[Droid803]

FSRef bible has in one of the cut content cutscenes something about Shivans just jumping off the hull of the Lucy of something.
And I'm pretty sure Shivan Fighters are piloted...its not so easy to rip out an AI and rewire the whole thing...that might not even work.

[Mars]

The Shivans in the cockpit might not be the same class of Shivans encountered in the transport. For all we know those Shivans have been armored up for marine combat, whereas the Shivans in cockpits might not be nearly so bulky.

[Mobius]

I've dwelt on this idea too. Maybe the Shivan ships are a type of Shivan or a sub-species, a bit like the Tyranid ships in Warhammer 40K are a particular type of Tyranid that belong to the same overall race. But I've nothing to back this up with.

Tyranids and Shivans are very similar. Maybe they reflect the same concept used in sci-fi stories. The Cylons are pretty close to this standard, too. None of these factions/species uses conventional pilots.

The Shivans in the cockpit might not be the same class of Shivans encountered in the transport. For all we know those Shivans have been armored up for marine combat, whereas the Shivans in cockpits might not be nearly so bulky.

Very good point here, Mars. For a while I suspected that Shivan beam cannons were basically big Shivans using their energy to power up beams(certain kinds of ants become very big by eating a lot of food).

[Ghostavo]

From the FS Wiki:

Shivan technology has proved baffling for both Terran and Vasudan scientists. Although their weapons and technology by necessity obey the same physical laws, the systems of Shivan craft seem to be fully integrated with the pilot's biology, making it difficult (but still possible) to use their spacecraft for espionage and spying. Only three documented sucessful missions have been carried out using retrofitted Shivan spacecraft to traverse Shivan territory under disguise.

Three?

[Snail]

Three?

Ugh ****ing non-canon info!! This is pissing me off.

[Akalabeth Angel]

Actually, I haven't seen the video, only a screenshot of the Shivan standing on some ship - I should've said so. So yes maybe it can't be considered as being canon, it may have been made just for a laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJN5y-jfJKY

[Retsof]

The Shivans in the cockpit might not be the same class of Shivans encountered in the transport. For all we know those Shivans have been armored up for marine combat, whereas the Shivans in cockpits might not be nearly so bulky.

Very good point here, Mars. For a while I suspected that Shivan beam cannons were basically big Shivans using their energy to power up beams(certain kinds of ants become very big by eating a lot of food).

I agree, the big nasy Shivans are probably a soldier class.  There may be other classes of Shivan that noone has seen.

[Mars]

Well I imageine when the landed the Dragon in the Galatea's hanger and opened it up they had lots of Marines standing around.

[eliex]

Shivans are pretty scary if they can just bust through Thoth armour using only their legs . . .

Perhaps the Captured Dragon's Shivan might have burst their the Charon's docking point too, but wasn't equipped with anti-marine weapons.

[Mars]

I always pictured it as a little white cyborg spider larva looking thing, utterly defenseless and plugged into its ship.

[Mobius]

About the funny video showing a Shivan as it takes a Thoth down:

The video combines canon and funny aspect of the Shivans. The canon aspect is that Shivans can survive in space, the funny aspect is that a Shivan reaches a Thoth and makes it crash on a Typhon.

[Akalabeth Angel]

I always pictured it as a little white cyborg spider larva looking thing, utterly defenseless and plugged into its ship.

   Like the Invid? (Inbit)

About the funny video showing a Shivan as it takes a Thoth down:

The video combines canon and funny aspect of the Shivans. The canon aspect is that Shivans can survive in space, the funny aspect is that a Shivan reaches a Thoth and makes it crash on a Typhon.

       Is the survive in space thing canon from the Ref bible? Or where does that become canon?

[Mobius]

About the funny video showing a Shivan as it takes a Thoth down:

The video combines canon and funny aspect of the Shivans. The canon aspect is that Shivans can survive in space, the funny aspect is that a Shivan reaches a Thoth and makes it crash on a Typhon.

Is the survive in space thing canon from the Ref bible? Or where does that become canon?

Check FS2's Species.tbl and...the HLP station pic

[Akalabeth Angel]

About the funny video showing a Shivan as it takes a Thoth down:

The video combines canon and funny aspect of the Shivans. The canon aspect is that Shivans can survive in space, the funny aspect is that a Shivan reaches a Thoth and makes it crash on a Typhon.

Is the survive in space thing canon from the Ref bible? Or where does that become canon?

Check FS2's Species.tbl and...the HLP station pic

         Ok will do thanks

[Mobius]

About the funny video showing a Shivan as it takes a Thoth down:

The video combines canon and funny aspect of the Shivans. The canon aspect is that Shivans can survive in space, the funny aspect is that a Shivan reaches a Thoth and makes it crash on a Typhon.

Is the survive in space thing canon from the Ref bible? Or where does that become canon?

Check FS2's Species.tbl and...the HLP station pic

Ok will do thanks

It says that the Shivans evolved in a zero gravity environment...

[Jeff Vader]

About the funny video showing a Shivan as it takes a Thoth down:

The video combines canon and funny aspect of the Shivans. The canon aspect is that Shivans can survive in space, the funny aspect is that a Shivan reaches a Thoth and makes it crash on a Typhon.

Is the survive in space thing canon from the Ref bible? Or where does that become canon?

Check FS2's Species.tbl and...the HLP station pic

Ok will do thanks

It says that the Shivans evolved in a zero gravity environment...

It has been hypothesized that Shivans may have spent their evolutionary process in a zero-gravity environment.

Hypothesized. May. Possibly. Not necessarily.

[Mobius]

About the funny video showing a Shivan as it takes a Thoth down:

The video combines canon and funny aspect of the Shivans. The canon aspect is that Shivans can survive in space, the funny aspect is that a Shivan reaches a Thoth and makes it crash on a Typhon.

Is the survive in space thing canon from the Ref bible? Or where does that become canon?

Check FS2's Species.tbl and...the HLP station pic

Ok will do thanks

It says that the Shivans evolved in a zero gravity environment...

It has been hypothesized that Shivans may have spent their evolutionary process in a zero-gravity environment.

Hypothesized. May. Possibly. Not necessarily.

That's a way to make canon info plausible. The GTVA doesn't know a lot about the Shivans and the only legitimate way to inform the player about certain aspects of the Shivans is to write words like "hypothesized". It wouldn't have been credible otherwise.

[TopAce]

In-universe info ("It is hypothesized that...") overrides out-of-universe fan explanations ("They said 'hypothesized' because it's more credible this way").

[Mobius]

gave us info in a credible way, where's the problem?

[Snail]

Hypothesized = Not necessarily true.


All GTVA theories could be blown out of the water if FS3 had been released. The GTVA don't know, so we don't know.