Hello everyone. As you may have heard by now I am working on a project to add some new loading screen images to Thrive. While I don’t expect these to be the only loading screen images added during development I wanted to create a series of images that follow the evolution of a single planet’s biosphere. I also wanted to include our official mascot, the Hexaquill, within this project and have the sapient species of the planet be a distant descendant of it.
The first instance of this you may have come across was when I showed off a plate tectonic simulation of a planet, named Pangonia by the community, during a livestream. Since then I worked on refining the planet as well as creating the initial body plans I wanted to work from and the first speciations from those initial body plans.
Now that I am at a point that I like with the species I have designed for the loading screens I, and other dev members upon asking, feel ready to give the community a chance to once again have an effect upon Thrive. Even if you are not artistically inclined, please give it a shot as I will also be making videos on the spec evo project half of this on my youtube channel and plan to use as many pieces of art as possible made by you, the community, in those videos.
Requirements for art to be considered for loading screens:
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Each artwork should attempt to include more than one species (this will be dropped for the two initial body plans (species named Alustava liikuja and Ensimmäinen peruna as these are the initial body plans of the project) Info about the species, general info, image and habitat location is provided at the end. (or as a google link depending on how the forums treats me)
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The works should try to be dynamic and show some type of interaction between individuals and/or species.
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No AI generation used. (Likely unnecessary but I feel the need to mention it in case it becomes an issue in the future. I will also advocate for the removal of any loading screen images we later discover to be AI generated)
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The specific artstyle should be something similar to naturalistic/impressionistic (it should match the look of current loading screens in game), avoiding cartoonish styles.
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Include your forum user name so we can credit you both in game (if it is chosen to be used as a loading screen) and in my video on the project.
The requirements of art to be used in my videos are all of the above except for the style requirement.
Since this is the first attempt at this I plan to keep this contest up for up to two months depending on how consistently art submissions come in. Community members, Dev team members and non-community members are allowed to participate. Artwork will be chosen based on how well the dev team feels it fits the requirements given and the other loading screens regardless of who submitted the artwork.
Species Info Below
Clade: Folia Lutea (Yellow Leaves)
Scientific Name: Meren ruohoa (Sea Grass)
Species Info
Evolved from yellow algae species
First multicellular plant species of Pangonia
Dominant clade of marine plants
Found along coastlines in water up to 5 meters deep and around islands to the same depth
Female Gametangium
Male gametes are caught within the cup shaped structure’s indent
Spore detach from the female gametangium once it is matured and is spread by currents
Male Gametangium
Produces gametes from tendril structures which are released into currents
Clade: Motileae (moving)
Scientific Name: Alustava Liikkuja (Preliminary Mover)
Species Info
Moves slowly along the sea floor
Diet consists of bacteria mats and dead matter
Body consists of multiple segments that conform shape wise based on location to the head and anus
No bones in the body
Through gut
Gobelgium located a little before end of the tail segment
Can get to about 10 cm long
Open circulatory system
Found nearly everywhere in Pangonia’s oceans
Body covered in fine cilia
R-selection
Nerve cluster located near head
8 total eyes
Extinct by the time its descendant clades have evolved
Clade: Xenovermis (Alien worm)
Scientific Name: Hehku mato (Glow worm)
Species Info
Grows up to 30 cm long
10 cm body
5 cm antenna
15 cm tail
Feeds on zooplankton
Clings onto marine plants and rocks in order to reach currents
Body covered in Cilia that assist in orienting and moving in waters with no currents when unattached from a plant or rock
Antennas help locate currents where food may be located
R-selected
Clade: Crustae (Outer shell)
Scientific Name: Melan kuori (Paddle shell)
Species Info
Evolved to consume species of the Folia lutea clade
