[DEVBLOG#271] Kemia, Xanides and Bosses! (Patreon)

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new development blog about Vanilla Factions Expanded - Insectoids 2. The work on the mod is progressing very fast, and we've got most of the insectoids fully coded. We're now shifting our focus to the player-controlled hives and the map generation stuff.

You can see the previous development blog outlining the first three insect genelines HERE.

In this devblog, I promised you I will tell you all about the remaining geneline, as well as the bosses. Without any delay, lets get right into it!

MEGATHRIPS

• Label: megathrips

Description: A large, genetically-engineered thrips. A worker caste of an artificial ecosystem of insectoids designed to fight against humans in large scale wars, it now often makes up for the majority of the kemian geneline hives. Megathrisp uses sharp mandibles to rip the armor into shreds, while overcharged acid glands coat the exposed flesh in corrosive substance, causing severe burns. A eusocial creature, it cannot reproduce individually.

Megathrips are incredibly deadly. They are very similar to megascarabs, but their bites contain a very potent toxin which will quickly bring down even the most fierce warriors.

VENOMITE

• Label: venomite

Description: Not actually a mite, the venomite is a genetically-engineered giant insectoid the size of a lion. Designed to inflict maximum damage to organic enemies, venomite is capable of spitting globs of highly corrosive acid over long distances. Upon impact, it will cause severe burns, but won’t result in permanent damage. Relatively easy to defeat in close quarters due to shorter ripper blades than the Sorne variety. It is quite slow in open terrain.

Venomites are large megaspider-like insectoids that have quite low melee DPS, which means they are not as deadly in close quarters. Joke is on you - they tend to shoot acid at you from afar. You will have to get close to them!

ACIDSPITTER

• Label: acidspitter

Description: A giant, heavy insectoid with a large acid sack on the lower abdomen, that glides on a few tiny legs. While its armor is not thick, or its mandibles sharp, it is capable of utilizing its acid glands to spew gallons of corrosive acid forward. Due to being extremely slow, they are somewhat vulnerable to hit-and-run tactics.

Acidspitters are large, slow moving hulks with a huge acid sack on the back. The oversized acid glands allow them to spew huge amounts of highly corrosive acid, coating all of your soldiers in a substance that will cause severe damage over time.

And now for the Xanides geneline...

DURAPOD

• Label: durapod

Description: A medium-sized bioengineered insectoid the size of a goat. The durapod is the lowest caste of the Xanides geneline, taking care of most work tasks. Its extremely thick rock carapace makes it very slow but also very durable, but excessive damage will chip away the armor exposing the weak spots.

Durapods are spelopede-sized insectoids with thick carapace that needs to be destroyed before you can reliably damage them. Their base armor is actually: Armor - Sharp: 120% Armor - Blunt: 96% Armor - Flame: 60%. Upon dealing at least 20% damage to them, their armor gets reduced to: Armor - Sharp: 80% Armor - Blunt: 20% Armor - Flame: 50%. Their graphic also changes to indicate the armor reduction!

TANKROACH

• Label: tankroach

Description: A giant, heavy insectoid that glides on dozens of tiny legs. Its extremely thick rock carapace makes it very slow but also very durable, but excessive damage will chip away the armor exposing the weak spots.

Extremely well armored walking tanks, tankroaches are a nightmare fuel for megapedes. Incredibly slow, they will methodically work towards your defense line, and unless you focus on them, they will wipe you out. Similarily to durapods, they also have the armor reduction when dealt 20% damage to.

IRONCLAD

• Label: ironclad

Description: A giant, genetically-engineered insectoid responsible for the hive defense. The incredible claws the size of a failed vidtuber’s ego can break and crush anything trying to harm the new spawn. Its extremely thick rock carapace makes it very slow but also very durable, but excessive damage will chip away the armor exposing the weak spots.

Nigh-impenetrable armor on ironclads makes them more of a boss than a standard insectoid. They are extremely formidable melee fighters, but their slow movement speed will allow you to potentially at least slow them down as they approach. Similarily to durapods, they also have the armor reduction when dealt 20% damage to.

So that's all of the insectoids in the remaining 2 genelines. However, that's not the end of the horrors you will have to face. Vanilla Factions Expanded 2 also comes with a boss wave system, similar to Biotech DLC mechanoid bosses.

Summoning a hostile boss requires a specific insectoid thumper, destroying the thumper in the process. Constructing these thumpers requires Standard hivetech research project.

When summoned, each of these bosses comes in a boss group, just like in Biotech DLC. The amount of other insectoids depends on how many times you have summoned this particular boss before, but is independent of wealth, time, or colony progress. They will dig up from the ground, just like an infestation. They will not attack immediately, but will instead act like a raid and "prepare" before launching their assault.

Killing bosses will yield a selection of different Pherocores. These items are extracted from dead bosses and are used in construction of various more advanced hives.

EMPRESS

An incredibly rare and monstrously large insectoid of the Sorne geneline, the empress insectoid is incredibly effective at birthing offspring. Her specialized larval chambers allow her to spawn large swarms of swarmlings quickly. While she's not as dangerous in close quarters, the vast numbers of her offspring can easily swarm and overwhelm enemies. While all insectoids are almost equally terrifying, many who have seen the empress find the sight of her even more disturbing, as she embodies all that is wrong with genetic engineering. Upon death, it’s possible to extract a Sorne pherocore from her body.

Empress has a unique ability, similar to the Queen insectoid.

