The Traders Guild and Pirate Suggestions

[CorneliousCrowe]

Who are these advanced people?

What do they look like?

What motivates them to become pirates? What motivates them period?

Are they aliens? Do they hail from a home world? Is the traders guild also the same race?

How long have they been around?

In this thread, please post your ideas for who the Isanth are, what they might look like and such. From the suggestions I will try and create a technical spread of what they look like and where their technology is going. If my suggestion on races developing on other worlds gets implemented by Schema, then having some visual aids to how buildings and ships might look will be a boon. Tell me what your ideas are!

Edit: Someone below clarified that the Isanth is actually the name of the ships model. So post your ideas for who the traders and pirates are and what they might look like. Also, while we are at it, introduce ideas on what level thier technology has advanced to, like how are the shops able to materialze ships out of nothing? (i realize this might be fixed later on, but for now just go with it!) Adjust the questions above to the traders and the pirates. I would like to get some ideas and design what they might look like!

 

[Kippeth]

Note the IV next to the name, it means its the 4th iteration of the Isanth strikecraft.

The Isanth strikecraft is evidently in mass production somewhere in the system, though no factory has ever been seen. The manufacture Default Industries appears to have little to no moral obligation selling to both pirate and Trade Federation (as well as any indepentant corporations that crop up).

My questions is what did models 1-3 look like? will the Mark V come out? where are they produced?

 

[DrWhitePsyker]

Its clear they the Isanths are produced at Shops. Similar to how any independent freelancers can pay to have one of their stored ship designs nano-structed right there and then, The likelihood is pirates trade their loot for new ships while Shops likely provide the ships free of charge to the trade federation user.

Perhaps the shops automated systems lack the ability to distinguish pirate from freelancer and, as such, sells to all of them indiscriminately?

Maybe their programming forces them to ignore this in the pursuit of cold, hard profit?

Or maybe they simply don\'t care?

 

[CorneliousCrowe]

I see that now, and have edited the OP accordingly! I still want ideas for the alien races of the game! I plan on preparing a package of ideas and showing schema where the game might go. Otherwise they will make great mods for the game once its reached a more stable level.

@Dr:

My buddy says that once, he had his ship actually stolen by pirates and used against him. it wasn\'t spawned in as a pirate ship, it was actually taken by the AI and shot at him. I\'m not sure if i believe him because one: I don\'t think thats in the program, and two: it might have been me (I\'m the other person who plays on the server)

With this little tall tale of his, how cool would that be if it was true! Pirates can come along and if the ship is a certain size or maybe just if thier pirate ships run into an unpiloted, undocked vessel, they take control of it and use it on other players! It would encourage players to build smaller so they can keep thier ships safely docked on a planet or space station. Probably not the best idea, but could be a cool mechanic to enable on \"hardcore\" servers.

 

[joefish500]

Putting things in the catalog allow pirates and trading guild to use them.The is isanth is just there by default.

 

[CorneliousCrowe]

I re-titled the OP to reflect the changes in the subject matter.

It seems like shops are able to produce things at an \"Pixomic\" (atomic) level. I like the idea of nano-construction. The shops are actually the factories (hense thier bizaar shapes) They take in the raw materials you trade them and produce the materials they sell on the spot. There is no interior on the shops, so one can only assume everything is automated. If this is the case, it makes sense that they would not be able to distingush between thier own Isanth MK-IVs and the pirates. In fact, this alone may be why pirates choose to use the Isanth IV as opposed to a different, more functional design, and why they seem to be incohesive with the pirates other methods of construction.

If shops are completely automated, who or what made the shops?

Something else has been bothering me a little. Space Stations and shops alike have no means of defending themselves besides the \"enforcemers\" who attack if you fire on a shop. This leads me to believe that the traders guild has no interest in defending thier stations (assuming of course they built those) or their automated shops. If this is the case, the traders guild could be a few things:

A hyper-advanced race (think like the level of tech the protheans had in Mass Effect) that is views the affairs of players, station entities, and pirates as completely senseless.

A selfish and greedy race of economic-minded people, who are interested more in the bottom line than who actually uses thier products.

A race of robots, similar to the Geth, that care nothing for lifeforms and simply replentish the raw materials they need for fuel and construction in exchange for credits.

Or basically anything, but those are a few ideas. What do you think?

