[Contest] Design a Species! $100+ in prizes

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Edit 8: 20th of June I think I did it... I added all the entries to the list! So sorry for the delay everyone! But DAMN guys, what a blast, there's a whooping 64(!) entries for me to go through, and all of them are unique and wonderful. It will be such a difficult task to choose winners from those, and I'm probably going to add some more prizes still because of the epicness. I ask you to be patient for just a little bit longer, because I will need to 1) choose the winners (how do I do that with so much awesomeness), and 2) compile everything in a new journal. So yeah, I will announce the winners in a new journal! The list of entries can be found all the way down in this journal, and please check if your entry is on there, I would be sad if I missed out anything for some reason! 
Also, I've said it in the rules-section already, and will say it now again; 
  • It is difficult for me to provide 'judging-rules' for winning entries, because the winning entries will be those that I feel fit the best in my world. And since only I know that world best, it is difficult giving any specific guidelines, which is why I made the contest's categories so broad, allowing for a lot of creativity. And man am I overwhelmed by that creativity! You are all absolutely wonderful <3 So, I will say it again; winning entries are those that will fit best in my story and are based on creativity and design, and NOT on 'art quality'. In this contest, I don't care if you're a professional artist, or a beginner! I don't care if something is digitally made or traditional! All counts equally <3
  • Also, again for those wondering, both if your design wins, or if your design doesn't win, yes you can make a species out of it, it's your design after all! Just in the case of a winning design, of course I just must be able and allowed to use it in my story, and there will be credit ;D

That's all for now! I will have the heavy task of judging on me now (hoo-boy), but first I need to get through this day of PhD work. I still have that damned deadline after all, and I'm still working through every evening xD But the results will be there soon!

Edit 7: 12th of June Whew! So, only now am I able to update this journal, sorry for the delay on my account! As you probably now know, the contest is now over! For now already I must shout, thank you all so much for joining! I'm incredibly overwhelmed by the amount of entries and by the overall interest, and the most fun for me so far was to see how much fun YOU guys were all having! I still have 10+ entries to add to the list and comment on, and I'll do my best to do that in the upcoming days. As for the contest results, I hope to have them by the next weekend; I'm still really busy here, and there's just so many awesome entries, gosh guys, you have no idea how difficult it will be to choose from all this awesomeness! I hope you'll bear with me for a little longer <3

Edit 6: I extended the deadline to Saturday the 10th of June, because multiple people have notified me they needed a bit more time, and I myself honestly don't have the most time in the upcoming week anyway... So hopefully this will help some of you! I'm sorry for the unanswered messages, I'm quite in a time clinch at the moment and will get to all your entries as soon as possible!

Edit 5: Just a reminder; there's about three weeks left to finish your entries! 

Edit 4: Just added extra prizes that are not dependent on the category! So these can be won by either categories! 

Edit 3: You guys are the best, 30 entries are already in! I'll definitely have to add more prizes, because damn, I'm overwhelmed <3 Keep them coming people, the deadline is the 1st of June! 

Edit 2: How awesome, I just received the 20th entry, meaning the third prize on both categories has been reached! Keep those entries coming, the deadline is only the 1st of June <3 You guys are amazing!

Edit 1: I reached 10 entries already, wow you guys are fast! This means that the second prize on both categories has definitely been reached <3 Keep those entries coming! :D 
I also added a F.A.Q. because a lot of questions were asked in the comments, I placed it in the bottom of the journal!

It's already been a year since my last contest (Create a Mount), and I'm actually really excited about this new contest, all in the theme of designing new creatures/species for my world, TerrApocalypse! I learned quite a lot from the previous contest, especially in do's and don'ts, and will apply everything I learned in this new contest. For example, I will provide you guys with more information than I gave you for the Mount Contest, because I noticed people simply didn't understand or know my world, and therefore found it difficult to design something that would fit with my general idea. So, let's get this started! Are you ready??