Insectoid Empress spawns 1 swarmlings every long tick (2000 ticks, ~33 seconds). Just like in the case of the Queen, swarmlings becomes a cocoon after 30000 ticks (8 mins 20 seconds), and then hatch into a random insect type from the following selection:

• Megascarab

• Spelopede

• Megaspider

• Megapede

• Queen

The Empress needs to be dealt with quickly after it emerges, as it’s capable of ultimately creating 30 new insectoids every day.

TITANTICK

An incredibly rare and monstrously large insectoid of the Nachudus geneline, the titantick is a formidable engineered tick, designed to serve as a mobile fuel depot on the harsh magma planet of Nachudus. This creature features an enormous chemfuel sack attached to its lower abdomen, which is prone to leaking vast quantities of fuel when damaged. In addition to its capacity to store fuel, the titantick can also project streams of burning chemfuel over long distances, making it a dangerous adversary in combat. The volatile nature of its fuel sack means that upon death, the titantick will explode spectacularly, but it’s still possible to extract a Nachudus pherocore from his body.

Chemfuel spit

Titantick has a unique ability that sends out a mother of all incendiary mortar shells across the map. It does not require a line of sight. It looks like a giant blob of burning chemfuel.

• Ability name: Chemfuel spit

• Ability description: Titantick vomits a giant blob of burning chemfuel over a large distance.

• Range: 500

• Warmup time: 1.8

• Speed: 25

• arcHeightFactor: 0.8

• damageDef: Flame

• preExplosionSpawnThingDef: Filth_Fuel

• Explosion radius: 5.9

• isIncendiary: true

• cooldownTicks: 6000

Bleeding chemfuel

As titantick gets shot, instead of spawning insect blood, it spawns Filth_Fuel. This means that a bleeding titantick will leave a long trail of extremely flammable fuel.

Explosive death

A titantick explodes upon death similar to boomalopes. The explosion is that of Flame variety. The radius of explosion on death is pretty massive: 9.9 tile radius.

TERAMANTIS

An incredibly rare and monstrously large insectoid of the Chelis geneline, the teramantis is the formidable leader of insectoid hives on the steppe planets of Chelis. Known as a prime male, this massive insectoid is equipped with lethal ripper claws sharp enough to cleave armored vehicles in two. Complementing its fearsome offensive capabilities, the teramantis boasts a large set of wings, granting it the ability to soar across the vast landscapes in pursuit of prey for hundreds of miles. Its aerial prowess and deadly strength make it a dreaded apex predator on Chelis, commanding respect and fear from all who dwell within its territory. Upon death, it’s possible to extract a Chelis pherocore from its body.

Insect farglide

• Ability name: Insect farglide

• Ability description: Insectoid does a wing-assisted jump to a very distant location using strong hind legs.

• It should play the special ‘insect jump’ sound when the insect jumps.

• Range: 18.9

• Min range: 5.9

• cooldownTicks: 600 ticks

• Required Line of Sight: False

• Can target location: True

• Can target pawn: True

Can target building: False

GIGAMITE

An incredibly rare and monstrously large insectoid of the Kemia geneline, the gigamite is a towering insectoid native to the most toxic planet ever discovered, renowned for its unique adaptation to the hostile environment. This creature features a massive acid gland, prominently mounted on its back, which produces a potent corrosive acid. While the gigamite lacks prowess in close-quarters combat, it compensates with its ability to project a continuous, high-velocity stream of acid over considerable distances. This devastating attack not only burns through organic matter but also rapidly corrodes structures and vehicles. Upon death, it’s possible to extract a Kemia pherocore from its body.

Large acid spew

• Ability name: Large acid spew

• Ability description: Insectoid sprays a sticky acid substance from glands in the neck up through the mouth and all over the target area. The acid deals damage over time.

• Range: 16.9

• Min range: 3.9

• warmupTime: 1.0

• cooldownTicks: 600 ticks

• Required Line of Sight: True

• Can target location: True

• Can target pawn: True

• Can target building: True

• AICanUse: True

• Projectile: VFE_AcidSpit

• ProjectilesCount: 12

• TimeBetweenShots: 6 ticks

SILVERFISH

An incredibly rare and monstrously large insectoid of the Xanides geneline, the silverfish, a colossal bug from the mineral-rich planet of Xanides, is encased in a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton composed of rocky formations. Despite its slow movement, this giant insectoid is highly effective at tunneling through the planet's dense terrain, using its massive pincer claws to dig wide tunnels and dismantle defensive structures with ease. Although its rocky armor shields it from most attacks, strategically targeted shots can expose vulnerable spots beneath its hardened exterior. Upon death, it’s possible to extract a Xanides pherocore from its body.

Silverfish is a very powerful tank that will be able to absorb huge amounts of damage before it falls. It’s also a very powerful tunneler with a unique tunelling ability.

Wide tunnels

Silverfish does not go through killboxes. Instead, whenever aggroed, it will immediately become a tunneler and will go straight towards the target, destroying any structures in the direct line to the target. This means it doesn’t care about path costs and just paths directly in a straight line, but will actively attack and destroy anything in the way.

It deals 10x the damage to any structures it hits.

Additionally, it also deals the same amounts of damage to any structures adjacent to the structure hit. This means that when it digs through the mountain, it will actually ‘dig’ at all cells adjacent to the one being actively attacked.

Armor degradation

Whilst this insectoid has a very high armor to begin with, if its HP drops below 80%, it changes the graphic to unarmored version, and the armor gets reduced to:

• Armor - Sharp: 80%

• Armor - Blunt: 20%

• Armor - Flame: 50%

Additionally, when it’s shot, it also produces rubble_filth on top of the usual insect blood.

So these are all the insectoid bosses. They exist only when summoned, so if you fear to summon some of them, you won't ever see them!

I can't wait to show you what else we got in store for you!