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Topic: Injection 7: the ZoqFotPik (Read 3691 times)
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Valaggar
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This injection is meant to cure the General Discussion board of its disease preventing the discussion of other things than SuperMelee and UQM gameplay.
The ZoqFotPik.
First of all, who's who?
That's simple. Novus, I think, once said that in the source code the Zoq is the one on the left, the Fot is in the middle, the Pik is the Frungy-obsessed fellow on the right.
And indeed, Zoq=Frog, Fot=Photosynthesis(remember what they say about their nutrition. So that's what he uses the green leaf on his back for), Pik=Pike. Observe that Zoq and Pik are named after their shape, whereas the shy/dumb/whatever Fot is named after his nutrition, to suggest that he's silly and only thinks of food.
Ah - about nutrition: the right one (Pik - Frungy) also has those little holes like a whale's blowhole, suggesting that he's, indeed, the one feeding on airborne zooplankton, just like the whales filter the plankton through their blowholes. The Zoq... well, I'm VERY curious how can they talk, move and eat because they have no mouth or any feet or something. Perhaps they crawl?
Ah - about movement: the Pik jumps for sure, since he has that spring-like shape; plus, how else could they play Frungy (assuming it's a ball game)?
the Fot: I can see some tiny, many feet below his body; I'm assuming that he's like a centipede.
The name of the, err, coalition: ZoqFot. Why, in the name ZoqFotPik, the Pik is mentioned last, and even forgotten in the short form? I think that it's because the name is made by the more serious Zoq, who are the only ones mature enough to even consider a name. They put themselves first, of course, and the Pik the last, 'cause they hate their Frungy obsession.
And why don't the Fot talk? They're shy, most likely. Because of this, the Zoq and the Pik are reluctant to discuss the matter, because they don't want to divulge such a delicate thing about their friend.
And don't forget: Injections are bilateral. YOU must think, meditate, cogitate, reply, awaken. The General Discussion must be saved!
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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Here is an excerpt from a fanfic I'm working on, which indicates how I approached this:
"Ah, welcome, Peeru!"
Peeru turned to find herself face-to-face with something... green. With a feminine voice coming from its synthesizer.
"Have we met?"
"I'm KooPor, and this is KooPor." Two small tentacles gestured to her left: a brown being with a large eye sat motionless but for a sudden blink.
"It must be very confusing to have the same name."
"Not at all. Individually, I'm Koo, he's Por, and ei's..."
"Ays what?"
"More or less, yes."
"What?"
"There's a name in there, though it's not pronounced. My full name now is my name, his name, and eir name. Eir full name is eir name, my name, and his name. And his full name is his name, eir name, and my name. Make sense now?"
"So, you're sort of the captain's, wife... and something?" I hope I used that term right.
"No, not at all! We're married to KeeMow."
"Oh." oops.
"We are different species, after all."
"I'd been wondering."
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« Last Edit: February 27, 2007, 07:29:28 pm by Death 999 »
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Valaggar
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It looks like a combination of a frog and a plant, better said. Still, the fact is that they eat rocky fungal clingers:
LEFT:We three, the Zoq, Fot, and Pik evolved in such a way as to acquire sustenance from many sources...
RIGHT:...from airborne zooplankton...
LEFT:...from solar and ambient energies...
RIGHT:...and from rocky fungal clingers.
LEFT:Our favorite! They are not photosynthetic like plants, so, you see, they are really in between.
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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They eat solar energy but you say they aren't photosynthetic? Even plants need to bring in material.
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Novus
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Fot or not?
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This injection is meant to cure the General Discussion board of its disease preventing the discussion of other things than SuperMelee and UQM gameplay.
Needles scare me. I'm cured, honest! 
The ZoqFotPik.
First of all, who's who?
That's simple. Novus, I think, once said that in the source code the Zoq is the one on the left, the Fot is in the middle, the Pik is the Frungy-obsessed fellow on the right.
Ayup. For example, from src/sc2code/comm/zoqfot/zoqfot.c:
if (PLAYER_SAID (R, which_fot))
{
NPCPhrase_cb (HE_IS0, &SelectAlienZOQ);
NPCPhrase_cb (HE_IS1, &SelectAlienPIK);
NPCPhrase_cb (HE_IS2, &SelectAlienZOQ);
NPCPhrase_cb (HE_IS3, &SelectAlienPIK);
NPCPhrase_cb (HE_IS4, &SelectAlienZOQ);
NPCPhrase_cb (HE_IS5, &SelectAlienPIK);
NPCPhrase_cb (HE_IS6, &SelectAlienZOQ);
NPCPhrase_cb (HE_IS7, &SelectAlienPIK);
ZFPTalkSegue ((COUNT)~0);
DISABLE_PHRASE (which_fot);
}
The corresponding text is:
#(HE_IS0) zoqfo016.ogg
He is.
#(HE_IS1) zoqfo017.ogg
No, she is!
#(HE_IS2) zoqfo018.ogg
No, I'm not!
#(HE_IS3) zoqfo019.ogg
Yes, you are.
#(HE_IS4) zoqfo020.ogg
Cripes! We've been through this a million times!
#(HE_IS5) zoqfo021.ogg
That doesn't change anything. You're the Fot!
#(HE_IS6) zoqfo022.ogg
Faugh!
Well, Captain, as you can see, this is a point of some contention.
#(HE_IS7) zoqfo023.ogg
Fot!
The name of the, err, coalition: ZoqFot. Why, in the name ZoqFotPik, the Pik is mentioned last, and even forgotten in the short form?
