NESLife attempt #3

@Kol.7, Iggy is correct, the original Zeeboos were Fulton's work. I want to encourage making new branches of things, it makes it more interesting, and realisitc.

Currently, this is your evolution for the next era:

Burrowing Zeeboo
Evolved from: Mountain Zeeboo

Genes added: Roots x2, Mineral eating x1, Airborne Seeds x1
Genes removed: none

The Mountain Zeeboo quickly began to adapt to their environment, as such, the Burrowing Zeeboo was created. The burrowing Zeeboo's roots can grow far, far deeper than their predecessors to allow them to access much greater amount of minerals, the roots are also able to extend over greater distances. When two burrowing zeeboo's roots attach they can cooperate by exchanging minerals, water and starch and they can communicate using sounds as well as a silently through their roots, what they used this communication for is as yet uknown. With roots now able to tap into underground lakes and rivers, sheltered from freezing, the Burrowing Zeeboo shouldn't have much touble finding water.

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Ahh yeah, that's what I thought I did thanks.

Also, the tapping into underground lakes/rivers would provide nutrients for them as well apparently.

This era is named after the Primus Lupivus, which was the most successful land predator at this time, and left behind many well-formed fossils.

The climate, which was already cold, became even colder. The Oltic Sea became fully trapped by the Asmara super-continent. The shallow coasts were home to large blooms of Cryo Bubbleo and Cryoalgae. But without ocean currents to stir up the water and supply oxygen and nutrients, the Oltic seabed became devoid of almost all life. Over millions of years, huge amounts of dead organic matter piled up on around the seabed without being decomposed by bacteria. Carbon was slowly sucked out of the atmosphere, enough to have a real impact on the climate.

Also, the collision of continents which originally formed Asmara was not quite over. More huge mountain ranges were born during this era. Glaciers followed their peaks to within a few degrees of the equator.

For those animals with little or no resistance to the cold, especially on land, there was a great shortage of habitat, and lots of competition. Only a few species were able to thrive during this era.

New Evolutions:


Planet Map:


The Air:



Climate problems were less of an issue for flying animals. The White Aurora in particular could make epic migrations every few months. Though, competition was still fierce in most areas.

The Royalis Jubblera soon became the most common Jubblera. Its new habit of burrowing into the ground gave extra protection from the elements as well as from predators. The Royalis is also notable as the most highly social of any animal so far, with various advantages. In particular, an attack on their nests would result in a rain of stinging acid spit, which was enough to put off all but the most desperate predator.

With eyesight specially adapted for seeing at night, the Silver Aurora carved out a niche for itself beside all the other Auroras. Its extra feathers were probably a response to the cold, though they may also have helped with aerodynamics. It was in fact one of the most successful Auroras, rivalled only by the ocean-diving Storm Auroras by the end of this era.

The Temptress Fador was the most unusual of the Auroras. It is widely believed to have used strong scent glands to attract insects, and this may well have worked to help it to find food. On the other hand, it has been suggested that a nasty scent was used to deter predators and to protect vulnerable eggs from being eaten. In any case, the Temptress's greater strength seems to have been most important, both for allowing attacks on larger land animals, and for fending off attacks by rival Aurora species.

The Land: Falciria



This continent went against the global trend in some ways. Glaciers did not advance too far, and they spawned rivers from their edges which helped larger plants to finally re-colonise the interior.

Tuughwurms continued to do well here. The ancient Leafworms were possibly extinct from both continents now, though it seems survivors were clinging on to remote islands.

By the end of this era, the Tuughwurms had given rise to the only predator which could hunt them. The Carniwerm was similar to the long-extinct giant worms of the past, though much better protected and able to dig much deeper. It did well feasting on Tuughwurms and the occasional Merlyte or Hiboryte which it could ambush underground, but rarely caught any other animals, mainly due to its slow speed and lack of senses.

