NESLife V

NESLife V

This is a revamping of NESLife 4 in the style of the epic saga that was NESLife 3. This time with simple pixel graphics and a healthy dose of inspiration from TuxLife (which I intend to compliment, not compete with). Welcome to another world of evolution!




If you've played a Life NES before, you know the deal: each turn, you can create one new species by picking any living species (one that survived the last update), and making changes to it. You can play to be the most successful, or just to be creative, its up to you. There are many paths to success... And even more to failure!

To begin with, you can make two points (2) worth of gene additions, and up to two (2) subtractions.

You can add an additional gene with some kind of bonus (never more than one bonus per evolution):

• Evolve an older species that grants a bonus for all evolutions (to encourage branching - look on the latest Tree of Life for species marked with an *asterisk).
  
  
• Be awarded a gene bonus in one of the updates (look near the bottom), for creating a very successful or innovative species.
  
  
• Remove a gene that can be realistically morphed into a new gene/ability that you want - for example, one level of crawling becomes swimming, or scales become feathers. I (your friendly moderator) will need to approve this on a case-by-case bonus. Remember that removing unnecessary genes will streamline your species, reducing its energy hunger and is generally a good idea anyway.

There is no restriction on using other people's species as a starting place, in fact that is strongly encouraged. Note that I am counting 'success' of a species in living bio-mass, not its position in the food chain. Sometimes it pays to be simple and/or humble.


But, what are Genes?
For the purposes of this game, species have 'genes' that represent its abilities and characteristics. These genes can be levelled-up indefinitely. For example, 'Swimming x3' allows a creature to swim faster than 'Swimming x1'. However, efficiency is key, so don't be afraid to ditch some genes along the way. Just remember that a species should always have some way of getting energy and nourishment.

You are free to imagine any kind of 'gene' that you want, but don't be surprised if I generalise it, or rename it to aid comparison between species. I will tend to use a universal set of 'genes' that will expand as we go along.

As creatures get more complex, there are certain essentials such as Gills and Brains, Roots and Leaves - I will be providing advice on this later.

You are also welcome to provide background if you so wish, such as suggestions for how your creation should look and behave. But as mod, I reserve the final say in such things.


Changes from NESLife 3:

• I am going to be much more brutal this time around. Expect more regular extinctions, even to the point of some species not surviving their first turn.
  
  
• A series of mass extinction events has been mapped out ahead of time. They may happen at inconvenient moments, and there is nothing that can be done to stop them!
  
  
• I will not be flooding the world with my NPC creations this time. I will limit myself to one or two species per turn, and leave more room for player creativity.

Advanced Rules:



ATTENTION: BEFORE YOU POST A NEW EVOLUTION

I am requiring your help to let this NES run more smoothly. Please format your evolution post properly: it will help me ALOT when dealing with dozens of evolutions.

Please Include only these lines:

Species Name: Your Name (this line in BOLD please)
Evolved from: ancestor name
Genes added: (ONLY genes added)
Genes removed: (don't include this line if nothing was removed)
Description: Please have a few words / short paragraph here that sums it up.

Click to expand...

Since a lot of evolution descriptions are traditionally along the lines of “my species pwns all and I win”, I've started to re-write many of them in the stats list. What you could give me with your description is simply: how you would justify those mutations taking hold in the population.

And please do NOT bother posting the updated gene list for your creature. I will do this myself because A: I will probably change the names of new genes/abilities you introduce, and B: I want to check everything over anyway.

Let's roll!



Again, credit to TerrisH and Tuxedohamm and Lord_Iggy, whose ideas I have copied, and thanks everyone who contributed previously to my NESLife games.

Natural History:

List of all Lifeforms (Stats Link)

Era 0: the Archaic Era

Era 1: the Spirulic Era

Era 2: the Petrosian Era

Era 3: the Frigurian Era

Era 0: the Archaic Era


Link to video.

Welcome to our world. It is an Earth-like world, currently rotating once every 18 Earth hours, orbiting a gentle K-type main-sequence star every 250 Earth days. Age, approximately 4 billion years. Axial tilt, 25 degrees. Surface area, 1.3 times larger than Earth's. Surface gravity, much the same, although the atmospheric pressure would be uncomfortable for a human. The sky has a marked blue-green tint compared to Earth's, and also has pinkish and purple tones at times. To human eyes, its sun would shine with a magical gold and orange hue, turning an impressive deep red-pink at dawn and dusk. A bright moon looms large in the sky, making for some spectacular moonlit nights. Three irregular moonlets orbit beyond, tiny and dull in comparison, slowly tracing a path through a sparse ring of rocky debris that marks the outer edge of our planet's gravitational influence.

