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ImperfectEnthusiast — [Tutorial] How to create/improve your species
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How to create or improve your species – An Unconventional Tutorial

Disclaimer: If you are a seasoned species owner, some sections of this tutorial may be blatantly obvious to you. However, to make sure that new species owners understand these principles they have been included in this tutorial. Feel free to skip over these parts if you wish.

What this tutorial is not going to outline is 'How to pick a unique species name' or 'How to modify a real animal into a species', or other topics in a similar vein. Those popular tutorials were the ones I read when I first started creating species. However with some insight and a lot more experience, I realised they no longer explained the best way to create, or define a closed species. I could even argue that their existence helped to create some of the issues that closed species communities face now, such as an extreme focus on traits and selling value as opposed to lore and species interactivity.
This tutorial will hopefully help both new and old species owners, while focusing on ‘how to make a cohesive, well-rounded and stable species capable of growth’.

Chapter 1: Initial Steps

The reason you are likely reading this is because you are interested in starting a species or wish to improve your current species. In either case, surely you have an idea or smidgeon of a direction; even if that idea is just one word or preference towards something (e.g. you like plants rather than animals, or know you want to create an amphibian species). This direction should be kept in mind throughout the creation process, as it is important to have some level of consistency within your species.

For instance, if you create an amphibian species in a realistic world where they must hunt to survive, their biology and society should reflect that. Even though you may be excited and wish to add features that would be fun, perhaps think about it deeply first. The addition of wings, sparkle rainbow coats or crystal formations on the body may not be a good choice and should be avoided to retain cohesion in design and lore. Rather, you should consider real-life amphibian creatures and how they hunt, with camouflaged colours or extreme agility. If you are unsure whether you have chosen the best combination of features and lore for your species, ask yourself whether drawing or writing about the species would make intuitive sense to a stranger. If the design does not flow or is confusing to draw/write, consider overhauling some aspects of the species which were especially problematic.

If you already have an existing species where the underlying concept is being smothered by a plethora of random additions or inexplicable features, it is highly suggested to prune any unnecessary information.

To illustrate the point, let’s say a feline species named Qatos live in a magical desert world. The owner of the species adores them, though some say that the design is too difficult to draw, or that it doesn’t make sense. When looking closer at the species, you can see that it has 4 pairs of giant ears, is always ‘chibi’ shaped, and has complicated ‘glass-like’ areas of the body which contain water. None of this is explained, and it turns out the four sets of ears are difficult for others to draw. The solution is relatively simple, as the world behind the species can be used to explain the features as well as choose which traits to remove. Any water glass-like areas could be explained as being like camels storing water due to the desert environment, and the small stature from lack of food and resources. Due to the ears being problematic to others and inexplicable within the environment, it should be further redesigned or removed. Of course, you have the option to overhaul the environment if your absolute favourite aspect of the species was its ears; however, that would likely change the rest of the design dramatically, maybe to the point of becoming unrecognisable.

This ‘simple fix’ method of editing design to fit lore is however not the solution to a majority of cases. Most developed species have strong design elements with very little lore or background information. This means that the only solution is to reverse engineer lore to fit the design, which is possible with some trial and error. It is not an ideal situation and can be incredibly time-consuming to fix, though it is understandable that not many species owners would want to extensively overhaul a species in order to fit their newly created lore. If hypothetically, you created an insect-like unicorn species with no background or lore other than their basic societal structure, you would likely have to create an environment which could explain every aspect of the species without contradicting itself at any point. Questions you could ask yourself are: What is the purpose of the horn? How was the species’ insect biology affected by the environment? Why did their societal structure form in this way?

