Garlonuss
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 275
Registered: 06-28-2004
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Okay, I've been away from the forum for a while here, so I'm sorry if someone mentioned ideas like these already and I simply haven't seen them yet, but I've had a couple ideas bouncing around in my head recently.

How about this one:
(I started thinking about it after finishing work on this picture. The idea evolved dramatically from the starting point, however.)
The Bog Eel is a serpent type creature that is primarily made up of the slime that grows in shallow water. As such, it can't go into deep water because it would be dispersed, and it mostly can't go onto land or it will dry out. It may venture up on land as long as the two adjacent segments (or one if it's the head or tail) are in shallow water.
This means that it can chase you across islands of one square or peninsulas that are one square wide.
You can kill it one segment at a time with your sword at either end, but since it lives in the shallow water, you have to make sure that you can attack it from dry land. But since the head can attack as long as the next segment remains in the water, you can't count on being safe on the shoreline without keeping your wits about you.

Or my second idea which I'll admit still feels a bit under-developed:
(Which I started thinking about after making this picture)
The Flying Sea Turtle can fly over pits, swim through water, or walk on land. However, when it's on land, it can only move every other turn. Basically, if it is on land and it moved last turn, it must wait, but if it waited last turn or is not on land, it is free to move now.
When the turtle has been killed, the shell is left behind as a moveable object. I was musing that, once pushed into the water, it could be used as a 1X1 water platform. Or possibly it would just become a stepping stone in shallow water.
I'm not completely sure which would be better as an addition to the staple of beasts.
Right now, nothing can be turned into a platform. So that's one reason it could be a good idea. However, I've noticed that some people here seem to not like ideas that aren't just variations on existing themes, so that could be a vote against.

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Someone Else
Level: Smitemaster

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Garlonuss wrote:
The Bog Eel is a serpent type creature that is primarily made up of the slime that grows in shallow water. As such, it can't go into deep water because it would be dispersed, and it mostly can't go onto land or it will dry out. It may venture up on land as long as the two adjacent segments (or one if it's the head or tail) are in shallow water.

But then it's always going to step onto land and not be able to get back. It'd be better if it can only do this if there would be two shallow water spaces adjacent to the space it moves onto.

This means that it can chase you across islands of one square or peninsulas that are one square wide.
You can kill it one segment at a time with your sword at either end, but since it lives in the shallow water, you have to make sure that you can attack it from dry land. But since the head can attack as long as the next segment remains in the water, you can't count on being safe on the shoreline without keeping your wits about you.

I like this idea lots.

The Flying Sea Turtle can fly over pits, swim through water, or walk on land. However, when it's on land, it can only move every other turn. Basically, if it is on land and it moved last turn, it must wait, but if it waited last turn or is not on land, it is free to move now.
When the turtle has been killed, the shell is left behind as a moveable object. I was musing that, once pushed into the water, it could be used as a 1X1 water platform. Or possibly it would just become a stepping stone in shallow water.
I'm not completely sure which would be better as an addition to the staple of beasts.
Right now, nothing can be turned into a platform. So that's one reason it could be a good idea. However, I've noticed that some people here seem to not like ideas that aren't just variations on existing themes, so that could be a vote against.

I like this, especially the platform idea. But turtles can't do anything to something (someone) on their back. So why not also allow for stepping on the turtle while it's over pit/water, and using it like a platform without killing it? Then it can't move (except by Beethro moving it) until the turn after Beethro steps off it.

Zaratustra00
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 107
Registered: 11-12-2004
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Suggestion for Bog Eel: Have it behave as a snake that can walk over shallow water and ground, but dies if its entire body is outside the water.

Flying Sea Turtle is a bit overly complex. Suggestion: It moves over any terrain normally, but only leaves a platform if killed over water or a pit. If killed over ground, it shatters.

Trickster
Level: Smitemaster

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Registered: 07-03-2007
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*looks up at byline*

Er... Just for the record, this is not an alt account of mine.

Just sayin'.

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Garlonuss
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 275
Registered: 06-28-2004
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Someone Else wrote:
But then it's always going to step onto land and not be able to get back. It'd be better if it can only do this if there would be two shallow water spaces adjacent to the space it moves onto.

My intention was to describe that it would only go up on land if it could immediately go back into water or if it could kill you in that one move. I think it would be okay to have the Bog Eel attack at a point where it can't immediately go back into the water, because it is more concerned with killing than survival. But if it attacked a decoy or stalwart, it would then be stranded until you come by and stab its head, putting the whole thing back in the water.

Zaratustra00 wrote:
Suggestion for Bog Eel: Have it behave as a snake that can walk over shallow water and ground, but dies if its entire body is outside the water.

That could work too. It might be a bit harder to code, but it would be easy enough to understand how to kill it.

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Haikus are easy.
Sometimes they don't make much sense.
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Moo
Level: Master Delver
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Registered: 10-14-2006
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Garlonuss wrote:

Zaratustra00 wrote:
Suggestion for Bog Eel: Have it behave as a snake that can walk over shallow water and ground, but dies if its entire body is outside the water.

That could work too. It might be a bit harder to code, but it would be easy enough to understand how to kill it.

A bit too easy to kill perhaps?
Walk to edge of water, wait for eel to start chasing you, run away.

Garlonuss
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 275
Registered: 06-28-2004
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Moo wrote:

Garlonuss wrote:

Zaratustra00 wrote:
Suggestion for Bog Eel: Have it behave as a snake that can walk over shallow water and ground, but dies if its entire body is outside the water.

That could work too. It might be a bit harder to code, but it would be easy enough to understand how to kill it.

A bit too easy to kill perhaps?
Walk to edge of water, wait for eel to start chasing you, run away.

That's very true too. Largely I think it would be best to limit it to the shallows just like Seep are limited to the walls and Roaches etc. are limited to dry ground. But just like Seep can jump out of walls for a kill shot, I think it makes sense to allow the Bog Eel to jump up on land for a kill shot too.
Also, that's the part I was referring to when I said it would be hard to code. I figured we wouldn't want to create a suicidal eel and make it so it could recognize when it's too far out of the water then return. That would be tricky to code.

____________________________
Haikus are easy.
Sometimes they don't make much sense.
Refrigerator.

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[Last edited by Garlonuss at 08-01-2012 05:00 PM]

Zaratustra00
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 107
Registered: 11-12-2004
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Moo wrote:

Garlonuss wrote:

Zaratustra00 wrote:
Suggestion for Bog Eel: Have it behave as a snake that can walk over shallow water and ground, but dies if its entire body is outside the water.

That could work too. It might be a bit harder to code, but it would be easy enough to understand how to kill it.

A bit too easy to kill perhaps?
Walk to edge of water, wait for eel to start chasing you, run away.

Presumably it would be used in rooms that have a lot of water, such that finding enough dry squares is a problem.