[Forum Game] Evolve A Blob to Greatness: The Evolutionary Suggestion Game

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Ok, so speaking of long term planning, here's my thoughts:

Generation 1: locomotion
Generation 2: sense heat
Generation 3: tentacle/tendril type outgrowths
Generation 4: hard shells to protect offspring
Generation 5: flexible evolution in case any of these four evolutions fail. If all other evolutions succeed, I would suggest some sort of evolution that helps us out in a wide range of situations in preparation for the environmental crisis
First Environmental Crisis

Reasoning: Since most of the benefits from a sense of heat comes from locomotion (who cares if we can sense predators and find currents with better food if we can't move away from predators or move to those currents), we should get locomotion first since it also has its own benefits that will help us out in the short term and long term. Then nab sense of heat right after to help augment our new found locomotion and give us a sense of direction and purpose. The tentacles will help us utilize our ability to find high nutrient food sources even more, reaping numerous benefits. Hard shells to protect our offspring is useful, but won't really be useful until predators evolve, it's worth having but low priority. Then the last one is just a flex for making sure we get all these in before the first environmental crisis rolls around.

Of course, this reasoning is based on the current ideas and might change as new ideas are introduced, but just my thoughts for now.
 
Ok, so speaking of long term planning, here's my thoughts:

Generation 1: locomotion
Generation 2: sense heat
Reasoning: Since most of the benefits from a sense of heat comes from locomotion (who cares if we can sense predators and find currents with better food if we can't move away from predators or move to those currents), we should get locomotion first since it also has its own benefits that will help us out in the short term and long term. Then nab sense of heat right after to help augment our new found locomotion and give us a sense of direction and purpose. The tentacles will help us utilize our ability to find high nutrient food sources even more, reaping numerous benefits.

What is the point of locomotion if we can't sense anything? At least with heat sense and no locomotion you won't have the blob moving towards danger. For this reason, I believe we should get heat sense pre-movement. Other than that, I have to agree with your list.
 
What is the point of locomotion if we can't sense anything? At least with heat sense and no locomotion you won't have the blob moving towards danger. For this reason, I believe we should get heat sense pre-movement. Other than that, I have to agree with your list.

That's a valid point. Yeah, that makes sense, so it'd be:

Generation 1: Heat sense
Generation 2: Movement

The rest would stay the same.
 
Looks like you guys are in favour of letting all our poop build up until we explode.

For shame.
 
I upvoted your suggestion.
It is my modest opinion that our evolutionary enemies should tremble before our mighty excrements!

We shall climb to the top of the food chain on the largest pile of feces the world has ever seen!
 
Waste Disposal (A Butt So It Can Poop): 1+6=7 Random Evolution
Bottom Feeding: 0+4=4 Success
Tentacle-Like Outgrowths: 5+3=8 Random Evolution
Male Cells with Protective Shells: 3+3=6 Great Success
Sense of Heat: 1+2=3 No Effect

Random Evolution Rolls:

Waste Disposal: 3 No Random Evolution
Tentacle-like Outgrowths: 4 Good Random Evolution


Generation 2

Organism Name: Tentacle Blob

Description: The Tentacle Blob is a significantly more advanced creature than its evolutionary ancestor, the Seafloor Blob. The most important advantage it has adapted is its tentacles, which are long, purplish growths erupting from its body. Despite having a body only about a centimeter in length, the tentacles of a Tentacle Blob can grow to be as long as ten centimeters, flailing wildly in the current (the Tentacle Blob lacks muscles and as such cannot manually manipulate their limbs). Along these tentacles are special outgrowths that can absorb plankton and other simple creatures, which are used for energy and then expelled via the only internal organ of the Tentacle Blob, an anus.To supplement its main diet, the Tentacle Blob still retains some of the cell-absorbing skin cells of the Seafloor Blob, now located towards the bottom of the creature to eat the scraps of meat that fall from dying free-swimming blobs.

Reproduction: The Tentacle Blob releases male cells into the water, which then find other Tentacle Blobs and latch onto them. The cells themselves have small "shells" that protect them, and when they attach themselves to other Tentacle Blobs the shell forms into a powerful armor that protects them as they grow. After a few months, the armor recedes and the cells detach from their "parent" and become fully formed Tentacle Blobs.

Threats: Predators have yet to emerge, but a few blobs have learned how to flow in the open ocean via a primitive gas propulsion system. In time, they may develop a carnivorous nature.

Environment: A shallow sub-tropical sea. Some plant life has evolved, mostly simple fronds, whereas animal life is limited to the Tentacle Blob and their free-swimming cousins.

Adaptions:Tentacles, Bottom-Feeding, Waste Disposal, Protective Shells for Wandering Male Cells, Protective Armor for Developing Blobs.
 
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Develop sphincter muscles for better control of pooping
 
In case you are wondering how Great Success and Random Evolution work, here are great examples. Because of the Good Random Evolution, the tentacles are larger than small outgrowths. The Great Success is why developing blobs have protective armor, rather than just protective shells for the wandering male cells.

Suggestion/Voting period starts now, and will continue to about 6pm EST Friday November 28.
 
Suggestion: develop smaller tentacles from our "bottom" to ensure basic locomotion.

Suggestion: develop basic muscles, so that we can control our main tentacles.
 
Ok, so speaking of long term planning, here's my thoughts:

Generation 1: locomotion
Generation 2: sense heat
Generation 3: tentacle/tendril type outgrowths
Generation 4: hard shells to protect offspring
Generation 5: flexible evolution in case any of these four evolutions fail. If all other evolutions succeed, I would suggest some sort of evolution that helps us out in a wide range of situations in preparation for the environmental crisis
First Environmental Crisis

Reasoning: Since most of the benefits from a sense of heat comes from locomotion (who cares if we can sense predators and find currents with better food if we can't move away from predators or move to those currents), we should get locomotion first since it also has its own benefits that will help us out in the short term and long term. Then nab sense of heat right after to help augment our new found locomotion and give us a sense of direction and purpose. The tentacles will help us utilize our ability to find high nutrient food sources even more, reaping numerous benefits. Hard shells to protect our offspring is useful, but won't really be useful until predators evolve, it's worth having but low priority. Then the last one is just a flex for making sure we get all these in before the first environmental crisis rolls around.

Of course, this reasoning is based on the current ideas and might change as new ideas are introduced, but just my thoughts for now.

The issue was this is, if I recall, evolution is all about short-term changes, an organism evolving to deal with an immediate pressure, like defending against an emergent predator etc. Thus, planning is odd.
 
Suggestion 2: Since other organisms are using gas propulsion, we should develop our own gas bladder. Preferably, inside the butt so that we are farting our way to victory.
 
Suggestion: Heat Sense

This should come before locomotion.
 
Suggestion: develop smaller tentacles from our "bottom" to ensure basic locomotion.

Suggestion: develop basic muscles, so that we can control our main tentacles.

+1 to both
 
Suggestion: Suction cup or similar device to properly anchor itself to the seafloor to prevent it being washed away by the currents.

The currents undoubtedly exert a much stronger force on the blob now that it has tentacles, and it wouldn't surprise me if being washed away is a leading source of mortality. Furthermore, stronger anchorage would open up stronger-current habitats, and as any marine biologist will tell you, stronger currents equals more nutrients per square cm per hour. A higher nutrient uptake could then provide nergy to fuel further evolutions.