Lore Questions (for George)

[Jay2Jay]

I sat down and played Transcendence with Corporate Command recently, and I realized something. Even though I've played through this game hundreds of times ever since 1.02b, I still know absolutely nothing about several of the factions. Sure, the Hauri have their mini storyline, Korolov and the Sisters have there little website stories, and the Commonwealth, Iocrymn, and Ares have been thoroughly explored both ingame and from George, but I know nothing about the Charon Pirates, or Urak, or Gaians, or anybody else.

So George, could you tell me, tell us, a few things about these people that we mass murder on a regular basis?

I wanna know what their communities are like, their governing system, how they get their equipment or their unique ships. Where did they come from? What are their goals? Who leads them? Etcetera.

Please tell me, pretty please with Salmon on top?

[Song]

As far as I know (from the regdev wiki access I've got), a lot of factions ingame just don't have backstory. Or at least, not that much. But some of them have some pretty neat stuff (Dwarg, for example, which we've had snippets of stuff released before). But more lore stuff getting released is always cool.

[Xephyr]

You can get a little bit more info on the wiki, though a lot of that info is kind of scattered here and there.

Not saying that I wouldn't like to see George come in here and tell a little more, though.

[JohnBWatson]

I think we ought to have a mass - guessing thread for the less developed enemy factions. Probably wouldn't have many correct guesses, but it'd be a fun way to kill a few hours, at least. As far as I know, here is what we know about the vanilla factions that isn't on the wiki or linked from it:

Vanilla

Abbasid: They possess a penchant for knowledge, with a particular regard for human consciousness. They may tend to build large fortresses(George's list of mod ideas).

Sapiens: Terrorists that oppose augmentation, presumably with religious motivation based on the names of their ships. Possible evidence that the Abrahamic religions still exist in Transcendence in some form.

Xenophobes: They appear to be nomadic, not fielding any stations, and keep their population aboard their Worldships and Arks. They attack every other faction in the game, and generally reside towards the edge of human space.

Centauri: Set up pseudo - feudalistic arrangements with captured stations in which they effectively just steal whatever they can take and take up shelter there. Are led by Arco Vaugn.

Dwarg Raiders: A society made up of Zoanthropes and standard humans, in which the latter lead groups of the former in raids, uplifting those that prove especially effective to human - level intelligence and allowing them to serve as masters alongside human masters. Though said to exploit their thralls by the CW, they appear to have some degree of attachment to them, and justify their use of them in combat through the belief that this is simply the natural order of things.

Anarchists: Communistic terrorists that specialize in digital piracy, and raid various other factions in order to obtain resources.

Himal Separatists: Given their use of the term refuge for their bases and their name, it would seem that they are some manner of political faction facing either real or perceived persecution from the Commonwealth government or society in general, and attempting to violently secede.

Kobol: Evidently, some manner of pirate faction. Will attack players delivering supplies, and may be hostile to the Ares as well. (Can someone confirm?) Have an interest in the Europa, either destroying or attempting to salvage something from it in some games.

Huari: Worship an entity called the light, and engage in somewhat tribal religious ceremonies in which drugs and symbiotes are used to invoke hallucinations. The main source of Sung slaves, and weakened to the point where they barely hold on to a final capitol system, Huaramarca. Their deity may or may not be some kind of impostor, but it does appear to allow them to know things they wouldn't be able to know were they just blowing smoke.

Luminous: A distributed AI that is attempting to preserve the future of humanity through its actions. While somewhat capable of enduring the loss of any given node / assembler, can be crippled through the destruction of its main station.

Rogue Fleet: Members of the CW Fleet that have given up on the war and turned to piracy in order to survive.

Sung: Will sell captured slaves back to their families, and apparently hold 'contracts' from them. Their capital system is Jiang's Star.

Urak: Former CW colonists who fell under a military dictatorship after being devastated by a particularly harsh plague.

[Xephyr]

Anarchists: Communistic

Call me crazy, but I have a hunch that the Anarchists are actually anarchists rather than communists.

[Jay2Jay]

Anarchists: Communistic

Call me crazy, but I have a hunch that the Anarchists are actually anarchists rather than communists.

He's not calling them communists per say, rather he's saying that their economy operates in a "everybody shares" mentality. Sort of like how a group of survivors might distribute resources based on necessity.

