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Author Topic: Creature: Snails  (Read 9517 times)

NonconsensualSurgery

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Creature: Snails
« on: January 19, 2012, 05:14:39 pm »
As a student of ecology, there was one thing bugging me in the back of my mind every time I'd explore a cavern layer.

They weren't completely stuffed full of snails.

Constant temperature, high humidity, large supplies of magical lichen, it would be snailtopia. They'd go wild, breed, conquer the cavern layer...

Okay, I worry about weird things. But, hey, I made snails for you guys. They're also fairly anatomically accurate except for things that make them worse, owing to having their own custom bodyplan. Expect to be bruised by chitinous radulae!

Omnivore:

It's not fast compared to most predators but once it gets ahold of you death is more or less inevitable. You will be stung and mauled by the venom-soaked chainsaw coming out of its face, bent by the grasping eyestalks, and stabbed in the forehead with some kind of bony piercing scythe attached to its rear foot that loops back around to the front. They also show unusual intelligence for something with a really small brain to bodysize ratio.

The venom is very interesting stuff. Many lab animals stopped breathing during clinical trials from the paralysis, but those strong enough to survive a dose of snail venom become permanently numb. This animal opens up exciting new frontiers in dwarven anesthesia.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This one won't rip your face off. It's just a snail blown up to fantasy size, with a more normal (non-head-stabbing) operculum to armor the rear foot and a handy shell. Dwarves have also discovered a recipe for cheese that uses snail secretions.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And finally, a glow-in-the-dark grazing vermin snail.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You'll need the custom snail body detail plan and tissue layers to make this work.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Please reuse, modify and copy this for the glory of Armok. It's the first creature I've designed from the ground up so it might need some cleaning up.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2012, 12:36:52 pm by NonconsensualSurgery »
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Quote from: Morpha on April 26, 2012, 02:47:23 am
Never had a bat massacre people with an axe before.
EDIT2: Oh god, the bat has got a title now.

Pokon

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2012, 06:56:26 pm »
Daww. I know have a pining for little trails of slime following my dwarves around, with a bit more usefulness than the average house cat. Now, time to fix that.
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Quote from: penguinofhonor on July 11, 2012, 05:23:51 pm
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Trapezohedron

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2012, 09:58:03 pm »
This is good, and it might even be a better replacement for cats, with them being able to hunt vermin, being cavern creatures and having shells.
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GreatWyrmGold

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2012, 10:32:54 pm »
Idea: Add a slime-spitting war snail, probably about the size of a dog, which has very toxic slime and a nigh impenetrable shell (iron-quality?), which can be made into good armor when you slaughter the snail. Plus: Poisonous critters that are tough to kill and lead enemies into self-generated pools of, I dunno, necrotic/paralytic/whatever poison, and that shoot it. Minus: They leave trails of necrotic/paralytic/whatever poison all over the fortress, or at least in a few areas which will be traversed, at bare minimum, whenever a snail is hauled to the pasture after trying to escape or when old snails are hauled to the butcher's to make war snail shell armor. Maybe make them grazers.
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Pokon

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2012, 10:41:16 pm »
Flail Snails actualy sound like decent war animals now. Huh.


"Attack, Shelly! Attack! Aim for the legs!"
« Last Edit: January 19, 2012, 10:43:09 pm by Pokon »
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Quote from: penguinofhonor on July 11, 2012, 05:23:51 pm
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NonconsensualSurgery

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2012, 02:08:52 am »
Quote from: GreatWyrmGold on January 19, 2012, 10:32:54 pm
Idea: Add a slime-spitting war snail, probably about the size of a dog, which has very toxic slime and a nigh impenetrable shell (iron-quality?), which can be made into good armor when you slaughter the snail. Plus: Poisonous critters that are tough to kill and lead enemies into self-generated pools of, I dunno, necrotic/paralytic/whatever poison, and that shoot it. Minus: They leave trails of necrotic/paralytic/whatever poison all over the fortress, or at least in a few areas which will be traversed, at bare minimum, whenever a snail is hauled to the pasture after trying to escape or when old snails are hauled to the butcher's to make war snail shell armor. Maybe make them grazers.

