NESLife attempt #3

awaiting update mostly patiently. but it has a huge sniper rifle

Daftpanzer said:

@ Fëanor, I hope you don’t mind if I copy the .MM files you posted. The program looks nice, I would like to have a go at using it myself.

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Thats what i posted them for everyone who wants can take them and use them for whatever means they wish.

i bet that someone that knows the basics of FreeMind can update each era in 5 mins or so, its a pretty fast and user friendly program

Sorry guys, I really wanted to update tonight but I was doing other things and now ive left it too late. My brain has switched into neutral and I cant think clearly . Sorry for making you wait for nothing. I Gotta get some sleep. I’ll have the update sorted out for tomorrow when I get back online.

BTW, here is a preview of the new species. Ive added three random NPC ones this time. Just wanted to post something at least.

BananaLee said:

Zergs are overrated

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Ultralisks are underrated IMO. Fully upgraded ultras attacking under dark swarm, with guardian support overhead and plague/ensare cast over the defenders = get through any defence. Though that takes a lot of coordination admittedly.

Looks good. I'll see it tomorrow then.

Can't wait to see it!

But would rather wait then get a rushed update...

What is the fish thing under the jellyfish looking thing? I think I will evolve off of that.

Edit: After the update of course.

Which one is the jellyfish looking one?

Are you talking the bottom left corner? Looks like somebody's working towards a lobster to me!

Actually I think we're in the Ordovician period as some fish have backbones now, Algae is on the land and the only thing we're missing is the early insects and creatures with shells.

Let's hope Daftpanzer does'nt go for the Ordovician mass extinction when the sea levels lowered significantly and the ice caps formed. You can see how everyone is clinging to the warm water zone how a third of all life on Earth was wiped out.

This era is so named because of the large increase in fossils that accumulated during this time, and the many new species of plants and animals that appeared. Changes in ocean currents and erosion patterns led to a large increase in nutrients in the water. This led to a boom in plankton, and thus plankton-eating creatures.

With more prey, things became a little easier for most predators, though competition was still very fierce. Different predators had different strategies. No single predator dominated, and none of them were really able to outmatch the defences of the prey species. Only young and weak animals were really vulnerable to predators.



Tenthydra survived in the same way as its ancestors, by randomly catching things in its tentacles (mainly Jelly Sponges and young Wavys). Its regenerative ability was useful for recovering from encounters with more dangerous spiky/poisonous creatures, which happened all too often. On the very rare occasion that it could trap and overpower these creatures, it had the best stomach of any predator for digesting these things.

Stalkrex’s electrical sense was a good all-round sense to have at close range. Stalkrex could hunt at night, or in the darker water in the transition zone between the surface and the deep. And in the shallows, it could also detect things moving on the seafloor much easier. This gave it lots of potential prey, although actually eating it was another matter. It relied on ambush rather than speed, it couldn’t cope with poisonous prey, and like other predators of the time, it lacked the weapons to easily defeat armoured/spiky/clawed species. In particular, many Stalkrex’s died after blundering into Jim Morrisons (the uber-poisonous evolution of Jim2, which it replaced). But the Stalkrex had inherited a digestive tract that was entirely dedicated to flesh-eating, making it the most efficient at getting energy from any non-poisonous food it was able to eat.

Biter Mark II’s made the transition to omnivore, losing the plankton-eating ability of its predecessor (which still survived in small numbers). Its fangs allowed it to tear off chunks off plants and sponges, but its main food was other animals. Its smelling ability was good for tracking down prey over long distances, and good for differentiating between easy prey and dangerous poisonous ones. But it was not so good in a close-range chase. And like the other predators, its fangs were often matched by the prey’s defences. Also, its generalised stomach couldn’t cope with nasty things as well as Tenthydra’s, nor was it as efficient at digesting flesh as the Stalkrex’s. Though this creature did have speed on its side, being the only predator capable of occasionally catching Wavys at top speed.

Agnolotti was a promising evolution. Its jaw was still a better tool than most for getting through shells and exolskeletons. It also had a decent rate of speed, comparable to the Biter Mark II, and had a dedicated flesh-eating digestive tract. But its lack of senses meant that it couldn’t make the most of its advantages. As things turned out, Agnolotti never won any predatory niche’s (itself being vulnerable to ambush from other predators). It eventually went extinct, sadly bringing to a close the whole Calzone-Agnolotti branch of evolution.

