#fossil fighters... 4!!

[almightyhamslice]

#003: Gorgo. 

Flavor Text: Gorgo is well known for its fearsome appearance, possessing scare skills. It's also rather fast for a tyrannosaurid thanks to its light build. It has high accuracy, but may lower your team's total accuracy when placed in the support zone.

Fossilary Desc: A large and gracile tyrannosaurid, most closely related to Albertosaurus. It shared its habitat with the more stocky tyrannosaur, Daspletosaurus. Its life cycle is rather well understood, with specimens of various ages from juvenile to adult in the fossil record.

Commentary: "Gorgo's unique boney armor provides it with protection against foes and makes it look very menacing! The smooth skin on Gorgo's arms and legs is prone to tearing, revealing the bumpy, muscle-like skin underneath. It's a lot like how snakes shed their skin, though it happens much less frequently." -Dr. Diggins

Compatible with:  -Daspleto, Berto, or Guan -Any 2 fire types -Any vivosaurs in group 8 -Its contemporaries: Euoplo, Centro, Chasmo, Penta, Styraco, Coryth, Lambeo, Paraloph, Steceras, and Orno.

Among fossil fighters, Gorgo is often viewed as a less fussy, easier to train version of T-Rex. It may be able to occupy the same niche in your team of vivosaurs, but outside of battle the two are quite different. Thanks to research efforts by Dr. Digmore, Gorgo now has the ability to super evolve! It becomes Gorgostroika when given the golden fossil.

[almightyhamslice]

ok update on T-Rex’s medallium entry: now I have a digital image of it & I made a recolor for each super revival form because I figured it’d be good to have digital versions of their color schemes as well. While I’m at it, I should think of a good description for T-Rex’s fossilary page. 

Flavor text: its power is unmatched among other close-range vivosaurs. It possesses scare skills and is great at sniffing out special fossil rocks outside of battle.

Fossilary desc: Perhaps the most well known dinosaur of them all. T-Rex’s head and jaws are so powerful, it doesn’t need to use its arms for much of anything. It has very good eyesight, and a strong sense of smell.

EDIT: I forgot to mention T-Rex’s team compatibility!! T Rex can work on a team with: -any 2 fire types -any vivosaur under group 6 (these group lists are MASSIVE I’m sorry lol) -Guan and Yutie  -any combination of its contemporaries: Tricera, Edmonto A, Edmonto R, Orno, Ankylo, Tro, Coatlus, and Pachy.

I will edit this again if I end up adding more contemporaries to the roster. I’m not sure if I will yet. From here onwards, when I mention new vivosaurs, their names will be in bold text.

EDIT 2: T-Rex now has the Opportunistic ability. This means that if you place T-Rex on a team with either Tricera or another T-Rex, it has a 30% chance of attacking said teammate instead of its intended target, each turn it attacks. The percentage number goes down as vivosaur rank goes up.

[almightyhamslice]

001: T-Rex.

T-Rex’s page is complete! Ft Hero in their tyrannosaurus color scheme.

Flame icon is pretty self explanatory, of course T-Rex is a fire type. The red O indicates it’s effects apply to its OWN team, and are negative (opposite would be a blue E, indicating the support effects are positive and target the enemy’s team. The letter would appear yellow to indicate mixed support effects, and it’d be invisible if the vivosaur had no effects).

I know everyone also already knows how to pronounce T-Rex, but I put the pronunciation because I think it’d be cool if FF4 had an announcer, like an actual fully voiced one… it’d be like Pokémon Battle Revolution, where the announcer has a list of pre-set phrases and a list of vivosaur names.

T-Rex is actually pretty versatile in the overworld, having many useful abilities in both forms. Like the real dinosaur, it has great eyesight and an excellent sense of smell. Its jaws are strong enough to pick up heavy objects. The downside is, because it’s so bulky it’s not very fast (not the worst speed, just not great) and can be clumsy while traversing through some of the dig sites & their more compact designs.

As you can see, I want FF4 to have platforming elements! I really liked Frontier’s huge parks and fossils hidden in harder to reach areas, they’d be so cool to walk through on foot. So I think, in the overworld you can: run, jump, climb, and even fly to reach fossils above ground level. If I introduce underwater levels, flying would be replaced by swimming. Both functions would require vivosaurs, I think.

