help me think of ideas for a desert biome!

[georgie]

so ive wanted to make a suggestion for a long time, but i could never think of what to suggest, then i had an idea. in the very early version of the game, i vaguely remember there being a desert and savannah biome. even if im just making it up that there was once a desert biome, which i may be but i cant remember, i still want a desert biome now that i thought of it once existing.

for what i have thought of, it would be alot like the mountains, meaning the islands would be huge, but it would also have no grass (maybe with a few islands having surrounding savannah). there would have to be new predators, new genes, new prey, and lots of new plants and a few new trees.

now i could just come up with all of these myself, but i thought: why not first see what people would want from a desert biome? i could ask what genes, plants, animals ect. people would want the most, and then i would develop the ideas into something that would work well together, turn it into a long and detailed suggestion on the feature requests and boom! a desert biome made by the whole community, so nearly everyone would have something they would want in there.

and thats exactly what im doing.

obviously yes, implementing an entire biome with new genes and animals would be impossible for the devs to do alongside a normal community update, but maaaybe if it gets enough votes, it could become a seperate update entirely a few years down the road.

so heres exactly what im asking for all the people who want to help me:

reply to this topic with any ideas you want for the desert biome: predators, prey, genes, plants, you name it. it can be as complicated as a whole predator with stats and behaviours and design, or as simple as the name of an animal i could mix with another animal to make a species for the island. anything will help, and eventually after a few months, i will gather the auggestions, turn them into a cohesive idea, and post a detailed suggestion on the feature request list.

go wild! start posting. i want this desert biome idea to have as many people's ideas included as possible

 

(also yes, i know ive been talking like an overexcited advert narrator for this post, but the inner persuasive writer in me came out whilst writing this. finally, a use for all that persuasive writing lessons ive had 😂)

[kunchbox]

A desert sand snake would be an interesting predator as it could poison you after attacking.  Coconut trees spawning in small oasis's in the middle of the islands could also be a feature.

A new gene could perhaps be an armoured jaw, which can collect cactus berries without damage being taken, because what's a classic desert without its cactus? As well as that, a "camel eye" could be added, with long eyelashes to protect from sandstorms, which would occur occasionally and do small damage to baby or teenage nichelings that aren't next to an adult. Sunburn could also be added, when there is heat strokes that last for a few days. If you aren't in a body of water by the second day, you would get a "Dehydrated" effect which would do 1 damage every day until you go into a water source.

Those are just some of my random ideas, hope they made sense and you liked them ^-^

 

[georgie]

@NyssaDerp

I love all of these ideas!!! the camel eye and sandstorm is definitely my favourite, that's so creative!! i would think the sunburn wouldnt work for most nichelings because they are protected by fur, but that brought an idea for hairless nichelings to mind! it would be a body type, and it would add +5 heat resistance, but it would make you vunerable to sunburn? idk, thats just an idea that came to mind. the dehydrated thing is awesome, too! a special drinking action could be added.

thank you for all the suggestions, i love them all!!! ❤️

[kunchbox]

Thanks!! I'm glad you liked them 😋
I love the idea of a hairless Nicheling, I think that would add so much more to the game if it's added!! I think the whole desert biome thing is a neat idea, I hope that it ends up becoming a reality! I'll post any ideas if I have more on here

[Broken]

Let's see...

Meerkats, camel mutant things, coyote, badgers, palm trees that would give shade since there wouldn't be normal trees, I also always liked the idea of dehydration so there would be a gene that would allow a creature to take water from a cactus safely but then there would be an oasis that would have a tree and a small patch of water that your creatures could drink from. But I also just like the idea of dehydration on almost all the islands and you could drink from a river or the ocean, or on a burning Savannah or Desert an oasis. 

[Lilytuft]

A... Fenmel? Cannec?

A combination of a camel and a fennec.

Has good heat resistance. When hunted, gives lots of food. Eats both meat and plants.  I'm too lazy to do my research rightnow...

[Broken]

3 minutes ago, Lilytuft said:

A... Fenmel? Cannec?

A combination of a camel and a fennec.

Has good heat resistance. When hunted, gives lots of food. Eats both meat and plants.  I'm too lazy to do my research rightnow...

This is a perfect presentation of the mutant camel that I was talking about in my suggestion!

[georgie]

16 minutes ago, Lilytuft said:

A... Fenmel? Cannec?

