|
 Content Warning: This game gets up close and personal with a lot of bugs, and in some potentially disturbing contexts. Check out the LP trailer for a taste of what to expect. For decades, it has been accepted practice in media to make an audience look at a spider for a cheap and easy scare, playing off the visceral reaction felt by most due to a cultural aversion to the many-legged bugs. Video games have relied on the discomfort of arachnophobes to particular excess, sometimes going so far that their product must be avoided by those particularly affected by the fear instilled in them. Given these commonly-understood facts, it would seem that the worst idea in the world would be to make a video game where you play as arachnids. Deadly Creatures is that terrible idea. The shock value of making the player become what they fear most isn't the only selling point of Deadly Creatures. The use of these specific animals allows you to see the finest details of an expansive environment, their very nature allows for unique forms of exploration and combat, and the story of shady dealings by criminals in the desert is all the more intriguing when seen from their point of view. Nonetheless, I'm in it for the bugs. I love them, and I hope that by sharing my enthusiasm and knowledge, I can help you overcome your fear as I did. NO spoilers. YES fun facts about bugs. Adventure:  Chapter One - Scavengers Chapter Two - Buried Chapter Three - Watchers Chapter Four - The Citadel Chapter Five - Dust to Dust Chapter Six - EntangledExtras: Gallery One Gallery Two Gallery Three Resources: Mr. Vile has shared his own expertise with the thread, answering questions and offering interesting spider facts: Book lungs and stridulation Chelicerae and eating Social spiders Bogleech has created a series of arachnophobe-friendly blog posts with cute drawings instead of pictures of real bugs: Spiderween The now-defunct Caustic Soda podcast has done numerous episodes on the animals we meet in Deadly Creatures, often with actual scientists as guests: Web Building Spiders Hunting Spiders Scorpions Wasps and Hornets Snakes The podcast Hound Tall did an episode on entomology covering a wide array of topics and personal anecdotes from the guest entomologist's world travels: Buggin Out! - Extreme Entomology and the Amazon (episode begins at 9:50) [NOTE: extremely vulgar] Arthro-Pod is a podcast hosted by a rotating group of entomologists, so pick any topic on their episode list that seems interesting and you'll learn everything you need to know about it: Arthro-Pod [CW: lots of pictures of real bugs] Relevant videos: Tarantula demonstrates the use of urticating hairs Meet the spidergoats Fiendly fucked around with this message at 14:13 on Oct 27, 2018 |
#
?
Aug 18, 2018 23:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 15:18 |
|
|
I've played this to completion so this ought to be interesting.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 00:35
|
|
|
Ah, so this is the fabled third person spider genre. I do commend the LP, though; I'm pretty heavily arachnophobic and made it through the whole video, it's interesting. Although that might just be the oddly hypnotic spider-fu combat. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 08:34 on Aug 19, 2018 |
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 08:27
|
|
|
hot drat I remember when this came out, I was very excited but could never find it in a store  I think I ended up buying Mad World since it came out around the same time, I don't regret that purchase
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 13:34
|
|
|
Interesting concept for a game. I've handled a decent amount of insects and arachnids during my undergrad thesis so I can hopefully shine some light on things. I'd argue the beetles labelled soldier beetles don't particularly look like Cantharidae other than the big jaws and maybe the behaviour, considering that Cantharids are also known as tiger beetles and are hardcore predators. I think the general body shape is more like that of the Chrysomelidae, or flower beetles. Suffice to say, the scarabs, being a reskin of the soldier beetles, don't look much like your average scarab 
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 13:56
|
|
|
Dang, if a snake is treated as a boss fight, I dunno how the game's gonna deal with the first Rathalos encounter.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 13:57
|
|
|
This game seems pretty cool, it gives me a ''Ryse, Son of Rome'' feeling. What I mean is the devs evidently studied their subjects at least a bit, but when making the game chose to think more about "What would be fun?" rather than "What would be historically/scientifically accurate?" in the case of Ryse, it resulted in a game in which one of the last boss is Boudica, invading Rome, with War Elephants. Not even remotely historically accurate, but you've gotta give it to them, fun and original nonetheless. Same thing with this game, other than the inconsistencies you've already pointed out, I doubt insects make this kind of noises IRL or do Mortal Kombatesque moves, but it sure as hell is fun to watch.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 15:36
|
|
|
For some reason, I keep seeing the spider's underside as a giant mouth.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 17:36
|
|
|
How the gently caress did they get Slingblade and Easy Rider to agree to be in a spider slap-em-up?DarkParchment posted:Same thing with this game, other than the inconsistencies you've already pointed out, I doubt insects make this kind of noises IRL or do Mortal Kombatesque moves, but it sure as hell is fun to watch. There's a whistling tarantula, which sounds way more nonchalant than this game at least.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 19:16