GENERAL IDEA AND INFORMATION

The idea is to create a creature/species for my world and story, TerrApocalypse. TerrApocalypse takes place on our earth, in an alternate timeline where magic exists. It has a post-apocalyptic Steampunk/Fantasy atmosphere. 

A nuclear war 200 years before the start of the story has caused a great division in humanity, and both sides, City and Nature, still clash. The cities in my world have a very heavy Steampunk theme; steam energy is used to power a lot of machines, and even flying suits for humans, Steamtrains run on rails built high up into the air, buildings contain a lot of metal and copper, and magic is being studied by those who are gifted for it. On the contrary, the people living in Nature try to stay away from technology as much as possible, and work together with nature to try to live a peaceful life; treebenders have reshapen the trees to form whole houses in and around them, animals are drawn towards the nature people, and magic light fills the air in the night. 

Another thing the nuclear war has caused, is for mutations to exist. By the combination of radioactive energy and magic, DNA of creatures on earth has mixed and matched, resulting in whole different species. Some animals have even combined themselves, like a deer and a wolf forming a 'deerwolf', or slugs that have grown little wings.  Only the species proven to be sustainable have survived. 

Just like in our world, different creatures exist in the woods and in the cities. This contest will therefore actually have two contests in one; one for creating a Woodland creature, and one for creating a City creature. 

But before going in detail about both categories, let's read the rules first!


Point Right RULES Point Left 

:bulletred: Please read everything carefully. I'm doing my best to provide as much information as possible, also to make it easier for you.
:bulletred: Perhaps the most important rule: I must be able to use the winning designs in my story! Of course I will credit you, don't worry about that! I just want to make it clear that I might publish the story in the future, so I must be allowed to use the design in any way I like! If your design happens to win, I'm perfectly fine with you using it in your story as well, or you selling adopts of it, basically any 'co-ownership', as long as I can use it anywhere in my story <3
:bulletred: Because I had people ask the previous time; if you don't win a prize, feel free to do with the design whatever you want, like using it yourself, or making an adopt out of it and selling it. 
:bulletred: The creature should appear to be "natural". I'm not speaking of 'natural' in terms of art style, but rather of design! Say, if you would imagine our earth in an alternate timeline, the creature should fit in into our world! If this is not clear, I will give plenty of examples about what I mean later <3
:bulletred: This also means that I judge entries on creativity and design rather than art. Winning designs will be those that I think will be awesome in my world!
:bulletred: There will be two categories, Woodland creatures and City creatures, and you can enter both of them! You can even make multiple entries per category!
:bulletred: I don't mind about the art style you draw your entry in, but can it please be coloured? ;D
:bulletred: If the creature happens to have different appearances for male/female, or different appearances with season, or has other forms, please show for extra kudos! <3
:bulletred: Remember that this is a contest for fun as well, so just have fun with your creativity!

:bulletred: When you submit your entry by linking to it in the comments, please state your category!
:bulletred: Your entry must be from after this date, created for this contest!

CATEGORY 1: WOODLAND CREATURES Foxy La 


Vornwood copy copy copy banner by Vixenkiba

These creatures tend to be a bit more Fantasy themed! Here is some more information on what I'm looking for:

:bulletgreen: The creature must look "natural" in a woodland environment, or "blend in" (for example, deer-squirrel-hedgehog-owl). The creature could be a combination of two already existing animals (mutation), or could be a whole new species altogether. 
:bulletgreen: The creature can have slightly magical enhancements (for example having some healing powers, producing will 'o wisps), but please nothing too crazy! I'm not looking for Pokémon stuff or anything :'D Also, the creature not having magical enhancements is equally fine!
:bulletgreen: You receive extra kudos from me when information is given about, for example, the creature's size, its eating habitat, what kind of skills it has, how it acts, how it fits in into the 'circle of life'. Basically, I love information.
:bulletgreen: You receive even more kudos from me when the animal is tamable by mankind, and/or able to help (or bother) the people living in nature in some kind of way, or if the creature aids the forest in some way.
Quick examples to give you an idea:
 
a deer-based creature that is able to restore trees by eating the tree bark, leaving trails of modified trees and plants through the forest (slightly magical creature),

a small wood creature that eats insects, that is also easily tamable and can be used as a cute companion/pet,

a flying creature that can be tamed and used to carry messages in between two people.



