Virorbs

Virorbs!

Even if I don't win, I give the devs permission to implement these designs and ideas if they want to.

These ugly things are called virorbs. Virorbs are odd parasitic viruses that float around in the air and are specially adapted to survive in even the most extreme conditions. Common features of virorbs are their spherical body, their three bright eyes, and their colourful markings. They thrive on the nervous energy produced by living things, and will swallow the head of their prey to extract this energy from their brains. Or something like that.

When one sees you, it will chase you for a while until you outrun it. If it catches you, it will swallow your head and do a small amount damage while making a sort of "SHQULOOP" sound. This is called head-schlorping.

While your face is being munched upon you will suffer from some sort of damage or limitation, depending on the type of the virorb you are wearing. You can still move around while you are being head-schlorped, and as you move around it will eventually lose its grip, slip off your head then begin chasing you again. A quicker way of removing a virorb is simply quicky spinning left and right for a few seconds or so. To indicate that you can do this, Virorbs will make a squelching sound and wobble a bit whenever you turn around. They can be shaken off in air and water, but you cannot damage virorbs while they are on your head. There are some virorbs that don't target your head and instead swallow your hands or feet. This is called hands or feet-schlorping.

There are many varieties of virorb, which appear in different environments and have different abilities.
Here is bunch of ideas for some variations. Their rarity, speed, health and 'stickiness*' are listed underneath their pic. These stats aren't set in stone, they could easily be changed for balance purposes. Prepare for a huge wall of images and text...

*Stickiness in this post means roughly how long it takes to shake on off your head by spinning. (e.g. a virorb with a stickiness of 2 seconds will take 2 seconds to shake off.)

Rarity: Common

Speed: Normal

Health: Average

Stickiness: 2 seconds

These are the most basic, widespread varieties of virorb. They can appear almost anywhere where the other Virorbs wouldn't usually spawn.

Rarity: Uncommon normally, Common during meteor showers

Speed: Very fast - Extremely fast

Health: Low - Average

Stickiness: 2 seconds

These virorbs hang out on hot planets, and you can find them in places such as volcanos and deserts. If there are meteor showers then they could swarm around a lot then too. Also, the picture can't really show it, but their eyes are sort of constantly of changing sizes to give the impression that they are on fire.

Rarity: Common

Speed: Very fast in water, normal in air.

Health: Average

Stickiness: 4 seconds

This virorb has two forms. When it's underwater, it has a raindrop shape, and bubbles rise out of it's eye sockets. If it catches you, it will drag you down to the bottom of the water, and won't let go until you shake it off. Above the surface, it's shaped more like an, uh, upside down raindrop and water flows out of it's eye sockets like tears. If it catches you in this form, you will slowly begin to drown. Water virorbs will automatically change form when they leave/enter the water.

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Slow

Health: Very High

Stickiness: 4 seconds

Their goey coat has crystalised from spending so much time deep underground. How they can still swallow stuff is a complete mystery, but some say that it has something to do with the fact that this is just a monster in a videogame. Anyway, if have an item that would usually negate fall damage,

you would take normal fall damage while a Crystal Virorb is on your head.

Rarity: Rare

Speed: Normal

Health: High

Stickiness: 2 seconds

The whole randomly zapping the player with lightning thing is sort of to make up for that fact that otherwise, this would probably be a useful virorb. However, since this virorb is rare, perhaps that wouldn't be too much of a problem. It would be pretty interesting to see rare virorbs that act as power-ups.

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Normal - Fast

Health: Low - Average

Stickiness: 2 seconds

This virorb might be a bit too useful as well, but since I don't really know how the battery mechanic works yet, I can't say for sure. If it is too useful then it could give random electrical shocks too, or it could be made a little rarer. Actually, since places with lots of electricity would probably be quite well lit anyway, I don't think this would be too much of a problem either. Perhaps it could also appear very uncommonly during thunderstorms as well.

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Very fast - Extremely fast

Health: High, but can be insta-killed

Stickiness: 2 seconds

These graceful blobs of goop float peacefully through the clouds, and stuff. When they schlorp you, they lift you up into the sky by your head, gradually lifting you faster and faster. Depending on how high the sky goes to in Starbound - I'm not quite sure - you might get carried out of the atmosphere, which could make things interesting. You can pop them with stuff like swords and daggers [bullets and lasers would just do normal damge though, for the sake of balance], effectively killing them. To make up for this, they can move extremely fast and dodge attacks.

