Okay, so this is an idea heavily based on the Alot from the Hyperbole and a Half blog by Allie Brosh. As such, the mob I am suggesting is based upon her original idea, but changed a little bit to give it some semblance of biology. The picture is also hers; I'm not trying to steal her property, virtual or otherwise. Tiyuri wanted to put the Alot in the game a long time ago, and although I cannot confirm the outcome of his idea, I'm going on with this (almost) as though he had not planned it so. Here's the tweet. It's clickable too, so you can't accuse me of falseness. Click the spoiler below to see the most terrifying beast you have (and will) ever see in your ENTIRE LIFE. SHABAM. That's an Alot. Or at least a normal one. The others would be variations of this version. These are the most common Alots you will find, and probably the least threatening, as other Alots have special abilities differing, based on their planet of origin. Spawning conditions If in Starbound, Alots would spawn in normal-ish planets, mostly flattened, plains areas. They would spawn uncommonly compared to other mobs, as in one third of the time there is a chance a single Alot will spawn. Slight variations on the species would be able to spawn in different areas (and even planets). Behavior The Alot is normally neutral towards the player, and will walk around aimlessly. Occasionally it will grunt at the player, but won't do much else. When running, the Alot will make stomping sounds, sort of like riding a Doduo in Pokémon Ranger. Its hair will also move a little when moving, more so when running. An Alot's movement speed will go up by about 15% when running. They are a Melee monster. Alots are solitary, and usually don't encounter each other. But if two should meet, they will throw up their heads, roar, and charge at each other jousting-style with their horns (except tamed Alots). The Alots will do about 15% of their health in damage to one another in this manner. (Armor between Alots do nothing). Alots can jump, but they can't jump that well, like maybe half the jump height of a player without any enhancements. Alots are very good swimmers, given that they can swim 'alot' better than Michael Phelps, they can move at about 2.5 tiles per second. They can't dive or charge when in water, and will drown when under water for more than 7 seconds. And one more thing... Alots tend to be stuck-up, and they can't agree on who's better if you attack one of them. As a result, both Alots in combat will target you if one is attacked. After finishing you off, they will resume combat. Combat When attacked by a player, the Alot will start running and charge towards the player if it is too far away to use its second attack. This should do about 10% of the Alot's health, before armor applications, in damage if it hits the player. When the player gets within about four tiles of the Alot, it will open its gargantuan jaws and begin biting the player. This also have a 25% chance of stunning the player for about 3 seconds. These bites will chip away 15% of their health in damage to you (before armor application). If the player gets too far away, they will resume the charging phase. Their matted fur will provide about 7% resistance to damage. They have about 300% the amount of health of a normal player. Drops If you kill an Alot, you can obtain a tooth, a claw, some fur, or a horn. More rarely, you can get some meat or (even more rarely than meat) a pelt from the beasts. Basically, it goes like this: Tooth: 25% (1-3 at a time) = A white tooth, like that of a T-Rex. Kind of like this, only white and sharper. Claw: 25% (1-2 at a time) = A curved black claw, like a talon. The point should be a little more dull, but the diagram does show the lighting levels. I want light glinting along the claw. Fur: 40% ( 1-3 at a time) = A patch of brown fur. Make it brown, and with hairs sticking up. Horn: 10% (1-2 at a time) = A short, beige horn. Marbled, is rather blunt. You can also get these at the same time: Meat: 85% (1-2 at a time) = Resembles a T-bone steak. I don't really need a picture for this... Pelt: 15% (only 1 at a time) = Looks like a skinned Alot. The eyes are shut and the bottom kaw is removed. The claws are still on it. Sketch coming soon. These items are mainly materials, used to make weapons, but you can also make a vanity/beginner's armor item, although there is a food item. You can use the tooth as it is to fight, as though with a sword, and is fairly effective (using Terraria as an example, it's a bit stronger than starter equipment, but not as strong as mid-game equipment. Kind of like early mid-game equipment). If you get about five claws and a horn, you can craft a pistol. Its main portion is made out of the horn, the rest made out of black claws. It resembles a flintlock pistol. It fires 'alot' faster than a regular gun, and runs on normal bullets. It has 16 bullets per clip, takes three seconds to reload, and does an average of 4.2 damage per second. The bullets do not spread and as such are shot singularly. You can also make a sword, with two teeth and three claws. This sword is more comparable to early mid-game equipment, and is not a beam weapon (instead having a blade made out of the hewn teeth and carved claws for the handle), although with the proper technology it can turn into a cool beam sword. If you get ten fur and a pelt, you can make a fur coat. When you wear it, the Alot's top jaw (complete with teeth and open eyes!) looks like it's draped over the player's head, and the rest of the body (minus the limbs) hangs from it. It provides 10% resistance to damage. So unless you're herding Alots or don't have very good armor yet, it's more aesthetic than anything. It does provide a little bit of warmth, though. It also has meat. It has a 42% chance of poisoning you when you eat it, although it would