|
|
|
anilEhilated posted:Ah, so this is the fabled third person spider genre. Excellent, maybe you can be my canary in the coal mine, let me know if anything makes you especially uncomfortable or have to give up on a video, because there are parts of this game even I find genuinely creepy. Aces High posted:I think I ended up buying Mad World since it came out around the same time, I don't regret that purchase I bought this game and Mad World with my Wii U (like three years ago...) specifically so I could LP them, but just getting to play them justified the purchase of the console. They're two of my all-time favorites now. Ibblebibble posted:Interesting concept for a game. I've handled a decent amount of insects and arachnids during my undergrad thesis so I can hopefully shine some light on things. Cool, that'd be great! I believe there's only one model for all the beetles in the game, which is super disappointing, I love beetles almost as much as spiders and the ones we've seen aren't even especially cool ones before the misidentification. These guys are also gonna start to double as ground beetles before long, too. Frogfingers posted:There's a whistling tarantula, which sounds way more nonchalant than this game at least. I was gonna say that I'm pretty sure there aren't any arthropods that vocalize, but this video says otherwise. Strange, I've heard an Australian entomologist say these spiders (also called "barking spiders," which is a fart joke in the rest of the world) produce their hiss via stridulation (rubbing parts of their body together, like how a cricket chirps). Looks like the jury is out on this one, I'll have to do more research before I say anything definitive in the videos.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 19:36
|
|
|
Spiders hiss when threatened though only the tarantula's hiss is audible for humans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6fJUolFYUs And since Fiendly mentioned it, the spitting spider is pretty much the closest thing to Spider-Man's web shooting ability in the real world though Peter's webs are obviously not infused with venom like the spitting spider's. Spitters do have the normal abdomen spinnerets as well. Chimera-gui fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Aug 19, 2018 |
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2018 19:48
|
|
|
I'd believe that scorpions and tarantulas would fight if necessary. Would a rattlesnake see a tarantula as prey?
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2018 00:47
|
|
|
Chimera-gui posted:Spiders hiss when threatened though only the tarantula's hiss is audible for humans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6fJUolFYUs drat, it even has the percussive quality of stridulation, but that's two marks for "spiders can speak." Right now it's looking like the barking spiders both vocalize and stridulate. CzarChasm posted:I'd believe that scorpions and tarantulas would fight if necessary. Would a rattlesnake see a tarantula as prey? Apparently rattlesnakes will eat bugs if they can, though their preferred meals are rodents and other reptiles. There's a lot more info out there about spiders eating snakes, so even though the snake was an insurmountable boss fight that had to be tricked into retreat, the real animals would be close to evenly matched! I expect a real snake would be easily dissuaded from attempting to eat our tarantula, for its lack of nutritional value compared to the amount of trouble it could cause.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2018 03:24
|
|
|
Happy to see another LP by you, Fiendly. I'm definitely intrigued by this after watching the first video, and missed out on playing it because, eh, the Wii. Kind of nuts that a game this, well, nuts got talent like Hopper and Thornton to be involved, though. Like I would love to have sat in on the meeting where the developers pitched what the game was to those guys.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2018 05:09
|
|
|
Fiendly posted:drat, it even has the percussive quality of stridulation, but that's two marks for "spiders can speak." Right now it's looking like the barking spiders both vocalize and stridulate. I think that sound is stridulation though, a unique attribute to tarantulas is stinging hairs they fling off their body. They're likely too fine to be caught on the kind of camera in that video but it's their first line of defence against any aggressors. Real spiders speak through the medium of dance anyway so if anything the QTEs in this game are the most accurate component. quote:Apparently rattlesnakes will eat bugs if they can, though their preferred meals are rodents and other reptiles. There's a lot more info out there about spiders eating snakes, so even though the snake was an insurmountable boss fight that had to be tricked into retreat, the real animals would be close to evenly matched! I expect a real snake would be easily dissuaded from attempting to eat our tarantula, for its lack of nutritional value compared to the amount of trouble it could cause. I think it's particularly difficult for snakes to hunt arthropods, since they're more tuned to detecting heat off small mammals. Plus, unlike what this game would have you believe, tarantula's aren't intrepid hunters, they're lazy ambush couch potatoes.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2018 07:50
|
|
|
Frogfingers posted:Plus, unlike what this game would have you believe, tarantula's aren't intrepid hunters, they're lazy ambush couch potatoes. Woo! Spirit Animal!