Also, if George needs a lore master, I am gifted at pulling stuff out of my ass that is loosely based in science. I already intend to make a mod that goes in depth into my own head cannon about the CP and Urak.

[JohnBWatson]

Anarchists: Communistic

Call me crazy, but I have a hunch that the Anarchists are actually anarchists rather than communists.

He's not calling them communists per say, rather he's saying that their economy operates in a "everybody shares" mentality. Sort of like how a group of survivors might distribute resources based on necessity.

Also, if George needs a lore master, I am gifted at pulling stuff out of my ass that is loosely based in science. I already intend to make a mod that goes in depth into my own head cannon about the CP and Urak.

They seem ideologically hostile to the CH as well, with in - game flavor text saying they attack them over other factions, and the mentioned list of extension ideas including a series of bioterror attacks by them against Corporate stations. In addition, the wiki says they wish to "redistribute" their resources, though their universal hostility to other factions means they likely intend to keep anything they successfully steal for their own use.

Overall, I doubt they're organized enough to have a strong central set of ideas, but they do seem to be more communist than they are anything else.

[Song]

There actually is backstory for the Anarchists......just not that much of it (and it's not ingame so subject to change). They're basically a sub-faction of the Freeworlds (which also has a smattering of backstory, but isn't in the game), hence the name "Freeworlds Anarchists"...they're (somewhat extremist, in the case of the ones ingame...who knows if that's the norm? Probably not, I suspect) anarchists, from the Freeworlds. I've always felt a Freeworlds/ low tech adventure would be really fun....but never had the time to try making one. Certainly I'm really hopeful we see more of them in future.....because the world outside the large factions, with independent stations and the like......should be really interesting.


As a side-note, there is a (very funny) RegDev Headcanon thread over in our little sub-forum where the registered devs pitch our crazier ideas based on what we see in the developer's wiki and other materials. Very occasionally it's actually serious. More commonly it is....less so. But useful stuff comes out of it, and it's funny. If peeps are interested I'll set one up for non-regdev stuff (The regdev one is separate because of our rules for non-disclosure of stuff that's not in the game yet, and since headcanon relying on it invariably spoils it). This thread is basically turning into that anyway, so keeping this for serious questions and moving random speculation over to somewhere else would keep things nice and neat.

(Heck, half the regdev thread entries would be safe to post here without breaking rules)

Edit: I have duly created the General Purpose Headcanon Thread. You can find it Here. Feel free to move speculation over to there.

[JohnBWatson]

There actually is backstory for the Anarchists......just not that much of it (and it's not ingame so subject to change). They're basically a sub-faction of the Freeworlds (which also has a smattering of backstory, but isn't in the game), hence the name "Freeworlds Anarchists"...they're (somewhat extremist, in the case of the ones ingame...who knows if that's the norm? Probably not, I suspect) anarchists, from the Freeworlds. I've always felt a Freeworlds/ low tech adventure would be really fun....but never had the time to try making one. Certainly I'm really hopeful we see more of them in future.....because the world outside the large factions, with independent stations and the like......should be really interesting.

I think the Freeworlds were part of George's description, but he didn't really focus on that part of it. I think that's something he's left for us to set up. Once I've got my tutorial adventure fully cleaned up, it might be a project for me. Still not sure if I should try that dynamic economy thing I talked about a few months back, or if it's above my skill level.

As a side-note, there is a (very funny) RegDev Headcanon thread over in our little sub-forum where the registered devs pitch our crazier ideas based on what we see in the developer's wiki and other materials. Very occasionally it's actually serious. More commonly it is....less so. But useful stuff comes out of it, and it's funny. If peeps are interested I'll set one up for non-regdev stuff (The regdev one is separate because of our rules for non-disclosure of stuff that's not in the game yet, and since headcanon relying on it invariably spoils it). This thread is basically turning into that anyway, so keeping this for serious questions and moving random speculation over to somewhere else would keep things nice and neat.

'

I've thought we ought to have a thread like that for a long time now. I'll check it out in a few minutes.