Oxygen is present, but a human would need breathing gear to stay conscious for long. The equator is oppressively hot by Earth standards, and plagued by violent storms. There are no ice caps, with only seasonal snow and ice during the long winters at the poles. At this time, the land consists of scattered micro-continents and extended volcanic island chains. Here there is only rock, gravel and sand, dotted by green and brown slime wherever there is moisture. A stormy water ocean dominates the surface, with high tidal surges due to the proximity of the major moon, the shorelines experience rapid erosion into tidal estuaries and sprawling mud flats.

This planet has long been home to microbes. They have adapted to every climate and terrain, and over billions of years they have changed the composition of the atmosphere and the oceans, making way for more advanced forms of life to appear. But the single-celled species had monopolised every energy source and nutrient cycle. It was not until a recent catastrophe – a glancing comet impact near the equator – that an opportunity finally arose. In the aftermath of shockwaves that stirred up the ocean with towering tsunamis, the door was opened for mutlicellular life to gain a foothold across the world. Already, it has diversified into various forms.



To a terrestrial visitor, the first signs of multicellular life would be seen on the tidal plains of the archipelagos, scattered amongst the mud and pebbles. Tiny green-brown buds of photosynthesising cells protected by a moisture-trapping outer layer. These are the Bubblers, able to survive out of water between tides, and making the most of the direct sunlight and the lack of predatory lifeforms. They find nutrients from the dead lifeforms washed up by the tide and left to rot.



Naturally, much more is to be found in the oceans. The shallows are still dominated by bacteria – microbial mats line the seafloor, made by sunlight-loving cells that secrete sticky fluid to hold themselves in place. No other lifeform is currently able to disrupt these sticky layers of sand grains and living cells. The seafloor remains serene and largely undisturbed. But a few green stalks are seen protuding above the mats – these are fragile lifeforms known as Donki. They could be compared to an early form of terrestrial algae. Specialist cells anchor themselves and provide structual support, lifting other cells clear of the microbial mats where they can find sunlight.

Archorus may be mistaken for being similar. But these are what may be called animals. In place of green cells, they have feeding cells with cilia to trap and engulf passing microbes. At up to 10 cm long, they are currently the largest multicellular forms on the planet, growing in great numbers where the currents are favourable.

Neofilium are the most active. These highly-successful lifeforms have small tubular bodies with bundles of cilia at each end. Usually, one end specialises in propulsion, the other in capturing food particles. They are found scattered throughout the oceans, but wherever there is a plankton bloom in the open ocean, Neofilium will also bloom.

Pingocomende are tiny beads of cells, clumsily drifting along the seafloor. They feed by simply absorbing food particles through their skin. While gathering up detritus on the seafloor, they are also opportunistic grazers, flattening out to absorb bacteria wherever the microbial mats may have been disrupted by storms. They are found throughout the shallows.

Stellaculus are the most enigmatic - their cellular structure defies any easy comparison with Terrestrial lifeforms. They can survive as single cells, armed with a tiny spicule that can puncture the cell wall of other cells. They can also spontaneously assemble into spherical forms, containing hundreds or thousands of cells, presenting spikes in every direction, drifting with the currents and sucking on whatever comes their way, with inner cells morphing to specialise in digestion and reproduction. Stellaculus are currently the only real predators of other multicellular life, but their numbers are limited by their greater need for nutrient-rich waters in order to grow.

Archaeofloatus also assemble into spheres for mutual defence. But these are passive photosynthesisers, blooming along with plankton and Neofilium wherever they meet nutrient-dense water.



Beyond the shallows, the open ocean is home to occasional blooms of Neofilium, Archaeofloatus, and more rarely Stellaculus and Pingocomende.



Finally, at volcanic vents on the ocean floor, Soleneidea is the most advanced lifeform. These tiny worm-like creatures cultivate chemeosynthesising bacteria inside their bodies, which they in turn feed upon. Their numbers are limited only by the relative rarity of the vents. Rarely, dead things fall down from above, to be eventually recycled by microbes.



