NESLife attempt #3
- Thread starter Daftpanzer
- Start date
Luckymoose
The World is Mine
last turn said:
Evolution Template:
Kakoo : Luckymoose
Evolved from: Penniger Lacerta
Gene added (you can add two): Flesh Eating x1, Feathers x1
Gene removed (optional, max 2):
Description (optional): A continued and much greater evolved version of the Penniger. The feathers are longer and over the full body. Color changes during the year for seasons and the plants around. A more complex flesh eating ability allows for the more efficient eating of those tasty anthropods. The feathers still do not allow flight but the front legs are still shrinking and folding back a little more. Giving for a more two leg walking behavior when in a running or fast walking mode. The rest of the time it crawls with the smaller front legs over things like rocks and such.
North King
blech
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,165
Spoiler :
Longbay Cloudfire: North King
Evolved from: Skyscreamer
Genes (22): Swimming x1, Vibration Sense x1, Eyes x2, Cold Resistance x1, Flying x4, Jaws x1, Flesh eating x3, Cartilage x1, Lungs x2, Water Retention x3, Crawling x1
Description: A long ranged inland flier, it is a branch off of the Skyscreamers which has moved into a different niche: that of long-range, inland predators and migratory flying creatures. Thus, it has lost many of the swimming abilities of its old cousins; preferring to swoop down on land dwellers inland.
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
No update tonight, as you can tell 
I better not make a promise for tommorrow either. But I expect to be done soon.
At least I will have time tommorrow to add these new species. Thanks @North King and Luckmoose. Anything else from this point will have to wait until next time though.
@erez87, that is awesome!
The Bitey Finner will be an omnivorous version of last era's Mouha Finner. Also I've now changed my picture for Xoso Finner to add another smaller pair of fins, as I noticed thats the way you originally described it 
I better not make a promise for tommorrow either. But I expect to be done soon.At least I will have time tommorrow to add these new species. Thanks @North King and Luckmoose. Anything else from this point will have to wait until next time though.
@erez87, that is awesome!
The Bitey Finner will be an omnivorous version of last era's Mouha Finner. Also I've now changed my picture for Xoso Finner to add another smaller pair of fins, as I noticed thats the way you originally described it
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
I believe they hadn't posted any evolutions yet, or if they did then they are breaking the law and will be attacked by sea urchins!
LittleBoots
The Bloody Banner
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,979
Daft, will my evolution be included? I sent it to you a while ago, just making sure.
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
Era 18: Mass Extinction Event #2
A large asteroid tore its way through the charged particles in the atmosphere of Delta Panzerus, leaving a dazzling column aurora in its wake. The blazing mountain-sized rock was heading for a rendezvous with the planets surface below, in a few milliseconds time. On this occasion, it was no near-miss. The impact site was a large island off the south-east coast of Caliburnia. A cold but lush island, the surface covered over by a canopy of Proto-Tranel branches, beneath which a variety of other plant and animal species flourished. Just a few prowling Skyscreamers and brave Clepsurytes where to be seen above the treetops. For a split second, they registered a blinding light, before being vaporised...
A hemisphere of superheated rock, metal and water exploded many kilometres into the sky, completely obscuring where the island had been, and stretching far out over the surrounding waters. Beneath it, a shockwave powerful enough to disintegrate internal organs was spreading out in all directions. As it passed, it whipped up the water into towering tsunamis of epic proportions. The shockwaves travelled faster still through the solid crust, where they tore open any geological fault-lines they crossed. Within minutes, severe earthquakes where taking place all across the planet. By the time the Tsunamis made landfall, volcanoes of all ages were already being stirred into action, with much greater violence than usual.
Outside of the vaporisation radius, the surviving land creatures were being pelted with hot debris from various directions. All over the planet, the life-giving sun was rapidly disappearing from view, as a mixture of superheated impact fallout and volcanic ash lodged itself in the upper atmosphere, pulling a darkened shroud over the devastation below.
And so another chapter of evolution ended...
It was the first large impact to occur on the planet since complex life began, and the fossil records show that it was generally a very bad time for life. Though, it was not quite as catastrophic as might be expected. Almost all main lines of evolution were able to survive, minus some of their branches.
It seems that the climate - already unstable before the impact - fluctuated wildly for millions of years afterwards. The planet seemed to be confused about whether to freeze over, due to the lack of sunlight hitting the surface, or to heat up, due to the millions of tons of insulating gases that had also been pumped into the atmosphere. It did both, at different times, for reasons that are not entirely clear. It seems that violent volcanic forces continued for millions of years after the impact, which may have complicated things. Some places on land are known to have been routinely covered in ice miles thick, which melted and formed again every few hundred thousand years.
