Race suggestions for our upcoming 4x.

[Aklyon]

Probably the Zot-Fok-Pik would fit better, unless the Tidalians have some sort of cryptic background of potential doom.

[Histidine]

For something unorthodox, I think a slime mold race would be cool. Or amoebas, although Endless Space did that one already.

Sophocos
Sapient slime mold / fungi with a collective intelligence. Tool use has historically been one of their biggest challenges.

• Rapid reproduction and increased population growth.
• Their diminished energy requirements and ability to metabolize most things reduces their food requirements.
• Diminished industrial production. Fortunately, the effect on their research is counteracted by the benefits of their networked intelligence.

Etymology: Sophia (wisdom) + mycos (fungi).

Or maybe even... kudzu! Yeah, do a sapient kudzu race. That would be awesome.

[Draco18s]

There's a book called "Interstellar Pig" that had a sentient slime as a race.

Also the 'pig' was sentient, but had a problem making friends, so it created the idea of the titular game...

[Endless Rain]

Could we have the robots from Bionic Dues or the AI from AI War as a playable faction? I think the Grays from Shattered Haven would be really cool to play as too. I can't think of many other games that let you play as the hordes of zombies/undead, and most treat them the same as any other faction.

P.S. While we are on the topic of crossovers, is Bionic Dues set during AVVW's Modern Era (Pre-Apocalypse), a prequel to AI War, both, or am I completely wrong about the whole thing.

[Draco18s]

Could we have the robots from Bionic Dues or the AI from AI War as a playable faction?

If we assume:

I'm also taking out humans, because if the timeline is TLF -> This Game -> AI War, as makes sense, then humans would not exist yet.

Then the AI is also as-of-yet non-existent.

[windgen]

I like the idea of Ghosts In Space.  Maybe they're ruins / derelict spaceships that have embedded psi receivers, and with the psi energy of nearby sentient minds they can create and maintain nearly invisible, autonomous, highly damage resistant "bodies" of gas and dust bound together by some sort of energy field, even forming them into spaceships.  Very difficult to kill directly since their ships and troops are non-corporeal, but the psi receivers are vulnerable, and they will go dormant if there aren't any other races around for them to get psi energy from.  Since their stuff is scattered around, the other races' expansion will invariably expand the Ghosts In Space.

Sounds like there's a lot of backstory potential there (who built the first psi receivers and why were they abandoned?), and I like the idea of the Ghosts being a playable race with a totally different playstyle.

[topper]

I like the idea of Ghosts In Space.  Maybe they're ruins / derelict spaceships that have embedded psi receivers, and with the psi energy of nearby sentient minds they can create and maintain nearly invisible, autonomous, highly damage resistant "bodies" of gas and dust bound together by some sort of energy field, even forming them into spaceships.  Very difficult to kill directly since their ships and troops are non-corporeal, but the psi receivers are vulnerable, and they will go dormant if there aren't any other races around for them to get psi energy from.  Since their stuff is scattered around, the other races' expansion will invariably expand the Ghosts In Space.

Sounds like there's a lot of backstory potential there (who built the first psi receivers and why were they abandoned?), and I like the idea of the Ghosts being a playable race with a totally different playstyle.

I think they have said the game is "terrestrial",  i.e. not in space, but on a planet's surface.
but I like the general ideas.

[windgen]

I think they have said the game is "terrestrial",  i.e. not in space, but on a planet's surface.
but I like the general ideas.

Apparently I missed that post.  Even so, they'd be Ghosts in Space in the sense that they function through science instead of magic.

[tbrass]

I'm also taking out humans, because if the timeline is TLF -> This Game -> AI War, as makes sense, then humans would not exist yet.

So no greeks or nords?

What about the Creator(s)? ;-) You do like asymmetry in your game design. . . 

