“The more successful trips ants make, the stronger the trail becomes,” the developers continued.
“As food gets depleted, the scent fades, and the process naturally redirects resources elsewhere.
It seemed like the perfect match to replace this algorithm with player interaction.”
As an occasional fan of factory sims, I’ve relished being Microtopia’s tycoon hivemind.
Before I get into all that, a couple of more drive-by observations.
Accordingly, your scent trails will eventually develop a grisly embroidery of bleached and curled-up husks.
Sometimes, the game’s mingled inspirations agreed with one another.
Take those worker categories.
“Though from a gameplay perspective they were required to construct buildings, smelt iron and the like.”
Ultimately, however, the devs decided to set limits on the antsiness of the ants for practical purposes.
“It allowed for easier adjustments and made larger networks clear and comprehensible,” Cordyceps commented.
Cordyceps also decided against martial elements, or simulating real-life clashes between rival ant colonies or other insects.
“Building the inner workings of a colony takes time and is a very involved process.
Hacker ants, perhaps?
How does bolting together all these ideas contribute to our ability to live alongside them?
But it’s not just about modulating our attitudes toward ants.
On another level, Microtopia is, of course, parodying the effects of the industriousness of human beings.
