>play game set in space >meet some unknown/lost species

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>>388255225
>they're surprised WE can speak english

>>388255225
Truly alien aliens can't really be characters, they'd appear more like animals or forces of nature that we can't understand. You'd think that kind of super realism would make an appealing narrative, and it does on paper, but trying to put it into practice you just end up with a human/humanoid-only cast.

>>388255843
that's because the optimal bodyshape for an intelligent race is humanoid. That's the exact reason why we're the top dog on the planet, we didn't end up like this by chance - it's the optimal bodyshape.
If there are intelligent aliens out there, they're going to look a lot like humans. Nature is never alien to be alien, it's alien to suit its specific environment. The human form just gives the greatest efficiency possible for everything - it's the jack of all trades, in terms of body shapes. We're not the best at anything (cheetahs are faster, gorillas are stronger), but we're GOOD at everything.

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>>388255225
>play game set in space
>they're humanoid and speak japanese.

Why so angry?

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>>388255225

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>>388256351
What a stupid argument.

If it's the best body shape it'd only be the best on Earth. Alien life wouldn't adhere to what the "best" body type on earth would be.

>>388258524
Name one 'alien' body type, then. And I'll tell you each and every flaw it would have that would make it implausible for a space-faring civilization.

>>388258524
Some things will be common. If you're intelligent, you make tools. If you have tools, you need to be able to hold/manipulate your tools, so there's some kind of hand - like appendage. Simple devices like levers and pulleys are going to be absolutely identical, and competition/evolution combined with the laws of physics will make sure that a dominating body type is not too huge (requires more nutrition to sustain, dies to lack of food more quickly than leaner organisms) or too small/thin (can't handle environmental stresses).

>>388259171
A photosynthetic ball of sentient gas that can survive in a vacuum.

>>388259697

Wouldn't be able to hold itself together in a vaccum. That's it's only flaw. Otherwise it's the ultimate organism.

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>>388259697

>>388259218
who says they'd need tools in the sense that we do? you're looking at this from a human perspective there's a possibility they wouldn't even use DNA.

>>388259697
how the fuck would that make a civilization, though?

>>388259824
Why not? Nebula are clouds of gas that are able to hold together in space.

>>388260202
Nebulas don't hold together, they're held together. There's a huge difference.

FTL handles alien races very well, I feel. They all feel very unique and strange, while also having consistent cultures/attitudes and stuff, like the Slugs all being telepathic space Jews.

>>388260035

Because intelligence means you make tools. Unless they magically appear as sentient creatures that just know everything, they need to evolve from extremely simple life forms that compete for resources with the other life forms in their environment . The only route to intelligence is dominate the environment using specialization in society and tool-making, otherwise you're just barely subsisting in your environment and that's not an intelligent species.

We can teach apes how to use tools and communicate with sign language and they have complicated social structures, but they can't make tools so they're not "intelligent".

>>388260092

What's a civilization? It lives on a gas giant similar to the ones in our own solar system and floats around in big groups similar to jelly fish.

>>388260489

No, intelligence implies an ability to use tools not just make them. Dolphins and Orcas are intelligent and they don't make tools.

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>>388261076
>What's a civilization
something you're not fit for

>>388261181

They're not the kind of intelligence im talking about. It's literally in the post you replied to.

>>388260317
Maybe it has a spinning, super magnetized rock at it's center generating enough gravity to keep it together and giving it ability to manipulate magnetism.

>>388261259

Why anon? I just like good science fiction.

:(

>>388261326
No it doesn't, you stupid faggot. How fucking retarded are you? Having to make shit up on the spot? Tie a rope around your neck, connect it to the edge of a cliff, and jump off.

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>>388261454
and i like good anons, so i hate you

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>>388261483
>Having to make shit up on the spot?
That's exactly what you told him to do.

>>388261483

Why not? We're talking about a hypothetical sentient gas cloud i made up a few posts ago. It can be anything.

That's the whole point. If you're playing or watching sci-fi and all the aliens are humanoid it hints at a lack creativity. There could literally be anything out there and to limit that to just what we have examples of on earth seems pretty counter-intuitive to what sci-fi is.

