Aliens - Serious Brainstorming Thread

[TC01]

So, ages ago I made a poll, and the general consensus was: yes, aliens, lots of them, all sorts of different kinds!

Easier said than done. So I decided, that rather than force myself or God-Emperor to come up with every single idea for every single possible alien civilization: it would be much more fun and inclusive to ask people for ideas.

So, what am I asking for, exactly? Come up with ideas for civs! That means we need a name for the civ, a name for the race if it's different, and some general information about them so we can make their gameplay different than the other human civs and possibly the other alien civs. Note: the names aren't really necessary because we can come up with them if absolutely necessary. You could just post a ton of names, or a handful of civ ideas, or both. Whatever!

My only guidelines here are: please don't directly rip off another sci-fi series. If you must suggest a race of mutant aliens living in metal cylinders who run around killing everything that's not them, fine, but don't call them the Daleks and don't have them chant "Exterminate!". Make them a little different.

Also, there are eight human civs in FF+. That does not mean we need eight alien civs: we can have more or less (probably not less). Not every alien civ will be a splintered remnant of it's original race; though some can be. So we might have one race with only one civ, one race splinered into three civs, etc.

 

[tesb]

i don't have an idea for alien lore, but rather gameplay mechanics that could set them apart:

-starbases that are under permanent stealth, have less strength, but have a powerful ranged attack and fighters/bombers can use them.

-no warp- and jumplanes but they can trade anywhere over space. they can teleport units from one system to another (airlift mechanic) to make up for lost warp- and jumplanes

-have a very powerful home system (starts with a building that grants a lot of good bonuses), but new systems are much less useful.

 

[Time Traveler]

Hi TC been reading a lot about your mod unfortunately can't get it to run on my puter but more than happy to lend my thinking cap for some alien creation.

Serpers: Serpentine Body; Aggressive, Spartan-Like Warrior Tradition; Ships: Slow and strong, Less focused in squadrons more in big dreadnoughts and destroyers (possibly anti squadron Cruisers) for defense; Buildings: speed production or increasing the abilities of new units; Special Abilitity: Militant Populace- Every serper is trained from childhood in the art of warfare {+2 exp to newly created units} making them exceptionally hard to conquer {+25% to units defending a serpish system}

Greys: The classic little guy with big eyes, fast elusive knowlege gatherers; Ships: Fast and stealthy though not as strong; buildings: increase research and espionage Special Ability: Abduction- The Grey's are rumored to snatch and experiment on new species they encounter {stealthed ships spending a turn in another rulers system [friendly or otherwise] add 2 to the current research project and to their current espionage total for that race

Colonies: mansized swarms of tiny sentient colonial insects; Ships: Focused on big groups of light ships; Buildings: psychic feel, increases growth, happiness, and health; Special Ability: Hive minds- The Colonies recognize no individual each part serves to make up the whole {-25% unhappiness from population, ships recieve +10% if in a stack with 3 or more other ships, and ships recieve a 5% bonus for each other ship type in its stack

Star Herders: Mysterious genetically enhanced galactic evolutionary zealots; Ships: living ships heal every turn no matter what else they do; Buildings: that increase the effectiveness of relig. . . errr . . . I mean values, and some that increase influence; Special Ability: Pinacle of evolution- The herders have spent milenia perfecting their race and culture -10% to amount of influence required to expand borders, +1 to pop limit of the lowest planet in each system, +10% combat rating of units, but all captured sytems automatically reduced to population 1 and recieve -1 to that systems happiness

The Cyborg Haven: Exiled Human(?) Cyborgs, mechanical genuises; Ships: Recieve a free upgrade; Buildings: That give units experience or bolster defenses at the cost of lowered amounts of health and slower population growth; Special Ability: Hijack Tech- 20% chance to gain control of enemy vessel after combat instead of killing it, unit is gained with all current upgrades, but damaged to only 1 remaing strength

Hope you like these and if you want anymore I got a million of em . . . well at least a few more lol. Of course these are just suggestions actual values and abilities may need tweeked or revised for balance sake.

 

[TC01]

i don't have an idea for alien lore, but rather gameplay mechanics that could set them apart:

-starbases that are under permanent stealth, have less strength, but have a powerful ranged attack and fighters/bombers can use them.

-no warp- and jumplanes but they can trade anywhere over space. they can teleport units from one system to another (airlift mechanic) to make up for lost warp- and jumplanes

-have a very powerful home system (starts with a building that grants a lot of good bonuses), but new systems are much less useful.

Cool mechanic ideas, thank you. The stealth starbases could fit in with a generally stealth-oriented civilization.

I'd definitely like civs that don't use warp and jump lanes (that work like all civs in ST mod do). The teleportation idea is cool too.

and the powerful home system is also a nice idea.

