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Author Topic: Making multiple castes, with only two being reproductive  (Read 1997 times)

VABritto

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Making multiple castes, with only two being reproductive
« on: September 12, 2021, 08:02:08 am »

Hey there! I'm trying again to create an intelligent antman race, yet I am having trouble getting them to reproduce. I have made a Queen caste, a Drone caste (each with [FEMALE] and [MALE] respectively), a Major caste and a Worker caste (both without any tag, though I am now experimenting with the [NO_GENDER] tag to see if it works). The problem I'm having is that my antmen don't seem to want to form relationships, at all (even when that is their goal in life). The very very few that did, only did homosexual relations (I caught some three queen pares so far). I am trying different approaches (including trying caste specific personality traits, don't know if that's possible though). Anyone has any idea why it isn't working or what I can do to make it work?

creature file:
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VABritto

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Re: Making multiple castes, with only two being reproductive
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2021, 08:37:21 am »

NEWS: One thing that seemed to have helped was to put the breeding pare on top on the list. I do not know if making the none-breeding pare NO_GENDER also helped.

Now I have another problem, though, and I am not quite sure what is the solution. I made them egg layers. And each brew would have between 100 and 200 eggs. But in world gen they seem to be reproducing like mammals because the birth of their children all are very much spaced one from the other. Should I use something like [LITTERSIZE]?
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ChaosPotato

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Re: Making multiple castes, with only two being reproductive
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2021, 06:46:06 pm »

It's just "FAMILY", not "START_A_FAMILY".
edit: FAMILY is also a value, not a personality trait.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2021, 10:46:55 pm by ChaosPotato »
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hi I hate this account and everything I've ever done with it but I don't feel like going through the process of making a new one right now

FantasticDorf

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Re: Making multiple castes, with only two being reproductive
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2021, 11:03:40 am »

Stumbling across this while looking for something else.

I recommend for this kind of setup if you want many drones to try and infatuate the queen in a lover situation to ensure a healthy supply of eggs by ditching a marriagable situation that will attach them dependently onto a single consort (since polygamy or concubines isn't a thing in DF). If this fails for some unforseen reason of DF logic, using a generic male 'king' ant instead or making some quick alterations to drones can save the situation, winging it with some of my advice.

Unfortunately you can't force lifetime goal desires onto them in the way you've modded it. They'll pick the from the highest influence of values when determining how they want to proceed with that (which family is a entity value, not a creature inbuilt personality trait as ChaosPotato helped point out) nor in my observation does it really have a effect on reproduction, outside of positively reinforcing the creature to maintain a relationship by making it emotionally more rewarding or them to be around those in their immediate family.

I've tried no_gender or even monogender representation races before, (one i have planned is literally a immobile portal, like a giant-sponge creature made from stone for "Summoning") they need fairly promiscious starting pair to get going but once they do, per breeding pair head they start population booming. Its a carefully calibrated process though, because as soon as the game detects there isn't going to be a successful breeding pair and its actually going to hurt the survival of the species, they start trimming off historical and nonhistorical members in a attempt to try and save what it thinks is the last historical breeding pairs from soliciting with anybody not-worthwhile.

Self reproduction by proxy is a helpful tool especially for underworld invaders to maintain a foothold in the world.
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