 

[vabese]

here are some concepts for it, of cource you can edit them as much as you want


replicators/automontons(generic robot lifeform)

The replicators/automontons are a species of artificial life - machines that serve the purposes of their extra-galactic master-species. Eons ago, the master-species seeded the ancestor-units of the replicators/automontons on a planet chosen to accelerate their developmental programs. Their ultimate programming lay dormant throughout their history until reawakened by their cosmic masters. No one knows anything about the location of the masters or their purpose.

The replicators/automontons are made up of microscopic, self-maintaining machines, and they are able to assimilate other lifeforms to obtain the rich mixture of elements they need for power and self-maintenance. They are efficient and unstoppable at taking over worlds. They are built for strength and speed, and no known species can stand against a replicator/automonton in unarmed confrontation. They infiltrate, assimilate, and control worlds with great speed and have been known to take over an entire planet and population in hours.


here another


Amoba(generic single cell life-form)

The Amoba are large single-celled creatures that evolved on a warm, sunny world. They roll around collecting food on their surfaces and absorbing it into their bodies.

They breed rapidly by sexual reproduction. Two Amoba exchange genetic material, then each divides to produce a new Amobe that contains a combination of genes from each parent.

Although this method of reproduction is quick and the offspring are immediately self-sufficient, the amoba are very attached to their young ones. Despite their alarming appearance, they are a sentimental species.


had enough yet? i dont think so!


Nimbelnoids(sentient gas cloud)

The Nimbelnoids arose on a planet with a thick, reactive atmosphere/gas gaint. They are composed entirely of dense, cohesive gases and move through the atmosphere by chemically attracting and repelling the molecules of the gases in their environment. They see reality in terms of the intersecting flow of what they call currents: the karmic forces that, they believe, determine destiny.

With great effort, a Nimbelnoids can transform matter from solidity to a greatly expanded gaseous state and back. They are able to herd around clumps of transformed matter and cause the clumps to coalesce into arbitrary shapes. When a skilled Nimbelnoid expends the needed energy, it can shape large, intricate structures with awesome speed.


so... i still have a few for ya!


Fludantier (living blob/gak)

The Fludantier evolved on a world covered with ocean. They are composed of polymerized liquid. When a Fludantier is injured it regenerates in seconds, its fluid anatomy knitting together immediately after physical damage occurs. A Fludantier dies only when its entire body is disrupted at once.

The Fludantier are able to make their bodies assume varying degrees of solidity. They can wrap their tendrils quickly around prey and tighten them with ferocious strength. They see combat as a fine art, and a Fludantier is deeply moved by a finely-improvised combat performance between skilled and creative warriors.

They do not respect abstract thought or communication with concepts — they see these things as fuzzy-minded and irrelevant, and they prefer to let their bravery in action speak for them. A Fludantier\'s status and cultural power is determined by its skill in combat.


here a last one, if you want more i always have more!(give it some time if you realy want some more, and let me know)


Chaise-Mach

The Chaise-Mach love gadgets and technology. They are able to discover major breakthroughs quickly when under duress—stress heightens their scientific abilities and amplifies their determination, much like adrenalin heightens physical ability.

In the recent past a huge, highly advanced alien vessel passed through the Chaise-Mach system. The aliens discovered that the nearby star next to thier system had drifted over time into an unstable configuration and caused a sriking in th system. They told the Chaise-Mach that they could not predict when the cataclysm would occur, but they were sure that the forces released would destroy the star and the planets orbiting it.

The knowledge of this danger sent Chaise-Mach society into a frenzy of scientific and technological advancement. The Chaise-Mach stress-response of heightened mental capability went into full force, and they have gone in a few decades from a pre-technological civilization to a society of space travel.


anyway these are some generic/mildly creative races one could use however they feel like. also humans are overrated from time to time.

 

[CorneliousCrowe]

These are awesome! I like the idea of a self-replicating society of robots. Not as similar to the Replicators from stargate as that idea is, but it would be fun to have a city run by robots that grows over time and advances on its own.

I really like the Chaise-Mach idea, and it fits in well with the city-development theme. Perhaps these people advance very slowly, but if the player or another faction threatens them they advance much faster? Great idea here!

As a standard on all planets, little blobus lifeforms should spawn, with different colors based on the planet biosphere. This would make it fun to tame them as pets and take them with you to other planets, where you can mix colors and get whole new breeds! Its like Pokemon in space!

Do you have any thoughts on the pirates and the traders? I want to focus on them for now since they are already implemented in the game.