Like the Stalkrex, the FlapFlapRevolution hunted by ambush, mainly at night, using vibration detection. It could swim across large distances of ocean, then lie in wait, and use its sucker mouth when something came close. Sounds good, but it had no fangs or any real weapons at all. Its only hope was to suck in baby animals, Jelly Sponges or unarmed Wavys. Like the Biter MkII, It had no digestive advantage. FlapFlapRevolution could also feature on the menus of other predators. And many were killed by sucking Jim Morrison hmm.

iSucky still survived, and hadn’t changed for many millions of years. It had settled into more of a plant-eating role, though it would still suck up any vulnerable animals it spotted. It wasn’t particularly efficient at this, but neither was the competition. It’s long-established populations in the shallow waters kept out the FlapFlapRevolution. The FlapFlaps were very close to extinction by the end of this era.

Going back to Wavys, this species continued to thrive, soon numbering countless billions with the boom in plankton, but two sub-species appeared. Grabenbewohner was a more social creature, which started gathering into shoals to confuse and intimidate predators. Though ironically this made a great target for Tenthydra’s net of tentacles, if one was lucky enough to stumble across it. Grabenbewohner became more common in shallow waters, where its group tactics provided better defence against ambush attacks, and Tenthydras were rare.

Meanwhile Slithery became the most efficient plankton-eating machine at this time, gathering more energy to fuel its more complex body. It was also able to survive and spread in cold water. Slithery was however a very complex creature compared to others at this time, taking longer to grow and breed (and providing a very nutritious meal for any predator that could catch one). Anyway, neither of these species could replace the old Wavy. All varieties had strong populations by the end of this era.

Inbetween these masses, the strange looking Finner SkeloSpike appeared, noteworthy as being the first swimming animal with a skeleton.

And speaking of cold water, a long-overdue invasion of animals was taking place. Slitherys were joined by the simple Dibbler-Ice and the Dripper (cold-water evolution of Diddler). They found a paradise of abundant plants, lots of decaying matter, and no predators. Intertwined masses of Dendroalgae covered the most fertile seabeds. Simpler Cryoalgae survived in other places.

The Dibbler-Ice and Drippers soon had large populations. Dibbler-Ice only scavenged and didn’t harm the living plants. The claws of the Dripper did cause a lot of destruction, but the overall populations of the plants weren’t threatened.

Slithery couldn’t find much plankton in the cold to match its energy needs, even with its extra efficiency. Its numbers here remained quite low.

Meanwhile, in the warm shallow seafloor, things settled into a steady pattern. Protodids (the leggier evolution of Diddler, which it eventually replaced) ate the sponges and plants, while using their claws to scrap with each other. Scutterytes were still doing well, dividing up the corpses and dead things that accumulated on the seabed. The primordial little Dibblers survived on any scraps that were left. There was plenty of food for all these creatures. Though things were occasionally disturbed by menacing blooms of acidic Sea Urchins (still more of a plant than an animal, though it blurred the line between them).

The Sea Urchins came at the same time as the appearance of simple Proto-Zeeboo (with chemicals causing a pain response when eaten) and vast forests of Bublimeon (the replacement of Bubble Slimeo, having a stem system and could grow to great heights, reaching right up to the water surface). Bublimeon was particularly successful, and plunged large parts of seafloor into darkness as they spread (occasionally opened up again as gatherings of Sea Urchins attacked their roots, or Protodids infested their stems). The ancient Slimeotron Mk III came close to extinction, only surviving thanks to its hardy hibernating spores.

Spongita Auxillia’s poison adaptation was nothing ground-breaking. But it was enough to replace its ancestors and hold off extinction for now.

Finally, Nitros Deepious became the new mineral-eater, now able to travel into the depths of the ocean (and the only creature currently able to actually feed on anything there). Although free from predators in the depths, the low-energy diet was a struggle on its own.

Many old species still survived more-or-less unchanged, such as the SkeloSpike, Spongita Tanegashima and Ragworm.

Random NPC evolutions: (three this time)
Sandworm was a very primitive creature, but the first to have any substantial burrowing ability. It burrowed in the sand to protect its vulnerable body, with the ‘head’ occasionally extending outwards to sift plankton from the water.

Scuterpaddle was a random evolution of Scutteryte that evolved a clumsy swimming ability, enabling it to search a wider area for food, as well as providing a means of escape from some unfriendly creatures. But as its population was lower and more scattered, it lost the communal behaviour of its ancestor.

Lichen evolved from the Slimeotron Deslover, and was able to survive further inland (making use of acid to dissolve minerals from the bare rock surface).