Notable Plants:
Weak Fern, Tougher Zeeboos, Chungus, Super Lichen, Fire Moss, Buggy Moss, Parasitic Driftseed, Winter Fern

Notable Animals:
Saaranixes, Merlytes, Tuughwurms, Cephrivervalions, Rivervalions, Diggadids, Pre-Leggers, Ol Scrapers, Flevrytes, Blood Auroras, Jubbleras Sensicas, White Auroras, Silver Auroras, Carniwerms

The Land: Asmara



By the end of this era, herds of Frozuneas and Tundra Oltic Scrapers roamed the border of the glaciers, joining the older Gregarix species which still survived. Super Leggers had died out by now, handing the crown of largest land animal to the Frozunea. Frozuneas seem to have been the most succesful overall, being better adapted to the cold and able to venture further north, with the chance to nibble on the hardy Zeeboos that grew on the frozen wastes. Tundra Oltic Scrapers could at least hibernate through the worst times, as well as walk and run much faster. They were still very dumb, and their sense were still poor, but they were certainly more successful than their ancestors the Oltic Scrapers.

As mentioned, the Primus Lupivus was top land predator at the time, as well as the most sophisticated life form seen since the last mass extinction. It had the speed, strength, senses and brain power to take on any of the northern herd animals. Its think fur allowed to venture across most of Asmara below the glacier line, and live birth meant that their packs were more mobile instead of being stuck with eggs to guard. Though internally, the Primus's organs were still vulnerable to the cold, if it was caught in a sudden snow storm etc. Indeed, most Primus fossils seem to have come from animals that died this way.

The Valios Polykalios was the best climber of any animal seen so far, while still being fast on the open plains. If any prey animal tried to climb a tree to escape, it would soon regret it. The Valios would have been able to feast on snoozing Kuarytes and various other small animals. Though by the end of this era, there were only a few small pockets of suitably warm habitat left.



The All-eater Legger had the same problem of habitat, having no resistance to the cold. It was a very versatile and successful animal wherever the climate was warm enough for it. It remained a tough target for predators. And with their swimming ability, some had made it to the remaining islands of Lemunesia, full of insects to eat.

The Hiveworm was not the most noticeable of the new evolutions. Nonetheless it was one of the more successful species. Though hardly social enough to be called true 'hives', their scent-based groups were to be found buried amongst the forests and plains. Living underground gave some shelter from the cold, which gave them a little more habitat.

Much controversy surrounds the Symbicus, the most unusual life form to appear for a long time. Some claim it was a truly symbiotic plant, while others claim it was just a scavenger that got a head start by attacking weak and dying animals. Any benefit it gave its 'host' would seem to have been greatly dwarfed by the host's normal food, as most plant eaters would munch their way through vast numbers of plants every day in order to survive. In any case, the fossil record shows that the Symbicus was around in some numbers, competing with the original Chungus.

Finally, the Burrowing Zeeboo became the most successful of its kind. They were to be found defiantly growing amidst the ice and snow, and at the top of tall mountains, almost anywhere the rock surface was not buried too far down. Most of this success was owed to its ancestors, which also survived in large numbers, but its complex roots gave it the edge in the more extreme climates.

Notable Animals:
Terrarytes, Frozuneas, Gregarixes, Tundra Oltic Scrapers, Diggadids, Kuarytes, Kunatras, Hiveworms, Predarivervalions, All-Eater Leggers, Jubblerus Sensicas, Royalis Jubblera, Black Auroras, Silver Auroras, Royalis Jubblera

Notable Plants:
Burrowing Zeeboo, Mountain Zeeboos, Ice Zeeboo, Tarbanels, Winter Ferns, Novo Tranels, Tougher Zeeboos, Chungus, Woody Fanels, Weak Ferns, Super Lichen

The Oceans:



The oceans seemed to fare better than the land during this era. Sea temperatures fell only slightly compared to the land. Many species preferred the richer cold waters in any case.

