I'd like to point out that Avatar didn't have Light Travel or anything like that
[QUOTE=TH89;23628346]I like how this thread is a [url=http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3331864]direct copy/paste of a SomethingAwful thread[/url][/QUOTE]
I'm the same user, there's no rule against cross-posting on two different forums.
Btw, I copied this thread and posted it there, not the other way around. Next time, check the post-times.
[QUOTE=Devodiere;23635980]Sounds a lot like a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frill-necked_Lizard]Frill-necked Lizard[/url]. The arms don't really seem necessary unless they are just vestigial and act as decoration. The tall size and awkward legs make me think it lives exclusively on leaves and fruit as it would have a hard time bending over. For such a basic creature it has a lot of muscle definition so I think it would be more comfortable on a high gravity planet where it fills the niche of an earth Giraffe.
As for the head, I know how much you wanted to make it Alien so move the mouth claw things closer in and have them act as an addition grabbing/biting mechanism. The eyes might seem better if they were more spaced apart to provide near 360 vision along with distance judgement. The ears are fine but either the skull is very thick, the creature is relatively small (4 foot high) or their brain is incredibly large.[/QUOTE]
Incredibly large brain.
I was going to explain a lot of their features, plus their similarity to humans and other aliens (you know, breathing same mixture of gasses, similar overall structure, etc) by explaining that in the past some super advanced alien race inhabited the galaxy who liked to genetically modify life, or even START life on planets. I was toying with the idea that they genetically modified the plants on this species home world to be incredibly efficient, absorbing a LOT more electromagnetic radiation than plants from Earth, leading to much larger fruit with more energy stored within them. In turn that'd mean they wouldn't need to eat AS much on a daily basis (because, as it is on Earth, normally herbivores spend MOST of their time eating).
The 'mouth claw' things are actually there to smell and taste fruit (act kind of like a tongue and nose) to determine whether or not what they're eating is toxic. That way they don't put it into their mouths THEN realise, "oh fuck, this isn't good..."
Muscle definition for them wouldn't be natural (they would have been quite strong, but not insanely so, rather, before they became intelligent they would have relied on numbers to protect them), but rather a product of genetic modification ON THEMSELVES.
[QUOTE=sltungle;23636206]Incredibly large brain.
I was going to explain a lot of their features, plus their similarity to humans and other aliens (you know, breathing same mixture of gasses, similar overall structure, etc) by explaining that in the past some super advanced alien race inhabited the galaxy who liked to genetically modify life, or even START life on planets. I was toying with the idea that they genetically modified the plants on this species home world to be incredibly efficient, absorbing a LOT more electromagnetic radiation than plants from Earth, leading to much larger fruit with more energy stored within them. In turn that'd mean they wouldn't need to eat AS much on a daily basis (because, as it is on Earth, normally herbivores spend MOST of their time eating).
The 'mouth claw' things are actually there to smell and taste fruit (act kind of like a tongue and nose) to determine whether or not what they're eating is toxic. That way they don't put it into their mouths THEN realise, "oh fuck, this isn't good..."
Muscle definition for them wouldn't be natural (they would have been quite strong, but not insanely so, rather, before they became intelligent they would have relied on numbers to protect them), but rather a product of genetic modification ON THEMSELVES.[/QUOTE]
Highly effective photosynthesis isn't really a big deal, it just means the planet will be more fertile. You don't even need ultra-nutritional fruit, just a digestive system that is highly tuned. If the claw things are for tasting and smell they would have to be retractable to protect the sensitive tissue only flaring out when threatened or to smell.
The strength would also be a bit strange as they don't seem to have a lot of flexibility. It would make sense if they did a lot of manual labour as opposed to machines doing the heavy lifting but it seems like it would limit many of their activities in exchange for the artificial strength. I cannot see them being very effective soldiers due to their mobility issues so they would either be pacifists or fight very differently to us.
[QUOTE=Devodiere;23636381]I cannot see them being very effective soldiers due to their mobility issues so they would either be pacifists or fight very differently to us.[/QUOTE]
Funny thing is, it's actually a bit of both. I thought of them as pacifists by nature. Diplomats. Peacekeepers. Protectors of all life everywhere.
But the ones that I had in my story. The ones that the humans dealt with were soldiers (well, more an assortment of the best and brightest (literally THE BEST and THE BRIGHTEST) who got MADE into soldiers and thrust into an impossible situation), genetically and physically modified to be superior in every way. Strong, fast, even more intelligent than before, flexible, agile, everything. Obviously if you're gonna have a good story, you need some huge problem that needs fixing, and... what better problem than some form of war that threatens all life?
The one thing I always thought while writing the story was, "if they come across a pair of ladders that they need to climb: they're fucked" :v: Otherwise I reckon they'd be fairly mobile. Their legs bend in more places than a human's giving them the ability to quickly raise themselves up/lower themselves down without the need to actually move too much and they could roll across the ground, quickly pulling out and landing a foot on top of some poor suckers skull. Running, however, may prove challenging.
