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Author Topic: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS  (Read 2479 times)

JAL28

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[SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« on: February 09, 2021, 02:17:27 am »

Even though my last suggestion is still fresh out the creative forge here I am with another one.

Instead of the HFS being a simple barren wasteland of slade and series glowing pits, I feel that it should have more diversity in biomes. And also something to differentiate it from caverns. Cant have more forgotten beasts winding up in the wrong type of cavern and getting beaten up by clowns again huh...

[BIOME:UNDERWORLD_CHASM]

This biome is quite literally the current HFS we all know. A barren hilly area of slade containing many, MANY eerie glowing pits. Luckily, this is the only biome to contain this many of those damned pits. God I hate it when ignorant fighters just dodge into these and instadie...

Only inorganic demons can spawn here, with the occasional organic demon(very rare though).

[BIOME:UNDERWORLD_FOREST]

A forest of Hellgrass and demonic trees, populated by the largest concentration of demons compared to other biomes. Also has harvestable fruits and plants, if you dare brave the clowns. All demons can spawn here. Situated over a layer of Slade Dust, basically Slade that was eroded over time by vegetation and clowns trampling it.

[BIOME:UNDERWORLD_SEA]

A great ocean of boiling lava, these oceans are bordered by beaches of Slade Dust. Don’t dip your toes in the magma, they aint coming back up.

Predominantly fire-based or fire-breathing demons will spawn here, with some exceptions to other inorganic demons.

[BIOME:UNDERWORLD_BARREN]

Basically UNDERWORLD_CHASM except without the chasms. Nothing grows here, and the land is populated by inorganic demons, though organic demons may also pop up.

[BIOME:UNDERWORLD_PLAIN]

A vast plain of flesh-based flora. All organic demons have a chance of popping up here while the rate of inorganic demons is lowest.

[BIOME:UNDERWORLD_SPHERE]
[UNDERWORLD_SPHERE_TYPE:(sphere)]

Special biomes that are connected magically to different spheres(usually evil/dark-aligned spheres). Currently, only DEATH, NIGHT, SUICIDE, DARKNESS and BLIGHT are inside. Flora are related to their biome’s sphere(eg. Miasmic Grama, a type of grass that can emit miasma-like pollen clouds). All kinds of demons can spawn in these biomes.

A few flora from the Underworld, namely [UNDERWORLD_FOREST] and [UNDERWORLD_PLAINS].

Satan’s Fan

A large, saguaro-like red tree that doesn’t produce any fruits and serves mostly to look cool and for wood. It has no leaves.

“A large red tree with vast branches and no leaves. It looks similar to a fan coral/a fan, hence its name.”

Crimson Hand

A large tree that can produce fruits, called Demon’s Fingers. These fruits can be brewed into Hell’s Elixir, the most expensive alcohol in the land(tied with all other Underworld-made wines). They can also be cooked.

“A large crimson tree with a large, overreaching crown and small spike-like leaves. It grows curious lean fruits, resembling large chilis, which drop on the floor periodically. These fruits are long and gnarled, resembling the fingers of some demons, hence their name. The tree’s branching structure makes it look like a mass of hands reaching out from the stem, hence the name Crimson Hand.”

Clownroot

A cookable root. When generated, it can appear any colour randomly in the spectrum.

“An unusually cheerful plant in comparison to the bleak red or dark tones of the rest of the Underworld. It’s small crown of red leaves belie a massive, multi coloured root with red bulbs. Some say it looks eerily similar to some self-dyed performers, colloquially known as ‘clowns’. They probably didn’t have enough alcohol.”

Boiling Cress

Can be used for...cooking?

“An Underworld relative of the Garden Cress, it’s neon red leaves feel hot to the touch. It can very seriously burn anything it contacts.”

Sootweed

Grass cover.

“A gray plant with small, rounded leaves. The leaves have the texture of ash and the flowers glow like embers in a fireplace. Leaves can be broken easily.”

[UNDERWORLD_PLAINS]

Goretree

A tree that can drop fruits that are cookable, Gorefruit.

“A large tree with large leaves, it’s crown is packed so tightly that it resembles a giant lump of gore. It’s fruits, known as Gorefruits, have an unusually high concentration of plant-based proteins, making them regrettably unbrewable.”

Flesh Growth

A weird tree that can be eaten from logs. Yeah, weird.

“A ‘tree’ that is pretty much a mass of flesh and bone. It absorbs the evil energies around it to grow and propagate itself through runners.”