Warm Shallows: (kinda crowded )


Cold Shallows:


Open Ocean:


Land:


Species Stats: (please check before evolving etc)
*Stats post link*

Bonuses:
*Note that bonuses add to the new 2-gene default, making 3 additions allowed in total (or 4 genes for a brand new species)*

Dibbler-Ice gets a bonus for doing well. Splime has +1 gene allowed for next evolution.

Story bonus for Lord_Iggy, +1 gene bonus.

Innovation bonus for Agnolotti and co, even though they went extinct. ~Darkening~ +1 gene bonus.

Bublimeon is doing well. Abaddon, +1 gene bonus.

Dendroalgae doing well, Niklas +1 gene bonus.

North King’s species are doing so well that they are kinda stagnating, no bonuses this time

Name: Dibbler-Extreme
Evolved from: Dibbler-Ice
Gene added (max 2 + 1 bonus): Water Retention x2, Pressure Resistance X1
Gene removed (optional, max 2):
Description (optional): The Dibbler-Ice has evolved into Dibbler-Extreme, a creature which can survive in many more environments. This allows for further expansion of their survivability range.

Mauritania said:

Let's hope Daftpanzer does'nt go for the Ordovician mass extinction when the sea levels lowered significantly and the ice caps formed. You can see how everyone is clinging to the warm water zone how a third of all life on Earth was wiped out.

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No comment

BTW, the 'sandworm' thing is supposed to be in the warm shallows zone, somewhere

Yeah, I was kinda stumped as to how to improve...


Slithery: North King
Evolved from: Wavy
Genes (9): Plankton Eating x3, Swimming x2, Vibration Sense x1, Eyes x1, Pressure Resistance x1, Cold Resistance x1
Description: Much like the Wavy, these have added another innovation: baleen, a sort of hair-like substance in the mouth that strains out plankton and makes feeding even easier. In addition, the last area of the Earth's waters that remained without them--the colder waters--could now inhabited, due to more fat insulating their bodies. Thus, they were a viable creature to dwell in any environment.

Name: Leviathan
Evolved from: Slithery
Gene added (max 2): Massivenessx1, Internal Skeletonx1
Gene removed (optional, max 1): None
Description (optional): A split off from the ever successful and massive Wavy and its somewhat less successful Slithery, the Leviathan has eschewed the grace and speed of the Wavy in favor of a different approach: its sheer massive size is intimidating and powerful enough that only the most skilled or numerous of predators can bring it down. It has an endoskeleton to help support its structure and allow it stronger movement. It looks something like a cross between a Slithery and a Whale. Its size means it mostly sticks to the deeper waters, except that it must come up to the shallows to feed.

Défoncer le Charognard:Slavic Sioux
Evolved from: Scuterpaddle
Genes (5): Crawling x2, Swimming x1, Eating Dead Things x1, Exoskeleton x1, burrowing x1
Description: The Défoncer le Charognard is a more advanced version of the Scuterpaddle. The Défoncer le Charognard is able to burrow deep underground so that it could get away from possibal preadtors that would otherwise be able to eat it.

It's a good thing I wrote up my next two evolutions

Spoiler for Biter MK II:


In order to simplify the "tree", can I re-name my last two creatures? The "Biter" will become the "White Hunter" while the "Biter Mk II" will become the "Black Hunter". Just to give a little more consistency. The colors don't actually match the creature's color (unless you want to!), they will just distinguish the different generations. I figure it's easier than coming up with a new name every couple creatures, and sounds better than Mk I Mk II, etc. For now I will just reference the Biter Mk II below:

Green Hunter
Evolved from: Biter Mk II (Black Hunter)
Gene added: Gills, Cartilage
Genes (7): Gills x1, Complex Stomach x1, Swimming x2, Smelling x1, Fangs x1, Cartilage X1
Description: All that swimming, combined with digesting more complex tissues than plankton consumes a lot of energy. With the mutation of gills, allowing the predator to extract considerably more oxygen from the ocean than was possible from just absorbing it directly through it's skin, the green hunter is truly a fearsome predator! Capable of not only swimming faster but also maintaining that speed over longer distances they are capable of catching any that currently exists in the primordial soup this early ocean has become. They are also more than capable of outrunning any creature that would think to make dinner out of them!

Gills, Fangs, Complex Stomach, Scent Glands, superior swimming ability...

