The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

How would it be like if 2 races each got 100 RU's to build ships

like Thraddash (10 ru) make 10 Torches
and Kzer-za's (30 ru) make 3 Dreads (cant make 4, because they only have 100 ru in total)

the Thradds would KILL those dreads!!!

or what about ZFP against Kzerza?

16 ZFP's against 3 draeds...  ;D

uhhh..well, I suppose the Ur-Quan would cease to exist? and the Thraddash would rule the Galaxy. The End.

I can tell you one thing... I doubt any race would be much in the way of enslavement capacity...

This is all assuming economic equality in the races, which is just not the case. The thradash ship only cost a third of the Ur-Quan Dreadnaught because, for the thradash, that's as much as they can afford to spend on any one ship.  So while, yes,  in a even money match the Ur-Quan whatevers would get pasted, in the "real" starcontrol world there's a reason the Ur-Quan's Dominate. They gots the monies.

A few Kohr-Ah or Ur-Quan vessels can destroy their weight in ZoqFotPik Stingers with ease unless the Stinger pilots are controlled by hot-shot players.

I always thought of the homeworlds as not actually having infinite ships but it was the game's way of telling you that you weren't allowed to subjugate species. The ZoqFotPik can't have more than 20 Stingers.

Here are a few things that make me go "hmmmm":

1.  How come all combat in Starcon universe is 1 on 1?   Why doesn't anyone ever get the idea to gang up on their enemies?

2. How come all planets in Star Con 2 only have non-renewable resource that gets depleted after a few trips by your planet lander?   Besides, the biological creatures never grow back even if you leave some of them alive.

3. How do human (and later Shofixi) crew members control ships such as the Orz Nemesis or Chmmr Avatar?

1) It was too much trouble to program in hundreds of ships going at it at once, back in the days of ye olde 286, in the 80's.

2) They explained in the manual that there are many, many more minerals under the surface that can be mined for, but your planet lander isn't equipped for that task and so it can only collect deposits of minerals readily available on the surface. And again, to program a repopulation of all creatures on all planets after a certain amount of time based on what creatures were left on which planets---- too much work for ye olde 286 in the 80's. As FF said, it's easier to shove it all into a single 32 bit integer representing how many creatures are left on the planet.

3) As is explained in the game multiple times, most notably by Fwiffo, only native starship captains can pilot their own race's ships. The crew can be composed of humans/shofixti but the pilots must be members of that ship's race. When you ally with the Orz, they send a contingent of Orz to your base who happily stomp around your base in their suits. Hayes mentions as much. When you ally with the Chmmr, they mention their act of sending captains to your starbase to pilot your Avatars.

Now this is spooky... Primat facts that actually match up with reality? ;)

Also worth thinking about when asking oneself quesrions of this nature (referring to the ship situation) is the ability and background of the pilots. Shiver refers to the ingame situation: what kind of player controls each ship? If we want to look at it storywise, Quan pilots probably have far superior training and fleet tactics compared to say the ZFP. and while the Traddash are undisputably a warring race, they don't strike me as the kind of people who have developed any strategy except "SNORT! KILL THE WEAK FOOLS!". This probably works against them in the long run...

*strangles Umgah Lukipela with tentacles*

A couple of points... First, how do you strangle an Umgah? The blobs don't look like they have a throat at all, so strangling might be just a wee bit hard. I suppose you could suffocate one... Secondly, as you may or may not have noted from my Avatar, 'm not really an Umgah. Dunno how many of the poor things you've killed by now, but you may as well give it up, since you wont find me there... ;)

Regarding the original topic, not much more to say... Maybe there is a good reason for always fighting one on one? Some technical trekkie like explanation? Non-calibrated targeting systems unable to sufficiently effectively lock on to multiple targets in the presence of large masses due to the inherit quantum unstability of the photons waweform components...  For an great example of sci-fi speak, check out http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=971008

You could have almost any picture up as your Avatar, but I will always think of you as an Umgah.

You are FAR too twisted of humor to be anything else in my eyes.