Kingvalions remained top of the food chain, though their numbers were rapidly falling. Lack of tolerance for the cold was only one problem. With a lack of suitable large meals, they seem to have struggled to compete for shoals of smaller fish. Two new rival predators had appeared - the Packtudian and the Lordavalion.

The Packtudians were slower, especially with their large bulky claws in the way, but otherwise had few disadvantages. They were simple, social, and effective hunters of small fish. They were much more successful than the larger Travtudian during this era.

Lordavalions, though smaller than their ancestors, were still larger than the Packtudians. Lordavalions took over as the top mid-level predator, able to eat just about everything except the Kingvalions and increasingly-rare Yucky Sea Monsters. They were beginning to evolve resistance to cold water also.

Many ocean-floor species were still doing well. Most had hardly changed in millions of years, though the Amacilndasa Gigantocalcis was one exception, having evolved into a fairly large and very heavily armoured creature by the end of this era. It was basically immune to attack, though that did not help it find food.



The Eferscone family was continuing to branch out. The Strange Eferscone was another variety which ditched its exoskeleton, this time in favour of a mass of multi-purpose tentacles. It seems to have been quite successful, though not as numerous as the Spinaneraria. The Spinaneraria had inflatable buoyancy sacs which may have helped save energy when floating near the surface, and may also have helped movement across beaches and rock pools. It was certainly a very efficient trapper of insects, with complex digestion organs to match. It was at home in ponds, lakes and rivers far inland, as well as the coast.

The same could be said of the Predarivervalion, which was often to be found far out at sea, though it did most of its hunting by ambushing land creatures as they came to drink at rivers and water-holes. Large lungs allowed it to stay submerged for long periods, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Its reinforced skeleton and more powerful bite helped to take down prey quickly. Though, like its ancestor the Cephrivervalion, it was limited to the warm regions of the equator.

The Armored Amphibeel was less of a threat to land creatures, and still quite slow and awkward out of water, but it became much more widespread on land than its predecessors. Its hard and spiky scales helped to deter attack from rival predators it encountered along the way.

Meanwhile the Algaceae Dendrotrunkis was the only sea plant to evolve during this era. It was not a huge improvement on the ancient Algaceae Dendrocovitis species, but was soon gaining ground. Sticky seeds had evolved before, with mixed success. For now, there were enough small animals living and hiding amongst the algae for the seeds to be spread around.

Notable Animals:
Blizzardfish, Cloudfish, Panzerfish, Pondurytes, Arrow Finners, Packtudians, Lordavalions, Amacilndasa Gigantocalcis, Slimey Slugs, Mibblers, Driftworms, Bold Hunters, Shellster Gigantus, Crimson Slasheels, Voidus Garbageos, Nitros Intrepidus, Surf Auroras.

Notable Plants:
Aguaminarets, Bathyscapers, Cryoalgarp, Cyroalgae, Cryo Bubbleos, Spongita Terranovae, Spongita Wangosias, Algaceae Dendrotrunkis, Algaceae Dendrocovitis, Sea Fuzz.

Bonuses:
Plant award: Burrowing Zeeboo. Kol.7 has +1 gene bonus.

Animal award: Packtudian. c&civ3 has +1 gene bonus

Innovation award: Symbicus. Lord_Iggy has +1 gene bonus

Survival award: DISABLED for now.

Story award: Lord Iggy, who already has +1 gene bonus. So Charles Li has +1 gene bonus instead!

Problems:

@TerrisH, I think that actual hive building should be a separate gene, if there are going to be complex chambers and building of walls etc. Otherwise I assume its just digging big chambers at the moment.

@North King, I gave the Silver Aurora 'nocturnal vision', meaning extra adaptation for seeing in low light, though it doesn't add to the quality of normal vision. I think that whether or not something is a nocturnal creature should depend on its combination of genes, rather than being a gene itself.

