In the Wild

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:07:43 GMT

Yeah I know cool right? It would be cool if it was a real planet!

Re: Alien Planet

AKwoof — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:05:52 GMT

Interesting.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:14:09 GMT

Well what do you think?

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:53:57 GMT

Animals(morphology):

In his Expedition, Barlowe clearly states that he wanted to represent the most impressive, most appealing animals of the planet. There are millions of species, smaller, probably insectoid ones, who are not represented in detail, even though they have to be a essential part of DarwinIV's ecosystem. Barlowe refers to them as the 'microflyers', tiny animals and plants living in the atmosphere of the planet like plancton lives in the oceans of Earth. Most animals represented in both the book and the movie belong to one of two essential groups: the floaters and the great ground-dwelling beasts. If you had to compare the latter to any group of earth animals, it would be the dinosaurs (with a lot of imagination). However, there is a great variety inside this group. While on Earth animals are classified by elements like the presence of feathers/fur/scales (etc), the big darwinian animals are classified by their number of limbs. There are four classes: quadrupedaliens, tripedaliens, bipedaliens and monopedalians. However, sometimes it is difficult to say to which group an animal belongs. In fact many animals loose some of their limbs when they grow up, and thus "change" their classification. The forest slider, for instance, has four legs as a young, but only two legs in its adult form.

Vegetative Organisms

Plaque-bark Tree - These trees are tall with straight trunks, regular side branches, and sparse leaves. The Trunk Suckers feed on them. Daggerwrists can often be found clinging to the branches.
Tube Grass - Long grass which is hollow like a tube giving the plant its name.
Aerophyte - Microscopic vegetative organisms that float on Darwin IV's air currents and constitute a major source of food for several species on the planet.
Fodderball Weed - The Fodderball Weed produces football-like fruits called zimns. These weeds have a lightweight construction that puts them at the mercy of every wind.
Jelly-bladder Plant - These are plants with jelly-like forms on their stems. The Gelsuckers love to eat these.
Float Ball - These are bushes with stems so small they look like they're floating.
Stickball Plant - The Stickball Plant is part sponge and part virus. The only creatures that eat them are the Gyrosprinters.
Darwin Tomato - Darwin Tomatoes are giant molds that grow in the pocket forests.
Beachfinger - These are grass-like plants that thrive near the Amoebic Sea.
Hillvine - Hillvines are long plants that grow in the hills.
Cliff-polyp - These are red grass like plants that are only eaten by Springwings and Bladderhorns.
Red Mountain-spike - These are big spiked plants that are eaten by Bladderhorns.
Arctic Polar-vane A red plant that lives in the tundra. It rotates, feeding of the energy generated by the two suns.
Snow-bulb - Snow-bulbs are large white bulbs that live in Darwin IV's icecaps.
Electrophyte - These mushroom-like plants electrocute Jetdarters, and then consume it alive.
Gourd Tree -15-story tall plants that are supported by root-like stilts. Gourd Trees are either hollow or spongy inside. They have to be for the stilts to support them. In Alien Planet they are encountered by Leo and Ike, comprising the trees surround the landing site of the probes. In Expedition, the Gourd Trees are called Steeple Gourds.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:34:16 GMT

Hammer-Head Veldt Wing - A hooded flying animal that has a crescent shaped head at the end of a skinny neck.

Sea Strider Nymphs - Hatched from eggs, the tiny Sea Strider Nymphs are attracted to an energy source located beneath the adult's mouthless head. Hollow, light-weight creatures, they cannot yet walk, but they fly about Darwin IV on their short wings, like Earth's hummingbirds.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:04:18 GMT

Unth - The Unth is a mountain creature with asymmetrical tusks. Unths are named for the sound they make when they take a step. Unths live in herds. The Unths of Alien Planet are first encountered by Leo, but Ike meets up with this peaceful herbivore near the end of his journey. The Unth herd was apparently spooked by either the Bladderhorn duel nearby, or the mystery creature (which turned out to be an Eosapien), which deactivated Leo.

Unnamed Flyer - As of yet, this species has no common name. This flying creature is the main food source of the Prismalope in the northern plains. This species has developed an intriguing relationship with the Butchertree. Within a 15 ft or so radius of a Butchertree are a dozen or so small growths. The growths are actually part of the Butchertree, connected to it by underground tentacles. These growths are physically identical in appearance to the small unnamed flyers and are used to lure the Prismalopes and other prey. This camouflage is also able to deceive prey into coming inside the Butchertree's attack range, where they then find themselves skewered and drained of fluids.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:22:40 GMT

Trunksucker - The Trunksucker is a small animal that glides through Darwin IV's forests and clings to Plaque Bark Trees, sucking their sap. The first dead creature that the probes find on Darwin IV is in fact a Trunksucker, most likely killed by a Daggerwrist.