The lack of sunlight, combined with the chaotic climate, killed off most of the plant life on land and sea. Most of the plains reverted to bare rock and desert. The forests disappeared altogether (though most of the tree species had a few survivors left). And the supply of plankton, which had already been unreliable before the impact, now became very scarce indeed.
Most herbivore species (minus the largest ones) and plankton eaters (minus the less mobile ones) were skilled enough to survive, at least in very small numbers, wherever scraps of food were left. It was the predators that had the hardest time - scavengers too, once their initial feast was over. Prey was not only less numerous but much more widely scattered.
Pack hunting tactics could help in some circumstances, but there was rarely enough prey anywhere to support a whole pack. The predators that could hunt on their own, and cover large areas most efficiently, were the ones who had best chance of catching enough food. Being an omnivore was also a mixed blessing - it was generally advantageous, though most of the specialists could get more energy out of their chosen foods. In cases where there wasn't any variety on the menu, it was the specialists that lived and the generalists that died.
At the end of Era 18, the bad times and extinctions were still not over. The climate was stabilising, but at a much higher average temperature than before the impact. The ash had cleared from the skies, and the 'greenhouse' effect fully took over. The earlier cold snaps had killed off many creatures that couldn't survive low temperatures, and virtually none of the surviving species were well suited for dealing with the heat. The extensive ice sheets had all melted, grounding down the mountains in the process, and carrying layers of new sediments into the oceans. All this raised sea levels and created vast areas of warm, fertile shallows, good for the recovery of sea plants (and those that fed on them), but not much else. Plankton levels remained low, while much of the potentially-fertile land surface was suffering extreme dryness and ongoing volcanic eruptions. A change in ocean currents was sending much less rainfall over the continents. For the many species that were struggling, there was no guarantee that they would survive the next era...
New Evolutions:
Planet Map:
The Land:
Both continents were left looking quite similar - desolate interiors, with scrubby vegetation near the coasts, and the odd tree surviving in an isolated spot.
Among the predators and scavengers, it was the fliers and the long-range walkers (like the Sandavalions and their cousins) that were most likely to survive. The powerful Keldots and Xevrons were slower, and sadly could not survive the cold or drought. But these fearsome predators still stand out for being the kings of their age, and the deadliest killers the planet had produced up to this point.
The Audorix almost joined them in extinction. Even with their increased intelligence, senses and resistance to cold and dry weather, only a handful were able to survive in the more sheltered parts of Caliburnia.
Dendravalion had evolved to become the first climbing predator, just as the forests were blown away. Nonetheless, it was able to cope with life on the plains too. There were still occasional clumps of trees to be found, but too few to support Clepsurytes for very long.
Clepsurytes had been one of the most numerous species before the impact, but now had only a few scattered survivors. They became nomads like everything else, but were quite clumsy and vulnerable on the open plains. For a while they had benefited from their cold-weather resistance, which was better than any other animals. Still, they were soon left baking in the rising heat, by which time the older Scensurytes had been killed off.
Jubblerus Frigidus was the only survivor from the Jubblerus family. Its slight resistance to cold was enough to get it through the cold times. Though it still only lived near the coast, and could not venture as far into the baking interior as the other animals - not that there was a great deal of scavenging to had there right now.
It was a similar story for the predatory Longbay Cloudfire, though it was able to venture further inland and could still take trips out into the ocean. But lacking weapons, it still depended on small or young animals, of which there were hardly any. The few survivors depended on their improved flying ability, as they constantly migrated around the planet in search of any food they could find.
The Cavorytes were replaced by the cold-adapted Hiborytes, before temperatures began to rise again. The Hiborytes were nonetheless quite successful, or at least survived better than most others, as they could dig in and try to sleep through the worst extremes.
Unfortunately for the Hiborytes, the Mouthvalion could also do the same trick, and was the only predator left on the Caliburnia continent that was able to dig up burrowing creatures. It wasn't a plentiful food source by any means, but it was enough to ensure its survival. Hibernation had its limits though - as seasons could rarely be depended upon, food was likely to be scarce all year round, no matter how long was spent waiting.
The Kakoo was unique to Agonia, and was similar to its cousin the Mouthvalion. Its superior strength was useful for dragging burried animals out of their holes. Though it could not hibernate, it had increasingly thick feathers, which were a versatile method of surviving the weather - they provided some protection from the cold, but could also be shed if it got too warm.
The Zibbler-21 had been around for a very long time (it would have been the longest surviving land animal), but now lost out to the other land scavengers - the Leafworms and Hiborytes that could dig for shelter.
