The Ur-Quan Masters Home Page Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
November 06, 2024, 05:38:04 am
Home Help Search Login Register
News: Celebrating 30 years of Star Control 2 - The Ur-Quan Masters

+  The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum
|-+  The Ur-Quan Masters Re-Release
| |-+  General UQM Discussion (Moderator: Death 999)
| | |-+  What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« previous next »
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 Print
Author Topic: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?  (Read 11115 times)
Valaggar
Guest


Email
What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« on: March 17, 2007, 06:18:18 pm »

Yes, this thing bugged me for some time.
Why did you take all the precious devices aboard with you to their destruction?!!
Or were they aboard the Escape Pod too?
Logged
Novus
Enlightened
*****
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 1938


Fot or not?


View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2007, 06:34:18 pm »

Most of the devices were probably too large to put in the escape pod. For example, the Portal Spawner includes a large chunk of Dreadnought and the Taalo Shield weighs a ton. The Sun Device is likely to be quite big for heat dissipation reasons alone, and the casters appear to be quite bulky. The only one definitely small enough for the escape pod would be the Neo-Dnyarri, and there are good reasons for blowing that one up with the Sa-Matra. Grin

What worries me more is that these things don't seem to take up any space in the flagship. Are the bolted to the sides or something?
Logged

RTFM = Read the fine manual.
RTTFAQ = Read the Ur-Quan Masters Technical FAQ.
Elvish Pillager
Enlightened
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 625



View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2007, 06:35:23 pm »

Wimbli's Trident should fit on board Tongue
Logged

My team of four Androsynth and three Chmmr is the most unfair team ever!
My mod
waywardoctagon
*Many bubbles*
***
Offline Offline

Gender: Female
Posts: 142


More information...


View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2007, 08:37:31 pm »

Well, you need the Spawner to get to the Sa-Matra--at least if you don't want to go through lots of enemy territory--so you can't leave that at home.  Taking it with you would entail uninstalling it (and, who says you know how to do that?  The Arilou installed it for you) while you're being chased by Ur-Quan.  Also, who's to say it would be needed afterwards?  The Arilou could presumably make you another one from any Dreadnaught that was sufficiently intact, if you really needed another large portal spawner.

The Taalo shield is definitely something you need to keep with you as long as the Dnyarri's on board.  Can't leave that behind.

The Sun Device and the Casters are trickier.  Maybe they just forgot about them.  Undecided  (Although the casters, at least, have potential use even after you have the bomb installed, since you might want to call the Melnorme.)
Logged
Koowluh
*Smell* controller
****
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 382



View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2007, 09:11:02 pm »

I imagine the Chmmr can build any toys you lose. Heck, they might have already built you more sleek versions once you get back to Earth. I mean, cracking an inpenetrable slave shield is peanuts for them... Furthermore, I take it that people were smart enough to download the blueprints of the tug, thus being able to create more after the Sa-Matra blows up (hey, unlimited RU, what's keeping them from doing it?).
Logged

I hate drugs. Air is the worst one. Breathe it once and you're hooked for life.
countchocula86
*Smell* controller
****
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 345


Culture 20!


View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2007, 10:47:21 pm »

In the great war for the liberation of our tiny little corner of the galaxy, sacrifices must be made.

Undoubtedly, the destruction of the portal spawner is considered good fortune for the Arilou, as I think they really only gave us Humans a spawner so we could battle the Ur-Quan, and not interact with potenial other creaters in that plane.

The loss that makes me the saddest is the Taalo shield. I mean lord only knows how many other psychic aliens are around.
Logged

I like to think you killed a man. It's the romantic in me.
Valaggar
Guest


Email
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2007, 08:36:24 am »

No, there aren't any other Dnyarri-like creatures, as the Arilou can tell you (in the PC version only):
Quote from: Zelnick
"Hey looky what we've got. The Talking Pet!"
So you do, my clever child!
You must have obtained some sort of psionic nullifier, am I right?
What a fine weapon the Dnyarri will be against the Ur-Quan, your enemy.
But I warn you, beware! You now possess one of the most powerful creatures in the history of your galaxy
and also one of the most evil... as you judge evil.
We warn you, do not believe anything the Dnyarri says.
It speaks only the lies it believes will convince you to set it free
and that you must NEVER do.


And the blueprint of the tug is not enough to rebuild it - who knows what advanced production techniques must be employed to build it! And the factory on Vela has been certainly destroyed by that pesky Dreadnought that slave-shielded the planet, as any buildings older than 500 (or was it 5000?) years are.

The Casters weren't unreplaceable pieces, of course - they're just casters of races not more advanced than the Alliance races.

But the Sun Device, the Glowing Rod and Wimbli's Trident?! (Well, especially the Sun Device, since the others are way too... dangerous.  Wink)
So the Sun Device is the only artifact that could be saved. But who says it wasn't?! The escape pod was supposed to fill the space the landers would have normally occupied, as we can see from the Outfit Starship picture. So it was larger than the landers, which were capable to transport the Sun Device. That means that the Device was taken with you for any case and dumped into the Escape Pod.
Or even let home from the first instance, and its presence in the "Devices" list a simple oversight of FF. Not PR3, only FF.
Logged
waywardoctagon
*Many bubbles*
***
Offline Offline

Gender: Female
Posts: 142


More information...