ATTEMPTED VIOLATION: @tuxedohamm, I didn't realise until I was updating that you posted 2 separate evolutions yourself. Since I'd already drawn the Spinanera, I didn't add the Fossadid . That was meant as a replacement after what I said about air floating? I can use that next time if you want, or it might appear as an NPC evolution.

Species Stats:

That's okay. I think I originally misunderstood your comment on air floating as a no-go at the time and made a new evolution to replace it. For now just completely ignore the Fossadid. I might use it for this turn or maybe not. I'll have to think about it.

YAY UPDATE!

w00t w00t!

*starts a parade*

Scourge: TerrisH
Evolved From: Royalis Jubblera
Survival Status: Thriving
Genes (25): Eating Dead Things x2, Crawling x1, Complex Stomach x2, Water Retention x3, Eyes x1, Flying x3, Smelling x2, Cold Resistance x1, Acid Spit x1, Communal Behavior x5, Plant Eating x2, Digging x1, Brain Power x1
New gene: Long-term hibernating eggs x1, Flesh Eating x1, Acid Spit x1
Description: the Scourge. A dead end offshoot of the Jubblera family, they are undoubtedly one of the most destructive and deadly life forms to ever have existed on the planet. Countless bio-weapons have been produced from their extracted DNA.

Scourge begin their life as one of hundreds of thousands of eggs berried together in a pocket 2-4 meters underground. After several months (4-12, depending on how well its parents gorged themselves.) the eggs will hatch into a voracious grub that immediately turns upon the remaining unhatched eggs. Some of these eggs will hatch immediately, triggered buy other eggs hatching, and will live. Others will not be ready, or have died months before, and become food for the growing swarm. Fairly quickly, the grub’s shal begin to dig upward with their bellies full and their caprices hardening.

By the time they reach the surface, their carapace is almost fully hardened, and cracks open a few minutes later. The Scourge has reached its mature stage, though only 1/10 of the eventual size it will reach. Immediately it begins to seek out food, attacking and consuming anything organic in the vicinity of its emergence. The area nearby is quickly decimated, as over ten thousand of Scourge emerge from this nest. And from this point on, they are near unstoppable. For the next week, they are constantly on the move as a group, often covering several miles in a never ending quest to fill their bellies. Never stopping to sleep and consuming everything in their path as their eternal hunger and rapidly growing bodies push them on.

Eventually, they achieve their full size, or die and are consumed by the swarm. Now fully grown, the swarm mates and eats the males, then separates into 1-5 groups of females (depending on how big the swarm was, and how many are left). Each group sets down far away from the other groups, sheds their wings, and digs downward as a group. They construct a chamber to hold their eggs then lay hundreds of eggs each. They then return to the surface, seal the nest, and die.
The months pass, and eventually, a new Scourge swarm hatches, to begin the cycle again.

OOC: a self-destructive species. I expect them to either completely die out before the next update. They are an aberration of nature, a biological disaster I have been shaping for the past few updates.

AwesomeNESs!!!
A NESLife update. My life are now complete Actually no I want more of those , an unlimited supply ^^

Well good update as usual, and another cold age heh? Is this planet colder than real earth?
Evolution soon ^^ should I continue to upgrade my arrow finner into a sentient species... or should I continue my land creatures to evolve into small burrowing warm blooded cute little creatures that await their time... mm

Oh frig! did i forget to make a creature for the last update?

Caveworm
evolved from hiveworm
Genes added Cold resistance x1,Plant eatingx1, Communal behaviourx1

The caveworms continued to develop from their more primitave ancestors by dragging food back to thier burrows, sometimes working together to acheive this. Due to thier small size the food was typically either dead, or plant life, but still provided a store of food when conditions outside got tough. Thier name comes from the larger food storage areas which resembled caves rather than the tunnels of thier more primative ancestors.

Yay! Update! And we didn't doubt you for a second Evolution to come.

@TerrisH- Awesome animal. I don't think it's necessarily self-destructive, it will just have a boom and bust cycle.

