The Most Complex Ecosystem in any Game

Great video but i think you missed the best reason why rainworlds virtual ecosystem works so well. It's because unlike a lot of games, the enemies don't just spontaneously spawn in when the player gets to a certain location and and attack, they are all already doing their own thing throughout the region and every encounter feels natural. They aren't put there just to be a challenge to the player, they're actually moving around by themselves to hunt or scavenge or escape danger and it really feels like all the creatures have their own lives that they're living

Correction, the animals don’t hunt specifically the slug cat , the white lizards for instance don’t wait for the player, they hunt anything, that’s what makes rainworld so special, it’s not player centric, this is an important distinction

I've once had this cartoony ass scenario that happened to me. I was trying to evade a pink lizard, attempting to get to a pipe to trick it. then, a vulture appeared. Me and the pink lizard looked at each other for about a second, and BOLTED to the two separate pipes. It was the funniest thing to me, and unfortunately I left that area soon after, so I couldn't try tame the lizard.

Also a perk of procedural animation is that it immerses you in the game. For example the first time you get drowned by the leaches you feel genuine panic because slugcat is programmed to struggle and it really looks like it’s also panicking

On the lizard ally tip, I actually managed to get 3 lizards to follow me after feeding each of them their favorite food, and surprisingly they didn’t try and kill each other within 10 seconds. I don’t know if it was a glitch or not, but for a while I had a lizard battalion. It lasted about 10 minutes before they cannibalized each other, but it was so cool.

I just bought this for $7 on steam and I feel like I stole it at that price. The way the enemy creatures go after each other is endlessly entertaining

I'm not a fan of difficult games so I probably won't play it. But just looking at content of the game gives me this huge appreciation for it. The world looks so alive and the technology put into it is so cool to see. Really a special special game regardless of the difficulty holding it back from being mainstream.

You forgot that scavengers will send squads to HELP YOU as well when you get accepted into their tribe, they have different skill levels and personalities. For example, there is a scavenger that will try to shoot you even when the others tell you you're fine to pass the toll. They have emotions to show when they are frightened/stressed as well. Lizards are also predatory amongst each other, there are bigger Lizard species who hunt specifically smaller lizar species. Usually, it's the blue Lizards who get hunted. Eggbugs being a species who regularly get hunted down being forgotten entirely and with that the raindeer not being the only pacifist creature. Noodle Fly mothers will NOT attack you UNLESS you harm their own kin (which is the noodle fly children) it is their entire mechanic that they are very protective of their offspring. You were holding a noodlefly egg in the video to make them aggressive towards you, but did not mention that it's what makes them aggressive? Sorry this is just a few points i noticed that bugged me as they are quite important lol

As for the vultures, if you knock off one's mask it will attempt to endlessly hunt you down. In addition, other vultures will attack the maskless vulture if they see it.

Interesting Rain World facts: The Developers once did a test on a (in-game) lizard by breaking all its limbs, making it practically immobile but it then eventually figured out how to move with it's tongue, pulling itself forward. Vultures that you stole a mask from will aggressively hunt you down, and other Vultures will attack it. Cyan/Leap lizards can occasionally make mistakes and drop you randomly or jump into sticky situations Several lizard types will quite literally crawl on the background if it looks like a wall. You are at the bottom of the food chain. You're not the main character, Everything isn't focused on the Player. Lizards will battle Lizards, Scavengers will be ambushed by Vultures, the Bats that you incessantly hunt will eventually learn to burrow underground. And all of that happens even if you're not there to see it. It happens all the time. There's a type of creature that has a laser pointer for a head, and it will shoot it's laser into the sky, signalling a Vulture. This is an interesting and weird defense against predators Edit: It was fun seeing the confusion and misunderstanding that ensued 😉 Edit: There's also a new DLC for Rain World! Downpour! It has more content than even the base game! It even has FIVE new unique Slugcat variations!

I haven’t beaten the game so I’m not gonna watch all the way through, however i wanted to share my favorite experience with the game’s creatures so far. I was exploring Subterranean when I saw a scav i had befriended in a small enclosed space. When it saw me it began to repeatedly extend and retract one of its limbs in my direction, as if it were beckoning me. I had seen them do this a couple times before, so i climbed into the hole with it out of curiosity. As soon as i do this a horde of miros birds stampedes over us from the direction i was headed. This was the first time I had ever seen them. I was horrified. If not for that scav i would’ve been mincemeat. TLDR: got saved from a group of miros birds by a friendly scav who beckoned me to hide under a rock with it.

Oh my god this game is insanely beautiful. I have to buy this. As a programmer... the amount of imagination thats gone into everything in this game is jaw dropping. The people who built this should be lauded. 💯

I feel like the slug cat is also intelligent. They can use tools shockingly well.

im honestly kinda sad you didnt mention the yellow lizards having a pack leader that, when taken out, causes them to become disorganized, or that the rain deer have a hierarchy and will bow to other rain deer with bigger antlers

The thing that really fascinates me about this game is the exotic, unfamiliar ecosystem. The ecosystem in real life is already fascinating but there's something about unfamiliar ecosystems that just really fascinates me. This is part of the reason I'd love to be a part of an interstellar species. I could learn about so many different ecosystems instead of just my own planet's without having to look at fictional ones.

i'm always glad to see people talking about this game because, even though it's been getting more attention lately, this game is still REALLY underrated. one of the biggest things that i dont think you mentioned is that the whole world isn't very centered around you, the player. vultures will swoop down to grab lizards, scavs can be seen fending off lizards, and noodleflies will hunt down ANYTHING that endangers their kind, not just you. stuff can even be happening off-camera, like you can see a lizard leave the room then follow after it a couple of seconds later and that lizard might have gotten into a fight with another one. this game feels so natural when it comes to stuff like that, it's genuinely a masterpiece.

Rain World is truly a special game. It's one of the few games that brought me back to that childhood sense of wonder that games would bring. I really felt like anything could happen and I was consistantly surprised. I really disliked it when I first played. I returned a few years later and it blew me away. If you have any interest in playing, I advise stopping the video to avoid spoiling yourself.

On my sister's playthrough her guide was killed by a scavegner early on so she didn't like them and attacked any that show their faces. But then of course she gets to the Garbage Wastes toll and its the only way through without circling back through 3 regions. No amount of pearls was going to change their mood. So with the help of a slo-mo mushroom and some explosives, we made several dozen attempts to just jump and murder our way past a whole tribe of like 40. I made sure to be extra nice to scavengers on my own save to make up for the slaughter 😅

Just so everyone who sees this knows: This video has a lot of spoilers for the game, so if you intend on playing the game, probably don't watch. If you do, make sure to consider stopping again at 5 pebbles, it's a very important area. The game is so much better if you know almost nothing about it when you play, and the game is great, so make sure to reconsider before you watch this video.

I paused the video 2 minutes in to go play this game without spoilers. I came back after beating the game to watch this video, and say thank for introducing me to such a beautiful work of art!