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2018 16:20
|
|
|
I'm thoroughly surprised that the game completely refuses to anthropomorphize the bugs so far. No voices, no personalities, etc. Though I'm looking forward to when they introduce a love interest, like all games by major publishers are contractually obligated to.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2018 19:52
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:Though I'm looking forward to when they introduce a love interest, like all games by major publishers are contractually obligated to. Can't wait for the game to end with us being eaten by our girlfriend.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2018 19:55
|
|
|
Seyser Koze posted:Can't wait for the game to end with us being eaten by our girlfriend. Basically the whole thing is that you follow this story of buried treasure and shady men through the view of a tarantula and scorpion as they hunt and fight each other and other wildlife. Its really cool.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2018 22:56
|
|
|
That's not to say we won't meet some lovely, lethal ladies during our adventure though. Technically speaking our tarantula friend, despite being referred to as male by the game's creators in interview, should be female herself as female spiders are typically larger than the males. Chimera-gui fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Sep 14, 2018 |
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 00:40
|
|
|
Chimera-gui posted:Spiders hiss when threatened though only the tarantula's hiss is audible for humans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6fJUolFYUs Well, there's also the Velvet Worm but that's not even remotely a spider. Extremely ancient creatures, too, and also extremely rare. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY8TgD6-7kg
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 00:58
|
|
|
I have to admit, I'm very intrigued by this games story. I really want to know how we, a tarantula, somehow presumably contribute to blowing up a gas station.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 02:03
|
|
|
I'm now imagining some kind of hypothetical sequel where the spider and scorpion have to team up in a sort of A Way Out-style game.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 08:55
|
|
|
That would be kinda brilliant, like escaping from an invert fair or something. Woops, serves me right for not watching all the way through! Dreadwroth fucked around with this message at 09:25 on Aug 21, 2018 |
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 09:05
|
|
|
Fiendly posted:drat, it even has the percussive quality of stridulation, but that's two marks for "spiders can speak." Right now it's looking like the barking spiders both vocalize and stridulate. Tarantulas along with other arachnids that can stridulate like solifugae (camel spiders) usually have their stridulatory organs on the chelicerae, the big things at the front that the fangs are mounted on. You can see the whistling spider there rubbing them together to hiss, kind of like rubbing two sandpaper blocks together. Spiders can't vocalise in any way like we do because they don't have vocal cords, and their lungs aren't connected to their mouth at all. Spider lungs are called book lungs and work in a totally different way to ours, being more like adapted gills filled with "pages" for gas exchange, hence the name. They can't inhale or exhale and rely entirely on passive gas exchange through the "pages" of the book lungs, which are connected to the outside through a pore called a spiracle on the spider's underside.  Tarantulas actually shed part of their book lungs when they moult! The four white patches are the parts of the book lungs that were shed along with the old exoskeleton.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 14:32
|
|
|
So is this whole game like, two background humans having some kind of Cohen Brothers Film Adventure while a Scorpion and a Tarantula have an extended blood feud?
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 15:59
|
|
|
Mr. Vile posted:Deep entomology facts This is exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking to find out I've the course of the LP, thank you. It'll be a while before I get to facts like this in the videos, but I'll try to work my way up to it after sharing the more basic facts I have a good handle on. Night10194 posted:So is this whole game like, two background humans having some kind of Cohen Brothers Film Adventure while a Scorpion and a Tarantula have an extended blood feud? That's a perfect encapsulation of what we're going to see, yes.
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 18:05
|
|
|
Night10194 posted:So is this whole game like, two background humans having some kind of Cohen Brothers Film Adventure while a Scorpion and a Tarantula have an extended blood feud? I HAVE GONE MY WHOLE LIFE NOT KNOWING THAT I NEED THIS
|
|
#
?