View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2007, 08:49:53 am »

No, there aren't any other Dnyarri-like creatures, as the Arilou can tell you (in the PC version only):
Quote from: Zelnick
"Hey looky what we've got. The Talking Pet!"
So you do, my clever child!
You must have obtained some sort of psionic nullifier, am I right?
What a fine weapon the Dnyarri will be against the Ur-Quan, your enemy.
But I warn you, beware! You now possess one of the most powerful creatures in the history of your galaxy
and also one of the most evil... as you judge evil.

But "one of" implies that there are more powerful creatures and more evil ones (although not necessarily embodied in the same creature(s), of course)--or at least that it's fairly close.

Besides, "incredibly powerful and evil" and "has mind control powers" aren't necessarily one and the same.  The shield is useful against the second (assuming it works against all/most such powers and isn't specifically tailored to the Dnyarri), but the Arilou specify the first.
Logged
Valaggar
Guest


Email
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2007, 09:56:27 am »

Well then, what do you say of this:
The Dnyarri were the most inimical race this galaxy has known.
In other dimensions, other *times* there are far, far worse beings
but they do not threaten you at the present time.
During their reign, the Dnyarri possessed absolute power over all intelligent species in this region.
They used their slaves for all menial tasks and many forms of depraved entertainment.
If the Talking Pet we gave to the Umgah has attained the coercive abilities of its ancestors
we must assume that other Talking Pets can do likewise.
Therefore the creature must be considered the most dangerous being in the galaxy.
Logged
waywardoctagon
*Many bubbles*
***
Offline Offline

Gender: Female
Posts: 142


More information...


View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2007, 10:02:44 am »

Ahhhh, good point.  I'd forgotten about that bit.  I think my second point still stands, though--not to mention it might be a good idea to be prepared in case more telepaths of that variety develop in the future, never mind what exists right now.  (And specifying "at the present time" implies that they might be a threat later.)

Wonder why *times* is an imperfectly-translated word.
Logged
Valaggar
Guest


Email
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2007, 10:06:40 am »

Quote from: waywardoctagon
Wonder why *times* is an imperfectly-translated word.
Because it must be a very complex concept.
Logged
waywardoctagon
*Many bubbles*
***
Offline Offline

Gender: Female
Posts: 142


More information...


View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2007, 10:13:54 am »

Quote from: waywardoctagon
Wonder why *times* is an imperfectly-translated word.
Because it must be a very complex concept.

Oh, probably.  But it seems like an instance where they'd simplify/dumb down the explanation anyway, so why not just use a straight equivilent?
Logged
Valaggar
Guest


Email
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2007, 10:29:12 am »

Perhaps there is no such an equivalent - other than "times", of course.
Who knows what might "*times*" mean...
Logged
countchocula86
*Smell* controller
****
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 345


Culture 20!


View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #13 on: March 18, 2007, 05:36:56 pm »

I don't see why the Arilou would know everything about the galaxy. Yes, they are quite advanced and knowledgeable but that doesn't mean they know every race, and all that stuff. I prefer to think of the endless possibilities Tongue
Logged

I like to think you killed a man. It's the romantic in me.
Draxas
Enlightened
*****
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 1044



View Profile
Re: What happens to the devices on-board after Sa-Matra's destruction?
« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2007, 04:37:30 pm »

I don't see why the Arilou would know everything about the galaxy. Yes, they are quite advanced and knowledgeable but that doesn't mean they know every race, and all that stuff. I prefer to think of the endless possibilities Tongue

I was just going to say. The Arilou may have a much greater level of understanding about places and races that we will never see or know of, but that doesn't mean they know everything.

Also, it seems to me that the Taalo shield actually is specifically tuned to block the Dnyarri. While it may seem a bit ambiguous when it gives the folks on the starbase with high psychic potential headaches, it also does nothing to prevent the Pkunk from using their precognitive powers, or the Syreen from using their ship's special. I think it's fair to say that the Taalo were only focused on stopping the Dnyarri, not making their shield able to nullify any type of psychic powers.

*Time* is a best-fit every time the Arilou use the word, not just in this one instance. It seems to imply that they have a different perception of time than we do, and that the very concept works differently for them.

The casters you get are no more or less advanced than their Old Alliance equivalents (barring the Chejesu's natural version, which was specifically stated to be much more sensitive than anyone else's). It just seems as if it's not possible for you to manufacture one of your own aboard the starbase, probably because they don't have any blueprints aboard; if they had the ability to make a long-range caster like those, I suspect they wouldn't have been in that sorry state in the beginning of the game, and would have called for (and received) help long ago. Also, you don't take the casters aboard your escape pod (along with your other devices) because you can't; the casters in particular are enormous. The Burvix caster is set up in a similar fashion to a radio beacon, and thus must be pretty large to begin with. The Umgah caster, just sitting there on its own, is apparently large enough to generate an anomolous energy reading on the planet's surface, implying that it's pretty huge as well.

It's also worth mentioning that the escape pod is not that big. Just because it appears to take up all your lander space in the shipyard screen, doesn't mean it actually does; more than likely, most of that space was occupied by the bomb. Odds are, there's room for only one thing in that escape pod: you.

Incidentally, it must suck to be one of the people crewing the ship for that final mission, knowing that there's only one escape pod on board. I suppose the Shofixti might be eager for that detail (blowing themselves up is nothing new for them), but I can't imagine any of the other races being particularly eager to accept that assignment.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 Print 
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!