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New Gene: Giraffe Head - Immunity to Cactus Damage


Draconiya

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With the airing of one of the next updates, Nichelings with Armoured Body will be able to pick from cacti without taking damage, by the words of Philo. However, since armoured body is anything but a native gene to savannahs and deserts - it's found in the mountains and you can't obtain it any other way, so if you just want a savannah tribe there's no way you'll be able to safely gather from cacti without a significant detour to the snowy islands - I was thinking we need a different gene with the same functionality that actually makes sense to exist in the environment it would be used in.

And so I present to you, the Giraffe Head.

As some of you may know, giraffes have incredibly tough gums and tongue. Even though they eat from a tree whose twigs and branches are covered in thorns - the Acacia - it's spikes can't even graze the surface of the insides of their mouth or stomach. So what's to stop a Nicheling from evolving a similar protection against the Niche world's cacti in order to safely pick their fruit?

The Giraffe Head would be unlocked by collecting a certain number of times, as well as spending a certain number of days in a hot biome. It would make sense if it was unlocked by collecting from cacti, however this may be a bit too cruel for Niche, as the only other gene to give resistance to cactus damage is incredibly rare, and it isn't like unlocking Toxic Body through gathering from poisonous berry bushes, since there are multiple genes which grant poison resistance and an opportunity to do so safely (Poison Fangs, Toxic Body, Scorpion Tail).

The stats the Giraffe Head would give are +1 Collecting, +2 Smelling and + Resistance to Cactus Damage.

Appearance-wise, a Nicheling with Giraffe Head would have a somewhat longer neck than a regular Nicheling. Not ridiculously long like a real Giraffe of course, but kind of longer, like an Okapi. The ears could be tilted and more on the side of the head, like a Giraffe's ears, and two small, dull horns could sit inbetween them, next to the ramhorns or antlers if those are present. This would make the Giraffe Head look more unique and not just like a slightly different version of Big Nose.

Lastly, an idea I had regarding this gene is that there would be no visible difference in the appearance of males and females; both would have a narrow, short, standing mane that starts on the top of the head and runs down the back of the neck, just like a Giraffe's mane.

Something similar is already in the game with the Bearyena Snout, but I'd understand if another gene that turns off gender dimorphism would be too much of an annoyance. Gameplay over realism? Comment and tell me what you think!

Edited by Draconiya
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I think this is a great idea, but I'd rather see a camel head than a giraffe head. It wouldn't be too different as they're closely related. I just think it would make a bit more sense seeing as camels live in desert climates and are therefore more associated with cacti than giraffes. I would also like to see the ossicones (the little horn type things) added as their own gene, and I don't think that would happen if they were already added as an ornamental feature on another gene

 

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13 hours ago, Pokestardragacraft said:

I like the idea, but I think that the strength or sight would be a bit too over powered. Just the smelling, collecting, and cactus collecting should be enough.

True. I'll edit the first post in a second 🙂

12 hours ago, Sheireen said:

strenght an eyesight would be a bit too much but otherwise I like the idea

oh it could be a short giraffe neck like Okapi have! that would be cute

Yeah, an Okapi-like neck is what I thought of, too ^^

What do you two think of the Giraffe Head potentially hiding a male Nicheling's mane? Both sexes could have a mane like a Giraffe instead. Or we could go really realistic, and give both sexes a giraffe-like mane, but have the stubby horns of a male Nicheling be fur-less and their horn colour, while a female's stubby horns would be her mane colour. (If you didn't know; breeding-age male Giraffes usually have barely any fur left on their horns because they use them to scuffle with their rivals, while females don't; thus their horns stay fluffy while the males are almost bald.)

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4 minutes ago, Draconiya said:

What do you two think of the Giraffe Head potentially hiding a male Nicheling's mane? Both sexes could have a mane like a Giraffe instead. Or we could go really realistic, and give both sexes a giraffe-like mane, but have the stubby horns of a male Nicheling be fur-less and their horn colour, while a female's stubby horns would be her mane colour. (If you didn't know; breeding-age male Giraffes usually have barely any fur left on their horns because they use them to scuffle with their rivals, while females don't; thus their horns stay fluffy while the males are almost bald.)

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Hmmm, I think it'd be interesting to go the realistic route and maybe a smaller male mane just so people don't get confused

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strenght an eyesight would be a bit too much but otherwise I like the idea

3 hours ago, Draconiya said:

the Giraffe Head could include an elongated neck (not as long as a real giraffe of course, that'd be ridiculous, but somewhat longer than a regular Nicheling),

oh it could be a short giraffe neck like Okapi have! that would be cute

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bump

also, in terms of the mane, it could still be a male-only trait: the females would have no mane while the males would have a giraffe type mane instead of the regular mane. it would probably have to be a little bit longer than a real giraffe's mane though to be more noticable, giraffes have quite short manes

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