 

[CorneliousCrowe]

I saw this idea on another thread and figured I would add to the discussion:


Space Fairing Creatures ( if i wrote it right )





Ok so, we know schema is gona add critters and such on planets, but idk if hes gona add critters/creatures that travel on space, i got this idea from the game named SC2 ( starcraft2 ) because a race named zerg had creatures that chould travel in space and colony other planets, but moving on.

These creatures chould range from the size of a small fighter to a 5k blocks ship or maybe even bigger, they whould travel around planet to planet, maybe landing in a way like our ships are attracted to gravity... aka, slowing down and touching the ground somewhere on the surface of the planet, staying there abit to maybe rest, then moving on.

These creatures as they get bigger they get stronger and harder to kill, posing a threat to your stations and keeping you entertained with watching a giant creature killing pirates :D

Maybe even add a creature so damn big it chould eat planets :O, that be a nice challenge for the cocky persons and the so called nexus thats been going around lately.

But all of these are all suggestions to the Space Creatures class, ive just resumed it all here.

What u guys think ? Balanced or overpowered ? Fun or not ?

 

[MultiDavid]

I think you shoulve edited my miss-spell that i made on the topic name be4 copy-pasting that ^^

 

[vabese]

ok, i searched my database(yes i keep a very large folder of possible space faction species candidates) and this what i came up width first up a trader specie:



Gnollak(founders)

The Gnollak people, a somewat younger specie. This physically short race from a low-gravity planet was often described as dwarven or gnome-like. They possessed an amazing ability to create and horde treasure, and their dictators almost never lacked money. Gnollaks also had strong knowledge of business, resulting in large profits from trade routs and extra food sales. In addition to all this, Gnollak had amazing luck. space monsters and enemy fleets almost always ignored Gnollak planets. Disasters never befell the Gnollaks, and unexpected fortune came frequently for them. Gnollak leaders were usually peaceful, but could fund a large fleet very quickly when at war.

thanks to their increable luck, and cooperation whit other more advanced species they were able to build vast drone fleets that could convert nearby asteroids into trading outpost throughout the whole galaxy(hence the reason there everywhere)


so thats a posible story, but if you would alow me to add some more to that, lets say the deflaut faction for humans is an empire of some sorts, you know all that standerd nonsense and that they are run by coperations who work under this goverment. this was an optional aditve as it just ads another layer of lore-icing, but i use it also for the pirates as a origen.


~continuing from where i left off~
unfortunately this system became to big to fast, and after a while they could no longer control all of it. they lost mastery over most of it.

because of this the empire(human faction) came and took a large part of it over, so that they could benefit from this way of trading. the Gnollak were not fast enough to expand outward and were unable to take most of the outposts out there.

up to this day, they continue to make up the bulk of goods, that are sold, bought and redistributed directly or indirectly through out the galaxy.


so now you know my headcanon for how the traders came to be. now for the pirates this to will get its slice of lore cake. as much i\'d like to make it a single race we all know its more likely for it to be a band of outcast, since piracy is presumebly almost universal in most species(do know that there are some exceptions for hiveminds or ant-like civ\'s)


pirates

Piracy arose out of, and mirrored on a smaller scale, the conflicts over trade and colonization among the rival Gnollak and human empires, including the other civilisations that tried to also take advantage of the galaxy wide trading post being planted everywhere. these pirates are of Gnollak, Chaise-Mach and mostly of human origin. there are a few exception but they are far and in between, as vast majority of the first 3 are ever present.

some took over stations and declared independencie of their factions for their own, not all pirates are allied whit each other, hence the reason you will never find a very big fleet due to the fact that they are more or less roaming bands of marauders and deserters.

pirates generaly dont go for trading oupost as they use it for trade and use it to fund their efort as well, since the origenal blue-pirint for the outpost did not include any kind of screening process. it did however come whit basic near-dimensional communication system that could talk to the nearest other station, allowing it have an echo efect for the owner to moniter the outpost from a reasonable distance. this allowd who ever it belonged to, to respond and come kick their ass if need be.

note that the beacon also has an anti-mater nullifier build in to the main structure(thanks to earlier cooperation) making most damage impossible except for rockets. it also trigers one-liners to be broadcast for some reason the founders found it amusing.


huf huf huf, well that is my creativity gland well spend. hope ya like it.

 

[CorneliousCrowe]

You definitely put a lot of thought into that! Let me hear a few more ideas and i will start drawing!

 

[vabese]

what type of deatail do you need and for what specie/faction/race too. i can give ya alot just point at what you need.

or is it sarcasm i detect.

