by scolipede. » Sat Jun 27, 2015 6:35 pm
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What's one (or more) feature/theme of a closed specie(s) that you think is overused? Or could be done better?
a lot of things, tbh
feathers are overused, horns are overused, really fluffy bodies, really thin bodies, really large front feet/legs/paws... hm... things that are filled with a mostly-liquid/liquid (ex. water, lava, w/e), things that have shark tails/fish body parts, wings, kirin-like species, space things, gems, stars (which goes with space), species based on something, food based, hooves
of course, the point isn't if it's overused, in my opinion. unless you're talking about the liquid bodies. that's just really overused.
you could take overused traits and use them in a way that isn't so common, and even though they're overused it would still be unique, if that makes sense.
What's one (or more) feature/theme of a closed specie(s) that you think is underused?
hmm
im sure that everything has been used at least once or twice, but since it's so underused it's kinda hard to think about that...
i think general anatomy is something underused. most people use canine anatomy, sometimes feline or equine-like anatomy, too. they under or over exaggerate certain traits that belong to an animal in order to create a "unique" anatomy, but there's only so far you can get doing that before it's too common (ex. the big front legs/paws and the thin bodies).
it's all good to use another creature/creatures as base blocks for a species, but in doing so you also have to think that there's only a certain amount you can bend that species to where it makes sense. in example, making thicker legs and thinner bodies has already been done, but if you made thicker bodies with thin legs, it doesn't quite make sense, nor look as appealing.
if you were using another creature, i think it would be easier to make something unique if you used a creature others didn't. say you used a frog, lets say, and took attributes from it. you could stretch out it's neck, lengthen the legs, stretch the body, maybe expand the area for it's organs, and it wouldn't really look like a frog, but it would still have certain traits of that frog and not be a dog nor cat, yet still be appealing.
likewise, i think balance is something lacking in original species. balance and the extent that i can believe it could be real. something that always attracts me to a species is the way it looks, of course, and that includes inside.
if you had a very thin creature, where would it's organs go? do they lack a stomach, or a heart, or lungs? how do their bone structures work in that case? not only that, but if they have thin legs and a large body, how is that supported? how are the legs not crushed if there's nothing to hold that weight up? in terms of necks, which are often long, why? are they herbivores? isn't it kinda dumb to have that kind of neck if you're a carnivore since it's wide open?
something else that bothers me is unnecessary traits. if the species has no need to use, say, wings, then don't add them. that just clutters the creature and doesn't look very believable.
while appearance is important, and maybe it's just me, i think the ability to be recognized as something that /could/ exist is important, as well.
alongside all of this, i think the amount of species based on natural things is waaaay to high. i get that you like flowers, but not every species needs to be flower-based. making a flower tail isn't unique, just like making a dream catcher tail isn't either, nor a paper tail or a tail of money or whatever. i think that makes a species unoriginal. it's just like slapping something onto an animal to try and make something new, and it doesn't work half the time.
of course, there are ways to make things unique when using something from real life, too. you can take inspiration, i think from something, and in that case it's not just "slapping it on". Pillow dogs, in example, aren't really something i would consider good. it's a dog and a pillow mashed together. the necessity of that, though? i don't really see anything. however, say i mashed a ribbon and dog together, and in that case the dog was able to change itself into a ribbon-like form to strangle it's prey. in that case, it's not overused, per se (it was a bad example, but im tired), and still has it's use.
aaaaaanyways, im gonna stop now, since this got kinda long sorry aaa
//rants away
TL;DR: dont just slap things on a species, be unique with the anatomy, have a reason that anatomy makes sense, clutter isn't good, believable doesn't necessarily mean ugly.
if you want to succeed, judging by the dA species, unoriginal original species is your best bet.
"it clasps its prey with the claws on its neck until it stops moving. then it finishes it off with deadly poison."
