Archived Vespid Flight And Naga Metabolism

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AtlasGecko

AtlasGecko

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Okay, so. MonMarty recently told me the races are up for a complete overhaul in the future, and since I got a lot of great feedback from you guys on my Maiar post, I thought I'd see what you guys think of these two ideas that have been mulling around my brain.


  • My first idea was Vespid flight. This would make the Vespid a very unique race, and since they only have the swarm ability which isn't always useful if you're a solo player but like Vespid, very useful too. Now, before you think to yourself "OMG DAS SO OP", I've thought this through quite carefully. Firstly, the flight ceiling would cap at 4 blocks above the block you stand on. This would mean you can't fly to ridiculous heights to escape players, and are still in bow and sword range. Secondly, the flight speed would only be 4 blocks/sec, making you unable to simply chase a player who must run over rough ground. Remember, walking speed in Minecraft is 4.3 blocks/sec, and sprinting is 5.6 blocks/sec. Thirdly, hunger would decrease much faster when flying. Although stacks of food could be taken, this would be a hinderance in the middle of battle or when food is scarce. This makes flying as a Vespid a utility more than a power. It would make building Vespid hives easier, and give them a bit more of a mantis/hornet feel, compared with the beetle/stick insect like Torpid. Fall damage would not be nerfed in any way. As a utility, it would make Vespids the only race to 'fly', although with the slow speed and height, it's more comparable to a hover, useful for traversing lava and water. Vespids being a semi-avious species honestly depends on what tickles your pickle.
  • To sum up: The only advantages at this point I can think of to hovering is avoiding traps/lava at ground level, slightly faster travel over water, and the ability to get over 4 block high obstacles. Disadvantages are that hunger decreases much faster, you're still in reach of weapons, and you're slower than walking pace. As others have mentioned, hacking could be an issue.
  • Secondly, I read that Naga no longer have the poisonous claws. I got thinking and Naga, being large reptiles, are cold-blooded. In nature, large, cold-blooded reptiles such as Crocodiles, Alligators and Tortoises are infamous for have a slow metabolism, and I imagine the Naga to be no different. In regard to this, the rate at which Nagas hunger bar drops could be halved or even thirded (is that a word?). I'm sure you're all capable of figuring out why exactly that would be useful. Tell me what you think!
 
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Xskill Unfortunately, you're talking about being practical yet you're arguing that a gigantic fictional insect is unable to HOVER, NOT FLY, while living alongside talking cats and fish men. I would just like to point out that Vespid could make use of their exoskeleton to be extremely light, yet still rigid, as we ll as having to expend a lot of energy in order to stay aloft, which of course is explained by the huge hunger a flying vespid would endure. Vespid are also described as being sleek and streamlined, although this is of course completely irrelevant in not only Minecraft but the real world when they're travelling at 4m/s. I also highly doubt most people on Earth would call aeroplanes for instance, impractical. Also, that jetpack looks absolutely crazy and I would probably donate my right testicle to have a go.
 
Also, they could make use of hydrogen bladders, which of course is less dense and would make them 'weigh' less, although of course their mass would stay the same.
 
Here's a list of animals (some extinct, others less so) that could fly and were REALLY BIG. Like those letters.
Giant Dragonfly Thing - With a wingspan of 45cm (1.5ft) this bugger is horror movie material, dragonflies with wings as long as your arm.​
Giant Fruit Bat - Largest bat species, wingspan of 1.5 meters or so.​
Wandering Albatross - Largest living flight-capable bird on earth, wingspan of 3 meters or so.​
Argentavis - Largest flight-capable bird in history, wingspan of some 7 meters or so. This bugger probably ate our children at one point.​
Quetzalcoatlus - Largest flying animal in history (that we know of). The largest of them are believed to have had a wingspan of 15 meters or so(50ft). That's a flying animal large enough to swallow almost 2 Japanese Zero fighters, or in that it would only take 3 of them to equal the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.​

Giant flying monsters are fun, just sayin :P

Xskill said:
Well. The way that gravity works is that the heavier the object, the more force is pulling it towards heavier objects ((Like Aloria.))

For something to achieve flight, natural or otherwise, they have to exert a large amount of force downwards (Generally greater than their weight), which in turn propels them upwards. Anything large like a human sized bug would have to either A. Be extremely lightweight. Or B. Have an outrageously large wingspan.