I learned my lesson about making arbitrarily dangerous critters and expecting to actually play. Anything with the potential to burn or contaminate half the map in a couple of minutes is right out except as a megabeast.

The real problem is that I can't get contaminants to clean themselves up reliably. If I could, then these could have mucous trails. Setting a low heat damage point left lots of bugged pools of snail juice in arena testing and setting a low boiling point causes unslightly mind-altering clouds to follow it wherever it goes.

However, I do like the idea of an iron-grade snail. I think I'll have it drop iron, and then have another one that drops flux shells, but both will be huge and really hard to kill. Chemically shells should have potential as a flux; it's all calcium carbonate, right?
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Quote from: Morpha on April 26, 2012, 02:47:23 am
Never had a bat massacre people with an axe before.
EDIT2: Oh god, the bat has got a title now.

Putnam

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2012, 02:12:55 am »
Contaminants are washed with water, IIRC, so it's good for fort mode.
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NonconsensualSurgery

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2012, 10:54:00 am »
Quote from: Putnam on January 20, 2012, 02:12:55 am
Contaminants are washed with water, IIRC, so it's good for fort mode.

Won't the cavern layers become flooded with snail juice though?
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Quote from: Morpha on April 26, 2012, 02:47:23 am
Never had a bat massacre people with an axe before.
EDIT2: Oh god, the bat has got a title now.

trees

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2012, 04:54:56 pm »
Quote from: NonconsensualSurgery on January 20, 2012, 02:08:52 am
The real problem is that I can't get contaminants to clean themselves up reliably. If I could, then these could have mucous trails. Setting a low heat damage point left lots of bugged pools of snail juice in arena testing and setting a low boiling point causes unslightly mind-altering clouds to follow it wherever it goes.

IIRC, the Arena has a really high ambient temperature (unusually high - think heat stroke in minutes) so it may not be the best place to test that. In the normal game, all underground areas are at a constant temperature of 10015 U. It might be more trouble than it's worth getting slime trails, but it would be a really nice touch.

I really like what you've done with these, especially the idea of them as cat-like pets, he he. One minor thing, under [CREATURE:SNAILPREDATOR], you have:

Code: [Select]
[UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:1:2:3]
That token works like [UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:min:max], so it's probably being parsed incorrectly. [UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:1:3] will put it in all three cavern layers.
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Sphalerite

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2012, 06:49:00 pm »
Putting both [MALE] and [FEMALE] on a single caste doesn't work.  You can only have one or the other.  If you have both, whichever one comes later overrides the previous one.
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Putnam

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2012, 07:00:04 pm »
Yes, it's unfortunate. Hermaphrodite animals are not possible.
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Alternatecash

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2012, 02:18:28 am »
You'll need 10ft long racing snails.
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Minnakht

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2012, 07:11:00 am »
Quote from: Alternatecash on January 21, 2012, 02:18:28 am
You'll need 10ft long racing snails.

Schnells.

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Putnam

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2012, 11:35:56 am »
Quote from: Minnakht on January 21, 2012, 07:11:00 am
Quote from: Alternatecash on January 21, 2012, 02:18:28 am
You'll need 10ft long racing snails.

Schnells.

That's an awfully slimy pun...
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NonconsensualSurgery

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Re: Creature: Snails
« Reply #14 on: January 21, 2012, 12:35:33 pm »
Quote from: Sphalerite on January 20, 2012, 06:49:00 pm
Putting both [MALE] and [FEMALE] on a single caste doesn't work.  You can only have one or the other.  If you have both, whichever one comes later overrides the previous one.

Oops. I fixed the predatory snail once I discovered this but forgot about the others.
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Quote from: Morpha on April 26, 2012, 02:47:23 am
Never had a bat massacre people with an axe before.
EDIT2: Oh god, the bat has got a title now.
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