Sponges die more easily when in itemstack form,
for transport. Make them a bit less likely to die
from air exposure when in node form, to reduce
the number dying from temporary air bubbles after
neighoring sponges have been harvested.
This should reduce the chance that sponges are
killed by a transient, like the absence of water caused
by digging sand out from under one. It's still a bit
risky though.
Sponges grow way too slow for the new cultivation
mechanics. Extremely slow growth is no longer
necessary to prevent colony explosion due to the
introduction in gen2 of total colony size inhibition.
- Sponge mod now depends on optics/glass.
- Living sponges die to wet sponges rapidly in air.
- Living sponges are preserved by water, or a
water-tight container.
- Glass tanks with a watertight lid preserve sponges.
- Glass tanks inside a packed tote preserve sponges.
- Sponges have about a 2 second half-life in air.
The net effect is that capturing living sponges is no
longer a frustrating, probabilistic exercise, but now
transporting them involves significant technological and
problem-solving work.
- Inhibit sponge colony growth beyond a maximum size. Players
will have to prune colonies (or, smarter yet, split them) to
grow more sponges.
- Allow sponge colony transplantation. Sponges near the "core"
of a colony (i.e. surrounded by more sponges) are more viable
and more able to survive the player's crude harvesting.
