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Reverse-engineering The Glitch

Discussion in 'Starbound Discussion' started by El Barto 227, Jul 15, 2013.

  1. El Barto 227

    El Barto 227 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    Note: this analysis is focusing on lore, not game mechanics

    The Glitch are our friendly neighbourhood robots. Ironically, their medieval beliefs are essentially impossible to change. But if a Glitch is born free of this society-freezing bug, it can become incredibly intelligent and considered "insane" by other Glitch.

    So, what to discuss first? Their origins and culture, or their "anatomy" possibility? Both are quite interesting subjects. I think I'll start with the culture and origins, as the latter will be quite technical.

    The Glitch were created by a highly advanced and mysterious race (quite possibly the same unknown race who genetically altered Kluex and the other "Ascended" Avians) as a social experiment, but a glitch in their programming caused them to be stuck in their medieval era. Knights, nobles, peasants, the king etc are probably the basis of Glitch culture and government. They are comprised of some amazing tech (which I could probably ramble on about for hours), but they probably do not use as much technology as the other races.

    Most Glitch would be the low-class workers, or "peasants", with the usual roles like farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, hunter etc. Then you would have merchants, alchemists, scientists and some craftsmen. Nobility and royalty would likely form the governing bodies, and the upper class. Some minor nobles might train to become knights, with a strict code of honour (whether they stick to that code or not is debatable)

    Superstition and beliefs would often get in the way of "scientific" advancement or discovery in the middle ages, and no doubt a similar thing happens among the Glitch.

    But the truly interesting thing about the Glitch is their composition. for a fully functioning robot lifeform, what are the bare minimum parts you need? Ignoring space constraints, you'd need:
    • A brain
    • Wiring
    • Ears
    • A mouth
    • Limbs
    • Eyes
    • Power source
    • Power storage
    • Memory
    • Tubing (to carry necessary substances)
    • Skin
    So, I'll tackle these in order:
    Brain:
    A "neural network" is the name for a computer system capable of thought. The brain consumes the most energy compared to the rest of our organs. And very, very conductive.
    In many sci-fi mediums, robots are said to have "positronic" brains, but most likely this is not how it works for the Glitch. The positron is a form of antimatter, specifically anti-electrons. If the brain used positrons, the whole brain would have to be made of antimatter and kept separate from the rest of the head (making getting info from the brain to the body tricky) through an electromagnetic field, which would probably shut down when the Glitch dies and cause the head to be annihilated (converted into energy explosively). A hard knock to the face or a bullet would cause matter to meet antimatter and then their heads would blow up. Yay.

    Wiring:
    A conductive and small material would serve as the wiring of the glitch. Carbon nanotubes are tiny (hence the nano- prefix) and very conductive, so would fit well for this purpose.

    Ears and mouth:
    Sensitive microphones and a speaker would be sufficient for most interactions. Possibly the Glitch may be able to communicate with each other via wireless transmissions?

    Power source and storage:
    With current human technology, it is expected that a supercomputer capable of simulating a human brain could be developed as early as 2019, but it would guzzle huge amounts of power and be huge. Not very practical for a human-sized robot. Of course, the technology of the glitch is much more advanced. But power would be an issue. A miniaturized fusion reactor would be too hot, as incredibly high temperatures are needed for nuclear fusion. Antimatter is another possible way to power the Glitch.
    But if nature (which is really just a series of accidents) can build the intricate and complicated parts needed to run our body with such little energy input, technology might also be able to, if it were advanced enough.

    But a human body can survive off of the energy in food. It's quite possible that the Glitch's components are very high tech and energy-efficient enough for this. As we do not know what kind of food they "eat", it is a bit difficult to tell how they are powered. Plant or meat foods could be processed into hydrogen-carbon based molecules (eg glucose, hydrocarbon fuels etc.) that provide energy, much like how our bodies do. Alcohol is a substance that stores a good amount of energy. Molecules very similar to alcohol (but larger) are used to fuel cars as petrol. Perhaps the Glitch make and drink alcohol, not to get drunk, but much like we would take coffee for energy?