There are an endless number of ways in which a species owner could solve the dilemma of wrapping lore around their species' anatomy, and it is only limited by how original and creative the owner wishes to be. Inspiration or a unique perspective can be found in genres such as sci-fi, or sources such as ecology and biology. However, this might be more suitable for older, experienced creators who are looking to gain deeper knowledge and background consistency. Despite this, even those who are new to species creation and are choosing to create a fantasy-based species can benefit greatly from studying ecosystems, and animal anatomy.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this issue, though feedback from the community is priceless and it is highly encouraged to seek it out. Lore and background information can make or break a species, with many members of the community already filling in the missing gaps with their own ideas. Neglecting or ignoring the fact that a community’s perception of a species reflects a huge portion of interest and investment in the species can lead to many issues further down the line, especially when a dispute occurs over conflicting ideas.

This chapter ends with self-directed tools that you may use to solve these problems. The questions below may be helpful to answer when creating your species. It can also be used to check whether your species remains consistent across all topics.

Biology and anatomy:

What is the species’ general anatomy closest to, in terms of real-life equivalents?

How would you best describe their movement, skeleton, and musculature?

Why are their eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and body shape the way they are?

What does their diet consist of and why?

How do they reproduce and are there exceptions?

Social structure:

Are individuals sentient and can they communicate?

Do they prefer isolation or communal living, and why?

Are there any structures in society that can explain why an individual behaves the way they do?

World and habitat:

What sort of planet do they live on?

What kind of habitat do the species inhabit, and why?

How does the environment influence them?

Lore and history:

Are there any focal points in your species’ history, such as mass extinctions, floods, droughts, uprisings?

How did these focal points in history affect the species?

Does the species record history if they are sentient? Are these events forgotten or passed down in racial memory?

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Chapter 2: Presenting Your Species

This chapter assumes that you have started to create your species, or have already created one and are looking to improve it.

There are an infinite number of ways that you may choose to compile your species information, and the most basic advice is that it should be created by you, tailored to your species’ needs rather than an imitation of an already ‘successful’ popular species. In all likelihood the species became popular because of its efficient and distinctive way of organizing and interacting with the world. You will find more success in borrowing bits and pieces of ideas rather than trying to recreate an entire group system. While this means that you must create a unique new system, it is well worth the effort.

The way you provide information about your species greatly influences the way people perceive it. Therefore making your species enjoyable to read and experience is key. Try not to ‘create one or two references and then never touch the topic again’; rather the presentation should be updated regularly to correct problems that you’ve faced in the past, and reflect the development of your species. Do not be afraid to update information or rewrite references just because it had confusing terminology or unclear drawings.

Keeping this all in mind, your investment and enthusiasm about the species is what people see when first encountering your species. The aim should be to attract people who are interested in the species’ world and lore, as opposed to the brand name or design value. Success here will lead to species growth and less chronic trading, as people will be more likely to use their designs for their sentimental value rather than a monetary one. While this may sound obvious, it is harder to achieve than first thought. Being quick to answer tricky questions about the species and writing extensively about it are just two signs that a species owner enjoys their job. Serious problems result from when the species owner does not like their species anymore, and often ends in a destructive closure of the group. Which path a species owner chooses entirely determines the fate of that species.

I will only outline a couple of methods of presenting your species’ information, though it is not even close to the true range of options. This section should only be used as a guide or ideas to build upon, rather than a set list of methods.

a. Base of Operations

The most common way to display your closed species is via DeviantArt groups, though often supplemented by a weebly page. There are upsides and downsides to this, and the negatives are largely unavoidable. DeviantArt is prone to errors and issues (page breaks, disappearing journals, down for several days) and it’s not uncommon that slack permissions allow trolls to accidentally replace the founder. Not to mention, the fact that your species is being limited to the number of members in the DeviantArt species community. Despite these shortcomings it is still arguably the best choice of website to display your species on, perhaps other than Furaffinity. The group system is convenient and easy to understand, with a great ‘managing members’ section and simple layout editing tools.

Other sites that closed species owners have used are: Facebook, Tumblr, Weasyl, and VK.