Hi TC been reading a lot about your mod unfortunately can't get it to run on my puter but more than happy to lend my thinking cap for some alien creation.

Oh? What specific problems are you having? Care to post over in the bug thread (or somewhere else) about them?

Serpers: Serpentine Body; Aggressive, Spartan-Like Warrior Tradition; Ships: Slow and strong, Less focused in squadrons more in big dreadnoughts and destroyers (possibly anti squadron Cruisers) for defense; Buildings: speed production or increasing the abilities of new units; Special Abilitity: Militant Populace- Every serper is trained from childhood in the art of warfare {+2 exp to newly created units} making them exceptionally hard to conquer {+25% to units defending a serpish system}

Greys: The classic little guy with big eyes, fast elusive knowlege gatherers; Ships: Fast and stealthy though not as strong; buildings: increase research and espionage Special Ability: Abduction- The Grey's are rumored to snatch and experiment on new species they encounter {stealthed ships spending a turn in another rulers system [friendly or otherwise] add 2 to the current research project and to their current espionage total for that race

Colonies: mansized swarms of tiny sentient colonial insects; Ships: Focused on big groups of light ships; Buildings: psychic feel, increases growth, happiness, and health; Special Ability: Hive minds- The Colonies recognize no individual each part serves to make up the whole {-25% unhappiness from population, ships recieve +10% if in a stack with 3 or more other ships, and ships recieve a 5% bonus for each other ship type in its stack

Star Herders: Mysterious genetically enhanced galactic evolutionary zealots; Ships: living ships heal every turn no matter what else they do; Buildings: that increase the effectiveness of relig. . . errr . . . I mean values, and some that increase influence; Special Ability: Pinacle of evolution- The herders have spent milenia perfecting their race and culture -10% to amount of influence required to expand borders, +1 to pop limit of the lowest planet in each system, +10% combat rating of units, but all captured sytems automatically reduced to population 1 and recieve -1 to that systems happiness

The Cyborg Haven: Exiled Human(?) Cyborgs, mechanical genuises; Ships: Recieve a free upgrade; Buildings: That give units experience or bolster defenses at the cost of lowered amounts of health and slower population growth; Special Ability: Hijack Tech- 20% chance to gain control of enemy vessel after combat instead of killing it, unit is gained with all current upgrades, but damaged to only 1 remaing strength

Hope you like these and if you want anymore I got a million of em . . . well at least a few more lol. Of course these are just suggestions actual values and abilities may need tweeked or revised for balance sake.

Some interesting general ideas, thanks.

Cyborg civilization(s) are definitely a cool idea, but I don't want them to be exiled humans. They can be exiled from another species though.

As for specific abilities and bonuses, well- I'd like to make the alien civs different in other ways rather than just numbers, more like the difference between the Infernals and the Bannor in FFH 2 (to give an example).

 

[tesb]

more ideas:

-a race that gets movement speed increase through certain support ships instead of warp/jump lanes, for example if you want a faster fleet you need to build some *insert fancy ship here* that speeds up the movement of all ships in the stack by 1. if you add another ship it speeds up the movement by 2 and so on. there could be a limit on the amount of those ships that you can build, so you can either have one very fast stack or multiple slower stacks

-siege ships with ranged attacks. basically ships that can use ranged attacks, similar to starbases but are very weak on their own

-a race that can only get population in its homeworld and can not build colonizers. if you conquer an enemy star system your homeworld gets additional population, happiness, healthiness and populations slots depending on the conquered systems size, but the conquered star system gets razed.

-a race which ships increase in power for every enemy ship they destroy. better ship technologies do not unlock better ship versions, but increase the maximum amount of power the base ship can gain.

 

[tesb]

-a new ultimate weapon that destroys star systems and places a supernova in its place

 

[old_andy]

My aliens rant


Borgs or Bugs.. that's the question.

So anyway, either one.. currently game mechanics wise they're identical, aside from visuals flavoring and the odd mix-a-rooney

they have a lot in common..

-Since all cyborg units contain an organic part -that houses the brain for example.. all cyborg units require nutrients as well as production to be completed. Also certain cyborg structures require nutrients as well as production for construction, since they're fully cyborg buildings with organic parts. The same goes for the insects since all of their units and buildings are bio-engineered and grown instead of built -save a few exceptions.

-Both are hive mind societies..

-both start with the letter 'B'..

uhh..

-Planetary population increase with cyborgs happens with the construction of drone storage units. These units require energy -their income index, so the income index of the planet isn't increased -the same way that moonbases don't increase the nutrient level..

