Race Categories

Species suggestions, story ideas and contributions.
Message
Author
User avatar
utilae
Cosmic Dragon
Posts: 2175
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:37 am
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Race Categories

#1 Post by utilae »

Let's come up with a list of race types that are truly unique (avoiding star trek style races where they look the same except with different ears).


Current List Of Race Types:
Machine race (like replicators in Stargate)
Humonoid race (like humans, E.T., protoss)
Insect race (starship troopers like)
Plant race (seeds, sentient plants, growth)
Magic race (they have magic powers woooo)
Transdimensional race (like ghosts or something)
Symbiote race (like gould, zerg)
Companion race (two races benefitting one another, may be symbiote)
Virus race (spread from host to host, like a zombie virus, computer virus)
Water race (live underwater, need water)
Energy race (pure energy, probably ascended)
Gas race (toxic, smells bad)
Fire race (demons, fire, burning)
Material race (crystal, metal, earth)

Feel free to try and simplify categories, dispel categories, etc.

Velizar
Space Floater
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:50 pm
Location: Serbia

#2 Post by Velizar »

OK, I’ll take a shot (thinking it as I go along, so terms might be spotty):

The races are divided into three categories: Order, Species, Race.

FLORA

The floral order is constituted by various sentient plant life. Unlike other orders, it shares no common element as its nominator. Floral species are most diverse and can differ from one another greater than in any other order.

2-3 plant species (not my range)


FAUNA

Various forms of animals are grouped in the fauna order. They share several similarities: most are carbon-based, need a breathable element and a suitable environment, have appendages and are mobile. Fauna species are the most common sight in the galaxy, though their evolution is generally regarded as painstakingly slow.

Humanoid, Saurian, Insecta, Ichtyhosian, Etherean


MINERAL

These beings are made of diverse minerals, and can be found usually in crystalline or rock-based form. Their base element is silicon, they are extremely resistant to hostile conditions and are sonic-sensitive. There is little variety of mineral species, and they are a rare sight to behold.

Crystalline, Geodic


PROTOZOA

Different brands of known sentient single-cellular organisms belong to the protozoa order. Though the basis for their formation is by far the greatest, only a handful of protozoan species evolve into true sentience, but with stunning results.

Bacteria, Viral


CYBERNETIC

Cybernetic species are based on diverse metals and logic-driven, pattern-guided thought. They differ in the levels and forms of mechanization. Cybernetic races, though they tend to focus vehemently on a singular goal, usually excel at the area of their choosing.

Cyborg (other kingdom-based life forms which have chosen cybernetic evolution), ‘True’ Cybernetics (built or evolved robots, computers and stuff, or fully transformed cyborg races)


ETHEREAL

Most bizarre races by far can be found in the ethereal section. They are non-corporeal, as they transcend the general matter structure of other orders and can be unthinkably convoluted. Some are energy based, some live a pan-dimensional existence, others take on even more dazzling ways of being: yet the galaxy at large agrees: they are either to be distrusted or worshipped as gods.

Energetic, Trans-Dimensional



Now, symbiote races are a inbreed of others, so I think that they can safely be put in these divisions, with the host race the basis and ‘symbiotic’ as a trait, with an explanation suitable to the case. Parasitic should go into the Protozoa category, as viruses mostly (viral races can be biological, or A.I.).

Scratched Magic, because FO is a space opera (everything has its explanation). Symbiote and Companion are the same. Water-based race puzzled me: if it’s a race that lives underwater, it can go to a category of its own, but if it’s a race built of H2O, then it’s probably non-corporeal. Likewise with the gas race. A fire race idea is too strange to discuss: chalked it down to energy-based. And that’s about it.
Last edited by Velizar on Mon Jul 18, 2005 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sometimes, a man's heart is that of a wolf, and the path of enlightenment his alone to walk upon.

User avatar
Zanzibar
Psionic Snowflake
Posts: 470
Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2003 10:35 pm
Location: Earth

Re: Race Categories

#3 Post by Zanzibar »

utilae wrote:Let's come up with a list of race types that are truly unique (avoiding star trek style races where they look the same except with different ears).


Current List Of Race Types:
Machine race (like replicators in Stargate)
Humonoid race (like humans, E.T., protoss)
Insect race (starship troopers like)
Plant race (seeds, sentient plants, growth)
Magic race (they have magic powers woooo)
Transdimensional race (like ghosts or something)
Symbiote race (like gould, zerg)
Companion race (two races benefitting one another, may be symbiote)
Virus race (spread from host to host, like a zombie virus, computer virus)
Water race (live underwater, need water)
Energy race (pure energy, probably ascended)
Gas race (toxic, smells bad)
Fire race (demons, fire, burning)
Material race (crystal, metal, earth)

Feel free to try and simplify categories, dispel categories, etc.
You forgot the Dune worm race (with a twist of Douglas Adams)
Image

Image

Impaler
Creative Contributor
Posts: 1060
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2003 12:40 am
Location: Tucson, Arizona USA

#4 Post by Impaler »

NonCorporeal could become "Etherial" as that sound cooler

Other things that need including

Aliens that live in the vacume of space
Aliens that live in the photosphere of a Star (see SunDiver by Larry Nivin)
Aliens that live on the surface of Nutron Stars and are composed of hyper compressed iron nuclei.