Maybe the one on one is kind of a microcosm of simultaneous battles--i.e. it is actually a big dogfight, but you are just seeing the individual resolutions.  Of course, that doesn't explain why you have to keep using one ship until it blows up, but, I mean it *is* space combat in 2-D we can't be *that* nitpicky right?  If combat mechanics in space are basically dogfight-ish, the end result will be the same anyway as far as amount of damage that will be sustained if you and your 8 eluders fight 3 Kor-Ah--that is to say 3.5 eluders destroyed and 3 Kor-Ah is the same whether resolved sequentially or simultaneously.

Maybe it has something to do with tactics and friendly fire--because all these craft are so maneuverable in frictionless space its safer for everybody involved just to send them in one at a time?  

PS What *is* that avatar?

"That avatar" is an Androsynth Guardian, which never appears in the full game.

As for techie 1v1 explanations, and this is just off the top of my head, perhaps the 'warp into battle' sequence is disrupted by the presence of powered-up combat engines, and 2 ships is the maximum amount that can be 'warped in' at once. All the other ships are too far away to fight.

Is "enjoy the sauce" at all a reference to "enjoy the silence"?  Or maybe I just spent too long thinking about these things.

Luki's Avatar is supposed to be an Androsynth Guardian.

Which is in and of itself a pun, since the Avatar is a Chmmr Ship and thus the act of saying that Luki's Avatar is an Androsynth Guardian and not an Umgah could lead to further confusion.

Or, HAR HAR HAR.

Forgive me if my humor seems a bit sarcastic and dry tonight. My progesterone levels are up.

Actually, I always thought *enjoy the sauce* meant something more like "Be happy with life" or "Enjoy happiness".

Yeah, as cute as the Orz are, their language isn't so much abstract as it is just a perfectly understandable foreign language. Replace their phrases with specific equivalents and you have a perfectly comprehensible race.

Dancing being 'ship to ship combat'
Frumple being 'pissing us off'
Happy campers being 'friendly aliens'
Happy fun slide being 'Quasi Space Portal'

Then again, if the Orz language truly WERE utterly abstract and incomprehensible, you wouldn't have as much fun or have the slightest idea how to deal with them.

I mean if you encountered them and instead of saying, "Do Happy Campers want to come to our House to make Alliance Parties?" they said something like, "Blue bubbles shout now people fast! Doors laugh other time scratch delicious??  Dry circle so cold bird sponges fingertips!!!!" you wouldn't so much smile (or in my case squeal appreciatively) as you would just stare at the screen with an irritated expression.

I meant at the FF PR3 level--but then, writing is funny, it triggers things whether people intend it or not.  I just thought of the song is all--they didn't come out similar times did they?  Or did the song maybe predate the game?  

And yes, the Orz language is very cute, by the nicknames and quotes people use in this forum I'd say you werent' the only one to enjoy it.  

Not being a medical student, I'm somewhat confused by the term progesterone. I know testosterone which makes you agressive, and pheromones that make my head spin, but what's that one?

Do Umgah have twisted humour though? I mean, to me they seem more like clumsy, heavy handed practical jokers. Their practical jokes are on another scale, sure, but HAR HAR BIG WAVES and the like sem a bit blunt and unsophisticated to me. I imagine that the Ilwrath humour is probably a lot more twisted, like slipping acid into your broodpartners  gestation sacs and laughing while praising D&K.

So, no, I din't consider myself Umgah. I'm an Androsynth on the Edge, driven insane by the fate of my race

Despite all of your reasoning, I still see you as a blobbie.

Progesterone tends to peak on a monthly basis for females.
I take supplements because I produce less than normal.
Without supplements, my behavior at certain times is much less severe than most females.
With supplements, my behavior is twice as...pronounced...as most females.

Good enough?

Yeah, now that just does wonders for a guys self-esteem doesn't it. It's right up on par with "I like you as a friend"... I think of you as a blobbie...

I get parts of that, but define less severe... In what ways?