Flesh Bulb

Can be harvested for 1 Meat Bulb(cookable only).

“A small, harvestable bulb of flesh surrounded by a small crown of tiny red leaves.”

Underblade Reed

Ground Cover. Can injure the feet of any dwarves walking over it without shoes/socks.

“A vicious plant with thin, sharp leaf blades. They are razor-sharp and can easily pierce flesh.”

[UNDERWORLD:SPHERE]

Each Underworld Sphere biome will contain 1 unique tree, 3 unique grass-type plants(serve similar functions to cave moss and grass), and 3 special plants(harvestable/interacts). Below are a few examples:

Miasmic Grama

Occasionally releases bursts of miasma into the air, which acts as normal miasma.

“A small, purple ground cover plant, a denizen of the Death Sphere biomes. As a form of reproduction, it releases large clouds of purple pollen into the air, which unfortunately causes all of the same effects as actual miasma.”

Duskbalm

Can harvest Dusk Balls from this plant, which can be brewed into Black Broth.

“A curious vine-like plant, from it’s end sprouts a large black bulb which seems to attract light instead of emitting it. Staying near to it makes one feel uneasy; regardless, the dwarves brew it just fine. A native of the Darkness Sphere biomes.”

Blight Bloom

Can cause sickness in those with open wounds that walk on it.

“A seemingly diseased, rotting bloom that spreads deadly pathogens around it, using its pollen as a hitchhiking device. A denizen of the Blight Sphere biomes, it’s sickly yellow leaves and dull brown petals fit in perfectly with the rest of the putrid plants.”
« Last Edit: February 10, 2021, 08:45:56 am by JAL28 »
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towerator

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2021, 04:26:01 am »

Pretty interesting suggestion (that I suspect might be Minecraft-inspired, but that's ok). If I may, since most of the biomes you've suggested have "organics less common" as a trait, how about one where they are more? It could take a page from the "Bloody Bowels of Hell" trope, as an example. How about "Fleshy heap" as a name, or something like this?
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JAL28

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2021, 04:47:40 am »

Pretty interesting.

Also to add, the plants can’t grow outside of the HFS, so they won’t bother your fortress by growing in your farm pit or something. In lore reason is because they don’t photosynthesize, but rather draw their energy from the raw evil powers ubiquitous in the HFS, and they can’t survive without it, meaning they can only grow in HFS.
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Pillbo

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2021, 11:51:43 am »

If hell plants were powered by evil energy they probably shouldn't have edible fruits, at least for normal creatures. It would be cool if evil creatures ate them and brewed drinks with them, but they should be toxic to non-evil creatures.
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towerator

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2021, 05:06:38 pm »

If hell plants were powered by evil energy they probably shouldn't have edible fruits, at least for normal creatures. It would be cool if evil creatures ate them and brewed drinks with them, but they should be toxic to non-evil creatures.
Better yet: they seemingly aren't toxic, but insidiously corrupt the creature that feeds on them.
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JAL28

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2021, 06:26:22 pm »

I mean the powered by hell energy was meant to just keep the plants from growing in your fortress since they cause so much fun that having them erupt into your fortress will most likely result in insane FUN

Also evil creatures like Beak Dogs, Silver Barbs can still be eaten normally despite being evil(and presumably having some sort of evil energy). In fact, freaking DEMONS can be eaten perfectly normally(if they can be butchered, but that relates to sentience and not evil powers) raw or cooked with literally no drawbacks. So I’m sure eating some Hell wine isn’t going to be as bad as eating the flesh of literal spawn of hell

If hell plants were powered by evil energy they probably shouldn't have edible fruits, at least for normal creatures. It would be cool if evil creatures ate them and brewed drinks with them, but they should be toxic to non-evil creatures.
Better yet: they seemingly aren't toxic, but insidiously corrupt the creature that feeds on them.

Maybe for one of the sphere-related plants, though having all of them poisonous would make them all useless which would kinda suck because they’d just be HFS decorations(which is still better than what we have now but I mean, that wouldn’t be as fun).
« Last Edit: February 10, 2021, 06:28:12 pm by JAL28 »
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Pillbo

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2021, 11:17:50 am »

I don't think it makes sense to eat demons either without ill effect either. Having hell plants toxic to non-evil creatures doesn't mean they have to be useless decorations- evil creature could to eat/brew them, ingredients for poisons/potions/alchemy, magical components, crafting, etc. From a story perspective I don't see why anything in hell would be good for a dwarf to eat.
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Maximum Spin

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2021, 01:15:59 pm »

From a story perspective I don't see why anything in hell would be good for a dwarf to eat.
I don't see why it wouldn't, either. Where does the conception "evil=poison" come from?
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NW_Kohaku

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2021, 02:24:02 pm »

I don't see why it wouldn't, either. Where does the conception "evil=poison" come from?