Rarity: Rare, but common, in a way. (Since it rarely spawns from ANY defeated virorb, apart from hand, larva, brainwasher, (maybe) skull virorbs, and other soul virorbs)

Speed: Slow when passive, Very fast when provoked

Health: High - Very high

Stickiness: 3 seconds

Whenever you kill a Virorb, there is a chance that a soul virorb will appear and slowly float up and up until it despawns. However, it you attack it, or use any weapon while in i'ts line of sight, it will let out a freaked out scream, and chase you with incredible speed. Once it is on your head, it will create a force field around itself that will prevent any player inside it, including you, from regenerating health by any means whatsoever. Also, any enemies who enter the force field will either regenerate health faster (if enemies have health regen), or just regenerate health. (if they don't have health regen.)

Rarity: Uncommon normally, Common during acid rain

Speed: Normal

Health: Average - High

Stickiness: 4 seconds

The poison will still linger even after you've shaken the virorb off. They could also be found near toxic swamps.

Rarity: Common, often appear in small groups

Speed: Normal - Fast

Health: Very low

Stickiness: 0.5 seconds

These are basically baby virorbs. They can't float in the air yet, and bounce along on the ground when chasing the player, kinda like the slimes from Terraria, but a little faster, and they don't jump as high. When they aren't chasing the player they sort of just crawl around like slugs. They schlorp the player's feet, making them look like they're wearing big yellow shoes.

Rarity: Uncommon, often appear in pairs on high threat-level planets

Speed: Normal

Health: Low - Average

Stickiness: 3 seconds

These virorbs are fully grown, but a little smaller than the other virorbs, and instead of swallowing your head, they swallow one of your hands, meaning you can't use two handed weapons and tools, and can't use one of your hands - left or right- to wield until you shake them off. If both of your hands are swallowed by virorbs, then obviously you can't use either.

It looks kinda like this.

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Slow - Normal

Health: High

Stickiness: 3 seconds

Essentially two virorbs. Or one virorb wearing a snowman's head as a hat. Whatever. When you get frozen, you can't move for a few seconds until you thaw.

Rarity: Very uncommon

Speed: Deadly slow

Health: Low - Average

Stickiness: 1 second

When they're not chasing anything, they barely move at all, apart from ominously shivering every now and then. Their eyes fade in and out mysteriously. The instant they see you though, their inner rage builds up and they charge terrifyingly at you! ... at about the speed of a snail riding on an overweight tortoise. If you are stupid enough, brave enough, or afk enough to get caught by one of them however, they will drain your health VERY fast. As in, full-heath-to-dead-in-five-seconds-flat fast.

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Fast - Very fast

Health: Average

Stickiness: 2.5 seconds

Personally, this is my favourite virorb. The leaves on its back flap like butterfly wings. While it is on your head insects will spawn in great numbers, and all insects will become hostile towards you, including normally peaceful and even tamed insects. The pollen will linger for a while after you have shaken the virorb off.

Rarity: Very uncommon

Speed: Normal

Health: High

Stickiness: 4 seconds

It has two small eyes, and one big, realistic eye which it uses to see into the depths of the mind or something. When I mention quiet places, I mean places where no or few other enemies have spawned, and it appears in places where there a lot of natural hazards. It will not teleport you directly into or next to hazards, but it will try its best to disorient you regardless.

(*Pixels = Starbound currency)

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Fast

Health: Low, but craft has very high defense.

Stickiness: 3 seconds

It hovers above you constantly, and when it tries to abduct you, a hatch opens on the bottom of the ufo, revealing the goey underside of the virorb. You can attack it while you are being abducted, but hitting the metal shell of the ufo will do minimal damage. While you're being head-schlorped you are held up in the air, and cannot move, only turn around.

Rarity: Very uncommon

Speed: Normal - Fast

Health: Low - Average

Stickiness: 5 seconds

A one hit kill. The player has about thirty seconds to get this virorb off thier head before they see their death message. As the timer goes down, the fuse becomes shorter, and the lights on the virorbs eyes go out one by one after each quarter of the way. First the green one goes out, then the yellow one goes out, then the red one goes out, and then your brains get blown out. The explosion would not destroy tiles. (Perhaps it could on higher threat-levels)

Rarity: Uncommon in space, Common during meteor showers in space, Very uncommon during meteor showers anywhere else.

Speed: Slow: Normal

Health: High - Very high

Stickiness: 3 seconds

When this virorb is on your head, meteors will fall slowly from the sky that the player must dodge. (Thank you to Venthas for this idea) The longer the virorb is on your head, the faster and more frequently the meteors will fall down, and the harder they will become dodge. The meteors will do a decent amount of damage if they hit, and may inflict a burn.