A combination of a camel and a fennec.

Has good heat resistance. When hunted, gives lots of food. Eats both meat and plants.  I'm too lazy to do my research rightnow...

oh wow, i didnt think people would immediately draw up animals, thank you so much!! ❤️ it says on google fennec foxes also eat plants, so maybe they would mostly eat dried up berry bushes, and could steal meat if their hunger stat is low? it could be like a walrus deer, but a bit smaller, and if it is attacked its fennec fox side will come out, and attack, but it would only do 2 damage, and then try to run away immediately? it obviously wouldnt be affected as much by sandstorms, since it could have the camel eyelashes. i would say it would give 15 food, 20 maybe?

that was just some things off the top of my head. this idea is awesome!

[ccallahanny]

This is a great idea! 

First off, I think that a blooming season should exist. Every time it rains in a desert, the ground turns into a carpet of flowers, like this:

 

 

[georgie]

47 minutes ago, Brokenshock said:

Meerkats, camel mutant things, coyote, badgers, palm trees that would give shade since there wouldn't be normal trees, I also always liked the idea of dehydration so there would be a gene that would allow a creature to take water from a cactus safely but then there would be an oasis that would have a tree and a small patch of water that your creatures could drink from. But I also just like the idea of dehydration on almost all the islands and you could drink from a river or the ocean, or on a burning Savannah or Desert an oasis

i like the meerkat idea, especially since they are my favourite animal! they could be like the moles of the desert- coming out of their mounds to look for predators, and if they see your nicheling- or any other desert predator- they would hide back in, and maybe scream, and tell any meerkats within 7 tiles to hide? if you kill a meerkat, you can sit on its mound, and it would be like a tree stump? there wouldnt be many tree stumps in the desert since not many trees would grow. the real question is what to hybrid it with? i had the idea of a rattlesnake, making a rattlekat, so the rattlekat could rattle its tail to warn others about the predators? i know rattlesnakes dont rattle to warn other rattlesnakes so it is kind of inaccurate, but i think it would work well enough.

also, i think the gene to take water from a cactus would be really cool! i dont know of any animals that can "suck" the water from a cactus, so maybe there would be a snout to eat cacti, which would also hydrate nichelings? i did some research on cactus-eating animals, and it seems camels will eat some cacti by removing the spines with its teeth. that leads me to making a camel snout that would be able to eat a new species of cacti that would have to be implemented, and it would take two moves: one move to remove spines, and one move to eat the cactus. whilst removing the spines, there could be a 20% chance to take 1 day of damage since sometimes the cactus-eating goes wrong. each cactus would give 5 food.

also there are a few trees in the desert, but i agree the palm trees could be around small oasises on the island, where few normal berry bushes grow and animals would be more common, because its the only other source of water.

thanks for the suggestion!! ❤️ 

[georgie]

24 minutes ago, ccallahanny said:

This is a great idea! 

First off, I think that a blooming season should exist. Every time it rains in a desert, the ground turns into a carpet of flowers, like this:

oooh! nice idea! so every time it rains (maybe every 10-15 days? or longer?) a lot of flowers could blossom, and they would be around for maybe 3 days? some other new animal could eat them, or it could just be cosmetic. there could be new desert flowers, like the image you showed, or they could use the port flowers for convenience. nice idea!

[ccallahanny]

Thanks, heyitsgeorgie! Also, some desert owls make thier nests in cacti. Maybe you could break open a cactus like a glacier and when you were inside you would be cool?

[bostonlobstah]

Or heat body  would cool you down X,D

[moisole]

I was thinking Humped Body gene would give "Hydration Resistance". (This would be a yes/no ability, like with Poison). Problem is, it's too specific. What do humps get you when you finally leave the desert?

[bostonlobstah]

1 hour ago, moisole said:

I was thinking Humped Body gene would give "Hydration Resistance". (This would be a yes/no ability, like with Poison). Problem is, it's too specific. What do humps get you when you finally leave the desert?

I was thinking maybe the hump body prevents you from starving for several days. You would automatically technically take the starving damage first, but you wouldn’t starve!

[georgie]

13 hours ago, ccallahanny said:

Thanks, heyitsgeorgie! Also, some desert owls make thier nests in cacti. Maybe you could break open a cactus like a glacier and when you were inside you would be cool?

oh my god i love this!! it could be like a really big cactus you can sit inside, and it could be like the hot spring of the desert, and you can nest in it! but you would need 3+ strength to break it?

