MUTATIONS (Research Tech Tree)

[DarthAce21]

Below is the list of Technologies the player can research, and the prerequisites for each:

• Forage Area - increases the area size in which workers can forage.
  (Requires current level of Worker Intelligence)
• Forage Efficiency - increases the efficiency with which workers can gather resources on the Forage Area.
  (Requires current level of Worker Intelligence)
• Paternity - increases the efficiency with which workers can tend to brood.
  (Requires current level of Worker Intelligence)
• Worker Speed - decreases the time required for workers to complete all assigned tasks.
  (Requires current level of Worker Intelligence)
• Worker Intelligence - enables new mutations and increased worker abilities.
  (Requires previous level of Forage Area)
• Weapons - increased attack strength of all ants within the colony.
  (Requires current level of Forage Area and Forage Efficiency)
• Armour - increased defensive ability of all ants within the colony.
  (Requires current level of Forage Efficiency and Paternity)
• Spawn New Colony - the player can create a new colony within the Forage Area of current colonies.
  (Requires current level of Paternity and Worker Speed)
• Build Rate - all construction within the colony is increased.
  (Requires current level of Worker Intelligence and Weapons)
• Colony Defence - structure of the colony is improved, making defence of it more effective.
  (Requires current level of Weapons and Armour)
• New Mutations - different levels will open up new special abilities for the player.
  (Requires current level of Armour)

So for example, to develop Level 3 Armour, the player must first develop Level 3 Forage Efficiency and also Level 3 Paternity.
To have those developed, the player must already have developed Level 3 Worker Intelligence. Worker Intelligence is the basis of every next development at that level. It's the first thing that must be developed to the next tier before any other development at that new level is made.

[DarthAce21]

FORAGE AREA
(Requires current level of Worker Intelligence)
So Level 1 Forage Area requires Level 1 Worker Intelligence, Level 2 Forage Area requires Level 2 Worker Intelligence, and so on...

The Forage Area is the zone in which each of a player's nests' workers collect FOOD and WATER.

A Forage Area can be expanded by researching the next level of development, which increases the radius of the Forage Area from the nest's central tile.

The current version of the game calculates the Forage Area's income simply increasing the resource count of the original central nest tile, however a future version is intended to include the resource values of the surrounding tiles instead. So a Grass Tile on which the nest is founded will have a different income depending on whether it has a lot of Marsh around it or Forest around it, for example.

[DarthAce21]

FORAGE EFFICIENCY
(Requires current level of Worker Intelligence)
So Level 1 Forage Efficiency requires Level 1 Worker Intelligence, Level 2 Forage Efficiency requires Level 2 Worker Intelligence, and so on...

Forage Efficiency determines how effectively workers collect FOOD and WATER from the FORAGE AREA. A player can simply increase the number of Workers on their Forage Area (up to a maximum number of Workers per level of Forage Area), but the amount of resources these Workers collect is increased by having a greater developed Forage Efficiency.

[DarthAce21]

PATERNITY
(Requires current level of Worker Intelligence)
So Level 1 Paternity requires Level 1 Worker Intelligence, Level 2 Paternity requires Level 2 Worker Intelligence, and so on...

Paternity is how good Workers are at tending to Eggs and Larvae. The greater a colony's level of Paternity, the faster Eggs hatch into Larvae, and the faster Larvae hatch into their various adult castes.

[DarthAce21]

WORKER SPEED
(Requires current level of Worker Intelligence)
So Level 1 Worker Speed requires Level 1 Worker Intelligence, Level 2 Worker Speed requires Level 2 Worker Intelligence, and so on...

Worker Speed affects everything that a Worker is assigned to do. FOOD and WATER, and even HEAT is collected faster, Eggs and Larvae hatch faster, and other Worker Actions are performed faster.

[DarthAce21]

WORKER INTELLIGENCE
(Requires previous level of Forage Area)
So Level 1 Worker Intelligence requires Level 0 Forage Area, Level 2 Worker Intelligence requires Level 1 Forage Area, and so on...

Worker Intelligence increases the ability for a player's colony to undertake ever more complicated tasks. It is the basis for every other development, and must be developed for each level first, before any other development or structure of that level can be started.

[DarthAce21]

WEAPONS
(Requires current level of Forage Area and Forage Efficiency)
So Level 1 Weapons requires both Level 1 Forage Area and Level 1 Forage Efficiency, Level 2 Weapons requires both Level 2 Forage Area and Level 2 Forage Efficiency, and so on...

Weapons are what our ants use as tools to hunt their prey, manipulate their environment, and destroy their opponents. They are primarily their mandibles, but can also include in some species things like acid sprays, stingers, or even sheer power and size. The greater the development of a player's Weapons, the more capable their ants are at Combat (including Workers hunting for FOOD in the Forage Area) and building COLONY STRUCTURES.

[DarthAce21]

ARMOUR
(Requires current level of Forage Efficiency and Paternity)
So Level 1 Armour requires both Level 1 Forage Efficiency and Level 1 Paternity, Level 2 Weapons requires both Level 2 Forage Efficiency and Level 2 Paternity, and so on...

Armour increases the defensive capacity of the player's colony. It is generally the carapace of the colony's ants, but can also include things like an ability to jump, dodge, or use legs to fend off attacks from enemy. Increasing Armour in a colony decreases the damage that an enemy can do (including when Workers are foraging for FOOD).

[DarthAce21]

SPAWN NEW COLONY
(Requires current level of Paternity and Worker Speed)
So Level 1 Spawn New Colony requires both Level 1 Paternity and Level 1 Worker Speed, Level 2 Weapons requires both Level 2 Paternity and Level 2 Worker Speed, and so on...


Every level of Spawn New Colony that a player collect enables the player to settle a new nest somewhere within the Forage Area of any of their currently existing nests. In this way a player can strategically expand their colony to include new nest sites depending on their game strategy. A player might want to expand to dominate a resource rich area, or expand towards an enemy site and set up nests that are more focused on army spawning, or perhaps cluster together with allied players to increase defensive capabilities of their resource storing nest locations. The possibilities are endless.

Once a new nest is spawned, it expands exactly the same way as the first nest did, by increasing the COLONY STRUCTURES and Forage Area of the nest over time, and populating it with both Workers and Soldiers in whatever ratio the player chooses.

[DarthAce21]

BUILD RATE
(Requires current level of Worker Intelligence and Weapons)
So Level 1 Build Rate requires both Level 1 Worker Intelligence and Level 1 Weapons, Level 2 Weapons requires both Level 2 Worker Intelligence and Level 2 Weapons, and so on...

Build Rate affects how rapidly the player's Workers can construct new COLONY STRUCTURES. It is also the prerequisite for all buildings of the next level.