This is not taking into account of course that the humanoid shape is unfit for flight and the act of flight is very taxing.
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As for this, are Vespid even the same size/shape as humans? If they are insects then they probably have multiple limbs, a lighter/thinner body, more aerodynamic structures, superior strength, and the need to eat almost continually while in flight. So it IS, theoretically, possible. Not that it needs to be logical, after all, we have magic (answer to everything) and vampires, plus demons and hell, these are talking insects already. I dun think realism matters :P
 
AtlasGecko said:
XskillAlso, that jetpack looks absolutely crazy and I would probably donate my right testicle to have a go.
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๖ۣۜThat changes the meaning of "Having the balls to do it"...
Anyways, to agree with Atlas's point, Xskill considering the Vespid would have the structure of a bug AND a human, it would certainly be stuck as to 'gliding' or 'hovering' of course. But the Vespid don't have any bones at all. Also to suggest, their hard skin basically replaces that. In thought of a fly, they have very powerful wings to carry their fat little bodies around. I would assume the Vespid have the same, as it would drag a lot of energy/hunger to do so.
 
Xskill said:
Laach

Ah, but you've fallen into many problems by attempting to go down the light weight idea. Why are they so light? It's not like their made of lighter stuff. Birds achieve a lighter load by having hallow bones in certain points of their body (Among other things(Exceptions being parts that need to be strong for the stresses of taking off and landing.)) but bugs don't have bones.
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Insects don't use calcium as their exoskeleton, they use dense chitin shells that are amazingly lightweight on such tiny insects. Chitin would allow for them to retain a body far lighter than any non-insect counterpart.

I'd like to note that this entire concept is impossible, as an exoskeleton wouldn't be able to properly contain the muscles and organs needed for a creature the size of a human being.
 
Mecharic

If we don't keep at least a convoluted grasp on reality, or a extremely warped version of it, things would go a bit wonky and we'd have flying anacondas.
 
Very impressive, Mecharic. Like you said, Quetzalcoatlas was very large and heavy, but it's wingspan was HUGE. Like you also mentioned, normal atmosphere currently doesn't allow for terrestrial invertabrates to get enough oxygen to grow large, unlike the Meganeura which lived with much more atmospheric oxygen than current climates have. ANYWAY, the intense hunger when flying at least, is biologically accurate. As is the limited flight ceiling and speed. If anyone thinks we can whittle it down to a more balanced way of implementing it, please comment.
 
Xskill said:
AtlasGecko

No, I mean a flying anaconda. I am not just pulling this out of thin air, it's been done on the server...
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I think I remember that... -shudders- Flying anacondas aside, it actually wouldn't be that hard to have a flying insect race - they would need to be the size of dwarves with wings the size of small wales, but they could pull it off XD

Or you can always use the good, old fashioned bumblebee reasoning: "F*ck Logic, I'm a bee. My wings are smaller than I am. Get over it!" :P
 
๖ۣۜI'd also like to say the Vespid are extremely thin, like other bugs. The thicker bugs are the ones that tromp about on the ground. Things like a hornet have wings about the size of their own bodies, and if you basically just make the hornet stand and talk like a human, that is really how I envision Vespid...
 
I have to disagree with the Vespid idea... Okay for all you Pokemon nerds, who has seen Scyther? It has wings right? But it can't fly? Well, they can't propel themselves off the ground with those little wings. So, Vespids could not really be able to even exactly hover. What if they were lightweight? Well, it gives even less strength for their wings. (So, if a Vespid was light, then the wings would be light so it couldn't, even hover them much, plus they have small wings)
 
Shawn

I believe your logic fails you. I don't know how Pokémon is relevant to this discussion but I think we can assume that Pokémon should not be the deciding force in this idea. As for vespids being too light and not being strong enough to fly, first off vespids could simply have most of their weight in the muscles they use to flap their wings, and second off we have already established that logic really isn't the main issue with vespids flying. The main issue is if it will be op.

