Instead of meandering around the map like grazing wildlife (but across z-levels), flying creatures could be given a tag, e.g. [ROOSTS], that makes them instead flit from tree to tree, roosting among their branches. Depending on how hard it is to aim through branches, this could make hunting more challenging, and might even provide a location for Giant Keas to store all the anvils they're stealing.
General ideas:
- Creatures with the [FLIER] tag can be given the [ROOSTS] tag (which might imply the former), that makes them rest in the branches of trees, possibly until disturbed.
- Roosting avians with [CURIOUS_BEAST] could keep their items in the trees, rather than carting them irretrievably off-map.
- If the materials are appropriate (cloth, branches, etc.) and they lay eggs, they could build nests with them.
Old Post (written as bugfix):
So, currently, birds are falling to the ground and exploding into gore for reasons that are somewhat unclear. Some people think it's because they're hitting trees, other people think it's because they get tired and fall prone mid-air.
In either case, here's a suggestion that might prevent either behaviour and make avian movement a little more realistic: rather than have them meander around, like ground animals do (but in three dimensions), there should be a flying movement pattern that allows birds to fly from tree to tree, periodically roosting among its branches (possibly until disturbed). Depending on how hard it is to aim through branches, this could make hunting more challenging, and might even provide a location for Giant Keas to store all the anvils they're stealing.
Thoughts?
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Topic: Roosting Avians (Read 777 times)