[georgie]

7 hours ago, moisole said:

I was thinking Humped Body gene would give "Hydration Resistance". (This would be a yes/no ability, like with Poison). Problem is, it's too specific. What do humps get you when you finally leave the desert?

i would think it allows your nicheling to go longer without drinking? say for normal nichelings every 5 days you become dehydrated, humped nichelings could go for 10 days without becoming dehydrated. maybe you unlock it by drinking 35 times? but that would mean you would have to make the drinking action for only when nichelings are dehydrated. thats just some ideas

 

6 hours ago, bostonlobstah said:

I was thinking maybe the hump body prevents you from starving for several days. You would automatically technically take the starving damage first, but you wouldn’t starve!

oooh this is cool too! maybe your nicheling only has to eat food once every 3 days? if it had that and the longer time without drinking, i think it would have to go to drinking 50 times when dehydrated to unlock tho.

 

also, i think thats enough camel genes for now 😅. nearly every gene is based around camels now! maybe we could focus more on other desert animals, like snakes and lizards? maybe there could be a rattlesnake tail? or a new head with the frills on the head of a lizard? or maybe new horns like the horned lizard?

[ccallahanny]

Hey everyone!

I think that yes, you would need 3+ strength to open a cactus, but also some defense to protect from damage. But camels pull the spines off of cacti, so maybe the camel snout would allow the break cactus ability? 

Also, camels store fat in their humps, not water. That's a myth. Maybe dehydration in unique to the desert, and no sweat body gives dyhidration resistance? Just my opinion.

 

[bostonlobstah]

4 hours ago, heyitsgeorgie said:

i would think it allows your nicheling to go longer without drinking? say for normal nichelings every 5 days you become dehydrated, humped nichelings could go for 10 days without becoming dehydrated. maybe you unlock it by drinking 35 times? but that would mean you would have to make the drinking action for only when nichelings are dehydrated. thats just some ideas

 

oooh this is cool too! maybe your nicheling only has to eat food once every 3 days? if it had that and the longer time without drinking, i think it would have to go to drinking 50 times when dehydrated to unlock tho.

 

also, i think thats enough camel genes for now 😅. nearly every gene is based around camels now! maybe we could focus more on other desert animals, like snakes and lizards? maybe there could be a rattlesnake tail? or a new head with the frills on the head of a lizard? or maybe new horns like the horned lizard?

In real life I believe that it is a myth that camel humps store water.  But they in fact are full of fat that is used when needed.

[georgie]

2 hours ago, ccallahanny said:

Hey everyone!

I think that yes, you would need 3+ strength to open a cactus, but also some defense to protect from damage. But camels pull the spines off of cacti, so maybe the camel snout would allow the break cactus ability? 

Also, camels store fat in their humps, not water. That's a myth. Maybe dehydration in unique to the desert, and no sweat body gives dyhidration resistance? Just my opinion.

 

Hmm... Maybe breaking open a cactus would deal a few days of damage, but performing a "remove thorns" action with the camel head would mean it would not cause any damage? Of course there would still be a 20% chance of taking damage whilst removing the thorns, though.

And about the camel thing: that's good, because I was worried the hump body could be overpowered. That would make it more balanced if it only meant you didn't need as much food! 

[kunchbox]

On 12/28/2018 at 11:09 PM, NyssaDerp said:

A desert sand snake would be an interesting predator as it could poison you after attacking.  Coconut trees spawning in small oasis's in the middle of the islands could also be a feature.

A new gene could perhaps be an armoured jaw, which can collect cactus berries without damage being taken, because what's a classic desert without its cactus? As well as that, a "camel eye" could be added, with long eyelashes to protect from sandstorms, which would occur occasionally and do small damage to baby or teenage nichelings that aren't next to an adult. Sunburn could also be added, when there is heat strokes that last for a few days. If you aren't in a body of water by the second day, you would get a "Dehydrated" effect which would do 1 damage every day until you go into a water source.

