Sagan 4 Project Rules

[Oviraptor]

Core Rules

• You many choose any creature to work on and post as many as you want.
• You many only evolve from a previous generation or before. (Not the same generation).
• Each generation has 80 species.
• There is NO time limit (such as 1 per day), so each generation is done when it reaches 80 species.
• Each week is done when it reaches 5 generations no matter if it takes 5 days or 5 months.
• At the end of each week, Hydromancerx will see what species are still alive and what are dead. Then will then post a new ecosystem list of where each species lives and maybe update the map.
• The cladogram (family tree) will be updated when Hydro feels like updating it.
• Please post your organisms in the Organism Submission thread. Once there, create a new thread just for your organism stating its name, week number, and generation number within the thread title. If you are not currently a part of the Sagan 4 team, please see the How to Join the Sagan 4 Team thread.
• Each species must have the following information filled out so it may be copied and pasted into the Sagan 4 Wiki.

(IMAGE - no bigger than 750 x 600 pixels)

Common Name (Genus species)

Creator: [ that would be you ]

Ancestor: [ see ancestor ]

Habitat: [ see ecosystem list ]

Size: # in metric long/tall/wide/wingspan

Note: Typically you would choose the dimension (long/tall/wide/wingspan)that is largest. Use the measurement that is the average size of your organism. If your organism is under 1 cm, just put "Microscopic."

Diet: [ see other species ]

Reproduction: [ see ancestor ]

[ Any other information not stated above is put here in the description]

[Hydromancerx]

Sagan 4 Wiki Rules

o Do not submit species to Sagan 4 wiki without permission.

o You may edit your own personal page associated with your user name however you want.

o Spelling errors can be fixed by anyone.

o If there is a problem on wiki such as a species that you think should be extinct or alive please PM Hydro. Do not fix it without consulting Hydro 1st.

o New taxonomy names can only be created by the "Taxonomy Master" and members he has approved. However if you see established taxonomy that is unfilled in you can help fill it in with the correct taxonomy information.

o No one except Hydro may edit Ecosystem Pages! (except for the Mason Mod)

[Hydromancerx]

Locomotion Rule

Species locomotion must use transition species. For example ...

Sea to Land

Aquatic -> Amphibious (Like Mudskippers) -> Terrestrial

Land to Sea

Terrestrial -> Amphibious (Like Otters) -> Aquatic

Sea to Air

Aquatic -> Gliding (Like Flying Fish) -> Flight

Air to Sea

Flight -> Semi-Aquatic (Like Ducks) -> Aquatic

Land to Air

Terrestrial -> Gliding (Like Flying Squirrels) -> Flight

Air to Land

Flight -> Poor Flight (Like Chickens) -> Terrestrial

[Hydromancerx]

Evolution Rules

Evolutionary Principles

- Foster's Rule (island rule) - members of a species get smaller or bigger depending on the resources available in the environment

- Insular Dwarfism (island dwarfism) - the process and condition of the reduction in size of large animals - almost always mammals - when their gene pool is limited to a very small environment. Which include islands, island beaches and shallows [10x normal]

- Island Gigantism - biological phenomenon where the size of animals isolated on an Island, Island Beach or Shallows increases dramatically over generations [10x normal]

- Bergmann's Rule - animals of higher latitudes are generally larger than species of lower latitudes.

- Gloger's Rule - more heavily pigmented forms of endotherms tend to be found near the equator

- Allen's Rule - endotherms from colder climates usually have shorter limbs (or appendages) than the equivalent fauna from warmer climates

- Abyssal Gigantism (deep-sea gigantism) - deep-sea invertebrates tend to be larger than their shallow water counterparts. Which include Sea Floor and Abyss Zone. [10x normal]

-  Convergent Evolution - the process by which unrelated organisms develop similar traits due to living in similar ecological niches


Evolutionary Guidelines

- When fewer predators are present, brighter coloration can evolve.

- Carnivores typically possess a greater intelligence compared to their prey.

- Organisms that live in water tend to be much larger compared to those that live on land.

- The greater the sexual dimorphism, the better the chance a species will be polygamous.

[Hydromancerx]

Art Rules

Editor Rules

You may not use any program that has preset parts such as the Spore Creature Creator, Creature Editor 3.0, Bamzooki or any other such program. You must either hand draw (such as color pencils), computer draw (such as with MS paint) or a mixture of both (scan a drawing and computer color it). The only exception is if you are good at doing 3D renders with say Maya or 3DS Max where you can make it from scratch and not a pre-made model.


Same Picture Rule

All new submissions must have new drawings. You cannot edit other peoples drawing nor your own. You must re-draw it from scratch. The only exception is if you have a symbiotic creature that has one picture for both species. That's of course if it is drawn from scratch in the first place. For example the Flashwalker and Flashwalker Crystal are symbiotic species and use the same image for their submission.


