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Joveans
Oct 20, 2004 16:51:23 GMT -5
Post by CELS on Oct 20, 2004 16:51:23 GMT -5
Well, I don't know why, but I've started thinking about another alien race. Without going into details, let me just say that I have imagined a 'vagabond' race that is spreading, but in small numbers. I wanted a somewhat unique appearance for this race, and I came up with the idea of having them walking on their 'hands'. A few days later, I realized this had already been done with the character 'Sepulba' from Star Wars: Phantom Menace, but by then I was already in love with the idea. For now, I have two questions. 1) Is this cool, or will everyone just immediately be turned off by the similarity to Sebulba? 2) How does a four-legged mammal evolve to start walking on it's forelegs/arms/upper limbs/whatever? Is it realistic? I came up with the idea of the race being treeclimbers, relying on their arms to climb, and using their legs to manipulate tools. Any thoughts? It just seems odd for a species living on open fields to start walking on its hands. Looking forward to your replies. |
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Joveans
Oct 20, 2004 17:00:51 GMT -5
Post by Kage2020 on Oct 20, 2004 17:00:51 GMT -5
Brachiators... Just have them as arboreal brachiators and that would explain the preference for the forelimbs and lack of development of the other limbs...
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Joveans
Oct 21, 2004 6:50:56 GMT -5
Post by rsljudd on Oct 21, 2004 6:50:56 GMT -5
animals started walking on their legs by looking up ,standing on their hindquarters on the look out for danger,food..sex so if the food/danger was ,maybe below ground or ground level ,then they would evolve that way?  ?maybe?  |
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Joveans
Oct 22, 2004 5:05:44 GMT -5
Post by CELS on Oct 22, 2004 5:05:44 GMT -5
Yeah, Kage, I believe I was already suggesting that they should be arboreal brachiators. I just didn't know the fancy terms for it  (By the way, it would be nice if you explained terms like that in the future) Juddski, they wouldn't need to look up so much if they were treeclimbers now, so that solves that problem. Danger would come from all directions, and since they would typically hang from their arms, they wouldn't get up on their hindlegs too often, to gain height. I shall write more about my initial thoughts for this race tonight, I hope. So I guess since neither of you answered my first question, that was not really a problem...? EDIT: Right. More information. The Aliens were originally treeclimbers on a world with relatively low gravity. This world had lots of forest, with trees of mind-numbing height (because of the low gravity). Anyway, the race started using their 'arms' for locomotion and used their feet to eat, fight and eventually use tools. I want the race to be natural wanderers, unlike humans who are extremely attached to their homes. Where a human would stand and die for his home and country, these Aliens would simply pick up and leave. It is this fact which has ensured their survival in the middle of the Imperium, as they constantly roam the stars, only staying on planets for long enough to resupply and expand. To explain this, I was thinking of giving their original homeworld an extremely long rotational period, with each day lasting several Terran months. When night came on their planet, an extreme temperature drop would force the Aliens to constantly keep moving, untill they eventually reached a level of technology needed to survive the cold nights. In present time (470.M41), these Aliens roam the Ultima Segmentum. Only a few worlds have supported great populations (millions and above) for more than centuries, as the Aliens constantly move from system to system. Since the vast majority of these Aliens live onboard great starships, the Imperium has had difficulties bringing them to war. All worlds permanently colonised by these aliens are inevitably discovered and destroyed by the Imperium, yet the Aliens continue to escape and expand. The eastern regions of the Ultima Segmentum are dotted by abandoned outposts, mining installations and refineries, used by the Aliens for only a few years and then stripped of all valuable components and abandoned. The Aliens are extremely shy, usually avoiding all contact with humans if possible. Some have been known to trade with humans, but history shows that these Alien traders cannot be trusted. Still, the greed of the humans is so powerful that there are always those who will try, tempted by the riches of xenos technology. Questions, comments, thoughts? I'll post more as I think it up |
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Joveans
Oct 25, 2004 16:35:26 GMT -5
Post by Destecado on Oct 25, 2004 16:35:26 GMT -5
Rather than having them walk on their "hands" like Sepulba what about having both of extremities "arms" and "legs" be of similar design. Rather than having "legs" the creature would have two sets of "arms". It is just as much at home hanging upside down as rightside up...similar to say an orangutan.  Instead of developing into feet like in humans, these creatures retained the same dexterity in their "feet" as they do in their "hands" This would serve them well when swinging through the trees, they could grasp a limb with any apendage. It would probabaly carry over well into the free fall of space. Having four apendages with opposable thumbs or with good manual dexterity would be of great benefit. Rather than just being able to walk on their upper apendages, they should be able to walk on both just as easily or all at once for added speed along the ground. |
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Joveans
Oct 27, 2004 8:26:31 GMT -5
Post by CELS on Oct 27, 2004 8:26:31 GMT -5
Well, the whole point of creating these aliens, was that I wanted to create something unique, as opposed to the standard bipedal aliens with two arms. If we have aliens with "two sets of arms", chances are great that they'll look a lot like humanoids when you put a gun in their hands. Thus, they're not really that original, and that means I've failed So, Destecado, does this mean that the idea of aliens with a Sebulba-like pose is a (too) obvious rip-off? I'd also like to hear any thoughts anyone might have on the non-body shape stuff |
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Joveans
Oct 27, 2004 8:34:54 GMT -5
Post by rsljudd on Oct 27, 2004 8:34:54 GMT -5
[quote I'd also like to hear any thoughts anyone might have on the non-body shape stuff [/quote] do you mean literally no body stuff  ..or a life force entity sort of thing? |
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Joveans
Oct 27, 2004 11:13:16 GMT -5
Post by CELS on Oct 27, 2004 11:13:16 GMT -5
As in questions relating to their society and history, and not how many fingers they have.
