Race [Florans] This is kinda driving me crazy...

Discussion in 'NPCs and Creatures' started by BionicKraken, Dec 7, 2013.

  1. BionicKraken

    BionicKraken Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Plants don't hiss.

    After a quick googling, I've found that the sounds plants use to communicate fall into two categories:

    1. They hum or fizz

    2. They click (especially when threatened)


    I really like the idea of the Florans, but avoid playing as them/talking to them because the dialogue drives me NUTS!

    I'd like to suggest the drawn out "ssss" be replaced by drawn out "mmmm" or "hnnn" and that clicking be added as needed. Unfortunately, if this was implemented, dialogue would have to be overhauled after so many words with "s" have been used to exemplify the hiss.

    -----

    Some examples to illustrate my point:

    "Florannn use table. Mmmake hnice thinnnngs."
    (Floran ussse table. Make nice thingss.)

    "Mmmmonster! CLICK CLICK CLICK!"
    (Some indescribable horror.)

    "Florannn afraid of cammp fire. CLICK! But Florannn likes mmmake food. Hnnn..."
    (Floran afraid of camp fire. But Floran likesss to cook.)

    "Mmmake hnice stannnding."
    (A non-descript wood platform.)​

    -----

    I'm a very logical person who wanted to start Starbound fresh, so I haven't looked over the lore for the races. If there's a good reason for the hissing, please let me know. And, yeah, they evolved and stuff, but did they evolve with forked tongues?

    It just feels like the latter examples work better with plants. Makes them seem less icky and cannibalistastical, as well.

    ...Unless that's what Chucklefish was going for. :wut:
     
    clonerex123 and Jeszter like this.
  2. Jeszter

    Jeszter Tentacle Wrangler

    Well I think it is intended to make them look cannibalisti...ta...thingy, but I agree with you, it is bothering me too. I love to be Floran because I like the design really much, but that ssssspech of them is just more fitting for snakepeople or something. I like the idea of humming, it would make the Florans appear more peaceful, which would fit into the lore, cause they trick strangers into thinking they are friendly and afer that eat them, right?
     
    clonerex123 likes this.
  3. BionicKraken

    BionicKraken Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Yeah, the hissing is more suited to lizards and snakes.

    The tricking them and eating them sounds great! You expect plants to be harmless, but then SNAP! Right now, they seem way too aggressive. Plants are invasive, not hostile.
     
    Jeszter likes this.
  4. Peaceful Floran

    Peaceful Floran Phantasmal Quasar

    I like the clicking idea. I think it would suit them a lot better than hissing.
     
  5. Jeszter

    Jeszter Tentacle Wrangler

    But how do you integrate clicking in a text?
     
  6. BionicKraken

    BionicKraken Subatomic Cosmonaut

    The sound, you mean? It wouldn't be a sound, it would be the word. Onamonapia, you know? Like buzz or whir. Click. :)
     
  7. Jeszter

    Jeszter Tentacle Wrangler

    In that case, I think it would look rather ridiculous. Like:

    "If Ape roars, Floran will scream. Click click!"

    Wouldn't be much better than hissing, I think... :/
     
  8. Lallykins

    Lallykins Gross...

    Perhaps they can have deep baritone voices and beg Seymour to feed them? I agree the ssssss seems to fit a reptilian race. Maybe they can make a sound like leaves rustling in a pile when there's an awkward pause? Or maybe like lettuce being pulled apart? I like the hnnn suggestion in all seriousness. Maybe something creaky or groany like The Great Deku Tree? Florans seem to not be as woody.
     
  9. BionicKraken

    BionicKraken Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I guess it's a matter of preference. :/

    To me, "If Ape roars, Florannn will screamm. *CLICK CLICK*"

    looks better than

    "If Ape roarsss, Floran will ssscream."

    Do the * help? It just seems better suited to tribal plants. Plus, some tribes today still communicate through clicks.
     
  10. BionicKraken

    BionicKraken Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Ha! Love the Seymour idea!

    I don't know how you would represent the rustling, though (it is a good idea, I agree). Would it actually be an audio cue or would it just be text?
     
  11. Lallykins

    Lallykins Gross...

    I was partly being sarcastic. I don't know how you could express plant-like qualities in text. Like I said the "hisssss" part seems to reflect reptilian nature..maybe cunning or venomous, having danger or full of deceit? Florans are an aggressive tribal like race, even if the player character may be unlike the others as hinted in intro text. It'd be cheesy to have them go *click...click!* as much as it would for Avians to go "That Apex is angry! *sqwwwarrkk!*" Just seems to not fit. Maybe Florans can be crazy. Think like Gollum. Every time they say something there's a ( ) full of what they're thinking?
     
  12. BionicKraken

    BionicKraken Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Oh, sorry. Internet, and all. Plus, I grew up with stuff like this being the norm for giving life to teensy tiny pixelated forms. :)

    Yeah, the Gollum thing sprang to mind the first time I heard the hissing. :/ Kind of irritating. Kind of... lazy.

    Just because they're tribal doesn't mean they have to be crazy and barbaric. I just don't think they suit that mold very well and it's a big turn off to me. Again, I'm a logical person, and plants don't fool around - they know exactly what they're doing and they do it. The crazy aspect demeans that a little. Aggressively intrusive is fine - ever seen Day of the Triffids? Invasion of the Body Snatchers? There's some scary plants, right there, partially because they're so with it and they've got a plan.

    Gollumy plants are just... wrong. And what you see as cheese, I see as charm.

