Biomes & Nature [Tobbvald's Tinkering] The Covert (Anti-Contagion)

Tovlyn

Skeletron Prime
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Introduction
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Greetings. This will most likely be the second to last new part of Tobbvald's Tinkering. Originally when I planned this whole thing I thought of Hallow as purely a "light" evil, something different from the now other 3 evils, no need for alts. Zoomo with the Cyber changed this view, and inspired me to come up with an alt for The Contagion, thus completing the 3 different playthroughs-concept which I will add more on later.

Enter The Covert

Upon defeating The Wall of Flesh, spirits of Life and Death are set free into the world.

The spirits of Death strengthens the ranks of The Contagion, paragon of sempiternal Living Death.

The spirits of Life on the other hand, they form a countering paragon of eternal Life though Death, a forbidden land of rebirth, The Covert.


The Covert is a twilit autumn forest, with roots anchored in the deepest depths of the world, a bright lively and fiery colored beacon in the deep miasma of The Contagion. There is but one problem, its ancient inhabitants wants to keep it that way, and the only way they see to keep it safe is by keeping it from you and everyone else. The denizens of The Covert are all as old as the forest itself, they are wardens, trolls, gnomes and elves. -Mythological creatures of the old Norse forests. The Forest itself is dotted with ancient runestones and tablets, and its trees are all ashes, a tree of magical qualities that slowly cover the ground in leaves that rustle as you walk through the orange grass. And the underground is completely covered in roots and glistening Cinder Sap, lit up by the occasional lanterns of the Mine Wardens.

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Summary for Lazy People

-New alt-biome for Hallow or Cyber, will spawn in a world with Contagion upon initiating Hardmode
-New enemies
-New loot and gear
-[themes] Orange color, Norse mythology, Autumn forest, rebirth and cleansing through fire and ashes
-Some sprites missing, will complete as I get time to do it.


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Environment
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Desciption
The landscape of The Covert is leaf-covered orange grass and Ashes (as in, ash-trees :dryadtongue:) with autumn leaves. Scenery objects like stones and stubs and the likes are sprite-swapped to stone obelisks of similar nature like the ones in the picture above. The biome will also always be covered in a faint pink/redish twilight, regardless of the time of day, unless it's night, which will look perfectly normal. The trees are similar to Hallowed ones in that they can have differently colored branches and tree crowns. As you walk on the grass, similarly to The Crimson there will be a particle-effect but in the form of leaves that flow up in all directions as you run through them. This grasstype also has the same properties as Jungle-grass, and will randomly spawn new objects over time, and will sprout new trees if conditions are met, this is to make sure that the forest is always well populated with trees and scenery objects, as it wouldn't be much of a forest otherwise. The Vines of this biome would be brown-colored and textured like roots hanging down from the ceilings above. As for Desert-sprites I have none ready, I will however add them when I'm finished with them.

Cinder Sap:
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The underground will be made out of Underbranch, a new stone-type that will slowly spread in the underground. Of note is that this type of stone also spreads Covert-grass to adjacent dirt-blocks in the underground, which in turn will sprout trees if conditions are right. The Covert Root-blocks also has a small chance of growing Cinder Sap, similarly to pearlstone and its crystals in Underground Hallow. This Cinder Sap will not however glow as brightly as the crystals, merely sparkle slightly in orange, giving out only the smallest amount of orange light. Stalagmites and stalactites are retextured to roots sprouting up from the ground of hanging down from the ceiling.

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Enemies

Above ground

Daytime

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Similar stats and AI as Pixies, but with only two thirds of their HP, and a bit more defense.

Drops: Autumn Leaves, equivalent of Pixiedust.
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Similar stats and AI as Unicorn, but a lot slower, and the Woodwarden will fire arrows at you. There is one new gimmick though. The Woodwarden will act as a leader and slightly buff the spawnrate of Sprites, and every Covert enemy in sight will start following her around. Leaving them be for too long can result in a massive band of enemies.

Drops: Woodwarden Bark
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Nighttime

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Stats and AI similar to Wraiths.

Behavior: same as Wraiths, but the Lantern will be clearly visible while the figure holding it next to invisible.

Drops: Gel

Rain

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Stats and AI similar to Unicorn, but over all a bit stronger.

Drops: None as of yet, will probably change when I figure out a suitable alternative to rainbowbricks.

Below ground

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Similar stats and AI to Chaos elementals, quicker and taller but without the ability to teleport. They are pretty straightforward and will simply try and attack you in melee. They do however have a chance of inflicting slowness.

Drops: Fast Clock

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These small enemies are going for the "most annoying enemy award", and will make your day and unmake it in one go.

They are able to fit though one block gaps horizontally, and 2 block gaps vertically. They are fast, can walk on both ceilings and walls similarly to snails but much faster, but they do not fall off unless deliberately trying to land on you, or if hit whilst climbing walls or ceilings.

Their stats are similar to illuminant bats, but with much lower HP. Their attributes are their movement abilities and the element of surprise as they start hailing down from the unreachable cavern-ceilings above.

Drops: Same as Elves; Autumn leaves.

