Ok, we're probably never going to see the precursors ingame. But we can find out what they looked like from their structures.
1. They had tentacles.
The buildings have no stairs, only ramps. I can't really imagine a tentacled alien climbing steps.
2. They had hands - or at least arms
The data consoles have keys - how else would they use them? Also, how else would they hold the artifact keys?
3. They have large brains.
They're telepathic, so they have to have a larger brain.
What does that sound like? Yep, you guessed it.
A WARPER.
I'm not saying warpers are precursors, they just look like them. We make our robots look like us, (example - C-3PO) so why wouldn't they?
1. Errrr... yeah, actually, if you take a look at the architecture of the Sea-Emperor pen, there are very large steps leading up to the rest of the facility. The player just tends to walk along a smaller ramp where maybe a door or panel would slide into place if the Emperor was being 'unruly'. And so, the player might not notice the giant freaking steps.
Also 1. Don't generalize. You have no way of knowing if the precursors were one species. If they did a lot of interacting with other species, (they obviously collected Earth artifacts,) then they might join up with many more advanced species. In fact, the artifacts which can be found in the primary containment facility suggest that the Precursors have likely at least taken their teleportation tech from other species. Hehe.
2. Read my other post
3. Errrr Stop 'generalizationing'. You know nothing about this species directly, and can't assume that they have above worm intelligence. They might be a hive-mind and simply evolved to get some freaky high from astrobiology and are actually more like ants than super-beings. Also, they might have multiple brains.
ALSO 3. How do you know they're telepathic? The Sea Emperor says that they 'didn't listen' as if they drowned out telepathic brain waves coming from it.
AAAAND 4. Warpers aren't robots. And if we could make defense robots, we'd be stupid to make them look like humans. We'd just make them so that they'd work in whatever environment we're in.
As a follow-up to the above, If humans were to engineer an organism to use as a defense, we'd just make it look however the other lifeforms in the area work because we'd know that they obviously... uh... 'work'. And so, what do warpers like like an improved version of? That's right! all others of the most successful creatures on 4546B!!! Your argument is a double-edged sword which can easily disprove itself.
1. I saw the giant freaking steps, but it doesn't explain why they'd have ramps everywhere else and just stairs there. (Though it is probably because the devs decided a ramp would be easier to animate the player walking up)
2. Knowing species spreading in general, it is likely that the precursors didn't group with other species UNLESS they could 'assimilate' other species into their race. Im thinking now they are kinda like the borg, but organic.
3. Again, the hive - mind is possible, (given the Borg theory, who inspired the precursor architecture) and if they DID have a hive mind, telepathy is possible. Their brains might have been on a computer (like the cache says happened to one), and they had artificial bodies they used to interact, like the avatars from XCOM2. If so, this may have been why the SEL couldn't contact them.
4. They're kinda robots - they're biomechanical / cyborgs. However, it is unknown if they are sapient, (though unlikely, they seem to be pre - programmed to patrol, and the pda says they are "A programmable hunter - killer", so they probably don't have free will. Also, the warpers were created by basically making a frankenfish monster, by putting parts of various species together that lived in 4546B, so they could have made them look like anything they wanted. While the point of them being created to be something that previously existed and survived, they're isn't any creatures that look like them. They look like a cross between the sea emperor, a cave crawler and an unknown tentacled creature. Who knows, the warpers could be the left - over artifical bodies of the precursors
Hm... if they had artificial bodies like the Borg, why don't they just exist within their own circuitry like worms worming through wood? I guess maybe there's less chance of everyone dying if there is a system failure. Also, what's your explanation on why the precursors likely would've assimilated other creatures if they were composed of multiple species?
1: I swear to the FSM that I was able to climb up one of those steps once. Don't ask how, because I wasn't able to do what it was that allowed me to do it again, but I did. I swear.
3. Wait!!! But the signals which the PDA decodes are audio files! So if the Precursors are a host of computer programs, why would they waste their time communicating with an audible lang? And Anyhow, why didn't they just give themselves fully machine bodies or immerse themselves in a computer simulation so avoid the Cara- what if they did? What if when we disabled the QEP, we accidentally just killed uncountable consciousnesses which couldn't communicate with us to make us stop! AAAAH!!! I'm a MURDERER!!!
4. They're biologically engineered not mechanically engineered that we know of. They're nothing more than cybernetically enhanced designed organisms.
5. I assume that the precursors had at least enough free-will and consciousness to mind refraining from killing other sapient, creative creatures. They probably draw the line of what they consider intelligence in creatures around their creativity; and considering the interactions with Warpers, they'd probably be able to see that the player- although they may not have designed anything- have at least the mental abilities of strategy and organization. And anyhow, the Warpers seem pretty dumb overall.
kingkumacancels Work: distracted by Dwarf FortressJoin Date: 2015-09-25Member: 208137Members
edited February 2018
I said I saw them, but those steps are as tall as you. The precursors must have had to be HUGE to use them.