Not to toot my own horn but in these last few posts I've created an alien race that's waaay more interesting than anything in ME:A and I actually kinda liked that game.

>>388258524

>Hasn't heard of convergent evolution

Most crabs on earth aren't related to eachother, they're oceans apart with wildly different family trees but evolved into the crab shape and style because it's an efficient body type for that environment. The argument that intelligent space-faring or at least technological species would be humanoid is sound. I mean it's not GUARANTEED but it wouldn't be all too surprising to see it.

>>388261575

This is literally the closest I'm gonna get to a compliment here so thanks :)

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>>388261783
>I actually kinda liked that game.
Your argument, and any you make, including calling me out on this fallacy, is now invalid. I don't care if it's a fallacy, you like ME:A, therefore you're automatically wrong.
I'm going to make a post calling you a faggot 27 years from now. If 4chan isn't up, then I'll do it on the POTUS twitter.

>>388261281
so you don't know what inteligence is?
you're right in that alien life-form would be similar to us, but that's only common sense, because evolution really is simple, and from what we know about lifeforms, they wouldn't differ much from us

>>388261834

I have and I agree, it wouldn't be all that surprising, I just don't think given all the different conditions on the infinite number of different planets that it would be all that likely.

Also, this guy >>388260410 has the right idea. FTL has great aliens.

>>388261992

We all have our guilty pleasures, yours is sucking dick in dark alleys, I like ME:A multi every once in a while. Don't worry I don't judge.

>>388255317
name one half of a game that does that

>>388261281

Then you'll have to define the kind of intelligence you're talking about.

Sure you can just say "intelligence like us could exist" but given the infinite possibilities, it's really unlikely.

That's not to say any game or media with humanoid biped aliens is bad. Like I said in my other post it, when the whole cast is comprised of slightly different humanoids it hints at a lack of creativity.

>>388256351
t.h*man

>>388256351
That's retarded.

Our bodies are shit and not even remotely ideal. Our brains and intelligence is what made us rule the planet.

>>388261834
>Most crabs on earth aren't related to eachother
Retard alert

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I happen to be a person who is interested in this subject.

The criteria for a species to be sapient is very narrow and it's mostly about the brain power. However, sapience is different from civilization, but I'll get to that later. First of all, they need to show advanced problem-solving, outside-the-box thinking, excellent long-term and short-term memory, the ability to learn and adapt, display emotions, and many more things. Of course, this criteria is established after us, because we're pretty much the only sapient species around. The next step is to build a civilization. You have a sapient species but now what? They can't make tools, they have to make mudhouses with their fucking stubs, it's pretty much impossible to lay the basic foundations of a society if people cannot stay in one place. Aliens need the ability to finely-manipulate objects through any means necessary that aren't too tedious. Creating artificial shelter is a learn-by-mistake experience, but eventually one of a multitude of aliens would manage to make the very first mudhouse that lasts more than one night. Then what?
Aliens must lay some rules. Without order, the limited society would collapse in record time as anyone is pretty much allowed to do anything. Proto-law would be punishing, exiling or murdering someone for what the "tribe" would consider to be a bad action. Burned the food supplies? Get out. Killed a guy? Get executed. Slowly and slowly, people learn more and more to make something more advanced than a hollow pile of mud. What do you get then?
A society. People gather and gather and gather, people breed, the first town is born. People experiment more and more, they learn, they share what they learned to their off-spring, the off-spring learn, and the first ever technological singularity is made.
The chance for sapient aliens is one in a trillion, the chance for a civilization is one in a trillion on top of that.

>>388256351
Dolphins might just prove this somewhat correct. They have no thumbs and hence, don't make tools. Most likely they are as intelligent as us, but they don't have the natural body design to do something about it.

However, I'm sure there are even more optimal designs and that most likely all advanced "life" Is robotic anyways.

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>play game set in space
>meet some ayys
>they're big bags of jello with 13 eyes and speak in Bleeogramapit Wiffskeelo

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>>388255225
>cant understand xeno fucks
>not wasting research budget on things that dont kill other things
>blow them to shit
>keep getting gibberish messages with bribes attached at every turn start
>accept and blow them to shit some more

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>>388255225

>>388256351
you just need appendages, you don't need to be humanoid