Body segmented into a head, gill only, gill and paddle fin, middle body paddle fin, mid-body, and tail segments
Number of various segments (minus head and tail) can differ among species of the Crustae clade
Mandibles help to consume plant matter and smaller animals
Found in reefs and underwater forests
Exoskeleton made of chitin
Early 3D model without mandibles, but shows the gills better
Larger Clade: Calvaria (skull)
Clade: Sedecamorph (sixteen form)
Scientific Name: Roskiem Syöjä (Detritus eater)
Species Info
16 total “limbs”
Entire clade consists of two spins running parallel to the center of symmetry
4 tail appendages assist in gamete transfer
Small bumps/proto-tentacles assist in scraping away at bacteria mats and decaying flesh
6 eyes moved up closer to the top of the head while 2 eyes moved towards the bottom of the head. The lower eyes have started to become vestigial
Feathery mouth appendages (similar to earth barnacle cirri) assist in catching phyto and zoo plankton
Can grow up to 30 cm long
Found along coastlines and occasionally in small sea floor population
R selection
Consumes bacteria mats and detritus
Larger Clade: Calvaria (Skull)
Clade: Maxilla carens (Jaw lacking)
Scientific Name: Yhdeksän evät (Nine fins)
Species Info
Can grow up to 45 cm
R-selected
Found all across Pangonia’s oceans
Mouth tentacles are utilized to capture, process and pass food into the mouth opening
Occupy the first true predatory niches on Pangonia
Entire clade lacks a true jaw, instead relying on the mouth tentacles as their jaws and teeth instead
Clade: Navigare (Sail)
Species Info
Doesn’t grow longer than 1 mm in size
Consume phyto and chemo plankton
Thousands if not millions of species
All members of the Navigare clade have some form of structure to catch currents
Large gills
Large gobelgium
Extremely R selected clade
Clade: Sedens (Sitting)
Scientific Name: Ensimmäinen peruna (First potato)
Species Info
Sessile
Blind gut
Filter feeder
Basic ocular organs at the end of feeding arms
Open circulatory system
Nerve net
Small gills on feeding arms
R-selection
Broadcast spawning
Larvae eat plankton before maturing enough to fasten to a surface
Can grow up to 10 cm tall
Found all throughout Panagonia’s oceans, but are most common along the coastlines of the super continent
Larvae have no gender until they mature
Clade: Maceria lapidea (Stone wall)
Scientific Name: Elävää kalsiumia (Living calcium)
Species Info
Calcium Carbonate shells for defense and protection of eyes and feeder arms
4 feeder arms shortened to be simple rotating eyes
Sticks to rocky (non-fleshy) surfaces when matured and can end up sticking onto other members of the clade
Retains filter feeder life style
Non-shrunk feeding arms increased surface area and developed branches from the main arm
Gill surface on feeder arms also increased in surface area
All eyes are more advanced than ancestor species
Found everywhere in the ocean, but are most common along coastlines
10 to 30 cm
Form vast colonies which form Panagonia’s first mineral based reef
Most diverse clade of all reef forming clades
Clade: Pedibus scopulum (Legged reef)
Scientific Name: Väärä ritutta (False reef)
Species Info
Found in parts of the ocean with weaker currents and large populations of Folia lutea
Eyes are more developed than Sedens ancestors, but less advanced than Maceria lapidea relatives
Lives among Folia lutea species
Retains soft unarmored bodies of their Sedens ancestors
Fewer overall species than Maceria lapidea
R-selection
10 to 20 cm
Remains motionless for most of their adult life
Can move if threatened by moving like an Earth anemone or by scuttling on their four protolegs
Larger Clade: Adults puera (Adult child)
Clade: Lengum corpus (Long body)
Scientific Name: Nuori Lonkero (Young Tentacles)
Species Info
Evolved after neoteny occurred in Sedens ancestor
Small tendrils around mouth help move food into it
Species in deep oceans affected by Deep sea gigantism
30 to 60 cm
Propels through the water with its tentacles
Some species have muscles forming around their mouths to create a siphon like on Earth squids in order to propel water out of the body and launch gametes
Found in all ocean environments, but are most common away from coastlines
Gender is determined only when sexual maturity is reached
Consumes plankton and young of the sessile clades
Larger Clade: Adults puera (Adult child)
Clade: Areae deambulatio (Floor walk)
Scientific Name: Valtameren risti (Ocean Cross)
Species Info
Found in deep oceans and away from coastlines
Deep sea species can reach 15 to 20 cm in height
Species closer to the coastline are about 5 to 10 cm high
Hydrostatic skeleton provides support and movement
Moves slowly
Feasts on bacterial mats in deep ocean areas
R-selection
4 limbs become appendages for moving along sea floor
Gender is determined upon sexual maturity