That's quite a lot of organs for a little squishy mass with "teeth" to maintain. Consuming live prey, combined with the superior oxygen extraction capabilities provided by the gills creates a high metabolism rate. But to survive with such a high metabolism, the Hunter has to swim and eat pretty much constantly from the time it's born to the time it dies. The added minerals consumed from eating live prey provided the raw materials for the next step in the hunter's evolution- cartilage. Similar to a skeleton, but flexible a cartilage structure does not impede the hunter's swimming ability. While it adds some weight to the body, it also transforms it from a wiggly, squishy mass with teeth into more of a sturdy, hardy creature. This has a couple benefits. First, the hunter still needs to keep swimming to keep from suffocating. With the cartilage giving a sturdy body, it can build up some momentum and coast for periods of time, allowing it periods of rest. Second, this allows it to more accurately zero in on it's prey when it's tracking it down with it's sense of smell, again making it more efficient as a hunter. Third, while not quite "jaws" yet, the added stability allows it to put more force behind it's bites, making it a stronger hunter.

FlapFlapGiggity: BananaLee
Evolved from: FlapFlapRevolution
Genes (5): Sucker Mouth x1, Complex Stomach x1, Swimming x1, Large Fins x1, Vibration Sense x1
New Genes: Poison Resistancex1, Complex Stomach +1
Description: In time, the digestive system of the FlapFlapRevolution obtained much stronger stomach acids and a greater resistance to the poisons excreted by its prey (those which survived eating poisonous prey got to spawn more resistant strains of FFR). The stronger stomach acids enabled it to eat almost anything under the sun.

ooooh! so many ideas! you sure i can't evolve 5 creatures?

Also, the stats don't seem correct... a lot of species you say are extinct still exhist in the stats..

Spongita Auxillia: MjM
Evolved from: Spongita Carnivorita
Genes (5): Plankton Eating x1, Large Size x1, Mass Reproduction x1, Flesh Eating x1 Poision x1
Description: The Spongita Auxilla is a subspecies of Spongita Carnivorita which has developed a sort of poison, coarsing through it's cells. Spongita Auxilla's poison may not kill it's eater, but may ward off some attackers. Also, the Sponge is immune to this poison.

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Spongita Plurus: MjM
Evolved from: Spongita Auxillia
Genes (5) Plankton Eating x1, Large Size x1, Mass Reproduction x2, Poisonious x1
Genes Removed: Flesh Eating
Description: The Spongita Plurus is a semi-evolved form of Spongita Auxilia. The complex digestive juices in its inside rarely worked, and with predators now becoming more and more complex and able to sense where they are, the Sponges last ditch effort is to simply reproduce like mad.

The Tenthydras regeneration made them practically immortal, their only real enemy had become starvation and with its preys becoming increasingly good at detecting threats the Thenthydras future started to look bleak, to avoid starvation some Tenthydras evolved a luring tentacle, this tentacle could lure its preys by moving in a certain way, luring creatures that relied on sight or vibration senses to survive, these new Tenthyrdas also became hermaphrodites to solve the problem of their low numbers due to the low chances of two of their species encountering and mating.

Tentalure: Fëanor
Evolved from: Tenthydra
Genes (5): Complex Stomach x2, Water Jet Propulsion x1, Poison Tentacles x1, Regeneration x1
Gene added (max 2): 1x Lure, 1x Hermaphrodite
Description (optional): Predatory creature that Lures its preys and ensnares them in his Poisonous Tentacles, it has one of the most advanced and Complex Stomach in existence that enables it to extract nutrients from about any creature, his Water Jet Propulsion allows to move between the various currents where it hunts for food, it can Regenerate serious wounds, they are Hermaphrodites and thus can reproduce both by itself or through mating with others of their species.

Sea-spore Urchin: TerrisH
Evolved from: Sea Urchin
Genes (8): Photosynthesis x2, Water Retention x1, Acid x1, Piercing Spikes x1, Crawling Roots x1, Scavenging Roots x1, Smelling x1
New Genes: Photosynthesis x1, Parasitic spores x1(larval plankton stage actively seek to be eaten, upon which they burrow into the host flesh until they reach the host's skin, and grow into full fledged Sea Urchins. usually, they're fatally to the host animal, and serve as food for an immediate spawn cycle.)
Lost Gene: Water RetentionX1
Description: the sea urchin. when prey and corpses to eat became sparse upon the beaches, some of the urchins turned back to the sea, where they quickly became a scourge. slowly moving across the sea bed, they would move until they smelled an immobile food source, be it a corpse, another slime, or a sponge colony. then they would dig their roots in, feeding upon the source slowly over a period of several days, during which they would spawn and replicate. soon, their acidic nature evolved to carry on into their spores. capable of occasionally surviving digestion, their spores soon took on a parasitic quality, turning those that preyed upon the spores, the plankton eaters, into the prey for them.

TerrisH said:

Sea-spore Urchin: TerrisH

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That's just nasty!