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SimceladusField Guide

World authoring

  1. 01Open the editorChoose WORLD → EDIT WORLD.
  2. 02Lay down rockUse Rock to build the main walls and landmass.
  3. 03Cut connected spacesUse Carve on that rock. Its presets show which adult species can fit.
  4. 04Place several ventsPut Vents on rock beside Sleel grooves, not inside sealed chambers.
  5. 05Paint a broad loopDrag the Current brush through each habitat cluster and back around.
  6. 06Add coral and lightUse Coral to light and beautify important spaces. It shapes visibility, not food.
  7. 07Test from the bottomChoose Done Editing, add Sleels first, then Skippers, then two Tarantors.

Start here.

Build the food web from its base: Sleel habitat first, then Skipper refuges, then open Tarantor water.

Sleels

Build the food base

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  • Long rock edges where mouths can reach living film
  • Grooves wide enough for an adult Sleel, but too narrow for a Tarantor
  • Warm pockets for pairing and anchored eggs
  • At least two exits leading toward another feeding patch

Avoid: A sealed vent pocket. Reductant alone makes no film; ocean reactant must reach the rock too.

Glass Skippers

Give the swarm somewhere to break apart

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  • Fine fissures that admit a Skipper but exclude adult Sleels
  • Openings beside a Sleel travel lane, not at the back of an empty cave
  • Several escape routes so one feeding crowd cannot seal the whole groove
  • Current that carries animal and wound chemistry past the opening

Avoid: An isolated Skipper nest. It is a refuge, not a pantry; Skippers still need to leave it to feed.

Tarantors

Leave room for a large, learning body

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  • Broad water with room to turn, approach, cast a whip and peel away
  • Sleel-groove edges close enough to work from outside
  • Clear routes between several feeding grounds
  • Some warm, open water where a provisioned mother can give birth

Avoid: Sharp, body-width dead ends. A food signal behind one can hold attention where the body cannot travel cleanly.

Use current as a conveyor, not a drain.

Paint one broad circulation route through several habitat clusters. It should carry Sleels and food chemistry past Skipper refuges, then return through open Tarantor water. Avoid a strong one-way flow that pins every animal against the same edge.

Several moderate vents are safer than one enormous vent. Separated patches let film recover, give Sleels somewhere to migrate, and stop one local feeding event from deciding the whole world.

Start bottom-heavy.

Begin with many more Sleels than Skippers, and only two Tarantors. For an ordinary full map, try roughly 40–60 Sleels, 8–15 Skippers and two adult Tarantors. This is a useful test population, not a balance law.

Give Sleels time to find and work film before adding more consumers. If the world cannot support its Sleels, adding Skippers or Tarantors will only make the failure arrive sooner.

What to change first

Film vanishes everywhereAdd exposed rock where both vent reductant and ocean reactant overlap. Reduce sediment burial.
Sleels never leave one cornerSplit one giant rich patch into several finite patches. Let grazing pressure make departure worthwhile.
Skippers gather in empty waterMove a refuge or bend the current so Sleel and wound chemistry crosses it. Do not stock the refuge itself as a destination.
Skippers erase a Sleel nurseryAdd branching exits and another separated groove. Start with fewer Skippers.
Tarantors cannot feed reliablyOpen the turning lanes and put filmed groove edges within whip reach of the larger water.
Everything ends at one wallPaint a broad return route. Current should circulate animals and scent instead of feeding one permanent sink.