synthetic plants

[Stenny127]

My idea is to have a new machine and job dedicated to operating the machine. With the machine, you could make a plant with the attributes that you can customize i.e. what atmosphere it grows in, whether it grow from the ground or ceiling. And the look of it could be based of whatever plant you analyze with the machine or a different potential machine. I couldn't think of any downsides to using the synthetic plants so i'd appreciate any ideas.

[Sasza22]

Gene engineering is something i`d like as well. Late tier job. Advanced work station. Possibility to modify the exisitng plants into producing new stuff. Maybe needs stuff from outer space to do something really cool. Like plants producing isoresin irrigated with crude oil.

[goboking]

This is a great idea.  Being able to grow balm lilies in oxygen, reduce the amount of irrigation required to grow thimble reeds, and reduce the lux requirement for gassy grass are among the many uses I'd love to see out of such a mechanic..

There is (or was, I don't know if it's still there) a Seed Splicer in the game's files..

It could serve as a specialist building for scientists to change the properties of plants.

[Machenoid]

4 hours ago, Stenny127 said:

I couldn't think of any downsides to using the synthetic plants so i'd appreciate any ideas.

I would argue that if genetic engineering is going to be in the game, it should be a production-style process where the forlorn victim of your mad scientists has to live inside a glass tube, until either released or death from of old age, possibly being incapable of reproduction if too heavilly modified. The way i imagine it working would be as a dual-linked building, similar to the exosuit checkpoint: The primary genetic modification machine (GMM) is the "checkpoint" while the "docks" are glass tube specimen containers (SC's)

• The Genetic Modifier Machine needs 960w and at least 1 attached specimen container. 3 wide, 4 tall, built from any refined metal and plastic.

  In the GMM, you place your original genetic template sample to source modifications from. For plants it's a seed, for animals it's their egg. This sample gets destroyed in each modification attempt, successful or not, except when it's a prior experiment being used as a source; in that case the source is still destroyed but gets "saved" as a template which is shared between all GMs, which can be repeated by using the original species source. Modify a hatch, source the modified hatch egg, you can use a hatch egg and not go through the prior mod process a second time.

• The Specimen Container needs 120w power and an attached GMM. 3 wide and 4 tall, built from refined metal and glass (or diamond)

  The physical art of the subject containment can change depending on what is being experimented on, but only where the subject is actually held; The "fish bowl" beneath the coal generator that holds the pacu on the main menu is a good example for the "reconfiguration" of aquatic life. Why is the building 4 tall? Pincha peppers and Reed Fiber are the tallest plants, at 3 tiles. Also 3 Tiles wide to accomidate the 2x2 gassy moo. This machine is where the actual modification work is done, and the tenured scientist dupe will perform their job at, and if the modification is successful, where the test subject will be held (until released, or deceased, or terminated inside of)

Here's the basic downside: The whole machine consumes seeds and eggs to perform experiments with. Thus, you absolutely need to have a ranch supplying eggs, and a farm supplying seeds, and all the associated infrastructure for both those things to make this whole operation function properly. Open the spoiler for an example of how it could possibly work:

Spoiler

 

Lets say you load in the basic Mealwood to the GMM. At the SC you can select a different (or the same) plant seed or animal egg. Let's say you choose Balm Lilly for the specimen. Modifications can only exchange or alter between the same category of trait, so if the experiment has an atmosphere Chlorine like Balm Lilly does, they can be swapped out for the sample's trait of CO2 atmosphere. If the category doesn't handle some integer value, there's a flat rate for failure of the experiment; otherwise the value is randomized between some absolute minimum and maximum, but more likely to fall within existing values, and failure is a rare event. Additional random factors can enter here, where growth time is changed, fertilizer requirements can be added from the source, and other things.

So you have your Balm Lilly that can grow in CO2 now. You can either incubate the subject where the scientist or other dupe will supply bottles of CO2 to the SC, and deliver dirt as fertilizer, and when the plant has fully grown in 6.3 cycles, a farmer can harvest the plant. If the player determines the plant can exist in the wild, they can order the SC to eject the subject with a custom name, and properly grow more in an actual farm. OR, the player could put the plant back into the GMM as a new sample, and use the new "Balm Lilly seed experiment #1-[Custom name] template"

Then do something like attempt to modify the temperature range of the next subject by using a Slickster egg as a source in the GMM, and then the same custom Balm Lilly seed or a different seed to change it's temperature requirements. Or put the slickster egg in the SC and a plant seed in the GMM, so the slickster can breath chlorine gas and poop liquid chlorine. Whatever! It should be complex enough to let you release your inner mad scientist...

 

Though, one last thing:

New art is not necessary. I would totally accept a simple dynamic recolor of the base creature or plant sprite. Smooth Hatch that's gold? Shove Vole that's green? Tropical Pacu that's blue? Shinebug that's, um, hmm... Cycles it colors randomly? Mealwood with purple lice and stalk? Well, it's all fine with me.

[Sasza22]

6 hours ago, Machenoid said:

being incapable of reproduction if too heavilly modified.

I like the idea of modified plants/critters being unable to reproduce so that you have to keep supplying your farms with new synthetic seeds.

Also the glass tube might be another type of a farm tile. For plants that require certain atmosphere, it would be delivered using the gas bottler and remain in the tube. This way you could grow balm lillies anywhere.

[StarSquid]

On 10/24/2018 at 4:26 AM, Sasza22 said:

I like the idea of modified plants/critters being unable to reproduce so that you have to keep supplying your farms with new synthetic seeds.

Also the glass tube might be another type of a farm tile. For plants that require certain atmosphere, it would be delivered using the gas bottler and remain in the tube. This way you could grow balm lillies anywhere.

Maybe even allow the new glass tube farm tile (Cloche?) to accept gas from gas pipes?

The farm might also be able to modulate temperature a bit, just as a generally useful late-game farm.

Meanwhile, I can see two sort of levels for the genetic modification. There’s genetic splicing, which would allow you to splice different species or morphs to adjust inputs and outputs with a chance of producing something that just isn’t viable; and then a more advanced technology based on the Printing Pod technology. This would be more controlled and more versatile, but at the cost of copious amounts of power.

[Rhogar]

Eating genetically engineered plants builds up mutagen germs that proc random long term effects on dupes that need to be cleared with that medical chamber tech.

[StarSquid]

On 11/1/2018 at 9:50 PM, Rhogar said:

Eating genetically engineered plants builds up mutagen germs that proc random long term effects on dupes that need to be cleared with that medical chamber tech.

I think this should only be the case for poorly designed genetic modifications