CATEGORY 2: CITY CREATURES MOUSE LA! 


Commission Terrapocalypse 4 By Viroal-da3e30w by Vixenkiba
Image by VikJones
    These creatures tend to be a bit more Steampunk themed! Here is some information on what I'm looking for:

:bulletorange: The creature must blend in into a city environment (for example, cat-rat/mouse-pigeon-seagull). The creature can be 100% (made-up) animal, or can be combined with some steampunk-stuff, or can even be 100% mechanical!
:bulletorange: The creature can have steampunk enhancements (for example an animal being able to eat copper, or an animal having steampunk-gear that allows it to run faster), but nothing too crazy! I'm not looking for Digimon stuff or anything :'D Also, the creature not having steampunk enhancements is equally fine!
:bulletorange: You receive extra kudos from me when information is given about, for example, the creature's size, its eating habitat, how it survives in a big city, if it's a pest, or if it annoys people, what skills it has, etc. Basically, I love information.
:bulletorange: You receive even more kudos from me when the creature is tamable by mankind, and/or able to help (or bother) the city and its people in some kind of way.
Quick examples to give you an idea:

a pest that everyone dislikes, but that is so abundant and typical for the city view that people let it exist (like our seagulls, cough),

a small/medium sized creature that can be tamed as a pet and is able to help with the pest control,

a flying creature that can be used to carry messages between two people.



EXTRA EXAMPLES

You want even more information? Here is some examples of worlds and stories that contain creature designs that perfectly blend into the world nicely, but that also use our 'normal' animals. Just to give you inspiration or an idea!

Good examples of creatures that nicely fit in into their world:
Harry Potter - think of for example the HippogriffThestralPhoenix
Zelda games - think of the Ordon GoatRemlitLoftwing
World of Warcraft - think of the DragonhawkTallstrider/HawkstriderTalbuk
Final Fantasy - think of the ChocoboAldgoatSheep from Gran Pulse


Then there's also stuff I'm not looking for, for example:
Pokémon/Digimon - Most designs would be too unnatural for my world (with exceptions) and are too colourful, plus there's too much 'magic'.
Dragonquest - Again, these would be too unnatural. 

I guess you could say I'm looking for 'serious fantasy' rather than 'toon fantasy'.


Then for the last examples, I decided to share some of the species that are already inhabiting the TerrApocalypse world!

These for example inhabit the woods/rough lands:
Vornwood Otto by Vixenkiba  Spring Slug by Vixenkiba  Forest creatures - Wolfdeer by Vixenkiba  DULXEwA by Vixenkiba  Mount Design  Arjaks By Queenofeagles-d997b7a by Vixenkiba  Adopts  Minimize Peedle By Deskleaves-daougyg by Vixenkiba

And these for example inhabit the city:
0 By Felix Vulpes-dary04v by Vixenkiba  Fuel Speed Bird  Design Challenge  By Arcafelidae- by Vixenkiba  Birb By Intjay Birb0724-d9mejmh by Vixenkiba  City horse example copy by Vixenkiba (as mount)




PRIZES!!!!


The thing everyone cares about!

Both categories have the same prizes! Of course there is a first prize, but a second and third prize will be unlocked for a category once there are more than 10, 20, and 30 entries, respectively!
(And probably even more prizes if the entries keep coming in!)

First prize
$25/2500:points: OR 3-months DA membership + $10/1000:points:

Second prize
$15/1500:points: OR 3-months DA membership

Third prize x2
$10/1000:points: OR 1-month DA membership + $5/500:points:

-------
Extra Prizes x3
This prize can be for either category!
$5/500:points: OR 1-month DA membership


All winners will receive an art feature as well in the winners journal ;D


Remember, you can enter multiple times, for both categories!



