Biomes In My Mind
Jamezorg
United Kingdom Join Date: 2016-05-15 Member: 216788Members
United Kingdom Join Date: 2016-05-15 Member: 216788Members
Yes, creatures interact a lot in this game, but not as much as they do in real life, and that's to be expected; if I could make a game like this I'd spend the first two years of development making the wildlife so diverse and interesting and fleshed out, but I know that isn't the main focus and am delighted to find that the story and backstory of this game makes up for this quite well. I just hope that after 1.0 releases they focus more of their energy on creature interactions.
I know that the ecosystem won't be as fleshed out as it is in real life, but if it were this would be what I imagine. These are my visions of Subnautica biomes (there are a lot of them so this will be divided into a few or more posts on this thread ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
The Safe Shallows
The Safe Shallows are a thriving hub for wildlife. The most common lifeform in this area is by far the Boomerang. No matter where you look you are abound to see a shoal of these creatures swimming around. Their shoals consist of five hundred or more each, and can be found in almost every corner of the zone. The Peeper, however, is a more reclusive fish, living alongside only its mate, in the crevasses that litter the biome. Although they do not live in larger shoals like the Boomerang do, they are still numerous throughout the biome.
Then there are the reclusive creatures that reside in the caves beneath the sands. One of these creatures is the Shuttlebug. The Shuttlebug lives a solitary life in the caves in this biome, barely leaving the tunnels more than once a day to pick barnacles off of the rocks outside. The Shuttlebug is hunted, however, and is driven out into the sunlight. Their numbers are dwindling thanks to another reclusive creature.
The Crashfish lives in a singular pod. Nutrients are pumped from the ground through roots that dig into the rock, and sent straight into the creature. They hunt at night, and have a rather peculiar hunting mechanism; they explode. One of these fish will opt to hunt down another creature, the most common example being the Shuttlebug. This Crashfish will charge into the fish and explode, allowing a lucky other crash to drag its carcass into its pod for consumption.
This isn't the most deadly predator in these shallows, however. The most dangerous creature resides near the surface, and is called the Gasopod. The Gasopod has glands in its club-like tail, and from these pours they can leak poisonous liquids that kill enemies. This creature eats acid mushrooms to replenish the acidity of its tail, but it comes at a price. The green goo is heavy, and sinks to the ocean floor after a time, killing any creature unlucky enough to eat from the seabed later on.
The Kelp Forest
The Kelp Forest is dangerous biome. Here you will find Hoverfish and Spadefish. The Spadefish eats yellow sacks of sap that hang from higher parts of the kelp, and nests within the kelp strands. They are ferocious towards anything that strays too close to its seven thousand eggs. The Hoverfish carries its eggs beneath its giant suction-cup "feet". These plates act as propulsion and flotation for the fish. It eats the green leafs from the kelp strands.
But there is one creature that the Spadefish cannot fend off; the Stalker. The Stalker is as large as a dolphin, and as dangerous as a shark. They roam the more shallow areas of the kelp forest, but sometimes stray into deeper areas, around the level that Spadefish and Hoverfish swim. When they swim close, all these fish can do is retreat. They swim down the sides of kelp strands, and gather at their bases. Most times they wait for the Stalker to finish business above and they go back to protecting their young at levels suitable for them. Other times they are not so lucky.
Stalkers have been known to follow the fish down to the seafloor on occasion, and then the slaughter begins. Not many fish are able to survive this massacre; Hoverfish and Spadefish are not very agile, so escape is not an option. There are hardly ever survivors.
But as soon as blood is spilled into the water, it attracts a new predator; the Bleeder. The Bleeder is the most dangerous creature in these forests. It is a parasite no longer than a pencil, and it attached to the fins of Stalkers when it can track them down thanks to a successful hunt. The Bleeder slowly but surely extracts blood from the Stalker until it becomes so weak that it can no longer swim. It falls lifeless to the sea bed where hungry Bleeders finish the job.
I know that the ecosystem won't be as fleshed out as it is in real life, but if it were this would be what I imagine. These are my visions of Subnautica biomes (there are a lot of them so this will be divided into a few or more posts on this thread ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
The Safe Shallows
The Safe Shallows are a thriving hub for wildlife. The most common lifeform in this area is by far the Boomerang. No matter where you look you are abound to see a shoal of these creatures swimming around. Their shoals consist of five hundred or more each, and can be found in almost every corner of the zone. The Peeper, however, is a more reclusive fish, living alongside only its mate, in the crevasses that litter the biome. Although they do not live in larger shoals like the Boomerang do, they are still numerous throughout the biome.
Then there are the reclusive creatures that reside in the caves beneath the sands. One of these creatures is the Shuttlebug. The Shuttlebug lives a solitary life in the caves in this biome, barely leaving the tunnels more than once a day to pick barnacles off of the rocks outside. The Shuttlebug is hunted, however, and is driven out into the sunlight. Their numbers are dwindling thanks to another reclusive creature.
