarium occupies the most space as it is the game space. The ground isn't level, it's bumpy. This could be from the player hand sculpting the environment themselves, or it could just be computer generated. The terrarium stats hang at the top right as a reminder to players, and it also features a day/night symbol, depending on if the player built the terrarium with a light.
Terrariums (Cont.)
Other options hang at the top left (from left to right):
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Back (leads back to the Hub with the rest of the players terrariums)
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Plants (any of the players collected plants)
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Creatures (any of the players collected creatures)
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Checklist (list of mini objectives the player can complete if they wish)
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Delete (allows the player to trash any plants, creatures or decorations they have)
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Travel (lets the player travel to different dimensions to go exploring)
Terrariums (Cont.)
When the player selects the plant or creature tab, a submenu will appear showing the different plants or creatures that they have available. By selecting the icon and dragging into the terrarium, the player will place the corresponding plant or creature into the terrarium. Clicking on the plant or creature will bring up its own submenu, detailing what the plant or creature is, its health and its happiness.
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, I've taken Hananezubi, the firework hedgehog. If certain requirements are met, it could change into a sparkler variant, or a smoky variant. Or trees which are normally leafy could become bare and decorated with ice in a terrarium in a colder climate.
Behaviours
Workshops> Relationship/Dialogue Systems
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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.
Climate
Following my research into different climates, I've converted them into different classes for the terrariums in my game, using three different stats: Temperature, Humidity, Precipitation. As a player's terrarium is altered by the plants and creatures living there, these stats will change, and cross into different thresholds. If all three stats meet their respective thresholds, the terrarium will become a certain climate. This will make some creatures and plants unhappy, but others may thrive in the new climate, potentially unlocking different behaviours. I've only included single values for each stat in the image (left), but I will create different ranges for each of these stats in the future. However, an issue has arisen from this. My original thinking was that the game would calculate an average to create each stat. But what if a plant makes a terrarium, say, 50 Celsius, and another is added which adds no temperature value. The average temperature of that terrarium would then become 25 Celsius, which isn't very accurate. I suppose I could only account for those that make any changes, but that might not make a very accurate value either. I will need to discuss this with others to get some feedback.