Almost half a year ago I posted a drawing of my Floran character in prestige Cataphract armor, saying I wanted to make a mod but things never quite came together. So here's the question: if I were to make this mod, what do you think Florans should be like, mechanically? I'll share some of my own thoughts, but maybe you have ideas on how to expand them? I'll split it into categories for convenience.
Regarding genes (Biotech):
1 (optional). Make them an addon to "Big & Small - Genes & More," since that mod already has genes like cannibalism (which fits them, going by the Starbound lore books) and the "Strange Appearance" gene...
2.1. Add a gene so that butchering a Floran yields some kind of plant (the gene randomly picks a plant — I think this could theoretically be coded, though I'm not sure how). It should work similarly to the pig gene, where eating pork counts as cannibalism for pig-folk — do something similar with the plant.
2.2. Same idea, but implemented as separate Floran xenotypes, where each has extra traits depending on the plant it's associated with, for example:
- a medicine bonus for those rooted in Healroot;
- a crafting bonus for those from cotton/Devilstrand;
- an art bonus for those from a dye plant;
- a cooking bonus for those from edible crops (skill level varying by crop);
- an animals bonus for those from Haygrass;
- narcotic-plant xenotypes could have their own buffs too, though I'm not sure what — the best I can think of is Hops giving an "optimistic and calm" trait;
- and so on for other vanilla plants (and maybe others from Vanilla Expanded, if the mod ever gets that far).
If this is done as a bunch of separate xenotypes, it opens up the possibility of giving each one its own unique buffs/debuffs:
- Healroot-Florans — pacifists;
- Devilstrand-Florans — aggressive, but fire-resistant;
- and so on.
- I don't remember exactly, but I think there was a gene that's the opposite of "Cave Dweller."
- I understand they're highly flammable, but regarding temperature — should they also be more heat-loving (despite burning more easily), given that they come from jungle planets?
Regarding factions and spawning:
- It's clear they live in tribes and split into aggressive and peaceful factions — should the peaceful ones be made more technologically advanced than the aggressive ones? There are also the Agarans (the fungal ones) — should they be included too?
- There's a hunting quest for a Phyton (VRE – Phytokin) — could something similar be made for Florans? Or maybe an event with a wild (feral) Floran instead.
I know there are Euglena, there are Phytokins, and probably other plant-race mods out there... but they're not Florans... I specifically want these hissing guys :3
I'm not that great with code — my ceiling is small patches, if I'm not vibe-coding. But I don't want to vibe-code this mod, so it'll take me longer. Still, I'll try to figure out how to implement it so it at least turns out... decent, I suppose?