Race New Race

Discussion in 'NPCs and Creatures' started by PabloElPuas, Mar 1, 2015.

?

Implementing this race to the game?

Poll closed Mar 22, 2015.
  1. Yes

    20.0%
  2. No

    70.0%
  3. Maybe

    10.0%
  1. PabloElPuas

    PabloElPuas Pangalactic Porcupine

    After checking out the forum would be nice to add this race to the original game and has a theme of mar.Se could add: marine cities, new boats, diving suit, harpoon fishing, fishing rods, new fish and shellfish, seagulls, fishing villages where this civilization would be too small submarines and endless possibilities

    A greeting and comment


    Look at the link before answering this survey:

    http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?resources/the-orcana.2747/
     
  2. Paths

    Paths Tentacle Wrangler

    In a way, wouldn't the Orcana be similar to the Hylotl, and as such are basically unnecessary? I feel like one race relating to fish are all Starbound needs.
     
    Nibolas O Anelbozas likes this.
  3. carriontrooper

    carriontrooper Existential Complex

    Eh, do what you want, because mods are free.
    That said, /sbg/ over on the chan of fours are planning a shark race. So a race of pinnipeds are AOK in my opinion.
     
  4. ScrubNiggurath

    ScrubNiggurath Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    If we're going to add another marine species it should be something WILDLY different than hylotls, Something like sentient coral colonies living inside humanoid limestone exoskeletons, With a nasty dieselpunk style influenced by a heavily industrialized culture ruled by corrupt corporations, Think something like the dominant force of their species being massive seafood giants, In huge trawler ships capable of stripping entire ocean worlds of life in a matter of days before taking off to the stars once more to find buyers for their bounty. I'd picture them having a hostile relationship with the hylotl that could rival even the florans due to their nets frequently scooping up hylotl young. (which are then sold to particularly wealthy florans because frogman is in high demand and these companies will do ANYTHING to make a quick buck.)


    Or something equally terrifying, Though the race listed above would be INCREDIBLY redundant considering they're just sea florans with a boner for big business. But they're mostly just an example.
     
  5. Mackinz

    Mackinz The Waste of Time

    Because whales or axolotl are fish. >.>

    I'm a biology major. You're wrong.
     
    Relten likes this.
  6. Nerva

    Nerva Parsec Taste Tester

    The Orcana are too culturally similar to the Avians (Aztec/Maya is pretty much the Avian's dominant theme), and too similar to the Hylotl in biology, habitat and technological level (we already have a mid-to-high tech species based on vertebrate sea life).

    While fine as a mod race, I do not think it deserves inclusion in the base game.
     
  7. Mackinz

    Mackinz The Waste of Time

    Um... while the modmaker mentioned the Maya/Aztec cultures, the Orcana are actually Atlantean, which should draw far more influence from Greco-Roman culture and architecture, combined with more integration of aquatic themes. Definitely do not have anything like that.

    Also, not similar to the Hylotl in biology (at all), not the same technological level (probably more similar to hypothetical undersea Glitch)...

    Um, yeah.
     
  8. Nerva

    Nerva Parsec Taste Tester

    Until they can provide me with some more concrete examples of how they'd be different, then I'm not convinced. Either they're going to wind up similar to the Avians by leaning on the Maya/Aztec angle, or they're going to wind up similar to the Glitch by leaning on the Greco-Roman one. Atlantis never conlcusively existed, save in Greco-Roman myths - we have no real-life comparison to base imagination on.

    They're both humanoid amphibious (not the avoidance of the word amphibian as that only applies to Hylotl) sea-dwelling vertebrates. The only two races that are that close in the base game are humans and Apex - and Apex apparently were human, or something very similar to it, in the past and forcibly became the simians they are now through genetic engineering. Stop being pedantic with me when I've clearly explained what I mean.

    From the mod page:

    Emphasis mine. I'm sorry but the mod author and creator of the race disagrees with you. The Orcana would apparently have a technological level at least on par with humans, otherwise, I highly doubt you could call it high-tech.
     
  9. Mackinz

    Mackinz The Waste of Time

    Untrue. Pavlopetri.

    You're doing a poor job if explaining yourself when you equate Humans/Apex and the hypothetical Hylotl/Orcana. Apex are basically Humans with more hair, while the only similarities between Hylotl and Orcana are that they have technology and live underwater.

    You basically equated two apples, then tried to say that a loquat is also an apple.

    Well, I imagine that they must have some level of technology, to exist as a race in a star-faring game like Starbound. Still, I think the mod author could stand to dial back on the technological aspects of race and focus more on the architecture.
     
  10. Nerva

    Nerva Parsec Taste Tester

    ... which is not Atlantis - it's simply a submerged city in southern Greece. It is also not Aztec or Mayan inspired at all and predates Greco-Roman culture. In fact I'd be a lot more inclined to support this mod going official if the Orcana's culture were based solely upon Mycenaean Greece, instead of the strange hybridization of two unrelated cultures and "Atlantis" that its mod page advertises.

    You have complete missed my point.

    My point is that the Hylotl and Orcana, despite their differences, are still too similar, and that the Humans and Apex are an exception rather than the rule. Being exceptions, let's discount them for a minute and look at the other races.

