Builder alien
Pyrus
Join Date: 2002-02-02 Member: 151Members
Join Date: 2002-02-02 Member: 151Members
<div class="IPBDescription">The builder alien</div>Personally I dont like the builder alien, in most social animal structures the worker caste is fast effeciant and lightly armed, The chosen appearence for NS IMHO is a little too large and lumbering. For it to make stuff and such, it would need more intelligence than its warrior breed counterparts and would be smaller and have apendeges with more complex motor tasks, since its emphesis is on labour not really defending itself. the current one just looks like it makes noise, walks around and churns out projecticle excrements for the good of its alien peers.
Does anyone else agree that its physique should be scaled down, or on the other hand, completely disagree?
Does anyone else agree that its physique should be scaled down, or on the other hand, completely disagree?
Comments
evolutionarily, that would make more sense. because it is simpler to create things without spending lots of time assembling them and putting yourself at risk.
and besides, dontcha just wanna hug him?
Anyway, mimicking the animal kingdom, while it can't be avoided (because people still need an IRL reference to attach emotion to a fictional entity), should be kept to a minimum to retain the true ideal of what Sci-Fi is all about, which is giving us something new and intriguing to contemplate. As long as every aspect of a certain creature is justified in respect to its evolution on its fictional home planet based on biology, physics, and chemical makeup's, you can really make anything look the way you want.
When i DID imagin a worker Drone builder type, I think of the role it must play for its social order, Tasks must be done with punctuality especially in battle, This is only reinforced a demanding, Is it easy to be fast while you are lumbering and of considerable girth?, How will you reach strategic points via small spaces IE; airvents?, and normally that kind of mass can only be achieved with a slow metabolic rate, and a life style where your near the top of the food chain, or can defend yourself eg; elephants, rhinoes, hippoes and such. But in an organised society of animals its almost the complete opposite, such as meer cats hunting dogs and such.
I thought sort of along the lines of what Humbaba pictured, More insect like, Fast, effeciant and relaible, maybe with some visable bial sack contraption in his body.As he said it doesnt require much thought to excrete, nor do you have to be a philosopher, but if its that simple than the materials created would have to be simple aswell, to make up for that, he could at least have an array of natual tools to intensify it, eg limbs with motor functions, or secondary stomachs or bladders with other chemicals and such in them.
Perhaps, Pudgy got so big because he can lumber around while being protected and provided for by every other level in the caste system. Perhaps he can create structures out of bile, mucous, and faeces, which are stronger than brick, steel, or any other such material. I don't see the need for him to go *anywhere* outside the base, but rather might stay inside, acting as babysitter for the eggs and creating whatever walls, traps, and so forth he needs.
Really, we can't say, until we know how the alien society (if such a thing exists) and Pudgy's building mthods work entirely, that he has a bad design, and would not work.
Comparing him to earthly organisms, especially insects, won't do much good, because these are aliens, and the insect thing has been *far* overdone. Pudgy isn't supposed to be a spider, he isn't supposed to be a termite, he isn't building bird nests. He's building foreign, unknown, alien structures, the workings of which we may never comprehend! So just sit tight until NS comes out, and then you can see for yourself if Pudgy doesn't work right.
Thank you.
-Jacius
your right jacius but i wasnt suggesting that the aliens should use other building materiels, because i for one think it would ruin the aliens feel.
LMAO Trane
uh huh ...
--Scythe--
the_only_scythe@yahoo.co.uk
*BTW thx molecular for the dictionary site i would have written shovel like schouvel <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->*
nuw teres someting i suer dont ned!
jeeesus, al yuo people hom ccant spul!
yuo make mi sik!
he he <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->
Yeah, we wanted the level 2 to be pretty much the opposite of the warrior class of aliens. His look is designed to appear fairly non threatening (though he will have some basic self defense attacks). He relies on the protection of the other aliens and of his organic "buildings", to keep him safe. His speed is limited so as to keep people from trying to zip around the map and use him offensively. His vulnerability will impart a bit of teamwork to the otherwise "every man for himself" mentality that goes along with the alien side.
He is not meant to be highly advanced, merely evolved to be useful for what he does: churning out structures that can benefit the other aliens. Wurmspawn is exactly right that the level 2 does not require fine motor skills and that the creation of the "structures" will "take place in its massive and presumably complex gut and be very simple to excrete".
The basic stucture will form inside the alien and will emerge through its large mouth and plop onto the ground in front of him, where he will proceed to spray a liquid onto it which activates the structure's growing process, turning it from a gloopy organic pod to a more evolved alien sentry gun or something. Its more of an instinctual process, like giving birth, rather then a complex piecing together of materials.
And go give yourself 20 lashes for not visiting the site more often, Molec. How about some leadership by example <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo--> . You're always telling other people to, after all...
first of all:
u say that www.half-life.nu is a scandinavian page, adn that www.half-life.no is an norweagan page.
hmm... where do you think norway is!!?
norway, danmark and sweden are the three separat-no connection countrys looked on as scandinavia (like the middle east) now, www.half-life.nu is a swedish page!
so plz. write that, everything on it, is in sewdish, nothing else, so its no t scandinaivian, its got nothing to do whit norway, or danmark, so please write SWEDISH! thx
and, in mod-news, could you please add www.modxtreme.com ?
iv been at there forums for a while, would be great if u could add `em <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
I will definitely add modextreme.com.
I think Squeal covered most everything, I can only add a few small points:
- The level 2 doesn't exist at the bottom of the social structure and hierarchy for one reason: most alien players won't want to be builders, they'd rather be fighters (so the level 1 is an offensive class)
- The builder's bulk is for defensive purposes, but also to make him seem less pointy and threatening. I hope builders aren't always back at the base, and he's been given lots of armor and an appearance to match.
- The builder is actually a bit smaller then he looks. He's roughly the same size as the level 1, which is roughly the same size as a large dog (perhaps a St. Bernard). His hide and almost rhino or elephant appearance might suggest that he's much bigger, but he's not.
<!--EDIT|Flayra|Feb. 04 2002,16:19-->
Do what I say, not what I do. <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
*continues imagining large pig sized Pudgy*
-Jacius
*someone leans over and whispers in bobs ear*
oh this isnt real life, and im not an alien, sorry.