The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

The Ur-Quan Masters Re-Release => General UQM Discussion => Topic started by: ASCI_Blue on December 03, 2002, 07:05:10 am



Title: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: ASCI_Blue on December 03, 2002, 07:05:10 am
Why does the Melnorme background turn purple?


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Zeroarmy on December 03, 2002, 07:07:29 am
It's impossible to know. Even if you use the cheat to gain enough credits, they won't tell you.


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: ASCI_Blue on December 03, 2002, 07:18:50 am
damn..I was hoping it might say somewhere in the source.


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Musourenka on December 03, 2002, 10:27:44 am
Even though the text says 12,000 credits, I'm pretty sure I heard the Melnorme say twleve million instead.


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Hector on December 03, 2002, 10:55:09 am
But the creators are active around in the forum!

Creators: So please tell us why the Melnorme bridge turn purple? Or you guys haven't even thought of it..


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Kelju_Ivan on December 03, 2002, 11:21:46 am
So I guess I will never go on with my plan of gathering enough credits for the secret...


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Sickim on December 03, 2002, 02:58:03 pm
Quote
But the creators are active around in the forum!

Creators: So please tell us why the Melnorme bridge turn purple? Or you guys haven't even thought of it..


I have about a dozen questions and so do many others so maybe you should start a thread saying "If you could ask the creaters a question about the game, what would it be" or something to that effect. But, I highly doubt they'd answer most questions for the following reasons.

1. They don't know. Many things in the game are just funny little things that weren't important, so they didn't bother deciding what it should be. For example it's unlikly they know what Frungy is (as Chad stated before) because they probably wanted to say the Zot-Fot-Pik had a sport, so they PROBABLY (this is just my point of view) came up with the name, but not the final product.

2. It was meant to be an idea for a future SC version and having not decided if they would one day want to make one or not, they don't want to give away all of their surprises.

3. Because...Because...Well just because.


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Zeroarmy on December 03, 2002, 03:11:19 pm
Quote


I have about a dozen questions and so do many others so maybe you should start a thread saying "If you could ask the creaters a question about the game, what would it be" or something to that effect. But, I highly doubt they'd answer most questions for the following reasons.

1. They don't know. Many things in the game are just funny little things that weren't important, so they didn't bother deciding what it should be. For example it's unlikly they know what Frungy is (as Chad stated before) because they probably wanted to say the Zot-Fot-Pik had a sport, so they PROBABLY (this is just my point of view) came up with the name, but not the final product.

2. It was meant to be an idea for a future SC version and having not decided if they would one day want to make one or not, they don't want to give away all of their surprises.

3. Because...Because...Well just because.


Reply or not that would be a fun topic. I have tons of question (like were the Eternal Ones an orginal idea, what was the Mark II suppost to be, ect) and so I'd be happy even having the smallest chance of finding out the answer.


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Matticus on December 03, 2002, 05:00:32 pm
When you first meet the Melnorme their bridge is red. When you're ready to trade the bridge turns purple. For a clue to the reason why, try threatening the Melnorme when you first meet them. Their bridge turns blue. You can ask them why and they'll tell you (for free).

Matticus


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: ASCI Blue on December 04, 2002, 04:45:13 am
If you remember talking to the Slyandro they mentioned the 'shaggy ones had a big circular ship even larger than your's' The real question is, where did they stash it for us to find?


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Zero^ on December 06, 2002, 01:58:39 am
The sylandro was refering to Precrusors the long lost race that has moved to another level of existance. Believe me i have searched every single corner of SC2 space and never found the ship. But if you haven´t played SC3 i must spoil that the shaggy creatures (precrusors) are cows...  :-/
I didn´t find that funny...  :'(


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Potatoman on December 06, 2002, 02:58:13 am
What is frungy?

http://critic84.tripod.com/frungy.html
:o :o

I imagine most of you have probably seen it before, but for those who haven't...  8)


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: *camper* on December 07, 2002, 07:58:02 am
Quote
If you remember talking to the Slyandro they mentioned the 'shaggy ones had a big circular ship even larger than your's' The real question is, where did they stash it for us to find?


  That is answered, in part, by the game's finale.


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Zeroarmy on December 07, 2002, 08:02:59 am
Quote


  That is answered, in part, by the game's finale.


Yeah, but when people ask those questions in this forum they want to know what TFB wanted it to be, not what the development team of SCIII sees it as.


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Kohr-Ah_Primat on April 06, 2003, 05:40:55 am
Quote
When you first meet the Melnorme their bridge is red. When you're ready to trade the bridge turns purple. For a clue to the reason why, try threatening the Melnorme when you first meet them. Their bridge turns blue. You can ask them why and they'll tell you (for free).


I imagine that their bridge turns purple because it makes it easier to see their trading consoles. *amused look*

For a more convoluted explanation, I also imagine that the presence of the color purple in Melnorme society would also represent the extensive use of logical and analytical ability, which are important skills in trade negotiations, to properly assess the value of trade items to be purchased or sold, and the act of convincing other beings of the importance of the inventory that you wish to sell to them.