[TheLoneWolf]

Hey mates! Firstly, explain RegDev please.
And then, once i got both the ares mega weapons (the archcannon that kicks ass and the cannon that shreds you before you can say "ares") and got back to the huari homeworld of humaraca after some missions and slave rescue. Then i protected them from the sung and dragon slaver. Fun battles. High longzhu sphere yield (btw what are they?). Then the Huari showed me types of hallucinations. Before that, i had saved my game, exited the game, copied the save elsewhere, and then took on it. Even after multiple tries on the dream earth, i couldnt get past the quiz. Help?
And a term i have heard a multiple of times, but never understood:
Hierosteel. Wth?
Then the Elysium system. If it is super ancient, why does it contain stargates concerned only with human space?
Thanks in advance!

[sun1404]

RegDevs means registered developers. They're given access to contents that aren't in the game yet, so that they may use them in their projects or help develop them, etc. They're not allowed to give this information to anyone else.

As for the Huari test, you always fail (or actually, pass). The thing is, you really aren't the figure of their prophecy. But you still get to help them. Your decisions in the test determines the mission you get (There are three, but I won't spoil).
But that test is before the battle with the Dragon Slaver. I don't remember any kind of hallucination tests after the battle.

Longzhu spheres are energy balls that can be used to repair or enhance any energy weapons or shields. They are also used to power the Sung's antimatter cannon, with one longzhu sphere giving about a hundred shots. They're consumed after use, so you must use them sparingly.

Hierosteel is a material used by some the ancient races. It's immune to almost everything you can find in human space, but you can't really find it in the game, yet.

Elysium is, perhaps, a local hub providing fast access to a few systems in the human space. From the similarity of the stargate design, I'd say the system is connected to the Huari. If the Huari built it, then it is logical that there are only connections inside human space. The Huari are ancient, but not so much as the Ancient Races.

[Atarlost]

Those are called Magellan Stargates in the code. They're older than the rest of the gate network and were created by a species that was primarily interested in resources farther from stars like gas giants and KBOs, which is why that one is so far from the star.

[TheLoneWolf]

@sun1401
Thanks mate, for clearing my doubts about the Huari. So you never were IT, eh? If the Huari are so ancient, how come they got thrashed by the sung?
And i think that you didnt understand my Longzhu sphere question. Ofcourse i know what they do. I wouldnt have my iocrym veil without one. I mean to say what are they. Are they the souls of slaves compressed into a crystal? After seeing the 'invoke the power of domina', nothing seems impossible.
Anyway, thanks. Looks like the Elysium has a way to go.
So envious of the RegDevs.
And if Hierosteel hasnt appeared yet, how do we know of it?

@Altarlost
Does it means that those species belonged to human space too? Then what happened to them? Not a trace? I dont think that the Huari are capable of making them. And the station at the centre of Elysium says a different story. Maybe they were made by the race that gave birth to Domina and Oracus?
And what unknown threat do the iocrym talk about?
If the ares are such big domina followers, why dont they send 5 phobos and 5 polar ii full of sandstorms and kick the iocrym asses out of human space?
Many questions...sorry

[AssumedPseudonym]

 The Huari are human, not alien. There would be a lot more made about the Huari not being human if they weren’t, given that the Iocrym are the only alien species humanity has encountered. Since humans don’t know how to make stargates, it’s more likely that the Huari stumbled across an ancient gate out in the middle of nowhere and took up residence in the Huaramarca system to escape the Sung. They definitely didn’t make Elysium.

[Atarlost]

@Altarlost
Does it means that those species belonged to human space too? Then what happened to them? Not a trace? I dont think that the Huari are capable of making them. And the station at the centre of Elysium says a different story. Maybe they were made by the race that gave birth to Domina and Oracus?
And what unknown threat do the iocrym talk about?
If the ares are such big domina followers, why dont they send 5 phobos and 5 polar ii full of sandstorms and kick the iocrym asses out of human space?
Many questions...sorry

We don't know. We don't know. Alien archives and artifacts have been found in human space, but we don't know if they're traces of the Magellan civilization or the Gate Builders or both or someone else. We don't know but I like the idea: the core minds being AIs makes more sense than them being natural and the Magellan civilization is a plausible creator for them as far as I know. We tend to assume the threat the Iocrym AI talks about is Oracus, but we don't actually know. And the Ares don't break the quarantine because there is a spatial warping preventing anyone from leaving the inner system of Heretic until Kate Morgenthal takes over the control station and shuts it down with the pilgrim's assistance.