THE DEADLINE IS SATURDAY JUNE 10th 2017!
The deadline time is when it is no longer the 10th anywhere on the world!
I will probably judge on Sunday 11th of June and present the winners that Sunday evening in a new journal!



F.A.Q.
Since people asked me lots of questions already, I'm putting them all here for your convenience!

Will the contest be judged more on the art or creativity?
Creativity, definitely! I don't care if someone can draw good or bad, as long as the design fits into the world!

Does it matter if all the written information is in the description under the art instead of in the art itself?
That should be perfectly fine! No worries!

Can we use the character we made in our universe after the contest is over? Do you care? As long as you got to use it too? Or are you looking for exclusive rights?
Basically, anything is fine, as long as I'm fully able to use the design as well! So if you want to call it a name, it would be something like "co-ownership", with me having the full rights to use the character anywhere in my story, or here on DA.

Just to be sure: a woodland creature actually has to live in the woods, not some other natural area?
I think I can make that rule a bit more flexible; owls live in forests, but can also be found on flat grasslands or farms etc. So I guess it's fine, as long as the creature can also be found in (or around) forests! Don't let the trees limit your imagination, hehe!

I'm wondering if creatures with humanoid appearances are a no-go? e.g human arms. I'm assuming you're not looking for giant god-like creatures?
Actually, designs like that would be fine, just as long as they're not 'godlike' creatures of which only one can be found in an area! (I'm going to hold a different contest for those xD) As long as it's a species that can be found with multiple of them over a larger area, everything is fine with me. As soon as a character becomes 'unique', it wouldn't be a species anymore...

Is there a limit to how many animals we can combine?
As long as it keeps looking "natural", I'm fine with anything <3 So, for example, no Discord-like creature (from MLP) if that makes sense xD

Would it be possible to enter both categories with a single creature? In other words, could I give my species variations that make it able to survive both in cities and in the woodlands (kinda like racoons)?
And of course that's possible, I don't see why not!

What about species that are derived from the human form, such as centaurs, fawns, mermaids, goblins, trolls, dwarves, elves, fairies, etc. Would a creature along these lines fit the bill? Or are you looking only for creatures derived purely from animals?
Those species would be considered 'Humanoids' and indeed right now I'm looking more for 'animals', even though some of them can, for example, have close-to-human intelligence, or maybe arms! I do not draw a strict line in my story where this boundary is, because the species in my story can be pretty messed up here and there, so... I would say, try to make them bend more to the animal side rather than the humanoid side for this contest! 

When I design a City creature, how futuristic is your world? How do I know if my creature is not too "sci-fi"?
It doesn't matter a lot how futuristic you interpret my world, because I believe we can always work around it if a design doesn't fit for a 100%. Of course everyone who enters doesn't know my world as well as I do, and I can only share so much information, but I'm sure that no matter what people come up with, things can always be changed in such a way that it works! So no worries, just keep those ideas coming!


PEOPLE JOINING + ENTRIES
This is just a record for myself! If someone in the contest journal explicitly said "I'm joining" or "I have ideas!", I'm putting them here, haha!