All of these sites also have their own downsides, most importantly that their privacy and anti-theft protocols can be extremely slack. DeviantArt was designed to be useful to artists and so reporting art theft and generating watermarks are much simpler than on Facebook or Tumblr. It is common to see stolen adopts from DeviantArt being sold on Facebook or Tumblr, and reporting the theft can be tedious or stressful. Keeping the risks in mind, these sites do have a wide range of people who would likely be interested in your species and there are few other species to compete against. When considering alternative websites, using several sites to display your species may be beneficial for species owners who have an established DeviantArt presence and wish to expand further. Of course, those species communities which have grown past the need for social media to recruit members may even want to design their own species website, which would be the ultimate form of customization.

The main reason that most species owners don't keep their species on customized standalone websites (or don't use ones that they've made) is that species communities are inherently social. If the species site does not have a large and active start-up user base, then there is a very high likelihood of it being unsuccessful. The benefits of placing your species on social media compared to your own site is that active members exist and avenues for social connections are already in place; paid for by the larger companies.

b. Species Group Structure

This topic relates strongly to sections c (Form of Reference) and d (Themes and Further Presentation). If you are totally new to species groups, please do read this section. Otherwise, feel free to skip this!
Different types of common species group arrangements:

- Open species (OS)
'Open' refers to the accessible nature of the group, regarding membership and design allowance. These groups tend to allow any individual to join, and make a design based on the species free of charge. Often the community will be large and casual; where prompts, events and roleplays are entirely optional. Open species are the easiest to run, with the least amount of rules and regulations. However, there will still be design 'approval' where moderators or the owner receives submissions to check that the design does abide by the species standards, whatever they may be. A good owner of an open species will have a number of moderators will enforce community standards and prevent bullying/theft/etc. Sadly, it is not uncommon for owners to simply opt for the open species structure because they wish to own a species label without having to do any work at all. This obviously leads to a large number of those open species groups to become inactive.

- Closed species (CS)
'Closed' refers to the exclusive or restricted nature of the group, both economically and regarding membership. These groups tend to be more intensive for owners than open species, however they give far more control over all aspects of your group as well as the number of designs you wish to release to the public. Unlike an open species, a closed species has a finite number of potential designs, as these are sold by the species owner in limited amounts. The main difference between a closed and open species is that members and non-members are unable to create a design without first receiving explicit permission from the species owner. This group structure is probably the most common form of species that can be seen on DA, as it is relatively easy to maintain and quite simple to start. However, there has been a considerable amount of backlash towards closed species due to public criticisms of certain popular closed species regarding inner-group drama, overbearing rules and mob-harassment.

- Semi-Open species (SOS)
A merger between closed and open, semi-open species are a spectrum that is hard to give a definition. This group structure is best described as a compromise between the two most common types, personalized by the owner to have exactly the level of administration and control that they need. For example, semi-open species may have tiers of traits in which the 'common' traits are free to make on your design while higher tier traits behave 'closed' and require approval as well as payment. Another may be that the creation of one design is free while multiple after that cost money and are restricted access. In general, semi-open species are becoming more common over time as species owners personalize their group to their own activity levels. Running a semi-open species can be difficult to visualize at first but can be worth the effort.

- Art-Roleplay group (ARPG)
The newest form of species, it is a gamified version with intense amounts of work required to run smoothly. There is a great variety of ARPG's in recent times with most being various shades of a breeding simulation, though it is hard to define specifically. Broadly speaking, ARPG's all deal with trading value, genetically determined traits, design approval systems, virtual currency scaling and other quite complex and/or tedious moderator work such as banks and item shops. It shouldn't be recommended to any newbies at all, as it is generally difficult to start up and even harder to maintain over time as population rises and interest fluctuates.

How can I decide?
Hopefully after reading the above, you have an idea about which type of group sounds most appealing to you. It is best to pick one which you like the most, while keeping in mind your values and time constraints. For example if you wish to make a free or unregulated species that anyone can join, perhaps choose an open-group plan. You should also keep in mind that you can change or adapt into a different group structure at any time if you wish, though it may take some extra work. For example, it is relatively common for popular closed species to develop an additional ARPG to be joined as an optional activity for members. Other groups have also opted to 'simplify' their ARPG into an open or closed species. The options are endless and the list does not represent the true variety which exists.

c. Form of Reference

Reference sheets are the main way species owners convey the visual and written aspects of their species. These are highly varied, though often all the information is compiled into several sheets each containing a different topic. Most commonly seen are: General Reference Sheets, Trait Sheets, Maps, and Lore sheets.

