97 réponses à ce sujet

[Llandaryn]

Protheans looking like Illithids would be pretty cool. I always thought of them as something like the Progenitors of Star Trek, travelling around the galaxy, seeding life in their image, leaving behind really lame data recordings that state "Hey, you're all inter-galactic brothers and sisters! Play nice!"



And then everyone gets pissed off and leaves before the campfire songs start.

[WoodWizzard87]

Making most of the aliens look humanoid is basically a really good ploy to draw in the players attention. For example, if Tali or Liara didn't have the curvy or streamlined figures, we wouldn't be as attracted to them "gamewise" Take for example what James Cameron did in avatar, he made all teh Na'vi look humanoid so we can relate to them as indians.

[Nautica773]

There's also the problem with animations. If all your species are radically different, your programmers have a lot more work to do for combat and the like. That's why the hanar just float and raise a single digit instead of joining you in battle.



But it seems that evolution is going to favour certain characteristics anyway. Dolphins may be smart, but they'll never get into space (unless its in a tuna can).

[WarmachineX0]

T1l wrote...

supakillaii wrote...

Prothean involvement I believe.
Also, the Protheans weren't "humanoid". They were more like Cuddlefish's.

I don't think anyone quite knows what the Protheans originally looked like. The Collectors are the genetic remnants of what the Protheans were, but as EDI explains, they've been changed a great deal and currently it would be a misnomer to label them as actually "Prothean".

If Prothean art is anything to go by, and I think it should as it is representative of their culture, they most likely originally looked like Illithids.

Protheans havn't physically changed, I belive. If you do the N7 mission and shepard touches the becon, the vison returns from ME1, the final sceen of an alien dieing comes into focus, you see that that the Pothean looks exactly like a collector.

[Doug84]

WarmachineX0 wrote...

T1l wrote...

supakillaii wrote...

Prothean involvement I believe.
Also, the Protheans weren't "humanoid". They were more like Cuddlefish's.

I don't think anyone quite knows what the Protheans originally looked like. The Collectors are the genetic remnants of what the Protheans were, but as EDI explains, they've been changed a great deal and currently it would be a misnomer to label them as actually "Prothean".

If Prothean art is anything to go by, and I think it should as it is representative of their culture, they most likely originally looked like Illithids.

Protheans havn't physically changed, I belive. If you do the N7 mission and shepard touches the becon, the vison returns from ME1, the final sceen of an alien dieing comes into focus, you see that that the Pothean looks exactly like a collector.

Yes, I've seen that one too.

Also, you have to remember the Protheans and Collectors are an insect style race with multiple 'castes' - so the Collector General caste is one form, the Collector drones are another - probably the General being the 'Queen', the drones being drones.

[Llandaryn]

Nautica773 wrote...

Dolphins may be smart, but they'll never get into space

Or fire a gun.

[TeaCokeProphet]

Llandaryn wrote...

Nautica773 wrote...

Dolphins may be smart, but they'll never get into space

Or fire a gun.

They don't need a "gun". With intelligence, adaption becomes that much easier. I'm sure sapient dolphins could create their own unique form of weaponry.

[Nautica773]

TeaCokeProphet wrote...

Llandaryn wrote...

Nautica773 wrote...

Dolphins may be smart, but they'll never get into space

Or fire a gun.

They don't need a "gun". With intelligence, adaption becomes that much easier. I'm sure sapient dolphins could create their own unique form of weaponry.

[WarmachineX0]

Doug84 wrote...

WarmachineX0 wrote...

T1l wrote...

supakillaii wrote...

Prothean involvement I believe.
Also, the Protheans weren't "humanoid". They were more like Cuddlefish's.

I don't think anyone quite knows what the Protheans originally looked like. The Collectors are the genetic remnants of what the Protheans were, but as EDI explains, they've been changed a great deal and currently it would be a misnomer to label them as actually "Prothean".

If Prothean art is anything to go by, and I think it should as it is representative of their culture, they most likely originally looked like Illithids.

Protheans havn't physically changed, I belive. If you do the N7 mission and shepard touches the becon, the vison returns from ME1, the final sceen of an alien dieing comes into focus, you see that that the Pothean looks exactly like a collector.

Yes, I've seen that one too.

Also, you have to remember the Protheans and Collectors are an insect style race with multiple 'castes' - so the Collector General caste is one form, the Collector drones are another - probably the General being the 'Queen', the drones being drones.

Dunno about a caste system, but it is noted that Protheans had art, technology, and an utopian like culture as per diffearnt conversations in the game. Then Mordin says after the reapers, evolution became stagnit and the indoctunation destroyed their culture.

[BigKahuna25]

Gill Kaiser wrote...