Both of the latter two could go in a "Stellar" catagory.
Fear is the Mind Killer - Frank Herbert -Dune

Dreamer
Dyson Forest
Posts: 228
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2005 6:44 am
Location: Santiago, Chile

#5 Post by Dreamer »

I think Velizar's proposal is very sound. I would not eliminate "magical" as a valid option since sound explanations for magical powers can be found (and in fact I know one if anyone is interested, but that is higthly off-topic). I would use as a characteristic instead of a race type, along with other stuff like psionic hability, etc. Say floral (magical). Maybe "parasitic", shapechanging and other stuff can also be "race mods".

User avatar
utilae
Cosmic Dragon
Posts: 2175
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:37 am
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

#6 Post by utilae »

@Velizar
Excelent categories.

@Impaler
Strange ideas, they probably already fit inside the categories.

@Dreamer
Excelent idea, maybe we need more than one set of categories to define a race. What Velizar has suggested can be referred to as 'Makeup', the makeup of a race.

So we could use:
Makeup: eg Floral, Fauna, Artificial, etc
Environment: eg Surface, Underground, Vacume, Star, Underwater, etc
Characteristics: eg Psychic, Magic, Adapt to environment, Make environment fit race, Need another race, etc

That last one is basically a bunch of checkboxes to check rather than one category that the race fits in.

Velizar
Space Floater
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:50 pm
Location: Serbia

#7 Post by Velizar »

Thanks everybody!

Impaler, I thought about ethereal, too. You're right, it does sound cooler. ;). Your suggestions can be fitted along these lines.

utilae, good idea, but I think it would be better to separate the categories from the characteristics and environment. Races should be divided in somewhat naturalistic categories. The other two can be done much simpler (maybe checkbox/trait style).
Sometimes, a man's heart is that of a wolf, and the path of enlightenment his alone to walk upon.

Impaler
Creative Contributor
Posts: 1060
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2003 12:40 am
Location: Tucson, Arizona USA

#8 Post by Impaler »

Yes that sounds good the breakup into seperate catagories. The question we need to ask is "What adsactly dose the "Makeup" tell us about a race?". It seems to me that most of our ideas realy revolve around Metabalizm, basicaly how an organism gets its Energy and how it reproduces. Now its all good and well to define this quality for a race but we musts have some kind of GAME PLAY effect intorder for the player to CARE that their race is a Plant or a Robot. So their should be various rules and effects that differ for each group. Something alone the lines of changing how populations grow, how they die ect ect...

Under this new directive I propose we change Makeup to "Life Cycle" or something like that.
This would give use Life Cycle, Environment (both of which can have only one thing) and a list of Characteristics (ofwhich their can be any number).

Life Cycles

Replicant: An organism that is artificialy produced, this allows population units to be manufactured rather then born. This is also the ONLY means of reproduction.

Efficient: Organisms capable of operating under wide ranges of Energy suppies, can hybernate almost indefinatly in the absense of resorces. This makes their population incapable of starving they simply shut down.

Auto: Organisms that generate their own Food supplies (plants). No food is required by such a Species, only adiquite radiation (light or heat).

Regenerative: An organism that can quickly and easily regenerate any lost limbs or body parts. Any injured members of their Species heal so quickly that they essentialy never get injured in the game (all attacks either kill or dont kill, anything that would injure another race simply dose nothing).

Parasitic: A race that lives off of another...

Etherial: Not existing completly in this Dimention...
Fear is the Mind Killer - Frank Herbert -Dune

Carbon Copy Man
Space Squid
Posts: 55
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2005 10:40 am
Location: Australia

#9 Post by Carbon Copy Man »

I think we should start with biology. This is largely based on 1894AD biology, which is a little inaccurate, but it's useful in this case because we're not trying to classify lifeforms, but sentient lifeforms.

Animalia (animals)

--> Seeing as the only sentient (or even reasonably "intelligent") lifeforms we have discovered fall into this group, I think it's understandable that this would be the only group where I would put sub-classifications ("aquatic", perhaps?) -- which would be possible to do once we have a better idea of the final list of races.

Plantae (plants)

Mineralia (when biology was young, they actually invented a biological classification for rocks)

Protista ("minor" organisms such as bacteria, where their numbers make up for their lack of size, and their instincts make up for any inherent lack of intellect)

And to expand with more mythological classifications:

AI (it might be better to think of it as meaning "architectured intelligence" -- it doesn't have to look like a robot)

Symbiote (viruses, zombies, Goa'uld, etc -- I'm classifying them by their method of "reproduction" -- which relies on another species to reproduce so that it can acquire a new host)

Insubstantial (gas/fire/whatever -- the really bizarre races)


I think "companion races" should be avoided. I think we'll get enough inter-racial mingling from the game's progression. I think that at most, perhaps, you could have two races living on different planets in the same system. Once you've conquered the locals, your races begin to intermingle and you have to deal with the complications of it.