Mutation and evolution continue apace...

Notes:
Please read this before trying to create the cliché fish-like creatures right away. These early turns should go pretty fast, they can be a time for experimenting with basic body plans.

Cheers!

Reminder: to begin with, you can make two points (2) worth of gene additions, and up to two (2) subtractions, of any living (non-red-highlighted) species in the stats:

*Species List*

!Evolution Example!

Orella: Daftpanzer
Evolved from: Pingucomende
Genes Added: Digestion x1, Frill x1
Genes Removed: Drifting x1
Description: Orella is a messy eater. Still lacking a mouth, it exudes digestive fluids onto the sea floor, wherever it finds a nice patch of bacteria, or some other food source. The outer layer of cells now extends into a circular flexible frill, which serves to contain digestive fluids during feeding, and also provides some assistance to movement. Digestive fluids may also be exuded as a means of deterring attack.

Reserved post!

Donki Kong: Daftpanzer
Evolved from: Donki
Genes Added: Communal Growth X1, Size X1
Genes Removed: None
Description: In certain spots of this planet, strands of Donki have started to mutate in a way uncomparable to earth. Roots are starting to grow intertwined, and with it the ability to give nutrients to the other plants is possible. Soon, these Donki grew to create a forest of plants, sharing food and expanding for the sake of expanding. Meanwhile, this growth has allowed the Donki to grow larger than the other strands

Alces Felix: qoou
Evolved from: Archaeofloatus
Genes Added: Photosynthesis x1, Sporogenesis x1
Description: Able to derive more energy from the sun than its ancestors, the Alces Felix uses this energy to power its rudimentary reproductive structures. Though the spores it produces and ejects are not able to survive for long in unfavorable conditions, they can be easily carried by currents or other organisms, and remain an overall improvement over fission.

This looks too cool to pass up.

Stellacula: Sonereal
Evolved from: Stellaculus
Genes: Piercing Spike x1, Digestion x2, Drifting x2
Genes Added: Digestion (+1), Drifting (+1)
Genes Removed: None
Description: Stellacula has evolved for better drifting capability at turns and more effective digestion, with the drive behind this evolution being if Stellaculus did fine with lesser digestion and mad drifting skills, then Stellacula should do doubleplusfine.

Neofilium Trackious: bestrfcplayer
Evolved from: Neofilium
Genes Added: Size X1, Swimming X1
Genes Removed: None
Description: This evolved form of Neofilium have adapted to grow larger and swim faster to catch food. Trackious is named for its great swimming ability, as it is able to move fast to track down its prey.

Donki-Mula: Son of Erdrick
Evolved from: Donki
Genes Added: Stem x1, Holdfast x1
Genes Removed: -
Description: While some strands of Donki have taken to entangling their roots and forming colonies, others have begun to stubbornly dig into the ground while they extend their stalks further up towards the surface in search of sunlight. Taller than average Donki, sturdier than average Donki, the Donki-Mula quietly grow in relative isolation from their own kind.

Archorus: Haeseri
Sessile filter feeder
Thriving
Evolved from: Archaic Life
Genes: Trapping Cilia x1, Digestion x1 [Plankton], Holdfast x1
Description: Archorus resemble primitive plants, but they are filter feeders - they have feeding cells with cilia to trap and engulf passing microbes. At up to 10 cm long, they are currently the largest multicellular forms on the planet, growing in great numbers where the currents are favourable.

Becomes

Stickorus: Terrance888
Genes Added: Trapping Cilia x1 (Sticky), Digestion x1 (Acidic Cilia)
Genes Removed: None (Plankton Specialization if necessary :/)
Description: The Stickorus evolved to help trap and eat other multi-cellular creations in addition to its standard microbial fare. Its cilia extended longer and further from the stem, where enzymes make them sticky to the touch of other cells. Once a cilia makes contact it contracts while nearby ones reach to encircle the organism, spraying digestive fluid at it and breaking it down even as it attempts to escape its hold. It is all over when the organism reaches the cell body, as the surface cells work together to engulf its meal whole or in several parts.

It is extra sticky (x2) and has rather strong acid (x2) making only the more aware or dedicated creatures able to escape. They especially like to dine on Archaeofloatus when the tide is right, giving them dozens or hundreds of cells for very little investment.