Kerberus88 wrote...

Name one other species on earth that is advanced as us. Can't? Not bipedal and no digits.

It depends on how you define 'advanced'. If you mean technology, sure. But what if dolphins are much more socially advanced than us, for example?

If dolphins are so smart then how come they live in igloos?

[johannes1212]

Guys keep in mind that the only thing that separates us from monkeys, apes and less sentient species are opposable thumbs.

Also the various technologically advanced species presented in Mass Effect originally evolved on planets with a similar distance ratio to their star and similar environments to earth, albeit all over the galaxy, so it's only natural to think they evolved in a close way to humans.

[Tychu9]

 When you orbit one of the planets in one of the systems that you can explore later in the game it says that there are destroyed ships and transports that seems to be made for a horrizontal species.  ie. on all fours.

Is it possible that the species we see now in the galaxy are the ones that developed in this Reaper era and that previous eras saw non humanoid species take dominance?

[T1l]

WarmachineX0 wrote...

Protheans havn't physically changed, I belive. If you do the N7 mission and shepard touches the becon, the vison returns from ME1, the final sceen of an alien dieing comes into focus, you see that that the Pothean looks exactly like a collector.

That's a very interesting point, and you're correct. I wonder, then, why the sculptures on Ilos were distinctly humanoid in appearance, rather than insectoid. Also; the architecture of Ilos in no way resembled the Collector Ship, aside possibly the life support systems. The Collectors seem to create hives, where as Ilos seems to have distinct structures; buildings.

Retconning?

[Gill Kaiser]

johannes1212 wrote...

Guys keep in mind that the only thing that separates us from monkeys, apes and less sentient species are opposable thumbs.

You do realise that monkey and apes actually have twice as many opposable thumbs as we do, right?

[Nautica773]

johannes1212 wrote...

Guys keep in mind that the only thing that separates us from monkeys, apes and less sentient species are opposable thumbs.

This... this is just wrong. 

First, most primates have opposable thumbs, opossoms have one on their feet, koalas have them but in a different order...

Second, there is more differentiating monkeys and humans then their digits.

[Gill Kaiser]

T1l wrote...

WarmachineX0 wrote...

Protheans havn't physically changed, I belive. If you do the N7 mission and shepard touches the becon, the vison returns from ME1, the final sceen of an alien dieing comes into focus, you see that that the Pothean looks exactly like a collector.

That's a very interesting point, and you're correct. I wonder, then, why the sculptures on Ilos were distinctly humanoid in appearance, rather than insectoid. Also; the architecture of Ilos in no way resembled the Collector Ship, aside possibly the life support systems. The Collectors seem to create hives, where as Ilos seems to have distinct structures; buildings.

Retconning?

Yes, it's clearly a retcon. Still, it could make sense in-universe if the Prothean to Collector genetic tampering occured in the centuries between the Reaper invasion and the Ilos facility waking up.

[TeaCokeProphet]

johannes1212 wrote...

Guys keep in mind that the only thing that separates us from monkeys, apes and less sentient species are opposable thumbs.
Also the various technologically advanced species presented in Mass Effect originally evolved on planets with a similar distance ratio to their star and similar environments to earth, albeit all over the galaxy, so it's only natural to think they evolved in a close way to humans.

Convergent evolution, filling out their common ecological niche and all that. It's one way to look at it. But then you can look outside our limited boundries and see the amazing ways life has adapted in various ways to the same conditions, like the difference between squid and fish. It's possible that a success that we seem to have hinges on "intelligence" and opposable thumbs, but we can't really even come up with ideas about how else life can reach the same level.

[TheSpaceKraken]

Llandaryn wrote...

it merely seems that evolution favours the species that can pick up and fire a gun.

My good sir.  May I use this in my signature?

[BigKahuna25]

Nautica773 wrote...

johannes1212 wrote...

Guys keep in mind that the only thing that separates us from monkeys, apes and less sentient species are opposable thumbs.

This... this is just wrong. 

First, most primates have opposable thumbs, opossoms have one on their feet, koalas have them but in a different order...

Second, there is more differentiating monkeys and humans then their digits.

whenever I'm back home and wrestle with my sister's dog i always have to rub it in his face that he lost because he has no thumbs.

[Gill Kaiser]

Nautica773 wrote...

johannes1212 wrote...

Guys keep in mind that the only thing that separates us from monkeys, apes and less sentient species are opposable thumbs.

This... this is just wrong. 

First, most primates have opposable thumbs, opossoms have one on their feet, koalas have them but in a different order...

Second, there is more differentiating monkeys and humans then their digits.

