*Notice: please check out the new official gene list on the front page, and what it says about digestion and various issues*
Ive made things more official to reduce confusion over what does what. Apologies that its too late for some creatures, which are treated harshly in this update. And apologises that the NPC evolutions are doing better than most
.
Some people didnt use the full two-gene allowance for evolving. That is fine, and can be a sensible move in order to keep species simple and efficient etc. But for this update I assumed they hadnt read about the rule change, so I doubled up what they did add.
I dont want to tell you how many hours this update took to sort out, and im still not happy with it. This was supposed to be a simple fast paced thing that wouldnt take hours
I have some ideas for simplifying updates in future. But any suggestions are very welcome.
Era 6: The Cranius Era
This era is named after the large increase in fossil bones that appeared at this time, particularly the skulls of the Cephalion. But the good times of the previous era didnt continue. Plankton and nutrients became more scarce, and the climate became a little more hostile during this era.
Winners:
The first creature to slither onto land had been the slimy Tidalblob (way back in the Oculus era), which didnt last long in the face of acidic slimes and urchins. After many more millions of years, animals finally returned to the shores in large numbers.
Dibbler-Extreme didnt do very well (see below), but both
Tidalworm and
Esturyte gained a foothold. Both of these were able to live together quite happily. The social Esturytes rarely had much luck eating the dangerous coastal plants, but they could use their claws to break apart dead animals, creating openings for the smaller Tidalworms. Both species were still tied to water - Esturtes still spent a lot of time back in the sea, grazing on the Bublimeon forests, while Tidalworms needed to hang out in rock pools or moist corpses to avoid drying out.
Algaceae Dendrocovitis took over as the dominant cold-water plant. Compared to other plants it was very complicated, but all its adaptations were paying off, for now at least.
Braciola was the only cold-water predator. Although primitive and only able to catch baby animals, it still did well due to the lack of competition and its low energy needs.
Ragcap was a successful parasite. It spread out from Sponges to other fleshy creatures.
Vegesuck (NPC) was an evolution of iSucky that began to specialise in eating and digesting plants. Combined with an exoskeleton for defence, this species began to do quite well.
Spikesters (NPC) were an evolution of the ancient Fangsters which had been around for a very long time. They kept the same simple design, but could eat plankton a bit more efficiently. And their fangs evolved into spikes, placed all over their bodies. This passive defence was more effective against the current range of predators.
Nitros Ridgius wasnt exactly thriving in huge numbers, but it fitted its niche very well (mineral feeding in the deep ocean) and had no predators. There were few other populations that were as safe as this.
The simple
Primitive Zeeboo steadily increased in numbers whenever it found an opening.
Forests of Bublimeon continued to thrive in the warm shallows, especially as the first urchin-eating creatures began to appear.
Wavys, Slitheries and Grabenbewohners all continued to do well and frustrate predators.
Stalkrex populations became more established. Overall, Stalkrex became the dominant predator at this time. Its DNA had changed little, but circumstances favoured it more than others.
Dibbler-Ice was still doing well as the only cold-water scavenger. It survived the downfall of Dibber-Extreme (see below).
Simple Jelly Sponges remained quite common, despite being eaten up all the time.
Maybees:
Ragsting (NPC) was another branch of parasite. It wasnt as efficient as Ragcap at sucking out juicy goodness, but it had stinging tentacles to prevent being picked off by other animals. In some ways it was able to cooperate with its host, offering a form of defence in return for sustenance.
The Wavy family spawned some more branches:
Cephalion was notable for having the beginnings of both a skeleton and a complex nervous system. Cephalion was the smartest living creature (though that wasnt really saying very much!). This was a promising species, and was only really held back because of its increased complexity, and because the Wavys and Slitheries already had huge established populations that tended to sweep up most of the plankton.
Leviathans size proved a good method of defence (especially with some Ragstings attached). Leviathan was an even more complex evolution of Slithery, making it the most complex animal at this time. They had large appetites and took a long time to grow, but they were able to swim through all the hot and cold waters of the ocean in the search for food. They had a small but steady population.
Doodler and
Omnidid began to battle for the cold shallows. Both were very similar to each other. The only real difference was that Omnidid was a stronger and more efficient crawler, but Doodler had a basic social behaviour. Fortunately there was enough food for both species to survive.
Urchin Finner took on the risky business of eating the urchin family. It had no competition for this, but wasnt quite successful enough to replace its simpler ancestors.
Sea-Spore Urchins parasitic spores were hit-and-miss. When an animal did fall victim, the young Urchins had a good start in life. But the simpler, normal spores of other Urchins still managed to do very well.
