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News:

Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

Poll

Do you want alien races?

Yes! The more aliens the better! I want all kinds!
- 14 (14.7%)
I'd prefer sentient, evil alien races to fight against.
- 4 (4.2%)
I'd prefer sentient aliens that could be allies or enemies.
- 21 (22.1%)
I don't really care either way.
- 5 (5.3%)
No, I'd prefer only humans and their various factions.
- 23 (24.2%)
I'd like aliens, but only monster/deep space horror type. No communication.
- 28 (29.5%)

Total Members Voted: 94


Pages: 1 2 [3]

Author Topic: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.  (Read 17003 times)

Psycho Society

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #30 on: May 05, 2012, 09:18:15 PM »

Alex has said something about that, actually.

Spoiler
There will be some sort of dangerous life form associated with the dimension from which infernium is harvested.
[close]
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DSMK2

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #31 on: May 05, 2012, 09:50:52 PM »

I'd go with either the space wildlife and/or random civilized alien, but not too early in the game's development; I'd rather see them (the civilized sort) if I ever decide to leave human space, or at the very least "unlock" them through some specific quest chain that brings us to a long awaited (for some in the SF-verse) first contact.

Space wildlife reminds me of Earth and Beyond, but given the vastness of space, they're bound to be highly localized, or slowly migratory (why would they migrate anyways?). We'd need to write up a BS but fun to hear/write about space-faring creature biology. Do they live off of minerals? Do they filter feed space dust? There are various extremophiles on Earth as it is!

On the side of civilized aliens, it's gonna end up as humans with a different body structure; given the various ships we have already, it'll be hard to create specialized ships without losing balance, as well as unique weapons and equipment that sets them apart from humans without being too "special". Now that I recall reading a sci-fi space opera novel... Alien ships can go three ways: Visually "extreme", design "extreme, and ability "extreme". However if the ships/equipment problem can't be avoided, it'll always boil down to the aliens somehow having a (hopefully not) a monoculture to present to a player i.e. "WE ARE A WARLIKE RACE, ALL OF US WOULD LIKE YOUR HEAD SKEWERED ON OUR TROPHY PIKES".
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Hopelessnoob

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #32 on: May 05, 2012, 10:10:42 PM »

Nope aliens take away from the world gone to crap. Especially friendly aliens. Maybe as an 11th hour boss fight like say you've established yourself, have a lot of forces and then killer aliens come to kick ass and put you in your place again.
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frag971

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #33 on: May 06, 2012, 08:26:17 AM »

I think a random type alien would be awesome, like you never know if they ignore you or attack you. So instead of saying "Friendly" or "Hostile" just say "Unknown" and you never know if they attack or not. Also boarding them costs alot of marines and when their ships explode they do alot more damage in a bigger area, something to make them different...
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Hyph_K31

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #34 on: May 06, 2012, 08:35:38 AM »

"WE ARE A WARLIKE RACE, ALL OF US WOULD LIKE YOUR HEAD SKEWERED ON OUR TROPHY PIKES".

Was I the only one who read that with a daleks voice?
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Dri

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #35 on: May 06, 2012, 10:01:17 AM »

Well, it does seem the majority either want no aliens at all or just alien lifeforms like monsters or simply alien flora/fauna.

But, I suppose there can be a pretty massive difference between human factions. How does Sins of a Solar Empire do it? Isn't there like two human factions in the game but they are vastly different? I think I remember one of the factions got into experimenting with taboo drugs and gene modification and were banished for hundreds of years - when they returned they seemed pretty alien.

So I guess I'd be cool with a few human factions that were REALLY different due to drugs or gene mods.
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Jonlissla

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #36 on: May 06, 2012, 11:39:07 AM »

So I guess I'd be cool with a few human factions that were REALLY different due to drugs or gene mods.

I don't think there's any reason to go that far with the lore. Having only "normal" humans makes it more immersive, especially considering the setting which is rather grim.
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DSMK2

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #37 on: May 06, 2012, 12:21:42 PM »

Heh, instead of (sentient) aliens being enemies or allies, why not turn them into stealthy space bigfoots that are generally impossible to catch without modded ships? Mysterious fleets that randomly come into human space, but actively avoid everyone, they merely monitor goings on in human systems. That will put in the presence of aliens(?), but won't make them as big players, but rather as easter eggs of some sort.

Background tidbits.
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Hardlyjoking67

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #38 on: May 06, 2012, 12:58:46 PM »

That's a cool idea, but then I think that aliens would fall into the same stereotype of being entirely unknown to us. I think that aliens should provide a deep meaning. I can't stop thinking about the buggers in Ender's Game. They have a hive mind which is directed by the queen. They love the queen, but only because they can only communicate through here. So to them, the queen represents the entirety of the hive and for that, they love her. Also just a quick tidbit on what I think ship design would look like. If the aliens did share that hive mind, then I think that their ships would look as though they were made out of one object because by sharing their hive mind, they are instantly able to see the bigger picture and create the exact part that is needed from them with the expectation that the other workers will also know what is needed of them.
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Catra

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #39 on: May 06, 2012, 01:19:49 PM »

So I guess I'd be cool with a few human factions that were REALLY different due to drugs or gene mods.

I don't think there's any reason to go that far with the lore. Having only "normal" humans makes it more immersive, especially considering the setting which is rather grim.

the setting alone is reason enough to let the lore go that far into humanity's own self destructive / self preservation / fulfillment of desire extremes, the only real block is if alex is ok with exploring those murkier and darker themes.
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Durog25

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #40 on: May 06, 2012, 02:25:06 PM »

Well I for one would very much like to see some aliens. It would make sense (well, to me) the Domain exterminated all aliens found so aliens would've kept their distance. But now with the Hegemony and Tri-Tachyon in a power grab it would be cool to have some alien cultures attempt some form of contact.

  Perhaps there is another economic giant/ interstellar corporation who see the TT as an economic rival and so go to war with them/ raid them, but see the Hegemony as no threat or as a stabilising influence and so are attempting negotiations but they aren't going too well (this would give the player a chance to help with negotiations if they so choose).

It is essential however that any alien faction(s) brought in are as dynamic and deep as the TT or hegemony. If there is another alien faction out there they might be as diverse as humanity is.

Their technology should be different, still similar to what we have in the game now but with interesting twists e.g. a high explosive weapon which travels slowly, passes through shields but can be shot down by point defences. (Or something that makes the tech interesting yet familiar). Maybe they could have extra strong shields but really weak armour or no shields and energy resistant armour (energy weapons do 50% less damage). 

Also make their ships have different focuses which the TT and Hegemony wouldn't be focusing on due to their arms race with each other. e.g. One alien race may have no ships designed to deal with fighters (because they don't use them) but heir cruisers are nearly as powerful as a capital ship in fire-power or shield strength (punch above their weight).

Wow this is getting long. Well I hope I've added something to the debate. Loving the game so far. :D
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hadesian

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #41 on: May 06, 2012, 03:15:04 PM »

Maybe, like real life, aliens have infiltrated the highest parts of society, which would explain how the tri tach have access to such advanced tech...

CONSPIRACY THEORIES
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  • Reinvented Starsector.
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Aleskander

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Re: Do you want aliens? Enigmatic, evil, friendly? Poll.
« Reply #42 on: May 06, 2012, 06:05:09 PM »

Maybe, like real life, aliens have infiltrated the highest parts of society, which would explain how the tri tach have access to such advanced tech...

CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Aliens have done that IRL
I would like to have some place in my life alien-free
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