Okay, so this was something my friends and I were kicking around one day, after playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and I hope it sparks a lot of discussion: What evolutionary event causes monsters in video games to turn out that way. The Metroid Prime series is a "prime" example of this(pun very much intended).
In the series, you travel to several different planets, each with their own unique ecosystems, each with their own unique life forms, but all having similar life forms.
I'll start with(and mostly focus on) Corruption, because this is the one that's still fresh in my mind.
Planet Bryyo has 3 creatures I'd like to focus on: The Reptilicus, The Reptilicus Hunter, and the Warp Hound.
The Reptilicus and R.Hunter are both from the same evolutionary starting point, but they differ in a key way: The regular Reptilicus can teleport, and the hunter can turn invisible. The Warp Hound does exactly what it sounds like, it can teleport.
Now, what makes this interesting is that the Warp Hound and the Reptilicus teleport in two unique ways. The Warp Hound blink out, then port back with an animation. The Reptilicus ports out with an animation, and ports back in with an animation. Two different methods of teleportation, for two different creatures. The Hunter is different. He render himself visible only to thermal imaging. Now, what could have possibly influenced this evolutionary change in these creatures?
Now, not to spark a religious debate, but Darwinism states that changes occur over time, and very minutely, with occasional mutations. What minute changes could work slowly enough to allow for teleportation? Specifically, two DIFFERENT kinds of teleportation, that clearly work in two different ways. Or, what random mutations would cause teleportation. I am of the thinking that the most likely form of teleportation is that of shunting to a smaller, parallel dimension, traveling a relatively short distance, and then shunting back, traveling a proportionally longer distance.
What possible event(s) trigger teleportation as a viable method of defense and evasion. While awesome, it doesn't seem, how shall we say, natural.
Alright, I'm done. At the very least, I hope this sparks some ideas. Sorry about the lack of pics, but I have terrible photoshop skills and all I could really would do would be something about the FSM probably.
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You know, your definition of teleportation is similar to the travel between worlds in The Talisman. You ever read that one?
Okay..you got to stop smoking so much weed.
I wonder what Darwin thinks of Pyramid Head.
METAL GEAR?!
It's quite simple really. I give you two answers:
1. It's a videogame
2. Darwin was a physcotic nut job.
A Hind D?!
Einhänder
ShmuRPG?
yes
What I find interesting is that the hunter turns invisible and the other types teleport. With those types of abilities it would seem that the "normal" types would turn invisible seeing as that would be a great way to avoid predators and the hunter would teleport because suddenly popping up on top of prey would be the best way for something to catch prey.
As for what caused it... mutagen ooze.
That's another thing. In gameplay, the two powers arguably have the same effect for the player(creatures disappearing and reappearing), but they work differently. While yes, when one turns invisible, it has to run to another place and can be seen with thermals, that just raises more questions. What kind of invisibility allows it to be seen with thermal goggles?
It means that its skin is doing the camouflaging. It isn't actually going invisible, it's just changing the pigmentations of its skin to blend in. Which is why you can still see its heat signature.
As for the teleportation, I don't think the developers thought that far in it it. Using one form of teleportation that is easily spotted, and another that isn't is just a nice addition to gameplay. You can see where one enemy will end up a second before hand, but not the other.
Oh I know the developers didn't think that far into it. But I like thinking about stuff like this. It makes me wonder, that's all.
You know what would be an awesome video game monster?? A Mecha Jesus.
Hell yes it would. It begs the question though... would the crown still be thorns or would it be metal? Would his super attack result in him pulling a giant cross from out of nowhere that possesses the ability to level entire cities filled with heathens in one shot?
damn that'd be an awesome game....
Well, at the very least, he'd respawn three days later ^_^
Lol. I assume he would just carry the cross like a big weapon. It would like blades and spikes and shit. And lasers. Lots of lasers.
pass the bong.
Sanity, if your avatar is what I think it is, you're not getting anything for a long, looooong time.
@MechaJesus: It makes me wonder to. I love getting lost in video games. But I think thats as far as you can go to explain the difference in their teleportation. Seeing as evolution played no hand in it, it was a design choice by the developers.
FAIL
Needs moar pictures.
Also, Darwinism.
SYNTAX ERROR*TO HIGH TO THINK*ERROR