While I might not know what Extinction's new creature should be, I know where it should spawn: the Sulfur Fields. The Sulfur Fields represent one of the four quadrants of the map and yet there's not a single unique species that spawns there.
As Extinction is all about adapting for a post-apocalyptic Earth and all of Extinction's other creatures represent speculative-evolutions, I decided it would be prudent to limit myself to species that already have a propensity for surviving in sulfur-rich environments. Meet the Volcano Snail.
Dossier
Common Name: "Volcano snail", "Sea pangolin", "Dragon snail" and "Scaly-foot snail"
Species: Chrysomallon xxxxxx
Time: Indeterminate (lives in tectonically-active locations)
Group: Invertebrate
Habitat: Sulfur Fields
Diet: Geovore (Sulfur, Metal, and Metal Products)
Temperament: Defensive
Drops: Metal and Raw Meat
I concede that 'Volcano snail' might be inappropriate on Extinction - a map without a volcano. Maybe 'Volcano snail' is the X-variant?
Appearance
Real-life Volcano snails come in blackish and sandy coloured varieties. Their flesh ranges from pink to blood red, with some specimens even sporting a neon orange tint. Their flesh is coated in layers of overlapping scales made of iron sulfides, which it synthesises from its environment.
I think that the size of Volcano snails should scale directly with wild points allocated in Food. Wild specimens would spawn with sizes anywhere between Achatina and Ankylosaurus. One can only imagine how big a well-bred Volcano snail might grow.
Encounter
Volcano snails are at home in the Sulfur Fields of Extinction where they can be targeted as rich sources of metal - the bigger the snail the better the haul. Ovis-tier yields is probably pushing it for a resource like metal - but having the process of harvesting them be inconvenient for the sheer amount of harvest-health and weight of the haul is my preferred gameplay fantasy for them. I want that "I've been chainsawing this sheep for 10 minutes" gameplay high - but instead we're mining a snail.
Volcano snails are naturally resistant to environment hazards and are overall very durable thanks to their metal coat. To convey this durability, I think it would be neat if the Volcano snail's Food stat functioned as a "shield" (similar to Gasbags and their Oxygen stat) - i.e. survivors have to first deplete the Volcano snail's Food-shield before they're able to inflict real wounds. This shield could provide innate armor, similar to the Shadowmane, but would be conditional on the shield being active.
Volcano snails are barely capable of attacking and so even a fully grown specimen doesn't pose much of a threat to similarly-sized creatures in its environment. That said, I'm inspired by the horror genre and the Immortal Snail meme to have Volcano snails pose a smothering hazard. Similar to the tongue of the Beelzebufo - the "foot" of the snail could have a significant damage modifier versus smaller targets and so survivors should be extremely wary of going idle if there's Volcano snails around. Should I mention that, as with other snails, Volcano snails can scale vertical surfaces? It's probably for the best if you avoid antagonising Volcano snails.
Domestication
As geovores, Volcano snails will only eat minerals and items with a high mineral content. Volcano snails are tamed in the same manner as the Gacha: by discarding metal to the ground and allowing them to slowly associate you with food. You can gain increased taming affinity by providing refined metal and other smithed/fabricated products. If at all possible, the color of a Volcano snail's scales could even adapt to their diet.
Describe above, I have proposed an incentive to breed Food on Volcano snails for both size and shield-strength. This serves as a fun project for players who are invested in ARK's breeding system. The two effects could be divided between Food and Health for increased stat variety, but having the size denote durability seems appropriate.
Volcano Snails that are sufficiently large can be ridden bareback - earning survivors a mount that provides passive environmental resistance (including sulfur, toxic gasses, lava, radiation and the wasteland effect), the ability to scale vertical surfaces, and a very capable bullet-sponge. I propose that armor items quickly restore health/food - allowing a well-stocked Volcano snail to tank for a significant time. As with other creatures that can climb - this feature would be disabled while encumbered. Breeders might also consider adding points in weight to further extend the snail's tanking time.
If Volcano snails do receive the above-proposed damage modifier versus smaller enemies - they might even be a worthy mount for the many Swamp Caves across the ARKs, although you would still need to contend with moving at a snail's pace. Heck, with sufficient size-breeding, you might even be able to smother medium-to-large sized therapods!
Contents: Examples of real-life colour variations.
