Game Development Community

So, you want Creative Concepts?

by Christopher Dapo · in General Discussion · 07/17/2003 (3:18 pm) · 5 replies

Here's a quick glimpse into the things I come up with everyday!

The Grehk
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A Horror Based Creature Concept
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WARNING! You may never want to be near roses again after you read this! >:D

The Grehk -

They say a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. In the case of the Grehk, a plant-like abomination complete with it's own acidic glands, it's smell is only so sweet until it's lured a new meal.

The 'creature' can grow to an average height of only 4 feet, held down by it's offensive mechanisim, a constantly pulsing mass of bubble-like pods filled with a very dangerous digestive enzyme. The enzyme itself is capable of searing through flesh instantly upon contact and, with a little time, even bone.

Though the creature is rarely seen mobile due to the length of time it requires to feed, it traverses almost any landscape by crawling, pulling, and pushing it's massive body along using tens of thousands of it's threadlike roots, though at a very slow pace. The roots themselves are easily sensitive to both temperature and vibration. The creature usually sits dormant, emitting a powerfully sweet odor that could only be described as, "the sweetest smelling roses you could ever smell," by those who've lived to tell about it.

When a creature worthy of the plant's effort stumbles into the 15 foot radius of it's roots, it immediately unleashes it's first defensive mechanism, a horribly concentrated, putrid smell of rotting flesh capable of making a tazmanian devil vomit. By the time the victim has even realized the smell, the pods closest to the victim have already swollen to 3 times their original and relaxed size, and without any further warning, the retracted thorns of the plant are sent jutting out from the center of the sacs, sending an acid spray upon everything within 30 feet of the plant towards the victim, stretching as far as a 20 foot wide cone, and with deadly accuracy.

A key component of the enzyme acts as a failsafe measure, sending the enzyme through the bloodstream and directly to the fiberous cartalidge and ligaments to disolve them from the inside out, completely incapacitating the victim as they are drenched in pain. The most unfortunate effect of the enzyme is it's consumation of nerve cells, which appear extremely resilient to the digestive effects and forces the victim to experience pure torture as they rot into a pulsing blob of death.

There are a few other key elements to note.

One is it's capacity of projection. Unless it has already expired a line of pods, it is completely capable of targeting victims within the entire circumfrence of it's mass, making surrounding the creature a very bad tactic.

With all of it's seemingly intelligent defenses, it's actually a very simple creature and an extremely easy target as well. The best way to approach a Grehk, after pinpointing it's location, is by standing far enough from range and hurling a heavy object within reach of it's roots, causing the explosion of acid to occur, then simply chopping it in half to kill it. An unfortunate side effect of the enzyme is the duration it takes for the plant to produce enough of it to protect it's rather fragile body, at least a full month to recover a full shield of ready sacs. The excreted foul smell is also a rather easy miss, quickly sinking to the ground around the plant and disipitating within even a light gust of wind. Also, it's about as blind and harmless as a bat when it's raining, though it usually appears as just a simple rosebush.

This is quoted from my original message to Adib concerning character concepts for a horror based game.

I posted this mainly because I'm having difficulty reaching Adib's email, but I guess a little recognition won't hurt either ;)

I hope I didn't freighten you too much! >:D
Let me know what you think? :)

- Christopher Dapo ~ Ronixus

#1
07/17/2003 (3:58 pm)
That's one sick and twisted plant! I like it :)
#2
08/13/2003 (5:48 pm)
Hey, thats a pretty good idea, one i'll keep in mind, and if ever used, credit goes where due.

Im trying to develop a game based around living the lives of charactures in a city, each is a short story, and each ties in to a bigger finale....
Think, first person view of The Sims living a whole bunch of nightmares!
#3
06/04/2007 (5:29 pm)
So, anyone looking for a concept artist/story writer/designer?! ;)

(Shameless bump)
- Ronixus
#4
06/06/2007 (6:02 pm)
An interesting idea, perhaps, but not really applicable to gaming- unless someone invented a smell interface and a pain interface while I wasn't looking...
#5
06/08/2007 (2:14 am)
@Brian -

Actually, I have designed a smell interface, recreated graphicly, it'll be in my horror game! Also, pain can be visually inherant (ever shoot a guy in the groin in Goldeneye007 for the N64? Yeeeouch!)! ;)