An idea i had originally had for this was it actually being a whole new type of planet, where all (or most) types Virorbs would spawn, in huge numbers. (Virorbs that appeared here would have reduced drop rates so that you couldn't just farm them for their rare drops) I put this up before Venthas' suggestion, I prefer his idea a lot more.

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Normal - Fast

Health: Average - High

Stickiness: 3 seconds

(This is based on an idea suggested by aiMarz.)

This virorb's goey coat is so corrosive, that it has even itself has been digested by it. If it swallows your head, it will temporarily melt your headgear. You will get a de-buff that prevents your headgear from giving you any defense, abilities, and so on. If your headgear is part of a set then you will not get set-bonuses while this debuff is in effect.

Rarity: Very Uncommon

Speed: Normal

Health: Average

Stickiness: 3 seconds

what have i created.

I don't know if this would actually work in the game, but they if they catch you they spread their crazy disco-fungus spores, which would make the screen all wavy and disorienting. This is sort of a reference to the fuzzies from Yoshi's Island. Touch trippy virorb, get dizzy.

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Very fast - Extremely fast

Health: Low - Average

Stickiness: 4 seconds

(This is based on an idea suggested by aiMarz.)

When this Virorb catches you, it summons fog from the sides of the screen that limits the player's range of view. In multiplayer, this would only show up for the player who the virorb is attacking. The longer the virorb is on the player's head, the thicker the fog gets.

Rarity: Uncommon

Speed: Slow - Normal

Health: Very high - Extremely high

Stickiness: 3 seconds

(This is based on an idea suggested by aiMarz.)

A steampunk virorb. It just had to happen.

This one works similar to the fog virorb, but instead of blocking the view of what's away from the player, the steam covers the player themself, and a small area surrounding the player. Kinda like how the smoke ball from Super Smash Bros Brawl works, but less colourful.

Rarity: Very, very rare

Speed: Very fast

Health: High

Stickiness: Depends on what it transforms into.

These are ultra-special virorbs that can be created in a laboratory. I had this idea that each variation of virorb can drop a unique "gene" upon defeat, for example "pyro gene", "water gene", "poison gene" etc. Once you have collected all of these genes they can be combined together to create the Cell Virorb. Cell virorbs could also appear very, very rarely in radioactive areas, where players have called orbital strikes. They would not be able to be caught like this, so you would only be able to receive a tame one by creating it in a lab. If you train a tamed Cell virorb enough, it could learn the ability to take the form of other enemies, but regardless of what it transforms into it still keeps it's own stats. Wild Cell Virorbs could transform into a different virorb every time the player shakes it off their head.

(Obviously not all of these Virorbs would need to be implemented. I'm no programmer, so some of the mechanics might be a bit too ambitious to actually work in the game, and of course the devs could modify the designs and abilities, and come up with their own ideas for variations too.)

Miniboss idea (open) Miniboss idea (close)

(This is kinda optional, I think suggesting a whole miniboss as well as all the other Virorbs is asking for a bit too much from the devs, but I'll just put this here anyway, so that they can use it if they want.)

Speed: Fast
Health: Extremely high
Basically it is a Virorb that is found controlling the mind of a human. It is accompanied by a randomly picked team of other Virorbs on lower threat-level planets, and actually spawns random Virorbs itself at higher threat-levels. (Or, it could just spawn Virorbs at a slower rate at lower levels.) These spawned virorbs would not drop anything, to prevent farming them. It is found as a part of various quests, where an NPC tells you that their friend has been brainwashed by a virorb and is wreaking havoc. The humanoid is very fast and has quite a lot of health. On it's own, it would not be that tough, but with tons of virorbs schlorping your face it's not so easy to kill it. You would have to kill the other virorbs so that you have an easier time fighting him/her. Sometimes, the human will also be wearing hand virorbs which could wield weapons. When the brainwasher has been defeated, it falls of the human's head and dies. The human is freed from their mind control and will become an NPC who can join you. It will drop lots of pixels when you kill it, and is guaranteed to drop the parasite gene and one of three vanity items. (See 'Ideas for drops' for more info.)


CHAAAAAARGE!

