The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Yesterday I decided that it wouldn't be such a bad idea to replay UQM all over again and after the install was done I started the game to setup controls and all; and when the first screen showed up with "UQM logo" I was struck with a stunning discovery (and I can't believe that it successfully evaded my perception for all this time):




So, the question that I keep asking myself is who did the art for this pic? Is it official or fan made? And most  importantly, WTH are a Chenjesu Broodhome and a Chmmr Avatar doing together in the Flagship escort among all those other ships?!  ???

I mean, Chenjesu is restricted for Melee only aside from the fact that the game lore says that if there are Avatars around there should be no more Broodhomes. And if there is a Broodhome in the escort, where is a Mmrnmhrm to follow? Because if one of the two sides "cheated" during the transformation and kept away a part of their respective original race "untainted" by the process, shouldn't it be logical to assume that the other side acted in a similar manner?

If this is official it could also mean that only the Mmr should become "extinct" (due to their finite number) and that there should be at least a handful of Chenjesu that survived the transformation process...along with their ships for recruit. But there are none :P So are we looking here at a game paradox or this was just a mistake made by the pic author (maybe s/he wasn't all that familiar with the UQM story)? Hm?

Just a bit of trivial banter.

Answer A:

I'd chalk it up to the artist liking the Broodhome's look. Splash art doesn't need to strictly represent occurrences in the game.

Answer B:

What, you never unlocked the Chenjesu?

No, maybe because they are non-unlockable? :)

I have read no dialogue in SC2 or in SC2 lore that said that the Broodhomes and Transformers were decommissioned, but you are free to prove me otherwise :).

The original title screen included the text "Star Control", which we couldn't use. This image was created especially for UQM. But... it was created by the original TFB artist, Erol Otus.

I think it was just a look the artist liked. The ships all appear in the Super Melee portion of the game and I don't think it has any serious message for us. Though the Chenjesu were considered the head of the Old Alliance, I suppose the artist might have put them in for that reason. As I recall, the starbase commander sends you off looking for the Chenjesu if you ask for information about the various races.

Something else about this pic - how are there three blaster cannons in the middle of the Vindicator ?

Well where else are they going to go, the guns are full of crew pods.

I'm with the others that cover art isn't part of continuity.  I've lost count of the number of game boxes whose art didn't entirely match the game's continuity, especially from the 80s and early 90s.  Take the classic SC2 box art, for example (the one with the human and the weird brown alien.)  What is that thing?  Illwrath?  Ur-Quan?  It doesn't look precisely like any of the races encountered in the game.  I get the impression it's supposed to be an Ur-Quan, but it looks more like Jabba the Hutt to me than anything in SC2.  In fairness, it may have been drawn before the game art was finalized during production.

Bottom line, box art and splash screens are not bound to the continuity of the universe.  The Melee game allows you to play as Chenjesu, so that's probably where the art came from.

There's still chenjesu out there.. zelnick just hasn't found them yet. But hey, the universe is BIG!
I think that, just because Zelnick hasn't encountered it or heard about it, it shouldn't be disposed of as non existing in the SC universe ;)

Especially if you take into concideration the finite amounts of Mmrnmhrm there was to begin with. Meaning not all Chenjesu could merge in the first place, therefore some must have left in original form.