Tentalure kept its branch of evolution going. It could reproduce in greater numbers. And the lure was effective at snaring Wavys, turning their own eyesight ability against them. Though, the lack of dedicated flesh-eating digestion didnt help. It was very rare that Tentalure would encounter plants. It tended to stay clear of Bublimeon and the seafloor, so that it could spread a wide net without being tangled up.
By focusing on mass reproduction,
Spongita Plurus was able to do better than its ancestors, and was looking much less likely to go extinct.
Many other evolutions at this time were able to establish themselves, but didnt really thrive. Many older species had stable populations.
Losers:
FlapFlapGiggity took the route of its improving generalised digestion and poison resistance, which was soon the most advanced of any creature. But it still lacked decent weapons to actually subdue live prey. As things got tougher, it was outcompeted in every area by some other predator. It couldnt meet its needs by eating plants either. Sadly this species went extinct, bringing another branch of evolution to a close.
Défoncer le Charognard had a lot of potential, but its digestion tract still wasnt particularly well evolved. It rarely had enough energy to sustain all its swimming, crawling and digging. Its numbers remained low. It could only survive where there were lots of corpses to feed on, and faced tough competition from the social Scuterytes for these areas.
Green Hunter also had a lot of potential, as it was evolving gills for a faster metabolism. But still only had a basic generalised stomach to provide energy, which wasnt very efficient. In order to meet its needs, it needed to catch a lot more food than otherwise. This kept their numbers low.
Dibbler-Extreme had a very complex lifecycle, ranging from the deepest ocean depths, to the cold shallows, to dry land. It was actually the best-adapted creature for surviving on land for long periods. But it had a load of other adaptations that increased its energy needs. It couldnt meet these demands with its basic digestion ability. It was just too complex for any environment it was in, and eventually went extinct.
Jim Carey couldnt make the transition to predator. Its poisonous piercing spikes were a good weapon, but apart from that it lacked speed and senses, and could only hunt by luck more than anything. The other predators outclassed it by this stage. Their well-established populations didnt give Jim Carey any foothold, and this species eventually went extinct.
Jim Morrison was also struggling. Despite having the same poisons and piercing spikes, it lacked senses and was more vulnerable to ambush from the more-aware predators. These weapons were also expensive to grow. This species survived in dangerously low numbers.
Protospike went extinct as it was out-competed by the new sponges.
Many creatures were replaced by their more advanced descendents.
Zones:
Warm Shallows:
Cold Shallows:
Open Ocean:
Land:
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)*
Plant and animal bonuses are now semi-random, but will always go to successful species.
Plant award: Algaceae Dendrocovitis.
Niklas gets +1 gene bonus.[/U]
Animal award: Ragcap.
Disenfrancised gets +1 gene bonus.
Innovation award: Sea-Spore Urchin.
TerrisH gets +1 gene bonus.
Survival award: Slimeotron Mk III is the oldest player species to survive.
jalapeno_dude gets +1 gene bonus.
Genes Appearing in this Era: (exact details of new things to be added to the first page at some point)
Poison Resistance obviously, gives extra resistance to poison of other creatures.
Parasitic Tendrils allows parasites to dig deeper into the hosts body to access more juicy goodness, as well as anchoring themselves in place.
Parasitic spores spores which grow inside other creatures and make use of their nutritious insides
Brain Power together with a more complex nervous system, increases alertness and allows some basic planning and decision-making. Only becomes true intelligence at very high levels.
Cartilage a cheaper and more flexible version of Skeleton, though it doesnt provide the same amount of benefit.
Gills increase metabolism, speed, alertness and growth rates by taking in more oxygen but burns energy at a faster rate, requiring more food! Lungs would perform the same function on land.
Acid Resistance obviously, gives extra resistance to acid of other creatures.
Species Stats: (please check before evolving etc)
>>*Stats post link*<<
Note: I found and removed some more extinct species that shouldnt have been there before. Im happy that is reasonably accurate now.
BTW, the species list is approaching the max number of characters I can fit in one post, and im not happy about needing more posts. Mass extinction may soon be required
Problems:
@Lord_Iggy, ive replaced terralungs in your evolution with Water Retention, which other creatures have needed for getting onto land. Also I think gills and lungs should be kept as separate abilities that can be mixed and matched as needed. At the moment you dont need that, because I assume it has some kind of proto gills/lungs and a very slow metabolism.
@Mauritania, im not sure what cold blood respiration was meant to do exactly. Is this basically increasing metabolism? At the moment ive added double mineral eating instead, since I didnt see how faster reactions and growth rates etc would help your creature, seeing as it has found a niche in a very low-energy survival mode.
@Darkening, I know you said youd given up on this NES, but just to let you know, iive changed your creature large size became drifting ability (else it couldnt move) and pressure resistance became flesh eating (else it couldnt eat).
)