Pingucomende Crawlus: merciary
Evolved from: Pingucomende
Genes added: Digestion x1 Crawling x1
Genes removed: -
Description: Being able to produce more energy from what food they are able to acquire has allowed the Pingucomende Crawlus to developed more independent locomotion and enabled it to reach richer areas.

Ngarta : Cannae
Evolved from: Archaeofloatus
Genes Added: Parasitism 1X, Swiming 1X
Genes Removed: Drifting 1X
Description: The Ngarta is a bizarre offshoot of the Archaeofloatus. What sets the Ngarta apart from other life-forms is it's reproduction cycle and diet. Ngarta reproduce by attracting predators which soon become a host to transport Ngarta Spawn. When the Ngarta Fry are able/ready to leave the host, they will soon consume it. After that point, the Ngarta loose all parasitic instinct and revert to photosynthesis.

Neofloatus: Algeroth
Evolved from: Archaeofloatus
Genes added: Buoyancy 1x, Communal Growth 1x
Description: This form of Archaeofloatus improved pumping into their central cavity enabling them to stay at the sea level, greatly improving their access to sunlight. It als started to assemble themselves into greater colonies, creating patches of floating green carpets that would block the sunlight from reaching down. While this effect wasn't much important on the open sea, it have greater impact on life near the shores and shallow lagoons.

Neofilium: Thlayli
Mobile filter feeder
Swarming
Evolved from: Archaic Life
Genes: Trapping Cilia x1, Digestion x1 [Plankton], Swimming x1
Description: active lifeforms that have small tubular bodies with bundles of cilia at each end. Usually, one end specialises in propulsion, the other in capturing food particles. They are found scattered throughout the oceans.

Evolves into

Shittu: Daftpanzer
Evolved from: Neofilium
Genes Added: Trapping Cilia [sucking water] x1, Burrowing x1
Description: The Shittu is a small creature that has both a larvae and an adult form. In its larvae form the Shittu looks very much like Neofilium (hinting at its evolution) and swims around feeding on bacteria and other small things. Once it finds an area with strong currents and rich water it goes through a small metamorphosis where its cilia specialize in sucking water (and food) in and become stronger, while out of the swimming muscles new back muscles grow that allow the creature to backward burrow into the sand, making it a small tube inside the sand filtering water.
__________________

Thankyou!!!

I will update when Lord_Iggy or Thlayli post an evolution

God's workshop is now in session:



For those curious as to how the pixel art style will end up, it should be a better and less-cutesy version of the work I did for my on-hold DaftNES IV:

Toxifilium: MoreEpicThanYou
Evolved from: Neofilium
Genes Added: Poison x1, Trapping Cillia x1 [Biting +1]
Genes Removed: -
Description: This evolution of Neofilium has evolved to have a strong poison in its body, enough to paralyze any larger creature that eats it. Also, they have evolved something of a mouth, a toothless hole that they can open and close to ingest food. They spend their lives swimming across the ocean, eating plankton.

Soleneidea Subterra: filli_noctus
Evolved from: Soleneidea
Genes: Digestion x1 [bacteria +1], Heat resistance, pressure resistance
Genes added: Digestion x1 [bacteria +1], Burrowing x1
Description: The Subterra evolution of the Soleneidea species has developed a slightly hardened taper at its' fore end allowing it to delve into the silt surrounding the vents to seek out deposits of the chemicals its' internal bacteria farm require, laid down in abiotic eras of the worlds development. Furthermore it has developed gastric secretions that are able to more efficiently extract energy from those bacteria than those of its' forebears.

Pingusatucinde: lord_joakim
Proto-parasite
Evolved from: Pingucomende
Genes: Digestion x1, Digestion resistance x1, Drifting x1, Dissolver x1
Genes added: Digestion resistance x1, Dissolver x1
Genes removed: Crawling x1
Description: Being devoured often, a subspecie of the Pingucomende evolves from the flourish of food chains and increasing predatorial activity. These organisms are a smaller size than contemporary species and emit a dissolving fluid while seemingly looking like Pingucomende. The specie feeds upon others, but in the face of being eaten itself, it releases the dissolver, attempting to eat the predator from its insides. In return, its digestion resistance genes offer protection against some digestional systems of contemporary cells.