    Of course, they will have inbuilt batteries of some sort to store the power generated.

    Memory:
    This is actually not too difficult. A lot of data would need to be stored in a small space, but in real life, scientists have recently developed a crystal capable of storing incredible amounts of data. 360 TB on a single glass like crystal the size and shape of a CD (and it could have a different shape, although a disc is convenient and can be rotated in a drive easily, while a square would be awkward. Mostly depends on how the read/write head is set up)

    "Blood" vessels: Tubing could bring oil to their joints, which would help keep the joints in good condition and make movement easier. Unless they have some sort of antifriction coating or something like that.

    Skin: The outer shell of the robot, which holds it together and protects the delicate internal components. This will be a lightweight, strong and rustproof metal (eg, titanium) or metal alloy. Possibly plastic, but plastic is not as strong as metal.

    Being a robotic creature, the Glitch will have a unique set of advantages and disadvantages. Their metallic shells double as armour, and would be effective against sharp weapons, low-force projectiles, acid and weak crush injuries. However, between the plates of metal (eg, neck and joints) will be chinks that expose important wiring and components, perfect for a dagger to slip into and slice something important. Bullets would either ricochet or penetrate the armour, but the armour would slow them down a bit. Armour-penetrating tungsten carbide bullets would be very damaging. However, energy weapons and electric shocks could pose a problem. The heat and electric overload would fry their components. Since they have no living cells, Glitch can only heal by physically repairing themselves.
    And, of course, an EMP grenade would kill a Glitch instantly (although a smaller explosion would be morelikely to fling a Glitch instead of blowing it to bits)

    Hopefully this was interesting, and provided a (hypothetical) insight into the inner workings of The Glitch
     
    Xefs, bounding star, Karth and 11 others like this.
  2. Spike

    Spike Supernova

    Uh.... ok. Sure. Yeah.

    *Snore*

    I'm awake... I'M AWAKE!!!

    *snores*
     
    Zoolot likes this.
  3. A.N.T.I.

    A.N.T.I. Spaceman Spiff

    Wait... you did what?
    WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER!?!
     
    AlphaMongoose, warcore and Inno like this.
  4. El Barto 227

    El Barto 227 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    :rofl:
     
  5. Zoolot

    Zoolot Existential Complex

    This is a really interesting insight into the workings of glitch, neato.

    Now if we could get some people in here who actually like to read walls of text the thread would be less like this:

    [​IMG]

    And more like this:

    [​IMG]
     
    Skydog6301, Xefs, WoxandWarf and 13 others like this.
  6. Spike

    Spike Supernova

    Eh. I'll read it later in life. Maybe.
     
  7. 46odnetnin

    46odnetnin Space Penguin Leader

    this is actually really cool, and i was just thinking the glitch could have some ductile plastic under the gaps between the metal plates to provide more protection, also, they would have to be fairly waterproof otherwise rain could potentially kill a glitch by shortcircuit. Another idea is that they would have super advanced antivirus so no-one could hack their brains. Loved the idea of alcohol being burnt for energy. I imagine the first encounters by other races would be interesting; them talking and the glitch trying to send them basically text messages to their heads. I think the glitch would be able to live for a very long time, so long as they had acess to loads of parts.
     
    Xefs and tassina like this.
  8. Towwl

    Towwl Phantasmal Quasar

    You're missing a vital sense: Touch. The Glitch wouldn't make it too far without a nervous system, else they won't have any sort of pain reaction which a sentient living thing needs to thrive.
     
    WoxandWarf, Axe Garian and tassina like this.
  9. Spike

    Spike Supernova

    Ah, the dreaded double post due to site glitches. The problem that I have with glitches living prolonged lives is that in order to replace their brain (or parts of it), they have to do memory transfers, which could result in two brains sharing the same amount of information before the older one is destroyed. This could lead to some pretty interesting late-night drama series.
     