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Stats: Hp, Def and Atk similar to Unicorn, moves at a relatively slow pace. These enemies similarly to the Woodwarden Riders will gather enemies under their banner, making them a leader. They slightly raise spawnrates and have a chance of inflicting silence upon contact. These enemies are a force to be reckoned with in the early hardmode. They are easy to spot even from a distance as they have a fairly strong bluish-green tinted aura of light around them.

Drops: equivalent to Rod of Discord: Ghostly Lantern
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Stats and AI same as Enchanted sword.

Drops: Same as Enchanted Sword: Nazar

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This is The Covert's Slime, the sap slime, being ridden by a Gnome archer! It would jump around in a similar pace as most other slimes, but the archer fires things up by randomly shooting arrows at you! AI: same as Woodwarden Rider, stats similar to corrupted slime, killing it spawns a regular Gnome.

Desert

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Behaviour and stats same as Light Mummy. This mummy-type spawns in the ash-covered wastelands of Covert-deserts.
Drops: Link of Life
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Gear and Loot

The Equivalent to Holy Water: Water of Life:

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Instead of Souls or Cores a Covert/Contagion playthrough will instead feature elemental Runes.

List of Runes:

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Earth. (Sight)
"Knowing As Earth"

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Water. (Might)
"Fatal As Flood"

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Fire. (Fright)
"Fierce As Flame"

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Life. (Light)
"Eternal As Life"

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Death. (Night)
"Sempiternal As Death"

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Air. (Flight)
"Swift As Wind"

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Power. (Blight)
"Stalwart As Resolve"

They drop under the same circumstances as their Soul-counterparts, only Life instead of Light, and Death instead of Night. They also replace souls in any given recipe.


Instead of Hallowed bars there will be Covert bars:
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With them you can make:

Drillsaw -The Chaindrill:
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Pickaxe axe -[no name yet]:
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Nothing new here, same as their equivalents.

Armor
-Covert Armor:
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Similar stats as Hallowed, I haven't decided yet if it should have any special abilites.

Spear -Gáe Bolg:
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This spear is even longer than Gungnir, but comes with a unique twist. It stabs extremely fast, doing continuous damage during the time it is out, but takes a lot of time to pull back, either blocking the player from changing weapon, or allowing you to deal a lot of damage if timed and aimed correctly. It also has just enough knockback to keep enemies from getting closer, even during pullback.

Sword -Gram:
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This sword, in the same spirit as my sword rebalancing thread has a unique set of traits. It swings extremely fast, dealing moderate damage but very high knockback along with a slow re-use time. It is best coupled with precision attacks, as its quick strikes allows for almost guaranteed hits as long as you time it right. It is also very effective against warding off enemies, a fairly defensive sword.

-It also has a true form, True Gram:
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Which is an upgraded version of Gram. More details regarding true-swords will be added to the previously mentioned Sword rebalancing thread.

Boomerang -Mjölnir:
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When thrown it goes out spinning in the aimed direction very fast, slows down towards the end and hovers there for a while, dealing continous damage and trapping enemies within its flurry, then it accelerates back to you, letting go of enemies not yet dead. Most useful when thrown in a way that can round up several enemies inside, or so that it stops right inside a larger enemy/group.

Repeater -Covert Repeater:
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More or less the same as A Hallowed repeater. I may change this in the future.

The Wizard will instead of Bells and Harps sell Fiddles:
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and Horns:
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These can be turned into magical items if crafted similarly as their hallowed counterparts, just swap the ingredients with those of The Covert.

Magic Musical Weapon -The Horn of War:
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When blown into, it creates a circle of damaging notes around the player that slowly spins around them. It grows larger the furher away from the player you click, and the tone alters with it. It is not however the same interval as the mouse, so blowing the highest possible tone would not put the edge of the barrier at the corner of the screen but instead ca 20 blocks away from the player. I'm debating whether it should create a slight rumble-effect on the screen for everyone within range as well.

Lightsource Summon -Neck's Fiddle:
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When used it summons 3 Sprites of 3 possible different colors, but the elves always share the same color.
They will float around the player at random, similarly to the bugs created by the Beatle Armor, but can float further away from the player and provide light.



Spell
-Aember Glare:
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When combining Cinder Sap, a tome and the equivalent of Souls Of Light, you will create this spell. When used the player will hold up the tome, and a charging effect will appear, it can not be interrupted. Once fully charged, ca 3 seconds after use it will fire a large amber-chunk at the direction the player is currently aiming at. As it hits either an enemy or a surface it will explode dealing moderate damage and more importanty: Fire 10-20 small amber-shards in all directions that behave similarly to the Crystal Storm's projectiles.

Combined Mummy-Drop Flail - Searing Clinker:
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This is a weapon made by combining instead of Dark Shards and Light Shards the Links of Life with Links of Death. The end result is a unique flail-type called the Searing Clinker. What sets this flail apart from the rest is that it has no flail-head, it is merely one thick fiery sparkly chain. Upon pressing LB quickly the chain will shoot out dealing decent damage and a lot of knockback, then haul in again. But by holding the LB the chain will first shoot out like before, but the second segment from the player in the chain will be controlled by the mouse, allowing the player to continue swinging it around, spinning, sweeping, whipping, the higher velocity the higher the damage. Because unlike other flails this one isn't made up of one static wire, it is instead made up of several segments.


