Reverse Arachnophobia

I think I might be obsessed with spiders. It's not that I like them. They freak me out a little to be honest and yet I keep putting them in my design work. Here are some evolutionary sketches for my next 343 project:

As EOF (the game I'll be working on) has such simplistic aesthetics I decided to do something more intense for by evolutionary model. So the idea behind this is it begins as a brown recluse spider (hey here's a joke: why don't Loxosceles reclusa go to parties? Because they're a little reclusive.... hah ;D) and develops into a an aquatic predator. This change would come from Earth's air becoming too polluted and the spider escaping to less polluted water systems. The spider would first change its habitat to coastal areas then start to inhabit rock pools. Through generations of adapting to salt water environments it would become amphibious, and then water dwelling entirely.

The change of environment would mean that the spinnerets would no longer be useful. For this reason the abdomen would shrink as the thorax enlarges, creating room to host the rest of the organs. The silk glands would disappear and be replaced with an organ that produces a membrane between the spiders hind legs. Initially this would be used by the spider to float on the water like a deadly lilly pad, fishing for food beneath it. Eventually the organ would diminish as well and the spiders would develop a natural membrane between their back four legs. These legs would also become less rigidly segmented and more flexible so it can act as a tail to swim through the water.

The spider's carapace would become far stronger. Moving to reefs would introduce new predators and it would need to move about to hunt, exposing itself. Not being able to rely on a web would also mean the spider would need to be able to overpower the prey it stalks. For this reason the strength of its forelegs would increase substantially. The end joint would also harden and shape into a claw. The spiders palpus and mandibles would grow in size and strength, the palpus developing small talons to turn them into larger forms of mandible that can hook struggling prey. the maw would widen and develop small teeth used to de-shell/de-scale prey an also to hold onto it while it tries to inject venom into it.

I also sketched out a couple of ideas I had for potential puzzles styles for EOF. Some kind of water/buoyancy mechanic would need to be introduced for the first style of puzzle to exist. The second one can be adjusted to represent any kind of door that frequents throughout the game. That, and the third puzzle, would mean to kind of interaction with objects would need to be implemented as well.

These are of course just doodles of passing ideas at this point. Once we have a proper team meeting we can rip into some legit level design.