[ptarth]

Given virtually no technology constraints (recall that tLF has time travel), then cloning or just genetically re-engineering the Hydrals back into existence is very plausible. A larger question might be where did the tLF races come from? They certainly didn't reasonably evolve on the planets in tLF. Therefore, they most logically were imported (possibly by the Hydrals, although it would be more plausible that the entire system was constructed by an unknown race) as an experimental plot. That is to say, the entire system is just an experiment. This also would explain why none of them developed any FTL or pseudo-FTL travel and get the heck out of dodge (who wants to be neighbors with these crazy sun exploding guys? Or these warmongers? Or this race who will drop an entire planet's worth of toxic waste on your planet for $? Or this race that won't negotiate and just does what they feel like?). Given this, and the ability to abscond with a population, wipe their tech basis and drop them on a new planet, you can do anything you want with the time lines.

[Teal_Blue]

i was going to ask how many races are in the game, then i thought, well... what if 'all' the races are in the game, even the tidalis and the shattered haven, the valley games, bionic dues, skyward collapse, tlf and ai war. so that the player could have two races in game if they like, or all of them, resulting in like 28 or so?    which would be way hectic and crazy and hard as heck to win, but probably if the player put 'em in they want that craziness

So yeah, that is my suggestion, don't limit yourself, just because you feel the 'history' has to flow a certain way. If you have check to add races for the 4x, then it seems to me, a win - win for everyone! 

-Teal

[Teal_Blue]

I like the idea of Ghosts In Space.  Maybe they're ruins / derelict spaceships that have embedded psi receivers, and with the psi energy of nearby sentient minds they can create and maintain nearly invisible, autonomous, highly damage resistant "bodies" of gas and dust bound together by some sort of energy field, even forming them into spaceships.  Very difficult to kill directly since their ships and troops are non-corporeal, but the psi receivers are vulnerable, and they will go dormant if there aren't any other races around for them to get psi energy from.  Since their stuff is scattered around, the other races' expansion will invariably expand the Ghosts In Space.

Sounds like there's a lot of backstory potential there (who built the first psi receivers and why were they abandoned?), and I like the idea of the Ghosts being a playable race with a totally different playstyle.

this souinds wonderfully fun! 

[Teal_Blue]

I'm also taking out humans, because if the timeline is TLF -> This Game -> AI War, as makes sense, then humans would not exist yet.

So no greeks or nords?

What about the Creator(s)? ;-) You do like asymmetry in your game design. . .

if you use a
tidalis --> shattered haven --> skyward collapse --> valley 1 & 2 --> bionic dues --> tlf --> air war --> spectral empire timeline

then, actually i believe we could have any and all of the races, including human (several versions of humans from the different games), including the greeks and the nords and the demi-gods and the creator, and the grays and humans (call them SH humans) among the AIWar Humans, and the Valley Humans. You could even, if you wanted,  keep the same animations and character sprites from all the older games and put them into the new game ( to save money and because the fans would love it anyway).

just put check off boxes in the setup area to add them to a game. From 2 to 54? (i can't remember how many characters there are across all the games, probably a lot.) 

of course if you wanted you could create new character sprites, in a new style, where all the sprites sort of have a uniform or similar look to them, if that is what you prefer instead.  but if you do re-use the older sprites, then its almost like a nostalgic send back, you know?

for 'serious' games the old sprites don't have to be used where everything is like super intense (use the new uniform look style for the new game for those games instead) ...

but then if you wanted you could add the tidalis and grays and the SH humans (who are kind of cartoony, but who cares?) for a free for all, pull out all the stops! i am doing all of this now! game of hectic and hardcore and lore-laden Arcen 4x Mayhem!!!   

-teal

p.s.  of course if you used all 54 races in a super-maxed out total blow my mind game, then you would have to have randomly generated maps to accommodate all of the races.    but hey, i'm not complaining, i'm just trying to convince everyone this is the way to go! 

[Histidine]

Actually... why are all these different people stranded on the same planet, anyway? Is this more of the TLF Zookeeper's shenanigans, or did reality implode AVWW-style?

Or are both acts... the work of the same hand?

[wwwhhattt]

but then if you wanted you could add the tidalis and grays and the SH humans (who are kind of cartoony, but who cares?) for a free for all, pull out all the stops! i am doing all of this now! game of hectic and hardcore and lore-laden Arcen 4x Mayhem!!!   

Super Smash Bros. Arcen Style
The world's greatest party 4x

The 4x sounds like it's at normal seriosity levels, but I'd like to see what would happen if Arcen decided to go completely ridiculous.