heal about 15 hunger out of 100. You can cook this over a simple campfire or in any cooking implement that the game will have, and this will go up to 45/100 health. The last item is a horn used to rally Alots. It is crafted with ten horns. When used, an animation appears, making the player blow the horn, making a long sound that reverberates throughout the area. The animation is about 5 seconds long. Any Alots in the area will be pacified and stop fighting. They will also follow the player for about 3 minutes. Any player wearing an Alot pelt (the armor, not the item) will not be attacked by an Alot if the latter is provoked by the player. Suggested Ideas Reynbowz - Alots will sputter black typo messages when hit, although they will not say them. Sort of like the pigmen in Don't Starve. He suggested these as typos, although I don't think certain kinds of messages would be a nice idea to be implemented: your gey stutid gog jebus sup its better then you'res irregardless im dieing Affero - He drew us a nice animated sprite. Have a look. It's also got the color palettes and a player for size, although I pictured them being bigger. yugimon - Yugimon suggested that alots spawn whenever the 'alot' typo is used in chat. I disapproved of this idea, since it means people will just spam it and farm the beasts. Alots are majestic, and shouldn't be slain indiscriminately. Do we hunt lions on a regular basis just so we can eat their meat, wear their fur, and make weapons out of their teeth and claws? (However, I suggested that if people use the word 'alot' in text message, there is a somewhat 1% chance that an invincible alot will rush and murder you, albeit not touching anyone else.) Miscellania There are color variations. Alots can be brown, white (polar biomes only), sooty (fiery planets), tangles with vines and bracken (jungle biomes) and many other colors. They also have different behaviors and abilities. The white Alot's fur is visibly matted with ice, and as such they have 12% resistance to damage. The fiery Alots are aggressive on sight, and do 15% more damage per charge and 20% more damage per bite. They are also immune to fire damage and will set you on fire when they get too close if they're already on fire. The jungle alots are 10% faster than the other kinds and also smaller so they fit in between the thick vegetation. There are also very rare space alots, that appear to be made of moon rock (like a moon rock statue that moves) and will have the ability to 'superjump' from one asteroid to another after you and will produce shockwaves at a short distance when they land that do damage that is not blocked by armor. They're also tough. And when they sleep they look like boulders that move occasionally, like a curled-up cat. Tamed alots will be of a certain color once tamed, based on where they were found, and shall be the size of cats. The alot you tamed, however, will not have abilities specific to the place you tamed it in (green alots aren't faster and red ones will not be stronger). _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ We don't know much about the game just yet, so for now not much will happen. But once it comes out, this topic will come alive, buzzing with activity! So join us in adding this beast into the game. Plus, you get a cookie. A very big cookie, that is. Like this one. I think that that's about everything I need to cover, if there's anything I missed, or you would like to contribute, please say so! I appreciate constructive criticism. I think I may get MS Paint or something out to make drawings of what I mean. Any ideas can be suggested too. Thanks for reading!
... that's alot of information but seriously, its a neat idea! if you can get this ball rolling with some actual sprites and pixel-art, I'd love to see it!
Ah riiight. Well, I don't really do spriting and such. I could prolly use Paint.Net and make some crude cave scrawlings to portray what I mean, or maybe for the items. To give people an idea of what I'm after. EDIT: If you, reader, can sprite or do art once the sketches are up, please say so and help. Yes, I'm talking to YOU.
Ah, okay. Thanks anyway. But is the organisation bad? You said there was 'alot' of information, and I told myself that this mob suggestion would NOT be vague. I'm drawing up sketches of the items right now.
Yes... Yes yes yes yes yes. Yes with all of my heart. Actually, Alot of Children stole my heart, so yes with all of my kidney (Not kidneys, only kidney).
If there are grocery stores in Starbound, Alot of Beer cans should spawn near them. It would be an epic battle. After all, Alot of beer cans is alot better then you.
In fact, Tiy has mentioned in his twitter some time ago, that he would like to add Alots in Starbound and he was talking to Allie about it. Although I never knew what was the outcome of these negotiations. But I like this idea. Alot.
Really? A reference for this would be really neat, Sniper. I have tried to contact Allie about four times, but no dice.
Let's not completely trash everyone's confidence. As for the idea, it may be better to do an alot type whose fur is matted with trash instead. I wana to stay try true to Allie's original idea, but some parts of it are a bit unrealistic. Maybe Alot of fire, though...
Look what I found in the deep dark cavern that is Tiy's twitter page. EDIT: This was nine months ago, so it may not be planned anymore, or simply forgotten. But I object! The Alot will rise from the depths of the archives, and be in Starbound! EDIT 2: Now linked to the real post!
Primitive scrawlings completed (sort of). The pelt isn't done yet, and the meat isn't done either. Not even sure if I will do the meat...
Well, it seems Allie had more fans than I thought. I want Tiy to see this, and maybe he'll decide to put them in the game... If anyone can find Allie, that is. I wonder...