Vivosaur genders don’t have a huge impact on actual battle or overworld gameplay, and are essentially only cosmetic, if that. I wanted to introduce them as a mechanic because lots of dinosaurs are dimorphic, so it’d be cool if both gendered forms were represented in the game, as well as an option to keep your vivosaurs genderless, if you prefer that. Not all vivosaurs have the same gender ratio, but all of them do have at least one male form, one female form, and one genderless form. These are connected to the wondrous fossil rocks, which are sold for much cheaper in FF4. I also intend to increase the medallium’s storage capacity… just because I really like collecting vivosaurs lol.

If they can be, most vivosaurs’ wondrous alts are named after real dinosaur specimens, like in Frontier.

[almightyhamslice]

Wat if I tried 2 make a fossil fighters game pitch? That could b interesting……. Here’s part of an info sheet for T-Rex I’m working on! I plan on coloring it in eventually ofc

Some thoughts… I want vivosaurs to be useful in the overworld as well as in battle. Maybe I could also include some kinda affection mechanic as well? Very pkmn inspired. I was also thinking super revival forms could be inspired by existing specimens (if said dinosaur actually has that many lol) so all of T-Rex’s are based on real T. Rex fossils, including Stan as the silver body form.

This also made me think abt potentially including vivosaur genders, though I can’t imagine it’s too important to most vivosaurs since we don’t know much about dinosaur sexual dimorphism… but vivosaurs like Ceros and Lambeo are visually male, so it’d be neat to at least give players the option to have female ones as well? I think this could be accomplished by having the base vivosaur be gender neutral (in T-Rex’s case, represented by SUE, whose gender is unknown/unconfirmed) and different super revival forms be gendered (so, Stan is male, but T-Rex also has alts representing B.Rex and Jane, who are female). What do you think about this idea?

Oh yes! Also, I want to bring back Hero, Dina, and Dino from the previous games as protags. I am toying with the idea of Hero being nonbinary, rather than another option for a male protag. I can’t remember the names of the Frontier protags, but I think they should be alternative options as well. It could be neat to have character customization options, but for now I think it’s just a maybe— I don’t know how big this project is actually going to be.

About the unlock method thing: T-Rex can be dug up, but some vivosaurs have wacky unlock methods (Tro in particular will DEF be a weird case).

[almightyhamslice]

#002: Daspleto.

Flavor Text: Daspleto's defense is incredibly high for a theropod vivosaur. Its defensive power and high HP make it a great choice for longer-lasting battles. Though it is small, its flipped form is strong enough to carry you on its back.

Fossilary Desc: An ancestor of Lythronax, T. Rex, and Tarbosaurus. Although smaller than all of its successors, it was still rather burly compared to the slightly taller Gorgosaurus, which it shared its habitat with. The two could coexist because they occupied separate niches.

Commentary: "Daspleto is a favorite among gem collectors and sellers thanks to its flipped form's constantly regrowing crystalline neck ruff. It appears to be born with the mask covering its face, but its mouth isn't fully connected to that of the mask's. Perhaps it's safest to let it be; Daspleto gets a little snappy if you try to take it off." -Dr. Diggins

Compatible with: -Gorgo or Gorgostroika -Any 2 earth types -Any vivosaurs listed under group 7 -Guan, Lythro, T-Rex, or Tarbo -Its contemporaries: Euoplo, Centro, Penta, Chasmo, Styraco, Coryth, Lambeo, Paraloph, Steceras, Orno, Einio, Pacro, Hesperis, Tro, and Maia.

Opportunistic is not just exclusive to Daspleto and Gorgo, a bunch of other vivosaurs have it in some capacity. In fact, I think I’ll edit T-Rex’s medallium entry to indicate that it has it as well. Opportunistic functions as a more unpredictable version of vivosaur compatibility, causing vivosaurs to behave strangely when paired with other vivosaurs. Daspleto and Gorgo’s condition is a more mild one, which can either double or nullify their negative support effects at the start of a battle. It effectively works as a coinflip, which is performed whenever you enter battle & lasts until the fight is over. 

Fun fact, did you know Daspletosaurus has, proportionally, the longest arms of any tyrannosaurid?

