Smoke Monster

Smoke Monsters are tall humanoid hostile monsters that inhabit every area except the Beyond.

Appearance[]

They are tall, lanky humanoids whose bodies are semi-transparent and look like thin smoke. They are around 3 meters tall and have long, thin arms that reach down almost to the point that they touch the ground. They have no cheeks, and their mouths are have no teeth, but instead have skin molded into the shape of teeth, like a beak. Their mouths can open four times larger than a normal human's can.

AI[]

Health: 300

Speed (wandering): 30

Speed (chasing): 40

Speed (jogging): 70

Attack (punch;slap: -30

Smoke Monsters spawn relatively uncommonly, their population density is usually five or six per island. They are usually wandering around passively, however will home in on and chase any Players or Civilized Animals they see, chasing them in order of whoever's closest. They are generally calm in their pursuit, however will quickly jog for a few seconds if their prey runs too far away. The reason they move so slowly is because they have no reason not to; they can phase through solid matter as though it were nothing, and as such can take shortcuts their prey cannot. As soon as their prey is within melee range, they will punch them to weaken them, and in doing so will teleport them into an alternate dimension, and continue to chase them there.

Smoke Monsters will leave a trail of thick, black mucous wherever they walk, and on any objects they phase through. The mucous trails will grow outward until they reach a thickness of about a meter, after which the effect "burns out". Sometimes Smoke Monsters will lay huge patches of mucous, usually three or four meters in diameter, as a trap. If an animal goes near the centre of the patch, they will fall through and into the alternate dimension. Both the trails and the traps will disappear after about 3 days.

Notes[]

Smoke Monsters spawn and despawn on a 15 game-day basis; they will be out for 5 days, then gone for 10 days; then be out for 5 days; etc...
Instead of simply disappearing like most animals, a Smoke Monster's despawn animation resembles them sinking into the floor.
On the five days that the Smoke Monsters are present, a hidden timer will be present during the week. 3 to 5 times during the week, if no Smoke Monster has already targeted the player or is near the player, one will spawn directly underneath the player and begin to emerge from the ground.

Alternate Dimension[]

This area is an extremely strange area that the player can be sent to if he or she is captured by a Smoke Monster. It is a maze made up of trenches. It is extremely dark and the sky is blocked by thick black smoke. While inside the dimension, the player is slowed to about speed 50 and their footsteps are loud and echo-y. There are only five or six Smoke Monsters in the dimension at any one time, however some will frequently leave the dimension and others will come in. As soon as the Smoke Monsters spawn or enter, they will walk four laps around an off-screen track before chasing the player (to give the player a head start).

A giant bird-like creature will often sweep across the trenches, as if searching. If the player isn't hiding underneath something as the bird passes over, he/she will be forced to look at it. If the player looks at it for too long, he/she will die.

The only way the player can leave the dimension is to die, get randomly teleported out after 15 minutes, or fall down a sinkhole.

Trivia[]

The Alternate Dimension is secretly hidden inside the planet, so that it won't take up space in the world (because GameMaker has limited map space) and the player cannot see it unless he/she is transported there or has noclip enabled.