    Avian
    General Taxonomy: Bird (Animal, Vertebrate, Warm-Blooded)
    Preferred Environment(s): Desert, Arid, Sky (previously, within their recorded history), Space (modern development)
    Technological Level: Demonstrates two forms of technology, in traditional technology they're bronze-age, early iron-age; in crystal technology they're spacefaring
    Culture: Heavily inspired by modern impressions of ancient Aztecs, along with Maya, Olmec, Inca, Native North-American and ancient Egyptian influences

    Floran
    General Taxonomy: Sapient Plant (Vegetable, Carnivorous)
    Preferred Environment(s): Jungle, Marshland, Temperate Forest
    Technological Level: Native technology consists of horticulture taken to dizzying extremes, coupled with stone-age hunting and skinning techniques. Is spacefaring largely due to jury-rigging technology looted from other races
    Culture: Heavily inspired by modern impressions of African jungle tribes, with some Native North-American influences

    Glitch
    General Taxonomy: Machine-Life (Androids)
    Preferred Environment(s): Not picky - avoids large bodies of water or corrosive environments
    Technological Level: Medieval through early Renaissance - Outcast Glitch are spacefaring
    Culture: High Middle Ages to early Renaissance; has a Hive Mind that governs all non-Outcast Glitch and enforces this cultural level

    Novakids
    General Taxonomy: Sapient plasma-beings
    Preferred Environment(s): Deserts, Space
    Technological Level: Industrial Revolution, capable of reproducing spacefaring technology once it's been shown to them
    Culture: Antebellum United States through the Wild West

    Hylotl
    General Taxonomy: Amphibians (Animal, Aquatic, Vertebrate, Cold-Blooded(?), Salamander)
    Preferred Environment(s): Any aquatic, Islands, Coastlines, prefers moist climates
    Technological Level: Near-future, Spacefaring, retains a great appreciation for traditional arts, crafts, and architecture, though
    Culture: Broad hybridization of Japanese cultures ranging from the Edo period through modern day.

    Now let's compare them to the Orcana. Aspects that they share with the other races above will be in Bold Italics.

    Orcana
    General Taxonomy: Pinnipeds (Animal, Aquatic, Vertebrate, Warm-Blooded, Mammal)
    Preferred Environment(s): Any aquatic, Islands, Coastlines, prefers moist climates
    Technological Level: Late Bronze-Age through Futuristic
    Culture: Aztec/Greco-Roman hybridization, elements of mythical "Atlantis" culture

    Note that, if you discount humans, only three species (Avian, Apex, Hylotl) even share a kingdom, taxonomically speaking, and there's only a single mammal among them (Apex). Of the above species, Only two share preferred environments. None of the above species share technological levels, and in the case of the Avians and Florans, they demonstrate technology of a completely divergent technological basis (Avian crystal resonance technology, Floran purpose-bred plants).

    Honestly, I'd agree with you there. The Orcana desperately need something to separate them more from the Hylotl, the Avians, and the Glitch culturally. Right now, I see too many similarities in environment preference, technology and culture to existing races.

    A very simple change they could do would be to move Orcana strictly into Frigid Oceans, make them a cold-preferring race (as opposed to Hylotl preferring warm tropical waters), and eliminate the Aztec influence. Go straight with Mycenaen Greece. Then all you'd need to do is find a justification for being spacefaring (finding a divergent technological basis that's dfferent from what the Avians and Florans already use might not be a bad idea), and I could much more comfortably support them.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2015
    Paths and Mackinz like this.
  11. carriontrooper

    carriontrooper Existential Complex

    Hmm, what about mixing Greco-Roman with Pacific Northwest Native Americans? Come to think of it, there's no Pacific Northwest themed races yet. The Orcana could fit really well considering the Orca's range. Seriously, look up Tlingit, Chinook, Haida stuff, pretty cool.
     
    Nerva likes this.
  12. Nerva

    Nerva Parsec Taste Tester

    If the Orcana were made a cold-dwelling coastal/aquatic race, you could draw from a lot of indigenous cultures in the north Pacific Rim. Ainu, Inuit, Chukchi, Yupik, just for starters. Many have a long history of spearfishing and harpooning.

    I'd be wary of mixing Greco-Roman characteristics though, because the cultures are just so vastly separate in ideology and origin. It's okay to mix a few cultures that are closely related, geographically if not culturally - that's why the Avians get away with their Aztec/Inca/Maya/Olmec aspects. Mixing vastly-different cultures is probably not a good idea.
     
  13. carriontrooper

    carriontrooper Existential Complex

    Depends on what you're mixing, actually. You could take the marble/gold aesthetic of the Greco-Romans and mix them with the red/black/white of the PNW. Architecture could lean a bit Greek with PNW carvings. Their more advanced stuff would look more Atlantean while their earlier stuff could look more PNW.
    It all depends on the mixer.
     
  14. PabloElPuas

    PabloElPuas Pangalactic Porcupine

    The truth still has much room for improvement to include as race, but hey see you were involved in this post.A my honestly I really like this race but good in the future who knows what will happen.
     
  15. Robotoh

    Robotoh Orbital Explorer

    I really like it.
     

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