Aliens in New SC

Hey, developers! Is it possible to reveal some basic info on aliens in New SC? How many aliens do you plan to implement? Will players be able to inroduce their own alien races via mods (with, say, static 2d models and backrounds and/or in 3d)? What about custom made voiceovers? Last but not least, why no humanoid aliens??? + anything else you feel like sharing at the moment

Hmmm... well, some will like to be hugged and others will want to kill you. 

We are planning on creating a set of mod tools that will let you create your own aliens, with custom made voice overs. 

Humanoid aliens are not very Star Control. If you view the past alien designs for any of the Star Control games very few of the aliens take on a humanoid form. The ones that do actually have some sort of link with humanity (Arilou, Androsynth). 

^ Excuse me, my pale blue half-syreen half-human boy disagrees. SC2 had at least ONE categorically humanoid race that you could interact and "interact" with.

The Syreen, the Shofixti, and the Thraddash were at least somewhat human looking without having any connection to humanity; however Vaelzad is correct in that SC mostly has non-humanoid aliens. 

I noticed that the design document specifically ruled out humanoid aliens. I definitely think this was the right decision, though I'm ok with exceptions if there's a reason for it. 

Damn, I love Grey aliens so much.... Airlou were not grey... but better than nothing and they are sorta humanoid...

Anyways, moddable aliens - that is simply awesome!!!!!

Sci-fi without an all female humanoid babe race genetically compatible enough to produce viable offspring with humans?!

BLASPHEMY!1!1 Why do you think we looked up towards the stars in the first place?!

Do you think their QA will pass a slightly phallic rocket ship with guns at the tip? 

Guns at the tip are not balls at the engine, so I guess all will be fine but I do think that one should not completely waive humanoid aliens.

What, everyone forgot about the Druuge?  Ok....fair enough.

Quoting Drakkens, reply 8

What, everyone forgot about the Druuge?  Ok....fair enough.

Devs, can you share some more info on the aliens? Will they be like these are good and these are evil or Game of Thrones like (i hope you get the idea)? How many races do you plan to introduce? Can we get some lore?  Some descriptions? Do Fred and Paul participate in some form? Can we get some concept art besides things already provided? Anything?

Personally, I feel like this could be a GREAT opportunity to expand on races that were merely mentioned in passing by the Slylandro, Melnorme, Orz, and Arilou (and rarely, if ever, by name!). I know they want to keep this "Sideboot" separate, but even having a new race mention the Ur-Quan or the Taalo would make me feel warm and fuzzy.

Honestly, the Syreen (and the Supox) were my favorite aliens. There's very much a fantasy-driven aspect to this.

However - there is opportunity for the new game to throw traditional tropes on the side and instead introduce new aliens in the form of lusty sentient pyramids that keep inviting the player to "visit their shaded side" and who feel "more pointed" in your presence with dreams to have you complete their "cube". What about a worm-like antagonist race that can be swayed by your erotic advances to turn into a butterfly-like race?

Edit: as a side-note, it would be remiss if an "erotic" alien was not included; but this being the new millennium and all it will be important to consider a non-all-female implementation (even when there is at least some pseudo-science that can be said for an all-female race).

Yeah, while I understand not using the other races (to an extent) I would love to have mentions - something at LEAST that has it feel like it's in the same universe. 

Having an all female alien race is actually not implausible.

In fact they be around us already! They would pretty much have developed a symbiotic relationship with humans as the most closely compatible alien race and they reproduce by seducing men, much like succubus. Actually I think an episode of "Supernatural" had "amazons" which had to mate with males and then kill them... hmm kind of like a praying mantis or black widow...

Well, the whole "erotic aliens" can be completely re-thought. You might run into a mechanical alien race (Wall-E style) that is unexpectedly amorous - and over repeated encounters they adjust their forms more and more to appeal to humans (Wall-E's girlfriend style)

Non-humanoid aliens is obviously a very Star Control 'thing', so it's all great to see diversity and let creativity run wild to come up with bizarre forms of life.

While at it I'm quite curious: how communication will work? That is beside dialogue options we had in SC2. Could there be aliens whom you wouldn't be able to 'speak' to in normal way? Perhaps you'd have to figure out other means and patterns, for example exchanging items could provide hints and let player try to understand them. I think there are tons of interesting concepts to explore and communication in SC was awesome and vital part, yet it can be expanded upon. In SC2 Melnorme had background color changing indicating certain 'states' to them, perhaps we can get some specie who'd exclusively use abstract visual forms to communicate. More animations for dialogue screens for aliens to convey various states and letting player figure out what they mean, examples being indication of aggression or more subtle stuff like whether one lies to you, indication of trust to player character and such.

Yeah, but how do we procreate with robots?

Ctrl+C\Ctrl+V  For asexual reproduction.

Ctrl+X\Ctrl+V For ooooohh yeah!

What i like in the aliens of SC is the creativity, it should have humanoids, but... VERY few, i love the idea of some aliens have animal forms, and still menage to construct ships, fire weapons and etc, it is interesting to experiment with various forms and things you can do with a being

I Wish in the future they open up to suggestions and ideas for new alien races or alien critters, even tough they did not say the founders program would help in alien opinions and stuff, i already got so many ideas and sketches that will keep me exited until the game release!

- Shade A.I

I wouldn't mind running into some Star Trek-like "space monsters" like a giant space ameoba or some squid like thing.

Totally, like the 'planet' or 'station' that turns out to be the alien itself. 

Yes, monsters would also add variety to the encounters.  Instead of running into the same 6 enemy ships all the time there could be some monsters too, kind of like the probes in SC2.

I actually think a particular "space monster" can actually be an alien race onto itself. i.e. the "ship" that flies in combat is the alien itself, but you can also communicate with it and it is part of the normal adventure story line.

Absolutely, that too. 

Well.... if it is not human.... and is not from earth.... by definition is an alien. The space monster is an alien anyway. Unless maybe you throw Frankenstein's creation into space then maybe its just a space monster. 

It would be awesome if we could have more "plant/tree" aliens like the Supox.

Also, maybe have some aliens that are descendants of Earth dinosaurs -- that managed to escape the extinction.