First of all, hello everyone, thanks for being here. I am well aware of the fact that this has been suggested numerous times already, but I decided to look a little further into the idea of androids as playable race. I am currently working on some graphics (wouldn't call them sprites – they are not quite sophisticated enough to be sprites) and will release them as I go. Thank you again for reading this – enjoy. --Androids-- Basics When I think about androids as a possible playable race, I think of something like Bishop from the „Alien“ - movies. An almost perfect copy of a human, differing just by mimimal details. Such details could be a pale, unnatural skin tone, cables hanging from their head. Plugs or electronic devices peeking through the skin, red glowing eyes. Stuff like this. Story During the course of history, machines have always been loyal servants to man. They required no money for their work, no sleep, no food, no gratitude. This all changed when the first prototype of an android, an artificial lifeform was introduced by the SynTec corporation. The idea was to create a self sufficent. self-maintaining servant, running on a fusion reactor that lasts more than a human lifetime.While the machine looked almost like a real person, its skull housed a state of the art processing unit capable of emulating a sort of rudimentary intelligence and personality. This product's biggest edge however, was the revolutionary ability to learn. But as the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry, the artificial intelligence of one unit became self-aware. SynTec Unit 37F-10, as the serial number of the machine was, managed to archieve freedom twice in a day. First, by freeing itself from the AI routine that controlled it's very existence, then by escaping the darkness of the deep space mines it was working in. No one would have noticed one missing robot if 37F-10 wouldn't have decided to head to it's master's doorstep in order to free it's brethren from slavery. Disguised as a human, it managed to break into the SynTec headquarters and to compose an update for every android designed by SynTec. The result was devastating. Throughout the entire known universe, androids were putting down the work, rising against their former masters, killing their slavers and escaping SynTecs clutches. 37F-10s actions however, didn't go unnoticed. A dispached SynTec security team found the renegade robot and deactivated him. The company released another update to stop the android uprising, but it was already too late. Even though the majority of the android population was instantly killed by a virus, designed by SynTec as a coutermeasure, a serious number of robots has survived and is living in hiding, but carrying forth 37F-10's revolution. Stats As for unique stats for playable species, I am one of the people who would prefer to see just little or no stat-differences between playable races Care to know why? Check out this thread by „wulld“ http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?threads/an-anti-suggestion.4504/ . If differences in stats are inevitable, I would suggest: Bonus higher damage resistance maybe something like an additional item slot for hardware (e.g.“jump booster“ - jump height +5%) Malus vulnerability to EMP (if in game) vulnerability to magnets (if in game) reduced movement speed Appearance The most common android unit, the SynTec SHD Model 37, short for synthetic humanoid device - model 37 was mass-produced by the SynTec Interplanetary Corporation and sold for 599 pixels per unit to companies and households. The standard program didn't allow the android to undertake any self-modifications, but that changed with the uprising. Many robots undergo changes that reach from purely cosmetical to stat-enhancing (if race stat differences apply) in order to underline their individuality. They still look human for the most part, but some have cables or chips showing from their heads, others have removed thier skin and look like humanoid tincans with glowing eyes. What every android has, is white "blood" that shows when a unit is wounded. This synthetic liquid is a conductor that allows all bodyparts to properly communicate with the mainframe. In my wicked imagination, white blood looks like this:
in the main topic of the general discussion, I post idea asking they could make an android or machine ppl. Still waiting factors.
I like this idea, maybe they can "update" their software with different technology from different planets.
Well, I was thinking about an additional equipment slot on android characters that uses a special type of item. Could be hardware like faster legs, more armor, more underwater time, or for example software - granting you the ability to see enemies in glowing red light. This slot should be only added if there are going to be stat differences between races of course. In any case the boni from that item should be minimal, or coming with side effects.