ShadowGateStudio --> x1: Woodland (also a bit City) Rodent
Pen-Witch --> x1: Woodlands/City Shroomen
Silvermoon2819
Crystallink --> x1: City Rigeon
TriggeredPawsAdopts
BossRoadkill
AlexeiKazansky
Zeewezel --> x1: City Species contest entry - Cogsprites - City
AshleysArtsyCorner
absolutejackass
spdy4 --> x2: City City Creature Contest -Lanturn Mimic- and Woodland Forest Creature Contest -Moon Duke Owl-
xXDruidcatXx --> x1: Woodland Eastern Tiger contest entry
WhiteFai
AuroratheIceWing --> x1: Woodlands Beyors (Contest Entry)
OpalPeony --> x2: City Steamsphinx contest entry and Woodland PineBear contest entry
MiaRogi --> x1: Woodland Fairydale
queenofeagles --> x1: City Contest entry - Wheeliby
Purrfect-Cattitude
BashfulRayArts
Katsumi-Draws
S-k-y-F-r-e-e --> x1: Woodland SPECIES: Sun-Chested Poshi
SEVMD --> x1: Woodland Umdura species
NuclearDisaster
MoonSpiritfoxLotus --> x1: City Toxic Terrier (contest submit)
Amberstorm233 --> x1: City Meers Ref Sheet
XynaTheZoroark
BeckyKidus
Lmih --> x1: Woodland Redbelly Jack
Charlie-Crow --> x1: Woodland Contest - Gecko Trickyzard
The-Tabletop-Tiger --> x1: Woodland Selly's (Closed Species)
DoodleRooChu --> x1: Woodland Cindrek: Woodland: CONTEST
Silvra19
cryomancerlex
AurouraSilver --> x1: City Cores: Creature Contest Entry
ExitMothership
ashenrisen
Banzz
KayDaKay
GrowLegends --> x4: Woodland Flunox-Woodland creature,contest entry and City Asclepius Snakes-Contest entry and City Secondary entry-City and Woodland Cambrian Glowworms-Forest entry holy shizzles Legends!
Rykett
Horace-Bulregard --> x1: Woodland Contest Entry- Chinde
alexism77 --> x2: Woodland fantasy bear and City Fantasy Diplodocus
pacificmaelstrom
avianAbstraction --> x1: City Copper Gryphowl
complete-total-trash --> x1: City Entry for Vixenkiba's contest (City)
VayCrah --> x1: Woodlands Lupis Harpies Species
hannxm --> x2: Woodland Woodland Creature [CE] and City The Night Messengers
Trauma-a --> x1: Woodland Paru-Rakyon
Nukes-or-Nothing
Aristall --> x1: City Creature Design - Amulet Spiders
lunarEclipseKitty
Logan-Morpheus --> x1: Woodland Limbelt: The Forest Hunter (Contest Entry)
dragonnekocat --> x2: Woodland Verunixan- For contest and City Souris- For Contest
MrDessin
LyannaValeriu
GalacticShitastic --> x1: Woodland Rocine- Woodland creature
SugarLyon --> x1: City Isri- Species contest
AluncarVoln --> x1: Woodlands Utinky (woodland contest entry)
MaggiefromSpace --> x1: Woodlands Leaf-backed hog beetle
Tessith --> x1: Woodlands (and also city) Creature Design: Perfumed Minkal
BeckyKidus --> x1: Woodlands Fallow fox
Elena-chan02 --> x1: City Threst
AeZrix
ScienceWithSteve --> x1: City Glow Spider - contest entry
Aohitsuki --> x1: Woodland Eqois
zenikat --> x2: Woodland Contest design 1: Lacus Deer and Contest design 2: Featherduster Owl
story --> x1: Woodland 18342270 1352416704828215 358362726847608002 N
FrostedBite --> x1: City Kangashrews(City creature)
Artstotallyforlosers --> x1: Woodland Contest entry- Foupine
IAmABananaOo --> x2: Woodland Draconic Birds - Golden Wardens and City Draconic Birds - Whipcrack Falcons
whimsicalponderer --> x1: Woodland Salamander
kana-kana --> x1: Woodland WOODLAND CREATURES: Cowl
KiraElusia --> x2: Woodland Contest: Design a Species - Buralu and City Contest: Design a Species - Buralu 2
tidiestflyer --> x1: City Vixenkiba contest entry
Gaby-T --> x1: Woodland Wanza - Creature
Polux-McLion --> x1: Woodland Urmag
SerenaShin --> x1: Woodland Elaflos
SlytherclawPadawan --> x1: City Puss in Boots
Euphori-art --> x1: City The Transmodo Dragon




39 - # Woodland entries
25 - # City entries
64 - # Total entries


Comments407
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MariiBoops's avatar

I was thinking of giving it a shot at first but there's so much to read and there seems to be a bit too much competition. I don't think I can keep up with all of it.