(Although it was irrelevant, I found your Pokémon reference fun)
 
Rip Shoul said:
Shawn

I believe your logic fails you. I don't know how Pokémon is relevant to this discussion but I think we can assume that Pokémon should not be the deciding force in this idea.
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It was just for an image on how small their wings were to the bodies. (Also, I said I do not support the Vespid idea)
 
Shawn said:
I have to disagree with the Vespid idea... Okay for all you Pokemon nerds, who has seen Scyther? It has wings right? But it can't fly? Well, they can't propel themselves off the ground with those little wings. So, Vespids could not really be able to even exactly hover. What if they were lightweight? Well, it gives even less strength for their wings. (So, if a Vespid was light, then the wings would be light so it couldn't, even hover them much, plus they have small wings)
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Lol, it can fly. I had one and it had the moves fly and bounce( or something like that) but I know it had fly. I always had him as my fly pokemon.
 
Shawn said:
Then, why did you rant off about it? If you knew that it was for an image, then wh- Oh, might I add this, I added Pokemon to my comment above, so that I could introduce Scyther, for that image o-o
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"Two pairs of cream-colored wings extend from its back. While these wings do allow Scyther to fly, it is rarely seen doing so."

Source: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Scyther_(Pokémon)
also, relevant comic
491-scyther-can-not-learn-fly-pokemon-comic.jpg
 
Shawn

I am sorry, I was unclear. I was saying I know about you not supporting the vespid flying thing. As for ranting off, I didn't mean to come off that way. I said that for both the post's benefit and your own (not to express rage).
 
Wasn
Rip Shoul said:
Shawn

I am sorry, I was unclear. I was saying I know about you not supporting the vespid flying thing. As for ranting off, I didn't mean to come off that way. I said that for both the post's benefit and your own (not to express rage).
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Wasn't expressing rage either (just so you know x3), but lets now stay on topic ;p
 
Bugs would probably would be made of a lightweight material and have a light bodyframe to fly (which irl is usually the case) to propel themselves into the air they would flap their wings (if they had them) rapidly to create an effect wich usually propels them into the air (p.s im talking about bugs like bees, beetles, and flies)
(and these facts are not considering most vespids because mainly they wouldn't have a large enough wingspan or are very light and most insects can only fly temporarily before having to land again so maybe make them only able to fly for a certain amount of time)
 
2001pokemon said:
Bugs would probably would be made of a lightweight material and have a light bodyframe to fly (which irl is usually the case) to propel themselves into the air they would flap their wings (if they had them) rapidly to create an effect wich usually propels them into the air (p.s im talking about bugs like bees, beetles, and flies)
(and these facts are not considering most vespids because mainly they wouldn't have a large enough wingspan or are very light and most insects can only fly temporarily before having to land again so maybe make them only able to fly for a certain amount of time)
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(That was what the excessive hunger loss was for)
 
Okay guys let's not talk about Pokemon. Vespids in themselves do not have lungs and unless Aloria has more oxygen in the atmosphere, couldn't get enough oxygen either. Assuming more oxygen is in the atmosphere, it'd be more dense and as a result a lightweight creature with large wings would have an easier time flying. 'Nuff said. Laach Rip Shoul 2001pokemon Shawn
 
Since the Vespid are said to have been created by the void (or something to that effect), I don't see why some sort of magic-assisted flight is out of the question. We have vampires and undead, both creatures whom can do things not explainable except by magic. If a corpse can move on its own, despite lacking functioning muscles, a nervous system, and a circulatory system, surely an insect can unknowingly levitate itself with some sort of subconscious magic.

Much as a zombie might still move because it doesn't quite know it's dead, why can't the same logic apply to an insect suddenly in a larger, heavier body trying to fly? Aloria is a world of magic, not science.

Furthermore, the atmospheric conditions, as well as the oxygen content of said atmosphere are unknown. Aloria could easily have an atmosphere that is dense and oxygen rich, making large scale biological flight much more feasible. Not to mention that the gravitational pull of Aloria is also unknown. Based on the ability of a standard human to jump a meter into the air from a standstill, I would guess gravitational acceleration is less than the usual 9.8 meters/sec^2
 
The thing with the weight..just let the Vespids only be able to fly for 4 second intervals and rest for 8 seconds...Because they're so big they get tired easily and cannot keep themselves aflight for long
 
That is a brilliant idea, but it'd be very irritating to keep dropping out of the sky and really quite boring, too. My personal opinion though. AurelienBela.
 
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