The Crashfish lives in a singular pod. Nutrients are pumped from the ground through roots that dig into the rock, and sent straight into the creature. They hunt at night, and have a rather peculiar hunting mechanism; they explode. One of these fish will opt to hunt down another creature, the most common example being the Shuttlebug. This Crashfish will charge into the fish and explode, allowing a lucky other crash to drag its carcass into its pod for consumption.
This isn't the most deadly predator in these shallows, however. The most dangerous creature resides near the surface, and is called the Gasopod. The Gasopod has glands in its club-like tail, and from these pours they can leak poisonous liquids that kill enemies. This creature eats acid mushrooms to replenish the acidity of its tail, but it comes at a price. The green goo is heavy, and sinks to the ocean floor after a time, killing any creature unlucky enough to eat from the seabed later on.
The Kelp Forest
The Kelp Forest is dangerous biome. Here you will find Hoverfish and Spadefish. The Spadefish eats yellow sacks of sap that hang from higher parts of the kelp, and nests within the kelp strands. They are ferocious towards anything that strays too close to its seven thousand eggs. The Hoverfish carries its eggs beneath its giant suction-cup "feet". These plates act as propulsion and flotation for the fish. It eats the green leafs from the kelp strands.
But there is one creature that the Spadefish cannot fend off; the Stalker. The Stalker is as large as a dolphin, and as dangerous as a shark. They roam the more shallow areas of the kelp forest, but sometimes stray into deeper areas, around the level that Spadefish and Hoverfish swim. When they swim close, all these fish can do is retreat. They swim down the sides of kelp strands, and gather at their bases. Most times they wait for the Stalker to finish business above and they go back to protecting their young at levels suitable for them. Other times they are not so lucky.
Stalkers have been known to follow the fish down to the seafloor on occasion, and then the slaughter begins. Not many fish are able to survive this massacre; Hoverfish and Spadefish are not very agile, so escape is not an option. There are hardly ever survivors.
But as soon as blood is spilled into the water, it attracts a new predator; the Bleeder. The Bleeder is the most dangerous creature in these forests. It is a parasite no longer than a pencil, and it attached to the fins of Stalkers when it can track them down thanks to a successful hunt. The Bleeder slowly but surely extracts blood from the Stalker until it becomes so weak that it can no longer swim. It falls lifeless to the sea bed where hungry Bleeders finish the job.
Comments
But I have some concerns.
First,
Second, does the Spadefish actually live in the Kelp Forest? I thought they lived in the Grassy Plateau.
they float
Twisty Bridges
I'll finish all of the existing biomes first, then afterwards I can do non-existent biomes by request, the first being Twisty Bridges. By this I mean I could do @ResolutionBlaze 's Crystal Abyss and the Arctic Biome.
The Grassy Plateau is expansive, and appears desolate at first glance, but when you dig deeper this is one of the most diverse environments in the entire ocean, and the most dangerous.
You will not find any fish living near the sandy seafloors in the plateau, for beneath the sand is a deadly creature waiting to feast on unlucky prey. The Sandshark stalks its victims from beneath the sand, only its fin visible from above. Then, when it is close enough to a Spadefish or any type of prey it will pounce from the sand and gobble it up for food. These sharks, however, have no small amount of quarrels beneath the sand, in their domain. The sharks fight beneath the grains, creating vast storms of sandy clouds, making the surrounding area almost completely concealed. The victor leaves the carcass, and this is how the Biter survives.
The Biter is a small, bloodthirsty fish that feeds on the carcasses of larger predators like the Sandshark. They travel in packs of up to fifty strong, and can devour an entire Sandshark in less than an hour. They do, however, make perfect prey for other, more lively Sandsharks, so to counteract this they eat their victims from the inside out, using the Sandshark's armour as a protective shield from predators as they eat.
For fish in the plateau it's win or die. Smaller shoals of fish are found at the tops of rocky pillars found throughout the plateau. The only time they ever dive to the seabed is to lay eggs in the grass. These eggs amount to fifty thousand in number, and as soon as they hatch the deadly race begins. The baby fish stay in the red grass for seven minutes until their number becomes so much their presence becomes obvious. Then they dash to the pillars in a tornado of moving lifeforms. Sandsharks eliminate hundreds at a time, and Biters kill off a substantial amount of the babies. In the end only one in five hundred make it to the safety of the pillars.
But the pillars is not the only place fish reside. Swimming very close to the surface is the Reefback. The Reefback is a fortress; its armour is thicker than that of a nuclear bunker, and its underbelly is venomous. They are longer than six speedboats, and as wide as an aircraft carrier. They live to be three hundred years old, and travel in pods of up to twenty strong. Their shells have, over the years, grown plantlife and have become a thriving ecosystem. Here fish live in relative happiness, safe from any of the dangers below, and even the younger fish don't have to perform the daring death run the others do; the surface area of the shell is wide enough to house even fifty thousand eggs, so they don't have to make a trip to larger areas.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
The forest is home to some of the most diverse wildlife on the planet, ranging from armoured predators to graceful, luminescent rays and small, nimble creatures. But one of the most extraordinary sights in these forests are the trees themselves. The mushroom stalks are actually made of pure stone, and are built over the course of millions of years thanks to deposits of highly-concentrated salt beneath the surface in biomes yet to be discussed. This can only mean that the Mushroom Forests are some of the oldest environments in the ocean.