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Joveans
Oct 28, 2004 12:39:21 GMT -5
Post by Destecado on Oct 28, 2004 12:39:21 GMT -5
So, Destecado, does this mean that the idea of aliens with a Sebulba-like pose is a (too) obvious rip-off? Well since George Lucas has ripped his ideas off from everyone else, it would be more like an homage to him (just kidding). Sharing a particular stance shoudn't be seen as a rip-off, as long as you explain why they developed that way...which is something Star Wars really never bother to do. Honestly though, I can't think of a reason off the top of my head why they would develope in this manner. What of instead of always walking on their hands, they instead do it as a defensive measure...sort of like Kangaroos. Since they don't have a tail like a Kangaroo (which they use to rear up with and kick with their powerful rear paws), perhaps this race slings backwards on its "arms" in order to bring its powerful lower appendages up in order to "punch". Their fighting style might have similarities to the martial arts forms of Capoeira. If you are unfamiliar with Capoeira, you may want to check out this site, Capoeira Basics which has diagrams of the different moves. Alot of them are based off hand springs or sweaping motions made with the legs while supproting yourself with your hands. I know this might not be what your looking for, but its all I can think of at the moment, and maybe it will suggest some new ideas to you. I'd also like to hear any thoughts anyone might have on the non-body shape stuff I'll have to give this more thought. Any idea on how many children they would have for each birth? Is it a single ofspring or more like an oppossum or raccoon that can have multiple offspring at once? Is its food source high in the tree canopy or near the bottoms of the trees? Do they still live in trees, or have they made the tranistion to the ground? What effect has this had on their evolution? Actually, you may want to consider having three sets of appendages rather than just two. I was actually working on a race set up in this manner (they were an arborial race as well). The "arms" and "legs" were for the most part very similar for grasping tree branches and moving through the high canopies. They also had a smaller set of "arms" that were highly dexterous, but not as developed as the other sets of apendages. These arms were mostly used for feeding prposes. It could use the other four "arms" to hold itself while it fed with the smaller set of arms. The females of the species also use these arms to hold their young to them while they move through the trees. This way the baby is not lost as the adult swings from one tree to another. These arms fold close in to the body so as not to get in the way while the creature is using its other apendages for locomotion. |
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Joveans
Nov 1, 2004 11:16:55 GMT -5
Post by CELS on Nov 1, 2004 11:16:55 GMT -5
This is most perturbatory.. I do believe I replied to this thread, but it could seem as if my post was deleted. Or did I just never finish my draft... anyway, here goes. Well since George Lucas has ripped his ideas off from everyone else, it would be more like an homage to him (just kidding). Sharing a particular stance shoudn't be seen as a rip-off, as long as you explain why they developed that way...which is something Star Wars really never bother to do. *grin* I feel better then. Well, do you not think that it would work with them being "arboreal brachiators" (see above)? The thing is, they lived in the trees, so they wouldn't be in the same situation as the Kangaroos. For defense against dangerous predators, they would originally just have to get to the closest tree. Thanks, Destecado, but I'm quite familiar with it! I truly appreciate your help, but at the moment I'm trying to work out whether or not my initial idea is plausible. When/if we've established that a race walking on their hands and using their legs for tools is totally unrealistic, we can start discussing alternatives Well, how does evolution determine how many children a species has for each birth? I'll try to think out a logical suggestion. It is difficult for a newborn to master tree-climbing in the first weeks of its life. Climbing and jumping from tree to tree seems more difficult than flying in the open sky or running on flat ground, so I guess these Aliens would bring up their offspring on the ground, in nests. During this period, they would be highly vulnerable to various large ground-based predators. These Aliens are small, the size of dogs. So I guess it would be nice if these Aliens had the same number of offspring as dogs. Before the Aliens had any kind of civilisation, I guess it would be common to lose several children to predators, and only two or three of the children living long enough to learn to climb properly. Or maybe we should look at parallels on earth- the monkeys. These usually only have one or two childrens per birth, which is good because the children are usually carried by the parents when they're small. Both, I suppose. But primarily up in the trees, I think, to explain why they were not originally made for ground-movement. I suspect that their civilisation would very slowly move to the ground, as they reached the level of technology to survive the winters without wandering to warmer regions. Obviously, when the Aliens colonised new worlds, there was no reason for them to only build in trees. And of course, when you start thinking bigger than simple huts, it is a lot easier to build on the ground. Building a brick house in a tree is probably difficult. So, in recent years, they have started living on the ground, but after spending so much time in the trees, it is their legs that are optimized for manipulating tools, whilst their arms are used for locomotion. I'll probably go for this, if we decide that my idea is unrealistic. Kage, for one, didn't seem to have a big problem with it. Looking at monkeys, the children are often able to hang on to the parent, and don't need the mother to carry them with her hands. |
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?maybe? 
(By the way, it would be nice if you explained terms like that in the future)
..or a life force entity sort of thing?