Giving Birth With No Nests (READ FOR EXPLANATION)

[just a lonely loaf of ace]

OK, HEAR ME OUT. I do realize that people will say this renders nests useless, but I have a reason that it will not.

So, the way this will work is; If a pregnant Nicheling has been ready to give birth for 1 day, she will give birth on any tile that she is on when the next day ends. If a Nicheling gives birth on a tile other than a nest, she will take damage. There will also be a 0-100% chance of the baby dying if it is not born on a nest (this would have a slider in Sandbox settings). This is to make having nests preferable, so permanests and nesting material are still needed but not necessarily required. The damage will be put in with the “Environmental Damage” slider so that it can be adjustable. This feature should also be toggleable, in case people just want the normal birth mechanics only, or if they need it turned off for a challenge, or just to fit their gaming style.

I hope you like my idea, this is my first Niche suggestion!

[Lilytuft]

But that would take away one of the core mechanics of the gameplay. Then we couldn't take pregnant nichelings to new islands or find safe nesting places before making the animal give birth.

[just a lonely loaf of ace]

5 hours ago, Spookyssia said:

But perhaps holding in the birth could kill the baby then if not given birth to them on a nest in time, so to be more realistic: I’d say births will happen on any tile besides a nest, HOWEVER there is a 75% of the baby dying from an uncomfortable non-nest tile, so this gives players more attention into gathering material to build nests before the baby arrives.

That’s a good idea! I was thinking something similar, but I wasn’t  sure if I wanted to add it or not. Maybe make the percentage a little bit lower though, like 50%? Would you say that’s a good percentage, or is it too low?

[just a lonely loaf of ace]

5 hours ago, Lilyturf said:

But that would take away one of the core mechanics of the gameplay. Then we couldn't take pregnant nichelings to new islands or find safe nesting places before making the animal give birth.

That’s one reason I said it would be toggleable. I know some people wouldn’t want this feature, so if it were toggleable then everyone would get what they want.  Also, the idea was more for games where the pregnancy is set for more than one or two days, because I usually set mine for 5-9 and then forget when they were supposed to have the baby. Mostly, I thought it would be more realistic and would also make it so that if you have a pregnant female who will die like 1-3 days after having her baby, she’ll have it automatically in case you forget about her lol.

[just a lonely loaf of ace]

2 minutes ago, Spookyssia said:

I'd still have it at 75% because babies rely heavily on nests to survive along with their mothers.

I suppose that’s true. Maybe it could range from 65-75%? I feel like that’s pretty reasonable.

[Sky]

Should I put this in Sandbox Settings since it'd be toggleable?

[just a lonely loaf of ace]

14 hours ago, Spookyssia said:

OH! I know! If this option was toggleable, then it would have a slide that would determine what percentage the baby dies without a nest! Whether it would be never at 0%, to extremely dire at 100%! ):D

Hey, that’s a great idea! I’ll add that to my post!