The one I made in that modelling program was meant to be one of those 'soldier' ones (more or less the only ones the human's interact with). Whereas the regular ones would be shorter and significantly weaker.
Should take the whole 'retractable sensory organs' thing into account, though. That seems like it could be a good idea.
Aliens are humanoid because it helps them utilize spiral power.
[QUOTE=BaconDioxide;23622609][B]I disagree[/B]. (major UQM spoilers)
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjJOu-VyDY8[/media]
Then again, they are speaking english.
Skip to 3:42 for the beginning of the story.
This game is proof that you can relate to something that doesn't look anything like a human, and I wish more people would recognise that.[/QUOTE]
Now THAT is what an alien should look like, and act like.
[img]http://www.horrorstyle.com/game/duke-nukem-forever/art/duke-nukem-forever-0054.jpg[/img]
These things are gonna be in Duke Nukem forever if it's ever made.
[QUOTE=Wafflemaster;23637468][img]http://www.horrorstyle.com/game/duke-nukem-forever/art/duke-nukem-forever-0054.jpg[/img]
These things are gonna be in Duke Nukem forever if it's ever made.[/QUOTE]
Badass.
Too bad we'll never see them in game, now, though.
eXOSKELETAL CENTAURS
[QUOTE=Chunk3ym4n;23634213]They have collars that translate whatever language any alien is speaking into English or any language the player knows and vice versa.
TL;DR Universal translator
[url]http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Codex/UPDATE:_Bring_Down_the_Sky[/url][/QUOTE]
But Shepard understands and hears the Prothean language in English while the codex entry clearly says:
[quote]Newly discovered or obscure races don't have machine translation available until the linguists have had time to study them.[/quote]
Finding explanations for things like this is really unnecessary as its only purpose is to make communication with the player easier. Games are supposed to be fun, and it wouldn't be really fun to look in some in-game dictionary after every damn sentence.
[QUOTE=Flip pl;23638082]But Shepard understands and hears the Prothean language in English while the codex entry clearly says:
Finding explanations for things like this is really unnecessary as its only purpose is to make communication with the player easier. Games are supposed to be fun, and it wouldn't be really fun to look in some in-game dictionary after every damn sentence.[/QUOTE]
He gained that knowledge through the beacon and the cipher. It burned information about the Protheans themselves into his mind.
[QUOTE=sltungle;23633785]I started writing a short sci-fi story a while back; got a few tens of pages in and then stopped. The main alien species involved in it were a fair bit different than humans, but still relatively similar.
I even brought the whole thing up IN dialogue between an alien character and a human character.
Human character asks alien why they look similar to life from Earth, and the alien responds that there are in fact MANY species in the 'galactic community' that look nothing like most Earth life, but the simple fact is most of those life forms require VERY SPECIFIC environments and can't very easily go out of their way to explore and such. Meanwhile, the aliens that the humans have met, the ones that have arms, legs, hands, eyes, ears, etc CAN more adequately explore or be sent on missions that, say, a giant floating, methane filled jelly-fish like alien couldn't.
[img]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a151/sltlamina/syntyan_08.jpg?t=1280124295[/img]
Made this in 'Sculptris' a while back. How I sort of pictured that one alien species looking like. Made sure to stay away from them being bipedal and such. Didn't add hands and feet, but it WOULD have them. Hands would have two thumbs and two fingers each.
What bugs me a whole lot more (and the whole 'bipedal, relatively human like aliens' thing DOES bug me, don't get me wrong) is that, to most sci-fi, apparently chlorophyll is the ONLY photosynthetic pigment that EVER developed in the galaxy. I can imagine trees developing elsewhere if there is life that requires light to grow (as they will try to grow TOWARDS the light). But... why do they all have to be green?![/QUOTE]
he has penis hands
[img]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/052/9/9/Predator_Headshot_by_Abiogenisis.jpg[/img]
[img]http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs12/i/2006/305/3/f/Xenobiology_by_Abiogenisis.jpg[/img]
[img]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs13/f/2007/092/6/e/Bushwacker_by_Abiogenisis.jpg[/img]
[img]http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs38/f/2008/334/3/d/Pseudoraptor_Mk_2_by_Abiogenisis.jpg[/img]
[img]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/293/6/6/Zero_G_Anatomy_by_Abiogenisis.jpg[/img]
Alex Ries shares the same view. Here's his deviantart gallery: [url]http://abiogenisis.deviantart.com/gallery/[/url]
That looks quite amazing, the picture with the giant aliens and the guy look awesome.
[QUOTE=junker154;23638329]That looks quite amazing, the picture with the giant aliens and the guy look awesome.[/QUOTE]
Agreed, that one is fucking incredible.