Recently I read a theory that said that the invention of fire was what allowed ****** sapiens to advance over the Neanderthals and other primates. We could heat ourselves, and cook our food. Cooked food is much easier to digest, so we got more calories/protein or whatever from our food, and we used the extra nourishment to develop bigger brains, since the brain is the organ that uses the most energy.

[Llandaryn]

TeaCokeProphet wrote...

Llandaryn wrote...

Nautica773 wrote...

Dolphins may be smart, but they'll never get into space

Or fire a gun.

They don't need a "gun". With intelligence, adaption becomes that much easier. I'm sure sapient dolphins could create their own unique form of weaponry.

You seem to be taking my posts seriously.

I find this strange.

Anyroad. As far as evolution concerns, it's not the final template that determines how successful a species is, but how quickly they can adapt. Mass-extinctions happen with alarming regularity (at least on a geological timescale). Species' have to adapt to changing environmental conditions and natural disasters. During a typical natural disaster, a species' final resort is to retreat to the sea, which is, at least on Earth, where life is created. Just look at the Cambrian explosion, and consider how species have survived various natural disasters by being able to live in the oceans, only to leave them again as soon as the threat passes and race to colonise land once more.

Adaptation is a lot easier for a sentient, large-brained bipedal creature, and if they can evolve fast enough, they might even be able to avert natural disasters by halting global warming and firing nuclear-warhead rockets at impending asteroids. It's really hard to do this if you're, for example, a dolphin, because constructing nuclear processing facilities is really difficult under-water.

TheSpaceKraken wrote...

Llandaryn wrote...

it merely seems that evolution favours the species that can pick up and fire a gun.

My good sir.  May I use this in my signature?

Yes you may. Somebody has to be the voice of reason around here.

Modifié par Llandaryn, 06 février 2010 - 10:31 .

[TheSpaceKraken]

Llandaryn wrote...


Yes you may. Somebody has to be the voice of reason around here.

Haha, yes!  Thanks man.

[Nautica773]

Gill Kaiser wrote...
Recently I read a theory that said that the invention of fire was what allowed ****** sapiens to advance over the Neanderthals and other primates. We could heat ourselves, and cook our food. Cooked food is much easier to digest, so we got more calories/protein or whatever from our food, and we used the extra nourishment to develop bigger brains, since the brain is the organ that uses the most energy.

Interesting theory. It does seem that a larger brain is more advantageous, and one of the skills that elevates humans is their varied tool use coupled with their social heirarchy and ability to pass intricate knowledge from one generation to the next. Fire use may be an important factor too, since I'm hard pressed to think of any creature that has ever used fire, where as there are numerous that have developed tool use (though not as advanced as primitive humans). 

[GraciousCat]

Gill Kaiser wrote...

T1l wrote...

WarmachineX0 wrote...

Protheans havn't physically changed, I belive. If you do the N7 mission and shepard touches the becon, the vison returns from ME1, the final sceen of an alien dieing comes into focus, you see that that the Pothean looks exactly like a collector.

That's a very interesting point, and you're correct. I wonder, then, why the sculptures on Ilos were distinctly humanoid in appearance, rather than insectoid. Also; the architecture of Ilos in no way resembled the Collector Ship, aside possibly the life support systems. The Collectors seem to create hives, where as Ilos seems to have distinct structures; buildings.

Retconning?

Yes, it's clearly a retcon. Still, it could make sense in-universe if the Prothean to Collector genetic tampering occured in the centuries between the Reaper invasion and the Ilos facility waking up.

I thought that vision just meant that the Protheans had been turned into the Collectors, not that they necessarily resembled them from the start, though that is where they ended up eventually

[WarmachineX0]

T1l wrote...

WarmachineX0 wrote...

Protheans havn't physically changed, I belive. If you do the N7 mission and shepard touches the becon, the vison returns from ME1, the final sceen of an alien dieing comes into focus, you see that that the Pothean looks exactly like a collector.

That's a very interesting point, and you're correct. I wonder, then, why the sculptures on Ilos were distinctly humanoid in appearance, rather than insectoid. Also; the architecture of Ilos in no way resembled the Collector Ship, aside possibly the life support systems. The Collectors seem to create hives, where as Ilos seems to have distinct structures; buildings.

Retconning?

well the ship and station have seemed to collect alot of "dirt" over it, stuff seems to build up over 50K years. If you look closly at some areas, you can see a clean shiney areas that resemble Prothean.  But, then we have only really seen their cities, not their ships.  as for the statues, They might not even be Prothean, they could be from a culture that passed on before the Protheans, but their refined tastes in Art, they kept them. Other theory, the Devs just wanted to place an errie premis over the area, and thats done with human like statues in dark postitions.