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Topic: Project 6014 – Ur-Quan Masters mod (Read 200500 times)
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Alvarin
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I have very big problem with Spathi on that account - the provided offsprings numbers are enormous and ther death rate shouldn't be hight, otherwise they would not be such cowards. They should have had depleted Spathiwa's resources quickly and gone extinct. Other races are quite plausible from what I can tell...
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Alvarin
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Not likely. If mortality rates were high enough to counter offsprings in the thousands, death would have to be SO commonplace that fearing it would be absurd. That is not synonimous with not trying to avoid it, but I am kind of sure in that scenario they'd develop Shofixti's mentality.
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oldlaptop
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Perhaps the Umgah accidentally did the Spathi a great service with the Evil Ones? 
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Technolopithicus
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Now that's a contribution offer you don't see every day !
It would be foolish to turn it down...
I've got a question for you though, but don't take it as a rebuttal. Many people have stated that what made Star Control so fun was that it didn't bother much with realism when it comes to physics, combat or astronomy. Would you say the same about its alien races, or do most of them fit into plausible evolutionary schemes ?
An interesting question. When you compare Star Control 2 to a lot of the science fiction of the day, I think it's actually a good bit more plausable in many ways. However, it was tongue-in-cheek in such a way that prevented the player from ever considering it "hard science fiction." For instance, actual dialogue with the various alien species was always very anthropomorphic.
As for the evolutionary descriptions of the game, they are pretty good too (though you have to compare it with other science fiction out there, which has a pretty dismal track record when it comes to biology.) SC2 spent a lot of time going into the evolutionary background and physiology of the aliens you met, which to me, was very interesting. They also took great pains to explain why human-like aliens (Syreen, Ariloulaleelay, etc) looked human. Granted, Star Control 2 is still far and away from Ascendency when it comes to exotic aliens, it's still one of the best game around in that regard.
I think the important thing, in regard to this mod, is that the aliens you encounter should be odd. I'll post a few concepts in this thread later today to give you an idea of what's bouncing around in my head.
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Technolopithicus
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I have very big problem with Spathi on that account - the provided offsprings numbers are enormous and ther death rate shouldn't be hight, otherwise they would not be such cowards. They should have had depleted Spathiwa's resources quickly and gone extinct. Other races are quite plausible from what I can tell...
I actually thought the Spathi were very plausable from an evolutionary standpoint. In the world of ecology, you have two kinds of strategies that may evolve in a given organism: r-selection and K-selection. An r-selected species typically thrives in disturbed, turmultuous environments and often produce numerous low-quality offspring. They also invest lightly in their offspring. K-selected species produce few offspring, enjoy late succession (stable) environments, and invest heavily in their offspring.
Which one does the Spathi sound like? The r-selected species. They evolved under highly unstable circumstances (the evil ones), they produce a high number of offspring (Fwiffo being part of a VERY large family) and parents invest little in their offspring (Fwiffo was spoken to only once by his mother.)
Also, it makes very good sense that the Spathi would be profound cowards. Selection was clearly favoring those whom had a high flight response because nothing they could do could defeat the Evil Ones. In the evolution of behavior, fruitless behavioral mechanisms are always selected against, so in the Spathi, you ended up with a civilization of cowards.
As for the Spathi outstripping their resources because of their high growth rate, this wouldn't likely happen because, as is true of all r-selected species, they tend to have a high mortality rate.
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Alvarin
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Thanks!
The question then what would they do now, when the threat of Evil Ones is gone and I highly doubght there is any other dangerous life left on Spathiwa.
Yes, Umgah did do good, unintentionally, based on that biologicl analysis 
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« Last Edit: November 25, 2010, 05:49:56 pm by Alvarin »
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Technolopithicus
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Thanks! The question then what would they do now, when the threat of Evil Ones is gone and I highly doubght there is any other dangerous life left on Spathiwa. Yes, Umgah did do good, unintentionally, based on that biologicl analysis
Well, once they moved to their moon, they would experience something called "ecological release" in which the pressures that forced their evolution have been lifted (primarily predation, it would seem). During ecological release, you find evolution in all kinds of interesting directions (very often, unfit directions.) If they weren't intelligent and technological, they would experience mass die offs (think lemmings.) Otherwise, they would devise some means to control their population. I don't recall in game that this was ever addressed (probably not!)
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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Another possibility is that most Spathi are infertile, or there is a truly astounding gender imbalance. For example, if they're a bit like bees but that males are the workers and the females are few and kept in the center (rather than the other way around) then Fwiffo's having 10k siblings makes sense.
One wonders how an r strategy species develops high technology, though. Instinct-level literacy?
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guesst
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Ancient Shofixti Warrior
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So what's the state of the project? Is it done yet? Where's the download.
I suggest you update the first post in the topic so folks can find the latest news easy.
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