Instead of different colonies having slight variations, how about a lot? It looks like we're going to get a lot of worker/soldier colonies with a few variations to each, like spitters for wood ants. I expect leafcutters to be the same, typical worker/soldier colony, with maybe cultivators thrown in for that little bit of variation.
What about a lot of variation? Like wood ants can be all workers, that spit, cost 30-35 instead of 20/50 for worker/soldier. Tone down damage of existing spitters (by like two thirds) and this colony would function a lot differently then black ants. Economy would be a little slower at the start, but workers wouldn't need soldier protection, and you'd have a fighting force right at the start that grows with your workforce.
Leafcutters can be a highly worker dependent colony with all the tasks involved, with only their powerful (and expensive) majors as the soldiers, which unlike black ant soldiers, are unable to perform any worker function. (I imagine these ants aren't going to eat other bugs? If they still do, then majors can drag dead husks back the the food pile to be dissected by workers) Again, these ants would then function very differently from other types of ants.
Typical RTS's have identical factions to play with their only slight variations. Better RTS's have different factions that functioned in ways that were wildly different from each other. Starcraft and Grey Goo come to mind. Make different ant breeds function in wildly different ways.
What about a lot of variation? Like wood ants can be all workers, that spit, cost 30-35 instead of 20/50 for worker/soldier. Tone down damage of existing spitters (by like two thirds) and this colony would function a lot differently then black ants. Economy would be a little slower at the start, but workers wouldn't need soldier protection, and you'd have a fighting force right at the start that grows with your workforce.
Leafcutters can be a highly worker dependent colony with all the tasks involved, with only their powerful (and expensive) majors as the soldiers, which unlike black ant soldiers, are unable to perform any worker function. (I imagine these ants aren't going to eat other bugs? If they still do, then majors can drag dead husks back the the food pile to be dissected by workers) Again, these ants would then function very differently from other types of ants.
Typical RTS's have identical factions to play with their only slight variations. Better RTS's have different factions that functioned in ways that were wildly different from each other. Starcraft and Grey Goo come to mind. Make different ant breeds function in wildly different ways.