Less severe as in, I am only slightly irritable?

More severe as in, absolutely everything anyone says comes off as an insult, even something as harmless as 'Good morning!' and I want to eviscerate anything male, I guess.

Hmm. A Kohr-Ah on her monthly cycle. The ZotFotPik don't stand a chance.

Nor does anyone else... Why would you want to be more severe?

I don't *want* it to be more severe, you know. It's just a side effect of the corrective medication I take to supplement my substandard levels of female hormones.

No worries, I'm finished for this month.

So you'll go back to being all happy and joyful?  ;)

Be nice...
;)

... or next month you'll get it with both barrels.

Bah, I'm not afraid. I'm used to getting shot up :)

Close enough! Today I feel rather vibrant and sunny, so to speak!

A vibrant and sunny Kohr-Ah? The thought chills my bones... Well, whatever makes you happy as long as it doesn't involve incinerating me...

Well I'm more in an Fwiffo/Orzy mood really than a Kohr-Ah mood.
Happy days and jubilations!
Jumping smiley peppers!

*squeezlehugs Umgah-Luki*

... riiight. Now this is definetky getting scary... I'm the survivor of an Ur-Quan hug... Makes me kind of unique, no?

Jokes aside, glad to see your in a better mood Primat, for whatever reason.

Of course, by the time this message rolls around Primat will be back in b8tch mode.

No offense Primat.

Even if she IS back in b8tch mode... I don't worry about her trying to use her Kohr-Ah violence on me. Being an imaginary cartoon character, I have no reason to fear any kind of agression from beings in the Real Universe(*), no matter how much firepower is used on me, I'll always be back for the next episode.

Ha!  8)


(*) I wonder how it was created, by the way...  ;)

In that case, you don't mind if I say the usual:

You are filth. You will be cleansed.
*MUNCH*
**SubComan has been added to Death 999's bone pit**
*MUNCH*
**guesst has been added to Death 999's bone pit**

Don't call the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah hierarchy headmistress, Death 1, a b8tch!

Hrmmm...! Tentacle bitch Queen!

*starts slicing you all apart to remove your bones!*

Heh, I survived the cleansing... It pays to be polite apparently.

Apparently so. I am back in full b8tch mode. guesst was right.
*pats guesst with tentacle...then removes all unnecessary organs*

More bones to add to pit...Must cleanse....

That's okay, Primat. We love you anyways. Even without any organs or bones as I have already been attacked by 2 Kohr-ah. So nice to see you all sharing....me.

Don't you just get a warm fuzzy feeling inside guesst? Oh, wait. maybe that's the Kohr-Ah venom burning through the last of your living tissues...

And I'm still alive. I wonder if it is my amazing charm, my handsome looks, or the fact that I can run like bloody hell when required to that has saved me?

Na, it's just that you lack the sheer sexual magnatism that I have toward Kohr-ah.

That and the fact that I maranate in worshester sauce daily.

WARNING: do not use as embalming fluid.
;)

Also, I think you're mistaking the magnetism for the magnetic fields of the blades... And remember, I ate you first...

guesst... loved by all kohr-ah and their blades.  ;D

What's not to love about a giant 100 ton titanium shuriken being thrown at you?

You use titanium? I use the burnt toast from the slave pit cafeteria*.

Maybe that's why I'm death 999 instead of, oh, Death 2 (I won't say I could beat KP)...

* (Yes, we DO use slaves -- it's okay if we kill them after year and never let them reproduce)

Man, it would hyper suck to be a slave on a Kohr-Ah ship. Wait, what if the slave race that both Kzer-Za dn Kohr-Ah ship is some sort of biologically altered non-reproductive zombie drone that, since they lack intelegence, pose no threat to the Kohr-Ah's destructive doctrine?

Perhaps that's the race I was asking about in http://uqm.stack.nl/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Gendiscuss;action=display;num=1055381353 but before they were geneticly altered and mind wiped, like the Dnyrrl.

That would explain why they crash their fighters into planets, asteroids, other ships...