Ideas for drops (open) Ideas for drops (close)

Normal Virorb:

• Simple gene - 1/25 chance
• Normal orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/50

Hand Virorb:

• Grip gene - 1/10
• Virorb gloves - 1/25

Virorb Larva:

• Youth gene - 1/50
• Virorb shoes - 1/100

Air Virorb:

• Balloon gene - 1/10
• Air orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25
• Balloon Toy - 1/40

Sky Virorb:

• Cloud gene - 1/2
• Sky orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/5

Soul Virorb:

• Wing gene - 1/10
• Soul orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25
• Halo shield - 1/25

Fire Virorb:

• Pyro gene - 1/25
• Fire orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/50

Aqua Virorb:

• Water gene - 1/25
• Aqua orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/50
• Bubbletear goggles - 1/75

Snow Virorb:

• Ice gene - 1/10
• Snow orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25
• Coal eyes - 1/30

Skull Virorb:

• Death gene - 1/5
• Skull orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/10

Crystal Virorb:

• Quartz gene - 1/10
• Crystal orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25
• It could drop a type of gem - 1/10

Light Virorb:

• Bulb gene - 1/10
• Light orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25

Sludge Virorb:

• Poison gene - 1/25
• Sludge orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/50

Cell Virorb:

• DNA Whip OR Cell orb hat/helmet/mask (1/2 for each)

Flower Virorb

• Plant gene - 1/10
• Flower orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25
• Pollen Spray - 1/20

Pycho Virorb

• Mind gene - 1/5
• Psycho orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/10
• Psycho Stone - 1/5

UFO Virorb

• Alien gene - 1/10
• UFO orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25

Boom Virorb

• Bomb gene - 1/5
• Boom orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/10

Cosmo Virorb

• Space gene - 1/25
• Cosmo orb hat/helmet - 1/50

Mutant Virorb:

• Corrosive Gene - 1/10
• Mutant orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25

Trippy Virorb:

• Shroom gene - 1/5
• Trippy orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/10
• Disco Shroom - 1/20

Fog Virorb:

• Mist gene - 1/10
• Fog orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25

Steam Virorb:

• Iron gene - 1/10
• Steam orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/25

Brainwasher Virorb:

• Parasite gene - 1/2
• Brainwasher orb hat/helmet/mask - 1/1

Other info:
Genes can be combined at a lab to make a cell virorb.
All virorbs could rarely drop vanity items that make you look like you have a virorb on your head (helmets).

These could also come as hats, which you could wear without covering your face.



You could also get masks, which only cover your face.


If gel is in this game, then they could drop that normally too.

DNA Whip:
The DNA whip, dropped by the Cell Virorb, is a whip (duh). Whips can be used to attack enemies, temporarily stunning them, and swing on stuff (these ideas came from TehEpikMonk on this thread.) The DNA whip is unique because it has long reach, and acts as two separate whips (kinda the whip equivalent of the Dual Hook from Terraria). Also, if you use this whip on a tamed Cell Virorb, it will transform into a copy of another virorb regardless of environment, and it will transform into the diffent virorbs in a set order with each whip. You can right click with the DNA whip on it to make it turn back into a cell virorb.

• I drew a quick picture of the DNA whip:

Halo shield:
Dropped by the soul virorb. Basically the same shield the soul virorb uses. It has extra resitance against melee attacks, but is weak to ranged attacks.

Pollen Spray:
A one-use spray-can dropped by flower virobs. It attracts bugs, but not as much as the flower virorb does.

Psycho stone:
Dropped by psycho virorbs. A one-use item that teleports you to a random space on the screen. To stop this from being abused, it would be unusable on story-related planets, and could only teleport you to somewhere where there is light.

Bubbletear goggles:
Dropped by Aqua virorbs. These are a vanity pair of swimming goggles which makes you look like you are crying out of water, and emits bubbles underwater.

Coal eyes:
A vanity item dropped by snow virorbs. It makes your eyes look big and shiny like the snow virorbs' eyes.

Disco Shroom:
A placable item that looks like one of the trippy virorbs' mushrooms, and flashes with different coloured lights. (Unless there isn't coloured lighting)

Toy Balloon:
A useless joke item that looks like an air virorb. The player holds it by the string and can pull it through the air by moving their hands.


LIKE A BOSS

Extra Stuff (open) Extra Stuff (close)

- They could have temporarily reduced defence and speed straight after being shaken off.

- Virorbs can phase through walls.

- They can take knockback.

- You cannot crouch/sneak while a virorb is on your head.

- They will eventually slow down and rest if they chase you for long enough, even if you are still in their line of sight.

- If you encounter a virorb while you already have another virorb on your head, they will fight each other by ramming the other virorb off your head and taking its place. This will do more initial damage than if a virorb were to swallow your head normally. They will keep fighting until one of them is killed. Things can get pretty hectic if you have a bunch of virorbs fighting over you!

- Well trained virorbs could ride your head without any negative effects. Some could even give you positive effects, such as Light virorbs emmiting light without draining battery, UFO virorbs carrying you around, fire virorbs increasing your speed and Crystal virorbs halving jump height and fall speed without affecting fall damage, which could be useful on planets with low-gravity.

