Hive Cracker: the amber Lelyetian sniper upgrade

AoA 3.7.1 / Minecraft 1.20.1 · source profile and partial concept study · native upgrade unaccepted.

Current selected concept · 22 October 2026

Otherworldly amber hive-cell, hooked antenna forms and charcoal structure develop the original orange/yellow identity. Previous sheet remains a past concept. Crest size, rear silhouette and native readability need further review; no new attack behavior is claimed. Separate action study proposes visible bees moving during charge/fire and two optional sights: a bee-formed aperture or a honey aperture rapidly assembled by bees on aim. Static state panels only; no native animation is implemented. Additional Moonlit Hive craftable variant proposed with soul-blue bees and optional swarm or honey sights. Existing base remains available; recipe and native behavior are not implemented.

Original-versus-concept comparison and preserved alternatives. Earlier art below is preserved history or a separately labelled variant, not a replacement for this selected main. Original source behavior and all native acceptance gates remain unchanged.

Dedicated supplemental studies (partial design candidates, not implemented features):

• Separate action study: visible hive bees, swarm sight and honey-built sight.
• Shared hive-family charm concepts; fit and animation unverified.
• Shared Moonlit swarm and honey sight animation directions; individual host fit unverified.
• Shared soul bees inside chambers: rest, charge, release and recovery; effects are proposals.
• Shared soul-campfire-inspired crafting proposal, illustrated with Hiver; use matching input weapon, preserve saved data.
• Optional amber and additional Moonlit confirmed-defeat effects: honeycomb motes or bee-shaped particles with off option; no extra entities, damage or loot.

Released role

Hive Cracker inherits BaseSniper and uses Metal Slug ammunition. The inspected subclass declares its constructor, medium-rifle/long firing-sound selection and SCOPE_4 texture selection. It does not declare a unique impact hook. The name is not evidence that it launches bees, creates a swarm or deals honey damage; it is also distinct from Hive Blaster.

Stored field	Clown Cracker	Hive Cracker
Damage input	33.5	44.0
Durability	305	555
Shot delay	84 ticks	84 ticks
Recoil input	Approximately 0.05	Approximately 0.035

These are constructor inputs, not guaranteed final damage or physical measurements. At 20 TPS, 84 ticks is nominally 4.2 seconds. The checked upgrade retains its delay while increasing damage/durability and reducing its recoil input. Native sniper handling and resource behavior remain authoritative.

Original identity

Preserve the burnt-orange/brown body, warm yellow front region, raised orange top housing and short dark-gray rear/grip structures. The verified Lelyetian association comes from its upgrade kit. Amber ceramic-like materials and honeycomb decorative relief are new artistic interpretations, not a documented manufacturing process or biological mechanism.

Upgrade recipe

At the Divine Station, place Clown Cracker in the left input and a Lelyetian Upgrade Kit in the middle input; the result is Hive Cracker. The exact bundled definition is data/aoa3/recipes/upgrade_kit_hive_cracker.json.

The recipe does not establish a particular kit drop location. Base assembly produces the declared output rather than promising arbitrary names, enchantments or third-party customization survive. Define attachment transfer explicitly and test valuable customization on a disposable copy.

Illustrated Divine Station workflow · Exact recipe explorer

Earlier preserved art: Premium concept and QA correction

The concept keeps the orange/yellow/dark-gray palette and stepped silhouette. Its honeycomb surfaces are decorative proposals. The low-resolution inset is a generated style interpretation, not the actual source sprite shown above or a finished texture atlas.

The first generated sheet incorrectly labeled a painted inspect vignette “in-game” and attributed a particular metalworking style to Lelyetia. Those labels were corrected before publication. Earlier art remains preserved locally. The current inspect vignette is a proposal; it cannot establish animation, hand fit or native rendering quality.

The proposed grip/control geometry and protruding upper details require actual hand-rig and motion clearance checks. An attractive static render does not pass those tests.

Full feature plan

• Firing feel: preserve the original deliberate sniper cadence and Metal Slug resource path. The lower stored recoil input than Clown Cracker should not become an unreviewed rate-of-fire change.
• Sight: retain the original SCOPE_4 behavior as an option, with alternate optics subject to camera alignment and visibility tests. Original overlay illustration uses the same released texture, not evidence of identical complete handling.
• Attachments: compact/steady handling conversions, different fore-ends and alternate sight housings. A hypothetical swarm-themed conversion would be a separately designed functional upgrade, not original behavior.
• Materials: Minecraft-fit and premium amber treatments share mechanics and recognizable shape. Make the yellow/orange contrast legible without excessive bloom or mandatory dynamic lights.
• Inspection: tilt the closed weapon to reveal surface detail, then settle into aim. Interruptions cannot change resources or leave hands stuck.
• Animation: equip, idle, aim, fire, recovery, optional reload and inspection in first/third person, including cancellation, swaps and handedness.
• Resources: original Metal Slug support, optional reload only when explicitly selected. Any magazine or charge conversion needs defined mechanics and cancellation rules.
• Effects: capture original shot, muzzle, flight, impact and audio first. New tracer/impact/decal/finisher choices remain separate from authoritative damage, loot and kill credit.
• Customization: earned functional charms, skins, stickers, animated/glowing emblems and explicit attachment stats, with clearances around hands and controls.
• Upgrade/dismantling: preserve or return incompatible attachments safely, including full inventories. Test persistence, multiplayer ownership and repeated upgrade actions.
• Performance: cached configuration, LODs, bounded effect budgets and measured frame-time lows on the intended mod stack.

Acceptance gates

• Original native scope, projectile, impact, sound and resource captures
• Complete attachment, muzzle, projectile, impact, decal and finisher concepts
• Real hand clearance, coherent proportions and two texture modes
• Full animation/interruption and Lelyetian customization-transfer tests
• Native export, multiplayer, persistence, dismantling and performance qualification

Released source and upgrade evidence · Complete feature standard · Armory gallery

Recoil interpretation

For this pinned 1.20.1 release, the stored constructor recoil input is not the inherited modifier getter: the inspected BaseGun.getRecoilModifier() returns approximately 0.35. The per-shot method and later client application determine the actual recoil path. Do not infer a stronger or weaker measured kick from the constructor column alone. This clarification does not change the original values, weapon balance or acceptance state. Resolved method routing.