Kudzu improvements

[Taylorstar]

Hey folks! Recently I have been toying around with the Kudzu seed on RP have found that for its price its a pretty good deal, it has some insane quirks that I never knew and potential for some really good synergies but I also found a few stumbling blocks and I was wondering if we could get a discussion on some ideas to enhance its use.

1) The main thing that surprised me was that Kudzu people are not immune to stinging nettles, I had set up a few basic nettle traps to mess with people and try and shut down angles of attack but instead found myself falling victim to it. While I realise on the reverse side of things you could create beneficial nettles to aid you it was really hard to stop myself falling foul of any of the negative nettles. This leads me to my next thought.

2) The ability to move in and out of dense kudzu is a great addition to Kudzu people but I wonder if there a way to give them Xray vision or make the dense kudzu somewhat transparent, when placing the seed down and being attacked from multiple directions, your stepping out hoping your stepping into a good situation and hoping to capitalise on staff members surprise being more than your own. with Xray vision you could set up multiple traps or item caches within the dense Kudzu which could give you an edge when under siege from an entire station.

3) The conversion of Kudzu people. I've had a few times now where I've killed people dragged them into Kudzu only for them to think the game is over for them and I've been left with SSD/AFK Kudzu people. I was wondering if there was a good way we could indicate to people that they are being converted into Kudzu people whether its a hidden bar that only they can see indicating they are being kudzu'd kind like the Martian kill attack or a message on their screen popping up like how the gang team victory is displayed at the end.

4) synergising, I've been wondering how I could utilise Kudzu with other antags the only idea I had was teaming up with a rancher and having something like coral chickens/raptors/dragons but I've no idea how they would interact with kudzu people, in my random chance discovery I've noticed that Raptors will attack man-eaters and vice versa making some team ups counter intuitive, I'm unsure if maneaters can walk through Kudzu either.

We see Kudzu seeds used a good amount of the time from my experience, but I feel goon has some great ideas/mechanics that don't get taken advantage of enough. I'm really hoping that people will take a look at these ideas discuss them and come up with a a great refined approach that could help bring one such under utilised mechanic a bit more to the forefront.

[Dr. Puggers]

On one hand, this would made Kudzu more like blob/flock as if it's a gamemode on it's own. But on the other hand, kudzu is mostly used as an annoying to deal with distraction that doesn't really go anywhere.

When you weigh that, I think that Kudzu should be reworked to be more fun.
But only available to Botanists as it is and not in surplus crates/thief rewards.

[Kotlol]

How I want to change kudzu myself... is focus more on the botany side of it.

Decrease the wild growth for one. Have it be a risk/reward kinda deal.
If left unchecked it will start spawning on random locations and become "Wild Kudzu"
Have it produce a lot of seeds too so if an antagonist wants to be a jerk, they can use it.

Basically have a main plant to grow from and cultivate. Have it be able to make fruits that are really good for crew and antagonists wich gives it a value and thus wanting to grow for both sides, but have it come with risks antags can take.

Also Kudzu folk will also have more value as "botanists" as keeping them pleased will mean more of this valuable fruit, but in secret the Kudzu folk still want to spread.

Also maybe add a value of how many tiles the Kudzu has spread makes the fruit better. Giving an interresting play around it.

And then.. remove it from the antagonist botany pile and insted have it be something that can be made in botany (through some means) or a loot drop.

Or just change the benefits of the "Kudzu" of the antagonist version to be just wild kudzu that spreads fast and DOESNT make Kudzu folk. (or if they do they just become zombies that aren't players)

I always keep saying Kudzu is a fun thing but it's in this middle ground of "eh"
So dividing the annoyance or increasing it's use is probably more interresting.

Eitherway I do not want Kudzu to become like a blob.. but more or less something that can "lead a round" and give botany a new interresting twist.