The grand mushroom discs that grow on the rocks act as a sanctuary for fish. They live their lives on the top of the disc whilst they lay their eggs on its underside. This helps protect the creatures from some of the more deadly predators in the ocean. The Boneshark is an armoured pack hunter that travels in groups of up to four or five in these areas, and tracks down larger prey, such as Spadefish. Sometimes they will look on the tops of the discs, and when this happens there are rarely any survivors; even the eggs are taken care of.
Reefbacks float above this biome and, once again, they act as a safe haven for fish. These Reefbacks, however, only visit the forest in passing, and move on after a day above the mushrooms.
Then there are the Jellyray. The Jellyray are distant cousins to both the Rabbitray and the Crimson and Ghost ray. The Jellyray has poisonous skin, therefore is avoided by predators such as the Boneshark. They do, in fact, get along rather nicely. Both lay their eggs at the base of the limestone stems and when these eggs hatch the babies, even if they are of different species, spend their first week or two alongside one another. Studies indicate that Bonesharks and Jellyray are so intelligent that they have shown behaviour characteristic of human friends. These creatures are friends from birth.
Sometimes larger predators are known to venture into the forest, but the difficult terrain and cramped nature of the trees makes for a quick visit by Reaper Leviathans. Reapers barely ever get any food from these attacks, and when they do they either choke on a Boneshark or are poisoned by a Jellyray.
Some biomes are more lively than others. Some are overflowing with life, like the mushroom forest and grassy plateau, and some are dominated by plant life, for example the kelp forest. These aspects determine the behaviours of the creatures that reside in these biomes. But here, in the Crag Field, creatures must fight their very best to survive.
The Crag is a desolate wasteland, devoid of most plantlife. All that can survive in this are is small patches of oceanic grass that grow on strange rock formations, spanning the entire biome. These rock formations are the only thing that allows any form of life to flourish. Well, that and the nearby Grand Reef, where certain animals migrate here to breed in safer environments. For example, Hoopfish travel to this barren place every few months to lay a new batch of eggs on the underside of these rocks.
Little do the Hoopfish know that this forgotten canyon is home to predators. The Boneshark lurks in these waters, and many of them are starving. Bonesharks can survivor for up to four weeks without food, although they rarely need to go without for this long anyway. Here it is a different story. The Boneshark eats Boomerang in this area, although their population is dwindling. They live in isolation, as opposed to their usual habits of sticking as a shoal.
After the Hoopfish lays its eggs on the 'fingers' of the Crag, the Boneshark strikes. When it is swimming away, the Boneshark makes squick work of the Hoopfish. Then they wait. Four or five of the creatures lurk around the eggs for two weeks until they hatch, and as they're growing they don't let the babies leave the area. When they are almost fully grown, in about five weeks after hatching, they are all eaten.
Reefback live by the surface, but they rarely ever make an impact on what goes on down below; the Crag is so deep that they are barely seen by the animals living between the fingers, therefore their existence remains unknown.
A long time ago, Bonesharks were everywhere, in almost every biome.
Then, they were replaced by creatures like the Crabsquid, Crabsnake, Sandshark, and Biter just to name a few.
Now, they're only in the Mushroom Forest and Underwater Islands. EDIT: Can't forget that they're also in the Koosh zone.
And the Crag Field.
So the real question is, are the Bonesharks getting another biome to call home?
Or are they just a placement predator for a different creature?
Possibly, one that has to do with rocks perhaps?
There is a section of the kelp forest that the terrain is very twisty - bridges - esque.
1
In my personal observations, the boomerang doesn't dominate the safe shallows. From my observations, it seems that there are many different species of fish, all occurring with about equal frequency in the safe shallows. From boomerangs, to airsacks, to peepers, to holefish, to the occasional hoopfish, the Safe Shallows seem to have more of a "Tropical Reef" feel, with competition by many different species. Boomerang do seem to be nearly ubiquitous to the planet, however, and I have noticed them in great quantities in the Koosh Zone, so it would seem that they dominate that area.
2
@Enderguy059 already mentioned that the gasopods make their gasses through other means (at least, according to their bio scans). It would make the biome more ecologically diverse if they acquired their gas through the acid mushrooms, but that's not how it's stated to work in the game...
3
Again, I'm pretty sure someone's said this before, but I'm not sure that spadefish live in the kelp forests naturally...
Mushroom Forest: "Most diverse environment in all the planet."
Grassy Plataue: "Most diverse in all the ocean."
I'm seeing a trend here.
You ever watched anything David Attenborough? He's got 50 or so creatures that he's classed the "most dangerous creature on the planet".
So the trend is on purpose, it's kind of a parody
Everyone on this page.