The Ordistant

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Nightfish
FreeOrion Designer / Space Monster
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The Ordistant

#1 Post by Nightfish »

Ordistant (by Utilae)

Intro
They are software with the most efficient physical form ever: cells. They make up their world or should I say that there world is made of them. They are machines, computerised and mechanical with no organic parts, they are pure machines, the Ordistant. Each Ordistant is a cell, so can link interchangeably with other cells to form interesting machines that are much larger than their original form. Because of this ability, they allocate less memory to processing and so by themselves are useless as machines or computers. With the ability to link to other cells, creating awesome machines, they merge their software, their spirits, their processing power. Together they are more, they are one machine as well as many. Here in lies their power, combined they have more processing power then ever, and as bigger better machines they can do more useful things.

Homeworld
Their homeworld is called Esruras, a barren cold world. This world is flat and contains very few mountainous areas. This world also is rich in minerals as well as organic life, though all that remains of that life is what is being taken. Most of the life on this world has been absorbed into the entire race of the Ordistant. The world now is covered in cells (the Ordistant), creating a machine world, where they mine everything from minerals to food. Everything of the original world is absorbed, to sustain and create more cells, more Ordistant's. However this world is not enough, they must spread to other worlds, in order to sustain themselves, just as they themselves are their ships, tanks and soldiers. They do this to exists, because it is in their nature, although not natural in the sense of trees and plants, but in the sense of machines and the artificial.

Physical Description
In it's original form, the Ordistant is a 'cell'. It is shaped like a cylinder, with a round dome on the top part of the cylinder. The side of the cylinder is seperated into four areas, with a shield shaped element extending out from the flat surface of each area on the cylinder. On the front of each shield element is a blue lense. The bottom of the cylinder has a flattened dome with five tendrils extending out. Each tendril can move in any direction and is totally flexible. At the tip of each tendril is a spiked mechanism that serves two purposes. The first is for cutting and wielding and the second is as an offensive spear like weapon. The round dome at the top part of the cylinder has three of these tendrils, which are the same in every detail as the first I described. This round dome (at the top of the cylinder) also has a lense, blue like the other lenses described, and all used for seeing light, radiowaves, radiation and heat. Inside the cylinder itself is housed the main processing unit, an anti gravity system and other vital mechanisms. The anti gravity system allows the 'cell' (the Ordistant) to float, with the ability to control how high or low it floats.

When the cells merge with other cells, to create new machines, they use their tendrils to reconstruct each other into the appropriate machine that results. This sounds quite destructive, but it is a complex and efficient process that is done quite fast, mainly as a result of their physical form being made to come apart and go together at will.

Social Structure
Each Ordistant is in essence software that exists inside machine bodies. Each Ordistant is a seperate element of software and so are individual thinkers but have the same goals, most of which are instinct, built in as part of their software parameters. When they combine into a single machine from many Ordistant cells, they combine their software elements into a single software element. This single software element gains parameters that defines its goals and its overall role as this new machine. The machine acts as one, though serves the purposes of the entire race, as defined by its parameters.

It is also possible for a machine to be deconstructed into its original cell forms, with the single machine software seperated into many software elements for each cell. This process is not entirely efficient, though, because a seperate machine specialised in this deconstructing role is required. All cells are reconstructed to their original number before the combination process in this manner.

The most basic of parameter defined in every cells software elements are the need for resources, which are mined and farmed from the planet they occupy. Whatever resource the planet holds is able to be converted to valuable energy nutrients, which are needed by the Ordistant to survive and to create more cells and more machines. However, the world they currently occupy will soon be useless to them, so they must move onto other worlds, which then being covered in Ordistant cells, becomes a 'machine world'. Energy nutirents are then constantly transmitted to all Ordistant cells and machines.

History
The Ordistant do not know much at all of their past, nothing before a ceratin period (sometime after the fall of the Orions). Along with their need to spread (necesary to exist), they seek to recover this lost data. Their are elements of their homeworld that put across the idea that perhaps they were a major part of the Orions empire, an important element. Things such as its richness in resources and some of the ancient buildings they remember consuming, things that are now stored in their archives, accessable by any cell.

Also there are now useless parameters in their software elements that suggest that their need for resources was controlled at some point, as though to stop the need to spread. However, only parts of these parameters are stored in their archives and it seems that after many trials of these parameters they could not reduce or remove thier need for resources. It seems that they have changed too much beyond these parameters and so cannot accept them.

Although the past of the Ordistants is much unknown, it is widely believed that they were once specialised mining machines, used to occupy a planet high in minerals and mine these precious resources, which would then be sent to the Orions themselves. If this was the main source of Orion resources then perhaps the Ordistant became uncontrollable, needing resources for themselves and also gaining goals, they somehow caused a shortage in vital resources needed by the Orions. If this is true, then the end of the Orions began at this point. But this alone surely did not cause their doom. Maybe their were other reasons, perhaps at this point the Orions were exploitable. What could have initiated the dissappearance of the once powerful Orions. Whatever happened, the Ordistants had some important place in the history and fall of the Orions.

Race Attributes
-Improved Mining, Production and Farming (Mining and Farming are basically the same thing to them)
-Population capacity of a planet is four times normal. Also population increases equivalent to the rate of Ordistant production.
-Planetary stockpile caps of minerals and nutrients (food) begin to drop as time goes by, so ultimately the planetary stockpile caps become quite low. This represents the fact the planets are drained of almost all resources.
-Each Ordistant (a cell) can combine with others, creating new machines (ie heavy infantry, tanks, ships, etc). For each unit of population (a cell) their is a rate of upkeep (minerals and nutrients). Population units (cells) a used to build ships, tanks, soldiers and buildings.
-It costs more to put fewer individuals on a project and costs less to put more individuals on a project (ie reversed diminishing returns).

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Krikkitone
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#2 Post by Krikkitone »

Sounds as if their basic point is the interchangability between population and production... in that case one could simply have population 'built' costing some amount of production, assuming there are minerals to support it... give the population 0 'natural' growth rate

For a simpler version

I'd suggest Cybernetic (as they consume both minerals and food, and can repair stuff rapidly)
and the Economic Bonuses.. maxed out.

From the Consessus-think I'd give penalties to Diplomacy, trade, especially spying... don't seem like the most savy thinkers

Probable penalties to combat, as they don't understand the concept of conflict, band still have enough individual thought for fear.

Nice to have one race on a Barren HW

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utilae
Cosmic Dragon
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#3 Post by utilae »

Here's a pic of the Ordistant that I created (based on the description):
Image

miu
Graphics Lead Emeritus
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#4 Post by miu »

I'm starting to model one of these :) not strictly following the design, but you'll see soon.
Difference between a man and a gentleman is that a man does what he wants, a gentleman does what he should. - Albert Camus

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utilae
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#5 Post by utilae »

Hey, ok. Go for it. 8)

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