I suppose revealing this information would also give you leverage in trading with the Melnorme, for you could always cause your own bridge to emanate colors diametrically opposite to purple, causing the Melnorme's trading ability to be compromised. Which is why it is so expensive, whereas being told the color blue represents gearing for combat is free. (it's a basically a diplomatic way of saying, 'do not screw with us').

But seriously, would you really want to spend 12,000 (or 12 million) credits for this information on how to better trade with them, when you could really just spend all that on their actual wares?

On a side note, I wish you had the ability to purchase those 'trivial and useless facts at a discount' that he offers. I happen to be -quite- curious in trivial things like 'how Frungy is played' and the plot to 'Winky's Happy Night'..


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Lukipela on April 06, 2003, 04:49:37 pm
I would definetly spend 12.000 creds in that case. Sure, you could have won a lot with those creds, but in long term thinking, having an edge with Melnorme could definetly prove very useful. And as a special custome, who knows what interesting technologies and fascinating trivia you may be able to buy? You might even get a credit card with them.

You really have thought this teory of yours through, haven't you? I have to admit, it's a fascinating idea that the melnorme would be this dependent on light, but is it really feasible? Surely, if this was the case, other races in other quadrants would have already figured this out, and taken over. I mean, if the Melnorme is duped as easily as that, by light emissions, then they would have such a huge weakness that they'd fall aprt as traders pretty quickly..


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Matticus on April 06, 2003, 11:47:53 pm
Quote
I happen to be -quite- curious in trivial things like 'how Frungy is played' and the plot to 'Winky's Happy Night'..

Plot? It's a Melnorme FunRom, I doubt there's all that much plot to it. I think it's hilarious that the people on the starbase have mistaken it for a "distress call" =)

I just realized that this must mean the Melnorme have had contact with at least one other race (the Spathi) in the quadrant before the Captain finds them.

I would like to know how Frungy is played though. But rather than purchasing it from the Melnorme I'd prefer to just ask the ZFP (specifically the Pik).

Interesting theory on the Melnorme though. It'd be nice to have more specific information. Such as whether their sensitivity to light is based on biology or psychology. Or both? It would be interesting if it started out as part of their culture and they actually evolved to "adapt" to it rather than the other way around!


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Shiver on April 06, 2003, 11:59:02 pm
Ask the Pik? Isn't he mute?


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Matticus on April 07, 2003, 12:08:04 am
Quote
Ask the Pik? Isn't he mute?

I thought that was the Fot. Hence the joke about the Zoq and Pik arguing over who the Fot is (it's the guy in the middle who doesn't ever say anything, that's why the argument will never be resolved).


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Kohr-Ah_Primat on April 07, 2003, 01:02:46 am
Quote
Surely, if this was the case, other races in other quadrants would have already figured this out, and taken over. I mean, if the Melnorme is duped as easily as that, by light emissions, then they would have such a huge weakness that they'd fall aprt as traders pretty quickly..


Well you have to also remember that you can't actually gather 12,000 credits in the game; I believe I read on Now & Forever that even if you gather the Rainbow World locations, all alien life forms from each planet, and are rewarded by the Umgah, you still fall short by a great deal. Basically this means you'd have to clear out the whole galaxy of life and yet some, if you wanted to buy this one fact. (An incredibly expensive purchase, in other words.)Technologies that are more potent than the ones your *Precursor* Ship's computer has in its database are available to you for only 150 credits each. (Which raises another point in the Melnorme/Mael-Num debate; how could Melnorme have such potent technology in their grasp unless they've been around a very, very long time.)

Granted, the base the Precursor Ship was found at probably only had the most 'basic' of defensive precursor technology, but my point is that you can obtain battle technology far superior to that of all the other alien races for all of 2,000 or so credits.

Even if the 12,000 credit purchase were to tell you that the color purple was a key part of their trading affairs, I am sure they wouldn't tell you how to use this against them. (Sure you can make your bridge emit yellow light, but their bridge still emits purple light, and they're obviously standing closer to their bridge. Are you really going to expend the resources to build an anti-purple light field generator thingamabober when you don't even know if it'll work against one particular race? Or even if it worked, who is to say they would agree to trade with you until you turned it off?

Quote
First and foremost among these factors
is our unwillingness to GIVE away information about
our history, psychology and mental powers,
our unique physiology,
the exact locations of homeworlds,
or our potentially ominous, long-range plans.
However,
these important and relevant pieces of information
ARE available
for a nominal sum of Credits.


Information about their unique physiology/psychology for a nominal sum of credits? Hmmm...



Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Shiver on April 08, 2003, 10:48:52 am
Or maybe, just maybe, the colored lighting exists for mundane reasons and the 120,000 credit price tag was a joke.


Title: Re: The 12,000 credit question...
Post by: Kohr-Ah_Primat on April 08, 2003, 07:05:50 pm
Maybe!  :D
Their whole race after all is named after various colors; it could be a ploy to mislead those who would know 'too much' about them in the wrong direction.

After all, you don't survive for millions of years in an extremely hostile section of space (though they do say they've only recently arrived in this quadrant.. *peers at Mael-Num and just nods, playing along*) without being a bit wily.