SC2Mapster

Ok, so...Here are some ideas. I have yet to put it all in a comprehensive design doc, but the jist of it is something like this.

1. Units can merge into larger units or divide up into smaller units at will, like morphing, kind of. A good example of this is Perimeter (RTS game):

Another example is Earth 2160:

http://www.earth2160.com/en/index.php

Main/Basic units can be warped in, but only those.

2. Buildings are entirely mobile. They move and don't "land", "entrench" or "burrow" at all, albeit they are extremely slowly (more so than Terran). They can be teleported via a special power.

Think like the Frame (main building) from Perimeter, or the ships from Homeworld.

3. Their buildings work like the Shroud in Grey Goo. They can be upgraded to specific structures ("infantry", vehicle, air). Tech tree and unit production would function in the same way (can build up to 3 units at a time, but they're very expensive, yet strong enough, but require micro/finesse to be truly worth their money, otherwise, if you A-move your force, it won't be as strong as it could be and it won't be worth the money you spent on it). Xel'Naga are very efficient but strong. Nothing should be wasted. They're "perfect". They also have really amazingly strong psionics, highly advanced physics, nanotech, light tech and what not.

4. Designs are organic and round, but also with spikes/tentacles. Floating parts are included in some of the units. You can't tell if the unit, creature, infantry, vehicle, aircraft and building is biological, organic, or a mix of both. It looks perfectly like both, but also seems very confusing. Their stuff is mostly black, dark grey or really dark blue. Player color is teal-ish green, teal, or light blue. They use high technology mixed in perfect unison with organics (not bruteish mix of tech and organic like Terran, or elegant but obvious like Protoss), where both are the same and you can't tell if they're organic with highly advanced nanotech and "light tech" or if they're tech-based with organic elements/imitation. There should also be light coursing through their units, but you can't tell if the light is organic-based or tech-based.

Some design ideas:
- Aliens from the Earth 2160 NEP mod:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/nep-new-earth-project

- Vintarid and Paladin races from the RA2 Doom Desire mod:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/doom-desire

- Seraphim from Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

- Scrin from C&C3/Tiberium (The cancelled FPS game)

- The Shroud from Grey Goo:
https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/info/tech/shroud/
https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/info/factions/shroud/

- The Goo from Grey Goo:
https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/info/tech/goo/
https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/info/factions/goo/

- Scrin from C&C: Tiberian Sun - Shattered Paradise mod:
http://www.ppmforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=41917

- Virons from Ground Control 2

- Crysis 2 prototype alien design:
http://www.designpicture.com/pro/crysis2/index.html

...And a few others (Some are even from obscure Korean & Russian RTS games).

I've included a zip file with a lot of design references & suggestions.

Another alternative to their design, if you go more towards the SC1 Xel'Naga temple design route, is to have them navy blue with yellow team color (The Korean RTS game called Atrox has the Intellion race, which seems to fit that design idea. Their stuff looks just like the SC1 Xel'Naga temple and has a Protoss-ish vibe to it, almost like the DT stuff.

Your designs, by the way, remind me of some of the designs from the cancelled game Guardians of Atlas, by Artillery Games:
https://guardiansofatlas.com

I love your designs, both the mech and structure, really sick stuff :) Kinda fits somewhat with what I have in mind (although I have a somewhat diverse visual design vision of what the Xel'Naga could look like)

So yeah, here's the zip file with all the stuff:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByDj29jsUbyVcF9CREVRWUpWdkU/view?usp=sharing

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

Thank you man. I really appreciate support and encouragement.

I'm trying to design Xel'Naga structures complete for base-buildings, so if you know anything about them, please throw them in here if you like.

I have a few ideas. I'll try and compile them into a comprehensive post and share them soon. :)

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

small update on the Consular:

edit: I find it difficult to think how the Xel'Naga would use their tech if they had the Cthulhu bodies though. They had world ships, and the Xel'Naga temples, the tech the protoss and Dark Templar were able to extract from them.

Maybe they had limbs.

For what it's worth, I agree with you :)

Quote from SoulFilcher: Go

@AlexO6: Go

Yes, but Ulnar is a direct link to the void inside an astral anomaly that "should not exist". So maybe it doesn't count as our standard universe for that.

EDIT: I'm tired of all the bipedal aliens already. So even if the cthulhu thing is a well known cliché I'd rather have it than another bipedal alien species like 99% of everything else out there.

But keep in mind that Bipedal and quadrupedal creatures are those most capable of evolving highly advanced and specialized brains, so it makes sense, in a way. Not to mention many Zerg creatures, as well as the Protoss, are all bipedal.