    Sorry for the spiel, I was just looking forward to the Florans as my primary race, so I'm a little disappointed. :/
     
  13. Lallykins

    Lallykins Gross...

    Well if they built Florans as cold and calculating don't you think it would come across as the Glitch? Seems like detached and cold would seem stale and robotic. And being "hive minded" might conflict with the Apex collectivist lore going on. Maybe they could speak in rhymes or riddles? Would seem disarming and innocent but once you figured it out, it'd be too late.
     
  14. BionicKraken

    BionicKraken Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I definitely see where you're coming from with this, and I agree, there's some tip-toeing to be done IF the Florans are redone. I fully understand that I may be asking a lot here!

    It's not that the plants are cold and calculating, they're very warm - just with other plants or when they don't want anything from you/see you as a threat. This is kind of explained with Jeszter's comment that they hum to put people off guard, but then they attack. They're devious, not mechanical.

    The Apex thing seems more like more of an Orwellian slant than invasive plant nature. I didn't really want to go into changing the whole Floran lore here, but it seems more logical - as tribal plant life - that they would be trying to take over/consume the universe. Some plants would be fine sharing the universe, though. They wouldn't fight the other plants, they'd just coexist peacefully. This seems to suit their overall look better.

    I do love the riddle/rhyme aspect for either direction of Floran lore, and maybe could be implemented alongside the humming, or even the hissing. As long as there's some unique charm to the Florans, I can tolerate the hissing. ;)
     
  15. Sir Slush

    Sir Slush Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Are you sure you're not projecting a human sociological image (IE a human point of view) onto an alien race, here?
    I mean, Earth people can think of Earth plants as warm, or soft, or peaceful if they want. That doesn't mean other races do, or that the Florans should be. You forget that this is the race that kills and cannibalizes their own offspring for food, presumably before there's even an actual need to do so. As a general rule they are not soft and warm, with one another or otherwise, and the idea that they should be just comes from a human idea that plants symbolize peace and tranquility.

    Don't assume I'm hating on the Florans by what I said - they are a very young race, after all. My current character is a Floran, and I like them well enough that they will probably continue to be the race I play most often. Just don't bring human racial preconceptions into their design, ok? :yeahhhh:
     
    Roequ likes this.
  16. Aesdel

    Aesdel Tentacle Wrangler

    Why not use kliklik? Looks enough like alien gibberish.
     
  17. Lallykins

    Lallykins Gross...

    all the clicking makes them seem insectoid..or like..crab people...
     
    Roequ likes this.
  18. BionicKraken

    BionicKraken Subatomic Cosmonaut

    :wut:

    Holy cow, you guys.

    I just want the damn plants to stop hissing.

    But if you want to go there, we can go there:

    When I said "warm," I was reaching for a word that would discount the mechanical nature Lallykins was worried about. I only meant to imply that they were more feeling than thinking creatures, namely since they're organic. So their general dialogue would be emotionally based, rather than logically based.

    Humans came up with these races and wrote the dialogue for these races. Of course there is a human point of view (and sense of humor) with regard to these races. This isn't hard sci-fi. At this point, at best, it's sci-fantasy.

    I'm not saying the plants are peaceful. If you look at my previous posts, you'll see that I refer to them as invasive rather than hostile. That's because, as a species, plants are built to be invasive. As humans, when we look at plants we make this logical leap.

    If you look at my first post, you'll see that I don't know much of anything about the lore. I wanted it to be that way. I wanted to discover it. I haven't found much Floran lore, yet. From what you tell me, though, I'm glad I haven't. They eat their own offspring for food? Before they run out of food? I'm sorry, but how does that make sense at all FOR ANY RACE. Any SPECIES (save Glitches) is going to have the biological need to propagate and protect their species. To say that this race regularly eats their young is ludicrous, ESPECIALLY because they're plants. You'd expect that sort of thing from the birds, fish, or mammals (they occasionally eat their young for very strange reasons), but when have you ever heard of a plant eating it's own seed? Even the carnivorous ones.

    This is a very lazy way of making (to our human racial preconceptions) a tribal, primitive culture that is naturally associated with cannibalism and poor intelligence, with members that rely on brute strength and savagery (i.e., kill, kill, kill). You could attach any race to this mold, why plants? I just want there to be a connection to the race, is all. Why should I care about these plants?

    Now, I'm sorry if I'm offending you. You're happy with the Florans as they are. I am not. It's not from a sociological standpoint, though. I want this game to be as good as it can be, and that includes making emotional and logical connections with the races. Not just picking one because they have this or they look like this.

    But, seriously, though. I just hate those damn "ssss's."

    (Yes, kliklik or something like that would work perfectly well, too.) :)

    (And, no, the clicking isn't mandatory, just an example of expanding on plant characteristics.)
     
  19. Lallykins

    Lallykins Gross...

    What if the Florans had some sort of emote included in their text. Like inbetween dialogue it has a * ....insert text rp action..* would give them a simplistic and silent edge..like they're indifferent, or thinking something and trying to not say it. Could also tie in with their Ooogah Boogah style speech right now
     
  20. Mimir

    Mimir Space Spelunker

    I kind of thought of the Hissing much like the rustling of leaves. But I do understand your point.
     
  21. Gorvi

    Gorvi Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I know there is some major fleshing out to happen still, but still. I am left to wonder how my character is piloting a space ship while regarding most objects as not a type of food or thing to stab.

    Also hope the ship is just a placeholder for now.
     

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