Fuzzy Image Rule

All pictures need to be clean and crisp. We must be able to evolve from he picture and know what parts are. If someone cannot tell what you drew then you need to re-draw it! If things are too confusing extra diagrams may need to be drawn or more description about the image.


Background Rule

Backgrounds must be either blank or accurate to the biome they are in. They are not to distract from the species shown and must be as "high quality" as the species shown. The perspective and shading should match the shading and perspective of the species in the image. Failure to follow these rules will result in them will mean they will have to be solid black, gray or white background in order to save the species from being rejected.

[Hydromancerx]

Species Rules

Living Fossil

Protohydroia Octherma is off limits. Its the only species on Sagan 4 that I am not allowing to be evolved. I wanted to keep one species a living fossil. Thus you cannot evolve it. Please choose any other the other hundreds of species we have available.

Living Fossil Amendment
Protohydroia Octherma can be split from but not replaced.


Sub-Species Rule

For the purpose of this game there shall be no physical differences in sub-species. If you want a species to look diffrent in a specific biome then they must replace or split off and become a separate species specified for that environment. Note that this rule dos not effect sexual dimorphism, life cycle metamorphosis or any other physical change that can happen to a species.


Microbe Hybrids
Only microbes can becomes hybrid with non-related species.

Macro Hybrids
Closely related macro species can become hybrid.

Example #1
Direct Ancestor with decedent.

Example #2
2 Decedents with the same direct ancestor.

[Hydromancerx]

Size Rules

2x Size

Mainland species can only grow up to be 2x the size of its ancestor.


10x Size

Island and Abyss Zone (and deeper) species can only grow up to 10x the size of its ancestor.


Micro to Macro Rule (Obsolete from the "Genus System Rule")

You can only increase to 10x the ancestors size no matter what biome for microbes. Thus it will take at least 3 decedents from protosagania for you to reach 1 cm or Macro size.

Protosagania = 10 micrometers  (Micro)
Decedent 1 = 100 micrometers (Micro)
Decedent 2 = 1000 micrometers / 1 millimeter (Micro)
Decedent 3 = 10 millimeters / 1 centimeter   (Macro)


Treeline Rule

Alpine, Tundra, High Desert, Polar Beach, Polar Coast, Polar River, Polar Lake, Bog biomes cannot have photosythetic flora larger than 1 meter.

Elevation

+10 km = Mount Stratohorn
+9 km =
+8 km =
+7 km =
+6 km =
+5 km = Alpine (Treeline)
+4 km = Boreal
+3 km = Rocky
+2 km = High Deserts and High Grasslands
+1 km Most Biomes
0 km = Beach
-200 m = Coasts, Bays, Seas, Shallows and Sunlight Zone
-1 km = Twilight Floor
-2 km =
-3 km =
-4 km =
-5 km = Abyss Floor and Cold Seep
-6 km =
-7 km =
-8 km =
-9 km =
-10 km = Geothermal Vents

[Hydromancerx]

Player Behavior Rules

Negative Comment Rule

Anyone who posts something negative gets banned for a day.


Approval Rule

All submissions need 3 other people to say "Approved" and/or approval by Hydro before its accepted.


"But They Did It" Rule

Mistakes are made and things are missed, but that's life. We want to make the project better and not repeat the mistakes of the past. If a species needs to be redrawn or a "missing link" need to be made do not argue, just do it. Don't try to argue by saying "But They Did it!".


"Move On" Rule

If a species is approved or "graveyarded" please just "move on". Do not argue about it or try to repost it again if its "graveyarded". The only exception is if something is graveyarded due to inactivity. In which case I will post in the thread that it can be reposted when they are active again.

[Hydromancerx]

Biome Rules

Water Table Rules

- Water Tables can connect to lake that are above them.

- You cannot have air breathing species in the Water Table.


Glacier Rule

No macro flora will be allowed in the glacier biome type. Microbes and Macro Fauna on the other hand can live there as long as they have a source of food. Such as how polar bears eat the seals and whales under the ice. The biomes that this applies to are; Glaciers, Peaks, Glacial Lakes, Glacial Rivers, Glacial Beaches and Ice Sheets.


Limited Biomes Rule

A species may have up to 2 Types and up to 3 Flavors.

--Types--

You can choose any combination of 2 except Polar/Tropical or Mountain/Marine.

