I have been working on the idea of a robotic alien race that invaded our galaxy during a human civil war thanks to humans messing with technology they found lying around throughout the galaxy, and up till now they have been called the Perverted, and right now i am debating between two ways they could have come into existence, but cant figure which one will work best and leave for most expansion in future. Here are my options : (a) were created by another civilization for a similar purpose, but without individuality and no conscience besides self-preservation, and turned on their masters. (b) The Perverted could also be a transcended, self-evolved race (since they do have some biological components) who transferred themselves into robotic forms and accepted a hivemind in order to achieve utopia. Which one sounds more interesting?
I'd go with the second one. I think the second option gives more room for backstory and more "dread". The whole hive mind idea is much more terrifying to go against imo. To know that the whole race of the Perverted is in a sense "all-knowing", that anything that took place against them was instantly noticed everywhere no matter how many light-years away, instills a lot more fear than just a "race" of robots that took over control once their AI reached a certain point of no return. Option A is cool, but they would still be just robots acting out in the way they were programmed by their creator-race, essentially. For me, that takes away a lot of the mystery and fear-instilling traits of an antagonistic race (I assume they are the enemy here)
Alright then, they will be a hive mind, and they are the enemy, but what would corrupt them then something has to have made them go against what they tried to achieve, something that corrupted them, what could that be?
Well, I just chose from those 2 options like you put them. I don't know what they were trying to achieve Me, personally? I like it when a nemesis, antagonist, or evil robotic alien race for that matter, weren't planning on how things got the way they are right now. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I like that saying. Maybe they were invaded themselves a million years ago and had to make the step towards machine-bodies and a hive-mind. Perhaps, something about it made them see that they could conquer the galaxy with it if they wanted to? Who knows what it was that corrupted them? A plague that forced them to adapt their bodies with implants and cybernetic additions? A technology that made them capable of resisting the extreme gravity 10 meters into the air on their home planet because they wanted to fly planes, but couldn't without them? Just some ideas. Something must have drawn them to becoming what they are now. But frankly that's up to you. I can't decide how it's going to be. It's your story after all, and you know way more about it then I do
Okay, I will have to go to the drawing board and see if I can work that also do you know anything about word mechanics?
Sure, I know a thing or two. English is not my native language, so I'm not an expert on this, but I do like to believe I've mastered it all quite well
you have a lot of potential places to go with this. I have heard rumors that we have reached this same level of technology in the past only to have destroyed ourselves. your post brings that to mind. perhaps that is indeed the case. they are remains from an ancient civilization. and perhaps humans from the past were far more advanced then they are now? Is it possible that the robots were the original down fall of the human race and in a last ditch effort, the humans decided it better to wipe all their technology out and start over then to become the slaves of their own creations? perhaps they used a massive EMP? and now that they have reached an advanced level of electronics they now possess the power needed to reanimate the robots? Like I said you have so many potential options. my only other advice is be weary of making the story too much like the zerg, or the terminators skynet system. both are really fun to think about but if your story gets to close to those titles, people may think that your story is a rip off. just my 2 cents. cheers Tim Cook
Well you nailed pretty much of evrything, the only thing is, halo alraedy used the humans being more advanced! I can't use that because they pretty much used everything, so there is nothing left for me to use.
Then do you think you can help me out on, I was asking for some help in the English mechanics forum but only one person answered, I think they got mad at me, I dont know why, I missed one of their posts, and then they left. It it titled how to phrase this. PS I know I should not worry about wording till final draft, but the timeline is at the final draft, and I can't write pro sentences for my life! Lol
Not really, yes halo is a future world. as is Starship Troopers, Enders Game, and even Star trek. it's the difference of explanation you give them. Halo is a ring created by ancient civilization that is supposed to wipe out all life in the universe. and Master Chief tries to stop that. if I remember right the Flood also have a hive mind. so both options presented are null and void. however, they are not. it's almost impossible to write a story that hasn't already been written. the objective is to give it a different feeling. The Hive mind is used in many sci-fi films and books. example: Enders Game has the formics. they are all controlled by a queen., Star Craft Zerg. they have the Overmind., ect. I could go on. the thing is each of them has a difference of appearance and they act differently. My wife brought up a really good idea I think you should consider. Granted, it may be more trouble then I think. if you choose to go the Hive mind route, perhaps trying to write part of the story as the actual Hive mind. that may give you the option of really branching out later on. anyways just another 2 cents. cheers Tim Cook
Both of your initial suggestion are interesting.The second feels slightly stereotypical though. Maybe a more tragic variation of the first. I like the idea of race that is intrinsically "evil" but in a broken even mad kind of way.
What if it's a rapidly-evolving nanomachine virus that infects inorganic materials like metal in addition to flesh? What's more terrifying than an evil army of robots is an unstoppable force of nature.
It sounds like the Geth from Mass Effect series. I'd say, mix the two. They were created for a purpose, and then began to become self aware and evolve. Being a 'technological' race, the hive mind mentality makes sense, especially if they were created as a purpose and then evolved since that purpose. Otherwise, I do like the second one. Sounds like they were self aware 'souls' in a sense, and created their own bodies from mechanics. Alternatively, you could look at Leviathans from Farscape, which are essentially a biomechanoid race (cool word to use too, if you want a hybrid of organic and mechanical life form), colloquially they're referred to as a living spaceship. From memory, they have "builders" (more like 'Gods' then people though) and were created for a passive purpose (to live and serve, they are overall, a peaceful race, and have no weapons, and their own defence is a glorified space jump) however, another race interfered in the mechanics/breeding of one of the leviathans and instead of having a peaceful leviathan child as usual, this race made it possible to breed a gun ship from the leviathans. (I hope that all made sense without watching Farscape) Possibly, you could have a 'peaceful' biomechanoid race, which is twisted by a third party, or perhaps by its self if it views evolutions as a means of survival.
You are right that is a good idea, will look int it, and another thing, evey timezone throws two cents in, it ads up to a miliion dollars worth thanks for you input.