- Tamed Boom Virorbs would not die/faint after exploding. Instead, they could enter a "deactivated" state that would prevent them from re-lighting their fuse for about a minute.

- As for using captured virorbs against enemies, I would assume that it would be difficult to train them since many virorbs will only be doing damage upon swallowing enemies heads. I assume it would also be hard/annoying to program where the heads are on every single enemy, espescially the non-humanoid ones, so perhaps they could just stick to anywhere on the enemy and carry out their ability like that. Also, the air virorb might only be able to lift certain enemies.

I thought that maybe some virorbs, especially ones that would not be able to do much damage, should have some sort of secondary attack so that captured ones can actually attack things effectively.

Lasers, anyone?

Both wild and tamed virorbs could use this as a low-power ranged attack, shot from all three of their eyes at the same time, in different directions. Also: snow virorbs shooting snowballs from their eyes. Just imagine that.

Anyway, I guess this wraps up my contest entry, I spent a lot of time on it and I am very proud of it, regardless of whether it wins or not, I wish everyone else entering the best of luck too cos you're gonna need it.

Update 1: Added Skull and Cell Virorb sprites, gave Water Virorbs another form, added more info on Cell Virorb bio.

Update 2: Added ideas for drops, with drop rates, added how often each virorb appears, added more extra stuff and put it in spoilers.

Update 3: Added new virorbs - Psycho, Flower, Ring, UFO, and Boom.

Added more info about the drops.

Update 4: Added a few more drops, added info to some of the newer virorbs, added more extra stuff, gave a little more info about lasers and put one of my ideas for the Ring "Virorb"...

Update 5: Changed the name of the Ring Virorb to Cosmo Virorb and added Venthas' idea for it, put my older idea in past tense.

Update 6: All Virorb sprites are finished! (Flower, Boom, Cosmo, Psycho, Snow, Larva, Air and Crystal now have sprites.)

Update 7: New Virorbs! - Air, Mutant, and Trippy.

New Air virorb has old Sky Virorb's abilites, old Air virorb is now called Sky Virorb, old Sky Virorb is now called Soul virorb and has different abilities. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Update 8: Air, Mutant, and Trippy Virorbs now have sprites, new drops, and i cleaned up the corners of some pictures.

Update 9: Two new Virorbs! Fog and Steam!

Update 9.5: Put in my miniboss idea, will update with pictures if I have time.

FINAL UPDATE! (probably) : Added pictures and details for Brainwasher Virorb Miniboss, cleaned up post a bit.

Final Update 2! Added more stats for Virorbs, a couple of new drops, and added some more info.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND IDEAS, AND THANK YOU TO THE DEVELOPERS FOR HOLDING THIS AWESOME CONTEST!

Ribbit!

Love the creativity and the thought behind the Virorbs and wonderful artistic selections. Awesome man, good luck

WOW! This would be a nice addition to the game. I can imagine myself get burned by a Fire Virorb, then get lifted by a Sky Virorb, fall from the sky into the sea, and then get drowned by an Aqua Virorb . Anyways, you got my vote!

I like all the variations , it has my vote.

So many good ideas, I don't know which one to vote for anymore!

I know what you mean, so I've put multiple likes in hopes that out of all of my favorites, one gets picked.

Beautiful entry, I hope this gets added regardless if you win or not, very creative ideas!

Very nice, I see that you've put a lot of thought into this. And most importantly, this is a creature I can actually see in the game! SO bonus points for that

Awesome job

hadnt seen any that i really liked untill this one xD

It's...it.'s...
*suddenly forgot entire English*
BLJAD!!!
*has remembered English*
It's really impressive and quite precious work!

wow just awsome i like it

...amazing...

beyond awesome, an idea that should be put in game regardless

Man, thanks for all the support guys! It really means a lot to me!
I had the idea of a psychic virorb that teleports you around randomly, and a flower virorb that covers you in pollen which attracts insects, what do you think? Any ideas?
Anyway, I'm gonna go and try and make more sprites for the current ones, Ribbit!

I love this one A LOT. Really, another entry I'd really want to see winning. Good luck on the competition!

Wait a sec.... if u stumble upon a water viroorb in the water that makes u drown. Wouldnt u drown anyways if ure under water?

He said the same thing if you read it again. He wasn't sure of it either :S

Yeah, I wasn't too sure about that myself. But i JUST had the idea right now that they only drown you when you're not in water, and when you encounter them underwater, they pull you further down into the depths. Sort of a reverse of the sky virorbs, in a way. I'll be updating the entry soon, so I'll be sure to add that!

That would work, sounds good =)