"Meat plants" needed for predator evolution

Serafine

Queen
Backer
Beta Tester
Ecosystem Beta Tester
I know the point of predators is to hunt other fish but I've noticed that it is really difficult (potentially impossible at some point) to introduce predators into an ecosystem later on when the herbivores and filterfeeders have already learned to swim kind of well.
Having some sort of "pseudo-plant" (maybe something like ground covered with worms or small crabs) would help a lot with getting predators to a point where they can actually do more than fumble around while starving to death.
 

MikeSlugDisco

Community Manager
Staff member
Community Manager
Interesting idea, it would make sense since there are plenty of sessile / very slow moving animals in reality and lots of animals prey on them.
 

Tom Johnson

Queen
Developer of Ecosystem
Ecosystem Beta Tester
I know the point of predators is to hunt other fish but I've noticed that it is really difficult (potentially impossible at some point) to introduce predators into an ecosystem later on when the herbivores and filterfeeders have already learned to swim kind of well.
Having some sort of "pseudo-plant" (maybe something like ground covered with worms or small crabs) would help a lot with getting predators to a point where they can actually do more than fumble around while starving to death.
I've noticed this problem as well. It's quite difficult to get a stable predator-prey relationship in general and I would eventually like to be able to support multilevel food webs, where predators feed on smaller predators. I recently ran some tests with foragers and predators that were seeded simultaneously: in exactly half, the predators immediately starved within one generation of maturing, unable to catch prey, and in the other half, they immediately ate their prey to extinction. Letting predators feed on sessile 'meat plants' could be a good way to help with the first problem, keeping a skeleton crew alive long enough to get to the point where they can reliably catch other fish. Thanks for the idea.
 

Moosegun

Larva
Ecosystem Beta Tester
The way I get around this issue is to have three new fish habitats tucked out of the way, when i try to make new predators, I also add new filter feeders and foragers into the other nurseries to give them something to feed on. It is possible to make predators that are so good at eating things you cant add them to some tanks or they will wipe them out.

The biggest change for me would be making a difference to the amount of food some predators (all fish) need. I would love to see predators which eat large amount and then stop eating for a while, so you can end up with predators which can survive in small numbers, even solo. The same goes for all fish types, some fish should need to make large shoals to survive but some should be happy living in small groups.
 

Tom Johnson

Queen
Developer of Ecosystem
Ecosystem Beta Tester
The way I get around this issue is to have three new fish habitats tucked out of the way, when i try to make new predators, I also add new filter feeders and foragers into the other nurseries to give them something to feed on. It is possible to make predators that are so good at eating things you cant add them to some tanks or they will wipe them out.

The biggest change for me would be making a difference to the amount of food some predators (all fish) need. I would love to see predators which eat large amount and then stop eating for a while, so you can end up with predators which can survive in small numbers, even solo. The same goes for all fish types, some fish should need to make large shoals to survive but some should be happy living in small groups.

I've been looking into introducing more options for species to stand out from each other, adding traits like bioluminescence or higher level behaviors like shoaling, and I think this could be a powerful way to contribute to that. It's a great idea, thank you. I will try it out.
 

Tom Johnson

Queen
Developer of Ecosystem
Ecosystem Beta Tester
or a omnivore fish that can be a carnivore and eat plants to dont starve
That's a good idea too. A system where creatures can adapt to eat a small number of food sources very efficiently (in terms of how much energy they get from it) or eat a large number of food sources less efficiently might be interesting. This would make limiting population in the natural way, via food supply, difficult though, so it may need experimentation to see if it can work.
 
Top