Well, the real-world reason is probably that the ship status displays (e.g. in melee, maybe elsewhere) are too small for the name "ZoqFotPik", and the developers were lazy (note that "Androsynth" is also abbreviated to "Androsyn"; "Arilou Lalee'lay" (their own spelling) or "Ariloulaleelay" (Hayes') or "ArilouLaleelay/LalilouArilay/LoopylooHappyday" (used by the Pkunk) is naturally cut down to "Arilou").
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Valaggar
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I was talking about the leftmost one. He doesn't eat solar energy, but rocky fungal clingers.
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« Last Edit: June 29, 2007, 09:07:55 pm by Valaggar »
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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You said 'they', never disambiguating, with the 'we' in the quote similarly never disambiguated.
The way they alternate makes it especially unlikely that the left one, who was the only one to actually mention solar energy, is the one who does not use solar energy.
Revenge? 
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Draxas
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I was always under the impression that (barring the specific discussions revolving around the Sport of Kings), regardless of who was actually physically speaking at the time, each of the ZoqFotPik spoke for the collective of three species as a whole. I also interpreted the specific dialog regarding their diets to mean that each of the three species subsisted on all (or at least more than one) of the dietary options outlined, making them all essentially photosynthetic omnivores (at least on the microscopic level). The description also serves as a stark contrast to the description of the Zebranky diet which immediately follows; the ZoqFotPik make themselves seem harmless and innocuous, and the Zebranky seem evil, whereas it seems more likely that the Zebranky were obligate carnivores that had evolved to eat large prey. But, as they say, history is written by the winners.
Point being, I always thought that all 3 species had the same or similar diets, and that the "our favorite!" referred to the fact that the last was indeed the favorite food of all three species (as evidenced by the use of plural).
Incidentally, I reject your reasoning that the photosynthetic one would be the only one not upwardly mobile; many organisms on our planet feed off of zooplankton, and are sessile as well. There really is little reason that any would need to move around terribly much (or at least, move quickly), save for the fact that it would be a necessary adaptation to avoid predation by the Zebranky.
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Cedric6014
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I'd go with that
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Valaggar
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Yeah, the back one certainly moves, I was just saying that he's not too active.
But of course, it's possible that they all have the same diet. Still, then, what are the blowholes of the rightmost one used for, if not for eating airborne zooplankton? And then how do the others eat it without such a thing?
And what about the leftmost one? He seems to have no place at all through which to speak and eat. Perhaps there is one on his back or his bottom? I'd say, more likely, that under his "eyes" there are holes. Most likely they are false eyes.
Ah, and another interesting question: Do you think that the ZoqFotPik are capable of surviving outside of a three-species group? I'd say that only the Fot (back) has eyes, for example, and relays what he sees to the others. It's true that the Pik (right) says at Zelnick's encounter with the scout ship: "They look sneaky" but this could be only a translation issue.
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Draxas
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The blowholes on the blue guy could be any number of things: Orifices to release spores for reproduction (if, perhaps, ZFP society is a lot more open about that sort of thing than we are; it doesn't seem likely, though, considering the "blow a sac of spores at you" threat during one of the Frungy discussions), perhaps it's part of their respiratory apparatus (with visible exhalations until their waste gasses dissipate into the general atmosphere), it could be for actually consuming airborne zooplankton (running with my assumption that all ZFP have similar diets consisting of all the foods mentioned), etc. It's also fairly certain that the blue guy has a mouth on his underside (you can see the tongue emerge from there in his pilot animation), probably for eating those rocky fungal clingers they mention as well as for communication.
Just because their means of communication, eating, etc. are not visible, does not preclude their existence. Perhaps the blue guy has small eyes hidden in one of those dark folds in the front of his body. Perhaps one or more of the ZFP species navigate through echolocation, or another such "exotic" means that do not require eyes. Or perhaps, in a true symbiotic collective sense, the middle guy with the one eye has evolved to become the sight of a given group of 3, and the other two have lost the ability to see. Considering that the middle guy seems to have the ability to communicate telepathically with the other two (which is, perhaps, why he does not speak in the conventional sense), this might not be such a terrible relationship since they would be able to communicate essentially instantaneously. However, I think it's probably most likely that we simply don't know enough about ZFP physiology to make anything approaching an educated guess, especially since what little we do know is rather ambiguous in which of the three it is in reference to.
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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The way they alternate makes it especially unlikely that the left one, who was the only one to actually mention solar energy, is the one who does not use solar energy. Ah, you say that the left one's reply "Our favourite!" is in response to the same left one's reply "...solar and ambient energies..."?
No, the one on the left said solar and ambient energies, and then agreed that rocky fungal clingers are their favorite, which indicates that that individual is both phototroc and eats rocky fungal clingers.
In addition, the one from the back seems more likely to feed on solar energy, since he's just a sitting duck, he doesn't do or say anything.
Well, consider the ancient history:
"Then, one stormy day, a Zoq, a Fot, and a Pik were walking up a steep path looking for something good to eat"
Looks like the fot is mobile. Just because e is in a comfortable position doesn't mean e is less active in general. Michael Jordan at a computer would at first glance to an alien appear sessile.
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Valaggar
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Aha.
Draxas: I said that the GREEN one, the one from the LEFT, eats RFC (rocky fungal clingers). And he really doesn't seem like having orifices. He's the one with spraying, not tonguing.
One thing more: ZFP are really neat. With all the organs hidden under their folds...
But I agree with you, we certainly don't know too much about ZFP physiology. However, I would go with the idea that the Fot are telepathic, for sure. It's cool.
And Death: So you're suggesting that the Fot is simply too busy to talk? Then why are they referred to by the others as not talking at all: "YOU: Doesn't that guy in the back ever say anything? ZOQ: Nope. PIK: Not a thing".
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