Sextuplers were unable to stay together in packs, and had to roam around as pairs or as individuals, with little chance to prey on other animals. Cronodids were much better suited to this lifestyle, and could also get the most nutrition out of the plants they came across. The older Terradid MrkII's still survived in Agonia, but the Giant Terradids had all starved to death. Also, the Sextuplers still had no real lungs, and tended to be very lethargic compared to other land animals. That helped with conserving energy, but not with actually finding food in the first place, or fending off attack from desperate predators.
The Tougher Zeeboo, unique in being resistant to both heat and extreme cold, had been able to survive in much greater numbers than other plants. Vast fields of these Zeeboos were spreading over large parts of Caliburnia. A handful of Multiplying Zeeboo still survived in Angonia.
The open plains had much less variety after the impact. Previously, they had mainly been a mix of Protofernus Gramhier and Patchy Fern. Patchy fern was the only survivor of these two, probably thanks to its deeper roots. Meanwhile the older Proto-Moss had survived thanks to its simplicity and its few demands, while the ancient Fanel (ancestor of the Fanel and Tranel trees) had died out.
As for the trees, the forests had gone, but most of the recent species had a few scattered survivors, especially the Proto-Tranels with their handy bulbous roots. The more 'active' Attack-Tranels were fewer in number, and present only in Caliburnia. The carnivorous mutation was more of a burden at this time, as there were simply too few animals around. Otherwise these trees did share the advantages of the Proto-Tranel.
The Scavenger Fanel had begun to appear just before the impact, and was able to survive in Agonia, especially thanks to its scavenging roots.
Coastal-dwelling amphibian species had a very tough time - either stuck to limited coastal territory, or outclassed by dedicated sea and land animals elsewhere. As Mudvalions and Beakvalions died out, the Lungscraper seemed an unlikely survivor. But it did survive - probably by swimming between small islands and exploiting any hardy plants that still grew on them, after their original inhabitants were killed off.
Agonia
The continent had now lost most of its Repsiryte-related animals (IE climbers like the Clepsuryte, and predators like the Audorix) as well as all those related to Land Quintuplers. There were very few trees in general, and the carnivorous Tranels were still missing. Though the continent now had the Kakoo and a few unique plant species of its own.
Caliburnia
Still home to a greater variety of animals, and had most of the habitable land. It is estimated that the Oroseph peninsular alone wass home to 50% of the worlds trees and land animals at this time.
The Oceans:
In some ways, the oceans were more forgiving, as things were more sheltered beneath the waves, and there was much more room for various species to survive in isolated places. Still, the oceans lost most of their warm-water species, and all of the largest animals.
With no ice left at the poles, and with everything moving around in a constant search for food, there wasn't any real divide between warm and cold waters like before.
Ancient Cryoalgae and Algaceae Dendrocovitis were hardy enough to survive the cold, and now found themselves living in the warmest tropical waters. They were not as efficient away from the cold, but they faced no opposition.
It was the same story with the simple Spongita Chilled, though it had to compete with a tiny number of dangerous Spongita Terranova, a smaller but more sophisticated descendent of the large evolved sponges.
The Bubble Zeeboo is notable for its survival - somehow it survived the cold spells while other warm water plants went extinct. It may have been just simple enough to keep its reproduction rate above its death rate.
Many of the swimming scavengers went extinct - Bluffers and Dibbler MkII's among them - as there was simply too much competition. The Garbageous Megatronus and Sapphire Huntreels were among the survivors.
Technically, the adaptable Sociavalions remained the top predators in the ocean, but they had a dangerously small population, and could not function in groups like before. They only survived thanks to their good mix of senses, speed, reasonable intelligence, and efficient digestion. Meanwhile their cousins the Intellavalions went extinct, despite being the most intelligent creatures to appear up to this point.
The Quintupler's situation was similar to the Simplavalion, though they had the added problem of trying to find enough food by slowly crawling around on the sea floor, and were never too far from extinction.
By comparison to the complex Sociavalions, the Ghostrex was a simple and undemanding creature. That combined with its unique hunting strategy (an electrical sense and skin camouflage) allowed it to survive for now.
The Flying Amph went extinct as the mass swarms of Cloudfish and Redfish it depended upon no longer existed, leaving the Longbay Cloudfire as the only survivor of its family. The Stormus Pisces also went extinct with the lack of its favourite prey.
Both Cloudfish and Redfish did survive, but in far smaller numbers than before. Their wasn't enough plankton for the Megacloudfish to survive.
The Xoso Finner had a fast metabolism and big appetite, which should have been a recipe for extinction. Nonetheless it was an efficient swimmer, allowing it to search huge areas of the oceans in search of plants. And when it found them, it could digest them more efficiently than other creatures. A handful of this species were able to survive.
The Finners not only survived but diversified. The Bitey Finner shared most of the advantages of the Xoso, but also took to hunting whatever small animals it came across in its travels. Though it was also on the edge of extinction during this era.
