Desert Biome

Jebadiah, carnivore

Jebadiah sketch and close up

The top level predator and carnivore in the desert is the large bird like species known as Jebadiah. For Jebadiah, we borrowed from two existing birds: the ostrich and the kasawari bird, known for it's sharp claws and aggressive behavior. His coat is feather based and brightly colored much like a toucan's, and his rat like tail is a characteristic that unique to all the birds in the Hopeful Monster game. In the CRL experiment, this species will be referred to as Beccus.

Gerald, omnivore

Gerald sketch and close up

The mid-level omnivore, which the player controls, is the species named Gerald. Across all biomes, omnivores have a special action or attribute to distinguish them from the other creatures since the player is always in controlling the omnivore in the game. For example, the desert omnivore possesses an angler lure on top of it's head to be used in hunting prey by camouflaging in the terrain. The design of the omnivore borrows physical attributes from rodents, canines, pigs, and the angler fish. In the CRL experiment, this species will be referred to as Madango.

Sanchez, herbivore

Sanchez sketch and close up

The low-level herbivore is a speedy creature, named Sanchez. The desert herbivore is small, and borrows elements from the newt, the salamander, as well as the horned toad. The horn on his snout is mere decoration but acts similar to a blowfishes ability to puff out in attempt to appear more threatening. He also has some hairy feet to protect him from the drastic temperature changes. His eye sight isn't the greatest, so he sometimes gets eaten by Gerald, when he mistakes his predator for a nice snack.

Plants from left to right: Deldespia, Zinora, Protea,

There are three different plant species in the desert: Deldespia (the delicious plant), Zinora (the poisonous plant) and Protea (the non-nutritious). In each biome there are always three plants (based on the relationship to the omnivore in the food web): a delicious plant, a poisonous plant and a non-nutritious plant (sort of an empty calorie plant for the animal world- it does not provide any positive benefit when eaten). The CRL names for these plants is the same, as in the creation process they were referred to by their nutritional value.