 

[CorneliousCrowe]

I mean it, you have put a lot of thought into these! I am hoping some more people share ideas, because its good to have multiple sources of creativity. And yes, I art too I will be posting a picture of how I think the creatures should look based on some of the suggestions I get back here. If you want to see my stuff now, go to www.parallelillustration.com! I don\'t have much up there, but it does link to my blog as well, which has all my sketches and fun stuff thats not good enough for my portfolio.

As for detail, get into to nitty gritty I consider myself a world builder, and want every little detail to be crystal clear in my mind. Thats one reason I love to draw, I can make things look exactly how I want them to!

 

[vabese]

thats some decent looking art you got there

first i will start of whit the more inportand races and then move on to lesser ones, since the traders are most inportand i will start whit them.

Gnollak(founders of trade network)

Homeworld: Gnoll. \"Gnoll is a low gravity planet, resulting into a enlarged biosphere for most fauna and flora. the composition of the planet renders it and the sediment teal, while its vegetation is purple and its atmosphere is salmon and so are its waters.

this is mostly due to the sun in the system, this star is a B-class star meaning that its a blue star that burns hot with a high hydrogen amount and has a short life, this star also has abnormal amount of copper salts causing streaks of green and blue to become visible every now and then.

the planet itself is a relatively small planet. smaller than earth, but lighter than mars. its landscape is in most places rough making it hard to lay down normal infrastructure.

Known Emperors: Bortis, Dolgran, Gnorm, Vex, Trorn, Trant, Volm, Navolok

Apperance/biologie: omnivore their skin is a gray-ish purple-blue(and any variations that fit that description), they are about 1~1,5 meter tall this mostly due to space travel causing them to shrink a bit. they have no visible hair, but they got a fine scale structure for there skin. they also got an out of proportion head for their body\'s being somewhat elongated with small eyes, but long features for their face causing a somewhat stretched goblin effect of apperance.

they got great hearing, thanks to their somewhat sizeable pointy ears. they got stubby short limbs, that have bulky joints, there hands/claws have 4 fingers and do feature thumbs however these are on the outside of there hands. the ends of their fingers do not have nails or claws, but are bony instead. they also have no toes, and their legs have dinosuar-like joints.

their clothes are usually dark coloured drape-like in nature, decorated whit lavish gold like materials and they also have most of the time have some kind of simple hat, that fits whit it.

Racial Tendencies: Aggressive Economists, Dictatorship, ussaly peasefull. often build a city carved into a mountain or partially sunken into the ground. hoarders, and a lot if the time crafty in making valuables. drive hard bargains. they avoid ocean plants for settling down, and prefer more rough ones. they love one-liners and sloppy jokes to a anoying degree, and can have celebrations that last for day\'s.

Specialties: best Traders out there and often very lucky. cultivated a large varaity of fungus type plants that they use for many agricultural purpuses, however they are not dependant on these. thanks to thier infratructure dezign they are ussaly intrenched, and have no problem creating an infrastructure/habitation on a rough or a bare planet for that mater.

so thats the gnollaks, tell me if you need more, so that i can \'fill\' the gaps in the things you need. i do hope you have enough, if you need me i\'m writing another few.

 

[2hu]

Lower gravity, at least based on current biology, may result in a smaller biosphere since oxygen (or whatever other vital gas) density would be lower.

A blue star would not have copper salts because it is too hot to have (relatively) heavy elements.

Travelling in space would make you taller, not shorter, since bodies in space have less downard strain due to the lack of gravity.

I\'m not sure how stubby arms would help them make crafts but I\'m sure they can manage with their future tech.

 

[vabese]

so what your saying is
less gravity = less gas density = smaller biosphere

but your forgetting good examples that some planets (ex. pandora a moon and the setting from avatar) where there is less gravity but there is still a giant biosphere. mostly due to lack of there being predictors/viral disease or simply long life, but i didn\'t specify what type plants grow on the planets or what animals there are.

no i know a blue star does not have that naturally. instead of it being in the star itself, lest just say that there still are remnant dust cloud from an older system or exploded star that had them. and that they periodically fall in

the travel in space does make you taller, provided you grew up on a planet, but what about those that were born in space. for what we know is that organisms are effected allot by this(vertigo and a swollen head are just an example) and who is to know what whole generations of space travel could do to a specie that is not equipped whit gravity generators, for all we know we might become noodle man(lel, ref. to current char)

stubby does not mean unusable, but eh i thought it would kinda fit whit them. and any of this is more or less a draft to make it intressting.