Tundraplow - An animal that digs part of its body in the ground. It gets food from its underground proboscis, pulling plants from underneath.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:04:38 GMT

Symet - Symets are herbivores named for their protective symmetry. In Expedition, Barlowe observes a herd of Symets in a desert in bordering the Vallis Przewalski. The symmetry may have evolved to confuse predators.

Thornback - The Thornback is an herbivore that walks on its three-legged gait. It has a large "thorn" on its back shaped like a shark fin. Its head vaguely resembles that of a rhino's.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:21:07 GMT

Springwing - The Springwing is a winged animal with forelimbs somewhat like those of a horse's. The appearance of a Springwing is similar to that of a mountain goat. It springs itself off cliffs, gliding with the alpine updrafts to reach its destination.

Stripewing - The Stripewing is a lazy flying creature with stripes on its wings which breaks into a hopping frenzy each night. Stripewings will fold themselves into compact shapes. They can often be seen, massive colonies, sleeping on the surface of the Amoebic Sea.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:25:25 GMT

Skewer- The largest aerial predator of Darwin IV. It is an enormous flying creature, with a wingspan of 50 feet (over 15 m). Not even the largest pterosaurs (like Quetzalcoatlus, with its 40-foot wingspan) from Earth have a wingspan even approaching that size. Its wings do not flap but squeeze, shifting shape to shift flight. It is actually propelled by combusting methane gas in four jet-pods on its wings. This allows the Skewer to travel at speeds of 200 miles per hour. Its killing tool is a hollow lance that impales its prey, injects digestive enzymes, and sucks the corpse dry. The Skewer also hunt in groups, each Skewer dropping the spoils and another swoops in to feast.

Spade-nose - A quadruped that lives in forests and has a blue spade-like nose, hence the name. It is a common prey of the Gulper.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:04:44 GMT

Sac-back - The Sac-back lives at the edge of the Amoebic Sea. The Sac-back gets its name from the sac on the male's back. The sac is used to store pre-digested food from the "sea", which is later fed to the females. Male and female Sac-backs live completely different lives. Males live on the surface, walking around on their three legs. Female Sac-backs dig "tombs" in which they bury themselves. Once buried, the only part of the female that sees the light of day is her mouth and tentacle.

Scavengewing - Scavengewings are flying animals that have a special digestive system suitable for eating carcasses.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:04:18 GMT

Rimerunner - The Rimerunner is a one-legged animal from the polar regions of Darwin IV.

Supported by only one leg, the Rimerunner hops across its Arctic home like a kangaroo. It eats only aerophytes and other microscopic airborne organisms. At the front of its head, the Rimerunner sports an umbrella-like organ. This organ, suspended by thin neural cables, is a sophisticated sonar system along with a simple and atrophying eye.

Rugose Floater - Rugose Floaters are heavily wrinkled, fish-like aliens that float in the air. During spawning season, they have eggs trailing behind their "fins" and reduce to their crescent shape when spawning is complete. This is the creature seen on the front cover of Expedition.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:20:49 GMT

Prongheads - Prongheads are bipedal predators that feed on Gyrosprinters and Littoralopes. They are named for the three hollow prongs protruding from their faces that act as tubes to siphon liquids from their prey, since they use their feet to inject their digestive fluids into prey. They hunt in pack in a similar manner to wolves on Earth.

Rayback - An agile and aggressive predator of Darwin IV's grasslands. This creature gets its name for the four tall ridges that project from its back. Apart from its ridges, the Rayback does not appear to have any specialized features. Its only weapons are its lightning-fast speed and a dagger-like tongue. It is fierce and attacks anything that moves. It was the first animal encountered by Barlowe, and apparently, his sudden appearance caused it to start attacking him and his vehicle. A biped, it bears a general resemblance to the Bolt-Tongue and Arrowtongue.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:20:09 GMT

Prairie-ram - Prairie-rams are ubiquitous liquivores that impale their prey's chest to suck out bodily juices.

Prismalope - A triped of Darwin's plains, Prismalopes often travel in herds. The first thing one notices about this creature is its massive prism-shaped head. Though it appears ungainly, it houses the Prismalope's grasping tentacles, which it uses to capture small prey. This fast-breeding creature is preyed upon by a multitude of predators, both terrestrial and airborne. The Prismalope hunts a flyer that is "protected" by the Butchertree.

Re: Alien Planet

Keyme — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:48:39 GMT

Mummy-nest Flyer - They are black flyers, with a tail that bends back to meet the front of the body (like scorpions, except the tail is curled under the body, not above). Unlike some flyers, they are not jet propelled, so they have to flap their wings to fly.

Mummy-nest - This animal has sphincter-like orifices on its body. It is later invaded by Mummy-nest Flyers (though they may have once been one and the same).