From the self-serving black-and-white morality typical to humanity.  If it hurts humans, it's evil, and if it's naive, docile, and easy to exploit, it's good.

That said, it depends a lot on how alien the HFS is supposed to be.  If they're something like a flying bronze three-legged stegosaurus that exudes a necrotizing gas, I'm going to bet it doesn't taste too good in a sandwich.  On the other hand, goblins are supposed to come from HFS originally, and they're at least hypothetically edible (even if dwarves will refuse to eat such things), so presumably, some of them are fairly normal flesh-and-blood, just animated by pure evil.  I think it's worth noting that even goblins have no need to eat, and that's probably for a reason, as HFS has no plants currently and no ecosystem.
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Personally, I like [DF] because after climbing the damned learning cliff, I'm too elitist to consider not liking it.
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FantasticDorf

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2021, 02:32:28 pm »

It makes a good sub-arguement whether it actually needs a ecosystem if demons simply materialize and-re-materialize there as soon as myth arc is up to explain such discrepencies.  If it is a living plane, you'd expect these things but if its a whirling empty cavern of lavalakes inhabited by creatures formed of energy and negative emotions, making it optimal to live in would be secondary like dwarves trying to colonize the surface of the moon.
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Pillbo

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2021, 06:09:50 pm »

From a story perspective I don't see why anything in hell would be good for a dwarf to eat.
I don't see why it wouldn't, either. Where does the conception "evil=poison" come from?

Hell is populated entirely with malevolent dangerous things by design. If hell was expanded to include plants it logically follows that those plants would also be malevolent and dangerous. Making hell more interesting shouldn't make it any less hostile.
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Maximum Spin

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2021, 06:15:41 pm »

From a story perspective I don't see why anything in hell would be good for a dwarf to eat.
I don't see why it wouldn't, either. Where does the conception "evil=poison" come from?

Hell is populated entirely with malevolent dangerous things by design. If hell was expanded to include plants it logically follows that those plants would also be malevolent and dangerous. Making hell more interesting shouldn't make it any less hostile.
Sure, but malevolent and dangerous plants suggests to me that, say, they might try to eat you, possibly from the inside, not that they're necessarily poisonous.

Counterpoint: Many people are malevolent and dangerous but they are still edible, I have heard.
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Azerty

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2021, 06:30:57 pm »

Could we see some of these plants having really useful applications, such as clothes being harder than steel, leading to these being very researched? As for the species, we could use some in evil biomes.
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Pillbo

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2021, 12:57:17 pm »

Sure, but malevolent and dangerous plants suggests to me that, say, they might try to eat you, possibly from the inside, not that they're necessarily poisonous.

Counterpoint: Many people are malevolent and dangerous but they are still edible, I have heard.

Sounds like you just don't like my word choices, so use whatever terms you prefer. Poison and toxic doesn't mean you eat and die, alcohol and other recreational drugs are poisons.  I am using poison/toxic/malevolent/dangerous as shorthand for "bad for you".

IMO hell fruit should do a lot, but not keep you alive and healthy. They might: make you sick, make you hallucinate, curse you, transform you into demons, mind control or mind wipe you, corrupt you, just be too disgusting to eat, make you unable to stop eating them, make you hungrier than before you ate, grow a new plant from your body, attack you from the inside, eat you before you eat it, kill you, trigger any magical effect, make you attract demons, turn you into a forgotten beast, scramble your stats, make unable to ever survive outside of hell, etc. 
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NW_Kohaku

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Re: [SPOILERS] New biomes for HFS
« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2021, 01:22:37 pm »

Continuing on from that, a poisonous plant wouldn't necessarily be poisonous only if you eat it.  If you try to make clothes out of a hellplant, it might give you syndromes just for putting it near your skin.  It might have parasitic spores where if you simply breathe while nearby, inhaling some will cause a chest-burster plant to grow out of your lungs, which sends out a cloud of spores as it explodes through your ribcage, so as to infect everyone you came near in the meantime...
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Personally, I like [DF] because after climbing the damned learning cliff, I'm too elitist to consider not liking it.
"And no Frankenstein-esque body part stitching?"
"Not yet"

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