But because the storage units 'recycles' old drones -matrix style, the nutrient level actually increases by +1

Bugs build subterranean nesting chambers that also raise the nutrient level of the planet by +1, because they simply eat their surplus young..

-Cyborgs build engineering pits on planets. The larger the population, the larger the class of unit that can be built. Exception is the presence of a moon, then a 'Lunar Engineering Pit' can be built, and because of the decreased gravity, the planet can build a class larger unit than otherwise. Multiple planets with engineering pits decrease the overall time of production. assimilated units can be dismantled in these pits and then recompiled into better suited cyborg units.

Bugs grow birthing chambers that work the same way, except the Lunar birthing chamber can grow every class of unit regardless of planet size.

-Cyborgs don't have individual research structures, but every building contributes to the overall research -or as they call it; updates.. also planetary resources are used differently -the cow resource increases the intelligence of all buildings in the system dramatically after they install their brains, because cows are smart m'kay.. and the seafood resource also increases the intelligence in those systems that already are boosted because of the cow resource, because fish is good for the brain, m'kay.. Bugs have evolutions, and use nutrients the same way as the cyborgs do for research

still working on the other planetary resources..

Cyborgs see sufficient power as equal to happiness, so as long as the gold income -which represents their power surplus, is increasing, they're happy. The steeper it increases, the happier they are. Negative income means unhappiness, and eventually unhealthiness as areas of the collective aren't maintained and are shut down. Power plants act like the banks, which in turn act like the sports arenas and hospitals.. if need be they can put all of their production into generating energy

Bugs equate having enough food to happiness, so that's easy. They can put all of their production into food, by eating the worker bugs..


New Alien Units

-Cyborgs and Bugs have three different operational doctrines -like the light ship, capitol ship, carrier doctrines. But they also effect which units can be produced/grown at any given moment and not just a reduced upkeep and production times.

*Locust mode -small, cheap and above all else loads and loads of 'em... anything up to -shortish- man sized.

*Legion mode -moderately sized and in reasonable numbers.. everything from man sized up to vehicle sized

*Sentinel mode -Huge, expensive and elite so these are your Godzillas and Transformers..

The cyborgs have nanite swarms -in locust mode, which act like squadrons except there's a good chance of taking over the enemy ship by reprogramming it's electronics instead of destroying it, and a good chance that there will be nothing left of the swarm afterwards. Same with the bugs except they just try to destroy the enemy ship, not assimilate it.

Btw, I was thinking that assimilated ships are 'nerfed' to 50% health/attack because it's not a proper cyborg vessel, it's only assimilated, and first needs to be decompiled in one of the engineering pits, adding it's uniqueness to the collective. Then they can build there own, at full strength.

In Legion mode the cyborgs utilize proper fight squadrons, like cylon raiders. Bugs still have swarms, but with bigger sized bugs..

In Sentinel mode cyborgs can build bombers, but these act like the interceptors in the ST mod -massive ranges and attack strengths. Bugs that you don't want slamming into your windshield...

Cyborgs only have access to the basic recon, destroyer, cruiser/carrier (same idea to them) and battleship units -since they aren't the most creative lot.. and anything they can assimilate. Bugs only have their own units, and whatever it can grow into...

Bugs start with spores, cheap to produce and then sent out into space like a basic recon unit. Unlike a recon unit these spores must find either a system or a resource within a certain amount of turns or they perish. If they find either a resource or system they can propagate, and their spawn can continue onto finding they next one in their life-cycle. Any system where a spore has spawned can be 'seeded' with a new colony of aliens, which first takes a looong time before it is a viable colony (think an initial anarchy state before it becomes a level 1 colony with a population). On resources spores can spawn a resource extractor brood that acts like a normal extractor. Spores only evolve into better spores, with longer ranges and resistant to more hazardous environments -nebula, space radiation and the like..

Bugs have three classes of space creature they can grow in the different birthing chambers; light, carrier and capitol. But can only grow them depending on what mode they're in..

In Locust mode the alien faction can only grow Light class space creatures that act either like planetary defense ships or GP destroyers..

Light space creatures will be able to evolve into a larger carrier class space creature if it survives (at full health) long enough (say fifty turns or so..), eats enough enemy units and if the faction changes to the Legion mode.

Carrier class space creatures can evolve into Capitol class space creatures if they also survive long enough, eat enough enemy units and the faction goes into Sentinel mode.

Only Capitol class space creatures, accompanied by numerous carrier class space creatures have the muscle to invade a populated system -they get a massive research boost for a conquered system because of the staggering amount of biomass a population of sentient beings represents..

cyborgs get the research boost as well, for plugging the brains of the captured population into the collective.


uhmmm..., that's all the rant I have at the moment on aliens..,
..but I do have an idea for two other -human- factions.

old Earth and pirates