Blockchain

Notes paste:

The Blockchain is a group of cubes that clumsily roll around (or occasionally individual cubes might be equipped to walk or fire [come up with special attack here], these units are color coded). They roam the map in loose groups with a limited and visible vision cone, and bobbles around with the cube as it rolls.

When a player enters it's vision, the individual unit will start rolling towards the player to investigate. Initially units' view cones are white, the turn yellow as they're investigating, and ultimately red when a player target has been confirmed. The unit's own chaotic rotations while moving helps keep the player inconsistently out of view and helps reduce the units internal "alertness meter" typical to stealth games:

* Players who get away will return the unit to it's casual state
* Units which are destroyed quickly will not alert other units, even when seen
* Players who remain visible will alert other close by units

As units are destroyed, the Blockchain entity's awareness of it's lack of units will grow, encouraging active units to congregate around destroyed ones in larger groups.

Through meeting the player either by gathering at dead units and searching the area, or by being alerted by alive ones, the units will begin to pile together loosely linking chains between them increasing the vision cone distance and fading away as mass increases (to reduce visual noise on an obviously aggressive monster)

The Blockchain swirls in a storm of cubes, walking on and throwing units to attack. It should have a natural ebb and flow to the amount of units the main entity is composed of. As the monster grows, it's ability to move reduces. Strategic players may notice they're able to "string out" the focus of the Blockchain and nearly force the body apart by retreating in different directions. However, fully alerted units are fast enough to keep up with the player and are nearly unrelenting. Breaking vision, hiding in brush, exploiting units that bounce in bad directions, or possibly other solutions should be used to give the player a chance to heal or otherwise. Units must be unstuck like a magnet from the main body which limits attack speed and prevents massive hoards from chasing a retreating player.

Other monsters' attacks, or another Blockchain's proximity, can knock units out of arrangement and onto the field. Two Blockchains cannot form a larger monster, and a single monster can't maintain 2 smaller bodies.

Avenues of attack might include: stealthing all units (but is likely constricted by time), creating a metered battle through kiting the large collection and dispatching individual faster units, or direct combat.

As the monster loses units it's maximum size decreases it won't be weighed down as much and will become faster and more aggressive so new tactics maybe needed to adapt. Be sure to destroy any walking or special attack units to reduce the effectiveness of the monster's main body.

Once there are too few units to compose a body they will franticly and nearly helplessly throw themselves at the player until they're dispatched. These final units will represent the body to carve (Potential changes)