Though the trait sheet is a staple of the species community, whether or not you choose to create a trait sheet is up to you. You may choose to omit traits entirely and create trait-free designs, you may wish to keep the species open or closed, and perhaps you may even create a rule-filled ARPG based on the species. The basic style in which you conduct the species group impacts how you should display your references, and how much detail you may need. For example, an ARPG would need many more references and a far deeper level of traits/genetics than a casually run open species. Which system you choose should depend on what you find most interesting but also the amount of time you are willing to spend on your species. In general, basic reference sheets covering the anatomy, history and background of your species should be enough to start with. There will always be the opportunity to create an ARPG from the species in the future.

If you already have a species and wish to upgrade existing reference sheets, it may be beneficial for you to open a FAQ or poll your existing members to see what areas they would like elaborated. Also, rather than redoing all the sheets it may be easier to create additional in-depth guides and organize all of the references via links in a contents page. There are many ways to display the references you have created, and this depends on which site your species is hosted on.

This tutorial will not be teaching ‘how to make a reference sheet’, as there are many existing tutorials covering graphic design of sheets. However, if you are looking for any pointers or recommendations regarding written aspects feel free to comment!

d. Themes and Further Presentation

Most species groups have some form of theme, intentional or accidental. This can be seen through writing style (e.g. POV, roleplaying, lore-filled), art style (e.g. realism/fantasy, PG/gore), and decorations (e.g. uniform palette, repeating objects, mascots). Promotion is far easier when your species has an identifiable style or theme. People are more likely to associate the theme with your species, and are therefore also more capable of identifying ripoff designs. Not only that, but themes create a pleasant atmosphere within the species page. This is important as the page acts as advertisement as well as a hub for all species related things.

To design a group theme, it is best to keep in mind the species' overall mood and lore. A fantastical species will do best with a palette and style that looks appealing in the fantasy genre. A sci-fi or realism based species may prefer to use images or a more muted palette and style, to help demonstrate realism. Of course, these are only examples and you are free to create your own style. However, a good rule of thumb is to keep clutter to a minimum, and any symbols (such as logos or watermarks) should be easily identifiable. A page which can't easily be used due to excess of visual information isn't a well designed page. People are likely to be intimidated by excess information on the front page, and it is better to compile this in a neat contents page. While designing an elegant page can be difficult without using DA premium group custom boxes, it's still possible to have a successful page. When you're doubting your group pages, it is best to ask someone who has never seen your page to navigate to a specific area. If they aren't able to, or take a long time to find it then you should definitely rework the page.

Rule of thumb: If a new member can't find something they need within one or two clicks, you need to review your page layout.

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Chapter 3: Community building and species interactivity.

Some definitions before we start– Species interactivity: Events, activities, and group structures that allow a member to interact with the species in an enjoyable way. Community building: Work and input from the species owner that helps species interactivity and encourages member participation.

This is where the hardest part begins. It is the most complicated aspect of owning a species, as there is no correct way to handle species interactivity. To make things even more difficult, the way you organize your group will change to account for membership increases. This means that you should not be resistant to change over time, as species communities will always have a constant ebb and flow of members.

Community building is near endless, and can take several admins worth of hard work and time. However if you and your admins care about the species, then it will feel like a worthwhile exercise. In order to build your community, species interactivity must remain high as it promotes growth in the species. Members are more likely to remain in the group if they feel that the group is enjoyable and easy to participate in. Most species owners create activities, prompts and quests to encourage socializing between members. The format of these prompts tends to be unique to each species, which makes every species identifiable and fun in different ways. A handy tip is to use the group theme and species lore to make a new style of activity. This may take some time and creative thinking, but it is worthwhile for everybody involved! For example, ARPGs use primarily art-based scoring systems (guided by self-chosen goals) in order to create interactivity, while open roleplay species use character reference sheets and advertising boards (people then roleplay in private) to create socialization between members. Each group will have a specific means of achieving interactivity, and there is no limit to what you may choose to do.

