Hello All!
I know, I know; I'm breaking the first rule of Star Control fandom: you do not acknowledge the existence of SC3.
But, and stay with me here, it seems like we're wasting a golden opportunity. If the mod tools are available to us, why not take the decent parts of SC3 (lets be fair, there were some good ideas in there; they just weren't capitalized upon), and give it a shot at redemption?
A few of the leftover SC2 & SC3 plot points that I think could be salvaged & dealt with properly:
- The bifurcation of the Chenjesu & Mrnhrm. This had a ton of potential. The melding process between the two races being artificially accelerated (in SCII) probably had some unintended consequences that we didn't have time to explore at the time due to cleaning up the Doctrinal Conflict. Now we could get into the "after SCII", where this hybrid race had time to adapt to its changes, and somehow find themselves split up again. I'm guessing there would be both physical & psychological trauma involved, not to mention the ethical questions. Hybridization was chosen out of necessity; with the Ur-Quan threat ended, it may no longer be required, so would the members of both races necessarily want to try and meld again? What about those who don't? Lots of story options available here.
- The Orz/Androsynth. I'm ignoring the whole Orz/First Ones nonsense; it was stupid, and there are better ways to utilize the Orz. I'd like to see more about their rivalry with the Arilou; though I'd keep the part where the Orz are psionically creepy to the Syreen, and I'd love to hear the Pkunk perspective on the Orz. Frankly, I'm not sold on the Orz being able to wipe out the entire Androsynth race. Even with the Ur-Quan focused on the Doctrinal Conflict, & the thrall races generally tending to stay within their spheres of influence...except when they don't. The Illwrath weren't shy about moving over to snack on the Thriddash (who themselves went off to try and impress the Kzer-Za by attacking the Koh-Ah), the Mycon felt free to move about the cosmos in the effort to expand/spread Juffo-Wup, the Umgah went south every so often to terrorize the Spathi. Androsynth space wasn't exactly huge, but for all their enhanced physical & mental capacity, they're still Human clones. Humans have the insatiable desire to explore; the Androsynth would be no different in that regard. Sure, I could see the Orz snacking on anyone unlucky enough to be in the home cluster, but there had to be some explorer ships out there who have survived. There are several plot threads to pluck at here. The survivors would, understandably, be severely pissed off; not only at the Orz, but likely with the Humans who have allied with the Orz, and the Ur-Quan too. Wasn't Ur-Quan protection part of the slave arrangement under the Hierarchy? I could see them being out for vengeance. Also, they are sterile; so unless the Orz left the cloning centers intact (and aren't using them to clone Andro-Snacks), they're going to have to recover some form of cloning/reproductive technology from the Orz/Alliance, or another source, else the race will eventually go extinct.
- The Supox & Mycon. Killing the Supox off was stupid. Period. I thought the Supox had a ton of potential, especially once we get into the Mycon storyline. The Mycon exist by taking temperate/lush worlds, and using the Deep Children to reproduce, which shatters the formerly pristine planet. I'm guessing that just about every Supox world would be considered prime Deep Children breeding sites by the Mycon, and that the Supox would likely take exemption to having their gaia worlds burned to cinders. The part about the Mycon being Precursor terraforming drones with faulty programming...nope; that whole load of hooey has to go. I liked the religious fanatic Mycon from SCII; but that still gives us plenty of opportunity for plot/character development. I don't think the Mycon are inherently redeemable; but they are fungus! If anyone can find a way to cultivate fungus, and perhaps find a way to make it if-not-friendly, than at least less-destructive, I'm betting it would be the symbiotic Supox. Also...one of the Zog/Fot/Pik eat fungus & plankton if I recall...I'm just saying, you know, contingency plan.
- The Ur-Quan. Ok, post Doctrinal War Ur-Quan life is probably pretty crappy. After learning about the healed/repaired Dynarri who aided the alliance in blowing up the Sa-Matra, I'm guessing the Ur-Quan shoved their newly-repairable evil-little-helpers out the nearest airlock. No great loss. However, that level of genetic repair may have introduced the Ur-Quan to the idea of repairing their species; getting the Ur-Quan & Koh-Ah back together into one big, brown worm. There's potential there for some story. Also, there will probably be consequences/repercussions from all of the species on the other side of the galaxy who were either enslaved as thralls, or managed to flee Koh-Ah eradication. They're probably either pissed off & looking for revenge, looking to set themselves up as the new Big-Bad, or come a'running to see where their protectors went now that something wicked has come their way.
- Yehat/Pkunk Reconciliation & Shofixti Reformation. I'd like to see how the Yehat/Pkunk reconciliation goes, and their relationship with the newly-replenished Shofixti. I don't know if the Shofixti have it in them to hold a grudge against the species responsible for their uplift, but considering they were abandoned & almost eradicated, I'm guessing there may be some issues there. I'd also like to see if the Pkunk influence does anything to mellow the two warrior cultures.
- Owa Rainbow World Garbage Dumps. I thought this had potential. I didn't like the "hyperspace is broken" angle to it; but bear with me. Instead of the Rainbow Worlds being Precursor constructs, how about just natural phenomena; and instead of the effect on hyperspace, how about an effect on the barrier between real-space & quasi-space? The more trash dumped on Rainbow Worlds, the thinner the barrier between the two becomes. This would put the Arilou in play, as well as the Orz, and perhaps other denizens of Quasi-Space too. I would make it a mixed bag; a thinner barrier between real & quasi-space could result in easier travel by way of new/additional naturally occurring quasi-space portals, but it would also allow an antagonistic quasi-space race access to real-space (random ship attacks, like the Sylandro probes), and potentially piss off the Arilou, who hinted that being in Quasi-Space has something to do with their health/wellbeing.
- Lk. Ok, this race kinda creeped me out. They were like a shady version of the Melnorme; they traded information & artifacts, but only after the player performed a usually-unsavory service. However, I think there should be an alternative to the Melnorme, or the Druuge. Some players would probably like being able to choose between trading in slaves, rare & potentially valuable artifacts, favors, or "raw, boring, biological data."
- Harika/Yorn/Xchgagger. This plot line actually made sense. Using once species as a biological weapon against another is pretty amazingly evil; which is why it made perfect sense. I didn't like the species, since the Harika seemed like Yehat rip-offs with little edible Pkunk in their pocket, but the theory behind it was sound. I also liked how the Xchgagger weren't individually sentient, but had a Borg Collective thing going on with a hive-mind. Good idea, poor execution.
- K'Tang. Someone took a Spathi, and slapped it into an Iron Man suit. Honestly, I would have loved to see this play out with the Spathi. Instead of buying a McGuffin Missile, someone should have stuck the Spathi into some Gundam armor, and set 'em loose. Still, there's fun to be had with a species that's so stupid it hurts, but has big guns. Honestly, if someone pointed the K'Tang & Thriddash at one another, the rest of us could probably sit back with popcorn and a laugh track.