Nice evolutions

Abaddon said:

Oh frig! did i forget to make a creature for the last update?

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Apparently yes

erez87 said:

Well good update as usual, and another cold age heh? Is this planet colder than real earth?

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Yes quite a bit colder on average. The equator is still warm, but much of that is dry desert or ocean.

TerrisH said:

I expect them to either completely die out before the next update

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My first impression is to agree with Lord Iggy. I can see them as a boom-and-bust species that could swarm every few years.

meh, your call daft. I have no plans on their survival, and I planed them as a dead end species. after this update, I'm going back to work on the royalis line.

Spongita Terranova: NPC
Evolved From: Spongita Terra
Survival Status: Competing
Genes Genes (13) Photosynthesis x3, Plankton Eating x2, Mass Reproduction x3, Poison x1, Roots x3, Parasitic Tendrils x1
Description: Smaller than its ancestors, but armed with flexible parasitic tendrils which can invade neighbouring plants/sponges. It can also trap and digest more plankton.


Spongita Snoscapis: squid1111
Evolved From: Spongita Terranova

Genes Genes (15) Photosynthesis x3, Plankton Eating x2, Mass Reproduction x3, Poison x2, Roots x3, Cold reesistancex2
Description: Live in the cold! Lost the tendrils but gets more potent poison.
OOC:we can add 3 genes a turn right? If not erase the bonus poison.

@TerrisH, I understand. Anyway it's a good philosophy not to expect things to survive for long

@Squid, yep 3 genes a turn, that is fine!

Hey daft how come there aren't patches of zeebooland in north asmara?

Land Spinaneraria: Fuschia
Evolved from: Spinaneraria
Genes(28): Swimming x3, Plankton Eating x4, Insect Eating x6, Exoskeleton x1, Spikes x1, Silk Production x2, Smelling x2, Eyes x1, Cold Resistance x2, Water Retention x2, Tentacle x2, Lungs x1, Crawling x1
Genes Removed: Drifting x2, Flotation Sacks x1
Genes Added: Cold Resistance x1, Lungs x1, Crawling x1
Description: Externally little different from its predecessor, the Land Spinaneraria's only major visual deviance was the internalization of its modified flotation sacs. These sacs, originally used to metastasize hydrogen, made a switch to become full-blown lungs, allowing survival outside of the water, although the Land Spinananeraria still retained its swimming and plankton eating capabilities. To adapt to the rigors of life on land and the dropping temperature, the Land Spinaneraria also added an additional layer of protection from the cold. Staying close to the water so as to supplement its main diet of insects with plankton, it colonized those areas close to rivers and bodies of water already filled with Spinaneraria, although its cold protection allowed it to survive in notable colder areas than its ancestor.


I hope there isn't anything wrong with it. Please let me know if there is.

RaspuWrum: Abaddon
Evolved from: Carniwerm
Survival Status: Thriving
Genes (13): Digging x3, Water Retention x 2, Crawling x 1, Eating Dead Things x2, Bristles x1, Plating x1, Flesh Eating x1, Jaws x1, Large Size x1
Add Genes (4) Plating x1, Plant eating x1, Jaws x 1, Crawling x 1

The carniwrum got chewing on plant roots, they don't run away and are an easy source of food. Other attributes increased to overall make the creature more efficient than its predecessor. Faster, tougher and with a bigger bite!
Description:

Cool stuff!

@Kol.7, I thought about having 'frozen zeeboolands' or something, but decided against it for now. The zeeboos are scattered amongst the ice and snow, not really in big concentrations.

@Fuschia, maybe only 1 lung is needed right now (few land animals have more than level 1 lungs, a bit of an anomoly in the game ). Instead, I'd reccomend adding x1 crawling or climbing for moving around on land, it would also go well with the tentacles.

@Abaddon, I don't believe you have a bonus, or do you have one saved from aother update? I see you're adding 4 instead of the normal 3...