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Topic: Chenjesu (Read 32985 times)
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Arne
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Chenjesu
« on: September 24, 2008, 09:36:13 am » |
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I'm having troubles with these. Some conclusions:
- I wanted to do a body because I'm not too keen on magic stuff like levitating giant crystals. It's ok if they're placed on a gizmo though
 - The lower body ('pot'), if it exists at all, should probably be simple and not dominant, because it's not seen on the original art.
- I tried a white pot before (like the ship hull), but since the sprite appears against a black background, I made the pot black.
- There's some purple long shapes, reflecting the little pet, co-pilot, control panel seen in the portrait sprite.
- Maybe the high frequency resonators are worn on the body, for communication purposes. Adding them makes the body more complex though, but the blue tone is there in some of the crystal reflections, so adding a blue element rhymes with that. I made them look a bit like dog legs, although they're probably for levitation control. Or perhaps the Chenjesu skips around like silly little dogs, barking out their ancient wisdom.
- The lower jaw came from the little loose knob at the bottom on the portrait sprite. Not sure if I want them to look human faced though.
- Symmetry or not? No conclusion.
- Perhaps since the Mmrnmhrm are techy, the Chenjesu pots should not be.
- Maybe the Chenjesu are immobile and use 'slaves', like their D.O.G.I.
I think the colored ones lack detail-flow and are haphazard :/
ref:
http://starcontrol.classicgaming.gamespy.com/sc1/chentech.shtml
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« Last Edit: September 24, 2008, 09:56:26 am by Arne »
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Alvarin
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Re: Chenjesu
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2008, 10:05:19 am » |
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I think that the Chenjesu are actually the purple crystals and what you drew is the control panel ...
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Arne
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Re: Chenjesu
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2008, 01:20:24 pm » |
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In case you weren't joking, in SC1 the green crystal appears on the victory screen as a portrait.
I gave the mobility issue some thought and came to pretty much the same conclusion. It's a good idea to start with thinking how they evolved. I had some vague idea that as a primitive species they were like plants, able to manipulate the ground around them to fashion objects, shapes and channels via some process of rapid fossilization. It'd be like a very complex root system, devised to facilitate gathering of materials for crystal growth, repairs and reproduction. It could also be used for communication. Eventually it became so complex that mobility was possible, like sliding on granules.
I can picture them being the only life form on the planet, sliding across its flat calm surface for eons, hunting for the best growth spots, slowly evolving. Our plants do not need to improvise because their environment is pretty predictable. If what nourishes the Chenjesu requires constant on-the-feet strategical thinking, that would sponsor intelligence, I think.
Also, cultural memory could be preserved by writings/sculptures in the ground, perhaps in such a way that their memetic regression is slower than ours, and their progression is stronger. Perhaps their evolution is almost entirely memetic. Their potential for intelligence was supported all along and they just needed to achieve certain structures.
Humans have had a very significant memetic evolution too.
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« Last Edit: September 24, 2008, 01:28:41 pm by Arne »
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Arne
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Re: Chenjesu
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2008, 02:03:52 am » |
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That seems to rhyme with most of my idea. If they're like plants, then the crystal could be the solar panel (and brain). Afaik, ambient minerals means free floating mineral particles (air or water). Fish accumulate ambient particles found in water. I suppose accumulating them from dust storms would be possible too.
Also, if their evolution is primarily memetic, they probably don't have any need for sexual reproduction, or death. They could still die from some kind of crystalline pathway degradation though (senility).
It would be cool if the Chenjesu were made of something like Gallium, that'd make them silver colored though, but they'd get a bunch of weird properties.
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« Last Edit: September 25, 2008, 02:05:45 am by Arne »
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Arne
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Re: Chenjesu
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2008, 11:07:44 am » |
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haha, yeah, they do have a blue force field around them in the SC 1 victory portraits image... but all portraits do.
I'll have another go at them after I've bought some candy.
I do agree that giving them a techy Seegway makes the 'polarity' with the Mmrnmhrm suffer.
Perhaps a Chenjesu is carried by a turtle... carried by an elephant.
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Arne
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Re: Chenjesu
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2008, 02:24:18 pm » |
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The Chenjesu are blue in SC2, green in SC1. Maybe it's ambient light or a reflection. Gallium is reflective (bright silver). Bismuth is another interesting metal which can form crystals (and has 'thermoelectric' properties). It's more rainbow colored though (oily look).
The 'eye' crystals look different in the Amiga version, perhaps. Experimented with a levitation ball and tentacles. I'm not willing to take the step to pot-less just yet.
I thought the Pkunk were... quacks.
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« Last Edit: September 25, 2008, 02:42:31 pm by Arne »
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Death 999
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Re: Chenjesu
« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2008, 05:17:27 pm » |
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I, uh, don't like these chenjesu portraits. They ought to have some way of moving that is not technological in nature.
I'd generally imagined them lying flat, or when moving, hovering flat, very close to the ground. I'd drop the 'eye' spots and make them less symmetric.
(edited to add: and I'd be wrong to do that. Hmm)
Jus my $0.02.
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« Last Edit: September 29, 2008, 05:22:07 pm by Death 999 »
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Koowluh
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Re: Chenjesu
« Reply #14 on: September 26, 2008, 10:36:49 pm » |
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I saw this thread, and it prompted me to exit lurker mode and post something again.
I remembered that way back, someone drew up some art of the Chenjesu. I absolutely loved that. The topic was http://forum.uqm.stack.nl/index.php?topic=3904.15
Mind you, it is a very old topic, and people have come and gone between now and then. What I said in that topic though still reflects what I think of the Chenjesu; they might have integrated some tech from another race to make their crystalline bodies move around. They may have been fully crystalline and "rigid" in the past, the only movement of an entity is that of "growing" into a place. Chenjesu ships may have taken them ages to grow in the past, but with gathered tech have allowed them to expand and grow more rapidly.
So my opinion in short; gathered tech have made them more mobile, before that time, they moved by growing into place, their appearance being that of crystals.
Feel free to ignore it though, I always love seeing your artwork...
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I hate drugs. Air is the worst one. Breathe it once and you're hooked for life.
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(and so on for all infinity)