Is john/Mike going to, at some point, think about adding (maybe as the 5th wave of levels + formacarium challenge) termites to the game?

Buffalo981

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They may not be playable, but they were a kick starter stretch goal, so they will be at least appear as enemies. I think Liam's mentioned on steam discussions that it's likely going to be African driver ants that are playable for the 5th tier, though. Makes sense nonetheless, as driver ants known to be some of the biggest enemies of termites, as they raid termite nests. Would be a fun scenario to play (on either side, in fact, attacking as driver ants, or defending as termites).
 
They may not be playable, but they were a kick starter stretch goal, so they will be at least appear as enemies. I think Liam's mentioned on steam discussions that it's likely going to be African driver ants that are playable for the 5th tier, though. Makes sense nonetheless, as driver ants known to be some of the biggest enemies of termites, as they raid termite nests. Would be a fun scenario to play (on either side, in fact, attacking as driver ants, or defending as termites).
But don't you think they will be to op? Driver ants are just so destructive it would surprise me greatly if anything could actually beat or at least badly damage them(as a whole colony)
 

Buffalo981

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While there have been questions about the realism of having playable army ant colonies, as they live in bivouacs made of their own bodies, unlike Ecitonine army ants, Doyline ants (especially in early colonies) sometimes can live for up to three months within underground burrows. There are a bunch of possible mechanics that can be added to balance them, and I think they would be very fun to play.

I see these colonies as having four buildable units:
Assuming that the fire ant update adds the addition of a new class of ant, the "swarm class", which is categorized by cheaper costs and mass construction of tiles, with level 3 tiles spawning an extra ant, the following suggestion would work. If you see this picture below, the smallest ant here would be the swarm class, and they would be pretty weak, about as strong as Eciton burchelli minors currently, if not a bit weaker, and a level 3 tile would spawn an additional ant. The driver ant worker would be a normal worker, it's model smaller than the swarmer driver ants, and maybe weaker than a worker of another species. The next step up would be driver ant media, which would be a simple melee attack unit (maybe in between black ant soldier and and leaf cutter media in strength), and would be buildable if the player preferred, but nothing special. Probably good to mix in with very low health swarmer driver ants. The new class introduced by driver ants could be named something better, but I'll just call it the "crusher" class for now, categorized for inciting allies into a frenzy. Essentially, with a swarm of majors, all nearby ants would go into a frenzy, like current Ecitonine army ant majors. They would be different from Ecitonine majors due to having unit options, which there could be many possibilities, such as a splash damage knock back ability, which I think was an ability they had from the Eotu kickstarter footage. Also, note that these majors are slightly smaller than leaf cutter majors, and certainly would not be as tanky.

In addition, to help balance these ants, there could be a bar at the top that is constantly decreasing, and if it reaches a certain point, all ants would start losing health, like a poison, to a max of half their health lost. Killing enemies is the only way to bring this bar up, so the player would have to chose between constantly seeking a fight, or playing with half-health ants.
0 dorylus helvolus persp.jpg
 
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Buffalo981

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Sorry, you lost me in the second paragraph.:confused:o_O don't worry, you don't have to explain it to me again.:cool:
lol yeah, I don't know why I wrote it like that. What I really meant is that it would be interesting if driver ants had a type of ant that was cheap, but at level 3, a single tile would spawn 2 ants, similarly to fire ants, in order to replicate how driver ants swarm over prey. Then there would be a media, which would be a similar melee attacker to a leaf cutter media, and of course of the major driver ant, which we would get for gene-thief ants.
 
lol yeah, I don't know why I wrote it like that. What I really meant is that it would be interesting if driver ants had a type of ant that was cheap, but at level 3, a single tile would spawn 2 ants, similarly to fire ants, in order to replicate how driver ants swarm over prey. Then there would be a media, which would be a similar melee attacker to a leaf cutter media, and of course of the major driver ant, which we would get for gene-thief ants.
but what exactly would the driver ant majors do? we already have the leafcutter majors.
 

Buffalo981

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but what exactly would the driver ant majors do? we already have the leafcutter majors.
I think (not 100% sure, but pretty sure) that Dorylus driver ant majors (in general, there are many different species) are slightly smaller than Atta leaf cutter majors, and not as 'bulky'. They certainly wouldn't be as tanks, like leaf cutter majors, though they would certainly have higher health and size than the average ant. Going back to the very early kickstarter footage of this game, they had options like a AoE knock back on enemy ants, or where they charge right through enemy lines, disrupting an enemy (ant) line or formation, it kind of reminds me like a giant cavalry. In addition, they have huge jaws, so something could be done with those. I think there is a lot to add to this, but it's a starting point. They could also be given an ability similar to the South American Eciton army ants in 3.2 where in a swarm, they boost allied melee ants into a frenzy/rampage, as African driver ants are also classified as army ants.
 

TheRexYo

Queen
lol yeah, I don't know why I wrote it like that. What I really meant is that it would be interesting if driver ants had a type of ant that was cheap, but at level 3, a single tile would spawn 2 ants, similarly to fire ants, in order to replicate how driver ants swarm over prey. Then there would be a media, which would be a similar melee attacker to a leaf cutter media, and of course of the major driver ant, which we would get for gene-thief ants.
Hey, writing an article gives credibility. Just make sure to summarize it afterwords! :)
 
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