However, one of the most demoralizing aspects of being a species owner is that once you've reached a certain size or reputation people will find the time to post criticisms of your species. It is important to distinguish between real criticism (which you should heed) and the unhappy customer who simply has different preferences (which you can feel free to ignore, as there is no way to fill every niche). The way you handle these criticisms is key to the progression of your species. While it is true that you can't please everyone, some points of criticism can be entirely valid. For example, if a long-time member states that an area of the species is broken you should likely pay attention to them. While if a new member comes along and questions your style or preferences, it is more likely they are simply being rude as opposed to having a valid point. These situations require your own judgement, and it is best to have a regular source of feedback (such as people inside and outside the species, and anonymised polls) to compare with aggressive criticism.

If you find that it is particularly anti-species individuals that are terrorizing your species, then there is very little that can be done to change the underlying conflict of interest. Utilizing the blacklist and increasing privacy on chat forums should be the main defence against trolls and aggressive individuals, though preventative blocking may cause further issues if done incorrectly. If it is scammers and fake accounts that are plaguing your species, perhaps a tighter set of rules regarding reselling or a minimum account-age check (e.g. preventing accounts under the age of 3 months from buying adopts) may help alleviate this, though they are only two of several methods you can use. If your species has been affected by art theft, it is encouraged to reupload all art with a large logo-fied watermark and continue to use this watermark for any future uploads.

Clearly these are not the only issues that can occur when running a large group. There are many more problems which others face, though it is simply part of the risk of running a group. Do not be overwhelmed by this, and if you have any questions feel free to comment!

If your species is new, you can ask yourself these critical questions that may help prevent future issues:

How will administration work?

Will you need moderators?What ‘Terms Of Service’ guidelines will you choose?

What will you include in your group's 'Code of Conduct' for members and administrators?

Will your group impose any rules or restrictions upon members, especially regarding reselling?

If there will be a chat, what privacy and anti-spam/bot precautions will you take?

Where will you find a main source of feedback regarding your species?

Have there been problematic members in the past, and what caused this? Can you take precautions against this in the future?

You may also find these activities to be helpful, before launching your first species:
Note: If you are very new to species and are starting your own, it is important to treat this like a to-do list. Experience in this field will triumph over any tutorial anyday.

-Join an existing species group as a moderator or admin

-Join several types of existing species as a customer (e.g. ARPG, closed species, open species)

-Try drawing gift art of other species to get a range and feeling for the existing market

-Take a closer look at the layout and pages of existing popular species

-Ask friendly species owners on their experience as a group owner



Related content
Comments: 90

Shulker1774 [2023-08-03 22:21:29 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to Shulker1774 [2023-08-04 00:03:03 +0000 UTC]

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Colorfairy3000 [2023-02-28 13:26:46 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to Colorfairy3000 [2023-03-05 09:55:57 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Colorfairy3000 In reply to ImperfectEnthusiast [2023-03-05 14:31:37 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to Colorfairy3000 [2023-03-07 10:07:14 +0000 UTC]

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Colorfairy3000 In reply to ImperfectEnthusiast [2023-03-07 12:02:28 +0000 UTC]

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DustyMasonJar [2023-02-19 13:36:05 +0000 UTC]

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ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to DustyMasonJar [2023-02-19 17:23:16 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

DustyMasonJar In reply to ImperfectEnthusiast [2023-02-19 17:44:51 +0000 UTC]

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BurntCorgi [2022-03-21 04:39:50 +0000 UTC]

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AuttumntheGuardian [2021-08-16 02:58:35 +0000 UTC]

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DraiochtCeol [2021-06-22 06:57:58 +0000 UTC]