On the assimiliation argument: If a species comes in contact with another, they will either work together or kill the other off. I was saying if they DIDN't kill the other species off, then they'd group with them. However, given OUR species track record with coming into contact with other civilizations, my guess is a lot of aliens died.
Just a definition for those who might not know what we mean by sapient:
To quote the SCP wiki on this topic:
"This pair gets confused to mean the same thing A LOT, so don't feel too bad for using them interchangably. Just learn to not do it. Technically speaking (which is what we're going for here), "sentient" just means that the creature has the ability to sense and react to its environment. Animals are sentient, some plants are sentient, objects can be sentient if they're obviously reacting to environmental cues. "Sapient" means that it can think (it's right in the name of our species: Homo sapiens sapiens). Most animals are not sapient, no regular plants are, but electronic intelligences might be. A short-hand might be to ask whether or not the creature is capable of being aware that it's thinking about something."
I think its safe to say that the precursors did not use telepathy because if they did they would have listened to the trapped sea emperor, who said they did not listen to her, about what her babies needed to hatch and or the fact that those who played played by themselves meaning they didn't interact in a way the sea emperor was able to enjoy or communicate which leads me to believe that they were soo much on the technological side that they lost their organic touch or even the ability to be able to be empathetic towards other life forms so much to the point that they were doing tests on organic life and trying to modify the fauna of the planet .
They probably are Hive Mind driven exactly like the Warpers but the Warpers feel more like a program running code and doing System checks . Also Warpers have had their internals removed IE breathing and Stomach removed , replaced with hardware and a battery. Its mission is simple destroy lifeforms that are infected while not appearing as a machine in order to not disrupt the balance of the Environment. Considering the Fact that Warpers are usually Found along side other aggressive animals leads me to believe that they are Hybrids of baby Sea Emperors. the Way they move the fact nothing tries to kill it. It also appears that even tho they were so technologically advanced they didn't have the Hindsight that a Sea Dragon Would and could Rage the moment you decide to take its egg away . Possibly due to the fact that they attempted this after the fact that they had already Captured the Sea emperor and it was thought as not dangerous or tameable/docile.
Comments
does this match the description?
Hm... if they had artificial bodies like the Borg, why don't they just exist within their own circuitry like worms worming through wood? I guess maybe there's less chance of everyone dying if there is a system failure. Also, what's your explanation on why the precursors likely would've assimilated other creatures if they were composed of multiple species?
1: I swear to the FSM that I was able to climb up one of those steps once. Don't ask how, because I wasn't able to do what it was that allowed me to do it again, but I did. I swear.
3. Wait!!! But the signals which the PDA decodes are audio files! So if the Precursors are a host of computer programs, why would they waste their time communicating with an audible lang? And Anyhow, why didn't they just give themselves fully machine bodies or immerse themselves in a computer simulation so avoid the Cara- what if they did? What if when we disabled the QEP, we accidentally just killed uncountable consciousnesses which couldn't communicate with us to make us stop! AAAAH!!! I'm a MURDERER!!!
4. They're biologically engineered not mechanically engineered that we know of. They're nothing more than cybernetically enhanced designed organisms.
5. I assume that the precursors had at least enough free-will and consciousness to mind refraining from killing other sapient, creative creatures. They probably draw the line of what they consider intelligence in creatures around their creativity; and considering the interactions with Warpers, they'd probably be able to see that the player- although they may not have designed anything- have at least the mental abilities of strategy and organization. And anyhow, the Warpers seem pretty dumb overall.
On the assimiliation argument: If a species comes in contact with another, they will either work together or kill the other off. I was saying if they DIDN't kill the other species off, then they'd group with them. However, given OUR species track record with coming into contact with other civilizations, my guess is a lot of aliens died.
Just a definition for those who might not know what we mean by sapient:
To quote the SCP wiki on this topic:
"This pair gets confused to mean the same thing A LOT, so don't feel too bad for using them interchangably. Just learn to not do it. Technically speaking (which is what we're going for here), "sentient" just means that the creature has the ability to sense and react to its environment. Animals are sentient, some plants are sentient, objects can be sentient if they're obviously reacting to environmental cues. "Sapient" means that it can think (it's right in the name of our species: Homo sapiens sapiens). Most animals are not sapient, no regular plants are, but electronic intelligences might be. A short-hand might be to ask whether or not the creature is capable of being aware that it's thinking about something."
They probably are Hive Mind driven exactly like the Warpers but the Warpers feel more like a program running code and doing System checks . Also Warpers have had their internals removed IE breathing and Stomach removed , replaced with hardware and a battery. Its mission is simple destroy lifeforms that are infected while not appearing as a machine in order to not disrupt the balance of the Environment. Considering the Fact that Warpers are usually Found along side other aggressive animals leads me to believe that they are Hybrids of baby Sea Emperors. the Way they move the fact nothing tries to kill it. It also appears that even tho they were so technologically advanced they didn't have the Hindsight that a Sea Dragon Would and could Rage the moment you decide to take its egg away . Possibly due to the fact that they attempted this after the fact that they had already Captured the Sea emperor and it was thought as not dangerous or tameable/docile.