However, they can always look like the Psion Mother I posted or like the Void Thrashers. Those are not bipedal, but they don't look "fat and weak", either. I would also imagine transposing Xel'Naga Duran's face and extra arms on a Void Thrasher body, that could work, too.

Quote from SoulFilcher: Go

Keep in mind we only saw their original bodies and not the hosts that were supposed to be there physically back when they interacted with protoss and zerg. Amon's host was a hybrid and Narud's host was a shapeshifter (we have no idea where that comes from). If anything they don't seem to be literal hosts, they are made to house a Xel'naga's mind from the start, more like avatars than hosts.

Actually, you see the dead Xel'Naga inside the Ulnar in LotV, alongside Artanis, and they look just like Ouros and Amon.

EDIT:

An even more interesting idea for a Xel'Naga/Hybrid:

http://mavros-thanatos.deviantart.com/art/Tentacle-Alien-375809247

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

I'm thinking of mixing the Cthulhu head, add a slug tail, have the prothean as host body, and the Psion Mother for the silhouette for a female host Xel'Naga.

I'm all for it! I agree with the idea :)

Updated my post/reply with a bunch of design suggestions/ideas/inspirations. I personally don't fancy Blizzard's design for them, and I agree with changing them. Heck, the Protoss Hybrid already looks like a better Xel'Naga than Blizzard's final design.

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

How would you guys feel if the Xel'Naga were such as illustrated in the image below?

Can't really tell where there eyes and other facial features are supposed to be...

EDIT: Here are some more possibilities I imagined for Xel'Naga designs or that could inspire the Xel'Naga's design. Most of them are water/bug based, if not a mix of both.

TBH, I think Blizzard's idea is not necessarily bad, but I don't like their design. Blizzard's Xel'Naga look like giant bloated space whales, like something that came out of Star Wars or Star Trek. I'd rather have something more brooding, beautiful, yet alien, yet somewhat menacing, but advanced-looking. Something that actually doesn't look like a Zerg unit or like it's weak. Something that has some finesse to it, that doesn't look too bulky, either.

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

Yeah, I settled with normal death. A few sad parts after some quick edits. I'm done with it, btw. It's just the data parts is hard to figure out.

1. Apparently you can't have a unit with curved collision in game, so there goes walking over the bed. But attacking it still looks legit. No problem.

2. I don't know how to achieve a death where a sequence of animation plays out before the unit's collision disappears. So I reverted to the single death animation. The animations are kept, but I settled on the zerg blood burst with a single animation where the bed curles down into the hole, and a evolution chamber death appears.

There are still data to be worked out, which I put off 'till they're actually needed. I feel lazy working on them right now, since it's not used in my campaign. But the animations are there for others to use later.

For now, I've done sketches for an Aldaris in-game model, and an Enforcer for the DarkReign mod.

Also, A rework on Aldaris portrait is on the way. I'm quite busy right now, so there might be delays to follow.

Here's a sketch for Aldaris. It still has some way to go, so... yeah.

Nice, looks a little more detailed. And the Enforcer is Dark Reign 2, right? Damn, I was hoping it was DR1 you were talking about :P

3 sounds legit. And it's looking better and better. :)

I suppose it should just be a two part state where you kill both, and with a trigger, if you kill the Cerebrate with a DT, the pool dissolves. If you move it, the pool stays there, but with a trigger, in a campaign, you can make it enter the dissolve/die state. Though the player would not be able to do this by himself, it would only work if you're fighting th AI.

How's that sound?

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

That's the plan. hehe

Now I'm even more excited, awesome :)

Good luck with the DR project, as well, then!

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

Depende 'tol, if needed, then there will be more.

I'm trying to get this done ASAP, as I am moving to a Dark Reign: Future of War project.

That or, I'll jump between the two to avoid getting bored.

Dark Reign!!!! Love that game! Is it DR remake on the SC2 engine, by any chance? :)

Absolutely stunning. And it looks like they can easily fire onto it or damage it through the bed. Suspension of disbelief, I suppose, if it comes down to it. Currently, your work looks too good to pass up or scrap. :P

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

Thanks man. But we both know they can do better. They follow limits I think, or the likes, that keeps them from unleashing their full power.

LOL, "...that keeps them from unleashing their full power". Maybe they do. x)

Quote from GnaReffotsirk: Go

Here's the full Death-Rebirth Sequence:

AMAZING! (as always)

Blizzard's art team would be jealous :)