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Sociopathix In reply to DraiochtCeol [2022-05-05 20:19:34 +0000 UTC]

👍: 3 ⏩: 0

generalsharkythe1 [2021-06-15 02:13:49 +0000 UTC]

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AtumunLeafs [2021-04-09 15:57:02 +0000 UTC]

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KookieDrawsz [2021-02-17 11:05:49 +0000 UTC]

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spotscustomz [2020-10-27 00:03:40 +0000 UTC]

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VilmaMonster [2020-06-16 16:57:31 +0000 UTC]

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goosetooth [2020-05-09 18:11:47 +0000 UTC]

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ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to goosetooth [2020-05-15 10:36:28 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

goosetooth In reply to ImperfectEnthusiast [2020-05-15 15:32:13 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to goosetooth [2020-05-15 15:42:07 +0000 UTC]

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goosetooth In reply to ImperfectEnthusiast [2020-05-15 15:57:18 +0000 UTC]

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Kohonas [2019-06-23 04:49:23 +0000 UTC]

It really help me for my specie, thank you !

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to Kohonas [2019-06-27 15:28:52 +0000 UTC]

im glad it helped!

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Crunchymochii [2019-04-24 04:29:35 +0000 UTC]

Im like inspired by this artist but I don't want to be a copycat, but everything I do it still looks to close to theirs and it's makes me frustrated.... 

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chels-adopts [2018-10-19 19:43:07 +0000 UTC]

I have a problem with some lore for an idea I have. I was inspired by some characters I like, and I was considering a sapient semi-humanoid species living on the fringes of human society, in the undergrounds and wilderness. Trouble is, in circumstances like that they most likely wouldn't be able to get matching outfits and thus they'd likely end up with really badly clashing designs which no one would like. I'm not sure how to work around that. It feels like a silly problem but someone else's thoughts on it would really help me.

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nightcanid110 [2018-06-14 23:00:49 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, this has helped me a lot! Keep it up. Also, if anyone is willing to give their opinion on this, I am trying to think of a name for my species (they are a marsupial canine hybrid, of course they have traits and rules to define them from other hybrids/species). I am going to name the species either Coyroo or Folfroo, Idk which. Any suggestions are helpful, thanks again.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to nightcanid110 [2018-06-15 11:09:26 +0000 UTC]

I personally think coyroo sounds cool! <3 and I'm glad it helped

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nightcanid110 In reply to ImperfectEnthusiast [2018-06-15 14:21:23 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! That was their original name anyway, so I think I'll choose that.

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silverdragon360 [2018-05-18 00:39:17 +0000 UTC]

wow! I just found this guide and it's super helpful <3 thank you !!


I just have a quick question for your opinion: what's your opinion on "themed" species (like species in which each character is based on something different; for example, one may be based off of coffee and another maybe mechanics or pine trees) and how should someone approach those? thanks!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to silverdragon360 [2018-05-18 02:25:27 +0000 UTC]

Hello!
Themed species are pretty common, they tend to have a base set of characteristics and traits that are *definitely unchangeable* otherwise you just end up with a bunch of designs that look completely different. So you need something that defines the species but doesn't look too *odd* or *cliche* because otherwise it'll again, be hard to identify the species as unique if it's using similar base characteristics (e.g. water or glass body parts). I would also make note of whether you'll put in a limit to the number of times people can design with the same theme :3 like if there are 7 star themed designs or something it might get awkward when people start fights or the designs start looking the same. But conversely you also don't want only one use for the theme because people will be really upset if they can't have their dream theme
Lastly, my opinion??? They're fun and they tend to draw a crowd of younger people or those who want to just have a pretty design. They don't tend to draw in the writey or character buildey people since these themed species tend to sell for looks rather than lore in the first instance :3
Good luck!