Spoiler
Contents: A collection of sourced images to get you in the mood for a giant snail:
Spoiler
Edited by 3mptylord Expanding on the domestication section to explicitly mention how you can make-use of its Appearance and Encounter features
Suggestion
3mptylord
While I might not know what Extinction's new creature should be, I know where it should spawn: the Sulfur Fields. The Sulfur Fields represent one of the four quadrants of the map and yet there's not a single unique species that spawns there.
As Extinction is all about adapting for a post-apocalyptic Earth and all of Extinction's other creatures represent speculative-evolutions, I decided it would be prudent to limit myself to species that already have a propensity for surviving in sulfur-rich environments. Meet the Volcano Snail.
Dossier
I concede that 'Volcano snail' might be inappropriate on Extinction - a map without a volcano. Maybe 'Volcano snail' is the X-variant?
Appearance
Real-life Volcano snails come in blackish and sandy coloured varieties. Their flesh ranges from pink to blood red, with some specimens even sporting a neon orange tint. Their flesh is coated in layers of overlapping scales made of iron sulfides, which it synthesises from its environment.
I think that the size of Volcano snails should scale directly with wild points allocated in Food. Wild specimens would spawn with sizes anywhere between Achatina and Ankylosaurus. One can only imagine how big a well-bred Volcano snail might grow.
Encounter
Volcano snails are at home in the Sulfur Fields of Extinction where they can be targeted as rich sources of metal - the bigger the snail the better the haul. Ovis-tier yields is probably pushing it for a resource like metal - but having the process of harvesting them be inconvenient for the sheer amount of harvest-health and weight of the haul is my preferred gameplay fantasy for them. I want that "I've been chainsawing this sheep for 10 minutes" gameplay high - but instead we're mining a snail.
Volcano snails are naturally resistant to environment hazards and are overall very durable thanks to their metal coat. To convey this durability, I think it would be neat if the Volcano snail's Food stat functioned as a "shield" (similar to Gasbags and their Oxygen stat) - i.e. survivors have to first deplete the Volcano snail's Food-shield before they're able to inflict real wounds. This shield could provide innate armor, similar to the Shadowmane, but would be conditional on the shield being active.
Volcano snails are barely capable of attacking and so even a fully grown specimen doesn't pose much of a threat to similarly-sized creatures in its environment. That said, I'm inspired by the horror genre and the Immortal Snail meme to have Volcano snails pose a smothering hazard. Similar to the tongue of the Beelzebufo - the "foot" of the snail could have a significant damage modifier versus smaller targets and so survivors should be extremely wary of going idle if there's Volcano snails around. Should I mention that, as with other snails, Volcano snails can scale vertical surfaces? It's probably for the best if you avoid antagonising Volcano snails.
Domestication
As geovores, Volcano snails will only eat minerals and items with a high mineral content. Volcano snails are tamed in the same manner as the Gacha: by discarding metal to the ground and allowing them to slowly associate you with food. You can gain increased taming affinity by providing refined metal and other smithed/fabricated products. If at all possible, the color of a Volcano snail's scales could even adapt to their diet.
Describe above, I have proposed an incentive to breed Food on Volcano snails for both size and shield-strength. This serves as a fun project for players who are invested in ARK's breeding system. The two effects could be divided between Food and Health for increased stat variety, but having the size denote durability seems appropriate.
Volcano Snails that are sufficiently large can be ridden bareback - earning survivors a mount that provides passive environmental resistance (including sulfur, toxic gasses, lava, radiation and the wasteland effect), the ability to scale vertical surfaces, and a very capable bullet-sponge. I propose that armor items quickly restore health/food - allowing a well-stocked Volcano snail to tank for a significant time. As with other creatures that can climb - this feature would be disabled while encumbered. Breeders might also consider adding points in weight to further extend the snail's tanking time.
If Volcano snails do receive the above-proposed damage modifier versus smaller enemies - they might even be a worthy mount for the many Swamp Caves across the ARKs, although you would still need to contend with moving at a snail's pace. Heck, with sufficient size-breeding, you might even be able to smother medium-to-large sized therapods!
Contents: Examples of real-life colour variations.
Contents: A collection of sourced images to get you in the mood for a giant snail:
Edited by 3mptylordExpanding on the domestication section to explicitly mention how you can make-use of its Appearance and Encounter features
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