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Neonlare
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The People's Races!
« on: August 01, 2006, 11:15:18 pm »

I just thought that people here who are creative, maybe want to think of stuff for future fan games, etc, so I decided to make this topic.

What it involved is that you create a race, it's history, appearance, so on and others review it.

Here's mine.


Name : Metranomes

Information : The Metranomes are a bizarre race, you can't actually see them with normal vision, but you can hear them. The Metranomes are a race which are composed entirely of sound-waves, life spans vary from one second to several millennia, due to the nature of the sound waves they are "born" as. They talk about being Re-Born, which suggests that they merely go dormant until something can "awaken" them by making the appropiate action (which makes the sound).

The Metranomes are a varied race, they can be very placid and peaceful and in the next second become hostile and violent, meaning it can be a danger negotiating with them.

What makes the Metranomes more unique is the way they can manipulate animals into doing their bidding, almost true to the statement "music tames the beast," they can make these creatures do their bidding in a maner which isn't total mind control, the animals can choose to follow.

Race History : The Metranomes weren't active during the first war due to the fact they were not in the range of the effects. The race at this time were situated on a forest planet which was corewards, and couldn't enter space due to their shape.

By the events of SC2, they had made the native animals "inteligent" enough to build a ship for which the Metranomes could pilot, with it's vast emptyness they could echo on for ages, and with the various apparatus available to them they could change their sound waves, which in turn they could opperate the space ship. They set off from their home planet, leaving the existing races sentient enough to look after theirselves.

Their first contacts were the Utwig, who were suprised and delighted at the Metranomes and their emotion-changing propeties. They agreed to aid them if they would help them defeat depression by "recording" themselves, spawning more of them in a positive energy called music.

They currently live in Beta Leporis on an alkaline planet, which echoes of different sounds induced by the cities they have constructed, courtesy of the Utwig.

Ship Name : Metranome Harmonizer

Ship Crew : 15

Speed : Medium-Slow

Turn Rate : Medium

Energy : 30, Regen Rate Slow

Ship Primary Fire : Sine Wave with medium length, deals 2 C.P and costs 5 E.P. Refire rate slow.

Ship Secondary Fire : Sound Wave which radiates outwards from the ship, on contact it inverts the opponents controls. Costs 15 E.P and has a very slow refire rate.

« Last Edit: August 03, 2006, 12:03:29 am by Neonlare » Logged

"would newton's law theory actually work if a Chmmr Avatar did a backwards pelvic thrust towards a planet and would this constitute an X=Y-0 in the part it ran straight into a Supox Blade and lasted long enough to survive?" - Elerium (as Valaggar)
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2006, 02:23:36 am »

This is great, I would love to see this implemented into SC3. I have a race or two that I will post. Im going to post them later since I don't have time right now. This is very creative, I like the idea very much.
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2006, 08:13:06 pm »

Ship Primary Fire : Sin Wave with medium length, deals 2 C.P and costs 5 E.P. Refire rate slow.

Ship Secondary Fire : Cos Wave which radiates outwards from the ship, on contact it inverts the opponents controls. Costs 15 E.P and has a very slow refire rate.
Don't you mean a sine wave, not Sin wave?  A sine wave is something that exists, a Sin (as in Sin, Cosin, and Tangent) is geometry, not acoustic physics, and as far as I am aware, does not have a wave form.

I think you mean a sine wave, and the other should be a square wave or a sawtooth wave.  That's acoustics for ya'.
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Neonlare
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2006, 08:35:59 pm »

Sorry, fixed it now >_<.
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"would newton's law theory actually work if a Chmmr Avatar did a backwards pelvic thrust towards a planet and would this constitute an X=Y-0 in the part it ran straight into a Supox Blade and lasted long enough to survive?" - Elerium (as Valaggar)
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2006, 09:39:45 pm »

Don't you mean a sine wave, not Sin wave?  A sine wave is something that exists, a Sin (as in Sin, Cosin, and Tangent) is geometry, not acoustic physics, and as far as I am aware, does not have a wave form.
Actually, the term is "sine" (and "cosine") in both trigonometry and physics (not to mention innumerable other fields); "sin" (and "cos") is the traditional mathematical notation. Both refer to the same function.
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2006, 09:57:07 pm »

Name : Eltie (elle-tie)

Information : Nomadic space traders. They, as a race, travel in giant, small-moon-sized space
ships. Theres giant ships can each drag along serveral star ships, which are used
in defence of the Mother Ship. The Eltie are a fairly peaceful bunch, who
travel the galaxy, trading fuel, food, refined minerals and technology.
They have an appearance similar to the Melnorme, but with two eyes and
thin, human-like arms.

Race History : The Eltie have been roaming the galaxy for thousands of
years, trading, picking up techology, etc. By speading out (Mother Ships
tend to travel alone) they were able to (mostly) miss contact with
the Ur-Quan and Kohr-Ah. They arrive on the scene shortly before 2160, when
the New Alliance is rising up against the Ur-Quan comination.