Hardmode Dungeon Spell -Autumn Gale:
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This spell just like the Rainbow Gun is a representation of the biome itself. In the case of Hallow, it fires a rainbow, Hallow's icon. The Autumn Gale does similarly in that it summons a large (ca 20x20 blocks area) storm of leaves that swarms around as if following a twisting and turning wind. When used you have the option of keeping the button pressed and slowly move the storm around for up to 20 seconds before it starts dissolving. Alternatively you may also let go at anytime to switch away from it, and the storm will start dissolving after 3 seconds. It has barely any knockback, just enough to keep enemies trapped within it. As you can see, this spell fills the exact same function as the Rainbow Gun, a continous area damage that you can multi-task together with other spells for a brief period of time, it just acts completely differently.


Wings -Autumn Wings:
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Same stats as Pixie wings, crafted with the same recipe, just replaced pixiedust with Autumn Leaves. They glow slightly in orange and leave a trail of the same leaf-particles as the Covert grass does.

Rare movement-item in underground -Ghostly Lantern:
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When used it turns the player transparent and allows for travel freely through both walls, ceilings and floors by using up and down arrows for up to 4 seconds. Note however that during this time you will have an oxygen-meter similarly to when underwater. Upon using the lantern you receive a debuff called Spectral Grasp. If you use the lantern when suffering from this debuff you will loose 3 hearts along with the entire oxygen bar and start choking. When you die from using this item there would be a wide arraw of deathmessages, for example:

"[Player] hugged a ghost on the other side, it didn't let go."
"[Player] was trapped on the spectral plane and never came back."
"[Player] forgot how to be alive again."
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Thanks for reading
-and be sure to leave feedback and opinions.​
 
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Another great thread, Tobbvald. If I looked the word 'incredible' up in a dictionary, it would show Tobbvald's Tinkering as a reference/example. Honestly, this is amazing and I love it and don't get me started on that lovely format. Bravo.
 
I love this , this idea is really good , it has everything covered , and fits in the game.
P.S. You should give the armor 3 helmets and a special effect (Autumn leaf rain(Slow moving and DNA pattern) if you are hit?).
Full support.
 
Awesome idea, but i think using "Covert" as the title may be a bit of a stretch. Maybe something like "The Greenwood", even though the place is more autumnal. Otherwise, supported.
Hmm? I think it goes well with the theme of a forbidden place. Covert is a word corresponding with secret, hidden, obscured. As is the way its inhabitants wants it to be. I tried finding a more suitable word, and found none as fitting and descriptive as it.
 
This looks good, however it feels a bit too dark. I think the colours could stand to be a bit more vibrant, especially for the underground creatures. It feels like it wants to give off a fairy tale vibe, however it is just a bit to creepy.

Also, what are your views on alts for angel and demon wings to fit the Contagion and covert?
 
This looks good, however it feels a bit too dark. I think the colours could stand to be a bit more vibrant, especially for the underground creatures. It feels like it wants to give off a fairy tale vibe, however it is just a bit to creepy.

Also, what are your views on alts for angel and demon wings to fit the Contagion and covert?
It does? I guess that's a matter of taste, because I thought it too bright and inviting to even be considered having a biome with a "dark twist"? I'm just afraid that if I turn up the comfy-meter much more it will just become too close to a Hallow-clone, I think the atmosphere is kind of the only thing keeping it from that. -And keep in mind that it will be the opposite of The Contagion, which in all honesty is the one evil I myself is the most uncomfortable with, it'd have to be a lot darker to not fit its role. But I will definitely give it a shot.

Interesting thought about the wings. I'm neutral. Whilst I'm all for new wings I can also see how they will only become harder and harder to make original in shape, the one thing that matters now that we have dyes. If there would be wing-alts for Contagion and Covert there should also be for Crimson and Cyber, 4 more wings.

-Furthermore I think that if we are to consider all "anti evils" as "good", and all evils as "pure evil", then demons and angels very much transcend those niches to unite all 6 biomes under two banners.
 
Oh another thing that just popped into my head! something like "Sprite" might work better for the elves, Considering we already have:
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and
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Oh another thing that just popped into my head! something like "Sprite" might work better for the elves, Considering we already have:
Elf_Archer.png
and
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Thanks. I needed clarification in this. See I'm a swede, and here we have something we would roughly translate to "fairys" but they are kind of a bit more dark and above all less trustworthy creatures. I tried translating to elves, as in something along the lines of Tolkien-elves, but if sprite would be less confusing I will just go ahead and add it to the OP.

You have no idea how difficult it is to find correctly corresponding words to all these weird roughly unheard-of Norse Mythology-creatures! :dryadtongue:
 
That's so cool! It needs some completion, but I love it!

:dryadsmile:
Your world is almost entirely Covert! Keep up the good work!
 
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