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swiftbird82 [2018-03-22 11:48:42 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! This helped me so much!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to swiftbird82 [2018-03-23 09:54:32 +0000 UTC]

<3 I'm really glad it helped

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Ihmislehma [2018-01-12 21:05:49 +0000 UTC]

This was definitely an useful tutorial, and will come in handy for me later.
Though I do need to expand on the last bit more. While I don't think I'll be admin of any group, I do need to broaden the horizons by joining other groups (just that none I've encountered have been enticing enough for me to actually join. I tend to be very picky and it took a loooong time to join the group I'm in now).
Thank you for putting this together. (Also, your avi is awesome).

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

AkkumiKitty [2017-12-04 12:23:29 +0000 UTC]

Hi, I've been reading this guide for a while know and i would like to ask.. what's the difference between a species and a subspecies.. sorry if this seems a bit off topic to the journal

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Ihmislehma In reply to AkkumiKitty [2018-01-12 20:59:45 +0000 UTC]

Hi,
I simply happened to stumble upon this while researching ARPG stuff, and think I can answer.
A Species is a dfined creature, for example a crow, tiger, wolf.
Supspecies is a smaller group inside a species ("a taxonomic category that ranks below species"). For example, Bengal Tiger is a subspecies and can breed with any other tiger. A dog is (technically) a subspecies of wolf. It's often used to characterize a part of the species population that looks/acts/is a bit different from the main part, but is still able to breed with it/is close enough to the main part to be considered part of it and not a new species.

Sorry if this is rambly, hope it helps.

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

LilacpeltRobinsnow In reply to Ihmislehma [2021-02-12 09:30:28 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

AkkumiKitty In reply to Ihmislehma [2018-02-05 02:44:17 +0000 UTC]

Hello, yes! It does help a lot thank you so much for explaining it to me

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Ihmislehma In reply to AkkumiKitty [2018-02-05 02:46:17 +0000 UTC]

Okie dokie, glad to have helped!

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gliterooo [2017-10-29 10:12:11 +0000 UTC]

I guess I'll take time and read everything all over again ;v;
I have like 8 species planned for an ARPG group in a solar system with 7 planets fml XD

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vannerboy [2017-10-16 02:09:58 +0000 UTC]

this looks like its for making real-world like.... living species rather than the weird computer things i m trying to make omgwhat do i dddo
all current resources are in my fursonas ref desc since hes actually the ffirst one ive made sso pls help

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ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to vannerboy [2017-10-19 08:16:53 +0000 UTC]

In the case of entirely fictional or scifi creatures to do with cybernetics / computers, it's easier to boil the guide down to: The species should be consistent within itself, not breaking any rules that define the species while also being plausible as a virtual creature.
Usually, in the case that the lore is entirely fictional with zero basis in reality, the aim should be to make the species as visually appealing as possible. Since there is no limit to aspects such as anatomy geared towards movement- instead choose a defining style for the species and work exclusively on building a social community. Good luck!!!

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vannerboy In reply to ImperfectEnthusiast [2017-10-19 10:30:27 +0000 UTC]

would I still be able to build a skeleton tho and have it so theyre made to think they're organic? and then have bits of "sometimes they phase through walls in a frenzy of pixelated madness, leaving no one at all to understand how or why" and "transformations between forms are often pixelated, the reasons unknown to the Experiments themselves"? and i kinda want some feedback on all the resources I already got ;;
tysm tho!

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ReyoArt [2017-09-17 20:11:50 +0000 UTC]

I would like to start my own species but idk what kind (probably closed) and, is it a bit easy to do or does it really needs a lot of work..?

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PrizRat [2017-07-18 18:51:09 +0000 UTC]

I.. Did not actually think it was this complex? ~Snip~ I'm not as sure if I'll end up making a species, as much as I wouldve loved to. Dont think I'll be able to keep up with this stuff, at least not right now : p

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ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to PrizRat [2017-07-19 07:35:30 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, species are actually really time consuming haha <3

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dragongirl0130 [2017-07-11 01:49:18 +0000 UTC]

This is very helpful, thank you for making it

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ImperfectEnthusiast In reply to dragongirl0130 [2017-07-11 01:57:06 +0000 UTC]

I'm very glad it was helpful <3

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