Ship Name :  Sentry

Ship Crew : 40

Energy : 40, Regen Rate medium

Ship Primary Fire : Short-range lazer. Similar to the Chmmr's primary weapon, but
with Cruiser-like lock-on ability.

Ship Secondary Fire : Energy shield. Good for blocking bursts of incoming fire.

Speed/turning: slow

In short, this is a large, slow moving vessle, with mainly defensive weapons/shields.
Would probably do well against a Pkunk or Skift, but not so great against
a Blade or Dreadnaught.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2006, 12:26:23 am by Zeep-Eeep » Logged

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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2006, 11:05:37 pm »

Er...
Why does the Eltie race has a ship named Metranome Sentry?

Quote
By the events of SC2, they had made the native animals "inteligent" enough to build a ship for which the Metranomes could pilot
BTW, this leaves a place for yet another race - these native animals, who have become a sentient space-travelling race because of the Metranomes...
As they are mere animals who have been just quickly "modified" to become intelligent, they have no culture and are socially primitive - therefore, agressive, like Thraddash...
Or something like that.
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2006, 11:46:26 pm »

Er...
Why does the Eltie race has a ship named Metranome Sentry?

Quote
By the events of SC2, they had made the native animals "inteligent" enough to build a ship for which the Metranomes could pilot
BTW, this leaves a place for yet another race - these native animals, who have become a sentient space-travelling race because of the Metranomes...
As they are mere animals who have been just quickly "modified" to become intelligent, they have no culture and are socially primitive - therefore, agressive, like Thraddash...
Or something like that.

Or do a total reverse in that idea and have them as tree hugers Cheesy
« Last Edit: August 02, 2006, 11:49:41 pm by Neonlare » Logged

"would newton's law theory actually work if a Chmmr Avatar did a backwards pelvic thrust towards a planet and would this constitute an X=Y-0 in the part it ran straight into a Supox Blade and lasted long enough to survive?" - Elerium (as Valaggar)
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2006, 12:27:39 am »

Tree huggerswould probably LOVE the Supox.
Sorry about the typo in the ship name. I had copied
the text from the original post and missed deleting
that part. It should read simply Sentry now.
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2006, 11:06:51 am »

Metranomes reminded me of a dream I had sometime this year. Those aliens there were physically in another dimension, but they could communicate by using the speakers on sound systems.

They ,,played" a part of a simple improvised song (the meaning was actually what you felt when you heard that song, when he plays a sad song for example, that means the alien is depressed or something) and I could communicate back  by improvising a logically fitting next part of that song. Although it's currently impossible to implement, it would be a cool feature for your race.
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2006, 06:03:18 pm »

Race:   Numrom

Biology:  2.5 meters long, exoskeleton, multiple legs similar to earth millipedes.  Notwithstanding, they have bright, white teeth (which are almost always smiling) and for some reason when communicating with others wear fore garments of white fabric. On the forepart is wrapped a second piece of fabric which is tied in a knot at the front, the remainder being allowed to hang down in front.  The garment appears equivalent to the old-style "shirt and tie".  Communication with outsiders is almost always in pairs, so an earthling will see two of them side by side. 

Reproduction is in the manner of terrestrial insects, where a female lays millions of eggs which are then fertilized by a male.

History:  The Numrom, like the Arilou and the Orz,  are extra-dimensional creatures and thus were missed by the Kohr-ah.  Their dimension is an alternate reality very similar to True-space, but with different star constellations and a different history.  One might say they are like any other inhabitants of the galaxy, except that their homeworld is a step across the dimensional barrier rather than reachable through hyperspace. 

The Numrom were a fairly run-of-the-mill predatory species until they Got Religion.  Impshah, their First Prophet,  was hit on the head and when he came around wrote the Revelation of Rom.   The basic tenets of this religion are:

1) Pacifism. 
2) Making converts to Rom by peaceful means. 

Though there was a fair amount of bloodshed, the peaceful Gandhi-like tactics and their absolute refusal to take no for an answer resulted in the entire species converting to this religion, in many cases by people who simply wanted them to SHUT UP and conversion was the only way to get them to change the topic away from "you need to meet Rom!"  So profound was the change in their outlook that the species' name was changed from "ZrkLurg" to "Mun Rom" -- in their language, the "People of Rom".   Even so, there are dissidents who will be discussed in the next section. 

Since this conversion, this formerly-warlike species has devoted all its conquering energies to sending vessels throughout known space in the hope of spreading the word of Rom.    Details given in the section on encounters below. 

SHIP:  Apostle
Maneuverability: Low.
Speed:  5
Firepower: Tongues-speak (special)
Secondary:  Convert
Regeneration: Medium.
Crew: Large (approx. 42). 

---------
The Apostle, being a ship crewed by pacifists, possesses no true offensive armament, in the sense of killing crew. 

- Speaking in Tongues, if it strikes a ship, will confuse it for XX seconds similar to the Melnorme secondary weapon. 
- Convert.  If an enemy ship approaches to maximum screen size, "Convert" will persuade crew members to jump ship a la Syreen song. Unlike Syreen song, they will be attracted directly to the Apostle, so there is little chance of rescuing crew. 

