I'm trying to figure out how to handle mutations or if to even include them. Essentialy in the game their are living weapons called biomutants which you create in your labratories. These biomutants are weapons that you sell to interested parties or deploy as security/attack forces for your own personal use. To get an idea of what biomutant is then think of Nemesis from resident evil 3 it is simalir to one type of humaniod biomutant. What I'm thinking of having is mutatation in the game, meaning biomutants can mutate and transform creating a new and deadlier strain of biomutant. But how should I handle mutations in the game? I have two ideas at present: 1) Random stat modifaction - meaning that if a mutation occurs some of its stats change by a random ammount. 2) Scripted - Meaning that all the mutation are predesigned and one is chosen at random. is their a third option? I could include both but I'm not sure. The other option would be to create a number mutation based abilites one of which would begained when a mutation occurs. Already in the game you can research improvements which are specific to each type of biomutant that add new abilites or improve stats. The other thing I wonder is when to trigger a mutation? What are some ideas for when a mutation should be triggered? so far I have: 1) % chance as a response to a near fatal attack. 2) % chance when attacked by certain kinds of weapons. 3) % when exposed to certain substances or forms of radiation. other their any better ideas for when to cause a mutation? Also should I allow reverse engineering of mutatant in order to allow the player/computer to produce biomutants of the mutated strain? By allowing this it makes mutations more useful instead of one off chance that could alter a single engagement. But at the same time if I allow the player to produce the mutated strain how can I prevent power mutating in otherwards make it harder for the player to create an all powerful biomutant though multigenerational mutations. Or should not prevent the player from doing this and make it an acceptable in game strategy?

Okay, a few ideas:

The chance and intensity of mutations is based on the stability of the mutant's structure. If the monster has a stable cellular structure, it likely won't mutate often, but bad side effects (Instanity, Deterioration, Death...) and bad mutations (Can't be ALL good, right?) won't occur.

Mutations will just, well, eventually happen, but stress can force a mutation (stress occurs when a creature is heavily damaged, exposed to certain environments, injected with some sort of chemical, etc.) . Things like radiation alter cell stability. (Possibly the player can have chambers which subject mutants to various things, in hopes of getting a mutation.)

What happens when a mutation occurs depends severity of the stress. (Continous exposure may cause less severe stress than, say, getting pummeled a Railgun)

-At earlier levels, all that happens is a stat change, how much depends on severity. Note that there is always a chance of change, even at higher levels.

-At slightly later levels, the stat change can effect ANY stat, even ones that don't apply (though these have a smaller chance). If, say, a melee biomutant suddenly gets an increase in range, it will develope the required organs.

-At later levels of severity, a scripted change is taken out of a pool and applied. The change gives the monster unique properties, and the size of the change is (once again) dependant of severity. Weaker scripted change involves things like making the monster immune to fire, while a Stronger one could be something like growing a pair of pincer-like arms (Perfect for holding something while you blugeon it repeatedly!).

Players can reverse-engineer a strain, but keep in mind that with every mutation the maximum cellular stability slightly decreases. After multiple generations, you end up unable to keep the monster stable/sane/alive very long.


How's that? Would any part work?

Just my two cents.