A guide to the behaviour of the Virus Creatures

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Aeshi
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A guide to the behaviour of the Virus Creatures

Postby Aeshi » Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:12 pm

This is a short guide as to how the creatures of Multiwinia will behave.Hopefully this will help some people or at least make for a good read!


Virii:
Virii will travel around a short area from where they were spawned.They will put nearby souls in any nearby Spores they can find and will attempt to attack nearby enemies with a very weak biting attack.They serve no real purpose beyond cannon fodder or killing Multiwinians manning spawn points/radars/solar panels.

Virii are the only Virus creature that cannot swim.


Centipedes:
Centipedes, like Virii will travel around attacking nearby Multiwinians.However their attacks are deadlier and they will venture further, they will also try to consume nearby souls to grow bigger (and thus tougher)
If a Centipede is badly hurt it may split into two smaller Centipedes, these "mini-centipedes" will usually attempt to flee back to some nearby souls to so they may recover.Try to make sure this doesn't happen or else you will simply have two problems on your hands instead of one.Centipedes are resistant to lasers (though not to the extent that Spiders and Spore Generators are) A Centipedes behaviour seems to depend on it's size,small Centipedes will try to focus on eating souls whereas large Centipedes will be more willing to attack and be more than happy to take a few lasers)

As this picture shows Centipedes can grow to incredible sizes given enough time and souls:
Image


Spiders:
Of all the Virus creatures the Spider appears to be the smartest,as they have proven capable of teamwork with Egg Layers and other Spiders.

If on it's own,the Spider will become shy and cautious.It will seek out nearby souls and try to lay eggs on or near them.They will not go on the attack unless they have no other choice

If there are several Spiders they will become more aggressive,venturing further and becoming more willing to attack (with the exception of one which will have the "passive" behaviour mentioned above)

If there is an Spore Generators nearby all the Spiders will show the "aggressive" behaviour.

Spiders attack with a long ranged pounce that can devestate entire formations of Multiwinians.They are almost immune to lasers and the only real way to hurt them is with grenades or other explosives (a fact that makes them super deadly to the Futurewinians,who cannot use Grenades or Turrets)


Ant Nests:
At first an Ant Nest will send Ants in all directions,however over time it will narrow it's range down until it only sends Ants in directions of intrest (so if there are souls to the north of the Nest and enemies to the west of the Nest it will eventually only send Ants in those directions) and you can turn this to your advantage by attacking from a direction it is not sending Ants to as it will take them a while to react.

Ants will attempt to pick up Souls and Multiwinians and take them back to their nest to turn into more Ants (I believe 1 Soul=3 Ants) which makes them almost impossible to remove if they have access to a Magical Forest.If you order a Multiwinian being carried by an Ant to move he will break free (the Ant either doesn't notice or doesn't care) If the nest is beginning to run out of Ants it will sacrafice it's health to make more Ants (they seem to be unable to repair damage done to their nest)

The best way to kill an Ant Nest is to airstrike it or (if you have no airstrikes) set up several formations near it (preferably from as many directions as possible so the Ants are forced to spread their forces thin) You should also try and burn down (or kill any ants in) any nearby Magical Forests to help cut of their supply of souls.Ants are immune to fire and can go underwater to cross bodies of water.

Ants seem to have an intense dislike of Armour transports and if they see one they will pursue it (to the other side of the map if need be) in an attempt to destroy it.If your Armour is being chased by Ants lure it back to some friendlies to get rid of them else they may attack,damage or even destroy the Armour once it stops moving (which probably means your un/loading troops.) Ants from nests are always allied with the Evilwinians.On rare occasions Ants will attack Engineers (but not Harvesters for some reason) and will chase them around just like Armour.


Lone Ants:
Ants without a nest (because it was destroyed or they came from eggs) will wander aimleslly around where nest was (or where they hatched from) attacking nearby Multiwinians.They may pick up nearby souls but will not do anything with them.


Spore Generators:
Spore Generators will fly high in the air (out of reach) around a large area,coming down only to lay eggs on/near nearby souls.Like Spiders they can only really be hurt by expolsives (and this also bites Futurewinians in the ass) They are rather slow but seem to gain a boost of speed if hurt.However they are also cowards and will not come down if they can see enemies nearby.

Gunturrets are good at killing Spore Generators thanks to their range.Egg Layers have no form of attack and are completely defenseless


Soul Destroyers:
Soul Destroyers will fly high in the air,roaming a large area and swooping down to kill any nearby Multiwinians they can see with their vicious soul-eating attack.Soul Destroyers are immune to Lasers and Highly resistant to explosives, the only things capable of seriously hurting them are Gunturrets and Fire.

Soul Destroyers will always try to head to (and attack) the largest group of Multiwinians they can see.Turn this to your advantage by putting a load of Multiwinians near a Gunturret to lure them near,their desire to kill will mix with their fear of turrets which will result in them hovering around the Turret,usually in it's firing range (due to the difficulty the AI has aiming you will probably want to use the Turret yourself)

Luring a Soul Destroyer near a Flameturret or into a Burning Forest is very difficult but will do massive amounts of damage to the Soul Destroyer,wounding and possibly killing it.All Soul Destroyers are allied with the Evilwinians.