Those are just some of my random ideas, hope they made sense and you liked them ^-^

 

A more detailed version of the Sandstorm idea ! ^^

Every 8 - 15 days, a sandstorm would occur. The screen has an orangey-yellow tint, and small particles will fly across the screen resembling sand. Sandstorms can last 1-3 days and deal 1 damage to anyone who is not next to another Nicheling. To protect against sandstorms, the camel eye gene (face type) and a "no-sweat" body could be added. The camel eye/face will have long eyelashes and resemble a camel face. The no-sweat body can protect against heat and sandstorms, resembling a lean body with small spikes (see for reference thorny devil). It would only rain in the desert every 15-25 days and cannot occur in sync with a sandstorm.

*other random ideas*

I think Bunnel nests should still spawn in the desert, as bunnies do live in deserts sometimes. I think. I don't know. Whatever, they should still spawn there. 

Going back to my other idea about the desert snake, I was thinking instead of a snake, it could be a hybrid between a coyote and warthog of sorts. I'm not a good drawer, but heres a piece of concept art:This could be the replacement predator for the bearyena in the desert.

Seeing as there won't be many berry bushes, why not add something like the walrus deer? My idea was to add an Ostrich hybrid. I'm not sure what it would be crossed with, I'll leave that up to you 😅

[ccallahanny]

Cool idea! 

I think that a snake predator should exist, but like bunnils, they live in burrows. Maybe they hunt bunnils like we do?

They could be crossed with a lion-ish thing and hunt in packs.

I'm not good with concept art either so I'll give you the outline: lion head, snake body, lion front limbs, snake rattle.

 

[georgie]

10 hours ago, NyssaDerp said:

A more detailed version of the Sandstorm idea ! ^^

Every 8 - 15 days, a sandstorm would occur. The screen has an orangey-yellow tint, and small particles will fly across the screen resembling sand. Sandstorms can last 1-3 days and deal 1 damage to anyone who is not next to another Nicheling. To protect against sandstorms, the camel eye gene (face type) and a "no-sweat" body could be added. The camel eye/face will have long eyelashes and resemble a camel face. The no-sweat body can protect against heat and sandstorms, resembling a lean body with small spikes (see for reference thorny devil). It would only rain in the desert every 15-25 days and cannot occur in sync with a sandstorm.

*other random ideas*

I think Bunnel nests should still spawn in the desert, as bunnies do live in deserts sometimes. I think. I don't know. Whatever, they should still spawn there. 

Going back to my other idea about the desert snake, I was thinking instead of a snake, it could be a hybrid between a coyote and warthog of sorts. I'm not a good drawer, but heres a piece of concept art:This could be the replacement predator for the bearyena in the desert.

Seeing as there won't be many berry bushes, why not add something like the walrus deer? My idea was to add an Ostrich hybrid. I'm not sure what it would be crossed with, I'll leave that up to you 😅

ooh, nice ideas!

I'm thinking the camel eye would just be an eye gene, separate to the camel head, and maybe it could be called eyelash eyes? Let's say in every sandstorm, a nicheling will lose 1 point of eyesight (yes, I know shortsighted nichelings will go blind, but I think that's fine for a biome that's supposed to be unforgiving) and will take one or two days of damage unless they are next to another nicheling, but with camel eyes, they will not lose any eyesight.

And the no sweat body is so cool! Maybe it could be called the thorny body (because that describes it better) and it adds +1 distasteful appearance, +2 defence and +3 heat resistance? And you won't get hurt by sandstorms, but still lose eyesight? 

 

[ccallahanny]

The real way thorny dragons use their spines is to grab water from the air and draw it towards the mouth. When I said no sweat body, I ment something like a pig.

[georgie]

also i would like to have rabbils, maybe they could be sand-coloured instead in the desert?

also, i think we would need atleast 3 new animals: a balance bear of the desert, a walrus deer of the desert (this is the fenmel; the animal lilytuft made), and the arctic ramfox of the desert.

i think the snake-lion (liake? snaion?) would make a good "arctic ramfox". it could live in prides like a lion, and hunt the rabbils for food. it could be a snake, with a lions mane, and alot larger fangs, with maybe the fluff on a lion's tail on the end of it's body? it would give 10 food when killed, and is venomous when it attacks, but only deals one damage.

and the balance bear would have to be a mixture of the most formidable animals. maybe a thorny devil and some kind of scorpion? it would be huge, the size of a balance bear maybe.

also the coyote/ warthog is cool for a bearynea replacement! i wouldnt imagine bearyneas living in the desert, so that would be cool! the concept art you did is cool too, i like the way you combined the two animals!