This lack of offensive weaponry does not mean the Apostle is defenseless, however.  Accompanying every apostle ship are three "Guardian angels", the nature of which is unknown and which even the NumRom do not completely understand.  In any case, shortly after combat is initiated these 3 vessels will hyperspace in, one at a time.  The vessels are functionally identical to Arilou skiffs, but of course they don't look like them.    Once they arrive they will attack the enemy vessel "like slavering Zebrankys".   Like the Pkunk, these vessels re-incarnate when destroyed. Unlike the Pkunk, the probability of re-incarnation is 1.0. Therefore, one effectively faces infinite skiffs until the Apostle is itself destroyed. 

The most effective vessel against the Apostle is the Druuge Mauler.  One simply uses the gun to blow up the Apostle, all the while using the gun recoil to keep away from the skiffs.  The earthling cruiser is a close second, although it's slow acceleration and speed will render it fodder for the skiffs, so several will be required. Any ship that needs to close to combat range is in a great deal of trouble,  as Tongues followed by Convert will cause the enemy to spin helplessly while his crew is sucked away and the skiffs close in for the kill. 

ENCOUNTERS
-------------------
Despite their pacifist nature, it is possible to provoke the Numrom into combat (they aren't perfect, after all).   

During an encounter, they have one motive and one motive only: To tell you about their belief system. It is long, boring , and complicated. 

The best solution is to simply listen or say "go on". If one has the patience to simply listen quietly, they will eventually run through their spiel and ask if you wish to convert. The best answer is "Let me think about it".  At which point they will be willing to talk about other subjects. 

Trying to get them to talk about other subjects before they have finished their spiel will make them progressively angrier a la the Orz until they lose it and combat begins.  Let 'em talk. 

Trying to reason with them, pointing out the logical fallacies in their belief system, will result in immediate combat.   

Answering "no"  when asked to convert or telling them how stupid their religion is results in immediate combat. 

The NumRom do not become angrier if you blow up their ships. They will simply keep coming at you with their spiel.   They will also apologize if you did suck them into combat, explaining that their original, warlike nature got the best of them.  That won't stop them from flipping again if you push their buttons, as above. 

If you let them talk all the way through, they will then provide some useful hints. 

Answering "yes" to the convert option causes the race to ally with you.  They will give you several starships with the option to reveal more.  They will also provide additional hints and data not previously available, but this is optional and not required to finish the game. Finally, when dialoguing with you, they will skip the spiel and allow you to get straight down to business. 

The disadvantage of this is that now the Captain is expected to adhere to the NumRom code of conduct, which includes 1) engaging in combat only in self-defense 2) opening every communication with any non-NumRom with a discussion of the Revelation of Rom. 

Since most other races are sick to death of hearing about Rom, this will make every other species in the galaxy hostile in short order. 

Repeated failures to adhere to the code of conduct results in the NumRom believing that your "conversion" was simply a trick. At which time, any NumRom ships in your fleet will initiate combat (they are really angry).  If you survive, the remaining NumRom will simply go back to the original encounter tactic of bombarding you with the revelation of Rom, until you finally reach the point that you, like the rest of the quadrant, open fire on them on sight.

Respectfully,

Brain P.

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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2006, 08:36:43 pm »

Wow we might have stumbled across a race more annoying than the slylandro probes!!!  Grin
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2006, 11:11:45 am »

I love it! Cheesy I'll be sure to make up my race soon.

But I think the ship might seem abeit overpowered having Avatar-like skiff/syreen crossbreeds and reincarnating.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2006, 11:13:54 am by Elerium » Logged
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #13 on: August 08, 2006, 05:48:02 pm »

I love the race idea. The only thing I don't like is the ship concept.

Essentially, it does things other races could do, as a specialty, without their flaws. They used to be the only ones that could do something like that, but this race beats them at their best fields.

I don't really like that. It should either do it worse than the established stuff, or something different entirely.

Bob
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Re: The People's Races!
« Reply #14 on: August 08, 2006, 09:15:38 pm »

All right ...

so let's nix the special attacks.   We reduce it to a single unarmed target (albeit very large) being protected by infinite waves of escorts. The way to win is to evade the escorts and blow up the ship.  The escorts disappear when the main ship dies. 

The problem now is to prevent a VUX or CHMMR from just blowing it to pieces with laser fire in under two seconds.  It's big and expensive enough it has to be a little harder than that. 

So perhaps we should add a reverse-tractor beam .. like the Avatar's tractor except it  pushes ships away. This will prevent it being too-easy meat for the Avatar.   We should ensure the power regeneration is low so that a ZFP or similar can break through with a little persistence. Or another option might be the repulsor balls used by the Sa-matra.  This ensures that a VUX or some such has to show a bit of cleverness, rather than simply motoring up to the BigShip and plastering it. 

Respectfully,

Brian P.
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