The Advisor in Half Life 2 is the most realistic hyper-advanced alien I can think of.
If technology becomes as advanced as theirs, you'd expect them to gradually devolve into something like the Advisors, because the natural selection is pretty much nonexistant with them.
[img]http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m500057a_Tyranid_CoverXL.jpg[/img]
Really surprised nobody has left this here. The Tyranids are arguably some of the most diverse aliens I've ever seen. Of course the naysayers are going to try to relate an alien to something on earth, it's human nature.
Nobody mentioned star wars? They have alien looking aliens as well!
[QUOTE=mapreader;23622425]Avatar cost anywhere between $400-500 million[/QUOTE]
Avatar cost $237 million. $400 million would be the most expensive film ever made by a $100 million margin.
[QUOTE=SgtTupelo;23638580]The Advisor in Half Life 2 is the most realistic hyper-advanced alien I can think of.
If technology becomes as advanced as theirs, you'd expect them to gradually devolve into something like the Advisors, because the natural selection is pretty much nonexistant with them.[/QUOTE]
Evolution and genetic drift will still cause random mutations, and the advisors would be exposed to planetary microbiology and viruses, they would still die out and develop immunities dude, they would still adapt.
And it's impossible to devolve, that implies evolution is directional.
According to the Mass Effect books, the reason the aliens are all humanoid is for the same reason humans are humanoid, and that is, because of living conditions, the humanoid ones became the dominant race. The good thing here is that they don't all have people faces and five fingers etc. and they actually did some original things to do with species aging and behavioural processes rather than just making giant blue people. It's how natural selection works though, I see no reason to be complaining that most fictional sentient aliens tend to be humanoid because it is perfectly logical in the scheme of evolution.
[QUOTE=Nibwoddle;23638936]According to the Mass Effect books, the reason the aliens are all humanoid is for the same reason humans are humanoid, and that is, because of living conditions, the humanoid ones became the dominant race. The good thing here is that they don't all have people faces and five fingers etc. and they actually did some original things to do with species aging and behavioural processes rather than just making giant blue people. It's how natural selection works though, I see no reason to be complaining that most fictional sentient aliens tend to be humanoid because it is perfectly logical in the scheme of evolution.[/QUOTE]
God, it would be so weird if most intelligent aliens really were humanoid.
It's a crazy thought, but so interesting.
I especially hate the 'blue skin, no hair' approach.
I'm looking at you Asari/that race in Star Wars.
[QUOTE=nERVEcenter;23628255]Sangheili are pretty inhuman in appearance, and yet their martial nature is still relatably human when they are unable to sacrifice their honor for the Great Journey and end up siding with humanity during the Halo Trilogy.
[img_thumb]http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100408204707/halo/images/8/85/Halo_Reach_Sangheili.png[/img_thumb]
Other than that, I can't think of a solidly cool alien race that isn't excessively human-like in appearance in most entertainment. Seems like most people haven't tried. They just aren't memorable.
[b]Edit:[/b]
Wiataminnit...turians.
[img_thumb]http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/4942/224596-nihlus_super.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE]
Yeah I like stuff like Halo, where even though they are humanoid, they are still very different. Enough so that the assumption can be made it is simply the optimal shape, and then, not at all in every case, looking at engineers and the worm thingies. Save for English language Halo is fairly believable in that respect. But I guess people wouldn't have liked subtitles.
Mass Effect is excused because it plays the trope straight. Star Trek that ostensibly started the trope is excused because they couldn't do much better in an old TV show.
[editline]lol[/editline]
Speaking of, why does the entire universe have to speak English? Rewatching Stargate it was astounding that they actually spoke [i]ancient egyptian[/i]! That shit is rad, moar pl0x.
[QUOTE=Novangel;23638965]I especially hate the 'blue skin, no hair' approach.
I'm looking at you Asari/that race in Star Wars.[/QUOTE]
So you're saying you don't like them blue bitches?
[QUOTE=Flip pl;23638082]Finding explanations for things like this is really unnecessary as its only purpose is to make communication with the player easier. Games are supposed to be fun, and it wouldn't be really fun to look in some in-game dictionary after every damn sentence.[/QUOTE]
Because nobody ever heard of subtitles. Regardless you are an idiot. It was pretty fun learning the D'ni numbering system in Riven, and learning the D'ni characters to read names for a puzzle in Myst IV.
So how long before someone makes a first person shooter that uses 4 spatial dimensions and is labelled the most impossible game of all time?
Also fighting Mass Effects 2 harbinger collectors on insane difficult in 4 dimensions.
The rage that would induce is bone breaking.
Wrong thread?
Nah, just musing on it.
Just thinking a mass effect style game with aliens and shit but with an added 4th spatial dimension would be crazy awesome and evil at the same time.
And I think it would be cooler to have halo with subtitles for the elites and the like, woulda felt pretty authentic.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.