Marine
Vents, Cold Seep, Ocean (Trench Zone), Ocean (Trench Floor), Ocean (Trench Slope), Ocean (Abyss Zone), Ocean (Abyss Floor), Ocean (Abyss Slope), Ocean (Midnight Zone), Ocean (Midnight Floor), Ocean (Midnight Slope), Ocean (Twilight Zone), Ocean (Twilight Floor), Ocean (Twilight Slope), Ocean (Sunlight Zone)*

Glacial
Ice Sheet, Glacier, Glacial Beach, Peak, Glacial Lake, Glacial River

Polar
Polar Coast, Polar Beach, Bog, Taiga, Polar Scrub, Tundra, Glacier, Polar River, Polar Lake, Polar Riparian

Temperate
Temperate Coast, Temperate Beach, Marsh, Temperate Woodland, Chaparral, Plains, Desert, Temperate River, Temperate Lake, Temperate Riparian
Tropical
Tropical Coast, Tropical Beach, Swamp, Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Woodland, Scrub, Savanna, Dunes, Salt Flats, Tropical River, Tropical Lake, Tropical Riparian

Mountain
Alpine, Boreal, Rocky, High Grasslands, High Desert, Volcanic, Mountain River, Mountain Lake, Moor, Mountain Riparian, Peak

Subterranean
Ice Cave, Sea Cave, Cave, Cavern, Water Table

Atmosphere
Atmosphere (Troposphere), Atmosphere (Stratosphere)

--Flavors--

You can choose only 3 TOUCHING biomes. This means that some biomes such as the Desert will never be touching the Rainforest biome. Likewise this applies vertically as well for instance the Deep Sea Vents doesn't touch the Stratosphere.

Vents
Vent

Seep
Cold Seep

Trench Zone
Ocean (Trench Zone), Ocean (Trench Floor), Ocean (Trench Slope)

Abyss Zone
Ocean (Abyss Zone), Ocean (Abyss Floor), Ocean (Abyss Slope)

Midnight Zone
Ocean (Midnight Zone), Ocean (Midnight Floor), Ocean (Midnight Floor)

Twilight Zone
Ocean (Twilight Zone), Ocean (Twilight Floor), Ocean (Twilight Floor)

Sunlight Zone
Ocean (Sunlight Zone), Shallows, Sea, Bays, Coasts, Ice Sheet

Ice
Glacier, Peak

Beach
Polar Beach, Temperate Beach, Tropical Beach, Glacial Beach

Freshwater
Lake, River

Salt
Salt Bog, Salt Marsh, Salt Swamp, Salt Lake, Salt Flats

Wetlands
Bog, Marsh, Swamp, Moor, Riparian

Rainforest
Tropical Rainforest, Temperate Rainforest, Taiga, Alpine

Woodland
Tropical Woodland, Temperate Woodland, Boreal

Scrubland
Scrub, Chaparral, Rocky, Volcanic

Grassland
Savanna, Plains, High Grassland

Desert
Dune, Desert, Tundra, High Desert

Subterranean
Ice Cave, Sea Cave, Cave, Cavern, Water Table

Troposphere
Atmosphere (Troposphere)

Stratospehere
Atmosphere (Stratospehere)


Barren Biome Rule (Obsolete from the "Genus System Rule")

If a biome has no species at all then it is considered "barren". In order for new species to colonize the new biome you need to first place pioneer species before more advanced species can re-populate. Pioneer species make new soil for for the biome. Thus you should try to complete the Nitrogen Cycle (see below) when populating a barren biomes.

Hydromancerx has taken responsibility to fill in all barren biomes with starter "pioneer species" before it is open to populate with other species. In short do not post species in barren biomes.


Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen Fixing (Converts Atmospheric Nitrogen into Ammonium)
Nitrifying (Converts Ammonia into NO₂- )
Nitrafying (Converts  NO₂- into NO₃- )
Denitrifying (Converts NO₃- into N₂- )

[Hydromancerx]

Diet Rules

Diet Transition

Species diets must use transition species.

Herbivore to Carnivore
Herbivore -> Omnivore -> Carnivore


Diet Types

One must transition their diet from from one kingdom to another.

Carnivore Example
Plent --> Plent and Carpozoa --> Carpozoa

Herbivore Example
Purple Flora --> Purple Flora and Black Flora --> Black Flora


Photosynthesis Color Rule

Photosynthesis Coloring can only change gradually.

Purple -> Indigo -> Blue -> Teal -> Green -> Lime -> Yellow -> Yellow-Orange -> Orange -> Red-Orange -> Red -> Maroon -> Purple

You cannot change the color of a species photosynthesis.

[Hydromancerx]

Island Migration

Players cannot spread species to islands except for direct sea or air. However at the beginning of each week species will be "cross pollinated" at random either to or from island beaches. In addition
"Super Hurricane" disasters will spread species when they occur.

[Hydromancerx]

Genus System Rule

The genus system is now set in place. Rules like the "Micro to Macro Rule" and "Barren Biome Rule" have become obsolete since the genus groups have no size limit within the microscopic scale and barren biomes can be covered globally by a single genus group.