Also, I think that magic effects should take effect in racial traits (such as "telepathic") rather than in the classification itself.

And as far as "cybernetic" races -- IMO, they're either animalia or AI, depending on which consciousness is in control of the body.

marhawkman
Large Juggernaut
Posts: 938
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2006 9:34 pm
Location: GA

#10 Post by marhawkman »

Here's my idea:
1: Basic race type:
Rock, Plant, humanoid, etc....
2: Preferred world type:
Icy, barren, jungle, etc... Gas Giant, Asteroid?, Stellar?
3: Assorted special features:(other special abilities your race might have)
Telepathy, Psions(magic), Cybernetic, Omniscient, fantastic trader etc...

How's that sound?
Computer programming is fun.

User avatar
Skaro
Pupating Mass
Posts: 94
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2005 3:27 pm
Location: Stuck in a wormhole

#11 Post by Skaro »

Biomechanical: Similar to a machine race, the only difference is that the members of this species are made of organic technology.
A sucking chest wound is Nature's way of telling you to slow down. --Murphy's war laws

marhawkman
Large Juggernaut
Posts: 938
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2006 9:34 pm
Location: GA

#12 Post by marhawkman »

Hmm.... I'm starting to think we should make the options for "world type" be relative to the race type. Basically it wouldn't make sense for humanoids to be most comfortable on asteroids, or barren worlds.
Computer programming is fun.

User avatar
eleazar
Design & Graphics Lead Emeritus
Posts: 3858
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: USA — midwest

#13 Post by eleazar »

I'm all in favor of having only 1 humanoid race in the game, and humans are it. Unless if the backstory explained that other humanoids are somehow decended from us, or visa versa. So i'm all for thinking up exotic sentients.

But i doubt it's in the scope of anything before 1.0 to have a playable race that operates by radically different rules. You can imagine a race so alien that it wouldn't develop technology, or fly around in ship, or colonize planets. Such a race can't be played (but could be part of the story or random events.) For example an ethereal race would seem out of place in so many ways. Why would it want physical stuff? If it doesn't a huge hunk of the tech tree is irrelevant, and colonization and space battles wouldn't be of interest.

SowerCleaver
Space Squid
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:59 pm

#14 Post by SowerCleaver »

Just saw a documentary called "If We Had No Moon" -

Earth would have been an Ocean planet if a smaller planet didn't crash on it and create our Moon. There was an evolutionary biologist conjecturing what would've been in our place. She mentioned octopus - supposedly the most intelligent in invertebrates.

To be included in the subtypes of Aquatic race: octopoids or squidoids. (A movie likeness in Men in Black I) Maybe this was what Moo3 devs were thinking when they put in Nommo (rather than sentient clams)...

Feyd
Space Krill
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:49 pm

Races Category

#15 Post by Feyd »

I'll propose the next one:
I utilized scientist real name, I dont like thinks like "magical" or something like this, that is not serius,we are talking about a future, a space era, and actually we reject magic and religion in the science, in the future, the only remember of magic will be David Coperfield.

Like scietist names, I prefered use Greek names, or maybe latins.

Mammalians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammals
Humans (MOO I)
Bulrathi (MOO I)
Mrrshan (MOO I)

Reptilians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptiles
Alkari (MOO I)
Sakkra (MOO I)
Raas (MOO III)
Gredarl (MOO III)

Xeno-chordata (from greek Xeno, extrange, and chordata (vertebrated animals))
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chordate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeno
Darloks (MOO I)
Elerians (MOO II)
Gnolams (MOO II)
Psilons (MOO I)
Evon (MOO III)

Arthropoda (from greek αρθρον, arthron, "articulation"; and πούς, pous, "toe")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropoda
Klackons (MOO I)
Tachidi (MOO III)

Machina (from latin Machina)
Meklars (MOO I)
Cynoid (MOO III)

Geodic (another better?)
Silicoid (MOO I)

Osteichthyes (from greek στεον, osteich, "bone", and χθύς, thyes, "fish")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteichthyes
Trilarians (MOO II)

Cephalopoda (from greek κεφαλή kefalé, "head", and the root of πούς pūs, "toe")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopoda
Nommo (MOO III)

Scyphozoa* (from greek schyphos, "cup", "recipient" and "zoa", animal )
* I used it for "Insubstantial" lifeforms appeared in Orion saga, they are like jellyfish made of gas, not water...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scyphozoa
Imsaeis (MOO III)
Eoladi (MOO III)

Parasitoid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitoid
Ithkul (MOO III)

Droseracea* (The family of carnivorous plants, like "Venus fly trap", Dionaea muscipula)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droseraceae
New genre

Cephaplantae ( from greek, Cephae, "head", and plantae, "plant" )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephal
New genre

Fungi* (Fungus)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi
New genre

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I suggest maybe, utilize all races of Orion Saga, and add somes new.
1 Mammalians
1 Arthropoda
1 Machina
1 Osteichthyes
1 Sciphozoa
1 Parasitoid
3 Plants

Post Reply