Spores:
Spores are small white eggs spawned by Spiders,Spore Generators or Eggs that nearby Virii will attempt to put souls in (though on occasion a Spider or Spore Generator may lay an egg directly on a soul,causing the egg to absorb it) When this happens the egg will begin to fertilize,eventually hatching into several Virii (somewhere around 6 I believe) Spores can be destroyed.

Curiously one Spore,given a soul,generates around 6 Virii,but each Virii has a soul which suggests that Spores make souls from nothing.Spores are completly defenceless.On rare occasion a magical forest may drop a soul on a Spore similar to the Spider/Spore Generator example mentioned earlier.Spores will eventually rot away and die if they aren't fertilized (though this takes ages)


Eggs:
Eggs are spawned from the "Eggs" Crate and Triffids.They will bounce for a few seconds,remain motionless for a few more and then hatch into one of the following:
Several Virii
A Centipede
A Spider
A Spore Generator
Several Level 2 Eggs
Several Ants (see Lone Ants)
Several Spores
A Soul Destroyer (which will always be allied with the Evilwinians)
Several Evilwinains (TRIFFID EGGS ONLY)

Eggs can be destroyed by explosives.


Triffids:
Triffids are spawned by the "Triffids" crate which will spawn 1-3 Triffids where the crate was opened.Eggs will slowly grow inside the Triffids "flower" and when fully grown the Triffid will fire it a short distance in the direction the Triffid is facing.After firing a certain number of Eggs (around 4-5) the Triffid will burst into flames and die.All creatures spawned from Triffids are allied with the Evilwinians.

Triffids can be killed with explosives and/or fire.You will need to use an air/naphalm strike as Multiwinians (for some reason) will not attempt to attack Triffids with grenades or rockets.You can also use turrets to kill Triffids if they are close enough.Dying Triffids may fire one last Egg directly upwards.
Last edited by Aeshi on Fri Mar 19, 2010 5:58 pm, edited 11 times in total.
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Postby elexis » Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:25 pm

Worms are called virii. They cant idle in water but they will chase someone through it.

Snakes are called Centipedes. They have a survival instinct that makes them flee from concentrated laser fire.

Spiders: (should) always be agressive when there are enemies present.

Multiwinians always have a chance of escaping ants. Ants can also deal damage to multiwinians.
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Postby Aeshi » Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:29 pm

These results were for Multiwinia,Darwinia creatures may vary.

I've seen Virii/Worms spawn in water plenty of times and they never move.
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Postby elexis » Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:32 pm

My comments were for multiwinia. Virii will chase through water, but if they spawn or go idle there whey will get stuck.

Ants will also gang up on officers and spiders (if there is nothing else).
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Postby xander » Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:54 pm

The egg layers are called "Spore Generators." It might also be useful to mention the fact that virii hatch from the eggs that are fertilized with souls (i.e. the spore that spiders and spore generators drop, and that virii carry souls to).

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Postby Feud » Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:32 pm

Don't forget Triffids!
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Postby elexis » Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:35 pm

you mught as well put eggs there as well if you add triffids. And dont forget that one of the thigs that eggs spawn are more eggs.

Also the (soul incubating) eggs can easily be destroyed by laser.
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Postby xander » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:22 am

elexis wrote:you mught as well put eggs there as well if you add triffids. And dont forget that one of the thigs that eggs spawn are more eggs.

Also the (soul incubating) eggs can easily be destroyed by laser.

To avoid confusion:
  • 3D eggs which can spawn many different kinds of units = eggs
  • sprite eggs which only create virii and which require fertilization with a soul = spore

;)

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Postby Aeshi » Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:06 am

elexis wrote:<snip>but if they spawn or go idle there whey will get stuck.


are you sure? I've seen Spiders and Centipedes spawn in water and they always swim out even if there are no enemies nearby but Virii that spawn in water remain completely motionless.

EDIT:Updated the Centipede section and added Spores to the list.I'll do the rest later.
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Postby elexis » Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:08 am

also spores will eventually die of old age when fertilized.

and yes, (99.9% sure) they will chase engineers forever
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Postby Phelanpt » Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:40 am

elexis wrote:also spores will eventually die of old age when not fertilized.

Fixed.
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Postby Aeshi » Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:10 pm

Updated the Spores and Ants sections and added Triffids and both kinds of Eggs to the list.

Glad to see everyone is enjoying this.
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Postby elexis » Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:13 pm

I swear that there is no difference between eggs and "level 2" eggs. And I have seen many times a "level 2" egg split into more eggs.

Also, when a triffid dies it will shoot one last egg directly upwards.
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Postby Aeshi » Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:37 pm

elexis wrote:And I have seen many times a "level 2" egg split into more eggs


hence the "Level 2 Eggs can spawn into anything a Regular Egg can plus the following:" part.
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Postby NeatNit » Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:54 pm

I believe the soul destroyer was removed in an update. Can't get it from eggs EVER, now.

I'm 90% sure of this, if you've seen it recently let me know :P

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