[almightyhamslice]

#001.5: T-Rex Lord.

Flavor Text: The strongest super evolver of the bunch, its attack power is off the charts! Unfortunately, the catch is that its support effects can easily weaken your entire team if T-Rex Lord steps into the wrong spot.

Fossil Desc: it has evolved past the need for arms and simply uses its huge jaws to grab objects. Possessing a thick coat of quills on its back, sharper spikes on its shoulders, and a whiplike tail, T-Rex Lord is protected from all angles except below.

Commentary: "It seems that in the absence of arms, T-Rex Lord has resolved this shortcoming by developing a larger head and stronger legs over simulated generations! A few of our veteran fossil fighters are upset that the new T-Rex Lords don't have arms, but I feel that this feature is distinctly T-Rex. It's more specialized now, but I suppose when something is so niche, you can't please everyone." -Prof. Scatterly

Compatible with: -Any 2 fire types -T-Rex and Guan -Mapo King and O-Raptor Fiend -any vivosaurs listed under group 6 -Heracles, Papygon, and Galgaron (technically they are its contemporaries)

Fun fact! Although T-Rex Lord’s eyesight and smell aren’t as good as T-Rex’s, it can run faster, and its flipped form can even perform impressive jumps! Dinosaurs in general aren’t really known for their jumping, but flipped T-Rex Lord is so lightweight and its legs are so strong that it can manage some pretty far leaps!

Also, as I mentioned in my last T-Rex Lord post, their markings vary from individual to individual. I will likely only stick with one design if I draw more of T-Rex Lord in the future (and if this actually becomes a game there’d DEF have to be only one model lol) but just know that if you ever want to draw one (original design or otherwise), don’t worry about the markings!

Additionally, Tyrannosaurus Lord is meant to be read as a different species of Tyrannosaurus... kind of like how there’s Triceratops Horridus and Triceratops Prorsus, different versions of the same dinosaur genus (though, Lord is super different from Rex, lol). So, I guess shorthand for T-Rex & T-Rex Lord would be T. Rex and T. Lord.

[almightyhamslice]

Ok apologies for the assorted cut off text on this image (I wanna save it for when I post the full thing) buuut here’s another WIP of the T-Rex page. Now would be a great time to talk about dino medal mechanics!

So, my FF4 goes back to using medals to store and summon vivosaurs, rather than using the bone buggy system from Frontier (I rlly didn’t like the car physics OR using only 1 vivosaur at a time lol). Your vivosaur’s default appearance is called its Upright form. This is indicated by the vivosaur design on the medal facing upwards, and it’s the form your vivosaur automatically takes in battle and outdoors.

Most vivosaurs in size classes Medium+ also have a flipped form, which reduces their size so they can follow you around indoors or in tight spaces. Flipped vivosaurs are intended to look like baby versions of the creatures they’re based on! It is indicated by the vivosaur design on the medal facing downwards. Flipping can also be used in battle as a sort of pseudo safe zone; if you flip an active vivosaur, it is protected for 2 turns. However, you can’t rotate your team OR use its support effects while it’s flipped. Old vivosaurs that used to have Knock skills may have Flip skills in FF4.

I should also clarify, small class vivosaurs can still use this mechanic (and certain ones like Brontoth or Arsith still physically transform when flipped), but most small vivosaurs do not flip in the overworld because it’s unnecessary. As such, their flipped forms may be either battle-exclusive or completely nonexistent? Either that or I’ll have it still be an option but like… decorative? Like, say you flip M-Raptor—it’ll be SUPER small, so instead of having any functionality it’d probs just sit on the player’s head or shoulder. Which is cute, at least.

Also, what do you think I should do about Shanshan? I don’t want to fully merge it with Tarbo, but I feel like it’d be weird to have a Shanshan vivosaur AND a flipped form for Tarbo that looks exactly like Shanshan.

[almightyhamslice]

Fossil Fighters 4 Discord!!

ok so I did end up making the server after all!! pls join if you wanna see my designs & brainstorming process before I post my work on tumblr... and if u wanna suggest things that I could add to the pitch that would make it better/more interesting. Here is the link:

https://discord.gg/vTSAZMTAjt