Aug 21, 2018 23:08
|
|
|
Night10194 posted:So is this whole game like, two background humans having some kind of Cohen Brothers Film Adventure while a Scorpion and a Tarantula have an extended blood feud? Don't stop keep going 
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2018 02:31
|
|
|
One of the best things about this game is the devs did an impeccable job setting up the story hook; you listen to the opening narration, and you are drawn right into the game because you wanna know how the protagonists caused the gas station to explode. It really helps cover for the graphics and gameplay that are not really exceptional.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2018 04:16
|
|
|
This game looks cool. Snake Facts: The rattle and coiling up like that snake was doing are all threat displays, not hunting behavior. They're all things that make the snake look big and obvious, and are the snake equivalent of shouting "STAY THE gently caress AWAY I'M PACKING HEAT HERE!" at passerby. If it was hunting it'd hide somewhere convenient and try for a bite full of deadly deadly venom when you pass close by. So really that whole fight was just the snake being really drat scared. Edit: Also as mentioned above most North American rattle snakes are pit vipers, meaning they hunt in part by their prey's body heat, especially at night. A mouse would be more their speed than a tarantula. paragon1 fucked around with this message at 06:24 on Aug 22, 2018 |
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2018 06:21
|
|
|
This game and thread look absolutely horrifying for me, I can't wait to watch the whole thing. My only interesting arachnid facts concern daddy longlegs, the Only Good Arachnids. They comprise their own order (Opiliones), and every single known species is completely harmless and benign, though plenty of them look utterly terrifying because that's just how insects and arachnids work. Urban legends often hold that they're actually extremely venomous, but their bites can't pierce human skin so that's why they're safe, but they don't actually have venom to begin with (however, their bites are also unable to break skin). The cellar spider is also sometimes mistakenly called a daddy longlegs, but is similarly safe (it has venom, but it's extremely weak). Also, while spitting spiders are the only ones that straight Spider-Man web around, cellar spiders can use their back legs to throw webbing at their prey, allowing them to take out significantly more dangerous spiders from a safe distance.  Night10194 posted:So is this whole game like, two background humans having some kind of Cohen Brothers Film Adventure while a Scorpion and a Tarantula have an extended blood feud? It's Coen, actually. Bill Murray made the same mistake when he saw the script for the Garfield movie, written by Joel Cohen. He mistook him for Joel Coen, thought to himself, "I love that guy!" and signed on without another word. And we all paid the price. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2018 06:45
|
|
|
EclecticTastes posted:Also, while spitting spiders are the only ones that straight Spider-Man web around, cellar spiders can use their back legs to throw webbing at their prey, allowing them to take out significantly more dangerous spiders from a safe distance. Woah, hadn't heard of this before, that rules. I'm definitely gonna debunk that old daddy longlegs slander, and just wait until I get to the unjustly notorious brown recluse.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2018 12:36
|
|
|
EclecticTastes posted:It's Coen, actually. Bill Murray made the same mistake when he saw the script for the Garfield movie, written by Joel Cohen. He mistook him for Joel Coen, thought to himself, "I love that guy!" and signed on without another word. And we all paid the price. On one hand, I'm sorry for the mistake, on the other, I'm glad I know this now because this is hilarious. Also actually want to see a Coen Garfield now I think it would be neat.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2018 13:22
|
|
|
 Look into your heart! Raaroth.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2018 13:44
|
|
|
Update:Chapter Two - Buried Phew. Sorry to give everyone a sample of why it took me three years to start this LP, I insist on doing it in the summer and summers are extremely bad for me. Summer is also almost over, so with any luck, I'll be able to update in reasonable intervals from here on out. Regardless, the long national nightmare is over, meet our new bug, and enjoy the first art gallery, featuring a ridiculous 27 pictures of in-game models. Extras: Gallery One
|
|
#
?
Sep 14, 2018 03:51
|
|
|
This made me think about Gila Monsters. I knew they were venomous but I wanted to check if they could kill a human. Nope, their bite is merely painful but not fatal. People also keep them as pets apparently which seems like a bad idea.
|
|
#
?
Sep 14, 2018 05:26
|
|
|
Remember when I said we'd meet lovely, lethal ladies on our adventure? I was of course referring to Black Widows and Tarantula Hawks among the other critters as the first gallery consists of our protagonists, the two human characters, and every enemy we'll encounter in the game.
|
|
#
?
Sep 14, 2018 06:34
|
|
|
A question about spiders predating vertebrates: Without an exoskeleton to keep the goo in, won't the liquefied flesh just run off the bones before the spider can suck it up?
|
|
#
?
Sep 14, 2018 10:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 15:18 |
|
|
Gila monsters have the best dumb muppet faces and I'm glad that this game duplicated that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 14, 2018 12:04
|
|