    46odnetnin likes this.
  10. Another advantage to being a Glitch would be that they don't require any limbs or torso to survive.
    Any lost parts, other than the brain, can be replaced without any negative consequences.
     
    WoxandWarf likes this.
  11. Spike

    Spike Supernova

    Even the brain can be replace without consequences, as long as they back up their data to another brain. But if we want to argue about what constitutes self, there was a debate about that a whole while back; I forgot the thread's name though.
     
  12. Hallowfell

    Hallowfell Phantasmal Quasar

    Yay, you did the Glitch! I can contribute to this one.

    First, I'd like to point out reproduction, or rather reconstruction in this case. The lore states that two Glitch may get together to physically build a third, but I have so many questions about that! Do they build the third Glitch in child size? Are they aware that they are building a robot or are their minds in some kind of fugue state? But more than anything else, I want to know how they construct the advanced tech needed for another Glitch in their faaaar too primitive society. Do they simply fabricate the tools they need with mechanical precision and speed, is the super-tech of their most advanced parts (the brain atleast) so advanced that it can simply self-replicate? Perhaps nano-machines are involved.

    Second, food and hunger! Given that Glitch are a highly-advanced simulation, I think it far more likely that they each have reactors that provide them with infinite energy (Quantum waterfall, Hawking radiation) and simply simulate hunger. It seems a simpler and easier solution for their progenitors who, I might point out, went with robotics and A.I. rather than synthesizing something biological. But that leads me to my final big question!

    Glitch clearly don't know they're glitched BUT! Do they even know they're robots? Are they aware of their steely metal chassis or are they programmed to believe they are fleshlings like the most of the other races and ignore all evidence to the contrary? If so, exactly what kind of creature do they think they are?

    I admit, the idea of RPing a Glitch that is completely unaware of his robotic nature amuses me.
    "What in the galaxy makes you think I can fix this device? When it comes to machines, I'm all thumbs."
    "AH! Floran! Don't let them eat me!"
    "You Apex are all too mechanical-minded. There's more to life than technology, you know."
    "You know, I never work out or anything but my body is always so firm. I guess some people are just built like that."
     
    BehrInMind, Menasor and 46odnetnin like this.
  13. wacky

    wacky Phantasmal Quasar

    I likey :)

    Couple of things: first, I would think that, given how technologically advanced they are, they would be able to protect themselves against energy weapons (ie rubber insulation inside their outer metal armor).
    Second, I think the glitch know who/what they are, but just don't find it strange, just like we don't find it strange to be fleshy peoplez.
    Also, I like the idea of gaining energy from eating food/drinking :D
     
  14. 46odnetnin

    46odnetnin Space Penguin Leader

    but some glitches dont have mouths
     
    Hallowfell likes this.
  15. Hallowfell

    Hallowfell Phantasmal Quasar

    Well, they aren't able to realize they're stuck in the medieval era or comprehend the technology they're made of, so I would say they definitely don't know what they are completely. That said, they might still realize they're metal, which is the other option.

    However, I think that, given they were supposed to simulate natural civilizations, it's pretty likely they're programmed to see themselves as just another race in universe rather than machines.
     
    Menasor likes this.
  16. Hallowfell

    Hallowfell Phantasmal Quasar

    ...y'know, that's a good point.
     
    46odnetnin likes this.
  17. 46odnetnin

    46odnetnin Space Penguin Leader


    :cry: That post made me cry
    poor robots :cry:
     
    Hallowfell likes this.
  18. DrPhibes

    DrPhibes Pangalactic Porcupine

    I wonder what kind of devices they store in their boobs.
     
  19. Awesomized

    Awesomized Oxygen Tank

    They store the materials for the next Glitch to be built, or the memory to start one up.
     
    Menasor, 46odnetnin and DrPhibes like this.
  20. wacky

    wacky Phantasmal Quasar

    good points :up:
    I agree will all of this, but I take it this is all referring to just the basic non-self-aware glitch, not the 'evolved' ones, right?
     

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