The simple Bubbler Munchers, although outclassed in every area by more complex creatures, may well have been able to survive long term - that is if they hadn't succumbed to the worst extremes of weather following the impact, combined with lack of plant/sponge cover to hide in.
The Velenus Primus went extinct, unable to find enough food by drifting along - it couldn't catch enough plankton this way, and the Finners tended to strip plants of their tasty bits before it could arrive. But its cousin the Shellster Kipinus managed to survive. Although a slow swimmer, the armoured Kipinus clung on by being very good at filtering and digesting plantkon, which it could do much more efficiently than the Cloudfish/Redfish. Or the Yuckius Lookus for that matter - which went extinct, sadly brining the original plankton-eating line of Yuckius species to a close.
Meanwhile, both the Yuckius Prettius and Tentacold had evolved identical ways of hunting (ambush using a lure), and sadly only the Prettius was able to survive. The Tentacold had enough poison to kill just about anything it met (the most poisonous creature known up to this point), but the Prettius's jaws were good enough, and it was also more efficient at digesting its meals and moving long distances, not to mention the fact that it could travel further down into the depths to hunt the creatures down there. Still, the Tentacold's family had achieved much in their time, and had lasted for hundreds of millions of years.
Both Grey Hunters and Great Hunters went extinct, but the newer Shy Hunter species was able to scratch out a living nearer the sea floor, and survive for at least a little longer.
The bottom of the ocean, with its food chain based on chemosynthesis, was able to carry on much the same as before. The steady population of Nitros Intrepidus provided a trickle of food that sustained Simplavalions and Sapphire Huntreels (both relying on their vibration sense in the dark). The ancient Pondurytes and Bathyscapers were still living down there quite happily.
The crash in animal populations was not enough to eradicate the Clinging-Tick, which lived on to torment new generations of sea animals, though conditions on land were currently too harsh for it to get a foothold there. The Infil-cult was still around too, as was the Resistousis Helifish that prayed on it.
Bonuses:
Plant award: Tougher Zeeboo. Fulton gets +1 gene bonus.
Animal award: Jubblerus Frigidus. Splime gets +1 gene bonus.
Innovation award: Kakoo. Luckymoose gets +1 gene bonus.
Survival award: Leafworm. Abaddon gets +1 gene bonus.
Story award: North King gets +1 gene bonus.
!Evolution Rule Scrapped:!
I want to abandon the rule about needing permission to evolve other people's stuff, if that is acceptable. It just hasn't been as issue like I thought it might.
One thing though, if evolving from someone else's creature, I will say that bonuses might actually go to the original player, and not to you - especially if all you did was add some extra efficiency etc, and not change its lifestyle.
Problems:
@TerrisH, I thought 'quick reproduction cycle' would have the same end effect as 'mass reproduction', so I've lumped them together if that's alright.
@ Grombar, I didn't see it being necessary to remove the normal roots, so I went with the alternative things you wanted to remove.
Hmm, I think there was tons of other stuff but I've forgotten. And no doubt I've made lots of errors
Species Stats:
Recently extinct creatures are still shown in the word doc, but they are highlighted in bright red. They are not shown in the txt. I count that 48 species have gone extinct in total (including those that would have been replaced anyway by new evolutions).
LittleBoots
The Bloody Banner
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,979
... I'm not Luckymoose, but I forgive you 
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
done. apologies in advance, please feel free to argue about anything if it doesn't make sense.
I got the first letter right, and the number of syllables
I got the first letter right, and the number of syllables
A bit of a sentence is missing. Great update Daftpanzer!
EDIT: I just realized, I now only have three animals left that were evolved directly by me. Clepsurytes are TerrisH's, Hiborytes and Ghostrexes are NPC... only Pondurytes, Audorixes and Chungi have my fingerprints on them! And of those, all of the Scuteryte's ancestors have relations to the Huhuwanapi los Terrios, an evolution of Slavic Sioux, and the Briltyte, a NPC evolution...
Does anyone have unbroken descent for one evolutionary line since update one? I think there are a few.
Daftpanzer
canonically ambiguous
Thanks!
Indeed. Actually, none of that sentence should have been there. Fixed some minor 'spelnig' errors and stuff.
erez87
Lord of Random
- Joined
- May 16, 2002
- Messages
- 13,500
Woohoo Finners live to see another day. Time to finally take out the Wavy family that we hate so much, they only got 2 weak and dying species left... And than the Finners could try the land again... Thought maybe the Lungscraper will finally get a successful evolution..
So many possible ideas.. I hate choosing only one
So many possible ideas.. I hate choosing only one
Splime
Regular Lurker
Awesome! My creature survived!
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